Sunday afternoon rainbow. Photo by Lisa.
January 27, 2020 Weather: Cloudy, with a high of 45 degrees.
Notices:
This week’s concerts, readings and other local events are on our calendar!
The 20th precinct is holding its monthly community council meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday at the precinct at 120 West 82nd Street, just west of Columbus Avenue. Deputy Inspector Timothy Malin will report on crime in the 20th, and answer the public’s questions.
A WSR reader found “what looks like a CZ engagement ring” in a patch of snow on Columbus Avenue, between 82nd and 83rd Streets, last Friday. “It likely fell off someone else’s hand as they were doing the same thing I was, picking up after their beloved pooch! It’s a silver setting (stamped 925 inside) with a large single round stone. The setting has…slats for lack of a better description…left and right of stone.” If you lost the ring, email westsiderag@gmail.com and we’ll tell you how to contact the reader.
News:
Last week’s news was dominated by two subjects near to the neighborhood’s heart: food and books. Fairway Market and Book Culture on Columbus announced their potential closings. Book Culture appears to be gone for good, but Fairway was quickly resurrected, in an altered form, with the situation still fluid. The Fairway story was widely covered, including in The New Yorker, which described the market’s “democratic energy” and place in our “common life.” “…it is hard not to feel a shrivel of the heart for the loss of a place at once so specific to its city and so open to anyone with the price of a potato in her pocket, hard not to feel a tear falling in memory of grocery carts past. The price of any one store’s passing may be higher than we know.”
Manhattan’s Community Education Council (CEC) 3, which represents lower Harlem and the Upper West Side, called for the resignation of Brooklyn CEC 22 Member Dr. Jackie Cody for using what they called a “racial slur,” amNewYork reported. In an email message advocating for the removal of the city’s Specialized High School Admission Exam, along with gifted and talented programs, Cody wrote, “To be blunt, certain whites and certain yellow folks on this list-serve continue to focus on a very narrow view…what they’re advocating for is damaging to white and yellow children as well.” President of CEC 3 Kim Watkins called Cody’s language “unacceptable in any way, shape or form.”
“The best New York City Council member of 2019 is (drumroll, please) … Helen Rosenthal!” according to City & State. Rosenthal earned the #1 ranking based on “the number of bills introduced and signed into law, attendance, and responsiveness to questions from constituents and from the media.” “I got a great team,” Rosenthal responded. “I’m lucky.”
Someone threw an orange at an M96 bus near 96th Street and Broadway on Monday afternoon, shattering the driver’s-side window and injuring the driver with flying glass, ABC reported. Police are seeking the perpetrator.
And RIP Kobe Bryant…
https://t.co/jowtmUuVRv pic.twitter.com/zE0Kv5eTkK
— Rachel Holliday Smith (@rachelholliday) January 27, 2020
I had high hopes for Helen when she was first elected, but like her predecessor she let the neighborhood continue its downward spiral. Crime is on the rise, and aggressive panhandlers and mentally ill people roam the streets. Yet in her “Preparing For 2020” Newsletter, there isn’t even one mention of addressing these problems. She seems far more concerned with the quality of life for the criminals on Rikers Island than she is of the people and families in her own district.
Called her office 18 months ago with a question. Still waiting to hear back.
P.S. I worked on her campaign
Agree. Agree. It’s not just the seeming inability to cope with problems on the UWS from retail to air tourism helicopters, it’s having promoted causes and installed people on Community Board 7 that have not been good for us. Please study the candidates and vote.
Fairway’s shelves are emptying – and many are not getting re-stocked. Lots of empty racks this morning (Monday 1/27)
I was in Murray Hill this afternoon and needed something that Fairway stocks so I went into the one on Second Ave. and 30th St. All the shelves were full and the staff was exceptionally accommodating.
Noticed the same things this afternoon (Tuesday).
I believe many suppliers do so on 30-days credit or similar and likely don’t want the exposure given the uncertainty.
Not great, but not a direct indicator of the outcome in itself.
How is it possible for an orange to break a bus window? Aren’t they required to have safety glass?! 😮
Jackie Cody probably considers herself “woke”.
Someone should wake her up.
Such a kind individual who found a piece of jewelry and posted the info here. Makes me proud to live on the UWS.