CHELSEA NOW by Schneps Media

now

Parade of Boats, p. 2

Chelsea VOLUME 5, NUMBER 7

THE WEST SIDE’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

OCTOBER 19 - NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Penn South Senior Sandwich Brigade feeds Wall St. protest

BY SCOTT STIFFLER Movements, like mankind, cannot live by bread alone. There must be some sort of luncheon meat in between — and perhaps a slice of cheese. But with the threat of eviction looming, Occupy Wall Street protesters had little time (and no remaining resources) to attend to one of life’s most basic needs. To their rescue came assistance from an unlikely, though not at all unwelcome, source:

Photo by Winnie McCroy

The Merlis family moved to Chelsea specifically so their two children could attend PS 11.

Parents upset over school rezoning BY WINNIE McCROY Concerned parents, community board members and representatives of elected officials came together at PS 11 on October 11 for the first in several Community Education Council (CEC) forums about the New York City Department of Education (DOE) Rezoning Draft Plan. The plan, set to go in effect in the Fall of 2012, will redraw Manhattan’s school zones south by several blocks, relocating some students to schools outside of their area. “We have heard wonderful things about PS 11. It’s a great school,” said Vanessa Merlis — a family therapist and mother of two who noted that she and her husband moved to Chelsea specifically so their children could attend PS 11. “We want the best for them. My son, who is athletic, wants to participate in PS 11’s swim club, and most of the kids from his preschool go there. We thought he would go to school with the kids in his building and neighborhood. It’s just another example of the middle

class being shafted to accommodate wealthy constituents.” With the exception of local school principals, the majority of people assembled at the meeting opposed the redistricting. Among the reasons they identified were that they wanted their kids to go to school near their home, that they did not want siblings to go to different schools and that New York City simply needed more schools. In Chelsea, parents pointed out that both the Foundlings Elementary School (on 17th Street) and the new Hudson Yards Elementary/ Intermediate School would be open within the next two years, necessitating further rezoning. The CEC agreed that the area did need additional schools — noting that the DOE had proposed the redistricting plan to deal with school and classroom overcrowding, severe schoollevel budget cuts, unsustainable bottom-heavy kindergarten enrollment, decreased specialty classes and the desire to avoid enrollment lotteries. The District 2 CEC — which has

the authority to approve or deny DOE zoning proposals — is a 12-member council comprised of nine parents with children in the school system, two members appointed by the Manhattan Borough President and a district high school senior appointed by the community superintendent. The October 11 CEC meeting consisted of DOE Community Superintendent Mariano Guzman, CEC Co-Chair Shino Tanikawa, Tamara Rower, Michael Markowitz, Eric Goldberg, Sarah Chu, and Demetri Ganiaris. Also present at the meeting were representatives from elected officials including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Representative Dick Gottfried, and Assembly member Jerrold Nadler. The CEC will hold three community forums, then provide the DOE with feedback in early December. The DOE will then revise the proposals and return them to the CEC, who will present them to the community.

The Penn South Senior Sandwich Brigade. Inspired by their concern for a generation far too young to have experienced firsthand the era of Vietnam and Civil Rights activism, members of the hastily formed group arrived at Zuccotti Park on the evening of Thursday, October 13. Their timing couldn’t have been better. By then, protesters had spent much of the rainswept day clean-

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Rudin now owns St. Vincent’s site, brings in partner BY ALBERT AMATEAU Members of the Community Board 2 (CB2) St. Vincent’s Omnibus Committee last week considered how to officially respond to the Rudin Organization’s proposal for the residential redevelopment of the former hospital’s main campus in Greenwich Village. Committee members said at an October 6 meeting that

they would demand that the project be less dense than proposed by Rudin. But many of them acknowledged that they preferred residential redevelopment to the likely alternative of higher-education use. “If we can’t have a fullservice hospital, I think residential use is best,” said Richard Davis, a committee

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EDITORIAL, LETTERS PAGE 8

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

Photo courtesy of Ian Douglas, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance

The FDNY fireboat Three Forty Three.

