Ads Go To Onsite Home Pages

Gotham Buzz

Say U Saw It On Gotham Buzz

Gotham Buzz Events

Click For Special Offers

GB

Some Home Pages Have Social Media & Video

Tell Them U Saw It On Gotham Buzz

Thank You For Supporting Us

Click For Fotos M

NYC Neighborhoods & NYC Boroughs & History NYC

Sep 06, 2024 at 12:15 am by mikewood


gotham buzz directory nyc

 

* Gotham Buzz Site Search


* GB Advance Notice / Discounts


 

NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC

September 2024 / NYC Neighborhoods & NYC History / Gotham Buzz NYC.

This section is dedicated to the Neighborhoods & History section on Gotham Buzz NYC.

 

Page Guide

How to Make the Most of This Section

1. The reports at the top of this section represent older renditions we did of the various boroughs and neighborhoods in NYC.

2. These are followed by a rotation of reports about cultural, community and business organizations and events.

3. The rest is an evolving mix of reports done previously, about things to do, attractions, events, history, restaurants, parades, cultural institutions and shopping. These will evolve over time.

4. The Gotham Buzz website provides visitors with current news and a history of what has happened in NYC neighborhoods, generally based on events, issues, locales and sometimes personages. Use the BOOKMARK button at the top of your browser window, to facilitate your weekly visit to find out what's happening in NYC & neighborhoods. 

Thanks for visiting and come back for our weekly & semi-weekly updates. 

CLICK here to view our NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC section.


bronx neighborhoods bx nyc

Bronx Neighborhoods BX NYC

September 2024 / Bronx Neighborhoods NYC / Bronx Neighborhoods / Bronx Buzz NYC.

This section is dedicated to the Neighborhoods section on Bronx Buzz NYC.

CLICK here to view our Bronx Neighborhoods NYC section.


brooklyn arts culture music theater dance performing arts exhibits museums arts bk nyc

Brooklyn Neighborhoods NYC

September 2024 / Brooklyn Neighborhoods / Brooklyn BLVD NYC.

This section is dedicated to the Neighborhoods in the borough of Brooklyn NYC.

CLICK here to view our Brooklyn Neighborhoods NYC section.


manhattan neighborhoods history mhtn nyc

Manhattan Neighborhoods & History MHTN NYC

September 2024 / Manhattan Neighborhoods & History NYC / Manhattan Neighborhoods / Manhattan Buzz NYC.

This section is dedicated to the Neighborhoods & History section on Manhattan Buzz NYC.

CLICK here to view our Manhattan Neighborhoods & History NYC section.


queens neighborhoods history qns nyc

* Queens Neighborhoods & History in QNS NYC

September 2024 / Queens Neighborhoods & History NYC / Queens Neighborhoods / Queens Buzz NYC.

This section is dedicated to the Neighborhoods & History section on Queens Buzz NYC.

CLICK here to view our Queens Neighborhoods & History NYC section.


staten island neighborhoods staten island farmers markets staten island street fairs staten island things to do staten island nyc

Staten Island Neighborhoods SI NYC

September 2024 / Staten Island Neighborhoods NYC / Staten Island Neighborhoods / Staten Buzz NYC.

This section is dedicated to the Neighborhoods section on Staten Buzz NYC.

CLICK here to view our Staten Island Neighborhoods NYC section.


SI

Casa Belvedere and the Festa & Motori D'Italia

9th Annual Festa & Motori D'Italia Keeps the Engine Running on All Cylinders

September 23, 2019 / Grymes Hill Neighborhood Staten Island / Things to do on Staten Island / Staten Buzz NYC.

I attended the Festa & Motori D'Italia at the Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere on Staten Island. The following video captures most of what I experienced - save for the delicious aromas floating in the air.


LaGuardia Community College Pioneers New Ground ... Again

Boyce Technologies Hosts LAGCC President's Society Ten Year Anniversary Celebration

laguardia community college presidents society boyce technologies lic queens nycOctober 9, 2023 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Queens Buzz NYC.

A week ago from last Thursday, I attended a celebration of the President's Society at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City Queens. The LAGCC President's Society is an innovative program designed to help high potential students reach their full potential. The event was held at Boyce Technologies, which is located nearby and designs and manufactures mass transit security and communications equipment.

The reason it was held at Boyce Technologies, is because they and LaGuardia Community College have developed a symbiotic relationship, whereby the school has become one of Boyce's leading suppliers of human talent [reportedly about 20% of their employees], while Boyce has become a significant employer of LaGuardia Community College graduates.

About 200 of the roughly 600 LaGuardia Community College President's Society members, who enrolled in the program over the past ten years, attended the event. This is a particularly remarkable number, when one considers that a number of the attendees came from other parts of the country just to attend this one evening event, and that LaGuardia is a two year public college, not a four year one.

The photo above was taken at the LaGuardia Community College President's Society tenth anniversary reunion at Boyce Technologies in Long Island City on Thursday, September 28, 2023.


Floyd Bennett Field Returns, for Encore, as Gateway to NYC

NYC Mayor Adams & NYS Governor Hochul Receive a Lease Agreement from the U.S. Government to Lease Floyd Bennett Field

things to do in queensAugust 29, 2023 / Brooklyn Neighborhoods / NYC Issues / Brooklyn BLVD.

Just over a week ago, Governor Hochul announced that she and NYC Mayor Adams had received a lease agreement from the Biden Administration, regarding the terms for leasing the Floyd Bennett Airfield for temporary use as a migrant center. The airfield is expected to be capable of providing temporary shelter for about 2,500 immigrants.

 

Floyd Bennett Field is a Part of the Gateway National Recreation Area

Floyd Bennett Airfield is located at the south eastern end of Brookyn and is part of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife sanctuary, as you can see from the map at right. The airport became a part of the National Park Service in 1972 when the Gateway National Recreation Area was established to protect important natural resources within / near NYC. Sandy Hook New Jersey is also a part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, while the rest of it is located in Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn, as previously implied.

