By Caitlin Hawke

Perhaps you've noticed the new sign at right which sits at the corner of W. 103rd Street and Broadway: "Room to Move! Open Streets." Or maybe you joined in the 2021 Earth Day events above.

To quote my favorite octogenerian: "Something is happening here but you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?"  Well here's a chance to come find out more. For an open discussion on this NYC designation of W. 103rd Street, join our next meeting on June 15. Below are further details from the board of directors about this Q&A with neighbor Peter Frishauf.

By Caitlin Hawke

The year 2020 has thrown just about everything up into the air. We've paused, and in the pause our hyperlocal selves have had time and space to re-embrace our immediate environs. You've enjoyed your roof, your stoop, your sidewalk, your bike, and, when needed, your street as you spilled into the curb to give wide berth to each other. But you've also enjoyed each other, bumping into someone -- anyone -- after days of solitude was the highlight of many a 2020 day. 

While not without controversy, the opening up of streets to people undeniably gave pedestrians refuge -- a huge port in the storm of Covid. Perhaps you've noticed that W. 103rd Street has been one of the streets that opened for neighbors -- especially kids -- to enjoy. New York City calls these 'Open Streets' as they are open and safe for walkers, bicyclists, and those in wheelchairs. Cars, delivery, and service vehicles have access, subject to a 5 m.p.h. speed limit.  A harbinger of things to come?

There are many neighbors who hope that with all these open streets, we've crossed the Rubicon. Many have been buoyed by this unexpected momentum of prioritizing people over traffic. Of cleaner air and quieter airwaves.

It turns out that the groups Open Plans and Street Plans have been re-imagining a lot about W. 103rd Street, which near Broadway is home to an older adult community -- The Marseilles. Also, in the Marseilles's vacant storefrontage, the Purple Circle early childhood program will soon take up residence. Young and old cheek by jowl and in need of green space.  That might also be an engine for the re-imagination of W. 103rd Street.

So here's a chance for you to come learn more for yourself about what's being tossed around. At a socially-distanced, outdoor occasion this Friday, Open Plans and Street Plans will welcome your input and invite you to complete surveys about how you might use W. 103rd Street as a magic-carpet connector from Riverside Park to Central Park. 

If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that we have to be prepared for everything! We must be willing to roll up our sleeves to make the society, the city, and the neighborhoods that we want.  When coronavirus is no longer a threat, we need to be able to find each other and commune again. We need to seed the next generation of street-level commerce that has been chiseled away by years of our neglect, which I've written about at these links:

Part 1: We Got the Supply. Where's the Demand?
Part 2: In Joon, Our Fall
Part 3: Lincoln Plaza Cinemas: Fare Thee Well My Honey
Part 4: Three Restaurants Go Down in One Month
Part 5: A Glorious UWS 800-Person Wave Turns Back the Tide

Incredibly, we saw a remarkable reanimation of Broadway and Amsterdam with the recent outdoor café life, and perhaps there's a whole new business model there for our restaurants. But we do know that block after block of empty storefronts coupled with fewer pedestrians is a bad combo.

The pressure is still very much on for those very businesses who were hanging on pre-pandemic, and who now have been dealt a coup de grace by months of closure. Countless -- literally countless -- are lost and gone forever. Transformation can happen -- and often does happen -- quickly. Or at least tipping points come fast without warning after a long priming.

As we grind through these very hard times, there is so much potential right now to build back the way we want it, to push to the tipping point of our choosing. To demand reform at the commercial storefront level. To support greener streets and more vibrant avenues. To favor the strengthening of the fabric for all to benefit from.

I love this neighborhood and can imagine only the sky as the limit for Bloomingdale.

So mask up, come out on Friday to the SW corner of W. 103rd and Broadway, and tell the folks who are driving this innovative project what you think about their rethinking.

In the morning, you may find a parking space or two transformed into a parklet. And starting at noon, the Open Plans and Street Plans folks will be standing by to hear your take.
​
Rain date is October 30th. More below.

By Caitlin Hawke

Neighbors!  Lest anyone forget, Saturday, May 18 is yard sale day, AKA the greatest day on the block. Come, run, hop, skip on over to West 103rd Street from Riverside Drive to West End Avenue to find the great find, eat the yummy homemade treat, get local news, schmooze, amble, and gamble on the split-pot raffle. It's all done by your friends who are volunteering with the Block Association and it's all in the name of our wonderful community. For older adults in the area, be sure to check out the BAiP table and look for some BAiP members and their artwork. And for all ages, look for the Bloomingdale School of Music table and much more!

I dare you to comment below that you didn't have a ball.

​Enjoy!

By Caitlin Hawke

Ok, for folks who park on the street, this post might get your Irish up. It entails the eventual loss of three parking spaces on Central Park West.

