Store opening in Chelsea: Diaman Discounts on the northeast side of 24th Street & 7th Avenue.

A tree grows in Brooklyn. A store opens in Chelsea in the middle of a pandemic. Diaman Discounts opened on 24th and 7th last Saturday. It is what I’d call a “dollar store plus,” meaning that most things are a dollar, but it also has some other items that go for slightly more than a dollar. For example, I somehow walked out with a pack of socks and white t-shirts for less than $10.

The image shows the owner, Mamadou Diaman, along with a guy running for City Council in District 3, Arthur Schwartz. Mamadou, thank you for taking the initiative and executing on an idea while we’re still muddling through this whole ridiculous COVID affair. It is what makes New York great.

Also, I had a thought-provoking conversation with Arthur Schwartz in Mamadou’s store (Arthur helped Mamadou open the store from the legal side). You can read more about Arthur’s views here: Getting to Know You: City Council District 3 Candidate Arthur Schwartz – Chelsea Community News.

Arthur has a particular interest in police accountability, and I asked just for my own curiosity how he would increase accountability. He informed me that, currently, civilian complaints about police officers are reviewed by the “NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board.” That board can conduct investigations and make findings about police misconduct, but those findings are then just submitted to the NYC Police Commissioner, and the Commissioner makes his own determination about whether any discipline is necessary. Arthur suggested that the law should be changed so that the board has its own disciplinary power, separate and independent from the Commissioner. Interesting.

Dog of the day: Bosco the Mini Australian Shepherd.

WARNING: This ferocious beast will at first pretend to sit nicely to have his picture taken and then viciously lunge at you in the middle of the photo shoot!

I’m just playing—this little guy is adorable and if you bend down to try to take a picture of him, you get the added benefit of him wholly disregarding the relevant hand signals and hilariously trying to hop on you. Not seen or heard in the pictures above is me cracking up and hoping Bosco never changes.

Owner’s name is Heitor, and as you can see, he is quite stylish at least from the knee down. Heitor and other Bosco enthusiasts—check out our budding dog park initiative: Important update on the dog park idea. — High Line 28 Block Association. I will post another update on it this weekend.

Article about the rise and fall of a famous fertility doctor in NYC, Dr. Niels Lauersen.

Photo from 1988 of Dr. Niels Lauersen with the author of the piece, Eileen Stukane.

My mother sent me an article recently that was published in Chelsea Community News which I thought was exceptional. It tells the story of Dr. Niels Lauersen, a well-known fertility doctor in NYC in the 1980s and 1990s who was convicted in 2001 of health insurance fraud. Niels died in July 2020. Here is the link to the article: Fame and the Final Chapter: My Co-Author, Myself – Chelsea Community News.

The article had an effect on me because it gave a nuanced portrait of a person who did something wrong, leading with his positive acts and traits. I liked this passage in particular, where the author, Eileen Stukane, is telling her friend to get a second opinion from Niels regarding why the friend was having trouble conceiving:

I suggested a second opinion from Niels and one night close to midnight, the only time Niels had a free moment, she came to his office. He examined her and announced that no, she did not have fibroids and there was no reason she could not conceive. She held up the ultrasound image, which had clearly marked arrows pointing to the so-called fibroids, and said, “But what about this? What about the arrows?” Niels said, “Anyone can draw arrows. You like arrows?” He pulled out his own patients’ X-rays from a drawer, drew arrows on them and said, “See, here are more arrows. You don’t have fibroids. Go home and get pregnant,” and she did.

What an illustrative anecdote about a person. Also, being a sucker for quotes, I reflected a bit on the quote at the beginning of the article:

I am staring at the headline and recalling the quote: “The facts are always less than what really happened.”

I take this to mean that humans like to apply clean, narrative structure to a world that doesn’t lend itself to cleanliness or narration. So either the facts are less or more than what really happened—I’m still not sure which is more correct—but regardless, a person is never as simple as a story.

Film shoots on our block: Raising Kanan currently on 28th St. b/t 10th & 11th Ave., and Law & Order SVU previously on 27th St. b/t 10th & 11th Ave.

A cool thing about NYC has always been that you might just stumble across a movie or TV set while out looking for a “Dog of the Day” to post on your website.

That happened to me about two weeks ago, when I saw what seemed like 50 police cars on 27th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, along with a couple people with clipboards nonchalantly mulling around making clear that this was all just a TV set. I’m now basically positive that the TV set was Law & Order SVU (Tuesday, Feb. 23 Filming Locations - On Location Vacations).

Currently being filmed on 28th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues is a TV show called “Power Book III: Raising Kanan.” I remember seeing a flyer for it a few days ago that I forgot to take a picture of but which looked like the image I found on the internet and posted here.

The show is a prequel to the “Power” franchise. It is set in the 1990s and essentially looks at the early years of 50 Cent’s character in Power, “Kanan Stark.” Here’s a teaser for it: Official Tease | Power Book III: Raising Kanan | STARZ - YouTube.

