Results tagged “cityisland”

Yesterday morning, a fire broke out in a City Island building with apartments and retail establishments. While firefighters were able to contain it, NY1 reports that the Uniformed Firefighters Association is worried about the response time, claiming "an inexperienced fire dispatcher gave the crew the wrong address.. But fire officials say the original call went dead before an actual address was given, and that the operator sent crews from Ladder 53 to the location of the call, which turned out to be a cell phone tower."

Last June police busted four people on prostitution charges at a massage parlor on City Island, but rumors persisted throughout the tight-knit community that tugs were still following rubs at the Sun Spa Massage Parlor, which happens to be two doors down from the home of Adolfo Carrión Jr., who was Bronx borough president until Obama chose him as the White House urban affairs director. Two days after a community meeting last month, during which some 70 islanders urged the 45th Precinct to firmly end the happy endings, cops moved in and once again made arrests: two for prostitution and another for unlicensed massage. Bill Stanton, president of the City Island Civic Association, tells the Daily News, "There is an up-and-running brothel four doors away from my church. When there's arrests for prostitution, I call it a brothel." He adds that residents have been reluctant to speak out because they were "worried about their property values." But just to be absolutely certain, last week the News assigned one lucky reporter to visit Sun Spa; he paid $70 for a massage, which ended without full or even partial release.

Who said there were no fireworks on the East River last night? A family who had taken a holiday cruise down to the Statue of Liberty ended up in danger of almost capsizing as dusk approached yesterday evening. The Delorbe family had headed down for lunch on the Jersey side of the Hudson and were making their way back home to City Island when they hit a rough patch and water began entering their 15-foot jetboat near East 34th Street. Luckily for them, their state of peril was quickly spotted by a nearby water taxi named "Frank Sinatra" who put out a mayday call that was promptly responded to by an FDNY rescue boat. The four adults and three young children were pulled out just after 7 p.m. The rescuing captain told the News, "It was the right place at the right time. If we didn't get to them, they would have gone under."

Ah, summer, when the news is sprinkled with a healthy portion of marine life sightings. This one could turn out to be the summer of dolphins! Yesterday we noted that following the sighting of 150-200 confused dolphins in Long Island Sound on Saturday, a pod of dolphins was spotted off the south end of City Island. Reportedly the group had started off as one (they were also sighted last Wednesday in Northport), and has now split in two: the City Island crew (team Bronx) and the the Long Island Sound crew (team Bayville).

From the wires: A marine unit has reported seeing a pod of dolphins off the south end of City Island!! (Maybe they heard how much Remy Ma likes Sammy's?) About 150-200 dolphins were seen in the Long Island Sound yesterday; the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation told Newsday they were "acting normally"—and chasing herring—but reminded people to stay 150 feet (or more) away from them. Update: The marine unit says the dolphins appear to be "confused" in the Long Island Sound—poor dolphins!

Ninety celebrities and Daily News staff writers shared their favorite spots around town for the paper to turn into a fun (and addictive) interactive map in honor of their 90th birthday. Spots go from the painfully obvious (News baseball writer Bill Madden couldn't come up with something better than Yankee Stadium?) to some shockers (Chloe Sevigny choosing somewhere above 14th Street!). There are some fun personal anecdotes mixed in, like Rosie Perez talking about her high-school track and SNL's Abby Elliot sharing the restaurant her comedian dad Chris took her to after her first failed audition. Without Ghostface being polled, poor Staten Island didn't get one locale chosen in the bunch. But at least News readers can find a few excuses to trek up to the Bronx. Remy Ma gives the lowdown on City Island, telling the paper, "Sammy's restaurant in City Island was like the Mr. Chow's of the Bronx. Growing up as a teenager that was the place you'd go to with a guy and then come back and tell everybody, "Girl, he took me to Sammy's!" It meant something."

