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January 31, 2004
transitcat transit wiki
transitcat transit wiki (mostly broken)
Posted by dc at 08:25 PM | Comments (1)
January 30, 2004
LIRR ticket
Posted by dc at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2004
Brooklyn: Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope, Williamsburg and Fort Greene
"The average Manhattanite thinks you need a passport to go there." But he knows
that if Brooklyn were a city, its nearly 2.5 million people would make it the
fourth-largest one in the country. He knows about all those young working
professionals with disposable income in Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope, and on
the gentrified blocks of Williamsburg and Fort Greene.
NYT.
Posted by dc at 12:45 PM | Comments (1)
January 23, 2004
Ikea Hicksville
Ikea in Hicksville, Long Island.
Posted by dc at 12:47 AM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2004
Good Neighbor asian food market, Hicksville
Good Neighbor
asian food market
385 West John Street
Hicksville, NY 11801
ph 516-942-9312
Posted by dc at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2004
LIRR Huntington yard: benefits
A new yard with more tracks would mean better and faster service -
- nine trains every morning by 2012, for commuters who sometimes
endure waits of nearly 30 minutes between trains.
THE CURRENT NUMBERS
14: Number of peak a.m. trains on the LIRR's Huntington line each weekday.
14,150: Number of passengers serviced on the line each weekday morning.
THE FUTURE PICTURE?*
3: Number of a.m. peak trains that likely will be added each weekday if the yard is built by 2011.
9: Total number of additional a.m. weekday peak trains after completion of East Side Access in 2012.
BY COMPARISON
17: Number of tracks in the yard that services Babylon line.
36: Number of peak a.m. trains on the Babylon line each weekday.
26,270: Number of passengers served each weekday on peak a.m. trains.
*Future ridership projections depend on final location of rail yard.
SOURCE: Long Island Rail Road
LIRR Taking Yard Flak
AFter public hearings, LIRR plan riding on strong opposition
By Joie Tyrrell, Staff Writer
2004 January 11, 9:11 PM EST
The signs and petitions started to pop up throughout Huntington Village last fall,
on light posts, the counter of a local bookstore and throughout the shops of Main
Street.
"Stop the LIRR Yard," they read, arguing that a proposed 16-track railroad
storage yard would harm the community.
At the same time, the Long Island Rail Road was preparing for the first of four
public meetings on the proposed yard for the Port Jefferson line with color
brochures and detailed signs touting the service additions and benefits a train
yard would bring.
The pitch is simple, LIRR officials say. A new yard with more tracks would mean
better and faster service -- nine trains every morning by 2012, for commuters
who sometimes endure waits of nearly 30 minutes between trains.
Now, the first phase of the public comment period has ended and the railroad is
preparing to move ahead with the selection of a site from among a field of six in
Huntington and Smithtown. Railroad officials say the public comment period
achieved its goal, garnering much-needed input into the site selection. But
residents of both communities say the railroad should be prepared for a fight.
"It's going to be a huge challenge," said Beverly Dolinsky, executive director of
the Long Island Rail Road Commuter's Council, a transit riders' group.
"Overwhelmingly, people want service but they don't want a yard, and you can't
have one without the other."
There are six sites the railroad is considering for a yard: two in Huntington and
four in Smithtown. In Huntington, the sites are land next to the state armory and
a parcel west of Bread and Cheese Hollow Road south of Pulaski Road. In
Smithtown, potential locations are two sites in Kings Park near a sand mine; a
parcel at the Kings Park Psychiatric Center; and land next to St. Catherine of
Siena Medical Center.
The sites will be evaluated on the basis of a number of factors, including land-use
issues, noise considerations and impact on natural resources.
A new yard would mean electrifying the Port Jefferson line east of Huntington to
where the new yard is located.
The Federal Transit Administration will review the findings of the environmental
study and issue a decision on the site. A final environmental impact statement,
which will identify a preferred site, is scheduled to be finished by the end of next
year or early 2006. The railroad then needs approval from the Federal Transit
Administration before starting design work.
The railroad now stores equipment on a siding east of the Huntington Station with
a three-train capacity. Also, the railroad operates several morning rush-hour
trains to Huntington from its West Side Yard, about 37 miles away.
A 16-track yard would mean an additional three trains in the morning by the time
it is built in 2011. When the East Side Access, which will connect the LIRR to
Grand Central Terminal, is complete in 2012, it will mean six more trains,
bringing a total of at least nine more trains each morning. Currently, there are 14
trains each morning rush hour, some with nearly a half-hour gap in service.
"Huntington is very restricted as to what you can do," said LIRR president James
Dermody. "There is an overwhelming need."
Since the railroad falls under federal authority, it does not require village, county
or state approval. In an effort to get public input, the railroad hosted four
meetings in November in Huntington and Smithtown, attended by hundreds -- the
majority against the project. Politicians at the state, county and town level have
voiced objections as well.
"There were a lot of people who were very vocal shouting their opposition. They
were not there to participate in the process, just to say no, without really
learning about it," said Commuter's Council chairman James Govern, one of the
few speakers at a Kings Park hearing in favor of the proposal.
Civic groups have collected thousands of signatures against the project. Just
this last week, the Kings Park Civic Association, as well as other civic groups in
Smithtown, sent a letter to Gov. George Pataki detailing their opposition to the
Smithtown sites. They are worried about the environmental and economic
impacts a rail yard would have on the community.
"What we are doing now is we are amassing all the people," said Kings Park Civic
Association president Gregory Szurnicki.
Civic leaders as well as local politicians said they would be willing to go to court
to fight the yard. Four years ago, residents strongly opposed a yard in
Greenlawn. That site was eliminated due to an environmental impact study that
showed the proposed yard was in close proximity to homes.
The site in Huntington Station is also too close to homes, opponents said. "This
yard, this is really a stopgap," said Eileen Darwin, a Huntington resident who
helped form the Stop the LIRR Yard committee. She said the railroad should
approach the yard regionally, placing it closer to Hicksville where several lines
converge. "Every single person we have approached has been against this. I
don't know anybody who has said it should be here."
Next, the railroad will evaluate all the comments received. In total, the railroad
received 88 e-mails, 103 letters and had 1,646 people sign in at the meetings. A
total of 12,500 informational packets were sent from the railroad to town leaders,
civic groups and residents.
Dermody said the six sites could be limited to three or four by the end of this
year. "People can't say they weren't aware of the yard. They can't say the
railroad never told me," Dermody said.
But could overwhelming public opposition kill the project and jeopardize the
railroad's future plans, including a yard constructed east of Ronkonkoma near
Yaphank?
"You can't tell what public opposition is going to do for you," Dermody said. "We
are subject to public funding. We have to justify it for that arena.. . . We are
going to do the best job we can answering concerns."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Posted by dc at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2004
Sachem Quality of Life vs Illegal Aliens
Local opponents of illegal immigration have already started contacting members
of Congress to campaign against the president's plan. Sachem Quality of Life, a
Farmingville group that has been outspoken against illegal immigration, has been
riven by internal disputes, but the two factions of the group are united in their
opposition to Mr. Bush's program.
"He says it would bring in workers as needed, but it's just going to enable
corporations to fire American workers and replace them with foreign workers,"
said Ed Person, leader of one Sachem faction. "President Bush is encouraging
lawbreaking, because illegal aliens will see that they're rewarded for breaking
the law."
Ray Wysolmierski, a leader of the other faction, agreed that the proposed
program would bring more illegal immigrants to the United States.
"Everybody knows what's going to happen," he said. "After three years, they
won't go back and the liberals will all say these people have been paying taxes
and contributing to the economy so it would be a terrible thing to make them go
back, and they'll wind up staying here."
2004 January 18
LONG ISLAND
A Change of Scene?
By VIVIAN S. TOY
EAN-RIGARD LEESSE is a Haitian immigrant who has worked as a maintenance
man at St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church in Garden City for two years.
Officially he is a candidate for political asylum, which allows him to work legally
in the United States, and he hopes to become a legal resident later this month
after an immigration hearing. But before advocates at Catholic Charities, an
agency of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, helped put his asylum case in motion,
he lived nearly a year as an undocumented immigrant. He had strong praise for
the immigration proposal presented by President Bush this month.
"It's a humane action," Mr. Leesse (pronounced lay-ESS) said last week as he
waited to meet with his counselor at Catholic Charities' offices in Amityville.
