Despite the valiant and tireless efforts of Barbara Adler, Executive Director of the Columbus Avenue BID, there are currently nine empty storefronts on that strip (67th to 82nd Streets). And although three or four are allegedly spoken for, that would still leave about half a dozen. However, with eight vacancies on the same strip in 2011, the BID is doing better overall.

Along the “Gold Coast” of Broadway (72nd to 86th Streets), not counting two storefronts that will be re-opening soon with new tenants (Juice Generation, Amour de Hair), and two stores that are moving (Aldo Shoes, Town Shop), there are currently 11 empty storefronts. And although approximately one-third of those have alleged new tenants going in (Chipotle and Radio Shack among them), that would still leave seven or eight storefronts empty. Still, this is also favorable compared with the almost unbelievable 18 empty storefronts in 2011.

Remarkably, it is Amsterdam Avenue that has seen a strangely unheralded resurgence. In 2011, there were 20 empty storefronts on those 14 blocks. Today, there are eight (with two allegedly spoken for). And fully half of those are on a single block (75th-76th).

Although the overall economic situation continues to contributes to the situation, Mr. Evans remains something of a Cassandra when it comes to the truth: landlords have become so blindly rapacious and irrational that they would rather have an empty storefront than continue deriving even a somewhat-less-than-desired monthly rent from a current merchant willing to remain.
Ian Alterman
Upper West Side

I am generally a fan of building new schools (the developers that purchase the rights will be required to construct brand new schools). Our current schools are overcrowded, and the skills we need to teach our kids today require technical updates to classroom space that can often best be achieved with new, state-of-the-art classrooms in new buildings.

So how did this proposal go so wrong? As we have seen so often from this administration, it was done with a “City Hall knows best” attitude that was dismissive of potential community concerns or public input. Instead of starting with the community – with parents, teachers, elected officials, Community Education Council and Community Board members, and residents – to find out what our community wants and needs, the DOE believed that they could decide for us. Instead of working cooperatively to develop a proposal built around outcomes that truly meet the needs of our residents, we get a proposal that is designed to meet the needs of big developers.

There seemed to be no thought about community impact beyond “I guess we’ll have to replace those schools.” No thought about how two massive high-rises would impact our public infrastructure; our mass transit or our city services. No thought about thousands more people on the sidewalks, in the parks, and in need of things like day care. No thought whatsoever about what is right for this community.

Everybody wants more and better equipped schools. But our community needs more than that, and we deserve better than the treatment we have gotten from the administration during this process. So let’s have a real discussion about what our community truly needs, looking at all of our educational, social, transit and physical infrastructure. Let’s figure out the right outcomes for our neighborhoods, and then – and only then – should we start talking about how we get there.

- Helen Rosenthal, candidate for City Council District 6

By Debra Cooper

Just hearing the word rats makes most of us cringe. But now we must cope daily seeing them scurry across the subway tracks, nightly rustling through plastic garbage bags and boldly scampering across our sidewalks, streets and parks.  The plague of rats has forced the closing of the original Magnolia Bakery and videos of them invading our sacrosanct locations like Fairway Market flood the internet. And it comes as no surprise to anyone living on the West Side that our neighborhood now has the highest number of rat complaints in the city.

The problem of rats goes well beyond the “ick” factor. In fact, rats have been shown to be a trigger to children suffering from asthma and have been associated with the spread of diseases such as leptospirosis, which a recent study reports is becoming more prevalent in communities like Washington Heights where rat infestations exist.  The influx of rats in a neighborhood also increases stress and tension between residents and business and landlords. And like graffiti in the seventies, rats are a sign that we are losing control of our quality of life.

Obviously, we will never have a rat free city. However history as shown with proper attention and smart strategies we can make a real difference.  In the 1970s, New York City was known to have one of the best rat-control programs in the country coordinated with a special federal government office within the Centers for Disease Control to assist urban rat programs. Then with Ronald Reagan’s severe cuts in federal aid to cities, New York cut its budget for pest control by more than 70 percent producing a corresponding increase in rat sightings and complaints.  Starting in the late 1990s, we again saw a greater emphasis and focus on rat control, and once again experienced a decline in rat infestations until recent years.

