Newsletter March 2024

Dear Friends & Neighbors,

Thank you to those of you who braved the heavy rain to join us at our Saturday March 23rd  meeting of the West 71st Street Block Association!  

Special thanks to City Council Member Gale Brewer and Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal who joined us and spoke at length about their work for our community.  They, along with our State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, are tireless advocates for our neighborhood and we urge you to sign up for their newsletters which provide great info on their work and community happenings. (Brewer: CLICK HERE; Rosenthal: Join email list; Hoylman-Sigal: https://www.nysenate.gov/questionnaires/brad-hoylman-sigal/sign-email-alerts-senator-hoylman-sigal)

Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal (the tallest one!) with members of the West 71st Street Block Association on Saturday

* * * * * 

Updates: 

1. E-bike charging station: Gale Brewer has assured us that she opposes the choice of the W71st Street bow-tie intersection for a charging station and is working with Dept. of Traffic and Parks Dept. to agree on a different location away from pedestrians. She is almost certain this location will NOT be chosen. Community Board 1 just voted against the City Hall location, which is slated to be the first one built.  Sensible people realize it is a foolish and dangerous choice to place these near pedestrians!  Read here: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2024/03/27/neighborhood-with-many-deliveries-rejects-rest-stop-for-the-deliveristas-who-make-them.    We will stay vigilant until we have 100% assurance that the 71st Street location is no longer being considered for this dangerous project.  Please sign our petition to voice your opposition to this location: https://www.change.org/w72ebikestation.

2. Police Safety Report for our neighborhood:  (see attached report). The city now holds "Build the Block" meetings. These quarterly meetings are an opportunity for your local police officers to report on safety issues, statistics, etc., specific to our neighborhood (W 70^th-79^th Streets) and to hear about your concerns.  To join the Build the Block, Sector B list, please email:  buildtheblocksectorb@gmail.com.  The monthly 20th Precinct Community Council meetings typically take place on the fourth Monday of each month at 7:00 PM at the precinct at 120 West 82nd Street. These are different than the quarterly Build the Block meetings and are held monthly. All are welcome to attend.

3. Rat Walk-Through: Councilmember Gale Brewer will help us arrange a walk-through of our block to evaluate problems leading to an increase in rat presence. We did this several years ago with the Dept. of Health and Sanitation with the help of Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal and City Councilmember Gale Brewer.  We will identify problems, letters will be sent to building owners and summons issued where appropriate. Continue to report rats to 311. Visit the rat portal to check for rat activity at any address: https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/Rats/ 

 Last year, the city found a problem with rats on our block, particularly at 120 West 71st, the site of serious trash problems, and the city stated:

"West 71st Street between Broadway and Columbus Avenue was identified as another area of concern. Four out of six initial inspections failed, and then all four failed again in their followup inspections. Bragdon added, “Most of them failed recently in March 2023 and are currently being treated. You can see the addresses of the places that are on the treatment list.” Read the details here:  https://ilovetheupperwestside.com/pest-expert-reveals-where-the-rats-are/.  

4. Sanitation:  This remains a huge challenge. We are constantly reporting sanitation problems and working with surrounding block associations and our local Sanitation Supervisor.  We are planning a walk-through in April with reps from Sanitation and our elected officials. Please continue to report problems to your super, 311, or us. Your treewells must also be kept clean by your super!  It is illegal to place household trash in corner trash cans, though some co-op owners on this block have been seen doing so!  

  

5. Donations/Venmo:  We need funds for mulch and new signs for treewells for the Spring! We now have a Venmo account:@West71StBA and can more easily accept donations or payments. Please consider a donation and thank you for supporting our work and keeping our fund healthy for literature, a new banner, mulch and treewell signs, plants, t-shirts, and celebrations.

6. Contact 311: Please continue to report any issues that concern you to 311. It really is very effective and easy by calling 311, using the app, or online at https://portal.311.nyc.gov.  You can post photos, video and audio. Repeated calls on the same issue work very well for ongoing problems!  You will receive an email confirmation and report #, and a follow-up within a few days. Copy us, please, and feel free to call Katina to discuss any issue you want help with. 

Finally, our General Flyer is attached, along with a list of our Work & Traditions, and the recent police report form Build the Block. Thank you to Debbie, Miriam, Susan, and Mike for helping with literature and coffee, and thanks to Rita Genn, the co-leader of the Wets 72nd Street Block Association for attending; we look forward to future collaborations!  We are grateful to Pastor Martin and Grace & St. Paul’s for hosting our meetings! 

We will let you know our next meeting or outdoor celebration will take place and we welcome your calls or email in between times. 

Kindly,

Katina Ellison

Founder & Co-Leader

West 71^st Street Block Association

Working together for a safer and more beautiful block!