"America is a good country, but when you live as an illegal here, it is very hard.
It's difficult to get a job or do something to even get an I.D. card or a driver's
license."
The president's plan would offer legal status to millions of illegal workers. He has
stressed that it is not an amnesty program because immigrants would be
required to have a job with a sponsoring employer and would be expected to
return to their home countries after their work periods expired.
Many immigrant advocates have criticized the program for not going far enough,
noting that it only provides temporary worker status for renewable three-year
periods. But Mr. Leesse said: "It's still a good thing. It's better than nothing,
because otherwise you're illegal with no hope at all."
The president's proposal has drawn mixed reviews on Long Island. Immigrants
and their advocates praise it for finally recognizing the need to grant
undocumented immigrants some form of legal status. Employers say they hope it
will make it easier to fill jobs with legal workers. Advocates and employers say it
might reduce the crowds of unemployed immigrant workers at informal
streetcorner gathering places around the Island, where they wait for contractors
to pull up and offer them a day's work.
But opponents of illegal immigration harshly criticize the president's plan and
warn that it will only encourage more illegal immigration and leave less work for
American citizens. The number of workers clamoring for day jobs in major
"shape up" sites in Farmingville, Farmingdale and Freeport will just increase, they
say, and the immigrants' overcrowded living conditions will continue to vex
neighbors and ruin property values. Labor leaders add that they fear that the
program would officially create a class of lower-paid workers that would depress
wages for everyone.
Steve Levy, the new county executive in Suffolk County, which has been home to
acts of anti-immigrant violence that have drawn national attention in recent
years, gave it qualified praise. "I believe that we should be seeking immigrants
through proper legal channels," he said, adding that the program could help
"mitigate the exploitation of workers and put those businesses that are playing
by the rules on a fairer playing field."
But he also criticized the president's proposal as an amnesty program and said,
"I don't think preference should be given to those who have broken the law and
wound up here on Long Island."
Even before he was elected county executive Mr. Levy said he wanted the county
to go after contractors who hire illegal day workers and he opposed creating a
hiring hall for undocumented workers in Farmingville, where protesters still
march six days a week, carrying signs that read: "Deport Illegal Aliens."
Last week, Mr. Levy said he planned to gather interested parties from throughout
the county to develop a plan for dealing with undocumented workers. Within a
few months' time and probably long before the debate over Mr. Bush's proposal
concludes, Mr. Levy said he hoped to have Suffolk County police officers
conducting sting operations "against those employers who are cheating on sales
tax, unemployment and workers compensation." When employers do business
off the books, he said, "Our coffers suffer as a result because taxes don't get
paid and employers who do play by the rules are undercut and can't compete."
Robert Wieboldt, the executive director of the Long Island Builders Association,
said that requiring employers to establish the credentials of their workers would
be a tremendous burden. "The average contractor is not competent to determine
if a green card is real or not," he said. "But if the president's proposal makes it
easier to get certified workers and to establish legality, that's a good thing."
The construction industry on Long Island has long acknowledged that some
contractors use undocumented workers, he said, adding that the president's
program would finally recognize the fact that "there are legitimate labor
shortages that cannot be filled with our local work force."
Mitchell H. Pally, the vice president for government affairs at the Long Island
Association, said the broader business community would probably welcome the
program. "Obviously we have a large number of immigrants who are here doing
productive work for the people of Long Island, and I think any method in which
they can become legal would be welcomed because it would ensure their
continued employment." He said most employers would probably be willing to
step forward and sponsor their undocumented workers as long as there was no
penalty.
But local opponents of illegal immigration have already started contacting
members of Congress to campaign against the president's plan. Sachem Quality
of Life, a Farmingville group that has been outspoken against illegal immigration,
has been riven by internal disputes, but the two factions of the group are united
in their opposition to Mr. Bush's program.
"He says it would bring in workers as needed, but it's just going to enable
corporations to fire American workers and replace them with foreign workers,"
said Ed Person, leader of one Sachem faction. "President Bush is encouraging
lawbreaking, because illegal aliens will see that they're rewarded for breaking
the law."
Ray Wysolmierski, a leader of the other faction, agreed that the proposed
program would bring more illegal immigrants to the United States.
"Everybody knows what's going to happen," he said. "After three years, they
won't go back and the liberals will all say these people have been paying taxes
and contributing to the economy so it would be a terrible thing to make them go
back, and they'll wind up staying here."
Jack Kennedy, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of
Nassau and Suffolk Counties, said he feared that the program would "open up
the floodgates to immigration, and as far as I'm concerned and middle-class
workers are concerned, that's a real heavy threat to middle America." He said
that small employers who already operate in the underground economy of
undocumented workers would probably not participate in the program, but he
feared that large employers would, giving potential union jobs held by American
citizens to guest workers from abroad.
Still, Mr. Kennedy said, "I don't think we're going to be able to stop it, so I think
the next move for us is to take a real hard, serious look and try to organize
these people, because if not, we're going to see a spiraling down of what we
consider a livable wage." Immigrants may be happy to work for $7 or $10 an
hour, he said, but middle-class Long Islanders simply can't afford to make that
little.
Advocates for immigrants stressed that the vast majority of undocumented
workers already have regular jobs and that the president's program would finally
recognize them, put them on official payrolls, collect taxes from them and
provide some job security for them.
Ed Hernandez, a spokesman for the Long Island Immigrant Alliance, a coalition
of 24 service and advocacy groups, said that in Farmingville, where the number
of undocumented workers is estimated at 900 to 1,500, only about 200 workers
can be found on any given day rushing up to contractors' trucks looking for a
days' work. "That means that most of them are steadily and gainfully employed,"
he said. "The streetcorners are really the unemployment line for undocumented
workers."
Many of these people have come to Long Island because their fellow villagers
have come here, Mr. Hernandez said, but if companies elsewhere in the country
were encouraged to participate in the guest worker program, "maybe it will
reroute some of the folks who are coming up here." He added, "it wouldn't
eliminate all the issues around illegal hiring and labor practices, but it would
certainly reduce them."
Mr. Hernandez and other immigrant advocates said, however, that there were
aspects of the president's plan that needed refinement. They argued that an
adequate grace period should be included for those workers who lose their jobs
to remain in the country while looking for another job, and that safeguards
should be included to prevent unscrupulous employers from using the threat of
deportation as a way to intimidate their workers.
Carmen Maquilon, director of immigrant services for Catholic Charities, said she
applauded President Bush for finally grappling with the issue of undocumented
workers, but added, "His remedy is not good enough because it doesn't lead to
any permanent status and it doesn't address the need for family unity." Once a
person has been in this country for a few years and has established roots, she
said, "if they proved they are taxpayers and good for the country, they should be
allowed to get some type of permanent status and it should include their
families."
Men are most likely to participate in a guest worker program, thus leading to the
creation of de facto immigrant bachelor societies, she said. "A person who's here
trying to make money only sees tomorrow, not next week or next year," she
said. "So he will be happy to just have some type of legal status, but this
program will keep families apart."
One much-sought-after service at Ms. Maquilon's offices is help navigating the
system when an undocumented immigrant marries an American citizen and can
then apply for legal status. Ms. Maquilon said she and her staff screen couples to
make sure their unions aren't simply marriages of convenience.
Elizabeth, a 34-year-old immigrant from Bolivia who was meeting with a Catholic
Charities counselor but declined to give her last name, said she would have
welcomed President Bush's program when she first came to Long Island four
years ago.
She said she worked two jobs when she first arrived, one making $5.15 an hour
packing food for a lunch wagon and another making $7 an hour at a bakery. But
first she had to buy a fake Social Security card that allowed her to work on the
books, and every day she lived in fear of being discovered.
"Even if this is just temporary, at least you can renew the status and you can go
home and visit," she said. "Otherwise you can't even go back if your parents
die."
Her husband, Mike, is an American citizen. They met three years ago while he
was working as a volunteer at an outreach program in Bay Shore and she
stopped by in search of a donated couch. "I think it's fantastic if people who want
to work here can do it legally and not have to lie about what they are anymore,"
he said. "The ideal for immigrants is living with their families in a nice house, not
hiding and living in basements."
Elizabeth said that life in America has been much more difficult than she
imagined. "It's totally different from what they say before you come," she said.
"Only the hardest work is left for us and you have to be always afraid."
Then she turned to her husband, took his hand and said, "I told him, he is my
angel."
