If you’re looking to restore your faith in humanity, look no further than this video of Stephen St. Bernard, 52, catching a seven-year-old girl on Monday after she fell from her family’s third floor apartment in Brooklyn.

[Video courtesy of http://nbcnewyork.com.]

NBC New York reports that the MTA city bus driver was on his way home to Coney Island when nearby screams drew him into a building courtyard. There he saw the girl atop the air conditioning unit outside a window, dancing without pants.

St. Bernard ran under the window. “She just stood up there teetering, teetering,” he told NBC. “Please let me catch her, please let me catch her, that’s all I could say. Let me catch the little baby.”

St. Bernard shouted up to the girl, urging her to go back into her apartment. Then she fell, and he caught her.

“I picked her up and carried her, and I was holding her, rubbing her, and she just more or less kept looking around,” he said to NBC. ”She never closed her eyes, she didn’t lose consciousness.”

Police reported that the girl is autistic. She was taken to the hospital, and had only minor bruises. St. Bernard tore a tendon in his shoulder, but said it was a small price to pay.

The girl’s mother was inside the apartment busy watching her other child at the time of the fall. She did not want to speak with reporters after the incident.

Monique Harding, the girl’s aunt, though, publicly praised St. Bernard. “He’s my hero,” she said. “He definitely did our family a favor today.”

Coney Island's Wonder Wheel. Photo Courtesy of Wikicommons.

Plus, some really good alternatives!
By Eric Messinger

I guess you could think of this as a list of greatest hits—the New York City places, institutions and experiences that offer children the biggest wows, the most fun and some truly impactful and inspiring learning moments. Of course, our children are so lucky to have all these things within a commute’s reach. Hopefully, they’ll get to check off many of them over the course of their childhood.

Central Park
With the carousel, the zoo, picnicking, row boats, statue climbing, playgrounds galore, ice skating and simply walking around and enjoying the grand parade of humanity at its leisure, Central Park is our great green oasis of recreation and calm—and our best retort to questions about living in a city without a backyard. centralparknyc.org

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
The City Parks Foundation
If you live in New York City with kids, you’ve probably been to a City Parks Foundation event. This organization is everywhere, hosting free events like sports clinics, concerts, puppet shows and educational programs for kids and adults to enjoy in the great outdoors. cityparksfoundation.org

The Bronx Zoo
The great animal exhibits and attractions vary in geography and species, but all are full of jaw-dropping wonder—whether it’s the Congo Gorilla Forest, Himalayan Highlands or the Butterfly Gardens. On weekends, the zoo usually features special programming for kids that marries education and fun. bronxzoo.com

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
The Staten Island Zoo
The zoo is a good reason to hop on the ferry and spend more time on Staten Island. It’s small, perfect for little kids who like to wander around its pretty environs. It has a petting zoo, pony rides and lots of fun animal facts posted all around the property. statenislandzoo.org

The American Museum of Natural History
From the stars above us to the beginning of man, the Museum of Natural History takes kids on amazing journeys to the heart of our natural world, while bringing to life (so to speak) such incredible figures from our past and present as tyrannosaurus rex and the big blue whale. The museum also does a great job of planting the seeds of wonder and care for the environment in children. amnh.com

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Speaking of the natural world, Jamaica Bay is the only wildlife refuge in the National Park Service. It is the place to observe migrating birds; its unique landscape contains rare native habitats like salt marshes, woods, several fresh- and brackish water ponds and an open expanse of bay. There are a variety of ranger- and partner-led programs, including presentations on seasonal wildlife, sunset tours, hikes, boat trips and family programs. nps.gov (search for “Jamaica Bay”)

Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met’s collections are so vast and diverse that one of the best approaches is to let children roam around with you. The museum offers a bunch of free drop-in programs for families and, for many children, the most fun spot to drop in on is the museum shop. But at least you know that by the time you get there, they’ve gotten a world-class dose of art and culture! metmuseum.org

Under-the-Radar Alternatives:
The Rubin Museum of Art and The Museum of Arts and Design
Almost all museums have some kind of programming for kids and families these days. Both the Rubin Museum of Art, which focuses on the Himalayas, and MAD, the Museum of Arts and Design, have become especially popular among families because of their commitment to kid-minded programming. rmanyc.org; madmuseum.org

