Locals say Wash. Sq. drug dealing is rampant
BY GABE HERMAN | Drugs in Washington Square Park was a main issue discussed at the Feb. 20 Build the Block meeting with the Sixth Precinct and local Village residents. Police discussed their ongoing efforts to address the problem, and residents said the prevalence of drugs is worse than it’s been in many years. Police Officer […]
Carranza tours Dist. 1, parleys with principals
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH | Earlier this month, Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza toured P.S. 64, Tompkins Square Middle School and The Earth School. The trio were the first Community Education Council District 1 schools visited by the chancellor this year, according to Naomi Pena, C.E.C. 1 president. C.E.C. District 1 includes the East Village between […]
Push-in robbers target hotel guests in rooms
BY GABE HERMAN | Two men are being linked to a string of robberies in Manhattan hotels over the past several months, police said. In three incidents at different hotels, the two men each time knocked on a hotel guest’s door and then pushed their way inside the room after the person answered. The first robbery […]
Peds race against M14 to show busway needed
BY GABE HERMAN | Local transit activists held a race on Wed., Feb. 21, pitting pedestrians against the M14 bus, to highlight the buses’ slow speed and call for better service. The event, which was held by Transportation Alternatives and included other local residents, began at Avenue A just after 8:30 a.m. and finished at Union […]
Manhattan Happenings, Week of Feb. 21, 2019
BY RICO BURNEY AND ROSE ADAMS | ART Kerri Scharlin, “In Her Studio”: Bold lines and blocks of color shape Kerri Scharlin’s abstract paintings. Scharlin’s work depicts women in their art studios, celebrating women artist’s growing visibility. The show runs from Sat., Feb. 23, to March 24 at New Release Gallery in Chinatown, […]
Frigid Fest nearly iced out, but show goes on
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH | The curtain has not gone down on the Frigid Festival after water damage to the Under St. Mark’s Theater halted the debut of 15 different shows on Monday. During a pre-festival event at the Kraine Theater — the festival’s second location — on Tues., Feb. 19, Erez Ziv, Frigid’s founder and managing […]
City pulls permits on tricky tower-boost try
BY GABE HERMAN | Last month, the Department of Buildings revoked permits for a condo tower that was set to soar on W. 66th St. But this wasn’t your typical tower. Extell Development Company, which is constructing the high-rise, at 50 W. 66th St., between Central Park West and Columbus Ave., was accused by opponents of […]
Estuarium still afloat, park officials promise
BY GABE HERMAN | An estuarium in Hudson River Park, for research and education of the river and its creatures, has been a decades-old idea that somehow never has gotten out of port, so to speak. But park officials are now confident it will soon become a reality. A main building would be located in Tribeca […]
Bam!!! Emeril gets into N.Y. restaurant game
BY CLAUDE SOLNIK | On a recent evening, Chef Emeril Lagasse carried a dish out of the kitchen of Rodos, a restaurant he launched in the Flatiron District. Lagasse looked a little harried, but happy, as he hurried around the restaurant near a date tree. Now and then he stopped to pause for photographs (which promptly […]
Jack Taylor, 93, preserved Ladies Mile, Tammany
BY GABE HERMAN | Jack Taylor, a preservationist who fought to save many historic Downtown buildings, died on Feb. 8 at age 93. Among Taylor’s victories were the Ladies Mile row of century-old buildings on Sixth Ave. in the upper teens and low 20s blocks that were landmarked in 1989; and the Tammany Hall building at […]
Rivera and Rosenthal call for softer sirens
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH | On Feb. 13, Councilmembers Helen Rosenthal and Carlina Rivera introduced legislation to change sirens on city ambulances from the American wail to the European two-tone. The new legislation is a push to reduce the amount of noise in the city, one of New Yorkers’ most frequent complaints. According to the city’s NYC […]
9/11 victims’ fund payments cut by 50% or more
BY GABE HERMAN | Officials for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund said on Feb. 15 that it will cut payouts by as much as 70 percent for claims, due to a shortfall in funds and a rise in new claims. Currently pending claims will see a 50 percent decrease in awards, and going forward, claims will […]
Police Blotter (Manhattan Express), Week of Feb. 21, 2019
Fresh thief A woman getting lunch suddenly realized she had no way to pay for her meal after discovering her wallet had been stolen. At 2:14 p.m. on Tues., Feb. 12., the 33-year-old woman reported her wallet missing after trying to pay for food at a Fresh & Co., at 127 E. 60th St. The […]
Police Blotter (Downtown Express), Week of Feb. 21, 2019
First Precinct XS’ive grab A 30-year-old woman walking north on Church St. had her $1,200 iPhone XS snatched right out of her hand near the northwest corner of Reade and Church Sts. around 6:35 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 13, police said. The thief is described as being a black male with short hair braids, […]
Police Blotter (Chelsea Now), Week of Feb. 21, 2019
10th Precinct Gourmet groper A man groped a woman inside Adam’s Market Place, a gourmet grocery and deli at 197 Eighth Ave., at W. 20th St., on Thurs., Feb. 14, police said. Around 2:40 p.m., the man reportedly approached the 23-year-old victim from behind and grabbed her buttocks while she sat on a stool. But […]
