Monday, October 7, 2024
Partly sunny. High 71 degrees.
The week’s forecast is pleasant, lots of sun, no rain, and temperatures in the 60s and 70s.
October 7 is the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel. West Side Rag will be covering related events in the neighborhood on this day.
Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of fasting and atonement, begins the evening of Friday, October 11.
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events. Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.
There will be an event on Monday to commemorate the anniversary of last year’s October 7 attack at 6 p.m. in Central Park.
Upper West Side News
By Gus Saltonstall
After failing to negotiate a new lease with its landlord, an Upper West Side school that has served children in the same building for nearly 100 years is in danger of closing at the end of the school year, according to an email from the school’s administration to its community.
Brinton Parson, head of school at Alexander Robertson School (ARS), located at 3 West 95th Street near Central Park West, sent an email on September 25 notifying families about the possibility of the school’s closure, so that students have “ample time to secure enrollment elsewhere for the 2025-26 school year.”
“It is with regret that I report it was determined on 09/23/2024 that ARS Holding, Inc was unable to secure a proper lease with The Second Presbyterian Church,” the email reads. “I will therefore be disbanding ARS Holding, Inc in June 2025, and the School will not open next September under my direction.”
ARS is a nonsectarian elementary school with a history dating back to 1789, and has been at the Upper West Side location since 1926.
Neither ARS nor the Second Presbyterian Church has returned the Rag’s request for comment on September 26.
“If you have other children currently or formerly enrolled in other schools with which you are pleased, those should be your first applications,” the email to the school community reads. “The city has many wonderful schools, and I will meet with each family to examine your children’s ongoing education.”
We will update this story, when more information is learned.
On Sunday, The New York Times published a piece entitled “A Master Storyteller, at the End of Her Story,” about the last chapter of the life of Upper West Sider and author Lore Segal.
Segal, 96, has published dozens of novels and short stories to critical acclaim over her long career, including “Shakespeare’s Kitchen,” which was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2008.
Her work has also appeared frequently in The New Yorker, for the first time on February 24, 1961, and, most recently, on September 29, 2024.
For the Times’ story, writer Matthew Shaer spent multiple days visiting Segal’s longtime home at West 100th Street and Riverside Drive, to talk about her life and work.
Segal was born in Vienna, Austria. She fled to England as a child on a Kindertransport to escape the Nazis. Segal and her mother eventually reunited and moved to New York City in 1951, after spending three years in the Dominican Republic awaiting visas.
The Times article is expansive, but here are two passages that capture Segal’s voice.
“‘I refuse to use the words. I refuse to be ‘elderly.’ I refuse to talk about ‘passing away.’ Where am I passing? Can you tell me? No. The point of writing, I believe, is finding the right words. And being old is being old. Dying is dying. You must not be scared to say it,'” Segal told the Times reporter.
The second:
“I read aloud the passage to Segal and saw that her mouth was moving silently along with mine: She knew the words by heart. ‘I am not a religious person,’ she said. ‘I don’t think there is an afterlife. But I am a spiritual person, and I’ve experienced a lot of what I think of as visions. That was one, with the dandelions. Here’s another: I was standing with a friend in New York, and it was also good light, and the light was flitting on her sunglasses and making a brilliant reflection.’ Here she smiled. ‘I remember thinking to myself: Ah, OK, Lore. This is what it’s all about.'”
You can read the full profile — HERE.
UPDATE: Segal died in her Upper West Side home on Monday, one day after her profile was published. She was 96.
It is a rare sight. A cat on a leash.
But, it is an even rarer sight to see a cat tied up on a leash outside of a business.
That is exactly what one person saw on Sunday, at the Little Creatures pet store on Columbus Avenue between West 74th and 75th streets, and she posted a photo.
“This is so upper-west-side-ish to walk with a cat on a leash,” reads the caption. We’ll leave it up to readers to decide how accurate that is, or whether pets should be left alone ouside of stores.
This is so upper-west-side-ish to walk with a cat on a leash pic.twitter.com/9K63LqUbxF
— 🌈 ivanksk (@ivanksk1) October 5, 2024
Either way, the image of a cat, seated and waiting patiently, is memorable.
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See video of a pig walking a cat.
https://youtu.be/JlfWbxZZ7sE?si=gWWjWJZkB2zRLEZm
Today is also the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel. Let’s not forget that.
This is listed under notices: There will be an event on Monday to commemorate the anniversary of last year’s October 7 attack at 6 p.m. in Central Park.
I wonder how the event is being remembered on the campus of Columbia ……
What is even rarer than seeing a cat on a leash is sering a dog on a leash in Riverside Park
Sadly, Lore Segal died today, a day after the profile was published.
I’m planning to re-read “Other People’s Houses” in honor of her life and work.
I, like many other passers-by stopped to pet and chat with the cat, who was a cool…..well, cat. Later in the day, the feline was still there, suggesting it was not waiting for someone patronizing the pet shop. I enjoyed the encounter with a leashed creature who was not a dog, for a change.
(Perhaps the cat came with the sandwich board. Or is an influencer.)
I owe to Lore Segal the knowledge that I left Vienna as part of a larger movement called the Kindertransport. Part of her book “Other People’s Houses” was excerpted in The New Yorker. When I read it, I realized that my experience wasn’t unique. Some years later when the Kindertransport Association was formed in the United States, I met her at our annual conferences. I hope that I will face my own death with as much courage as she showed.
