Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck dazzles 14th Street – at $3 a bottle
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
This is a kind of new phenomenon, not experienced since WWII – people standing in line for food. Whether it is genuine or generated by superb publicity geniuses, it is there – Trader Joe’s, a new food emporium on 14th Street, a few doors west of 3td Avenue, attracts long outside lines of shoppers at dinner and other high-traffic times.
It came to me first from my nearest and dearest, who would not stand in the heavy line of enthusiasts that wrapped around the block, or at least up to Union Square, much like rock concert attendees. Eventually I found a convenient morning to walk through the store, on my way to the Lexington Ave train, asking the dominies of the cult questions, although not getting good answers. I was sent to the Captain’s Desk, but the captain was elsewhere.
Sill interested, in the evening I tracked the man down in the store’s Wine Annex. “This may sound weird to you, but you have to call our national press representative in California, Alison, she will talk to you,” thus Mark Grumbach, the captain of the enterprise. Well, I am a community reporter, and full-rate California phone calls are outside my community-giving scheme, so you’ll get my unauthorized personal interpretation.
Trader Joe’s chain seems to have made a virtue of what poor people used to do, making it chic to buy private or house-brand discount food, ignoring the advertised varieties .For example, they have 60+ brands of cereals under $3 a box, a bold statement that reflects the up-pricing that all those companies whose names begin with General have put us through. Also, essential food items from other major suppliers who are willing to supply house brands at a fraction of the cost of advertised items. As for bargains, it was nice to buy Alaskan salmon for $6.99/lb. The firm has created ethnic brands as well, Trader Jose sells salsa. They offer items that are unique for this market, such as papadam (Indian bread) chips and freeze-dried pineapple. Organic merchandise signs abound in the store.
Hard up for information, I found asking questions in the elevators of my building very helpful. “It is like Whole Foods, only the prices are better,” “Cheerful, but not pushy, some unusual items, good pizza.” “ Makes the others sit up and take notice of the competition. The Food Emporium has opened a table area, clean but not quite the view as from Whole Foods.”
So where does this whole concept of discount food come from? I think that the pioneers were the Albrecht brothers, with Aldi, a private-brand company that has been successful in Europe since the 1940s, then moved into the US, around Chicago, and now we have their stores in the east. Aldi’s feature about 200+ essential foods, one private brand per item, all on plain-Jane open shelving, stacked in cartons, with plastic and paper bags for sale at checkout, and shopping carts loaned out on a 25 cent deposit, making the client return the cart to the rack. The women clerks work hard, restocking cartons, and rushing cans through the optical scanner, earning maybe time and a half as much as the checkout clerks in conventional supermarkets. The customer does the bag stuffing.
The American case-lot sale stores, such as Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJ’s, are somewhat different, offering low-price house brands as well as American- produced name brand food goods in case quantities, fish by the freezer-load, and vegetables to last the season, at discount prices, off the plain rack. It did not take long for a Trader Joe’s to emerge, a discounter with panache. So there we have the hybrid, a price cutter with some class.
Getting back to my provocative headline, in search of the captain I walked into the Wine Annex, to find strange brands of Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grouped by the price range, at $ 3.99, at 4.99 and so on. One group, by Charles Shaw of California, grabbed my attention, at $2.99. Talking to a nice young lady only a day on the job, not yet indoctrinated to the code, I finally elicited the information – it is truly the real thing, the famous Two-Buck Chuck, a wine that created a sensation when sold in California at $2, and a dollar more out-of-state. Now you too can throw a Two-Buck Chuck tasting party, first on your block, and fascinate your neighbors, at minimal cost.
Actually, Trader Joe is not an upstart company; it started in California in 1958, by a grocer, Joe Coulombo, who wanted to bring unusual items into his store. He named his manager the Captain, the clerks were Crew, and Hawaiian shirts were the standard work apparel. The stores grew to 250, in 19 states, mostly on the two coasts, and counting. The mission statement offers food “from the exotic to the basic.” It is a fun idea, and the variety is good for this food-rich neighborhood. And guess who owns the company now? The Albrecht brothers.
Wally Dobelis and the staff of T&V wish our readers, belatedly, a happy Passover and an enjoyable Easter celebration
This is a kind of new phenomenon, not experienced since WWII – people standing in line for food. Whether it is genuine or generated by superb publicity geniuses, it is there – Trader Joe’s, a new food emporium on 14th Street, a few doors west of 3td Avenue, attracts long outside lines of shoppers at dinner and other high-traffic times.
It came to me first from my nearest and dearest, who would not stand in the heavy line of enthusiasts that wrapped around the block, or at least up to Union Square, much like rock concert attendees. Eventually I found a convenient morning to walk through the store, on my way to the Lexington Ave train, asking the dominies of the cult questions, although not getting good answers. I was sent to the Captain’s Desk, but the captain was elsewhere.
Sill interested, in the evening I tracked the man down in the store’s Wine Annex. “This may sound weird to you, but you have to call our national press representative in California, Alison, she will talk to you,” thus Mark Grumbach, the captain of the enterprise. Well, I am a community reporter, and full-rate California phone calls are outside my community-giving scheme, so you’ll get my unauthorized personal interpretation.