That's the bad news.  But the good news is that what I am about to report is a story of grassroots efforts to increase safety and improve aesthetics of "Strangers' Gate" -- the W. 106th Street portal to Central Park.

Thanks to neighbors' efforts, in particular to transportation advocate Peter Frishauf with help from Henry Rinehart, in mid-January Community Board 7 passed a resolution to improve access to this entrance to Central Park by opening the curb and prohibiting parking immediately outside it. Department of Transportation signage should be updated soon so that the approach will look like the photo below instead of the view in the photo above.

This will protect pedestrians who flow through Strangers' Gate, affording them better visibility of traffic on Central Park West and giving drivers a much better chance of seeing exiting and entering park goers.

I love the name of this gate and was vaguely aware that many of the park's entrances bear names. In fact, there are twenty named gates. Each honors a special population of New York City in an early nod to the fact that this vast green space was to be 'the People's Park.'  You might have been entering the park at W. 100th Street all these years and not have realized that that is Boys' Gate. Of course, anyone can go through it. But if you want to use Girls' Gate, you're going to have to go clear around to E. 102nd Street. Or you can pop down to the Dakota and enter through Women's Gate.

The key to the 20 gates is below.

The bitter irony of naming the gates for different NYC populations is that in creating Central Park, land was taken by eminent domain, and the African-American neighborhood known as Seneca Village was demolished in 1857. You won't see a Seneca Gate on the list below, but the rich history of Seneca Village is becoming better known.

The story has been told in recent plays and films, by creative writers, historians and archeologists. I will be posting more about it over the month of February. But while thinking about our newly visible Strangers' Gate, I wanted to pause and think about those who are largely invisible, those who were dispossessed of their homes, whose community was razed, and whose story was mostly lost -- all in the push to create a park that is a stranger to none of us.

Choose any of these 20 gates and enter this urban sanctuary with a thought toward Seneca Village on your way in.

By Caitlin Hawke

It's late on a Thursday so you'll have this throwback on Friday. But do come travel with me in time to just about two months after Black Tuesday, 1929. The new year 1930 has been rung in, it's good and cold, the Great Depression has begun. But unemployment won't peak for three more years in the city. 

And the great bellowing lung of our neighborhood, Straus Park, pays it all no heed. For here is a town square where folks of all ages come to inhale the fresh, crisp air and to entertain one another. An era before TV, the golden age of radio shines by night, but by day by golly the folks are out.

Fortunate in many ways, but in one we are not: we lack a town square. We lack that knowledge that you can fall out on a daily basis into the local pocket park and meet all your neighbors. It's why I love the yard sales that the Block Associations put on.  It's why BAiP's community-building mission is so needed.

We have forgotten how to commune in our own backyard.

The video below is extraordinary for its quality, its crystal clear sound, and the uncanny you-are-there feeling. See Straus Park -- less green, ok -- but more vibrant than you've ever seen it before. See all modes of 1930s transportation, including a rollerskater and a period pram. Get a good gander at Broadway looking north from its intersection at West End Avenue. And get a peep of the back of "Memory" -- far from the star of this movie.

It's perfection. A talkie of a time capsule. And it's yours if you click on the image above since if you are reading this in an email subscription the video won't play.

​Enjoy!

h/t to the West Side Rag comments section for bringing this beaut to the surface.

By Caitlin Hawke

October 31 -- this Wednesday -- is fast approaching. If you are not planning on coming out after sundown to lurk with the best of us on W. 102nd Street and West End Avenue, you are gonna be missing the best night of the year in Boo-mingdale.

Details in the poster below.

Here's a shoutout to the Schuyler sisters who, via their dad, have a special connection to our neighborhood and make for a spooky jack-o-lantern. (Hat tip to young Honora Overby who posted her creation on Twitter).  Good enough to send squash sculptor Saxton Freymann out of his gourd with pride.

Stay tuned to this channel for the post-parade photo gallery like this one from a past year. If you plan to have your camera that night, send your best pix to blog@w102-103blockassn.org. I'll post shots of costumed munchins big and small.

By Caitlin Hawke

Live in the neighborhood and enjoy these occasional blog posts? Spread the word by telling a friend or neighbor to subscribe. There's a lot more in store!

The "One from the Vault" feature plumbs the archives of back issues of block association newsletters for new neighbors and lovers of our community and its history.  To read others pieces from the vault, click on the category at right.


By Caitlin Hawke

The one from the vault below by past editor of the Block Association newsletter Jock Davenport is about parking challenges. The piece is now over 20 years old but given new talk about parking garages, paying for street parking, and congestion pricing, I thought it might resonate.

Today, parking spaces cost considerably less than rent on a studio apartments (at least in this community), but much of this sounds rather familiar.  It's the time honored dance of alternate side of the street parking.

