Riverside Park sunset photo by wwward0.
It was another week full of curious, disturbing and intriguing news on the Upper West Side, summarized and linked here for your easy-reading pleasure.
On Friday, Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker was stopped by an employee outside the Milano Market gourmet food shop on 115th and Broadway and frisked on suspicion that he had stolen something. He hadn’t and the employee feels very very bad. A witness told Gothamist: “‘He was quiet at first, I think in shock,’ she said. “‘When they didn’t find anything, they told him to leave at which point he said, ‘No, I want to speak with someone. You can’t just touch me like this.’ Everyone in the store was quiet and in shock.” (Daily News and Gothamist)
The Upper West Side has a particularly high percentage of people over 60, and many people here have found a unique way to grow older together: “As the neighborhood’s population has grayed, some apartment houses have morphed into what social scientists call NORCs — naturally occurring retirement communities. The most recent census estimates indicate that 22 percent of Upper West Siders, or 46,000 people, are 60 or older, compared with the citywide average of 17 percent. Attracted by convenient shopping, abundant mass transit and a wealth of cultural activities, many older residents hope to remain in their apartments the rest of their lives.” Nice details of life in Bloomingdale and Lincoln Towers. (NY Times)
Speaking of getting older… “Shirley Herskowitz turned 105 on Sunday and celebrated her birthday Tuesday with cake, balloons and a serenade at Club 76 on West 76th Street thanks to the Jewish Association Serving the Aging (JASA).” (DNAinfo)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson of Modern Family will star in The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare in the Park. (Broadway.com)
And more celebrity news… Bruce Willis is in contract for a Central Park West apartment. (NY Post)
“In one of its first endorsements this year, the influential 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers union has backed District Leader Marc Landis to replace outgoing Upper West Side Councilwoman Gale Brewer. The race to replace Ms. Brewer is one of the most hotly contested in the city, so the backing from one of the state’s labor powerhouses is undoubtedly a nice boost for Mr. Landis’ campaign.” (Observer)
There was a $32.5 million sale at 15 Central Park West. (NY Times)
A pedestrian was hurt on Friday at 115th and Broadway when a cab and a FedEx truck collided. (DNAinfo)
At numerous high-end buildings, including some on the Upper West Side, a majority of the people who own the apartments don’t live there year-round. The apartments are often pieds-a-terre for wealthy people who live elsewhere. (NY Times)
Three people were injured in a car accident on Feb. 11 near Columbia. (Columbia Spectator)