Parade of Boats goes public BY LATIMA STEPHENS Once a powerful symbol of economic vitality, the waterways of New York City have suffered from decades of pollution and neglect. In recent years, however, The Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (MWA) — a singular voice for over 500 organizations dedicated to our regional waterways — has employed a variety of strategies to transform the waters of New York and New Jersey Harbors into a destination for businesses, tourists and residents. On October 11, in an effort to raise public awareness and bring crowds back to the waterfront, their annual Parade of Boats

went public for the first time in its brief history. Viewed from Hudson River Park at Pier 62, the dramatic sunset procession featured over two dozen vessels — including Coast Guard cutters, kayaks and the FDNY fireboat Three Forty Three (named for the 343 firefighters lost during 9/11). Narration detailing the story of each participating vessel gave historical context to the visual splash. “It seemed like a good idea,” said MWA president and CEO Roland Lewis, of the

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

Principals support rezoning, but parents resist Continued from page 1

PRINCIPALS SUPPORT THE MOVE, BUT PARENTS DO NOT “Having separate zones does not solve the issue of overcrowding,” said Principal Kelly Shannon of PS 41. “It is imperative that we get a handle on where the numbers are. It is also good for the family across the street from PS 3 or 41 to know that’s their school. All of the schools are superb, and when families know what their zoned school is from the get-go, it eliminates the confusion. This is a change for the better.” Principal Lesa Smedman of PS 3 agreed, but with some reservations. She recalled when the breakaway school was under enrolled; now, she said, it cannot sustain the students already there. “If rezoning is done, it may simplify things administratively, but I wonder how people zoned out will sit with it,” said Smedman. “I also don’t understand how it improves the situation in the West Village, because the lines are shifting south. If changing zoning solves issue, it may be worthwhile. If not, what are we gaining by giving up the choice?” Brad Hoyelman, the Chair of Community Board 2 (CB2), attended the meeting with his partner David and their 10-month-old baby girl, Silvia. The men, who are residents of Greenwich Village, were among those parents for whom the redistricting would remove their ability to choose between sending their child to either PS 3 or PS 41 (Greenwich Village is the only area in Manhattan that offers such a choice).

‘We have heard wonderful things about PS 11. It’s a great school,’ said Vanessa Merlis, a family therapist and mother of two who noted that she and her husband moved to Chelsea specifically so their children could attend PS 11.

“Since the ‘60s, Village residents have had the alternative to send their kids to either PS 3 or PS 41, and it will be sad to see that go,” said Hoyelman. “We will end up in PS 41. The DOE says choice is a good thing. Let’s see them put their money where their mouth is.” Hoyelman circulated a petition — collecting 100 signatures of those opposed to the redistricting. He said that this group has not seen the DOE’s demographics on

Photo by Winnie McCroy

Corey Johnson, Chair of Community Board 4, speaks before the Community Education Council.

rising birth rates that support the redistricting, and have hired their own statistician to tabulate the data. Concerns about the DOE’s data were echoed by many in the crowd. Kristin Sewell, Chair of PS 11’s School Leadership Team, said, “I don’t know how the CEC can make this decision without the data. All of our schools have grown large, and we parents need complete transparency and access to accurate data….Without it, we will be back here in two years. If our children turned in work like this, they would get an ‘incomplete.’ ” Bruce Kreigal, a Chelsea parent who said he moved into the area so his children could attend PS 11, said that the proposed zone would “force Chelsea families out of the planned-on zone to make room for Tribeca families who don’t want to be there. They don’t want their kids crossing Canal Street at the Holland Tunnel.” Several Tribeca parents agreed with this assessment, saying that they wanted their children to attend their neighborhood school.

COMMUNITY BOARD MEMBERS WEIGH IN ON REDISTRICTING Both Hoyelman and CB2 Vice-Chair Keen Burger spoke in opposition to the redistricting plans. Burger said that she believed the panic about overcrowding was leading to poor decisions. Hoyelman added, “The unique character of PS 3 is at stake if the Village is rezoned like this. We don’t want to send kids who live below 14th Street to Chelsea schools. We need to preserve choice…and we need more data from the DOE.” Community Board 5 (CB5) Education, Housing and Human Services committee chair Layla Law-Gisiko was eager to make some changes, noting, “There is not one

elementary school in our district. The CB5 resolution wants a new school to be a zoned school.” CB5 will meet at 6pm on October 25 to discuss the issue (for more information, email office@cb5.org).