Posted by dc at 03:12 AM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2004
NYC Co-op
"Let's say there's some 38-year-old guy on Wall Street who makes $1.2 million a
year in salary, has three kids and wants to buy a $5 million condo," Ms. Brainerd
said. To qualify for a co-op, she said, the buyer would probably have to show that
he had $10 million to $15 million in liquid assets. "He hasn't had enough time to
sock away $10 million or $15 million in cash," she said. "But if you're buying a
condo, you just need enough money for a down payment and to be able to pay
your monthly mortgage. The higher the prices get, the higher the stakes are with
the co-op boards."
From NYT.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2004 January 15: TURF
One Bedroom, Many Bids
By MOTOKO RICH
FOR around $470,000, recent listings show, you could buy a four-bedroom,
four-bathroom traditional house in Dallas with granite kitchen countertops and
vaulted living room ceilings. In Columbus, Ohio, you could buy a sprawling
four-bedroom house with two fireplaces, a whirlpool and a ravine outside your
front door.
Or you could buy a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan.
Buyers paid an average of $469,960 in the final quarter of 2003 for one-bedroom
apartments in Manhattan below 96th Street on the East Side and below 112th
Street on the West Side, according to the Douglas Elliman Manhattan Market
Overview, one of the most comprehensive surveys of the real estate market in
that area.
Despite such high prices, demand heated up: though two-bedrooms still
represented the highest proportion of sales — 43 percent — one-bedrooms grew
from 32 percent of all sales in the last quarter of 2002 to 39 percent in 2003,
according to Miller Samuel Inc., the real estate appraisal company that compiles
the report.
The average price of one-bedroom co-ops vaulted, to an average of $444,373,
up 7.2 percent from the previous quarter.
"There's just not enough inventory out there," said Sheila Lokitz, an agent with
the Corcoran Group in Manhattan. "And what comes on just absolutely flies off
the market." Condos, a much smaller part of the one-bedroom market, fell to
$536,634, from $574,580 in the third quarter.
Buyers could take some relief from the fact that the average price of all co-ops
and condos — a measure strongly affected by extremes at either the high or the
low end — was down 1.5 percent, to $903,259, compared with $916,959 in the
previous quarter. But the third-quarter figure was inflated by the record-setting
$45 million sale of a penthouse at the Time Warner Center.
Basically, said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, "all the indicators are
up," as low interest rates, a rebound on Wall Street and a growth of confidence in
the economy prompted more New Yorkers to pour money into a dwindling supply
of apartments.
The number of apartments on the market dropped 7.3 percent, to 4,843 at the
end of the fourth quarter, from 5,224 at the end of the third — the first time in
seven quarters that inventories fell below 5,000. "All of our brokers are
scrounging around and fighting over the same number of listings," said Steven
James, director of sales at Douglas Elliman, one of the city's largest brokerage
firms.
One of his firm's chief rivals, Corcoran, will also release figures today, showing
that the average price of condos and co-ops rose nearly 9 percent, to $854,000
in the fourth quarter, compared with $784,000 the quarter before. Corcoran's
figures cover Manhattan sales below West 125th Street and East 96th Street.
"I think the story of the year was coulda, shoulda, woulda," said Pamela
Liebman, chief executive of the Corcoran Group. "If you didn't buy in the first
half of the year, you spent a lot more money in the second half for the same
type of apartment."
Buyers of one-bedroom co-ops certainly were learning that lesson all year. With
mortgage rates low, the monthly cost of buying an apartment was often close to
the cost of renting one, or even lower, even though rents dropped by nearly 30
percent, said Neil Binder, a principal at the Bellmarc Companies, a real estate
firm in Manhattan.
"Based on the monthly carrying costs, for the one-bedroom buyer it became a
very exciting alternative," Mr. Binder said.
Then, toward the end of the year, apartment buyers started to panic at the
prospect that interest rates might increase or that the improving economy would
draw out even more buyers. As a result, bidding wars were common, and those
who hesitated or made lowball offers suddenly found themselves priced out of
the market.
For sellers, who just a few years ago were worrying that one-bedrooms were not
a good investment, the buying boom has turned into a boon. In September,
when MaryJo Palumbo, an agent at Douglas Elliman, took on a listing for a
one-bedroom co-op apartment in Chelsea, she advised the seller to price it at
$399,000. But the seller decided to ask $425,000.
At first, offers trickled in: $385,000, $395,000, $400,000. The seller turned them
all down.
Then, in the first week of December, Ms. Palumbo said, four buyers offered the
asking price, and one raised it by $11,000. The seller accepted an offer at the
asking price, Ms. Palumbo said.
"People who have been on the fence about buying one-bedrooms are looking at
the economy improving and believe that prices and interest rates are going to go
up this spring," Ms. Palumbo said. "So they're buying right this second, before
anything happens."
The trend appears to be continuing. Ms. Lokitz of Corcoran said she was
supposed to take a client to an open house for a "charming and quaint" co-op on
the Upper West Side on Sunday. But with the temperatures icy, the client, who
was feeling ill, decided to wait. When Ms. Lokitz called the seller's broker on
Monday to arrange a visit, "they already had four offers," she said.
According to the Elliman Market Overview, the average size of an apartment sold
in Manhattan last quarter shrank to 1,280 square feet, from 1,302 in the third
quarter and 1,437 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2000.
"People realize they have to be more receptive to things that normally they
might not have been able to accept before," Ms. Lokitz said. "A few years ago, if
you said to somebody that you had a one-bedroom for 600 square feet, they
were appalled and said, `I can't live in that amount of space.' "
At the other end of the market, the shrinking supply of two- and three-bedroom
apartments hurt buyers hoping to upgrade from their one- or two-bedroom
homes.
The average price of a two-bedroom rose 9 percent in the fourth quarter, to
$1,140,377, from $1,045,648 a year earlier.
In the condo market, the price increases for larger places were even more
striking. The average for a two-bedroom apartment rose 7.2 percent, to
$1,450,640 in the fourth quarter, from $1,353,520 in the third quarter. A
three-bedroom condo averaged $3,278,823 in the fourth quarter, up 13.2
percent from $2,895,705 in the quarter before.
Amanda Brainerd, an agent at Warburg Realty, said condo prices were driven in
part by the fact that the supply was limited, but also by an increase in demand
from relatively young buyers who were finding it difficult to meet the financial
requirements of co-op boards.
"Let's say there's some 38-year-old guy on Wall Street who makes $1.2 million a
year in salary, has three kids and wants to buy a $5 million condo," Ms. Brainerd
said. To qualify for a co-op, she said, the buyer would probably have to show
that he had $10 million to $15 million in liquid assets. "He hasn't had enough time
to sock away $10 million or $15 million in cash," she said. "But if you're buying a
condo, you just need enough money for a down payment and to be able to pay
your monthly mortgage. The higher the prices get, the higher the stakes are with
the co-op boards."
Sales of two- and three-bedroom condos picked up in the last quarter of the
year. For example, Robert E. Doernberg, director of condominium sales at
Warburg Realty, said that at Bridge Tower Place, a 38-story skyscraper at 401
East 60th Street, five three-bedroom apartments sold in the fourth quarter, with
price rises of more than 10 percent within just three months.
"Some of them were languishing on the market, and all of a sudden — boom,
boom, boom! — they sold in the fourth quarter," Mr. Doernberg said. He said one
sold for $1.85 million at the beginning of the quarter, and an identical unit on a
different floor sold for $2.1 million in December.
Although brokers have been exchanging hyperbolic anecdotes about the return
of the "super luxury" category — above $3 million — the Elliman Market
Overview showed that in the fourth quarter the average sale price of luxury
apartments fell 7.8 percent, to $3.19 million, from the prior quarter. But that
might have been in part because buyers were having to make do with slightly
smaller apartments: the average square footage of a luxury apartment dropped
to 2,516 square feet, from 2,702.
That's almost an incentive to move to Dallas. That four-bedroom, four-bathroom
house with granite countertops and vaulted ceilings, for $470,000? It's 3,189
square feet.
Posted by dc at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2004
Ice hotel, Zippered together
Ice hotel, Zippered together.
Where to Stay
The Quebec City region has 12,000 hotel rooms, from guest houses to grand
hotels. The Greater Quebec Area Tourist and Convention Bureau offers
information at (418) 649-2608 or quebecregion, as does Tourisme
Québec, at (877) 266-5687 and at .
