The local paper for the Upper er East Side MORE ENDORSEMENTS IN THE RACE FOR ASSEMBLY < POLITICS, P. 4
WEEK OF AUGUST
28 2014
OURTOWNNY.COM
OurTownEastSide @OurTownNYC
Summer in the City
In Brief PAROLE DENIED YET AGAIN FOR JOHN LENNON’S KILLER
Gone Fishin’ -- on the East River BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL When a summer tech internship didn’t work out for my 19-year-old son, Luke, he went fishing on the East River. After completing his freshman year of college as an engineering major, spending his first semester in Australia and his second in Boston, Luke returned to the Upper East Side in late April hoping for summer employment that would put him on the road to saving for a car. Unlike me, who as a teen in the Bronx needed simply to walk up and down Fordham Road to find a paid position, Luke hit Craigslist. Within a week he was working at a bait and tackle shop in midtown Manhattan. In his cover letter, he had talked about his love of fishing, although he hadn’t done it in a few years. When he was six years old, we were driving up the FDR and Luke saw men fishing off the promenade. He told my husband, Neil, that he’d like to give the sport a try. Neil had fond memories of going fishing on Long Island with his late father and four younger brothers, so he was glad to oblige. I am not a sports girl of any kind, but as soon as fishing turned into a hobby, I remembered the words of a long-married colleague, who talked football like a commentator because her husband and sons were fans: “Get involved or get left out.” So, instead of waving them goodbye, I grabbed a rod, closed my eyes, and stuck my hand in a bucket of bait. Soon after that, Meg and her Barbie fishing rod joined the fun and we became the family that fished. But as Luke got into his mid teens, he lost interest in anything other
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The pews at Our Lady of Peace were filled at a recent Sunday Mass to celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of their priests’ ordination. Photo by Megan Bungeroth
A CHURCH HOPING FOR A MIRACLE NEWS Our Lady of Peace on East 62nd Street may face closure, to the dismay of its loyal parishioners BY MEGAN BUNGEROTH
UPPER EAST SIDE Many of the congregants at Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic church have attended the parish their whole lives. Baptisms, first communions, wed-
dings, funerals have all been held at the small church on East 62nd Street, between Second and Third Avenues, and parishioners speak of the close community. Congregants recognize one another at Mass every Sunday, help their elderly neighbors get to services and pitch in financially when their church needs repairs. But the congregation of Our Lady of Peace, committed but small at only about 350 people, is in danger of losing its spiritual home. Facing
a crisis of low attendance throughout Manhattan, the Catholic archdiocese needs to consolidate parishes, and it has targeted Our Lady of Peace for potential closure and merger with nearby St. Vincent Ferrer, on Lexington near East 66th Street. It may be close by, but members of Our Lady of Peace have no desire to leave their church for another. “This is what they call a personal church in the sense that we have no geographical boundaries,” said Bruno Cappellini, a longtime member at Our Lady of Peace who is fervently working to prevent its closure. He lives in Queens now but still comes to his Upper East Side church every week to celebrate Mass. “We’ve been writing letters to the pastor and mobilizing and making an issue out of it,” Cappellini said. “We do not want this church to close, it’s beautiful. It’s also a landmark.” The church was constructed by Italian Catholic immigrants in 1918; the chandeliers were imported from Venice and the artwork was all done by Italian artists. The names of orig-
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John Lennon’s killer was denied release from prison in his eighth appearance before a parole board, correction officials said Friday. The decision on Mark David Chapman by a three-member board came after a hearing Wednesday. Chapman fired five shots on Dec. 8, 1980, outside the Dakota apartment house where Lennon lived on the Upper West Side, hitting the ex-Beatle four times in front of his wife, Yoko Ono, and others. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, pleading guilty to second-degree murder. The panel wrote to the 59-yearold Chapman that it concluded that if released, “you would not live and remain at liberty without again violating the law.” It added: “This victim had displayed kindness to you earlier in the day, and your actions have devastated a family and those who loved the victim.”
JEWISH GROUP: CONDEMN ANTI-ISRAEL BRIDGE FLAG A prominent Jewish group wants city leaders to condemn a politically charged banner that showed up on the Manhattan Bridge during a Pro-Palestinian march. The Anti-Defamation League denounced Wednesday’s demonstration and the giant “Boycott, Divest, Sanction” banner as an attempt to “delegitimize Israel.” The banner appeared as hundreds of people marched on the neighboring Brooklyn Bridge. It was taken back up a short time later. The BDS movement is an international effort against Israel over the Gaza settlements. Jewish women and girls light Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunse Friday August 29 – 7:14 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.