Gus, the Central Park Zoo Polar Bear, Is Dead - Lenox Hill - DNAinfo.com New York

Gus, the Central Park Zoo Polar Bear, Is Dead - Lenox Hill - DNAinfo.com New York
Normally I do not post things about "uptown" news on this blog but due to today's news that Gus, the beloved Polar Bear from the Central Park Zoo died, I made an exception.
25 years ago I was hired by the New York Times to do a series of drawings about New York City for the Metropolitan Diary section. During the assignment I wandered about the city looking for key scenes; scenes that were quintessentially New York, and Gus the Polar Bear fit that bill.
Here he is sunning himself on the rocks at the Central Park Zoo.  I spent several days at the zoo and the bear always had a crowd of fans, pointing, photographing, oohing and aahing over him. He was quite the popular bear,
it is sad to see him go.

New York Times Endorsements, Squadron and Brewer

Once in a while I get a nice shot of a few politicians who support and represent downtown, and here are several who were endorsed by the New York Times.
New York Times endorsement link

 The Gail Brewer watercolor was done during a Robin Forst fundraiser. Robin is running for district leader of Lower Manhattan. It was nice to see an elected official from uptown show interest in our downtown area, the race for our district leader and Robin Forst.  Gail Brewer seeks the Manhattan Boro President office.  The Squadron/Stringer/Maloney illustration was drawn during Squadron's swearing-in ceremony on January 25th 2009, in the depths of our economic nadir. Thankfully things have improved and Senator Squadron has had success during  his first term in Albany representing Lower Manhattan. He has been a vocal advocate for downtown and now seeks the Public Advocate office.

Council member Gail Brewer endorsed by the
NY Times for Manhattan Boro President

State Senator Daniel Squadron and Scott Stringer
both endorsed by the NY Times

Chin- Rajkumar Debate

Last night's debate between current Councilmember Margaret Chin and challenger Jennifer Rajkumar-sponsored by the Downtown Express and the Villager- could only be described as chaotic, cacophonous and dare I say at times, somewhat crazy. It showed how divided the district is, 

how divided the issues. At times people from the audience would bark out "liar" when Rajkumar made claims about her record, would boo Chin when discussing  the NYU expansion plans. I don't think anyone in that room had their minds changed. The moderators had trouble controlling the audience and particularly one of the candidates. For a person who typically covers the staid courts, it was a memorable experience, however I am not sure how informative it was. 

Council member Margaret Chin and candidate Jenifer Rajkumar

Below is are recent stories I could find about the candidates in the NYC media,

NY Post Rajkumar story

DNAinfo Chin Danny Chen story
NY Daily News Chin Counterfeit Bill story
NY Post Chin Counterfeit Bill story

Liz Berger

Liz Berger 1960-2013
I knew Liz Berger for almost 15 years. Our daughters were part of the first class at Downtown Little School. Liz was always a dynamic presence. She battled cancer in 2003 and won the fight, then yesterday, almost exactly 10 years later, sadly she passed away.  As the Downtown Alliance President she forged many novel ideas about the development of downtown, and promoted downtown in numerous ways.  Also Liz always looked fabulous. Every time I would see her, notice her wonderful shoes; she had so many great ones.
Below is one of the drawings I was able to capture of her great shoes. I think these are the Pancaldi pair from about 1987, still looking fabulous.
Liz leaves me with 4 thoughts about how she lived life,

1. Live your life to the fullest
2. Set your standards high
3. Leave your mark
4. and, always wear good shoes.