 

Floyd Bennett Airfield - NYC's First Airport - Opened 1931

things to do in queensFour years ago, on August 31, 2019, I visited the Floyd Bennett Airfield with the intention of doing a story on it, which - until now - I had not had an opportunity to do. On that visit, I biked the airfield, took photos in both the museum and peeked through the dusty windows of the hangars and warehouses on the airfield, to photographed our recent past.

Given that the airfield is about to be transformed into a sprawling migrant center, I thought folks might want to take a look at it as it was four years ago, before it is repurposed into something quite new. Along with this story, I'll also take you through a brief history ...

... as the Floyd Bennett Airfield was NYC's first airport, predating LaGuardia which according to Wikipedia opened on December 2, 1939 and JFK which opened as New York International Airport [nicknamed Idlewild] in July 1, 1948. Floyd Bennett Airfield opened on May 23, 1931.


China Secret Police in NYC, Springtime Forest Fires in NYS & Climate Change & Murdoch's Mendacious Media

* NYC News Updates

China Operating a 'Secret Police' in Chinatown, Climate Change and NYS Springtime Forest Fires & Rupert Murdoch's Mendacious Media on Trial ... Again

 

April 18, 2023 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

NYC Weather. The temperature highs will rise from about 60 on Tuesday, to the mid 60's Wednesday and Thursday, to the low to mid 70's on Friday and Saturday. The temperature lows will be in the mid 40's on Tuesday and Wednesday, rising to the mid 50's on Thursday and Friday. The winds will be about 10 - 15 mph on Tuesday and Wednesday, dropping to 5 - 10 mph on Thursday and Friday. The humidity will be about 40% on Tuesday and Wednesday, rising to 60 - 70% on Thursday and Friday. No rain is in the forecast all week long.

 

PRC [People's Republic of China] Caught Operating a 'Secret Police' in Chinatown in Manhattan

In October of 2022, the FBI obtained a search warrant to investigate an office on Broadway in Chinatown believed to be a 'secret police' station set up by dictator President Xi Jin Ping's Peoples Republic of China in order to control the behaviors of Chinese people living in the U.S. Two men were charged in the case. According to the Department of Justice, the two men who were arrested yesterday, are "... “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan ...".

The 'secret police' office was closed after the two men discovered that the FBI was watching them. When conducting the search, the FBI reported that the memories of the two men's communications devices [aka evidence] were erased. The men are presumed innocent in this country until proven guilty. This is very much unlike the process we've seen in China, where one is guilty of whatever dictator president Xi Jin Ping decides they're guilty of.

I always marvel at the dishonesty of dictators who attempt to control what everyone thinks, because the truth can be deadly to them and their regimes. For example calling China the PRC - People's Republic of China - when the people have no say in who their leaders are, can be imprisoned or even terminated for speaking their minds, and can only own or operate a significant business if it's given a blessing by the dictator president. The PRC should be called the XDC - Xi's Dictatorship of China. Where everything is designed to suit one man, and nobody, and nothing else, matters. As dictator president Xi seems to say by his actions, "... It's all about Me, Me, Me, Me or Xi, Xi, Xi, Xi ...".



Black History Month NYC - Prior Events Coverage

* Black History Month in NYC

This is a Look at Some of the Black History Events We've Covered Over the Years

nyc black history month events things to do nyc langston hughes queens david mills york performing arts center queensFebruary 17, 2023 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Gotham Buzz NYC.

NYC Weather. The temperature high hit 61 degrees on Monday, and will fall to the mid to high 40's for the rest of the week. The temperature lows will range from the mid 30's to the low 40's until Friday, when the temperature drops into the mid 20's. The winds will range from 5 - 10 mph until Friday, when we'll experience a gusty 15 - 20 mph. The humidity will range between 60% - 70% through the week, before dropping to 40% on Friday. Less than a quarter inch of rain is expected on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The image at right is of Langston Hughes, a writer in the 1920's and 1930's of the Harlem Renaissance. It seems like African Americans are continuing the process of asserting their influence in American culture, a process that began going mainstream in the 1920's / 1930's.

 

Highlighting Black History Month in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens & Staten Island NYC with Reports about African American History and Culture

We've covered a number of interesting theatrical performances and art exhibits exploring African American history and the African American experience in the five boroughs over the years. Some of them feature the African American experience front and center, while others include or reference the African American experience. This is a compendium of most of them, with links to the full stories. Think of this as a work in progress as it is far from complete, and in some measure, reflects how long each of our web magazines has been open / covering events in each of the boroughs. At this time I have not included many of the black and brown events reflecting immigrants' cultures, vis a vis the African American cultural experience.



NYC News Updates NYS

Office Workers & Employers Facing a Choice - Come Back to the Office or -

The UN is Back Live in Session, a look at the Argument for Democracies vs Dictatorships, & What's with the Royalist TV News Groupies?

September 19, 2022 / NYC Neighborhoods / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

staten island things to do memorial day weekend staten island memorial day weekend si nycNYC Weather. The temperature highs will be in the low 80's on Tuesday & Wednesday, dropping to the low 70's on Thursday and the mid 60's on Friday., The temperature lows will rise from the mid 60's on Monday & Tuesday to the low 70's on Wednesday, and then fall into the mid to low 50's on Thursday and Friday. The winds will be 10 - 15 mph all week. The humidity will be 55% - 65% all week, except on Friday when it falls to 45% - 55%. There's a small chance of a small amount of rain in Thursday, with the probability gone by mid afternoon.

 

NYC White Collar Office Workers Continue to Resist a Full Return to the Office

As we noted last week, in our update, people are returning to mass transit. While weekend ridership on the subways has reached about 90%, weekday ridership lags behind at about 65% of prepandemic levels. One of the main drivers of the lower weekday ridership is that folks haven't yet resumed embraced a full return to the office at anywhere near prepandemic levels.

