Turtle Bay News A Publication of the Turtle Bay Association Spring 2010 Vol. 53, No. 1 Spring Event Calendar Bus Fuss BY BRUCE A. SILBERBLATT, TBA VICE PRESIDENT, CHAIR LAND USE AND ZONING COMMITTEE Wednesday, April 21 Earth Day/Going Green As New York- Eastside Proposals Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (2nd/47th) ers we share The MTA/DOT now turned to First and Noon - 3:00 pm complaints Second Avenues, between Houston and 212-826-8980 about city 125th Streets. It proposed the “Select Bus Saturday, May 8 buses, from Service” (SBS): a fast lane offset one lane Katharine Hepburn Birthday Party their snail-like from the right hand curb. Express stops Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (2nd/47th) speed, sudden would be eight to ten blocks apart, accessed 1:00 - 3:00 pm lurches, and arrival in herds, followed by by “bulbs” extending from the curb to the 212-751-5465 twenty minutes with nary a bus in sight. The SBS lane. Local buses would continue to Metropolitan Transit Authority and the City stop at the curb, allowing fast buses to pass Wednesday, May 12 Department of Transportation (MTA/DOT) easily. There would be four, as compared How Does Your Garden Grow? think something should be done about it. We to the present five, traffic lanes. This plan Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (2nd/47th) agree, but we have concerns about some of might have worked very well with modest 11:00 am - 5:00 pm their proposals. modifications. It wasn’t to be. 212-826-8980 Cross-town 34th Street Bus Bike Lane Ruins the Plan Saturday, May 29 Having improved bus service along Fordham 17th Precinct Street Fair The MTA/DOT decided to add a protected Road in the Bronx, the MTA/DOT turned bike lane, although absolutely unrelated to Lexington Avenue (42nd/57th) its attention to 34th Street in Manhattan. 10:00 am - 6:00 pm bus service. The bike lane, set along the left Bus service there has improved; however, curb, would use up one whole lane, leaving Saturday, June 5 additional proposals are controversial. For only three for other vehicles – hopelessly DAG Dogarama example, a pedestrian plaza between Fifth inadequate for traffic along First and Second Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (2nd/47th) and Sixth Avenues, coupled with a ban on Avenues. 10:00 am - 4:00 pm all but buses in that area, would force traffic What to do? On 60% of the route designed 212-826-8980 to nearby side streets, hopelessly clogging the route. Other lane changes elsewhere so far, there would be no offset fast bus Wednesday, June 9 along the route would require a mid-street lane; SBS buses would run by the curb. Art in the Park bus stop island. Thirty-fourth Street would In most neighborhoods, including Turtle Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (2nd/47th) no longer be a through route, and traf- Bay, the bike lane would vanish, leaving 10:00 am - 4:00 pm fic would be choked from river-to-river. cyclists to share a traffic lane. Local and 212-826-8980 Worse, the scheme might also be applied express service would both run in one lane. on 42nd Street. continued on page 3 Sunday, June 20 TBA Spring Street Fair Lexington Avenue (42nd/57th) 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Attempt to Name Street for Vonnegut Disappoints 212-751-5465 he TBA regretfully reports that city April, 2007, at the age of 84. Thursday, June 24 policy has blocked our bid to name a A plaque in Mr. Vonnegut’s memory is Dancing in the Park Tstreet in memory of 30-year resident installed on a bench at Dag Hammarskjold Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (2nd/47th) Kurt Vonnegut. Despite his fame as a cel- 5:00 - 8:00 pm ebrated author, Vonnegut was accessible Plaza, on 47th Street between First and 212-826-8980 and active in Turtle Bay affairs, and was Second Avenues. The TBA hopes to plant often encountered in the street as a down- a tree in his memory, with approval from to-earth and beloved neighbor. He died in his wife. TBA•224 E. 47TH ST. NYC 10017•212-751-5465•FAX 212-751-4941• WWW.turtlebaynyc.org •[email protected] Community Calendar Support Our Local Merchants n Last Tuesday every month The small businesses we see each day in Turtle Bay are more than good neighbors, they’re 17th Precinct Community Council a key element in our quality of life and the je ne sais quoi that makes Turtle Bay a great and Open Meeting, 6 p.m. Sutton Place Synagogue unique place to live. When you’re planning to eat out, make a purchase, please consider 225 East 51st Street visiting our neighborhood stores and restaurants before shopping or dining at a big chain, 212-826-3228 or outside the area. The Great Seal of the United