DOWNTOWN EXPRESS, MAY 30, 2012

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VOLUME 24, NUMBER 52

MAY 30-JUNE 12, 2012

LANDMARKS COMMISSION APPROVES PIER 17 MAKEOVER B Y ALI NE REYNOLDS rchitects and historians appointed by the city have signed off on developer Howard Hughes Corporation’s plan to overhaul the outdated, landmarked Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport by 2015. At a public meeting in mid-May, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (L.P.C.) unanimously approved the developer’s proposal, which entails tearing down the pier’s existing mall that dates back to 1980 and reusing its steel and other materials to erect a modern shopping, food and arts center boasting views of the East River and the environs. In a written resolution, the commissioners agreed that the demolition of Pier 17 would be a welcome addition to the South Street Seaport and, despite its modern, commercial tendencies, that the new shopping mall wouldn’t tamper with the neighborhood’s historic fabric. According to the L.P.C. resolution on the pier, “The open nature of the base of the building will begin to restore connections between the district and

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Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess

One little girl dug trying on a U.S. Marine Band hat on this year’s opening day of Governors Island. See editorial, page 10.

Renovated Castle Williams debuts on Governors Island B Y T E RE SE LO E B K R E U Z E R eat and the threat of afternoon thunderstorms didn’t deter an estimated 12,000 people from visiting Governors Island on Sat., May 26, the opening day of the island’s 2012 season. Awaiting them were a family festival in Nolan Park with music, theater, dance and crafts, the 5Boro PicNYC in Colonels Row — consisting of craft beer, more than 20 food vendors and bluegrass music

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— and the monumental sculpture by Mark di Suvero, who is back on Governors Island for a second year. But for some people, the star attraction was the chance to see the inside of Castle Williams, which had been closed during a three-year renovation. The landmarked fort dates back to the early 1800s and was named after its designer, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Williams, a great-

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nephew of Benjamin Franklin, who shared some of his great-uncle’s scientific and engineering genius. Castle Williams and Fort Jay, a slightly older fort, are the core of the Governors Island National Monument, which make up approximately 23 acres of the 172-acre island under the jurisdiction of the U.S. National Park Service.

APTEKAR ANALYZES ICONS. Continued on page 19

515 CA N A L STREET • N YC 10013 • C OPYRIG H T © 2012 COMMU N ITY M ED IA , LLC

TURN TO ARTS PAGE 27.

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Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds

Julie Menin at Manhattan Youth’s May 17 Community Awards 2012 reception.

After seven packed years, Julie Menin steps down from C.B. 1 helm B Y AL IN E REYNOLDS t’s been an eventful seven years, to say the least, for Downtown civic leader Julie Menin, whose third and final term as Community Board 1 chairperson is ending in June. Last week, Menin sat down with the Downtown Express to reflect on the high and low points of her tenure. Menin’s departure from the board this year coincides with her aspiration to become Manhattan’s next borough president. The Tribeca resident is eagerly awaiting Borough President Scott Stringer’s announcement in the coming year about his run for mayor in order to officially declare her candidacy. And, while she didn’t witness the sunsetting of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation or the resolution of the World Trade Center — as she might have hoped — Menin, 44, looks back on her tenure very favorably and is regarded by many as a steadfast leader who played a pivotal role in Downtown’s post-9/11 rebirth. Helping to convince Mayor Mike Bloomberg to keep the trials of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other potential culprits outside of New York City was at the top of Menin’s list of accom-

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plishments as C.B. 1 chair. The U.S. government’s proposition involved setting up an estimated 2,000 security checkpoints around the Foley Square Federal Courthouse and elsewhere Downtown. Having owned and operated Vine, a small business across from the New York Stock Exchange, Menin spoke to the detrimental effects of the ubiquitous checkpoints and inspections of the Downtown community that would have accompanied terrorism trials in the area. “Even if [the government] had overestimated and it was 1,000 [checkpoints]…the results would have been devastating,” she said. In early 2010, Menin brought forth the idea of holding the trials on Governors Island — a proposal Bloomberg slammed as “one of the dumber ideas” he had ever heard. Rather than fire back at the mayor, Menin recounted, she took out a map of the Southern District of New York in search of alternative trial venues and came up with Stewart Air National Guard Base, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and West Point, all located miles away from what is arguably Continued on page 20

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NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-9, 12-21 EDITORIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11 YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23-25, 27 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 C.B. 1 ELECTIONS WILL BRING NEW COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

PORT AUTHORITY PICKS NEW ACTING POLICE CHIEF

With Community Board 1 Chair Julie Menin on her way out, current vice chair Catherine McVay Hughes is already preparing to take the reins, as she will run unopposed for the chair position at the C.B. 1 elections on Tues., June 26. Hughes told the Downtown Express that she looks forward to continuing the board’s role in providing beneficial services to the community, and plans to begin by looking at various C.B. 1 committees in order to establish which are still necessary and which could be merged with larger task forces in an attempt to conserve resources. “The goal is to meet with all 50 members of the board individually to get their input on the committees,� said Hughes. “I’ll also set up a small committee to look at the infrastructure of C.B. 1, to make sure the needs of those who live and work down here are being met.� The candidates for the vice chair seat Hughes will be vacating are C.B. 1 Secretary Anthony Notaro and board member Paul Hovitz. Notaro, a resident of Battery Park City, is also co-chair of the board’s Planning and Community Infrastructure Committee. Hovitz, a resident of Southbridge Towers, is co-chair of the Youth and Education Committee. Marc Ameruso, currently the board’s assistant secretary, will run against new board member Adam Malitz for the secretary position. Dennis Gault, a board member, will be the board’s next assistant secretary, as he is running unopposed. Board members Tom Goodkind and John Fratta will vie for the treasurer position, which is being vacated by Joel Kopel.

After a scandal over the possible distribution of promotions exam answers and the failure of senior officers to take action, the Port Authority has named Lieutenant John Ryan its acting police chief. Ryan, a 33-year veteran of the Port Authority Police Department (P.A.P.D.), is noted for commanding the rescue and recovery operation at the World Trade Center following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Plans for reform within the department have been in the works since last year when former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was hired to perform a top-tobottom study of the Port Authority’s security operations. The need for the reform became all the more apparent when the P.A.P.D. discovered that three senior officials failed to discipline Captain John Ferrigno, who attempted to take cell phone photos of a P.A.P.D. promotions exam last June. “Any erosion of honor and responsibility demonstrates institutional — not just personal — failings, and it must be remedied,� said Port Authority Chairman David Samson in a statement released on May 18. “The appointment of Ryan makes it clear that substantial reforms have already begun and that the highest levels of professional standards will be maintained.� Ryan, a Long Island native, is one of the most decorated members of the P.A.P.D., and, according to an

C. B. 1 A schedule of upcoming Community Board 1 committee meetings is below. Unless otherwise noted, all committee meetings are held at the board office, located at 49-51 Chambers St., room 709 at 6 p.m.

TUES., JUNE 5: The Battery Park City Committee will meet at 6 River Terrace.

WED., JUNE 6: The Financial District Committee will meet.

THURS., JUNE 7: The Planning and Infrastructure Committee will meet.

MON., JUNE 11: The World Trade Center Redevelopment Committee and Landmarks Committee will meet at the NYS Assembly Hearing Room (19th floor, 250 Broadway). TUES., JUNE 12: The Youth and Education

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‘WHITE POWDER’ MAIL Envelopes of apparently harmless white powder with threatening notes arrived in the mail on Mon. April 30 at seven Manhattan locations including 100 Gold St. where Mayor Bloomberg’s mail is processed before it gets to City Hall, police said. Some of the notes to various banks read, “This is a reminder that you are not in control. Just in case you needed some incentive to stop working — Happy May Day.” Police conjectured that the envelopes were part of the Occupy Wall St. May Day demonstration. But an OWS press team member said he didn’t think anything like that had been planned for the demonstration.

THIEVING WOMEN

SOHO MUGGING A visitor from San Francisco told police he was walking on the northeast corner of Sixth Avenue and West Broadway around 3 p.m. Tues., May 22 when two strangers grabbed him. One of them pushed him against a building and took his watch while the other was the lookout. Police soon arrested Anthony Bullard, 42, but the accomplice, identified as Samuel McDaniel, 44, escaped.

THREE WITCHES Three women accosted a victim, 64, at Canal and Church Streets on Saturday morning, March 31 and convinced her to let them bless her money and jewels against evil spirits, police said. The victim went home, put her jewelry and

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Two women attacked a victim, 31, outside Starbucks at 482 W. Broadway at Houston St. around 11:40 p.m. Fri., May 18, hit her in the face and made off with her cell phone, police said. A woman walked into a department store at 575 Broadway near Prince St. around 2 p.m. Fri., May 25, grabbed four blouses and a pair of men’s shorts and attempted to walk out without paying, police said. A security guard challenged

her, but she slapped his face, dropped her belongings and fled. A man and a woman, who entered Burberry at 131 Spring St. around 5:30 p.m. Sun., May 20, made off with a handbag valued at $1,295, police said. A surveillance tape showed the woman moving the bag from one end of a display table to the other and the man putting it into her handbag.

money in a bag and brought it to White Street between Sixth Avenue and West Broadway, where she agreed to meet the suspects, who took the bag, waved it around and returned it. The suspects, described as Asian women between 40 and 50 years old, told the victim not to open the bag until April 24. But she opened the bag a week later to find newspapers and a bottle of water instead of her money and jewelry, police said.

FERRY AREA MUGGING Two suspects approached a victim on the southwest corner of Whitehall and South Streets around 12:46 p.m. Wed., May 23, punched and kicked him and made off with his cell phone. Police arrested Pershala Polcolla and Geanpierre Ferrer, both 18, and charged them with robbery.

FROM THE BACK OF THE CHAIR A patron of Le Pain Quotidien, at 100 Grand St. at Mercer St., hung her handbag on the back of her chair around 4:30 p.m. Thurs., May 3 and discovered it was gone a few minutes later. She reported the theft on Thurs., May 24 after she learned that an unauthorized credit card charge of $2,449.69 had been made at the Helmut Lang boutique at 93 Grand St. A patron of Hale and Hearty Soup, at 90 Pine St., hung her bag on the back of her chair at noon on Fri., May 25, and felt someone bumping her but ignored it until she discovered the bag had been

stolen. She learned later that HSBC Bank had refused a credit card charge, but American Express had paid three charges, including $1,300 at Bed Bath & Beyond and MetroCard charges of $75 and $140.

MOTORCYCLE, SCOOTER THEFTS A man, who parked his 2007 blue-andwhite Suzuki motorcycle near the northeast corner of Front and Beekman Streets around 9 p.m. Tues., May 22, discovered it had been stolen when he went to retrieve it around 11:15 a.m. the next day. A woman, who parked her motor scooter in the rear of 125 Maiden La. around 12:30 p.m. Fri., May 18, returned a half hour later to find it had been stolen, police said.

RIDE-BY GRAB A thief on a bicycle riding past a woman on the northeast corner of West Broadway and Chambers Street around 11 a.m. Sat., May 26, grabbed the handbag hanging on her shoulder, with a laptop and an iPad in it, and fled, police said.

OUT IN THE OPEN A woman, 35, told police on Thurs., May 24 that she was shopping at T.J. Max, at 14 Wall St., around 3:50 p.m. on Sat., May 12 when she discovered at the checkout counter that her wallet, with $40 in cash, had been stolen. She said she left the wallet on top of her shopping cart.

