Today is Monday, April 27th, 2026
The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 66 degrees today; as the week wears on, though, temperatures will drop day by day, with Friday’s high reaching only 53. A possibility of passing showers is forecast for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.
On this date in 1897, Grant’s Tomb—the final resting place of the 18th president and his wife, and the only national memorial on the UWS—was officially dedicated. Initially, the plan was to bury President Ulysses S. Grant in Central Park, but after the public loudly opposed the plan, the Riverside Park site was selected. (See more on Grant in notices, below.)
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events. Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.
Community Board 7’s Transportation Committee is asking for community input on the Department of Transportation’s West 72nd Street Redesign, which would eliminate two vehicular lanes and replace them with a two-way bike lane, loading zones, and pedestrian islands. The comment form is — HERE.
If you’re free this morning and can get to Grant’s Tomb (or, more properly, the General Grant National Memorial) in Riverside Park at 122nd Street, you’ll find the National Park Service and cadets from the West Point Military Academy celebrating his 204th birthday. Festivities will kick off with a ceremony at 11 a.m., followed by refreshments and a book signing by author Louis Picone, author of “
UWSer Jane Eisner, author of “Carole King: She Made the Earth Move” [2025, Yale University Press], will discuss her biography of the iconic singer in conversation with Columbia University Journalism School Prof. Sam Freedman on Sunday, May 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Ansche Chesed (251 West 100th Street). The conversation will be accompanied by King’s music, and a Q&A session will follow. Registration requested but not required. More information — HERE.
News Roundup
Compiled by Laura Muha
The NYPD horse who went viral after helping to chase down a suspected purse snatcher two weeks ago was back in the news this week, after CBS News delved into his inspiring backstory.
It turns out that his name is Kelly, and he was rescued from a slaughter pen in 2020 by the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, a rescue organization in Cream Ridge, N.J., that takes in racehorses that have reached the end of their careers at the track
“Oh, I was so proud. I watch that video a lot. It really cheers me up, and I actually recognized him [Kelly] because I personally know the horse,” foundation director Judith Bokman told CBS.
Standardbreds—which are used in harness racing, i.e., they pull carts, or “sulkys,” as opposed to being ridden by jockeys—often are sent to slaughter when they’re no longer able to race. Every year, Bokman’s group rescues between 300 and 800 of them (the exact number depends on that year’s funding) and finds them new homes. Their calm temperament makes them ideal for police work, CBS reported.
Bokman told the station that Kelly was rehabbed for six months before the NYPD came to see him. “They tried him, and he’s been stellar,” she said.
Watch the full story — HERE.
Most people think of New York City wildlife in terms of rats and pigeons. But the fishing website OntheWater.com sees things differently. “Beneath the Big Apple’s skyscrapers, Central Park holds a unique largemouth bass fishery that is worth the commute,” the site recently advised readers.
That conclusion came after On the Water sent writer Matt Haeffner and state-licensed fishing guide Nick Cancelliere to the park’s Harlem Meer to capture both fish and the local scene.
Despite receiving some strange looks as they carried their fishing rods uptown on the 3 train, Haeffner reported finding real camaraderie among the other fishermen around the Meer. “Urban bass fishermen recognize how feeble an attempt it would be to safeguard a juicy spot; instead, they welcome the exchange of intel,” he wrote. “Recent reports, photos, and tidbits of information are shared in passing or, more likely, on a park bench, with tackle trays wide open and a joint in rotation.”
Read the full story of their day of urban fishing and find out what they caught — HERE.
The Amsterdam Avenue restaurant and bar TESSA was featured last week in an amNY story on the impact that a declining drinking rate in the United States is having on the beverage industry.
According to the Gallup organization, the number of Americans who say they drink at least “occasionally” hit its lowest rate last year since the polling group began conducting its annual Consumption Habits survey in 1939. In 2025, only 54% of Americans said they drank, down from 67% in 2022.
“We’ve definitely [taken] a hit for sure,” Zack Lee, beverage director of TESSA, told amNY.
He said he started to notice a shift during the pandemic but that it really accelerated a year or two ago, with more and more customers requesting non-alcoholic beers, something that amNY said “was telling for a bar-heavy restaurant.”
“People want to drink but want low alcohol by volume,” like a negroni without the liquor, Lee told amNY. But, he added, the establishment’s owners have encouraged him to counter the decline in alcoholic-beverage sales by expanding the number of mocktail options on the menu.
Read the full story — HERE.
Remember the cat who spent several days living in the trees in Central Park earlier this month? We sure do; we wrote about it in this newsletter a few weeks ago, describing how an arborist finally climbed the tree and brought him down.
So imagine our surprise when we stopped by a friend’s apartment last week and a familiar orange-and-white feline came strolling through the living room to greet us.
Yup, it was the cat from Central Park, who, after a thorough veterinary check and a couple of weeks with the rescue group Big Apple Cats, now has a new home on the UWS.
His new owners—a couple who lost one of their two cats a few months ago—report that he’s made himself right at home, sleeping on the bed with them at night, bossing around their other much-older (and very tolerant) cat, serving as official greeter for visitors, and trying to help himself to their breakfast croissants when their backs are turned. All in all, we’d call it a happy ending!
In Other UWS News:
- Architectural Digest’s “Unique Spaces” series recently featured one of the penthouse apartments in the St. Urban on Central Park West. Take the video tour — HERE.
