Downtown Express August 13, 2015

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BY SCOTT STIFFLER ake a hike, TKTS. Put a brick in it, Ticketmaster. Keep your pablum, “Phantom.” For less than what it costs to stand at the back of a Broadway house, you can sit in the air-conditioned comfort of a Downtown theater while watching a FringeNYC performance — and have a decent chance of eyeing someone who will one day grace a prohibitively expensive Midtown stage, or charm their way onto your smartphone screen (fans of Bradley Cooper, Melissa Rauch and Morgan Spurlock can attest to that). But this 16-day marathon of dance, comedy, drama and uncategorizable lunacy is more than just a breeding ground for things to come.

Year in and year out, the festival plays canary to popular culture’s coal

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Continued on page 22

Rendering by SHoP Architects

Some members of the Landmarks Preservation Commission last week said they thought the proposed rooftop canopy for Pier 17 at South Street Seaport was too high.

City Landmarks rains on South Street Seaport plan WEEKEND EVENTS P.3 SOUTHBRIDGE LOSES CATHOLIC MASS P.10 TEEN SEX DRAWS LIFE SENTENCE P.17

B Y J O SH ROGERS ity Landmarks commissioners last week splashed cold water on the South Street Seaport plan to cover most of Pier 17’s rooftop with protection from the rain.

Members of the Landmarks Preservation Commission did not say they would reject the canopy proposed by Howard Hughes Corp., but they did say the covering was too high, and told the developer they

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wanted to see more renderings of how it would look from the street.

Two commissioners who approved the 2013 design with reservations, said the proposed revisions make it worse.

“It was just on the edge before, and I think the height of the canopy for me tips it over,” Michael Goldblum said at the Aug. 4 hearing.

“I have certain concerns similar to [other] commissioners about the

1 MET ROT E CH • NYC 112 01 • COPYRIG HT © 2015 N YC COMMU N ITY MED IA , LLC

size and shape of the canopy,” said Meenakshi Srinivasan, the commission’s chairperson who was appointed last year by Mayor Bill de Blasio after the L.P.C. approval two years ago.

Most of the speakers at the public hearing were opposed to the application for the South Street Seaport Historic District, many citing the Continued on page 9

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FiDi Families and Play-Well TEKnologies are presenting a free LEGO workshop for children on Fri., Aug. 14 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 206 Front St. With access to more than 20,000 LEGO pieces, kids will work together to create bridges, skyscrapers, and motorized LEGO cars.

The workshop is just one of many different events happening Downtown over the next two weekends.

Dancewave’s advanced summer dance intensive class will be holding a free performance showcase on Aug. 14 SuNDay & LaTE EVENINGS For your Convenience starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Arts Center on Governors Island. The showcase is open to the public and is a celebration of the hard work put in by the dancers. Ferries leave from the Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan.

Enjoy live music every Friday at the Fulton Stall Market, located at 207A Front St. starting at 7 p.m. Christine and the Lemon Twigs will be performing Aug. 14, and drinks can be purchased at the New Market Bar on-site. The Cheerleader band will perform the following Friday.

The Battery Dance festival kicks off Sat., Aug. 15 in Wagner Park at the southern tip of Battery Park City starting at 6:30 p.m. Now in its 34th year, this free event includes dance companies from around the world.

The Summer Streets celebration concludes Aug. 15, inviting New Yorkers of all ages to play, run, walk and (Regular Value $220) bike on car-free streets from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Summer Cleaning | Comprehensive Exam | X-rays Streets opens almost seven miles on Lafayette St. and Oral Cancer Screening | Personal Consultation Park Ave. to bikers and walkers, connecting the Brooklyn Exp. 9/15/15 Exp. 9/15/15 Bridge to Central Park. A number of free activities will be offered at each of the five rest stops along the route.

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starting at 2 p.m. Located at Pier 26 in Tribeca, this festival combines blues musicians with some of the city’s best known barbeque restaurants.

Otis Taylor Band, Jarekus Singleton and Vaneese Thomas are performing this year. This event is free and will take place rain or shine.

Thirty-two teams will be vying for the title of 2015 Lawn Bocce Champion at Colonel’s Row on Governors Island Aug. 22 starting at noon.

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classes at Spring and Lafayette Sts. Slide down a 270foot waterslide at Foley Square, or relax in a lounge chair underneath palm trees.

Hudson River Park Trust’s Big City Fishing continues this summer every Sunday at Pier 25 near N. Moore St. in Tribeca from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. This free program is offered to adults and children five years or older who want to learn both how to fish and about the Hudson River environment. Rods, reels, bait and instruction are provided.

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City: Less glass, adds class to Chase Plaza redesign MAN ARRESTED IN ANTI-MUSLIM ATTACK A homeless man was arrested last week and charged with felony assault for a hate crime that took place last month in Chinatown, police say.

Zin McDade, 29, who was arrested Aug. 4, has been charged with two counts of felony assault, one as a hate crime, and aggravated harassment as a hate crime, police say.

On Sat., July 11, at 10:40 p.m., McDade allegedly approached a 19-year-old woman in front of 109 East Broadway and accused her of speaking negatively about him in her language, according to police. A verbal argument ensued. Police say McDade made anti-Muslim statements and spit and punched the woman in the face.

The woman, who suffered a fractured jaw, was taken at that time to Beth Israel Hospital in stable condition, police say.

McDade has been arrested before — earlier this year and in August 2014, according to the New York State Unified Court system website.

WOMAN ATTACKED IN CHINATOWN A woman was attacked from behind in the early morning hours on Tues., Aug. 4 in Chinatown, police say.

In front of 147 Mott St., a man approached the woman, 55, at around 5 a.m. and struck her on the back with some type of object, causing a laceration. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was treated and released, police say.

The suspect was described as anywhere from 25 to 30 years old, 6’0”,

175 pounds and was wearing a white t-shirt, red sweat pants, red and white basketball sneakers and had a red and white drawstring backpack.

struck Daniel in the face causing minor injuries, according to police and reports. He refused medical attention at the scene, police say.

THIEVES PUNCH MOM FOR KIDS’ NINTENDO

WOMEN, GUNS & THE 9/11 MEMORIAL

Two men punched a mom and then stole her children’s handheld game consoles in the Financial District just after midnight two weekends ago, police say.

The Brooklyn woman, 21, her three kids and a friend had just departed from the Whitehall Ferry Terminal when they were attacked from behind by two men in the early morning, Sat., Aug. 1. One punched the woman while the other stole two Nintendo DS. The men, both described as 5’7”, fled. Police did not release the ages of the children.

A Texas woman was arrested Sat., Aug. 1 for bringing two guns to the 9/11 Memorial, the New York Post reported.

Elizabeth Anne Enderli, 31, alerted Ground Zero security that she had a 9mm and .380 caliber pistol when she asked them where they could be stored, the Post reported. She was promptly arrested and spent the night in jail.

The Post reported that Enderli, a Marine Corps veteran and mother, thought that her Texas concealed-carry permit was applicable in New York State — it is not. This is not the first time an out-of-state tourist, according to the Post, has brought a weapon to the memorial — a Tennessee woman brought a gun in 2011 and a Milwaukee woman in 2013.

GAY COUPLE TARGETED Police arrested a Queens man Wednesday for shouting homophobic slurs and attacking a gay couple in Soho earlier this month.

Thomas Clabough, 57, has been charged with assault and attempted assault, both as hate crimes, police say.

The couple, Daniel LennoxChoate, 30, and Larry LennoxChoate, were at a shop at 186 Prince St. at around 2:30 p.m. on Sun., Aug. 2 when a man entered the store to buy beer, according to several news outlets.

Clabough allegedly started shouting anti-gay statements at the couple — the first to marry at West Point Military Academy in 2013 — and threw punches at them. He allegedly

‘LUSH WORKER’ TAG TEAM Two men who were working together to steal from a sleeping man on a northbound A train on Sat., Aug. 1 at around 4 a.m. were caught in the act and arrested, police say.

The arresting officer saw one of the men, 54, sit down next to a sleeping passenger, 22, use a razor blade to cut his right short pocket and grab his wallet. The other man, 52, acted as a lookout. They were both arrested and the wallet, which had $20 inside, was recovered. Both men had razor blades on them — a common tool for those the police term “lush workers.”

WALLET STOLEN A Tribeca woman out for breakfast and a shopping trip to Whole Foods had her wallet stolen two weeks ago, police say.

The woman, 36, paid for her meal at around 9:30 a.m. at Mulberry & Vine at 73 Warren St. on Wed., July 29, police say. She stayed at the restaurant until noon and then went to Whole Foods.

When she went to pay for her groceries, she realized her $150 black leather wallet with $20, eight credit cards and $40 MetroCard was gone.

The thief wasted no time, making a beeline for Macy’s that day and used the cards to try to make two separate purchases of $200, but the cards were declined, police say.

STORE’S UN-DRESSED A shoplifter stole a $1,250 dress from the front of a Soho store while an employee was distracted with customers in the back, police say.

The employee, 22, told police she was helping customers at the back of the high-end lingerie and clothing store Kiki de Montparnasse at 79 Greene St. on Sat., Aug. 1. The theft took place around 12:30 p.m. and the employee said she did not see who had taken the dress.

—DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

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QUICK BIKE SNATCH Less than ten minutes is all it took for a thief to steal a $1,200 gray Diamondback mountain bike midday Sunday in Soho, police say.

A 41-year-old man chained his bicycle to a signpost at the corner of Prince and Wooster Sts. at 11:30 a.m. on Sun., Aug 2. When he returned at 11:40 a.m., the bike and the chain were gone.

