Senior Resource Fair
State Senator Liz Krueger is hosting the Fifth Annual Senior Resource Fair this Thursday, November 3, from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El, One East 65th Street (at Fifth Avenue). The free event will feature over 50 exhibitors providing information for older adults, as well as refreshments and free resources guides. The event is designed to help make seniors aware of all the local resources available to them, from city programs to free and reduced price cultural offerings to the best ways to stay healthy. The location is fully wheelchair accessible. For more information, contact alicefisher.nyc@gmail.com, or call (212) 490-9535.
Upper East Side vs. Occupy Wall Street
Yesterday we reported from the front lines of the Occupy Wall Street march to the Upper East Side homes of some wealthy residents (our full story is here and a short video of the march is here). While responses and coverage of the event are still coming out, we’re rounding up reactions and other news reports and asking our readers what they thought of the march. Read more
Occupying the Upper East Side
The Occupy Wall Street movement that began almost a month ago with a few dozen people camping out in Zucotti Park downtown took their protests to the Upper East Side today. Convening at the southeast corner of Central Park, several hundred people turned out for what organizers were calling a “billionaires walking tour,” marching up Fifth Avenue to visit the homes of prominent wealthy residents. The group first stopped at 834 Park Avenue, chanting for News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch to “come out and face the people [he] left out.” The group also planned to pay visits to the Upper East Side homes of David Koch, an executive vice-president of Koch Industries who has supported conservative causes, hedge fund manager John Paulson, real estate developer Howard Millstein, and Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase. Read more
Upper East Side Hurricane Prep
As New York City braces for Hurricane Irene and Mayor Bloomberg issues the first-ever mandatory evacuation for residents in low-lying areas, some neighborhoods of the city have more to worry about than others. If you check the Office of Emergency Management’s Hurricane Evacuation Map, you can see if you’re in one of the zones. While most of the Upper East Side is a “no zone,” which means that you won’t need to evacuate, some areas close to the river in the East 80s and 90s are included in Zone B (the second level). Only a tiny sliver of the neighborhood is included in Zone A, which requires evacuating. Even if you are in a “no zone,” there are still precautions to take.
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Tapped In
Notes from the neighborhood
Compiled by Megan Finnegan
Still Looking to Trash the Plan
Opponents of the 96th Street waste transfer station rallied once again on Saturday in an attempt to stop the project, even though it has already been passed in the city’s capital budget. The plan to construct a brand new marine transfer station on the site, which has raised the ire of local residents and elected officials but has been bolstered by environmental justice advocates, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn, is currently under review by the Army Corps of Engineers to gauge the environmental and structural impact of the facility as well as the city’s mitigation plan. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Assembly Member Micah Kellner and Council Members Dan Garodnick and Jessica Lappin spearheaded a last battle cry against the transfer station, calling on residents to submit their comments denouncing the plan to the Army Corps during the public comment period, which closed on Aug. 24.
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Tapped In
Notes from the neighborhood
Compiled by Megan Finnegan and Allen Houston
MTA AGREES TO KEEP QUIET, SUBMITS NEW BLASTING SCHEDULE
After the community repeatedly called for the MTA to cease subway blasting for the Second Avenue line at night, the agency has finally agreed to halt all noise-making construction after 7 p.m.
But blasting continues, as it must, and will be starting in a new section for what will be the future 86th Street subway station. The controlled blasting, a technique approved by the FDNY, will take place under the east side of Second Avenue at 83rd Street and midblock between 86th and 87th streets, starting mid-August—so, any day now. The MTA says it could blast up to five times a day at each of the two access shafts, with each lasting up to a minute, and could be conducting up to 10 “minor blasts” for “initial testing.”
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Trouble on the Waterfront
The deteriorating East Side esplanade has become a top concern for many residents of the community.
The big story in this week’s Our Town (pick up a copy in the neighborhood!) is all about the East Side Esplanade – what’s wrong with it and how it can be fixed: Esplanade Emergency.
While fixing the esplanade is part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Vision 2020: The New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan,” a proposal released last year to revitalize the city’s waterfront, many residents and community groups feel it is too far off.
“I don’t know what they are waiting for,” said Steadford Virgil, who rides his bike along the esplanade daily. “Some of these potholes have been here since last winter.”
We also report on the safety of the concrete used in the Second Avenue subway construction, a landlord with a shady history who politicians say is harassing his tenants, and what art handlers on strike at famous auction house Sotheby’s really do behind the scenes. Read more
Tapped In
Notes from the neighborhood
Compiled by Megan Finnegan, Allen Houston and Ashley Welsh
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Roberta Flack Sings On
In this week’s edition of Our Town, reporter Daniel Fabiani interviews legendary crooner Roberta Flack, who calls the Upper West Side home. Read more
East Siders ‘Trash’ Waste Station at Rally
Hundreds of outraged East Siders turned out to show their opposition to the proposed 91st Street Marine Waste Transfer Station yesterday evening at Asphalt Green.
The garbage site would process more than 5,000 pounds of trash per day with 50-200 trucks passing through the neighborhood on any given day, according to the City.
Sporting signs reading “Don’t Dump On Us” and “Fund schools, Not Garbage”, protestors signed petitions and voiced their overall disdain for a project that would pass next to the Asphalt Green Community Center and within hundreds of yards of the Stanley Isaacs Homes.
