Results tagged “jamesa”

Have some extra cash to spend around the holiday season? Even the littlest bit can go a long way in the over 80 year old Operation Santa program. Every year letters pile up at the James A. Farley Post Office from (mostly needy) kids writing to Santa Claus (read one of them here). Their wish lists don't make it to the North Pole, but with New Yorkers pitching in every year, it's as if they did. There's still time to pick up a letter so you can help make someone's Christmas a little more merry this year. Head to the Farley Post Office (bring an ID) located at 421 Eighth Ave today through 4pm or Monday (from 9 to 4:30pm). Note: they are currently in desperate need of people who can read Spanish.

There's a fantastic look at a cross-section of Queens residents in the Times today. There's a feature about a Wednesday night class at the James A. Bland Houses in Flushing, where a group of curious and determined residents are learning Mandarin. There's an Italian-American woman who explains, "Kind of like, ‘If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,'" a few people who simply want to communicate with their neighbors, and an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who knows seven other languages. The latter student, Frank Sygal, totally inspires us:

Mr. Sygal grew up outside Krakow and lost his parents on an August day in 1942 when German soldiers rounded up Jews, stripped off their jewelry and machine-gunned them. His facility with languages helped him survive: He spoke Russian with the Russian soldiers, Ukrainian with the Ukrainians and German with the Germans, reserving Hebrew for private spaces. Once he arrived in New York in 1949, there were two more languages to learn — English and Spanish.

Continue reading "Chinese As a 2nd, 3rd or 8th Language"

In keeping with the earlier report this week, the planned conversion of the James A. Farley Post Office into a new transit center, the Moynihan Station, moved a step closer to reality. Yesterday, the Public Authorities Control Board voted to approve spending $230 million to buy the post office.

It's difficult to know quite what to say about the huge transformations on the horizon for the Far West Side. That's partly because major negotiations and plans regarding the future of Madison Square Garden, the Farley Post Office, the Javits Center, the 7-train extension, and rezoning are taking place behind closed doors. Another reason is the uneven pace at which the planning proceeds-- years of plodding speculation followed by the sudden unveiling of a proposal, and merely a few months for public review before the deal is sealed.

Maybe it was the umpteenth “F Bush” tag that seen in the subway station. Or maybe it was President Bush’s interview on Sixty Minutes last night. But recent news about the war, troop deployments and civil rights has infused us with feeling like we're in the 21st Century version of the Wonder Years. This is not the Sixties, but it seems like today’s commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. has gotten some of us in that Sixties kind of mood.

A couple weeks ago, Gothamist wondered what was going on with the scaffolding outside the James A. Farley Post Office at 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue. Sure, there must be restoration work of some sort, but it looked very Christo, as it is a huge building that takes up two blocks. Now the Daily News reveals that the scaffolding is being offered as advertising space. That's 21,000 square feet of space! The space will be available from March till the fall, and Maura Moynihan, who is trying to rally the efforts to turn the post office into the Daniel Moynihan Station (her dad was a strong supporter of moving Penn Station) that will house the LIRR and NJ Transit, gave the plan her blessing, telling the News, "Anything that helps get the jackhammers moving to get the Moynihan station on track is fine by me."

This past weekend, the city's main post office, the James A. Farley branch started its annual Operation Santa program. The post office receives thousands of letters to Santa from needy children, and people can pick up a letter (or two or ten) and give gifts to the children. You can get letters one of two ways: (1) Go to the Farley Post Office (8th Avenue at 33rd Street) in person to pick from the letters in person; or (2) call 877-840-0459 to have letters sent to you (you can also pick what boroughs your letters come from...and you'll receive a confirmation number!). We're going to be Secret Santa to some kids this year, because everyone needs a little Christmas.

More details on what Moynihan Station will include is considered breathtaking; see the plans for the new Moynihan Station at Skidmore Owings & Merrill.