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Danny Chen ceremony offers artistic salve for wounded hearts B Y A L I N E R E Y N O LD S t was an outpouring of emotion prompted by tragedy and set against the backdrop of the chilling headshot of an only child who died far too young. Some 400 Chinatown residents and students gathered at Pace University High School, at 100 Hester St., last Thurs., May 24 to commemorate the late U.S. Army Private Danny Chen, a 2010 graduate of the school. Were Chen still alive, he would have celebrated his 20th birthday over Memorial Day weekend. The event, arranged by the New York chapter of Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA-NY), consisted of poignant performances by drummers, spoken-word artists and dancers whose art called for justice for Chen and offered emotional catharsis to those who knew him and learned of him after he passed. The acts ranged from tribal-sounding percussion numbers to classical pieces and rock songs to contemporary dances. Interspersed throughout the ceremony were readings of a handful of the estimated 9,000 birthday cards in Chen’s memory from people around the globe, along with heartfelt speeches made by Chen’s advocates and family. Chen, an Asian-American teenager born and raised in Chinatown, was found dead in a guard tower in Kandahar, Afghanistan last October, where his military unit was deployed at the time. Military officials have since concluded that Chen shot himself after fellow soldiers bullied and physically abused him because of his ethnicity. Yalini Dream, a spoken-word artist based in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, was inspired to perform at the birthday event after hearing about Chen’s death late last year through OCANY. As an undergraduate at the University of Texas in Austin, Dream participated in sit-ins advocating Asian-American studies at the college, which led to the arrest of several of her classmates. “I knew there was a lot of anger and a lot of pain,” she said of Chen’s suicide. “I think it’s really important that we come together and celebrate people’s lives, and harness the power of healing and love to push forward and motivate us as we fight for justice.” It’s crucial that the government examine how the U.S. military is functioning in order to prevent future acts of hazing, said Dream, whose brother’s two friends are enlisted in the army. “This incident isn’t the first incident of violence I’ve heard of,” she said. “There needs to be systematic change.” With respect to army reforms, the anti-hazing legislation introduced by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is now awaiting Senate approval. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has also introduced a bill calling for stricter enforcement of the military’s anti-hazing rules. As the Downtown Express previously reported, the commencement of the courtsmartial of the eight soldiers implicated in Chen’s death have been postponed until August. The trial of Staff Sergeant Blaine Dugas is now set to begin on Thurs., Aug. 16 — three

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Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds

A banner covered with messages for the late U.S. Army Private Danny Chen hung majestically in the foreground of the Pace University High School auditorium stage.

months later than the start date the army previously announced, according to OCA-NY President Liz OuYang. An army spokesperson didn’t confirm the exact start date by press time. The mid-May trial dates had conflicted with a memorial service the military hosted in Alaska for Chen and fellow soldiers from his unit who died in combat during their Afghanistan deployment, OuYang told the Downtown Express. “They had scheduled both at the same time, and we told them it’s not fair to have the family choose between which one to go to,” she said. “But it turned out that the defendant’s attorney had requested a delay anyway, so it worked out.” At the Pace birthday event, Chen’s 16-yearold cousin Alex Wong recited a solemn poem saying Chen is “dearly missed” and that, while time won’t heal the wound, “we will learn to accept [what happened].” The event meant a lot to Wong, who regrets not having gotten to know Chen better. “From what my cousins were telling me, he was a great person,” he said. Some of Chen’s former classmates were also present, including Umme Begum, a junior at Pace University High School who is active in student government. “He always kept to himself, but I realized he was actually a really smart kid,” said Begum. Apart from hosting the May 24 event, the high school has held moments of silence for Chen and talked about the soldier in class, Begum said, in addition to lighting candles and posting pictures of Chen in the hallways. Seated in the auditorium’s front row that evening were Chen’s parents, Su Zhen Chen and Yan Tao Chen, who stoically watched the performances and, later, somberly addressed the crowd. As they strode to the stage, the Chens were greeted by a standing ovation and were accom-

panied by a city employee who translated their speech into English. “Without your support, I would not be able to live until today,” said Chen’s mother in a high-pitched tone as she wiped away tears.

“My husband and I wish what happened to my son does not happen to someone else.” The event comes on the heels of OCANY’s card-writing campaign honoring Chen’s birthday. In just over a month, the organization received the thousands of birthday cards from 25 states around the country and nine different countries worldwide, including Hungary, Denmark and Germany. OCA-NY, joined by a handful of other civil rights groups, hand-delivered the cards to Congress in Washington, D.C. the day before the Pace birthday ceremony. “We sent a strong message that we do not want them to forget Danny,” said OCA-NY staff member Mackenzie Yang, who spoke at the event. “Danny’s legacy is our legacy,” declared OuYang. The aftermath of Chen’s suicide affects America’s future generation, she said. “The outcome of these upcoming trials, and what the U.S. does to address these serious issues, will further determine your legacy,” she said. The abuse Chen endured in the army has frightened children such as eight-year-old Clara Shapiro, who read aloud her birthday card on stage. “Dear Danny…We are so upset and sad that those other soldiers who are on your side were so cruel to you,” the youngster wrote. “I don’t want to ever join the army, because it is a violent place where you can be tortured by someone on your side.”

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Members of P.S. 89’s Haiti Committee led their peers, parents and teachers through Rockefeller Park on Fri., May 25.

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P.S. 89 caps fundraising eort for Haitian sister school B Y SAM SPOKONY s billions of dollars continue to pour into Haiti following the earthquake that devastated that nation in 2010, one Downtown school has found a novel way to make a difference on a smaller scale. Students, parents and teachers of P.S. 89 completed their final school-wide “Liberty Walkâ€? last Friday morning, capping a threeyear effort to raise money for the children of the Saint Paul School in Haiti. The one-mile walk, taken through Rockefeller Park, in northern Battery Park City, featured little in the way of fanfare and theatrics. But its real value was in bringing the entire school together as a team — one that, by all accounts, has had a great deal of success. The school, which is taking pledges this year through Fri., June 8, has amassed more than $22,000 over the past two years. “This is really special, because there’s such a direct relationship with another school,â€? said Abbey Gardner, one of the originators of the project whose fifth-grade son attends P.S. 89. “The result is that none of these donations are going to pay the overhead of a non-profit or NGO: 100 percent of the funds go straight to the Saint Paul School, and that’s a very rare thing to see.â€? Gardner now works for Partners in Health, a non-profit organization that has contributed to the fundraising effort by acting as a liaison between the P.S. 89 and the Saint Paul School. But she first came up with the idea of a schoolto-school connection while working for the United Nations Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake. Gardner realized the importance of working directly with another school, primarily because it gives donation recipients the ability to use the money in ways that can best serve their own unique needs, she said. She believed it was vital to make the project more than a one-year commitment in order to build that bond and remind students of the value of caring about their underprivileged counterparts.

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“It’s so great for our kids to be thinking about these issues and to realize how lucky they are and also how important it is to be a global citizen,� said Gardner. The Saint Paul School is located in Thomonde, a town in Haiti’s central plateau. Though the town was spared physical damage by the 2010 earthquake, Thomonde suffers from poverty, unemployment and overall quality of life that has been exacerbated by an influx of displaced Port-au-Prince residents. Nevertheless, the town hasn’t received nearly the amount of financial aid as more heavily damaged communities such as Port-au-Prince. The Saint Paul School, in particular, faced problems based on poor building design and structural instability. In response, Partners in Health spent two years reconstructing, enlarging and fortifying the school. Following in that vein, last year’s funds raised by P.S. 89 went toward the purchase of locally built furniture for the school. The majority of this year’s funding will go toward treating Haitian patients with cholera, especially children in Thomonde. In addition to the monetary support they have received, P.S. 89 students have become increasingly involved in learning about Haiti since the three-year project began. After several visits from representatives of Partners in Health, who briefed them on the nature and exact locations of recent cholera outbreaks within Haiti, some students even took the time to create what is now dubbed the Haiti Committee. Several members of the committee led Friday’s walk, proudly holding a sign with the message, “89 Doesn’t Stop ’Till Haiti’s Back On Top,� which they had created for the event. “They don’t have as much as we have,� said fifth grader and Haiti Committee member Sarah Weiss, when asked about why she took pride in the walk. “We have all these things like phones and technology in our classrooms, but the kids in Haiti don’t have any of that. So donating money and knowing that it goes to them really makes me feel good.�

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Boisterous bar patrons anger Tribeca residents B Y Z A CH W ILL IA MS owdy bar customers have spurred some Tribeca residents to take action, with the hope that they can restore the low-key tenor of their neighborhood. Several dozen residents have signed a petition that calls on Community Board 1 to tighten oversight of liquor license applicants who tend to downplay the impact their businesses will have on the surrounding community, the locals say. The effort comes as the board continues to amend its vetting process for prospective liquor licenses. Tensions between residents and prospective liquor license holders have erupted across the city in recent weeks. The arrival of Barclays Center in Brooklyn has caused residents to fear that the quiet days of the Brooklyn brownstones are numbered, while complaints about the influx of bars in oncequiet residential communities have echoed from Queens to Chelsea. In Manhattan, Tribeca residents worry that their neighborhood could become host to the types of large dance clubs and chic boutiques that have come to define the nearby Meatpacking District, should the process of approving liquor licenses continue without adequate input from nearby residents. According to the petition, local bars must rein in late night noise on the weekends, turn down music and control customers outside. Unruly behavior from bar patrons includes shouting, damaging bikes and public urination. “This is a problem which has increased over the last year or so,” said Robert Moore, a 16-year resident of Tribeca. “Not only have there been more bars established in the area, but there are also an increasing number of applicants.” According to Moore, the liquor license applicants come before C.B. 1 masquerading as restaurants, but upon closer examination, “these are really just bars which are looking to stay open late and where liquor is the main commodity to be traded.” Moore added, “There are problems with these establishments wanting to play music, a reluctance to pay attention to soundproofing and a desire to have the windows open to the street.”

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Downtown Express photo by Zach Williams

Rowdy patrons of Tribeca bars like Sazon, at 105 Reade St., are disturbing the peace and quiet of nearby residents.

In some cases, when the licenses are granted, he said, the bars ignore the conditions, and residents’ only recourse is to call 311. Moore and other residents say two bars on Reade Street — Sazon and Super Linda — have become particularly disruptive. The recent application by Balcony Cafe, Inc.

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at the corner of Reade and Church Streets prompted Moore to write the petition. The goal, he said, is to strengthen the voice of residents in the liquor license application process. “We can’t sleep with Sazon and now Super Linda, and we don’t want another one at the end of the block,” said Amy Sewell,

a Tribeca resident. “Others all over feel the same way. We don’t mind partying — but keep it off the streets after the bar closes at 2 a.m. or 4 a.m.” Representatives of Sazon and Super Linda didn’t respond to calls by press time. Businesses are responsible for the actions of patrons both inside and outside their premises, according to William Crowley, a spokesperson for the New York State Liquor Authority. Failure to control customers can result in fines or forfeiture of their liquor license in the event of serious violations, he said. “They are responsible for any violations they have in or around their premises, including the parking lots…whether it’s noise or fights or what have you,” he said. While community boards only play an advisory role in the application process, the boards’ feedback is valuable, added Crowley. The increased weight of community boards in the liquor license application process is a welcome change from past years, according to Marc Ameruso, chair of C.B. 1’s S.L.A. task force. He said that in the 1990s, the agency would assess liquor licenses largely based on the amount of tax revenue the prospective businesses would bring to the state. In recent years, the agency has improved its outreach to community boards and has a more holistic vetting process for liquor licenses, which includes the impact to the quality of life for residents, said Ameruso. C.B. 1 formed a task force on the matter about a year ago with the goal of improving how the board examines applications for new liquor licenses. Future tensions between businesses serving alcohol and local residents can be eased by the board’s clarifying of expectations for new licenses in the application process, according to Ameruso. “That’s the reason we want to have a questionnaire,” he explained. “It’s as tight as possible, so the businesses know where we stand [and] we know where they stand.” The modified system, Ameruso added, is a win-win for everyone. “It weeds out any rotten apples that might want to sneak under the radar.”

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May 30 - June 12, 2012

LaValva and Howard Hughes Corp. joust over Seaport’s future B Y T E RE SE LO E B K R E U Z E R obert LaValva, the founder of the New Amsterdam Market on South Street, was cheered by a room full of local supporters last week when he asked for their help to develop a plan to house a year-round market in the Tin Building and New Market Building, the former homes of the Fulton Fish Market. The community room at Southbridge Towers, where Community Board 1’s Seaport-Civic Center Committee was held, was packed with market vendors, local residents and representatives of elected officials who want to see LaValva’s seven-year-old New Amsterdam Market continue to grow. But looming over the meeting was the possibility that the Howard Hughes Corp., which holds a long-term lease over Pier 17 and other parts of the South Street Seaport, has a different plan. Committee chair John Fratta read aloud a letter he had received from Christopher Curry, senior executive vice president for Howard Hughes, in which he reiterated previous statements that Howard Hughes has “a non-binding letter of intent” with the Economic Development Corp., enabling the corporation to propose a new development on the site where the historic Tin and New Market buildings are situated. While he didn’t disclose specifics about possible plans for the site, Curry said in his letter that Howard Hughes intends to create a “vibrant marketplace, featuring a variety of fresh and prepared foods with an emphasis on local and regional products and purveyors” inside the redesigned Link Building on Pier 17. Howard Hughes previously met with LaValva to explore the opportunity of a more permanent home for New Amsterdam Market. LaValva had turned them down, according to Curry. As a result, Curry is now on the look-out for other operators, according to the letter. Fratta questioned LaValva’s response to Curry, asking, “Can you explain why that space wasn’t any good?” LaValva replied that the Fulton Fish Market was “a site we’re interested in preserving and revitalizing.” “It’s not really an issue about not wanting

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Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer

Robert LaValva, founder of the New Amsterdam Market on South Street.

to be a tenant of Howard Hughes,” he said. “It’s an issue about preserving that space. That’s been the focus of what we’re trying to do.” LaValva envisions using the Tin and New Market buildings as a venue for a

public market to promote local and regional economic development. The market, in his vision, would house traditional food preparations such as baking, butchering and fresh dairy production. It would also serve as a distribution center for Lower Manhattan restaurants and shops that are increasingly seeking regional ingredients, he said. Additionally, LaValva sees the market functioning as a center for education, because “the kinds of vendors that we have are reviving and preserving very old traditions — things that people from all over the world want to learn,” he said. While recognizing that both the Tin and New Market buildings require significant repairs, “we have a unique opportunity at this moment,” LaValva said. “There is a pool of $785 million in New York State regional economic development funding that is available for exactly these kinds of projects — especially those that foster inter-regional economic development, which is what the market does.” Former Seaport resident Barbara Mensch, who photographed and wrote about the area during the Fulton Fish Market years, asked the C.B. 1 Seaport Committee what ideas

Community Board 1’s May 15 Seaport-Civic Center Committee meeting on May 15 had to be moved to the community room at Southbridge Towers to accommodate the scores of people who attended.

