Community Magazine September 2011

New York City Municipal Schedule 94 Community magazine *Alternate Side Parking: For snow and other emergencies call 311 to get an update of parking rules for a particular day **Garbage: Residents who are normally scheduled for collection on the day of a holiday should place their trash out at curbside on the holiday evening for collection. Some residents will experience a disruption of on-time household collection service. Recycling: Residents who are normally scheduled for recycling collection on the day of the holiday will not receive service that week. They should place their recyclables out at curbside the following week on their regular day of service. “A” in Food Safety Saves $3M in Fines On the first anniversary of restaurant letter grading, the mayor announced that 8,000 NYC restaurants had $3 million in fines for violations waived because they received “A” grades during their recent food safety inspections. A report released by the Health Department showed that 90 percent of New Yorkers approve of the letter grade program and 65 percent use the grades in choosing where to eat. The program appears to be helping restaurants clean up, as 38 percent who received a B grade on initial inspection earned an A grade when re-inspected, and 72 percent who received a C on initial inspection improved to A or B on re-inspection. Restaurants with higher grades have longer cycles between inspections. Almost 70 percent of restaurants now have A’s, 15 percent have B’s, 4 percent have C’s, and 12 percent are in the midst of a grade appeal process. The system is designed to give information to customers, and give restaurants an incentive to implement acceptable food safety systems. Inspection scores for restaurants by borough, zip code, neighborhood, cuisine type and grade, can be found by visiting NYC.gov or by calling 311. Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Next Phase Mayor Bloomberg recently announced the next stage of plans for Brooklyn Bridge Park, involving long-term revenue to pay for annual maintenance. The park covers 85 acres, 25 of which have been completed with another 10 currently under construction. In March 2010, the city assumed the responsibility for the park, and committed $55 million for building, contingent on future revenue being generated from other sources such as new housing. A new agreement between the mayor, State Senator Daniel L. Squadron and Assembly Member Joan L. Millman, includes $750,000 in new, annual revenues, including increased concessions, events, recreation fees and parking fees, and a reduction in the amount of housing on the site. The changes would allow the site to be self-sustaining. The park already has recreation facilities and tourist attractions, and the funding agreement will allow all 85 acres to become a waterfront park, including pools, ice skating and tennis courts. The completed $360 million park will stretch from Atlantic Avenue to Jay Street, north of the Manhattan Bridge. Occasion Day Date Alt Side Garbage Collection Parking Banks & Post Offices Labor Day Monday September 5 Suspended Suspended Holiday Closed Rosh Hashanah Thursday-Friday September 29-30 Suspended Normal Normal Open Yom Kippur Saturday October 8 Suspended Normal Normal Open Columbus Day Monday October 10 Suspended Suspended Normal Closed Succot: 1 st -2 nd Day Thursday-Friday October 13-14 Suspended Normal Normal Open Shemini Asseret Thursday October 20 Suspended Normal Normal Open Simhat Torah Friday October 21 Suspended Normal Normal Open Observance Wednesday October 26 Suspended Normal Normal Open