The local paper for the Upper East Side
WEEK OF DECEMBER TREASURES FROM JERUSALEM < P. 12
22-28 2016
Participants during a bird count in Central Park on Dec. 18. Photo: Gail Eisenberg
UP WITH — AND FOR — THE BIRDS NYC Audubon holds the 117th annual Christmas Bird Count BY GAIL EISENBERG
The weather outside looked frightful, but that didn’t stop the nearly 100 birders and nature enthusiasts who got up with — and for — the birds on Sunday morning to participate in the 117th annual Christmas Bird Count, the longest running wildlife census on the planet. “The count happens rain or shine or snow,” said Debra Kriensky, Conservation Biologist, NYC Audubon, who coordinated the Central Park event on Sunday, Dec. 18. “Rain is not ideal for birding, but our job is just to count whatever is there!” The longstanding winter tradition to count birds during the holidays rather than to hunt them was ornithologist Frank M. Chapman’s idea. Rachel Goldberg, Gerald Slevin and their daughter, Sparrow, who, at just fourteen months old, was on her second Count, drove in from Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, to help with the national conservation effort. Arriving at a name for their newborn came naturally for the bird lovers. Gerald, a musician, “would sing Simon &
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Photo: Jazz Guy, via flickr
GRADING TAKEOUT’S DELIVERY Neighborhood association tracks restaurants, bicyclists’ adherence to regulations BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
Unsatisfied with the regulation of commercial cyclists, a group of Upper East Side residents took matters into their own hands. For a few evenings last month, members of the East 72nd Street Neighborhood Association stood in the lobbies of
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five Upper East Side buildings, monitoring the bike delivery persons that came and went. After evaluating the information they collected, they compiled a report card rating restaurants by their messengers’ adherence to laws and regulations. “Commercial cycling has been a real problem on the Upper East Side,” Valerie Mason, the association’s president, said. “There’s a real density of population. People do a lot of takeout, so these guys are very visible.” The neighborhood associa-
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tion’s survey took place on the evenings of Nov. 15-17, with the group noting whether delivery riders wore reflective vests, displayed identification or used electric bicycles. Delivery riders using electric bikes, which are illegal but nonetheless common, merited their restaurants an automatic F. In all, nearly half — 29 out of 64 restaurants — failed. Just four restaurants got A grades. Their delivery persons were wearing vests with proper identification and were using
bikes without motors. Riders lacking vests and other safety features earned their affiliated restaurants B and C grades.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, December 23 – 4:15 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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