For about the past six months, only about 10% of white collar office workers in Manhattan, go to the office daily. But the number of people in the office each day has risen from about 38% to 49%, according to Parnership for New York City, a non-profit dedicated to primarily promoting the economic interests of NYC. Also, the percentage of workers staying fully remote dropped from 28% to 16% over the same six month period [April - September]. Nearly four out of five employers [77%] indicated that the preferred business model [demanded per employees] is now ready to accommodate folks who only want to travel to the office three of the five days in a work week.

Nobody is yet saying this, but it's my guesstimate, that over time, employees who are in the office more frequently are going to win out over those who are working remotely. And because of that phenomenon, I also guesstimate that over time, more folks will start spending more time in the office. But this may take years to play out.

There's a flip side of the coin above, which is that employers who accommodate remote workers, especially women who want to spend time rearing their children, could, over time, attract and retain some of the best and the brightest, even if they don't pay top dollar. For some, including myself, money matters - but it isn't everything.

As I look at what I've just written I see a potential lawsuit - discriminatory pay based on gender. But could it be discriminatory pay based on remote working? This discussion might have some parallels to the discussion below about dictatorships vs democracy and about valuing loyalty over talent.

Ultimately, time will tell, and it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. One thing is clear, many of us - if not all - are not going back to the status quo.


News Briefs NYC NYS USA _ Vaccinations, Masks, MTA & Putin Invades Ukraine

 

nyc putin covid masks mandates vax manhattan brooklyn queens bronx staten island covid infection rates map putin ukraine just before war started nyc

NYC News Updates, Chinese New Year & Micaiah Carter @ SN37

MTA Ridership & Crime, NYC Vaccination Rates & Some NYS Mask Mandates End & is Biden Doing the Right Thing in Ukraine?

February 22, 2022 / Things To Do NYC / NYC Neighborhoods / Gotham Buzz NYC.

This report is a catch up on some of the key local news items over the past couple of weeks.

MTA Ridership Slowly Inching Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels / Hochul Announces Fare Capping Program / MTA Crime not as Huge as the Corporate Broadcast Media Sensationalizes it

nyc things to do nyc things to do this weekend nycIn the photo at right are a number of Chinese American women, who participated in the Chinese New Year Parade celebrating the year of the Tiger in Chinatown in Manhattan, were out to see and be seen last Sunday.

We've been tracking MTA ridership since the pandemic began. The subway ridership plummeted down 90% when the pandemic broke in the Spring of 2020. By the fall of 2020 MTA ridership had risen to a loss of 80%, rising to a loss of 50% - 66% in the Spring of 2021, and then a loss of 35% - 55% in the Fall of 2021. As of this week, the MTA subway ridership losses were in the range of 28% - 43% versus pre-pandemic.

On February 7, 2022, NYS Governor Kathy Hochul announced a new 'Fare Capping Program' whereby passengers would only have to pay for 12 full fare rides in a week [but using the same device / MetroCard] and after which the rides for the rest of the week would be free [Monday - Sunday]. The program begins Monday, February 28th and is expected to run for four months.

The corporate broadcast media seems to sensationalize everything these days in order to ratchet up their ratings, revenue and profit. MTA Ridership during the winter a year ago was about half the pre-pandemic level, and today it's about two thirds the pre-pandemic level meaning it has risen about 50% vs a year ago. According to NYPD Compustat, crime in the subway during the past 28 days is up 33%, so crime isn't rising as fast as ridership.

Nonetheless, crime in the subways is up by about the same percentage versus the pre-pandemic levels, so it's a bigger problem than it was before the pandemic started. It is believed, that the reason for the higher transit crime rate, is that as fewer people rode the rails during the pandemic, the homeless moved in and were able to use the subway as their shelter.

Late last week NYC Mayor Eric Adams and NYS Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the city and the state would collaborate to increase the NYPD presence in the subways to remove and / or assist the homeless from making the MTA their home by offering them an option to leave or an option to get medical, psychiatric and social services help. To that end it was noted that the NYPD upped the deployment of NYPD [about 1,000 officers] into the transit system, focusing - it seems - on the major hubs, and the Governor was working on multi-billion healthcare plans which would include provisions for helping the mentally ill and homeless.

 

NYC & NYS Vaccination Rates Well Ahead of National Rates

nyc things to do nyc things to do this weekend nycThe current NYC vaccination rate is 77%, with another 9% having received at least one dose [86%]. The current NYS vaccination rate is 75%, with another 12% having received at least one dose [87%]. The current U.S. vaccination rate is 65%, with another 12% having received at least one dose [77%].

As a result of the vaccination rates, and with the passing of the Omicron super spreader holiday season, CoVid Omicron new case growth, hospitalizations and deaths have been declining at the NYC, NYS and USA levels.

  • For New York City the weekly, daily average, test rate of 1.7% for new cases, with only a weekly, daily average new case rate of 707 reported, a weekly, daily average rate of 35 hospitalizations and a weekly, daily average rate of 17 deaths.
  • For New York State the same weekly, daily average rates are 2% positive new test cases, about 1,750 daily new cases, about 200 daily new hospitalizations and about 35 daily new deaths.
  • nyc things to do nyc things to do this weekend nycFor the United States the same rates are 8% positive new cases [this is a week old number compared to the others herein], about 84,878 new cases, about 8,642 hospitalizations [this is a week old number compared to the others herein] and 1,964 daily deaths.
  • NYC and NYS are leading the rest of the U.S. in pulling out of the pandemic, as the southern and central states are lagging behind. If you look at a map showing vaccination rates versus a map showing infection rates, you can see that they are inversely related.
  • Are these maps indicative of the intelligence, or how well informed the people of each state are? Do the smart people live in the states with the higher vaccination rates, or are the people who got infected with CoVid at higher rates [because they didn't get vaccinated], living in states where they have fewer or less reliable information sources, like Fox News? Studies have shown that Fox News enhances people's ignorance of the facts. Look it up.