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Howard Hughes has in mind for the South Street Seaport. “None,” Fratta replied. While the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved Howard Hughes’s plans to demolish the existing structure on Pier 17 and replace it with a glass-sheathed mall, the future direction and development of the Seaport as a whole is still up in the air, he explained. “As of right now, the only presentation they made to us was about Pier 17,” said Fratta. “We’ve been asking for a master plan. They’re not ready with a master plan, but they did say as soon as it’s ready, they will be meeting with us.” Fratta added, “We hope that master plan will be coming sooner rather than later. This parcel over here could either make or break our community.” Fratta suggested that LaValva meet with representatives of Howard Hughes — if they are willing — and the E.D.C. “to see how we can work something out in an amicable way.” LaValva agreed to attend the proposed meeting, but as of earlier this week, he had heard nothing further about it.

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9

May 30 - June 12, 2012

For whom the bridge tolls: Why not East River spans? B Y T E RE SE LO E B K R E U Z E R ridge traffic and tolls are two of the most vexing problems for Downtown community boards, said Brad Hoylman, chair of Community Board 2, in introducing a panel of experts who were about to deliver their most cogent thoughts on the subject to an audience at N.Y.U.’s Casa Italiana. The May 10 panel discussion, entitled “Dealing with Downtown Bridge Traffic: Are Tolls the Answer?� was jointly sponsored by N.Y.U. and C.B. 2. Shirley Secunda, chair of the board’s Traffic and Transportation Committee, who acted as moderator, said that traffic coming over the three East River spans — the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges — is noisy, and threatens safety and the historic infrastructure of Lower Manhattan neighborhoods. “We have 250,000 motor vehicles a day coming into Manhattan over the East River bridges,� said Secunda. “Tolling is a possible way to curb this terrible influx.� Hope Cohen, one of the panelists who is director of the New York program of the Regional Plan Association, said that part of the problem described by Secunda stems from the fact that three different entities administer New York City’s bridges, and all have different pricing structures. Some drivers go out of their way to use the East River bridges, which have no tolls. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns the Hudson River bridges, which

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have the highest fees and are traditionally in the best condition, she said. M.T.A. Bridges and Tunnels owns and administers the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, the Queens Midtown Tunnel and several bridges (the major ones being the Throgs Neck, the Bronx-Whitestone, the Robert F. Kennedy, the Henry Hudson and the VerrazanoNarrows). The three East River bridges (Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg) are administered by the city Department of Transportation. “They are traditionally considered ‘free,’� said Cohen. “They are not ‘free’ in terms of time [to cross them] and maintenance. They are untolled.� She said that these East River crossings were the least maintained of the city’s bridges. Leveling out the pricing structure on the bridges, Cohen added, “would lead to more evenly distributed traffic patterns.� On the larger issue of how to reduce traffic congestion in Manhattan and on the roads leading into the borough, the panelists agreed that some form of congestion pricing was the answer. This measure would impose tolls on all cars entering or exiting Manhattan. But the experts also felt that simply collecting tolls on bridges was insufficient. A congestion-pricing plan pushed by the Bloomberg administration in 2007 died when the New York State Assembly, which had to approve the plan, declined to vote on it. “Any tolling plan is going to have to toll the

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entire central business district,� stated Charles Komanoff, a transportation analyst who lives in Lower Manhattan. The people from Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island would feel aggrieved, he said, if they were tolled, but the people coming down from the Bronx, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, Scarsdale, Harrison, Rye and elsewhere in Westchester were not. “About 350,000 vehicles daily cross 60th Street into the central business district of Manhattan,� observed Komanoff. “If we don’t toll at 60th Street in addition to the East River bridges, we’re going to be giving up a huge amount of revenue. We’ll be leaving dollars on the table that we need to capture [in order] to fully fund public transportation in the city.� The panelists concurred that funding mass transit was the best use for toll monies collected and was the only likely way of selling congestion pricing to various constituencies that would have to approve it. “We did a poll of more than 600 people who always vote in New York City primaries,� said panelist Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives. “When we asked them, ‘Do you think the following issue is very important, kind of important or not important at all?’ — by far the one issue that resonated with voters was improving transit. It was right up there with job creation and the economy in terms of issue importance.� On the other hand, White noted, traffic congestion and some other issues were way down on the list.

White said that those who are intent on passing some form of congestion pricing should highlight the transit benefits. “The $90 million saved last year with massive transit cuts that included three subway lines and 30 bus lines is a fraction of what most estimates are of the revenue that could be generated by congestion pricing,� he elaborated. As for the deluge of traffic coming into Lower Manhattan, which Secunda complained about at the start of the session, the panelists believed that higher costs for driving and improved mass transportation would cause many people to choose not to drive. “Pricing works,� said Cohen. “When gas prices go up, Port Authority and M.T.A. crossings that can be tracked via E-ZPass show that vehicle ridership is significantly reduced.� However, not everyone in attendance warmed up to the congestion pricing solution that the panelists embraced. A man in the audience said that, while he lives in Manhattan, his work takes him to Queens and Staten Island every day. “Do you realize how much that costs in tolls?� he asked the panel. “A lot of people travel for business. I happen to have a bad knee. I had a knee operation. I need my car to go to work. I would have to take a subway, a bus and the Long Island Railroad — it would take twoand-a-half hours.� And meanwhile, traffic on streets fed by the East River bridges continues unabated.

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10

May 30-June 5, 2012

Editorial PUBLISHER & EDITOR

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Michael Shirey CONTRIBUTORS

Helaina N. Hovitz Terese Loeb Kreuzer Jerry Tallmer PHOTOGRAPHERS

Milo Hess Jefferson Siegel Terese Loeb Kreuzer PUBLISHED BY

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Head out to Governors Island AFTER WHAT FELT LIKE A LONG WINTER hiatus, Governors Island is back up and running, ready to usher in the hundreds of thousands of visitors who are eager to hit the beach, shoot hoops and mount their bikes. An estimated 12,600 people headed to Governors Island by ferry on Sat., May 26, marking the first day of the island’s 2012 season. The island, which will be open through September, is just a free ferry ride away from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. A ferry departs every half hour from the Battery Maritime Building, at the southern tip of Manhattan, and from Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Alternatively, travelers can access the island via the East River Ferry, which departs from Wall Street every 45 minutes. We’re excited that workers have already broken ground on the 30 acres of new park and public space, which is slated to open in fall 2013. The Trust for Governors Island is keeping the island open all weekends, including holiday weekends, between now and the fall, but it will not be open on Fridays this year due to construction tied to the preparation of the new acreage. In order to meet next year’s deadline, something had to give. The island offers a host of fun activities for people of all ages and affinities. For visual art enthusiasts, there are several ongoing exhibitions, including one featuring 21st century graphic

design work, another showcasing live glassmaking performances and yet another displaying the artwork of abstract expressionist sculptor Mark di Suvero. Families wishing to participate in art-making are encouraged to attend the Children’s Museum of the Arts’ outpost program, which offers guests the opportunity to paint, draw and sculpt under the guidance of teaching artists. The island even has something to offer to visitors who are academically inclined, boasting a series of mathematically themed installations dubbed “Mü-Math.” We applaud the opportunity afforded to Lower Manhattan Cultural Council artists once again this year to work in the island’s Building 110 studio space. The building also serves as a venue for exhibits, concerts and River To River Festival programs. For those wishing to explore the island, the National Park Service is offering hour-and-a-halflong walking tours of the island’s historic district on Wednesdays and Thursdays as well as tours exclusively of Fort Jay and Castle Williams. N.P.S. is also providing walk-throughs of the 1812-era forts on those days and a park ranger program for kids on Fridays upon special reservation. Perhaps the best way to get to know the island is by bike: Throughout the summer, park rangers will be shepherding cyclists around the

entire island, including past the Monument and the South Island fields that are under construction. Visitors may bring their own bikes or rent one upon arrival (free rental bikes were up for grabs on Memorial Day and will again be available on Labor Day). Families can also enjoy games of mini-golf on the island’s famed mini-golf course, whose theme this year is “arcade.” According to the Trust for Governors Island’s description of the activity, “Visitors can whack a clown, rescue a princess and save the world from inevitable asteroid destruction, one putt at a time.” And for visitors seeking to brush up on their history, the Trust for Governors Island is hosting an interactive exhibit that sheds light on the island’s storied past as well as the creation of its new parks. Last but not least, there is Water Taxi Beach, the perfect place to share a sangria or beer with a friend or loved one at sunset. The beach is also a hotspot for picnics, volleyball and straight-up sun bathing — not to mention basketball and outdoor concerts. So on those hot summer days when you don’t feel like sitting in traffic en route to the Hamptons, the Jersey Shore or some other Tristate summer destination, we encourage you to head out to New York’s closest playground situated just across New York Harbor!

Letters to the Editor MAKE CHILDREN OUR PRIORITY To the Editor, Re “Keep child care alive” (Talking Point, May 16): Council Member Margaret Chin states, “Due to such draconian cuts in the mayor’s executive budget — O.S.T. alone is underfunded by nearly $20 million — even targeted zip codes in Lower Manhattan face extreme service cuts. Inexplicably, almost all of the programs to be cut this year have long histories of full enrollment and have demonstrated the demand for their services.” Council Member Chin’s assessment of the disastrous manner in which these budget cuts will affect families in Lower Manhattan is most appropriate. Indeed, Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s proposed budget will be disastrous for families citywide. The fact is that working parents need quality care for their children once school lets out. Some parents are able to bear the substantial costs, but many others cannot. Investing in after-school care for these families is not only an investment in the children of our city, it’s an investment in the future of our city. After-school is a place where many children find their self-esteem. After-

school programs for middle school children, especially, engage kids at a crucial point in their development and allow them to indulge in safe, healthy and productive activities. My organization, Manhattan Youth, offers a host of interest areas at our free after-school program at I.S. 289, including theater, film-making, cultural arts, music and robotics, as well as leadership development activities, including sports and restaurant management. We also have an extensive inter-school athletics program that offers swimming, baseball, football, soccer, basketball and crosscountry running. Between our elementary and middle school after-school programs, Manhattan Youth offers upwards of 200 different activities each week. As schools increasingly become labs for test-taking, children and parents are becoming increasingly dependent on these out-of-classroom activities to shape their children into well-rounded human beings. Even while most people acknowledge the importance of out-of-classroom engagement in childhood development, community-based after-school and other child care programs have not seen budget increases in many years. Our city is constantly engaged in revenue-increasing initiatives — projects that dwarf the $70 million set to be cut from after-school and other child care

programs — yet this money is rarely directed to our children. This year’s proposed $70 million budget cut to children’s services is an alarming move in the wrong direction for a city with as many resources as ours. The party line for city officials in recent years has been that cuts to children’s services are an unavoidable result of the economic downturn. Children services advocates will readily acknowledge that our city’s resources are not unlimited; we need our elected officials to realize that some extravagant capital projects can be deferred during lean years, whereas our children’s growth and development cannot be postponed even for an instant. It is time for the city to make our children a top priority. Bob Townley Manhattan Youth founder and executive director

HUDSON RIVER PARK TRUST WANTS TO ‘MILK’ PIER 40 To the Editor, Re “Residential could save Pier 40, new study finds” (news article, May 16):

As an experienced architect, I believe the $100 million required renovation estimate for the pier is a complete fiction. This seems a scare tactic to force decisions upon our community. Pier 40 generates 40 percent of Hudson River Park’s revenue and the Trust needs $200 million to finish the Park. There you have it! Pier 40 is a potential cash cow for the Trust, to be leveraged to pay for the rest of the park. The pier needs work, but I haven’t seen any indication it’s about to fall into the river. I believe they just want to get our kids and cars out so they can make more money off of Pier 40. William Rogers E-mail letters, not longer than 300 words in length, to aline@ downtownexpress.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to Downtown Express, Letters to the Editor, 515 Canal St., Suite 1C, NY, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. Downtown Express reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Downtown Express does not publish anonymous letters.