Castlelike Château Frontenac. 1, rue des Carrières, Quebec City,
Quebec G1R 4P5; (800) 441-1414 or (418) 692-3861, fax (418) 692-1751.
The 607 rooms, $75 to $396, are in 18th-century
French chateau style. It has dog sled and ski packages.
For views of Old Quebec from just outside the walls, try the Hilton Quebec, 1100,
boulevard René-Lévesque Est, Quebec, Canada G1K 7K7; (418) 647-2411 fax
(418) 647-6488. The 571 modern rooms feature large windows. Doubles $82 to
$185.
In the Lower Town, wooden floors and maple furniture give a cozy appeal to
Auberge St.-Pierre, 79, rue St.-Pierre, (888) 268-1017, fax (418) 694-0406, .
It has 33 rooms and 10 suites, costing $59 to $132, including full breakfast.
Where to Eat
For great views and food, try the very formal Le Champlain in the Château
Frontenac, (418) 266-3905. A five-course tasting menu costs $83 a person, wine
included; à la carte dinner for two, with wine, about $150. Closed Monday.
A place for sandwiches, soups and patisseries is Au Palet d'Or, 60, rue Garneau
(at Rue St.-Jean), (418) 692-2488, fax (418) 692-5096. Soup, sandwich, pastry
and coffee is $3.95.
There's a bistro environment at Le Cafe Bruyère, 1200, rue St.-Jean, (418)
694-0618, fax (418) 694-2120. A three-course dinner with a pint of local beer
costs $27 and under.
You can look down on the city from L'Astral, the revolving restaurant at Loews Le
Concorde, 1225, place Montcalm, (418) 647-2222, fax (418) 647-4710. The focus
is on international and Québécois cuisine, like medallions of caribou; dinner for
two with wine, about $85.
Where to Play
At Aventure Nord-Bec, 665, rue St.-Aimé, St.-Lambert de Lévis, Quebec G0S
2W0, (418) 889-8001, fax (418) 889-8307, a half-day dog-sled excursion costs
$52 and $13.20 for children 12 and under. Snowshoe, snowmobile and camping
(in cabins) trips are also available.
Cross-country skis can be rented daily at the Plains of Abraham, for $3.30 an
hour or $6.60 a day. But call ahead: there are only 10 pairs available and sizes
are limited. The Pavillon, the services building, is in the park near the
intersection of the Rue de Bernières and the Avenue Briand. Park information:
(418) 649-6157 and (418) 628-4212 for trail conditions
The toboggan run, Glissades de la Terrasse, is on the Terrasse Dufferin. Rental
of a toboggan for an hour is $10 (maximum four people) or $1 a ride and 65
cents for children under 6. Open daily 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; (418) 692-2955.
The Place d'Youville ice rink, opposite St.-Jean Gate, is open daily 11 a.m. to 10
p.m. Skates rent for $3.30 an hour and $1.30 for each additional hour; (418)
691-4685.
Le Funiculaire, with entrances on the Terrasse Dufferin or 16, rue
Petit-Champlain, runs between the upper and lower cities from 7:30 a.m. to
11:30 p.m.; 85 cents each way. It is wheelchair accessible; (418) 692-1132.
The Quebec-Lévis Ferry leaves every half hour from 10, rue des Traversiers, by
the Place Royale. The round-trip fare without debarking is $2.40; with stopover,
$3; (418) 644-3704.
Posted by dc at 03:24 AM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2004
Migrants accumulate
Although there have been complaints in other Westchester communities where
Latinos have settled, like Mount Kisco and Tarrytown, Ms. Blanchfield,
a lawyer at the Westchester Hispanic Coalition, a nonprofit social services
organization in White Plains, said she had heard few objections to the presence
of illegal immigrants in Port Chester. "Mostly, employers and others call up to see
what they can do to help".
...
Port Chester's police chief, Joseph Krzeminski is also concerned with the
drunkenness that occurs at night and on weekends among some of the newer
immigrants, most of whom are here alone, away from their families. Mr.
Krzeminski said some immigrants have been attacked at night when they are
out alone. According to the police department, Port Chester recorded 57
robbery-assault cases in 2002. Of those, 54 involved Latinos and took place
on the street. In 2003, there were 49 robbery-assaults with 44 involving
Latinos and 34 taking place on the street.
Mr. Krzeminski said some changes in the village since he was a boy have not
been for the better, a sentiment shared by Frances C. Nugent, who is the city
clerk for Rye.
Born 83 years ago in Port Chester, which is part of Rye, Mrs. Nugent said she
misses walking at night with her children.
At the local public schools, administrators said they must tailor their instruction to
address the needs of the children from legal and illegal immigrants. In the latter
group, fewer children speak or read English well, and there are more health
problems.
Of the 3,527 students enrolled in the district's six schools (four elementary
schools for grades kindergarten through 5, a middle school for grades 6 though
8, and a high school), 65.3 percent are Hispanic, said Dr. Charles Coletti,
superintendent of schools. Ten percent are African American, 23.9 percent are
white, and 0.8 percent are Asian.
Dr. Ellen Santiago, principal of Edison Elementary School, said that one-third of
the students at the grade schools need assistance with English. In two of the
elementary schools, as much as 80 percent of the students receive free or
reduced-price lunches, which "indicates the high level of economic need in the
community," she said.Because many parents work long hours and hold several
jobs, the schools open at 7:35 a.m. and offer special-help classes until 6 p.m.,
Dr. Santiago said.
Posted by dc at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2004
Home Theatre
Robert Kaufman, President of Audio Command Systems of Westbury, Long Island,
integrates various electronic systems for home control, media, etc, from
$35,000 and up.
As seen in AmEx's magazine.
Posted by dc at 03:04 AM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2004
DataVision Computer Video
At the big DataVision Computer Video store in Midtown Manhattan, personal digital
audio players were one of the holiday season's best sellers, said John A. Griffin, the
store's sales manager, and iPods were clearly the players of choice.
Posted by dc at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2004
MTA shortchanges eastern Long Island
M.T.A. Collects, Neglects Assemblyman Thiele proposes local authority
By Amanda Star Frazer
"Arrogant," "unresponsive," "not designed for us local folks," "the worst." East
End officials have no love for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the
quasi-public parent company of the Long Island Rail Road.
Just how public the authority is depends on who you ask. It collects millions of
dollars in taxes each year from the East End, but there is no guarantee any of
that money will be used to pay for trains to and from the two forks. Projects such
as the L.I.R.R. tunnels at Grand Central Terminal in New York are often a higher
priority.
State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. says that the five East End towns should
take matters into their own hands, particularly since public transportation is
becoming more critical as the roads are choked by traffic.
"The M.T.A. and the L.I.R.R. are perhaps the most unaccountable agencies in
state government," he said. "They're really almost immune from the Legislature
and the public."
Mr. Thiele has proposed a bill to establish a Peconic Bay Regional Transportation
Authority, which would either supplement or completely take the place of the
M.T.A. in directing East End transportation. He said he proposed the new agency
"because it was clear that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has no real
interest in solving East End transportation problems."
He is not alone in that opinion.
"One is not going to get cooperation from the M.T.A.," Southampton Town
Supervisor Patrick A. Heaney said. "That's an organization that has its own
mission that has nothing to do with public transportation. It marches to its own
drumbeat."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
M.T.A. Collects, Neglects Assemblyman Thiele proposes local authority
By Amanda Star Frazer
"Arrogant," "unresponsive," "not designed for us local folks," "the worst." East
End officials have no love for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the
quasi-public parent company of the Long Island Rail Road.
Just how public the authority is depends on who you ask. It collects millions of
dollars in taxes each year from the East End, but there is no guarantee any of
that money will be used to pay for trains to and from the two forks. Projects such
as the L.I.R.R. tunnels at Grand Central Terminal in New York are often a higher
priority.
State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. says that the five East End towns should
take matters into their own hands, particularly since public transportation is
becoming more critical as the roads are choked by traffic.
"The M.T.A. and the L.I.R.R. are perhaps the most unaccountable agencies in
state government," he said. "They're really almost immune from the Legislature
and the public."
Mr. Thiele has proposed a bill to establish a Peconic Bay Regional Transportation
Authority, which would either supplement or completely take the place of the
M.T.A. in directing East End transportation. He said he proposed the new agency
"because it was clear that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has no real
interest in solving East End transportation problems."
He is not alone in that opinion.
