Pretty soon it might be mandatory for New York City schoolchildren to play that dreaded game of dodgeball, or some similar activity. On Thursday, Feb. 7, Council Members Melissa Mark-Viverito, Robert Jackson, Letitia James and Gale Brewer held a press conference on the steps of City Hall, with Women’s City Club and American Heart Association, urging the Department of Education to make physical education mandatory. The Women’s City Club released a report that showed New York’s inadequacies with physical education classes in public schools, including a shortage of PE teachers. The Women’s City Club also recommends a plan of improvement by necessitating mandated PE time and space in school buildings.

Sounds of Drums

Come celebrate Black History Month with the performances of “The African Drum,” a children’s show featuring shadow puppets and real actors that has been entertaining children with drummers, storytellers and large puppets for many years. Learn the magic of African folktales like how the turtle got its shell and how the animals got their colors, told through the lens of the little girl Kijana. Families can enjoy this performance on weekdays until March 8 at the National Black Theater at 2031 Fifth Avenue and East 125th Street. The show is recommended for children from kindergarten through fifth grade.

Paying a Parking Ticket: It’ll Cost You!

Drivers beware: without any apparent notice, the service charge for paying an average $115 New York City parking ticket online has increased from $2 to $2.86. According to driver advocate and parking watchdog Glen Bolofsky, who runs parkingticket.com, that’s a 43 percent increase.

“In essence, the city is charging its citizens a premium for something that actually eases the city’s workload, streamlines costs and reduces man hours,” Bolofsky said in a statement.

Drivers who think that they do not deserve a parking ticket can report it on parkingticket.com through “Worry Free Parking,” where users can contest tickets that they receive through the city. It’s worth a try. Parkingticket.com guarantees that it can reduce or dismiss their customers’ tickets.

Roosevelt Island Art on Display

Roosevelt Island Visual Art Association has compiled an exhibit of paintings, drawings, photographs and other artworks by its members. The art will be on display at Stonehenge-Luce nonprofit annex, a pop-up gallery at 1149 Second Ave. between 60th and 61st streets. The exhibit will be on display through Feb. 16, and admission is free. The Roosevelt Island Visual Art Association (RIVAA) is a non-profit organization that promotes the work of artists throughout the Roosevelt Island community. Their gallery has hosted dozens of exhibits, and played host to screenings and readings.

Local Rob Tucker took this photo of emergency vehicles arriving on the scene.

Two people were hospitalized Tuesday morning after a car plummeted down the elevator shaft of an Upper East Side parking garage.

A parking attendant at the East 76th Street and 1st Avenue garage reportedly drove the vehicle into the car elevator on the building’s fifth floor, but the elevator was not there, CBS reported. He and the car plunged down five stories before hitting the ground.

At around 9:45 a.m., the fire department arrived on the scene at 355 East 76th Street, which houses a Hertz Rent-a-Car business, according to NY1. Firefighters rescued the driver, who was trapped inside the vehicle, as well as an individual who was in the elevator on the ground floor at the time of the accident.

Neighbors reported that there were at least 10 emergency vehicles on the scene, in addition to a helicopter hovering over the building. Fire and police officials closed off the sidewalk to passersby on both sides of the street.

The rescued driver and another victim were transported to New York Presbyterian-Cornell Hospital to be treated for what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

NYC Department of Buildings records show that the garage faced a code violation in May 2009 for non-compliance related to maintaining elevator service equipment. The complaint was later resolved.

The fallen vehicle landed upside down on the ground level. (Photo Courtesy of @FDNY)

The car extracted from the elevator was completely crushed. (Photo Courtesy of @FDNY)

FDNY officials carefully removed the car from the elevator. (Photo Courtesy of @FDNY)

Firefighters extracted an occupant from the fallen car. (Photo Courtesy of @FDNY)

UWS Slasher Convicted
A state Supreme Court jury found Upper West Side resident Julian Kurita guilty of second degree murder last week. Kurita was convicted of killing his father, Fumitaka Kurita, in their shared Upper West Side home on July 19, 2010. That night, police received a 911 call from the defendant, a former sushi chef, at his West 87th Street apartment. He told police that he had stabbed his father, slitting his throat, and then slashed his own wrists. When officers arrived on the scene, they found the father face-up on the floor, bleeding from neck and not breathing. Kurita had killed him as he was sitting down to the dinner table. His attorney argued in court that he was mentally ill at the time—Kurita told police he had gone off his medication—and didn’t know what he was doing, but the jury sided with the prosecution and agreed that he was responsible for, and guilty of, the murder.