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August 13-August 26, 2015

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The second time was the charm for Chinese company Fosun, which got Landmarks Preservation Commission approval on Tues., Aug. 4 for changes they want to make to landmarked 28 Liberty Plaza, formerly known as One Chase Manhattan.

Almost two years ago, Fosun bought the 60-story, 2.2 million sq. ft. tower for $725 million from JPMorgan Chase.

In March, it had unveiled plans for a revamped plaza, which included glass storefronts, new entrances to the levels below the building and more lighting.

All of this was in hope of attracting both retailers and shoppers to the 200,000 sq. ft. in the five levels below the tower.

While praising the overall plan, Community Board 1 in March objected to Fosun cutting away at the plaza’s black granite base and replacing it with glass.

The L.P.C. concurred, sending Fosun

and its architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill back to the drawing board after they presented to the commission in May. (S.O.M. was the original architect of the 1964 building, which was landmarked in 2009.)

At last week’s meeting, Fosun presented less glass and more black granite. The commissioners appreciated the reduction of glass and one called the revisions “preserving the integrity of this modern masterpiece.” Fosun did get three entry points for their underground retail space — glass boxes that are reminiscent of Apple’s Midtown store’s entrance.

While the L.P.C. approved the plan, there are still some minor adjustments that need to be worked out.

Renderings courtesy of S.O.M.

Left, the original proposal that had more glass and less black granite, shown above is the approved plan for 28 Liberty St. Below, another rendering of the plaza.

— DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC WITH JOSH ROGERS

Meet the new member of Community Board 1 Keith Markel, an attorney who specializes in employment law and a father of four, joined Community Board 1 last month.

Markel and his wife moved to Nassau St. over 11 years ago. Three of their children attend Spruce Street School and the youngest is 18 months old.

Longtime Downtown residents, he and his wife Keith Markel are active members of the community and their children play in several of the local sports leagues. He said his wife also works in the community.

“I want our children and our friends DowntownExpress.com

and our neighbors to appreciate what I have always said to my wife is the nicest part of Manhattan,” Markel said in a phone interview. “That was really the impetus for wanting to be a part of [C.B. 1].

“I’ve long felt that C.B. 1 has done great things to help our community grow and prosper and I just want to be a part of that process,” he added.

He was appointed to the 50-member board by Borough President Gale Brewer last month, and replaces Jeff Galloway, who was removed after plead-

ing guilty to tax fraud.

Markel, a partner at Morrison Cohen in Midtown, will serve on the board’s Seaport/Civic Center and Planning committees. Resiliency, a pressing issue since Superstorm Sandy, is on his radar.

“I think it’s important for our community to make sure that we’re not left vulnerable,” he said. “That we do whatever we can to grow our community in an environmentally friendly manner and safeguard our residents and commercial tenants who have chosen our community to make a living.”

Markel noted that several businesses in the Seaport haven’t been able to bounce back after Sandy.

“We want to be able to create a community that lasts,” he said.

Asked about the hit and run incident that happened in April during the morn-

ing dropoff outside his children’s school, he said, “As a parent, I’m always concerned about the safety of our children and walking to and from the school.”

He said that the traffic light that was installed at Nassau and Beekman Sts. should help.

“Unfortunately, we live in a congested area that now has a lot of residential buildings,” he said.

Safety at Spruce and Peck Slip School, which will open in the Seaport this fall, is also a reason Markel wanted to join the board.

“I’m looking forward to being a part of the process,” said Markel. “I’m excited about having open dialogue about these issues. I’m looking forward to giving back to the community as best I can.”

— DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC August 13-August 26, 2015

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Survey shows some satisfaction, but also garbage problems two students from the City College of New York and the board’s urban fellow who also worked on the project.

“It was a massive effort,” said Levine.

The students stood at 40 intersections, Levine explained, and asked those passing by if they would be interviewed.

Catherine McVay Hughes, the board’s chairperson, picked the intersections.

The locations were chosen so that they were spread out roughly evenly within C.B. 1, Hughes explained in an email last week. She looked for areas where residents live or frequent.

The results of the survey showed that the most serious problems in C.B. 1 are overcrowded streets and sidewalks, dirty subways, too much noise and a lack of affordable housing.

“These are things that we suspected we would find,” Levine said when he presented the results to the full board at their monthly meeting on Tues., July 28.

Respondents said the top problem at both the Seaport/Civic Center and the Financial District was too much construction. Earlier this year, Hughes said there were 95 major construction projects going on in Lower Manhattan.

The Financial District was the only neighborhood that cited poor air quality as a problem.

For Tribeca and Battery Park City, the top concern was the lack of affordable housing.

The survey’s last question asked about quality of life issues that need to be addressed. Overall, the number one issues were less garbage and pollution and to improve air quality.

“Living here in Lower Manhattan

what we’ve been saying,” he said.

People also said that they would like to see more parks and open spaces, less construction, garbage and air pollution, and better public transportation.

Those interviewed in Battery Park City and the Seaport/Civic Center also said they would like to see more shopping, restaurants, bars and nightlife.

The top quality of life issue in the Financial District

Many respondents said too much garbage and overcrowded sidewalks were two of Lower Manhattan’s biggest problems as part of a yearlong survey by Community Board 1 and Pace students.

through all the years of reconstruction after 9/11 we knew very well we would get this answer,” said Levine. “It’s good to know that 49 percent of those we spoke to gave us the same answer — less garbage, garbage everywhere, pollution and of course, lack of proper air quality.”

The second issue was the lack of affordable housing.

“This community board has said this year after year after year at every committee meeting, and every board meeting, and those who live and work in our community are confirming exactly

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Quality of life issues varied between C.B. 1 neighborhoods. The Financial District wants less construction and the Seaport/Civic Center less garbage. Tribeca (oppposite page) is YS AN ALB looking for more parking and a fix for overcrowded streets and sidewalks. Battery Park City was the only neighborhood’s whose number one response was “not one thing: it’s nice here!”

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August 13-August 26, 2015

crowded sidewalks, crowded streets, too much construction, too much garbage — what we didn’t expect that it would be so unanimous.”

In her email, Hughes wrote “one surprise was that the shortage of school seats for local children did not make the top of the list, but we all know that is a hot button issue for families with school age children.”

The survey results will be incorporated into the board’s district needs statement, which is done every year and precedes its budget requests, for fiscal year 2017.

Downtown Express photo by Mia Rupani

ROCKEFELLER PARK

6

was less construction while in the Seaport/Civic Center, less garbage and pollution, and to improve air quality. In Tribeca, it was overcrowded sidewalks, streets and more parking.

Levine, in the phone interview, noted the similarities in the four districts concerning problems and quality of life issues.

“We really thought we would see big differences [between neighborhoods], we didn’t,” Levine said in a phone interview. “But the unanimity of opinion about

Continued from page 6

NASSAU STREET

with 30 students would tackle one of C.B. 1’s four neighborhoods — Battery Park City, Tribeca, Seaport/Civic Center and the Financial District. Each student was required to do ten surveys, Levine said.

There were 1,187 people interviewed, which included businesspeople, tourists, students and residents. From Battery Park City, 366 people participated in the survey, 239 from the Financial District, 235 from Tribeca and 347 from the Seaport/ Civic Center.

Levine said this was the first time a survey of this kind had been undertaken for C.B. 1. It was inspired by another professor who had done something similar for community boards in Brooklyn and Harlem, he said.

In addition to the 120 students, there were two volunteers from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer’s office,

BROADWAY

B Y DUSICA SU E M A L E SE V IC A yearlong survey conducted to figure out community needs in Lower Manhattan yielded some surprises, including that optimism resides in Battery Park City.

When asked what they would change about their neighborhood, the number one response was “not one thing: it’s nice here!”

“From Battery City Park, we heard people saying that it’s wonderful here, no changes at all, we love it the way it is,” said Michael Levine, Community Board 1’s planning consultant, in a phone interview.

The Seaport/Civic Center was the only other area to garner the same response, but it was only two percent there, compared to almost 11 in Battery Park City.

Levine, who also teaches urban planning at Pace University, enlisted his students to conduct the survey. One class

August 13-August 26, 2015

7

Tower construction continues, but height’s a mystery

BY YANNIC RACK Exactly how high will a new apartment tower rise by the Manhattan Bridge? That question is currently hard to answer.

On July 29, the community room on the second floor of Two Bridges Tower once again filled up with worried residents who demanded answers about the massive development currently being built next door.

The quarterly meeting was a chance for Extell Development to present neighbors with an update on their new residential tower under construction at 250 South St., which, once completed, will dwarf the rest of the neighborhood.

But while the company’s representatives tried to soothe some concerns about the project where construction began last year, they refused to give a final word on the tower’s height.

“This is a construction meeting and we are not here to address that tonight,” Raizy Haas, Extell’s senior vice president for project management and development, responded to the crowd.

“We’re building two buildings, a fair market and an affordable building,” she added. “With respect to the total number of stories or height, it’s still a work in progress.”

That wasn’t good enough for some in the audience.

“We have a right to know. Let them answer us,” demanded one woman when Susan Stetzer, district manager of Community Board 3, took the microphone.

Cracks inside Two Bridges Tower that residents say were caused by Extell’s construction at 250 South St.

“I think I’ve got the mic because they’re not willing to answer that,” Stetzer said.

The company’s plans for a roughly 800-unit luxury condo tower by the Manhattan Bridge was revealed long ago, but the building’s proposed

height has repeatedly changed.

