Results tagged “kevinwalsh”

A well-known ruin is crumbling. According to Roosevelt Island Historical Society president and historian Judith Berdy, part of the north wing of the Smallpox Hospital collapsed about a week ago. She writes, "The rest of the north wing especially the front is in danger of coming down any time... [The Roosevelt Island Operation Corporation] is working with TPL, the Southpoint park developers to find a way to do emergency stabilization of the rest of the building... Please encourage RIOC to do all possible to save the rest of the building."

Kevin Walsh of Forgotten NY directed our attention towards this site, which features a number of photographs from a New York that brings to mind the fact that we're not just in another decade in this city; we're in another century. The picture above is identified as probably 55th St. near 8th Ave. in Manhattan and taken in 1970. We wonder if "Sexual Freedom in Denmark," then playing at the Eros Theater [right-hand side of the image] is now available on DVD? There are more pictures after the jump.

Famed New York realtor Barbara Corcoran chimed in on a matter of public aesthetics and the nature of our city by advising that homeowners would be best served by tearing up their lawns and gardens and paving them over as a suitable place to park their cars. We'll let her speak directly on the subject, as it seems too insane to try to rephrase ourselves. From Friday's Daily News:Q. My wife and I have...

It was reported last week that the 71 year-old Hartsdale, Westchester Carvel -- the very first outpost of the ice cream shop -- will likely be demolished at the end of next summer to make room for businesses that presumably make more money. Yes, the 68% milkfat solid, sidereal softy known as Cookie Puss is crying tiny crunchy tears as we speak; Flying Saucers are slowing down for their final approach. While the building’s current location is the site of the original Carvel store, the fact that it has been renovated over the years to look more retro apparently complicates bids for historic preservation. Tom Carvel, the chain’s gravelly voiced founder who also used to narrate its television commercials (vintage WPIX, anyone?) once lived with his wife Agnes in quarters behind the shop.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a person under a train at West 31st St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan (the 1 line), a triple shooting on Elder Ave. in the Bronx, and an unconscious baby on Hylan Blvd. on Staten Island.
• The used anti-tank weapon that a NJ woman found on her front lawn was traced to a Marine, who had thrown the missile tube in the trash.
• A white-painted "ghost bike" memorial for a cyclist killed in NYC traffic was removed from its Brooklyn position, possibly by the city, raising fears that the unofficial tributes to dead riders could be endangered.
• In a bid to cut down on time spent waiting in lines, a new ferry service operator to the Statue of Liberty will allow advanced ticketing with scheduled departure times and offer downloadable podcasts with historical information.
• WNBC's Roseanne Colletti goes looking for the best coffee in NYC, with assistance from Zagat's.
• New York magazine's guide to rooftop bars around New York City.
• Curbed notes how 91st St. residents in Manhattan are trying to palm off a proposed bike path onto 89th St. instead.
• Kevin Walsh of ForgottenNY examines the different looks of the southern portion of Brooklyn's Bedford Ave.

The last free-standing diner in Manhattan is closing tomorrow night after 70 years in business, and like many displaced New Yorkers it will be moving to Pennsylvania. The Moondance Diner in SoHo is shuttering, and next month it will be shipped to PA to become part of a museum. The lot where it currently sits is going to become the site of luxury condos. The New York Sun reported the imminent demise of the Moondance back in February and noted the diner's end as emblematic of the westward expansion of the fashionable SoHo district.

Forgotten NY's Kevin Walsh reminded us that tomorrow is the Norwegian Day Parade in Bay Ridge. The parade celebrates Norway's adoption of a constitution and many people of Norwegian descent or with Norwegian ties celebrate by wearing traditional Scandinavian clothing, riding in Viking ship float, dressing as Henrik Ibsen and, yes, donning Viking helmets.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bomb threat at New York Law School on Worth St. in Manhattan, shots fired on New York Ave. in Brooklyn, and a person in the river off of Manhattan's 59th St. and 12th Ave.
• The former head of the NYPD's forensic crime lab, Deputy Chief Denis McCarthy, was transferred to a patrol division by Chief Ray Kelly after allegations of falsified lab reports were substantiated by investigators.
• Debra Ann Ridgeley, the woman arrested in Panama for the killing of Staten Island resident Toni Grossi Abrams, is claiming innocence. Her lawyer says that it was Grossi Abrams who attacked her with a knife and that a male Colombian friend intervened to protect her. She also is maintaining that whatever happened to Grossi Abrams, it happened while she was someplace else tending to her wounds.
• A 57-year-old man accused a younger man of stealing his money off the counter of a midtown liquore store yesterday. After the store's manager told the two men to take their argument outside, the older man picked up a piece of metal from the sidewalk, prompting the other to produce a weapon and stab him in the chest before running away.
• A building at the NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston was evacuated today after a gunman was reported in the building.
• Kevin Walsh of forgotten NY investigates the origins of a large anchor in Park Slope and finds a retired seaman.
• A ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals establishes that government officials can't be held constitutionally liable for statements made in regards to the safety or quality of air following the 9/11 attacks. This could put an end to a number of lawsuits related to post-9/11 air quality and the EPA's assurances of safety.
• Firefighters got to try out their new diamond-tipped glass-cutting power saw when rescuing two window washers stuck outside the 37th floor of a Turtle Bay building.
• Hitting a pedestrian in a grocery store parking lot is one thing; ramming into cop cars, however is highly discouraged in Long Island's Nassau County.
• New York named the daffodil the city's official flower. Over three million bulbs were planted across the city's five boroughs as part of the Daffodil Project to memorialize victims of the 9/11 attacks.

