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Oppenheimer and the Upper West Side
By Megan Fitzpatrick J. Robert Oppenheimer is credited with being the founding father of the American School of Theoretical Physics and the creation of the Atomic Bomb that decimated two cities in Japan during the Second World War. He was very much an Upper West...
New Temporary Sculptures Arrive at Riverside Park South
by Sarah McCully The west side just got a little more artistic. Two new temporary public sculptures were erected earlier this month in Riverside Park South in exhibitions presented by the Riverside Park Conservancy and the Art Students League of New York. The two...
Trustworthiness, Artistry and CAD Technology Combine to Create Custom Jewelry
By Claudie Benjamin Knowing how to draw beautifully was a key to Harmeet Singh’s life as a jeweler. Along with that natural talent, “God’s Gift,” he had a passion for gems, “their color, rarity, mystery…” The opportunity to become a jeweler came in connection with his...
It’s a Fantastic, Plastic World at Apthorp Cleaners
by Sarah McCullyAt first glance, the green awning and deep inset door of Apthorp Cleaners on 383 Amsterdam Avenue look like any other storefront. But venture closer, and you’ll find yourself in for a whimsical surprise. Behind the glass of the display windows lies a...
Dive Bars Where Patrons are Considered Family
By Claudie Benjamin Just one of many stories Lee Seinfeld has to tell about his four Upper West Side Bars, captures the neighborhood/family environment that attracts patrons month after month and year after year. Chatting while driving with his wife, Mary Ellen, he...
Ice Cream Makes the World a Sweeter Place
By Claudie Benjamin Savor a sugar cone filled with a large scoop of Blue Marble Ice Cream. You may not be aware that you’re enjoying a very blue, peanut butter, and marshmallow crème-streaked edible abstraction of the view of the earth from outer space. Not only that,...
Keeping an Awesome Architectural Treasure Intact
By Claudie Benjamin Architect Kevin Bone says grand old buildings “are like aging people who find they need more and a greater variety of health care as time goes by.” Hard to be grander than the Manhasset, a beaux-arts style that takes up the frontage on Broadway...
Building Sites with LGBT Connections
By Claudie Benjamin They had all been students at Columbia University’s historic preservation program. And, today Jay Shockley, Ken Lustbader, Andrew Dolkart, and Amanda Davis are all notables in the field of historic preservation scholarship. As founders in 2015 of...
Bringing Imaginative LGBT Books to Press
By Claudie Benjamin Put on your to-read list FRIGHTEN THE HORSES by Oliver Radclyffe, to be published by Roxane Gay Books/Grove Atlantic sometime next year. Oliver’s agent Malaga Baldi counts this memoir among the finest, most exciting, perceptive books she’s helped...
The Endurance of West Park Presbyterian
PEW! That was one long hearing! Following an updated presentation by the Presbytery and their team of Consultants, which responded to prior commissioner inquiries, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) shelved much of their scheduled agenda and even skipped...