It has shifted from the original 56 stories to 61, and then rose further to 68, 71, 72 and finally 80 stories, as a recent zoning document filed in the city’s property records shows.

The most recent Dept. of Buildings filing puts the height at 72 stories, however, which is the figure Trever Holland, president of the Two Bridges Tower Residents Association, offered to annoyed members of the community.

“We’re just gonna leave it at that,” he said.

But after the meeting, Holland acknowledged that he expected the company to raise the final height to 80 stories.

“I think the D.O.B. filings are just a game they play to test the market and gauge reaction,” he wrote in an email this week. “If I were to bet, I’d say 80.”

At the meeting, residents also complained about damages to their building, like cracks in the walls and shifting door locks.

They said these are caused by the foundation work currently going on at the construction site, which is expected to continue through the first quarter of next year.

In addition to the tower, Lend Lease — the construction firm overseeing the project — is also building a smaller, affordable housing component right next to it.

Continued on page 18

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Continued from page 1

additional obstruction to the Brooklyn Bridge, and the noise from large events on the canopy.

Many of them also criticized the developer “segmenting” the Pier 17 plan from Hughes’ broader proposal, which includes restoring the Seaport’s Tin Building and constructing a residential tower at the New Market Building.

Surprisingly, Councilmember Margaret Chin and Borough President Gale Brewer, two of the leading opponents of Hughes’ overall plans, thanked the commission for separating the proposals, and did not oppose the Pier 17 roof in their joint statement to Landmarks.

“We would like to express our appreciation first that we are considering this application on its own, and not entangled with a number of other changes presented to the community board in January,” the SOUTH STREET SEAPORT // pair said.

They also said they’ve heard the community concerns about how the roof will be used, but since the commission can only rule on aesthetics, they would take those matters up elsewhere.

The application “is of course part of much larger questions related to the development of the Seaport area that will not be settled today,” Brewer and Chin said.

Assemblymember Sheldon Silver, for his part, acknowledged the commission’s limitations in his written testimony, but added “I believe that in this case, you need to also consider how his proposed canopy would change the character of this unique community.”

PIER 17 SOUTH FACADE // 10.15.13 APPROVED

For the Hughes firm, the need for a 30-foot canopy is simple.

“When it’s raining or snowing in the South Street Seaport district, there are no people walking around,” Chris Curry, the Hughes executive in charge of the project, told the commission.

The project’s architect, Gregg Pasquarelli, said fire codes required that the covering must be at least 30 feet over exit stairs, but he took Chairperson Srinivasan’s suggestion to try and reduce the height by leaving the egresses exposed to the elements.

Storytelling, Russian

WE’RE EXPANDING! August 13-August 26, 2015

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT // THE SITE (JUNE 2015)

CANOPY DEBATE

1 2 3 A C E

(212) 334-0400 administration@montessorimanhattan.com

Seaport’s Pier 17 roof plan panned

www.montessorimanhattan.com

DowntownExpress.com

DowntownExpress.com

Images by SHoP Architects

The new Pier 17 under construction last month, top. It was scheduled to open next year. The Tin Building is in the foreground right, and at left is the New Market Building, the site of Howard Hughes Corp.’s proposed tower, which is currently being redesigned to be much shorter. The look of Pier 17 with a canopy, SOUTH STREET // PROPOSED PIER 17 CANOPY, MECHANICALS, + SCREEN below, and SEAPORT the approve design, left.

30

The canopy was added based on suggestions made by members of the Seaport Working Group, a community based panel which was led by Brewer and Chin and formed to help Hughes revise its proposals.

Community Board 1, also part of the working group, has gone back and forth on a Pier 17 roof, but is now solidly against.

“We didn’t have some issues with [it] in the beginning, but as we discovered it developing, we’ve had more and more challenges with it,” C.B. 1’s Roger Byrom said at last month’s community board meeting.

At the Landmarks hearing, the plan was generally opposed by preservation groups and residents, but supported by local and citywide business groups, including the Downtown Alliance, the Old Seaport Alliance, and the Association for a Better New York.

Michael Kramer, a leader of Save Our Seaport, cited Hughes’ claims to attract 4,000 people to what the firm has called “the world’s premier enter-

tainment venue.”

Hughes Corp. “has been before you multiple times misleading L.P.C. with an ever changing story,” Kramer said at the hearing, pointing to changes in the design. “Adding 40 feet in height to the rooftop…will obstruct views of the Brooklyn Bridge.”

After, he said he was “encouraged” by the commissioners’ reaction.

PUBLIC ACCESS? The roof would increase or decrease the public’s use of the space, depending on who is making the prediction.

“By putting a canopy on it, the

community will realistically and practicably, have less use of that extra space,” Byrom, chairperson of C.B. 1’s Landmarks Committee, said at last month’s community board meeting.

“Nothing in the operation of the roof is affected by the canopy,” Hughes’ Curry said. “What the canopy does do is it allows the roof to be used more often.”

Byrom and a few others have said the Pier 17 revisions present an opportunity to expand the public’s use of the roof.

Continued on page 12

August 13-August 26, 2015

9

Mass exodus at Southbridge: Church services end B Y DUSICA SU E M A L E SE V IC The recent reorganization of Catholic parishes throughout the New York region and in Lower Manhattan has included the discontinuation of Mass at Southbridge Towers.

“People are upset about it,” said John Fratta, a longtime Southbridge resident and former chairperson of Community Board 1’s Seaport Committee.

Around 15 years ago, Fratta recalled, Mass was being held at St. Margaret’s on Fulton St., but it was mostly attended by Southbridge residents. The service then moved to the complex’s community room to make it accessible for those with mobility or other issues.

“However, that Mass has grown from people who can’t attend because of their handicap or their age to well-abled people,” said Fratta. “It became a Mass of convenience, not a Mass of necessity.”

The cardinal said he wanted that practice stopped because he feels that Mass should be held inside a church, Fratta explained in a phone interview. On July 31, Mass at Southbridge ended.

The next day, several churches were merged in the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and seven Upstate counties as part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York’s “Making All Things New” initiative. This meant that many churches, almost 40, as the New York Times reported, have been closed. An anticipated shortage of priests and less parishioners had led to the restructuring.

The archdiocese declined to

comment for this article.

In Lower Manhattan, Our Lady of Victory, at 60 William St., merged with the Church of St. Andrew, at 20 Cardinal Hayes Pl. St. Peter’s Church at 22 Barclay St. also merged with Our Lady of Rosary at 7 State St. All will continue to have Mass.

Fratta goes every Sunday to Our Lady of Victory and is a trustee of the church.

“We know that there were people that used to come to Our Lady of Victory that decided you know what, it’s easier coming out of your building going into the community room having Mass and your fulfilling your religious obligation,” he said.

Our Lady of Victory is trying to come up with a way to accommodate people who are unable to make it to church, he said. Reverend Monsignor Marc J. Filacchione, now at the helm of the merged parish, is considering having a Eucharistic minister, a layperson, help administer communion for those who can’t get to church, Fratta said.

There is also the possibility that a service may take place once a month (or more frequently) at Southbridge, and that confession may be offered there as well, said Fratta.

“That way we are reaching the ones that really can’t make to church,” he said.

People with disability or mobility issues also have the option to watch the Mass on television, said Fratta.

Rev. Msgr. Filacchione was unavailable for comment.

Fratta did not know when these services would start.

M22 returns to Chambers The eastbound M22 bus route returned to Chambers St. Sun., Aug. 2 following the completion of the Chambers St. reconstruction project. The project, which began in the summer of 2010, was arranged to repair water and sewer infrastructure below Chambers St. Other improvements to the area include new streetlights, granite curbs and trees. The project was slated for completion in 2013, but after Superstorm Sandy and unexpected repairs to a gas main

10

August 13-August 26, 2015

the project was extended through 2015.

The eastbound M22, which connects Battery Park City and Tribeca to Chinatown and the Lower East Side, was rerouted to Warren St. between North End Ave. and Broadway during the construction.

News of the change seems to be seeping in slowly. This past week, few people waited along Chambers to catch the bus.

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Mass at the Southbridge Towers community room recently ended, and some local Catholics are hoping people will switch to Church of St. Andrew, which could face closure if its congregation doesn’t grow.

“Right now, there’s all these changes that are taking place with the new merger between the two parishes, it’s definitely going to happen, but I don’t know when,” he said. “I think right now we’re trying to get through the merger.”

Around 18 months before the reorganization, churches were put into clusters and asked for recommendations, Fratta said. Our Lady of Victory, St. Peter’s Church, St. Andrew and Our Lady of the Rosary were grouped together.

The committee recommended that St. Andrew, Our Lady of Victory and St. Peter’s remain single parishes. Our Lady of the Rosary would be united with Our Lady of Victory, said Fratta. The cardinal decided something differently, he said.

“We really were winners in this that we didn’t lose any church,” said

Fratta. “These other neighborhoods that lost churches, those people are really very angry and rightly so.”

All of the churches will be reevaluated after two years, he said.

Fratta said they are urging people to go to St. Andrew. The church, which is near City Hall, has potential, he explained, with all the residential units that are going up.

“If the archdiocese sees in two years that the numbers still haven’t gone up, they could possibly close the church and that’s something that we definitely don’t want to happen,” he said.

He had an example: St. Joseph’s Church, which closed after 90 years, at 5 Monroe St. on the Lower East Side. “[It] was a crime losing that church,” he said. “You hate when they close churches but unfortunately that seems to be the reality today.”

