The local paper for the Upper er East Side A PERFECT PAINTER AT THE FICK
WEEK OF OCTOBER
22-28
CITYARTS, P.12 >
2015
SLEEPLESS IN YORKVILLE
Our Take A BIG STEP FORWARD ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING
City says noisy MTS work should wrap up later this month BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
Residents near the East 91st Street marine transfer station say they’re losing sleep due to all-night construction of the trash facility and have started a petition to revoke the contractor’s all-night work permit. “Many of the residents on the Upper East Side, particularly those of us who live in the five buildings on York Avenue, have been experiencing deafening jack-hammering starting at midnight — or earlier — and continuing through until 4 a.m.,” said Linda Garvin, who lives in the Hamilton at 1735 York Ave., which is owned by Glenwood Management. Other affected buildings, said Garvin, include The Brittany and The Barclay, which are nearby on York and also owned by Glenwood, and several residential buildings on East 90th Street. “I spoke to all the doormen, they all have the same issues,” said Garvin, who is spearheading the petition drive and has so far collected over 70 signatures from area residents. “There’s definitely a lot of interest, people are going crazy about this.” And, she said, calling 311 leads to dead end after dead end. “There have been many complaints to 311 but they get shuffled around from department to department, winding back at 311 to no avail,” Garvin said. “They tell you to call 311 who tells you to call Department of Buildings, who tells you to call 311. So basically you get nowhere.” Recent 311 data shows a sharp increase in construction noise complaints in the area near the construc-
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A DAY’S WORK SECOND OF SIX PARTS STORY AND PHOTOS BY HEATHER CLAYTON COLANGELO/EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS DIRECTED BY DORIAN BLOCK
It’s the ninth day of April, a Thursday, and after months of snow and ice, the promise of spring is just around the corner. Vibrant daffodils poke their heads out of the thawed soil and tiny leaves are appearing on trees. At 8:30 in the morning, Hank Blum, in his black MetroOptics button-down shirt and a mid-weight jacket leaves his apartment building
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on E. 79th Street and waits patiently for the M103 bus that will take him to 86th Street where he will pick up the 5 train to the Bronx. This time just a few months ago, Hank thought he’d spend an early spring day like this padding around his apartment, checking his stocks on the computer and leisurely watching Fox News. Instead he’s headed back to his former office for a full day of seeing patients. For six decades Hank worked as an optometrist on Southern Boulevard in the Bronx serving ten of thou-
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GRAYING NEW YORK A series looking at growing older in the city sands of people. After three failed retirement attempts over the years, and as many retirement parties, he
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Finally, some welcome, undeniable good news on the housing front in our city. This week’s deal between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Blackstone Group, one of the city’s biggest landlords, guarantees that Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, the largest apartment complex in Manhattan, will remain a place for working-class families. The Lower East Side complex will be sold for more than $5.3 billion to Blackstone -- but only after the mayor exacted a pledge that nearly half the 11,232-units stay affordable.“We weren’t going to lose StuyTown on our watch,” de Blasio said in a statement this week. The mayor derserves the kudos, which have been a long time coming. While he has made affordable housing an important part of his progressive plank since taking office, many of us have been skeptical about the execution of his plan to roll out 200,000 affordable units. The fact that the mayor was able to cut this deal with Blackstone, a savvy Wall Street player, is an encouraging sign for future deals with developers. Maybe, just maybe, we’re finally seeing real progress in once again making this city a liveable place for everyone.
Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday October 23 - 5:46 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.
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