Monday, October 2, 2023
Sunny clear skies. High 70 degrees.
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events. Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.
Sukkot continues through Friday.
It is National Taco Day on Wednesday.
Halloween is in 29 days.
Upper West Side News
By Gus Saltonstall
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio enjoyed himself on the Upper West Side at the end of last month as he was spotted in a three-hour make-out session with a “mysterious woman” at the Empire Rooftop bar on West 63rd Street, reported the New York Post.
De Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray announced their separation in July, even though they will continue to live together. A staff member at the popular Empire Hotel told the Post that de Blasio and the unidentified woman regularly visit the bar together “at least three times a week.”
For those interested, the New York Post provided a sports-like breakdown of the former mayor’s unabashed display of public affection.
A sea lion had quite the change in her daily activities on Friday. The record-setting amount of rain that fell across the five boroughs caused the plaza where the sea lion pool is located within the Central Park Zoo to flood, allowing one of the animals to swim out of her pool and “explore the area.”
The Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Central Park Zoo, released a statement on Friday about the brief escape.
“Zoo staff monitored the sea lion as she explored the area before returning to the familiar surroundings of the pool and the company of the other two sea lions,” a spokesperson wrote. “The water levels have receded and the animals are contained in their exhibit. No staff or visitors were in danger and the sea lion remained inside the zoo, never breaking the zoo’s secondary perimeter.”
More than five inches of rain fell in Central Park on Friday, including a period of more than two inches in one hour — making it the second wettest 60 minutes in Central Park in the last 80 years.
The sea lion must have had some stories to tell to her animal friends.
Upper West Side Councilmember Gale Brewer had her own unexpected Friday experience due to the historic downpour. The longtime elected official got stuck on the 2 train for hours, as first reported by Patch.
“I have been on the #2 train at the W. 96th St. station for hours and I am not alone!” Brewer wrote on X Friday afternoon. “I have plenty of work and lots of constituents to talk to. I was on my way to City Hall for a 4 p.m. bill signing with NYC Mayor but it just got canceled! I am leaving now to go to District Office. Good announcements from MTA.”
The majority of train lines were either delayed or fully suspended on Friday. People online used Brewer’s post to question the communication, or lack thereof, from Mayor Eric Adam’s office regarding the storm. Adams did not address the public until noon on Friday.
The New York City Triathlon took place on Sunday, but it did not have its usual Upper West Side route. The nearly 2,000 people that competed did not start the race in customary fashion by jumping into the Hudson River.
Due to water-quality concerns following the rain and flooding on Friday, the swimming portion of the NYC Triathlon was canceled and the athletes kicked the race off on land. The competitors began with a short run, then a 25-mile bike ride, and finished with a 6.2 mile run through Central Park.
“Everyone trains for probably a year leading up to it and it’s iconic to be in the Hudson looking over and seeing New York City passing by you, so it is a little sad,” Upper West Sider Laura Dunn told CBS News.
The West Side Rag recently wrote about two instances where senior citizens in the neighborhood were targeted by scammers pretending their children or grandchildren were in trouble, and the New York Post just chronicled how criminals are using artificial intelligence to mimic voices.
There is a new phone scam where con artists are using AI “to stimulate a desperate child begging their parent for help.” An Upper West Side mom told the New York Post that she picked up the phone to what she thought was her 14-year-old daughter crying for help about getting arrested, before the call was transferred to a “police officer” who told her that she needed to deliver $15,500 to Manhattan Central Booking. “She went to the bank to withdraw the cash and was ready to go downtown when her daughter — who was really in school taking a chemistry exam — finally picked up her phone to let her know she was safe,” the Post said.
After informing a 20th Precinct officer, a cop told her that someone who lives on the same Upper West Side block recently fell victim to the same scam.
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The Detectives’ Endowment Association (DEA) of the NYPD would like to remind the public to be aware of phone, text, and email scams asking for bail or other monies for relatives “in a jam.” These calls from spoofed phone numbers are scam artists looking to bilk the elderly of cash. They count on an elderly person flying into a “panic” and rushing to send or deliver money, without thinking clearly, to assist a “relative,” when the person calling is not a relative at all. Often the scammers will also impersonate lawyers, bail bondmen, police, or others in order to perpetuate the fraud. One of our NYPD Undercover Detectives recently worked on the culmination of a multi-year, international investigation into a bail scam targeting elderly members of the NYC community. These scammers operated out of call centers in the Dominican Republic. More than 100 perpetrators were arrested, and millions in cash, property, vehicles, and weapons were seized by authorities. REMEMBER: The police will never demand cash to be mailed, wired, or picked up for bail.
I just got a senior related phone scam call.
The caller said Grandpa, Grandpa. I never have had children.
I quickly terminated that call. The same caller has called me several times over the past year.
The“’police officer’” who told her that [the potential fraud victim]” needed to deliver $15,500 to Manhattan Central Booking. “She went to the bank to withdraw the cash and was ready to go downtown …
Anxiety for one’s kids is of course believable. As to the rest:
# Few people know what Central Booking is, let alone where . (One has to suppose that the fraudster provided a roadmap — which strains credibility.) # Finally, the idea that a police officer would demand a 5-figure bribe from a westsider demonstrates that =the financial image of the west side has indeed been burnished, but also that =the NYPD rep among citizens requires a major overhaul ASAP to expose the “just our job” accomplishments that almost never get deserved media attention..
I’m pretty skeptical about how often AI is used in these scams, which are mostly operated through calling a million random numbers til a senior or other apparently receptive person picks up. No need for research on who your family members are or what their voice sounds like. I bet the mom here was just upset–a screaming crying kid over a lousy cell phone connection isn’t going to sound much like their usual self. At least she had the sense to call her daughter.
If it helps, bail is set at arraignment. Arraignment is supposed to happen within 24 hours, but certainly doesn’t happen right away. So if your loved one left for school two hours ago, they haven’t had bail set.
I like the cop too damn lazy to take a report on it, though! “Oh, well, we probably can’t catch them, so no need to make me type anything.”
Where do you see a report was not taken? Keep hating the police, they will go away. People like you are the reason no one wants to be the police anymore.
Are these typically done on land lines? Cell phones? Both?
Voice over IP! Scammers could be working out of a call center anywhere on the globe
Long bike ride and 6 mile run. My kind of triathalon!
Love the cover photo! Keep ’em coming — Hallowe’en photos are so great.
I like that there’s a triathlon but they diverted all the traffic going north on Broadway and Amsterdam east onto W 94th St starting at 6:30 AM Sunday which created a mini traffic jam and half the drivers thought it would be OK to just lay on their horns all the way down 94th Street. So much for a peaceful morning.
They lay on their horns down 93 rd too esp between cpw and col. Always something around parking garage
I know standards at the Post are low but the article on de Blasio reads like it was written by a clique of gossipy high school girls. Must have been a slow or no news day
As it should be. No grown adult should be writing anything about the intimate rendezvous of some minor local administrator of non-existent public interest or value.
By the way, is this picture from 101st(?) between Broadway and West End? They always used to decorate so festively.
I took that photo last year at 69th Street between Columbus and Central Park West. It’s one of the standout Halloween installations and will likely be there again this year about a week or two before Halloween.
Unrelated to any of these items, but what’s going on with the lights in Riverside Park? Almost all of the Serpentine section is pitch black and has been that was since last week. Is there a timeline to fix it? Why don’t they put some portable lights in there right away until they can fix it? It feels very unsafe!