Results tagged “morningsideheights”

Mary Travers, of folk singing group Peter, Paul & Mary fame, died at the age of 72 back in mid-September. The NY Times now reports that a memorial celebration of her life and music will be held at 7 p.m. this coming Monday at Riverside Church in Morningside Heights. "The service will be open to the public. Tickets will be available on the day of the event on a first-come-first-served basis. Half the seats will be reserved for invited guests," and everyone from Pete Seeger to Whoopi Goldberg is expected to show.

Owing $158,000 in back rent to a formidable landlord—Columbia University—independent book store Morningside Bookshop will close tomorrow. Owner Peter Soter, who opened the bookshop on Broadway & West 114th five years ago, told the Columbia Spectator earlier this month that while Columbia was "very supportive, and very helpful," he just couldn't make enough money to stay open. Soter put up a letter to the community in the window: "We wanted to be the little bookstore that could. We couldn't." The NY Times chronicles the farewells the bookshop has been receiving, plus some of the economic realities. Some residents feel Columbia could have done more, some have offered a total of $68,000 in "unsolicited donations" to keep the store open. One teacher said, "One of the reasons I lived on the Upper West Side is that it has a sense of being a vital neighborhood. A neighborhood bookstore becomes part of you. I love that bookstore. It’s not like losing a finger. It’s like losing an arm."

After an epic upside-down FAIL during his last stunt, it's nice to see David Blaine will be putting away the bells and whistles and doing some of his regular street magic this afternoon. CITYarts, a non-profit public art organization in New York, informs us that they'll be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony at 3:30 p.m. today to celebrate the restoration of the 36-year-old mosaic benches around Grant's Tomb in Morningside Heights (located at Riverside Drive and West 122nd Street). Blaine, allegedly a fan of the benches, will be on hand "doing magic for the kids," and all are invited to attend!

Days after seven Columbia University students were attacked near campus, the police have announced four arrests. Surveillance cameras captured possible suspects who apparently struck at five different locations. According to WNBC, "the suspects as 16-year old DeShaun Busby, 16-year-old Quentin Cox, 17-year-old Lawrence Jones and 18-year-old Jan Germosen" and "all face charges of gang assault." The police are continuing to look for other suspects.

The Columbia Spectator reported that Columbia University's Office of Public Safety issued an alert (though not all students received it) about seven students being assaulted on last Sunday night near campus: "Though the alert...offered no information about whether the assaults might be connected, it did provide some consistent detail. Each of the students was physically assaulted and reported 'being approached and/or surrounded by a group of five to seven' males in their twenties." One student was apparently robbed. The Daily News had the most thorough details on the attacks:

The brutality started at 12:13 a.m. at Amsterdam Ave. and W. 112th St. in Morningside Heights when the pack punched a 30-year-old man, giving him a black eye.

Continue reading "Series of Assaults on Columbia Students Near Campus"

Gowanus Yacht Club: Outdoor seating at Carroll Gardens’ kitschy beach bum beer garden was born again on Thursday night; Eater is rightfully ecstatic, and has some photos, which show the place looking pretty much the same as ever. Wouldn’t have it any other way; Gowanus Yacht Club is an ideal summer's eve refuge for enlightened discourse on the finer points of yachting, whilst sipping fine lager and feasting on hamburgers and hot dogs. (A vegan 'Not-Dog' is also available.) 323 Smith St., (718) 246-1321.

The 14-year-old boy held for second-degree manslaughter in the death of a Columbia graduate student appeared in family court yesterday, as lawyers, police officials, and an aunt who cares for him weighed in. A judge assigned the boy, named Sheldon, lawyers and decided he would be tried as a juvenile offender in Family Court.

Police say that two teenaged boys led them to the 13- (or 14-) year-old charged with manslaughter in the death of Columbia graduate student Minghui Yu. On Friday night, the teen had punched Yu in the face at a median on Broadway between 122nd and 123rd Streets. After a struggle, Yu managed to escape and ran into the street, only to be fatally hit by a car.

A 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter in the Friday night death of a Columbia graduate student. According to a Daily News source, the boy bragged to his 15-year-old friend before chasing Ming-Hui Yu, "Look what I do to this one."

