March 11, 2004
Boyfriend of Dead NYU Student Speaks While Post Cover Still Angers Some
The boyfriend of Diana Chien, the NYU student who commited suicide over the weekend, talks to the Post about his relationship with her. An investment banker, Lam mentions his love for her and plans to be married with her posthumously, which was approved by Chien's parents. Lam goes on to recount their dreams (having four children, opening a Eurasian cuisine restaurant called "Chrisdiana") and their relationship (not yet a year old, wearing Prada shoes that matched each others"). He also says that he and Chien's family are frustrated that people are using her death, the fourth NYU student death this school year, in relation to NYU: "This is not about NYU. She is not just a number or statistic - and this has nothing to do with school. This was about love." Lam does not speculate about what may have caused Chien to jump, other than say they had a fight during the morning (which seems like a lovers' quarrel).
And there is fallout over the Post's decision to reprint the photograph of Chien's fall on yesterday's cover (link to earlier post with picture). The Daily News (naturally) gets opinions from students ("It's horrible. They shouldn't have put it in. It's completely distasteful."), mental heath experts ("It's reckless."), and NYU ("It seems to show an appalling lack of judgment and insensitivity to the young woman's family and a disregard for the feelings of students at NYU."). Interesting enough, "fiance" Lam still agreed to speak with the Post about his and Chien's relationship.
March 10, 2004
Happy Birthday, 311
Our friendly government helpline, 311, turned one yesterday, and as with any birthday in an office, there was a cake. The introduction of 311 as a resource for New Yorkers to direct their non-emergency questions and complaints has reduced the number of calls to 911 (which is good, because then those operators can focus on the emergencies). To date, 311 has answered 6,542,240 calls, able to offer answers in 170 languages. Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications Commissioner Gino Menchini said, "The 311 Citizen Service Hotline has changed forever the way New Yorkers interact with their government," adding, "Over the next year, we will build on our successes by bringing many of 311's most popular features to the City's Web site - www.nyc.gov."
Top Ten 311 Calls in the past year:
Noise Complaints - 255,000
Landlord Complaints - 245,000
CFC and Freon Removal - 68,000
Blocked Driveway - 53,000
Subway or Bus Information - 47,000
Traffic Signal Defect - 46,000
Recycling and Trash Collection Schedule - 36,000
Garbage Pickup Missed - 30,000
Potholes - 29,000
Missing Vehicle- Towed - 28,000
Gothamist thinks a good offshoot of 311 would be a hotline for where to go for a cheap happy hour or where in the East Village there won't be a huge wait for a table.
Tributes, the Armory, and Acrobatics: Some Picks from Other Sites
- Aaron at Out of Focus reminds us that there's going to be a Spalding Gray Tribute on WNYC today at noon. Leonard Lopate will include an interview with Gray from 1990. You can listen to WNYC via the website.
- We're enjoying Central Valley Large Animal Clinic, which covers various NY art goings-on, like the Armory Show, which started yesterday, and upcoming film programs. No mention of large animals, though. Yet.
- whatisee has a movie of Cirque du Soleil's performance at Grand Central. whatisee's report with pictures also notes that Law & Order SVU Medical Examiner portrayer, Tamara Tunie, was on hand to give an intro (and to flub it, apparently). Gothamist has loved Tamara ever since she played Jessica Griffin, the lone black character on As the World Turns, who married Duncan, McKechnie, the Scots millionaire, and had to deal with Lauryn Hill crushing on Duncan. Cirque du Soleil's Allegria will be performed at Randalls Island this May.
NYU Student Deaths
The suicide of NYU student Diana Chien continues to upset the NYU administration and students. The Post, which uses an image of Chien falling from a building for its cover today, talks to students about the NYC factor of NYU. One student says, "At other schools, you have to adjust to school. The added burden of coming here is that you also have to adjust to New York City." A senior adds, "At NYU, it's really difficult to make friends. There's no campus life. Everyone is isolated. It can be very lonely."
The off-campus death of Chien, UCLA transfer and daughter of a senior VP at TiVo, did make the death feel "removed" (versus the deaths at the Bobst Library), but students are still upset, one telling the Times, "People are sort of angry and bitter. They don't understand why this keeps happening." The Times also notes that police cannot confirm the Post's report, based on police sources, that Chien had argued with her boyfriend earlier in the day. While Gothamist knows suicides and deaths during college year are, sadly, a part of what happens, we also think that the unusual number of recent deaths, coupled with the fact that NY has a number of big media outlets, makes the situation more publicized.