11

May 30-June 5, 2012

B Y J A N E L B LA D O W

CARDS AND DICE… The Casino

Fundraiser starts at 6 p.m. Thurs., May 31. Entry is $50 per person to a poker or blackjack tournament. The grand prize for winners of each tournament is a choice of a box of cigars, a Dupont lighter or $150 store credit (usable for cigars and merchandise or toward membership purchase). R.S.V.P. isn’t required but is appreciated. The benefit is honoring NYPD Sergeant Bruno Orench, a loyal friend and supporter of the shop who recently passed away, and his family. Sgt. Orench’s wife is battling cancer.

MAIL MOVES…

We longtime Seaport residents will miss strolling around the corner to our huge local U.S. Post Office to drop off a letter, mail a box or pick up a package. After more than a half-decade, the post office at One Peck Slip will shut its doors on June 1, and construction will begin to convert the 60-year-old building into a four-story, 476-seat elementary school. The mail will go on through rain, sleet, snow and even economic storms at a

smaller location — the 3,500-squarefoot former Andrew’s Coffee Shop (at 114 John St.). Things have been changing fast around the ’hood for some time, but luckily when the doors of our spanking new mail facility open on Mon., June 4, we’ll still see some familiar faces. Postal clerks Linda, Miss Griffin, Kenny and Mrs. Chambers will all be at their posts to sell us stamps or weigh our bundles.

A WHEELY GOOD IDEA?…

Recently Mayor Michael Bloomberg, city Department of Transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and top execs from Citibank announced a $41 million bicycle share program called Citi Bike, which will begin this summer. Citibank’s multi-milliondollar sponsorship rolls out 10,000 bright blue bikes that will be available at 600 docking stations around Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City. To get a free bike, you have to become a member. Membership costs each rider $9.95 per day, or $25 per month with 30 free minutes per ride

A SAD TAIL…

or $95 per year with 45 free minutes per ride. After the first 30 minutes, the price escalates: the next 30 minutes costs $4, 60 more minutes costs $13 and 90 more minutes costs $25. After that, each additional 30 minutes costs $12. Phew! Try doing the math: A five-hour, one-time ride, say, comes to $111.95! We thought this was all very complicated and pricey — and anyway, what did it mean to the several private vendors now renting bikes in the Seaport? We spoke with Savas Sevil, owner of Central Park Bicycle Shop at 87 South St. Savas started out all supportive, saying, “Competition is welcome. When we were renting in Central Park, another bike rental opened but, instead of our rentals going down, they went up. More people were seeing bikes and going for bike rides. More competition, more bikes; more bike paths and lanes [equals] a more bike-friendly city.” But, he went on, the city already has a stake in Bike and Roll rentals. And, he said, there’s talk that one docking station will be installed directly across South Street from his shop. Savas’s current rates beat Citi Bike’s pricing at $10 an hour, $20 for two hours and $35 all day. And unlike Citi Bike, which doesn’t have cycling accessories, Sevil’s rentals come with a helmet, a basket and a bike lock.

Many people have asked about the posters around the Seaport and Southbridge showing the beautiful face of Ice, an allwhite, brown-blue-eyed Alaskan Klee Kai measuring 15 pounds who went missing in May. Alan, the dog’s owner who declined to give his last name, recounted the story: The seven-year-old dog, which he had since it was a two-month-old puppy, was being walked while the college student was in class. The dog broke loose from his leash and bolted from the area around Southbridge Towers toward City Hall. Near there, the pup was struck by a car. A Good Samaritan scooped him up, hopped into a taxi and rushed Ice to a vet in Chelsea. They valiantly tried to save the dog, but the little guy had such severe internal bleeding it was impossible to revive him, so they put him to rest.

Manhattan. It starts at 6 a.m. on Pier 94 on West 54th Street and 12th Avenue, and tapers off at 6 p.m. in Washington Heights. The following streets will be closed to traffic: • West End Avenue between 59th and 72nd Streets • Riverside Drive between 72nd and 165th Streets • 165th Street between Riverside Drive and Fort Washington Avenue • Fort Washington Avenue between 165th Street and Margaret Corbin Drive • Harlem River Drive between 10th Avenue and 155th Street • Saint Nicholas Avenue between 125th and 155th Streets • Manhattan Avenue between 125th and 120th Streets • York Avenue between 81st and 59th Streets • Second Avenue between 55th and 9th Streets • Ninth Street between Second and Sixth Avenues • Sixth Avenue between Ninth

and Christopher Streets • Eighth Avenue between Hudson and 57th Streets • Amsterdam Avenue between 59th and 91st Streets • Riverside Drive between 91st and 72nd Streets • West End Avenue between 72nd and 59th Streets • 65th Street between West End Avenue and Central Park West

THE BAND PLAYED ON…

On Mon., May 21, the Thompson Warehouse (at 213 Water St.) was alive with musical history. The fundraiser for our own Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra was co-sponsored by the South Street Seaport Museum, which still had much of its now-closed exhibit marking

the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on display — including the massive blow-up photo of the tip of the killer iceberg taken from the RMS Carpathia. “The event tonight is to honor the musicians who bravely and heroically played on” as the ship sunk, according to Knickerbocker musical director and conductor Gary Fagin, a resident of Water Street. Jerry Gallagher, the Seaport Museum’s general manager, apprised the more than 100 guests of new developments at the museum, including the opening of 16 of its 21 exhibit galleries, the repair and return of ships Ambrose and Pioneer to the waterfront as well as the continued restoration of the museum’s extensive collection of artifacts. Maestro Fagin on standing bass then stole the show with his orchestra mates — Andy Stein and Joyce Hammann on violin and Caryl Paisner on cello. They played songs from the White Star Line Songbook, which accompanies the musical crew on every sailing. Kicking into a bouncing rendition of “Oh, You Beautiful Doll,” Fagin described the song as a big hit written in 1911. “It would have been the Lady Gaga song of the time,” he said.

TRANSIT SAM THE ANSWER MAN

NEW YORK CAN’T SEEM TO GET ENOUGH OF PRESIDENTIAL GRIDLOCK! President Barack Obama is swooping into the Big Apple, Mon., June 4 to rake in dough for his 2012 presidential campaign. He’ll likely fly into JFK at 11 a.m., take his chopper to the Wall Street Heliport and by noon, his motorcade will head to the FDR Drive and make its way north. He is scheduled to exit at 42nd Street, so the FDR will be closed both ways that afternoon from 63rd Street to the Battery. Obama will attend his first fundraiser of the day at the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. Around 2 p.m., he’ll head north on the FDR Drive en route to his next stop, home of benefactor and hedge fund manager Marc Lasry. Around 5 p.m., he’ll head to his final fundraiser of the day at the New Amsterdam Theatre, on West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, hosted by former president Bill Clinton. Obama is due to make an appearance there at 7 p.m. The president’s motorcade will likely use the FDR Drive again to

return to the Heliport at around 9 p.m. Obama is scheduled to make an encore fundraising trip to NYC on June 14! Keep up to speed on gridlock at www.twitter. com/GridlockSam. IN N O N - P R E S I D E N T I A L NEWS, alternate side parking rules remain in effect. THURS., MAY 31, the American Heart Association’s Wall Street Run & Heart Walk closes the following streets from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.: • Warren Street between Greenwich and Church Streets • Church Street between Warren and Liberty Streets • Liberty Street between Church and William Streets • Pearl Street between Broad and John Streets • Water Street between John and State Streets • State Street between Water Street and Battery Place SUN., JUNE 3, is a bonanza of two-wheeling adventures! The A.D.A.’s Tour de Cure bike tour is going to impact traffic all over

ALSO SUN., JUNE 3, the Philippine Independence Day Parade will shut down Madison Avenue between 38th and 23rd Streets, noon to 4 p.m., and the Lutheran Church Fair will close off Third Avenue between 14th and 23rd Streets, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

at 9:55 a.m. when Alternate Side Parking is in effect from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.? Thanks. Isaac, from Williamsburg Dear Isaac, No. Here’s what the rule says: “Drivers will get a five-minute grace period past the expired time on muni-meter receipts, alternate side parking signs and any other parking spaces with specific times listed (e.g., 8:30am - 9:30am).” It doesn’t say anything about a grace period before the expiration of a parking rule. So, in the example that you give, you may park as late as 8:35 a.m. Transit Sam

FROM THE MAILBAG: Dear Transit Sam, I know that there is a fiveminute grace period for parking tickets. Does that mean I can park

Got a question about parking regulations or upcoming construction? Email me at TransitSam@ downtownexpress.com or write to Transit Sam, 611 Broadway, Suite 415, New York, NY 10012.

12

May 30 - June 12, 2012

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OpSail and Fleet Week’s pageant of ships B Y TERESE L OEB KREUZER t was bright and early the morning of Wed., May 23. Shortly after 8 a.m., when the tide was right, the tall ships of OpSail 2012 began their northward journey from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, headed toward the George Washington Bridge and eventually arrived at their temporary berths in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island. By 9:15 a.m., as the rising sun gleamed on their white sails, they reached the Statue of Liberty. A crowd eagerly lined the Battery Park City esplanade to watch them pass. Near the World Trade Center site, the

I

Pride of Baltimore schooner fired a twogun salute. The procession consisted of 17 Class A naval training ships from all over the world as well as smaller, privately owned sailing ships that in any other context would be the stars of the harbor. This year’s OpSail, the sixth ever in New York City, commemorated the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Though OpSail events have historically generated millions of dollars in tourism revenue for New York City, OpSail’s executive director, Chris O’Brien, said that this visit may be the last — or at least, the last for the foreseeable future.

13

May 30 - June 12, 2012

Your company insurance changed again?

Dip ‘n’ sip!

Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess

Another reason to call.

