Our Town - December 13, 2018

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The local paper for the Upper East Side BEHIND THE SURFACE: WARHOL AT THE WHITNEY ◄ P. 12

WEEK OF DECEMBER

13-19 2018

TERRITORIAL DISPUTE OVER CLEANUP PROGRAM STREETS Doe Fund protests UES sidewalkcleaning funds allocated to another reentry nonprofit The American Museum of Natural History’s Gilder Center expansion will occupy a quarter-acre of what is now Theodore Roosevelt Park. Rendering: AMNH

museum’s favor, dismissing the lawsuit and rejecting each of the arguments put forward by Community United. The court found that an 1876 state statute “expressly authorizes the Parks Department to enter into a lease with the Museum for the thenexisting and as-of-yet constructed buildings within the Park.” The court ruled that the lease between the Parks Department and the museum “grants the Museum the right to construct an appropriate building anywhere within the Park.” The court also found that project met environmental review requirements regarding efforts to mitigate the impact of hazardous materials that could potentially be released during construction. Community United argued that the project’s environmental review was inadequate and that the Gilder Center, if completed, “would cause catastrophic

By their very nature, press conferences regarding City Council expense funding allocations are generally rather staid affairs. But a Dec. 5 announcement on public funding to tidy Upper East Side sidewalks turned into a raucous standoff between the cleanup crews of two nonprofits that each help formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals reenter the workforce through street cleaning jobs. Next to a litter-strewn tree bed on the East 86th Street sidewalk, the workers of Wildcat Service Corporation — clad in neon green vests, pushing wheeled garbage cans and bearing implements of trash collection — had gathered to celebrate $85,000 in funding allocated to the organization by local Council Member Ben Kallos to clean a number of “problem areas” in the neighborhood. Then, loudly approaching from the direction of Third Avenue, came the men of the Doe Fund’s street cleanup program in their signature blue uniforms, chanting, “Ready, Willing, Able — Doe Fund for life!” The advancing Doe Fund lines were met with a retaliatory chorus as two sides met near the entrance to Shake Shack: “We are the Wildcats, the mighty, mighty Wildcats.”

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AMNH EXPANSION LAWSUIT DISMISSED MUSEUMS Court ruling clears path for museum to move forward with $383 million Gilder Center project BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

The American Museum of Natural History moved a step closer to making its long-planned Gilder Center expansion a reality on Dec. 10 after the Supreme Court of the State of New York dismissed a case brought by a local group opposed to the project. Community United to Protect Theodore Roosevelt Park, the Upper West Side group that filed the lawsuit, argued that the city’s Parks Department acted incorrectly in granting the museum authorization to build upon a quarter-acre of what is now public land within Theodore Roosevelt Park. Justice Lynn R. Kotler ruled in the

BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

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The “Men in Blue” of the Doe Fund’s Ready Willing & Able transitional work program protested the announcement of funding awarded to another nonprofit, Wildcat Service Corporation, to provide street cleaning services on the Upper East Side. Photo: Michael Garofalo

We can’t give money to someone who doesn’t apply for it.” Council Member Ben Kallos

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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, December 14 – 4:11 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com

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