DowntownExpress.com

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11

Pier 17 plan Continued from page 9

Part of the roof will always be open, but the large section that allows for small children to play soccer can be closed for private events. (Hughes has said it could be used this way regularly on Saturdays).

Community-based groups can use the roof for free for fundraisers four times a year under the 2013 city approval.

Councilmember Chin, who helped negotiate the 2013 deal, seems reluctant to reopen the agreement, but her spokesperson did say the new land use application will give the community the chance “to discuss many things of importance.”

Hughes clearly doesn’t want to talk about increasing access on Pier 17.

“You’re talking about something that’s already been decided,” Curry told C.B. 1 while the board was debating its recommendation to Landmarks.

“You’re just trying to figure if you want a canopy on the building or not.”

The board did not.

A week later, most of the Landmarks commissioners did not like the covering’s height, but one did

Dr. Z was Dr. X, says narc prosecutor

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT // PIER 17 RENOVATION // PROPOSED DEMOLITION OF HEAD HOUSE AND LINK BUILDING

speak up for it.

Frederick Bland said from his home facing the Seaport, he sees many people use Brooklyn’s Pier 2 because of its covering.

Bland, who voted for the 2013 Pier 17 plan, said he didn’t like the revisions because they will increase exposure of the Pier 17 building, turning it into “a perfect mall.”

He never liked having “a mall on the waterfront in New York City. It seemed wrong at the time (30 years ago). It still seems wrong, but did I vote for it two years ago? I did.”

Hughes plans to open a new asphalt roadway with the removal of two ‘80s era buildings next to Pier 17 — the Link Building and headhouse.

Since the access road, intended for deliveries and pedestrians, will be more prominent, the commissioners suggested cobblestones for the historic district.

Curry, in a statement to Downtown Express said “we are processing the feedback,” from the Landmarks Commission and will revise the design.

NEW PIER 17

HEAD HOUSE

LINK BUILDING

Images by SHoP Architects

Schematic of the proposed changes removing the Pier 17 headhouse and Link

12

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT // PIER 17 CANOPY, MECHANICALS, + SCREEN Building.

WITH REPORTING BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVICT:8.75”

PIER 17 CANOPY MECHANICALS + SCREEN PIER 17 WEST FACADE

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13

BY YANNI C RACK A Chinatown-area doctor is accused of illegally selling Xanax prescriptions worth millions, according to authorities.

Bridget Brennan, the city’s special narcotics prosecutor, announced on July 28 that Dr. Mengjia Zhao dispensed up to $4.6 million worth of the addictive anti-anxiety medication onto the black market.

Zhao, who kept a practice at 109 Lafayette St., was charged with illegally selling 28 prescriptions for Xanax, as well as selling the pills themselves on five occasions.

The internist was busted at J.F.K. late on July 27, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The arrest followed a lengthy investigation launched in 2011 after police found prescriptions written by Zhao for several drug dealers peddling the pills in Union Square, a statement by Brennan’s office said.

Zhao subsequently allegedly sold prescriptions for Xanax to undercover New York Police Department officers.

He allegedly charged a $100 cash fee for the first visit by each of the undercovers and $70 for subsequent visits, which was raised to $80 in 2014.

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August 13-August 26, 2015

According to Brennan, an analysis of Zhao’s prescribing history showed that 48 percent of the prescriptions he wrote from 2009 to 2015 were for Xanax — a high rate, given Zhao is an internist not a psychiatrist.

Based on his fees, Zhao stood to collect about $800,000 for these prescriptions, Brennan said.

DowntownExpress.com

DowntownExpress.com

diazepines, including Xanax — which are depressants that can slow the heart and breathing — were found in 36 percent of deaths involving heroin.

Zhao reportedly pleaded not guilty to 33 counts of criminal sale of a prescription and criminal sale of a controlled substance, and his bail was set at $500,000.

Galloway sentenced to 3 months Jeff Galloway, former White St. and has the longtime Community projected release date of Board 1 member and Sept. 20, according to Battery Park City resident, the N.Y.C. Department of has been sentenced to three Corrections website. months in jail and five years He paid approxiprobation for tax fraud. mately $600,000 in tax, In June, Galloway, 61, interests and penalties. pleaded guilty to crimiGalloway, who had been nal tax fraud in the third a partner at law firm Jeff Galloway degree, which is a felony.

Hughes Hubbard and Reed He was sentenced on Wed., for over 30 years, was also July 22 in criminal court at 100 Centre disbarred.

St. and was immediately taken into In April 2012, investigators from custody. the State Department of Taxation and He is currently serving time at the Finance approached Galloway, who had Manhattan Detention Complex at 125 failed to file personal income state tax

returns between 2005 and 2010, he admitted as part of his plea.

According to prosecutors, Galloway was earning close to $1 million per year and told investigators that he had indeed filed, but entered the wrong Social Security number. He continued to lie about fraudulent tax returns he subsequently filed, according to the plea and court documents.

Galloway served on both the Battery Park City and Planning Committees and was a C.B. 1 member for 12 years. He was removed from the board after he pleaded guilty to the felony.

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The sting also allegedly revealed that Zhao ignored signs that patients were addicted to the drug, which carries a street value of $5 per pill.

Fatal drug overdoses in the city increased 41 percent between 2010 and 2013, according to the most recent data available from the city’s Department of Health. In 2013, benzo-

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August 13-August 26, 2015

13

THE ARTISTIC…

Look for pop-up art galleries and events though January.

Some empty storefronts (think the old Wendy’s on Pearl and Beekman Sts.) become temporary exhibition spots under the umbrella “Seaport Culture District.”

Opening Mon., Aug. 17, is The Portrait Project in Cannon’s Walk, 206 Front St. Here an outdoor sound-light show joins together internationally known photographers, engineers from the firm Arup and Art Start, a group that uses the arts to help homeless kids.

The exhibit gives viewers a chance to hear the dreams and see the imaginations of these teens. While there, take a #SeeMeBecause selfie to show the world what makes you special.

And what could be more appealing to New Yorkers than telling the world what makes them rock? The exhibit runs through December.

Coming in September, HarperCollins will celebrate its return to the Seaport.

Surprised? Yes, the mega-publisher began nearly 200 years ago along our cobbled streets. They will introduce HarperCollins BookLab, a reading lounge and event space which will host author events, readings, panels, signings and receptions.

Located in Seaport Studios, 19 Fulton St., you can while away hours while taking in the historic view of Schermerhorn Row. Other events and installations include photomurals by architectural photographer Elizabeth Felicella at 159 John St. and a Guggenheim project at 190 Fulton St. Visit www.southstreetseaport.com for details.

PASSING ON PLASTICS…

Out with the old Styrofoam quarts and on with the new glass pints at Jeremy’s Ale House at 228 Front St. The city made history as the largest in the U.S. to ban restaurants from using plastic foam containers. The ban went into effect July 1 and Mayor de Blasio predicted that would clear nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene waste from landfills, streets and waterways.

Since then, Jeremy’s has been busy transitioning all their food and beverage containers, including the 32-ounce Styrofoam cup used to serve hundreds of beers daily and made the Downtown dive bar an international must-stop.

Yelp user Joe C. of Rhode Island cites as #1 in his “One of My Favorite Manhattan Bars” list: “Draft beers in styrofoam (sic) cups. A 32 ounce domestic draft beer in a styrofoam (sic) cup for 5 bucks. In NYC??? A great deal. The styrofoam (sic) cup is the signature of this place and I think it’s pretty cool.”

Downtown Express photo by Janel Bladow.

Thanks to a new city law, sliders at Jeremy’s Ale House now come in paper containers instead of foam and their famed 32-ounce beers…gasp — are no longer served in Styrofoam.

So the bar loses its Styro-cool but not its overall divey-ness. The waterfront watering hole fairs well this month without its trademark white super cups.

Bar namesake and proprietor Jeremy Holin said, “The change is going relatively smoothly. We have had to put in two dishwashers [mechanical] and hire one [human]. It is an era that is over after 42 years. But our garbage is smaller.

SEAPORT A CHINA ANNEX?...

Or is Howard Hughes Corp just flipping mad? H.H.C. sold the air rights to build a huge skyscraper over 80 South St. and 163 Front St., both just outside the historic district.

According to Crain’s New York Business, China Oceanwide Holdings, a Beijing-based investment company, bought the two parcels and could build an 820,000 square foot building with commercial and residential space. The Chinese company paid $390-million for the plots which H.H.C. acquired earlier this year for $186 million. You do the math. It pays to have bucks to throw around.

Dec

BY JANE L B L A D O W Dog days of summer? Not in the Seaport…lots of action, something for everyone.

Community Culture Connected

SMELL SOMETHING FISHY?...

The first benefit for the South Street Seaport Museum was set for last week. Duran Duran and Wyclef Jean were to headline the event, Dock Rocks. Sounded like a super cool night of partying and music for a great cause. Suddenly it was canceled the week before, citing problems with permits. Rumors are running all over the ‘hood about what happened, who pulled the plug and sunk the boat. We contacted museum reps to quell the gossip but the sources say they’ll get back when they have more details.

SUNSET SALUTATIONS…

Downtown Express photo by Josh Rogers

Howard Hughes Corp. last week sold 80 South St., as part of a $390 million deal with a Chinese investment firm. The building is just outside the neighborhood’s historic district and could be redeveloped into an 800,000 square foot tower.

14

August 13-August 26, 2015

Free yoga every Tuesday is a surefire happy hour.

Yogasmoga: Outdoor Yoga from 5:306:30 pm, as weather permits is a new offering from Seaport Studios. The Fulton Street classes are led by a different teacher every week.

