Elaine Walsh. Photo by Andrew Schwartz.

By Paulette Safdieh

Upper East Sider Elaine Walsh remembers the East 86th Street corridor when trains chugged along the Third Avenue El, long before 2nd Avenue Subway construction began. Born and raised on 86th Street between 2nd and 3rd avenues, Walsh committed herself to giving back to the neighborhood from a young age.
Today, Walsh co-chairs Community Board 8’s Zoning and Development Committee and runs the East 86th Street Association. Her years of dedication and active involvement within the community earned Walsh an OTTY Award this year.
“I enjoy being involved and I like to see social change—luckily, I’ve seen that happen,” said Walsh. “It’s a good way to live.”
Walsh, 67, remembers her mother being involved in community affairs and school events, an attitude that influenced Walsh as a teenager. She led the student body at St. Vincent Ferrer High School on East 65th Street and was vice president of the student body at the College of White Plains. Walsh continued on to earn a master’s degree in social work and a doctorate in social welfare, both from Fordham University.
For the past 25 years, Walsh has worked as a professor in the Hunter College Department of Urban Affairs. She runs its Public Service Scholar Program to raise money and encourage students to get involved in public service.
“Leadership came naturally to me,” said Walsh. “I enjoy helping people grow, delegating out and seeing people blossom.”
Walsh joined the Community Board 15 years ago, first chairing the Economic Development Committee. She helped jumpstart crime prevention programs in conjunction with the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and helped organize a community task force in 2002. The task force surveyed residents and local businesses and identified a need for a civic group to handle quality of life issues on East 86th Street, which led to the formation of the East 86th Street Association in 2003.
As president of the Association, Walsh works with many community members, neighborhood residents and local businesses. Teri Slater, the Association’s secretary and co-chairperson of Community Board 8’s Zoning and Development Committee feels lucky to be one of them.
“She’s infallible, she doesn’t give up and she’s a fighter—that’s what it takes to be a community advocate,” Slater said. “She has a full-time job but she applies the same hard work, intelligence and strength of character to the community on the Upper East Side.”
Over the last few years, Walsh has led the association to get historic lamps installed down the East 86th Street corridor, fix broken corners, plant trees and clear space for upcoming bike racks. She helped get neighborhood signage replaced and worked with big retailers to maintain decorum on the streets. Walsh now lives on 86th Street with her partner of 30 years, Brenda McGowan.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have good health and live a long time,” said Walsh. “I understand that change takes time, but we’re getting there. We’re making a difference.” 

Tapped In: Notes from the Neighborhood

CAR WASH WORKERS TARGET UES OWNER

Last Friday, a group of car wash workers rallied at LMC Car Wash on East 109th Street to protest what they claim is its mistreatment of workers and to campaign for better working conditions. The car wash is one of about 20 in New York City operated by Lage Management Company; owner John Lage was ordered to pay over $3 million in back wages to workers in 2009 after the U.S. Department of Labor found that he had violated labor laws. Now, workers claim that conditions at Lage’s car washes are still unfair, that workers sometimes don’t make minimum wage and often work unpaid overtime.

Photo Credit: Andrew Schwartz

Sharing Titanic History

On the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, great grandson of Isidor and Ida Straus, Paul Kurzman, speaks with students at P.S. 198 the Isidor and Ida Straus School about the history of his family. The Strauses were founders and owners of the Macy’s department store. (INSET) Kurzman shared with students a locket recovered from Isidor Straus’ body.
DIABETES AND HEARING LOSS

Local audiologist group Audio Help Associates of Manhattan is offering free hearing screenings March 21-27 at their Upper East Side location, 186 E. 76th St. Hearing loss is about twice as common in adults with diabetes as in those who do not have the disease, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Doctors conducting the screenings will also be available to explain the connection between diabetes and hearing loss. To make an appointment, call 212-774-1971 and refer to code ADA SCREEN.
LAPPIN WANTS COMMUNITY BOARDS ONLINE

