Today is Monday, October 13th, 2025
The forecast calls for wind and rain, with gusts of up to 45 mph anticipated through 6 p.m.; a high temperature of 59.
Tomorrow, morning drizzle should give way to a cloudy but drier afternoon, with temperatures in the mid-60s. Mostly sunny and pleasant for the rest of the week, with highs near 60.
Today is Columbus Day, and also Indigenous People’s Day, honoring, respectively, the Italian explorer credited with discovering the Americas in 1492, and the history and cultures of Native Americans who were so profoundly impacted by his arrival. There is no mail delivery, and non-essential federal, state and city government offices are closed, as are public schools and some private schools. Some banks are closed as well. There is no curbside recycling or trash pickup today, and alternate side of the street parking is suspended.
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events. Click on the link or the lady in the upper right-hand corner to check.
A reminder that if you’re not registered to vote and want to cast a ballot on November 4th, the Board of Elections must receive your registration form by Saturday, October 25th. You can check to see if you’re registered — HERE. If you’re not, or if you’ve changed your address since the last election, you’ll find more information and a link to register/change your address — HERE, plus instructions for filing via mail, email or fax if you’d prefer a lower-tech method of registering.
City Council’s participatory budgeting process is underway for the upcoming fiscal year, and Councilmember Gale Brewer is looking for input from District 6 constituents as to infrastructure projects they would like to see covered by the district’s $1 million allocation. She’s also looking for volunteers who can commit a few hours per week through mid-April to sift through the suggestions. Submit ideas via the city’s idea collection map by Friday, November 11th, or stop by Brewer’s district office at 563 Columbus Avenue between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. weekdays and fill out an idea card. If you’re interested in volunteering, email Cynthia Hornig, Brewer’s Legislative & Budget Director, at chornig@council.nyc.gov with “PB Volunteer” in the subject line.
News Roundup
Compiled by Laura Muha
The number of students who enroll in local schools without speaking English has increased dramatically in recent years, as a result of an increasing number of asylum seekers and other immigrant families arriving in New York City. But the number of staff on hand to assist them in learning English has not kept pace, and it is causing stress both for students and schools, according to Documented, a nonprofit site that covers immigration in New York City. The site’s data analysis identified the UWS’s Riverside School for Makers and Artists as one of the hardest hit citywide.
According to Documented, Riverside’s English Language Learner population — students whose home language is not English and who require support learning it — zoomed from 24 students in the 2022-2023 school year to 182 the following year, the fourth-largest increase citywide. In the 2024-25 school year, the number dropped, but only slightly, to 169.
Studies have shown that students learning English in school benefit most if teachers can spend one-on-one time with them. But that has become increasingly difficult, Documented reported; the publication gave the example of a Riverside teacher who went from serving six students to 30 in a single year — even though the school hired two more English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors.
Read the full story — HERE.
Calling all local artists: The Central Park Conservancy invites you to submit your original designs for a poster celebrating the Gottesman Rink, which opens to the public for the first time in November.
Located at the Davis Center at the Harlem Meer, the rink replaces the dilapidated Lasker Rink, which closed in 2021.
The winning design should reflect the “bold, colorful, and expressive richness” of Harlem, capture the wonder of ice skating, and include a seasonal element “that evokes the magic of the winter holidays,” according to the Conservancy.
It also should work well across multiple platforms, since the winning design not only will be posted in public spaces; but also may be used in other formats, such as postcards, digital ads, or social media.
The winner will recieve a $5,000 prize, and their poster will be used in a city-wide campaign. The deadline for submitting a design is October 31st, and winners will be notified November 7th. More information — HERE.
Returning to Saul Zabar: It’s probably no surprise that the shiva for man dubbed “king of lox” by the New York Times included tray upon tray of it, as well as an array of other foods for which Zabar’s is famous: “buckets of bagels (from Zabar’s), heaps of black and white cookies (also from Zabar’s), as well as an ample supply of pungent Zabar’s coffee served in Zabar’s cups,” according to the Times, which ran a story about the shiva in the Style section.
The story provided not only a peek at the extensive menu, but also Zabar’s family life, daughters, employees, and friends gathered at his West End Avenue apartment to reminisce with each other and Zabar’s widow, Carole, who was sipping grapefruit juice but not eating. (“Nova would never be my first choice,” she told the paper.)
“It was like an orchestra and he was the conductor who led us all. It was a great symphony,” Charlie Santos, who has been with Zabar’s since 1993 and is now a manager, told the paper.
Read the full story (and see photos of the food and drink) — HERE.
ICYMI
Here are a few stories we think are worth a look if you missed them last week — 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.)
2 More UWS Bus Routes to Get Automated Camera Ticketing System
Process Begins to Determine Fate of Upper West Side Landmark Church
Ben Stiller Sells Parents’ UWS Apartment, Preserves Legacy in New Documentary
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Re: Students needing English help – does anyone know of a volunteer organization where Spanish speakers can help these students in after school programs?
What a wonderful suggestion! Thank you. So many people here just like to complain rather than coming up with constructive solutions that help people like you did – this is a good idea.
I was wondering the same
Thing. And emailed the website where the article posted to see if they could direct me, but not optimistic I’ll hear back!
