Monday Bulletin: Cop Charged, ‘Speaker Brewer,’ Bidding Wars
The gang’s all here. Photo by Audrey Beeber David.
August 2, 2021 Weather: Partly cloudy, with a high of 82 degrees.
Notices:
Our calendar has lots of local events!
This Tuesday is National Night Out, where people can meet local police officers, and many of the events have free food. The 20th precinct will meet at Verdi Square Park – Broadway between 72nd & 73rd Streets (6-8 pm), and the 24th will meet at Happy Warrior Playground – West 99th Street & Amsterdam Avenue (6-9 pm).
News:
NYPD Sgt. Phillip Wong is out without bail after pleading not guilty to charges of assault and attempted assault, allegedly occurring during two arrests, the New York Post reported. “Wong, 37, is accused of slugging one man during an arrest at a West 96th Street subway station on April 29, 2020 after the perp allegedly shouted anti-Asian slurs and kicked him, prosecutors said. Wong, who worked for Transit District 3, allegedly knelt on the man’s back after he and another cop took the suspect to the ground — with the man yelling, “I can’t breathe,” according to the indictment. “I don’t give a f–k if you can breathe or not,” Wong allegedly replied, as he punched them in the face.”
Gale Brewer is reported to be considering a bid for City Council Speaker, also by the Post. “Political observers say that Brewer is one of the few incoming new members who could likely mount a speaker bid — in large part because she is not a true freshman, having served on the Council for a decade in the 2000s before being ousted by term limits. She would join an increasingly crowded field for the powerful post that four incumbent lawmakers have designs on — Councilman Justin Brannan(D-Brooklyn), Councilwoman Adrienne Adams (D-Queens), Councilwoman Carlina Rivera (D-Manhattan) and Councilman Keith Powers (D-Manhattan).“
According to Forbes, Danny Meyer, founder of Shake Shack and CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes Daily Provisions on Amsterdam and 78th Street, announced on Thursday that the group will “require all employees and guests dining inside [its] New York and Washington, D.C., restaurants to provide proof they’ve been vaccinated…becoming the first major restaurant group to do so…. Shake Shack, which Union Square Hospitality Group does not own or control, will not fall under the new mandate and has not announced any changes to employee policy.”
The good news is, the Upper West Side is one of the most in-demand neighborhoods in the city to rent in, along with Greenwich Village and parts of Brooklyn, The New York Times reported. The bad news is — bidding wars! “The New York City real estate market is returning to its pre-pandemic normal, but anyone looking for a rental apartment should prepare for a possible post-pandemic surprise. Bidding wars — long the scourge of prospective home buyers — are now being waged for rentals, especially in the hippest neighborhoods that are within walking distance of newly reopening office buildings.”
Among the must-have amenities sought by some apartment dwellers these days is fresh indoor air, according to Forbes. “In New York City…the clean air campaign has been taken to lengths that two years ago would have been regarded as ludicrous. For example, within the boutique condominium building Charlotte of the Upper West Side, air in each residence is exchanged with fresh air 13 times a day. Entering fresh air is filtered through a state-of-the-art filtration system, which purifies the incoming air. The air passes through ultraviolet light, is adjusted for humidity and heated or cooled to temperatures the resident has set.”
Goddard Riverside’s Lincoln Square location has been hosting food pantries since 2017. This summer, they’re offering nourishment for the soul, too—in the form of live music, their newsletter announced. “Students from the Kaufman Music Center, a nonprofit that offers musical instruction for all ages and runs a music-centered public school, will perform every Thursday in August while people pick up their food…. Our Lincoln Square food pantries happen on the first through fourth Thursday of each month at 10:30 AM in front of the center at 250 West 65th Street. Musicians will be performing on August 5, 12, 19 and 26 from 10:30 to noon.”
You hear a lot about the gender pay gap, but Sallie Krawcheck, one of the highest-ranking women on Wall Street, who lives and works on the UWS, says what’s crucial is the wealth gap, and she wants to help women close it through the startup she co-founded, Ellevest. The journalist interviewing her for Marketplace said, “I’m going to trust that you’ll take this question in the spirit with which it’s intended…a lot of the women you’re trying to help are going to look at you and say, “Come on, you’re a white lady from the Upper East” — well, Upper West Side. Sorry, I know they’re different. New Yorkers are very particular about that. “But you’re a rich, white lady from the Upper West Side. What do you know about my problems?”