"One is not going to get cooperation from the M.T.A.," Southampton Town
Supervisor Patrick A. Heaney said. "That's an organization that has its own
mission that has nothing to do with public transportation. It marches to its own
drumbeat."
Calling the M.T.A. arrogant, Mr. Heaney said, "It has made it very, very clear
that its mission is more about profit than providing trains to communities. This
agency is acting with total disregard for these communities. It's just wrong."
He suggested the authority had "to be leashed somehow, and that has to happen
at the state level." The supervisor added that he would give Mr. Thiele's bill
"1,000 percent of my support."
As would Southampton Councilwoman Linda Kabot, who tried to take the railroad
to task in 2002. "They're not really paying back into our community in terms of
service," she said.
Ms. Kabot had sent letters to the M.T.A./L.I.R.R. president, Ken Bauer, while
Southampton was in the midst of its own transportation study, encouraging the
Long Island Rail Road "to be a more energetic and cooperative player on the
East End."
She said the authority had been collecting half of all mortgage tax revenue and
"untold sums of money" from various telephone and energy surcharges on the
East End. In 2001, the M.T.A.'s share of mortgage tax from the East End alone
was $12.6 million, she said.
"The reality is they are investing this money in metropolitan New York," she said
later.
"We are shortchanged," agreed Mr. Thiele.
Mr. Bauer and representatives from the L.I.R.R. met with Ms. Kabot and Mr.
Heaney in 2002. While the meeting was cordial, Ms. Kabot said, it was fruitless.
"These railroad presidents come and go. Ken Bauer and his people recognized
our needs exceed what they can give right now. We need a better advocate, a
better voice that's getting to the railroad."
A Peconic transportation authority would do the job, she said. "You don't want to
form a whole 'nother super-agency, but if the super-agency you've got doesn't
work for you, you resort to these things."
Recommendations for improved rail service were included 10 years ago in
former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo's "Blueprint for Our Future." The document called
for additional railroad stations between Westhampton and Montauk, weekend
park and rail trains, an inter-hamlet rail shuttle, and integrated bus service.
None of it happened, Mr. Thiele pointed out. "Instead, the M.T.A. cut services.
Stations and ticket offices have been closed." And the authority still won't let
buses on its property.
Mr. Thiele said he had an idea why. "The L.I.R.R. still views itself largely as a
commuter railroad to move people in and out of New York. Consequently the
participation of the railroad in any East End transportation planning is zero.
They'll talk you to death but they do nothing."
L.I.R.R. officials disagreed. "We've made considerable improvements over the
last year," said Sam Zambuto, a railroad spokesman. He pointed to the
replacement of the diesel fleet, from mid-level to bi-level trains, improvements
at several East End train stations, and parking upgrades in Bridgehampton.
Of Mr. Thiele's legislation, he said, "We have not seen the bill so we couldn't
comment on that at this point."
Hank de Cillia, a transportation advocate with whom Mr. Thiele credited the idea
of an authority, said that in the New York area the railroad does its job fairly
well. "The L.I.R.R. credits itself as being the nation's largest commuter railroad.
It brings well over a million people in and out of the city every day."
On the East End, however, it is a different animal, he said. "Who knows, maybe
it's a numbers game. I can see why improvements on our end of the system are
always on the shelf or in the long-range plan. To be fair to them I don't think our
region has done a very good job communicating our wants and needs."
Like Mr. Thiele, he pointed to the Sustainable East End Development Strategies
initiative, which is exploring transportation possibilities with input from the five
towns and their villages. "Although SEEDS is moving painfully slow," he said, "I
still think it's the best chance we have."
Gerry Bogacz of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council said the
M.T.A. was indeed "at the table with SEEDS," whose concepts, he said, were
strictly in the idea stage. "Right now we're not looking at costs or hard
engineering," he said. "We're trying to get a sense of what everybody's willing to
look at for the future."
Jay Schneiderman, the former East Hampton Town supervisor who was sworn in
as a county legislator this week, said any M.T.A. improvments here would have
to be economically driven. "It's definitely going to come down to money. They're
going to tell you there's not enough ridership."
He said the railroad was designed to "bring people to the Hamptons from New
York but not to bring them back. It's not designed for any of us local folks."
"It's kind of like the L.I.R.R. missed the boat," he added. "Look at all the people
going to Manhattan by bus."
As town supervisor Mr. Schneiderman supported the concept of Mr. Thiele's bill.
With things the way they are now, "I just don't think anything will happen
because we want it to," he said.
Mr. Thiele said he expected to introduce the legislation in the Assembly next
week.
Posted by dc at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2004
Pataki vs Drivers, 2
These proposals are among a five-point road safety plan announced by Gov. George Pataki in his State of the State address yesterday.
The plan, subject to legislative approval and heralded by motorist's groups and prosecutors in Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau County, calls for:
--Eliminating the requirement that prosecutors must prove criminal negligence when prosecuting a driver who has seriously injured or killed someone.
--Increasing penalties for drivers who cause serious injury or death.
--Tougher penalties for drivers who leave the scene of a fatal accident.
--Cracking down on unlicensed drivers.
--Revoking the licenses of drivers who kill or injure others.
Plans Toughens Bad Driver Penalties
By Joie Tyrrell
Staff Writer
2004 January 08
Prosecutors could have more power in court to deal with deadly drivers and tougher penalties may be in store for motorists who continue to break the law.
These proposals are among a five-point road safety plan announced by Gov. George Pataki in his State of the State address yesterday.
The plan, subject to legislative approval and heralded by motorist's groups and prosecutors in Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau County, calls for:
--Eliminating the requirement that prosecutors must prove criminal negligence when prosecuting a driver who has seriously injured or killed someone.
--Increasing penalties for drivers who cause serious injury or death.
--Tougher penalties for drivers who leave the scene of a fatal accident.
--Cracking down on unlicensed drivers.
--Revoking the licenses of drivers who kill or injure others.
"This is a good thing," said Robert Sinclair Jr., a spokesman for the American Automobile Association's Garden City-based Automobile Club of New York. "In essence you are going after the segment of the driving population that is most responsible for crashes of all types, particularly fatal crashes."
Under the plan, prosecutors would no longer need to prove criminal negligence in cases where a driver's license was suspended or revoked; was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol; was fleeing a police officer and has a history of traffic infractions.
"The bottom line is drunk drivers who have benefited from loopholes in the law will no longer have that benefit," said Jerry Schmetterer, a spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.
The legislation proposes providing consecutive sentences when a driver kills or seriously injures multiple victims as opposed to the current law that does not provide for tougher sentences in those instances.
Pataki's plan also would raise the offense level of crimes in which a driver kills or seriously injures another person. Hit-and-run drivers would face greater penalties, making it a crime that carries a sentence of up to 7 years in prison, compared to existing law that punishes offenders with a sentence of up to 4 years in prison. And under the proposal, the driver's license would be automatically suspended when the accident results in serious injury or death.
Unlicensed drivers could face tougher penalties as well, as the plan closes a loophole in existing law that allows drivers who have never had a license or who have had their license suspended many times to avoid punishment.
The measure calls for the mandatory revocation of licenses for drivers who kill or seriously injure another person. Under existing law, the revocation is discretionary.
Those charged with unlicensed driving will be fingerprinted.
"Reports from law enforcement officials indicate that a large number of drivers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked falsify DMV records to avoid penalties and attempt to obtain a new license under another name," according to the governor's office. "Under current law, such drivers may escape detection because these individuals are not fingerprinted."
Sinclair said that the Automobile Club has been pushing for tougher laws for unlicensed drivers for at least a decade. An AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study in 2000 found that one in five fatal crashes involved a driver who was unlicensed or whose license had been suspended, canceled or revoked.
"What the governor is doing is lumping unlicensed drivers and hard-core drunk drivers into the high-risk driver category and targeting these people," Sinclair said. "When you go after this target population with some strong prosecution and penalties, you are sending a message. We're hoping this legislation will serve as that warning message to those recidivist hard-core unlicensed drivers."
Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon said he supported the measures.
"These changes will enhance my office's ability to prosecute and convict drivers whose actions cause death and serious injury on our roads," Dillon said, adding that increased penalties also will "afford judges the means to sentence defendants more appropriately."
Richard Brown, the district attorney in Queens, also supported the proposals.
