Author Archives: Vivian

About Vivian

5081190214590168

The Upper West Side’s Battle for Bike Lanes

Posted on by

The M5 bus drives straight down Riverside Drive from 120th Street until 72nd Street and then turns onto Broadway, Manhattan’s main street. It’s a picturesque sight with beautiful post war monuments on 110th Street, lines of trees changing colors leading into Riverside Park, and a universal quiet, with the exception of children’s squeals of excitement in the playground.

But now the quiet is being tarnished with the constant, but necessary, sounds of horns aimed at bicyclists. Bike lanes are nonexistent on Riverside Drive in the Upper West Side and on Columbus Avenue they are cut short. The effort to implement safer bike practices has been an uphill battle for Community Board 7. Screen shot 2012-11-29 at 12.02.55 PM

According to the Community Board 7’s October minutes, the attendants “all spoke in favor of extending the lanes.” Their adamant pro-bike lanes attitude stems from the 2-year wait they’ve been forced to sit through on the matter. Yet, up until their December 11, 2012 Community Board meeting, no further steps regarding bike lanes have been resolved.

A spokesperson for the Upper West Side Streets Renaissance Campaign said, “Protected bike lanes help save the lives of pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.” Bike lanes in New York City are distinguished by the painted white lines on the ground with a stick figure picture of a person on a bike; protected bike lanes are divided from regular traffic with a barrier.

In response to the vote that tied up the plea to continue protected bike lanes on Columbus Avenue, she said “DOT (Department of Transportation) will have to do more research on the topic now. A lot of people, who last night voted against [protected bike lanes], said that they did so because they did not have enough information, which we [UWS Renaissance Campaign] certainly do not agree with.”

A car owner and frequent visitor to the neighborhood, Diane Delgado, said “The streets are too narrow for bikers. I constantly have to stop my car to let them go by. I am not a fan of having bikers on bike lanes or the streets”

Crowded streets are a New York problem, but even more so with bikers cutting off MTA buses and racing too close to a 4,000-pound car. Even though, by law, as stated on the nyc.gov website, bicyclists are allowed to “ride in the street” and “ride in traffic,” they are also encouraged to “ride in the middle of the travel lane” if their distance from a car is too close.

“I can’t believe that the Community Board, yet again, voted against safe streets and against the will of the community,” said Lisa Sladkus on Facebook after a Community Board 7 meeting,  “Business is important, but safety trumps all.”

Protected bike lanes might be the solution each party is looking for. With protected bike lanes traffic will not be brought to a halt because of bikers and bikers will be able to ride freely.

‘A Time for Children’ because The Future Is In Their Hands

Posted on by

By Vivian Nunez

The small store on 84th street and Amsterdam Avenue is filled with MTA toy trains, unique books that promote creativity, and a staff who is taught to remember who you are.

A Time for Children is a unique store because of its two-fold mission. They are a not-for-profit that supports the Children’s AIDS Society with 100% of their profit. In addition, they also employ students, part-time for four to six months at least, who are sent through the Society.

“My family has been involved with the Children’s Aid Society for over 25 years,” said Marjorie Stern, the storeowner,  “it seemed like a natural fit to open a store and turn over the profits to this organization.”

A Time for Children also has a unique approach to retail, but finds its footing in a regular business model. “We operate like any other store,” said Gwen White, the store manager, “the only difference is that we’re training and we’re doing the donation, so it’s set up as a non profit.”

On any regular work day, activity bustles in every inch of the store with the employees entertaining children with books and movies, while mothers look around. The soundtrack of the store is the constant crinkling of tissue paper White uses to wrap each and every purchase. And every student-employee is learning. These students are trained in customer service. Gift-wrapping, paying attention to detail, and encouraging a strong sense of respect for customers, are a few of the qualities Ms. White teaches them during their four-month stay.

“Our presentation is everything,” said White, “We believe in presentation, we believe in customer service.”

A Time for Children’s deep seeded belief in customer service is what led White to compare the store to Bonwit Teller and B. Altman, where folding the garment was as important as making the sale. It’s the reason why they make their own shopping bags and decorate them with ribbon and cards informing customers just where their money is going. A Time for Children’s customer service and attention to detail is what sets the store and employees apart.

“We’re about convenience, so we try to make it convenient for customers,” said White, while also “helping to train a new generation of sales people.”

A Time for Children complements their monetary donation to the Children’s AIDS Society by preparing students for the real world, during a 6 month stint. “It takes a long time to learn all the details of operating a store and having six month sessions, (rather than four) should facilitate the instruction process,” said Stern.

Gwen White is in charge of the student employees and trains them well enough that after 2-3 months she is able to leave them in charge of ringing up customers alone. It’s all a process, which White believes really pays off.

“As far as giving back, we are really growing new energy into the workforce,” said White. “It’s in seed form, nothing changes the world over night, but just planting a seed here and there, you know, makes the difference.”