The local paper for the Upper er East Side A NEIGHBORHOOD BREWING COMPANY < P. 21
WEEK OF NOVEMBER DEC
27- 3 2014 OURTOWNNY.COM
OurTownEastSide @OurTownNYC
AN EAST SIDE CHURCH ON THE UPSWING RELIGION While some local Catholic churches see dwindling attendance, St. Francis de Sales is growing BY MEGAN BUNGEROTH
Father Philip Kelly at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church on East 96th Street, which has seen its parish population grow and attract young professionals and families. Photo by Megan Bungeroth
The Catholic archdiocese of New York has recently made some tough decisions about consolidating churches throughout the five boroughs, due to lack of resources, declining Mass attendance and difficulty maintaining older facilities. But despite the desolate picture presented to some parishes, St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church on E. 96th St. is thriving and growing, bringing in younger parishioners and catering to the changing populations of Yorkville and East Harlem. Pastor Philip Kelly speaks about his congregation with a touch of awe for their enthusiasm and willingness to get involved in the parish community, and he credits them with helping to grow the parish from a few hundred weekly Mass attendees to about 600 today. Fr. Kelly came to St. Francis three years ago, after spending 14 years at St. Joseph of the Holy
MEET THE NEW CHAIR OF THE U.E.S. COMMUNITY BOARD NEWS Jim Clynes will be taking over as chair of Community Board 8 at the end of the year BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
Longtime Upper East Sider and community board member Jim Clynes will soon be helming the board when he takes the reins from current chair Nick Viest, who will term out as board chair at the end of the year. We sat down with Jim to introduce him to the community. Jim is 55 years old, an attorney, single, and lives on East 75th Street between Second Avenue
and Third Avenue, across from the firehouse. ed Villanova University He attended ania, where he earned a in Pennsylvania, usiness administration. degree in business n the Upper East Side for He’s lived on 25 years butt grew up in Ithaca, NY, arents owned the local where his parents ore and lumber yard. hardware store pointed to Community He was appointed 006 by Council Member Board 8 in 2006 ick. Jim will formally beDan Garodnick. come chair of CB 8 on Jan. 1, 2015.
What made you ou move to the Upper East Side? I was a Nassau ssau County Assistant orney in Nassau County, District Attorney
Family in Harlem. At the time, he said, it was “a parish with great potential that was not living up to that potential. It needed to be challenged.” He and his staff, including pastoral associate Jayne Porcelli, who had previously worked at St. Stephen of Hungary on the Upper East Side, began working to create programs and community building efforts, trying to reach out to the young single population that has been increasing in the neighborhood. “Our demographic is amazingly young and diverse,” Fr. Kelly said. “I’d say the average age is 28-30 years old. On Sundays you have to dodge the baby strollers [in the church aisles] – and the scooters.” One of the programs at St. Francis that Porcelli and Fr. Kelly credit with helping to keep the congregation young and vibrant is their LGBTQS Catholic Alliance – a gay-straight alliance group that bills itself as “an inclusive and welcoming fellowship.” “I had a very positive experience with my faith and coming out when I was younger,” said Jay Malsky, who is 29 and the coordinator for
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Long Island, for six years. After that I became a trial attorney for the Nationwide Insurance Company, based in Manhattan. So I moved to Manhattan. I choose the Upper East Side because of its great quality of life. We have Carl Schurz Park, the East River and its esplanade on one side and Central Park on the other side. The Upper East Side is a triple-crown neighborhood because our hospitals, Hunter College and our museums.
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In Brief TRAFFIC CHANGES IN THE PARK City officials unveiled major traffic changes in Central Park in hopes of cutting down on the number of accidents in the park. The primary change is the reduction of the speed limit throughout the park from 25 mph to 20 mph for cars as well as bicycles. In addition, barricades will be installed to shorten the pedestrian crossing distance on the West Drive at two crossings, and an additional barricade will be installed between the pedestrian and bicycle lanes to better guide pedestrians to the crosswalk and improve their sightlines to cyclists. In a joint statement, Councilmembers Mark Levine and Helen Rosenthal praised the moves. However, they warned that the park’s loop remains crowded with cars, cyclists and runners -all vying for limited space.
MAYOR APPOINTS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER Last week, Mayor de Blasio announced the appointment of Carmelyn P. Malalis as the new chair of the city’s Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) and named eight new commissioners to the agency: Ana Oliveira, Catherine Albisa, Arnaldo Segarra, Domna Stanton, Steven Choi, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Jonathan Greenspun, and Reverend Dr. Demetrius Carolina. The new Chair and commissioners will be charged with leading the agency’s efforts to enforce New York City’s Human Rights Law and with educating the public about it and encouraging positive community relations. Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday November 28 – 4:12 pm For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.