Trader Joe’s chain seems to have made a virtue of what poor people used to do, making it chic to buy private or house-brand discount food, ignoring the advertised varieties .For example, they have 60+ brands of cereals under $3 a box, a bold statement that reflects the up-pricing that all those companies whose names begin with General have put us through. Also, essential food items from other major suppliers who are willing to supply house brands at a fraction of the cost of advertised items. As for bargains, it was nice to buy Alaskan salmon for $6.99/lb. The firm has created ethnic brands as well, Trader Jose sells salsa. They offer items that are unique for this market, such as papadam (Indian bread) chips and freeze-dried pineapple. Organic merchandise signs abound in the store.
Hard up for information, I found asking questions in the elevators of my building very helpful. “It is like Whole Foods, only the prices are better,” “Cheerful, but not pushy, some unusual items, good pizza.” “ Makes the others sit up and take notice of the competition. The Food Emporium has opened a table area, clean but not quite the view as from Whole Foods.”
So where does this whole concept of discount food come from? I think that the pioneers were the Albrecht brothers, with Aldi, a private-brand company that has been successful in Europe since the 1940s, then moved into the US, around Chicago, and now we have their stores in the east. Aldi’s feature about 200+ essential foods, one private brand per item, all on plain-Jane open shelving, stacked in cartons, with plastic and paper bags for sale at checkout, and shopping carts loaned out on a 25 cent deposit, making the client return the cart to the rack. The women clerks work hard, restocking cartons, and rushing cans through the optical scanner, earning maybe time and a half as much as the checkout clerks in conventional supermarkets. The customer does the bag stuffing.
The American case-lot sale stores, such as Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJ’s, are somewhat different, offering low-price house brands as well as American- produced name brand food goods in case quantities, fish by the freezer-load, and vegetables to last the season, at discount prices, off the plain rack. It did not take long for a Trader Joe’s to emerge, a discounter with panache. So there we have the hybrid, a price cutter with some class.
Getting back to my provocative headline, in search of the captain I walked into the Wine Annex, to find strange brands of Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grouped by the price range, at $ 3.99, at 4.99 and so on. One group, by Charles Shaw of California, grabbed my attention, at $2.99. Talking to a nice young lady only a day on the job, not yet indoctrinated to the code, I finally elicited the information – it is truly the real thing, the famous Two-Buck Chuck, a wine that created a sensation when sold in California at $2, and a dollar more out-of-state. Now you too can throw a Two-Buck Chuck tasting party, first on your block, and fascinate your neighbors, at minimal cost.
Actually, Trader Joe is not an upstart company; it started in California in 1958, by a grocer, Joe Coulombo, who wanted to bring unusual items into his store. He named his manager the Captain, the clerks were Crew, and Hawaiian shirts were the standard work apparel. The stores grew to 250, in 19 states, mostly on the two coasts, and counting. The mission statement offers food “from the exotic to the basic.” It is a fun idea, and the variety is good for this food-rich neighborhood. And guess who owns the company now? The Albrecht brothers.
Wally Dobelis and the staff of T&V wish our readers, belatedly, a happy Passover and an enjoyable Easter celebration
CB6, spring, street fairs, East Side rezoning and the UN
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Spring has sprung, and the thoughts of forward-thinking civic activists have turned to street fairs. The main work load of Community Board 6, as early as February, was to review Street Activity Permit requests, starting with the Gustavo’s Adolphus Lutheran Church, for the use of 3rd Ave (23-34 Streets) on April 30, which was approved, as were the events of the Turtle Bay Association, on May 7 (2nd Avenue, 42-55 Streets), Gramercy Visiting Neighbors on May 13 (3rd, 14-23 Streets – all dates are Saturdays except as noted), 17th Pct Community Council (Lex, 42-57 Streets), Bellevue South Community Association on June 4 (2nd, 23-34 Streets), Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association for June 10 (2nd, 14-23 Streets) Tilden Midtown Democratic Club on Sunday June 11 (3rd, 23-34 Streets), Friends of the 13th Precinct for June 17 (2nd, 23-34 Streets), Kidney and urology Foundation for June 18 (Lex, 34-42 Streets), Seafarers and international House for June 25 (3rd, 14-23 Streets), Meretz/Israeli Civil Rights Education Fund for Sunday, July 8 (Lex, 34-42 Streets), East Side Rezoning Alliance on Sunday, July 23 (Lex, 42-57 Streets), Vanderbilt YMCA for July 29 (2nd, 42-57 Streets), East 55th Street Conservative Synagogue for Sunday, August 30 (Lex, 42-57 Streets), Albano Republican Club for August 26 (3rd, 14-23 Streets), Church of the Good Shepherd for August 27 (3rd, 23-34 Streets), Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza for September 2 (2nd, 45-57 Streets), Manhattan East Community Association for Monday, September 4 (Lex, 43-42 Streets), Tudor City Association for Sunday, September 17 (2nd, 43-57 Streets), Cathedral High School for Sunday, October 1, (Lex, 42-57 Streets), Soldiers, Sailors, Marines & Airmen’s Club for Sunday, October 8 (Lex, 34-42 Streets), Our Lady of the Scapular and St. Stephan for Sunday, October 22 (3rd, 23-42 Streets).