 



Accelerating Changes Toward a Post CoVid Pandemic Normalcy in NYC and NYS in Spring of 2021

 

the character of donald j trump trump character defined by racism and violence

This Weekend Things To Do NYC

Giddyap. As CoVid Abates, More Semblances of Normality Return, 5 Boro Bike Ride to be Rescheduled, Some Live Events in Manhattan & Queens, More Reopenings, Upcoming Fairs & Festivals, Curfews, CoVid, Falling Rents & Mayoral Race

nyc violent crime shootings gun arrests murders nyc manhattan queens brooklyn bronx staten island gun arrests shootings murders nyc crime stats 2020April 30, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Corona Virus / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weekend Weather. The temperature highs will rise from about 70 on Friday and Saturday to about 80 on Sunday. The temperature lows will rise from the mid 40's to the high 50's on Saturday and Sunday. Humidity will be about 40% on Friday and Saturday, rising to 40% to 60% on Sunday. The wind will fall from 20 mph on Friday to 10 - 15 on Saturday to 5 - 10 on Sunday. No rain is expected this weekend.

 

CoVid Vaccinations by Seniors Now at 80%

A full 80% of the most vulnerable segment of the American population - those aged 65 and older - have been vaccinated. That is probably the single biggest contributor to the declining death and hospitalization rates around the nation.

Both Moderna and Pfizer have been testing vaccines on children below age 16 [down to 12 years of age] and the results of those tests are expected soon. Children represent about 20% of the American population.

There are now 17 people who encountered blood clotting problems after taking the J&J vaccine. All were women, except one. Between 8 and 9 million people have received the J&J vaccine, so the risk to the general population is very small.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines reportedly appear to present no greater risk to pregnant mothers than the general population, but it's unclear to me whether that risk assessment also applies to the children they are carrying. It could be too early to tell.

 

Governor Cuomo Accelerates Removal of the CoVid Controls

nyc violent crime shootings gun arrests murders nyc manhattan queens brooklyn bronx staten island gun arrests shootings murders nyc crime stats 2020Bars and restaurants can now seat folks at the bar, effective Monday, May 3rd.

The curfew for outdoor dining ends on Monday, May 17th and the curfew for indoor dining ends on Monday, May 31st.

Effective May 15th, gyms will be able to use 50% of their capacity, up from 33% - but this is only outside of NYC. Casinos and gaming facilities will be able to increase the use of their capacity from 25% to 50%.

The Governor also announced that Offices can begin using 75% of their capacity, up from 50%, effective May 15th.

On Wednesday, May 19th outdoor sports / events venues like stadiums, can increase capacity to 33% from the current 20% level.

 

Mayor de Blasio Expects NYC to be Fully Reopened by July 1st

nyc violent crime shootings gun arrests murders nyc manhattan queens brooklyn bronx staten island gun arrests shootings murders nyc crime stats 2020The Mayor announced this week that he expects NYC to be fully reopened by July 1st, including the resumption of 24/7 subway service. Not long after the pandemic began, the subways were closed down from 12 midnight to 5 am [later shortened to 1 am to 5 am] for deep cleaning.

On Monday, May 3, 2021 the remaining 80,000 of 180,000 municipal workers will return to their offices. According to CBS News the municipal office workers have been vaccinated and $200 million was spent preparing the offices for the workers' return. The municipal office employees' work environment has been compared to that of teachers, although an activist group that arose out of the pandemic, says it's unsafe to do so.

The Mayor also had some good news on the public library front, telling us that effective Monday, May 10th, 2021 folks will be able to visit the libraries and rsvp computer time there. Book borrowing limits will be loosened from curbside pickup.

The Mayor reminded folks that any adult can now obtain a vaccination without scheduling an appointment, by showing up at one of the vaccincations sites - which include many pharmacies - with proper identification / insurance info.

The Mayor said that 6.4 million vaccine doses have been injected into New Yorkers' arms. Nationally about a third of the population has been fully vaccinated, and about 43% have received at least one dose. Remember, children are a fifth of the population, so we're about half way home for those eligible to be vaccinated.

 



Relationship Between CoVid Testing Rates & Death Rates Changing, Why New Variants Infect Children Higher Rates & Why Female Response to Vaccinations

 

the character of donald j trump trump character defined by racism and violence

The Beginning of the End of the Corona Virus Pandemic?

There's CoVid Bad News but also Some Very Good CoVid News

Despite Level or Rising New CoVid Cases, Death Rates Continue to Fall / J&J Vax Paused / Reasons for Different Reactions to Vaccines based on Gender / Why Kids are More Impacted by the New Variant B.1.1.7 / Pregnancies

andrew cuomo's troubles nursing homes harassment governor cuomo murdoch fox wsj ny postApril 12, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Corona Virus / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. The temperature highs will mostly be in the high 50's / low 60's this week, while the temperature lows will be in the high 40's / low 50's. Winds will range from 5 - 10 mph all week. The humidity will generally range from 50% - 70% throughout the week. There will be about a half inch of RAIN on Monday and about an inch on Thursday.

 

CoVid Update NYC

We're beginning to reach a tipping point of sorts vis a vis the CoVid pandemic. There's a part of me that was inclined to wait on this story a bit longer, even though I think the trend is clear, in order avoid igniting too much enthusiasm, for what is increasingly looking like the winding down of the CoVid pandemic. But, given the trend seems real, I'm publishing my findings along with a few caveats. Please pay attention to the caveats that follow, as the implications of ignoring them, could be disastrous for people in what seem vulnerable categories.

 

J & J Vaccine Paused, Pending a Closer Look at Rare Blood Clotting Issues

This just came in. There were 6.8 - 8.3 million doses of the J & J vaccine administered to date. And further rollout of that vaccine is on pause, pending a closer review of the data. Blood clots arose in six of the millions of people who took the J&J vaccine, so out of an abundance of caution, the FDA and CDC want to be sure there's no link to the vaccine. It's worth mentioning that the blood clots found in the six people, have also materialized in folks who didn't take any vaccine. It is believed that this will likely be much ado about nothing, but until then the J&J vaccines have been pulled.

