Russell Stern

Proposed Construction of Nursing Home Angers Parents and Residents Alike

August 14, 2018 by Russell Stern Leave a Comment

As the sun rises brightly and the school day begins, hundreds of students enter Public School 163. Some of them have spent the night before studying for the very important Common Core exam, reviewing strategies and taking practice tests. Nervous, they enter their classrooms and reassure themselves that everything is going to be fine. They are about to start the exam, when suddenly, they hear an ear-splitting, deafening noise. It is the sound of construction right next door.

This is what many in the neighborhood fear would occur if a planned construction project goes forward on West 97th Street. So far, no construction has been done, because a protracted court battle has brought the project to a complete halt.

The New Jewish Home, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing healthcare to the elderly throughout New York City, is planning to build a 20-story nursing home on 97th street between Columbus and Amsterdam, adjacent to P.S. 163. The home would contain 414 beds, including 264 long-term care beds and 150 short-term rehabilitation beds. It would be built on a parking lot that the developers bought from the owners of Park West Village, a residential complex consisting of four apartment buildings on Columbus Avenue between 97th and 100th Street.

The proposed nursing home has ignited a frenzy of controversy among people, both for and against its construction. While some people argue that the New Jewish Home wants to construct this home for the safety and well-being of the elderly, others argue against its development.

An organization called No Jewish Home Lifecare at Park West Village, parents of students who attend P.S. 163, community board members, local politicians, and residents who live near the planned construction site have all criticized the nursing home’s construction.

According to Straus News, Avery Brandon, who lives close to the site and whose daughter is currently in kindergarten attending P.S. 163, strongly criticized establishment of the nursing home. “A huge construction project like this can have untold effects on the health of our children,” she stated. “With the noise levels, and the mental stress that this construction will cause, how will our children be able to learn?” She also pointed out increased congestion, dust and debris, and restricted space for emergency vehicles in case of an accident that could emerge as a result of the construction.

Residents like Avery are not the only ones who have vehemently opposed the nursing home’s construction. According to DNAinfo, City Comptroller Scott Stringer has pledged to halt the New Jewish Home’s proposal. “I’m not going to let them do anything to harm our children or residents,” he said. “In the current proposal, we’ve already calculated that there isn’t enough public space.” He emphasized that the construction would put schoolchildren at risk.

The No JHL at PWV coalition has also harshly condemned the proposed development of the nursing home. In a 2015 interview, the coalition’s leader, Martin Rosenblatt, said that emergency response vehicle access would be impeded, long-term construction noise, dust and debris would put schoolchildren in jeopardy, and increased traffic would exacerbate congestion.

When contacted to be interviewed again, members of No JHL at PWV did not respond.

Leading figures in New Jewish Home are aware of the criticism and have responded to it. According to DNAinfo, New Jewish Home spokesman Ethan Geto said the company’s attorneys and consultants went over the proposal in extreme detail to make sure it conformed to zoning regulations regarding open space. Geto added that the project is designed to create “the leading, state-of-the-art nursing home in the U.S., that is both environmentally-friendly and maximizes the dignity and independence of residents.”

In a statement made in 2014, New Jewish Home Senior Vice President Bruce Nathanson said, “As a mission-driven nonprofit healthcare organization, Jewish Home is committed to building in the safest and most responsible manner.”

The New Jewish Home was also contacted recently, but they declined to comment.

After five years of complex litigation, no construction has been done on the planned development site, ground has not yet been broken, and the parking lot still remains vacant. In December 2017, the New Jewish Home won a lawsuit filed against them by parents and residents of the community, with the Court of Appeals ruling that the environmental impact studies conducted by the New Jewish Home to ensure safety of schoolchildren were adequate. However, the court battle still isn’t over. Litigants have also filed suit against the proposed nursing home’s zoning, which is currently being reviewed at the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division.

The controversy over the construction of this nursing home is more heated than ever, and the New Jewish Home is still facing a great deal of criticism. Residents and parents who live close to the site are very angry, and do not want to witness schoolchildren’s lives being endangered. Because of the bitter opposition to the nursing home’s development, whether a compromise can ever be reached remains to be seen.

Israeli Nation-State Bill: Much Ado About Nothing

August 14, 2018 by Russell Stern Leave a Comment

By: Russell Stern

For the past week, there has been a heated controversy surrounding the Israeli Nation-State bill, which the Israeli parliament passed into law on July 19, 2018. Almost immediately after the bill was passed, Israel’s sworn enemies loudly denounced it as discriminatory against the country’s minorities. But all of this commotion is just another attempt to revive the slanderous accusation that Zionism is racism, a long discredited anti-Israel smear.

The criticism came from the usual suspects: the New York Times, whose political articles are very hostile toward Israeli policy, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which seeks the elimination of the Jewish state, and Arab members of the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body.

