Community Alerts 7.10.24

Cooling Centers

As temperatures remain high this summer, make sure to stay cool. The City opens its cooling centers when the National Weather Service issues a heat advisory with a forecasted heat index of 95 degrees or higher for two or more days or 100 degrees for any period of time. Find your nearest NYC cooling center here. If you or someone you know has any symptoms of heat illness (heavy sweating, lightheadedness, decreased energy, loss of appetite, etc.), call 911. 

It’s Festival and Parade Season

On Sunday, July 14, there are two street fairs scheduled to take place in Lincoln Square. One event will take place on the west side of Broadway between 65th Street and 72nd Street. The second event will take place on the east side of Broadway between 60th and 61st Street. You can expect street closures on these two portions of Broadway from about 8:00am until 6:00pm.

In the warmer months, streets are often closed due to local festivals, parades, and fairs. Visit Manhattan Community Board 7’s website for a list of events scheduled for the Upper West Side, or find a full list of NYC street fairs here. 

Free Summer Meals

The 2024 Free Summer Meals Program from NYC Public Schools began on June 27 all across New York City, and it's totally free for anyone who's 18 years old or younger. You can find these meals at specific places like select NYC Public Schools, community pool centers, parks, and libraries. And guess what? You don't need to sign up, show any papers, or have an ID to get these meals. Just head to one of the spots and enjoy a delicious breakfast and lunch. The closest location to our neighborhood is at the High School for Law, Advocacy and Community Justice at the MLK Educational Complex located at 122 Amsterdam Avenue. Have a great summer filled with good food! You can learn more by visiting the NYC Public Schools website.

2024 Fresh Food for Seniors Program

Council Member Gale Brewer’s office offers $15 worth of locally grown fruits and vegetables for just $10 for older adults on the West Side every two weeks. The program is pay-as-you-go, not a subscription. The first pickup day is Wednesday, July 10, at Goddard Riverside's Older Adult Center (593 Columbus at 88th St). When you pick up your order, you can place your next order for pickup on July 24. Orders and pickups are also available at Project FIND Clinton Older Adult Center (530 W. 55th St.; 212-757-2026); NCJW Council Lifetime Learning (241 W 72nd St.; 212-687-5030); Lincoln House Outreach (303 W 66th St.; 212-875-8958); hours will be different than Goddard, so call each location for details.   

DOROT’s Friendly Visiting Program

A hallmark program of DOROT, Friendly Visiting is a meaningful program for older adults and volunteers alike. The social work team takes expert care in matching DOROT elders who live in Manhattan or Westchester with adult volunteers interested in weekly or monthly visiting. This unique opportunity to create an ongoing, mutually beneficial friendship brings smiles, excitement, and social engagement into the homes of older adults 60+. DOROT asks interested individuals to agree to a minimum one-year commitment, but many of the Friendly Visiting relationships span multiple years. On visits, older adults and volunteers bridge the generational gap and bond over shared life experiences, hobbies and passions, ideas and opinions, and memories. See this flyer for more information, and contact Kay Mollica at kmollica@dorotusa.org with any questions.

Deadline Extended! Truck Route Transportation Survey

In 2023, NYC Council passed Local Law 171 requiring NYC DOT to redesign the city truck route network to enhance safety, increase visibility, reduce traffic congestion, and improve the overall freight roadway network. NYC DOT’s Truck Route Network Redesign Public Feedback Portal will allow the public and freight industry to learn about the City’s truck route network and provide feedback. The public can comment and provide feedback through identifying issues and concerns of the current network via an interactive map. Feedback will help inform NYC DOT on how and where we can look to improve movement of trucks on city streets. The deadline to provide public feedback is now July 31, 2024.

Restaurants: Time is Running Out - Apply Now for Dining Out NYC

Restaurants with outdoor dining setups (outdoor seating, self-serve tables, etc.) must apply for the Dining Out NYC program by August 3 or remove their setups. Restaurants that have chairs or a bench may need to apply for a permit, however, it is not completely clear, so check with DOT. The NYC Business Express Service Team (NYC BEST) can help restaurants understand and comply with new program rules and other city regulations. Download the Dining Out NYC Financial Estimator to help you determine if participation in Dining Out NYC is right for your business. Questions about the application? Join DOT's webinar on Monday, July 29, at 12:30pm.

Buildings Tech Lab Announced

On July 9 the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and the Partnership Fund for New York City launched the Buildings Tech Lab—a public-private initiative to find, evaluate, and test innovative technology solutions that will support the DOB’s work as the primary regulator of real estate and construction in New York City, which is home to nearly 1.1 million buildings. The Buildings Tech Lab will provide a pathway for early- and growth-stage companies to collaborate more efficiently with the DOB to address critical priorities and enable the agency to source, pilot, and evaluate new technologies. Each year, the Buildings Tech Lab will host a competition to solicit innovative technology solutions for one or more key priority areas identified by the DOB, referred to as “Challenges.” The 2024 inaugural program is calling for technology solutions to support the DOB’s objectives in process management and data utilization. Applications are open now through September 20, 2024. A virtual info session will be held for interested applicants on August 15 at 1:00pm. Learn more on the website here.

Traffic Advisories from DOT

Need to know about upcoming bridge and street closures? Visit DOT’s webpage for the weekly traffic advisory and weekend traffic advisory.