Monday Bulletin: Updates on the 69th Street Transfer Bridge, the Columbus Circle Escalators, and the Center at West Park; Plus, Zabar’s Inspires a Sneaker

Today is Monday, August 25th, 2025

After a sweltering first half of August, temperatures this week should be noticeably cooler; today and Friday are the only days the mercury is expected to edge above 80, and even then, not by much. Showers are forecast for this morning and Friday.

After a couple of weeks of highlighting Yankee record-breakers in this space, here’s one for Mets fans: On this day in 1985, Dwight Gooden became the youngest pitcher in Major League Baseball to win 20 games in a single season.

Also on this day, but a half-century earlier, in 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly nonstop across the United States, landing her red Lockheed Vega 5B in Newark N.J., 19 hours, 5 minutes after taking off from Los Angeles.

Notices

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

You may want to stay indoors between 8:30 tonight and 6 tomorrow morning, when pesticide trucks will be spraying for mosquitos.

The city health department said in a press release that it will be using very low concentrations of Anvil® 10+10, Duet® or MERUS®, which have minimal risk to people and pets. However, they can cause short-term eye or throat irritation or a rash in people who are sensitive to ingredients in the spray and also can adversely affect people with respiratory conditions.

According to health department data, more than 800 puddles in the city have tested positive this year for mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus, which in rare cases can affect the central nervous system.

The map above shows the approximate area that will be sprayed. In case of rain, the spraying will be conducted on the same schedule tomorrow. More details — HERE.

News Roundup

Compiled by Laura Muha

Readers have been asking about activity at the old 69th Street Transfer Bridge in Riverside Park South. The historic structure, once used to move freight cars from a nearby rail yard to barges for transport across the Hudson, is being stabilized and restored, with new lighting also to be added. Signage appeared at the end of January and permitting efforts were underway in the spring, with work beginning in earnest in June with the arrival of barges and heavy equipment. The project is mostly being staged from the water, though supplies have also been brought in by truck and transferred to the site from Pier i using a crane. For more on the project, see our article from October 2024. — Dan Katzive

Since we’re on the subject of “what’s going on with …?”: 

It’s been a year since the escalators were taken out of service at the Deutsche Bank Center entrance to the Columbus Circle subway station, after an inspection raised structural concerns about the concrete slab above them. At the time, the official word was that the closure would last only a couple of weeks; then it was extended to a couple of months. But that deadline came and went, too, and now, a year later, commuters continue to climb three flights of stairs to the exit at West 58th Street and Eighth Avenue, which is privately maintained by the center.

New York City Councilmember Gale Brewer says she’s gotten so many questions from constituents that she reached out to get answers from Related Commercial Management, which manages the building and is overseeing the repairs.

Company officials told her that after weekly meetings with the MTA over the past year, a remediation plan has finally been approved. It includes replacing the slab, upgrading lighting, adding waterproofing and repairing the escalator. Though some work on the entrance may extend into early 2026, Brewer says she was told that enough should be completed by mid-November for the escalators to reopen.

Bagels, smoked fish, gourmet cheese and … sneakers?

While it might be a little premature to add that last item to your Zabar’s shopping list, if you’ve been in the iconic UWS grocery store lately, you may have noticed orange-soled tennis shoes on display  — and on the feet of some of its staff.

The UWS sneaker boutique West NYC has partnered with Adidas to reissue the 1970s cult-classic Rod Laver shoe, named after the Australian tennis great, but updated with touches of orange to coordinate with the uniforms of Zabar’s employees. The launch is tied to the US Open, going on now at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, but West NYC officials hope it won’t end when the Open does; the aim, according to the company’s press release, is to transform “the classic sneakers into an unofficial part of the store’s uniform.”

This isn’t Zabar’s first branding collaboration; earlier this year, the store partnered with Nordstrom for the latter’s “For Everything New York” campaign, and in 2022, the luxury leather-goods company Coach created a Zabar’s collection that included a $495 Zabar’s sweater.

Oh, and if you like the sneakers, you can — surprise! — buy a pair, eight blocks south at the sneaker shop or on its website.

Read the full story — HERE.

If you’re looking for something to do this evening, and can afford the $1,000 ticket price, you might want to head to East Hampton for a staged adaption of the 1976 movie “All the President’s Men,” with proceeds going to  the UWS’s beloved (and beleaguered) Center at West Park.

The all-star cast for the reading includes, among others, Alec Baldwin, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julianne Moore, Nathan Lane, and Mark Ruffalo. Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who broke the Watergate story that brought down Richard Nixon, will introduce the reading and take part in a discussion afterward.

The Center at West Park has been in the news for much of the summer, as it unsuccessfully fought eviction from long-time landlord West-Park Presbyterian Church, which plans to sell to a developer to build luxury condominiums.

But the arts group, now settled in a new home, has vowed to keep fighting to preserve the historic church. “We don’t have to be in the building to continue to work to save it,” Debby Hirshman, executive director of the group, told The New York Times.

Read the full story — HERE.

ICYMI

Here are a few stories from last week’s Rag that we think are worth a look if you missed them — or a second look if you saw them. (Note that our comments stay open for six days after publication, so you may not be able to comment on all of them.)

Memorial Outside of McDonald’s Honors ‘Green Eyes,’ a Friendly Presence on the UWS

Ruthless Advice for Upper West Siders: All of the Answers With None of the Expertise

UWSider’s Tap-Dance Journey Is a Hands-Down Success

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