Now it is time for us again to take back our streets, parks and subways, and here is a strategy to start:

First, we must restore the city’s commitment to eliminating rats. While Mayor Bloomberg deserves credit for improving information through the city’s “Rat Portal” and training with its Rodent Academy, recent budget cuts have proven to have a negative impact. In the last three years, the City’s Pest Control budget has been reduced by more than $3 million, that’s nearly 25 percent. Not only have these cuts likely contributed to increases in rat sightings, two years ago Borough President Stringer reported that these cuts were not saving the city money, but actually costing us more because of the lost fees generated by cutting crucial personnel.

Second, every expert will tell you that the key to eliminating rats is to cut off the food source. It is said, “If you feed them, you breed them.”  While progress starts with building owners, home owners and restaurants doing a better job of having enough hard plastic rat-resistant containers with lids and properly disposing trash, there is more the city can do. Recently, the Upper West Side Shake Shack placed a solar-powered metal receptacle created by BigBelly Solar on their corner and Councilwoman Gale Brewer has announced a pilot program to place similar receptacles in Verdi Square, a known rat hangout.  The trash cans have a hinged metal door that keeps rats out, and a solar-powered compactor that reduces the need for pickups. Cities like Philadelphia, Boston and Albany are employing these trash cans citywide which not only fight rodents, but also have significant benefits in reducing traffic and environmental impact by requiring fewer pick-ups and actually saving money.  In fact, when Philadelphia adopted them across the city, it reportedly saved $900,000 in the first year.

And third, it’s time for a second Rat Summit. Eleven years ago, then Councilmember Bill Perkins, together with the Daily News and Columbia University, brought together city, state and federal officials, scientists and community activists, to discuss the extent of the city’s rat problem and the best ways to reduce the rat population. That Summit led to reducing reliance on the use of poisons and a greater emphasis on integrated pest management. Today, we need to focus on new issues related to after effects of Hurricane Sandy and impacts of new technologies and strategies. Working together, can lead to better pest management and it is a commitment we all need to make.

Debra Cooper is a state Democratic Committeewoman and a candidate for City Council on the Upper West Side.

The public advocate calls on the administration to find alternate solutions for struggling schools

By Public Advocate Bill de Blasio

If something is broken – fix it. Sadly, Mayor Bloomberg adheres to a different philosophy where our city’s education system is concerned. The Administration’s default response to struggling schools has been to close them, without first investing enough time and resources into turning them around. And instead of laying out a thoughtful plan for multiple schools to share facilities in the same building when they “co-locate,” the Administration turns a cold shoulder to community input. Clearly, we need a new approach for our city’s one million students.

There is a time and place to close a troubled school. But that should not be treated as an end goal in itself, nor an accomplishment to boast about. When all other options are exhausted, it should be the last resort. In 2011, the Department of Education (DOE) proposed for Canarsie’s P.S. 114 to be phased out. Yet the unwavering voices of students, parents and teachers of P.S. 114 were eventually heard, and the DOE resolved to work on lifting the school back up. Collaborating with community members like this – and really listening – should serve as a prerequisite for potential school closings. Too many of the schools doomed for closure have not been given the tools to improve, or the time to apply them.

Students at low-performing schools need the most support. But the Administration constantly misses the opportunity to pinpoint troubled schools, invest in them and turn them around. Too often, the Administration opts for the easier route, which is ultimately school closure. DOE’s policies have actually amplified the core problems that contribute to chronic poor performance. Adding more high-need students to poorly resourced and already underperforming schools is just one example. The end result? Performance results for our highest-need students have hardly budged, and educational disparity continues to besiege our city.

We see the same heavy-handedness in the way the City often shoehorns charter schools into existing public schools, without a well-considered strategy for both institutions to thrive. Co-location can be – and has been – successful in this city. Students at four high schools in the Brandeis Educational Complex, on the Upper West Side, learned beautifully side-by-side – until the DOE squeezed a charter elementary school into the building, despite staunch resistance from the school community. Successful sharing of space and resources can only be carried out through meticulous planning and input from all key stakeholders – students, parents, teachers, administrators, community activists and education advocates. Instead, the DOE has alienated school communities by neglecting their input and depriving them of a venue for meaningful engagement on educational policy.

