51: Howard Stern Saves a New Yorker and Charging Bull Visits the Stock Exchange

A Great Big City — New York City News, History, and Events

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• A moment of remembrance this week for Alelia Murphy, who I mentioned back in July on Episode 30 of the podcast when she celebrated her birthday as the oldest living American. The Harlem resident died at the end of November at the age of 114 years, 140 days old. Ms. Murphy was born in North Carolina in 1905 and has lived in Harlem since the 1920s. Her funeral was held December 6th at the United House of Prayer for all People church on Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The previous oldest American, Lessie Brown, died in January 2019. According to the Gerontology Research Group, the oldest living American is now Hester Ford, born just one month after Ms. Murphy in 1905. According to the records of the Gerontology Research Group, the oldest known New Yorker was Susannah Mushatt Jones, who was born in 1899 and lived 116 years, 311 days until her death in 2016 at a senior home in Brooklyn.

• In Uber's end-of-year report, the Empire State Building topped the list of most Ubered-to locations worldwide, with 1WTC coming in second place. — Transportation reporter Aaron Gordon wrote on Jalopnik that the Empire State Building is within a 10 minute walk of nearly every single subway line, PATH trains, MetroNorth, and the LIRR. At the World Trade Center, the second-most Ubered-to location worldwide, 12 subway lines and the PATH train stop nearby. Other proposals, like City Council Speaker Corey Johnson trying to convince Mayor de Blasio to duplicate the 14th Street busway in Midtown streets on 34th or 42nd Street would also help replace the caravan of crosstown Ubers with city buses that could alleviate the gridlock near the Empire State Building. According to the DOT's 2019 Mobility Report, on 34th, 42nd, and 57th Streets, over 50% of the traffic is composed of taxis and rideshare vehicles, and traffic speeds in Midtown are 30% slower compared to the rest of Manhattan south of 59th, with vehicles creeping along at just 4.9 mph.

• Christmas tree lightings are already happening! So check out the AGBC list of tree and menorah lightings at agreatbigcity.com/christmas or agreatbigcity.com/hanukkah, where there are currently 41 lightings across the city. If you don't see your local event on the list, drop us a note and we'll put the info up, whether it's the Rockefeller Center tree or just a neighborhood gathering to hang homemade ornaments on an evergreen in the local park!

• 5 years ago on December 5, 2014 — Korean Air Flight 86 is forced to return to the gate at JFK Airport after Korean Air vice president Heather Cho throws a temper tantrum over the serving of in-flight macadamia nuts

• Back in Episode 49 we covered the closing of Ellis Island in 1954 and how the brick buildings were almost torn down to make way for a futuristic city designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, but 119 years ago on December 17, 1900, A new Ellis Island processing center opens after a fire destroyed the original wood buildings

• 25 years ago on December 7, 1994 — Howard Stern and a passing motorist save a man threatening to jump from the George Washington Bridge

• 40 years ago on December 2, 1979 — Elvita Adams attempts to jump from the Empire State Building, but is saved after hitting a ledge 20 feet below

• 1 year ago on December 10, 2018 — The 'Fearless Girl' statue is relocated from Bowling Green to a permanent location outside the New York Stock Exchange building

• 30 years ago on December 15, 1989 — Arturo Di Modica's 7,100 pound bronze 'Charging Bull' statue is secretly installed overnight near the New York Stock Exchange Christmas tree as a gift to the people of NYC

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Park of the day

• Haviland Playground — Haviland Ave., Watson Ave. bet. Virginia Ave. and Pugsley Ave., the Bronx — Set on land that was part of Pugsley Farm and named for earlier landowners Joseph and Mary Haviland. Serves as the playground for adjacent I.S. 125.

Parks Events

• Check out our list of Christmas tree and menorah lightings across the city for some of this week's upcoming tree lightings, since most of them are placed in public parks!

And now let's check in with our robot friend for the concert calendar:

Concert Calendar

This is the AGBC Concert Calendar for the upcoming week:

• Summer Walker with Melii is playing Terminal 5 on Sunday, December 8th at 8pm.
• Dimash Qudaibergen is playing Barclays Center on Tuesday, December 10th at 7pm.
• Angele with Angel is playing Webster Hall on Tuesday, December 10th at 7pm.
• Holiday Cheer for WFUV Benefit Concert: Mavis Staples with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats is playing Beacon Theatre on Tuesday, December 10th at 8pm.
• CAAMP with Savannah Conley is playing Brooklyn Steel on Tuesday, December 10th at 8pm.
• Billy Joel is playing Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, December 11th at 8pm.
• Idina Menzel is playing Carnegie Hall - Stern Auditorium on Wednesday, December 11th at 8pm.
• CAAMP is playing Brooklyn Steel on Wednesday, December 11th at 8pm.
• Anuel AA is playing Barclays Center on Thursday, December 12th at 8pm.
• DaBaby is playing Terminal 5 on Thursday, December 12th at 8pm.
• Omar Apollo is playing Brooklyn Steel on Thursday, December 12th at 8pm.
• Jingle Ball with Taylor Swift, Jonas Brothers, Camila Cabello, and more are playing Madison Square Garden on Friday, December 13th at 7pm.
• HennyPalooza is playing Barclays Center on Friday, December 13th at 8pm.
• Lindsey Stirling is playing New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Friday, December 13th at 8pm.
• Live from Here with Chris Thile is playing The Town Hall on Saturday, December 14th at 5pm.
• Tyler Childers with Liz Cooper & The Stampede is playing Brooklyn Steel on Saturday, December 14th at 9pm.

Find more fun things to do at agreatbigcity.com/events.

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New York Fact

Here's something you may not have known about New York:

• The Port Authority of NY and NJ oversees a "port district" area that is loosely defined as a 25-mile radius around the Statue of Liberty

Weather

The extreme highs and lows for this week in weather history:
Record High: 75°F on December 7, 1998
Record Low: 3°F on December 10, 1876

Weather for the week ahead: Rain on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

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Intro and outro music: 'Start the Day' by Lee Rosevere — Concert Calendar music from Jukedeck.com