Making Sacrifices in ‘A Gentle City’

POPS meets the locals - An acronym that won’t be getting called out for sexism is POPS, which stands for Privately Owned Public Spaces, but which is becoming a sore point for some members of the public. Why? you ask. Because in June of this year, in response to COVID-19, the mayor temporarily suspended certain zoning requirements for POPS so that eating, drinking and retail establishments could have increased outdoor space to be used for more patron seating and social distancing. As a result of the suspension, seating for the public has been reduced. At two recent Community Board 8 Zoning and Development Committee meetings, a member of the public complained about the public space being used by Tony Di’Napoli’s restaurant on 64th and Third Ave, leaving little or no seating for him.

It seems that in these pandemic days everyone is obliged to make some sacrifices. Businesses, particularly restaurants, are going under and using POPS is a reasonable accommodation. And members of the public, CB8 board members and a representative of the restaurant all agreed that Tony Di’Napoli’s did not interfere with non-patrons sitting in the public space, but were, in fact, gracious. That being said, what was heartening was hearing CB8 members and the public, including Craig Lader and Judy Schneider, speak out on behalf of the restaurant, and board member Lader expressing his embarrassment that the board had dedicated so much time to the particular matter before it. As for the complaining resident, he may want to check out the spacious POPS located in the immediate vicinity of Tony Di’Napoli’s and located on the west side of Third Ave near Morton Williams supermarket. And he also may want to consider that, if outdoor seating continues, he may benefit from the warm heaters Di’Napoli’s will undoubtedly provide for outside dining.

Saying goodbye to Bette - I learned about Bette’s passing in last week’s Our Town. I’d known that she wasn’t well but there didn’t seem like a time when she’d be gone. I met Bette in the early early years of Our Town. Ed Kayatt started publishing Our Town in ‘71. I started in ‘73, Bette in ‘76. In those days the paper ran ads looking for volunteer writers and Bette was one of the first community residents to write about the issues effecting the neighborhoods that Our Town covered. Through the years she always credited and thanked me for giving her the opportunity to cover the community and the city from her perspective.

While she considered herself a New Yorker, having lived here since 1949, she was born in Minnesota, and I always thought that Bette had a Midwestern sensibility. And her concept of writing about NY’s being a “gentle city” seemed quaint. While the column was called “For a Gentle City” for many years, it sounded oxymoronic to have a column with that name in a publication with a readership that lived in Yorkville on the UES and which I thought of as NY tough. But not Bette. She was committed to showing how being NY tough could be tamed and channeled into caring and civility. She wrote about the noise, the traffic, the aging, civility, neighborhoods, churches, synagogues, local businesses, doormen, even bicyclists. Bette cared about the city and she spoke gently and directly. No holds barred. Very NY, with a Midwestern accent.

Interestingly, Bette’s column has appeared in Our Town for over 40 years - from the Ed Kayatt beginning - and she has continued on and lived through all subsequent owners, maybe six, including Straus Media. Quite an accomplishment. Really unheard of. Bette’s twin sons, Jeff and Todd Brabec, are rightly proud of their mom. Her spirit and stamina have stood Our Town in good stead. Her voice will be missed.