As a public school parent, I know the difference of being involved in your children’s education can make in their academic success and self-confidence. That’s personal to me, and that priority is reflected in the recommendations my office put forth in 2010 to modify Educational Impact Statements and boost parental engagement. But the Administration failed to take our recommendations on community involvement and use of physical space seriously, resulting in a co-location process that is consistently divisive and poorly attuned to the physical demands of mutually-sited school communities.

That’s why, following Mayor Bloomberg’s latest announcement on school closures, I called on the Administration to freeze school closures and co-locations for the rest of the Mayor’s term. Until we can offer a comprehensive, community-driven plan for co-locations and school turnaround, I urge you to join me in pressuring the mayor to put a one-year moratorium on these divisive tactics. After years of disruption instead of progress, inequity instead of opportunity, haste instead of prudence. Enough is enough.

How we should be hearing reality during a needless bus strike

By Helen Rosenthal

As we now know, New York City spends more than twice as much busing our kids to school compared to any other city. The mayor’s plan to bid the contracts to lowest-bidder bus companies who keep their costs down by hiring the newest, lowest-salaried employees—is not likely to have much of an impact on the $1.1 billion the city spends annually—nor is it structurally sound. Eventually workers’ salaries will increase again with longevity.

Real budget savings will happen when the routes are managed more efficiently.

Parent coordinators on the Upper West Side say that it’s not unusual to have two kids who live on the same block come in two separate buses with fewer than six kids on each bus—buses that are meant for 20 kids. The reason that New York City spends so much money on buses is because they are used inefficiently. It’s not about the union drivers and matrons asking for job protections—and frankly it is in our best interest to have drivers and matrons with experience, especially when they are helping our special needs kids get to school.

We count on city government to spend our tax dollars wisely and efficiently. How efficient are the 7,700 bus routes that are devised by the Department of Education? According to the DOE, nearly 400 routes have fewer than 6 children, and 27 routes have just one child. How many routes are filled to 90 percent capacity? What incentive does the DOE have to maintain efficient routes?

Meanwhile the strike, going into its fourth week, is having a real impact on kids, their families, and the workers.

One Upper West Side family struggles daily to get their son to his special needs school in Brewster, 23 miles away, along with their two other children who attend local public school. After a harrowing year identifying the right school, he finally settled into a routine with a bus driver and matron who are extremely kind and attentive. Needless to say, all of that is turned upside down again.

Maria, a bus driver who lives in the Bronx, is striking because she has seven years of experience, makes $34,000 annually and is mother to three young children—asking her to give up her “seniority” would have too great an impact on her family. As a taxpayer and parent, I appreciate her seniority—her commitment—to the kids she safely brings to schools.

Our children deserve experienced drivers, matrons, and mechanics—we count on them every day.

At issue is the RFP (Request for Proposals) that the mayor plans to issue this week so bus companies can bid for these contracts. Unlike the previous contract, the RFP does not include the employee protections that give workers with seniority first dibs on available jobs.

ATU 1181, the union representing the striking bus workers, recently asked Mayor Bloomberg for a “cooling off” period which allows them to go back to work with the understanding that the Mayor would hold off on putting their contracts out to bid. This would give time for the two sides to come to an understanding about employee protections; it would also give the DOE more time to properly analyze how many bus routes are needed.

Most importantly, a “cooling off” period would end the disruption in the lives of the 150,000 children and their families who count on the bus each day. It would allow parents, drivers, matrons, and mechanics to get back to work. Our New York City economy needs this to happen.

Helen Rosenthal is former Chair of Community Board 7 and is currently a candidate for NYC Council, the Upper West Side District 6.

Preventing aching backs and most physical woes demands that we stand up every 20 minutes or so and move around. For some, age-related problems and waning strength make that difficult or impossible. Ah, but these aging symptoms need far more general understanding. However, to reduce the sitting time this week, I did a kind of stream-of-consciousness column that didn’t require poring over reference material. It was almost finished when I remembered to get up—again—and when I turned on the news, I learned that former Mayor Ed Koch had departed this life.

