2014 A publication of the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association Murray Hill No. 2 …to continue to make Murray Hill a highly desirable place to live, work and visit. ife Fall Street Fair 2014L Another Big Success! By Tom Horan, Vice President, MHNA, and Street Fair Chair Just the right combination of moderate would love to have more Murray Hill everyone who helped make this event temperature, low humidity, and abun- artisans at the Fair. such a resounding success - especially dant sunshine Our musical entertainment was the volunteers who came early and provided won- really top-notch this year. Per- stayed late. derful weather formers entertained us with ev- We will begin to plan next year’s Fair for the Murray erything from Blues to Jazz to soon, so make your plans now to join Hill Street Fair Rock to solo vocals and even us next Spring on Park Avenue! on June 7th. some Big Band selections. Many It was a really attendees grabbed a snack and spectacular pulled up a chair to sit and en- day and the joy the music for a while before Fair was a great success. moving on to peruse the various mer- The retail attendees this year included chant offerings. a large number of arts and crafts ven- As is always the case, there were doz- dors offering unique and beautiful ens of food ven- handcrafted items. We hope dors to select to increase the presence of from. This year’s this type of vendor in fu- ture events, so watch for an- favorites seemed nouncements and informa- to be the Ger- tion on joining us at the Fair man bratwurst if you would like to partici- and The Pickle pate or know someone who Man. Delicious! might be interested. We Our thanks to Photos courtesy: Nancy Sheran Murray Hill Participates in Jane’s Walk Weekend By Barbara Sagan and Paula Thomson The fourth Annual Jane’s Walk Week- 3-4th. To honor the life and legacy of of “walking conversations” that get end sponsored by the Municipal Art visionary urban activist Jane Jacobs, New Yorkers out to explore our city and Society was held the weekend of May author of The Death and Life of Great engage with our streets, public spaces Photo courtesy: Barbara Sagan American Cities, thousands and each other. of New Yorkers took to the The Preservation and Design Commit- streets for this annual celebra- tee (“P&D”) of the Murray Hill Neigh- tion featuring more than 100 borhood Association sponsored two free guided walks throughout walking tours of our historic neigh- New York’s five boroughs. The borhood as part of the Jane’s Walk walks were organized and led weekend. Paula Thomson and Barba- by enthusiastic New Yorkers on ra Sagan, both members of P&D, led topics and neighborhoods that the tours on Saturday, May 3rd, one at most interest them. Part of an 9 am and one at noon. Titled “Murray international movement, Jane’s Hill: At the Foot of Grand Central Ter- Walk NYC facilitates thousands Continued on page 15 From the President’s Desk Murray Hill Diane Bartow I sincerely hope everyone had a wonderful summer. Now, we begin a new year of the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association, our 54th! ife We recently discovered an article about the original Murray Hill Associa- tion formed in 1914. I find it very interesting that the chief objectives of the A publicationL of the association in 1914 are so similar to the mission of the Murray Hill Neigh- Murray Hill Neighborhood Association borhood Association today, 100 years later. It states, in part, to secure the Board of Trustees cooperation, association and concerted action of all persons interested in President: Diane Bartow the welfare of the Murray Hill neighborhood for the purpose of preserv- Vice Presidents: Ann Churchill, Susan Demmet, ing and promoting the residential character of said neighborhood. Indeed, Thomas Horan, Matthew Roberts, the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association’s mission is to continue to make Marion Weingarten Murray Hill a highly desirable place to live, work and visit. The Preservation Treasurer: Barbara Sagan & Design Committee is working hard to secure additional buildings in the Secretary: Ashley Petrylak historic district to protect the incredible history of this neighborhood. We Trustees continue the tradition of preserving and improving our wonderful Murray Fred Arcaro, Marilyn Boddewyn, Marisa Bulzone, Hill. The 1914 article is available in the newsletter’s online edition. John B. Chadwick, Jr., Marea Edynak, Daniel G. Egers, Raymond Gentile, Mieko Kojima, I hope you will all join us on September 18, 2014 for the Murray Hill Qual- Anoop Punjabi, Anne Marie Salmeri, Nancy Sheran, ity of Life Town Forum that we will be conducting with Community Board Elaine Silber, Nick Smolney 6 and our City Council Members and Borough President. This