Check out this week's top news stories for the Upper West Side.
Sprawl brawl on the upper West Side
First sodas, now storefronts. The Bloomberg administration is pushing a plan that would limit the size of new storefronts on the upper West Side. In keeping with its big-is-not-necessarily-better approach, the city is looking to sharply limit how much ground level retail space new storefronts can have — and level the playing field for neighborhood mom-and-pop shops struggling against an invasion of chains. Read More
"Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter" Takes A Bite Out Of The Upper West Side
The unlikely combination of history and the vampire genre delighted an Upper West Side audience on Monday night, at the premiere of "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter," a new film produced by Tim Burton. Benjamin Walker plays the vampire killer, President Abe Lincoln. "We recognize that, yeah, it's a ridiculous premise. We get it. But that's where the joke ends," says Walker. "We tried to make a period piece about Lincoln that's a thriller but also has some vampires in it." Read More
West Side madness
Egged on by leftist reactionaries nostalgic for the 1970s, the City Council is plowing ahead with its scheme to wreck the fragile chemistry of Manhattan’s healthiest retail environment — the Upper West Side. The council is set to vote Thursday on a destructive bill to regulate how landlords can rent out retail space on the district’s boulevards by imposing sidewalk-width restrictions on new stores and banks. “Big is bad” is the preposterous basis for the measure — which is wildly out of touch with the district’s new demographics and needs. Read More
Blessing of the Bees Ceremony Buzzes to Upper West Side Church
With an open Bible in hand, the Rev. Mark Sisk stood in front of a buzzing hive outside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine Tuesday and offered the church's first Blessing of the Bees. Sisk, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, drew parallels between the bees in the hive and New Yorkers in the bustling city, saying that both rely on community and cooperation. "As we gather to bless these bees, your own blessed creatures, may the intensity of their self-offering lives awake in us a reminder of the fruitfulness that such self-offering promises to yield in our own human community," he read aloud from a blessing he created for the occasion. Read More
Solar-Powered Streetscape Could Spruce Up Columbus Avenue
An unsightly fence on Columbus Avenue between West 76th and West 77th streets is on track to be replaced by a row of trees, solar panels and rainwater-purifying channels. The Columbus Avenue Business Improvement District, after years of "saving our nickles,” has come up with a plan with the Department of Transportation, to create a streetscape that will feature up to five new trees, five new metal benches, expanded tree beds and plantings and possibly a free bike station. But what the BID hopes will really draw people to the spot are the innovative and environmentally friendly features. Solar panels will be inset in the surrounding sidewalk and gather energy during the day and illuminate the path at night. Read More