Monday, March 4, 2024
Cloudy. High 54 degrees.
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events. Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.
Sunday, March 10 is the beginning Daylight Saving Time. This means our clocks will “spring” forward one hour at 2 a.m. on March 10, and we will lose one hour of sleep.
My parents are both turning 60 this week. My Dad on March 6 and my Mom on March 9. Shoutout to any Pisces in the readership.
Upper West Side News
By Gus Saltonstall
Upper West Side Councilmember Gale Brewer spoke with The New Yorker at the end of February for its article titled — “Legal Weed in New York Was Going To Be A Revolution. What Happened?”
Brewer, who is described by the author as having the “unflappable bearing of a lifelong city dweller,” takes The New Yorker reporter on a tour of the “65” or so illicit smoke shops on the UWS.
“Should we start with, what’s it called, Wazoo Zazoo?” Brewer asks.
The New Yorker article mentioned how following a raid of multiple smoke shops on the Upper West Side in 2022, the stores were fully restocked with illegal supplies two days later. “Back on Columbus Avenue, Brewer and I passed weed bodegas every few blocks,” the story continues. “She had a grim sense of humor about their invincibility.”
“I’m frustrated!” Brewer said. “The city blames the state, the state blames the city. The D.A. says, ‘I don’t get any cooperation from the police or the sheriff.'”
“I keep saying, why can’t we just get everyone in a room,” Brewer added.
You can read more about Brewer’s viewpoints on the matter and the struggle the city and state have had in rolling out legal marijuana — HERE.
Jerry Nadler wants 10 more years.
At least, that’s what the Upper West Side congressmember told New York Magazine. The 76-year-old said that he could “quite possibly” see himself in office for another decade, and that he is “absolutely running again.”
The declaration came as speculation has grown about whether Nadler would continue to seek elected office, a conversation that has heightened after his longtime chief of staff departed at the end of last year.
Nadler’s wife has also been fighting pancreatic cancer, but the disease is in remission and she was told by her doctor that the odds of it “never recurring are 80 to 90 percent.” Nadler also said that his health is “fine.”
You can read more about what’s driving Nadler to stay in office — HERE.
Some news out of the Upper West Side grocery dating world.
Andrea Catsimatidis, the daughter of billionaire Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis, is dating a man named Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe, who has appeared on multiple reality TV shows and claims to have familial links to both the royal houses of Germany and Denmark, despite his title being called into question.
Andrea is the heiress to the Catsimatidis fortune and also the chairwoman of the Manhattan Republican Party. Her father previously ran for NYC mayor.
Meanwhile Prince Mario-Max has been called the “King of Trash TV,” following appearances on Germany’s “Big Brother,” Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” and “Millionaire Matchmaker,” according to the New York Post.
To make it more of an Upper West Side love story, the pair reportedly met at Rampoldi on West 64th Street.
You can read more about the whole situation — HERE.
New outdoor dining sheds are coming to New York City, and the Department of Transportation recently showed off what they will look like.
The sheds will be wheelchair accessible and made up of easily disassembled parts that will allow them to be cleared from city streets quickly during the off-season from November to April.
The new sheds will cost tens of thousands of dollars, according to official estimates.
Restaurants can apply for their new outdoor dining permits beginning on March 5, when owners will choose to either pay a fee for a roadway or sidewalk permit.
The outdoor dining sheds will no longer be allowed to be fully enclosed or longer than 40 feet, and must leave a certain amount of room open for pedestrians on the sidewalk.
You can check out what these new outdoor dining sheds will look like — HERE.
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Some of the current restaurant sheds block building entrances. It is even worse on blocks with continuous sheds.
Nadler needs to retire now. 10 more years? No, thanks.
Nadler has done a lot of good work for the city but there are always the naysayers.
Being older than these old fool politicians I think I’m entitled to bestow some advice to them. Retire, enjoy life while you still can. You’ve done enough harm and good. Let the younger generations have their go at it. To the younger generations Step up to the plate prove yourselves.
1. If Jerry Nadler is re-elected then we might as well admit that no one wants any change in NYC. He has been completely absent during the crisis due to the influx of migrants. He believes there is no crime issue while he rides around with two armed guards in an SUV.
2. If the city cared about “congestion” then they never would have approved the dining sheds. Most restaurants are on commercial streets and those streets should have no obstructions and no parking from 7 AM-7 PM except for trucks loading and unloading. The new delivery economy requires this instead of having these streets blocked with double parking.
3. Gus should do a story about placard and parking abuse by NYPD and other agencies.
Nadler’s guards are on account of threats from trump supporters after he chaired the impeachment hearings in ’19. Before then he routinely walked the neighborhood by himself and spoke to people on the street as a matter of course.
I agree with Bill on Point 3. Placard abuse on the UWS is rampant. There should be a way the police or sanitation folks can verify the placard is real.