On Aug. 18 Exceed Physical Culture is out front while Lauren Taus of Front St. heads up the bending and stretching the following week. Classes are free but you must R.S.V.P. for a space atmeetup.com/ yogasmoga-Fitness-Classes-Seaport-Studios/.

While on the site, check out their other free offerings including Pilates classes and kids programs.

DowntownExpress.com

CONNECT THE DOTS. VIEW FULL EVENT PROGR AM ONLINE. S E A P O R T D I S T R I C T. N Y C DowntownExpress.com

A N I N I T I AT I V E O F

August 13-August 26, 2015

15

Teen sex leads to lifetime of punishment PUBLISHER

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August 13-August 26, 2015

Sliding instead of biking

Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess

Summer Streets on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. had a little bit of everything, but mainly a car-free route from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park at E. 72nd St. At Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, cyclists, joggers, pedestrians, skaters and everyone else in motion could “pause” to take a trip on a zip line or down a giant water slide. Summer Streets will occur again on Sat., Aug. 15.

Posted To “Lifetime of punishment for teen who had sex with girl claiming to be 17” (POSTED Aug. 3) [EDITOR’S NOTE: A version of this column by Lenore Skenazy appears on the opposite page]: There is no research whatsoever that suggests that criminalizing teenage sexual behavior is beneficial to public safety.

Why are we doing this? Do we want teenagers to have sex? Of course not. Should those who knowingly and willfully break the laws receive appropriate punishment?

Of course. Is there anyone anywhere who believes that Zach not being able to live with his brother or watch a movie with kids in it protects ANYONE? That one is rhetorical; I won’t even bother to answer it.

NationalRSOL I have three words before you unzip: Trust, but verify.

Diane Foster Remember when issues like this were handled by authorities who used common sense instead of political motivation?

Tucsional

“Facing fraud lawsuit, Gigi Li withdraws from district leader’s race” (POSTED July 30): Gigi Li should step down from CB3 chair immediately until this is sorted out.

LESVoter I think the discussion has moved past the point of whether the allegations are true and arrived at the point of what is to be done about it.

The election is over. What matters is whether we should permit this sort of misconduct to carry no penalty….

Whatever we call this — fraud, corruption, dishonesty, etc. — it cannot pass without consequence…. All of us know, no matter our political allegiance, that the time has come to clean up lower Manhattan politics….. Ms. Li should be suspended as Chair of CB3 pending an inquiry.

Others should investigate the complicity of the Chin staff and of those who gave false witness statements….

This was a very local election. Let’s get is right.

StevenLee GiGi Li’s statement to the press denying her fraud is unadulterated non-

sense and knowingly false. The fraud was clearly documented in photos and videos and supported by eyewitnesses.

She knows that and that’s why she quit even though the BOE found her under 500 signatures and she could have challenged that. She and Chin’s staff are up to their eyeballs in this and Li should have had the courage to admit what she did. That’s leadership and that’s integrity. She has neither.

Disgraceful.

JackSuarez “Are my mothering skills slipping to my husband?”

(POSTED July 30): Great piece! Brave disclosure in NY where competitive parenting is a blood sport. Laughed and laughed reading the phrase “kiddie rave,” remember many I bumbled into as a single mother and wish I’d had that label to cling to 30 years ago. Have you considered a “girls’ week?”

Merrill Black This is hilarious! And the key is to seriously limit the pressure of the to do list - plan very little!! Leave lots of open time.

Kori Connelly DowntownExpress.com

BY LENORE SKENAZY Les and Amanda Anderson arrived in New York from Indiana two weeks ago and headed straight to Times Square, as many tourists do. But as they gaped at the billboards and read the news zipping by in lights — “19-Year-Old Sentenced to 25 Years as a Sex Offender” — they stopped dead in their tracks.

That 19-year-old is their son, Zach.

“It took a minute to absorb — it was 1 a.m.,” Amanda told me. I met the Andersons for lunch in Chelsea their second and final day in the city. They’d come to tape a talk show with the popular preacher, T.D. Jakes. “Nightline” had filmed them in their Elkhart home a few days earlier, and they’ve also been on CNN and in the New York Times, all because of a date their teenage son made earlier this year.

Zach had gone on the app “Hot or Not?” and met a girl who lived just over the border in Michigan, who said she was 17. They met up and had sex.

But when she didn’t get home on the dot, her worried mom called the cops, because her daughter has epilepsy. When she got home, the cops found out where she had been and also her true age: 14.

Zach was arrested for rape.

The judge at the trial knew all these facts. What’s more, the girl and her mom both came to testify on Zach’s behalf. “I don’t want him to be a sex offender because he really is not,” the girl’s mom declared.

The judge ignored them and sentenced Zach to 90 days in prison — followed by 25 years on the Sex Offender Registry.

“He just turned around and looked at me like, ‘Help,’ ” said Les, choking up as we sat in a Seventh Ave. deli.

The town rallied around the family.

“We’re praying for your son every morning,” one business associate told Les. A mom told Amanda, “All the parents are talking about is, ‘This could happen to any of us!’ ” The South Bend Tribune did an amazing write-up and Zach’s case became a cause celebre.

But you can be a cause celebre and still have to live under Sex Offender

Registry restrictions. That means that three weeks ago, when Zach got out of jail, he could not go home. As a sex offender, he cannot reside with anyone under 17, and that includes his younger brother.

The Andersons broke into their savings and bought Zach a small house far from any school or playground (another registry requirement). Each night, he must be home by 8. The police can come at any time to do a search, and already have.

What were they looking for?

Movies. Not dirty ones — clean ones. Zach can’t have any G-rated movies like “Home Alone,” on the assumption that watching kids will trigger his urge to rape them.

Zach also cannot have a smartphone.

“We got him a flip phone and we had to bust the camera with a screwdriver to break it,” said his dad. Zach can’t have any access to the internet, either, which means he has to change his college major: Computer science.

And he’s not allowed into a library, skate park, or mall, because there are kids around. He couldn’t even accompany his parents to New York.

Probation restrictions.

“I asked Zach, ‘Did they ever teach you this in high school? Did they cover the Age of Consent laws?’” said his mom, Amanda. “He said yes, which is why he asked the girl how old she was.” But there, as here, if a minor lies about her age, that doesn’t make her partner any less guilty.

So here are the laws in New York, according to criminal-defense lawyer Ron Kuby: • Third degree rape is defined as being 21 or older and having sex with someone under 17.

• Second degree rape: If you are 18 or older, and have sex with someone under 15, unless the defendant is less than four years older than the victim when the act occurred.

• First degree rape criminalizes any person who has sex with someone under eleven, or someone 18 or older who has sex with someone under 13.

This Wednesday, Aug. 5, Zach goes back to court to request a retrial.

Me, I’d like to request a re-trial of the laws that are creating “sex offenders” out of normal, horny young people.

THE COENTIES SLIP Thursday Greenmarket will close Coenties Slip between Water and Pearl Sts. 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

In the Lincoln Tunnel, one tube will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday.

In the open tube, traffic will be maintained in both directions. This will send Manhattan-bound traffic down to the Holland Tunnel.

In the Holland Tunnel, one New Yorkbound lane and one New Jersey-bound lane will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday, slowing inbound traffic.

Expect delays going into Canal St.

Lenore Skenazy is a keynote speaker and the author and founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids.

TRANSIT SAM Thurs., Aug. 13 – Wed., Aug. 19 ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE SUSPENDED SATURDAY FOR THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION This is your last chance in 2015 to explore D.O.T.’s Summer Streets! If you haven’t made the trek already, be sure to; it’s terrific and quiet with no cars. Centre St. will close between the Brooklyn Bridge and Foley Square and Lafayette St. will close between Foley Square and Astor Pl. (and Park Ave. all the way up to E. 72nd St.) 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Manhattan-bound traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge will take the F.D.R. Drive or the Park Row South exit. The following crosstown streets will remain open to cars: Chambers, Reade, Worth, Canal, Broome, and Houston Sts. On the Brooklyn Bridge, all Manhattan-bound lanes will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, midnight Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, and 11 DowntownExpress.com

p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Wedn esday nights. Drivers will instead take the Battery Tunnel and Manhattan Bridge, making for slowdowns on West St. and Canal St. The Stone Street Pedestrian Mall will close Stone St. between Hanover Sq. and Broad St. and Mill Ln. between Stone and South William Sts. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day this week.

The Asia World Peace Day Event will close Market St. between Henry St. and East Broadway 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Do you remember when ______________ happened downtown? ...We do.

Visit Our Archives At Downtownexpress.com

Email your traffic, transit or parking questions to transitsam@ downtownexpress.com.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @GridlockSam for the most up-todate traffic news.

LETTERS POLICY Downtown Express welcomes letters to The Editor. They must include the writer’s first and last name, a phone number for confirmation purposes only, and any affiliation that relates directly to the letter’s subject matter.

Letters should be less than 300 words.

Downtown Express reserves the right to edit letters for space, clarity, civility or libel reasons. Letters should be emailed to letters@downtownexpress.com or can be mailed to 1 Metrotech Center North, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

August 13-August 26, 2015

17

Extell project complaints 40 Hour Instructor Development Course

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Instructors: Tom Flynn & Bob Loveridge through a translator, complained Continued from page 8

that she left a message on the We have NYS DCJS mandated Security Guard Training Courses: “We are aware that there’s answering machine but never heard Jacket • 8 some Hourissues Pre-Assignment been some cracking, back from anyone. Training Course with doors sticking,” said Anthony about jobs at Name • 16 Hour OnWhen the prompted Job Training Course Abbruzzese, Extell’s senior vice the site, Stetzer of C.B. 3 said there • 8 Hour In-Service president of construction. were Annual plans to hire locally, both 4C 6 x “We inspected all the conditions during construction and after the and we’ve committed to repair any- project is done. thing that was caused by our con“Unions are involved, training struction,” he said, adding that engi- is involved,” she said, adding that neers regularly inspect the building. details would follow soon.

