Photo by Stephen Harmon.
August 14, 2017 Weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 82 degrees.
Notices:
Movies, concerts and more local events are on our calendar.
CEC3 (school board) is looking for a new member to help represent English Language Learners.
News:
Famous singer and longtime Upper West Sider Barbara Cook died, surrounded by an incredible array of friends. “Vanessa Williams and Norm Lewis, who starred with Ms. Cook in the 2010 Broadway revue ‘Sondheim on Sondheim,’ were among those who came by her Upper West Side apartment and sang to her. Josh Groban, Hugh Jackman, Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara and others sent audio and video recordings full of memories and melodies.” She has been named in two of our “Why the West Side” interviews as an inspiring neighbor and artist: Larry Hirschhorn and Barbara Rosene.
A Jewish singles event at the Boat Basin rotunda near 79th Street brought together a very large crowd. “The White Party is an annual event held near or around Tu B’av, the biblical holiday surrounding the start of the grape harvest with a natural segue into the business of mating. Tu B’Aav has become a minor stand-in for Valentine’s Day in Israel. On the Upper West Side, it is an excuse for a bonanza of outdoor dating, facilitated here by a crude human-numbering technique that invites inevitable, unfortunate comparisons to other numbering in Jewish history…The evening seemed to be living up to its promise of something for everyone. A 27-year-old man from a Conservative background thought perhaps this went too far. “I just talked to a non-Jewish lesbian woman in a monogamous relationship wearing a number,” he complained.”
The 421a affordable housing program no longer gives preference to people who already live in the neighborhood.
It sounds like an Upper West Sider’s campaign against e-bikes is bearing some fruit. The mayor plans “substantial” fines for businesses whose workers use them. “‘I want tougher legislation,’ de Blasio said during his weekly appearance on WYNC radio. ‘I want a law that makes enforcement easier and more straightforward and directs enforcement at the businesses that employ the delivery bicyclist.'”
Thanks DeBlasio for getting tough on e-bikes while homelessness is out of control, subway is a disaster, etc. etc.
I have lived on the UWS for over 40 years. There has always been homeless and at times that were MUCH worse than it is today and the subway has ALWAYS been a disaster.
I don’t know what the problem with e-bikes is but that has nothing to do with the other issues and de Blasio.
Right? And next thing you know, they’ll be trying to legislate against cycling while intoxicated, cycling through red lights, cycling against traffic, and cycling on sidewalks!
Damn you, DeBlasio!
I think that bicycles have to follow the same rules that cars
and trucks do….and I cannot wait for the rules to be an
every day application for safety. The few times I was almost hit by a bicycle , they were going thru a red light or or traveling the wrong way on a one way street. You really have to look both ways when crossing a oneway street.
Exactly. Because traffic rules do not count for us bikers. If you don’t get it, let me make it absolutely clear: cars and pedestrians should get out of our way! Especially those annoying kids on the sidewalks that force us to slow down should gtf out of our way!
*RIP* Barbara Cook. A great lady and actress/singer.
Barbara Cook was a neighbor of ours, and as lovely as a person as she was brilliant as an artist.
She will be missed terribly.
Delivery bicyclists have a hard enough job. I don’t begrudge them the use of an e-bike. (Speed limits might be a good idea, though.)
I agree – as long as they follow the laws, I am fine with it. Everyone complains about this but then they also get upset when their beloved Chinese takeout is a minute late or there isn’t enough sweet and sour sauce. You can’t have it both ways.
Nothing wrong with e-bikes if they follow traffic rules. They should not be eliminated, just maybe given license plates, so they are easier to ticket for bad driving. Same with bicycles.
I also find myself having to look both ways several times on one way streets before crossing. The bike lanes on Amsterdam and Columbus are the worst. Too many bikes don’t observe stop lights. Enforcement is difficult, but necessary.
Touche. Too many pedestrians also don’t observe stop signs and step into the bike lane when the vehicle traffic has the light.
This works both ways
Am I supposed to feel bad because delivery guys have to actually peddle a bike to deliver my food? Hells no!!! If they want to use a motor become a Via driver instead. And yes we put our money where our mouth is. We rarely order from any place that uses bikes and the rare times we do,(maybe once every two months) we don’t tip very well because if they want to take the unsafe easy way out of their job, luckily for us a tip is not mandatory. Get the e bikes off the road!
Think you meant the Jewish holiday of tisha b’av
No, not at all. Tisha b’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, is a holy day observing the destruction of both Temples. It is a major fast (with Yom Kippur, the only 24-hour fasts on the Jewish calendar), not a minor holiday about courtship and mating.
Tu b’Av, the 15th of Av, is a silly analogue to our Valentine’s Day, as the article notes.
No. He is correct with Tu B’av. “Tisha” is the 9th day of Av, and is a very sad day commemorating the destruction of the temple (among other things) and is celebrated today through fasting and other observances. “Tu” is the the 15th day of Av and is a happy harvest holiday where single men would look for their true love. It isnt really commemorated today except for the singles looking for love part..
I use my bike almost every day for transportation and recreation, and that keeps me out of the subways, so I am doing a service to others as well. I hate bikers that ride recklessly, especially the wrong direction in the bike lanes. I wish the existing laws were enforced, with the focus on safety and visibility. Pedestrians are doing a much better job staying out of the bike lanes. Everyone needs to practice patience.
The e-bike delivery guys are a menace. A 100lb bicycle with a 150-200lb rider with the ability to accelerate from zero to 30mph in seconds is an invitation to trouble.
You might be able to compare them somewhat to the tour-de-france wannabe’s that take over some parts of the neighborhood on weekends but you really can’t compare them to regular bike commuters who roll through an occasional red light.
Commuting bike riders are more like pedestrians but pedestrians who are forced to walk in the street without the separation of sidewalks and parked cars for protection.
E-Bikes have nearly killed me on numerous occasions. Perhaps some rules of the road regarding riding with traffic, obeying red lights and not riding on the sidewalks might be etched into the handlebars. Ugly hitching post sights and dangerous.
I like my food hot and my ice cream hard… i’m in full support of e-bikes.
Even at the expense of your neighbors’ safety?
I agree. I think we should build dedicated e-bike lanes right next to the regular bike lanes.
This would solve all the problems. People need their lo mein or calzones quick fast. Pretty soon it will all be jet packs anyway so it will be a moot point.
Banning Ebikes because some people are reckless makes no more sense than banning cars because some people drive drunk. Regulate the behavior, not the object.