Finally, Bob Sedgwick, brother of Kyra (wife of Kevin Bacon), has written a memoir called, Bob Goes to Jail, in which he recalls how he dishonored his family, the New York Post reported. “At the start of 1990, (Robert) Sedgwick had come off a lackluster few years as an actor, starring in forgettable movies like “Nasty Hero” and “Staying Together.” And then, on Jan. 31, 1990, DEA agents raided his 12-bedroom Upper West Side home — which belonged to his grandparents, who’d let him stay there while they traveled in the West Indies — and busted him with 250 pounds of marijuana.”
Is this a case for Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson?
I have seen Sallie Krawcheck speak on these topics. She is tone deaf to the needs of those who are not wealthy like her. At the event I went to, most of the working women in the audience were offended by her speech.
I’m not sure why her business and that article are relevant to WSR.
— “Among the must-have amenities sought by some apartment dwellers these days is fresh indoor air, according to Forbes. * * * For example, *** air in each residence is exchanged with fresh air 13 times a day. Entering fresh air is filtered through a state-of-the-art filtration system, which purifies the incoming air. The air passes through ultraviolet light, is adjusted for humidity and heated or cooled to temperatures the resident has set.”
Couldn’t they just open a window??
Re: “Couldn’t they just open a window??”
WHAT? And let in pigeons, squirrels, creepy-crawlies, etc.
Then there’s:
Sadie: “Saul, close the window! It’s cold outside!”
Saul: “So, if I close the window it’ll become warm outside?”
You must live on a very, very high floor. Run your fingers along the windows’ inside and outside sills and across the tops of hard surfaces near the open windows. If you have screens, wet a sponge and “wash” a portion of a screen’s inside. You can do that over and over with a new, clean sponge, to no avail. Rain hits the screens and transfers the wet grit to your windows. NYC’s air is filthy, and that doesn’t count the output from the smokers living next door or across from you. __a 6th floor resident.
Right you are!!! I’ve given up trying to keep my many windows clean. Just as I stopped dying my hair and still seeing the roots. So I let it go grey. But at least in this latter, I’m happy with the results. I’m definitely not happy with my really dirty windows and find it depressing.
In case you’ve not noticed in most new residential construction windows do not open. That or barely very little.
Much of this is due to Bloomberg’s and then BdeB’s (along with city council) changes in zoning and other laws requiring NYC multifamily buildings to be more “green”.
Opening windows lets out mechanically heated or cooled air. So as with office buildings what you’re seeing increasingly is internal climate control where indoor air is recirculated, filtered, heated or cooled, humified or dehumidified….
It all comes out of the “passive house” movement.
Kudos to Danny Meyer for taking a stand! I hope we see more and more of this everywhere we go.
Vaccinated people are now being asked to wear masks. Why? To save the unvaccinated. Duh!
Still don’t want to get vaccinated? Then its your turn to stay home.
EGF — everyone reading WSR has been vaccinated. In NYC, its the urban areas that are holding out.
SadforUWS, please explain
“In NYC, its the urban areas that are holding out”
The urban areas? UWS is not an “urban area”?
Isn’t all of NYC an urban area?? By definition, no?
After reading your recent comments here though, I think we all know what you mean.
What do you mean by “urban”? Pretty much all of NYC and the surrounding areas are considered urbanized, as designated by the U.S. Census Bureau.
I hope you’re not using “urban” as code for majority non-white neighborhoods…
Knew from the start Gale Brewer was likely going to muscle in on city council speaker spot. It’s part of her whole MO in returning to that body because “she has previous experience” and “knows the history”….
Other than public advocate next most powerful elected official after mayor is speaker of city council….
This is so snarky from “B.B.”
First of all, if you knew the basics of city govt, you would know that both Council Speaker and Comptroller are more powerful positions than Public Advocate.
Second, Gale has proven in election after election, including a few weeks ago, that she is deeply beloved on the UWS, and for good reason. She is incredibly hard working, honest, dedicated, and she knows the issues inside and out. “muscling in” and “ MO” make doing what she has a right to do sound derogatory. And why the “scare quotes” around “previous experience” and “knows the history”? Aren’t those both important facts?
Gale had so many detractors in this comments section, but it turned out she was in sync with the voters… and the denigrators were out of touch.
Phillip Wong: Innocent / Acquitted. Next.
No way I’d vote to convict an officer in this situation.
You kick an officer, you got it comin’.
Amen!
Good for Gale. She’s reliable and very hard working!