 

New CoVid Cases & CoVid Death Rates are No Longer in Sync

(Is) The Worst of the CoVid Pandemic in the U.S. Over?

andrew cuomo's troubles nursing homes harassment governor cuomo murdoch fox wsj ny postThe bad news is, of course, that new cases of CoVid infections are not falling and - albeit slightly - have risen a bit, after falling from a Winter high. There's other bad news as well, for specifc segments of the population, which you will see in our discussion of what appears to be happening vis a vis the spread of new variants infecting kids and different reactions to the vaccines, based on gender. We also include a brief discussion about pregnant women.

The good news is that while new CoVid cases are steady or rising, the CoVid death rate continues to fall - even taking into account a two to four week lag from contagion to death. Since mid February, I've been monitoring both the NY Times and Washington Post graphs of the new cases and death rates, noticing as the vaccination rates went up, that the deaths continued to fall, in spite of the continued spread of the virus.

As of late March, over 70% of people over the age of 65 have received at least one vaccination shot. And if you look at the CoVid death statistics, according to an April 11, 2021 report by Statista [see graphic above right], the people over 65 accounted for over 83% of the deaths in New York City, which is about in line with other statistics I've seen for the nation.

 



TO SHORTS ARCHIVE

 

Isaias Rips thru NYC Leaving 210,000 Powerless

About Half of Outages have Already been Restored

isaias storm nyc damage from isaias storm in nycAugust 4, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC CoVid 19 Special Section / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The Tropical Storm Isaias ripped through the five boroughs of NYC with winds ranging from 40 mph in Manhattan and Brooklyn to high winds topping 70 mph in Jackson Heights in Queens and topping 60 mph on Staten Island according to a National Weather Service report posted today.

Bronx wasn't mentioned in the report, but winds topped 60 mph in nearby Westchester, so that's likely a good benchmark.

The visit by Tropical Storm Isaias to NYC was a fairly quick and brief one, arriving enmasse around 11 am and well on its way out of here by 4 pm. Perhaps Isaias had heard prior to its visit, that there's a pandemic raging in the U.S., and thus decided to cut its stay short? There was concern prior to the arrival of Isaias that heavy rain would accompany the storm, and flooding would ensue. But as of this report there appears to have been relatively light rainfall for a tropical storm and little real flooding in the NYC area.

 

Mayor de Blasio said that the Tropical Storm Isaias was primarly about high winds. The winds appear to have wreaked havoc with Con Edison's isaias storm nyc damage from isaias storm in nycpower network, as at its peark 210,000 were without power in the five boroughs of NYC. Around the time of this writing about 130,000 people were still without power. Manhattan was relatively unscathed, while nearly 100,000 residents in Staten Island and Queens were left without power, and about half that in Bronx and Brooklyn.

Because this storm was not accompanied by a lot of water I'm going to take an educated guess that power will be restored in less time than usual, following a big storm like this, even though Con Edison informs us that this is the second highest number of people left without power in NYC in its history.

The NYC Parks Department lost no time in rolling out its clean up of the fallen trees, as within hours many of the fallen branches and trees had been identified and cut through to enable the smooth flow of traffic and pedestrians, awaiting pick up sometime later this week.

I found little difficulty in finding a number of fallen trees, and so included a couple photos of them which accompany this report.


TO SHORTS ARCHIVE

 

A Snowstorm Drops Over a Foot of Snow on NYC

nyc things to do this weekendFebruary 1, 2021 / US Politics / NYC Neighborhoods / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

As usual, the corporate TV stations and TV networks hyped and sensationalized a big fluffy storm, that only decades ago, would have been just another stormy winter day, that all of us kids wished for, so we didn't have to go to school.

But all that has changed, as now a snowstorm just means kids are attending school from home. If one relied on television broadcasters to tell them what's going on in the wintry world, they're likely to have stayed home and inside, out of fear, instead of enjoying one of nature's most magical days.

I think the folks on TV are afraid of the cold and hot and rain and snow, and perhaps life itself ... or is it that they just want you to be afraid, so you'll stay home watching life pass you by on TV, moderated by the knuckleheads who make the big bucks by hyping stories for ratings?

Dunno.




TO SHORTS ARCHIVE

 

Census Deadline Thursday Night, October 15th

Each Person Counted in the Census Represents $30,000 - $40,000 of Federal Funds over the Coming Decade

nyc things to do this weekend queens manhattan bronx brooklyn staten island nyc things to do this weekend nycCLICK PHOTO AT RIGHT TO FILL OUT THE CENSUS NOW.

The judicial wrangling in the courts about the census deadline is over. The FINAL date with which you can fill out the Census is THURSDAY NIGHT 10/15.

I wouldn't wait - if you haven't already filled out the census - CLICKING THE PHOTO AT RIGHT.

It takes 10 minutes literally, asks for information you should generally know about yourself, and is worth between $30,000 and $40,000 in government spending per person over the next ten years.

If you don't fill it out, we - the city and state - lose that funding, as well as representation in Washington, D.C.

You do not have to be a citizen to fill out the census and your personal information - by law - does not become accessible for a generation.


TO SHORTS ARCHIVE

 

Census: It's Time for NYC & NYS to Step Up

Current Census Participation Rate is 53% & 56% for NYC & NYS Respectively - Will New Yorkers Give Up $347 Billion Instead of Ten Minutes of Their Time?

us census census taking nyc census 2020August 10, 2020 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC CoVid 19 Special Section / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

In the midst of all the chaos, the census must go on. The census deadline was pushed back to October 31st, before it was pulled forward to September 30th.

That leaves New York City and New York State only 51 days to complete the census.

What's at stake? Mostly money and representation in government, as federal program funding is allocated to the states based on the census - and this lasts ten years. So we're talking a possible loss of billions in funding annually for the city and state if we collectively don't step up and fill out the census.