- Botanist Jacob Suissa, founder and co-director of the educational nonprofit (and Instagram account) Let’s Botanize, recently paid a trip to Central Park to explain those fluffy, tufted balls—technical name: “Sycamore inflorescences”—that seem to be blowing everywhere at this time of year. Watch it — HERE.
- ABC7 recently did a story on the UWS’s resident beekeeper, Andrew Coté. Watch it — HERE (and ICYMI, read the piece the Rag did on Coté earlier this month — HERE.)
- Patch took a look at the most expensive apartments to sell on the UWS last week (with a $35.5 million condo in Lincoln Square topping the list). Read about it — HERE.
ICYMI
Mundane Mourning: Remembering Bobby Tannenhauser (1945-2025)
New 86-Story Building Proposed for the Upper West Side; Would be Tallest in the Neighborhood
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MANY ON UWS LIKE THE DINING SHEDS! THEY ENLIVEN STREETS, THOUGH OWNERS/RENTERS OF EATERY SPACE SHOULD PAY CITY FOR USE OF SHED SPACE. IF THEY DON’T ALREADY. IS THERE LAW YET ON THAT???
TIPPI ON UWS
They do not enliven the streets. They encumber them. There’s a difference.
Really? Amsterdam from roughly 79th to 86th has plenty of outdoor dining, and it feels extremely enlivened and unencumbered. I recommend visiting the area, it’s my favorite part of the UWS!
yes, they do pay. The official program is called ‘Dining Out NYC’ and the fees are based on size and location and are quite high.
While we’re at it, cars should pay for use of public street space as well!
Any of us who get ecommerce, deliveries is contributing to vehicles on the street.
Not just commercial trucks but also personal cars driven by gig workers.
They do through gasoline taxes, tolls, and parking fees.
None of the above is for NYC streets. Let’s also add paid street parking. And yes, I own a car.
That’s just plain wrong. Gas taxes go towards roads. Sales taxes on gasoline sold within the city (about 400 million a year) go towards the general fund from which much road maintenance is paid. And toll revenues plus congestion pricing revenue adds 2 billion a year OVER AND ABOVE the cost of maintaining the bridges operated by MTA. That it’s directed to the MTA for mass transit means other city and state money can go to road maintenance.
Money is fungible and drivers add billions to government revenue through taxes directly related to gasoline purchases and tolls. The total pays for the roads that you use every time you take food off a store shelf.
We have parking meters. Put them everywhere
Have his new humans given the Central Park cat a name?
Yes! It’s Ruskin!
“Standardbreds—which are used in harness racing, i.e., they pull carts, or “sulkys,” as opposed to being ridden by jockeys—often are sent to slaughter when they’re no longer able to race.” This says so much about what we are. SMH.
I wonder what has led to the decline in alcohol consumption rates post-pandemic? Maybe the pandemic led to the decline in drinking – the people who were hardcore drinkers were the ones going to bars and getting drinks during the pandemic. So the people who returned to bars only after the pandemic, they had mostly stopped drinking.
Though the change in three years is dramatic, and that is all post pandemic years, so I am not sure that explanation makes sense. I wonder what happenedm
The kids are afraid that if they have a drink they might feel like talking to other people. I’m not even kidding.
Wegovy and Ozempic have been proven to reduce cravings for alcohol, as well as food.
Marijuana.
Maybe but marijuana had been legalized during the pandemic, so that doesn’t quote make sense. Though I guess maybe the idea was that more people be able comfortable using marijuana
Cost for drinks at restaurants/bars has increased significantly.
Also pot is legal now. But, from what I’ve heard, there’s not a huge overlap between drinkers and pot smokers. Wouldn’t know cause I don’t do either.
Restaurant drinking while dining has been diminishing for many years. I’ve seen it among people I dine with. They want to dine out but they don’t want to pay the cost of a drink. I tell them: you have to have a drink with your meal; that’s where restaurant profit margins come from. They say: I don’t care. I say: well, the restaurants will either fold or they will raise the food prices. They still say: not my problem. We Americans — – great at short-term thinking. Too bad. For the record, I always have a glass of wine with my meal when I dine out. And I most enjoy when several of us dine and together order a bottle of wine to share. I am embarrassed by those I dine with who won’t order anything but food.
You’re embarrassed by your companions who choose not to poison themselves – and pay for the privilege? There is no safe or beneficial amount of alcohol to consume.
By all means, stay embarrassed.
Really, really not our problem – short term or long term.
Please everyone, click on the link in this article and give CB7 your feedback on the proposed elimination of 2 traffic lanes on 72nd Street between Columbus and Broadway. We can’t create change (or stop unwanted changes) if our leaders don’t hear from us. Many thanks.
Absolutely, it’s important that those of us who have better things to do than sit through 5 hours of public comments on a week night CB meeting encourage CB7 to make the right choice and support this change!
On the other hand, quite a few us apparently have time for regular comments on WSR ….
Guilty as charged! It’s much less time consuming than attending a CB meeting =)
So glad to hear the beautiful ginger Central Park kitty found a loving new home and family!🥰 He looks so happy, and supremely relaxed—what a change from his perilous perch in the trees! So sweet that he’s taken to welcoming visitors, and has a taste for breakfast croissants😄 (And the resident cat with seniority is to be commended for his/her kind tolerance and patience!)
Thanks for the wonderful update, Laura!
Ditto! Yah for kitty!