Join us!

 

Next Meeting:  Saturday March 23rd, 4-5pm

Grace & St. Paul’s Church at 123 West 71^st Street

Come meet us and let us know of your concerns for our block!

 

                                       Goals we are working on:

 

Community building * Trash   * Treewells   * Noise     

Safety * Beautification   * Scaffolding * 

A Safe Bow-Tie Intersection (71^st and Broadway)

 

We work on the above goals by collaborating with local legislators, city agencies, police, both churches on the block, local businesses, outreach to the homeless, Sanitation and Health Departments, landlords, and neighbors. 

 

A clean block ~ you can help!

 Ask your super to help keep the front of your building clean of litter, including treewells (it’s the law!)

Call or email 311 with complaints of trash and other issues

  URGENT UPDATE: November 2023:  We just learned that the e-bike charging station for West 71st Street is moving forward.  Please help us oppose it. 

We oppose the e-bike charging station slated for 71st and Broadway!

We are working on stopping the proposed e-bike charging station at 71-72 and Broadway on the southern subway island. This will only make an already dangerous bow-tie intersection more crowded and dangerous.  We testified against this plan at Community Board 7, sent multiple letters to our elected officials and have spoken to the press.  This is a terrible location for such a project and we will continue to oppose it. We have suggested several other safer nearby locations to Councilwoman Brewer but neither of our emails was responded too.  Stay tuned for further actions on this matter - we will need your help!

Sign our petition to stop this plan at: https://www.change.org/w72ebikestation

Please call, visit or email our City Councilmember Gale Brewer to urge her to stop this:

Email her at:

gbrewer@council.nyc.gov

or call her office at:

(212) 873-0282

Read our official statement here:   

February 10, 2023: A letter in opposition to the proposed e-bike charging station on the West 72nd Street subway island.
Contact: Katina Ellison (917) 796-7350
The West 71st Street Block Association represents hundreds of residents who live right next to this area and strongly oppose this unsafe plan for the reasons below:

Locating an e-bike charging station on the south pedestrian island at West 72nd Street, Broadway and Amsterdam Ave, would make an already dangerous situation for pedestrians even worse. This island serves as the critical stepping-stone for pedestrians to transverse the complicated "bowtie" intersections created by the configuration of these three major roads. Despite an attempt to re-engineer these intersections that was performed to improve pedestrian safety, the conditions surrounding the island remain dangerous given the heavy volumes of cars, large trucks and buses and the high level of pedestrian traffic. There are only three narrow entrances to the island, all of which are located at the critical points of the island that link crosswalks and provide safety zones for pedestrians; these entry points to the island are already extremely congested, so adding traffic to the island in the form of e-bikes and their riders would be disastrous. Ingress and egress through these “bottlenecks” would slow even further, dangerously backing up pedestrian flow into high volume vehicular traffic.

The pedestrian island that houses the West 72nd Street 1,2,3 subway station has unique characteristics, all of which create challenging conditions for safety:

• The island lies on the nexus of three major streets, Broadway, Amsterdam Ave, and West 72nd Street, each of which falls in the top 2.5% of city streets based on volume of pedestrian traffic as calculated by NYC's DOT.

• The 1, 2, 3 subway station located on the island is among the top 5% of the subway stations in New York City in terms of riders, with approximately 40,000 passengers entering and exiting on a daily basis.

• The island lies in an area designated a Senior Pedestrian Zone by NYC's DOT.

• Broadway and Amsterdam Ave are Vision Zero Priority Corridors.

• The island is flanked by two of the three truck routes on the Upper Westside.

While maintaining a safe environment for all pedestrians is paramount, it is especially important for our community's senior citizens. The area surrounding the island that houses the West 72nd Street 1,2,3 subway station has one of the highest senior population densities in New York City. Senior pedestrians are at especially high risk; according to NYC's DOT, 45% of pedestrian fatalities in Manhattan involve senior citizens despite the fact that this demographic segment makes up less than 15% of the borough's population. Our neighborhood's seniors rely on the pedestrian island to provide safe passage in order to walk to the nearby senior centers, pharmacies, supermarkets, and access points to public transportation.

The introduction of motorized bicycles to an island designed for pedestrians in an already overly congested area is a recipe for disaster. The hundreds of residents who make up the West 71st Street Block Association are intimately familiar with the challenges of this pedestrian island. We strongly oppose the creation of an e-bike charging station at this location as it would jeopardize the safety of all New Yorkers.

                                        

Katina spoke to CBS and ABC about this along with members of Community Board 7.  

 

Join us this Saturday September 23rd at 11 for a Meet n Greet!