So much for the column just written. I worried when last night’s news said our three-term former mayor was on a respirator in New York Presbyterian’s intensive care unit. The reporter also recalled the 88-year-old’s last decade of major illnesses: a stroke, a heart attack and heart and prostate surgeries. That’s a lot, but not uncommon at that age.

Koch was famous for asking “How’m I doin’?” Now I wish that in recent years, he had talked about how he was really doin’ with these critical, often age-related diseases. It would have helped raise awareness and find better ways to prevent and treat them. And above all, it would have given the public at large more understanding and maybe more empathy for what it’s like to be old, even for someone as renowned, active and advantaged as Ed Koch.

We need more old people out there in the public eye. Koch was a regular on an NY1 weekly political panel; he was a player; he went every day to his law office, maybe even by subway or bus. But I doubt that the new documentary Koch says much about his late years.

His late years have been largely ignored in the lengthy obituaries that have appeared, which is something I am really trying to change. Another glaring example of this type of oversight was in the tributes to Pauline “Dear Abby” Phillips, whose last ten years of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease got little more than a mention. Ten years! Who knew? Obits mentioned she’d supported the civil rights, women’s rights and gay rights movements. But has her family worked for more research for the still-underfunded brain-failure cause?

Are they protesting the really offensive Betty White NBC sitcoms depicting elders as dirty old women and dirty old men playing disgusting pranks on young people? Is anyone? In one relatively mild “prank,” two elder women asked young men on the street to settle the argument of who’s the best kisser. The young men quickly backed away and burst out laughing.

Real-life elders often try to help young people, but that’s not something the media ever show. Even the president’s grandmother got little mention at the Inaugural ceremony, although many approving comments were made about the Obamas’ daughters standing next to her. Nothing was said about the need for close grandparents. These are some reasons why I so often write about elder inequities, which some say I do too often. In truth, it is not done often enough.

And so we will miss you, Ed Koch, and we’ll miss seeing an old face on the tube, and hearing an old voice of experience (not that many of us left). And you did love New York, and New York is a better place for it. And we are grateful.

dewingbetter@aol.com

The recent news of the DOE’s decision to drop the proposal to move IDP is a victory not only for all four high schools co-located in the campus, but for all public schools in the city.
In my experience as an involved parent, PTA president and previous member of the Community Education Council, I have seen the DOE at many times make decisions on rezoning, co-location, moving and closing schools without the support of the community. I am thrilled that this time we were able to join together, raise our voices and say “NO MORE!”

I appreciate that many of us spent endless hours in our efforts to keep IDP “home.” We have spent valuable time needlessly, much of it parent volunteer time. It is time we would rather have spent bettering our schools and communities. More importantly, I hope the DOE realizes that we don’t want to do it again.
— Robin Klueber President, Frank McCourt High School PTA

Only Adopt
I was pleased with much of Cori Menkin’s story educating readers regarding pet shops and their relationship to commercial breeding facilities known as puppy mills [“Don’t Be Fooled By Deceptive Puppy Mills,” Jan. 17], but I do have one major point of contention: Menkin writes of making adoption the “first option” when looking for a companion animal. I say it should be the first, second, third and only option.

There is no reason to purchase an animal via pet shop, over the Internet or from those whom Menkin labels “responsible breeders.”

For the thousands of animals living and dying every year in shelters and breed-specific rescue groups, I suggest that “responsible breeders” put a temporary halt to their puppy/money-making operations, and, instead, lead all potential customers to the many shelter animals already looking for homes.

Menkin, an ASPCA employee, understandably mentions only the ASPCA facilities, but there are many other shelters and small rescues to visit, including Animal Care & Control at 326 E. 110th St., where you will save a life and a great deal of money.
—  Mickey Kramer, President and founder of Iadoptedmypet.com

Saving the Horses
Many people want to see the horse carriage trade come to an end in NYC, and with the looming mayoral election, now is the time to get serious and support legislation that could make it happen. We started this campaign in 2006, and all online polls done since that time show between 75 and 80 percent of respondents favoring a ban of this trade.

