Photo by Lisa Kava in Teddy Roosevelt Park near 79th and Columbus.
April 22, 2019 Weather: Sunny, then rainy, with a high of 66 degrees.
Notices:
An art workshop inspired by Maya Angelou & Jean-Michel Basquiat, a visit by the police commissioner and many other local events are on our calendar.
It’s Earth Day! Attend a photo-filled conservation talk at the Society for Ethical Culture.
News:
Teenagers on bicycles assaulted a 74-year-old man near the boat House in Riverside Park near 79th Street, the man told police. “The Manhattan resident was a victim of what police sources called ‘bike-outs’ – roving bands of teenage cyclists – with many of them looking for trouble….Sources tell CBS2 this year the NYPD is trying to get ahead of the problem by putting bike patrol officers in the parks. Metal barriers at park entrances, signs telling cyclists to dismount, and rumble strips are other ways police are trying to prevent reckless and menacing groups of riders from terrorizing New Yorkers.”
Rent-regulated tenants on 75th Street say they were threatened. “Simon Baron Development, a prominent New York landlord and developer, allegedly threatened a rent-regulated tenant at 166 West 75th Street in the Upper West Side, according to a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court last week. Claude and Violaine Galland, who occupy Units 1206 and 1208 in the 16-story property, known as the AMSTRDM, claim that they received a handwritten note with their rent statement that said: ‘If you love your children, leave the building.'” Simon Baron President Matthew Baron “sent a statement saying the claims ‘are patently false and we consider the lawsuit to be frivolous.'”
A homeless woman who lives at the new homeless shelter on 94th Street feels she is being demonized by some neighbors and the media. “For Campbell, the complaints felt deeply personal, insinuations about what kind of people live in homeless shelters. ‘They tried to paint us out to be monsters,’ she said, adding that the shelter opponents should ‘be more mindful…anything can happen. The economy can crash and you can be in my shoes.'”
The new Holy Schnitzel restaurant at 654 Amsterdam Avenue, on 92nd Street got a nice review in an Eater cheap eats column. “The kitchen has perfected the art of cooking breaded chicken cutlets so they become super crisp on the outside while remaining moist in the middle.”
The subway and bus fare just went up, to $127 for a monthly and $33 for a weekly. Express buses also went to $6.75.
Some Citi Bike riders are being injured on e-bikes. “Bill Somers, 59, broke his hip after tapping the front brake on a pedal-assist Citi Bike on the Upper West Side last month. The hip he broke was one he had replaced last fall. His doctor told him it will be a year before he’s pain-free.”
I saw assault on wheels and thought you were finally addressing aggressive drivers!
Great photo!
What a tease – posting the Holy Schnitzel piece on Passover! 🙂
Nice photo and beautiful flowers, but they’re blooming near 80th and Columbus, not 79th. Teddy Roosevelt Park @ 79th St is a construction site, unfortunately.
You’re going to love where the new Gilder Center that will expand access to a broader range of the Museum’s resources for students, teachers, and families, offering new learning opportunities and inviting all visitors to share in the excitement of discovery at 79/80 Street. A whole new renewal spectacular look of the Teddy Roosevelt Park coming in 2022.
Happy Earth Day.
No, I much preferred the seven beautiful, tall, healthy oak trees and green space that was razed to construct a big ugly building.
You’ll change your mind, Take a deep breath… now relax close your eyes and 2022… Surprise!
Welcome to the New Park 🙂
Re: “The subway and bus fare just went up, ….”
BUT the single-ride fare REMAINS at $2.75.
central park is a disaster, bikers everywhere, people smoking in the park because the park rangers are doing nothing , just driving around and do nothing.
Having lived through the 1970s and 1980s – Central Park is currently a PARADISE!!
Yelp review of AMSTRDM:”Weekly water shut downs, elevators breaking daily, horrible management, apartment cheaply made and things are constantly breaking, the gym and lounge were promised to be opened 6 months ago and we are still waiting.”
the article you link to above, mostly an interview with a resident of the homeless shelter on W. 94th, is excellent. here is the link:
https://gothamist.com/2019/04/15/uws_homeless_shelter_battle.php
you recently asked for suggestions for new article subject. How about WSR interviewing some of the homeless on the UWS? how did they become homeless? How do they feel about the “demonization” the woman from W. 94th references? “there but for the grace of God go I.” or as T, Campbell, the woman in the 94th Street facility, said, “the economy can crash and you can be in my shoes.”
another possible article would be about the Veterans Permanent Housing on my block, W. 95th between West End and Riverside. This is a superb facility, run by Harlem United and Bailey House, a huge success, and we are lucky to have it on the block. I don’t think it has been covered in WSR.
let’s end the stigmatization and demonization of the homeless!
Fellow bikers have told me that the police are targeting bikes for “significant violations” such as lack of a bell, resulting in tickets and confiscation in some cases. It would be nice to see them slowing (or ticketing?) some of the reckless racers instead.
In re: demonization of homeless woman on 94 street, no, let’s not stop talking about them. Have you ever come from 93 street subway station, finding our “homeless” neighbors begging for money, or gone to the CVS on 93 rd street & being harassed by the habitual group, high as a kite & drunk, again same “homeless” people, stopping newspaper shoppers at the newspaper stand for money, whose owner is scared to death of them? Seeing them at the Gotham liquor store buying booze with that same money people give them? I see them every day, and, no, I don’t feel sorry for them!
What Campbell needs to understand is that the Upper West Side, especially the West 90s, does have plenty of sympathy for her plight. But our neighborhood has suffered immensely from the enormous number of shelters for the homeless and mentally ill (most brought in from other neighborhoods) that the city has dropped on our doorstep. Even residents from the vets housing have joined the panhandlers in the area. Like it or not, frustration will continue until the population is reduced to where we can reasonably manage it.
They should also patrol the bikers on the waterfront path from 100th St. to where the path pick up again further south. These “regular” bikers are so reckless I no longer walk there with my dog because it’s too dangerous. Suggest you make bikers walk there as well & add rumble strips. The elderly and disabled should get at least as much protection as bikers.
Bike riders have no-regard for anybody and everyone. They’re constantly screwing the law by not caring ID and giving fake names when they are stopped by the police or park rangers.
Bikes should be banned from the city.
This is not a bike friendly city.