Uptown Radio

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By Joe Danielewicz and Kaitlin Ugolik

The waterways around New York City used to be crowded with ferries. Fulton Street – both in Manhattan and in Brooklyn – was actually named for Robert Fulton, the man who made steam navigation practical. But everything changed when New Yorkers started tunneling under the rivers around Manhattan, according to Julie Golia of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

“When you have the rise of subways in the early twentieth century, that basically was the nail in the coffin of the ferry system in terms of efficiency for carrying people,” she said, sitting on a bench at the Fulton Ferry slip in Brooklyn Heights. “And you actually see in 1924 the end of Fulton Ferry leaving from where we’re sitting and going across the way.”

Now, ferry service is set to return to the East River. The city is subsidizing a three-year pilot program for a service along the East River, connecting Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. Recent service offerings on the river have not fared well, usually because of poor ridership. Reporter Joe Danielewicz and producer Kaitlin Ugolik explore the prospects of these new routes.

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Victor Tello is doing what 60,000 people do every day – using the ferry to commute between Staten Island and Manhattan.

“I’m going home now, I do the reverse commute,” he said after disembarking. Tello says the price can’t be beat – the ride is free. And the service is convenient; boats leave about every 15 minutes during rush hour.

“The schedule is pretty regular. It runs late sometimes, but for the most part it’s a pretty efficient system,” he said, adding that the ride’s relaxing and pleasant too. “I do like sitting on the southern side of the ferry and getting the view of the Statue of Liberty.”

The city hopes that the same things that make the Staten Island Ferry attractive will draw riders to a new and improved ferry service on the East River. Of course, Staten Island commuters don’t have the option of taking the subway to Manhattan. But subway lines that serve communities along the East River are increasingly crowded.

Along the East River waterfront where the new ferry will run, developers built 2,200 new housing units in 2008 alone. By 2014 there will be a total of 8,300 new units, all within a third of a mile of the ferry stops.

All that growth has put a lot of strain on subway stops like the one on the L line at Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. Ridership has doubled at the station, from 3.3 million in 1999 to 6.7 million in 2009. And during rush hour, the trains are packed. Sara Trigg works from home and tries to avoid the rush if she has to travel.

“To get somewhere by 9:00 or 9:30, it’s usually two or three trains that have to pass before you can get on,” she said, while waiting on the platform.

The city thinks adding the East River ferry service will take some of the strain off the L train. Paul Goodman is CEO of Billy Bey Ferry Company. His company will operate the new East River boats on behalf of New York Waterway.

“I don’t think people will want to get back on the crowded L train once they’ve tried our service,” he said. He hopes to attract riders who want to avoid crowded subways and enjoy a commute above ground, and the people who live close to the waterfront. “We’re really relying on people who live within walking distance or biking distance.” That would include many of the new developments in Brooklyn and Queens.

Based on a feasibility study, the city hopes the ferry will serve nearly 1,300 riders daily. If that happens, it would be a major improvement over previous attempts at ferry services in the 1990s, which attracted 150 or fewer riders a day.

That old service had a stop at the East 34th Street dock, just below FDR Drive. Towards the end of that service’s run, on an April afternoon, only a few passengers were around the dock, including Janet Cocchiarella, who commuted about three days a week from Sunnyside Queens.

“I drive from my home to the parking lot, which takes about ten minutes and then it’s a bout a five minute commute. I work at the medical center at NYU,” which is just a couple of blocks away. Cocchiarella said she was surprised more people didn’t use the ferry to get around. “It’s not full in the mornings and it’s not full in the evenings. I just think if more people were aware of it, it would get better ridership.”

But it wasn’t just awareness that killed the old service: it only ran every 60 minutes, and only during the morning and afternoon rush hours. And it only stopped at four locations aside from the one at 34th Street. City officials thought the service could be improved.

The city solicited bids on a three-year city contract for the new line. New York Water Taxi, which ran the old service, lost out to New York Waterways. The new operator already runs several Hudson River routes that serve 30,000 riders daily. The new service will bring riders to two extra stops – one more in Williamsburg and another in Greenpoint – bringing the total to seven. And boats will run more frequently: every 20 or 30 minutes throughout the day.

