Quart Takes the Bench ... No More Dogs for Sale ... NY Reads

Taking up the gavel – UES Assembly Member Dan Quart is moving on. While still a resident of the 73rd AD, which he’s represented for the last 10 years, he will be replacing Civil Court Judge Barbara Jaffe. Quart ran for the open district seat left by her retirement. He came out of a screening panel and was reported highly qualified and was on the November ballot unopposed by a Republican or any other party candidate.

Family, friends and supporters and Quart’s successor to the Assembly, Alex Bores, were on hand at the UES popular Kaia South African Wine Bar and Restaurant to wish Dan well. Dan thanked everyone for their support. In addition to those who worked with him in the Assembly, his future colleagues on the judiciary were there too – UES Civil Court Judges and aspiring Supreme Court candidates Judge Jim Clynes and Judge Suzanne Adams. And newly electeds Supreme Court Judge Sabrina Kraus and Civil Court Judge Matt Bondy.

Lucky dogs – Thanks to West Side Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, NY’s forever and favorite advocate for animals, and Queens State Senator Michael Gianaris, pet stores will be banned from selling pups and cats and bunnies and other animals supplied by breeders under a law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. The bill, which was passed by bipartisan margins in the Assembly and Senate over objection of pet store owners and their political supporters, goes into effect on Dec 15, 2024. Pet stores will be able to charge rent for animal shelters to use their space for adoptions. While the law prohibits the sale of puppies, kittens and bunnies, it allows pet shops to display animals for prospective owners at adoption events in conjunction with local adoption agencies. So come Dec. 2024 those doggies and kitties in any pet store windows will be rescues and not supplied by breeders which will make for a merry and happy holiday season.

Buy a book. See a movie. Go to Bway – Life’s picking up. Movie houses are starting to fill seats. Sell popcorn. Use or about to use their license to sell wine. So, go see “She Said.” You’ll get insight and see inside the unraveling of Harvey Weinstein in real and reel time. The story’s riveting and so are the performances of Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan portraying Jodie Kantor and Megan Twohey, respectively.

It’s worth picking up and reading Maggie Haberman’s weighty, hard-cover, 500-plus page tome, “Confidence Man. The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America” if you want to make the trip through life starting in the 70s and learning how we got to the Donald Trump of the 21st Century. So is Andrew Kirtzman’s almost 400-page read, “Guiliani,” which documents the symbiosis of NY’s former mayor and President Donald J. Trump. And for some insider insight into the 2020s world of fame and media, Michael Wolff’s “Too Famous. The Rich, The Powerful, The Wishful, The Notorious, The Damned,” a compilation of Wolff articles is a must-read. Quoting from the back cover: “This collection pulls from new and previously unpublished work – recent reporting about Tucker Carlson, Jared Kushner, Harvey Weinstein, Ronan Farrow, and Jeffrey Epstein...” Agree or disagree. Like it or not. You’ll keep reading.

And Broadway’s “A Piano Lesson.” Definitely a must see. At the Ethel Barrymore Theater. Good thing that seats are comfortable. Show runs close to three hours.

Transplant donor needed – When you talk Manhattan Democrat 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.