Corey Johnson, Chair of Community Board 4 (CB4), noted that the zoning would change the northern boundary lines for children in Penn South, moving some children formerly zoned for PS 11 to PS 33. “They are both great schools. But the issue is, is it entirely necessary at this time? Johnson asked. “In South Chelsea, the choice between PS 41 and 3 is not a simple change. People feel very invested in these schools…and in West Chelsea, we have seen a tremendous amount of new construction.” Johnson told Chelsea Now that there had been a large outpouring of concern to CB4 from Penn South parents about the proposed redistricting. He also expressed concerns about the two new schools currently being built in the area — the 563seat Foundling Elementary School and the Hudson Yards Schools (to be completed in 2017, with a projected 420 Elementary seats and 330 Intermediate seats). “I have heard that if there’s going to be a new school coming along in a little more than two years that’s going to be able to accommodate elementary students in Chelsea and the Village, another rezoning will have to be to be done,” said Johnson. “The question is, why do this now when it may need to be done two years from now?”

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

CB 2 members prefer residential to NYU facility Continued from page 1

A rendering of the Rudin Organization’s current plan for its redevelopment of the former St. Vincent’s Hospital site. This design — featuring a new 16-story building on Seventh Ave., five new townhouses and four existing buildings preserved — was approved in July 2009 by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.

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member and nearby neighbor of the former hospital. Although members did not believe it likely that New York University would take over the site, on the east side of Seventh Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets, they acknowledged that if it were zoned for community-facility use, as it is now, the spatial configurations would best fit use by a college. Committee members also wanted the zoning for the project to include an opportunity for affordable housing. “A real loss to the community has been the loss of diversity,” said Tobi Bergman, a CB 2 member. One board member suggested that a few of the ground-floor apartments in the five new townhouses planned for 11th Street could be devoted to affordable senior housing. The city’s inclusionary zoning program allows an increase of 33 percent over the amount of floor area a developer devotes to affordable housing in a project. But committee members declared they would not agree to increasing the density proposed by Rudin in order to accommodate affordable apartments. Although Rudin intends to develop less square footage than is currently allowed on the site, the developer seeks to upzone the

site from a residential R-6 district to an R-8 equivalent district, which allows a 175 percent increase in Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.) on the avenue and a 200 percent F.A.R. increase in the midblock, according to the community board’s analysis. “If they came in with an R-7 district with inclusionary zoning, that could be something to talk about,” said David Reck, chairperson of the board’s Land-Use and Business Development Committee. David Gruber, a member of the St. Vincent’s Omnibus Committee, said the upzoning was unprecedented in a landmarked historic district — Greenwich Village being one of the city’s earliestdesignated historic districts. “There is no reason for upzoning,” added Steve Ahskenazi, another committee member. Melanie Meyers, Rudin’s land-use lawyer, responded at the October 6 meeting to previous questions and comments from Board 2 members and neighborhood residents. She said a false common belief was that buildings on the former hospital main, east campus were built at their existing size because they are community facilities. Six of the eight buildings on the site were built before the current 1961 zoning resolution and, consequently, did not distinguish in floor area or development

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

Rudin’s possession of St. Vincent’s property a done deal Continued from page 4 envelopes between community facility and residential buildings, she said. “Smith, Raskob, Nurses Residence, Spellman, Reiss and Cronin could have been residential and the same size and density as exits today,” Meyers said, referring to several of the interlinked buildings that comprised the defunct hospital. Only Coleman and Link — two buildings proposed for demolition in the redevelopment — benefited from community-facility designation, she added. Reiss on 12th Street and Cronin on 11th Street will also be demolished. Reiss is to be replaced by a 12-story apartment building of about the same size. Five attached townhouse buildings will replace Cronin.

North Shore-L.I.J. plans to spend $110 million on the healthcare center and 24-hour emergency department, including a $10 million contribution from Rudin. The developer intends to build and maintain the triangle across 12th Street from O’Toole as a 15,102-square-foot neighborhood open space to be designed with community participation.