But the chance to operate the boats wouldn’t have been enough to attract ferry operators. The city also offered a $9.3 million subsidy over three years. Paul Goodman of Billy Bey Ferry says the subsidy is essential to the service.

“The subsidy enables us to offer this. The service wouldn’t exist without the city’s subsidy,” he said. “The subsidy enables us to price it attractively, and make the service accessible to all.” But some transportation experts wonder whether being accessible will be enough to make the service successful.

Richard Barone is director for transportation programs for the Regional Plan Association, a transportation think tank for the tri-state area. He says the subsidy is a good way to help launch the service.

“It might make sense to give it a shot, see if it helps at all, provide a boost in development,” he said. “In the long run, it’s questionable whether services will survive.” But Barone says, in the long run, it’s a matter of numbers. “Unfortunately there’s a question of whether there’s enough people to justify the cost of the service. The fact that so many have failed in the recent past…will this one really be successful? I don’t know.”

There’s also the matter of the fares. It’ll cost $3 to $5 to ride the ferry each way.

At the Bedford Avenue platform, Sarah Trigg says even with the crowded train, she doesn’t think a ferry service would change her travel habits.

“Economics are a factor,” she said. “But also it would depend on…for me to walk to the river, if it’s a longer commute, is it really worth it?”

It’s a similar story for commuter Jessica Ray. She thinks it will be difficult to change people’s behavior.

“It’s kind of like the iPhone – are you going to leave AT&T? Well, probably not,” she said. “I have a routine and I’m going to stick with it.” Both Trigg and Ray say it’s possible that people living right on the waterfront might use the ferry because it will be closer.

New York Waterway launches its new service in early June. For the first two weeks, passengers can ride for free. Three years down the line, if enough are willing to pay, the city could expand the service further.

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Starting this Sunday, it’ll be illegal to rent out an apartment for less than 30 days in New York State.

Supporters say the law will shut-down so-called “NO-tels” – illegal hotels and hostels in the city…that specialize in short-term rentals. They say these rentals jeopardize permanent residents’ safety and quality of life.

Joe Danielewicz (Daniel-witz) reports.

At a ground floor apartment on 88^th Street near Central Park West, Judah Charytan welcomes Roger Cooke and Ashley Boone to his apartment.,…  it will be theirs’s for the next week..

“Welcome to New York and to the apartment,” Charytan said welcoming his guests.

“The other folks slept here this morning, so the house keeper will be here later this morning and will get it cleaned up,” Charytan continued, showing the apartment to his guests.

Charytan has a lot of visitors these days, as tourist seasons picks up.

The Australians found Charytan’s apartment through AirBNB.

“We just like the more relaxed way of an apartment,” said Boone standing near the studio’s kitchen.  “Hotels usually want you out by a certain time so they can clean. So we can be a little more self sufficient.”

Roger adds, “So we can cook.”

They liked the location and at a $140 a night, it’s much cheaper than many New York hotels.

Charytan started renting his apartment over a year ago… He got such a good response and now rents two other apartments solely for short-term rentals.

He makes enough money so that he doesn’t have to work another job.

But these short-term rentals can cause problems for permanent residents.

One neighbor noticed the guests and spoke with Charytan about people in the buildings.

“I’m sure he’d prefer that there weren’t random people coming in and out.” Charytan says.  “To the best that I can, I definitely screen the people.  One of the advantages about Air BNB is you can post reviews about the travelers.“

As far as he knows, Charytan says there haven’t been any problems with the guests.

In the East Village Stafanie Tran lives in a building where more than half of the units are short-term rentals leased by a company called “Hotel Toshi.”

Security is a big issue with the guests for Tran.

“Sometimes they prop open the door which means the entire building is open” she said.  “Normally we felt pretty safe because we’re in the back building, but if they leave everything unlocked, that leaves us open to the same things they’re going through in the front part.“

She says the temporary neighbors are perpetually on vacation.

“People that are up ‘til 4 or 5 AM, that are making a lot of noise, that are smoking

out of their apartment,’ according to Tran. “Their windows are open and they’re just doing kind of crazy things.”