Some of you know the ASSP dance all too well, crosswords and coffee in hand or maybe it's Words with Friends.  You manage to work your schedule around this very NYC ritual.  Enjoy it while you can. 

Just not this coming Thursday, May 10, when rules are suspended for Ascension!

By Caitlin Hawke

With all the talk about various coming MTA station closures for "digital upgrades" on the B and C line, I am reminded that some of us lived through the IRT station upgrades at 103rd (2004) and 96th Streets (2010)--and survived to tell the story. Yes, I am grateful for those investments -- more capital than digital. And yes, they took forever.

Let me take you back. Remember the new but miscalculated staircase on the west side of Broadway exiting the 103rd Street station? Each step seemingly a different height, walking up or down it was  something of a funhouse ride or some bad Candid Camera prank -- only the risk was smashing your nose on the way up, or far worse on the way down! They sure did fix it in a flash. And at 96th, remember how prior to the renovation we used an underpass to get to the platform?  It's not that long ago and how quickly we forget. Even with my pathological nostalgia, I can't say I miss that.

Leaving the 96th Street Station, I was looking up the other day and once again saw the real-life version of the rendering above. It struck me as a nice touch. Maybe the sculpture has a function, too. (Pigeon abatement?). Quaint and already retro in its non-digital way.

The looped birdsong that goes with these 200 stainless flowers is intended to have a calming effect on riders. On most days, particularly after a post-apocalyptic commute from work, calming's a thing I am grateful for. Getting most of the way home in one piece on public transportation, is another.

With Spring galloping in, we have real looped birdsong starting up.  And Hawkes do appreciate the birds.

This concludes the December "Spread the Blove" month.  But you aren't limited to just December. If you enjoy these blog posts, tip off a friend, family member or neighbor any time.

By filling in the box below, new subscribers receive the latest posts about Bloomingdale straight to email.  There's more "hyper-local eats," more Throwback Thursdays, more treasures from the Vault.  And it's all coming in 2018.

By Caitlin Hawke


A couple of years ago, our neighborhood got its first infusion of CityRacks.  I wrote about that here.  Problem is they've become a victim of their own success.  Seen on a rack that I wrote about was the note below. Like the houseguest who comes and squats on the living-room couch with no end in sight, bikes have been chained to the CityRack day in and out, leaving it unusable by others. And inviting terse notes of disapproval.

City policy is moving more and more to accommodating cyclists. It's quite remarkable how relatively more hospitable the city has become to biking in rather short order.  (My inner cynic sniffs: "They don't have a choice if the pols aren't going to fix and invest in our infrastructure while encouraging so much new construction; biking is after all a great way to move people under their own steam.")

I am all for doing everything we can to have more people safely cycling, though e-bikes still leave me shaking my head.  But for cycling to work here, we need to do a lot more.  For example, more bike parking that is safe and accessible for our eco-rides is needed.  More CityRacks for short-term lock ups.  More space in work buildings and residences for locking up longer term.  It's not just Citibikes that need docking.  (And yes, I know, you don't want a dock near your building or your favorite bus stop.  And it's all daunting the older you get.  I am sympathetic. I am.)

But inevitably bikes will propagate.  Politicians and the state have not made the subway attractive. Quite the contrary.  My employer, a nearby university, recently informed the rank and file that our medical center subway stop will be closed (closed!) for a year for elevator replacement. This will send literally thousands of employees, patients, and even tenured faculty scampering to get to work via alternate modes.

It doesn't take a PhD to figure out that folks will have no choice as the subway degrades but to turn to their bikes, blades, Segways and hoverboards.  Global warming and the MTA's continued abuse of straphangers will surely incite more to ride their two-wheelers.  Unless Elon Musk, a hyperloop, or George Jetson comes to our rescue, this problem just isn't going away anytime soon.

So think locally, and act locally: if you live in a building with a good curbside spot, you can suggest new locations to the city for more racks.  We'll get the ball rolling.

True to name, New Amsterdam needs its bikes! 

By Caitlin Hawke

Rather than my riff on this, how about yours this time?  Please post your comment below.

But the "imported" street fairs along our avenues are big business in NYC. Buried within them, you can find a little originality and grit.  For example, at the last street fair, I got a load of the fellow in the funny hat and was mesmerized.  His name is Twister'z Ken. Pied Piper of latex, he brings out the kids who bring out the pocketbook-toting folks.  Watching him twist and pop and bend and tie, I was amazed by the novelty and creativity he brings to his balloon sculptures. First, get a good look at his hat. Not nothing, right?

Now, take a look at the bespoke creation that delighted the kid below who was overheard to order "a brown-haired princess in a pink gown." Not blond, not purple. This kid was asking for her ownself as a balloon avatar.  And she got it. In three minutes flat.

It gives me hope there is a little hidden joy for everyone at these ubiquitous fairs.

