Post-primary pic of Virginia Maloney and Alex Bores at La Cava, Second Avenue in the 50s. ( Photo: Virginia Maloney) Dems on East Side Uniting After Primary Races. Well, the primaries are behind us and the UES’s incumbents were victorious—Julie Menin CD 5’s Council Member and the 76th... News 07 Jul 2025 | 01:35
The Campaign Finance Board Made a $6.85 Million Mistake in Its Voters Guide Voter Guide snafu–In a recent column Campaign Finance Flyers Contain Errors, I pointed out that the Campaign Finance Board’s... News 23 Jun 2025 | 04:16
Virginia Maloney (left) who is running for City Council in District 4, with her mom, former Congress woman Carolyn Maloney, who held an upper East Side council seat for ten years before starting her 30-year career in Congress. They lunched recently with our East Side Observer columnist. ( Photo: Courtesy Virginia Maloney campaign) Taking a Trip Down Memory Lane in Primary Season Memory lane—City Council District 4 is personal to me. While I now live in CD 5, the streets, the blocks, the avenues are... Voices 09 Jun 2025 | 05:41
Patis Bakery, a popular French-American pâtisserie chain, shut several of its stores following a bankruptcy in 2024 but reopened two East Side locations. Now one on Lexington Ave. between 88th and 89th is closed as is another near Grand Central. It still has about a dozen scattered around downtown, Chelsea, and the UWS. ( Photo: Patis.com) Campaign Board Flyers Contain Errors; UES Senior Residences Thrive; Bakery Opening/Closing On May 22 I opened my apartment building mailbox to find the 2025 Primary Election Voter Guide sent by the New York City... Voices 07 Jun 2025 | 09:14
Julie Menin, the incumbent in City Council District 5, has emerged as the reigning Queen of Fundraisers on the Upper East Side with over $533,607 raised for her primary race so far. She is not accepting public matching funds. The competitive District 4 race has six candidates with nearly $1.5 million in their respective war chests. ( Photo: Julie Menin campaign) Two East Side Dem Council Races Have Total of Over $2 Million in Campaign War Chests There is some big money being spent in the District 4 and District 5 Democratic primary council races on the Upper East Side,... Voices 13 May 2025 | 03:20
The Wegmans supermarket chain, which opened its first NYC store on Astor Place (above) in 2023, will be getting some new sister operations: the Next Door sushi restaurant and an UWS location later this year. ( Photo: courtesy of Wegmans) Wegmans Gets an UWS Sibling; Menin Gets a UES Competitor A complete unknown Hard to imagine that there would be any real surprises coming out of the local City Council District 4... Voices 27 Apr 2025 | 07:34
Judge Shahabuddeen “Shah” Ally (in bowtie) with supporter Ravi Batra at the judges’ kickoff reception held at Saar, a newly opened Indian bistro at 241 W. 51st St. ( Photo: Tony Hoffman) Three NY Supreme Court Judge Seats are Up for Grabs in November Election The race is on. Not for Mayor. Or Comptroller. Or City Council. But to fill the three open seats on NY County’s Supreme come... Voices 14 Apr 2025 | 12:46
All six candidates trying to secure the Democratic nomination for city council representing City Council District 4 appeared at the forum sponsored by the East 86th Street Association on March 6. ( Photo: East 86th Street Association) Controversy Brewing in CD 4 Council Race as Rachel Storch Opts Out of Matching Funds Petitions, matching funds: The race for the District 4 City Council seat just got a little testy as Rachel Storch, one of... News 31 Mar 2025 | 02:47
Marlena Brauer poses amid the pink cherry blossoms at the South Street Seaport. ( Photo: Courtesy Marlena Brauer) Cherry Blossoms at Seaport and Disappearing Mailboxes on UES Cherry blossoms the NYC way—South Street Seaport’s Watermark venue at Pier 15 has a spectacular Cherry Blossom Festival through... News 15 Mar 2025 | 05:33
Keith Powers (rear), the term-limited City Council District 4 member, has not endorsed anyone in the Council race, but is instead spending time on the campaign trail with five of six of them. Here he campaigns with Ben Wetzler on the Upper East Side. ( Photo: Ben Weltzer campaign) Petitioning Underway by Six for Open East Side Council Seat The Power’s on: In 2017 Keith Powers, CD4’s current Council member, ran in a primary against a crowded field of eight candidates,... News 03 Mar 2025 | 04:02
It was a pakced house at the mayoral forum on the Upper East Side, which drew all the declared candidates for mayor in June 24 Democratic primary except for Mayor Eric Adams. Candidates attended either in person or via Zoom. ( Photo: Julianne Ballingtom) Lexington Dem Club Endorses Stringer for Mayor; Four Freedoms Club Opts for No One Lex Club’s for Stringer—After a cliffhanger of an endorsement vote, and late into the night and the next day, Manhattan Dems... Voices 15 Feb 2025 | 04:16
A big crowd turned out to listen to Assembly member Alex Bores deliver his State of the District address at the High School of Art & Design, which received a $150,000 check for the school’s media labs. He also praised the Knickerbocker Greys, who were allowed back into the Park Avenue Armory. ( Photo: Arlene Kayatt) Bores Gives $150,000 to School, Praises Knickerbocker Greys From the Dragon to the Snake—Just as the Chinese Zodiac calendar was leaving the Year of the Dragon and entering the Year... Voices 03 Feb 2025 | 04:56
Virginia Maloney is the sixth Democratic candidate to enter the race for city council in District 4, vying to fill a city council seat once held by her mother, former Congress member Carolyn Maloney. Virginia Maloney (right, standing above crowd) held her fundraiser at St. Pat’s Bar & Grill on W. 46th St. ( Photo: Arlene Kayatt) Petition Drives Set to Kick off Next Month for 6 Dems in District 4 Council Race The streets from Stuyvesant Town to E. 93rd St. may soon be crowded with foot soldiers gathering the 450 signatures needed... Voices 23 Jan 2025 | 02:40
Former Congress member Carolyn Maloney with Frank Wilkinson, a local Democratic activist who is known as the Baron of Yorkville. ( Photo: Facebook) ‘Baron of Yorkville’ Steps Down from Four Freedoms Dem Club After Decades of UES Activism To Be Frank–Frank Wilkinson, accomplished author of fiction (“Bygones”), a Princeton graduate who grew up on the Philadelphia... Voices 06 Jan 2025 | 02:04
Rowan Wilson, Chief Justice of the NYS Court of Appeals, was among the speakers at the induction ceremony of Allison Greenfield, one of six new civil court judges in Manhattan elected in November. She officially takes office on Jan. 1. ( Photo: Cody Cutter) Greenfield Inducted as Part of Class of Six New Civil Court Judges in Manhattan A bench of her own–The Civil Court room was packed to capacity with members of the judiciary, court colleagues, family, friends,... News 20 Dec 2024 | 03:19