NYU has Counseling Services, and so do many other colleges and universities. Take advantage of them.
The Bronx is Up, With Monkeys in Town
New York loves a stories about animals in tiny NYC apartments...throw in a hipster and some cute monkeys, and this story can go far! Animal control seized six monkeys living in the
The Post captures a great photo of Lopez, looking forlorn, wearing a Von Dutch hat. He was distraught, calling them his "kids," "Could you imagine if someone came into your apartment and took everything you loved and cared for? Some vengeful, hateful person did this to me." Lopez: Did you break up with anyone lately? Annoy a neighbor with your youthful, Generation X ways? Animal control also seized Lopez's pet tarantula (no name given), which is also against the law to own as a pet, but he still has a Great Dane and some fish. And if anyone knows Orlando Lopez, Gothamist wants Andrew Krucoff to interview him for the Young Manhattanite Interview.
The last big animal incident in the city was the discovery of Ming the Bengal Tiger and Al the alligator in a Harlem apartment.
March 09, 2004
New Bathrooms in the Parks
The Parks Department is renovating 86 of its 683 public restrooms this year. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe explains, "We're the only city agency with a large number of public toilets. While we've been closing them for a number of years, we're now in an expansion mode." The Post lists the details:
Seven of 11 brand-new restrooms, 30 of 35 complete renovations and all 40 spruce-ups have been completed. Renovations include new lighting, hand dryers, ventilation fans, electric eye flush units, deodorizer units and new mirrors.There will now be advertising in the bathrooms, plus new corporate sponsors of various restrooms. For example, Quilted Northern is sponsoring the renovation of three parks restrooms, including one in Riverside Park. Now, Gothamist doesn't have that kind of coin yet, but maybe someday we'll have to start a drive to raise money for a Gothamist rest area. But for now, we'll see how our first season of sponsoring a Little League team goes.
Gothamist on places that need public bathrooms and on the Charmin Potty Patrol.
Reappearance of Missing Woman Raises Questions
Melissa Kennedy, the college student whose family had thought she was missing before she suddenly reappeared, will not be charged with any crimes. Detectives were trying to figure out why she ended up in Southamptown Town, where she had been for two weeks before calling authorities, having noticed a missing person report about herself. The Times account noted Kennedy had hitched a ride after getting to Grand Central; she stayed at the home of the driver, Dennis Schmidt, a deliveryman in Southampton Town for two weeks. Kennedy's mother calls Schmidt a "guardian angel." Newsday reports that Kennedy's father, a teacher at Stuyvesant, said, "We're supposed to just let her be," in accordance to police suggestion. Sources also told Newsday that Kennedy may be suffering from psychological problems. Kennedy's mother blamed stress from college for her daughter's behavior.
The recent anxiety of college students that is leading to suicides is troubling, so in spite of the odd story, we're happy Kennedy turned up okay. Hopefully she'll get the care and attention she needs.
NYU Student's Midtown Suicide
The strange and tragic death of a young woman this past weekend in Midtown turns out to be another NYU suicide. The Post reported about 19 year-old Diana Chien falling from the 24th floor roof of 990 Sixth Avenue (between 36th and 37th Streets) hours after fight with her boyfriend. A man living in a neighboring building had been looking out his telescope, saw Chien on the roof, and called police. Chien had been dangling from the roof for a few minutes, but then fell. Passers-by noted the impact ("It sounded like two cars hitting each other at 30 mph. She bounced once.") and a Post photographer had been on the scene ("I'm a big fan of movies, and in the movies someone always gets that jumper to get back in. Part of you thinks it's not going to happen and then the unreal happens - she fell."). A letter from NYU confirmed Chien as a student from California; student affairs VP Marc Wais urges students to go to counseling.
There have been many suicides at NYU since the start of the school year.
March 08, 2004
East River Body is Spalding Gray's
Updated: The body recovered earlier this morning is Spalding Gray's.