Property Taxes Demystified
Upper West Side City Council Member Gale Brewer and representatives from the city’s Department of Finance will be available to help residents with property tax questions at a seminar on Thursday, June 7 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the American Folk Art Museum, 2 Lincoln Square. Bring questions about commercial, residential, condo and co-op property taxes and get answers directly from the department that handles them.
New Cardiac Treatment at Local Hospitals
Two Manhattan hospitals—St. Luke’s and Roosevelt—are getting ahead in the treatment of slow heartbeats. The two hospitals will be among the first in the nation to treat patients with INGENIO pacemakers, which help people who suffer from bradycardia, a heart rate of usually less than 60 beats per minute.
“The INGENIO device enables physicians to treat pacemaker patients with an advanced and comprehensive set of therapies,” said Emad Aziz, a doctor in the Department of Medicine and Cardiology at the hospitals. “The INGENIO pacemaker’s MV sensor is easy to optimize and will provide needed therapy for patients to help them feel less fatigued during physical activity.”
With this new device, doctors can keep tabs on their cardiac patients’ health from a distance; the device’s wireless technology can transmit patients’ data to doctors in several locations in North America.

Parking Regulation Map Goes Online
The Department of Transportation announced the launch of an online map that will show parking regulations for every block in New York City. The new tool came about as a result of legislation authored by East Side Council Member Dan Garodnick designed to increase transparency of street and transit data. The map shows parking signs, indicates when roads were last resurfaced and gives a street evaluation for roads in good, fair or poor condition. The DOT hopes that the tool will make resident parking easier, allowing people to check the map for alternate side regulation days before setting off on the daunting task of finding a spot in whatever neighborhood they’re in. This could cut down on the time that drivers are wandering the streets if they know which streets to avoid before they set out.
“New Yorkers shouldn’t be flying blind when they are looking for parking,” said Garodnick, who attributes the idea for the map to his mother. “It can be extremely annoying to drive to a new neighborhood and only learn the parking limitations once you have arrived. This map will let drivers know what they are getting themselves into when they plan a trip, and ultimately will save them some unnecessary headaches.”
Council Member James Vacca, chair of the transportation committee, compared deciphering parking regulations to “understanding Morse code” and praised the city for making it easier, and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan promised to continue using technology to help residents navigate the city’s transportation system.

Central Park Walking Tour
Local preservation advocacy group Landmark West is sponsoring a walking tour through Central Park led by professor Andrew S. Dolkart, director of the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation. The walk will be Wednesday, June 20 at 6 p.m., and tickets ($25, $15 for members) for the limited number of spots must be purchased in advance. Email landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org to RSVP or call 212-496-8110 for more information.

Plants and Crafts Festival
The Broadway Mall Association is dedicated to maintaining and enhancing the malls of Broadway from the Upper West Side through Harlem. On Sunday, June 10, the organization is hosting its 35th annual Plantathon and Music Festival. At this free festival, participants can sample international cuisine from over 50 food stands, browse the displays of over 400 craft and plant exhibitors and listen to the music of Linda Miller, Havana Central, and Blue Haze on Broadway between 72nd and 86th streets. Famed actor Eli Wallach will be signing autographs and discussing his autobiography at the Author’s Corner from 2-4 p.m. The festival runs from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and is open to all. For more information, call 212-764-6330.

Over $1 Million Raised for Health Care
Last month, St. Luke’s and Roosevelt hospitals held their annual joint fundraising gala on the Upper West Side at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on West 113th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The event honored world-renowned endovascular neurosurgeon Dr. Alejandro Berenstein, as well Richard E. Cappetta, president and CEO of MicroVention, the company that makes the microcatheters that Berenstein uses to treat patients. The gala raised more than $1 million to help support the hospitals’ initiatives.

Playing Nice
On Thursday, May 3, a man was walking down Third Avenue, minding his own business, when a seemingly random New Yorker approached him and punched the victim in the throat and took off down the street. The victim drove himself to LIJ hospital to deal with injuries from the
punch. The person is now stable, but the white, about 35-year-old bruiser is still out on the streets.

DOn’t park your car here!
A muscular, tanned man threatened a parking garage employee with a metal pipe on Sunday, May 6, over a car that may not have been his. The perp held up the business on East 61st Street by menacing employees and screaming that no one was leaving until he got his car back. The
white sedan that the man claimed to be his remained in the garage as the employee could not confirm that the angry man was the owner. Instead of finding the proper papers, he utilized the “hit things with a metal pipe” action and threatened that he would beat the employee if he called the cops. The man left the scene, but the car is still unclaimed.