"We certainly have more than our share of these kind of tragedies and it is difficult to explain to families that the law doesn't always allow for us to prosecute," Brown said. "We are prepared to work with the governor and the Legislature to go head and reform the law. But at the same time you have to be careful that you don't turn every traffic accident into a criminal proceeding."
Staff writer Pete Bowles contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Posted by dc at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2004
Pataki vs Drivers, 1
Prosecutors could have more power in court to deal with deadly drivers and tougher
penalties may be in store for motorists who continue to break the law.
Getting Tough on Drivers
Greater penalties sought for offenses
By Joie Tyrrell
STAFF WRITER
2008 January 08
Prosecutors could have more power in court to deal with deadly drivers and
tougher penalties may be in store for motorists who continue to break the law.
These proposals are among a five-point road safety plan announced by Gov.
George Pataki in his State of the State address yesterday.
The plan, subject to legislative approval and heralded by motorist's groups and
prosecutors in Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau County, calls for:
Eliminating the requirement that prosecutors must prove criminal negligence
when prosecuting a driver who has seriously injured or killed someone.
Increasing penalties for drivers who cause serious injury or death.
Tougher penalties for drivers who leave the scene of a fatal accident.
Cracking down on unlicensed drivers.
Revoking the licenses of drivers who kill or injure others.
"This is a good thing," said Robert Sinclair Jr., a spokesman for the American
Automobile Association's Garden City-based Automobile Club of New York. "In
essence you are going after the segment of the driving population that is most
responsible for crashes of all types, particularly fatal crashes."
Under the plan, prosecutors would no longer need to prove criminal negligence in
cases where a driver's license was suspended or revoked; was under the
influence of drugs and/or alcohol; was fleeing a police officer; and has a history
of traffic infractions.
"The bottom line is drunk drivers who have benefited from loopholes in the law
will no longer have that benefit," said Jerry Schmetterer, a spokesman for
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.
The legislation proposes providing consecutive sentences when a driver kills or
seriously injures multiple victims as opposed to the current law that does not
provide for tougher sentences in those instances.
Pataki's plan also would raise the offense level of crimes in which a driver kills or
seriously injures another person.
Hit-and-run drivers would face greater penalties, making it a crime that carries a
sentence of up to 7 years in prison, compared with existing law that punishes
offenders with a sentence of up to 4 years in prison. Under the proposal, the
driver's license would be automatically suspended when the accident results in
serious injury or death.
Unlicensed drivers could face tougher penalties as well, as the plan closes a
loophole in existing law that allows drivers who have never had a license or who
have had their license suspended many times to avoid punishment.
The measure calls for the mandatory revocation of licenses for drivers who kill or
seriously injure another person. Under existing law, the revocation is
discretionary.
Those charged with unlicensed driving will be fingerprinted.
"Reports from law enforcement officials indicate that a large number of drivers
whose licenses have been suspended or revoked falsify DMV records to avoid
penalties and attempt to obtain a new license under another name," according to
the governor's office. "Under current law, such drivers may escape detection
because these individuals are not fingerprinted."
Sinclair said that the Automobile Club has been pushing for tougher laws for
unlicensed drivers for at least a decade. An AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
study in 2000 found that one in five fatal crashes involved a driver who was
unlicensed or whose license had been suspended, canceled or revoked.
"What the governor is doing is lumping unlicensed drivers and hard-core drunk
drivers into the high-risk driver category and targeting these people," Sinclair
said. "When you go after this target population with some strong prosecution and
penalties, you are sending a message. We're hoping this legislation will serve as
that warning message to those recidivist hard-core unlicensed drivers."
Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon said he supported the measures.
"These changes will enhance my office's ability to prosecute and convict drivers
whose actions cause death and serious injury on our roads," Dillon said, adding
that increased penalties also will "afford judges the means to sentence
defendants more appropriately."
Richard Brown, the district attorney in Queens, also supported the proposals.
"We certainly have more than our share of these kind of tragedies and it is
difficult to explain to families that the law doesn't always allow for us to
prosecute," Brown said. "We are prepared to work with the governor and the
Legislature to go ahead and reform the law. But at the same time you have to be
careful that you don't turn every traffic accident into a criminal proceeding."
Staff writer Pete Bowles contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Posted by dc at 12:54 AM | Comments (1)
January 08, 2004
Sachem Quality of Life
Bringing undocumented workers into the legal fold will make them less
vulnerable to exploitation by contractors, worker advocates said. That is because
they often are reluctant to report employers who refuse to pay them or
otherwise abuse them, fearing that they could be deported.
But some Long Islanders said the new policy would legitimize illegal immigration,
attracting more foreign workers whose needs will undermine the quality of life on
Long Island.
Ray Wysolmierski, whose Farmingville community has
attracted scores of undocumented workers, called Bush's announcement
"Hispandering," - pandering to Hispanics. "I think it's about the worst thing that
could have happened," said Wysolmierski, of Sachem Quality of Life, a
group that has protested illegal immigration.
Many LIers Laud Eased Restrictions
By Martin C. Evans
STAFF WRITER. Staff writers Theresa Vargas, Collin Nash, Mitchell Freedman and Pat Burson contributed to this story.
2004 January 08
President George W. Bush's guest worker proposal to ease restrictions on
immigrant labor drew praise from a broad swath of Long Islanders, who said the
policy would be a boon for employers, while protecting the rights of immigrant
workers.
The proposal found supporters among immigrant workers and business groups,
although a few advocates warned that the announcement may be a ploy to
attract Hispanic voters.
"A guest worker program is just what the doctor ordered," said Mardythe DiPirro,
executive director of the Peconic Community Council. "It will throw light on the
black market economy and put money into Social Security. And it is very
important for personal security, too, accounting for thousands of people on Long
Island who were formerly invisible."
Cesar Morales, 32, who came from Mexico a year ago and looks for odd jobs in
Farmingville, said the policy could lift suspicion that often burdens day laborers.
"The United States government is giving us an opportunity to prove we're not
criminals, we're not terrorists," Morales said yesterday in Spanish. "We want to
work."
Bringing undocumented workers into the legal fold will make them less
vulnerable to exploitation by contractors, worker advocates said. That is because
they often are reluctant to report employers who refuse to pay them or
otherwise abuse them, fearing that they could be deported.
But some Long Islanders said the new policy would legitimize illegal immigration,
attracting more foreign workers whose needs will undermine the quality of life on
Long Island.
Ray Wysolmierski, whose Farmingville community has attracted scores of
undocumented workers, called Bush's announcement "Hispandering," - pandering
to Hispanics. "I think it's about the worst thing that could have happened," said
Wysolmierski, of Sachem Quality of Life, a group that has protested illegal
immigration.
"You can expect twice as many illegals now. ... I'll tell you what the logical
extension of this is, we annex Mexico and give everyone dual citizenship and
there will be no jobs for anybody," he said.
Michael Davidson, executive director of the Glen Cove Chamber of Commerce,
said although many Long Islanders are uneasy about immigrant workers, they
benefit from the cheap labor.
Brad Rosen, chief executive of Aerobic Wear Inc., agreed. "There's a ravenous
demand for workers in low-level service jobs," said Rosen, whose company is
across a recruitment site. "It's not uncommon to have as many as 200 guys out
there and believe me, they all get hired."
Staff writers Theresa Vargas, Collin Nash, Mitchell Freedman and Pat Burson
contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Posted by dc at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2004
East Village, East 40's go Japanese
The East Village and East 40's are dotted with new shops devoted to Japanese
snacks like kushikatsu, skewers of deep-fried asparagus and lotus root; curry pan,
a mildly spicy sweet roll so ubiquitous in Japan that it is sold at every Starbucks;
and omusubi, fist-size rice balls that are the Japanese equivalent of New York's
buttered bagel. On St. Marks Place, a row of izakaya, boisterous Japanese pubs
associated with drinking and youth culture (that traditionally do not serve sushi), is
packed every night. Japanese fashion, design and technology haven't been this chic
since the 1980's; throw the Internet into the mix and the connection between New
York and Tokyo has never been closer.
NYT.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2004 January 07
Flavors Fresher Than Sushi
By JULIA MOSKIN
NEW YORKERS have long believed that a credit card, an open mind and the wit to
put yourself in the hands of a great sushi master are a sure route to
understanding Japanese cuisine.