will be your Honorary Trustees Joelle Anderson, Robert Cohen, Joe W. Di Domenico, opportunity to find out what is going on in the neighborhood, the critical Irma Worrell Fisher, Paula Hutter Gilliam, issues we face and how we hope to resolve them. After the meeting you will Ellen Imbimbo, Enid Klass, Charlotte Klein, have the opportunity to discuss the issues with the chair and co-chairs of the Shirley Mac Leod, Ellen H. Propp, Debra Moolin Taylor various committees of the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association. Past Presidents Ed Hochberg, Mark Tracten, Stephen Weingrad The Board of Trustees is hard at work on the issues we are confronted with. The neighborhood is a major construction area with developments on 34th Newsletter Staff Street, 3rd Avenue and the continued construction of the MTA project on Editor: Daniel Egers 37th Street and Park Avenue. We, along with Community Boards 5 and 6, Co-editor: Nancy Idaka Sheran continue to monitor these activities. Editorial Consultant: Ellen Propp Fall is in the air and the greening of Murray Hill will continue. We had a Advertising: Nancy Idaka Sheran, Marilyn Boddewyn very harsh winter, so we are still working on replacement of certain trees and Online Edition: Ashley Petrylak & Jon Gilbert other damage that was caused by the weather. Design & Production: Hilary Black We continue to focus on some major issues, such as the rezoning of midtown, Printing: McKella 280, 856-662-5532 traffic and transportation concerns, problems along 3rd Avenue, buildings for sale that could contribute to overgrowth in the Murray Hill area, pre- Murray Hill Neighborhood Association serving our historic district and increasing the Association’s membership. Post Office Box 1897 New York, NY 10156-1897 The Association also plans events that we believe you will be interested in 212-886-5867 and enjoy. Send letters to the editor or story ideas to I hope if you have the time, you will become a volunteer on one of our com- [email protected] mittees as we need your help! We are still a fully volunteer organization and and please use the subject line must rely on neighbors to get the job done. “Murray Hill Life”. We receive many telephone and email inquiries about problems in and around the neighborhood and our members receive priority attention to ric Murray their concerns. Your membership is extremely important, so make sure you to H is il H l renew. l l T h n Hope to see you all on September 18 and at the various events in the new e o i M t a u i season. r c r o a s y s H A i d Thank you to all our loyal members for your membership. Because of you ll N oo eighborh and our dedicated and hard-working Trustees, our neighborhood is truly a special place to live. 2 Murray Hill Neighborhood Association [email protected] 212-886-5867 News from MECA tween 38th and 41st Streets and First Avenue, except that on Manhattan East Community Association the west side of 38th Street and First Avenue at 685 First Av- enue a parking garage has resumed business. Fred Arcaro, President SL Green submitted a proposal to City Planning for a new Construction is progressing at JDS’s two-building project 67-story building at 317 Madison Avenue that would take up located at 625 First Avenue, where excavation is currently the whole block between 42nd and 43rd Streets and between being performed to accommodate garage space. A Com- Vanderbilt and Madison Avenues. Discussions are under- munity Board 6 construction task force has been formed way between the Multi-board Task Force, of which Com- to address any community concerns arising from the con- munity Board 6 is a member, City Planning and SL Green, struction project. The task force received some complaints to work out the details of the project. Stay tuned for further that JDS’s project was working after normal construction developments. hours. While JDS did get proper Department of Buildings’ permits to work during non-normal working hours, there is a bill (Intro. 1183) in the City Council sponsored by Coun- cil Members Rosie Mendez and Dan Garodnick that would make it more difficult for contractors to obtain after hours JOANNE KAPLAN construction work permits. Community Board 6 has ap- Professional Organizer proved a resolution in support of this bill. Organize your Time, Home and Office, The new expanded NYU Langone Medical Center emergen- Closets, Drawers, Files, Papers, Children’s Rooms and Schoolwork… cy department is now operational. Free Consultation In an effort to cut travel time for emergency vehicles to reach 212-686-1188 the NYU emergency department, Community Board 6 has 917 854-6055 approved a resolution in support of a Department of Trans- [email protected] portation proposal to make 33rd Street between Second and First Avenues a two-way street.