The zoning resolution allows communityfacility buildings built before 1961 to be converted entirely to residential use regardless of the amount of floor area, Meyers said. But the large-scale, community-facility designation adapted for the construction of Link and Coleman forbids the residential conversion that Rudin intends to restore. Rudin wants to develop a total of 590,660 zoning square feet, which is 13 percent less than the 677,400-square-feet currently built on the site. Meyers added. Rudin’s possession of the St. Vincent’s

property became final on September 30 when the developer — with a new partner, Global Holdings — transferred $260 million to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for payment to the bankrupt former hospital’s creditors and pensions. The sale was made regardless of any subsequent rezoning of the property. Global Holdings is a U.S. affiliate of an Israeli and British holding company headed by Eyal Offer, whose family worth is estimated at $10.3 billion. The U.S. affiliate developed the luxury condo building on Central Park West at 61st Street and owns 120 Park Avenue and 99 Park Avenue south of Grand Central Plaza, among other holdings. The Rudin Organization is the Greenwich Village project’s managing partner — and William Rudin, president and C.E.O., told this newspaper that the partnership was an indication of confidence in the St. Vincent’s redevelopment. On September 22, the Health Planning Council of the State Department of Health approved the conversion of the former St. Vincent’s O’Toole Pavilion — on the west side of Seventh Avenue — into a comprehensive-care community health center with a free-standing emergency department to be operated by the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. The Health Planning Council voted the approval despite cries of “People will die” from advocates who continue to demand a full-service, acute-care hospital with a Level I emergency room to replace St. Vincent’s. North Shore-L.I.J. plans to spend $110 million on the healthcare center and 24-hour emergency department, including a $10 million contribution from Rudin. The developer intends to build and maintain the triangle across 12th Street from O’Toole as a 15,102square-foot neighborhood open space to be designed with community participation. The O’Toole conversion and the triangle are part of the same Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (U.L.U.R.P.) underway for the 450-apartment residential redevelopment on the east side of the avenue. The residential project’s new Seventh Avenue apartment tower has been reduced three times during a Landmarks Preservation Commission review, lowering it from an original height of 265 feet to 203 feet. While not part of the U.L.U.R.P., Rudin has guaranteed that space for a 563-seat public elementary school will be available on the first six floors of the New York Foundling Hospital building on Sixth Avenue at 17th Street. Rudin’s financial guarantees will allow Foundling to maintain its administration on the building’s top three floors while the agency moves its children’s services to Yonkers and creates a new school in the Bronx.

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

Bill Costa, Xavier J.V. football coach OBITUARY BY ALBERT AMATEAU The Xavier High School football team, their fellow students and faculty members paid tribute to Bill Costa, the Xavier junior varsity and conditioning coach, at his funeral Tuesday, October 4, at Our Lady of Pompeii Church on Carmine St. William James Costa died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 56 in his home in Greenwich Village on Thursday, September 29, according to his son, James, a history teacher and freshman football coach at Xavier. Bill Costa first got involved in the Xavier football program in 1998 when James became a student in the Jesuit school at 30 West 16th Street. Bill Costa officially joined the Xavier athletic staff in 2005 as the junior varsity assistant and strength and conditioning coach. He developed the junior varsity’s offseason training to prepare them for the regular season and helped to condition student athletes on other Xavier teams. His son said part of the reason he returned two years ago to teach and coach at Xavier was to spend more time with his father.

William James Costa was born in St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village to Richard and Assunta Costa. He went to St. Joseph’s Academy on Washington Place and to high school at LaSalle on Second Avenue and East Second Street. “He started lifting weights when he was 15 and played football with a traveling St. Anthony’s [Church] team,” said his son. In addition to his son, James, a Bill Costa. daughter, Ishe Costa, and a sister, Judy Costa, both of the Village, also survive. His longtime partner, Diane, and her two children, who considered Bill as their father, also survive. Perazzo’s Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Mark Erson takes over pulpit at St. John’s Lutheran Church BY ALBERT AMATEAU The Reverend Mark E. Erson was installed as the new pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church on Christopher Street at the 6pm weekly Jazz Mass on Sunday, October 2. He was ordained in 2009 as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and has more than 25 years experience as a teacher, theater artist and lay minister. He is also serving as chairperson of the Metro New York Synod’s Commission for Gay and Lesbian People. A graduate of General Theological Seminary in Chelsea, he was a lay leader, serving as president, worship leader and drama director, in several congregations. For the past three years he served as intern and then pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Queens Village. “This is a rich and crucial time to be doing a ministry in this context as the national church embraces the full welcome of all people, including LGBTQ people, that previously was practiced by individual congregations,” he said last week. Reverend Erson said he was particularly excited to be in this neighborhood in the wake of New York State’s new marriage equality law.

