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With his left leg pointed forward and arms flung out at his sides, Alexander Hamilton, looks to be in motion. But for the next few months at least, the bronze statue will be imprisoned behind the mesh fence that surrounds the site of his historic home.
In June, for the second time in its lifetime, Hamilton Grange will be wrenched from its current site in Harlem, jacked up 40 feet, lifted over neighboring St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and on to Convent Avenue. The 206-year-old building will be transported in one piece the few hundred yards down 141st Street to St. Nicholas Park, and transplanted on to a new site – which happens to be the last remaining pastoral acre of Hamilton’s estate.
The National Park Service estimates the process will take about two weeks. That’s if they can resolve a two-year dispute with community board members over which direction the building will face.
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First-time businesswoman Doris Wade looked around her South Harlem neighborhood two years ago and saw a need: services for pets.
“I did a little research and discovered there was a need for a little boutique like this,” she said.
Her shop, “Posh Paws,” is one of four pet-services businesses that have opened within three blocks on Frederick Douglas Boulevard in the last two years. The newest is “Harlem Hound,” a dog walking and cat-sitting service debuted this month (April) – servicing Harlem, Morningside Heights and Inwood.
“I’ve worked for [animal care] services before. They would never go beyond 101st Street,” said Oliver Rhee, the entrepreneur behind Harlem Hound. “It was as if there was an imaginary line that you just didn’t cross.”
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By Linnea Covington and Roisin O’Connor-McGinn
Spring is here which means the return of open-air markets to New York City.
However, it didn’t feel like Spring on Sunday April 6th — when the city’s newest and largest flea market set up on the grounds of Bishop Loughlin High School, Fort Greene.Dressed in coats and winter apparel, stroller-pushing parents and new neighborhood couples braved the cold and descended on the school’s well–worn asphalt running track.
Some people were on the hunt for unique furniture to decorate their brownstone; others were there for the homemade chocolate and nougat. All were curious about the neighborhood’s newest commercial enterprise.
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A neon red window sign spelled out “Floridita Cuban Diner” to passing trade on Broadway. The door opened periodically letting in another hungry customer and also the sound of the 1 train as it rumbled past overhead.
“We have a lot of customers coming from New Jersey and the other boroughs, but we’re essentially a community diner,” said the restaurant’s owner, Mr. Raymon Diaz in a telephone interview.
The flagship restaurant of Mr. Diaz’s uncle, a pioneering Cuban immigrant, the Floridita has stood at the corner of 129th and Broadway for almost 40 years. But in future locals may have to go elsewhere to enjoy a papaya milkshake or plate of “mangu,” a Caribbean dish featuring mashed green plantains mixed with olive oil and vinegar.
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