Most people who support a ban just want to see the horses off the street and have not analyzed the electric car bill—Intro 86A. But the money does not exist for these cars. I know, because I have analyzed the bill and the financials behind it. It will cost $4,000,000 the first year to put 23 cars on the road to substitute for 23 horses. The overall cost will be close to $12,000,000. Politicians, who may not realize the funding does not exist, have said that they will leave it up to the tourists to decide which they like better—the cars or a carriage ride. This is not what anyone who supports getting the horses off the street wants. How much longer are politicians going to look the other way and try to shift responsibility for doing the right thing? Are they waiting for a human death to occur as it has in other parts of the country?

Besides, a ban of this business should not be dependent on the success of an untried business.
Continued support for this Emperor’s New Clothes bill is hurting the legislation that actually would make a difference: New York State Senate Bill S667 and Assembly Bill A997, sponsored by Sen. Tony Avella and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, respectively.

These bills are are not glamorous and not surrounded by celebrities but nevertheless have a better chance of passing and becoming law if legislators have the courage to support them.
It is time! Horses do not belong on congested city streets. There have been too many accidents to mention here, and many continue to go unreported.

Please get involved and visit us at www.banhdc.org.
—  Elizabeth Forel, Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

CORRECTION: In last week’s cover story about the Westside Rifle & Pistol Range, the weapon cocked by Howard Kwok’s rifle class was a rifle not a shotgun, as stated.

by Kristine Keller

These days, when a flame sputters and fades out, we’ve got an armful of friends ready to peel us off the floor with the margarita blender, limes and coconuts. You’ll do the proverbial dance around the blender while Jose Cuervo wafts through the air and spend the night yelling aspersions aimed at the opposite sex. Your army of comforting friends succors you with “you deserve better!” and “you do you tonight!” over the humming of the blender. You then delete said flame from your phone, take down the pictures of the two of you basking in La Esquina Park last summer and do your best to forget. But just when you think your heart can’t break into any more pieces, another memory seeps through and you grab your chest in disbelief that it’s happening again. Another perilous pang from the omnipotent organ that oxygenates us, protects us and makes us feel alive and in ruin at the same time.

For most of us, situations like this are fleeting. Most make a full recovery from those stumbles in the capricious dance of love and life, but for 5 percent of the population affected by a condition called limerence, heartbreak feels like an indefinite December night pierced by the strings of Joni Mitchell’s Blue album. Psychologists characterize this unique ailment as an involuntary and incessant state of compulsory and unrequited longing for another person. Usually both parties remain dejected for a period of time after a flame-out, but when one half of the couple moves on and the other remains in a state of constant longing and obsessive thoughts and feelings, limerence has the ability to take a serious toll on one’s already heavy heart.

During one’s initial descent into attraction, it’s healthy and quite fun to feel life’s natural euphoric high and the ascent of pleasure-activating hormones like dopamine and oxytocin. You’ll nod and smile while friends tell stories about their day, while the only thing you can think about is his mouth on yours or her bare back in your bed. You’ll shrug off the busy deadlines or running late to the subway only to find the doors shut in your face; these annoyances don’t matter when you’ve got someone waiting for you at the end of the day. Naturally, you want these honeymoon feelings to last forever, but for our productivity and sanity, we actually need these reward-seeking hormones to dissipate. And thankfully they do, after six to twenty-four months.

For those who suffer from limerence, however, these intense feelings never ebb. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. But what these universal idioms surrounding love neglect to mention is what can happen when separation causes one’s heart to desire too much. Patients who suffer from limerence describe their thoughts and feelings as obsessive and compulsive; it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, then, that one of the only medications to treat those suffering from limerence, Lexapro, is the same one used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. Lexapro, a type of antidepressant, thaws the part of the brain that is responsible for the obsessive thoughts. Patients report difficulty concentrating, constant rehearsal and replay of shared interactions, and loss of control over one’s actions.