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

Seniors deliver to Wall Street protesters ing the disputed area and hoping for an eleventh hour reprieve from Brookfield Office Properties and the Office of the Mayor (which, to the surprise of many, came the following morning when the promised sweep of the park did not take place). Jane Hogg, a primary organizer of the Sandwich Brigade — and its unofficial press spokesperson — traced the group’s unassuming origins to a conversation about the Occupy Wall Street movement (which took place at a Penn South Senior Center women’s discussion group). With most attendees in walkers or wheelchairs or reliant on canes, marching on Wall Street was not a practical means of expressing solidarity. “The women kept saying that we’re all part of that 99 percent,” recalls Hogg. “After all, these are seniors who live on fixed incomes. They think it’s odd that we all helped when the banks were too big to fail, that we all helped to provide the money to keep them afloat…and it’s helping to sink the 99 percent. So I suggested that we go home and make some sandwiches for these young people. They said, ‘We don’t do that. But we’d like to put some money into this.’ I was expecting one, two dollars…there were only six people in the room. Then I see two tens and a twenty on the table.” Over the next few days, that initial donation grew to a considerably larger amount — and at that point, Hogg went grocery shopping. As for the final product, “It was either straight meat or straight cheeses, or mixtures of both. Turkey, smoked ham, salami, prosciutto. You name it, it was there. At the supermarket, they had been slicing it thin to order for me as I stood there,” recalls Hogg.

Photo by Geo Gellar

Special orders don’t upset us: Clockwise, from lower left: Sandwich makers Marilyn Stark, Hope Bernstein, Judy Kutler, Nancy Spannbauer and Jane Hogg (both standing), Sylvia Rachelson, Miriam Tenne, Priscilla Burns.

no food out anywhere.” When she asked where the kitchen was located, the protesters told Hogg they had to remove it during the packing process. It was at that point that Hogg reached into one of the heavy bags she and Nancy Spannbauer had transported on the subway ride from Penn South to Wall Street. “Each one of those bags probably weighed 50 pounds,”

‘Many things influence government. Civil right protests were effective and so were Vietnam protests. I believe this too will make a difference.’ —Miriam Tenne

“After we collected the money,” Hogg notes, “The New York Times had a thing about the kitchen set up down there at the park.” Suddenly, the notion of distributing sandwiches lost its luster. “I thought, what a waste. It’s like taking coals to Newcastle. But in the end, we decided we’d go anyway.” It’s a good thing they did. Hogg recalls, “We got down there at seven or eight Thursday night. It had been raining, and they’d been cleaning up the park like you couldn’t believe…with steel brushes. They swept it clean, and there was absolutely

Hogg said. “There were literally hundreds of sandwiches. Mouths filled and eyes lit up. That’s the reaction of someone who’s been working all day and hasn’t had time to eat.” For Ruth Barth, that gesture of giving was an important way to help a cause she supports in spirit: “We would have liked to have been there and marched,” she said. “It’s not fair that there are such a small percentage of people who are rich and so many who work and save are not even

