The local paper for the Upper er East Side THINK YOU KNOW CENTRAL PARK? <TAKE OUR QUIZ, P.7
FRICK FIGHT GOES ONLINE NEWS New digital campaigns by the museum and its opponents BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
The battle over the Frick Collection’s much-debated expansion plan continues, with the museum and its opponents going online to rally support.
Unite to Save the Frick, a coalition fighting the proposed expansion, launched an online petition in September, amassing 3,600 signatures to date. Now, the Frick Collection is advocating its expansion plan with a quiet rollout of a website dedicated to its contested proposal. Frickfuture.org outlines the East 70th Street insti-
tution’s proposal, which includes a six-story structure that has been hotly contested by the neighboring community, preservationist groups and critics since the museum first announced its plans in June. Launched Jan. 30, the website details the renovation and outlines what the institution has flagged as priorities since announcing the construction project, including access to the mansion’s second-f loor residential rooms, a first for the 80-year-old museum, and space for special exhibitions (presently, the museum must remove works in its permanent collection to accommodate visiting shows of larger pieces). For its part, Unite to Save
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
Caption: Ian Wardropper, Director of The Frick Collection; photo: Michael Bodycomb A recent photograph of The Frick Collection (above) juxtaposed with a rendering of the proposed plan illustrating the same view (below). Photograph Michael Bodycomb; artist’s rendering courtesy Neoscape Inc., 2014.
When the D.A.’s office failed to win a conviction of the driver who killed Alan Dershowitz’s sister-in-law, victims’ families say it made prosecutors gun-shy about future cases. A civil trial starting this week rekindles the debate.
© jbflanders/Bigstock.com
2015
OURTOWNNY.COM
OurTownEastSide @OurTownNYC
DE BLASIO RETURNS TO HIS ROOTS
NEWS
Do you know where this is?
5-11 In Brief
DERSHOWITZ TRAFFIC-DEATH CASE HEADED TO TRIAL
Families for Safe Streets staged a rally Sunday calling on New York district attorneys to take more seriously cases where reckless drivers kill or injure pedestrians. Photo by Daniel Fitzsimmons
WEEK OF FEBRUARY
BY KYLE POPE
A traffic-death case that has become a rallying cry for fami-
lies who have lost loved ones to pedestrian crashes goes to trial this week in a Manhattan federal court. Marilyn Dershowitz – the sisterin-law of famed trial lawyer Alan Dershowitz – was killed in 2011 while bicycling in Chelsea with her husband, Nathan. She was struck by the driver of a post office truck, who then faced criminal charges of leaving the scene of the accident. A jury cleared the driver a year later after less than a day of
After a first year that can best be described as challenging for New York’s new mayor, Bill de Blasio’s State of the City address on Tuesday returned to the theme that got him elected in the first place. In a speech at Baruch College in Manhattan, de Blasio made quick work of the laundry list of accomplishments that usually dominate the traditional startof-the-year mayoral address. Instead, he spent most of his time reprising the “Tale of Two Cities” theme of his election campaign, zeroing in on the high price of housing. “While the state of our city is strong, we face a profound challenge,” he said. “If we fail to be a city for everyone, we risk losing what makes New York, New York. We risk losing the very soul of this place.” In one sense, de Blasio’s reemphasis on housing represented smart politics. City housing is one area of policy over which the mayor has near-complete control -- a necessity given his continuing spats with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and uncertainty stemming from the loss of city-friendly Sheldon Silver in the speaker’s seat. The mayor, for instance, said in the address that he will use city zoning laws to require that developers include affordable housing options in their plans. “We need stronger rent regulations that reflect today’s New York,” he said. “To preserve our city as a place for everyone.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
YOU COULD WIN $1,000 Go to ILoveNYcontest.com See inside for details
Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday February 6 - 5:02 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.