The local paper for the Upper er East Side
WEEK OF NOVEMBER
12-18 2015
STELLA AT THE WHITNEY CITYARTS, P.12
PROTESTING THE LOSS OF A GROCERY STORE
Our Take A DEADLY NOVEMBER
NEWS A Food Emporium on Second Avenue is slated to be replaced with the neighborhood’s eighth pharmacy BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
Of all the Food Emporium grocery stores that are closing due to parent company A&P’s bankruptcy, only one is being replaced by something other than a grocery store. The Food Emporium at the corner of 51st Street and Second Avenue is currently slated to become a CVS, but not if the neighbors can help it. This past Saturday, community members Millie Maggiotta, Denise Hamilton and Meryl Brodsky, who is also the district leader, camped out behind a table in front of the Food Emporium to gather signatures for a petition against the new CVS. The petition asks that another bidder be chosen to replace the Food Emporium, which will close within the month, instead of what would be the eighth pharmacy in the area. “Unless they put something in here we have nothing,” Brodsky said. “We all want a Trader Joe’s, right? From my lips to God’s ears. You have to work too hard to eat. It really is an unhappy occurrence.” The petitioners, who are also part of the Turtle Bay Association, were prepared with maps of all the existing pharmacies in the area and a study about the importance of access to fresh food in preventing diabetes and obesity. Maggiotta, Hamilton and Brodsky called out spiritedly to passersby to get their attention, and many people stopped to sign the petition. “Just
Photos by Heather Clayton Colangelo
THINKING ABOUT THE FINAL CHAPTER GRAYING NEW YORK A series looking at growing older in the city
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FIFTH OF SIX PARTS BY HEATHER CLAYTON COLANGELO EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS DIRECTED BY DORIAN BLOCK
The carefree days of summer have given way to a more somber fall as 85-year-old Hank Blum sits at the Gracie Mews diner on 1st Avenue and 81st Street with his wife, daughter, granddaughter and a family friend. Hank, a recently retired optometrist who is known for his upbeat
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personality and sense of humor, is more subdued than normal. It has been a hectic few weeks. Hank and his wife Patti were on their yearly trip to Ogunquit, Maine, this time to celebrate their 42nd wedding anniversary. Hank was only one lobster-meal deep when they got the news that Patti’s 74-year-old brother had fallen and broken his hip. They cut their trip short, raced back to be by his side and have been
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It was been a horrific month for pedestrian safety in the city. Since Halloween, a dozen people have died in car-related fatalities, including a 50-year-old man struck when a car ran into a sidewalk in Brooklyn, a 62-yearold in Queens who swerved into traffic to avoid an open car door, a trick-or-treater who died in the Bronx, and a grandmother on the Upper West Side killed by a taxi driver bleary-eyed after a 16-hour shift. They are all isolated, tragic stories. But they are also part of an ongoing policy quagmire in New York. Despite the high ideals, and quantifiable progress of Vision Zero, there still is not the sense of urgency, or public outrage, needed to stop the bloodshed. Groups like Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives have helped. But the broader public mandate, like the outrage mustered so effectively against drunk driving a couple of decades ago, isn’t yet there. Mayor Bill de Blasio, responding to this month’s awful numbers, insisted that “Vision Zero is working” and is “already yielding real results.” While his facts may be right, his tone is maddeningly sanguine. We all need to be outraged. We need to demand immediate change. We need to make sure a November like this doesn’t happen again. Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday November 13 – 4:22 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.
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