Coney Island
It may not look or feel like Disney World, but Disney doesn’t have a genuine ocean, beach or a historic boardwalk at its front door. With the aquarium, new rides and amusements, classic oldies like the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel, Nathan’s, the Brooklyn Cyclones and the holy troika of beach-boardwalk-ocean, a day in Coney is the best. coneyislandfunguide.com; wonderwheel.com

Under-the-Radar Alternative: Carousels
There’s been an influx of new carousels around the city, including Jane’s Carousel in DUMBO and Flushing Meadows Park and Forest Park in Queens. Add to those the old regulars in Central Park, Prospect Park and Coney Island, and round and round we go! janescarousel.com; nycgovparks.org

FAO Schwarz/Toys “R” Us/
American Girl Place
Being enveloped by larger-than-life stuffed animals at FAO Schwarz! Going for the Ferris wheel ride at Toys “R” Us! Having a mommy and me lunch date at American Girl Place! For a child, every day is a holiday day at our grandest mega-toy stores. fao.com; toysrus.com; americangirl.com

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
Madame Alexander Doll Company
There’s something about seeing how stuff is made that can captivate a child. During a visit to Madame Alexander, you’ll see a gallery of dolls and storyboards that span almost 100 years, and then comes the real fun: a behind-the-scenes tour that takes you through the design and production lines as well as the doll “hospital.” madamealexander.com

Big Apple Circus
The circus that bears our name and is our fun ambassador to kids all around the world makes it all—the clowns, acrobats, jugglers, contortionists and absurdly well-trained animals—happen in just one ring, under one tent, where every seat in the house is a good one. There’s something so small-town about the experience; we just love it! bigapplecircus.org

Under-the-Radar Alternative:
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
Another New York City-born spectacle, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus offers a truly unique hybrid of circus arts-vaudeville-Wild West-burlesque that they fine-tune in age-appropriate ways for the audience. bindlestiff.org

New York Botanical Garden/Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Who says urbanites can’t get in touch with nature? Our two magnificent floral oases, the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and Brooklyn Botanic Garden are not only pleasant to look at, they offer all sorts of kids’ classes in gardening and science and family-minded special events. Mini green thumbs will love losing themselves amongst lush mazes, gargantuan flowers and other green curiosities. nybg.org; bbg.org

Under-the-Radar Alternatives:
Flower District and The High Line
Blink and you might miss the leafy greens, bright blooms and creative containers in Chelsea’s Flower District on 28th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. But the true urban hideaway is 25 feet above ground, along the train track-turned-park High Line. Over 200 species of plants thrive in the first section alone; see if you can guess which 161 are native to New York. thehighline.org

New York Hall of Science/Liberty
Science Center/ Intrepid Museum
Young Einsteins have a lot of local inspiration. Both the 450-exhibit New York Hall of Science and the 300,000-square-foot Liberty Science Center hold a lifetime’s worth of sensory adventures and interactive programs. For astronaut hopefuls, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum just became the new home for the Enterprise space shuttle. nysci.org; lsc.org; intrepidmuseum.org

Under-the-Radar Alternatives:
Sony Wonder Technology Lab and Museum of the Moving Image
The whole family can channel their inner geeks—for free—at midtown’s Sony Wonder Technology Lab, where cutting-edge software lets you make your own computer game and project dance moves into cool animation. In celebrating the history of movies, the Museum of the Moving Image has a lot of engaging exhibits about the technology that produces light and sound. sonywondertechlab.org; movingimage.us

If you think about it on paper, Rooftop Films, a film festival that makes stops throughout the city over the course of the summer, made a great choice selecting Coney Island as one of its venues.

Who wouldn’t want to spend a warm summer night redolent with the sea, surrounded by Coney Island’s unique appeal, watching a movie on a big screen with some pals or gals?

It seems like a great night.

It’s why I was so psyched to go.

Rooftop at Coney Island - photo courtesy of Rooftop Films

And I wasn’t the only one.

“I thought it’d be an interesting venue,” said one Rooftop-goer, Steven, while sitting on Coney’s sand waiting for the first of the night’s 12 short films.

“We’ve been to a couple others (of the Rooftop fests), and it’s fun.”