The problems are so bad, Tran says some of the long-term residents want to move out and get away.

State Senator Liz Krueger represents the Midtown and the Upper East Side.  She sponsored the bill after receiving resident complaints about guests in their buildings…

“Partying and perhaps drunk and raucous, in the hallways at all hours of the day and night, is not a good model for residential living” she said in her office.

Kruger says the law is meant strengthen enforcement but won’t target the individuals who may rent out their apartment time to time…

The point is to keep people safe.

“People who rent housing can be assured they are in safe, secure buildings with

other perm residents.  That they are not finding themselves in party-scene illegal housing situation, literally down the hall.”

Hotel Toshi is one of the companies that could be affected by the new law.  They declined an interview on tape, but emailed a statement defending their business:

“We have policies that are in place to make sure no long term tenants that inhabit some of the apartments in the same buildings we occupy are never bothered or inconvenienced by our guests. …

“But sometimes, just like in any other business, things happen that are not in your immediate control – and the best we can do is try to rectify those issues as they arise.”

Enforcement is complaint driven… If there is an issue, residents can file a complaint with the city by calling 311.

But it could take a while for the city to check it out…  There’s too few inspectors to cover the whole city… and unless someone is caught “red-handed” it might be difficult to prove something illegal took place.

One group of Lower East Side residents took their previous building management to housing court in part to get Hotel Toshi out.

Nancy Koan lives in that building along East 9 Street near Avenue A and says the Hotel Toshi “guests” changed the building’s character.

“They were nice travelers, but everyday you’re seeing a stranger in your building”

Koan said in a phone interview.  “You don’t feel like it’s your building.  You’re staying in a strange place because you don’t recognize the people.”

That law banning short-term rentals goes into effect Sunday.

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Host Intro: Our commentator Joe Danielewicz went back to school recently. And he’s finding its staggered deadlines, multiple bosses and always-present social environment have awakened a childhood problem he thought he’d licked: procrastination. Finally, he says, he’ s finding the time to deal with it.

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I’ve been an expert procrastinator since grade school. I went from “reading” Clifford the Big Red Dog in front of the TV to pulling all-nighters in my dorm room.

And then I chose a field that is all about deadlines: news, where putting things off is not allowed. Producing a TV newscast, I couldn’t tell my boss “I need 15 more minutes” to finish the show.

I figured a professional work cured me. But being a student again—in journalism school, –means the lines between work and school are blurry.

I’ve fallen into the trap of starting and finishing an article in the 36 hours before it’s due. I realized this dicey method finally caught up with me, when a professor emailed saying: “did you run spell-check before handing this in?”

Squeaking by wasn’t cutting it. I had to make a change. So I signed up for a procrastination workshop on campus.

I’ve since learned my formerly successful work practices are bad ones for school.

Constantly checking emails on my blackberry used to mean I was “on top of my work.” Now, that’s procrastination.

So is reading the news to know what’s going on in the world. It’s a “must-do” in a newsroom setting…but at school, it’s a way to avoid working when a deadline looms.

The freedom of being a grad student also means more opportunities—to put things off – like socializing

As long as I feel the work will probably, possibly, most-likely get done, it SEEMS okay…But it’s not.

My workshop instructor says procrastination is a defense mechanism to avoid work or unpleasant tasks. He also says it stems from a fear of both failure AND success. He said it helps avoid “dreadful and uncomfortable feelings.”

I know those feelings—like when I have to call a source for a story I know nothing about. Street reporting can also stir them up.

That work puts me outside my comfort zone. But it’s also why I came to journalism school.

Knowing all this doesn’t always trigger action though.

That’s been the real struggle. And why I’m determined to press forward with the lessons from the workshop.

And even though we just had our last session, I know I won’t put off the homework.

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Back announce: Joe Danielewicz will get right back to you—just as soon as he finishes a couple emails…and gets a cup of coffee.

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A cobra snake, similar to the one in this file photograph, was thought to have escaped the Bronx Zoo last week Saturday. Photo by Richard DuBarton via Fair Lawn Animal Control / AP.

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Even though it’s April Fool’s day – this is a true story.