Somewhat lost but not forgotten in the massive minutes of the CB6 were the actions regarding the 197-a and 197-c Plans, the zoning proposals for the renewal of the Eastern section of the district, to be addressed here on another occasion, and the Con Ed Waterside properties (three sites on 1st Avenue, 35-42 Streets), which include re-powering the 14th Street station and disposing of the Waterside land for development. CB6 wants a full Environmental Impact analysis that takes into account also the redesign of the FDR Drive and of the new building of the United Nations.
Note that our CB6 is in essence a ruling body carrying powers that affect governance of the world, if you please, with staggering implications. As of the moment, the plan is to move 10 of the 38 floors of the crumbling Secretariat into a midtown Manhattan office building and to construct a temporary Conference Hall in the North (Sculpture) area of the UN space, 46 Street and 1st Avenue. US Ambassador John R. Bolton is blocking the $100M allocation, offering $23.5M and claiming that no justification exists for the entire sum and that the offered amount “should carry us a fair distance until the General Assembly decides on some other critical questions, such as what the strategy should be.” He adds that he does not want to appear to be slowing the process down. Shucks, who would ever suggest that?
Note that the entire reconstruction estimate is $1.6B, over five years, to be paid by the 191 UN member nations, with the US carrying a 22% share. The above project replaces the original UN plan, to build a $330M 35-story building on the adjoining Robert Moses Park, an asphalt playground south of the property hardly worthy of being the memorial of the great builder (ok, also destroyer of 22 neighborhoods), which the UN offered to mitigate by opening a waterfront access esplanade to New Yorkers. This ran into a barrage of objections from UN opponents, both right-wing anti- world government and left-wing anti-enemies of Israel types. In New York, Assemblyman Dove Hikind (D-Brooklyn) saw it as a way to sticking it to Kofi Annan and his bribe-taking son, while Majority Leader. Joe Bruno fussed over parking tickets.
Even the liberal then assemblyman Steve Sanders voiced some voter- oriented concerns about “overbuilding of the East side.” Of course, on the national level all types of nationalists and nativists advocated getting rid of the enemy, reminding us that Germany, with a lot of empty buildings in Bonn, stood ready to receive the UN headquarters with open arms. The ailing ex-Senator Roy Goodman, chair of the UN Development Corporation, whose $161K salary riled some opponents, could not provide a successful counter-offensives. Fortunately, both Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki have maintained their support, mindful of the fact that New York’s stature as the capital of the world rests as much on its financial might as on the presence of the UN. Further, the risk of a really major terrorist attack on the US through New York City is lessened by the presence of foreign embassies, whose loss would bolster the case for worldwide condemnation and strengthen the case for a US response of unprecedented severity. That is a horror scenario, but we are living in a world of unprecedented risks. Although the anti-UN forces and their nudges on the national government have somewhat subsided, look out.
Spring has sprung, and the thoughts of forward-thinking civic activists have turned to street fairs. The main work load of Community Board 6, as early as February, was to review Street Activity Permit requests, starting with the Gustavo’s Adolphus Lutheran Church, for the use of 3rd Ave (23-34 Streets) on April 30, which was approved, as were the events of the Turtle Bay Association, on May 7 (2nd Avenue, 42-55 Streets), Gramercy Visiting Neighbors on May 13 (3rd, 14-23 Streets – all dates are Saturdays except as noted), 17th Pct Community Council (Lex, 42-57 Streets), Bellevue South Community Association on June 4 (2nd, 23-34 Streets), Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association for June 10 (2nd, 14-23 Streets) Tilden Midtown Democratic Club on Sunday June 11 (3rd, 23-34 Streets), Friends of the 13th Precinct for June 17 (2nd, 23-34 Streets), Kidney and urology Foundation for June 18 (Lex, 34-42 Streets), Seafarers and international House for June 25 (3rd, 14-23 Streets), Meretz/Israeli Civil Rights Education Fund for Sunday, July 8 (Lex, 34-42 Streets), East Side Rezoning Alliance on Sunday, July 23 (Lex, 42-57 Streets), Vanderbilt YMCA for July 29 (2nd, 42-57 Streets), East 55th Street Conservative Synagogue for Sunday, August 30 (Lex, 42-57 Streets), Albano Republican Club for August 26 (3rd, 14-23 Streets), Church of the Good Shepherd for August 27 (3rd, 23-34 Streets), Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza for September 2 (2nd, 45-57 Streets), Manhattan East Community Association for Monday, September 4 (Lex, 43-42 Streets), Tudor City Association for Sunday, September 17 (2nd, 43-57 Streets), Cathedral High School for Sunday, October 1, (Lex, 42-57 Streets), Soldiers, Sailors, Marines & Airmen’s Club for Sunday, October 8 (Lex, 34-42 Streets), Our Lady of the Scapular and St. Stephan for Sunday, October 22 (3rd, 23-42 Streets).
Somewhat lost but not forgotten in the massive minutes of the CB6 were the actions regarding the 197-a and 197-c Plans, the zoning proposals for the renewal of the Eastern section of the district, to be addressed here on another occasion, and the Con Ed Waterside properties (three sites on 1st Avenue, 35-42 Streets), which include re-powering the 14th Street station and disposing of the Waterside land for development. CB6 wants a full Environmental Impact analysis that takes into account also the redesign of the FDR Drive and of the new building of the United Nations.