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May 30 - June 12, 2012

building, buys electricity in bulk and then passes the cost on to the tenants. “There’s a contract between the landlord and the Battery Park City Authority that B Y TERESE LOEB KREUZER governs how they’re entitled to sell electricity to the tenants,” said TROUBLE AT GATEWAY Galloway. “The B.P.C.A. performs PLAZA: Every elected official audits periodically. We have access with a toehold in Lower Manhattan to them and we’re trying to study showed up at I.S. 276 on Thurs., them to determine the extent to May 17 for a meeting sponsored which the landlord is complyby the Gateway Plaza Tenants ing with the agreement. We still Association to discuss leaky don’t have the full answers that windows and walls, astronomical we need.” electric bills and runaway rents at Galloway said that New York the oldest residential complex in State Senator Daniel Squadron’s Battery Park City. With more than office has been helping to unravel 1,700 apartments, Gateway Plaza the question of exactly why the is also the largest. electric bills are so high. “It’s “The problem is that this build- possible that everything is being ing was built almost 30 years done according to the contract ago,” explained Glenn Plaskin, and that the problem is the winvice chairman of the Tenants dows and the walls, and that’s Association. “It literally leaks air. why we pay these astronomical It’s not just the windows. It’s the fees,” Galloway said. metal mullions on the inside of the Another problem at Gateway windows that freeze over and are is that rents are going through the uninsulated. In addition, there are roof. People who lived there prior non-insulated metal panels on the to summer 2009 are protected by Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer exterior of the building so that in a rent stabilization agreement that The schooner Shearwater, built in 1929 and a national landmark, participated in OpSail 2012. She is based in Battery Park the winter you freeze if you don’t is good through 2020, but new put on the heat. tenants are subject to market-rate City’s North Cove Marina from late spring to early fall and takes people sailing seven days a week. Adding insult to injury, Plaskin rents. Some of them have reported added, tenants are paying for the rent increases of 25 percent. Ventura was commissioned in addition, there was no answer protected Gateway Plaza’s tenants structural defects in the form of 1919 and launched in 1920. Her from the B.P.C.A. about whether “People are reluctant to remain at that time. steep electric bills. in a community if they don’t have Galloway estimated that first owner was George Baker, the Authority will be issuing a Jeff Galloway, a member of rent protection or ownership,” between 100 and 200 people one of the founders of the First Request for Proposals for an ice the Tenants Association Board of said Galloway. “We’re concerned attended the Tenants Association National Bank of New York (a skating rink this year. An R.F.P. Directors, said that he often has that the character of Gateway is meeting, which ended with a “town forerunner of Citibank). He also went out last year, but there were a $600-a-month electric bill in the slowly changing and over time hall” session in which they were gave most of the money to found no takers. For a brief period, Battery Park winter for his two-bedroom apart- will continue to change if rent invited to ask questions, make com- Harvard Business School and paid for Columbia University’s Baker City had an ice skating rink. It was ment. “We’ve had reports from protections leak away. It decreases ments and air their grievances. on the ball fields between Murray more than one tenant where they the neighborhood feel of a place if “The point of the meeting Field. Ventura can carry up to 25 and Warren Streets, West Street have gone away for a month and people are going in and out like a wasn’t to solve the problems,” said turned everything off, including revolving door.” Plaskin. “It was to draw attention passengers. She offers public sails and North End Avenue. The openof New York Harbor on Friday ing of the rink in November 2009 the refrigerator, and come home to Galloway said that the Tenants to them.” nights, 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m., and was marred when a large pane a $200 electric bill,” he said. Association expects to work with Under an arrangement estab- New York State Assembly Speaker S H E A R W A T E R A N D Sunday afternoons, 2:30 p.m. to of glass fell from the neighborlished when Gateway Plaza was Sheldon Silver on the rent stabi- VENTURA: Most of the 5:30 p.m. The rest of the time, ing Goldman Sachs building, then built, the LeFrak Organization, lization issue. Silver’s office bro- magnificent ships of OpSail and she is used for private functions under construction. On Jan. 28, which owns and manages the kered the 2009 agreement that Fleet Week will have departed including sleepovers. From 9 p.m. 2010, a big piece of plywood by Wed., May 30, but not all of on Friday nights to 10 a.m. the fell from the Liberty Luxe buildthem. Two historic sailing ships, next morning, one or two couples ing, also under construction, while Shearwater and Ventura, can can rent her to sleep aboard in children were skating. Neither of these events was good be found from mid-May to mid- either North Cove Marina or at for business. The operator, Rink October in Battery Park City’s anchor near the Statue of Liberty. For more information about Management Services of Virginia, North Cove Marina. Both were in Shearwater, visit www.manhat- asked to be released from its sixthe OpSail parade of ships. The ships, made up of teak tanbysail.com or call (212) 619- year contract, and the B.P.C.A. decks and mahogany-paneled 0907. For more information about agreed. In February of this year, staterooms, are national land- Ventura, go to www.sailnewyork. Rink Management sued Goldman Sachs, Tishman Construction and marks and offer public sails out com or call (212) 786-1204. Milstein Properties, the developer onto New York Harbor. Shearwater is a classic Maine NO NEWS IS NO NEWS: of Liberty Luxe. So perhaps the all-season artischooner that was launched in Parents who are anxiously May 1929 as a luxury vessel awaiting news as to when ficial turf that currently makes up owned by Charles E. Dunlap, a Asphalt Green Battery Park City the ball fields will have to satisfy prominent industrialist. She can might open, so that they know if local residents’ sports cravings for carry up to 48 passengers and there will indeed be a summer the foreseeable future. It’s easy to goes out seven days a week to program there for their children, see why ice skating rink operators show people the Statue of Liberty, will have to continue to wait. A might prefer to open elsewhere! the Hudson River’s dramatic sun- spokesperson for Asphalt Green sets and the New York City sky- said, “Ask the Battery Park To comment on Battery Park City Tenants of Gateway Plaza, which was built almost 30 years ago and has 1,700 line at night. On Sundays, there City Authority.” Three e-mails Beat or to suggest article ideas, apartments, are concerned about their leaky windows and exorbitant electric are Champagne brunch sails and and two telephone calls to the e-mail Terese Loeb Kreuzer directly bills — reportedly as high as $600 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. wine-tasting sails. B.P.C.A. went unanswered. In at TereseLoeb@mac.com.

May 30 - June 12, 2012

Taste of Tribeca would like to thank all our supporters! As we celebrate our 18th year we would like to acknowledge all of the people who helped make it happen. Taste of Tribeca would not be successful without the generosity of many talented and tireless individuals. These supporters donated their time, discounted merchandise, financial contributions or valuable professional services. Please forgive us if we forgot to express our thanks in person or have left your name off this list. The children of PS 234 and PS 150 will reap the rewards of your generosity for years to come.

Corporate Sponsors:

Individual Contributors:

Bank of America; Brown Harris Stevens; 1st Republic Bank; Joshen Paper & Packaging; Radeberger; Related Rentals; Seamless; Stribling & Associates/ Sean Turner; Town Residential; Whole Foods Market–Tribeca

Aaron Sanchez; Abby & Robert Goldstein; Alyssa Shelasky; Ana Vilarrasa; Anne Lawrence; Annika K. Martin; Anthony DellaSalla; Beth and Mark Metzger; Bikram Yoga NYC; Bill Weir; Brian Canida; Bullfrog and Baum; Carl Glassman of the Tribeca Trib; Chad Contino; City Winery; Claude Arpels; Colin McDermott; CPA-Raich, Ewde, Malter & Co. LLP; Cristobal Julio Guarchaj; Dani Finkel-Pitney; Department of Sanitation; Douglas Elliman; Dudley’s Paw; Edible Manhattan; Eliza Luch; Elizabeth Stribling; Erik Torkells of Tribeca Citizen; eXerBlast; Florence Faucon; Francesco Regini of The Downtown Express; Friends of Duane Park; Gayle Aschenbrenner; Gennaro Martinelli; Greg Morabito; Jack Berman; Jackson Benedict; Jacques Torres Chocolates; Jehangir Mehta; Jennifer Jones; Jennifer and Jarrod Musano; Jennifer Rothenberg; Jennifer and Derek Van Zandt; Jill Conner; John Franco; John Sierp; Jonathan Babkow; Joshen Paper & Packaging; JP Morgan Chase; Karin Mulder; Maxi Mulder; Kent Rogers; Keri Bannon; Kerry Farrell; Khushi Spa Products; Kimberly Monroe; Kings Pharmacy; Kurt Gutenbrunner; Ladder 8 Firehouse; Laura Cohen; Lee Minor; Lee Scheffler; Lisa Ripperger; Liz Reitman of Reit Design; Luis Nieto; Macao Trading Co.; Magda Lenski; Maggie Siena; Marissa Stamler; Mark Spangenthal; Margrit Wiesendanger; Michelle Brawner; Michelle Park; Molly Jahn; Morgan Brill; Nora Knows NY; Pat Sanabria; Patrick Nuti; Paul Carberry; Paul Di Bari; Peter Downing and team at Tribeca Film Festival; Polarn O Pyret; Precinct 1 Police Department; PS 150 and PS 234 Custodial Staff; PTG Event Services; Raphaelle Rico; Rocco Cadolini; Robert A. Ripps; Rolando Veloso; Ron Silver; Ronni Esposito; Russell Moss; Sandy & Steve van der Zwan; Sarah Nataraj; Sarah Reetz; Sarabeth’s; Sean Barwin; Shin Murakami; Silverstein Properties; Soho Maps; Sophie Cook; Steven Marion; Stokes Farm; Stuyvesant High School Volunteers; Susan and Larry Daniels; Susan Hayes; Taste Buds; TD Bank; The Striking Viking Story Pirates; Tribeca Citizen; Tribeca Green Market; Tribeca Partnership; Zinzell.

Media Sponsors: Bullfrog & Baum; Clear Channel; Downtown Express; Edible Manhattan; IN New York and Where New York; Yelp

Beverage Sponsors: Fizzy Lizzy; Ginger Ale by Bruce Cost; GuS-Grown-up Soda; Honeydrop Beverages; Icelandic Glacial; V Blast; Plan Tea; WAT-AAH!

Wine Contributors: Chambers Street Wines; Frankly Wines; Maslow 6; New York Vintners; Tribeca Wine Merchants; Vestry Wines

Music Sponsored By: City Winery

Participating Restaurants: 92YTribeca, Acappella, Baluchi’s, Billy’s Bakery, Birdbath Bakery, Blaue Gans, Bouley, Brick NYC, Bubby’s Pie Co. Inc., Capsouto Freres, Carl’s Steaks, Cercle Rouge, City Hall, Cornerstone Grill, Cosmopolitan Café, Da Mikele, Dean’s, Duane Park Patisserie, Ecco, Edward’s, FDNY Ladder 8, Flor de Sol, Gigino Trattoria, Grandaisy Bakery, Greenwich Grill, Josephine Café Francais, Kutsher’s Tribeca, Landmarc, Le Pain Quotidien, Lilly O’Brien’s, Locanda Verde, Lotus Blue, M1-5, Macao Trading Co., Marc Forgione, Mary Ann’s, Max, Maxwell’s, Mehtaphor, Mrs. Cupcake, Nobu Next Door, Odeon, Pane Panelle, Pepolino, Plein Sud, ROC, Salaam Bombay, Sarabeth’s Tribeca, Sazon, Scalini Fedeli, Super Linda, Sushi Azabu, Takahachi, Terroir, Thalassa, The Bubble Lounge, The Harrison, The Hideaway, The Odeon, The Palm, Tokyo Bay, Trattoria Cinque, Tre Sorelle, Tribeca Grand Hotel, Tribeca Grill, Tribeca Tap House, Tribeca Treats, Walker’s, Ward III, Warren 77, Weather Up, White and Church, Woodrow’s, Yorganic, Zucker’s Bagels & Smoked Fish.

All proceeds benefit PS 150 and PS 234.

A special “shout out” to our friends in the community who welcome Taste of Tribeca each year for 18 years. To all our neighbors, store owners and residences surrounding our event a very BIG “thank you” once again. THANK YOU TO ALL! SEE YOU ON MAY 18, 2013!

Naomi Daniels, Hope Flamm, & Faith Paris Aarons 2012 Taste of Tribeca Co-Chairs

Taste of Tribeca is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit. All donations are tax deductible as required by law.

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May 30 - June 12, 2012

Downtown Express photos by Aline Reynolds

A heartfelt salute to Danny Chen Musicians and spoken-word artists performed in memory of the late soldier Danny Chen at Pace University High School on Thurs., May 24. Chen’s mother Su Zhen Chen (top left) chokes up while addressing the crowd, her son’s photo looming in the background.

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May 30 - June 12, 2012

Continued from page 3

article from nj.com, Port Authority Police Benevolent Association union head Paul Nunziato considers him a “proven leader.”

W.T.C. BASE WON’T LOOK LIKE A BUNKER AFTER ALL Although its builders nearly scrapped their plans to shroud the concrete base of One World Trade Center in glass, it looks as if the façade will end up being easy on the eyes, after all. The final design of the base comprises “vertical glass fins protruding from panels of stainless steel slats,” behind which will be illuminated screens that will make the base glow at night, according to a New York Post article. An earlier concept was canned due to fears that the glass would shatter too easily. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Durst Organization, the skyscraper’s owners, plan to begin installing the latest version of the façade in October. The construction around the cubical base, which measures 185 feet on each side, will cost $40 million. The choice to stick with what is perceived as a warmer-looking base will go over well

with critics of last year’s preliminary renderings, which were deemed monolithic and bunker-like. The building’s image will likely be important to both the millions of tourists who will flock to it, and to high-profile tenants like publishing giant Condé Nast, whose employees will occupy one-third of the skyscraper’s office space starting in 2015.

MALL MAVEN SEEKING TENANTS FOR W.T.C. RETAIL SPACE Westfield, the international shopping mall owner, said that the first retail shops for the World Trade Center may be announced by the beginning of 2013 and will open for business in March 2015, according to Reuters. At a trade conference in Las Vegas on Mon., May 21, Westfield co-chief executive officer Peter Lowy spoke to potential tenants about the 352,000 square feet of designated shopping area that will make up Three W.T.C., Four W.T.C. and the W.T.C. Transportation Hub. This took place just days after Westfield finalized a $1.25 billion deal with the Port Authority, one of the W.T.C.’s owners, to lease the retail space. The joint venture, which almost failed to solidify, had been in the making for nearly 11 years. As part of that deal, Westfield will be able to develop

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Congratulations to the Class of 2012.

an additional 90,000 square feet of retail space within the 8.8 million square feet of office space currently under construction. Lowy told Reuters that he plans to be very selective when it comes to choosing tenants, and that the stores will cater to local residents and tourists alike. “We’re going to do something that no one can imagine,” he said, while declining to disclose specifics.