The census is designed to count every person LIVING in the city and state - NOT JUST CITIZENS.

By law this information cannot be shared, on an individual basis, with any other government agency for over 70 years. The aggregate information is shared so that decisions, like allocating funding, can be made using the best information available.

I'll have plenty more detail later today, including statistics that indicate that $1.3 trillion in federal funding is allocated annually based on the census data. That's likely over $13 trillion in the course of the next ten years. There are 330 million people in the U.S. so that translates to $40,000 per person over the next ten years. The share of this money that NYS should receive is $788 billion if everyone filled out the census [assumes a population of 20 million for NYS]. At the current census participation rate New Yorkers are giving up $347 BILLION in federal funding.

Please click here to fill out the census now. It literally takes less than ten minutes.



 

nyc things to do manhattan brooklyn queens bronx staten island things to do events nyc

1668

NYC News Round Up Late October 2021

CoVid Vaccination Rates NYC, NYS & USA, Supply Chain Backlog Should Begin Easing Soon, NYC Cultural Institutions are Back in the Business of Welcoming World Travelers, Early Voting has Begun, Sliwa vs Adams, and Will One ill-considered 10 Second Comment Sink a Very Competent Governor Phil Murphy?

nyc things to do manhattan brooklyn queens bronx staten island things to do nycOctober 25, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. The temperature highs will range from about 60, while the lows will range from about 50 throughout the week. Winds will range from 10 - 15 mph Monday and Tuesday, rising to 10 - 20 mph Wednesday, before dropping back to about 10 mph on Thursday and rising again to about 15 mph on Friday. A heavy rain will fall Monday night and most of Tuesday [total 3.5 inches], fading away in Tuesday night. Wednesday and Thursday will be cloudy, but dry. And then another inch of rain returns Friday, decreasing throughout the day Saturday.

The photo at right was taken at the Sunnyside Queens farmers market on Saturday. Fresh air, fresh food produced by local farmers and the opportunity to make some fresh friends in the community. How's that for a recipe to cure those CoVid pandemic blues?

The following is a bit of a news round up the past couple of weeks, and a small look into what's coming.

 

Why is it Necessary to Legislate Common Sense? Because Rupert Murdoch Controls Far too Much of America's Media.

Mayor de Blasio has issued an Executive Order mandating most NYC municipal employees must have received at least one dose of the CoVid vaccination by November 1st. As of an October 20, 2021 Newsweek report, about 69% of the NYPD were vaccinated, and an ABC News report on the same day said that about 60% of the FDNY has been vaccinated.

It's so sad that here we are in what should be the 'Information Age', and yet because of the dominant share of daily national news media controlled by Australian born billionaire, Rupert Murdoch, we are instead living in the Age of Disinformation. Make no mistake about it - Rupert Murdoch's mass media propaganda outlets [Fox, WSJ, NY Post, Harper Collins Books & ABC News] are at least - if not more - dangerous than anything that happens on Facebook.

Nationally 58% of the population has been fully vaccinated and about 67% has received at least one dose. In both NYC and NYS 66% have been fully vaccinated, while 73% have received at least one dose. Neanderthal Governor Greg Abbott's Texas by contrast, has 53% fully vaccinated and 61% have received at least one dose. When I look at the vaccination rates state by state in the U.S. I see two things - one is what is essentially a state by state comparative I.Q. test and the other is a state by state prevalence of Fox News TV stations. The two generally go hand in hand. The lower the I.Q., the higher the prevalence of Fox News. I could be wrong, but based on studies done in the past, I don't think so.


Weekend Things To Do in NYC over the 4th of July Weekend

See Below for 4th of July Fireworks Shows, Times, Locations as well as Farmers Markets, Street Fairs & Free Public Swimming Pools

nyc things to do this weekend nyc manhattan queens brooklyn staten Island bronx things to do nycJuly 2, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. The temperature highs will be around 80 on Friday, Sunday and Monday, falling to about 70 on Saturday only. The temperature lows will be in the low to mid 60's on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, rising to 70 on Monday. The humidity will be around 80 on Friday and Saturday, falling to between 60% - 75% on Sunday and Monday. Winds will be 5 - 10 mph all weekend. About a quarter to half inch of rain will arrive each day Friday and Saturday - beginning Friday afternoon and ending Saturday early evening. No rain is in the forecast for Sunday, July 4th, nor Monday. Hooray.

We'll have some more updates on activities this weekend by Friday afternoon, but if you're looking for the times, locales and viewing spots for the July 4th fireworks, click into the story below.

And best wishes for an enjoyable July 4th holiday.

Things Continue to Come Back to Life

We're working to stay abreast of things as the city re-awakens from its CoVid pandemic past. Here are some links to other things going on including Bronx Farmers Markets NYC, Brooklyn Farmers Markets NYC, Manhattan Farmers Markets NYC, Queens Farmers Markets NYC and Staten Island Farmers Markets NYC. Here are some links to Manhattan street fairs NYC, Queens street fairs NYC, Bronx street fairs NYC, Brooklyn street fairs NYC and Staten Island street fairs NYC. We'll add more as the summer progresses.

The NYC public park swimming pools, which are free and open to the public opened on June 26, 2021 and will remain open until Sunday, September 12, 2021. We've compiled key information for the free public swimming pools in each borough as follows: 1) Free public swimming pools in the Bronx NYC, 2) free public swimming pools in Brooklyn NYC, 3) free public swimming pools in Manhattan NYC, 4) free public swimming pools in Queens NYC, and 5) free public swimming pools on Staten Island NYC.

Next week there's NYC 4th of July fireworks which are viewable from all five boroughs, one of which has already passed on 6/24, and another scheduled for Tuesday, 6/29. Click these links to specifics related to each borough - 1) Bronx 4th of July fireworks 2021 & Orchard Beach July 4th fireworks BX NYC, 2) Brooklyn 4th of July fireworks 2021 & Coney Island July 4th fireworks BK NYC, 3) Manhattan 4th of July fireworks 2021, 4) Queens July 4th fireworks 2021 & Astoria Park 4th of July fireworks Queens NYC , and 5) Staten Island 4th of July fireworks 2021.