Note that our CB6 is in essence a ruling body carrying powers that affect governance of the world, if you please, with staggering implications. As of the moment, the plan is to move 10 of the 38 floors of the crumbling Secretariat into a midtown Manhattan office building and to construct a temporary Conference Hall in the North (Sculpture) area of the UN space, 46 Street and 1st Avenue. US Ambassador John R. Bolton is blocking the $100M allocation, offering $23.5M and claiming that no justification exists for the entire sum and that the offered amount “should carry us a fair distance until the General Assembly decides on some other critical questions, such as what the strategy should be.” He adds that he does not want to appear to be slowing the process down. Shucks, who would ever suggest that?
Note that the entire reconstruction estimate is $1.6B, over five years, to be paid by the 191 UN member nations, with the US carrying a 22% share. The above project replaces the original UN plan, to build a $330M 35-story building on the adjoining Robert Moses Park, an asphalt playground south of the property hardly worthy of being the memorial of the great builder (ok, also destroyer of 22 neighborhoods), which the UN offered to mitigate by opening a waterfront access esplanade to New Yorkers. This ran into a barrage of objections from UN opponents, both right-wing anti- world government and left-wing anti-enemies of Israel types. In New York, Assemblyman Dove Hikind (D-Brooklyn) saw it as a way to sticking it to Kofi Annan and his bribe-taking son, while Majority Leader. Joe Bruno fussed over parking tickets.
Even the liberal then assemblyman Steve Sanders voiced some voter- oriented concerns about “overbuilding of the East side.” Of course, on the national level all types of nationalists and nativists advocated getting rid of the enemy, reminding us that Germany, with a lot of empty buildings in Bonn, stood ready to receive the UN headquarters with open arms. The ailing ex-Senator Roy Goodman, chair of the UN Development Corporation, whose $161K salary riled some opponents, could not provide a successful counter-offensives. Fortunately, both Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki have maintained their support, mindful of the fact that New York’s stature as the capital of the world rests as much on its financial might as on the presence of the UN. Further, the risk of a really major terrorist attack on the US through New York City is lessened by the presence of foreign embassies, whose loss would bolster the case for worldwide condemnation and strengthen the case for a US response of unprecedented severity. That is a horror scenario, but we are living in a world of unprecedented risks. Although the anti-UN forces and their nudges on the national government have somewhat subsided, look out.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
CB5 approves the redesign of the northern end of Union Square Park
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
This is a partial update of recent Community Board activities.
First, Union Square, which has traditionally been a place for free speech and public assembly and is recognized in the State and National Registers of Historic Places because of this use, and any proposal for the redesign of the North end of the park and plaza must balance the many uses of the park’s constituents, including the Greenmarket. The recent CB5 resolution acknowledges that New York City Parks and Recreation Department has proposed to redesign the northern end of Union Square Park, with funding from public and private sources, including the Union Square Partnership, Councilmember Margarita Lopez, the City of New York and private donations.
After consultation, the Partnership contracted Michael Van Valkenberg Landscape Architects to develop potential design concepts. CB5, the NYCDPR and the Partnership sponsored numerous meetings with local residents, businesses, park users and interested community organizations to solicit input into the design. A final design was presented to Community Board Five at a public meeting on January 30, 2006. The elements:
The Playground consolidates two existing play spaces into one continuous, enlarged playground (enlarged from 5,100 square feet to 14,687 square feet) with distinct age-specific play areas that encourage creativity through landforms, play equipment and open spaces with child sized hills, and a planted perimeter. Sand, water and plants will be incorporated into the playground. Designed to be accessible to wheelchairs as well as baby strollers, it will have a unisex bathroom with changing table, accessible only from the playground for use by children and their guardians, located on the east side of the pavilion. Security will be ample.
The Northern Gateway Plaza, historic urban gathering space, will be repaved. Asphalt blocks are proposed to create an integration of the plaza perimeter with the park as a continuation of the southwest corner renovation. Along 17th street, 8 trees will be planted a minimum of 20 feet apart. A sidewalk will be built along 17th Street to provide protections for pedestrians by delineating park/sidewalk and the street. Additional shaded public seating as well as trees will be placed along the north façade of the pavilion. Public bathrooms accessible from the north side will be built along the east side of the pavilion for use by all park patrons as well as the greenmarket. Increased and historically sensitive lighting will be installed. Green Market does not object.
The Concession involves restoration of the pavilion with the main entrance on the north side. The concessionaire will be responsible for a full restoration of the pavilion. The proposed seasonal café will occupy less area than what is occupied currently by the existing concession. Access to the pavilion will be available to the public when the concession is closed.
Parks Storage A park maintenance yard will be added on to west of the new bathroom structure to increase storage for Parks Department staff. A new basement of the building will be excavated of approximately 1,000 square feet to create locker rooms, showers, and increased office space.