Arab Knesset member Ahmed Tibi, a former aide to Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, harshly declared that the bill will cause, “the death of democracy,” in Israel. Other opposition members instantly joined Tibi in his condemnation of the bill, screaming, “Apartheid!” They blatantly accused the law of being discriminatory and racist.

But the bill does not discriminate against Israeli Arabs or other minorities in any way, shape or form. It does not revoke civil rights enjoyed by minority groups in Israel. It does not prevent them from practicing their own religion, running for political office, voting in Israeli elections, or having access to Israeli universities. Furthermore, the Nation-State law does not supersede the Israeli Declaration of Independence of 1948, which ensures, “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.” In fact, it was only meant to reaffirm Israel as the state of the Jewish people, and declare it the historical homeland of Jews worldwide.

The bill also reinforced Jerusalem being the official capital of Israel, and “Hatikvah” being the state’s national anthem. Not only this, but the law stressed the importance of certain Jewish holidays in Israel, such as Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Holocaust Remembrance Day. In short, this bill was not meant to have any practical impact; it was only passed into law to send a message to Israel’s foes that the Jewish state is here to stay.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the bill as, “a defining moment in the history of Zionism.” Zionism is defined as the movement for the re-establishment, development, and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel. Considering the horrifying fact that six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and that anti-semitism has existed for nearly 2,000 years, the Israeli government certainly had a right to pass this bill, and their reason for doing so is clear. The Jewish people originated in the land of Israel. And they have been there since the 10th century B.C.E. They were there before anyone else.

Critics, however, argue that the bill treats Arabs in Israel as second-class citizens. Specifically, they object to the clause of the bill which states, “The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.” However, this argument is deeply flawed because Israel was specifically created and recognized as a Jewish state by the United Nations in 1948. Of course Jews have the exclusive right to self-determination in Israel, because Israel is a Jewish state.

Critics also oppose parts of the bill which state that Hebrew is the official language of Israel and that Jerusalem is the official capital of Israel. However, the Palestinian Authority’s basic law and draft constitution includes clauses and articles that are very similar, and there has been no criticism of that document. Specifically, according to Chapter One of the 1995 Basic Law draft by the PLO, “The Palestinian people are the source of all authority which shall be exercised, through the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.” Also, Chapter Three of the draft states, “The Arabic language shall be the official language of Palestine.”

And not only that, but according to Article Two of The Constitution of Jordan, “Islam is the religion of the State and Arabic is its official language.” Article One of the constitution states, “The people of Jordan form a part of the Arab nation, and its system of government is parliamentary with a hereditary monarchy.” Egypt’s constitution proclaims that it is “an Arab republic” and “part of the Muslim world.” And the formal name for Iran is the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It is interesting that similar laws in the dozens of Muslim-ruled countries have not received any criticism whatsoever. But when the world’s only Jewish country attempts to define itself as a Jewish nation, it is viciously attacked for doing so. The inescapable conclusion to be drawn from this double-standard is that much of the world is opposed to the existence of a Jewish state, no matter how tiny.

West Side Community Garden Transforms from Nauseating to Beautiful

August 9, 2018 by Russell Stern Leave a Comment

By: Russell Stern

As a cool summer night wind blows and plants shine in the moonlight, dozens enter the West Side Community Garden, on 89th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam. They are going to see a concert, a smooth jazz quartet with piano, bass and drums. As they stride through the garden, they marvel at the beautiful berry patches and roses.

When the garden was first founded, however, people wouldn’t even think of going near it.

In 1975, the site was a large vacant lot strewn with nauseating garbage and dilapidated and stripped cars. It was even known as “strip city” among locals at the time. Crime and theft were on the rise in New York City, with the number of murders increasing by over 1,000 in a span of ten years and the number of robberies increasing by over 60,000.

“The vacant lot was part of the West Side Urban Renewal Plan, which aimed to renew and rebuild urban slums, and the lot was filled with rubble from buildings that used to be here,” Jackie Bukowski, former president and current legal counsel to the Garden Board, stated in an interview. “The Upper West Side was really a slum at the time, and there was a huge amount of crime. There were a lot of youthful gangs.”

“Watch West Side Story, and you’ll get the idea,” she added with a laugh.

Originally, Bukowski and the garden’s founders, Jerry Kretchmer and Joe Wasserman, did not need permission from the City of New York to clear out the vacant lot, which took up the entire block between 89th and 90th Street, and half the block between Columbus and Amsterdam. With the help of other volunteers, they completely cleaned up the lot and planted tomatoes and beds of flowers and vegetables. Several years later, though, when they wanted to modernize the garden, they were forced to enter into negotiations with the City Community Planning Board. The city planned to sell the lot to private developers to construct a high-rise apartment building and attached townhouses. The negotiations led to the garden winning permanent status in the city in 1985, by merely one vote. However, the size of the garden was greatly reduced.

