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WEEK OF SEPTEMBER
18 2014
OTDOWNTOWN.COM
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WHEN A GROCERY STORE GOES
In Brief MT. SINAI TO STUDY HEALTH EFFECTS FROM 9/11
Residents accuse a supermarket chain on the Lower East Side of increasing prices on customers who lack options BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
Before it closed, the Pathmark on Cherry Street was the most popular supermarket on the Lower East Side. The quality and prices were so good, residents say, that even people from outside the community would travel to the Lower East Side to shop there. But then, in December 2012, Pathmark closed after Extell Development, in a deal with developer Gary Barnett, bought the lot on which it was built and demolished it last year. Extell plans to build a 68-story residential tower on the lot. What’s happened since, residents say, is an increase in prices at the other full-scale supermarket in the neighborhood, the Fine Fare at 545 Grand Street. “It was immediate,” said Daisy Echevarria, a resident of the area and a member of the Tenants United Fighting for the Lower East Side. “We realized (Fine Fare) was very expensive and a lot of the tenants began scouting around for better prices.” Turns out that’s not such an easy undertaking. Grace Mak, another member of the tenants’ group, said some of her neighbors now shop at the Food Bazaar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, or the Chinese markets on East Broadway. Echevarria said she knows others who do their grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s on Third Avenue and the Whole Foods in the Bowery. “The impact on the community has been huge,” said Echevarria. “For me, I have to go to so many different stores just to do my grocery shopping. I have to go to Trader Joe’s because the cheeses are cheaper there but the produce is bad. So I have to go to Whole Foods or Eately for the produce, but then they don’t have Puerto Rican products, so I have to go somewhere else. By the time I’m finished I’ve prob-
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A CONSERVANCY FOR THE EAST RIVER Community stakeholders organize a pilot meeting for waterfront on the Lower East Side BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
Two-dozen people gathered in the community room of a NYCHA housing development on the Lower East Side to discuss forming a conservancy for the East River waterfront, the first of its kind, in an apparent attempt to gain some measure of community control over an asset they see as belonging to the community. Present were members of community boards one and three, representatives of downtown elected officials, tenant leaders, neighborhood groups and those with experience in forming conservancies. Two Bridges Neighborhood Association, who hired consultant Gina Pollara to guide discussions on forming the conservancy, is driving the effort. Pol-
lara most recently helped form a conservancy at FDR Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island. “Two Bridges is a catalyst for this conversation,” said Victor Papa, a Two Bridges board member. Much remains unknown. At the very least, it seems the conservancy would like to oversee programming and any growth initiatives on the waterfront, including small business programs. In an email after the meeting, Pollara wrote to the steering committee that consensus on the north/south boundaries seemed to be “the southern end of East River Park ... to roughly Fletcher Street, just south of the Seaport Historic District.” However, that boundary is open to discussion, she said. Those present also seemed to agree that the conservancy should operate as a local development corporation. An LDC is similar to an authority in that
it forms to serve a public purpose yet stands apart from the public entity that created it. Unlike authorities though, LDCs are organized as private, not-forprofit corporations and are typically created by counties, cities or towns. LDCs are also not bound by public procurement laws requiring contracts for goods and services to go to the lowest bidder. Lastly, LDCs are granted the power to acquire property from local government without appraisal or public bidding. “We obviously want something that’s nimble, and gives us the greatest latitude and economic ability,” said Pollara, who favors the LDC model. She said Seattle’s Pike Place Market is a good example of what could work well along the East River. Pike Place, founded in 1907, is the oldest continually operating farmers market in the coun-
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Researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have received a $1.1 million grant from the World Trade Center Health Program to study the risks of kidney and heart disease among Ground Zero first-responders and volunteers exposed to the toxic dust-cloud created by the disaster 13 years ago. Responders and volunteers were exposed to varying levels of air filled with cement dust, smoke, glass fibers, and heavy metals during the 9/11 tragedy at Ground Zero. Mount Sinai researchers believe that high levels of exposure to the dust cloud may cause inflammation that can result in the development of chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular damage. “We will investigate if exposure to high levels of inhaled particulate matter from 9/11 may be associated with chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular damage,” says Dr. Mary Ann McLaughlin, Medical Director of the Cardiac Health Program at The Mount Sinai Hospital and the study’s principal investigator. “Our long-term goal is to identify and minimize the risks for these conditions among individuals exposed to the inhaled toxins.” The Clinical Center of Excellence at Mount Sinai is a treatment and monitoring program for emergency responders, recovery workers, residents, and area workers who were affected by the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001. The program identifies health problems needing timely treatment, monitors the development of symptoms, and analyzes data on the effects of 9/11. The centers are the result of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which provides $4.3 billion in federal funding to serve the health needs of the brave men and women impacted by the WTC tragedy.