Rooftop Films prides itself, like many other local film festivals, as being a bridge between much of the pop culture-sodden public and underground filmmakers.

According to its mission statement, “Rooftop Films is a 501(c)(3) registered non-profit organization whose mission is to engage and inspire diverse communities.”

“We are a collective collaboration between filmmakers and festivals, between audience members and artists, between venues and neighborhoods.”

It provides $1 from every ticket it sells to fund local production, is present at local schools, and rents its equipment out at reduced rates, and that’s good (I know, very good), but at how much of a cost for the viewers? Surely there must be a middle ground.

In my pieces about Bryant Park Film fest and Tropfest, I spoke about the authentic, lie-down-and-chill vibe of both fests (both benefitting from Bryant Park’s comfort). Those two festivals are a joy to be at. And I realize that perhaps they don’t have the same goal financially as Rooftop, but they certainly do a better job environmentally.

But —and I understand that not everywhere is as packed as Coney Island— Rooftop was flooded with solicitors, some gimmicky pre-film AT&T thing where you text a number and it shows up on screen, on-stage fire-breathers, and the unfortunate Coney Island frequenter oblivious to movie-watching crowds.

The fest has a goal, and an admirable one, but doesn’t seem to know how to deliver yet.

But in regard to the films, it does a pretty good job, and it was great to see some local filmmakers at work.

“Odysseus’ Gambit,” a film about a Filipino-American chess-player, who makes all of his money off low-wage street bets, was a really cool and original bite of New York life.

And “The Best Thing I Ever Done,” a film about Di Fara, a corner pizza shop, who don’t settle for anything less than perfection was heartwarming and memorable.

At The Show

The films, overall, were a pleasure, (the fest also shows feature films, it showed Ghostbusters in Coney on July 2) and the fest is respectable, but perhaps (despite its appearance on paper) Coney Island is not the best place to show films.

Fortunately, there will also be films shown in Socrates Sculptures Park in Queens, Metrotech Commons, and The Old American Can Factory in Brooklyn, and these should all be better venues than the beach at Coney.

Even if only for absence of bumping sounds from bumpy rollercoasters.

I could possibly be spoiled from the great Bryant Park Film Fest and Tropfest (and I understand not everyone is partnered up with HBO and Hugh Jackman), but Rooftop should be able to make their setting a bit more movie, setting-oriented, rather than seem kitschy.

I’d definitely give Rooftop another chance —hey, maybe I was just in a weird mood—, but it definitely wouldn’t be at Coney Island.

One of the fest’s best films was “A Man Named Magick”, a 12-minute dive into the life of a New York street-style magician. Magick, the titular character, specializes in common street gimmicks— card tricks, floating rings, levitations, etc. He goes around impressing the unsuspecting, catching a few bucks along the way, but the film also provides a fresh sentiment about the slow decay of magic, and how, no matter how common it actually is, only a few people really appreciate it.

Perhaps Rooftop Films can learn a trick from Magick.

–Nick Gallinelli

Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons

Brooklyn flooded with picketers voicing opposition against Bloomberg proposal

More contention against Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed soda ban bloomed again this weekend, as the New Yorkers for Beverage Choices hit the sands of Brooklyn this weekend in effort to voice their opinion.

Members of the coalition, along with supports of the coalition’s efforts, canvassed along Coney Island on Saturday and Rockaway Beach on Sunday, encouraging the New York population to join them and fight Bloomberg’s new sugar-sweetened beverage ban, which restricts the sale of 16 oz. sodas (or larger, no loopholes in this bill) in movie theaters, restaurants, delis, and more.

One of the coalitions spokespersons said that this weekend’s omphalos was not to only to publicize the coalition and its efforts, (according to its radio advertisement, it’s about “protecting our freedom of choice) but to “encourage people to voice their opinion”.

On the plane-led banner flying above Brooklyn canvassers, the NYBC’s Facebook page was promoted alongside a Seinfeld-inspired “No Drink 4 U!” The coalition also uses Twitter, @NYCBevChoices.

Furthermore, this Wednesday, some coalition members, there are 479 in total, and city council members will lead a walking tour of East Harlem, stopping at local stores, delis, and restaurants, to gain those establishments’ opinions on the soda ban.