Whether you like 'em or not, they're here to stay. So check out the list below and plan accordingly!

By Caitlin Hawke

Bloomingdalers, get ready.  For the next four months, ConEd is in the house.  Or at least on West End Avenue.  A copy of the notice showing the affected area is below.

When that all-night generator and early-morning jackhammer get going, remember this gentle reminder that you'll need your earplugs.

And that leads me to wonder why the French word for earplugs is so much prettier.  Boules Quies.  (Pronounced bool KEY-ess).  I can hear the quiet from here….

By Caitlin Hawke

I'll leave the elephant in the room out of this for the moment as the clock ticks toward our quadrennial ritual of pulling the presidential lever. For this is the weekend we change the clocks, rolling them backward. Nowadays technology does this for most of our clocks...automatically. Making life "easier" and depriving us of this ritual. And in that notion, there is a parable. Technology. Moving backward. Keeping up with time and the times. 

Stay with me here because this brings me to neighborhood news that according to the New York Times yesterday, Bloomingdale is an unwitting character in a new unfolding scandal involving the New York City Marathon and doping of elite runners.  Indeed, you may have walked past surveillance vehicles on our streets as the investigation has spun out.

You can read the tawdry piece for yourself at the link above. Having followed cycling for a while and the vagaries of Lance Armstrong, I have a rubber-necker's fascination about doping in sports. So seeing it come right down the block and, worse, having it afflict my beloved notion of the once-great-but-now-royally-commercial-corporatized New York City Marathon, I wince. But come on, I say to my foolish self. It was hiding in plain sight all these years. And it is everywhere.

Doping. Some claim it's a fair use of technology. Others, an unfair edge. And still others, a public health hazard.

It is perhaps all three. And it is a harbinger of many things to come in this world where cheating is constantly rewarded at the higher ranks of our society and institutions. And technology is the abetting force.

It's enough to make you yearn for the days of Rosie Ruiz when cheating was so lo-tech it was quaint, far less lucrative, and relatively detectable.  (All state-sponsored Olympic game doping aside, of course).

Which leads me to reminding you to turn your clocks back on Saturday before you turn in. And to wishing any runners out there a race of your dreams in the city we love this Sunday. We know at least you will run clean.  Be safe and run on home rounding out of the southeast corner of Central Park, westward-bound with the cheering throngs on 59th Street, back into the Park in the shadow of the Gulf & Western Building's ghost. And up, up, up that hill, yes hill, to the finish line.

And of the elephant in the room wherein all these issues coalesce into one great mixed up mess, I say:  for the love of Bloomingdale, vote on Tuesday.  You can find your polling place right here.

See you on the other side of this free fall.


P.S. Look for the 2016 Gallery of Ghouls, the photo recap of the Halloween parade coming soon.

By Caitlin Hawke

Take a wild, throwback ride on the El trains of yore!  Looking at old videos made by the Thomas A. Edison, Inc. (yes, that Edison was a pioneer filmmaker, too), I came upon this vintage footage produced by James Henry White in the Spring 1899 showing the W. 104th Street S-curve in the 9th Avenue Elevated Railway.  It's wonderful in that the cameraman gets into the train and rides the rails.  For more details about the film, see the Library of Congress catalog listing here.  I'm including a second video which is a newsreel.  At the beginning, there's a wonderful shot of St. John the Divine, but it is a long video so you may not want to get into the weeds of it.  Delectable for the train lovers out there.

Our friends at the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group posted a great piece a few years ago about how the El train got to our neck of the woods in 1879.

A Library of Congress map of the El train system dating to 1881 is below.

So, does anything look familiar at all when you take these virtual rides?


Note: If you are receiving this directly to your email, click on the blog post title to go to the webpage and view the video.  The emails don't code videos properly so it won't appear.  Worth clicking through!

​Also, if you like this blog, share it with a friend in the block association's neighborhood.  There are loads of local treasures to come.  Just not enough time to stoke the fires of this blog.  Enjoy!

By Caitlin Hawke

Here's a map, a scant 10 years before LBJ might have taken the IRT down to 4th Street, USA.  When he'd get there, what would he see? The tubes of America, all jumbly!

Apologies to Gerome Ragni and James Rado.  

But today we barely recognize this map.  Red is the new blue.  Green is the old blue. Blue is red. HeLp?! And what's with all this IRT, IND, Broadway line stuff? And why does Manhattan look like a hamsteak.

As the youth say today: #<3.  Or flames!

Now, try to find Bloomingdale!

By Caitlin Hawke

The IRT headhouse, now gone. Not quite old Bloomingdale, but good and old-timey still the same.
This posts with a H/T to @Discovering_NYC, a lover -- and knower -- of all things historic in our fair city. And one of the people in New York that makes you happy to know there are kindred spirits aplenty out there in a city rapidly transforming.