Street Crossing Crime
On the afternoon of Thursday, May 3, a woman was crossing the street at 59th Street. In an act of courtesy, a middleaged black man asked the woman if she needed help crossing the street. She accepted his help and gave him two dollars to help him get back to Brooklyn. This is when the do-gooder turned bad like an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Feeling a tug on her purse, the victim noticed that the man was trying to seize her belongings while he helped her along. After calling him out on his dastardly ways, the man ran off with $200 and her wallet. So far, no
arrests have been made.

Das grand theft auto
Parking a car in the city is always a hairy situation. Spots are hard to come by and finding one close to home is always a hassle. For one unlucky resident of the Upper East Side, a crook took advantage of unlocked doors and scarce parking to make his way into a home on 63rd Street. When the victim returned to his apartment, he found a crook standing in the foyer, knife in hand, as he demanded, “Give me the keys to the BMW.” The victim did not own the aforementioned BMW, but another work of German engineering, a Volkswagen Jetta worth $20,000. The crook took the keys and $143 in cash and sped off down the road. Thus far, no arrests have been made.

Should free meter parking on Sundays say its prayers?

An Upper West Side business owner is trying to eliminate free Sunday parking in front of meters in the neighborhood—a practice the City Council instituted in 2005 after outer borough religious leaders and their driving parishioners complained about having to leave Mass to feed the meter. Supporters of the free Sunday parking called the situation “pay to pray.”

Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Free meter parking on Sundays, says nightclub owner Marc Glazer, has been abused by residents who suck up the treasured spots for hours, while those that may want to shop or eat at a restaurant in the Upper West Side are unable to find a decent parking spot.

“Sunday is one of the busiest days of the week for small businesses on the Upper West Side,” Glazer said. “The small businesses are being hurt by the lack of parking.”

Glazer, owner of Columbus 72, a nightclub on Columbus Avenue and West 72nd Street, says his business has taken a hit because cars squat in front of parking meters on Saturday night and keep the space all day on Sunday. He is also a member of Community Board 7, which recently approved his proposal in a 22 to 11 vote, with five members abstaining. The Council would have to approve Glazer’s proposal now that the community board weighed in with a resolution.

“People should carpool, make other arrangements or at least pay for the privilege of staying in the spot all day,” Glazer said.

Parking spots in the neighborhood are increasingly becoming a commodity. Rampant development and new bike lanes have caused the number of parking spots to dwindle in the Upper West Side. A higher turnover on parking spots would be a boon for business, said Barbara Adler, executive director of the Columbus Avenue Business Improvement District.

“The businesses on Columbus have continued to say their business was killed after that law went into effect on Sunday,” she said.

When the law first passed in 2005, Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed the “pay to pray” measure because the city would lose out on $14 million from the parking meters. The Council overrode Bloomberg’s veto.

Most of the original backers of banning meter parking on Sunday, hailed from the outer boroughs.

“I don’t think anyone from the Upper West Side came,” remembered Gale Brewer, a Council member representing the area.

Glazer believes that Upper West Side Catholics and Christians will support the end of free parking on Sunday.

“Most residents of the Upper West Side,” Glazer said, “walk to their houses of worship.”

Proponents say that protected lanes offer bicyclists a safe route, while pedestrians will see less bike-riding on the sidewalk. The extra lane would also break the street into shorter segments, making it easier to traverse for senior citizens and those who have trouble walking.

At Board 7’s Oct. 6 meeting, throngs of bicycling advocates young and old came out to support the new bike lanes.

“There was a groundswell of support for this issue not only from cyclists, but from seniors, children and pedestrians,” said Lisa Sladkus, an organizer for Upper West Side Streets Renaissance Campaign. “It gives cyclists a very safe place to be and little incentive to be on the sidewalk.”

The board, by a vote of 28-7 in favor of the project, called for the department to create a plan for a “class 1” lane, which is separated from traffic by a barrier, possibly parked cars.

But neighborhood business interests are skeptical about the new lanes. Shop owners have complained that bike lanes, especially ones that are protected, block off truck loading and unloading zones and restrict parking for customers.

Peter Arndtsen, head of the Columbus-Amsterdam Business Improvement District, supports the bike lanes, but urged city officials to heed business concerns when designing the new space.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for both the Department of Transportation and Community Board 7 to really rise to the occasion and meet with local businesses to come up with something that works for everybody,” Arndtsen said.

Riverside Center, a development that includes several residential buildings, a public school, hotel, auto dealership and two levels of underground parking, is being planned for the area between West 59th and 61st streets from West End Avenue to the Hudson River.

