{"id":172742,"date":"2026-03-23T23:12:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T23:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/172742\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T23:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T23:12:16","slug":"parks-photographer-to-retire-after-50-years-two-historic-uws-churches-get-repair-grants-uwser-featured-in-nyt-affording-new-york-series-tiktokker-feeds-raccoons-and-generates-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/172742\/","title":{"rendered":"Parks Photographer to Retire After 50 Years; Two Historic UWS Churches Get Repair Grants; UWSer Featured in NYT ‘Affording New York’ Series; TikTokker Feeds Raccoons and Generates Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A glittering view of Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Laura Muha<\/p>\n

Today is Monday, March 23rd, 2026<\/p>\n

The forecast calls for a partly cloudy, breezy day with a high of 49; tomorrow is expected to be roughly the same.<\/p>\n

The rest of the week temperatures should rise into the 50s, with the possibility of drizzle on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

On this day in 1857, the first public elevator\u00a0went into service at Eder V. Haughwout\u2019s Fashionable Emporium, which sold cut glass, china, silverware, and other high-end home goods in a building that still stands at Broome Street and Broadway. It was powered by a steam engine in the basement and moved at 0.67 feet per second (compared to the 8 feet per second of a typical modern elevator). It also had a mechanism that would prevent the car from falling if the cable broke. Ironically, it shut down three years later because so few people wanted to use it \u2014 the building was only five stories \u2014 but it still was a major step toward the development of skyscrapers, and the city skyline as we know it today, since it made buildings of more than a few floors accessible to the general public.<\/p>\n

Notices<\/p>\n

Our\u00a0calendar<\/a> has lots of local events.\u00a0Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to check.<\/p>\n

City Councilmember Gale Brewer is holding her annual Spring Town Hall this evening from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Theater at John Jay College, 524 West 59th Street at Tenth Avenue. In addition to Brewer, representatives from numerous city agencies will be on hand to answer questions, among them the NYPD; the departments of Education, Transportation, Sanitation, Health, Parks and Recreation, and Buildings; and local community boards.<\/p>\n

If you own a co-op or condo, you have until Friday to submit proof of primary residency to the city\u2019s Department of Finance in order to be eligible for property tax abatement this year. Instructions are \u2014 HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Volunteers are needed to help with the No Kings march on Saturday, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Seventh Avenue and Central Park South. More information and signup is \u2014 HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

News Roundup<\/p>\n

Compiled by Laura Muha<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>City Parks photographer Malcolm Pinckney took this photo of The Gates in Central Park in 2005. Photo courtesy WSR archives.<\/p>\n

For a half century, Malcolm Pinckney\u2019s photographs of city parks and events have graced the pages of newspapers and, more recently, websites \u2014 the Rag\u2019s included.<\/p>\n

Now, as Pinckney prepares to retire next month, the tables have been turned: The City recently did a lengthy feature (including, of course, a photo) on the photographer,\u00a0who was nicknamed \u201cCinema\u201d \u2014 short for cinematographer \u2014 within the department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had this curiosity of how an image is put on paper,\u201d Pinckney, who grew up in the Bronx, told The City. \u201cI just had to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

He studied photography classes at Bronx Community College, then joined the Department of Parks and Recreation at a time when its staff photographers traveled the city taking photos, developing them in one of the department\u2019s three darkrooms, and distributing them, mostly to news organizations.<\/p>\n

Pinckney told The City that his favorite assignments were pool and beach openings. He also recalled photographing the reopening of High Bridge, the steel arch bridge that spans the Harlem River, connecting Manhattan and the Bronx. (It was closed in the 1970s because of structural concerns and reopened in 2015 after extensive repairs.) He also worked after hours as a photographer for Mayor David Dinkins, and in that capacity, photographed Nelson Mandela getting the key to the city at City Hall Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I go out, I get the basics. I know what the press office needs and what they\u2019re going to be asked about,\u201d he told The City. \u201cWhat I try to do is put a creative edge on it, try to present it in a more creative way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full story and see more of Pinckney\u2019s photos \u2014 HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Trinity Lutheran Church.<\/p>\n

Two UWS churches have received grants from the nonprofit New York Landmarks Conservancy\u00a0to repair their historic buildings, OurTownNY.com is reporting.<\/p>\n

Trinity Lutheran Church on West 100th Street has been awarded $40,000 for window replacement and framing, and replacing crumbling mortar on the back of the building.<\/p>\n

Grace & St. Paul\u2019s Church on West 71st Street, meanwhile, will receive $38,000 to help replace the church\u2019s roof.<\/p>\n

