Uptown Radio

If you have a dog and it’s not registered, you’re breaking the law. The city wants more people to license their dogs, but only 1 in 5 have. That’s why the Health department ran a large subway ad campaign for six months, and launched an online service to help find lost dogs. But now that most of the ads are gone, registration numbers remain low. Annie Russell reports that the situation may be more complicated than the city is saying.

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At the Riverside Dog Run, 5 dogs enjoy a rare off-leash moment.

SOUND: Top dogs barking at the dog run. (:02)

Fade up and and hold, then fade down under narration. Ambi of dog run throughout the piece.

Odds are, only one of these dogs are what the city calls a real New Yorker. That’s the term the Health Department gave to licensed dogs in a subway ad campaign it launched in October to reach dog owners like Michelle Davis who lives on the Upper West Side. She isn’t even sure if her dog Mahla is licenced.

 

DAVIS 1 (:10)

“I’m assuming he is, because my sister brought him from Africa and the whole process of bringing a dog in from another country is really strict.”

Besides, Davis doesn’t think it matters if he’s registered, because she doesn’t worry about him getting lost.

 

DAVIS 2 (:03)

“He’s really well-behaved and I can’t imagine him ever getting away.”

Finding lost dogs is only one reason why the city wants more New Yorkers to register their pets. The nonprofit Animal Care and Control or ACC, which runs the city’s shelter system, estimates that right now only 2% of lost dogs return to their owners.

 

SOUND: Desi Kim calling “Shelby!” (:02)

Shelby was a lost dog who found a new home through an ACC shelter. He got licensed as part of his adoption process. His owner Desi Kim didn’t realize she had to re-register him every year or that it costs $8.50.

 

KIM 1 (:10)

Wow. I’m surprised. I know someone who came from Maryland and she hasn’t registered her dog yet. So I’m surprised she hasn’t done it even though it’s so cheap.

The city’s campaign is designed to convince dog owners that licensing their dogs is cheap, easy, and in their best interest. Licensed dogs are eligible for subsidized spay/neuter services and allowed to run off-leash in city parks.

And since last month, owners who lose licensed dogs can turn to a city database for help. It’s called the  Dog eLocator. It enables a person who finds a lost dog to enter in the license number on the website. Then they’ll be matched with the owner so that the dog can go home. The city licensing will remind owners to vaccinate and help keep track of dogs in emergencies.

And it is, of course, the law. It has been since 1894. In fact, the fine for an unregistered dog can be up to $200. But at a press conference at the Hillside dog run in Brooklyn last fall to promote the dog licensing awareness campaign,  Mayor Michael Bloomberg admitted it’s not a high risk crime.

 

BLOOMBERG 2  (:18)

“It’s just not practical to have our police department or parks people run around and try to give out tickets. We can enforce the pooper scooper law, but going into parks and starting to check dogs for licenses isn’t something we’re likely to do, in all fairness.”

But some animal advocates say that licensing dogs supports a flawed animal control system. What the city doesn’t advertise on its subway ads is that part of the 8.50 license fee also goes to support those ACC shelters.

 

MARSH 2 (:04)

“But that money goes back into a shelter system that’s not necessarily working.”

That’s Donna Marsh. She works at Dog Habitat Rescue it is based in Greenpoint loft space that it shares with a pet supply store and an animal boarding facility.

It’s part of the trend towards no-kill shelters. In other words, stray dogs stay here until a home can be found for them. ACC shelters, on the other hand, put down strays in as little as 7 days. Marsh says her shelter actually rescues dogs rescue dogs from ACC. She’s working to get no-kill shelters around the city to coordinate to save more dogs.

 

MARSH 1 (:08)

“We would be able to do it more quickly. ACC doesn’t hold dogs very long before they put them down. Sometimes they’re not helpful to certain shelters.”

Marsh says pet owners would be better off making donations to no-kill shelters.

Neither ACC nor the Department of Health returned calls requesting comment for this story.

Annie Russell, Columbia Radio News.

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HOST INTRO: You just might have an asset that’s been hiding in plain sight.  Commentator Annie Russell got ‘discovered’ wedding reception…Or rather, her eyebrows did. (0:10)N: It was a friends wedding three years ago.  I was pushing cold chicken around my plate when the maid of honor, who I’d just met that week, sidled up to me and got uncomfortably close to my face.