Earlier story: A body found in the East River will be autopsied today. Recovered yesterday, police wonder if it might be the body of Spalding Gray, writer-actor, who has been missing since January. He was last seen on the Staten Island Ferry, and people worry that he may have jumped. While the body's face is badly decomposed, police say it is a white man's body wearing black corduroy pants. The Post reports Gray was last seen wearing "black corduroy pants, a gray jacket, blue scarf, brown sweater and brown shoes."
Gothamist had wondered what was happening with the case, since there was no new news to report. The AP reported a week ago that Gray's wife, Kathleen Russo, felt Gray "had some kind of accident, either intentional or not."
The New West Side: Strip Club Heaven
With zoning pushing certain adult-entertainment establishments to the fringes of the city, the Daily News looks at the new crop of strip clubs opening on the West Side. west of 10th Avenue. Some worry that a new red-light district will emerge near the strip clubs; state Sen. Tom Duane says, "If a bunch of guys are in a strip club getting turned on, it's not like they're turned off the moment they walk out the door." That's true - until they realize that how much money they've blown on drinks and lapdances: Beers go for $9, there are dress codes, and clubs like the Penthouse Executive Club are actively seeking the "businessmen, the Wall Street professionals, the brokers" clientele. Larry Flynt is opening up a Hustler branded strip club, and Scores will be opening their second location later this month. And Flynt's logic is something to behold, when responding to critics his club: "They should close their eyes when they drive past."
And for all you businessmen, Wall Street professional, and brokers who maybe want to involve your girlfriends in your Penthouse Executive Club experience, the Penthouse Executive Club offers lessons in stripping. No joke. And the food at Robert's Steakhouse, also at the Penthouse Executive Club, is amazing, if you're willing to be distracted by scantily clad women.
Hell's Kitchen Online is a great West Side resource; their focus of late is the proposed Jets stadium.
Blame Your Dating Life On Your 'Hood
With the release of the book, The Sexual Organization of the City, which claims to refute the myth that cities are better for singles to meet other people, the Post's music writer, Mary Huhn, employs the main author, Edward Laumann, in anaylzing her New York dating schema. After looking at her diary of social events, he decrees, "Your scene seems to be fairly typical: urban-dwelling, 20-something, professional singles with a good income." God, we are a dime a dozen, aren't we? Laumann also confirms Huhn's hypothesis that hanging with the gang can prevent new connections: "If your crowd is of long standing and very comfortable to you, it reduces the incentive to look for new ties." That's true; speaking from our experience, when you and your friends are annoying, self-concerned bastards/bitches, you'll only end up cranky, or, at best, dating variations on that theme.
The book basically says that since people run in the same cicles both socially and with their work and neighbor activities (going to the same clubs, restaurants, etc.), they are limiting themselves in meeting new people and doing new things. Laumann also breaks New York into two kinds of relationship-making areas, "transactional" and "relational." Transactional neighborhoods are the ones where all the singles seem to be hanging out, the ones with the good bars, good cheap restaurants, good music scenes, which in turns means it's a place for "short-term, noncommittal relationships." Hello, East Village, Lower East Side, and Williamsburg, or as Huhn says, "almost everything south of 14th Street." On the flipside, staid places overrun with strollers, like the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Carroll Gardens, and Park Slope are "relational," where smug marrieds help their single friends find dates.
Gothamist is tempted to buy the book, but unfortunately, the book is based on observations made in Chicago, a.k.a., "America's biggest small town." Since we don't think Laumann and his team are hitting NYC anytime soon, tell Gothamist what your neighborhood has done (or hasn't done) for your dating life. We'll go first: While half of Gothamist lives on the Upper West Side, the fact that there were no settled friends in the neighborhood meant we were trolling downtown, in apparently the transactional part of town, for dates. The other half of Gothamist manages to be in a steady, relational relationship south of 14th Street.
Mayor Bloomberg and the Gay Marriage Question
After Mayor Bloomberg reportedly made some remarks that sounded like he supported gay marriage during a private event last week, the media is claiming he's flip-flopping, after telling reporters, "Well, I don't know that I said that," though many witnesses say Bloomberg said he thought the "law should be changed" at a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association dinner in private home. Mayor Bloomberg continued to say yesterday:
I've always believed in civil rights for people, and whether it's civil unions or marriage, I think you should have all of the same legal rights. I think it's a complex issue, and you can see that everybody is having difficulty dealing with it. ... I've gone back and forth in my mind as to where I really stand.Psst, Mr. Mayor, we hear that homosexuals are HUGE gossips, so if you didn't want them to repeat what you said, it's your own fault. But, if this was an attempt to get your thoughts out there without committing them, well, it's slightly back-fired.
