A police officer is already stationed every day at the 93rd Street entrance. Still, there have been several thefts. Neighborhood kids are allegedly being targeted by the “Money Comes First” gang, a gang linked to the Crips. The alleged gang members have intimidated and bullied their victims, swiping mostly cellphones while students are walking to and from school.

One student’s phone was stolen on Dec. 13 before school, and another student was targeted just one week later outside the 92nd Street entrance.

Councilmember Brewer spoke with principals of nearby schools who have reported similar problems.

MIDTOWN LIBRARY SET FOR MAJOR RENOVATIONS
The New York Public Library’s main branch is getting a very expensive makeover. The work will begin this summer in a renovation worth $300 million. The project will create a multi-level atrium complete with views of Bryant Park inside the Fifth Avenue landmark.
The plan stirred up some controversy when it was initially proposed that millions of books be moved into storage. But no worries, bibliophiles: The New York Public Library changed course in their latest plan, stating that 3.3 million of the original library’s 4.5 million research volumes will remain in the building while the rest are placed in storage.

Despite fewer books, library president Tony Marx calls the renovation “the greatest that this building has seen in its history.”

Construction will begin this summer, and is expected to be completed by 2018. The library will remain open.

NYPD LAUNCHES NEW APP
Feel a little bit safer on New York City streets with the newly released NYPD free iPhone and iPad application. The app features wanted sections to view breaking news, wanted posters, crime and NYPD videos, and the NYPD Facebook page. You can also look up crime statistics and precinct boundaries, as well as submit crime tips. There’s even a section on how to join the Police Department. The NYPD hopes the app will allow for faster and easier public information. Now city residents from all walks of life can help fight crime on the go.

CITY PARKING RATES TO INCREASE
It is not such a happy new year for New York City’s motorists. Starting Friday, Jan. 25, the Department of Transportation will be increasing parking-meter rates south of 96th Street in Manhattan. The new rate is $3.50 an hour, or $.50 for 8:34 minutes. That’s up from $3 an hour. By the end of January, all single-space parking meters will be replaced by muni-meters citywide. There is one silver lining, though: Be glad you don’t live in Chicago, where hourly rates soared to $6.50.

‘PIPPI’ PUPPET SHOW BACK IN CENTRAL PARK
The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater has brought back its 2007 hit puppet version of Pippi Longstocking, Pippi. The show premiered Jan. 15 and features over two dozen marionettes. Award-winning playwright Zakiyyah Alexander brings this fun-loving children’s classic to the stage, and laugh along as the imaginative redhead overcomes bullies and burglars with her friends.

Reservations required. Busy this winter? Not to worry—the show will run until June. The marionette theater is located near West 79th Street in Central Park. Tickets cost $8 for adults and $5 for kids under 12. Visit the City Parks Foundation website, www.cityparksfoundation.org, for tickets and showtimes.

James Burke.

by Elena Oumano

The pockets of lustrous green that are our parks these days put the lie to the notion of summer drudgery in the city, especially when we can visit Central Park or stroll to a neighborhood patch where the City Parks Foundation (CPF) has distilled a season’s worth of international music and other arts performances for our entertainment, almost all for free. There are no culture clashes, just delicious mash-ups that mirror and enhance New York City’s globe-spanning identity through festivals like SummerStage and SummerStage Kids, the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival and youth puppet programs produced at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre and its touring component, the CityParks PuppetMobile.

Since January 2008, when James Burke, former bassist for post-punk band Idle, took over as CPF’s director of arts and cultural programs, the organization’s reach has stretched even further—to 18 parks and all five boroughs—increased indie rock and comedy presentations and even commissioned original dance and theater pieces.

In a talk with CityArts just before a raucous night of stand-up by The Daily Show comics on the main stage attended by over 4,000 fans (with about 650 perched on the boulders outside the venue), Burke discussed how the largest promoter of free entertainment in the city (as well as sports, education and outreach programs) operates, along with the little-known fact that CPF is not funded by New York City’s Parks Department.

“That’s the biggest misconception about SummerStage,” explains Burke. “Using the parks is a great perk, but we’re totally independent, a not-for-profit. In a good year, we’ll get a contribution from the City Council, which we appreciate, and individual council members help us fund programs. Our relationship with the Parks Department is a great example of a progressive public-nonprofit partnership, but we raise all our own funds.”

CPF’s mission, Burke says, is “to program for all the different constituents of New York City. We meet with representatives from the communities so we get grassroots action. That comes with expectations. But we want feedback, in case we’re not up to speed on a new community moving into the neighborhood. Our goal is to please all of the people all of the time.”

In that collaborative spirit, Burke has co-founded the New York Music Presenters & Festivals forum. “Obviously there are other great festivals performing works in New York City,” he says, “and we’re in constant contact with our colleagues. Every quarter, the producers and programmers for all the big festivals and smaller venues get together to share information and practices. There’s always friendly competition, but we go to the same conferences and we want to make sure we’re not programming West African music on the same day.