Since many in the community have expressed concern regarding a seasonal food concession with high prices and limited access, CB5 notes that the renovation of Union Square North and full restoration of the pavilion is not contingent on a concessionaire. CB5 will require the concessionaire to go through an RFP review process and it recommends that the RFP should be open to other entities such as cultural and community groups (to which the Parks Department has agreed).
Consequently, CB5 has resolved to support the overall design of the north end of Union Square Park and the plaza as described above except for the bathroom structure, the design of which has not been presented; and be it further and requests the Parks Department return to the Board with the specific design of the bathroom structure before the plan moves forward; also, it requests that the Parks Department increase the handicap accessibility of the playground as well as adding additional playground elements that are handicap accessible; and that the Parks Department include opportunities for other organizations, such as cultural institutions, community groups, etc. to submit proposals for the pavilion in addition to restaurateurs, and that the Board be given full opportunity to opine on the RFP prior to its release. [These items may be discussed at the April 11 CB5 meeting.] The above resolution passed with a vote of 29 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstention, 1 present not entitled to vote.
The next step will be a review by the Art Commission, with a public meeting scheduled for May 15, and the Citizens for Union Square, the coalition of residents opposing the redesign, have prepared a major portfolio of pictures, articles and letters documenting the historic significance of the open northern end of Union Square, New York’s traditional protest space. Keep your eye on this space.
A funny thing happened on the way to the printer. My March 30 article "Revisiting the murder of a neighborhood architect playboy " lost its subtitle, "The Stanford White - Harry. K. Thaw - Evelyn Nesbitt Story." In case you had trouble identifying the subjects of the murder mystery, those are their names.VRE: Looking Ahead, Wally Dobelis, "CB5 approves re-design of Union Square
Park's north end," April 13, 2006
Herewith a Letter to the Editor from Eadie Shanker, April 23, 2005. Mrs Shanker is the widow of Al Shanker, late head of the UFT.
The City and Parks Department with the help of local BIDs have targeted
local parkland for commercial use, namely the Brooklyn Waterfront Park for
condos, parks adjacent to Yankee Stadium for parking lots and Stuyvesant
Park and Union Square Park for unneeded and unwanted restaurants. It is
disappointing that, without critical comments, Mr. Dobelis simply reprints
items from CB5's Resolution which accepts the City and Parks Department plan
for the renovation of Union Square Park North.
Why didn't he let the public know that there were over eighty residents at
the February 9th meeting (it was not on January 30!)? The overwhelming
majority of those attending were opposed to the privatization plan for a
restaurant. CB5 approved the plan despite the community's fight, since 2004,
against a restaurant in the pavilion. CB5 paid no attention to 900 petitions
and letters presented at the meeting opposing any restaurant plan for the
pavilion from twenty elected officials, sixty block associations, eight
prestigious city and statewide organizations and four political clubs. CB5
members have forgotten that they were appointed to represent their
community-to be its voice. They did not do their job in Union Square Park.
Of significant public interest is that while the CB's resolution notes its
traditional concern has been about commercial concessions in the park, it
did not reject the proposal's commercializing intent for a restaurant.
Instead, it accepted a seeming compromise that the Parks Department not make
its Request for Proposal (RFP) contingent upon a concessionaire. It
"recommended" that the process be open to cultural and community groups. The
Parks Department agreed. But that is like putting the fox in the henhouse
since the three iterations of the plan, first and foremost have all clearly
been designed to privilege a restaurant. The latest plan, without regard to
aesthetics, would have balconies added to the south side of the pavilion
overlooking the playground, to accommodate the restaurant's need for
additional patron seating! Its plan designates restaurant specific details
regarding the entrance site, seating, internal exhaust placement and
garbage/storage units-none of which would be essential for cultural and
community groups.
Non-profit groups cannot afford to pay what businesses are willing to spend
for sole use of a prime Manhattan site during the seasons when the public
most needs it. Moreover, there is no indication that the Department has
reached out to non-profit organizations fro RFP submissions. If the City
really wants community groups to use the pavilion, it could make available
to them resources of its human services, education, cultural and other
divisions that are already funded through our tax dollars which would enable
small local groups to provide a myriad of programs and activities for
vibrant community involvement.
The pavilion was built during the Great Depression to be used by the
broadest cross-section of the public. Now after decades of neglect, it can
be brought back to its former Palladian beauty. Its need for repairs should
not be used as the excuse to take it away from the community for commercial
purposes. The pavilion should be returned to the community for a wide-range
of public activities. The loss of open and free access to the pavilion in
order to favor a for-profit business would be an irredeemable loss-a lost
opportunity to improve the quality of life in our neighborhood. CB5 and the
Parks Department merely give lip-service to the notion that our parks and
their facilities need to be protected from such commercial activity.
Newspaper columnist should not just provide bland reprints of official
documents such as CB5's Resolution. Mr. Dobelis ignores the real issue of
the potential loss to the community of yet another piece of precious
parkland.
Eadie Shanker
Campaign to Save Union Square Park
This is a partial update of recent Community Board activities.
First, Union Square, which has traditionally been a place for free speech and public assembly and is recognized in the State and National Registers of Historic Places because of this use, and any proposal for the redesign of the North end of the park and plaza must balance the many uses of the park’s constituents, including the Greenmarket. The recent CB5 resolution acknowledges that New York City Parks and Recreation Department has proposed to redesign the northern end of Union Square Park, with funding from public and private sources, including the Union Square Partnership, Councilmember Margarita Lopez, the City of New York and private donations.