“I….LOVE…YOUR…EYEBROWS…” she said. I rolled my eyes, which as far as I’m concerned, is what you do when a total stranger starts talking about your eyebrows.

And this woman was serious about eyebrows. It turned out she worked for an upscale tweezer company. She wanted to know if I’d be interested in modeling for their infomercial. I mumbled something about modeling promoting the patriarchy.  She didn’t pick up on that. She said I’d get free tweezers, plus a professional eyebrow stylist would pluck hair out of my face on the Home Shopping Network.

This sounded so lame. Obviously I was interested.

A few trips to the open bar later, and I’d completely forgotten about this conversation. So I was surprised to get a follow-up email a week later, with an address for a “brow studio” in SoHo.

On the day of, I barely thought about the shoot. I could just squeeze it in between work and band practice. So I showed up on very little sleep with my bass guitar on my back, in ripped jean shorts over black tights and a flannel shirt. Honestly, I don’t even think I showered that day.

I walked into the studio twenty minutes late. The place had obnoxious techno music blasting, wall-to-wall mirrors and skinny girls clicking around the room in heels.

When I plopped myself into the chair, I ignored a request to sit up straight and smile, opting instead to impatiently checked my phone and make fun of the music. One of the skinny girls murmured to another, “I thought someone said she looked like Anne Hathaway.”

I was informed that I’d be working with Lindsay Lohan’s brow stylist.  Yes. famous for tweezing Lindsay’s Lohan’s eyebrows. And now mine.

Without acknowledging me, he called to his assistant “we’re going to need a lot under-eye concealer.”

This was not going well. As the stylist plucked away, he gossiped about Beyonce’s eyebrows being a “hot mess” and other celebrities he’d worked on. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to respond to that. I was barely aware of my own eyebrows before that week.

I was then told that there’d been a change of plans. They now planned to use me as the “before.” girl. You know, the one with defects who needs a makeover. I was livid. I was above this! They were the ones working in an industry designed to make women feel bad about themselves.

But, if I was being honest, I had to admit something. I had spent so much time making fun of the infomercial, and the whole idea of “brow styling” for that matter,  it didn’t occur to me that I wasn’t doing them any favors. They just wanted a nice, smiling, normal-looking girl to put on TV. Maybe even one who’d bothered to wash her face that day. Maybe they wanted someone who was happy to be there.

I haven’t had any more ironic modeling gigs, and expect I won’t be getting a call back from the tweezer company. But there is hope for me yet! I’ve been getting email updates from my brow stylist with all the latest eyebrow tips and tricks, if I want them.

BACK ANNOUNCE: Annie Russell has been wearing bangs to hide her famous eyebrows ever since.

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HOST INTRO: Officials disagree on how to best prevent construction site accidents and who should regulate their inspections. This comes after the deadly crane collapse Tuesday night, which killed one worker and injured another at the site of the 7 train extension on the west side of Manhattan. Annie Russell reports.

ANNIE RUSSELL: The MTA has launched a full investigation on the cause of the crane collapse Tuesday that killed 30-year-old Michael Simmermeyer when officials believe a cable on the crane may have snapped. The MTA ordered immediate inspections for all MTA construction sites in the city that use cranes. But that’s not enough for City Council speaker and likely 2013 mayoral candidate Christine Quinn. She’s calling for increased City control of construction safety after the fatal accident. Right now, the safety inspectors visiting major MTA construction sites are under the jurisdiction of the state, since the MTA is a state agency. Quinn said at a press conference at the site at 34th street and 11th avenue that the conditions there would have violated city safety rules.

CHRISTINE QUINN: We need the MTA and other state agencies to give the city the oversight and authority at these construction sites. In fact, the MTA should follow the lead of the Port Authority, that has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the city around crane safety issues.

ANNIE RUSSELL: The MTA responded to Quinn today, saying in a statement that crane contractors working on MTA projects are already required to obtain certificates from the New York City Department of Buildings. The MTA also says city inspectors visited the site last July. A second inspection slated for January was rescheduled because the crane was in use. The MTA halted production on the subway project yesterday, further postponing the city’s plan to extend subway service to Secaucus, New Jersey. First responders said the rescue was made more complicated by the underground job site. FDNY Fire Chief Bill Seeling said the rescue was trickier than at past accidents.

