Results tagged “harrisgraber”

This afternoon was the parade celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year; it's the Year of the Rat. Chinatown in Manhattan is one of the earliest concentrations of Chinese people in the United States. After the jump are more early pictures of the parade.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 7th Ave. in Brooklyn, a child shot on 224th St. in Queens, and a pedestrian struck on Park Ave. and 39th St. in Manhattan.
• Through the miracle of digital image manipulation, even one's mug shot can become a glamour shot.
• After a gameday prohibition on selling beer at the stadium failed to dissuade scores of men gathering at Gate D and yelling for women to bare their breasts, the Jets organization figures it may as well make some money and will resume beer sales next season.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a two alarm fire at 80 Washington St in Lower Manhattan; an aircraft emergency at JFK this morning; two pedestrians struck on E. 53rd St.; and a "possible A.I. job" (whatever that is) in Woodhaven.
• The NYCLU objected yesterday to the number of cases the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated. The board, which investigates police misconduct, only substantiated 5% of the cases, but that's actually higher than that of Washington D.C. and San Francisco.
• A 64-year-old Gambino capo was given a 15 year sentence for orchestrating the murders of a couple that robbed his social club. No news on whether Dominick "Skinny Dom" Pizzonia, who has 6 grandchildren, lectured the judge on how they did things in his day.
• Mom and pop may have it a little easier if the City Council gets its way. They are examining the idea of giving tax breaks to small businesses hoping to "preserve neighborhood character," something that Mayor Bloomberg may not sign if it gets to him.
• Judith Zuk, the former president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, passed away over the weekend due to breast cancer. She served as president from 1990 until her retirement in 2005.
• Red Hook vendors and area eaters have lucked out. The Dept. of Parks and Recreation are letting the food vendors remain through October 21st when they traditionally end their season. New rules are expected to be laid out in the Fall that may prevent the vendors from returning next year.
• The hottest ticket in town? Not Oprah, not the US Open, but J.K. Rowling. She's coming to New York to read at Carnegie Hall for 1,600 lucky kids from NYC's public schools. She'll also be signing books and answering questions about the series to the lucky students. No tickets are available to the public.
• And coming to your computer - MTV is building "music world" a virtual Brooklyn and Lower East Side that replicates "hip" clubs. Bonus: no need to dress up while sitting at home late at night in front of the computer.

An ambitious plan to plant one million trees in New York is actually going to rely heavily, or primarily, on the the actions and funding of individual residents. On Earth Day back in April, Mayor Bloomberg announced one of many bold initiatives to make New York a greener city: plant a million trees by 2030. Bloomberg even said that $250 million would be devoted to the project over the next ten years to get it going. A closer examination of the details of the plan show that the project's goals are extremely backloaded, with most of the planting of trees by the city coming after 2017, and individual residents are expected to plant more than three trees for every one that the city plants in the next ten years.

The Department of Transportation announced that Central Park's West Drive will be car free until 8AM starting on Monday, August 6. Per the DOT's press release, via Streetsblog:

Beginning Monday, August 6th, the West Drive of Central Park between Lenox Avenue and the 7th Avenue Exit will be closed to motor vehicles for an additional hour (7-8am) during the morning peak period. Currently, the West Drive is open to motor vehicles between the hours of 7-10am and operates as an HOV 2+ only roadway. With this change, the West Drive will be open to motor vehicles between the hours of 8-10am only and will continue to operate as an HOV 2+ roadway. This additional hour of closure of the West Drive to motor vehicles provides an additional hour of conflict-free recreational use during the early morning hours.

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan cites how Central Park is "busy in the mornings with walkers, joggers and cyclists," but there's no mention of the walkers, joggers and cyclists in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, as there were no improvements mentioned for it. Central Park's East Drive is open during the afternoons and early evenings (3-7PM) while East Drive from Sixth Avenue to 72nd and Fifth is open between 7AM and 7PM.

Part of a larger block party on Eldridge Street tomorrow is the annual Egg Rolls and Egg Creams Festival. For just $2, (a dollar increase from last year), you get a kosher egg roll and a classic egg cream, mixed on site by a professional and made with Fox’s U-Bet chocolate syrup, the best choice for an authentic experience. The fried kosher egg roll will be missing the standard tiny bits of red pork, of course, but you’ll still be able to enjoy all the duck sauce you can squeeze out of the little plastic packet. Last year’s attendees were taken aback somewhat by lackluster egg rolls and literally tepid egg creams (see comments here); presumably some of the kinks have been worked out for tomorrow, and it’s such a great idea- two classic foods hailing from two different cultures packaged as a combo plate. At the low price, it’s street food fusion. Other festivities on Eldridge Street tomorrow include live klezmer musicians, storytellers, stunt dancers, and face painting.

That's the abbreviated version of WABC's recommendations. We suggest reading the whole list, because if you try calling in sick the Tuesday after Memorial Day, your boss probably isn't going to buy it.

Yesterday's thunderstorm left its mark around the area. Just under 2,000 homes were without power in the five boroughs (though, given Con Ed's counting, that could be many times more) while thousands of homes in Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut were also powerless. About an inch of rain fell in Central Park.

Artist Sergio Furnari's life-size sculpture based on a photograph of construction workers during Rockefeler Center's construction has been a familiar site all over the city. But someone had the gall to steal the 100-pound worker on the right. Furnari told the Post, "People loved that guy the most, because he was holding a bottle. He's probably sitting in the [thief's] living room having a drink."

As first reported on Slice, Patsy Grimaldi, founder of Grimaldi's has come out of retirement to operate Girmaldi's at Aviator, the new sports and recreation complex at Floyd Bennett Field. The Times picks up the story today, quoting Mr. Grimaldi, who sold the original pizzeria several years ago, as saying retirement "was a big mistake".

-- The Village Voice Best of NYC 2006 is out, and chock full of fun! It even includes an interview with our own Famous Fat Dave.

-- In Park Slope new owners mean no more bottles of beer on the wall at two bodegas.

With the weather so nice, it's the perfect opportunity to head to Flushing today to check out the final day of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York. Today's races have already started, but the event lasts until 6 p.m., with the last race scheduled for 5:09 (it will undoubtedly be running late). If watching various teams compete in dragon boats from the shores of Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, there will also be a dumpling eating contest at noon today.

- A NJ Transit light rail train hits a NJ Transit bus - luckily none of the accidents are life threatening, but come on, they are both operated by NJ Transit!

- A middle-aged man was found stabbed to death in a part of Prospect Park with a reputation for gay cruising.