DOWNTOWN EXPRESS SPARKS CHANGES As the result of an article by Zach Williams in our May 16 issue, developer McSam Downtown LLC forked over approximately $80,000 of the outstanding property taxes it owes the city. Citing an April 2 notice from the city, Williams revealed that McSam, which is in the process of building the world’s tallest Holiday Inn at 99 Washington St., had been in default of an agreement previously reached on the taxes. But McSam isn’t off the hook yet. The developer faces more trouble as it attempts to meet its spring 2013 deadline for completion of the building. According to Williams’ article, the developer owes the city thousands upon thousands of dollars in taxes and fines, and neighborhood residents claim that their safety at the corner of Washington and Rector Streets, which is blocked by the construction, is constantly in jeopardy. And, a letter published in the Transit Sam column of our April 11 issue also made a notable impact in the Downtown communi-

ty. Amy Bergenfeld, one of the owners of the Civil Service Book Shop, at 38 Lispenard St., wrote in to let us know that there were no street signs at the two intersections around her store, Lispenard and Church Streets and Lispenard Street and West Broadway. The D.O.T. took notice and said it would be installing new signs shortly. Let’s hope that Bergenfeld’s customers don’t have trouble finding her store any longer!

D.O.T. DELANCEY STREET SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS The city Department of Transportation will begin making safety improvements along the Delaney Street corridor in the coming weeks, according to a statement released by New York State Senator Daniel Squadron. The overhaul, which has been in the planning stages since February, is the result of efforts by Squadron’s Delancey Street Safety Working Group. The improvements will include the shortening of 14 pedestrian crossings, lengthened crossing time at Delancey and Clinton Streets, redesigned street markings, a newly painted pedestrian plaza between Clinton and Norfolk Streets (aimed at calming vehicular traffic and improving the approach to the Williamsburg Bridge) and enhanced traffic patterns throughout the corridor. The D.O.T. told the Downtown Express that the work should be finished by the last week of July. Meanwhile, the Delancey Street Safety Working Group plans to reconvene over the summer to review the improvements once they have been completed.

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City greenlights Pier 17 Continued from page 1

the waterfront that were lost with the F.D.R. and the existing building.” Waterfront vistas weren’t enough to appease the commissioners upon a preliminary glimpse of the plan a month prior. At an initial public meeting on April 17, the L.P.C. asked the developer to go back to the drawing board with certain aspects of the design. And while the commissioners endorsed the latest iteration of the plan at the May meeting, they still had certain reservations about it, according to L.P.C. spokesperson Elisabeth de Bourbon. “The vote was unanimous,” she said, “but the commission asked the applicant to work with L.P.C.’s staff preservationists to find ways to open the views further to the Tin Building, river and bridge.” Specifically, the commissioners asked SHoP Architects, the creators of the design, about the possibility of moving or demolishing altogether the Link Building, which, adjoined to the Pier 17 outlet, wraps around the Tin Building. The objective is to widen the view from the pier of the historic Tin Building — which, perched just behind Pier 17, faces South Street and the F.D.R. Drive. However, the Link Building’s makeup leaves the architects with a slim set of options, according to SHoP principal Gregg Pasquarelli. Relocating the building is not in the cards, as it would cost millions of dollars, he said, and trimming it down is taxing in its own right because of the complex network of electrical and mechanical equipment inside the structure. “When you get to the pier [the wires] come up out of the ground and run inside a 14-foot concrete wall through the entire building,” explained Pasquarelli. Despite the challenges, Pasquarelli and his team agreed to shave off some 20 percent of the current building. “It helps [to open up the view],” he said, “and they seem to be okay with it.” In a follow-up interview with the Downtown Express, Pasquarelli affirmed the modifications to the design wouldn’t delay the overall project’s completion. “We’re exactly on schedule,” he said. The commissioners asked the architects to continue to tweak the proposal. Commissioner Michael Goldblum also appreciated the amended design but sought more of a connection between the Tin Building and the pier.

“I think it’d enhance this mall’s success,” he said. Eyeing the renderings of the Pier 17 mall, Goldblum added, “I think its success as a building that recalls the maritime history of New York [rather than] the commercial presence of any mall anywhere in America hinges on how [the building’s upper floor glass façade] becomes a frame for products that are being sold behind it.” Commissioner Michael Devonshire said that while he’d like to see even more of the Tin Building visible from the pier, he was satisfied with the waterfront vista. “I’m quite sanguine there’ll be enough views of the Brooklyn Bridge to please everyone,” he said. “I think this building satisfies that in a way that the existing building absolutely does not.” Pasquarelli also spoke to the architects’ design concept for the future building’s signage meant to advertise its indoor shops. The architects are still ironing out the logistics, he said, and are entertaining options ranging from panels to window graphics, composed of materials such as corrugated zinc, wood and metal cladding. The building’s tenants will help determine how to draw patrons to their businesses, Pasquarelli noted. “We don’t know who the tenants are going to be,” he said, “and they have to have some say in how their signs [appear].” Though indoor signage isn’t technically in the L.P.C.’s jurisdiction, Pablo Vengoechea and other commissioners yearned for a say in the matter as well. “We generally don’t regulate what happens behind the glass,” said Vengoechea, “but, given the scale of this project, I think we should be able to address it.” Goldblum advised SHoP to “make sure these things are part of L.P.C.’s oversight in a streamlined, efficient way [so] that it’s intended appearance can be maintained and it doesn’t be overwhelmed and turn into Times Square.” Pasquarelli assured the commissioners that he and his team would return to the L.P.C. once the architects had firmed up the design of the signage. “We’re not trying to put Times Square signage here — we’re trying to do something really elegant,” he said. “Whether they have to approve it or not, we wanted to show the city and Landmarks that we’re trying to do the right thing.”

‘I’m quite sanguine there’ll be enough views of the Brooklyn Bridge to please everyone. ’

— Commissioner Michael Devonshire

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May 30 - June 12, 2012

Castle Williams fortifies history Continued from page 1

Previously, forts had been star-shaped, such as Fort Jay. Williams, who was the first-ever superintendent of West Point, figured out that a round fort on the western flank of Governors Island, facing New York harbor, would allow coverage in all directions. His round forts model became prototypes for coastal fortifications. Castle Williams is built of red sandstone, with walls that are seven-to-eight feet thick, according to Michael Shaver, supervisory park ranger for the National Park Service. “One of the reasons why circular towers didn’t work in the old days was that if you penetrated them, they would collapse,” he said. “Williams built arches into the casemates so that in the event that you were lucky enough to go through seven or eight feet of sandstone and breach the walls, the building wouldn’t collapse.” Nevertheless, Williams’ supervisors were dubious, Shaver explained. “His superiors were old fellows left

over from the Revolution,” he said. “They were always fighting the last war. They had some doubts about [Williams’ design]. Shaver continued, “To prove his point, he had two Navy ships fire on the fort from about 400 yards away. All they succeeded in doing was to knock a cannon off its carriage. Williams sent the Secretary of War a newspaper clipping that said the barrage had destroyed a cannon.” At the bottom of the clipping, the Secretary of War purportedly wrote, “It didn’t destroy a cannon! It knocked off a cap plate and lock screw and knocked it off its carriage. It’s still serviceable.” Castle Williams has 78 openings, known as “embrasures,” for guns positioned in 39 casemates on three tiers. The high ceilings and openings between the casemates were intended to help dissipate the smoke from firing the guns, according to Shaver. Telescopes mounted outside Castle Williams that are trained on Castle Clinton in Battery Park and on Fort Gibson on Ellis Island show how these and several other forts positioned according to Williams’ plan provided an impregnable defense of New

Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer

The walls of Castle Williams, built in the early 19th century to protect New York Harbor, are seven-to-eight feet thick and are made of red sandstone and brick.

A model of the Castle Williams fort, as it originally looked, sits in the middle of the courtyard for public viewing.

York Harbor. All of them were built prior to the War of 1812, when the threat of war with the British was imminent. The plan worked. The British burned down Washington, D.C. and attacked Fort McHenry in Baltimore, but they spared New York City. A model of the fort as it looked originally is situated in the middle of the Castle Williams courtyard. Large murals reference key dates in the fort’s history as it evolved from its initial mission, which was to defend New York Harbor, to its later function as a prison for Confederate soldiers and Union deserters during the Civil War. Later on, during the 20th century, the fort was used as a prison for the U.S. Army and therefore became known as the “Eastern Alcatraz.” “In 1947, the Army gutted the entire building and took out the old, oak floors from 1812, poured in reinforced concrete floors and put in the jail cells that you see,” said Shaver, as he led a tour of the second and third tiers of the three-story structure. The solitary confinement cells, whose walls are composed of solid metal, have protrusion marks from the prisoners banging on

the walls. The U.S. Army left Governors Island in 1966, after which the island was taken over by the U.S. Coast Guard until 1997. During the Coast Guard’s tenure, Castle Williams was used intermittently as a community center and also as a grounds-keeping shop, but it wasn’t properly maintained; eventually, the roof deteriorated and water seeped into the walls. U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler obtained $6.1 million from the federal government to rehabilitate the structure. The money was used to remove lead paint, asbestos and other hazardous materials, to replace electrical wiring and windows and to repair the structure’s stonework and bricks. The funds also financed exhibits in the courtyard and on the first floor that tell the history of Castle Williams to this day. Entrance to Castle Williams is by timed ticket. A separate ticket is needed to tour the interior and climb to the roof with its views over the harbor. Tickets are free and are available at a gazebo next to the fort. Castle Williams is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. whenever Governors Island is open. For more information, go to www.nps.gov/gois.

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May 30 - June 12, 2012

Menin reflects on C.B. 1 tenure Continued from page 2

the country’s biggest terrorist target. The feds finally decided on holding the trials in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Bill Love, who served on C.B. 1 for seven years, recalled the high level of anxiety Downtown residents felt in anticipating that the trials might take place in their own backyard. “There were a lot of people who were almost in a panic about that, particularly in parts of Chinatown, where they saw the neighborhood shut down for five years,” said Love. The dispute over the 9/11 terror trials wasn’t the only mayoral clash C.B. 1 had under Menin’s leadership. In November 2010, the board passed a resolution opposing the appointment of Cathie Black as Schools Chancellor of the city Department of Education. Four months later, Black stepped down from her position, and Bloomberg openly admitted he had made a mistake in appointing her. As a board member of the L.M.D.C., Menin eventually took a firm stand against the citystate agency by voting twice against the renewal of its annual operations budget. She was the only board member to do so. “I believed the organization should sunset… I thought they should disperse all the money they had immediately and close down,” she explained. But Menin wasn’t able to see that goal realized. Due to her firm stance against the agency’s

extension, the board ultimately kicked her off the advisory panel of the L.M.D.C.’s community-cultural enhancement program, Menin said. Nevertheless, Love believes her unpopular votes were crucial and were worth the potential loss in community input. “I think in organizations like that, which have a tendency to perpetuate themselves, you need somebody who’s a lone wolf,” he said. In 2010, Menin fought for the reallocation of $200 million in L.M.D.C. funds, half of which was allotted to the World Trade Center Performing Arts Center (P.A.C.). Had she kept her mouth shut, the money would have likely been deposited in the bank account of Con Edison, the utility company that claimed significant economic loss from 9/11, she said. “Con Edison came to the community board meeting and said publicly that, if I didn’t back down, they were going to raise every New Yorker’s rates by $50,” she recalled. Menin proceeded to write to the NYS Public Service Commission demanding that it look into the matter. Ultimately, the money was redirected, and Con Ed was left with $168 million in funds previously authorized by the federal government. These and other funds the board secured were crucial to the revitalization of Downtown, according to C.B. 1 Financial Committee Chair Ro Sheffe. “Corporate entities like Con Ed are set up in such a way financially they can cope with losses

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like that, in ways that mom-and-pop merchants cannot,” he explained. The siting of the P.A.C., however, didn’t pan out the way Menin hoped. She fought for its move to the base of 130 Liberty St. (known as Tower 5), where she says it could have been built faster and at a lower cost, but the city decided to stick with its original plans to erect it at site 1B, home to the temporary PATH station, at the intersection of Greenwich and Vesey Streets. Then came two of the most contentious issues in recent New York City history: the Islamic community center and mosque — ultimately dubbed Park51 — and Occupy Wall Street, whose birthplace lies in the heart of C.B. 1’s catchment area. In spring 2010, the board, addressing the hoards of Park51 protestors, drafted a carefullyworded resolution that advocated the construction of a community center. “I think there are two fundamental American tenets at stake: freedom of religion and right to property ownership,” said Menin. The board omitted mention of the mosque in the resolution so as to avoid a potential breach of separation of church and state clause of the U.S. Constitution. The project now seems to be on hold as Park51 developer Sharif El-Gamal battles out his lease on the lot with property owner Con Edison in court. Menin’s gesture of diplomacy hardly satisfied the scores of opponents, mostly out-of-towners, who swarmed the May 25, 2010 full-board meeting and later sent death threats and gruesome illustrations to her home address and the board’s Chambers Street offices. “It was brutal,” Menin recalled. While not accompanied by threats, the issue last fall that became known as the Great Sukkah Controversy — in which a local rabbi requested a city permit to construct the Jewish ritual structure in Duane Park — evoked another fundamental tenet, namely the right to worship in a public space. After making calls to every Tribeca developer she knew, Menin finally got through to one that ended up offering space next to the Church Street School for Music and Art, on Warren Street, as long as she arranged for the provision of sanitary and security facilities. “My belief is that, if you approve one religious use of public parks, you must approve [them all],” she said. “I don’t believe that our public parks should be overrun with

