Photo by Ellen Cohen.
May 30, 2017 Weather: Cloudy, with a high of 61 degrees.
Notices:
There will be free music and more at a summer kickoff celebration at the Joan of Arc statue on 93rd on Tuesday from 5 to 8. See that and more local events on our calendar.
News:
The Central Park Conservancy is laying off about 8% of its staff to trim its spending. “While it received a $100 million donation from hedge fund billionaire John Paulson in 2012, the Conservancy had a $34 million operating loss in fiscal year 2016, according to its latest financial statement…The recent cuts will mean fewer staffers to run several programs meant to service the public — such as the discovery guides who walked the park offering advice and suggestions to visitors on what to see and do.”
The Post has an update to our story about the strange closing of an afterschool program at PS 84. A mother says her child was locked inside a closet for misbehavior. “After being hoisted by the crotch and lifted headfirst into the pitch-black compartment as a form of punishment, the terrified kindergartner would be locked — ‘kicking, screaming and crying’ — inside the tiny classroom closet for “God knows how long,” his mother Porsche Gaddy told The Post…Four staff members at the LACASA after-school care program inside PS 84 Lillian Weber School of the Arts on the Upper West Side were fired from the program last week after the allegations came to light. One is still working at another school for the Department of Education.”
Shakesperean drama on the co-op board: “A new production at Manhattan’s Bryant Park of the Bard’s classic comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor, is given a contemporary update, with the action taking place at an Upper West Side co-op.”
Touro College just sold a local rental building. “The newly formed real estate investment trust entered into an agreement for 10 West 65th Street, a six-story building with 82 apartments was shopped in 2015 for $115 million, or $850 per square foot. Clipper will pay $585 per square foot for the 82,230-square-foot building plus an additional 53,000 square feet of air rights.”
A local artist placed a urinating dog statue next to the “fearless girl” statue on Wall Street as a protest.
The son of Central Park’s hot dog king has taken his place. “Menu items include Mac & Cheese topped with bacon and Cheeze-Its, Sweet and Spicy Franks and Beans with bacon and a buttery corn muffin, grilled cheese, fish tacos and more.”
More proof we’ve got the best neighborhood around: “When it comes to selling Girl Scout cookies, 11-year-old Diana Zorek has the winning recipe.The Upper West Side tween sold 2,537 boxes this year, earning her the title of top cookie-seller for the Girl Scouts of Greater New York.”
Classifieds:
All are welcome to attend a 5-week beginner’s mindfulness meditation course, on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-7:30pm, starting tomorrow (Wednesday, May 31) at the Goddard Center on 92nd and Columbus. This class will help you increase focus; reduce stress and anxiety; increase self-awareness and emotional regulation; and generate an overall sense of well-being. Visit here for more information.
i love the idea behind ‘Pissing Dog’. it introduces layers of art appreciation and puts onus on the viewer to think more deeply about art in general, just what the doctor ordered.
not to mention the Matryoshka doll aspect of what might come in the future.
Right. And why not compound the layers?
Maybe someone can put up a statue of a man beating the dog.
Maybe the Central Park conservancy should spend less on fencing instead of cutting services that actually benefit those who use the park. I always wonder who on their board has the fence concession.
While frustrating, the fences are there for good reason. The park gets so many visitors the grass would soon be destroyed if all the laws were open all the time.
Instead of free concerts in the park charge 50 dollars a head and use it to fund the parks real needs.
They could have spent less on creating new paths throughout the Ramble. Making the area “more civilized” makes it less interesting, more crowded and much less hospitable to wildlife.
RE: afterschool program at PS 84
Why haven’t they been arrested??? And why is the 4th individual still teaching???? This is crazy!
With all due respect to the Hot Dog King, really we must
begin to think about this kind of food a ‘Junk”.
Longing for and hoping we soon will have food vendors that
serve food that is actually good for you….like fruit and
vegetable based foods, etc.
So glad Alex Gardega, the artist of the pug pissing on fearless girl down on Wall St., was able to mansplain feminism to us. Bravo!
Now you just need someone to lawyersplain copyright infringement to you, right?
Non-sequitur, gg, but now that you mention it, if fearless girl is a copyright infringement on Wall Street
Bull, wouldn’t pissing pug be a copyright infringement on fearless girl?
Actually it was probably removed because they didn’t have a permit or whatever.
And by the way, enough with the “feminism” already….it’s 2017 in NYC.
If I could upload an image in the comment section, it would be of the Wall Street guy in jacket and tie having his picture taken humping fearless girl.
Yup, and that’s why it was immediately removed.
Thank the Lord Above, CPC fences everywhere have turned CP into a beautiful museum with expected Do Not Touch, Do Not Walk fences everywhere and accompanying jolly volunteers suited up and appearing out of the green to alert us of our transgressions. Stopped going to the Park a while back but if Big Brother takes a few giant steps back, the joy of an ordinary day in the Park will return. Their resources would be better used at other Parks which have been historically neglected.
Wow – what an exaggeration.
The Park has never looked better and thank goodness we there are passionate volunteers who help keep it beautiful and safe.
There are plenty of places you can walk in the Park. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that some grassy areas need a chance to thrive without thousands of feet walking on them.
The Park primary purpose is to benefit City dwellers as a public open space and increased quality of life for all New Yorkers. There is a need to maintain the park which the Parks Dept does quite well. The CPC has done some marvelous work but their work is over reaching. Many are not interested in well-manicured lawns but are interested in nature. The fencing is it blocks off direct access to the very few bathrooms thus discouraging many seniors who frequented the park for years and kept it safe place to be.
Really?
What bathrooms are not accessible due to fencing?
You really are exaggerating to defend you point (which is defenseless).
But why don’t you contact the Conservancy and ask them to remove the fences. Then enjoy the grass (except that it will have been trampled on and dead) – so you’ll have to rely on your memory to enjoy it.
Not attempting to argue with you here simply stating a fact, the bathrooms on West 81st Street are not directly accessible from the walkway that goes along the Great Lawn unless one walks completely around the fencing. You may not be elderly now so not realize that is very difficult for many seniors. There are various other places in the park that have become untenable due to fencing. Not to say that the Conservancy hasn’t done some really good work, indeed they have. My point is they have overdone it and like all good things Overkill is never good.
…crickets…