There's a fun NY Times City section article about the Queens Museum of Art's Panorama Challenge. The Queens Museum of Art's panorama is a to-scale model of New York City: One inch equals 100 feet (the Empire State Building is 15 inches tall) and the model was originally designed for the 1964 World's Fair, as a "helicopter" ride over New York City. (And, yes, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses commissioned the panorama in 1964, just as he commissioned the Queens Museum of Art's building, the former New York City Pavilion for the 1939's World Fair.)

A six-foot tall chocolate sculpture of Jesus which will be displayed at a Midtown hotel next week is stirring up controversy. Catholics are calling Cosimo Cavallaro's "My Sweet Lord" an "all-out war on Christianity."

Although we haven't heard the old "urban jungle" metaphor applied to New York lately, preservationists continue to churn out new lists of "endangered" architectural species. The newest, Ten to Save: Endangered NYC comes from an editor at amNewYork, Rolando Pujol. It is derived in part from the New York Landmark Conservancy's Endangered Buildings Online, which was unveiled last summer July.

For the next four months, the 145th Street Bridge will be closed to traffic and pedestrians as the Department of Transportation reconstructs the bridge. And it is a total reconstruction - new bridge arrived on barge and is parked nearby. From the NY Sun:

Once the old bridge is disassembled and disposed of by the contractor, Kiewit/Pully, the new trusses will be floated in at high tide.

Continue reading "145th Street Bridge Gets Ready For "New Bridge""

EVENT: NYC Photobloggers will take over the Apple Store again tonight, for the 7th of their events there. The A-list...um, list, of past photographers is a long one. Six more will join the ranks tonight, as they are the centerpieces for this event. They are:

There are a couple articles about a year-old mob murder today, and why not? It happened at the Kreischer Mansion in the Charlestown section of Staten Island. Bonanno associate Robert McKelvey was killed by other Bonanno family associates over a "bad debt" after being lured to the house by the groundskeeper and mob associate Joseph "Joe Black" Young. The NY Times notes the crime is unusual because Young is black, as mob associates of color are pretty rare (in fact, another one of the accomplices is Hispanic). McKelvey was strangled, stabbed, then drowned in "an ornamental pool surrounded by flower beds, elaborate brickwork and 1.3 acres of manicured lawn" - allegedly under orders and a $8000 bounty from Gino Galestro, McKelvey's boss in the Bonanno family. Naturally, the Post's article doesn't mention how Galestro was a former NY Post driver. Anyway, Young and his crew cut up McKelvey's body and burned it in the furnace. And when investigators tried to find the furnace, they found out it had been replaced because the owners are in the process of making the mansion an assisted-living facility! Galestro and Young are charged with murder for hire, which can mean the death penalty.

Oh bless you, Kevin Walsh-- without your magical work at Forgotten-NY, we'd never learn about out-of-the-way neighborhoods like Harding Park in the Bronx. For those of you who aren't familiar with the area (that should be just about everyone-- we asked a Bronx old-timer if he knew where Harding Park was, and he had no idea), the neighborhood is just across the East River from Riker's Island, near the mouth of the Bronx River. Only about four miles from upper-Manhattan, it looks completely bucolic, and definitely lives up the FNY "you'd never believe you are in New York" moniker. As usual, in addition to his great pix, Kevin dug up the history of the area:

What are the orange cylinders that have been appearing over the last year on the city’s streetlights? They’re placed on the light part of the “cobra-head” style lights and there seem to be a few different kinds. I’ve been puzzling over this for a while and can’t quite figure out who to ask besides Gothamist. Thanks, D.

Kevin Walsh, Forgotten NY

Kevin Walsh has put up photographs of this year's parage at Forgotten NY; check out his pictures from last year, 2002, 2001 and 2000. Also, thanks to Kevin for the photograph above. And the Invisible Rabbit has an amazing photo gallery of Mermaid Parade photographs as well. Definitely check both sets of photos out if you missed the parade - everyone's incredibly creative with their costumes.

Forgotten NY's NYC streetlamp page and a New Yorker Talk of the Town piece with Forgotten NY's Kevin Walsh about street lamps and the competition: "A proper familiarity with the street lamps of New York requires a sustained interest beginning at an early, pre-self-conscious age�long before the native disdain for tourists kicks in and, with it, the automatic, jaded lowering of the eyes, the tunnel vision."

It's wonderful how much people love the city and, not only love learning more about it, but love sharing what they know about it. Gothamist once gave a tour of Park Slope in the 7th grade. Plus we usually give the right directions to tourists (except in the West Village where we are easily confused). Hands down, the best directions we ever gave were to Central Park West - from West Broadway!