No Ifs, Ands Or Butts
How Mike Bloomberg changed the war on cigarettes
By Jill Colvin
City smokers are being snuffed out, and if Mayor Bloomberg has his way, soon there may be no place left to inhale but your living room.
In 2003, New York City implemented in a smoking ban in all restaurants and bars, severing the sacred bond between nicotine and liquor and forcing the 17 percent of New Yorkers who classify themselves as smokers to take their habits to the curb. Read more
City Pharmacies Robbed
Police are searching for suspects who they say have robbed eight pharmacies in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. In each case, the suspects enter the stores with their faces covered and armed with a gun. Cops said that on Jan. 28 at 9:11 a.m., the group knocked over Joseph Pharmacy, at 216 W. 72nd St. and Broadway. The group has hit Manhattan several times since then, most recently a Harlem pharmacy on Sept. 8. Anyone with information on the robberies can call 1-800-577-TIPS.
Letter Opener
A man was stabbed on Aug. 28 at 2 a.m. while inside a Staples office supply store, at 2248 Broadway near West 81st Street. Police said the attacker, Gerald Shung, 52, pulled out a sharp letter opener and stabbed the 21-year-old Upper West Side victim in the torso. Shung was arrested and charged with assault.
Construction Site Burglarized
A construction site at Riverside Boulevard, in the West 60s, was burglarized on Aug. 26. Cops said employees discovered that $3,000 worth of equipment, owned by a Hempstead, Long Island company, was taken from the site. The burglar simply walked in and stole a bag with the items. There were no cameras on the property.
Art in the Park
Officials gathered in Dante Park to welcome nine enormous twisted and curved steel sculptures by Carole Eisner being displayed in the Broadway malls, from West 64th to 166th streets. Attendees included (from left to right) Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal; Parks Department Borough Commissioner William Castro; Monica Blum, president of the Lincoln Square BID; Robert Herrmann, president of the Broadway Mall Association; Sharon Lopez, executive director of the Broadway Mall Association; New York-based artist Carole Eisner; and Susan Eley, owner of Susan Eley Fine Art. Photo by Daniel S. Burnstein
BIOTECH TAX CREDIT COMING
By Dan Rivoli
New York’s universities and medical institutions, many of which can be found on the West Side, could get a boost if biotech companies can be lured into the city and state with a new tax credit.
Gov. David Paterson signed a bill allowing the city to establish a $3 million tax credit each year for small biotechnological companies. If a company expands its workforce by 5 percent, it can receive a $250,000 tax break.
“We have some excellent healthcare facilities that I think will also help to attract the biotech industry,” said State Sen. Tom Duane, the bill’s sponsor. “This will make us competitive with states like Massachusetts and California that have been doing this sort of thing.”
With state approval, East Side Council Member Jessica Lappin sponsored the tax credit in the Council, which passed the bill. She said the tax credit will be an incentive for the city’s medical professionals to stay in New York and develop new biotechnological companies.
“The economy has been overly reliant on Wall Street,” Lappin said. “The goal with this legislation is to diversify the economy. We have the best and brightest medical research professionals. We want to keep them in our city.”
REC CENTER GETS REVAMPED
By David Schlegel
With railings being held together by duct tape, the 59th Street Recreational Center is in desperate need of renovation. Luckily, construction will soon start on a new state-of-the-art facility for the community.
On Sept. 18, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, Borough President Scott Stringer and Council Member Gale Brewer and tossed dirt from their shovels on to an almost waist-high mound to symbolically break the grounds of the 59th Street Recreation Center construction site. The idea for a new facility has been in discussion since 1993.
Nadler told crowds he remembered fighting for the recreation center to stay open; more than 50 children showed up in swim trunks to protest the potential closing.
“The 59th Street Recreation Center is getting a total makeover,” said parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.
Construction started this past June, after $12 million was raised to build new facilities and renovate existing facilities. The project will offer yearly low-cost exercise and recreational equipment for only $75 to adult members, $10 for seniors and free of charge to residents under the age of 17.
RALLY FOR CANCER IMAGING
By Dan Rivoli
Borough President Scott Stringer and Council Member Inez Dickens, who represents parts of the Upper West Side, joined a rally against federal cuts to cancer imaging.
The group that coordinated the rally, Emergency Coalition to Save Cancer Imaging, says that a decrease in funding to this technology would restrict access to cancer screenings and result in increased wait times. The group held a City Hall rally with elected officials including Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
The cuts would affect cancer imaging such as CAT and MRI scans.
“These cuts negatively impact on women and poor people,” Dickens said at the City Hall rally.
Stringer said early detection of cancer using these scans is the most effective measure in treating the disease.
“New York’s women and elderly deserve better than an eight-week wait-time for a diagnosis they could have been treating for months,” Stringer said, in a statement.
TURKS CELEBRATE IN CITY
By Dan Rivoli
Turkish Days, a weeklong citywide celebration that includes a performance by the Turkish Whirling Dervishes, starts on Sept. 27. On Sept. 28, in Times Square, costumed Turks dressed in historical garb will march along the Broadway Plaza, from 41st to 47th streets between noon and 4 p.m.
On Oct. 2 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Grand Central Terminal will feature a custom-made Blue Mosque, along with a panorama of Istanbul on one side and the famous Grand Bazaar and Spice Market on the other. The Whirling Dervishes will perform throughout the day.
On Oct. 4, the celebration concludes with a street festival on West 41st Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visitors can buy Turkish crafts and eat cuisine from the region.
No Props for the Eco Girl
Shouldn’t it be easier to save the planet while grocery shopping?
By Lorraine Duffy Merkl
It’s not easy bein’ green.
I must confess, I am not an environmentalist by nature. But after careful consideration I figured I would give ecology a go, beyond the mandatory bottle and can recycling demands of my co-op.
When I go grocery shopping, I’ve started using my many free cloth bags that I’ve accumulated from various street fairs, my husband’s job and a couple of clothing stores that encourage the demise of the plastic menace. I am also making a conscious effort to remember to fold one up and carry it in my handbag, in case I make an impromptu Gristede’s pit stop for milk or bread. Sure I want to help maintain the planet, but I’m also in it for the acclaim, which I thought came with the territory. Read more