Is quaint City Island getting less nice and more vice? According to an alarmist article in today's Post, residents are shocked because cops busted four people on prostitution charges at a massage parlor—they were allegedly giving rub and tugs for $200 a pop. The bust happened last June, but rumors are swirling that the full release is back at Sun Spa parlor, which happens to be two doors down from the home of Adolfo Carrión Jr., who was Bronx borough president until Obama chose him as the White House urban affairs director. He tells the tabloid, "Everybody is hearing the rumors, and everyone is concerned." The article also explains that unnamed residents are troubled by "brazen, open-air drug sales and drug use by local teens." Local PTA dad Michael Shanley says, "It's an outrage. You feel like you're on our beautiful island with no police protection, and it's a free-for-all." Teens doing drugs!? Men hiring prostitutes!? What is this, the Bronx? Oh, right. Well, at least the NYPD is now increasing foot patrols on City Island, so perhaps this anecdotal crime story will have a happy ending after all.

Yesterday, Daily News noted that former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.—now the White House's director of urban policy—approved a big city project designed by an architect who had just finished a renovation project on Carrion's own home back in 2007. After initially not telling the News how much he paid for the project or responding to the paper's request for cancelled checks, now the News gets a response: "Carrion admitted he hadn't paid architect Hugo Subotovsky to design a porch and balcony for his City Island home." Carrion adds that the final bill will end up being $3,627.50 for Subotovsky's 51.5 hours of work (just $71/hour) and claimed no bill was paid because he's waiting for the "final survey" to be "filed and approved...as is [the architect's] practice for projects of this kind." Hmm, that's interesting—one would think an architect would get on that immediately to, you know, get paid.

A Bronx firefighter has been arrested for making calls about non-existent fires, apparently in protest of FDNY budget cuts that will eliminate a night tour at his City Island firehouse. Nicholas Vrettos allegedly made a dozen calls about fires, including one in a school cafeteria, on December 4 (when the cuts were announced). Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said, "You're taking a unit away from what might be a real emergency where somebody is having a heart attack or there's a fire or any other life-threatening emergency and that's the danger and that's why this is a felony," but a City Island resident, who did not condone calling in false alarms, told NY1, "If it in any way illustrated our plight, it at least had that effect." Vrettos could face up to seven in prison.

After the many questions about the unofficial Democratic primary results, the NYC Board of Elections has released the official results for the February 5 primary results, confirming a Clinton victory in the Big Apple. She won 55% of the vote with 527,941 votes, to Barack Obama's 43% (413,898 votes). A total of 955,966 votes were cast, meaning 34% of the city's registered Democrats voted.

The great-grandson of one of an early owner of Macy's is being accused by a 52-year-old jewelry designer of imprisoning the woman and torturing her with, of all things, a lobster trap. Bette Marchek claims that William Straus kept her captive on his Westchester estate, starved her, beat her, and eventually attacked her with a lobster trap while the pair were on City Island in the Bronx. That was the figurative straw that broke the...

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: missing children on Lenox Rd. in Brooklyn, shots fired at Columbus Ave. and West 104th St. in Manhattan, and a water rescue at the Stepping Stone Lighthouse off City Island in the Bronx.
• The chief of a volunteer fire company in the Bronx is scrambling to explain how the firehouse is now broke, after receiving a half-million dollars in donations after 9/11/01.
• A pair of 15-year-olds will be tried as adults after breaking into a woman's Central Park West home and allegedly raping her four times each before fleeing.
• The Daily News reports on the progress of Reid Stowe and his girlfriend Soanya Ahmad, who are attempting to sail 1,000 consecutive days without making landfall. They left New York Harbor 100 days ago, so only 900 days left.
• Complaints about rude police officers have risen dramatically over the past six years, so programs are being instituted to improve and chronicle relations between cops and the public. Critics of the new programs say that cops have to be rude and mean to do their jobs effectively.
• Some reports claim that the area around South Street Seaport is being overrun by rats, as construction to replace a 150-year-old water main on Fulton St. have driven the pests into the street.
• The New York Times has a short video piece on the replacement of hot dog sidewalk pushcarts with halal food carts.
• A 30" alligator was found in a pillowcase on a Long Island beach this morning. The person who found the pillowcase was forewarned of its contents by the message written on the outside, which read "Live gator, please find him a home."