For the past week, New Yorkers and the nation have been nervously following the Bronx Zoo’s attempt to
locate its female Egyptian cobra.

The snake, one of the world’s more venomous species, went missing from its home in the zoo’s reptile house last Saturday.

After searching around the city–and shutting down the cobra exhibit — zoo workers found the snake INSIDE the reptile house and captured it.

But the missing cobra had become a running — or slithering — joke on late-night TV.

David Letterman said “the good news is they have captured the deadly Egyptian cobra!” last night on his show.

“When they found the snake, it had a bus ticket to Tipton, Indiana.”

And on another network–Conan O’Brien went Letterman one better –booking the snake for his show.

“It was a good get for us. He sat in with the band.”

So O’Brien was understandably confused about the whole recapture thing.

“He was in the zoo the whole time,” O’Brien said Thursday night.

“Which got me wondering, who’s the cobra that’s been sitting in with OUR band this week?”

O’Brien said he liked the “moxie” of the snake on set, pretending to be the Bronx Zoo Cobra.

And we at Uptown Radio appreciate the “moxie” of the still mysterious person who’s been tweeting as the snake last week: with the Twitter handle: @BronxZoosCobra.

Since Monday, the account gained more than 225,000 as @BronxZoosCobra tweeted about being a tourist in the Big Apple, using the hashtag “snake on the town”

On Wednesday it tweeted:

“Getting on the ferry to Ellis Island. Let’s hope this goes better than that time on the plane.”

And the tweets are still coming from inside the zoo.  Today @BronxZoosCobra said it was hungry… and invited folks to help with a real escape recipe:

“2 cups sugar, 4 eggs, 1 cup milk, 2 cups self-rising flour, 1 saw, 1 stick butter. And mix. Bring it by the zoo..”

The joke is so big Ryan Seacrest’s twitter account has been “hijacked” by the snake. And another Twitter feed, at- new-york-mongoose, started tweeting: supposedly on the Cobra’s trail.

We can’t make this up…

We reached out the email account linked @BronxZoosCobra for an interview, and got this response:

“Thanks for the interest, but I am too self conscious of my lisp to do phone interview. But thankssss.”

Reporting by Joe Danielewicz.

Protests Wednesday March 9, 2011 in Qatif, Saudi Arabia. Activists in Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim minority have issued Internet calls for a "Day of Rage" on Friday. Photo by Associated Press.

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Activists are calling for a “day of rage” in Saudi Arabia, as a stand against the Sunni dominated government and ruling family.   Zachary Lockman, a professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University provides insights for this latest uprising call and the history of local Sunni-Shia tensions.

Early signs of construction at Hunters Point South in Long Island City, Queens. The city will build a 5,000 unit apartment complex, school and manicured waterfront. Photo by Joe Danielewicz

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By Joe Danielewicz

At a ground-breaking in mid-February, Mayor Michael Bloomberg explained the importance of the city’s newest housing development.

“Hunters Point South is the first large scale, middle class development to be built in our city in more than three and a half decades,” said Bloomberg.

The last large affordable housing developments were Co-Op City and Starrett City.  In housing terms, “affordable” generally means costing 30% or less of your income on shelter.  60% of the 5000 homes at Hunters Point South will be set aside for middle income families.  The rest will be available at market rates.

Hunters point south is part of Long Island City, it’s mainly a bundle of industrial building on the East River…Trucks and the occasional semi make up most of the traffic…But when the project is complete, this will be landscaped with water-front walkways, a new public school and new store fronts.

Some Queens residents say they want to move to Hunters Point South, but can’t afford it.

“Queens residents had a lot of hope about Hunter’s Point South,” said Farzana Morshed, who  organized residents in 2008 to fight for more a bigger share of affordable housing when the plan was first debated. Morshed says she needs affordable housing.

“When we think about food cloths, and house rent, it is too difficult to survive,” said Morshed.

Morshed and other people in Queens have two problems with the development: Number one – not enough units were created…

“We see it as a drop in the bucket,” said Morshed.

Anna Dioguardi is the director for “community organizing and development” at Queens Community House – an advocacy and social services group.

