The local paper for the Upper er East Side REPORTING FROM VIETNAM, IN FICTION < Q&A, P.21
WEEK OF JUNE
18-24 2015
BIKE CRASH INFLAMES UPPER EAST SIDE NEWS Woman, 67, in serious condition following collision with a cyclist on First Avenue BY MICKEY KRAMER
Mary Grace Belfi is in serious condition following the crash on June 9.
She was planning for a nice lunch with her daughter. Lilly. But on the afternoon of June 9, Mary Grace Belfi, 67, stepped into the First Avenue bike lane at 86th street, in order to get to her parked car, and was struck down by a bicyclist, who fled the scene. The accident, and the ongoing hunt for the cyclist, inflamed a neighborhood that has long been wary of bikes
and bike lanes. Citibike’s expansion has met more resistance on the Upper East Side than any other part of New York, and neighbors in the area frequently swap stories about nearmisses with cyclists. Paul Steely White, the executive director of cycling advocacy organization Transportation Alternatives, offered no defense of the runaway cyclist, calling it “a brutal act,” adding, “that this coward must be brought to justice.” Katie Belfi, 30, another of Mary Grace’s daughters, describes her mother’s current condition as “serious and uncertain” as she’s still getting neurological tests due to the
brain injury. Mary Grace suffered extensive bleeding on the brain, and a broken nose and collarbone. Katie Belfi said she cannot understand “protected” bike lanes that seem to make cyclists safer, but not pedestrians and “not a design that forces people that are parked to cross another lane of (bicycle) traffic without a crosswalk.” Michele Birnbaum lives on E. 86th Street. While calling the accident “a horrible thing,” she added that she’s not surprised and is angry that the city streets were “turned upside down for such a small percentage
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45 Years and Counting
SCENT AND THE CITY BY CODY GERARD
Every week for the rest of the year, Our Town will celebrate our 45th anniversary by profiling a neighborhood business that has been around longer than we have. Know of a local business that should be on our list? Email us at news@strausnews.com As you approach the corner of 65th Street and Second Avenue, the distinctive scent of flowers overrides some of the city’s more typical odors. Attribute this phenomenon to Fellan Florists, an Upper East Side flower shop in the fragrant business since 1927. It’s run by John Laskaris, whose father, Antonio Laskaris, bought it from the founder in 1950. The store has sprouted in different
Fabulous upcoming New York State events and must-sees at ILoveNY.com/summer15 and inside!
locations since, but has long ties to the Upper East Side, Laskaris said recently. “The original location being on 71st and Lexington,” he said. “We moved from 71st and Lex, to 72nd and Third,” he said. “It was a huge corner store and Third Avenue was not the avenue it is today.” The store has moved several times since, mostly because of increasing rents. For a dozen years, the flower shop anchored at 61st and Third Avenue. It then moved, a decade ago, to its current location. “We should be here for at least another five,” Laskaris said. He credits Fellan’s longevity to “a lot of hard work and determination.” And also to the flowers. “We pride ourselves on our quality of service and quality or product,” he said. The biggest boon for Fellan was
Photo Credit: Gilles Aliard
Fellan Florists has been bunching bouquets since the Roaring ‘20s
Illustration by John S. Winkleman when the elevated subway that used to run over Third Avenue was taken down. “We saw people coming in and the neighborhood grew.” Despite its longtime, and however peripatetic, presence in the neighborhood, Fellan’s long-term future
is uncertain. “That’s an unknown,” Laskaris said. “Possibly my wife will continue, children no, they have other interests.”
Our Take OUR WEEK IN ALBANY One of the joys of living in New York City is our ability to keep our distance from Albany. But this week, the dysfunction, the scandal, the ineptitude of our state’s capital hit home, in the failure of legislators to pass a new rent control law. The existing rent law, which helps 2 million people in the city stay in their reasonably priced homes, expired this week, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo was unable to get his rag-tag crew of lawmakers in line. The failure in Albany gave Mayor Bill de Blasio a rare chance to revel in the turmoil in the governor’s office, continuing the petty playground rivalry between our two top elected leaders. “This is really Albany at its worst,” de Blasio told radio station WCBS 880. That is saying something. The capital, and its leader, have found themselves torn between two powerful forces in the rent debate: the real estate lobby, on the one hand, and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, on the other. The usual instinct to cave to the former is being blocked by fear of the latter. The result is a legislature in deepfreeze. It’s easy to compare Albany to the logjam in Washington, D.C. At least we have an election next year to shake things up in D.C. In New York, we’re stuck with what we’ve got. Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday June 19 – 8:12 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.
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