A Cadillac Escalade SUV with New Jersey license plates frequently parks in a fire hydrant on West End Avenue. The Jersey Escalade displays a placard for “New York State Police Surgeon” in the front window. I’ve never seen it ticketed.
Why does a New York State Police surgeon need to park in a hydrant on the Upper West Side? Do the New York State Police even have jurisdiction in New York City? What kind of State Police business could this “police surgeon” be doing on the Upper West Side — let alone on an emergency basis, requiring blocking a fire hydrant?
And why does a New York State Police surgeon drive a car with New Jersey plates?
And if the driver is a “surgeon”, why does he or she not have “MD” plates? I’ve never understood the justification for MD plates at all (in a day when a “house call” is unheard of), but I can’t imagine any MD passing up the opportunity to get them.
But never a ticket (that I’ve seen, anyway).
If I report an illegal dining shed will the city actually remove it? Because there’s still a ton of them in operation.
They should all be illegal .. ! They’re ugly; they’re taking up far too much space; and what’s the point of them anyway..This formally fabulous city is becoming a total dump.
Whoa, cowboy! They won’t even start accepting applications for outdoor dining with the new sheds till tomorrow and I’m sure there will be a grace period for restaurants to switch over.
Many of the sheds are illegal even by the current looser standards and there has never been any real enforcement of those guidelines either.
I’m talking about not allowing enough sidewalk space for pedestrians and even blocking access to fire hydrants.
If they don’t enforce those public safety issues why do we expect that new regulations will be enforced ?
Not if their response to illegal parking is any indication!
Re: restaurant street sheds/dining…
It should be noted that some restaurants have more outdoor seating (sidewalk + street) than indoor.
Some restaurants don’t even have enough staff to cover both indoor and outdoor.
BTW the street dining is actually an unfair benefit among restaurants – only some restaurants can benefit. For example, restaurants in front of a fire hydrant or Citibike stand cannot have street dining.
And while the City keeps helping restaurants, the City has done Zero to help small shops and retail which are in dire straits facing high rent, ecommerce and shoplifting.
I agree with Evi plus, given that so many restaurants ignored the mandate to close them down in November with no follow up/consequences by the city, I wonder how many will bother with the new design requirements.
The sheds played a role during the pandemic, but they are unnecessary now. For those who don’t want to eat inside, there are plenty of restaurants with tables on the sidewalk and, during the warmer months, there’s no need for heaters or shelter.
Even with the new design, they are a blight because they attract rats and cause congestion. Some were hit by cars and caused physical harm to the diners.
Maybe the new design costs and application fee will discourage some restaurants from signing up. That’s my hope. I prefer the city without these intrusive constructions.
Great points! It is also very important to point out that it is hard to walk on some blocks – such as Amsterdam between 84 & 85th because it is covered by restaurant sheds and people waiting in line to eat there. Pedestrians deserve the space to walk on the sidewalks.
That block is one of the worst offenders in the neighborhood. I’ve reported the businesses to 311 many times and nothing was done.
Brewer: “Why can’t we just get every [agency] in a room?”
Nadler: “I want 10 more years.”
Find the connection.
Exactly. If they did their job and solved the problems , they wouldn’t be necessary any longer. Keeping the problems unsolved guarantees them lifetime employment.
Um, Isn’t Nadler a Representative in Congress? How does he have any control over NYC issues?
The New Yorker article says, “The owners of Zaza Waza could not be reached for comment.”
He goes by Wally. I had his number but deleted it. He’s a nice guy who also owned the shop on Amsterdam and 85th that’s now closed.
The shed at Mamoun’s on Columbus finally got closed by the Health Department. That thing was teeming with rats and the staff didn’t care. It was roped off this weekend with a DOH notice taped up next to it.
Yikes
Please get rid of all these smoke and weed shops. They are not helping anyone’s health or life expectancy.
if you care about life expectancy and health. you should be against cigarettes, not weed. And unlike alcohol weed isn’t addictive, nor does its use cause the myriad of health problems that alcohol does. Btw, I don’t imbibe in weed, but let’s look at the facts.
I am against all smoking. And, no weed is highly addictive and causes a tons of health problems from brain, to cognitive, to endocrine, to reproductive, to respiratory.
I wish they had an option for a certain number of restaurants to go year-round and provide warm but ventilated winter outdoor dining. Outdoors is still healthier since we are still in the middle of a pandemic.
To No Planet B:
Covid is no longer classified as a “pandemic “.
Actually the CDC just changed its guidance on Covid.
Per the new CDC guidelines, people who test positive for Covid-19 no longer need to routinely stay away from others for 5 days.
The CDC now includes Covid-19 advice to be similar to advice for other respiratory infections.
I’ve had respiratory infections and I’ve also had COVID. While I follow what the CDC says and understand their logic, I also know from experience COVID is not like anything I’ve ever been sick with and they still don’t know how it’s going to impact our body systems long term. I don’t operate like it’s 2020 anymore but I will still tell anyone who has never had COVID to avoid it at all costs. Society needs to go back to normal, but it’s dangerous to normalize COVID.
