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September 18th, 2009
 photo by Traven Rice
The Museum at Eldridge Street has restored a sacred tablet of the Ten Commandments just in time for the Jewish New Year. The
tablet (one of a pair) was believed to have been lost for decades. Amy Stein-Milford, deputy
director of the museum (which is a separate entity within the synagogue), told us it was discovered a few month ago – carefully wrapped in the building's cellar. Both artifacts
were created for the synagogue when it first opened in 1887. They are made of wood, hand-painted and gilded in gold, and are now installed in their rightful place above the ark that holds the
sacred Torah scrolls. The synagogue was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996. Channel 7 Eyewitness News covered the story here.
The photo below is of the tablets before the restoration.
 photo courtesy of The Eldridge Museum
photo by Traven Rice
September 18th, 2009
 51 parking spaces around the city are being converted in to parks, plazas and dynamic destinations as part of Park(ing) Day NYC. The website claims "These small, temporary public spaces provide a breath of relief from
the auto-clogged reality of New York City, and aim to spark dialogue
about our valuable public space and how we choose to use it".
Events in the LES area include: The Time's Up/bikeblognyc space at 156 Rivington St./ between Clinton St. and Suffolk. The Community Design Park at Allen and Delancey, sponsored by Hester Street Collaborative, the Peace Park at 250 Mott St. and the Sustainable Seeds Park – Community gardeners and LES children build acommunity garden in a parking space (11th Street between Avenues B and C)
The annual event is sponsored by Transportation Alternatives and the Open Planning Project in conjunction with schools, architectural firms and civic groups from four boroughs. The event began in San Francisco in 2006 (although Transportation Alternatives took over a parking spot on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg before discovering "Park(ing) Day), and has since expanded to more than 100 cities in 20 countries.
September 18th, 2009
This morning we are attending State Sen. Dan Squadron’s hearing on retail diversity and neighborhood health. We’ll have a full report when it’s over.
September 18th, 2009
 It's going to be an interesting few weeks on the New York City Council. Downtown, the wait continues for Alan Gerson to decide whether he'll contest Margaret Chin's victory in Tuesday's Primary. Saying he wanted to "examine questions about the votes reported," Gerson indicated it could be two weeks before he concedes. Meanwhile, there's speculation as to whether Christime Quinn will have enough support to continue as Speaker of the Council. The Daily News reports on the first Countil meeting since the election:
The four council members who lost their primary races showed up and
received their share of consolation and sympathy—much like members of a
reality survival show e getting kicked off the island. “I’m still so physically fatigued (from the election) that nothing
else has really sent in,” said Councilman Alan Gerson as other members
and Council staffers kept coming up to him to shake hands or offer a
bear hug. “I’m not going to go away. I’m still going to be involved in
lower Manhattan.” He said his defeat in a five-candidate race to Margaret Chin was the
result of a perfect storm of events that included a general low turnout
except in the Chinatown portion of his district, lingering divisions
within Democratic clubs, some resentment over his support of extending
term limits and the presence in the race of Peter Gleason, who cut into
Gerson’s base of support. He said he assured Chin—who will be the first
Chinese-American to represent the district that includes Chinatown—of a
smooth transition once she’s declared the formal winner.
Azi Paybarah of PolitickerNY adds:
Alan Gerson… said his vote to
support the term limits extension “probably depressed our vote
slightly. I don’t think it was a decisive factor." He added, “What was
more significant than term limits was the unusually low voter turnout
in all the areas except Margaret’s stronghold.”
Incidentally, Margaret Chin's campaign rejects the notion that she was only strong in Chinatown. An analysis of the precinct by precinct results, they say, indicates she performed well all over the district, including in Gerson strongholds on the West Side (more on this later today). As for the Speaker's future, Chin said yesterday she would decide after talking in-depth with Quinn, whether to support her continued leadership of the Council. Reporters quizzed Quinn about her future yesterday:
Speaker Christine C. Quinn,
meanwhile, fielded the expected flood of questions from reporters
before the meeting: Were voters still mad about term limits, and is
that why they ousted so many members? Was her speakership in danger? She answered each with patience and a touch of humor, but was firm
in her insistence that her role as Council leader was not in danger. “I don’t know of any challengers right now,” she said.
On top of concerns about her support of Mayor Bloomberg's successful drive to extend term limits, there seems to be growing consternation over Quinn's unwillingness to get behind Democratic Mayoral nominee Bill Thompson. From the Daily News:
…several reliable sources confirmed that there is grumbling that Quinn
might face a backlash within her ranks if she doesn’t endorse Thompson
in his showdown with Mayor Bloomberg, who is running as a Republican
and Independence Party candidate. “Today, you know, barely a day and a half after the primary I
haven’t made any decision on what I’m doing in either of the runoffs or
in the mayor’s race,” she repeated. Quinn also wouldn’t say if she is leaving the door open to endorsing
Bloomberg, with whom she’s had a close working relationship, including
partnering in extending term limits last October and turning the
campaign plans of many City Hall incumbents topsy turvy, including her
own mayoral-bid effort.
Back downtown, the establishment appears to be coalescing around Margaret Chin. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who backed Gerson, called Chin to offer his congratulations. A Silver foe, Paul Newell, won the district leader race in Tuesday's Primary. A bit of context from the Daily News:
After taking on a big target in the form of Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver last year and receiving just 23 percent of the vote, Paul Newell
scaled back his expectations this fall and managed to score a political
victory of sorts against the powerful Lower East Side lawmaker. Newell won a district leader race in Part C of Silver's 64th AD against Avram Solomon Turkel, a former aide to Councilman Alan Gerson. Gerson, who was supported by Silver and his club, the Harry S.
Truman Democratic Club, endorsed Turkel. Neither was successful on
Tuesday. According to Tuesday's unofficial results,
just 1,408 people voted in this DL race. Newell received 934, or 66.34
percent, of the vote. Turkel got 474 votes, 33.66 percent.
District leader Jean Grillo also defeated a Gerson/Silver backed challenger, Noel Jefferson. Both Newell and Grillo were involved in City Council candidate Pete Gleason's campaign.
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