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

EDITORIAL The world is watching One of the most common chants during last Saturday’s marches organized by Occupy Wall Street was, “The whole world is watching, the whole world is watching.” But the statement is more than just a chant. Indeed, people all over the world really are watching — on their televisions, their computers and their phones. And they are watching us: our demonstrators, our police, our neighborhood, our city and nation. We hope they continue to watch. We are proud to be the center of attention in a case like this. This country was founded as a reaction to censorship and the suppression of individuality. It eventually became a home for oppressed, poor and huddled masses from all over the world because of the freedom it offered and promised. While the O.W.S. protestors have already succeeded on one level, namely by taking a topic like the increasingly unequal of distribution of wealth and turning it into everyday, water-cooler talk, there is still a long road ahead. While we understand the rationale of a leaderless movement, in order for O.W.S. to keep marching toward their goal, responding to the local community’s concerns is a must. One need not be deemed the leader to accomplish this, but one must take responsibility for meeting with the stakeholders, elected officials and community members and then relaying their concerns to all of O.W.S. These concerns largely revolve around the notion of respect. O.W.S. proved they were earnest in their desire to keep the park clean by spending all of Thursday night and Friday morning scrubbing the park from top to bottom. But the one issue concerning sanitation that has yet to be addressed is finding space for the demonstrators to go to the restroom. We believe it is entirely appropriate for Brookfield Properties to step in, but not to clean the park. O.W.S. clearly is capable of that. Brookfield should allow three to five port-o-potties to be placed at strategic points within the square. We would bet that O.W.S., with the money they have raised over the last month, would gladly foot the bill. This weekend proved that non-violent protest does not have to turn violent. On Saturday, as the O.W.S. movement was on display in 900 different cities throughout the world, and when in some cases the protests went too far, New York City exemplified the right to peacefully assemble. Not too long ago another park captured the entire country’s attention and ignited a movement of its own and is now a part of this country’s history. Sadly, though, that park will always be remembered for the wrong reason — for evil, heinous actions committed in order to maintain the status quo. The extraordinary police brutality that transpired at Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham, Alabama in May of 1963 was broadcast nationwide and quickly came to symbolize a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan has the potential to be the same, and the possibility to be different: the same in that it could be seen as a public park with unbreakable ties to a movement called “Occupy Wall Street” that tied together cities and countries and continents; and different in terms of being a park where nonviolent protest did not escalate into violent behavior and possibly end up frozen in history by photographs and televised images. The whole world is watching, and all players in the O.W.S. saga need to step up their game. The demonstrators must continue to protest peacefully and their general assembly needs to redress quickly, and continually, the quality of life issues with the surrounding community. The N.Y.P.D. must show maximum restraint in their dealings with peaceful protesters. And Brookfield must continue to do the right thing.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Despite new signals, more must be done to protect the blind To The Editor: Thank you for your article on audible traffic signals. These signals are going to be in at total of 46 out of 12,000 locations. I keep asking what percentage of a human I am. It seems that, in NYC, my life is worth a little more than one-third of one percent of that of my sighted neighbors. I was part of a meeting held by a fairly large group of blind people (quite a while ago), where those who seemingly disagree about everything came to a lot of agreements about what we needed regarding these signals. If we’d been consulted, and if deaf-blind people had been consulted before they were purchased (and if we had 12,000 of them in place during the 20+ years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed), we’d have had plenty of time to figure out how to do it right. One thing that has changed a lot during the past few years, is that more and more hybrid vehicles are on our roads. Blind people learn to safely cross streets by listening for traffic and traffic patterns. Hybrid vehicles, which are often silent, are invisible to us. The reference in your article to people who find the signals to be just part of the street noise might possibly be to people who want less noise masking the traffic noise — because it’s more important to hear the traffic than the signals, as cars can jump the lights and are turning during the walk cycles. The problem is there are a lot of cars we can’t hear anymore, and efforts to get manufacturers to add some sound to them has not succeeded yet. So, while I agree that a poorly

EVAN FORSCH

designed signal is worse than nothing, any halfway decent signal is information that becomes more critical for us as cars become more invisible. On a daily basis, I have become more and more aware of how many of the new visual-display-only countdown walk signals have cropped up over the city; and each time I’m made aware of it — in a location where I and other blind New Yorkers don’t have any signal — I have to wonder how we could suddenly afford this, when a basic tool some of us could use is not in the budget. Most blind people in New York do not live on 23rd Street. And, hopefully, most of the people who live on 23rd Street travel more than a block from their homes for work, recreation, etc. One signal is not, in my opinion, a cause for celebration. Why am I writing you instead of posting a comment? Because your paper uses an exclusively visual CAPTCHA system for security, what you call “image verifi cation” that requires the copying of a graphically, and thus inaccessibly, rendered word or words — making it impossible for your blind readers to place comments. Lynn Zelvin

