cityArts
CELEB SINCE 1970
EVERY THURS.
NYPRESS.COM • THE LARGEST PAPER ON THE EAST SIDE • DECEMBER 26, 2013
PAGE 18
Central Park Santa Misses Christmas Edwin Bobrow has donned the suit -and the yarmulke -- for the past nine years
PAGE 11
Stuck in Transit
A self-described Jewish Agnostic, Edwin Bobrow, 85, is an incredibly kind man who loves children and believes that Christmas is “everyone’s holiday.” For the past nine years, Bobrow has donned both a yarmulke and a Santa hat, serving as the “Central Park Santa.” This year, much to everyone’s
Wheelchair-bound commuters face a subway system on the East Side with almost no elevators By Joanna Fantozzi
By Helaina Hovitz Continued on page 10
Kitty Lunn will never forget the day when she was stuck in her wheelchair for four hours in front of a broken elevator at the 51st Street subway station on Lexington Avenue. No one stopped to help her, thinking she was a panhandler, until a transit worker finally called firefighters to lift her back onto the street. This sort of experience is not uncommon for wheelchair users or otherwise handicapped New Yorkers -- particularly on the East Side. There are, for instance, zero subway stations with elevators between 51st and 125th Streets on the East Side. Paula Wolff, a representative from the Center for Independence of the Disabled New York, who uses a wheelchair and is legally blind, said that getting around in New York as a wheelchair user takes a lot of patience, and some extra commute time. According to the MTA, all of New York’s busses are wheelchair-accessible. Most handicapped New Yorkers, or those who otherwise cannot easily access public transit, can Continued on page 5
ALSO INSIDE RINGING SHOP NO IN 2014 P.8 MORE P.10
DANCE AUDITION TOUR Center for the Arts One week summer intensive 3-6 week summer programs Fine Arts Boarding High School
Gibney Dance 890 Broadway, Studio 5-2 New York, NY 10003
Friday • January 3, 2014 Registration: 2:00 p.m. Audition: 2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
www.interlochen.org/NYCDance