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a homicide on Sands St. in Brooklyn, a water rescue off City Island in the Bronx, and a stabbing at 146th St. in Queens.
• The national press is focusing on possible candidates Hillary, Rudy, and Bloomy, and catches on to the obvious fact that has been evident for the last century in politics: the rest of the U.S. hates New Yorkers and especially hates New York City politicians.
• If you haven't heard of Florsheim Shoes, you're not really a New Yorker. The company and the family are back.
• A NJ schools superintendent calls "Yuck!" at two gay boys kissing in a high school yearbook. That is so totally gay.
• John Lennon's sons, Sean and Julian, hug and make up.
• Before we get all worked up about the U.N. and its diplomats, City Comptroller Bill Thompson would like to remind us that there are a lot of companies and organizations that owe the city millions in unpaid taxes, like the Cyclones baseball team, the Mets, Hyatt Hotels, and the National Tennis Center. Pay up deadbeats.
• An FDNY rescue worker swam to a man crying for help as he clung to a the underside of a pier at East 38th St. this morning. #1 request after the near-drowning man was rescued from the chilly East River: "I need water."
• Mike Bloomberg: Populist Mayor or Plutocrat Kingmaker?

The story: a man walks into a clam bar and orders a plate of fried clams, and the confusion begins. “Fried clams” can refer either to squiggly strips a la HoJo’s (RIP), or clam bellies. Otherwise known as Ipswich clams, bellies refer to the shucked ball-and-chain shaped whole bivalve, minus the clam’s soft shell. In its fried form, Ipswich clams are harder to find. Regardless, there are few restaurants that serve fried clams in either form; those that do include the array of boutique oyster bars in Manhattan, and Brooklyn Fish Camp. Also in Brooklyn is the passable but nonetheless iconic Randazzo’s of Sheepshead Bay. For summer, in season clams are starting to appear on special menus: this week, Country is doing an upscale take on clam shack food, serving fried Ipswich bellies with local flounder, sauce gribiche, and frisee salad. And starting July 6th, Savoy will once again offer its special fixed-price summer clambake menu ($60, with clams on the half shell). Meanwhile, up north, the blenders and kitchens at Johnny’s Famous Reef and the rest of City Island’s fish houses are about to go into deep fried overtime. Summer is your best chance to get some real fried clams.

Sunsets at the Harlem Yacht Club won't be the same anymore. A state appellate court ruled that the club must follow the DEP's orders and stop firing a miniature cannon when the club lowers the flag. The yacht club, which is on City Island, and its residential neighbors have been facing off over the cannon firing since 2000, when the neighbors brought a petition asking the club to consider "another maritime tradition that does not impact the quality of life of your cheek-to-jowl neighbors in such a nerve-shattering fashion." From the NY Sun:

Several weeks later, a noise inspector from the city's Department of Environmental Protection traveled to City Island to investigate the complaints. Inspector J.R. Zimmerman of the Night Enforcement Unit testified that, his sound meter in hand, he "jumped" when club officials fired the cannon, and characterized the shots as both "startling" and "annoying."

Continue reading "Hark, The Cannons Roar No More for Harlem Yacht Club"

Thank you, Michael Wolff, for giving us a blast from the past. Wolff has an article about Rudy Giuliani's craziness, Crazy for Rudy. Wolff recalls arguing with the late Jack Newfield about the former mayor: When Newfield says, "He's just insane!" Wolff thinks Giuliani's "hysteric nature was part of what enabled him to appear so reassuring on 9/11: When everyone is crazy, he, being actually crazy, is calm. When everyone is stunned, he's expressive."

When we feel the need to get away from the city without actually leaving the city, we head up to the Bronx. Places like City Island, Wave Hill, The New York Botanical Garden, and The Bronx Zoo are some of our favorite places to visit in all of New York, and we realize that's only the tip of the iceberg when considering the Bronx's appealing features.

• Today on Gothamist Newsmap: a barricaded emotionally disturbed person/stabbing on Parsons Blvd. in Queens, an overturned auto on Bushwick Ave. in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on Staten Island's Taylor St.
• City Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) is a big fan of Tom Cruise's Scientology detox program that is being offered free to firefighters. He's done it and it made him feel "100 times better", which is pretty good.
• City Island residents contemplate life on the water without the repetitive "thock, thock, thock" sound of gunfire drifting across Eastchester Bay.

