Notes from the Neighborhood

Compiled by Megan Bungeroth and Grace Ragi HOSPITAL APPOINTS LGBT HEALTH LEADER Beth Israel Medical Center announced this week the appointment of nationally recognized LGBT health expert Barbara E.Warren, PsyD, as director of its newly established LGBT Health Services program. Warren will work to develop partnerships between the hospital and local LGBT organizations and continue to advance Beth Israel's nationally recognized efforts to meet the health care needs of New York's LGBT community in a respectful and compassionate environment. "Beth Israel Medical Center has embraced a unique opportunity to lead the way in establishing and sustaining LGBT affirmative hospital-based and outpatient care," Warren said in a statement. Warren served most recently for two years as director of the Center for LGBT Social Services and Public Policy at Hunter College. Prior to that she served for almost 20 years in progressively responsible positions at the LGBT Community Center in the West Village, the last seven as director of government relations, planning and research. She also consults on a number of federal, state and citywide initiatives to eliminate LGBT health disparities and to establish health equity throughout the health care system. One of Warren's principal assignments in her new position at Beth Israel will be to develop and implement ongoing, in-house educational programs to ensure that the hospital staff is attuned to the particular health care needs of the LGBT community. UES RAPIST SENTENCED TO 22 YEARS IN PRISON Kentrel Whitaker, 33, was sentenced this week for the assault and attempted rape of a 73-year-old woman on the Upper East Side. Whitaker attacked the victim last summer as she was walking on the East River promenade near East 111th Street at 6:40 a.m. He approached her from behind, threw her to the ground and hit her repeatedly before attempting to rape her. A passerby helped tear Whitaker away from his victim, but police were still able to collect DNA evidence they used to achieve a conviction. Whitaker was sentenced to 22 years in prison, followed by 15 years of post-release supervision. ST. PATRICK'S DAY AT CARNEGIE HALL This Saturday, March 17, Carnegie Hall will host a St. Patrick's Day concert featuring Irish band The Chieftains with Paddy Moloney accompanied by folk-rock band The Low Anthem. The six-time Grammy Award-winning ensemble will be performing as part of their Voices of the Ages 50th anniversary tour. As Ireland's musical ambassadors, The Chieftans are credited with bringing traditional Irish music to the world's attention. The event will take place in the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at 8 p.m. Tickets are from $29 to $88, and are available by calling 212-247-7800 or visiting carnegiehall.org or the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 W. 57th St. SENIOR ROUNDTABLE ON CARETAKING The next session of State Sen. Liz Krueger's senior roundtable discussions will be held Thursday, March 22 from 8-10 a.m. at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. The topic, "Beginning the Conversation: Redefining Aging and How We Care for our Elders," will cover how seniors can begin asking questions about their future care and planning who might be able to help care for them if the time arises when they need assistance. Alice Fisher, Krueger's community outreach director, and Frederic Riccardi, director of programs and outreach at the Medicare Rights Center, will be on hand to lead the discussion and answer questions. A light breakfast will be served. 331 E. 70th St. RSVP required at 212-490-9535 or by emailing doremann@gmail.com. GROCERY STORE AIDS TORNADO VICTIMS All Fairway locations are continuing a donation and matching drive through this Sunday, March 18 to aid those affected by recent violent storms in the Midwest. At any Fairway in the city (the Upper East Side store is at 240 E. 86th St.), customers can make cash donations of $1, $3 or $5 or purchase a case of water to aid families devastated by the tornadoes that ripped through Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Nebraska and Missouri. Fairway will match all money donated up to $25,000 and coordinate shipping truckloads of water, canned goods and other nonperishable items to distribution centers in the affected states. CATHEDRAL HIGH STUDENT VIES FOR POETRY PRIZE Cathedral High School student Dionne Muyalde is among the top 10 finalists in the Poetry for Peace contest, a competition that has used the power of social media to gauge the power of student poetry. The contest asked students to respond to the stories of atomic bomb survivors from Japan, known as hibakusha, by writing verse poems. In the monthlong competition, 741 poems were submitted and people voted for their favorites on social media sites. Muyalde's poem, entitled "Hiroshima Hibakusha," was selected as a finalist based on criteria, including the poem's connection to a hibakusha testimony, its relaying a message of peace, the structure of the verse, the overall impact of the poem and the number of "likes" the poem received.