Open the city gates to full-size Walmarts To The Editor: It was disappointing to learn that New York City may only allow miniWalmarts to open. If Home Depot, Ikea, BJ’s, Costco, Best Buy and Target can open full-size box stores, why not Walmart as well? Too many elected officials, including New York City Comptroller Liu, Public Advocate de Blasio, Council Speaker Quinn and many of her Council colleagues

are continuing to stand in the way. Walmart coming to NYC and perhaps Downtown Manhattan would provide work for construction contractors, their employees and thousands of the nine percent of New Yorkers currently out of work. The city would benefit by several hundred million dollars in new sales, payroll and real estate taxgenerated revenues. Walmart is the nation’s largest private sector employer with over 1.2 million employees and growing each year. Tens of millions of Americans, including many fellow New Yorkers own stock in Walmart. The same is true for the various retirement and pension plans many people participate in. The starting pay at Walmart is between several dollars more and double the minimum wage for new employees around the nation. Promotional opportunities including training for higher paying managerial positions are common, and they offer health care and other benefits. Walmart may actually pay higher salaries and offer more benefits than some of their competitors. Walmart consumers get a better bang for their buck, and many New Yorkers can’t afford to pay extra. They need the great prices, quality merchandise and the affordable food and drug options that Walmart offers. Several hundred thousand New Yorkers work off the books, fulland part-time, with no benefits or insurance. Many existing retailers pay minimum wage with no benefits, but public officials who oppose Walmart never talk about these abuses. Consumers have voted with their feet all over America making Walmart the number one retail merchant success story it is today. Why not allow

Continued on page 9

October 19 - November 1, 2011

Letters

Street, because they may soon migrate to their district offi ces and (GASP!) Republicans will not want that.

Continued from page 8 William Cooke Walmart the opportunity to compete in the NYC marketplace as well? For those opposed, don’t shop there, but give everyone else a choice. Larry Penner

Wall Street protests recall those of another era To The Editor: As I watch these protests on Wall Street, I am reminded of the civil rights marches of the ’60s. Yes, I lived through them and saw the police response every night on the news. I listened to my father complain that “those people” should be happy they’ve got what they got. “They never had it so good,” he said. Yesterday, I bought a new phone. The saleslady behind the counter mentioned that she used to play volleyball in college. Well, now she’s got her Bachelor’s degree. And her college education got her student loans, a crappy minimum wage retail job and no time for such frivolity as volleyball. God forbid she gets in an accident or gets sick. God forbid she gets old. These kids marching on Wall Street are heroes. To the extent that they make people wake up concerning the class warfare that has been going on in this country for decades, they should be applauded and not corralled, pepper sprayed and sent to jail. Politicians (yes Republicans, you know who you are) need to face reality the way these protesters face it. Healthcare should and can be free (it always is when I travel to Canada, and yes, I’d consider Canadian citizenship but I shouldn’t have to). Everyone (even Republicans) should want healthcare for themselves and their neighbor. We’d all have it, if we had the healthcare President Obama wanted and Congress receives. Jobs should and can be plentiful. President Obama’s jobs bill provides jobs that bolster our national infrastructure. Considering the extent of present decay, everyone (hear me, Republicans) should be on board. Politicians need to wake up and be happy these protests are confined to Wall

Mychael Judge article ‘changed my mind’ To The Editor: Thanks, Paul Schindler, for the article on Father Mychal Judge in the September 7-20 issue of Chelsea Now. I had judged him harshly for not coming out widely, particularly in the Fire Department. Your article changed my mind about him. It was good to learn of his coming out to the Fire Chief about his sexuality and discussing how best to bring up the issue with firefighters. And I do believe that each individual has the right to determine how she or he goes about coming out. I particularly liked how he told President Clinton how the founders of AA had done as much good in the 20th century as Mother Teresa, if not more. I’d never thought of it that way, and it makes sense. Nice how the article expanded to discuss the significant moves in government toward equal rights for the LG people in the aftermath of 9/11. So much happened to honor and support gay relationships in these ten years, even though as you note “no state law formally spelled out any rights.” How far we’ve come on spousal issues in such a short period of time, crowned by the marriage equality law in our state. I watched “United 93” this year on TV and looked for some mention of Mark Bingham, but I didn’t see any. There were cell phone calls to and from family depicted in the movie, but I didn’t see one between Bingham and his partner. From way back in the past decade I seem to remember that a father and young son were traveling on that flight, that the father was gay, but I don’t know. I’ll watch the movie again some time, knowing from your article that he was portrayed by Cheyenne Jackson. Thanks again for the article, Paul. It is a small and yet comprehensive story of the LGBT movment in this first decade of the 21st century. I still find it hard to believe that all this occurred during my lifetime.