BILL SEELING: It was a complicated job. It wasn’t on ground level. Being that it was 60 feet down in the pit. The crane that crashed was set up on the second of three levels in a tunnel about sixty feet below street level. The boom of the crane came crashing down in two pieces, one 40 feet long and another 80 feet long. Shockingly, the crane operator was the victim’s uncle. Simmermeyer’s father also worked at the job site. The city re-vamped their safety rules after two deadly crane accidents in 2008, but the regulations don’t apply to state agencies like the MTA. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is calling for stricter regulations on crane operation.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: We’re also incidentally pushing for a change in the exams that crane operators have to take. One of the unions is violently opposed to our crane operators that work here taking a national test.

ANNIE RUSSELL: Last year, Bloomberg brought up the national test during labor talks, but it is not yet required. Under the proposal, crane operators would need to be re-tested every five years. The MTA says the next scheduled inspection for the crane involved in the accident was supposed to take place today. Annie Russell, Columbia Radio News.

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Dealing with New York City’s 25,000 tons of trash each day is getting harder all the time.
Garbage treatment facilities exist around the city in areas that were once industrial, but are now more residential. According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Solid Waste Management Plan, one of the city’s environmental goals is borough equity: all five have to share the burden of the city’s garbage.

And a state appeals court decision last month upheld the city’s right to build a new facility in Manhattan, against resident’s objections.No solution is popular, but New Yorkers can agree on one thing: nobody wants garbage in their backyard. Annie Russell reports.

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N: It’s a sunny day in Greenpoint. A perfect day for a stroll. How about the Newtown Creek Nature Walk? The quarter-mile stretch of public space opened in 2007 and sits in the industrial area right next to the Newtown Creek Sewage Treatment Plant. The silver entrance gates sparkle in the sunlight.

SOUND: Gate slamming.

N: But the walk itself is less emerald city, more wicked witch’s castle. A concrete passageway snakes around a parking lot, an asphalt factory, and utilitarian office buildings.

The view? The New York Skyline. And a giant pile of trash.

Kyoko Masutni biked here to eat lunch overlooking the water. She won’t go closer than that.

A: MASUTNI 1: “My boyfriend canoes”

As she eats her tofu sandwich, she’s gazing across the creek at the industrial landscape.

SOUND: Water in the creek

N: She lives around here and she knows about the neighborhood’s other environmental issues, like the underground oil spill, and radioactive waste storage facility nearby. Masutni thinks about that.

A: MASUTNI 2:   “I’m probably not staying in North Brooklyn for long term.”

N: The waste treatment plant doesn’t make it any more attractive. North Brooklyn and the South Bronx are home to most of the city’s sanitation facilities. Together they handle about 30% of the city’s trash.

That inequality is why the city wants to build a Marine Transfer Station on East 91st street and the East River in Manhattan, directly through an athletic center. The idea is not popular.

A: MACK 1: “It’s a significant safety hazard, just to pedestrians, to children. The fact that the entrance ramp bisects the Asphalt Green facility is very worrisome.

N: That’s David Mack. He’s the Vice President of Residents for Sane Trash Solutions, an Upper East Side group that opposes the facility.

He says the East side station will increase garbage truck traffic and will not necessarily relieve the burden on outer boroughs, since much of Manhattan’s garbage is now transported to New Jersey. But he says a city officials have told him there’s a quid pro quo.

A:  MACK 2 “This facility has to be built, because we struck a deal with these other communities that if they had a waste transfer site built, that you would have one built.”

No one from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection was available to speak on tape. But the city’s Solid Waste Management Plan cites environmental studies that say spreading these facilities around is healthier for New Yorkers.

Annie Russell, Columbia Radio News.

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Since Whitney Houston’s death last Saturday, fans around the world have mourned the star many call the “Queen of Pop.” In New York City, fans have been gathering in front the Apollo Theater in Harlem, where they’re building an impromptu memorial.

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Times Square is full of comedy clubs hoping to entertain New York’s many tourists. But getting customers into the seats is no joke. Sidewalk sellers work strictly on commission, and some days they don’t leave laughing.

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