But with a burst of restaurant openings that began last fall and shows no sign of
abating, New York is undergoing a crash course in Japanese flavors that goes
well beyond sushi and soba. Learning to choose among maguro, chutoro and
otoro grades of tuna is, it turns out, the tip of the iceberg. We now live in a world
of sansho and shishito peppers, griddled takoyaki (octopus balls), crisp
okonomiyaki (vegetable fritters), fine aged sakes with the richness of oloroso
sherry, handmade gyoza dumplings and organic artisanal tofu.
Japanese cooking in New York now is where French cooking was in the
mid-1970's: on the verge of a major breakthrough in quality and authenticity.
Thirty years ago, French restaurants in New York all served pretty much the
same menu — onion soup, fillet of sole and chocolate mousse — and as far as
most of us knew, that was French cooking.
For 2004, Japanese is the new French. In New York's top restaurants, it's no
longer possible to ignore Japanese ingredients like miso and ponzu: they pop up
as often as mustard and parsley. Japanese cuisine is revealing its true scope;
regional specialties, obscure ingredients, unexpected influences and restaurant
options, from street food to superdeluxe.
Why Japanese, why now? "The food has always been here," said Yuriko Kuchiki,
a Japanese journalist who has lived in New York for 13 years. "The change is that
Americans are eating more like the Japanese — seasonal ingredients, small
plates, more fish and vegetables." Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit, whose first
new venture in years is Riingo, a Japanese-American experiment expected to
open next week, said: "The New York chefs I know have always been obsessed
with Japanese food. It's a challenge, because it's so different."
Tadashi Ono, a Tokyo native who built his legend combining French technique
with subdued Japanese flavors at La Caravelle through the 1990's, decided to
return to a basic Japanese menu at Matsuri, which opened last year on West 16th
Street. "I learned so much from cooking French all those years," Mr. Ono said.
"But then I thought, do I really have to work so hard? It takes a long time to
make stock. It takes a long time to make a sauce."
Two other top Japanese chefs, Noriyuki Sugie (Asiate) and Masa Takayama
(Asayoshi), are just opening splashy New York restaurants. Koji Imai, Japan's
answer to Drew Nieporent (spiked with Alice Waters's ingredient obsession), is
expanding his empire to TriBeCa with the 285-seat Megu, having taught a
community of Amish farmers in Ohio to grow edamame to his exact
specifications. Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin directed the menu at Geisha, a
glamorous new fantasy-Japanese lounge with an ambitious kitchen, and a
newcomer, Josh DeChellis (ex Union Pacific), is making his name at Sumile with a
menu devoted entirely to Japanese flavors.
For years, New York chefs have respectfully worshiped Japanese cooking at
authentic shrines like Honmura An, Omen and Sushi Yasuda. With its strict rules
about flavor balance, visual harmony, seasonality and presentation, plus its
lengthy apprenticeship and formidable language barrier, traditional Japanese
cuisine has preserved its mystique among chefs and diners.
But several forces have combined recently to crack that mystique wide open.
Since 1991, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa has paved the way for a mass audience for
Japanese flavors at Nobu, and chefs like David Bouley, Rocco DiSpirito and Gary
Robins have been chipping away for years at the notion that Japanese food is
about raw fish and ramen.
On a more global scale, a weakening dollar and active recruiting of Japanese
students by New York art schools like the School of Visual Arts have brought a
large, trendsetting, young Japanese community to Manhattan. The East Village
and East 40's are dotted with new shops devoted to Japanese snacks like
kushikatsu, skewers of deep-fried asparagus and lotus root; curry pan, a mildly
spicy sweet roll so ubiquitous in Japan that it is sold at every Starbucks; and
omusubi, fist-size rice balls that are the Japanese equivalent of New York's
buttered bagel. On St. Marks Place, a row of izakaya, boisterous Japanese pubs
associated with drinking and youth culture (that traditionally do not serve sushi),
is packed every night. Japanese fashion, design and technology haven't been this
chic since the 1980's; throw the Internet into the mix and the connection between
New York and Tokyo has never been closer.
According to Robb Satterwhite, a New Yorker who lives in Tokyo and publishes
an English-language guide to Tokyo restaurants on the Web, menus that mix
Western and Japanese flavors are just as common in Tokyo as in New York.
"Yuzu and caviar, foie gras and pickled radish, those kinds of combinations are
hugely trendy here right now," Mr. Satterwhite said in a phone interview last
week. Overall, the cultural cross-pollination that has made American steakhouses
and French bakeries popular in Japan means that Japanese cuisine, even in
Japan, is more loosely defined than ever.
To shake up your notions of authentic Japanese food, there's no better place to
start than Otafuku on East Ninth Street, a storefront sliver equipped with a single
griddle. Otafuku fries Manhattan's crispest okonomiyaki, a browned pancake of
shredded cabbage, carrot and ginger held together with an ethereal batter and
embedded with chunks of squid, tiny shrimp or thin-sliced pork belly. Otafuku's
cooks also make fresh takoyaki, puffs of eggy batter studded with octopus and
scallion, turning them constantly with a toothpick as the crust turns a rich golden
brown. Both snacks are garnished with katsuobushi, feathery pink flakes of dried
fish; a smoky-sweet brown sauce; and lashings of mayonnaise, an American
import that has become ubiquitous in Japanese fast food.
A few doors down, the cheerful Panya bakery seems like a New York hybrid,
offering a perfect pain au chocolat alongside croissants stuffed with azuki beans,
and seaweed-wrapped bread rolls filled with spicy tuna. But according to its
manager, Noriyuki Tajima, Panya could exist in any modern Japanese city. Bread
and pastry, though nonexistent in traditional Japanese kitchens, are now
completely assimilated. "French patisserie is considered the most elegant, but the
most popular dessert in Japan is tiramisù," he said, pointing out the green tea
version that is the bakery's most popular dessert.
And bread crumbs — or panko — are integral to the popular Japanese art of
deep frying; Win49 on the Lower East Side specializes in kushikatsu, vegetables,
meat and even fish speared on a skewer, dipped in panko and fried crisp.
On weekend nights, St. Marks Place is crowded with young people, Japanese and
not, prowling a row of izakaya where the food is less alluring than the scene and
the shochu, a clear, vodkalike spirit that can be flavored with shiso or plum or, in
a recent Tokyo fad, infused with nicotine. Izakaya Taisho specializes in enormous
platters of yakitori: grilled chicken wings, skin, livers and meat on bamboo
skewers; at night, Go's owner sets up an outdoor griddle on the sidewalk and
cooks yatai specials, Japanese street food that his 20-something employee
Kenny Hattori calls "the kind of food you get in Tokyo at 2 in the morning, on
your way home from drinking." Yatai translates as food stall; in Tokyo these
highly informal places tend to spring up around train stations, serving a single,
satisfying item like eel tempura, ramen noodles in broth or roasted corn on the
cob.
In New York, the best izakaya are clustered in Midtown; places like Sakagura,
Ise, Riki and Ariyoshi have good-to-great food and are the most crowded.
(Reservations are important: as parties often settle in for several hours of
drinking, tables are not always easy to come by.) These are the places to taste
savory little dishes that, like tapas, are designed around drinking — deep-fried
lotus root, oysters, ginkgo nuts, crisp croquettes of potato or pumpkin, fried
whole small fish, homemade dumplings (a world away from the frozen ones
served at sushi restaurants), steamed eggplant in rich sesame sauce, pork belly
braised in miso or beef chunks fried with garlic.
At most Manhattan izakaya, the printed English menu does not begin to list the
dishes that are actually available, but ask what the specials are and be
persistent: the servers will be able to tell you what's on offer. Most dishes cost no
more than $5.
For refinement, nothing can compare to the gaspingly elegant cuisine of kaiseki,
the formal Japanese tea ceremony that is also a Zen Buddhist meditative
practice, now offered in Manhattan at a few places, like Kai, Sugiyama and
Donguri. In Japan, kaiseki cuisine has taken on a life of its own and is no longer
necessarily associated with a contemplation of the seasons, or even with drinking
tea. "Kaiseki now is a very careful, beautiful, seasonal way to eat, but the chef
can design his own style," said Hitoshi Kagawa, the chef at Kai, where dinner can
include more than 20 tiny dishes, a practice adopted in recent years by many top
American chefs, most famously Thomas Keller of the French Laundry.
