Monday, January 29, 2024
Cloudy. High 41 degrees.
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events. Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.
On Monday, the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan will host, “Supermensch: Unveiling the Superhero Jewish Secrets.” The night of laughs will take place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., and feature comedian Judy Gold.
Upper West Side News
By Gus Saltonstall
In some major birding news, Rover the bald eagle was spotted last week in Central Park for the first time in nearly two years, the New York Post reported.
Rover was seen on January 22 above the Central Park Reservoir, where he used to famously hunt seagulls and other creatures.
Welcome back to one of Central Park’s great celebrity birds! Rover the Bald Eagle was seen at the Reservoir this morning after famously hunting gulls there in January 2022 (photo). As long as some ice remains, Rover may continue visiting. 🦅 pic.twitter.com/AHqWlSRQcx
— Manhattan Bird Alert (@BirdCentralPark) January 22, 2024
The bird is easily identifiable thanks to an “R7” tag he received from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in 2018.
In 2023, experts confirmed at least four bald eagles living in the city, after none were seen for nearly a century. Inwood Hill Park in Upper Manhattan is the most common place to find these birds.
A pair of Upper West Side sidewalk sheds recently received the dubious honor of being among the oldest pieces of scaffolding in Manhattan.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine published a list last week of the eight oldest sidewalk sheds in the borough, and 571 West End Avenue near West 88th Street, and 2139 Broadway near West 75th Street, both earned places on the list.
The sidewalk shed outside the pre-war building at 571 West End Avenue has been up since September 2013, with Department of Building records showing significant delays in construction over the years. Recently, the property received a $6,250 fine for failing to submit an inspection report. Completion is currently projected for April 2024.
The property at 2139 Broadway is a landmarked building that saw its sidewalk shed go up in the summer of 2014. The most recent major update was a request for a 16-month extension in 2023, which stated that roughly 60 percent of the work was complete.
You can find out more — HERE.
The New York Times profiled Tania Tetlow, the first woman and layperson to lead Fordham University, which has a campus on the Upper West Side, in its 182-year history.
While Fordham’s main campus is located in the Bronx, the Jesuit school’s second campus at Lincoln Center on West 60th Street serves as a micro-community within the neighborhood.
The profile addresses the recent resignations of Claudine Gay at Harvard University and Elizabeth Magill at the University of Pennsylvania, both of whom had been president of those schools for less than two years.
“Being a university president is a tough job on a good day,” Tetlow told the New York Times. “I think we’re all feeling fragile right now. These are tough issues to navigate.”
Find out more about Tetlow — HERE.
An Upper West Side restaurant is continuing its scorching year of reviews with its inclusion among the semifinalists of the Best New Restaurant in New York State by the James Beard Awards.
Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi, which opened within Lincoln Center in 2022, was named on Wednesday as a semifinalist for the Best New Restaurant in the state.
The eatery has racked up a host of praise in its short time open, including earning a place within the New York Times 50 best restaurants in the country for 2023, Yelp’s 25 top picks in the United States, and five stars from TimeOut.
The restaurant is led by Onwuachi, who has run eateries in Washington, D.C. and California, and also competed in the popular TV show, “Top Chef.”
Onwuachi was previously named the “Rising Star Chef of the Year” by the James Beard Awards.
The only problem? It is nearly impossible to get a reservation.
Also on the Upper West Side, Chef Charles Gabriel, who heads Charles Pan-Fried Chicken, which has a location on West 72nd Street, has been named a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef in New York State.
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Cheers to Charles Pan Fried Chicken.
Staff there are so sweet and friendly.
I had no interest in this restaurant because I don’t eat meat or chicken, but I noticed that they have a fish dish. Also, you can order a combination of sides. And finally, I LOVE cornbread. Curious to see how their’s stocks up. Still disappointed that Sugar Bar (also on West 72nd st) stopped serving cornbread.
But Sugar Bar consistently has the best food and greatest atmosphere on UWS!👏🌟🩷
LOVE sugar bar! so under the radar
Tatiana is delightful and it’s so great to have some younger energy in Lincoln Square.
Sarah,
Seems to me most people eating at restaurants around Lincoln Center are a “younger” demographic?
Did you mean younger chef at Tatiana?
