Today is Monday, April 20th, 2026
Last week we noted in this space that the calendar said spring, but the temperatures were going to say summer. This week, in a whiplash-inducing reversal, they’re going to rudely remind us that it’s not time to break out our bathing suits just yet.
Today’s forecast calls for cloudy skies and the possibility of showers; temperatures are expected to climb from an overnight low of 36 degrees to a high of 52. Tomorrow will be much the same, minus the showers. As the week wears on, temperatures will gradually climb, but won’t get anywhere near last Wednesday’s April-15th-record-high 90 degrees.
On this day in 1777, New York State adopted its first constitution. Not quite 200 years later, in 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that busing for the purposes of desegregating schools was not illegal.
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events. Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.
The Marlene Meyerson JCC at Amsterdam Avenue and West 76th Street is holding an Electronics and Textile Recycling Day on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in partnership with the Lower East Side Ecology Center. Among the items that will be accepted: Working and nonworking computers, keyboards, laptops, printers, phones, TVs, DVD players, clothing, shoes, towels, bedding, curtains, hats, bags, and gloves. More information — HERE.
Goddard Riverside will hold a screening of “The Plastic Detox” on Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. at 593 Columbus Avenue. The documentary explores the health hazards of plastic waste and how to limit it. A discussion will follow. The event is co-sponsored by City Councilmember Gale Brewer, Assemblymember Micah Lasher, BeyondPlastic, and It’s Easy Being Green. To RSVP, email itseasybeinggreen.uws@gmail.
News Roundup
Compiled by Laura Muha
A citywide strike by building workers, scheduled for Wednesday, appears to have been averted.
The Realty Advisory Board and 32BJ SEIU, the union that represents approximately 34,000 doorpersons, superintendents, porters, and others, announced a tentative four-year deal on Friday.
The biggest sticking points had been wages, pensions and, especially, healthcare. Under the current contract, union members had full family coverage, but did not contribute anything toward it — something that the Realty Advisory Board said was not sustainable. The board said the average doorperson made about $62,000 a year, but the cost to employers was more than double that, largely because of healthcare.
Union president Manny Pastreich told Fox News that the main goals of the negotiations were met by the new agreement, which includes a $4.50-per-hour raise over the course of the contract, no premium sharing for family healthcare ,and a 15% increase in employee pensions.
Realty Advisory Board President Howard Rothschild called the deal a “win-win-win-win” for employers, the union, and employees, and the 1.5 million renters and co-op and condo owners who would have been affected by a strike.
The union’s current contract expires today, and members must still vote to approve the new one. Ballots will go out this week, but it will likely take until late May for the result to be determined, Pastreich said.
The last strike by members of the building-workers union was in 1991 and lasted 12 days.
Read/watch the full story — HERE.
Business Insider recently paid a visit to the New Jewish Home on West 106th Street, where residents were trying out virtual reality headsets provided by Mynd Immersive.
The glasses company specializes in, well, immersive experiences, virtually transporting wearers to a variety of destinations, and in the process helping to “take older adults out of worlds that, for many, have gotten small,” the publication reported.
Dr. Jeffrey Farber, the facility’s president and CEO, said the home has been working with Mynd since 2024 and that he’s seen the headsets do more than provide entertainment; the virtual reality “trips” have helped residents bond with one another. “They go back to places that they recall from their younger years, favorite places, places where they were born, parks that they used to know every corner of when they grew up,” Farber told Business Insider. “You could feel like you’re there and then share that experience.”
Resident Cecilia Ferreiro, 70, who moved to the New Jewish Home more than a year ago after a fall left her unable to walk, used the glasses to tour the Louvre. “She moved her neck around to see more, at times touching her chin to her chest,” Business Insider reported. “Her nurse pushed her wheelchair in a circle for a 360-degree view.” It looked, Ferreiro marveled afterward, exactly as it had many years ago when she and her husband had visited; he died in 2000.
“I feel like I don’t have much time left, so I want to make sure that I am living my life to the fullest,” she added. “I want to expand the little mind that I have left. I forget everything, but I’m trying to catch up to everybody else.”
Read the full story — HERE.
Canadian tennis star Milos Raonic is one of the newest residents of the Dakota, recently closing on a three-bedroom, two-bath home, reports Crain’s New York Business.
Raonic paid $5.3 million in cash for the apartment, which features fireplaces in the living room, dining room, and primary suite.
All the rooms have ceilings which are at least 12 feel high — something that, Douglas Elliman listing agent Kaniela Kunen joked to Crain’s, may have been part of the appeal to Raonic, who is 6 foot 5 inches tall. “He’s very, very tall,” she said.
At the peak of his career, Raonic was ranked No. 3 in the world, defeating Roger Federer in the Brisbane Open in 2016, and reaching the finals at Wimbledon the same year.
He announced his retirement in January, writing in an emotional post on his Instagram page: “The time has come, I am retiring from tennis. This is a moment you know will come one day, but somehow you never feel ready for it. This is as ready as I ever will be. Tennis has been my love and obsession for most of my life.”
Read the full story — HERE.
In Other UWS News
- The BBC recently reported on what Mayor Zohran Mamdani has — and has not — accomplished during his first 100 days in office. Read the full story — HERE.
- NY1 talked with singer (and longtime UWS resident) Lucy Shelton, who is making her debut at the Metropolitan Opera at age 82. Watch the interview — HERE.
- A brush fire broke out in Central Park near West 65th Street and Central Park West last week; watch footage captured by CBS News New York — HERE.
- CBS News New York also was on hand last weekend for the (very colorful) second annual Cat Parade, which started at Bethesda Fountain and wended its way through the park; see the report — HERE.
- Since we’re on the subject of Central Park: Photographer Jeenah Moon spent the day there last Wednesday, documenting for Reuters the ways that New Yorkers were dealing with the 90-degree heat (which shattered an 85-year-old record for April 15). See her photos — HERE, HERE, HERE, and 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.)
Woman Suspected of Snatching Purse on UWS is Chased Down By Cop on Horseback: NYPD, Video Shows
UWS Middle School With Focus on Students With Disabilities Fights Against Its Possible Eradication
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