Photo by Rich Latour of Manhattanhenge over the Hudson from an apartment on West 77th street.
From a slashing in an apartment on West 92nd street, to stories about education and real estate, check out stories relevant to the Upper West Side that were recently published in other publications.
Two people were slashed during a family dispute at 74West 92nd street in Saturday. A boyfriend and girlfriend were fighting and police say the girlfriend’s mother slashed both of them with a knife. They were taking to the hospital in stable conditions. (ABC and NBC)
Tenants on 107th street are in the midst of a rent strike. “Chanting ‘No rent for rats,’ dozens of residents at 207 and 209 W. 107th St. and other buildings called for an end to a rodent problem they say has reached epidemic proportions.” (Daily News)
A cab hit and rolled on top of an elderly woman near Columbus Circle while she was walking her bike a couple of weeks ago. The driver tried to reverse the cab. Two heroic construction workers lifted the cab to get her out. “Workers Joe Delfino, 34, and Marcos Loyola, 60, told him to stop — and then lifted up the front of the 3,300 pound vehicle. Loyola gently pulled the woman out, and Delfino put the cab down. ‘All I saw was her sneakers,’ said Loyola. ‘I don’t know where I got the strength.’ (NY Post)
A mother abandoned a baby girl at the Columbus Circle subway station and has now been indicted. (DNAinfo)
As the de Blasio administration attempts to lower the rent it pays to house homeless families in private housing, the landlords are saying they’ll simply evict the homeless people. The city pays an average of $3,027 to put a homeless person up for a month in a private building, with an average of $2,078 going to the landlord and the rest to the provider of social services. The city (and lots of Upper West Siders!) find that cost to be egregious. “To mitigate that, the city wants to reduce its monthly payments by roughly $300, most of it deducted from the landlords’ portion. It hopes to save $15 million out of the total $122 million it spent last year on these apartments. The savings would be redirected to a new rental subsidy program for chronically homeless families.” Aguila, the shelter operator that runs the notorious 95th street shelter, is one of the organizations that says landlords will evict people instead of taking less money. (NY Times)
The Department of Buildings fined the Salvation Army for operating the Williams senior residence as a hotel after Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer brought up complaints. “The Salvation Army faces a small fine for the violation. The Army released a statement saying that it’s ‘investigating the incident to ensure full legal compliance with NYC rules and regulations.'” (Daily News)
Locals are annoyed at Columbia Grammar on 93rd street, where parking spots have been converted into No Standing spots used by people chauffeuring kids to school. (DNAinfo)
A comprehensive guide to the investors (and money launderers) now buying up New York real estate. “It’s something that is never discussed, but it’s the elephant in the room,” says Rosabianca. “Real estate is a wonderful way to cleanse money. Once you buy real estate, the derivation of that cash is forgotten.” (NY Mag)
A $400,000 renovation made this 425-square-foot apartment seem almost “spacious.” (Curbed)
The fight over a new development next to PS 163 is “becoming a focal point in the environmental justice movement” says one social justice advocate. (Huffington Post)
A “beleaguered” mansion on Central Park West and 85th is on the rental market for $65,000 a month. (Curbed)
Class sizes continue to rise at NYC public schools despite promises to shrink them. “More than 330,000 students are crammed into classes of 30 or more.” (WNYC)
Meanwhile, less than a quarter of federal Race to the Top funds went directly to schools last year — most of it went to central administration and consultants. (NY Post)
Someone threw a Citibike behind a fence in Riverside Park and left it there. “Users of the service who don’t return bikes are charged $1,200, but Citi Bike is probably worried about other things right now.” (Gothamist)
For our last bulletin, click here.
Re: “Meanwhile, less than a quarter of federal Race to the Top funds went to schools last year — most of it went to central administration and consultants.”
How deliciously ironic — The NY Post, part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation empire, will spare no effort to attack Mayor deBlasio, even reporting on a policy begun under then-Chancellor Joel Klein (now on the Murdoch payroll)!
Hopefully Mayor deBlasio’s choice for Chancellor, the respected and pro-teacher Carmen Farina, will NOT continue the Klein policy of hiring power-suit-wearing Corporate Consultant Types to decide D.o.E. policy.
Ms. Farina has to know that the best “consultants” are veteran (15-years or more) current classroom teachers who KNOW NYC kids and UNDERSTAND their needs. Don’t take them out of the classroom, but hire them to work after-school helping to design curriculum and whatever else it takes to make the schools effective.
But WHAT to do about the central administration types infesting the Tweed Courthouse and handing down edicts-to-the-troops? Do something to cut costs by eliminating their salaries!
Maybe they can be re-trained in new careers, maybe as Meter Maids…or something.
Just do NOT let these career bureaucrats back into the classrooms, bumping out REAL EDUCATORS!
All I can do is quote DeBlais chancellor during the snow emergency, “it’s a beautiful day out there”. Let’s have a reality check on credentials and smarts please.
And THAT makes Ms. Farina, a long-time respected and admired professional educator, somehow a bad chancellor??!!!
How ridiculous!
FIRST of all, Chancellor Farina was undoubtedly thinking of the chaos for working parent whenever school is cancelled.
And, had she closed schools, the very same people who kvetched at her for keeping them open would have really had a field day blasting her for ‘not understanding the problems of working people” yadda yadda yadda
It’s the same nonsense as ranting at Mayor deBlasio because his motorcade ran a red light. And just watch what happens if the LIRR goons DO strike while deBlasio is away on a long-planned vacation.
Then again, as Pres. Obama has unfortunately learned since 2008, NOTHING an authority-figure can do will stop the HATERS and PROFESSIONAL MALCONTENTS from raising spurious arguments designed to interfere and disrupt.
Re: “It hopes to save $15 million out of the total $122 million it spent last year on these apartments. The savings would be redirected to a new rental subsidy program for chronically homeless families.”
That $15 million would be better utilized by investigating why and how these families are/become chronically homeless to begin with. Creating a new subsidy program just amounts to slapping another Band-Aid on an aortic hemorrhage. The issue isn’t going to magically fix itself; there’s not even a snowball’s chance in Hell of solving a problem if you don’t try to understand its cause(s).
Also: “The city pays an average of $3,027 to put a homeless person up for a month in a private building […] To mitigate that, the city wants to reduce its monthly payments by roughly $300 […] Aguila, the shelter operator that runs the notorious 95th street shelter, is one of the organizations that says landlords will evict people instead of taking less money.”
This could be personal bitterness talking here, but I won’t be shedding a tear over this because – a) that $3,000/month is likely paid by someone who can’t afford an apartment of the same cost, and b) getting booted because of rent hikes is not a turdbucket situation exclusive to the homeless. Guess what happened when I couldn’t afford to pay the latest rent increase? I got my walking papers.
NYC, particularly the UWS, is the only place I’ve ever called home. Lived here for most of my life, but the reality is – despite working my ass off and keeping my nose clean – I can’t afford it anymore. I certainly can’t keep my fingers and toes crossed that our legislators will roll up their sleeves ever so slightly and delve into the real problem here; they’re too lazy and narcissistic to even try. Instead, they’ll slap on a few more Band-Aids to briefly staunch the bleeding – just long enough to secure their reelection.