To one resident’s question A fter the meeting, many about the possibility of more seri- remained skeptical. ous damage to the foundations of “They didn’t acknowledge that Two Bridges Tower, Abbruzzese any damage was theirs,” said Paul responded that a network of seismo- Newell, a Democratic district leader graphs is measuring vibration levels for the 65th Assembly District. “I around the site, including inside 82 got the sense that they were trying Rutgers Slip. to check boxes without incurring “The intensity of the pile driving, costs.” tienetheque necesitas as of this moment, should beCada much curso Holland, residents associa-paraestar less than it’s been,” he said. “We tion president, said, “I think they expect that at the end of this year were as responsive as they could we’ll start our superstructure, and be, considering that there’s some (Cursos de issues.

Dia y de Noche) the rest of the project remains on liability I think it calmed a schedule.” lot of fears that the damage will be That means both buildings, the taken care of. That’s what people tower, plus the affordable one, want to hear. would be finished in 2019.

“I’m glad that they recommitAny surface damage to the sur- ted, to a certain extent, that they’ll rounding area, including on Cherry build an affordable supermarket,” St. — where both the street and he added. the sidewalk have settled due to the He was referring to the Pathmark construction — will be dealt with that, much to the community’s disthen. may, was closed in December 2012 “There might have been some to make way for the new developsettlement, which could be expected ment. going forward,” Abbruzzese said.

Although Extell’s executives said “It will be repaired on an ongoing they could not answer questions basis. That street will be restored, about the fate of the old pharmacy and the sidewalk obviously recon- and supermarket building adjacent structed.” to the construction site, Haas did Some residents also complained make some concessions. about a lack of communication from “Extell has committed to put an Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, affordable supermarket in one of their building’s co-owner, which the retail spaces,” she said. they said has not been forwarding Grace Mak, another member of them weekly construction updates. the residents association, said she They were reminded of a desig- felt the meeting was more accessible nated phone line and e-mail address than previous ones but that tenants that residents can use to contact were still far from optimistic.

Extell directly.

“Yes they’ve fixed the cracks, Lend Lease also e-mails regular but it’s only a Band-Aid,” she said. updates in English, Spanish and “How do we know the Band-Aid is Chinese to those who signed up for not going to break again? It’s a little a mailing list. step. But we hope we won’t take a But one woman, speaking big step back later on.”

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Activities AUGUST 13-AUG. 31, 2015

LONG-RUNNING ART TIME: Nelson A Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; (212) 267–9700; http;//www.bpcparks.org; Thursdays, 10:30 am–noon, Now – Thurs, Oct. 29; Free.

Young artists are introduced to paper, clay, paint and other supplies.

ACCESSIBLE ARTS INITIATIVE: Children’s Museum of the Arts, 103 Charlton St. at Hudson Street; (212) 274–0986; www.cmany.org; Mondays and Wednesdays, Noon–5 pm, Thursdays and Fridays, Noon–6 pm, Saturdays and Sundays, 10 am – 5 pm,; Free.

The museum is beginning a pilot year of the program, which will enable any child with a disability and their caregiver admission to programs during general public hours in exchange for feedback to help strengthen museum wide programs. Registration is required.

ART AND GAMES: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; www.bpcparks.org/event; Thursdays, 3:30–5:30 pm, Now – Thurs, Oct. 29; Free.

Create a fun project, make friends and play games. For children 5 years and older.

ARTS ISLAND OUTPOST: Governors Island, Outside bldg. 14 in Nolan Park; (212) 274–0986; www. cmany.org; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 am–3 pm, Now – Sun, Sept. 27; Free.

Enjoy a day out with art workshops, and fun projects.

ART AND PLAY: Robert F. Wagner Park, Battery Park City; (212) 267–9700; http;//www.bpcparks.org; Mondays – Wednesdays, 10 am–noon, Now – Wed, Oct. 28; Free.

Preschoolers drop-in and play with other toddlers, sing, and hear stories too.

BASKETBALL CLINIC: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; www.bpcparks.org/event; Mondays,

20

August 13-August 26, 2015

3:30–5:30 pm, Now – Mon, Oct. 26; Free.

Staffers teach children of all ages the basics of the sport. No classes May 25, September 7 and October 12.

HUDSON RIVER OUTPOST: Hudson River Park, Pier 25 at North Moore Street; (212) 274–0986; cmany. org; Tuesdays, 1 pm to 2:30 pm, Now – Tues, Aug. 25; Free.

Hosted by the Children’s Museum of the Arts and Hudson River Park Trust, families explore the environment of the Hudson through art workshops.

Weather permitting.

SOCCER CLINIC: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; bpcparks.org; Tuesdays, 2:30–3:15 pm; 3:30–4:15 pm and 4:30–5:30 pm, Now – Tues, Oct. 27; Free.

Children learn the fundamentals of the game and pre-schoolers have fun kicking, running and being part of a team.

Drop in. For ages 3 to 11 years old.

YOUNG SPROUTS GARDENING: Nelson A Rockefeller Park (Children’s Garden), Battery Park City; (212) 267–9700; http;//www.bpcparks. org; Tuesdays, 3:15 – 3:45 pm, Now – Thurs, Oct. 29; Free.

Little ones 3 to 5 years old learn about simple gardening projects. Space limited first come, first served.

DROP IN CHESS: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City; www.bpcparks.org/event; Wednesdays, 3:30–5 pm, Now – Wed, Sept. 30; Free.

Players of every level practice, learn and hone up on skills. For children 5 to 15 years old.

PLAYTIME: Teardrop Park, Battery Park City; bpcparks.org; Wednesdays, 3:30–5:30 pm, Now – Wed, Oct. 28; Free.

Staffers teach children the value of play and create fun projects in drawing, sculpting and murals. For children 5 and older.

SEAGLASS CAROUSEL: SeaGlass Carousel, The Battery (Formerly Battery Park) opens Aug. 20; www. thebattery.org; Daily, 10 am to 10 pm; $5 per ride.

A beautiful, huge crystal nautilus shell with 30 grand luminescent fish, takes riders on an aquatic journey.

TUES, AUG. 11 CURIOUS GEORGE STORY TIME: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 p.m.; Free.

Children of all ages with a grownup are welcome at story time where they will also make a special craft, all about Curious George. Limited to 25 children, first come, first served.

WED, AUG 12 TODDLER STORY TIME: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 10:30 a.m.; Free.

A librarian shares lively picture books, finger plays and action songs with children 12-36 months and their caregivers.

BUG OUT!: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 p.m. Free.

In the Bug Out! Class, children learn all about what insects are and what makes them crucial to the environment. For kids in grades K-5.

Presented by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and limited to 25 schoolage kids and their caregivers. First come, first serve basis.

THURS, AUG. 13 KIDS IN MOTION: Columbus Park, Mulberry St. and Worth Street; (212) 408–0243; http;//www.nycgovparks. org; 11 am – 3 pm; Free.

Arts and crafts, zuma and fun games at this annual festival. Pre-registration required.

SENSORY STORYTIME: Children’s Museum of the Arts, 103 Charlton St. at Hudson Street; (212) 274–0986; www.cmany.org; 4:30 pm to 5 pm; Free with museum admission.

Explore books recommended for the new exhibition about small worlds and the far off places of imagination. Ages 3 to 7. Children with disabilities are encouraged to attend.

BABY LAPTIME: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 11:30 a.m.; Free.

Babies and their caregivers can enjoy simple stories, lively songs and rhymes and meet other babies in the neighborhood. For children 0-18 months and limited to 50 babies and their caregivers.

MOVEMENT AND MUSIC CONCERT FOR LITTLE SUPERHEROES: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl. org; 4 p.m.; Free.

A summer reading celebration! Turtle Dance Music engages little caped crusaders ages 2 and up with 60-minute superhero training experience. For children ages 18 months to 12 years.

FRI, AUG. 14 LEGO WORKSHOP: Cannon’s Walk, 207 Front St.; 10 am – noon; Free.

FiDi Families and Play Well Teknologies unite to provide an engineering with LEGO workshop; Children use their imagination and over 20,000 pieces of LEGO to construct projects including bridges, skyscrapers and motorized LEGO cars.

BE A CITY HERO: HANDS-ONSCIENCE: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 3:30 p.m.; Free.

Through exploring water, waste, and energy pollution, kids will discover their own impact on the city. Limited to 15 school-aged children and their caregivers.

Continued from page 20

TUES, AUG. 18 “LITTLE GIANTS”: Sol Lain Playground, Henry St. and Grand St.; (212) 387–7685; www.nycgovparks. org; 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm; Free.

View a screening of this movie about a hometown hero facing off against a nerdy brother.

BABY LAPTIME SEE THURS., AUG 13.

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 p.m.; Free.

Listen to stories picked out especially for preschoolers. Older and younger siblings welcome.

WED, AUG. 19 TODDLER STORY TIME SEE WED., AUG. 12.

BUG OUT!: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; 4 p.m. Free.

