Million-Dollar Makeover
February 4, 2010
Light has come to the St. Agnes Library. After a two-year renovation, during which the branch was shuttered, St. Agnes is slated to reopen its doors Feb. 11 and welcome the neighborhood into a bright, airy new space.
Caryl Soriano, the network manager for 19 New York Public Library branches, including St. Agnes, said she is thrilled with the revamped building, at 444 Amsterdam Ave. between West 81st and 82nd streets. The pre-renovation building, which was originally funded by donations to the city from Andrew Carnegie, “was much darker, less open,” she said. Now, “the lighting is phenomenal.” [Read more]
Riverside South: Shift from Commercial to Residential Space
February 4, 2010
A proposal by Riverside South developer Extell Development Co. to increase square footage on the south end of the site came under fire during a Jan. 13 Community Board 7 meeting.
According to a statement released by the board’s Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, the proposed changes to the original 1992 agreement are substantive. In the original agreement, the area between West 59th and 61st streets was limited to 2.4 million square feet of developed space and 570 residential units; the developer is now proposing to increase the square footage to 3.1 million square feet and add almost five times the number of apartments: 2,750 units. [Read more]
This Guy Will Try Anything
February 4, 2010
A.J. Jacobs sizes up his formidable foe, brown eyes narrowed behind the slim wire frames of his glasses. His enemy is freshly baked and smells temptingly like chocolate chips, cinnamon and nutmeg. His enemy is round, with crispy edges and a soft, chewy center. His enemy, right now, is a cookie.
Finally, Jacobs asks: “Is it organic?”
Unfortunately, it is not. He shrugs, and his face splits with a quick, sudden grin— the smile of a mischievous boy about to break the rules. [Read more]
Up in the Air
February 4, 2010
Pole vaulter Derek Miles, of the United States, makes his approach during the 103rd Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden. Miles was able to clear the bar at a height of 5.60 meters, which earned him second place in the annual track and field event, held Jan. 29. photo by Andrew Schwartz
TOO LONG FOR LIGHT FIX
February 4, 2010
How many phone calls does it take to change a light bulb? Too many, according to Council Member Gale Brewer, who says she may hold oversight hearings to investigate why it took two months to repair a street lamp on West 95th Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues.
According to Brewer, the burnt-out lamp, in front of 123 W. 95th St., was discovered by a constituent and reported to 311 in October. On Nov. 14, with the street lamp still dark, Brewer’s office contacted the Department of Transportation and Con Edison.
“[S]hortly afterward, Con Edison reported that the lamp had current and awaited repairs by the DOT,” wrote Brewer in a Jan. 4 letter to Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Con Edison CEO Kevin Burke. “We were then told contradictory information that the lamp had a Con Edison stop tag order and the DOT was waiting for it to be removed,” Brewer wrote. “Finally it was discovered that the light had an obstruction that needed to be removed before any work could be done.”
The light was finally repaired Dec. 23, but Brewer hasn’t let Con Edison and the Transportation Department off the hook.
“You shouldn’t have to call a City Council member to get a street lamp fixed,” Brewer said. “The frustrating thing is agencies don’t talk, and it becomes a he-said, she-said situation. The DOT is supposed to talk to Con Ed. There is a dire need for better communication.”
A Transportation Department spokes-man would not comment specifically on the matter, but encouraged citizens to continue to call 311 to report problems.
An official at Con Edison, John Mucci, wrote back to Brewer Jan. 22, explaining that the electric service provider and the Transportation Department have streamlined an electronic process for referring problems between the two organizations. Most repairs, Mucci wrote, are completed within two weeks.
DINING DEAL
February 4, 2010
Throughout February, the Italian eatery Carmine’s, on Broadway and West 91st Street, is celebrating its upcoming 20th anniversary by offering a $20 menu.
On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at lunch and dinner, guests may choose from a selection of dishes, each of which costs $20 and can easily feed up to four people, according to the restaurant.
The menu consists mainly of pasta and chicken dishes, including penne à la vodka, rigatoni broccoli, chicken parmigiana and chicken marsala. The restaurant’s private label red and white wines are also available. The offer is available only at Carmine’s Upper West Side location (there is an outpost in the Theater District, as well as in Washington, D.C., Atlantic City, N.J., and the Bahamas).
POL GETS COLLECTORS AWARD
February 4, 2010
Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal may have a modest collection of political memorabilia, but her avid interest earned her the first annual Ed Potter Memorial Award, an honor given to an elected official who actively collects political memorabilia and artifacts.
It is named after Ed Potter, who was a significant collector of such memorabilia. Rosenthal said she has about 300 campaign buttons and old newspaper articles.
“It’s the kind of collecting you can get immersed in,” she said.
Rosenthal’s interest in political memorabilia started as a child. She said she remembers taking walks with her parents to vendors on West 86th Street, where one table featured campaign buttons.
She will receive her award at the 22nd Annual Big Apple Ed Potter Chapter’s APIC-New York City Political Collectors Show, Sunday, Feb. 7, at the Chelsea Jewish Community Center, 236 W. 23rd St. Admission to the event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., is $3; children under 16 get in for free. For more information, call 212-764-6330.
Pedicab Driver Attacked
February 4, 2010
A parking garage employee was arrested Jan. 31 after attacking a pedicab driver. The victim, a 29-year-old Brooklyn man, was trying to get his pedicab out of the garage, at 1 Central Park West between West 60th and 61st streets, at around 9 a.m., police said. That’s when Romeo Siguenza, 66, allegedly hit him with a wooden stick. Police said Siguenza was angry that the pedicab driver was taking too long to leave the garage.
Muggers Nabbed
February 4, 2010
Police collared two men and charged them with robbery after they mugged a man at 1995 Broadway and West 68th Street. Cops said that at 2 a.m., Jan. 30, one mugger asked a 28-year-old Queens man if he could have a laptop. When the victim said he wasn’t carrying one, another mugger lifted his shirt to show a firearm in his waistband. Cops said the armed mugger told the victim to take his jacket off. The two thieves, 19-year-old Paul Dixon and 20-year-old Joshua Rivera, allegedly stole the jacket, as well as a cell phone and wallet. The duo jumped into a cab and were later picked up when police canvassed the area.
Sliced With Knife
February 4, 2010
A man was taken to Roosevelt Hospital Jan. 30 when he was attacked with a knife during a 2:20 a.m. argument. Police said that the victim, a 19-year-old Staten Island resident, was in a verbal argument with the suspect over a girl. The fight, at 263 West End Ave. and West 72nd Street, turned physical when the suspect, a 20-year-old man, pulled out a black gravity knife. The suspect allegedly tried to stab the victim, but he blocked it with his left hand, sustaining a laceration, police said.