Christmas trees…and all different kinds of religious objects.” Menin also walked the tightrope of Occupy Wall Street, another highly divisive topic that spawned numerous iterations of board resolutions. With the help of the board’s financial district committee, the board reached near-consensus on the topic. But finding a middle ground isn’t always the solution, according to board member Allan Tannenbaum, who said that on controversial subjects such as Occupy Wall Street, the board should have eschewed what he deems political correctness and what Menin might refer to as compromises. “While it was a normal inclination for Julie to seek a common ground and find a compromise, I don’t think that seeking a compromise in this situation was the right thing to do — it was very black and white,” said Tannenbaum. “I think she should have prevented [Occupy Wall Street] from coming to the board.” “In my opinion, [Park51 and Occupy] shouldn’t have been considered,” echoed Marc Ameruso, the board’s assistant secretary. “The next leader needs to stay out of these political, social issues.” During Menin’s tenure as chair, the board also helped sway the Department of Education to build three new neighborhood schools and the Department of City Planning to rezone Northern Tribeca with an inclusionary zoning provision that incentivizes real estate developers to build affordable housing units. As a result, big-box retailers are prevented from opening up shop in Tribeca, Menin said. As Menin sets her sights on all of Manhattan for her campaign trail, which will involve expanding her Rolodex to include constituency groups across the borough, Lower Manhattan, the North Moore Street resident indicated, will always hold a special place in her heart. She remembers the daunting task of poring over the approximately 5,200 design submissions during her two-year stint on the National Sept. 11 Memorial jury. She had given birth to the eldest of her three sons just two weeks prior to the jury’s commencement. “The juxtaposition between spending days reviewing the nationwide outpouring of loss and grief, and then coming home to my son and thinking about the day when I would first walk through the memorial with him,” she said, “was incredibly powerful.”

Registration runs May 1 – June 30 www.downtownsoccer.org or pick up a registation form at PS150, PS234 or PS/IS89

We require that a player reside in Community Board 1 (south of Canal St/Rutgers St). Families that have played previously in the league but now reside outside the area are welcome to remain in the league.

Free consultations in our Lower Manhattan office. 101 Fifth Avenue (between 17th and 18th)

www.ManhattanDivorceMediation.com info@ManhattanDivorceMediation.com

21

May 30 - June 12, 2012

Fighting to make Lower Manhattan the greatest place to live, work, and raise a family.

Photo by Tequila Minsky

Mulberry pooch paws at keys This dog tried his paws at piano on Memorial Day at Little Italy’s Mulberry Street Mall, which runs on weekends until Labor Day.

Assemblyman Shelly Silver If you need assistance, please contact my office at (212) 312-1420 or email silver@assembly.state.ny.us.

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May 30 - June 12, 2012

EXPECT THE IMPOSSIBLE

CREATURES OF LIGHT Descend into the depths of the ocean and explore the caves of New Zealand — without ever leaving Manhattan. Just visit the American Museum of Natural History’s new exhibit on bioluminescence (organisms that produce light through chemical reactions). Interactive and familyfriendly, kids will eagerly soak up this twilight world where huge models of everything from fireflies to alien-like fish illuminate the dark. Through January 6, 2013 at the American Museum of Natural History (79th St. and Central Park West). Open daily, 10am– 5:45pm. Admission is $25, $14.50 for children, $19 for students/seniors. Tickets can be purchased at the museum or at amnh.org. For more information, call 212-769-5100. AMERICAN TAP DANCE FOUNDATION The Tap City Youth Ensemble and American Tap Dance Foundation present “Tap Attacks” — showcasing the best youth tap talent the city has to offer as part of their Outdoor Presentation series. 10:30-11:30am on Sat., June 9 at Bleecker Playground and Sun., June 10 at Vesuvio Playground. Or, if you’d rather make some noise yourself, the American Tap Dance Center (154 Christopher St., #2B, btw. Greenwich & Washington Sts.) is offering children and teens a free introductory tap class. Sat., June 9, 4:30-5:30pm. RSVP at 646-230-9564. For more info, visit atdf.org.

THE SKYSCRAPER MUSEUM T h e S k y s c r a p e r M u s e u m ’s “ S a t u r d a y F a m i l y P r o g r a m ” s e r i e s f e a tures workshops designed to introduce children and their families to the principles of architecture and engineering — through hands-on activities. On June 9, the “Sidewalk Art” workshop will show kids how to sketch a blueprint of a building and then draw it on the sidewalk in chalk to create a unique skyline. On June 23, children six and up will model and design green buildings in the “Sustainable Skyscrapers” workshop. All workshops take place from 10:30-11:45am, at The Skyscraper Museum (39 Battery Place). Registration required. Call 212-945-6324 or e-mail education@skyscraper.org. Admission: $5 per child, free for members. Museum hours: Wed.-Sun., 12-6pm. Museum admission: $5, $2.50 for students/seniors. For i n f o , c a l l 2 1 2 - 9 4 5 - 6 3 2 4 , v i s i t s k y s c r a p e r. o r g o r email education@skyscraper.org. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR EVENT LISTED IN THE DOWNTOWN EXPRESS? P l e a s e p r o v i d e the date, time, location, price and a description o f t h e e v e n t . S e n d t o s c o t t @ c h e l s e a n o w. c o m o r m a i l t o 5 1 5 C a n a l S t . , U n i t 1 C , N e w Yo r k C i t y, N Y 10013. Requests must be received at least three weeks before the event. For more info, call 646452-2497.

Photo courtesy of nizer.com

SKIPPYJON JONES BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center and TheatreworksUSA present this imaginative romp (for children ages 4-8) about a kitten named Skippyjon who dreams of being a Chihuahua. When the neighborhood bully starts picking on the smaller dogs, it’s up to Skippyjon to stop being a

For one weekend only, Mark Nizer comes to Canal Park Playhouse armed with robots, flying lasers and outrageous juggling tricks. Audience members will be issued 3D glasses for this crazy combination of live performance and cutting-edge technology. June 15-17. Fri. at 7pm; Sat. at 1pm, 4pm & 7pm; and Sun. at 1pm & 4pm. At Canal Park Playhouse (508 Canal St., btw. Greenwich and West Sts.). For tickets ($20), call 866811-4111 or visit canalparkplayhouse.com.

Photo by Joan Marcus

scaredy-cat and stand up for them. This musical adventure is playing for one day only, on June 3, 3pm at the BMCC Tribeca PAC (199 Chambers St., btw. West and Greenwich Sts.). For tickets ($25), call 212-220-1460 or visit the box office. For more info, visit tribecapac.org.

May 30 - June 12, 2012

23

‘Planet’ touches down on Bleecker Other June fests feature Ed Wood & two at New Ohio

Photo by Ashley Marinaccio

Created in partnership with representatives from the United Nations, “Trafficked” tells the story of sex slavery and child exploitation through the eyes of young women across the globe. Part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, it plays June 4, 8, 10, 16, 21 & 23.

S

B Y T R AV S . D . urprise! It turns out June isn’t only the name of the Beaver’s mom. It’s also one of the best times of the year to see Downtown theatre — thanks to the large proportion of summer festivals that kick off this month. For example, it’s time again for the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (May 30 through June 24). At Planet Connections the flavor of the month is always Rainforest Crunch — each production pairs with a progressive charity and donates a portion of the box office to the righteous cause. If it sounds off-puttingly didactic, never fear. While some of the shows sound messagey, the bulk are merely shows, which is probably better for the bottom line anyway. Of the 30-plus productions on this year’s schedule, some that sound promising are: “Twelfth Night: Wall Street”; “Ye Elizabeths,” about a pair of historical re-enactors who work on a low-rent version of Plimoth Plantation; “The Empress of Sex,” by Duncan Pflaster and directed by festival founder/ director Glory Kadigan, concerning a ruler who decrees that there shall be no love in her kingdom, only sex; a musical version of “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “Accidental Incest” — a play about “a brother and sister who find romance together.” Come on! Do it for the cause! Patrons will be glad to know that the festival will be concentrated at a single venue this year, and it’s an excellent one: 45 Bleecker. For the full skinny, go to planetconnections.org.

And speaking of resuscitated venues, the New Ohio Theatre will host no less than two Downtown theatre festivals over the coming weeks. First there’s terraNOVA Collective’s 9th Annual soloNOVA Arts Festival (May 29-June 17). This is pretty much the city’s premiere festival for solo theatre and I know they have very high standards because they’ve rejected me twice! Promising sounding productions include “Baby Redboot’s Revenge,” about a child actor whose voice doesn’t change until he is 25; “I Light Up My Life: The Mark Sam Celebrity Autobiography,” billed as the “world’s first preemptive celebrity autobiography”; “The Event,” John Clancy’s existential head game starring David Calvitto; and a new adaptation of “Ubu” by Adam Szymkowicz. Schedule and ticket info at terranovacollective.org. Also at the New Ohio, Soho Think Tank will be launching their annual summer-long festival called Ice Factory this month, running June 27 through August 4. Given that the Ice Factory focuses on a manageable half dozen productions, you’ll find precious few turkeys in their annual line up. The theatre gives their guest artists a rare amount of support (including rehearsal space) and their own week-long runs. Promising sounding productions include “The Pilo Family Circus,” an adaptation of Will Elliott’s novel concerning a sadistic circus that roams around kidnapping new performers; “Flying Snakes in 3-D,” a mashup of sci-fi parody and avant-garde theatre that played earlier this year at The Brick in

Williamsburg; and a new adaptation of David Belasco’s “Girl of the Golden West” by a company called Rady&Bloom that sounds like just my cup of tea. All the information can be found at newohiotheatre.org. June 6-30, Untitled Theater Company #61 will present “The Lathe of Heaven,” an original, authorized stage adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin’s sci-fi classic about a man whose dreams change reality. This is the latest in a series of company director Edward Einhorn’s adaptations of works by major science fiction writers including Kurt Vonnegut and Philip K. Dick. How he achieves these negotiating coups is beyond me, but I suspect it has something to do with real life applications of time travel, telekinesis and carefully pointed lasers. At any rate, “The Lathe of Heaven” will be presented at the techno-friendly 3LD Art & Technology Center. All you’ll ever need to know is at untitledtheater.com. If I were to pick my favorite of this month’s announced productions I would have to say that I am the most excited about this one: a site specific revival of the 1971 Sam Shepard/ Patti Smith collaboration “Cowboy Mouth.” Not only is this psychedelic psychodrama one of my very favorite plays, it is being staged in a “grungy space” (their words) over bridge and tunnel drag bar Lucky Cheng’s. The company that’s putting it on, One Old Crow Productions, is new to me — but with this way-out stunt, they’re off to a flying start. The show is running June 7-22. See oneoldcrowproductions.com for more info. June 20 through July 1, DMTheatrics will

present their latest and (they promise) last festival of adaptations of the work of legendary film director Edward D. Wood, Jr. See? It’s right in the title: “Final Curtain: The Last of Ed Wood.” “Bride of the Monster” is the best known of the five works they’ll be presenting — this is the one where mad scientist Bela Lugosi whips his mute lackey Lobo (Tor Johnson) with a limp lash and commands him to help procure brides for his giant atomic octopus monster. Don’t laugh — it could happen! Also on the docket is “Night of the Ghouls,” “Bride’s” sequel, a movie so obscure it went unreleased for a quarter century after its 1959 completion. Wood couldn’t afford to get the film back from the lab. Exploitation films “The Violent Years!” and “The Sinister Urge!” fill out the bill, with the semi-pornographic caper flick “Hot Ice” (one of Wood’s last projects) as the piece de resistance. That will be me taking careful notes in the front row. The fun will take place at The Red Room. Find out more at dmtheatrics.com or horsetrade.info. Lastly, Incubator Arts Project will be presenting “Discover AtlantASS,” an absurdist rock opera about a young teen who gets abducted to the undersea world of Atlantis by a laid-back jazz fish revolutionary named “Stinge.” Not only is it a show, but apparently it’s also available as a CD and a comic book, both of which will be on sale at the show. It runs from June 21 through July 1. If you are brave enough to investigate further, please go to incurbatorarts.org. See you next month.

24

May 30 - June 12, 2012

Wit, daring and two orgies!