There is a Commu ity Board 7 meeting Tuesday at 6:30. One of the speakers will present an idea to close Broadway to northbound traffic permanently from 69th to 71st Sts making all cars, trucks, buses, ambulances and fire trucks take a left onto 69th St and then a right to go up Amsterdam. I’m not clear on what problem they are trying to solve. 250 W 87th St 2nd floor
A more efficient way to snarl traffic and cause mayhem would be to have northbound fire trucks and ambulances take a RIGHT at 69th and Broadway, turn RIGHT on Columbus, then go South to 65th Street and take a LEFT (when the crosstown bus yields) to Central Park West, then go LEFT to 72nd Street and take another LEFT to Amsterdam, except when it’s closed for a street fair. Then go down Broadway, take a RIGHT on 69th……
That is nuts
Great idea, we’ve seen pedestrian expansions all along Broadway, at 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd. They’ve all been very popular with the communities involved. Makes sense to explore doing it here too.
I thibk the problem theyvwere trying to solve in those instances was a lot of foot traffic ( Times Square, Herald Square shopping, Union Square) was causing peiple to wander out i to the street. That isn’t the situation at Broadway and 69th St.
Josh P.
You are in favor of losing bus access/bus stops?
The M5, M7 and M104 would need to be detoured with such a change.
That sounds like a terrible idea.
Tom Homan is currently working to reduce the workload for English language leaner program.
You shouldn’t be allowed to enroll in school if you can’t speak English.
That would only ensure ESL students remain unable to speak English, further isolating them and preventing their assimilation.
Such a lovely xenophobic sentiment. I take it your forebears are of Anglo descent?
Thank goodness America 120 years ago was a much more welcoming country to my German great grandparents than our current government (and, apparently, you). My family for four generations has contributed much to the US.
We are ALL immigrants, and to think that one or several generations have whitewashed you is very shortsighted. Take a look at some old family photographs of your forebears. Thank them for taking a great gamble to move to a foreign land…and their struggle to learn a new language and culture. .
Good point…
thumb down
so impressed that your ancestors came over on the Mayflower, speaking fluent English
Do you understand the difference between immigration and illegal immigration?
The problem is that ICE and its advocates don’t seem to understand the difference.
Or maybe they do and simply don’t care.
yeah, like our grandparents and great grandparents. send the kids to the garment factories!
Brilliant. I guess my mother who spoke only Yiddish at home in the 1920s Bronx because her parents were recent immigrants from Russia should have been denied a public school education.
She did not attend ESL/ELL classes, did she? They were not offered in the 1920s.
They should establish the school with the high concentration of English Language Learners as a hub for these students and concentrate relevant resources there. My child has had a few of these students in their classes and it is challenging for the teachers (who are usually trying their best but often are not trained to handle this), the ELL students, and the other students. By having these students together, at least until they are proficient in English, it is a win-win. Once they are up to speed they can revert to their zoned school if they would like. At this age these kids tend to learn very quickly and likely can revert after one school year.
an excellent suggestion
I was delighted to see that I could check for my voter registration on the page you linked–but that page is no longer available. Would really appreciate it that could be updated, because I haven’t been able to find a way to check. Thank you.
I would call my city council rep’s office for help!
Sadly the mass arrival of migrants has caused many problems for this City. I volunteer in a Food Pantry in midtown every week. Migrants living in hotels and shelters are not qualified to use our services as they receive 3 meals a day. They don’t speak one word of English and when I gently tell them I only speak broken Spanish and remind them they are in the US now and they must learn English it doesn’t register with them. It’s sad that the English speaking kids who probably have lived in the neighborhood since birth are being disadvantaged. Its a relief to have the Southern Border shut down.
Hi George,
Wanted to comment on what you said concerning hotels as you are misinformed. Migrants are no longer housed in hotels in NYC – the last hotel to house them stopped in April 2025.
GFS, respectfully, there are STILL many migrant hotels– they were just reclassified to being under the Department of Homeless Services. I was recently in Gowanus and Red Hook areas of Brooklyn amd saw a former Holiday Inn Express that’s been a migrant hotel for 3+ years now. The Holiday Inn sign been covered over but that’s what it was and there dozens of illegal ebikes and scooters in front of it, the hotel is offline for reservations. Same with Brooklyn Motor Inn in Red Hook, a hotel once popular with tourists taking cruises from there.
As with much about the migrant crisis, you have been lied to. That’s on the Mayor Adams adminstrations but there are near zero Democrats who wanted to hold him accountable for THIS fraud– “migrant hotels are closed.”
This is exclusve of other, non-hotel migrant housing, like converted warehouses etc, the costs of which are substantial.
I’m very pro migrant, mind you, but the great deception about the conditions and costs of these hotels and other shelters is an outrage.
To GFS,
The City is required (per1980s lawsuits etc) to provide shelter to anyone in need – whether from out of city, out of state or out of country.
Migrant families who are homeless/need shelter are still receiving assistance from City DHS. DHS houses homeless families in “residence” type buildings and hotels with services provided by non-profits.
This includes migrant families too.
When the migrant surge occurred a few years ago, the City did put migrant families in specific hotels (only serving migrants).
This was done because it allowed flexibility in emergency contracting (via HHC instead of DHS) and also was easier to provide services that migrant families needed in one place. There were a number of hotels available as it was “post-Covid”.
Then the migrant surge lessened, there were fewer migrant families, hotels wanted to return to tourist use and the City could not keep doing emergency contracting. Thus the reduction in “specific” hotels for migrants. Now migrant families are housed with other homeless families in DHS facilities.
Columbus Day and Indigenous People Day.
Indigenous People are deserving of their own day. They shouldn’t have to share Columbus Day.
Agreed! The way it works now is as if International Holocaust Remembrance Day were observed on April 20.
Let’s hear Gale Brewer’s solution for the schools. She fought to keep asylum families in the shelters where there were children going to school but no thought how to do it and how the schools could or could not handle it. Apparently, the schools cannot handle it and students are suffering. So, Gale Brewer and the rest of the city council better figure out something fast so students do not continue to suffer.