In the Bug Out! Class, children learn all about what insects are and what makes them crucial to the environment. For kids in grades K-5. Presented by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and limited to 25 school-age kids and their caregivers. First come, first serve basis.

THURS, AUG. 20 SEAGLASS CAROUSEL: opens in The Battery.

SEE LONG RUNNING.

Downtown Express file photo by Milo Hess

The Battery’s long-awaited SeaGlass Carousel opens Aug. 20.

child, admission fee for residents.

Kids will learn about the construction of the Chrysler and Empire State Building’s spires, and then create their own version of these icons.

SAT, AUG. 15 SLIDE THE CITY: Vita Coco Beach - Foley Square Rest Stop, Duane and Centre streets; www.nyc.gov/summerstreets.; 7 am – 1 pm; Free.

Cool off while you slush and speed down a 270 foot water slide. Yippee!

This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to slide through the streets is presented by Vita Coco Coconut Water; Participants must register on line in advance.

TODDLER STORY TIME SEE WED., AUG. 12.

SATURDAY STUDIOS: Children’s Museum of the Arts, 103 Charlton St. at Hudson Street; (212) 274–0986; www.cmany.org; 10 am– 1 pm; $12 plus general admission.

Skill-based art classes for parents and kids together! Pre-registration required.

Continued on page 21

DowntownExpress.com

SENSORY STORYTIME SEE THURSDAY, AUG. 13.

MON, AUG. 24 TODDLER STORY TIME SEE WED., AUG. 12.

BABY LAPTIME SEE THURS., AUG 13.

CRAFTERNOON: Origami paper cranes: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl. org; 4 p.m.; Free.

Learn how to craft your very own origami paper crane and take it home!

There will also be reading of the picture book “The Paper Crane” by Molly Bang. Open to all children who bring an adult to help with folding.

FRI, AUG. 21

TUES, AUG. 25 BABY LAPTIME S EE THURS., AUG 13.

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME: SEE TUES., AUG 18.

“DREAM GIRLS”: Tony Dapolito Recreation Roof, 3 Clarkson St. and Hudson Street; (212) 242–5228; www.nycgovparks.org; 8 pm to 10:30 pm; Free.

Sit back and enjoy the classic with great music. For older children.

BE A CITY HERO SEE FRI., AUG. 14.

WED, AUG 26 TODDLER STORY TIME

SAT, AUG. 22 TOP THIS!: Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Pl.; (212) 968-1961; skyscraper.org; 10:30 a.m.; $5 per DowntownExpress.com

SEE WED., AUG. 12.

BUG OUT!: Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212)

790-3499; nypl.org; 4 p.m. Free.

In the Bug Out! Class, children learn all about what insects are and what makes them crucial to the environment. For kids in grades K-5.

Presented by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and limited to 25 school-age kids and their caregivers.

First come, first serve basis.

Enjoy classics songs, stories and rhymes in English, Spanish and French. For children all ages.

FRI, AUG 28 BE A CITY HERO SEE FRI., AUG. 14.

MON, AUG 31 Play, Learn, Make New Friends!

BABYClasses LAPTIME - Indoor Playspace TRILINGUAL STORY TIME: SEE THURS., AUGParties 13. - Boutique Salon - Birthday Battery Park City Library, 175 North End Ave; (212) 790-3499; nypl.org; TODDLER STORY TIME Play, SEE Learn, Make 4 p.m.; Free.

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21

FringeNYC from A to Zeitgeist

Sure things, and shots in the dark worth taking Continued from page 1

mine. With that in mind, our totally subjective roundup corrals this year’s zeitgeist into a few notable categories. It’s by no means complete (at 200 shows, how could it be?), but it does represent intriguing work from known quantities and risk-worthy prospects. One thing’s for sure: at $18 per show, a shot in the dark at FringeNYC beats the buyer’s remorse of an expensive Broadway misfire.

FringeNYC shows run Aug. 14–30, 2 p.m.–midnight weekdays, noon–midnight on weekends. Single tickets are $18. $85 for a Fiver Pass, $150 for a 10-show Flex Pass and $500 for an unlimited Lunatic Pass.

For the full schedule of shows and to purchase tickets, visit FringeNYC. org. Also purchase at Photo by Morgan Shortell FringeCentral, inside Serious Theater Collective’s “The Magic Jukebox” takes you on a mirthful mystery tour of the the City Lore cultural troupe’s satirical targets. heritage center (56 E. First St. btw. First & Second Aves.), daily trip of Song, Sleaze and Revenge!”). Cop” blends the best of DeMayo’s danfrom 2–8 p.m. Order on your smart- “The Great Forgotten” is a multi-media gerous and disturbing tales from his phone up to 30 minutes prior to perfor- drama which set in another of Gotham’s days in blue with candid observations mance, at FringeOnTheFly.com. infamous bygone eras: the roaring twen- about adjusting to civilian life without ties. Flappers, bathtub gin and jazz are pepper spray and a gun strapped to OLD, NEW & TRUE TALES OF NEW among the period-appropriate elements his hips. Especially funny is a bit alludYORK of culture shock that greet two gradu- ed to in the title, in which he meets Bygone Theatre raised funds for their ates from Bellevue nursing school, just Leonardo DiCaprio in a trendy club.

Fringe show by, of all things, putting on back from witnessing the horrors of Pressed into service as a dance floor a show in their hometown of Toronto, World War I. bodyguard, he keeps Molly-trippin’ fans Canada. The adults-only “Retro Radio Broadly built, ballsy by nature and at bay while marveling at the surreal Hour: Sin and Sensation” staged vin- sitting on a vault of stories that make notion of playing Kevin Costner to tage radio plays, along with period-ap- the most gritty “Law & Order” epi- Leo’s Whitney Houston. Loopy perpropriate music and amazing feats of sode seem utterly vanilla, native New former and SOLOCOM fest founder prestidigitation. The fully funded result Yorker Mark DeMayo made a smooth Peter Michael Marino, back from taking is “Kill Sister, Kill!” — in which a transition from NYPD cop to NYC his own show to the Edinburgh Festival determined nun struggles to do the comedian. Since retiring after 20 years Fringe, directs.

Lord’s work in that infamous ground on the force (seven as a police officer, “Hank Leaves Home” is Erik zero of depravity: 1970s New York City. the rest as a detective), he’s brought his Heger’s solo show developed in collaboWhen our good sister’s reunion with mouthy, Type A flair for true storytell- ration with director Leslie Felbain. The her estranged biological sister is inter- ing to stand-up and theatrical venues notion of a socially awkward, homerupted by a shocking act of violence, (including Gotham Comedy Club and less harp-playing tramp stuck in neutral the meek woman of God adopts a new Peoples Improv Theater). “The Broccoli as he works the NYC subway system habit: revenge. Oh, and it’s a musi- Murder, DiCaprio Dance and Other has been percolating since 2002, when cal (specifically, a “Psychotronic Hell- Stories from my 20 years as a NYC the team first met at the American

22

August 13-August 26, 2015

Conservatory Theater in San Francisco (he as a grad student, she as a faculty member). Categorized by FringeNYC as a “Clown/Mask” show (aka highly physical), this concert/theater performance showcases skills from Heger’s eclectic resume: actor (John Proctor in “The Crucible”), clown (in Speigelworld’s “Vegas Nocturne” at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas), and harpist (opening for Roberta Flack and Lou Reed at the Apollo).

Jell-O shots, slave labor, butterfly tattoos, Krishna and Afghanistan are the thematic hooks in “Hearts Afire” — an intimate evening of harrowing, inspirational true tales told by five NYC community college students.

“Liminal” takes a fresh-out-of-college poet, transplants her to NYC, and tasks her finding her voice. She’s not alone, though — overtures from a potential love interest and taunts from a Greek chorus of blue collar workers will prompt this “foot soldier of gentrification” to define her place in the world. Producing entity Bedlam Ensemble was responsible for 2014’s “Tennessee Williams Project,” which reimagined the playwright’s seldom-performed one-acts.

Three musical productions make NYC central to their story, or at least vital to its flavor. A contemporary pop score for “Love in the Middle Ages” charts the ups and downs of six men and women of a certain age, who meet at a Manhattan singles mixer. Eric Kornfeld, who wrote the book and lyrics, teaches Cabaret at Primary Stages and has a mountain of credits that bode well for this project — including the writing of Bette Midler’s HBO special and Vegas extravaganza, “The Showgirl Must Go On.” Matters of the heart also figure into the title (and the marrow) of “Love is Like Mud,” which leavens the implications of its ominous title with hefty doses of sex, humor and music. Brooklyn band Level II plays the music, and all of the parts, in this visually kinetic operetta chronicling the coupling of lonely Jon and Annie,

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WIN TICKETS TO SEE

MADONNA

FringeNYC: 16 days, what do you get?

These are the days of our FringeNYC lives Continued from page 24

COURTESY OF

Photo by Ben Folstein

Romance is on the menu, in Brooklyn band Level II’s “Love is Like Mud.” Continued from page 22

twentysomethings with cramped apartments and oversized libidos. A clever stick puppet video on loveislikemud. com previews the show’s wry courtship song, “Excellent Choice” — which turns the wine and entrée negotiations of a dinner date into an à la carte assessment of their partnership potential.

Serious Theater Collective’s “The Magic Jukebox: New York City World Tour” features 12 musical vignettes from the comedy troupe that gleefully eviscerates everything from dolphin language, to false gods, to flash mobs. A live band backs the sketch players, as they bounce from R&B, to hair metal, to gospel and beyond.