According to the NYBC’s official website, there are 38399 signed petitioners as of Monday, compared to  12784 reported in one of our articles from Tuesday, so it seems like the movement is gaining momentum, but it would seem it’ll take a lot more momentum than that to stop Bloomberg’s momentous ban.

-Nick Gallinelli

Takeru Kobayashi with his trophy in 2009

If you’re still stuffed from Independence Day barbeques, imagine how Joey “Jaws” Chestnut feels. The 28-year-old Californian won his sixth consecutive Nathan’s Famous July 4 International Hot Dog-Eating Contest at Coney Island yesterday by consuming 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

Chestnut beat out Tim Janus of New York (2nd place, 52 dogs), Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago (3rd place, 51 dogs) and other men’s division competitors to tie his previous lifetime best from 2009’s competition. He walked home with 10,000 more dollars and 20,000 more calories.

Sonya Thomas of Virginia also won $10k in the women’s division by eating 45 hot dogs in the same time limit. According to the Associated Press, Thomas is known as the “Black Widow” of competitive eating, and weighs barely 100 pounds. Juliet Lee of Maryland (33 dogs) and Michelle Lesco of Arizona (25.5 dogs) placed behind her.

Now a 97-year-old tradition, the Coney Island hot dog eating contest is a premier event in the world of competitive eating that attracts tens of thousands of spectators each year. Absent for the third time in a row, however, was Joey Chestnut’s rival, the competition’s other six-time reigning champion, Takeru Kobayashi, who was banned in 2010 after he refused to sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating.

Kobayashi sat on the rooftop of the Ritz-Carlton last Fourth of July and ate along with the televised contest, beating Chestnut’s 68 hot dog world record by one. This year, he organized his own contest at Crif Dogs in Brooklyn. He beat Chestnut again by half a dog.

The MLE and Chestnut refuse to recognize Kobayashi’s accomplishments. “I think even Kobayashi would agree that the record still stands at 68,” Chestnut said after the Ritz-Carlton stunt, according to International Business Times. “If he wants to compete with me on the Fourth of July, he knows what he has to do: sign a simple contract and man up.”

Slowly and now reliably, Coney Island has revived to the point where it offers local families one of the most fun and special days anywhere in the city. Here are a few tips from someone who grew up nearby and still goes back with his kids.

*The Aquarium: I often recommend starting a day in Coney with the New York Aquarium, taking in the crowd-pleasing sea lions, plus all sorts of exotic and marine life. (Note: If you’re coming by car, the Aquarium has the most ample parking lot in the area.) nyaquarium.com

*The Cyclone: If you like roller coasters, the historic wooden Cyclone is one of those experiences that just has to be had, and usually more than once. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether to tell the uninitiated about the first drop.

*Luna Park: In the last few years, several large swaths of Coney Island have basically been reconceived and rebuilt under the umbrella name Luna Park, which was one of the great anchors of Coney Island in the past. The remakes bring a lot of varied and wonderful rides and games, so toddlers can have their thrills but so can tweens and teens. One of the new sections, the Scream Zone, incorporates several new roller coasters, including the Steeplechase (another history-minded tribute). lunaparknyc.com

*Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park: For children especially, there’s no better way of immersing yourself in Coney Island than by enjoying the gentle swaying and big vistas of the iconic Wonder Wheel. A proud second-generation operation, Deno’s also features a kiddie park with 17 rides, and a few other classics for adults, including Spook-A-Rama and Bumper Cars. wonderwheel.com

*Nathan’s Famous: I don’t know why it’s true but it is—Nathan’s hot dogs taste even better when purchased at the original home in Coney Island. Same for those thick wedge fries. nathansfamous.com

To read the full article at New York Family Magazine click here.

You and the kids may be dyed-in-the-wool urbanites—but come summer, that doesn’t mean that you don’t crave cooling ocean breezes and sand between your toes, yearn for the chance to break out binoculars (you just have to find them first) and gaze up at the stars, and desperately want to set up a tent somewhere other than your coop’s living room. Here’s how you can get out of your walk-up and into the NYC “wilderness” as soon as the weather warms.