Sweet city ride.

Spotted outside 529 West 29th Street: matte black Tesla SUV. This seems like the type of car Batman would take to his office job after settling down, getting married, having kids, and moving to Northern California. Just enough to remind him of the good old days while minimizing his carbon footprint in the process.

Dog of the day: Macchia the Dalmatian.

Today’s featured dog is Macchia the Dalmation. He is 1 year old. Skills include sitting, laying down, hand-shaking, active listening, negotiation, and nonverbal communication. Interests include eating random things on the street. Never wears the same thing twice. Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/mr.spotsalot/?hl=en. Fluent in English and Italian, just like his mother Alice (not pronounced like the American “AL-ISS” but in Italian so that it sounds like “ceviche” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScZEb_0ROKg). I met both of them last weekend at Il Piccolo.

Alice has some art and COVID-related posts that you’ll see on the front page soon. Also, she floated the idea of making a dog park out of the vacant lot on 29th and 10th. I’m sort of taken with the idea and am looking into it.

Recent transplant from San Francisco looking for recommendations on dry cleaning, shoe repair, dog sitters, and house cleaners.

From a block resident named Audrey:

***

Hello Neighbors:

I’ve relocated here from San Francisco and could use some recommendations for the following services:

• Dry Cleaning

• Shoe Repair

• Dog Sitters (when OOT)

• House Cleaners

Thank you for any leads!

Help seniors schedule COVID vaccine appointments. [UPDATE 2/25 AT 9:30AM: JAVITS CENTER JUST OPENED 7K APPOINTMENTS FOR SECOND DOSES ONLY]

I have heard first-hand that trying to schedule a COVID vaccine appointment is a nightmare. And so yesterday I reached out to Erik Bottcher, who is the guy in the thumbnail running for election in November 2021 to represent City Council District 3 (which includes Chelsea) to see if he is undertaking any initiatives to help on this front.

It turns out the answer is yes. You can sign up to fight with your computer on behalf of a senior trying to get a vaccine appointment at the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXGh1dar4DoMdvpzOsD9TMzAgRGIaqFaxvB7Yhx2jwUoi4Yg/viewform. Or, if you are eligible for a vaccine, you can sign up to get a volunteer to electronically fight on your behalf here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc5apoS1rzkFPf049gZ7prSjTCi2FCuBRcVASY8A6cfGXWPCA/viewform.

Erik also put together a short note compiling websites that people are using to book vaccine appointments. Here it is: https://mailchi.mp/erikbottcher.com/email-4768707?e=2420005abd. I myself recently read in the NY Times about “turbovax,” which is a website built by Chelsea resident Huge Ma that compiles vaccine appointment availability from city and state vaccine systems. Nice.

***

UPDATE 2/25 AT 9:30AM: JAVITS CENTER JUST OPENED 7K APPOINTMENTS FOR SECOND DOSES ONLY: https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov/locations.

Underground Railroad stop on 29th Street between 8th & 9th Avenues.

The house is known as the “Hopper-Gibbons House” and is located at 339 West 29th Street. On this page is a shot of the house and neighboring houses from 1932.

Built in the 1840s and owned by Quaker abolitionists Abigail Hopper Gibbons and James Sloan Gibbons, slaves on the way to Canada stayed in the basement of the house in the 1850s and 1860s.

A mob set fire to the house during the Draft Riots of 1863, which were the result of anger from working-class New Yorkers over perceived inequities in the draft to the Civil War. Two of the Gibbons daughters narrowly escaped through the roof and fled to safety across the rooftops of neighboring houses.

In 2017, the current owner lost a battle with city preservationists over the construction of a rooftop addition to the house (https://www.amny.com/news/preservationists-win-hopper-gibbons-house-owner-ordered-to-subtract-addition/).

The Secret to Happiness

Our regular reader(s) will know that despite being in existence for only a month, we have already covered the secret to happiness: https://www.highline28.com/journal/laminated-flyers-amp-the-secret-to-happiness. Cliff’s: you need to lower your expectations.

Well I’m happy to report that writers at The Atlantic are not only following this website by but stealing our ideas without attribution. From the March 2021 issue:

Strive for excellence, by all means. My God, please strive for excellence. Excellence alone will haul us out of the hogwash. But lower the bar, and keep it low, when it comes to your personal attachment to the world. Gratification? Satisfaction? Having your needs met? Fool’s gold. If you can get a buzz of animal cheer from the rubbishy sandwich you’re eating, the daft movie you’re watching, the highly difficult person you’re talking to, you’re in business. And when trouble comes, you’ll be fitter for it.

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/an-ode-to-low-expectations/617801/ (“An Ode to Low Expectations” by James Parker).

Indeed, James. Might I suggest posting some laminated flyers around to get your word out as well. You’ll have to individually wrap each one.