A 24-year-old Columbia University student studying late at the library Friday evening is in critical condition at St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan after his bid to escape a pair of muggers ended in serious injury under the wheels of a Jeep. According to WABC News, the student had just left the library on Columbia's Morningside Heights campus and was waiting for a bus around 9 p.m., when he was approached by two young men. It's unclear whether the student was mugged or already mugged, when he fled into the street near 120th and Broadway.

The man who attacked two women this weekend after picking them up under the guise of being a legit livery cab driver has been arrested. One of Torkieh Sadagheh's victims, Monica Maneiro of Morningside Heights, hailed his car after getting off work at Scores strip club on Saturday night; the 23-year-old recounts what happened next:

"Out of nowhere he just stopped the cab and jumped in the back seat. He grabbed me and had his hand over my face. When he was trying to restrain me I was just trying to calm him down. I didn't really fight back too much because if I would have he probably would have gotten more upset. So what I did was I was just trying to calm him down. I was trying to open the door at the same time without him seeing."

Last year, the federal authorities had been looking for Esther Elizabeth Reed, a woman who faked her way into attending Harvard, Cal State and most recently Columbia University, by using a dead woman's identity. Reed was on the lam, but this past weekend's murders at a mall outside Chicago led the police to Reed, who had been living in the very same town the killings occurred.

A Brookings Institution study reveals that New York is a great place for walking, with 21 out of 21 walkable urban places. But Washington D.C. is the most walkable on a per capita basis while New York is ranked 10th, because New York is measured as the NYC metro area, including NJ, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The study's author, Christopher B. Leinberger, admits there are issues with the methodology, namely that walkable places are weighted the...

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a fatal fire on Pennsylvania Ave. in Brooklyn, a train derailment on 41st St. and 1st Ave. in Brooklyn, and a shooting on East Gunhill Rd. in the Bronx.
• Anthony Marshall's––Brooke Astor's estranged son––lawyer pleaded not guilty to forgery in the sordid case of her will.
• BestWeekEver.tv's Michelle Collins manages to compliment Tony Bennett, fling a t-shirt at Nick Lachey, stump Josh Groban on the definition of "Cougars", covet Sean Kingston's 14K Crayolas, and be disappointed by Celine Dion, all in one 4-minute segment. That's jam-packed talent.
• Community spokesperson Al Sharpton and mayoral hopeful Council Speaker Christine Quinn fell over themselves denouncing hateful speech yesterday.
• Pimping your motor vehicle rides is for LA suckers. New Yorkers pimp their bikes with mega stereo systems––really.
• Managing Editor Choire Sicha is flying the coop from Gawker.com.
• A construction worker was rescued after being buried alive in Morningside Heights up to his chest.
• Ray Kelly flips Councilman Simcha Felder the bird, literally. He gave him a plastic pigeon in recognition of his somewhat controversial bid to rid NYC of what the councilman described as "flying rats".

Starting next Tuesday, Park Slope shoppers will be entitled to one of 400 free umbrellas made available at a number of neighborhood stores. Yes, you heard right. FREE. UMBRELLAS. And they’re just the most adorable shade of yellow! But what’s the catch, you say? Well, each one is emblazoned with this message: "Please enjoy this community umbrella and return it to a participating local merchant." The Park Slope Civic Council pooled $2,000 and bought the...

We visited the Cathedral of St. John the Divine yesterday to participate in the Feast of St. Francis service - and to see all the animals that flocked to Morningside Heights for the annual animal blessing. Many people brought their pets - mostly dogs, but there were quite a few cats, birds and bunny rabbits - and the cathedral was packed.