Duncan Pflaster’s pair of Planet Connections plays twist and turn THEATER THE EMPRESS OF SEX Written by Duncan Pflaster Directed by Glory Kadigan June 4-22 THE TAINT OF EQUALITY Written & Directed by Duncan Pflaster June 8-23 Photo by McNaney Photography

Part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (May 30-June 24)

The cast of “The Taint of Equality.” Back L-R: Juan Carlos Diaz, Rehmat Qadir, Jon Rentler, Roberto Alexander, Colin Godwin, David T. Zimmerman, Shawn McLaughlin, Adam Samtur, Derrick Bryant Marshall, Marvin Riggins Jr., Joe Fanelli. Front: Alan McNaney, Mark-Eugene Garcia.

At The Theaters at 45 Bleecker 45 Bleecker St. (at Lafayette St.) For tickets ($18), visit planetconnections. org or call 866-811-4111 For info on the playwright, visit duncanpflaster.com

B Y M A R T IN D E N T O N How lucky mortals are, that they can weep! I have been known to test your love for me By flirting lewd with randy mortal men; With Theseus and Hercules, and more, Those brawny muscled heroes of our time. I hoped to spur your jealousy, so you Would love me all the more, and show me so. I need not do so: I have been a fool. So says Titania in “The Thyme of the Season” — Duncan Pflaster’s sequel to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Written entirely in verse, much of it iambic pentameter, “Thyme” turns many of the events

and themes of Shakespeare’s original on their ear — infusing this merry fairy comedy with a touch of the Ridiculous (Charles Ludlam’s brand of Ridiculous, that is) while staying entirely true to the lighthearted tone and spirit of the Bard’s classic. It’s the kind of hat trick that Pflaster pulls off time and time again. In “The Starship Astrov,” he re-imagines Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” on a futuristic spacecraft a la “Star Trek.” In “Amazing Daedalus,” heroes from Greek myth gather together to slay a spoiled overgrown child named Andrew who lives inside a Labyrinth. In “Wilder & Wilder,” Holly Woodlawn (from Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side”) is a disco-era Alice in Wonderland. Audacity, erudition and an advanced sense of the absurd, the theatrical and sheer fun converge in the works of this prolific craftsman. Just 38 years old, Pflaster has already written more than two dozen plays, many of them produced in the profusion of theatre festivals that crowd New York City’s stages every summer. His work has been seen in Spotlight On, Fresh Fruit, and the Midtown International Theatre Festival. This June, he will have not one but two new plays at the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. “The Empress of Sex” — which won the audience favorite award at the last MTWorks’

NewBorn Festival — will be directed by Glory Kadigan. Pflaster will himself direct “The Taint of Equality.” Both shows will be at The Theaters at 45 Bleecker, home to this year’s Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (May 30 through June 24). The first Pflaster play I ever saw was the delightfully titled “Prince Trevor Amongst the Elephants” (subtitled, “A Big Epic Ridiculous Naked Shakespearean Fairy Tale Play for Adults”) — in which a gay prince finds true love with a commoner. I didn’t fully appreciate how good the script was until I published it in Indie Theater Now, the online theater library that I founded and curate. It’s joined there by four more of Pflaster’s plays, including both of this year’s Planet Connections entries. Check out this casting note from the script of Prince Trevor to understand the surprising, frank, humorous sensibility of this artist: “In any case, the actor with the longest penis in the cast should be the one to play Peking Trunk.” I’m intrigued by the two new pieces he’s bringing to Planet Connections this year. “The Taint of Equality” turns the debate about gay marriage inside out, centering on a gay couple who have been together so long that everybody figures they’re married, though in fact they are not. “When they realize they’ve never actually

opened up their open relationship,” Duncan explains, “they decide to each go out and get laid, with hilarious and erotic results.” “The Empress of Sex,” meanwhile, offers a neat twist on Marivaux’s famous comedy “The Triumph of Love.” In that play, you may recall, a young prince has been raised to eschew love in favor of intellectual pursuits. In Pflaster’s take on this idea, a broken-hearted young princess finds a deserted island and, setting herself up as its ruler, decrees that there shall be no love allowed in her domain, only sex. Expect happy endings, with some astute social commentary thrown in. And expect sex and maybe even nudity. I asked Pflaster about the nudity in his plays, which is fairly frequent. He smiled and simply said, “I like nudity.” Both “Empress” and “Equality” contain orgy scenes. Pflaster hails from South Florida, where he spent several years working as an actor and playwright, especially at Florida Playwrights Theatre. He came to New York City about 15 years ago and has found a comfortable home here within the indie theater community. In addition to writing (a lot!), he also frequently directs plays and sometimes acts. He produces many of his shows through his company (Cross-Eyed Bear Productions). And he writes theatre criticism for the website Broadway World. He’s definitely held in high esteem by his colleagues. One of them, actor Heather Lee Rogers, took the time recently to compose a brief appreciation of Pflaster. In it, she explains why this artist is consistently able to attract the most talented collaborators: “What if we take a selfish, tragic hero (the dashing-yet-flawed man we’re so used to accepting) and make the character female? What if we take an allforgiving wife role and make it the husband? What if we make the hero prince gay and not interested in princesses at all? This is why actors clamor to do Pflaster’s plays, because in them we get to play roles we usually don’t get to try.” There will be nearly three dozen shows in Planet Connections this June, but Pflaster is the only playwright who wrote more than one of them. Audiences in search of wit, daring and a cockeyed world view are advised to check out “The Empress of Sex” and “The Taint of Equality” at the festivity, to find what they’re looking for. Martin Denton is the editor/producer of nytheatre.com. His latest project is indietheaternow.com.

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May 30 - June 12, 2012

Just Do Art! B Y SCO T T S T IFF L E R

MERCHANT’S HOUSE ANNUAL JUNE BENEFIT: A GREEK REVIVAL

Considering the fact that the Merchant’s House Museum has been home to the Tredwell family’s furnishings and possessions since they first moved in a very long time ago, the whole place looks remarkably well. Still, a little microscopic and chemical analysis wouldn’t hurt…in order to ensure that everything from window treatments to carpeting to the placement of furniture accurately represents the time period of 1835-1865. The MHM’s Historic Furnishings Plan is an ambitious effort to present an even more authentic interpretation of the house. Such CSI-like detective work costs real money, though…and that’s where you come in. Help the keepers of Merchant’s House preserve the integrity of New York City’s only family home preserved intact from the mid-19th century — when you attend their annual June benefit. This year’s theme, “A Greek Revival,” involves cocktails, fine wines, hors d’oeuvres, music and a silent auction in the Museum’s lush 19th century garden (with the chance to spend some quality time in MHM’s one-of-a-kind Greek Revival parlors). Thurs., June 7, 6:30-8:30pm, at Merchant’s House Museum (29 E. 4th St., btw. Bowery & Lafayette). Tickets start at $125. Reservations required; call 212-777-1089 or visit merchantshouse.org/greekrevival. Regular Museum hours: Thurs.-Mon., 12-5pm. Admission is $10, $5 for students/seniors.

RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART: SPIRAL MUSIC

That six-story, 90-foot spiral staircase — an iconic holdover from the building’s former life as home to department store behemoth Barney’s — is as much of an eyecatcher as what’s on display at the Rubin Museum of Art. Their upcoming “Spiral Music” series makes savvy use of the staircase by planting at its base artists who specialize in music from the Himalayas and South Asia. With museum works often simultaneously projected behind the musicians during the performances, audiences are invited to forge

a connection between the music and the RMA’s contemplative collection of Himalayan art. This isn’t the first time the staircase has hosted performers: Back in January, “Cirquetacular: The Green Lama” saw aerial artists navigating the space while interpreting a 1944 issue of “The Green Lama” comic book. The exhibit that inspired that event (“Hero, Villain, Yeti”— all about comic books that draw on Tibetan culture and religion) can be seen through June 11. As for “Spiral Music,” it happens every Wednesday in June, and is a free event. On June 6, Riger Lipson (sitar) and Ehren Hanson (tabla) inaugurate the series. On June 13, the work of Noorul Khan (sitar), Sujay Dighe (tabla) and Ricky Mathew (tabla) includes a piece of Indian classical music composed for the series. From 5:45pm-6:30pm, Nepali musicians Raj Kapoor (percussion) and Pawan Benjamin (bansuri) join them. The series concludes on June 20, with Max ZT — whose dulcimer work enlivens the conceptual framework of traditional folk music by fusing multi-cultural roots and traditions. Free. Wednesdays in June, 5-7pm, at the Rubin Museum of Art (150 W. 17 St., btw. 6th & 7th Aves). Regular Hours: Mon./Thurs., 11am5pm; Wed., 11am-7pm; Fri., 11am-10pm; Sat./ Sun., 11am-6pm. Adults, $10; students/seniors, $5; under 12, free. Gallery admission is free every Fri., from 6-10pm, and free for seniors (65+) on the first Mon. of the month. For more info, visit rmanyc.org.

ARCHIVE OF CONTEMPORARTY MUSIC SURFIN’ SUMMER RECORD & CD SALE

A not-for-profit archive, library and research center, the ARChive of Contemporary Music collects, preserves and provides information on popular music from 1950 to the present (by, among other things, keeping on hand two copies of all recordings released in America). One of their big events, Brazilian Music Day, happens on September 7…but you don’t have to sit tight until then. Put on your Hawaiian shirt (or buy one on site) and get into the spirit of ARChive’s “Rockin’ Summer Record & CD Sale.” Over 20,000 items are up for grab — including hundreds of CDs priced at $1 to $5, and just-released CDs for $5-$10. It’s mostly pop and rock, but you’ll also find jazz, blues, Cuban CDs and classical LPs and CDs. If discs and vinyl don’t excite you, maybe the original vintage 60s psychedelic posters and Astroturf Yard Sale section of vintage kitchen wares and clothing will get your motor running. Sat. June 9 through Sun., June 17 (11am6pm, daily). Cocktail party, for ARC members, on Thurs., June 7, 6-9pm. At ARChive of Contemporary Music (54 White St., btw. Broadway & Church St., three blocks south of Canal). For info, call 212-226-6967 or visit arcmusic.org. Email them at arcmusic@inch. com, follow their blog at arcmusic.wordpress. com and friend them, at facebook.com/archiveofcontemporarymusic.

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26

May 30 - June 12, 2012

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May 30 - June 12, 2012

Aptekar delves deep into the mind of big thinkers, major players Artist’s work accessible Uptown and in Soho ART BERNARD APTEKAR: “PORTRAITS OF AN INTELLECTUAL AND POLITICAL LANDSCAPE”

Through June 12 Mon.-Fri., 9am-5pm At the Kosciuszko Foundation 15 E. 65th St., btw. Madison & 5th Aves. For info on the exhibition, call 212-7342130 or visit thekf.org To access Aptekar’s paintings, sculpture & seriographs, visit aptekar.net/bernard

B

rooklyn-born, Tribeca-based artist Bernard Aptekar brings his uniquely perceptive paintings to the Kosciuszko Foundation — a year after the exhibition had a critically acclaimed run at the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland. “Life has to be serious as well as playful, and you have to do it all,” says Aptekar — whose work makes good on

Aptekar’s take on Arthur Miller.

Images courtesy of the artist

“The Triple Portrait of J. Robert Oppenheimer” charts the scientist’s intellectual development.

that philosophy by burrowing deep into the psyche of political and intellectual

figures, while grafting his own sometimes whimsical, sometimes ominous stamp onto their well-known public personas. In July of 2011, in an article available online (go to downtownexpress.com and access “Soho artist finds an audience in Poland”), Sam Spokony observed: “Bernard Aptekar, 75, has never been a stranger

to the dark aspects of human existence. Neither cryptic nor apologetic, his artwork has exposed and protested the cruelty and violence born of the development of civilization. The same keen eye that has guided him through towering cultural opuses like “The Defeat of the City of Plutonium: A Holocaust Prevented” (which put the ethics of technological achievement on trial) and “The Heart of the Matter” (an empathetic treatment of Cuba’s communist revolutionaries) has led Aptekar to create a series of paintings in which he focuses on some of the most unique minds in modern history. Among his subjects are Barack Obama, Mikhail Gorbachev, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Arthur Miller and Philip Roth. Their unique achievements are represented by contextual backgrounds that range from splashes of color to floating heads.” In addition to the Kosciuszko Foundation exhibition, the public is invited to contact the artist at 212-226-7154 for a tour of his Mercer Street studio. Among the portraits on display there: “Gabriel Garcia Marquez in a Tee Shirt with Speeding Vehicles Thinks About One Hundred Years of Solitude.” Like all of his work, that title provides much information about Aptekar’s take on his subject — but stops short of revealing the whole story.

—Scott Stiffler

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