West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result

Get WSR FREE in your inbox

Search the site

No Result
View All Result

Get WSR FREE in your inbox

AVAILABLE NOW!


HERE

Monday Bulletin: Local Institutions Are Changing; ‘Inclusion’ Is the Watchword

October 17, 2022 | 5:00 AM
in NEWS, OPEN/CLOSED, OUTDOORS
10
Photograph courtesy of Wollman Park Partners.

By Carol Tannenhauser

Monday, October 17, 2022
Showers. High 65 degrees.

Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events! Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner.

New York City is experiencing a blood shortage, according to the American Red Cross. To help out, a group of local real estate brokers is sponsoring its second annual community blood drive on October 30th from 10am to 4pm at the Compass offices at 2150 Broadway, between W. 75 and W. 76 Streets. You can make an appointment to donate here.

News
In January, 2022, a controversial statue was removed from its pedestal in front of the American Museum of Natural History on Central Park West between W. 77th and W. 81st Streets, because it was deemed racist in its depiction of Theodore Roosevelt in relation to his companions: Black and Native-American men. The statue had stood for more than 80 years.

Then, earlier this month, the New York Philharmonic opened its 2022-23 season, and the newly renovated David Geffen Hall, with an original composition by Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles. Called San Juan Hill: A New York Story, it features Charles’ Creole Soul Jazz Band and the Philharmonic. “San Juan Hill was [the neighborhood] razed in the 1950s so that Lincoln Center might rise,” wrote Peggy Taylor, who covered the opening for the Rag. “The Center, once viewed as aloof from the surrounding neighborhoods, is reaching out to those neighborhoods and acknowledging a more inclusive vision of the past.”

Now, Wollman Rink, the public ice-skating facility at the southern tip of Central Park, an institution in its own right, has announced that it will open for the season on October 23rd with a “free public skate” (and rentals) and an elaborate celebration. Amid the music and performances will be presentations of new initiatives to help “provide access for New Yorkers who have not historically been able to afford to visit Wollman Rink,” a spokesperson for the group that runs the rink informed the Rag.

Full-disclosure: this reporter was skeptical when a private group won the Wollman Rink concession in April 2021, edging out the Central Park Conservancy, after the Trump Organization was stripped of all its New York City contracts as a result of the former president’s alleged involvement in the incitement of the January 6th Insurrection.

Still, Wollman Park Partners (WPP) — a joint venture between Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils) and the Related Companies and Equinox — stated in a press release that they were “not seeking or accepting any of the profit from operating Wollman Rink. Any net proceeds generated during the concession term will be reinvested in the facility and through community partners providing services at Wollman Rink.” Furthermore, “we are refining our programming to be inclusive and accessible to all.”

As the second season of WPP’s five-year contract dawns, they seem to be holding to that mission. On opening day, they will announce a new partnership with Culture Pass, which is accessed with a New York Public Library card, offering free admission tickets, as well as the expansion of the Wollman Rink Access Program (WRAP), offering free tickets and a special package deal to those from “impoverished zip codes.” There will also be free skate days for first responders and essential workers, veterans and active service members, and public-sectors workers.

For information about Wollman Rink and Opening Day 2022, click here. For information about Culture Pass, click here. For a description of the Wollman Rink Access Program (WRAP), click here.

Full disclosure: this reporter’s skepticism has changed to cautious optimism…and excitement!

Waiting for the joy.
Share this article:
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

10 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Melissa
Melissa
5 months ago

Do not be fooled. These financiers are all basically Stephen Ross, who is a major donor to Trump and conservative candidates in NYC. Trump and his brand of kleptocracy is a cancer, deeply rooted in this city.

6
Reply
MJB
MJB
5 months ago
Reply to  Melissa

What is it with blaming each and every issue on Trump? I am not a Trump supporter, I totally despise the guy. But I can’t understand the constant hatred and deflection of the issues citing his name. I can’t understand how his contract with the rink was broken even though he is still not officially found guilty in his alleged Jan 6 involvement. Same people who who constantly defend city robbers’, etc. release pending trial and lecturing us constantly about presumption of innocence, are cheering for Trump contracts revoked and name stripped from institutions.

Cheap victory that doesn’t achieve anything however doesn’t require much effort on your own part while making you feel you did something.

A lot of UWSers live in Trump built buildings. I wonder if they are willing to move from their luxury apartments to prove their “Trump” point.