SCIENCE & FANTASTIC FICTION

MADONNA SEPTEMBER 17th at Madison Square Garden For your chance to win, visit

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August 13-August 26, 2015

Long-winded but undeniably compelling, You Said Your Damn Ninja Would Take Care of Robocop Productions is, we get the feeling, just a wordy front for a pop shop owned and operated by Queens-based writer, performer, YouTube darling and Shaolin kung fu disciple Shyaporn Theerakulstit.

His geek-think solo show — “The Absolutely True Science of Nerds” — plows through its 90 minutes by delivering “completely scientific” lectures on the real-world implications of becoming Batman, and the relative merits of the “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” universes. Assuming you haven’t passed out at that point from a techie tizzy, the show’s closer is a rumination on the behavioral patterns and biological origins of Japan’s “Hyper-evolved Theropod Kaiju” (better known to his frenemies as Godzilla). Not enough spectacle, you say? Theerakulstit also promises music, burlesque and special

guests — plus what will almost certainly be a very argumentative Q&A session.

With visual motifs inspired by video games, kabuki, horror movies and Pixar shorts, “Dungeon” uses puppetry and multi-media to take its young hero on a rescue mission/quest. Part of the FringeHIGH series of programming appropriate for teens, “EverScape” finds four gamers escaping their bleak, everyday lives by immersing themselves in an online fantasy world of epic battles. Things get real (or do they?) when their expertise presents them with the opportunity to explore the W-2 world of gainful employment, as game developers. The show’s press info is deliberately unclear about their fate, but at least one festival entry indicates that obsessives can come out of their shells — as in, where one man has not gone before — thanks to the fictional world they prefer to inhabit. “The Universe of Matt Jennings” is a tale of gay awakening told from a Trekkie’s point of view, with our man Jennings in classic “Star Trek” attire, confidently seated at Kirk’s NCC1701 command chair, as he recalls his (five-year?) mission to boldly explore black, white, Christian, queer and artistic identity. Make it so, Matt!

Quasimondo Milwaukee Physical Theatre brings its Adult Content Warning-worthy blend of manga and anime to Clinton Street’s Celebration of Whimsy stage, when the sizable ensemble unleashes “Kamikaze Cutesauce Cosplay Club” upon the good citizens of Gotham. Director and co-choreographer Brian Rott founded the troupe along with likeminded MFA candidates at Italy’s Accademia Dell’Ar, then claimed Laverne & Shirley’s home turf

after touring Turin, Milan, Arezzo, Cortona and Berlin.

The result is a physically intense stage show whose dizzy, hybrid sensibility uses movement, puppetry and martial arts to “explore contemporary costume play and the threads that form gender, identity, and culture.”

A HIGH L, G, B, T OR Q QUOTIENT Set in the 1960s in one of Fidel Castro’s brutal UMAP (Military Units to Aid Production) prison work camps that warehoused gays, alongside political and religious dissenters, “Julian & Romero” is written by Alex Perez, whose grandfather was killed while protesting Castro’s revolution. “It’s not just a Cuban story, but a human rights issue that connects on many levels, even today,” he says. The title characters are childhood friends, now with different perspectives on sexuality, faith and culture. The play, which incorporates music and dance of the period, was nurtured during a 2013 run in Theater for the New City’s Dream Up Festival (happening this year Aug. 30–Sept. 20).

Storyteller Matthew Dicken, an outsince-13 American, mashes his own

Photo by Rachel Birnbaum

“Hamlet The Hip-Hopera” trades the Bard’s iambic pentameter for its own brand of deft wordplay.

sensibilities with those of “The Seven Men I Came Out to in India,” as he travels the subcontinent during a quest to “relearn to see queer” and “claim his mythic ancestors.”

Self-examination of sexuality isn’t a choice for the characters in “Endless Air, Endless Water,” which finds two astronauts in a space capsule with nowhere to hide, let alone run, when their workplace fling is exposed on national TV. Andrea Alton, whose Molly “Equality” Dykeman persona was a featured act in Dixon Place’s recent HOT!

Festival of LGBTQ theater, adds 12 more to her stable of characters, with “Possum Creek.” Set in the titular Ohio town during the Civil War era, it begins by focusing on a naive bride, then spans three decades during which she contends with “lost husbands, babies of uncertain parentage, man-on-man carnality, plagues, and a beloved pig.”

DEAD WRITERS, REAL PEOPLE AND ACTUAL EVENTS A skull with a clown nose serves as the promotional graphic for playwright

Anthony P. Pennino’s “I, Horatio.”

Accompanied by a diagonal dagger in each black eye socket, the festive red schnoz is a fitting image for this comedy/drama. Pennino’s interpretation of Horatio from “Hamlet” implies more than just platonic loyalty and admiration at play, when the grieving confidant goes on a mission to grant his prince’s dying request to “draw thy breath in pain to tell my story.”

Shakespearean verse gets a contemporary reboot, when Queens-based Feast Productions unleashes “Hamlet the Hip-Hopera.” The core plot remains, but iambic pentameter is replaced with the strikingly similar cadences of hiphop — making maximum use of the genre’s knack for advancing narrative and invoking metaphors in the same breath. Rap battles, dueling verses, slam poetry and soaring ballads bring new energy and lyricism to familiar characters under siege and descending into madness.

Taking place in Tompkins Square Taking place in Tompkins Square Park, “The Merchant of Venice (or how not to live in a multi-cultural world”) is one of four FringeAL FRESCO shows.

Bigotry, a fractured legal system and the nature of justice figure heavily into Hip to Hip Theatre Company’s take on what they call “Shakespeare’s darkest comedy.” This free outdoor production is appropriate, given the Company’s mission to perform no-cost and family-friendly classics in their home borough of Queens.

Ann Starbuck’s solo show “Tiananmen Annie” is based on events she experienced in 1980s Beijing — first as a student, then working for CNN Continued on page 27

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Forecast calls for a flurry of Fringe riches Continued from page 25

during the Tiananmen Square Uprising. A FringeHIGH entry, the spoken word/poetry piece “The Broken Record” addresses violence between black youth and the police, expressing the “fury, helplessness, and grief we feel watching these stories play on repeat” while contemplating how to prevent this familiar, often fatal pattern.

Set on a hot Los Angeles night in 1992, writer and director Tess R. Ornstein’s “Cherubim” finds parallels between the reaction of a multi-racial family following the disappearance of five-year-old Kea Charmichael and the Rodney King riots.

Playwright and director Delaney Yeager pays tribute to Samuel Beckett, by stranding her all-female cast in the middle of nowhere as a means to explore friendship and empowerment in the face of the unknown, in “Waiting for AAA.” Years before British writer Roald Dahl created worlds of wonder and menace (“Matilda” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”), his real life played out like an Ian Fleming novel. “Yesterday Was Beautiful” fleshes out the period in World War II when Dahl — a spy on her Royal Majesty’s dole — visited Washington on cloak and dagger business, and in the process bedded (the mar-

ried and older) Congresswoman Clare Booth Luce.

Scandal somehow eluded the prolifically priomiscuous Dahl, but it was bread and butter for Glenn Milstead — whose drag persona Divine committed some of the most memorable atrocities in cinematic history.

“Divine/ Intervention” finds the star of John Waters’ still-stunning early-career cult films (including “Multiple Maniacs” and “Polyester”) alone on the night of his death, wrestling with the demons that lurk just beyond the mascara. Bobby Goodrich stars, with a script by E. Dale Smith based on an original concept by the show’s director, Braden Chapman (aka Mimi Imfurst, a longtime and formidable presence on the drag and cult theater circuit). Writer and performer Jay Malsky takes liberties with the star of “At Liberty,” when he brings one of Broadway’s most brassy, belated broads back for one final tour.

“Elaine Stritch: Still Here” looks every bit the safe bet, as evidenced by fundraising clips on the show’s Facebook page.

Hunkered down at the piano, Stritch sings for her supper by granting a donor’s request to hear the “Charles in Charge” sitcom theme. “I don’t like things that aren’t about me,” she says, barely making it past the first verse, “so sometimes I make them about me even if they’re not.” What follows is a good example of what you’ll get at FringeNYC, and reason enough to go.

Photo by Julian Voloj

Hip to Hip Theatre Company’s take on “The Merchant of Venice” takes place in Tompkins Square Park, and won’t cost you a dime.

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Can Mount Sinai be serious? The answer is a resounding yes. In fact, we couldn’t be more serious.

Mount Sinai’s number one mission is to keep people out of the hospital. We’re focused on population health management, as opposed to the traditional fee-for-service medicine. So instead of receiving care that’s isolated and intermittent, patients receive care that’s continuous and coordinated, much of it outside of the traditional hospital setting.

Thus the tremendous emphasis on wellness programs designed to help people stop smoking, lose weight and battle obesity, lower their blood pressure and reduce the risk of a heart attack. By being as proactive as possible, patients can better maintain their health and avoid disease.

Our Mobile Acute Care Team will treat patients at home who would otherwise require a hospital admission for certain conditions. The core team involves physicians, nurse

practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, community paramedics, care coaches, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and home health aides.

Meanwhile, Mount Sinai’s Preventable Admissions Care Team provides transitional care services to patients at high risk for readmission. After a comprehensive bedside assessment, social workers partner with patients, family caregivers and healthcare providers to identify known risks such as problems with medication management and provide continuing support after discharge.

It’s a sweeping change in the way that health care is delivered.

And with the new system comes a new way to measure success.

The number of empty beds.

1-8 0 0 -MD-SINA I mountsinaihealth.org

IF OUR BEDS ARE FILLED, IT MEANS WE’VE FAILED.

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