After consultation, the Partnership contracted Michael Van Valkenberg Landscape Architects to develop potential design concepts. CB5, the NYCDPR and the Partnership sponsored numerous meetings with local residents, businesses, park users and interested community organizations to solicit input into the design. A final design was presented to Community Board Five at a public meeting on January 30, 2006. The elements:
The Playground consolidates two existing play spaces into one continuous, enlarged playground (enlarged from 5,100 square feet to 14,687 square feet) with distinct age-specific play areas that encourage creativity through landforms, play equipment and open spaces with child sized hills, and a planted perimeter. Sand, water and plants will be incorporated into the playground. Designed to be accessible to wheelchairs as well as baby strollers, it will have a unisex bathroom with changing table, accessible only from the playground for use by children and their guardians, located on the east side of the pavilion. Security will be ample.
The Northern Gateway Plaza, historic urban gathering space, will be repaved. Asphalt blocks are proposed to create an integration of the plaza perimeter with the park as a continuation of the southwest corner renovation. Along 17th street, 8 trees will be planted a minimum of 20 feet apart. A sidewalk will be built along 17th Street to provide protections for pedestrians by delineating park/sidewalk and the street. Additional shaded public seating as well as trees will be placed along the north façade of the pavilion. Public bathrooms accessible from the north side will be built along the east side of the pavilion for use by all park patrons as well as the greenmarket. Increased and historically sensitive lighting will be installed. Green Market does not object.
The Concession involves restoration of the pavilion with the main entrance on the north side. The concessionaire will be responsible for a full restoration of the pavilion. The proposed seasonal café will occupy less area than what is occupied currently by the existing concession. Access to the pavilion will be available to the public when the concession is closed.
Parks Storage A park maintenance yard will be added on to west of the new bathroom structure to increase storage for Parks Department staff. A new basement of the building will be excavated of approximately 1,000 square feet to create locker rooms, showers, and increased office space.
Since many in the community have expressed concern regarding a seasonal food concession with high prices and limited access, CB5 notes that the renovation of Union Square North and full restoration of the pavilion is not contingent on a concessionaire. CB5 will require the concessionaire to go through an RFP review process and it recommends that the RFP should be open to other entities such as cultural and community groups (to which the Parks Department has agreed).
Consequently, CB5 has resolved to support the overall design of the north end of Union Square Park and the plaza as described above except for the bathroom structure, the design of which has not been presented; and be it further and requests the Parks Department return to the Board with the specific design of the bathroom structure before the plan moves forward; also, it requests that the Parks Department increase the handicap accessibility of the playground as well as adding additional playground elements that are handicap accessible; and that the Parks Department include opportunities for other organizations, such as cultural institutions, community groups, etc. to submit proposals for the pavilion in addition to restaurateurs, and that the Board be given full opportunity to opine on the RFP prior to its release. [These items may be discussed at the April 11 CB5 meeting.] The above resolution passed with a vote of 29 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstention, 1 present not entitled to vote.
The next step will be a review by the Art Commission, with a public meeting scheduled for May 15, and the Citizens for Union Square, the coalition of residents opposing the redesign, have prepared a major portfolio of pictures, articles and letters documenting the historic significance of the open northern end of Union Square, New York’s traditional protest space. Keep your eye on this space.
A funny thing happened on the way to the printer. My March 30 article "Revisiting the murder of a neighborhood architect playboy " lost its subtitle, "The Stanford White - Harry. K. Thaw - Evelyn Nesbitt Story." In case you had trouble identifying the subjects of the murder mystery, those are their names.VRE: Looking Ahead, Wally Dobelis, "CB5 approves re-design of Union Square
Park's north end," April 13, 2006
Herewith a Letter to the Editor from Eadie Shanker, April 23, 2005. Mrs Shanker is the widow of Al Shanker, late head of the UFT.
The City and Parks Department with the help of local BIDs have targeted
local parkland for commercial use, namely the Brooklyn Waterfront Park for
condos, parks adjacent to Yankee Stadium for parking lots and Stuyvesant
Park and Union Square Park for unneeded and unwanted restaurants. It is
disappointing that, without critical comments, Mr. Dobelis simply reprints
items from CB5's Resolution which accepts the City and Parks Department plan
for the renovation of Union Square Park North.
Why didn't he let the public know that there were over eighty residents at
the February 9th meeting (it was not on January 30!)? The overwhelming
majority of those attending were opposed to the privatization plan for a
restaurant. CB5 approved the plan despite the community's fight, since 2004,
against a restaurant in the pavilion. CB5 paid no attention to 900 petitions
and letters presented at the meeting opposing any restaurant plan for the
pavilion from twenty elected officials, sixty block associations, eight
prestigious city and statewide organizations and four political clubs. CB5
members have forgotten that they were appointed to represent their
community-to be its voice. They did not do their job in Union Square Park.
Of significant public interest is that while the CB's resolution notes its
traditional concern has been about commercial concessions in the park, it
did not reject the proposal's commercializing intent for a restaurant.
