By Carol Tannenhauser
February 14, 2022 Weather: Mostly clear, high of 26 degrees.
Notices:
Our calendar has lots of local events!
News:
ConEd bills surged in January and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul “urged electric company Con Edison to review their billing practices after some businesses and households saw their monthly bill increase up to 300%. ‘The changes in customer bills are mainly due to the supply cost of energy, and principally the increased cost of natural gas,’ said Philip O’Brien, assistant director of media relations at Con Edison,” amNew York reported.
The fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is premiering on Friday, February 18. Considering it’s been two years since we last saw the award-winning show about an UWS housewife-turned-stand-up-comic in the 1960s, The Forward provides a detailed recap. [Click on links to read full stories.] “Through each season, the characters on the show have slowly broken out of their manicured lives…it looks like the drama will be high. Abe and Rose are returning to the Upper West Side — via moving in with Midge, which ensures a solid quotient of Jewish nagging and chic outfits both.”
It was a shocking sight we reported last month: a heavy chain stretched across a church entrance bearing the sign “No Trespassing.” The New York Post picked up the story. “The First Baptist Church at the corner of West 79th Street and Broadway was forced to violate the cardinal rule of Christianity – forgive those who trespass against us – following violent attacks against at least five people and the constant presence over the past year of homeless men living in squalor on the steps.”
Councilmember Gale Brewer’s concern about the effect of “dark stores” on neighborhood bodegas is shared in Berlin, which saw the trend toward rapid-delivery services emerge months before NYC, The New York Times reported. “In communities where deliveries are made, some residents fear losing a sense of place. Kaja Santro, a web developer and lifelong Berliner, is concerned that delivery services like Gorillas may threaten the city’s spätkaufs, Berlin’s equivalent to bodegas, since they sell items stocked in their own warehouses, unlike regular grocery services. “If you stay in and order from Gorillas, you won’t participate in your neighborhood,” Ms. Santro said.
Fordham University has chosen Tania Tetlow, the first layperson and woman, to be its new president, Fordham News reported. ” I grew up in New Orleans, but Fordham is the reason that I exist. My parents met there as graduate students and got married, and I was born in New York,” said Tetlow, whose father was a Jesuit for 17 years before leaving the order to start a family. “Fordham loomed large in my family. It was an institution of breathtaking excellence in the most exciting city in the world.”
The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park is re-opening on Friday, February 18, after being closed since March of 2020, TimeOut announced. “The iconic destination, known for hosting marionette productions based on children’s classics, will celebrate its relaunch with the presentation of an entirely new and original show, Wake Up, Daisy! The show, a modern take on Sleeping Beauty set on the Upper West Side, tells the story of Daisy, a New York City girl who lives in an apartment overlooking Central Park.”
Finally, it’s nice when something lives up to its hype, and Charles Pan-Fried Chicken does, according to Robert Sietsema in Eater, “I felt like this batch, and every previous one that I’ve tasted from [Charles] Gabriel, has demonstrated a gradual evolution in his technique, an incremental advancement in the science of chicken frying. This version featured a slightly thicker and crisper skin than before. And as I sit here, I can’t help but think I’ve just eaten the best fried chicken I’ll ever have, and am torn between rushing back for another serving, or retaining this meal in my imagination as a sort of platonic ideal of chicken.”
Happy Valentine’s Day to all who observe!
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All great news other than the ConEd bills, but they are allowed to cover their costs. Really looking forward to Mrs. Maisel – such a great show. I’m glad they are doing something about that horrible corner at 79th and Broadway. Love the Marionette Theater – so great or kids. And I can’t wait to try the fried chicken.
And so great to hear nothing but a positive comment except, of course, for the Con Ed news. There’s likely little anyone can do about that but we can look forward to enjoying great chicken, Mrs. Maisel and the remainder of Valentine’s Day. I hope it’s a special day for all, whether there’s a celebration or just a nice piece of chocolate.
The Bible certainly doesn’t teach anyone to let themselves be abused and taken advantage of. Forgiveness and justice are not to be conflated with either revenge nor accepting abusive behavior, which in this case seems to involve preventing assemblage of church attendees. Good for the church!
The church had many complaints about the aggressive panhandling, fighting, violent acts against seniors.
I am a Christian, but there’s no turning the cheek when an older women’s head is smashed into the steps and permanently disfigured.
If Hochul wants to do something meaningful, she should undo Cuomo’s dumb actions on banning the nat gas pipeline in upstate NY, and don’t mothball the Indian Point nuclear power plant. That’s how you lower energy prices.
Absolutely correct! Just shocking how we are still feeling the effects of Cuomo’s ridiculous policies that will affect our pockets for a long time.
We have one of those “dark stores” in our UWS neighborhood that has set up in the former Duane Reade at the corner of 88th and Broadway. It is a large site and the windows are papered up but you can peak through the sides and see boxes of groceries strewn about. The electric bikes used by the messenger are parked inside during off hours and are otherwise outside. I just hope that Broadway with the large swaths of empty real estate does not become home to these types of store. We are lacking in streetscape enough as it is with the scaffolding and closed stores.
Can someone please ask Con Ed how they charge gas and electric for 32, 33, or 34 days every moth? I’ve Keeping track of my bills for a year and there was never a time that Con Ed charge for 30 or 31 days. And also delivery charges fee are crazy high.
Last night the disruptive individuals that caused the church to put up those chains were back on the church steps sleeping, using the chains as an ottoman for their legs. Is anyone else interested in taking back our neighborhood, this is not right.