“It’s complicated to understand the allotments of housing at, the most staggering thing is there’s no apartments for families earning $25,000  or less,” said Dioguardi.

And that leads to problem number two – the income limits on the development don’t match the community make up.

Queen’s median household income is 55-thousand dollars a year…  the income range for “affordability”  at hunters point south will start at $55,000 to $158,000 for a family of four. That leaves half of Queens residents out in the cold.

Judy Calogero is the CEO for the New York Housing Conference – a group that researches and advocates for affordable housing. She says developments sometimes need a mix of incomes to get off the ground or remain viable…

“It’s easy for anyone of us to say that ‘gee I wish that 50% or 75% of the units at Hunters Point would be to serve people that are below 60% of median income,’ that would be a great goal to do, but what is the cost of doing that?” said Calogero.

And Calogero says the income range is by design.

“There is a desire to have a mix. And not just have it be exclusively just one income group whether they’re middle income, or low income or upper income,” said Calogero.

For some families – the cheaper rent from new construction works in their favor. Lisa Desimone moved from the East Village to Williamsburg in September.

“I was paying $1,000 for 450 square feet but I was in a tenement slum filled with mice and a landlord that didn’t take care of anything,” said Desimone.

Now Desimone rents a 2 bedroom with her husband and daughter for 12-hundred dollars at The Edge apartment along the waterfront.…

Farzana Morshed still feels left-out from the affordable housing debate.

“You know, working families – city needs working families, city needs immigrant..  without working families, the city can’t build it’s economy very good,” said Morshed.

For the time being…  Morshed and her husband have decided hold off starting a family… Morshed says she just can’t afford it.

“I’ve been married five years.  I need a baby, but I can’t.  I have work.  So if I work, how can I have a baby? said Morshed.

The first part of construction at Hunters Point is scheduled to this month… with the first apartment buildings finished in 2014.

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Hospitals in Bahrain are treating wounded protestors, following a day of clashes with security forces. At least five are dead and 50 injured, several with gunshot wounds. Soldiers used tear gas and fired guns in the air to break up the crowds gathered for a funeral of a protestor killed this week. The government is defending the crackdown, saying demonstrators are “polarizing the country”. The protesters want the country’s monarch – a U.S. ally in the region – to give up control of top government positions.

It’s not just Bahrian. Citizens are also protesting in Yemen, Jordan and Libya.

Linda Abi Assi reports…

“Unrest in Yemen is now in its ninth straight day. Anti-government demonstrators are clashing with supporters of the country’s longtime ruler and riot police. Three people were killed in the port of Ay-den and 48 were wounded in the southern city of Taiz.

In Jordan, clashes erupted in the capital of Amman between 2 hundred government supporters and about 2-thousand protesters. Demonstrators say they were attacked with batons, stones and pipes. They are protesting to turn the country into a constitutional monarchy. And in Libya, the national congress halted its session indefinitely today as protesters set fire to government buildings and police stations. The crowds are demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled the country for 32 years.”

President Obama today condemned reports of violence against protesters in the middle east.
He’s calling on leaders to show restraint when citizens peacefully gather. The White House says the president receives regular updates on events.

In a speech today at the Asia Society in New York Security of State Hillary Clinton is WARNING the Taliban they have a choice – PEACE or war. Clinton says the insurgents in Afghanistan should pick reconciliation because their strategy of conflict won’t work.

“They cannot wait us out, they cannot defeat us and they cannot escape this choice, ” said Hillary Clinton.

Clinton is also asking for Pakistan’s support, so the Taliban break their alliance with al-Qadea. The U.S. currently has about 78 thousand troops in Afghanistan.

Republicans and democrats ARE NOT working together in Wisconsin, as 14 statehouse Democrats are on the run in Chicago. State troopers have been called-in to bring them BACK. It’s a protest move to shut-down the state-house. Staying away stops a Republican-budget-bill from passing, which would cut union benefits.

When the cul-de-sac on 129th street is expanded, the playground (pictured) will be lost at St. Nicholas Houses in Harlem. Green space residents call “The Circle” is where the school will be built. (Photo by Joe Danielewicz/Columbia Radio News)

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It’s Black History month, so kids at one of the Harlem Children’s Zone pre-k programs are doing a special program for parents. Maryam Boddie is in the audience watching her twin daughters perform.