Instead, it accepted a seeming compromise that the Parks Department not make
its Request for Proposal (RFP) contingent upon a concessionaire. It
"recommended" that the process be open to cultural and community groups. The
Parks Department agreed. But that is like putting the fox in the henhouse
since the three iterations of the plan, first and foremost have all clearly
been designed to privilege a restaurant. The latest plan, without regard to
aesthetics, would have balconies added to the south side of the pavilion
overlooking the playground, to accommodate the restaurant's need for
additional patron seating! Its plan designates restaurant specific details
regarding the entrance site, seating, internal exhaust placement and
garbage/storage units-none of which would be essential for cultural and
community groups.
Non-profit groups cannot afford to pay what businesses are willing to spend
for sole use of a prime Manhattan site during the seasons when the public
most needs it. Moreover, there is no indication that the Department has
reached out to non-profit organizations fro RFP submissions. If the City
really wants community groups to use the pavilion, it could make available
to them resources of its human services, education, cultural and other
divisions that are already funded through our tax dollars which would enable
small local groups to provide a myriad of programs and activities for
vibrant community involvement.
The pavilion was built during the Great Depression to be used by the
broadest cross-section of the public. Now after decades of neglect, it can
be brought back to its former Palladian beauty. Its need for repairs should
not be used as the excuse to take it away from the community for commercial
purposes. The pavilion should be returned to the community for a wide-range
of public activities. The loss of open and free access to the pavilion in
order to favor a for-profit business would be an irredeemable loss-a lost
opportunity to improve the quality of life in our neighborhood. CB5 and the
Parks Department merely give lip-service to the notion that our parks and
their facilities need to be protected from such commercial activity.
Newspaper columnist should not just provide bland reprints of official
documents such as CB5's Resolution. Mr. Dobelis ignores the real issue of
the potential loss to the community of yet another piece of precious
parkland.
Eadie Shanker
Campaign to Save Union Square Park
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Immigration issues affect Midtown East Siders
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
While opinions vary about whether the current level if immigrants is good or bad for the US, one thing is certain here, in the Midtown East Side of Manhattan – our lives would be difficult without them.
Whether you are buying a meal or taking out food on First or Third Avenue or further west, seeing to your building being repaired and sidewalks mended, having your apartment cleaned or children looked after while you are busy making a living, you are dependent on recent immigrants for the services. Many of them are illegal. These are people who live doubled up, in bad conditions, work long hours and save money. Look at the faces and you will mostly see intelligent eyes, people eager to learn English and practice the language, people who may have arrived here illegally but who are and whose children will be assets to this country. Whenever I have mentioned this to neighbors, the answers have varied, from affirmation to some variation of: “Yeah, and whose tax money do you think pays for their health and education? Whose children do you think will have fewer opportunities at school and work when competing against these eager learners? What about the Americans who currently keep losing jobs to the illegals? Look, you are subsidizing the social services for big business, for giant agribus corporations!”
Yes, it is a fact that right next door, in New Jersey, taxpayers are contributing $200 million a year to the costs of medical services because illegal and uninsured immigrants working on farms seek care at hospital emergency rooms, the only service available to them. Californians are crying even harder because their schools are getting overcrowded and the non-English speaking children of the illegal farm workers are slowing down classroom progress. On the other hand , the legal and illegal guest workers working at low rates at labor-intensive farms make the fresh fruit and frozen vegetables delivered to our supermarkets more affordable. Note that, after the flawed Bracero Program (1942-64) was stopped by Cesar Chavez, California could not generate enough union laborers to grow beans, a national disaster, until illegals flowed in.
The presence of immigrants has grown, from nearly 10 million in 1970 to 33 million in 2005. Anywhere from 12 to an improbable 19 million are illegally here, driven to undertake a potentially deadly journey by home conditions of overcrowding and near starvation. A coyote industry in Mexico smuggles about 4,500 illegals across the border daily, and allegedly some 2,000 daily are caught by Immigration agents and trucked back, without creating a criminal record.
The magnitude of the economic and particularly the security aspects of illegal immigration have turned the Bush administration and the Congress at odds with each other. While the administration’s intent, supported by the Senate, including a large Democrat segment, favors the admission of up to 400,000 guest workers a year and the eventual legalization of the present illegals, provided they meet the proper criteria, the House of Representatives version excludes guest workers and specifies a more restrictive legitimization procedure, deportations and 700 miles of security fencing along the porous Mexican border. A mugwump bill sponsored by Majority Leader Frist demands just the security measures. The red states are particularly hurting, and some 95 conservative congressmen have formed an alliance to defeat the Bush bill.
Meanwhile, in the last days of March a million immigrants, prompted by a concerted Hispanic media action from Los Angeles, have demonstrated on Capitol Hill and rallied in other cities (New York on April 1), protesting the restrictive House bill. The fighting words “amnesty” and “criminalization” have served to stimulate both sides.
