building for the future

| 26 Jul 2017 | 01:12

Repair has begun on a portion of the East River Esplanade between 88th and 90th Streets that collapsed during a May rainstorm. Photo: Michael Garofalo

east side observer

BY ARLENE KAYATT

Seating for locals — Thanks to the MTA for the new seating closer to the local bus stop on Second Ave between 86th and 87th Streets. Our Town made note of the inconvenience for local riders having to sprint from seating in the Select stop to the local stop. Nice to report good MTA news.

Spectrum — successor to Time Warner in its ownership of NY1, CNN and other media — is promoting itself in the most relentless un-user friendly way. Forget the ads. Just look at the programming. A Wednesday, about 7:30 p.m., NY1’s “Road to City Hall.” Full screen — Gerson Borrero and Curtis Sliwa’s “Political Rundown”. Curtis, on right-hand side of screen outfitted in one of his many get-ups. One problem, we couldn’t see all of him, because Spectrum was trying out a new self-promotion. They had a miniature version of the full screen displayed smack over Curtis’s head. And that’s in addition to NY1’s logo being displayed on the lower left side of screen, and a crawl at the bottom. All this multi-tasking in a 10-minute or so segment. Give me a break. Switching to CNN didn’t help. There was Spectrum’s NY1 miniature screen again in the upper right-hand side of the screen, making it impossible this time to see the talking head. Spectrum should be focusing on re-upping NY1’s programming. It’s not been the same since Sam Roberts was summarily taken off the air. Never thought I’d rue the day that Time Warner went bye bye. But I do. And not sure I’ll ever get over losing Sam Roberts and Clyde Haberman on Saturday nights (or Sunday mornings if you missed it). Probably won’t.

Dear Mugger — How low can you go? Digging into post mailboxes on the street and stealing mail! For your reading pleasure? For the Social Security checks? Unbelievable. It’s bad enough that the USPS has had to suffer the slings and arrows of FedEx, email, texting and tweeting to curtail its use. Now you’re making it so that the check won’t really be in the mail. Plus the USPS had to pay for emoji-looking stickers warning mailers not to mail after the last pick up at the particular mailbox. Mugger dear, get a life, and stay out of the US mail. Sincerely, A snail mailer.

Where’s the coffers? — Mid-morning. Take-out coffee from a cafe counter in an UES supermarket. Server pours the coffee. Customer takes out cash to pay. Asks server where’s there a place for tips. “Uh,” the served smiled sheepishly, “in my pocket.” OK. More room on the counter.

The seawall and the sled hill — CB8’s Parks and Recreation Committee last week unanimously adopted a resolution regarding repairs to the seawall along the East River Esplanade between 88th and 90th Streets, which are presently being made by the city Parks Department. The work entails use of the sledding hill as the way construction equipment will access the Esplanade between 88th and 90th Streets. Issues of added traffic, noise and safety were of great concern to the committee, and the resolution included a call for a pedestrian manager to be on duly at all times that trucks access the hill at Carl Schurz Park; having ample signage of the detour route; and crossing guards at key locations, particularly at 96th St. When contacted, a Parks rep said the department had not received or reviewed the resolution, but said the site was already staffed with flaggers that direct pedestrians and cyclists away from truck traffic entering and exiting the construction zone. And that detour signs of the ongoing construction were in place along with a route to return to the esplanade. Parks says that it is also continuing to provide access to as much of the Esplanade as possible during construction, expected to conclude a year from now.

FYI — current status of project:

•Esplanade is temporarily closed between 88th and 90th Streets

•Esplanade is open to the public between 90th-96th Streets — pedestrians can access the esplanade at the 96th Street entrance

•Esplanade is open to the public to the south of 88th Street

•The lawn area, being used as site access, will be completely restore to its existing condition and available for public access at construction’s conclusion.

CB8’s resolution also approved an air monitor and monthly status reports on Esplanade construction work. Way to go.