The local paper for the Upper East Side
WEEK OF JANUARY BETWEEN TIME AND ETERNITY ◄ P.12
4-10 2018
81ST STREET BRIDGE NEARS COMPLETION INFRASTRUCTURE A decade after its conception, the East Side pedestrian walkway opens Council Member Corey Johnson, whose West Side district includes Greenwich Village and Chelsea, is expected to win election as the City Council’s speaker for the upcoming term. Photo: William Alatriste for the New York City Council
WISH LIST FOR NEW COUNCIL POLITICS Local leaders share their hopes for 2018 legislative agenda BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
As the City Council returns to session in 2018, Council Member Corey Johnson is expected to win election as the body’s next speaker and its de facto leader, succeeding term-limited Melissa Mark-Viverito. Johnson, whose 3rd Council District includes the West Village, Chelsea and Hells Kitchen, has said that as speaker he plans to direct focus toward building supportive housing for the homeless population and strengthening the Council’s land use division to play a more proactive role in rezoning and other land use issues. The speakership, selected by a vote of the 51 Council Members, is among the most powerful political posts in the city and wields broad power to
shape the body’s legislative agenda. (At press time, the speaker election, scheduled for Jan. 3, had not yet taken place.) “We have a diverse Council, ideologically and in other ways,” Johnson said at a November debate among speaker candidates hosted by City & State New York. “We have to ensure that every member feels heard and empowered and that their voice really counts, and that’s the type of speaker I would be.” As the Council returns to session, we asked community leaders to share the entries on their wish lists for the city’s legislative agenda in 2018:
Keith Powers, City Council Member, District 4 My three legislative priorities in the next Council include preserving affordable housing, protecting small businesses, and addressing the impact of overdevelopment on the East Side.
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BY RICHARD KHAVKINE
It took $16 million and 18 months longer than anticipated, but the 81st Street pedestrian bridge linking John Finley Walk and the East River esplanade is nearly complete. The 452-foot-long, ADA-accessible span over the FDR Drive and down to the East River esplanade replaces a structure built in 1942. Although a few punch-list items remain, including the installation of glass panels on the upper section, the bridge is finished, a Parks Department spokeswoman said. On a clear but frigid morning off the East River Thursday, city officials gathered on the structure just off John Finley Walk and cut a symbolic green ribbon. Council Member Ben Kallos hailed the project’s completion, calling the span a crucial component of a makeover, now underway, of the entire esplanade. “It’s a beautiful addition,” Kallos said following the ribbon cutting. The bridge gives bicyclists, and walkers, extended access to the riverfront, he said. “Now folks will be able to get all the way from the Sutton area to East Harlem and Randall’s Island” and from there to Queens, he said. “This particular area has been a pain point for the community,” he said of the bridge and nearby. “The sad truth is that you can’t have a new esplanade without rebuilding it.”
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The new 81st Street pedestrian bridge links John Finley Walk and the East River esplanade. Photo: NYC Department of Design and Construction Talk of replacing the bridge and ramp began about a decade ago, with discussions involving neighborhood residents, members of Community Board 8 and city officials, including from the
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Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, January 5 – 4:25 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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