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Jessica Shiraz

By Jessica Shiraz 9/11/12 3:28pm

Solidarity

Some Occupy the Corners supporters with Jayson Williams, Al Sharpton and Tamika Mallory, NAN's national executive director.

Occupy the Corners: Harlem Residents Unite Against Gun Violence with Al Sharpton and Jayson Williams

Last Friday night, huddled together at the corner of 111th street and 5th Avenue in Harlem, a circle of about thirty individuals held hands. Their eyes were closed in prayer. The orange glow of the headlamps formed neon smudges against the black night sky. Two NYPD officers stood nearby, arms crossed, waiting. Opposite a church on the corner of 129th Street and 7th Avenue, a similar crowd looped around a stage, surrounded by blue lights and peace signs painted gold. Some youths lined up to perform raps and songs, which they had written themselves.

This was the last weekend of Occupy the Corners, an initiative created in response to the recent wave of shootings and organized by National Action Network (NAN), a not-for-profit civil rights organization. For the past four weekends, community activists, politicians, church leaders and local civilians have stood in solidarity at the most dangerous corners in New York, watching for any signs of violence.

On Friday, NAN founder and president, Reverend Al Sharpton, joined the campaigners. Read More

By Jessica Shiraz 8/24/12 11:32am

Planes Trains & Automobiles

Give us the money... or else. (MTA)

Fare Beaters: MTA and Allies Speak Out Against Payroll Tax Ruling

The MTA, nor its allies, will stand idly by as a state judge knocks down the payroll tax providing the transit agency nearly $2 billion a year in fund. Yesterday, they rallied at Grand Central Terminal to insist the tax does not conflict with the state constitution and they will be launching a vigorous appeals.

“For the eight and half million passengers who ride with us every single day, and for everybody in the New York metropolitan area, the transportation mobility tax is a key component of the transportation system that drives the economy of New York City, of Long Island and of our New York suburbs,” Mr. Lhota declared. “In fact, it drives the entire economy of the state of New York. Without the service that the MTA provides, New York would choke on its own traffic.” Read More

By Jessica Shiraz 8/22/12 2:08pm

Shindigger

Ramona Singer and Sonja Tremont-Morgan. (Photo by Lenny Stucker)

Of Time and the Country: The Michael J. Fox Foundation Benefit at the East Hampton Studio

After some time spent roving the idyllic Hamptons lanes last Saturday, The Observer found ourselves at a charity gala honoring the music of Billy Joel. The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s Team Fox had teamed up with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to put on the snazzy soiree.

Onstage, a Billy Joel tribute band was playing at considerable volume. We asked the brave souls seated near the front how they felt about the idea of setting up a tribute band.

M.C. and host for the evening Gina Giordan was keen to point out that she did not choose the band, and was unconvinced that anyone could compare to the legendary Billy Joel. Read More

By Jessica Shiraz and Matt Chaban 8/07/12 4:44pm

Street Fighters Too

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Bridge Over Troubled Walkways: Council Members Want Wider Brooklyn Bridge Crossing for Bikes, Peds

Remember the graffiti from a few years ago, the stripe down the sidewalk dividing it between New Yorkers and tourists? If ever there was a place for such a demarcation, it would be the Brooklyn Bridge, where wayward out-of-towners and death-courting cyclists do battle on a daily basis.

“We are issuing a call to expand the human capacity of the bridge,” Councilman Brad Lander of Park Slope declared at the Manhattan entrance to the 129-year-old span yesterday. An average of 4,000 pedestrians and 3,100 bicyclists cross the Brooklyn Bridge every day, according to the Department of Transportation. A good many of them have close encounters of the two-wheeled kind.

Along with a few colleagues in the council, Mr. Lander wants the city to consider expanding the narrow boardwalk atop the beige bridge to accommodate more passengers. Read More