The local paper for the Upper er East Side Sid de BROADWAY’S TRIPLETHREAT FAMILY < Q&A, P. 17
WEEK OF NOVEMBER
20-26 2014
OURTOWNNY.COM
OurTownEastSide Ou @OurTownNYC
FRICK OPPONENTS GET ORGANIZED DEVELOPMENT Coalition of community groups coalesce against museum expansion BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
Unite to Save the Frick supporterJames Andrew posted this image of the viewing garden and reception hall, both at risk of destruction, on his Instagram page.
Five months after the Frick Collection announced expansion plans for its landmark E. 70th St. museum, an organized opposition to the plan is taking shape. Unite to Save the Frick, a coalition fighting the renovation, which includes the highly contested demolition of a 1977 viewing garden by
landscape architect Russell Page, emerged shortly after the museum’s June announcement. Far from fringe opinion, the group has amassed more than 2,800 signatures to its petition, which it addressed to Frick trustees and staff, as well as city officials, including State Senator Liz Krueger and Councilmember Dan Garodnick. Made up of individuals, organizations and preservationist groups opposed to the expansion, Unite to Save the Frick coalesced amid growing
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
A long-delayed pedestrian bridge may finally get built BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
After years of back and forth between the city and community, the pedestrian bridge linking E. 81st St. with the East River walkway will likely be replaced, with work beginning early next year, according to a spokesperson with the city’s Dept. of Design and Construction. “We expect shovels will be in the ground in the spring of next year,” said Howard Pollack, a spokesperson
with the Dept. of Design and Construction. “An estimated completion date is June of 2016.” Pollack said the DDC will be presenting their plan to Community Board 8’s Dec. 3 transportation committee meeting. The bridge will be replaced in its entirety and wheelchair accessible ramps will be installed on both sides of FDR Drive. Transportation committee cochair Chuck Warren said discussions surrounding the bridge go back at least five years and have generated no small amount of feedback from the community. A resolution
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
CRANE SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS IGNORED A series of recommendations stemming from two Upper East Side crane collapses -- accidents that killed nine people -- have been ignored by the city, according to an audit by Comptroller Scott Stringer. Stringer’s report says the city failed to make a series of changes needed to prevent future accidents, despite paying $5.8 million to private consultants to come up with the plan. Stringer’s report states that only eight of the 65 safety recommendations made by the consultant have been implemented by the city Buildings Department. Others were patrially implemented, but most went no where. The report stems from two accidents in the spring of 2008, when cranes collapsed on E. 51st St. and on E. 91st St.
MALONEY KICKS OFF #BECAUSEOFHER CAMPAIGN East side Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney moved to rally support for a National Women’s Museum at a brunch on E. 70th St. on Sunday. Her bill to build the museum has passed the House of Representatives, but is stuck in the Senate. “We started #BecauseOfHer to highlight the importance of inspirational figures,” said Maloney. “For me it was Geraldine Ferraro. She was a trailblazer. She was the first woman to be nominated to a major party Presidential ticket. Her story should be told.”
THE LONG WALK ON E. 81ST STREET NEWS
In Brief
A rendering of the East 81st Street pedestrian bridge, with the ramp and eight-foot fence extending south along the East River. The proposal, from the city’s Dept. of Design and Construction and dated 2012, is annotated as being the “final design.”
Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candle every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday November 21 – 4:16 pm For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.