At Sugiyama, each course is no more than a few mouthfuls, usually of something
thought-provoking as well as delicious: a whole crab only as big as a thumbnail,
a pickled plum encased in sweet plum jelly, or a dish holding three plain white
squares, one of tofu, one of monkfish and one of pear. "Kaiseki is not how
Japanese people eat every day, but it is still very important to our idea of
Japanese cooking," Mr. Kagawa said through an interpreter last week. In other
words, kaiseki is the equivalent of haute cuisine in France: expensive, elaborate
and somewhat impractical, but still a potent source of national pride and identity.
Also shared by Japan and France is a national cult of ingredients. At Kai, the
menu proudly states that the udon noodles come specifically from Inaniwa in
Akita prefecture, a boast that Japanese clients can instantly appreciate. Megu is
anticipating an audience for superpremium yakitori made from hinai-jidori, the
most expensive chickens in Japan, grilled over binchotan, a charcoal from
Wakayama prefecture that is as hard as steel, burns extra-hot and is supposed
to imbue food with umami. Umami is the famously elusive Japanese fifth flavor —
salty, sour, bitter and sweet are the others — and is pretty much untranslatable.
Savory and complex are two approximations.
"In Japan, people grow up learning about these national treasures, the plums
from this region, the octopus from that peninsula, the tamari from this town,"
said Harris Salat, a New Yorker who has lived and worked in Asia for many
years. "The kind of people here who know about olive oil, or truffles, are just
beginning to appreciate that there are different kinds of soy sauce."
Those people, at least at first, are often chefs. Marcus Samuelsson started as an
amateur sushi lover and became inspired, after several trips to Japan, to make a
serious study of the sushi of the Edo period (1603-1867). When Riingo opens,
pickled and preserved fish will appear on the sushi menu. (Sushi originated as a
pre-refrigeration way to preserve fish. Wrapped in layers of rice, the fish would
slowly ferment, then the rice was thrown away and the fish was eaten.)
Josh DeChellis of Sumile, whose commitment to Japanese ingredients verges on
the worshipful, is equally intense on the subjects of sea urchin, grated fresh
wasabi (a bracing treat that has finally come to New York) and yuzu. The owner
of Sumile, a Japanese pop star called Miwa Yoshida (Mr. DeChellis describes her
as "the Madonna of Japan"), often sends him to cook and learn at her brother's
upscale izakaya in Tokyo. "When I am in Japan, even something as basic as tofu
is a total revelation," he said. "I dream of cooking something as good as
fresh-made tofu with real, aged tamari."
But on the business side of New York's restaurant world, the Japanese value of
simplicity has limited appeal; tofu with tamari isn't going to pay the rent. And so
we have Asiate and Geisha, with Megu and Riingo still to come, all big-ticket
openings that aim to re-interpret Japan for a well-heeled international crowd, as
well as a local one.
At elegant Asiate, overlooking Central Park from the 35th floor of the new
Mandarin Oriental hotel, Noriyuki Sugie sticks closely to the fusion formula of
French technique/Japanese ingredients. (The French chefs who practiced nouvelle
cuisine were fascinated by Japanese cuisine.) But look just past the usual luxury
items on the menu — foie gras, truffles, crab meat — and Mr. Sugie's flavors are
punchy, even proletarian: black soy sauce, beef cheeks, smoky mashed
potatoes and hearty linguine with house-made XO sauce.
Geisha opened in December, with the priceless imprimatur of Eric Ripert (of Le
Bernardin) as consulting chef. You can taste his presence in the five raw-fish
appetizers and in the seafood it flies in from Japan. Geisha has even introduced
New Yorkers to anago nitsume, a sauce traditionally made only in eel
restaurants, by simmering the eels in the same pot of water every day for
several months, then boiling the water down to a thick glaze (fear not, these
days, nitsume is more likely reduced dashi, or fish stock). Despite its Japanese
intentions, Geisha's garnishes, layers and sauces give it a New York air — kaiseki
meets "Sex and the City."
Tadashi Ono's Matsuri is a glamorous izakaya. To Japanese-restaurant regulars,
the little dishes at Matsuri look familiar on paper — oshitashi, boiled spinach in
dashi; fluke sashimi with ponzu; yakitori; miso soup with tofu and seaweed — but
Matsuri is a lovely lesson in the difference between good and great.
Even to diehard fans, the textures and flavors of authentic Japanese desserts are
often mystifying. In the strict Japanese tradition, there is no sweet course; the
meal ends with rice, pickles and tea. Sweets are eaten only between meals, very
sparingly, and always as an accompaniment to tea.
Bill Yosses, pastry chef at Boi and Citarella, who also travels and works in Japan,
explained that the classic wagashi, the semisweet confections sold at Minamoto
Kitchoan and Toraya, are connected to the prestige and long history of the tea
ceremony. "These things are made from 400-year-old recipes," Mr. Yosses said.
"It's as if we were trying to enjoy mead. We probably couldn't." At Citarella, Mr.
Yosses makes his own kanten, juicy fruit jellies flavored with persimmon,
coconut and litchi. (In Japan, kanten are made from agar-agar, a seaweed-based
gelatin that, to American palates, retains a slightly salty, fishy taste.) Some very
satisfying sweet fusions have been accomplished recently, like Matsuri's
exemplary yuzu crème brûlée, but authentic they are not.
And what of sushi? New York's trendiest sushi bars, like those in Tokyo, are now
(gasp) cooking the fish. At Sui, when you order aji, or mackerel, the sushi chef,
Masaki Nakayama, fires up a blowtorch, then uses it to heat and soften the
chewy skin. "The heat also melts the layer of fat right under the skin, which is
where all the flavor is," he said.
And at Matsuri, Mr. Ono is not only searing sushi, but adding a revolutionary dot
of sauce to some of his pieces. "This is very controversial in Japan," Mr. Ono
said. "But it is more and more popular. Even Japanese people can get bored of
soy sauce and wasabi."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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January 03, 2004
NY Aids Coalition
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January 02, 2004
Copiague
Antoine Richardson of Copiague, father of two, was working toward earning his
high school equivalency diploma, and was looking to move out of the neighborhood
he said was becoming too dangerous. But the young father's dream ended early
yesterday when he was shot and killed near a relative's house in Copiague.
Copiague Father Shot To Death
By Denise M. Bonilla
STAFF WRITER
2004 January 01
Antoine Richardson was eager for a new start. The Copiague father of two was
working toward earning his high school equivalency diploma, and was looking to
move out of the neighborhood he said was becoming too dangerous. But the
young father's dream ended early yesterday when he was shot and killed near a
relative's house in Copiague.
Neighbors first heard gunshots at about 5 a.m., said the Homicide commander,
Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick. A resident on Bedford Street heard a knock at his door
and opened it to find Richardson, 24, face down on the steps, bleeding,
Fitzpatrick said. The resident called 911 and Richardson, who was shot in the
stomach, was taken to Brunswick Hospital Center in Amityville where he was
pronounced dead shortly after.
Fitzpatrick said it is not known where the crime occurred. However, family
members said he was shot outside a cousin's house on Simmons Street, just a
few houses away from where he collapsed. Fitzpatrick said detectives have no
motive for the killing and no suspects at this time but are investigating.
Residents said the neighborhood used to be filled with warring gangs and drug
dealers, but that criminal activity had quieted down in recent years.
"There was a lot of gun shots all the time," said John Hayden, who has lived in
the same house on Bedford Street for 44 years. "It used to be like an army up
in here, but not lately."
It was the danger of those streets - the same neighborhood where Richardson
grew up - that drove him to seek a new life. "He was saying he wanted to get
out of here," said his sister, Ramona Williams, 36. "He wanted to leave and start
over."
Family members said Richardson especially enjoyed spending time with his two
young sons, Jasaan, 6, and Amir, 20 months. He loved to take the boys to the
park or the mall, Williams said. On Halloween, he took them around the
neighborhood trick-or-treating.
Williams said her brother had in recent years worked in the construction
business. He enjoyed doing the hands-on work and loved seeing the changes in
houses he had helped renovate. Recently, he was working toward earning his
high school equivalency diploma at Suffolk County Community College. "He was
excited about getting it," she said.
Family members described Richardson as fun and gregarious, a person who
loved being around others. "He was always making others laugh, that was just
him," said Natasha Oliver, 17, his cousin.
A friend who did not wish to be identified said he had known Richardson for 10
years. The two of them would frequently hang out together, playing basketball
and handball or go swimming in the summer. "We treated each other real good,"
he said. "That's my boy."
Sobbing, his sister said, "This doesn't make any sense to me. How could this
have happened?"
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
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