The preponderance of big chain stores on the Upper West Side could be severely reversed under a plan introduced by the Department of City Planning . Acting on concerns from the Upper West Side community and elected officials, the city is considering rezoning part of the neighborhood to create two Special Enhanced Commercial Districts. Each of these zones would limit the frontage of new and expanding banks and residential lobbies along Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. Overall store size would not be restricted, so big chains could still burrow underground, but city planners argue that “over time the general multi-store character of Amsterdam and Columbus avenues would be maintained, while promoting a more varied and active retail environment on Broadway.” [ more › ]
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City May Rezone Upper West Side To Drive Chain Stores Away (Or Underground)
The U.S. Labor Department announced that 243,000 jobs were added in January, sending the unemployment rate to 8.3%, its lowest point since Feburary 2009. [ more › ]
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Unemployment Rate Falls To 8.3%, Lowest Since February 2009
The New York Times has written another letter to the NYPD urging the department to stop harassing journalists and better inform their employees on the rights of members of the press. The letter, obtained by Capital New York and addressed to top NYPD spokesman and wooden Italian marionette Paul Browne, details further police interference and abuse, and strongly urges the department to “not underestimate our resolve in working to rectify these issues.” [ more › ]
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NY Media Warns NYPD To "Not Underestimate" Them
So you know how East Haven, CT mayor Joe Maturo’s plan for reaching out the Latino community, which has been intimidated by the local police for years (well, at least according to the Department of Justice’s investigation), was to go and have some tacos ? Well, activists just sent his office 500 hundred tacos. [ more › ]
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Hundreds Of Tacos Sent To Insensitive "I Might Have Tacos" Mayor
Wishes (and rumors ) come true! As part of the 50th anniversary season of Shakespeare in the Park, the Public today announced that it is bringing Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s fairy tale classic Into The Woods to Central Park! Even better, they are bringing directors Timothy Sheader and Liam Steel, who directed the award-winning open-air performance of the musical in London in 2010, back to helm! (Oh, and the first show of the summer will be As You Like It directed by Daniel Sullivan with Lily Rabe as Rosalind.) Tickets, as usual, will be free. [ more › ]
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Sondheim In The Park: Into The Woods Hits Central Park This July
It’s happening with bus seats and airplanes, and inmate attire is no different: America must adapt to suit its most corpulent citizens. But 55-year-old Elias Diaz tells the Post that Rikers Island lacks uniforms big enough to contain his 400-pound frame and he’s suing the Department of Corrections for $1 million for having to wash his same outfit every day in the shower. How much does the DOC regret rejecting that contract with Jnco? [ more › ]
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400lb Felon’s Lawsuit Says Rikers’ Uniforms Weren’t Phat
Oh sure, science hasn’t quite been able to create real life Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles yet, but they’ve made amazing strides in creating other hybrid animals, such as Zebroids (horse/zebra), Ligers (lion/tigers) and Wholphins (whale/dolphin). Judging by the awesome video below, it seems a new hybrid is already in existence: The Opizzera (opera singer/pizza slinger). [ more › ]
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Video: Is Every Pizza Slinger Secretly An Amazing Opera Singer?
SNOW IS HERE! As of 7:30 a.m. , over 1.3 inches of snow fell in Central Park, which the Weather Channel called the “first measurable snow since the historic late October snowstorm .” And because it’s all about snow, the Parks Department is having a snow day at a park in each borough, complete with sledding, hot chocolate, snow angel and snowman contests! [ more › ]
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Snow Is Here—And It’s A Snow Day In The Parks!
In the wake of the death of 12-year-old Dashane Santana, who was struck and killed crossing Delancey Street last Friday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is asking the Department of Transportation to assign crossing guards to the dangerous thoroughfare. “With traffic coming on and off the Williamsburg Bridge and a wide area for pedestrians to cross, there is an urgent need for a more aggressive approach to safety,” Silver wrote in a letter to commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan obtained by DNAinfo. “We simply cannot wait for another tragedy to occur.” [ more › ]
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After Death Of 12-Year-Old, Sheldon Silver Calls For Delancey St Crossing Guards
The NYCLU has filed a lawsuit with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a group of NYPD detectives who say the department’s elite Intelligence Division is racist. The lawsuit alleges that the NYPD “has chosen to cloak promotions in secrecy and give the all-white high level supervisors who run the Intelligence Division unfettered discretion to handpick white detectives for promotions over more qualified African American detectives.” Black detectives also claim there is a so-called “secret list” from which white officers are promoted within the division. [ more › ]
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Lawsuit Says NYPD Has "Secret List" Excluding Blacks From Promotions