April 30, 2012 Weather: Mostly Sunny, High of 61 Degrees.
Notices:
We have a full week’s worth of events up, including free concerts and movies, appearances by Dan Rather and Anna Quindlen, 12th Night performed in a bar, and a spring fair in Riverside Park.
A group aiming to replace Central Park’s horse-drawn carriages with classy automobiles is holding a “Horseless Carriage Cocktail Party” on May 3 to raise funds for the Horseless Carriage prototype. Tickets here.
News:
A man in his thirties, possibly homeless, was found dead in Riverside Park around 59th Street on Friday, police said. The cause of death was not immediately known, but he appeared to have died from natural causes. (DNAinfo)
Red-oak acorns planted in Central Park grow eight times faster than the same trees planted upstate. One reason: the heat of the city. “Blacktopped areas like ours soak up the sun’s rays by day and release the stored energy overnight, thus making cities a few degrees warmer than the surrounding areas.” (New York)
The mayor says the city is doing as good job of cracking down on illegal hotels. (Village Voice)
The plan to redesign Upper West Side streets that we reported on last week “lacks real creativity and vision,” said UWS bicycling advocate Lisa Sladkus. Lots of little tweaks, no big transformations. But although they’re not included in the plan, the city still said at a hearing that it plans to propose more Upper West Side protected bike lanes, likely on Columbus or Amsterdam. (Streetsblog)