BEACHES

BEACH MOST LIKELY TO INSPIRE A RAMONES SONG

Rockaway Beach | Queens

“It’s not hard, not too far to reach” crooned the Ramones in their 1977 song about this urban coastline which stretches for miles along the Rockaway Peninsula. Near 103rd Street, there is a wider swath of beach for the taking and past 73rd Street, the packed sand gives way to a quieter, dune-studded conservation area (with seven playgrounds and the city’s only surfing zone sprinkled in-between). Don’t miss July’s 17th Annual Sandcastle Contest for creative kid-builders. nycgovparks.org

BEACH BOARDWALK WITH A RETRO FEEL

Point Pleasant Beach | New Jersey

On this slice of the Jersey shore, you’ll find a mile-long boardwalk (dubbed Jenkinson’s) with an old-timey, but not-too-cheesy, vibe. Buff lifeguards cruise the beach on those groovy dune buggies, candy apples practically sell themselves and mini golfers roam free. jenkinsons.com

KITSCHIEST BEACH & BOARDWALK

Coney Island | Brooklyn

Embrace this end-of-the-line (subway, that is) beauty in all of its in-your-face glory. Ride the historic, wooden Cyclone coaster or catch a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game at MCU Park. Or start off summer with a splash by donning appropriate Ariel attire and marching in the Annual Mermaid Parade on Saturday, June 23 at 2pm. You could also just people watch while enjoying a hot dog and crinkle-cut fries at the original Surf Avenue location of Nathan’s Famous. coneyislandfunguide.com

IF KITSCHY IS NOT YOUR THING

Manhattan Beach Park | Brooklyn

Originally built as an exclusive resort for wealthy bathers, Manhattan Beach features barbecuing areas, basketball, handball, volleyball and tennis courts, baseball diamonds and playgrounds. It also proves to be a calmer and quieter alternative to its Coney Island neighbor. In June, kids will delight in watching all of the horseshoe crabs emerge from the Atlantic Ocean as they lay their eggs on the beach. nycgovparks.org

SHELLIEST BEACH

Sandy Hook | New Jersey

A mere 40-minute ride from NYC on the SeaStreak Ferry, this 1,665-acre barrier peninsula offers views of the Manhattan skyline, free tours of its lighthouse—the oldest operating one in the country—and miles of sandy shores perfect for beachcombing. sandy-hook.com

To read the full article at New York Family Magazine click here.

The Muppet version of Mayor Bloomberg. Photo courtesy of Flickr Commons.

The Muppets are taking Manhattan – and the rest of New York City as well.

Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Gonzo showed up in Manhattan last week to announce that they and their fellow Muppets have signed on as the city’s official family ambassadors over the next 12 months.

“Having Kermit as a family ambassador for New York is pretty exciting, and I know it’s going to make other cities – listen carefully – just green with envy,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a quip-filled press conference to kick of the initiative.

The Muppets are partnering with NYC & Company, the city’s tourism agency, to encourage families to visit, offering tips on www.nyc.gov and publicizing places like the Bronx Zoo, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Coney Island.

Last year families visiting the city spent about $14 billion, according to the mayor’s office, and accounted for some 30 percent of the city’s record-breaking 50.5 million visitors.

Signing on the Muppets is part of the city’s initiative to reach 55 million visitors annually by 2015, which Bloomberg said would continue to create jobs and boost the economy.

“It’s one of the reasons why we weathered the recession better than other cities, and it creates an enormous amount of jobs and gives people an understanding of just how great New York is, so they come here for education, for medical care, for vacations, to start businesses,” Bloomberg said.

The collaboration is a natural one. The Muppets starred in The Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984, and Bloomberg also shared a scene with Miss Piggy in a holiday TV special, in which he admitted he “did ham it up a bit.”

“New York has been kind of home to the Muppets in one way or another since the 1960s when I first came here with a guy named Jim Henson to see if we could break into show business,” said Kermit, adding that he has a place in Central Park – not on Central Park. “New York is part of the Muppets. This city helped make us who we are today.”

Gonzo touted Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and his personal favorite, the Port Authority Bus Terminal. He added that he would be giving tips on the best places to water ski on the East River.

And Miss Piggy, who said she could usually be found having breakfast at Tiffany’s, raved about the city’s restaurants, shopping boutiques, department stores and flea markets.