States says it: E pluribus unum. Its ap- (No meetings July, August, pearance on the dollar bill is especially apt. December) We welcome and thank the following new members of the Turtle Bay Association. n Second Wednesday every month Community Board 6 NEW MEMBERS Juliet Heeg Full Board Meeting, 7 p.m. BENEFACTORS Psychologist NYU Medical Center Michele and Stephen Bracci, MD 410 East 57th Street 550 First Avenue 212-688-9295 212-319-3750 BUSINESSES 20% member discount Bangkok Grand Palace Restaurant The Local Store Turtle Bay Association 224 East 47th Street 882 First Avenue (49th/50th) (Café) New York, NY 10017 212-980-8834 316 East 49th Street 212-935-4266 Phone: 212-751-5465 Fax: 212-751-4941 Cohen’s Optical 10% member discount 500 Lexington Avenue (at 47th) E-mail: [email protected] 212-697-9299 Matisse Restaurant and Bar a Vin Web Site: www.turtlebaynyc.org and 924 Second Avenue (at 49th) Check our Bulletin Board: 130 West 57th Street 212-546-9300 East side of Second Avenue, 212-581-4961 10% member discount, lunch-5:00 pm between 48th and 49th Streets, on outside wall of the supermarket. 20% member discount Muriel Siebert & Co. Inc. Country Bank (Investment Services) Board of Directors 902 Second Avenue (48th) 885 Third Avenue 212-829-9998 212-644-2414 President: William E. Curtis Contact: Maribel Aviles www.siebertnet.com/siebert.html Vice Presidents: Millie Margiotta, Member free checking Taksim Restaurant Dolores Marsh, Bruce Silberblatt 1030 Second Avenue (54th/55th) Treasurer: Francine Irwin Fabio Piccolo Fiore 212-421-3004 230 East 44th Street Directors: 10% member discount 212-922-0581 Ethel Bendove, Bunny Blei, Orin Buck, Meryl Brodsky, 10% member discount Verve Medical Cosmetics Stephen P. Bracci, MD William E. Curtis, Denise Hamilton, 216 East 50th Street (Second/Third) Marie-Louise Handal, Briefly in Business 212-888-3003 Olga Hoffmann, Bill Huxley, n Stuart Scherr www.vervelaser.com Francine Irwin, Richard Irwin, Graphic Design & More Millie Margiotta, Dolores Marsh, Fulfilling a variety of promotional Patricia Q. McDougald, Ron Palau, and marketing design needs. Seeking New Members for Michael Resnick, Carol Rinzler, 330 East 49th Street (First/Second) TBA Board of Directors Jeannie Sakol, Bruce Silberblatt 212-755-3188 Emeritus: [email protected] Kindly send your resume and Barbara Connolly, Helen Shapiro a cover letter telling us why Turtle Bay News Submit Pictures and Video to the you would like to join our City to Report Conditions board Editor: Lee Frankel Contributors: The City of New York has launched a Turtle Bay Association Bill Huxley, pilot program that allows the public to 224 E. 47th Street Millie Margiotta, submit still images and/or audio/video Patricia Q. McDougald, files about select conditions that occur New York, NY 10022 Bruce Silberblatt in the city. To learn the details, call 311 212-751-5465 Photography: Vivian Gordon or visit NYC.gov. [email protected] 2 Turtle Bay News www.turtlebaynyc.org The Crane Collapse Two Years Later First Avenue Water Tunnel BY BRUCE A. SILBERBLATT, TBA VICE PRESIDENT, CHAIR LAND USE AND ZONING COMMITTEE Repairs Underway he scars from the March 15, 2008, cracks in its façade and a gaping hole in the An extensive project to repair the First crane disaster remain virtually un- roof, it clings to life. Repeated TBA pleas Avenue water tunnel began in January and Tchanged despite the fact that two have received, at best, inadequate responses. includes repairs on the roadway, sidewalks, years have elapsed. We seem to exist in a In one instance a DOB inspector found tunnel walls and ceiling. Completion is an- time warp where days, months and years nothing wrong, then, a day later, another ticipated by October 2010. To learn how stand still. admitted to “roof issues.” Nobody – not traffic between 41st and 48th Streets will be affected, contact Project Manager Margie The 18-story skeleton at 303 East 51st the owner, not its insurance carrier, not the Banka at 212-839-4870, call 311, or visit Street, gaunt and haunted, casts a long, DOB, does anything about it, either to fix or www.nyc.dot/gov. somber shadow across the neighborhood. demolish it. Best to let it fall rather than to True, it has been cleaned up and the De- take action now. In the meantime, the TBA partment of Buildings (DOB) keeps watch. is carefully monitoring the cracks. Should they worsen, it will spell big trouble. Any talk of rebuilding is just talk. A cloud Report Construction Concerns of lawsuits looms large, complicated by a In other related news: the crushed Fubar legal struggle over control of the corner lot, house, 305 East 50th Street, has not yet been Call 311; 964 Second Avenue. Two men, the crane rebuilt.