Although research on this condition is nascent, medication and cognitive behavioral therapy are providing promising results. Leading experts on limerence suggest that patients don’t ever forget the breakup entirely, but that if taken care of properly, symptoms can decrease after a few years. But, future empirical research and brain-imaging techniques are currently under way to yield a more comprehensive understanding of this evolving condition. What we do know is that a bad breakup or unrequited love can trigger the onset and that it can happen to anyone—limerent individuals can be found in all age groups, both genders and the full range of socioeconomic classes. So, if all it takes is a chant to “put the lime in the coconut” to get you over your heartbreak hump, then you’ve found your silver lining, and it’s looking more like a bubbling gold on the rocks.

Kristine received her master’s in psychology from NYU. She currently works at Vanity Fair. E-mail her at StreetshrinkNYC@gmail.com for questions.

Mostly I push “Yes” on my keyboard all the time to support liberal progressive causes from the comfort of my swivel office-chair. My advocacy for human and animal rights has largely consisted of signing “Yes, I agree.” “Yes, I stand with you!” on such petitions.

In the past two years, there have been 18 accidents involving horse-drawn carriages, many injuries and several deaths. So why is it so hard to end this archaic form of so-called amusement? The carriage industry has a strong union which, along with stubborn politicians including Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg, says the carriage rides are good for the all-important tourism industry. But, of course, it is also a form of animal cruelty.

NYClass, an animal advocacy organization (the acronym stands for New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets), has proposed a plan that is tourist-friendly, helps carriage drivers keep their jobs, and uses clean energy. It suggests these horses be humanely retired and replaced with vintage electric cars. Makes sense to me.

In December, I met NYClass and fellow protesters at 59th Street and Sixth Avenue. The Trump-lined street was teeming with tourists interested in carriage rides through the park. While we protested by holding signs and posters of horses down from accidents, I was taunted, mocked and cursed out by an angry horse driver.

“Oh, the poor horseys,” he called out to me. That alone was a bit shocking, but he continued by calling me a crude name for female genitalia. Really? Did he just call me that? Who does that? Feeling helpless and provoked like a 12-year-old being bullied, I retorted by giving him the finger. The fortysomething, amply built man then challenged me with what he thought was a clincher of a question.

“Name me three breeds of horses—go ahead, name me three breeds of horses!” he yelled. I shouted back, “No, I can’t, but can you tell me the names of the last three horses that died while pulling tourists?” Again he replied, “Oh, the poor horseys!”

By then, rip-roaring mad, I called him a different body part and walked away. I am not proud of this. I probably should have been more mature and controlled.

Well, you don’t have to put yourself at risk of being cursed out by a carriage driver, although it was instructive to join the fight. If you would like to help put an end to this abusive practice, check out NYClass’s website, www.ny-class.org, and push “Yes, I support retiring the horse-drawn carriages and replacing them with humane, sustainable electric vintage-replica tour cars proposed in the NYC Council bill, Intro 86A.”

And if you do decide to join them on their next outing, they have a calendar full of events. Hey, you may meet Kathy Najimy or Alec Baldwin or Lea Michele or Miley Cyrus’ sister Noah, or any number of stars who also think this industry is just downright mean.

Fast-forward to today, and you can see how MTA public transportation is still one of the best bargains in town.
—Larry Penner

DEFYING COMMON SENSE
To the Editor:
It defies common sense that any municipality would place a transfer station of this scope in a densely populated residential neighborhood. The number of garbage trucks alone will overwhelm the narrow streets. No other facility of this kind is anywhere near a New York City neighborhood, especially one with so many children and schools. This area of Yorkville is a beautiful, quiet corner of the city with Carl Schurz Park and Gracie Mansion only a few blocks away. Has the mayor or Christine Quinn ever really spent any time here? The existing facility has been closed for years because of its negative impact on the community. No amount of modernization can deflect its impact. I feel that the community is actually being victimized because there are no powerful development interests here. Can you imagine the mayor trying to place this facility in the “hot” Tribeca area or near the new West Side developments? In addition, trying to paint this neighborhood as part of the elite Upper East Side is disingenuous. This is a working-class Manhattan neighborhood. Not that it matters. This does not belong near anyone’s home or school. Everyone needs to continue to remind our mayor that this facility is unacceptable, and to remind Quinn that we vote.
—Sharon Wolf Horowitz