February, 2023
1) What’s happening on 22nd Street and 10th Avenue?
According to the owners of the building a new “upscale” deli with a full commercial kitchen will soon call the corner of 22nd Street and 10th Avenue its home. While the exact name and the grand opening date have not been announced, it is believed that the deli has locations elsewhere in the City and will begin operation sometime this month.
2) Speaking of 22nd Street and 10th Avenue—A HUGE Shout Out to the Tia Pol Restaurant and it’s Owner Heather!
As many of you brought to our attention, the outdoor dining shed in front of the Tia Pol restaurant was recently aggressively tagged. We are happy to report that when we contacted Tia Pol to ask how we could help to remove the graffiti, the owner, Heather, immediately informed us that she was removing the shed. Heather contacted the City who will soon cart the shed away on either February 9th or 10th. All of us thank Heather especially since our neighborhood has seen an explosion of graffiti, some of which is painted by opposing NYC neighborhood gangs.
3) Fighting Graffiti Tips:
A reminder: If you see freshly painted graffiti, please let us know immediately so we can help work with the owner of the building to get it removed, ASAP! If graffiti is allowed to stay on a surface for more than 72 hours, that spot and the surrounding area (about one NYC block radius) will now be a haven for continued tagging. Taggers want their tags to be seen and if they know you will give them extra time on display they will return to that spot to spray.
4) CVS Garbage Clean-Up Success—Thank You to Equity Residential for Stepping Up to the Plate!
For nearly a year we have fought constantly and aggressively to get the ongoing trash pile-up situation in front of the CVS Pharmacy on 10th Avenue and 23rd Street under control. This month, we’re pleased to announce that we have finally made inroads and feel confident that this serious neighborhood health condition has been addressed. While correcting this situation has not been an easy road, we want to thank the 500 West 23rd Street building management company Equity Residential, especially Eddie Rochat, for working with us and to ultimately solve this problem once and for all. One other bit of good news surrounding this issue- Ed and his team have given the go ahead to spruce up the tree beds on 10th Avenue between 22nd and 23rd Street. He said that we should begin to see a major improvement come Spring.
5) The Tree Guard Initiative- Donations and Sponsors needed
As we discussed last year, one of our main 2023 initiatives is to increase the number of trees in our coverage area as well as protect them and those that are already planted. This Spring we are rolling out a major fundraising campaign asking you to sponsor a tree and/or a tree guard. The total cost for this sponsorship ( one time only donation) is approximately $1000 a tree/tree guard. Down the road we will also be introducing an initiative that will help us raise funds to put plants inside the tree guard pits---but at this point we are ONLY concentrating on the purchase and installation of the trees and tree guards. Finally—at no additional charge---we can also offer you the ability to have your name, company or someone else included on the guard in recognition of your donation. Can we count on you to buy/donate a tree guard?
Finally…Please Let us Know
Film Shoots: If you see film shoots taking place in our neighborhood (21st to 24th St between 10th Ave and the Hudson River), please email us a note and a photo of the shoot sign and/or location to 500westba@gmail.com. We will take it from there. We ask each of the production companies that film on our streets for a small donation to help keep our streets and sidewalks clean and beautiful.
Trash or Graffiti: There are very strict NYC rules and regulations that regulate out of control trash and graffiti conditions. If you see a situation where either of these violations occur, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Through our continued hard work, we have developed strong and impactful relationships with most of the city’s department heads.
Reminder: Annual Full Membership ZOOM Meeting: Please don’t forget to mark your calendar for Thursday, February 16th from 7:00p-8:00p for our full membership Zoom meeting. We will be discussing some of last year’s accomplishments and we will be outlining some of our 2023 500 West Block Association’s initiatives. We look forward to seeing you!