Christine Donovan (right) with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2009. Photo courtesy of Mary Covington
Restaurant opportunity in Turtle Bay – Back in January of this year the Parks Dept. issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an operator for the cafe in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza near the corner of East 47th and First Avenue, just across from the UN. So far, no candidate and the Parks Dept. is renewing their request. The previous concession, Pink Moose Cafe, has closed and Turtle Bay residents, New Yorkers, visitors, and residents would love to have another restaurant/cafe at the location. While outside dining seating has become a hot button issue in Manhattan and elsewhere, there’s no problem in Dag Park. No dining shed. No crowded sidewalk.
The Parks Dept. is offering a nine-year term and a bonus option to have a mobile food cart on the Second Avenue side of the park. The deadline for application submissions is October 28, 2022. So contact Glenn Kaalund, Senior Project Manager, at 212 360-3482, or email him at glenn.kaalund@parks.nyc.gov. The RFP is also available through the Parks Dept.’s website. Go for it. Sounds like a great opportunity.
Remembering Christine Donovan (1944-2022) – We all have our dreams and some of us get to live them. And Christine Donovan lived her dreams. Born in Colorado and raised in Connecticut, she and her family moved to Manhattan in the early 60s. Her brother Jim Donovan, now a retired doctor/surgeon, drove a taxi in NYC as a youth, and now lives in Cincinnati. Her sister Sharon Donovan Dodd, a journalist and publisher, lives in New Orleans. Christine earned an MBA from Columbia and had a career in communications and marketing and then established a consultancy for innovative product development and marketing. In 2004 she founded Upper East Side Community Emergency Response Team and served as its Chair for many years and was a longtime active member of the 79th Street Neighborhood Association. Christine volunteered for Trees New York and the Central Park Conservancy for many years.
Mary Covington, who met Christine as a teen and remained a lifelong friend, remembered her as loving New York City, and said that “Christine worked tirelessly to promote and protect greenery and safety in her neighborhood. She was a real team player.” Christine worked with dedication to maintain and improve the city’s trees, first as a pruner in Central Park, then turning to street trees, advocating to increase planting and give greater attention to the protection of trees throughout her community. Christine lived to preserve and protect the city she loved and called home for 50 years. For donations to Trees New York, go to igfn.us/form/HMxuKw.
Reader readback – Reader Bonni Goldberg posted a comment online in response to my last column where I reported about soccer moms sitting by at Le Pain Quotidien on 87th and Third as their kids used the front self-serve sitting area as a locker room as they (the Dalton School kids) changed their socks, shoes, and put their feet on the cube tables meant for food and drink. Here’s what Bonni said: “So glad my own kid gave up soccer young, but maybe I would have been more enthusiastic if there’d been pastries involved,” to which I posted, “The soccer mom’s pastry of choice for the kids is Le Pain Q’s wrapped waffle which the kids enjoy between the changing of the socks.” Feet on cube table, of course.
Transplant donor needed – When you talk Manhattan Democratic politics and the judicial selection process, everybody knows Al Handell. He’s everybody’s favorite. Unfortunately, he’s undergoing dialysis and needs a kidney transplant. Anyone who can help, please contact alanhandell@gmail.com. Thanks.