To read the full article at City & State click here.

By Allen Houston

To talk with West Sider Kevin Baker is to glimpse the New York City of the past, before glass towers and high-rise condos threatened to swallow the island.

Best-selling author of the City of Fire trilogy, Baker writes mesmerizing prose about the city during pivotal moments in its history. Dreamland focuses on Coney Island and the infamous Triangle Fire of 1911. Paradise Alley takes place during the draft riots of the 1850s and Striver’s Row is set in the Harlem riot of 1943.

Kevin Baker.

Baker grew up in New Jersey and Massachusetts and started his career as a teen, covering sports for The Gloucester Times. By the time he moved to New York in the mid-1970s to attend Columbia University, he had decided to become a fiction writer.

The author has lived in the same apartment since 1980 and has seen the Upper West Side undergo several metamorphoses.

“Cities are all about loss and change, unless it’s a place like Venice that’s trapped in amber,” he said.

He recalls a more dangerous Upper West Side in the early 1980s, one packed with cheap Chinese restaurants, transvestites and Bowery-style dive bars, which featured “real hardcore drunks, drinking real rot gut whiskey.”

One of his favorite places was a club on 105th and Broadway that was owned by a woman whose elderly mother would greet people from a hospital bed next to the stage as “some rock band blared away.”

Given that he’s an historical fiction writer, he can dish a lot of nuggets on the past of the West Side.

“Apparently, the Metro Dinner on 100th Street is the oldest building around here,” he said. “It was a stagecoach stop in the 1850s on the road to Boston.”

St. Michael’s Church on 99th Street was one of the first churches that supported the black churches in the old Seneca Village in Central Park. Seneca Village was Manhattan’s first major African-American community.

He also bemoans some of the recent historical losses that have taken place in the Upper West Side, such as the Metro Theater being replaced by an Urban Outfitters.

“It’s a shame that it’s gone. That theater was the last of its kind here. In 1934 there were 18 silver screen movie theaters on the West Side, and that was the last one.”

The author worked multiple jobs after graduation to keep his head above water, including a stint writing letters for Mayor Ed Koch.

“I met Koch, twice. The first time, he came into the office and started telling us all of the people that he was going to get,” Baker said laughing.

After years of struggle, his first novel, Sometimes You See it Coming, loosely based on the life of baseball player Ty Cobb, was published in 1993.

A major turning point in the creation of his City of Fire trilogy happened when he landed a job as chief historical researcher on Harry Evans’ book The American Century.

It was during this period that he discovered no one had written the great novel about Coney Island, particularly the old Dreamland Amusement Park of Coney Island circa 1911, before it burned. The same year, the infamous Triangle fire took place, killing 146 garment workers and also became a pivotal plot element in the first part of his series. It took him three years to write Dreamland. He found himself dawn back to the amusement park for his most recent work, a graphic novel entitled Luna Park that came out last year.

“Coney is this sort of outlaw place that’s a little crazy, and that’s what attracted me to it,” he said. “It’s this place at the end of the city where everyone mixes in.”

Talking about the old Coney Island, he becomes animated and describes a place packed with hazardous rides and oddities that would never be permitted in today’s society.

“The rides were dangerous and humiliating,” he said. “There was the Laughing Gallery, where a dwarf who would hit you with a cattle prod for the amusement of your fellow New Yorkers. The benches were electrified so that if they felt if you weren’t getting up and spending money fast enough they would give you a zip. It’s almost to a mad point.”

Also on view in the old Coney Island was an entire city that was composed of midgets and dwarfs, with everything built to scale.

“They even had their own fire department and own little police department,” he said.

Another strange exhibit included the incubator baby attraction by Dr. Martin Courney, who invented incubators but couldn’t get hospitals to take a chance
on them.

“You could come in and see the struggle between life and death,” he said.

Baker’s currently working on a book about the history of New York City baseball, and is penning another historical novel, this one about a mobster, Abe Reles, aka the second Kid Twist, and the events surrounding his death.

He also sees more change in store for his beloved Upper West Side.

“I think that what’s interesting now is all of the towers going up in the area and the huge number of wealthy people moving into these multi-million dollar condos and co-ops,” he said, “And what that’s going to mean for the identity of our neighborhood.”