Just a day after it was announced that Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project, could be returning to speak at Columbia University, the Columbia Political Union voted against having him back when it learned that there would be no counter-point speaker. Gilchrist's 2006 appearance at Columbia sparked protests that got out of hand as demonstrators rushed the stage where he was speaking and participants got physical. Eight students were disciplined following the altercation.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a large sinkhole on Nostrand Ave. and Quincy St. in Brooklyn, a large fight on Park Ave. and 129th St. in Manhattan, and a water rescue at the St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island.
• The Daily Show is giving the green screen that is used to fake remote segments a rest and actually sending correspondent Rob Riggle to Iraq to file reports for the satircal news show.
• This Morningside Heights dive bar, popular with trivia contestants and Jeopardy! fans, days are numbered due to an expired lease. What is the Night Cafe?
• The man who robbed a bank on East 23rd St. yesterday made his getaway by ducking into the nearby Dept. of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and stripping off his jacket to reveal a set of green surgical scrubs and blending into the crowd.
• Families are suing the city of New York for running the Pelham Bay Landfill, which they say is responsible for an epidemic of cancer in their neighborhood.
• Marcos Diaz waded into the water yesterday afternoon at the beginning of an attempt to swim around Manhattan two times. The 60-mile effort is being made to raise funds for children with leukemia in the Dominican Republic.
• If you think dressing dogs in raincoats or sweaters is ridiculous, you really should not click through to this Daily News slideshow of a canine fashion show.
• The New York Times reflects on the appeal of walking in the city. We wrote about walking for the thrill of it earlier this week. Do you have a city walk that stands out as being particularly enjoyable?

Did you ever wake up one morning and feel like something's not quite right with the universe? The other day, we had that very feeling. During the course of the day we learned that not one, not two, but THREE new Pinkberry locations are in the works in addition to the four existing branches. Do we really need three more Pinkberrys? Some people say yes. We mentioned the word "Pinkberry" in front of a friend last night and her reaction was downright freakish. She spewed adoration for the tangy unsweetened yogurt with cultlike intensity; if there are others like her in the city, then perhaps the exponential growth is a good thing.

The State Assembly voted in favor of allowing same-sex marriages in New York. Newsday said it was the first time a gay marriage bill was "debated publicly in one of the houses of the State Legislature Tuesday." However, the bill is not expected to make it pass the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said, "We're not doing gay marriage by [tomorrow's adjournment], that's for sure."

This story has it all: Wild turkeys, bottle rockets and a 59-year-old man with connections to the Columbo crime family. Franklin Picone was arrested yesterday for allegedly setting off bottle rockets to disturb wild turkeys that roost in his Dongan Hills neighborhood. But Picone claims it wasn't him, even though he does admit to hating the turkeys and calling up the city to complain about them - there are about 40-50 that wander around.

West 20th Street, by Raul on Mexican Pictures.

We were biking up by Morningside Heights yesterday-- the view over East Harlem to the river is beautiful. Check out the full panoramic view here. If you look closely, you can see all the way to the Throgs Neck Bridge.

Here's a sad story about Morningside Heights' real estate, courtesy of the New York Times:

Whoa-- apparently we weren't the only ones that had a bit too much to drink last night. At 3:31am, we got the first tip that something was going on uptown: "There was just a huge bar fight/riot outside of The West End at Columbia University. 20+ cop cars, a paddy wagon, 2 ambulances. Anyone know what happened?" Indeed, we do know-- the crowd got wild at the West End just after 3am, so the owners cleared the bar. Of course, this put a couple of hundred boozy students out on Broadway in front of the bar, where they promptly began smashing windows, and total pandemonium erupted as far south as 113th Street. Broadway was briefly closed before the police rolled up with 50 officers and restored order. The Spectator is saying that "10 to 20" arrests were made-- but that seems to include combatants in an earlier bar fight on Amsterdam.

This is probably the first time a literary magazine has won our Map of the Day prize! The Morning News put up a nice set of maps by Dorothy Gambrell measuring the bohemianess of various neighborhoods in NYC. The formula she used:

Oh man-- we thought nothing would top the Lerner Student Center for ugliest new building in Morningside Heights, but it looks like the administrators at Barnard are gunning for the title with their Nexus building, scheduled for completion in 2009. The Spectator reports:

Really, we shouldn't be talking about heat in January but we're in the midst of another stretch of unusually warm weather. Temperatures were 15 degrees above normal over the weekend and at least that much again today (It's already 60 degrees at JFK!). If Gothamist has done our math correctly we will easily be the fourth warmest January on record and may squeeze by 1950 and 1990 to finish in second place. At two degrees warmer than any other January, 1932 will hold on to the top spot in the rankings. Rain moves in tonight and tomorrow looks soggy. It will be a little cooler but still well above average for the rest of the week. Can winter continue this warm? Only Staten Island Chuck knows for sure.