City Council Member Jessica Lappin introduced legislation last week that would require community board meetings to be broadcast live on the web. The bill would also mandate that recordings be archived and made available to the public within five days of meeting
dates. Community Board 6, which covers Turtle Bay, Murray Hill, Kips Bay and Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, may be launching a pilot program later this year, and Lappin hopes that other boards will soon follow suit. “New Yorkers are always on the go, and with technology, we can bring community board meetings to them,” Lappin said in a statement. “With live webcasting, we can connect New Yorkers and make government more accessible and transparent.”
CENTRAL PARK GETS HISTORIC NOD

Last week, the preservation advocacy group Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts presented the Central Park Conservancy with its
Distinctive Achievement Award for the restoration of the park’s East Meadow. The last of
seven major lawns to be restored by the Conservancy, the 6-acre stretch of East Meadow was revamped over the course of a year and reopened to the public in September 2011.

Drainage was improved and paths reconstructed and an automatic irrigation system was installed on the landscape. “With this project, the Central Park Conservancy has once again proven their determination to invest in this exceptional scenic landmark, which the Upper East Side is lucky to call our backyard,” said Matthew Coody, a Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts associate. The East Meadow will reopen to the public for passive recreation, following its fall/winter closure, in April.

Photo Credit: Andrew Schwartz

Some Fine Tuning

A high school student recieves some free instruction from Classical guitarist Ben Verdery, chair of the guitar department at the Yale School of Music, during the 92nd Street Y’s High School Guitar Day on March 18. The free day of guitar instruction for New York City teens of all playing levels, included workshops on Beginner Afro-Cuban; Hawaiian Slack Key; Classical Guitar; and Solo Flamenco Guitar Art and Technique. Visit our website at www.ourtownny.com for more photos from Guitar Day.
HELP PLAN BIKESHARE

The Department of Transportation is holding a community planning session to get input from local residents on how to develop the BikeShare program for the Upper East Side. The program, which will be funded by sponsorships and user fees, will place bike rental stations around the city, allowing members to rent bikes 24 hours a day and return them
to docking points at any station. One of the program’s aims is to connect people to other forms of public transit in areas where subways and buses aren’t accessible.

Representatives from Community Board 8, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Members Dan Garodnick and Jessica Lappin and Assembly Members Micah Kellner and Dan Quart will be at the session to hear community ideas and feedback about where to place BikeShare stations and how the program should be implemented. There will be two sessions Monday, March 26, at 6 and 7 p.m. at The Lighthouse, 111 E. 59th St., BV Hall, on the second floor. For information prior to the sessions, contact Josh Orzeck at jorzeck@dot.nyc.gov or call 212-839-6218.
FREE MAMMOGRAMS

Assembly Member Micah Kellner is coordinating with Project Renewal to provide free mammograms for the community Friday, April 20. Screenings will be conducted by appointment from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, 331 E. 70th St. Call Kellner’s office at 212-860-4906 to schedule an appointment in advance; all are eligible for the free service.

The East 81st bridge is going to be rebuilt.

The dilapidated footbridge passing over the FDR Drive from East 81st Street to Carl Schurz Park has seen better days. Crumbling supports, steep stairs and discolored cement characterize this footpath built in the 1940s.

The bridge is currently under close scrutiny by local Community Board 8 and the Department of Designs and Construction as the entities work toward an estimated
$10 million overhaul of the bridge. The current design calls for a twoblock-
long ramp, 10 feet wide, which would replace the eroded stairs currently connecting the walk along the water. Another facet of the project is the addition of accessible ramps to replace the stairs on 81st Street that bar access to the promenade to mothers with baby carriages and those in wheelchairs, according to Craig Chin, public information officer of the Department of Design and Construction, which is responsible for the 81st Street bridge.