Philip Habib, a traffic consultant for Extell Development Company, said that the area will lose about 600 parking spaces and that some streets will be widened in anticipation of increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic. West 60th Street is being studied as the main pedestrian thoroughfare, while West 59th Street will be a commercial corridor. Additionally, Freedom Place South will likely be continued south to West 64th Street, bisecting the block between West End Avenue and Riverside Boulevard. Elevators to underground loading bays are designed to get trucks off the street. Habib also noted that like many existing area residential buildings, newer buildings will likely run shuttle buses to subway stations.

Riverside Center covers the area between West 59th and 61st streets from West End Avenue to the Hudson River.

Community Board 7 members and public attendees voiced hope that the developer would find creative ways to make the project environmentally friendly.

“They’re bringing in lots of new residents in all those apartment buildings, and they’re going to bring in lots more traffic activity because of their commercial uses. We want to see them do something in terms of the use of public transportation to decrease those residents’ dependence on cars,” said Helen Rosenthal, chairperson of Board 7, in a separate interview.

Board 7 has made no official declarations and has not voted on anything in response to the meeting.

Council Member Gale Brewer, who represents the area, said she wanted to see parking spaces set aside for more environmentally friendly forms of transportation, such as shared and rented cars, bicycles and motorcycles. At press time, the City Council was poised to pass a bill requiring spaces for bicycles in garage and parking lots. In June, the Council’s Transportation Committee heard testimony about a bill that would require spaces in public parking facilities for cars that are part of car-sharing programs, like Zipcar. The full Council has yet to act on that piece of legislation.

The meeting also focused on the possibility of a light-rail line, the re-routing of buses to pass through the area and the creation of Metro-North station on the site, a proposal that Brewer has long supported. Extell representatives pledged to make room for such a station should Metro North decide to move forward with that plan, a conclusion that should be reached in about a month.

Board members and residents also noted that the planned hotel has no driveway, requiring that cars drop off at the curb, a recipe for congestion. Many also wondered whether Extell had considered the possibility of the IRT powerhouse at West 59th Street being landmarked and becoming a cultural destination; such a move would complicate plans to make West 59th Street a commercial thoroughfare.

In accordance with the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), the Riverside Center project won’t be certified until an environmental impact statement is completed, but due to the project’s scope Extell has begun community discussions. The company hopes to complete the buildings by 2018.

“I think it’s moving along on track, and my guess is that we’re looking to be in ULURP some time in the fall,” said George Arzt, spokesman for Extell, in a separate interview.

Extell representatives said at the meeting that the project will continue evolving as more studies are done. Board 7 is planning another Riverside Center meeting for Thursday, July 30.

“Twice I have been ticketed for taking groceries out of my own car with someone in the driver seat,” he said. “The second time I only found out about it from the mail. It wasn’t even handed to me.”

Stokar knows it’s illegal to double park, even for a few minutes, but what he doesn’t understand is what happened to the courtesy minute or warning that seemed to be the custom during the 20-plus years he has lived in the area.

Cars double parked on West 101st Street between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. Residents say traffic cops have been cracking down on offenders. Photo by Linnea Covington

As he explained his plight, a dark gray traffic car sped by.

“Those are the ones,” he said, pointing to the vehicle.

Despite his claims of a ticketing blitz in the vicinity of West End Avenue between West 101st and 104th streets, in a three-hour jaunt around the neighborhood last week, the aforementioned traffic car was the only one to be seen. Double parked cars on the other hand, littered West End Avenue and intersecting side streets.

Indeed, double parking seems to be a way of life for area drivers. Aaron Frucher, who lives near 101st Street and West End Avenue, says he doesn’t think twice about pulling up alongside a parked car, even though he has gotten his fair share of tickets.

“It’s been there for 30 minutes,” he said, pointing to his the vehicle in front of his parents’ house. “I figure when money is tight they must give more tickets, though now a days they have been pretty strict about it.”

Terence Hanahan, who lives down the street from Stokar, has also noticed a rise in traffic cops writing parking tickets. During a phone conversation, he recalled an incident in April when his friend double parked to pick him up. Within about 30 seconds, he said, a cop on foot gave him a ticket.

But the NYPD says there’s no concerted effort to crack down on parking violations.

“There is no ticket frenzy underway,” read an unattributed email from the NYPD press office.

Still, ticketing has become enough of a problem that residents have complained to Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell. He’s written letters to 24th Precinct and Deputy Chief John T. Cassidy of the Traffic Control Division asking for the aggressive ticketing to cease. So far, he has gotten no response.

Despite last week’s ebb in traffic cop action, Stokar isn’t convinced the battle is over.

“I was doubled parked again in May and saw a cop,” he said. “Did I get a ticket? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the mail.”

All he can do is wait and see, fingers crossed.