Citywide News & Events

Tuesday, July 19, 2011, 2-4 PM
Senior Cultural Discounts Fair
Where: The American Museum of Natural History
RSVP to attend: gbrewer@council.nyc.gov or 212-873-0282
Please enter through the Weston Pavilion entrance on Columbus Avenue at 79th Street

Want to learn more about free or low-cost cultural offerings for older New Yorkers?  Then come to our Senior Cultural Discounts Fair.  Join Council Member Jessica Lappin and Council Member Gale A. Brewer as they co-host with the American Museum of Natural History to provide constituents with information from citywide cultural and arts groups—theaters, museums, and more—about free or low-cost tickets and offerings for seniors.

Light refreshments will be served and there will be also be door prizes.

FREE CONCERTS & EVENTS (info courtesy NYC Council Member Gale Brewer)

•  The Lincoln Square Business Improvement District will heat up this summer with a series of free outdoor concerts at Richard Tucker Park, 66th Street and Broadway, Manhattan. Every Wednesday in July and August from noon until 2:00 PM - enjoy a taste of New York’s “underground” music scene. July 6 – Americana Roosevelt Dime | Tin Pan; July 13 – World Beat Mecca Bodega | Underground Horns; July 20 – Classic Lunch The Hopkins Entertainment Group | Opera Collective; July 27 - Mountainous Spirit Agua Clara | Raices Group; August 3 - Brass, Wind And Buckets Metro Brass Quintet | Drumadics; August 10 - Reeds, Oboes & Magnificats Double Entendre Music Ensemble | Renaissance Street Singers; August 17 - Easterner Passage Vongku Pak | EastRiver Ensemble; August 24 - Seven Sisters and Sugar Cane The MetropoliTones | Afro Andes; August 31 - R&B at a Fish Fry Yaz Band | The Hot Sardines. Plus, free yoga with YogaWorks and fresh lemonade from Atlantic Grill on select days! Info: 212.581.3774 or email info@lincolnsquarebid.org
  
  
• The West Side Community Garden, West 89 Street betweeen Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues also sponsors free concerts and Shakespeare: 6 PM July 10 and 17. Charlie Weaver (Baroque and Renaissance Lute, solo); 7/17   Batukatrio (Music of Brazil) and at 4 pm on Sunday July 24 is a Harp Concert with Keziah Thomas. July 24 is also a Shakespeare play.  (rain date makeup). The Shakespeare Production of “The MiniTempest “  adapted by Morna Martell is scheduled Saturday and Sunday at 5 PM from July 23/24 through August 14/15. http://www.westsidecommunitygarden.org/
  
  
• July 27-Aug 14, 2011 is free music as part of Lincoln Center Out of Doors at Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center. Bill Bragin, Director of Public Programming, Lincoln Center, is the best Director of any Music Festival anywhere.  See you there! 212-.LINCOLN or www.LCOutOFDoors.org
  
  
• Saturday, August 13, 2011 at 3 pm is Amsterdam Houses Family Day and JAZZMOBILE, 64th Street between Amsterdam and West End Avenue. All welcome. Bring a chair and enjoy the fabulous, free music.       http://www.jazzmobile.org
  
  
• Sundays in September 2011 Verdi Square Arts Festival, 73rd Street and Broadway above the subway will once again be the place for great outdoor free music. Sunday, September 18, 1:00 pm - Opera - Artists of the Manhattan School of Music, New York; Sunday, September 25, 1:00 pm - Opera - Artists of the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston; Sunday, October 2, 1:00 pm - American Musical Theater, Artists of the Manhattan School of Music, New York.  Contact:  http://www.verdisquarefestival.com
  
  EVENTS
• BIKE NY introduces Pedal Stops in Central Park and Riverside Park, from 9 am-4:30 pm, rain or shine. Tire inflation, maps, bike safety etc. July 16 & 17; Aug. 20 & 21; Sept. 18 & 19 in Riverside Park, Riverside Drive and 71 Street. Aug. 6 and Sept. 3 at Tavern on the Green at 67 Street in Central Park. Free. 212-870-2080 www.bikenewyork.org
  
  
• Worried About Cyber Bullying? Panel: Monday, July 18, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. The Times Center, 242 West 41st Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) Manhattan. Doors open: 5:00 p.m. RSVP: www.council.nyc.gov or  212-788-6687. Sponsored by City Council Speaker Quinn and the NYC Dept of Education

PREVIOUS

Housing Clinics & Workshops
Goddard Riverside Community Center
647 Columbus Avenue, at 92nd Street, NYC

Council Member Gale A. Brewer, Urban Justice Center and Goddard Riverside’s SRO Law Project sponsor free 2010-2011 Monthly Housing Clinics, 6PM-8PM at Goddard Riverside Community Center, 593 Columbus Avenue at 88 Street, Manhattan. Info: 646 459-3017 or Council Member Brewer at 212-873-0282. The funding is thanks to the Housing Preservation Initiative of the NYC Council. On the 1st Wednesday of each month, the clinic provides a presentation, to be followed by a question and answer session. An attorney meets with individuals who are seeking specific legal advice. The schedule for fall 2010 and spring 2011 is: 

• June 1, 2011 – Succession Rights 
• September 1, 2010 – Rent Guidelines Board 
• October 6, 2010 – Harassment 
• November 3, 2010 – HPs Repairs, Bedbugs and Cockroaches 
• December 1, 2010 – Preferential Rents  
• February 2, 2011 – Non-Primary Residence
• March 2, 2011 – DHCR Overview, including MCIs and 1/40ths
• April 6, 2011 – City-Wide Housing Related Campaigns
• May 4, 2011 – Crises: Foreclosures and Predatory Equity

COMPUTER & ELECTRONICS RECYCLING EVENT
Upper West Side Recycling Center/Columbus-Amsterdam BID*
When:    Sunday, May 22nd, 2011 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. (rain or shine)
Where:   Amserdam Avenue & 110th Street (south side)
           
The following items will be accepted: 

• Working and non-working computers (laptops & desktops)
• Peripherals: monitors, printers, keyboards, mice, cables, etc.
• TVs, stereo equipment, VCRs, DVD players, cable receivers, etc.
• Cell and wall phones
• Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) – no long bulbs, please
• Flashlight-type batteries (AA, D, etc.) – please tape the ends
• Textiles (clothing, shoes, blankets, sheets, towels, etc.)

