Monday Bulletin: Threats to Dogs and Fish; A Mother Fights the Co-op Board; Cuomo Accusation; Snowstorm Coming

Photo by Jeff Baehr.

December 14, 2020 Weather: Rainy, with a high of 43 degrees.

Notices:
Our calendar has local and virtual events.

We have heard from several readers about strange interactions with a man in the Strawberry Fields area of Central Park, near 72nd Street who may be attempting to harm dogs. The individual is described as a white male with brown hair who aggressively approaches people with dogs and tries to take/hurt the dog in some way. Tipsters tell us police have been notified.

News:
Many people are concerned about the multitude of dead fish along the shores of the Hudson River, which West Side Rag wrote about last week. We have been in regular contact with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and other relevant agencies. The last word from DEC on Friday was, “As mentioned before, we sent samples of the dead fish for testing to help determine a cause and the results are not yet complete. The Hudson is not the only waterbody where the fish are being found. We expect final results at the end of next week and anticipate more information will be available at that time.” A similar phenomenon is happening elsewhere — including Darien, Connecticut. “All the fish have been the same species, Atlantic menhanden, know as bunker,” the Darien Times reported. You can read more on the subject in this Riverkeeper blog.

We know what the law says about accessibility, but what about the co-op board? An Upper West Side single mother found out when she asked for an accessible entrance for her grown disabled son. “Attorneys are now involved on both sides,” she told the Daily News. “At a recent shareholder meeting, I was asked, ‘Why don’t you just move?’ and ‘Is Zack really disabled?’ The building was not accessible when I purchased my apartment, I was told, so why should it change just for us? It took all I had not to cry in front of everyone.”

Two residents of the The Lucerne hotel homeless shelter were involved in a physical altercation on Sunday night that left blood on the sidewalk in front of Sarabeth’s restaurant, on Amsterdam between 79th and 80th, the New York Post reported. “The two men know each other…No arrests were made by early Monday.”

Upper West Sider Lindsey Boylan unsuccessfully challenged Congressman Jerry Nadler in the June 2020 primary, and is running for Manhattan Borough President in 2021. She is in the news today because she has leveled accusations of sexual harassment against NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, who she worked for from 2015 to 2018. Boylan wrote on Twitter that she did not want to discuss the allegations with journalists. The Times Union sought corroborating evidence for the accusations. “The Times Union interviewed three women who worked in the executive chamber for Cuomo for more than 15 years combined, but have each since left…they said the culture described by Boylan did not match their own experiences working for Cuomo.” Cuomo’s office said there is “no truth to these claims.” WSR interviewed Boylan in June.

Finally, CBS News posted a play-by-play forecast for the snowy week ahead! “From New York City to Boston and points northwest, this should be mainly a snow storm. The heaviest snowfall rates will start late Wednesday into Thursday morning, with 2 inches per hour piling up in spots. While it’s still too early to pinpoint details, and things are bound to change between now and midweek, there is large confidence that a swath of very heavy snowfall will pile up.” How do you have a snow day during a pandemic? We’ll let you know.