Untitled, by Brunocerous. Tag yours with "gothamist" on Flickr if you want us to use them.

Fish Eye Fifth Avenue by mdpNY.

One of the many things I love about this town is that there are a thousand places where you might find yourself saying, “It doesn’t even feel like I’m in New York City anymore.” I started driving a yellow cab, in large part, to try to find as many of those places as I could.

We love Fresh Direct for its convenience, if nothing else. They've taken it one step further by incorporating a new feature called One-Click Recipes: over 400 recipes from 53 cookbooks including The Silver Palate, The New Basics, The Barbecue Bible, the French Laundry and Bouchon cookbooks, and, one of our favorites, the New York Cookbook. Fresh Direct plans to add new recipes to the site regularly. Not only is there a great search feature -- you can search based on main ingredient, level of difficulty, type of event (date night, cooking for a crowd, etc.), number served, or cuisine, but once you hone in on that perfect recipe, you can quickly and easily add them to your cart. They'll even tag some items as "You May Already Have," just so you don't inadvertently buy yet another bottle of olive oil, and will warn you if you add an ingredient that's already in your cart. On top of all that, certain recipes have tabs that let you make it organic or kosher. Not bad, huh?

In all my years as a yellow cabbie, not once have I taken a fare to City Island in The Bronx. But I can’t say I’m surprised by this fact. Exactly 4,634 people live on that tiny island in Pelham Bay, so in a city of eight million it would be statistically unlikely to find one of these “clamdiggers” as they call themselves. Consequently, I had no idea which of the wall-to-wall seafood restaurants along City Island Avenue were tourist traps and which were frequented by the natives.

It's Memorial Day in the city, and there are many events, from parades to concerts - a commemoration at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monuments in Riverside Park at 10:30AM, a parade on City Island at 2PM, a concert with Frank Sinatra Jr. at 3PM in Little Italy, and a free concert from the Philharmonic at St. John the Divine at 8PM. For more info, check out NYC Visit and go to their calendar of listings.

We're always looking for current bike path maps. The most authoratative comes from Transportation Alternatives, but it's a 1.5MB PDF, and hasn't been updated this year. The NYC Bike Map 2006 mashup pictured above is attempting to fill in the gaps, but seems to be missing a bunch of the smaller paths. We've already featured the Secret Bike Maps page-- but still haven't taken that trip to City Island. Has anyone successfully biked up there from Manhattan? We've circled the route on the map above, but we're not sure how long it would take to get there and back, and none of our pansy-ass friends will do it without some more information.

Have you ever wondered how to bike to City Island from Manhattan? Now you know! Check out the five great other routes up at Recteck-- the most bizarre is the nine bridge circumnavigation of Jamaica Bay. That's probably not for beginners!

The Morris Yacht and Beach Club was destroyed by a four-alarm fire this morning. At least 120 firefighters reported to the scene, trying to save the landmark building, using a fireboat as well as groundpower; they believe the fire, which was noticed at 1:30AM, started on a lower floor. The Victorian mansion was originally built by the Hearst family in 1850, and was later converted to be a yacht club in 1899. It's situated at the southern tip of City Island and has been a catering hall as well as working boat club. The Morris Yacht and Beach Club is also the home of the Fordham sailing team.

The NYPD is now embarking on a program to pinpoint cellphone users who call 911. After the City Island drowning of teenagers who used a cellphone in an attempt to give their location, only for the call to break break, the NYPD has new technology that will enhnace its reading of cellphone locations. Of course, this will be useful in other police situations they may need to investigate. The new technology will rollout in the next few months to all cellphone service providers.

I don't get up to the Bronx that much- my parents grew up there, but it's definitely off the beaten track- even Queens is more convenient. Off the northeast coast of the Bronx is City Island, where four teenagers disappeared and most probably drowned this weekend. The Times has a good article on Hart Island, the spookiest island in the Long Island Sound, which was where the kids were probably rowing when their skiff went down. I actually prefer the Morning News' lyrical history of the island, and the New York Genealogical Society's page on Hart Island, which includes pictures. More pictures from the Corrections Department, which operates the island.