Items not accepted:

Other electronic items including appliances (such as microwaves, toasters, etc.), air conditioners, white goods, carpeting

While electronic devices are safe to use in the home or office, they do pose an environmental risk when improperly discarded.  Computers, monitors, and printers have cathode ray tubes, circuit boards, and other electronic components that contain toxic pollutants such as lead, mercury, and cadmium.  These electronic items are the fastest growing portion of our waste stream.  Although e-waste currently makes up a small percentage of our household garbage, it accounts for about 40% of the toxins in that waste.  Recycling helps keep it out of landfills, incinerators and the environment. All collected computers and electronics will go to an EPA-licensed recycler. 

For more information please contact:
Columbus-Amsterdam BID: 212-666-9774  or
Upper West Side Recycling:  jtwine@synerjy.com

PREVIOUS 

December 2010
LANDMARK WEST! introduces the first ever iPhone walking tour app for Manhattan's Upper West Side, using technology to offer a uniquely local perspective on NYC history, architecture and future. Click here to download the app for free.

	Designed by local experts for people of all ages and interests—neighbors, visitors to the city, families, armchair travelers ... everyone!
	35 landmark locations include the legendary Dakota Apartments, Beacon Theatre, Ansonia Hotel, and American Museum of Natural History (highlights from the neighborhood's nearly 2,700 protected landmarks).

Monday, September 20, 7:00 pm
Free Presentation on Emergency Preparedness

September is National Preparedness Month. Upper West Side CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) will give a free presentation on what to do in an emergency or disaster situation, and raffle off two fully stocked Go Bags! CERT will show you how to make an emergency plan; how to assemble a Go Bag and home supply kit; when and how to evacuate; how to locate loved ones; and more.

In the wake of 9/11, we are all more aware of the danger of terrorist attacks, but the fact is, we are faced with a variety of dangerous emergencies all year round. Heat waves, blackouts, fires, gas explosions, building collapses, snowstorms, even tornadoes — New York City has seen them all.

For more about CERT: http://uwscert.org/

Countdown signals are being installed on Broadway from Columbus Circle to West 169 Street.

Protected Bike Lane Coming To Columbus Avenue

As part of the NYC Department of Transportation’s (DOT) bike lane program, the DOT will be implementing a protected bike lane along Columbus Avenue from West 96 Street to West 77 Street. Installing a parking-protected bicycle path on the east side of the street will enhance safety and mobility; the existing curbside parking lane will be replaced with a floating (offset) parking lane. DOT began implementation of the protected bike lane during the week of Monday, August 16, and will continue into September. Phase I of the work will be between West 96 and West 86 Streets; Phase II will be between West 86 to West 77 Streets and will begin Monday, September 13.

Phase 2 work includes street resurfacing and adding dedicated left-turn lanes at West 86th, West 81st and West 77th Streets, with separate bike and left-turn traffic signals. DOT is also installing concrete pedestrian refuge islands to shorten crossing distance and improve safety at approximately 28 intersections. Finally, left turn safety treatments will be installed at some intersections, replacing some metered parking spaces. In addition to the floating parking lane, vehicle owners should be aware there will be changes to some metered parking spaces along Columbus Avenue. If drivers are ticketed within 3 days of a change in the parking regulation, please contact Gale Brewer's office with a copy of the ticket.

Subway Completion Dates

Substantial completion of 59th Street Columbus Circle is expected summer 2010; and substantial completion of the 96th Street IRT station is expected late fall 2010. As you know, the head house has opened. Regarding the 93-94 Street Broadway entrances to the 96 Street IRT, the east side entrance is temporarily closed and is currently scheduled to reopen on Monday, July 12. About a week following the reopening of the east side entrance, the west side entrance is scheduled to close for approximately nine weeks.

May 20: Riverwalk

On May 20, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe was joined by City Council Member Gale Brewer, State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, Riverside Park Fund President John Herrold, and many members of the community to cut the ribbon on a new waterfront path in Riverside Park. Those in attendance were then joined by a marching band in leading a ceremonial procession up the Greenway from West 83rd Street to West 91st Street.

“When Riverside Park was first built in the late 19th century, its name was somewhat of a misnomer since a railway and a busy industrial waterfront separated it from the river. But, in the ensuing years, the city would bring the park to the ‘river’s side,’” said Commissioner Benepe. “Today’s opening of the Riverwalk is a significant achievement as, for the first time, it provides a continuous waterfront path from West 83rd to 91st Streets, and provides the final link of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway along the Hudson River from Battery Park to Dyckman Street.

This $15.7 million project was funded with over $15 million in capital funds allocated by Mayor Bloomberg, $400,000 from Gale Brewer’s office, and nearly $300,000 in funds provided by the Federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, with assistance from the New York State Department of Transportation. The project is a momentous occasion for walkers, joggers, and cyclists as it celebrates the completion of a continuous waterfront path in Riverside Park, and provides the final link of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway stretching from Battery Park to Dyckman Street. ENJOY IT!