“Then there are other issues of programming—visas, taxes and fundraising—that are a lot of work, so guest speakers address the latest developments in those areas. It’s all in service of bringing people together in a spirit of celebration, connecting them to their parks and, hopefully, exposing them to music or another art they love but can’t afford to see or may not know but will come to love.”

Check www.summerstage.org for performance schedules. Donate to CPF by texting the word “nuts” to 52000

Aziz Ansari, a cast member of the comedy Parks and Recreation, ceremonially makes the first mow of Sheep Meadow to celebrate the seasonal reopening of Central Park’s lawns.

STANLEY ISAACS RALLIES 

Parents, children and local officials gathered to protest proposed cuts to the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center’s Beacon Program on Tuesday. The mayor’s preliminary budget would defund the program entirely; the Department of Youth and Community Development has notified the Center that it would have to close the program July 1 if the cuts are enacted.

The Beacon Program provides child care after school, on weekends and during the summer. It works to prevent students from dropping out of high school through attention to academic enhancement, career-oriented training, health and fitness education as well as through a focus on arts and culture. Isaacs Center Executive Director Wanda Wooten called the Beacon Program “a critical part of the efforts of this community to provide role models and quality programming,” and said that the young people it serves would be devastated if the program ended. The budget is still being finalized in the City Council.

MALONEY TAKES ON GOOGLE

The National Association of Human Trafficking Victim Advocates, along with 37 other anti-trafficking organizations, applauded Upper East Side Rep. Carolyn Maloney earlier this week for her support of the investigation of Google’s role in perpetuating the trafficking of women and girls through the sale of online adult services advertisements. Many advocacy groups say these ads are barely disguised endorsements of prostitution and trafficking—they are often used to sell sex and traffic women—and are working for their removal from major publications and online companies.

Maloney, a Democrat, and fellow Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, wrote a letter to Google CEO Larry Page, urging him to seek cooperative solutions by addressing some of the company’s advertising policies. “Their letter demonstrates that this issue is not about politics,” said Phil Cenedella, executive director of the Association. “It is about victims—and corporations like Google that need to take responsibility and behave ethically.”

WALK IN THE PARK

The City Parks Foundation will kick off its spring season of yoga instruction and walking classes for seniors the week of April 30. The classes are free and designed for those 60 and older. In Carl Schurz Park, at East 86th Street and East End Avenue, walking classes will be held Mondays and Wednesdays at 8 a.m., while yoga takes place Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 a.m. In John Jay Park, at East 77th Street and Cherokee Place, yoga is on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. At Thomas Jefferson Park, at 112th Street and First Avenue, yoga is on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Call 718-760-6999 for more information.

VOLUNTEERS OF THE YEAR

The Vanderbilt YMCA named Andrew Curtis, a vice chair of the branch’s Board of Managers, their volunteer of the year for his work in bringing positive changes to the youth programming there. Damisha Fraser, 17, was named the youth volunteer of the year. Fraser has been involved with the Y’s early childhood, after-school and summer camp programs, as well as helping out in the administrative offices. Both honorees were recognized at a ceremony at the Marriott Marquis in March.

“We are so proud of Andrew and Damisha’s ongoing commitment to the Vanderbilt Y,” said Executive Director Anita Harvey. “Their work, their commitment, their energy, their spirit of goodwill is an inspiration to all of us.”

ISLAND CHERRY BLOSSOM WALK

Even in Manhattan, you can still escape to an island for a spring getaway. On Saturday, April 21 at 11 a.m., the Roosevelt Island Historical Society (RIHS) will be leading a 75-minute tour of the cherry trees on the island while they’re in full bloom. Judith Berdy, the society’s president, will lead the tour and lend her botanical and historical expertise to the experience. To get to Roosevelt Island, take the tram from 59th Street and Second Avenue; the group will meet at the visitor center kiosk at the tram plaza. Email rooseveltislandhistory@usa.com or call 212-688-4836 to make reservations. A $10 donation to RIHS is requested and can be made via PayPal on the website.

SECOND AVENUE BUS STOPS RESTORED

As the Second Avenue construction saga continues, Upper East Siders can begin to savor the victories of small improvements that point toward a distant but construction-free future. Claudia Wilson, the community liaison for the Second Avenue Subway project, recently announced that contractors and the MTA are now able to reinstate two major bus stops along the construction corridor thanks to the completion of work that had directly interfered with the stops. The crosstown westbound M86 bus stop has been reinstated on East 86th street between Second and Third avenues and the local southbound M15 bus stop has been reinstated on Second Avenue between East 86th and 85th streets. The express southbound M15 bus stops on Second Avenue at East 88th and 79th streets. Here’s to one more step toward a normalized Second Avenue.