The design is raising eyebrows among some Upper East Siders who are worried
that the reconstructed bridge will have similar issues to the 78th Street bridge just a few blocks south. The recently rebuilt bridge on 78th Street is shared by cyclists and pedestrians, and that has created safety issues, according to some locals. “Some people fly through here and have no respect for anyone else,” said Michael Thompson, a writer who lives on the Upper East Side. “If I was a mother with a baby carriage, I would feel in danger.”

Community Board 8 has since passed a resolution to post signs on the 78th Street bridge that ask bikers to walk their bikes when crossing the compacted path. While the Community Board struggles with freewheeling bikers on the 78th Street bridge, they want to make sure the 81st Street bridge doesn’t have the same problems. “The 81st Street bridge is a barrierfree space,” said Chin. “This means that the bridge is open to use by dog walkers, pedestrians and cyclists.” Chuck Warren, the co-chair of the CB8
transportation committee, said that the design phase of the 81st Street bridge has been going on for several years. The first design was released in 2008 and the Board did not approve it because it was clunky and “stuck out in an ugly way.”

The Board has yet to take a stance on the current design released by the Department of Construction and Design, according to Nicholas Viest, CB8
chairman. Warren feels there should be signs posted to raise awareness for bikers that
the bridge is shared, telling them to exercise caution when using it. “The park and bridge should be open to cyclists just so long as they follow the rules and respect pedestrians,” said Jim, a resident of the Upper East Side who declined to give his last name. “If they drive up here at a slower pace, I would have no problems with them.” The bridge is currently expected to take 18 months to complete.

MSK purchased the lot on the corner of York Avenue and East 61st Street in 2008 and is now hoping to build a 15-story outpatient cancer surgery center there. They could build as-of-right without seeking any special exemptions in zoning, but the hospital says that the current regulations cannot possibly accommodate the specific needs of a surgery center. They are seeking variances to create a curb cut for a patient drop-off and pick-up area, as well as to build fewer, wider stories to accommodate surgical needs. “This is really about building typology,” said Shelly Friedman, the land use attorney representing MSK, comparing the proposal to existing hospitals in the area, like Cornell.

Although MSK is technically claiming a hardship to the BSA in order to get the approval, something opponents have mocked as absurd for such a large institution with the money to begin new construction, Friedman insisted that it’s just about what type of construction is feasible on the site. While the zoning allows them to build several stories below grade, Friedman said that the site is in a hurricane inundation zone and that ConEdison would not place its equipment at any underground level, which is why they are looking to make each story larger to make up for the lost square footage. It would also cost an additional $12 million, MSK estimates, to build down into the type of soil there. “If it was $5 million or $50 million, we would be asking you for the same variances,” Friedman said.

Attorney Chris Wright, who represents the co-op building at 440 E. 62nd St. that is next door to the proposed site, provided rebuttals for almost all of Friedman’s points, accusing MSK of changing its story and failing the “good faith test” of being willing to sit down with the community board to consider alternate plans. Residents of the building have vehemently opposed the plans, which will block much of the air and light from their lot
line and regular windows. Friedman said that the reason MSK wouldn’t negotiate is that there isn’t really room to compromise; they have stated that they need a certain square footage on each floor for operating space and that even if the narrower as-of-right building would allow for slightly more light and air to flow to 440 E. 62nd St., the hospital
couldn’t work within those zoning restrictions.

Cabot Marks, the president of the coop board, also delivered an impassioned plea to the community board to reject the plans, pointing to giant slides showing a 3-year-old girl playing happily in front of a window that will eventually be blocked by the hospital building. “I’ve not heard one proposal, one statement, one inch of concession or thought
about what would improve our community or make this a little more palatable,”
said Marks.

Many board members were swayed not only by the plight of the building but by the ways the hospital will potentially impact the entire neighborhood. “I can’t give the hospital what it wants right now because they haven’t been a good neighbor,” said board member
Debbie Teitelbaum. The board voted 14 in favor of approving the variances, 25 against and one abstention as residents of 440 E. 62nd St. erupted into cheers. The hospital will go before the BSA on March 27 without the community board’s approval and with a
cadre of opponents sure to come protest the variances again.