Samir Lavignia, the new chair of Community Board 5, is fending off charges that his Open NY group “infiltrated” the community board. His reign may be short since community boards across the city are scheduled to hold elections for new board positions in June. Photo: LinkedIn New Chair of CB5 Fends Off Charges His Open NY Group “Infiltrated” Community Board The new chair of Community Board 5, fending off charges that his housing advocacy group had illicitly infiltrated the board... Home 04 Apr 2024 | 09:06
Construction on the East Side’s Soloviev Group casino or any of the other four or five outlets seeking to land a license to erect and build multi-use casino’s in Manhattan–are probbly two years away after the state Gaming Commission said it won’t even begin accepting applications until next year. Photo: Soloviev Group/Artists Rendition. Casino Gambling Licenses Now Look to be Two Years Away Casino gambling is still coming to the New York City area. Just not so fast. That was the message from the state’s Gaming... News 28 Mar 2024 | 08:04
CB5 has played a big role in advising on the efforts to renovate Penn Station and the granting of a special permit to allow Madison Square Garden to sit atop the nation’s busiest rail hub. Photo: Ilovechocolate/Wikimedia Commons Behind the Crazy Upheaval at CB5 as an Open NY Rep Becomes New Chairman The disembodied voice emanated from a black zoom screen, the video off. You are, the voice warned, being “secretly infiltrated.”... News 23 Mar 2024 | 12:40
The artists rendition of a $12 billion casino that developers hope to build in Hudson Yards overlooking the Hudson River. Photo: Related and Wynn Resorts Hudson Yards $12 Billion Gambling Mecca Plan Unveiled by Developer and Casino Partner It will be, its developers say, the biggest thing ever on the West Side. Maybe because they never built Westway? The project,... News 15 Mar 2024 | 01:43
The front door of the former Early Childhood School of the Calhoun School. When it was sold, last summer to Bayrock Capital, the developer said the W. 74th St. building was going to be turned into luxury condos. Instead the city signed a nine year lease with the developer to turn it into a homeless shelter. Questions Swirl over New Plans for the Old Calhoun School that Will Now House Homeless Women The city and its non-profit partner sought to reassure residents of W. 74th street that the women’s shelter they are planning... News 01 Mar 2024 | 02:02
Sadik Topia, the operator of a newsstand at 79th and Broadway for 23 years, was essentially a subcontractor to the actual license holder, identified as Marilyn Kaufman. He says her recently learned from the city that she had died three years ago without the license being passed to the daughter or directly to Topia. Photo: Michael Oreskes License Holder of UWS Newsstand is Dead The license holder of the West 79th street newsstand where Sadik Topia has endeared himself to the neighborhood for 23 years,... News 27 Feb 2024 | 06:34
Eric Botcher, nyc council member representing Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen and parts of the Village, is teaming with Brooklyn Borough president Antonio Reynoso in a new push to overcome NIMBY-ism and seek residential housing across the city to avert looming crisis. Photo: Office of the Brooklyn Borough President/ District 3 City Council. Crisis Looming: With Only 8,000 New Housing Starts Last Yr, Politicos Seek Residential Push The solution to the Great City’s acute housing shortage seems, at one level, obvious. Build more housing. But since real estate... News 18 Feb 2024 | 07:51
Two top lawyer’s saw the photo of embattled newsstand dealer Sadik Topia on the front page of the the West Side Spirit and decided to step in and offer pro bono help to try to get the city to cut him a break on uppaid fines and allow him to return to the corner of 79th and Broadway where he operated for decades. Photo: Michael Oreskes Heavy Hitter Lawyers Come to Aid of Embattled Newsstand Dealer When you’re in trouble, it’s good to have The West Side on your side. That is what Sadik Topia has found since the city shut... News 12 Feb 2024 | 01:02
The city wants to convert the five story building that most recently housed the Calhoun School on W. 74th St. near Amsterdam Ave. into a homeless shelter for women. City Council member Gale Brewer is urging Mayor Adams to use the building for affordable housing instead. Photo: Michael Oreskes Battle Underway over Homeless Shelter that City Wants to Place in Former Calhoun School City Council Member Gale Brewer appealed to Mayor Adams to block the city’s plan to convert the former Calhoun School on... News 10 Feb 2024 | 11:26
Sadik Topia, who operated a newsstand on the corner of W. 79th St. and Broadway for 23 years, was forced by the City Departmet of Consumer Affairs to shut down in a dispute over unpaid fines. Mayor Adams said he would try to help if he could. City Council member Gale Brewer held a press conference supporting him on Jan. 25 on the corner where he once operated the newsstand. Photo: Michael Oreskes Beloved News Stand Operator Still Shut Down as Council Member Brewer Pushes Cause With the Adams administration sympathetic but unyielding to calls that it forgive or reduce the fines that have shut popular... News 26 Jan 2024 | 06:18
Mayor Eric Adams said he will “do anything in my power” to help beleaguered newsstand dealer Sadik Topia The city evicted Topia from the newsstand that he operated for 23 years at the corner of W. 79th and Broadway in a dispute over fines and penalties that have reached $94,000. Photo: Keith J. Kelly Mayor Vows He Will Try to Help Newsstand Operator Being Hit with $94,000 in Fines Mayor Adams said Tuesday he would do anything “within my powers” to get Sadik Topia back to work at his shuttered West Side... News 24 Jan 2024 | 01:03
Sadik Topia holds a copy of the West Side Spirit which highlighted his plight on a front page story last week. Photo: Michael Oreskes UWS Residents Rallying to Support News Dealer the City is Trying to Shut Down Sadik Topia admits he made mistakes, pleads one of his neighbors, Bette Kerr. He sold e-cigarettes he should not have been... Home 21 Jan 2024 | 05:57
Sadik Topia, an immigrant from Gujarat, has operated a newsstand for 23 years and earned enough to raise a family in the Bronx. Now the city is trying to level nearly $60,000 in fines against him for seemingly minor transgressions. Locals are rallying to his defense. Photo: Michael Oreskes Immigrant Who Has Operated Newsstand for 23 Years Fights City Bid to Fine Him over $90,000 For 23 years Sadik Topia, an immigrant from Gujarat, has offered newspapers, magazines and neighborliness from the newsstand... Home 14 Jan 2024 | 02:16
Layla Law-Gisiko (front left) the chair of Community Board 5’s land use committee, joins Diana Gonzalez, (front row, right), executive director of New Yorkers for a Better Penn Plan--the organizer of a protest on Dec. 19 calling for Governor Kathy Hochul to come up with a new plan for the now vacant lot in Chelsea where the historic Hotel Pennsylvania once stood. Photo: Michael Oreskes Local Activists Push Hochul for New Plan on Lot Where Hotel Pennsylvania Was Demolished It isn’t quite the largest vacant property in Manhattan, but it is certainly the most centrally located. For a hundred years... News 22 Dec 2023 | 02:47
409 Edgecomb Ave., in the Sugar Hill neighborhood in Harlem, has been surrounded by a “temporary” sidewalk shed for a record setting 17 years. ( Photo via Google Street View ) Spirit of Shed Regs Subverted by Landlords Who Leave Them Up for Years: Report They stretch over, and obscure, more than 380 miles of New York sidewalks, in total. There are now nearly 9,000 of them and... News 11 Dec 2023 | 02:27