That is a very chill cat! We used to walk ours when we lived in Tempe, AZ, because it was a pretty quiet neighborhood. When we tried in NYC she was absolutely freaked out by all the noise and activity. We had to settle for walking her inside our building, which seemed to keep her sufficiently entertained.
Does anyone know where the vigil for the victims of the Hamas attacks will be in Central Park tonight? The article just states there will be a vigil @ 6:00. It does not state where in CP.
Better to walk a cat on a leash than to let them roam outside unleashed, wreaking all sorts of devastation on the local birds.
Even better to walk the cat on a leash as opposed to tying him/her up all day outside. Tells me lots about that pet store – and not any good things.
I can’t be the only person who was upset at the idea that someone would leave a cat tied up outside on a NYC sidewalk that way. Cats need to be able to escape predators (dogs, for example). They survive by being able to make quick getaways and find hiding places, and this cat has neither option. While dogs function pretty well on leashes, even they should not be tied up outside on a New York City sidewalk. This is not cute and not funny.
Agree with you 1000% This photo makes me sad and angry.
No you’re not the only one—we all must know stories of cats killed by dogs— I know I do—and that dog that is well behaved around humans might not be so much coming upon an unexpected cat—and you are right this cat has no escape—they also get more than their share of bad treatment by sadists—can kitty just go inside and be safe?
There has to be much more to the story regarding ARS. It’s truly a very unfortunate situation. This is an excellent school.
For the record, the cat actually works for the store. Previously she was employed at their other location between 86th and 85th on Amsterdam. Nothing so exotic as being walked.
How much do they pay>Asking for my cat.
Those 2 dogs in the photo conceivably could gang up and maim this cat—and I don’t see water etc altho it looks like it’s in good condition —seems like a cheap trick as advertising for the store—just take kitty inside!
Bad actors steal pets left alone on leashes.
Gus, you ask if pets should be left alone outside of stores. My answer: NEVER routinely (I’ll allow wiggle room for unforeseeable extreme situations).
I will never forget the heartbreaking note posted years ago near a now-defunct UWS supermarket, where the poster had left his dog tied up just for a moment, to grab an item inside. All that remained when he returned was something of the dog’s the thief removed and left behind). The poster explained he and his beloved pet were survivors of 9/11. It was clear his dog was his heart and soul, and his profound anguish was palpable, even on paper. Wish I could give a happy ending, but, alas…
Sooooo…I’ve become one of those “busybodies” who, upon seeing a shopper emerge from a store to retrieve their left-alone pet, gently remind them it takes a minute (or much less) for a pet to be stolen (or attacked) – and a lifetime to regret a decision that enables that. Friends have asked if anyone’s gotten angry at me. Nope! They know I come from a place of love, and most look abashed and THANK me.
If anyone who habitually leaves their pet alone outside while they shop/run errands, is now going to re-think doing that – my work here is done! 🙂
I never cease to be amazed at how brave and special some people are. Lore Segal falls into that category.
Roy Rollin wrote:
“For the record, the cat actually works for the store. Previously she was employed at their other location between 86th and 85th on Amsterdam. Nothing so exotic as being walked.”
Over past several years there have been numerous instances of store or “Bodega” cats being stolen by either well intention or otherwise individuals.
In common with those who dump sacks of birdseed on city streets there are individuals who cannot help themselves when they see a feline.
https://abc7ny.com/post/18-year-old-cat-needs-medication-stolen-bodega-queens/15182379/
https://nypost.com/2024/08/13/us-news/beloved-18-year-old-bodega-cat-snatched-right-outside-nyc-deli/
https://pix11.com/news/local-news/see-it-beloved-bodega-cat-taken-from-manhattan-store/
It’s a sad commentary to modern life in this city when even cats must be tethered to prevent theft, but that’s simply where things are in NYC today.
How much do you want to bet the school will become a shelter if it closes? Just like Calhoun on West 74th Street. The UWS will soon have a shelter on every single block. It’s where we are headed.
Laura S. wrote:
“Sooooo…I’ve become one of those “busybodies” who, upon seeing a shopper emerge from a store to retrieve their left-alone pet, gently remind them it takes a minute (or much less) for a pet to be stolen (or attacked) – and a lifetime to regret a decision that enables that. Friends have asked if anyone’s gotten angry at me. Nope! They know I come from a place of love, and most look abashed and THANK me.”
Except that it is a violate of NY health code laws to bring a dog or any pet into areas where food is sold or prepared.
It’s all very well for persons like yourself to encourage persons to take their pets with them into supermarkets, delis and other such places, but OTOH that is considered unsanitary.
One naturally has sympathy for a dog owner whose pet has been kidnapped after leaving it tethered alone in front of a store, However your actions merely embolden what is becoming an epidemic, people bringing dogs into shops and other places where they are not allowed by law.
Rite Aid, CVS, DR, Fairway, Whole Foods, and other such supermarkets or whatever places you see people with dogs with attitude rules and laws simply do not apply to themselves. Some place smaller dogs into shopping carts and or seats where children are meant to sit. We know from store employees these dogs relive themselves and or sometimes snap at or bite other customers.
If owners of dogs cannot find someone to remain with pooch while it’s tethered outside a shop best leave it home. Problem solved.