By Kim Velsey 2/26 4:51pm

Greensward

Pier 41, in better times. (NYPL)

Not Quite a Continuous Ribbon Of Green Yet, But a Chunk of Pier 42 Will Open This Spring

The abandoned banana warehouse on Pier 42 isn’t going anywhere in the coming months, nor is the parking lot stretching out in front of it, but New Yorkers will be able to get a little closer to the East River starting May 4. A piece of Pier 42—about a third of the total footprint—will be open to the public for the first time ever.

The Lower East Side pier and its decaying banana warehouse are slated for better, greener things—namely, a $16 million makeover whose appearance has yet to be decided by the public and Mathews Nielson landscape architects.

But State Senator Daniel Squadron and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, who secured the funding for the redevelopment, have described the future park as being the missing section needed to create “a continuous green ribbon around Lower Manhattan, connecting the East and West Sides and providing the Lower East Side and Chinatown communities with much-needed open space.” Read More

By Matt Chaban 11/12/12 1:26pm

recovery mode

Senator Schumer (far left) and Congressman Nadler (far right) at the mouth of a flooded Brooklyn Battery Tunnel—the kind o damage both hope to prevent. (Jay Fine/MTA)

Schumer and Nadler Say Sandy Was Our Wake-Up Call for Better Disaster Infrastructure

There has been a big debate in (local) government about how best to respond to Hurricane Sandy going forward. There is the governor’s camp, which argues for redesigning great swaths of the city and state’s built environment; and the mayor’s camp, which both before the storm and after, argued that the city could never really protect itself from these kinds of disasters, so it was up to citizenry to protect themselves. The city would help with evacuations and the like, but really, don’t build near the sea or count of some fancy new sea gates to protect you, the mayor insisted.

During the recovery, The Observer would ask major officials into which camp they fell. Both Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Jerry Nadler (who represents much of the formerly flooded downtown Manhattan) put themselves in the camp of doing more, building more, protecting more.

“For the future, we have to look into it,” Senator Schumer said. Read More

By Foster Kamer 2/21/12 2:04pm

SUPPOSEDLY FUN THINGS WE'LL NEVER (GET TO) DO AGAIN

8 Photos

Other Things Charles Schumer Should Look Into Banning

A List of ‘Fun’ Things Sen. Charles Schumer Has Tried to Destroy (with Commentary)

Have you heard of inhalable caffeine? It’s a shot of caffeine, that one inhales. It’s pretty gross. It’s also about to get massively popular thanks to New York’s own Sen. Charles Schumer, and his crusade to get it investigated and consequently banned. This is not the first time he has taken on something like this. Read More

By Steve Huff 4:26pm

Drugs

Inhalable chocolate: what could go wrong?

Sen. Charles Schumer, F.D.A. to Investigate Evils of Caffeine Inhalers

New York Senator Charles Schumer and the Food and Drug Administration have officially teamed up to declare open war on the consumer’s right to induce heart palpitations via inhalable caffeine. The Senator announced Sunday that the F.D.A. has begun the process of determining whether caffeine inhalers are a legal and safe dietary supplement and not simply a new kind of “club drug.”  Read More

By Matt Chaban 10/06/11 5:26pm

Road Rage

Chuck Schumer uses the bike lane, sort of. (Brooklyn Spoke

Avid Cyclist Chuck Schumer No Fan of Prospect Park West Bike Lane, Says Neighbor

One of the curious things about the ongoing fight over the Prospect Park West bike lane is how one of its biggest opponents is a former city transportation commissioner whose husband is one of the most visible, even conspicuous, cyclists in the city. Yes, we are talking about Iris Weinshall and Chuck Schumer. New York’s senior senator has remained publicly mum on the issue in his backyard, even while he purportedly lobbied behind the scenes to have something done about the bike lane.

Now Streetsblog has email proof of Senator Schumer’s opposition to the lane—or at least that’s what his neighbor claims. Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 8/03/11 10:22am

The Eight-Day Week

Rangel.

The Eight-Day Week: August 3-August 10

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, August 3

The Ultimate Art Machine

Is the Guggenheim the Shake Shack of museums? Locations, locations, locations! Not content with outposts in the Basque Country and the United Arab Emirates (as well as the now-shuttered Las Vegas outpost, which seems in retrospect a bit of an overreach…to Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 6/08/11 3:42am

Transom

Senator Charles Schumer.

Charles Schumer, at Internet Week, Goes Viral

“It’s gone viral!” Senator Charles Schumer cried, summarizing Internet Week. Mr. Schumer delivered the keynote address this year, during which he announced his desire for a working group aimed at making New York America’s tech capital.

Mr. Schumer also boosted his own Brooklyn bona fides.

“Close to my house, there were these Jelly Pool concerts Read More

By The Editors 5/24/11 11:15pm

Editorial

You Punish the Banks, You Punish Us All

There is good economic news to report: The unemployment rate in New York City has dropped to 8.6 percent. That’s a two-year low. And the good news on jobs comes despite a continued lull in construction, a traditional source of well-paid, blue-collar work.

Now the bad news: Washington is considering new banking rules that could Read More