light in the darkness

EAST SIDE OBSERVER

BY ARLENE KAYATT

Scam’s on — Notice that the number of faux phone calls on your cellphone have either the same area code as your own — 917, 646, 347 — or the same area code as your last incoming call? The incoming number seems familiar and you want to pick it up. It’s familiar and even though it’s not in your contacts, you pick it up only to find the caller is trying to sell you an all-expenses-paid trip to wherever or some opportunity of a lifetime when all it is is an opportunity to be scammed. It’s good to know that the telephone service provider is on the job and protecting their customers. About to answer, I noticed that the incoming call had a warning along with the incoming number: “Scam Likely.” Whoa. I’m not taking this call. And I realized that the call that immediately preceded the scam had the same 917 area code. A legit call from a friend. It seems that the scam kicks in when the called and callers area code matches. Whatever. The good thing is there’s an alert. Thanks T-Mobile.

Curbing enthusiasm — The good news is that the city’s sidewalks are expanding. Wider streets are making it easier for pedestrians, pets and various modes of sidewalk transportation (bikes, wheelchairs, baby carriages, scooters, skateboards) to use the city sidewalks. The bad news is that the sidewalk curbs are now higher, really higher, so high that it’s dangerous to step off the curb. While it’s best to cross the street only at the corner curb, it shouldn’t be a danger to step off the curb to get to a bus or to hail a taxi the old-fashioned, New York-way by stepping off the curb onto the street and waving your hand with reckless abandon. It’s a buzz you’ll never get by riding Uber, Lyft or Via. In the last week I’ve heard about and seen several people who have had the misfortune of misjudging the height of the step from street to curb and were injured. Some weeks ago a football-injured teenager fell as he tried to step down off the curb. He couldn’t get near the corner cut curb to cross the street because the indented curb and the surrounding area were filled with pedestrians waiting to cross the street. Makes you wonder about who gets to do the planning. We know who gets to pay for it, financially and otherwise. With all the time and money and inconvenience that goes into upgrading and modernizing the cityscape you would think that factors such as accessibility would be in the mix. Apparently not a priority.

Flickering light syndrome — Just look up at the residential building fronting on Second Avenue between 78th and 79th Street as night falls and you’ll see the flickering light that foretells the building’s coming demise. All the storefronts on the block are long gone, including High Line. The good news is that the synagogue, Temple Shaaray Tefila, didn’t make the cutting block and will remain on the northwest corner as the rest of the block is razed and rebuilt. While Yorkville is becoming home to more and more high-rises and big-box and chain stores — and as an older generation is either priced out of their homes or made to move because the buildings where they’ve lived for most of their lives are being torn down — there are those who remain in Yorkville and its environs and are raising families. Matthew Bondy, a lawyer and Community Board 8 member, remembers his youth in the East 60s in the home where his father still lives. Matt still lives in the area with his wife and two young daughters. In May 1988, Matt’s mom, Joan Bondy, now deceased, received an OTTY award for bettering the community through her work with the Girl Scouts. In that year, Ruth Halberg, who still lives in the same Yorkville apartment where she and her husband brought up their three daughters, is still very much a part of the life of Yorkville. She is active in UES Democratic Party politics and was elected as state committewoman last year. Ruth received her OTTY for outstanding constituent service work in the office of then Assembly Member Mark Alan Siegel. Another 1988 OTTY recipient never lived in Yorkville. Not all do. He received an OTTY for his contribution to the community by completing the work on Wollman Rink in Central Park. His name is Donald Trump.