Stay on the up and up of the Upper West side with our weekly news blog! Check out this week's top stories.
Upper West Side sprayed for West Nile virus
The city health department sprayed the Upper West Side with pesticide early Friday morning in an attempt to combat a growing rate of West Nile virus cases. Fourteen human cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed this year in the city, six of them on the Upper West Side, according to the New York City Department of Health. In 2011, there were only 11 cases citywide for the entire year. Read More
Good Samaritans save blind jazz guitarist after he falls onto upper West Side subway tracks
A blind professional jazz guitarist who has played with the biggest names in music, was lucky to be alive Monday morning after falling on the subway tracks and being briefly dragged by a No. 1 train Wednesday morning, police said. Good Samaritans pulled up Jeff Golub, 57, just as the train entered the W. 66th and Broadway subway station about 10:15 a.m., police and sources said. Read More
Upper West Side Residents Protest City's Plan for Homeless Shelter
Residents and politicians living in and representing parts of the Upper West Side are protesting the city's plan to add emergency shelter housing to buildings in the middle of the residential neighborhood. A large, vocal group of residents attended a packed Community Board 7 meeting Tuesday to express their outrage at the Department of Homeless Services' plan, which would transfer hundreds of homeless people to housing at 316 and 330 West 95th Street, between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. Read More
Upper West Side Subway Stations to Get Wi-Fi and Cell Service This Fall
Upper West Side, can you hear me now? Uptown subway riders will be the most connected straphangers in the city by the end of 2012, according to the MTA, which has put the area first on its seven-phase wireless Internet and phone service project. Transit Wireless invested "roughly $200 million" in a capital project to design, build, operate and maintain the system's underground wireless network, according to CEO Bill Bayne. Transit Wireless is in the midst of negotiating contracts with phone and data carriers. T Mobile, AT&T and Boingo WiFi have already made commitment, and advanced negotiations are open with Sprint, Verizon and MetroPCS. Transit Wireless will split revenue with the MTA, expected to be close to $40 million over 10 years. Read More
Woman, 19, Reports Rape at Riverside Park
Police are investigating a reported rape in Riverside Park on the Upper West Side Monday. A 19-year-old woman reported the incident happened at about 2:15 a.m. near the back of Dinosaur Playground between West 96th and West 97th streets, police said. The victim was treated at St. Luke's Hospital, and returned to the scene with detectives to assist them in their investigation. Read More