Not all immigrants favor the President’s bill. My friend Gide, a former New Yorker, protests against the amnesty of the illegals. He has seen the illegals taking away agricultural jobs in the orange –growing counties of Florida, jobs that at a minimum wage kept long-established Black families together, functional and economically productive. Now many of their children, jobless, on drugs and living aimlessly, have come to be part of the correctional system. Easy legitimization of illegal immigration just encourages more of the same, and takes out of the low-pay agricultural, construction and service work force many workers who become motivated to seek upward mobility in the cities, some resorting to crime
He would legitimize certain illegal immigrants, those who prove their intent to be Americans, have paid taxes, pass English language tests and renounce their foreign allegiances, specifically emphasizing allegiance to the Constitution and laws of USA as superseding any religious allegiances. This is particularly encouraging, coming from a practicing Muslim, who emphasizes that the people of the Bible, Old and New Testament, and the Qur’an are brethren and take their religious faith from the same sources. Parenthetically, he sees hope for the future, as the passive people of the Muslim world realize that the radical Islamist terrorists, while killing their own brethren, are acting against the basic tenets of Qur’an, which prohibit murder and suicide, and react accordingly.
This is a survey of the economics, omitting the tricky voter politics. It leaves Americans, even the placid East Midtowners, with many issues to consider.
While opinions vary about whether the current level if immigrants is good or bad for the US, one thing is certain here, in the Midtown East Side of Manhattan – our lives would be difficult without them.
Whether you are buying a meal or taking out food on First or Third Avenue or further west, seeing to your building being repaired and sidewalks mended, having your apartment cleaned or children looked after while you are busy making a living, you are dependent on recent immigrants for the services. Many of them are illegal. These are people who live doubled up, in bad conditions, work long hours and save money. Look at the faces and you will mostly see intelligent eyes, people eager to learn English and practice the language, people who may have arrived here illegally but who are and whose children will be assets to this country. Whenever I have mentioned this to neighbors, the answers have varied, from affirmation to some variation of: “Yeah, and whose tax money do you think pays for their health and education? Whose children do you think will have fewer opportunities at school and work when competing against these eager learners? What about the Americans who currently keep losing jobs to the illegals? Look, you are subsidizing the social services for big business, for giant agribus corporations!”
Yes, it is a fact that right next door, in New Jersey, taxpayers are contributing $200 million a year to the costs of medical services because illegal and uninsured immigrants working on farms seek care at hospital emergency rooms, the only service available to them. Californians are crying even harder because their schools are getting overcrowded and the non-English speaking children of the illegal farm workers are slowing down classroom progress. On the other hand , the legal and illegal guest workers working at low rates at labor-intensive farms make the fresh fruit and frozen vegetables delivered to our supermarkets more affordable. Note that, after the flawed Bracero Program (1942-64) was stopped by Cesar Chavez, California could not generate enough union laborers to grow beans, a national disaster, until illegals flowed in.
The presence of immigrants has grown, from nearly 10 million in 1970 to 33 million in 2005. Anywhere from 12 to an improbable 19 million are illegally here, driven to undertake a potentially deadly journey by home conditions of overcrowding and near starvation. A coyote industry in Mexico smuggles about 4,500 illegals across the border daily, and allegedly some 2,000 daily are caught by Immigration agents and trucked back, without creating a criminal record.
The magnitude of the economic and particularly the security aspects of illegal immigration have turned the Bush administration and the Congress at odds with each other. While the administration’s intent, supported by the Senate, including a large Democrat segment, favors the admission of up to 400,000 guest workers a year and the eventual legalization of the present illegals, provided they meet the proper criteria, the House of Representatives version excludes guest workers and specifies a more restrictive legitimization procedure, deportations and 700 miles of security fencing along the porous Mexican border. A mugwump bill sponsored by Majority Leader Frist demands just the security measures. The red states are particularly hurting, and some 95 conservative congressmen have formed an alliance to defeat the Bush bill.
Meanwhile, in the last days of March a million immigrants, prompted by a concerted Hispanic media action from Los Angeles, have demonstrated on Capitol Hill and rallied in other cities (New York on April 1), protesting the restrictive House bill. The fighting words “amnesty” and “criminalization” have served to stimulate both sides.
Not all immigrants favor the President’s bill. My friend Gide, a former New Yorker, protests against the amnesty of the illegals. He has seen the illegals taking away agricultural jobs in the orange –growing counties of Florida, jobs that at a minimum wage kept long-established Black families together, functional and economically productive. Now many of their children, jobless, on drugs and living aimlessly, have come to be part of the correctional system. Easy legitimization of illegal immigration just encourages more of the same, and takes out of the low-pay agricultural, construction and service work force many workers who become motivated to seek upward mobility in the cities, some resorting to crime
He would legitimize certain illegal immigrants, those who prove their intent to be Americans, have paid taxes, pass English language tests and renounce their foreign allegiances, specifically emphasizing allegiance to the Constitution and laws of USA as superseding any religious allegiances. This is particularly encouraging, coming from a practicing Muslim, who emphasizes that the people of the Bible, Old and New Testament, and the Qur’an are brethren and take their religious faith from the same sources. Parenthetically, he sees hope for the future, as the passive people of the Muslim world realize that the radical Islamist terrorists, while killing their own brethren, are acting against the basic tenets of Qur’an, which prohibit murder and suicide, and react accordingly.
This is a survey of the economics, omitting the tricky voter politics. It leaves Americans, even the placid East Midtowners, with many issues to consider.