She has five daughters total  and they all attend Children’s Zone schools.

“When they started going to the classes and events at the school, I realized what great opportunities they have,” Boddie said.

The Harlem Children’s Zone and the housing authority want to bring that experience here: a cul-de-sac at 129^th street and 7^th avenue, right in the middle of St. Nicholas Houses.

At the end of the road is what residents call “the circle.”

It’s a green space divided by waist-high metal fences and sidewalks, linking the buildings together.

Long-time resident William Denzy spent his childhood here, playing football, running and roller-skating in the circle.  He says it’s always been a barbecue spot and meeting place for families—and should stay that way.

“They want to make this place congested and over crowded,” Denzy said.  “The school will do that.”

Nearly 35-hundred people live at St . Nicholas. And Denzy says he’s collected 700 resident signatures against the plan.

The 130,000 square-foot school will cover this space .

And the cul-de-sac will become a through street bringing more traffic — and 1300 students.

But the Children’s Zone is already established here.

It’s been running after-school and summer programs here for three years, says Lauren Scopaz, who’s managing the Zone’s St. Nicholas expansion.

Scopaz says for the housing authority, the school seemed like a logical next step.

“The chairman of housing authority said ‘Why don’t we do even more for these families and why don’t you build your school here so we can provide more services?” she said.

About 30 St Nicholas kids have already enrolled in the Children Zone’s pre-K program.

And some residents say it’s the pace of the plans that’s upsetting.  They say they weren’t always in the loop.

The housing authority acknowledges that, says its deputy director of development, Katherine Gray.

“We’ve attempted to address the issues that have been raised, by both sides, so that we produce a project that is thoughtful and responsive to the needs of the residents as possible,” Gray said.

Gray says that means the attending tenant association meetings, knocking on doors, setting up a hotline and holding meetings to answer residents concerns all of last year.

Gray says these efforts will continue.  But the project is slated to go forward, with construction due to start this month…and classes to begin in the fall of 2012.

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The 3 Decker Restaurant’s store front with a jersey barrier and chain link fence used by crews helping build the Second Avenue Line on the Upper East Side. (Photo by Joe Danielewicz/Columbia Radio News)

The 3 Decker Restaurant sits at the corner of 91^st Street and Second Avenue, its store front is blocked by jersey barriers and a metal chain-link fence, part of the construction for the second avenue subway.

Teddy Raftopoulous  helps his brother run the place.

He says in the past 5 years since subway construction began, business is down as much as 30 percent.

“We used to have a lot of taxi drivers around, lot of limousine guys around, they can’t stop around,” Raftopolous said. “If you have a place and nobody can stop around, that hurts the business.”

One block north of the 3 Decker the MTA has presented what they think is the model for helping businesses weather the construction.

Michael Horodniceanu  is the head of the MTA’s construction division.

“We need to make sure that we are good neighbors,” he said.

Horodniceanu walked reporters through what they’re calling a “model block” today.

It features better signage.

“At the corner of every block, we’re actually identifying only the stores that are on this block,” he said. “Very simple and direct.”

Pedestrian walkways that border construction are also more clearly-defined.

And the equipment inside the fences are hidden behind a screens woven into the fences.  The backhoe is still there, but not staring you in the face.

The MTA wants local businesses to say if they like the model block, in order to expand it.

Robert Zantay lives on the subway route and doesn’t expect much from the new fencing and signs.

Teddy Raftopoulos helps his brother manage the 3 Decker Restaurant at 91st and 2nd Avenue on the Upper East Side. Raftopoulos says business has dropped since Subway construction began. Photo by Joe Danielewicz/Columbia Radio News

He says it’s too little to late.

“Everyone’s gone out of business already,” he said.

Teddy Raftopoulous says when the project is complete, it will be worthwhile.

He’s looking forward to riding the subway.

“You do something, you suffer a little bit and everything, but in the long way, you know, that’s very good for everybody,” he said.

The MTA expects to be working along Second Avenue through 2016.