1617

Black History Month to End Soon

PBS has been Airing Some Excellent Documentaries about African Americans Role in Our Nation's History

nyc things to do nyc things to do this weekend nycFebruary 22, 2021 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC History / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Weather. There will be a small bit of rain today between 11 am - 4 pm. Thereafter the rest of the week should be dry. The temperature highs will be in the 40's all week and the temperature lows will be in the 30's. The winds will be 5 - 10 mph except on Wednesday, when it will be a drafty 13 mph. Humidity will be in the 70% range today, dropping into the 60% range on Tuesday & Wednesday, then down into the 50% range on Thursday and Friday.

All tolled, it looks like a pretty fair week.

 

PBS - Finding Your Roots - Histories

Last night I came upon one of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Finding Your Roots documentaries on PBS. For more info about this series see - https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/

As I watched, I recollected how in my youth, I had considered Black hisotry to be a superfluous extension of American history. That perspective was, of course, born of youthful ignorance. Since then, I have come to appreciate the importance of Black Studies in providing a more comprehensive view of American history over the centuries. In part, I have PBS to thank, because they have aired and I have watched, quite a number of documentaries - some or all of which they funded or produced - particularly since the CoVid pandemic began.

In the program I viewed last night, one of the people on Gates' Finding Your Roots series was being informed about her family's history. It struck me when Gates referenced her great, great, great, great grandfather on a bill of sale by Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Over the past decade or so, I've become more interested in my own family's history. We knew a fair amount about those ancestors within temporal reach, going back to our great grandfathers, but little beyond. That was until a couple of summers ago when I found that one of the members of our extended family had a collection of scribbled notes and diagrams that recorded our lineage - some of which appears to date back to colonial times and the Revolutionary War. Up until this discovery, I had thought we had become Americans in the latter half of the 18th century.

But it occurred to me, based on Gates' reference to the great, great, great, great grandfather mentioned above, most African Americans' family histories date back at least a couple of centuries. Gates' documentary series delves into the histories of oftentimes, somewhat famous, African Americans who were descendants of slaves, or famous white Christian or Jewish Americans who are descendants of families that owned slaves.

Gates' geneological and genetic explorations also find interesting tidbits, like the fact that comedian Larry David and Senator Bernie Sanders are distantly related. PBS Producer Ken Burns is a descendant of a slave owner, but also related to Abraham Lincoln. And Brian Gumbel discovered he had some previously unknown Jewish ancestry.

Out of Gates' explorations into the past, we learn many things, not the least of which is that African Americans worked the fields, growing cotton and food that fed and clothed the nation, and provided their 'owners' with a tidy profit. It's worth noting that in the early 1800's about 75% of the nation worked in occupations related to agriculture [today it's about 10 - 11%]. But following the Civil War, African Americans' contribution to the nation went far beyond that, including serving our nation in two world wars, providing needed labor for the auto industry and significantly contributing to our culture and history.

 



1521 - add back foto

The Corona Virus in NYC, NYS & the U.S.

Exclusive Coverage the Corona Virus Pandemic in New York City, NY State

June 22, 2022 / Special Section CoVid Pandemic / Gotham Buzz NYC.

CLICK to view this special section is dedicated to informing the public about the Corona Virus in NYC and NYS.




1402

NYC Museums: The Frick Collection

A Gilded Age Mansion Turned Art Museum In NYC

Spring 2014 / NYC Neighborhoods / Art & Culture NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

frick collection frick museum manhattan museums uesA year ago I had the opportunity to attend the opening presentation of a new arrival at The Frick Collection on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It was a beautiful May day as I walked north along the east side of Central Park. I noticed banners hanging from the street lights on Fifth Avenue announcing the opening of the new art exhibit at The Frick Collection.

The museum was once the home of Henry Clay Frick. Henry Frick grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania in the middle of the 19th century. By the time Frick was thirty he and his cousins had cornered the lion's share of the coke business in the state of Pennsylvania. Coke was made by burning off the unstable elements in coal, thus making it a reliable high-intensity fuel that was relatively abundant and inexpensive to produce. In the 19th century coke was used to fuel the blast furnaces of the steel mills, a practice which continues to this day in many steel plants around the world.

The Frick Collection: History Of Henry Clay Frick

henry clay frick mansion ues upper east side mansions manhattanIn the early 1880's Henry Clay Frick's coke company joined Andrew Carnegie's steel company. The merged companies became a vertically integrated enterprise which subsequently provided Frick's coke company with a steady buyer of its product, and provided Carnegie's steel company with a steady source of fuel. Together these enterprises grew rapidly, and in the process made Frick and Carnegie, two of the wealthiest men in America.

Both the coke and steel industries had employment issues related to working conditions, fair pay and health hazards. The unions attempted to organize their labor forces and were beaten back by the joint enterprise of the Frick Coke Company and the Carnegie Steel Company, lead by Henry Clay Frick. Frick oversaw the effort to thwart them, meeting force with force. Several men died in the clash and henceforth Frick has been vilified as one of the 19th century, industrialist robber barons. But Frick is not alone as one of the robber barons, as the likes of his cohort Andrew Carnegie [steel], J.P. Morgan [banking], John D. Rockefeller [oil] and Jay Gould [banking] are just a few of those who are included in this category.

In 1911, J.P. Morgan finessed a deal that merged together the Carnegie Steel Company, with several other enterprises, into what became U.S. Steel. U.S. Steel was, in the early 20th century, one of the largest corporations in America, and at its peak controlled nearly two thirds of American steel production. It's important to add that this was at a time when steel was growing as one of the essential building materials of its time, as it was being used to build trains, railroads, ships, electrical generators and beginning to be used in new inventions like automobiles, elevators, high rise construction [Flatiron Building], appliances [telephones] and as shipping containers [cans] for consumer products.