Please fine buildings with scaffolding up longer than six months by the day.
The scaffolding around the Family Regent Residence at 2720 Broadway (104th) has been in place for a decade at least. It’s particularly frustrating as the city pays for the facility’s operations and seems to have no leverage (or exerts none in any event) to require the building repairs — of which there are none taking place.
AGREE! How is this scaffolding not included on that list? That corner is disgusting and that scaffolding has been there at least 10 years.
Very tired of that forever scaffolding.
Bravo, Tatiana!! Very well deserved! The food is AMAZING and the ambience is perfect. Dined there for my bday last month and it was well worth the wait! I hope it wins the award!
Levine’s fight against the sight of scaffolding seems unnecessary . Mayor Adams made the same push at his State of the City Address in 2023. Scaffolding is necessary for building repairs, which are required every five years for buildings over six-stories. NYCHA buildings can’t afford necessary scaffolding in Manhattan — maybe Levine should look into that versus ‘cleaning the streets’ for wealthy Upper West Side residents.
Scaffolding is required by the Department of Buildings is an “unsafe condition” is found – and Local Law 11 means there is a profit for the engineering companies doing the inspections to find “unsafe conditions.”
Repairs must be approved by the Landmarks Commission in most areas of the Upper West Side, and the Landmarks imposes extremely rigid criteria that vasty increase costs and the time required for repairs.
Example: any terra cotta on the 6th floor & below must be replaced with terra cotta, not the much less expensive, easier to source, and more durable cast stone. There are only two companies that produce the terra cotta many UWS building are required to replace – and they have over a year long waiting list. When I walk around the neighborhood and see a building with scaffolding and terra cotta on lower floors, I know that scaffolding will be up for years.
Fines aren’t the answer to get scaffolding down.
We need a radical overhaul of NYC’s requirements to do repairs, to make them faster and more economic, while maintaining safety. This would do a lot to beautify the UWS.
Agreed. Landmarks requirements have held my building up for two years and counting.
571 West End Avenue doesn’t exist as a building. I’ve reached out to the Borough President–Perhaps they meant 575 West End? The photography they used is also for 580 WEA, and that sidewalk shed is no longer up.
Yes, the bald eagle ,Rover, is a beautiful bird with an incredible wingspan, but the “welcome back” is somewhat dubious.
After all, it’s a bird of prey who goes after our beautiful seagulls flying over the Hudson. Seagulls are such gentle birds so to see the hawk and know what they feast on doesn’t warrant a welcome back in my book.
It is the national bird. Its species made a miraculous recovery from the brink of extinction. It is an absolutely beautiful bird. It is an eagle, not a hawk. There are major differences between hawks, eagles, falcons, and vultures. There is also no such thing as a seagull. There are many different species of gulls, but none of them are seagulls. I would be much happier if it ate pigeons like the red tailed hawks, as gulls are a much better site than the common pigeon. But sighting a bald eagle circling, especially at a low altitude is one of the most majestic sights.
Some of the sidewalk sheds have been around long enough that the city might want to consider landmarking them.
Don’t give them any ideas!
I was thrilled to see Chef Gabriel of Charles Pan Fried Chicken is in consideration for a James Beard. That doesn’t happen without a lot of people pulling in the right direction, so my congratulations to all. I can understand Tatiana—I don’t think that is a surprise to anyone, but a fried chicken place in one of those narrow stores on 72nd? It made my day.
I’m impressed you were able to get reservations at Tatiana. I have tried 4 or 5 different times, going onto the Resy site as required exactly 28 days in advance at 12 noon precisely, without success. I even had the AmEx Platinum concierge try, also to no avail. I believe bots must be buying up reservations as soon as they’re released online.
Also recommend going at 5pm and putting your name down. They save tables for walk-ins.
It’s fabulous! Keep trying!!!
Add 666 West End Avenue (at West 92nd Street) to the list. This building, owned by Stellar Management (hahaha) has had scaffolding/sidewalk sheds blighting the neighborhood for multiple decades. How do I know this? I live in a next door building. My view of West 92nd Street has been obstructed for a significant part of my life – and my late wife’s final view of NYC was their hideous structures. If any politicians or persons with authority read this post, please do something about this.