$110 Million for a ‘Mostly Forgotten’ Part of Central Park
New York Today
Enjoy the gorgeous day, New York. There will be lots of sun and a high around 70.
: In effect until Sept. 30 (Rosh Hashana).
Central Park draws tens of millions of visitors each year. But not every section of the park, which stretches from 59th to 110th Streets in Manhattan, gets the same amount of attention.
The southern part, which is surrounded by some of the nation’s wealthiest neighborhoods, has a lake, a carousel and a zoo. The northern part, which is near less affluent neighborhoods, has fewer high-profile attractions.
But now, as my colleague James Barron reported, the nonprofit group that manages Central Park is about to undertake the largest project in its nearly 40 years — in that northern section.
It is a $110 million investment in “the mostly forgotten northern corner, a part of the park that may not be on many tourists’ itineraries but is a vital backyard to surrounding blocks where green space is scarce,” Mr. Barron wrote.
The plan calls for replacing the aging Lasker Pool and skating rink, which is mainly used by New Yorkers, not tourists.
As Mr. Barron reported, about 45 percent of the people who use the pool come from central and East Harlem and Manhattan Valley, and 26 percent from Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. An additional 16 percentlive elsewhere in the city. The rest are visiting New York.
If completed on time, the new pool will be ready for swimmers in spring 2024; skating at the rink could begin that fall.
The plan also calls for rerouting a stream and building a new boardwalk along the Harlem Meer.
The New York Times Food Festival
The inaugural New York Times Food Festival will celebrate what it means to eat, drink and cook in the heart of the city. Tickets and reservations are selling fast; here are your last chances to take part in the events.
The Talks
Live panel discussions on Oct. 5 and 6 will feature cooking experts and Times journalists discussing restaurants, recipes and the biggest food issues of today. Prices vary. See the themes and times here.
Last chance: The Park and The Nights
Oct. 5 is sold out, but limited tickets may still be available for Oct. 6. The event will include street food from 24 restaurants handpicked by The Times’s food journalists. $25.
You can also visit Bryant Park for the Best of Smorgasburg and a marketplace. Free.
Some reservations remain for dinners at some of the favorite restaurants of The Times’s chief restaurant critic, Pete Wells. Prices vary. See the availability here.
Want more news? Check out our full coverage.
Here is today’s puzzle.
What we’re reading
to replace their license plates once they are 10 years old. [New York Post]
which opened years ago and helped change the neighborhood. [NY1]
Is it you? [Norwood News]
Coming up today
The African Heritage Multicultural Music & Dance Festival is at Hostos Community College in the Bronx. 5:30-9 p.m. [Free]
Watch a screening of “Fiddlin’,” a documentary about the world’s oldest fiddler’s convention, at the Murmrr Ballroom in Brooklyn. 7:30 p.m. [$12]
Listen to short stories from winners of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Manhattan. 7 p.m. [Free with R.S.V.P.]
And finally: Elizabeth Warren’s four-hour ‘selfie line’
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts finished speaking at Washington Square Park after 8 p.m. on Monday. But her night in Manhattan was far from over.
Ms. Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate, remained in the park for about four more hours, taking pictures with supporters. On the campaign trail, she has unspooled a stream of detailed policies. At rallies, she has demonstrated an unfathomable dedication to taking pictures with her supporters.
“I waited about two hours for that photo, and that was taken about 10 o’clock,” said Rose Khan, a 22-year-old researcher from Queens. She said she had gotten into the line “pretty early” and added, “You’ll never see something like that with another candidate.”
Kate Glavan, a 20-year-old law and politics student at New York University, waited in the park for three hours before the rally began. After the speech, she waited an additional hour and a half for a photo.
The Warren staff moved photo seekers along speedily, Ms. Glavan said. “There’s a one-second difference between the person in front of me and when I went up,” she added.
Though it’s popularly called a “selfie line,” the photos are actually not selfies, because neither Ms. Warren nor the supporter actually takes the picture. Another N.Y.U. student who attended the rally, Jeremiah Campoverde, dismissed this point as a technicality.
“I don’t think anybody really cares,” he said. “It’s about being in that experience.”
Metropolitan Diary: Comedy act
Dear Diary:
I was part of the comedy team Edmonds and Curley with Joey Edmonds. In 1969, we flew into New York from Milwaukee to appear on “The Tonight Show.”
We were booked to do a set at a club in the Village on our first night in town. We got a cab and told the driver to take us to the Bitter End.
We didn’t really know the area, so we paid no attention to where he was going.
Finally, the cab came to a stop.
“Here you are,” the driver said.
It was South Ferry. Guess he wasn’t up on club names.
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