The Streets Where We Live

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WaHi's Monkey Room Gets Committee Approval for Liquor License Renewal

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Despite concerns there may be too much monkeying around at the Monkey Room Bar and Lounge in Hudson Heights, a Community Board 12 committee voted to recommend renewing its liquor license.

Several residents came to the board’s Economic Development committee meeting to complain the club’s patrons continue to carouse outside its location at 589 Fort Washington Avenue when the bar lets out at 4 a.m., screaming and carrying on and often getting into fights on the block.

Read more about the Monkey Room at DNAinfo.com.

Upper Manhattan Bike Lane Education Workshop Scheduled for Spring

UPPER MANHATTAN — Pedestrians, car drivers and bike riders will get a chance to debate the introduction of new bike lanes in Inwood and Washington Heights when Community Board 12 holds a workshop in the spring.

Members of the Traffic and Transportation committee decided to put off a public hearing originally slated for January, saying it wants to be inclusive of the entire community, including older members who are more likely to attend then than in the "dead of winter."

The committee has been mulling a proposal from the Inwood/Washington Heights chapter of Livable Streets that calls for several changes to the Upper Manhattan biking landscape, but has said it wants to hear more community input before recommending a plan to the Department of Transportation.

The DOT said that because the bike lanes would not be implemented until 2012 anyway, the board's delay in submitting a recommendation would not make a difference.

Read more about the bike lane discussion at DNAinfo.com. 

 

'Emergency Town Hall' Meeting Called Over Harlem Hospital's Fate

Doctors rallied in protest of planned cuts at Harlem Hospital in October. (DNAInfo/Jeff Mays)

 

By Jon Schuppe

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

HARLEM — In an attempt to quell rumors of Harlem Hospital's demise, community leaders are holding what they call an "emergency town hall" meeting Saturday morning to discuss the future of the troubled facility.

Harlem Hospital is not closing, organizers say. But it is, like all of the city's public hospitals, in serious financial straits and facing service cuts. The point of Saturday's forum, they say, is to set out the facts and rally the public to fight against further reductions.

The news is grim. Earlier this year, the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation announced a massive restructuring to close a $1.3 million budget deficit across its entire hospital system. The cuts include layoffs, combining services and ending affiliation contracts with medical schools.

Read more at DNAinfo.com.

Long-Awaited Italian Restaurant to Open Doors in Hudson Heights

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A new Italian restaurant is adding to Hudson Heights efforts to overcome its reputation as a "culinary wasteland."

Neighborhood couple Kal and Nicki Narvilas say their new restaurant Saggio, at 829 W. 181st St., will feature homemade gnocchi and papardelle noodles, slow cooked tomato sauce, wines and cheese boards featuring creamy Burrata.

The eatery, which the owners describe as a family-friendly space with family-friendly prices, will open on or around Dec. 15 in the space formerly held by Emilou’s Café, which closed this summer.

"Although we are proud of our neighborhood, the restaurants here are the tail end of an old regime. It’s time for something new," Kal Narvilas said. "I share the frustration with anyone who has been in neighborhood who feels there isn’t much of a selection up here."

Read more about Hudson Heights' new restaurant Saggio at DNAinfo.com.

WaHi Man Fends Off Muggers Trying to Steal His iPad, Police Say

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A man fought off two muggers who tried to snatch his iPad on Bennett Avenue last week, police said, the latest incident in a Upper Manhattan crime spike that has sent dozens of cops into the area and inspired residents to consider patrolling their own streets.

Bennett Avenue has been a hotspot for crime in recent weeks, particularly robberies. So much so that when the NYPD dispatched 60 extra officers to the neighborhood precinct in October, they beefed up patrols on the stretch as well.

But the extra manpower wasn't enough to deter two muggers who jumped a man for his iPad the night before Thanksgiving.

Read more about the attack at DNAinfo.com.

New Upper Manhattan Blog Gives Voice to Uptown Renaissance

UPPER MANHATTAN — In the face of a changing landscape north of 155th Street, a thriving online community has risen up to preserve the history of the area as well as document new experiences of residents.

In Inwood and Washington Heights, the Uptown Collective blog is aiming to become the definitive voice of "uptown."

"Up here there is east of Broadway and west of Broadway," editor-in-chief Led Black said of the socioeconomic and cultural divide many say exists on either side of the avenue in Northern Manhattan. "The Uptown Collective is Broadway. We’re both sides."

Read more at DNAinfo.com.

Online 'Roach Map' Lets Users Track City's Pests

By Olivia Scheck

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Pest-conscious diners can now receive monthly updates on the movements of the city's cockroach population.

The New York City Roach Map, which includes a monthly e-newsletter option, was created last weekend to track cockroach sightings in city restaurants and is already sending heebie-jeebie shock waves throughout the Internet.

Read more at DNAinfo.com.

Dark Horse's Liquor License Application Gets Second Look From Community Board

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Dark Horse, the proposed Washington Heights outpost of the owners of Downtown staples Arlene's Grocery and Scratcher, won a liquor license recommendation from a Community Board 12 committee on Tuesday.

The full board had initially voted against Dark Horse's application last month because of a longstanding policy that automatically vetoes applications when owners do not show up to speak to the board about their business plans. Dark Horse was granted a redo after the board realized they weren't given adequate notice to attend the committee meeting.

The committee voted in favor of granting a full liquor license Tuesday night after a presentation from the owners who said they want to bring an Irish American "family-style" pub experience to 839 W. 181st St. in Hudson Heights — the same space previously inhabited by Agave Azul and Hispañola, two failed restaurants.

Read more at DNAinfo.com.

The Heights Proves Perfect Training Ground for Uptown Runner and Online Friends

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — For Amy Cooper, there is no better place to train for a marathon than Upper Manhattan.

The hills and the parks make running anywhere else feel like a breeze.

Cooper should know — Sunday will mark her second New York City Marathon.

And it probably won’t be her last.

Read more about Cooper's preparation at DNAinfo.com.