\u201cReligious buildings are important because they tell us about history, architectural development, beauty and hold so many communal memories,\u201d Our Town quoted Landmarks Conservancy President Peg Breen as saying. \u201cBut congregations, including these recent grant recipients, also serve an important role today by providing their communities with a variety of social service and cultural programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The funding, which represents two of 15 \u201csacred site\u201d grants that will be awarded to churches statewide, comes at a time when the city\u2019s Landmarks Preservation Commission is weighing another historic UWS church\u2019s request<\/a> that its landmark status be revoked so it can sell its aging building to a developer. The local community board and neighborhood groups have strongly opposed that request, made by officials of West-Park Presbyterian at West 86th Street and Broadway.<\/p>\n

Read the full story \u2014 HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>..UWSer Gaya Palmer told the Times that she splurges on a monthly lunch at Cafe Luxembourg. Photo by Gus Saltonstall.<\/p>\n

UWS artist Gaya Palmer was featured this week in The New York Times\u2019 \u201cAffording New York\u201d series, explaining how she manages to thrive in the neighborhood on an income of $36,000 per year.<\/p>\n

A big part of her secret, she told the paper, is the 380-square-foot rent-controlled apartment where she\u2019s been living since 1972. (\u201cSure, she had to do some plastering and painting herself when she moved in, and a mouse once lived in the oven, but she\u2019s got 11-foot ceilings, a huge window and a little patio,\u201d the paper said, pointing readers to a video tour<\/a> of the apartment that went viral on TikTok a couple of years ago.) But Palmer also wears a lot of hats, making jewelry and kinetic wall sculptures, doing voice overs and writing songs and short stories.<\/p>\n

She told the Times she doesn\u2019t shop much, is careful about splurges (which include the occasional cab and a monthly lunch with a friend at Cafe Luxembourg). And she doesn\u2019t covet the sorts of everyday amenities that some New Yorkers wouldn\u2019t want to live without \u2014 a dishwasher, a doorman, laundry in the building. \u201cI\u2019m grateful, thankful, joyful that I have a roof over my head,\u201d Palmer told the paper. \u201cMy home is my mansion, and I don\u2019t need anything more than this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full story \u2014 HERE<\/a> and see the TikTok tour of her apartment \u2014 HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Since we\u2019re on the subject of affording New York (and also viral TikTok videos), here\u2019s a more controversial one, this one of a New Yorker feeding Sabrett\u2019s hotdogs to raccoons in Central Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to have the best night of your [expletive] life, you don\u2019t need to spend that much money in New York,\u201d says the TikTokker, who goes by the handle CJ (@cjcentralpark). \u201cJust buy a pack of Sabrett hot dogs and feed the raccoons in Central Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the video, he cuts open the package of hot dogs as a half dozen raccoons approach. \u201cWho wants a hot dog,\u201d he croons; he tosses them and the raccoons grab them and hustle away.<\/p>\n

But in an article about the video, BroBible, a news site that describes itself as covering \u201cthe stuff guys send to the group chat\u201d \u2014 sports, culture, and gear such as clothes and technology \u2014 points out that feeding raccoons is not recommended. \u201cAccording to the New York City government website NYC 311, residents shouldn\u2019t feed<\/a> raccoons because it can turn them into a nuisance around homes and public spaces,\u201d the site said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNational Geographic reiterates<\/a> this point, adding that interfering with raccoons\u2019 natural feeding habits can disrupt their survival instincts. Animals that become used to being fed by humans may start approaching people more often, and that friendliness can sometimes turn aggressive, especially around small children.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments on the video were split between those who were charmed by the raccoons and those who pointed out that feeding them was unwise for the reasons cited above.<\/p>\n

Read the full story \u2014 HERE<\/a> and see the TikTok video \u2014 HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Other UWS News:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The blog Ephemeral New York recently wrote about two twin Gilded-Age mansions that once stood on Riverside Drive, owned by oil tycoon Samuel Gamble Bayne. Read about them \u2014 HERE<\/a>.
\nWe all know this winter was bad. But just how bad? The data is in, and, while it wasn\u2019t the worst winter on record, it was the worst in more than a decade. Read the story \u2014 HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ICYMI:<\/p>\n

Here are a few stories we think are worth a look if you missed them last week \u2014 or a second look if you saw them. (Note that our comments stay open for six days after publication, so you may not be able to comment on all of them.)<\/p>\n

Taking a Look at The Other Major Election on the Upper West Side: The Race for Assembly District 69<\/a><\/p>\n

Our Slice of Frontier Life \u2014 an Upper Wild West Side Story<\/a><\/p>\n

Gas Tops $5 on the Upper West Side, Straining Local Station as Well as Drivers<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Subscribe to West Side Rag\u2019s FREE email newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>. And you can Support the Rag\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n