Upper East Side: Once Home To Robber Barons

frick collection frick museum manhattan museums uesMany of the robber barons lived in Manhattan along Fifth Avenue in what is today called the Midtown and the Upper East Side neighborhoods. The robber barons gave some portion of their considerable wealth back to the communities in the form of art [Frick], education [John D. Rockefeller bankrolled the University of Chicago], art & history [J.P. Morgan to the Metropolitan Museum and his home is the Morgan Library & Museum] and libraries [Andrew Carnegie gifts helped start about half the public libraries in the U.S.].

Carnegie is the most notable philanthropist, as he gave nearly all of his $300 million wealth away [equivalent of tens of billions and likely more today] before he died. And Jay Gould is most notable in the other extreme, as he's reputed to not have given a dime back to the community. But that said, it's worth noting that one of Jay Gould's heirs subsequently donated Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown to the National Historic Trust. But I digress.

Frick had a taste for art and objets d'art. From the beginning of his economic ascendance he began collecting. And as his wealth grew, he began acquiring many of the world's artistic and aesthetic treasures. Before he died, he bequeathed some of his wealth to the communities of western Pennsylvania in the form of the mansions he built and / or lived in, along with many of the fine art, furniture and objets d'art he had purchased during his lifetime. Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh are home to much of what Frisk left the public.

Click here to read the rest of our report about The Frick Collection / Frick Museum / Frick Mansion - Robber Baron Mansions on the Upper East Side NYC.


1412

Steinway & Sons Piano Company History & Legacy

Exclusive Coverage Of The Steinways, Factory, Mansion, History & Legacy

Updated April 2017 / Steinway & Sons Piano Mansion Factory Steinway Hall Special Section / Gotham Buzz NYC.

To date we've published nearly a dozen stories and short reports on the Steinway Mansion in Astoria Queens.  The Steinway Mansion is one of the last remaining 'country estates' of 19th century Queens.  It was also the home of the Steinways of Steinway & Sons Piano fame for nearly a half century.

I felt like I'd stepped through a time warp, back into the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The visit connected me to one of the legendary centerpieces of Queens history - the Steinway family and the mansion they occupied during their golden years ... but the mansion's history neither starts nor ends there.

Join us on this fascinating voyage into the past and contact members of City Hall, the NYS Legislature and historical societies to help fight to preserve the mansion which now stands at a crossroads of possibly being lost forever or being acquired by the city and converted into a museum and cultural center - as it should be.

Click here to read our reports and view our photos of the Steinway Mansion in Astoria Queens.




Tribeca: Crane Falls Kills One

Mayor de Blasio Responds with Increase in Oversight

tribeca crane crash hudson st church st worth st nyc manhattanFebruary 15 , 2016 / NYC Neighborhoods / Gotham Buzz NYC _ D.

On Friday February 5th at around 8 am, crane operators began lowering a very long extended steel arm [565 feet according to the Mayor's Office], to reduce its exposure to high winds. Instead of a controlled descent, the crane arm fell to the ground, killing one and injuring three others. This occurred on Worth Street between Hudson Street and Church Street in Tribeca.

The crane was located between Hudson and West Broadway and the winds were estimated to be in the neighborhood of 20 - 25 mph at the time of the crash. This is a mobile crane, and various cranes have different specifications for being secured at certain wind speeds. The last time there was a crane accident in New York City was in 2008, when there were two building crane accidents.

The crane was put in place only a week earlier, on January 30th, and a few days earlier had been inspected by the NYC Department of Buildings. The crane was authorized or designed to go to the 565 feet to which it had recently been extended. The crane was owned by Bay Crane Company and it was being operated by Galasso Trucking and Rigging.

tribeca crane crash hudson st church st worth st nyc manhattanI went down to the site on the Saturday after occurrence to take photos and while there talked to a few bystanders. You could see that the stationary crane, which was based on the street level, had toppled the length of Worth Street. The crane was put in place to install generators and air conditioning units atop the building at 60 Hudson Street which was the former Western Union Building.

It appeared that the crane just fell and in its wake crashed upon a few cars and pedestrians who fled. The one who was killed was an Upper West Sider. The area was secured in the aftermath, but Con Ed reported that their infrastructure appeared to be ok. One of the subway lines (#1) skipped a couple stops in the vicinity over the weekend and pedestrian and street traffic around Worth Street between Church and Hudson was blocked off. Overall the scene appeared relatively peaceful, although there were police tapes up and rerouted traffic as the police and the Department of Buildings conducted their investigations and follow up.

On Sunday, February 7th, the Mayor made a statement announcing several new policies. The first is with respect to mandates for the securing of mobile cranes, which is to be whenever winds are forecast to be 20 mph or above and for gusts of 30 mph or above. Secondly the Mayor said that there will be stricter guidelines for enforcing and ensuring pedestrian compliance and safety while cranes are being secured, and there may be some additional assistance / oversight from the NY City police [NYPD], NY City Fire Department [FDNY], the NY City Department of Transportation [NYCDOT], NY City Department of Buildings [NYCDOB]. Now when a crane is being secured or to be secured, the operators will be required to notify the community in advance. And lastly, a task force is being assembled to see what can be learned from this accident so that best practices may be learned and put in place so that this doesn't happen again.



Flushing Meadows Corona Park Queens

  nyc things to do manhattan brooklyn queens bronx staten island things to do events nyc Flushing Meadows Corona Park History & Development Exclusive Coverag...

Steinway Section: Steinway & Sons Piano Company Factory History NYC

nyc things to do manhattan brooklyn queens bronx staten island things to do events nyc Steinway & Sons Piano Company History & Legacy Exclusive...

Sunnyside Yard History NYC: History of Trains & Railroad Yards in NYC & Real Estate Development

  nyc things to do manhattan brooklyn queens bronx staten island things to do events nyc Real Estate Development: Sunnyside Yard History & NYC Railroad History...