Many of the restaurants sheds are fully enclosed so they are not very effective in COVID prevention.
But they are often more pleasant than eating in the restaurant. And as previously noted, safer.
I personally don’t feel fully enclosed is safer. I never saw the point of that kind.
Whose parents are turning 60?
All of the illegal smoke shops MUST be shut down and the owners must be arrested. There is no reason why so many stores are functioning illegally selling lethal products. The blame game must end and EVERYONE in our government must be held responsible for this crisis.
Prohibition is never the answer
This message is just referring to the Illegal smoke shops.
Seeing how it’s been more than three years, maybe you’re wrong. What lethal products exactly are they selling? The marijuana underground market operated perfectly fine before legalization with nobody getting sick from bad marijuana and it’s still doing that, just through some unlicensed bodegas.
In an effort to clarify, Gale Brewer, a democrat, blames the state, run by democrats, who in turn blame the city, also run by democrats, who blame the Police, who local and state democrats have pushed to reduce their budget, the number of officers employed by the city and their ability to arrest anyone. Additionally, if the Police don’t get it, then the same local and state democrats, made sure that those, who are arrested, are released without bail. I think it is not that difficult to figure out who is to blame.
The police do not deserve their budget given their behavior.
Im tired of all this ageist lingo.
Nadler and Biden have proven themselves to be both competent and forward thinking. The Republicans are very, very good at defining the agenda of negativity. It is crucial , in this moment in history, that we do not allow ourselves to be led by the nose to this propaganda campaign regarding age. Biden has moved this economy more than any other president, been protective of medicare and numerous other issues. Nadler’s priorities,” including voting-rights legislation, legal protections for Dreamers, his own bill to deschedule marijuana entirely, plus “a mandatory code of ethics for the Supreme Court,” as well as 18-year term limits for justices and adding four more spots to the court. In the city, he is supportive of converting office space into housing, extending the Second Avenue subway, implementing congestion pricing, and pushing his pet project of a freight tunnel linking New Jersey to Brooklyn. All these are important goals for NYC and the nation.”
Don’t let Trump win because of a bogus ageist smokescreen.
“We” are not going to let Trump win because 1) NYC will decide nothing, 2) “we” don’t like dictators.
That said, convincing yourself that the leader of the free world should function lucidly 1 hour per day, because he is/was competent or forward-thinking 20-40 years ago as a younger man, won’t help us either – especially against determined and aggressive global adversaries. There’s nothing bogus about age, it befalls everyone…eventually, if they’re lucky.
See if you can find the hypocrisy hidden in this article: Nadler wants to impose term limits on Supreme Court justices but not on members of Congress.
Limiting a term but allowing reappointment is not term limiting as you frame the idea.
It’s not hypocrisy since Justices don’t get re-confirmed every 2 years. Not that I’m particularly a Nadler fan, I’ve voted for him and against him depending upon his opposition. We need public funding of elections in order to have a functioning republic.
The engagement of a grocery store heiress to an apparently fake royal has exactly what to do with our beloved Upper West Side? Except that they allegedly met at a local restaurant? C’mon, Gus, Luv: you can and usually do better journalism than this.
ETA: Best wishes to your parents on their birthdays.
I started buying illegal weed on Columbus Avenue in the 70s. It’s as UWS as they come. Tell Gayle to worry about some ACTUAL problems.
What happens to tenants who live directly above these outdoor sheds? Noise? Fumes?
What of of the danger of being hit by a vehicle on these now narrower streets ?Seems like a risk as well.
I love outdoor eating but couldn’t it look a little more like your Paris cafes than prefabricated school lunchrooms?
I believe that twice, Nadler and two other members of the House introduced legislation to restrict tourist helicopter flights over crowded neighborhoods. I don’t know that either bill ever got out of committee. Federal legislation seemed important because interstate flights are controlled by the FAA, which is not subject to city or state control. I seem not to see as many helicopters circling over the reservoir in Central Park as I used to, but I don’t know whether Nadler has had anything to do with it.
Two tjoughts:
1.Mr. Nadler and Ms Brewer are wonderful advocates for our neighborhood. I hope they stay 10 more years.
2. How can it be that a store selling unlicensed liquor or untaxed cigarettes would be raided and shuttered quickly while the pot stores flaunt the laws in plain sight? Follow the money!
Saw Nadler on the street a few weeks ago, he’s looking pretty frail. If he doesn’t recover, perhaps the next term should be his last.
We don’t want a Diane Feinstein.
Nothing to do with his frailties, but won’t be voting for him this time, will leave the line blank. He’s made too many excuses for Israel’s mass killings of trapped civilians in Gaza.
I stand with Nadler as he stands with Israel.