Mayor Bloomberg marched with New Paltz mayor, Jason West, yesterday in a Queen St. Patty's Day parade; the Times reports that they didn't speak about the issue, which has become an "irritant" for the mayor lately. City Council Speak Gifford Miller and City Comptroller Bill Thompson, eyeing challenging the mayor on the Democratic ticket in 2005, are demanding the Mayor make his views known.
Rudy Giuliani told Tim Russet on Meet the Press that he opposes a gay marriage ban.
Club Drug Bust
Midtown club, Sound Factory, was raided and its owner arrested on drug charges yesterday morning. Authorities claim that the owner, Richard Grant, and employees helped distribute and did nothing to stop the sale and use of drugs, namely Ecstasy, at the club, being charged with the same kind of charge owners of crack houses are charged wtih (the "stash house" charge). Other allegations against the club include the club's policy of not calling 911 during the many drug overdoses there. An attorney for the club says it's not Grant's fault there are a lot of drugs in the club: "If the Pope ran the club you'd have the same problem. It's not because the pope is for drug dealing. It's because this (ecstasy) is the drug of choice in these clubs right now."
The Sound Factory, which had been closed because of drug-related charges previously, had been allowed to reopen due to new, tougher stances. A judge said a drug sniffing dog had to be at the entrance; Police Commissioner Kelly said the dog was sleeping whenever the police would make one of its many undercover buys there.
March 07, 2004
Why
Gothamist understands that there would be some more cold, but we no like this. Luckily, the snow may not stick to the roads because of the sweet, warmer weather the past few days. Mother Nature, you're such a tease.
Missing Brooklyn Woman Found
Melissa Kennedy, the young woman who had been missing for the past two weeks, turned herself into the Southampton police this morning. Just yesterday, her parents, who reside in Brooklyn, added a reward of $10,000 to help in the search. The Kennedys listed Melissa as missing when she didn't turn up for a family visit, after being dropped off at the train station in Poughkeepsie. Her family has not commented on her whereabouts since she was missing, and police are investigating.
Older posts in this category
Columbus Circle From Steelcase
Fifth Grade Graduation Mob
NYC Budget - The Game
City Schools Get a Parent Pyramid
Penn Station Security Measures
News That Sells
Victorian Gardens: A Little Coney Island in Central Park
Jews Leave the City For the Country
The Mayor Gives
Chocolate Chocolate
Hizzoner's Got Problems
Graffiti and the City
WTC Redesign Revisions
Insane NY Crime
Restaurants' Reality
Lyric Benson, Two Months Later
Sounds of the City
Lawyers Love the MTA
Mayor Bloomberg Tries to Slum
Bloomberg Accepts That He Sucks
Shoe Frenzy
Silly Hall
People Complain About Smoking Ban. Yada yada yada.
Puerto Rican Day Parade
40 West 67th Street Co-op Owner Smackdown
MTA Fare
Bling Bling Laundering
City Smoking
Better Budgeting by Bloomberg
Remodeler to the Lubavitchers
Fairway Vs. FreshDirect
When New York Gets Chain Restaurants
Meeting Jeffrey Steingarten
How many plants are in Central Park?
Jenna Goes to NYU
Lost and Found
1st Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party
Bloomberg Is Sensitive
Highline
Fight For The Right To Protest
Subway
Ticketing Here, Ticketing There
At 10:54AM
Keep Your Belongings With You
Surfin' NYC
BBQ Weekend
The Crazies on the Bus Try to Stab the Drivers
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The September 11 Defense
Stooling on Irving Place
Meeting New Yorkers is Not Easy
Borough Warfare
Manslaughter
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Feel Good
High Ticket Town
New Yorkers Wonder What They Rather Have, Quiet Streets or Lung Cancer
Exotic Dancer Dies
Memorial Day Memories
Chelsea Mini-Storage Shooting
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Gothamist Goes Legit
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