“Ticket agent” offers two women “assistance” near Bowling Green. March 2025. ( Photo: Brian Berger) Beware! Battery Park Tourist Scammers Persist Despite Years of Complaints & Warnings Let’s call it Anarchy in Battery Park. That’s the impression a visitor gets as they traverse this historic jewel of lower... News 28 Mar 2025 | 05:06
NYC Council Member and parks committee chair Shekar Krishnan, Michael Schweinsburg, Assembly Member Alex Bores, Kevin O’Keefe of St. Vartan Park Conservancy, Stacey Soloviev of Soloviev Foundation, Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura, Susan Burke of St. Vartan Park Conservancy, and Edward Funches of Inclusion joined the official ribbon cutting. ( Photo: St. Vartan Park Conservancy) New Pathway Added to Make St. Vartan Park in Mid-town Wheelchair Accessible An ADA-compatible pathway has been added to St. Vartan Park. The park near the Queens Midtown Tunnel—one of the larger public... News 27 Nov 2024 | 11:21
The youngest Little Leaguers, seen here in the pre-renovation days on Tim McGinn Field inside Murphy’s Brother’s Park, will be able to enjoy two new artificial turf baseball fields inside the newly renovated park. ( Photo: Mapquest) Murphy Brothers Park, A Fav of Youngest Baseball Players, Finally Reopens Play ball! Murphy Brothers Park–long a favorite of the youngest Little Leaguers–is finally back in business nearly a year... News 27 Nov 2024 | 11:27
The state of the East River Esplanade Address at John John Park, E. 78th Street and Cherokee Place. ( Photo: Brian Berger) East River Greenway of the Mind: The City Dreamed It, But Dead Ends Riddle Waterfront Trail Talk about arterial blockage! That’s been the news from the East River waterfront for years now and, following a recent traversal... News 28 Oct 2024 | 11:18
A DOT equipment depo next to Honey Locust Park, which sits under the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Locals want to replace the depot with expanded park space. ( Photo: Google Maps ) Locals, With Help From Pols, Seek to Expand Honey Locust Park Under Queensboro Bridge A group of local residents, with some help from a neighborhood nonprofit called Sutton Area Community, are pushing to expand... Home 12 Oct 2024 | 12:25
Brand new pickle-ball courts at the UES’s Carl Schurz Park, contrasted with some aging basketball infrastructure a stone’s throw away. ( Photos: Jack Ahern ) Basketball Players Wait on Remodel at Carl Schurz Park, Picklers Get New Paint Job Pickleball players on the Upper East Side’s Carl Schurz Park are now enjoying freshly repainted courts, after they alerted... News 15 Jul 2024 | 03:39
Asphalt Green spearheaded a new “Wave Makers” program, teaching 2,000 second-graders throughout NYC how to swim at various facilities across the city. It’s been up and running since June. But a city wide program championed by UES Council Member Julie Menin to give free swimming lessons to all 70,000 second graders in public schools during the school year, remains unfunded. ( Photo: Asphalt Green) No Funding for Second Grade Swim Program for Second Year in Row Public youth swimming lessons across the city have been in shambles since before the pandemic. In September 2023, it seemed... News 03 Jul 2024 | 01:53
The reconstruction plans for the St. Catherine’s Park, presented at May 9’s Community Board 8 Parks and Waterfront Committee meeting. ( Image: NYC Parks) St. Catherine’s Park $9M Overhaul Will Include New Pickleball Courts and New Elephant Sprinklers 104-year-old St. Catherine’s Park is getting a $9 million makeover with an updated play area, refurbished furniture, new... News 13 May 2024 | 04:02
Clockwise: Ruppert Park’s redesign project is in its procurement phase; two new security cameras may be installed near Andrew Haswell Green Park this summer; John Jay’s new pool deck is expected to be completed by Memorial Day; St. Catherine’s Park’s design plans will be presented in May. ( Image credit (clockwise): NYC Parks, Google Street View, NYC Parks, Jim Henderson via Wikimedia Commons) UES Park Check in: New Pool Deck at John Jay, New Lights on Esplanade, Slow Going for Ruppert Park It’s spring: the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and there is pollen everywhere. Ahead of long, sunny days at... Home 15 Apr 2024 | 09:30
Rangers legend Brian Mullen signing autographs for a Junior Ranger–while Ed Gibbs looks over his shoulder–at the Feb. 1 ribbon-cutting for the renovated Paul L. McDermott Rink. It’s located inside the Stanley Isaacs Playground on E. 96th St. & F.D.R Drive. ( Photo by Jack Ahern ) NY Rangers Celebrate Rehabbed & “Adopted” UES Roller Rink The roller rink at Stanley Isaacs Playground on E. 96th St & F.D.R. Dr.–formally christened the Paul L. McDermott rink in... News 05 Feb 2024 | 12:49
The redesigned Theodore Roosevelt Park in front of the Richard Gilder Center for Science and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History located at 200 Central Park West is now open to the public after a contentious battle over trees when the plan was first unveiled five years earlier. Photo: Beau Matic Theodore Roosevelt Park, part of $430M Project, Reopens by Museum’s Richard Gilder Center The tranquility of new parkland surrounding the American Museum of Natural History belies the hot debate that once galvanized... News 16 Jul 2023 | 01:04
Too few lifeguards have forced curtailment of youth Learn to Swim programs at most city pools and all adult lap swims have been cut. Hamilton Fish pool (above) boasts the only swimming lesson program for youngsters being offered at any city owned pool in Manhattan this summer. Photo: Elijah Hurewitz-Ravitch Hamilton Fish Pool on LES is Only City Pool in Manhattan Offering Youngsters Swim Lessons New Yorkers looking to cool off in the summer months will be glad to know that 13 of Manhattan’s outdoor pools remain open.... News 14 Jul 2023 | 11:14
The first re-opened chunk of Stuyvesant Cove Park, between E. 20th to 23rd. St. As part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project, the park is intended to double as both floodwall and recreational zone. Photo: Jack Ahern ( Photo by Jack Ahern ) First Chunk Of Stuyvesant Cove Park Reopens, Doubling As Floodwall And Rec Space After a few years of closure, Stuyvesant Cove Park is being resurrected from the dead with the backing of the city government... News 01 Jun 2023 | 04:55
The man dubbed “Dr. Pickleball” is said to show up at Carl Schurz Park every day around 11 a.m., bearing nets, wiffle balls and chalk. He’s pushing to popularize one of the fastest-growing sports in America on the UES. Yet he has run into opposition from locals who decry the loss of open park space for kids. Photo: Annonymous Pickleball Wars: Picklers Cheer 4th Court For The Popular Sport, Others Decry Loss Of Open Space There appears to be no sign of a truce in the pickleball wars that are roiling Carl Schurz Park on the UES. Our Town finally... News 26 May 2023 | 03:09
Three new pickleball courts have been established in the recreational play area at Carl Schurz park. A fourth court was vetoed by the Parks Department. Photo: Jack Ahern Pickleball Wars: Players Score Major Victory With New Courts, But Non-Players Remain Irked By Carl Schurz Park Takeover The scorecard reads: picklers: 1, other residents: 0. The pickleball community at Carl Schurz Park, led by an enigmatic figure... News 16 May 2023 | 12:07