“We had to make negotiations with Community Board 7 for six years, and the city wanted us to lease a small piece of the garden land and have us pay money for it,” said Bukowski. “But we established ourselves as a nonprofit organization and in 1989, the city granted us a deed and we became the owners of the land. We were able to accomplish this because we had many people supporting us, and kept lobbying members of the City Council.”

Once they became the owners of the land, community garden members established the concept for the public flower park and amphitheater. Construction began in the fall of 1989, and in the summer of 1990, the new garden was finally ready. It became a prominent oasis where frequent performances, plays and musical festivals are held.

Two of William Shakespeare’s tragedies, Macbeth and Julius Caesar, as well as music performances, have been held in the garden. James Winn, a pianist, and Rolf Schulte, a violinist, have played songs by Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, and Richard Strauss.

“The fundraiser we had for our first event was very special,” Bukowski mentioned. “It was the Macbeth play. It was fabulous. That’s probably the best play the garden’s ever held. The actors were amazing.”

The West Side Community Garden transformed what had been a rat-infested, garbage-filled junkyard into one of the Upper West Side’s most popular public gardens. This summer alone, the garden has sponsored numerous events, including a spring tulip festival, a July 4th potluck dinner, several movie nights, and a production of Shakespeare’s comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor. And if Jackie Bukowski and her friends have their way, it will continue to thrive for decades to come.

Injured Sluggers Return: Gary Sanchez and Yoenis Cespedes

August 6, 2018 by Russell Stern Leave a Comment

By: Russell Stern

Ailing sluggers Gary Sanchez and Yoenis Cespedes returned to their respective lineups Friday night, as the Bronx Bombers faced off against the New York Mets before a sold out crowd at Yankee Stadium. However, while Cespedes powered the Mets to a 7 to 5 victory over the Yankees, Sanchez fizzled at the plate, leaving several runners on base in key situations.

Cespedes, who was on the disabled list for 57 days with a hip and quadriceps injury, came into Friday’s game batting .255 with 8 home runs and 28 runs batted in. Normally a left-fielder, Cespedes was instead used as a designated hitter to avoid aggravating his injury. Sanchez missed 25 days because of a right groin strain but was healthy enough to catch the entire game for the Yankees. Prior to his injury, he was struggling with a .190 batting average, 14 home runs, and 41 RBI’s.

The time off seemed to only benefit Cespedes, who appeared rejuvenated and boosted the Mets’ weak offense.

Cespedes went 2 for 4 with a walk, shooting a single into right field and smacking a home run off the Yankee rookie right-handed starting pitcher, Domingo Germán.

After the game, Cespedes said he felt well and that his timing was good, according to the Daily News.

Sanchez’s performance, on the other hand, was a different story. Out of the 14 runners the Yankees left on base, he stranded six. Sanchez went 1 for 5, stroking a meaningless single while striking out swinging two times, softly grounding out to short, and lazily popping out to second. He failed to capitalize on various opportunities the Yankees had throughout the game.

After the game, Sanchez said to a reporter through an interpreter, “Definitely don’t feel good about it. Had opportunities to help my team and I didn’t help my team tonight. I’ve got to put that aside and move toward tomorrow and hopefully find myself in a situation where I’m able to do my job tomorrow.” He said that he hopes he will be able to perform well against Mets’ pitcher Steven Matz on Saturday.

Friday’s game was the 16th Yankee home sellout of the 2018 season, hosting a crowd of 47,175 people. This Subway Series game was of particular interest to New York baseball fans because Mets’ fireballing starting pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, was making his Yankee Stadium debut. Syndergaard, whose average fastball velocity hovers around 97.9 miles per hour, also recently returned from an injury to his right index finger.

Despite not pitching at his best, Syndergaard still pitched effectively, giving up only one run on eight hits and striking out four. He didn’t walk any batters, and mostly threw strikes.

In contrast, Germán had a difficult outing. In only 3.2 innings, he allowed four earned runs on five hits. Although he struck out three batters, he also walked two.

Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone commented on the young starter’s performance at a post-game press conference. “You could tell he was really struggling to find that fastball command, and if you don’t have that, you know, you’re going to be in trouble,” he said.

Boone added, however, that Germán showed potential and could develop to be a very good pitcher. He had several excellent starts with the Yankees but struggled in recent outings. On account of this, the Yankees sent him down to the minor leagues shortly after the game.

The Yankees continue their homestand against the Mets on Saturday afternoon with their right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray facing off against Steven Matz. The series concludes on Sunday with Masahiro Tanaka pitching against Mets’ ace Jacob DeGrom.