Check out this week's top news stories for the Upper West Side.
Upper West Side parents prepare for rigorous K-6 application process
As high schoolers around the country fine-tune their applications to Columbia, Upper West Side parents are preparing for another grueling application process: getting their kids into kindergarten.
Local parents got their first taste of that ordeal Saturday at an elementary school fair hosted by Community Education Council District 3, which covers the Upper West Side. The fair, held in the P.S. 165 gymnasium, was a chaotic scene, with toddlers running around in circles, parents juggling strollers and babies, and some attendees just standing around looking confused.
Rookie USA Fetes Opening on Upper West Side
An adorable crew of basketball and baseball offspring walked the runway in front of their cheering parents at a grand opening celebration on Friday for Rookie USA, a new 5,500-square-foot children’s athletic apparel and footwear store on Manhattan’s Upper West Side opened by The Haddad Apparel Group Ltd. Sashaying down the catwalk in various states of bravura and shyness were the children of Carmelo and LaLa Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Alexis Welch, and Tyson and Kimberly Chandler.
Mike Bloomberg Opened Homeless Shelters on the Upper West Side. Gasp!
The U.S. economy is in the shitter, and with that comes high unemployment, which, naturally leads to more homeless people. So in response to the spike in homelessness, Mayor Mike Bloomberg has set up homeless shelters in some of New York City's pricier neighborhoods.
Controversial UWS Papasito Restaurant Denied Liquor License Renewal
The controversial Mexican restaurant Papasito's has had its liquor license renewal denied — and is in danger of closing by early next year.
The restaurant, which opened in September 2011, has had a rocky first year, temporarily closing four times for selling alcohol to minors.
In that time, it has become the bane of Community Board 7 and neighbors who complained frequently about customers fighting and yelling outside the bar and spilling out into the streets at 4 a.m. many nights a week.
Pale Male's Babies Return Home After Recovering From Poison
Two of Pale Male's baby hawks were returned to the ramble in Central Park this Saturday, after spending the summer recuperating on Long Island after they were sickened by rat poison, according to local birders.
Animal rescuers Cathy and Bobby Horvath treated the poisoned red-tailed hawks at their volunteer animal rescue organization WINORR, Wildlife In Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation. They said in August they would not return the hawks to Central Park until they were sure they were safe from future poisonings and so delayed releasing them until now.