 

  Hello Friends & Neighbors!      Summer 2023 Newsletter

Co-leaders Katina and Andrea

We were so happy to gather with everyone at our Summer Celebration on West 71st Street!  We had great weather, met new neighbors, signed up new members, and were joined by our elected officials! Thank you to Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who stayed the whole time and is always available to work with us on our neighborhood issues, along with her superb staff. Councilwoman Gale Brewer also for joined us, listing our event in her famous newsletter, and providing literature. Senator Brad Hoylman’s aide, Evan Lieberman, came and stayed from beginning to end!  We are grateful to each one of them, who work tirelessly for our community. 

Thank you to Cafe Metro, Felice, and Little Italy Pizza for donating food, to neighbors who brought treats and supplies, and to Bill Ellison who arranged for our musicians, Tristan Waife on bass and Kai Uemura on guitar, bringing sublime live music! Thank you Upper Westside Copy! As always, thanks to our great partners and hosts at Grace & St. Paul’s Church, particularly Pastor Martin and Shelly.  See photos of the event here and below. 

 

Our Beloved Theo and Friends

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and members!

Theo greets neighbors; Pastor Martin and Debbie greet and sign-up new members

Welcome new members!  We are thrilled to have met you and to have you join our Block Association.  Attached is a list of  Community Events & Resources as well as information on our work.  We look forward to getting to know you better and to working together to make our block an even better place to live!

Instagram & Facebook  Thanks to our new co-leader, Andrea Fondulas, we now have an Instagram account at @West71StBA and a Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/West71StBA/  We will post lots of photos there so, check in! We still have our blog at: http://w71stba.blogspot.com

National Night Out!  We were there on Tuesday August 1st 6-8:30 pm in Verdi Square.  It’s an annual community-building campaign that promotes strong police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live and work.  We mingled with our local precinct police, our elected officials, and other members of our community, sharing the work and goals of our group. 

Mike and Karen greet neighbors at National Night Out 2023!

Donations/Venmo:  We now have a Venmo account:@West71StBA and can more easily accept donations or payments for our t-shirts. Please consider a donation and thank you for supporting our work and keeping our fund healthy for literature, a new banner, mulch and treewell signs, plants, t-shirts, and celebrations.

No August meeting:  We will skip our August meeting (we’ve been busy with celebrations and advocacy!)  and will see you at our next meeting on Saturday September 23rd at 4pm at the Grace & St. Paul’s Church at 123 West 71st Street. We will soon let you know about plans for that meeting or gathering. Feel free to be in touch with us before then with ideas and concerns - our work continues behind the scenes!

Relocate E-bike Charging Station:  We have been unable to get any information on whether the e-bike charging station is still being planned for the ill-advised proposed site of the subway island at 71st and Broadway. We continue to oppose this site for obvious safety reasons and we have suggested numerous other safer locations on the UWS.  Please sign our petition to voice your opposition to this location: https://www.change.org/w72ebikestation.  Also, voice your concerns to our City Councilwoman Gale Brewer at: gbrewer@council.nyc.gov  or call her office: (212) 873-0282.  Our subway island should remain a safe spot for pedestrians when crossing the dangerous "bow-tie" intersection as well as a safe area for the tens of thousands of commuters who use that subway entrance daily. 

Rat Walk-Through: We have signed up for a walk-through of our block to evaluate problems leading to an increase in rat presence. We did this several years ago with the Dept. of Health and Sanitation with the help of Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and CityCouncilwoman Gale Brewer.  We will identify problems, letters will be sent to building owners and summons issued where appropriate. Continue to report rats to 311. 

Contact 311: Please continue to report any issues that concern you to 311. It really is very effective and easy by calling 311 or online at https://portal.311.nyc.gov.  You can post photos, video and audio. Repeated calls on the same issue work very well for ongoing 

problems!  You will receive an email confirmation and report #, and a follow-up within a few days. Copy us, please. 

Talent Show in the Fall!  Our great neighbor, Blessed Sacrament Church, has offered to host a fund-raiser for the Block Association in their downstairs theatre - thank you, Padraic Confrey!  We thought a talent show would be such fun.  Sharpen up your talents and we will let you know when we decide on an Autumn date for this fun event!  All are welcome. 

Thank you again to all and welcome to our new members!  Reach out to us anytime. 

Kindly,

Katina and Andrea

Katina Ellison and Andrea Fondulas

Co-Leaders

West 71st Street Block Association

Visit our blog: http://w71stba.blogspot.com

(917) 796-7350 

Bill Ellison arranged for our musicians, Tristan Waife on bass and 

Kai Uemura on guitar - they are amazing!

Andrea Fondulas, co-leader, and Evan Lieberman, aide to

 Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal

Karen and Shelly!