25
Reply
Keith
Keith
5 months ago
Reply to  MJB

For someone who’s not a Trump supporter, you give him quite the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his role in fomenting insurrection.

3
Reply
MJB
MJB
5 months ago
Reply to  Keith

That was my point exactly – benefit of the doubt, innocent till proven guilty. Same justice for all regardless whether you like or don’t like a person.

12
Reply
PastramiQueen
PastramiQueen
5 months ago
Reply to  MJB

The city has plenty of reasons to cease working with the Trump Organization, including their history of stiffing NYC contractors, their theft of charitable contributions, and their deceptive trade practices related to Trump University – all of which have been adjudicated.

Why should the Trump Organization be held to a different ethical standard than every other NYC business that has a contract with the city?

0
Reply
Juan
Juan
5 months ago
Reply to  Melissa

No ice skating for you!

4
Reply
janis
janis
5 months ago
Reply to  Melissa

What is it that bothers you? Free tickets with your library card? Free tickets and a special package deal to those from “impoverished zip codes?” Our perhaps that there will be free skate days for first responders and essential workers, veterans and active service members, and public-sectors workers. Maybe it’s the fact that they will not accept any of the net profits, but vow to put the proceeds back into the facility.

Why not just be happy that they have made these promises to New Yorkers. If we find that they are not sticking to their commitments, and with New York media, I’m sure they won’t give any quarter to a company associated with the former president, you will have plenty of time to vent your spleen.

Meanwhile, if the Trump Organization hadn’t taken over the rink’s renovation, which was finished in 6 months at 25% below the budget, from the City which had invested over $13 million and six years and STILL saw the rink in disrepair, and THEN claimed they needed to start the project all over again, you’d still be looking to spend a bundle to put on the blades at Rockefeller Center.

35
Reply
Dana
Dana
5 months ago
Reply to  janis

That’s limo liberals to you. They’d rather take away things from people for whose social justice they preach they are fighting.

They take away our safety, our children’s education because they can’t get over someone slightest association with Trump. Doesn’t matter how much good that someone does for the community and the city. Ideology first, people second.

18
Reply
Melissa
Melissa
5 months ago
Reply to  Dana

Limo? I don’t even have a car.

0
Reply
West Side mama
West Side mama
5 months ago

The New York Blood Center is the organization that collects blood in New York City (a separate entity from the American Red Cross). It’s also home to some of the leading researchers in that field.

0
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

Openings & Closings: Poulet Sans Tête; The Drilling Company; Robofun; Nuts Factory; Blossom Jewelry
FOOD

Openings & Closings: Poulet Sans Tête; The Drilling Company; Robofun; Nuts Factory; Blossom Jewelry

March 29, 2023 | 6:40 PM
SRO ‘Reclaimed’ as Permanent Supportive Housing on West 107th Street
NEWS

SRO ‘Reclaimed’ as Permanent Supportive Housing on West 107th Street

March 29, 2023 | 10:05 AM
Previous Post

A Great, Enjoyable, Free, Outdoor Art Show on the Upper West Side

Next Post

Central Park Birding Report: Splendor in the Grass

this week's events image

Explore Your Favorite Subject

20th precinct 24th precinct american museum of natural history animals art bicycling bulletin central park closings columns community board 7 coronavirus crash crime development dogs events fdny fire food gale brewer helen rosenthal history jcc lincoln center monday bulletin morning bulletin nypd openings pedestrian safety photography photos politics public schools pupper west side real estate restaurants retail riverside park silver stars fitness snow sponsored subway upper west side uws

CITY NEWS

Brick Underground
City Limits
Eater
Gothamist
NY Daily News
NY Post
NY Times

LOCAL RESOURCES

Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Central Park Conservancy
CB7
Community Education Council 3
Assembly District 67
The New York Historical Society
Riverside Park
West End Preservation

UWS Blogs

Bloomingdale History Central Park Blogger
North River Notes

Next Post
Central Park Birding Report: Splendor in the Grass

Central Park Birding Report: Splendor in the Grass

Foiled Best-Buy Robber Uses Pepper Spray to Get Away

Foiled Best-Buy Robber Uses Pepper Spray to Get Away

Claremont Hall: Esteemed Architecture, Curated Amenities and Vibrant Community in the Academic Acropolis

Claremont Hall: Esteemed Architecture, Curated Amenities and Vibrant Community in the Academic Acropolis

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT US
  • WSR SHOP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.