Results tagged “yorkville”

For insight into how the forthcoming taxi-share changes might actually play out, look no further than Yorkville, where Manhattan's only officially-sanctioned taxi stand whisks perfect strangers to Wall Street every morning, for $6 a pop. Some women have voiced concerns about predatory cab Casanovas using the shared backseat to get fresh, but they might be reassured by the customs that have evolved out of two decades of Yorkville cab share culture. As rider Glenn Caldwell tells the Times, "Everybody seems to know the rules." Namely: No talking. Not to each other, not on a cell phone, not to yourself. Of course, the militant silence could also be attributed to uptight Upper East Side WASP reticence, so we'll have to see how this goes once gabby shoppers start piling into cabs by Herald Square. But TLC commissioner Matthew Daus promises that shared taxis participating in the pilot program will have "a code of conduct" posted inside, discouraging New Yorkers who might, in a moment of weakness, be inclined to let their guards down and actually meet someone new. (After all, that's what the Internet is for.)

On a frigid night this week, Gothamist and two friends decided to duck out of the cold and pop into Mole, a twenty-five seat Mexican spot on Allen Street owned by the husband-wife team of Nick Cervera and Lupe Elizalde, also proprietors of Taco Taco in Yorkville. Strung with lights out front, and decorated inside with colorful Mexican tiles and exposed brick, Mole is cozy, but has an extensive menu with specials changing nightly.

During the holidays, we are all bombarded with requests for charitable giving. Sure, it's a great way to do something good and squeeze in one more tax deduction before year's end, but given the number of requests, making a choice about how to spend your charity dollars can be somewhat daunting. The Times focused this week on the dizzying number of food-related charities making year-end requests.

The city’s food charities are dealing with dire shortages this year, exacerbated by cutbacks in federal food aid. Many places like St. Benedict the Moor Neighborhood Center in the South Bronx are almost barren; according to today’s Times, the center’s pantry used to be stacked up to the ceiling with food but now holds just “a few sacks of potatoes, some cornflakes, juice and peanut butter.” To help fill the void, City Harvest, the non-profit...

The 2nd Ave. subway isn't scheduled to receive any passengers until 2014, but some residents are relishing the prospect of a new line, while others suspect it could deliver trouble. People living on East End Ave. or York Ave. are cursed with a hike to the nearest subway station, but also somewhat insulated from the increased crowding and pricing pressures that easy access via a subway accompanies. The construction of the 2nd Ave. subway could change the whole neighborhood. The New York Times reports that real estate developers are already touting proximity to a subway line as a selling point for new buildings along 1st Avenue.

The engines fueling Jane Jacobs' legacy are at full throttle, with the Municipal Art Society's new exhibition, titled "Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York." The show, opening this week at the Urban Center Galleries, delves into how today's (and tomorrow's) city fits into Jacobs' ideas and also examines how the public can draw on her values, given the major developments and rezoning now in progress.

Well, there's nothing like having a barely-one-hour blackout on a sultry weekday to make you consider stocking up on flashlights, batteries, water, and maybe a Go Bag. Con Ed is still investigating the cause of yesterday's brief power failure to parts of the Bronx and Manhattan; Newsday reported "the blackout was caused when breakers opened at an Astoria substation and cut off power to stations servicing Yorkville and parts of the Bronx." It's unclear why the breakers were opened in the first place.

We're getting reports of a blackout on the Upper East Side, from the East 60s up to Harlem, on Third Avenue (mostly about transit blackouts) and York Avenue in the 80s. Subway service is affected - the 4/5/6 line is down. A reader whose friend was at Randalls Island says a Con Ed station exploded.

- And congratulations to Rion and Mike - two of the nicest people we know are now hitched!

The AP got a hold of some federal data to create an interactive database of industrial air pollution in the country, and it turns out that the Giants Stadium is more polluted than Manhattan. The NY Post went through and plugged a couple areas in, finding out that - Fifth Avenue in the 50s is 1.4 times more polluted than the average US neighborhood, whereas Gracie Mansion/Yorkville is 1.2 times more polluted; City Hall is 1.2x, Harlem, 1.1x, and Yankee Stadium 1.3x..and Stuyvesant is 1.7 times higher! Giants Stadium is 6.9 times the national average. However, the pollution in the study is only from industrial sources, not necessarily cars and trucks.

Gothamist loves travel - but hates travelling. Who actually enjoys shuttling to the airport, long flights, the interminable wait for your luggage when you finally arrive at your destination? Let's not even discuss the whole packing process!