Neighbors Working Together for a Safer and More Beautiful Block!

Please join us for our Autumn Celebration on Saturday October 4th from 11am-2PM!
at Grace & St. Paul's Church at 123 West 71st Street


at Grace & St. Paul's Church at 4pm

123 West 71st Street

Come meet your neighbors and share and your concerns for our block!

Join us for refreshments,

Block Association T-shirts,

literature, and more.

Children are welcome!


The West 71st St Block Association covers the blocks between Central Park West and Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

West 71st Street is a great place to live and we are working together to make it even better! Come and meet our co-leaders Katina Ellison and Karen Raschke.

Current issues we are working on: Improving safety and reducing chaos at the pedestrian plaza outside McDonald's following the shootings there on Halloween 2024. Stopping the proposed e-bike charging station for the bow-tie intersection (sign petition below!), beautifying the tree wells, rats, trash/litter on the sidewalks, scaffolding, nighttime noise and illegal behavior, working with the 20th Precinct and outreach groups to help the homeless, and replacing the newspaper bins with newer and fewer ones.

We work on the above issues by collaborating with local legislators, Community Board 7, city agencies, police, both churches on the block, local businesses, outreach to the homeless, Sanitation and Health Departments, landlords, neighbors.


How to help:

1. Tell your neighbors about our block association and have them e-mail us to add them to our list.

2. Call 311 or e-mail 311 at http://www.nyc.gov/apps/311/about.htm to report block issues. Or call the 20th police precinct at 212.580.6411.



Tuesday, June 16, 2026

 Hello Friends & Neighbors,


Thank you to all of you who joined us for the West 71st street Block Association Summer Celebration this past Saturday!  Welcome new members, many of whom supported us by buying t-shirts!

The weather was sunny & perfect; we had a live jazz duo, Blake Slaughter and Felix Hartley,  for great music and pizza was provided generously by 
The Pizza Collective (70-71 on Bway)! 

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We were happy to be joined by our elected officials including Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal (who stayed the whole time!), City Council Member Gale Brewer, Senator Erik Bottcher (with guitar in tow!), and Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal.  Thank you also to their aides Ben, Quentin, and Katie for bringing literature and the pleasure of your company! 

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As always, thank you to Pastor Martin Hauser and Grace & St. Paul’s Church for generously hosting us for many years and being our partner! Thank you to music director and special events coordinator at the church, Rashko Nutaitis, for so much help.  Shelly, too! 

Thank you, Mia, for holding a voter registration event on behalf of the League of Women Voters!  
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And we were thrilled to be joined by the head of the West 68th Street Block Association, Shaen Begleiter, who brought his adorable doggie, Pom-Pom, who we all fell in love with (see her above in Linda’s arms!)
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Upper Westside Copy contributed flyers and Stationary Toy World gave us a dozen bright yellow balloons! (Flyer designed by Rashko) 

 This year, doggies stole the show!
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Miriam and her daughter, Debbie, founding members, provided invaluable help and fun!    
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Co-Leaders Karen and Katina below
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Our favorite reporter, Bobby Panza, helped chop ice!
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Stay tuned for our next newsletter which will contain information about our current work, including:

  • Our recent  Rat Walk-Thru with elected officials, Health, Sanitation, and CB7
  • Ongoing  work to clean up and reduce chaos on the McDonald’s Plaza
  • New working relationship with Broadway Malls to beautify the area of Sherman Square and nearby areas,
  • Proposal to clean up outside Grey’s Papaya! 
  • Request for funding for tree surrounds and at least one tree (fingers crossed) 
  • Summary of monthly Cabinet meetings with CB7 and other block association leaders

 As always, please report any issues (rats, trash, damaged news boxes, broken traffic lights, etc.) to 311 through the phone, the app, or online.  It really makes a difference!https://portal.311.nyc.gov/
Feel free to contact us anytime and we will schedule another meeting soon to listen to your concerns and ideas.
Enjoy the Summer!

Katina and Karen 

Katina Ellison & Karen Rashke
Founder & Co-Leader
West 71st Street Block Association
New York, NY 10023
(917) 796-7350
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