THE WEST SIDE’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

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NEWS

The recently exposed old I.N.D. subway sign at W. Fourth St.

Sign of the (former) times

is replaced by one of the bright new signs with the colored lettering for the A, B, C, D, E and F trains that use that station.

To The Editor: The recent removal of the longtime newsstand in front of the old Waverly Theater, now the IFC Center, has revealed an old sign on the subway entrance. The weathered signage says, “8th Avenue Independent Subway System.” I’m wondering how many people these days know what the old I.N.D. was, and how it differed from the I.R.T. and B.M.T.? You may want to get a photo of it before it

Bob McLoughlin E-mail letters to scott@chelseanow.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to Chelsea Now, Letters to the Editor, 515 Canal Street, Unit 1C New York City, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. Chelsea Now reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Chelsea Now does not publish anonymous letters.

Find it in the archives www.CHELSEANOW.com

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Photo by Lincoln Anderson

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

HOME SEASON Thursday, October 20 through Saturday, October 22, 2011 7:00pm Showcasing Ice Theatre of New York’s dance on ice repertory. Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers THE NATION’S PREMIER ICE DANCE COMPANY

Performance tickets: $25 Discounts for seniors, students & groups of 10 or more: $15

DARE TO BE

DIFFERENT ICE THEATRE GALA HONORING JOHNNY WEIR Monday, October 24, 2011 7:00pm

Ice Theatre of NY’s 2011 Annual Beneﬁt Gala & Performance Honoring U.S. Champion & Olympian Johnny Weir Performance at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers, Pier 61 followed by Cocktails, dinner & festivities at the Lighthouse, Pier 61 Beneﬁt Tickets: $350 and up Performance only tickets: $45 For tickets and more information (212) 929-5811 or visit icetheatre.org. Photos: Jay Colton

October 19 - November 1, 2011

Community Board members weigh in on redistricting Continued from page 3 Johnson said that he hoped that the Foundling School and Hudson Yards were taken into consideration by the School Authority and the DOE as they project capacity numbers — noting that this would be among the many issues that CB4 would look at during an October 18 Quality of Life, Arts, Culture and Education Safety Meeting. “The neighborhoods on the west side are very attractive, safe, highly-desirable neighborhoods, and we’ve seen a tremendous influx of parents and people with children,” said Johnson. “It is a very diverse neighborhood, and in CB4, we really value that. I hope that we continue to have a diverse neighborhood. We want it to be not just luxury housing; it is important to maintain a middle class that is able to send their kids to good public schools and get a high-quality education.” Johnson said he felt the CEC members had been thorough, receptive and transparent in coming to communities affected by this to listen to concerns. “They have a Herculean decision on their hands, and I am appreciative of their effort so far,” he said. The CEC’s Markowitz noted that at the end of the day, “The question was not whether we have X kids for X seats, but the fairest way to spread them around. The alternative is a lottery. We are taking a chance with a lottery if we don’t change the lines to match

Photo by Winnie McCroy

Chelsea parents opposed to redistricting gather in front of PS 11.

the population increase. Then, you might be zoned for a school but have no guarantee that you get in. A child with a sibling in the school gets first choice over your four-year-

old.” “If we don’t do the painful thing in the near future…your kid might be in a situation of overcrowding, with no specialty classes,”

said Tanikawa. “Sure, your children might get into PS 3 or 11 next year, but by the time they are in fifth grade, they will be in a class with 32 other kids.”

October 19 - November 1, 2011

The North Shore-LIJ & Rudin Family Greenwich Village Development Plan

Before

After

Support a plan to bring more green space, a new school and healthcare back to the Westside. he Rudin Family Greenwich Village Development plan, anchored by the new North Shore-LIJ 24/7 Comprehensive Care Center, will bring healthcare back to our neighborhood and help revive local small businesses. The plan will:

s Create 1,700 new jobs s Create a 15,000-square-foot park s Create a new 564-seat elementary school s Cleaner air and energy-saving features to make this project the City’s first certified LEED-Neighborhood Development project s More light and air with a 13 percent reduction in bulk from existing buildings Visit our website to find out what you can do to make this plan a reality for our community.

“I’m impressed by the many public beneﬁts the project will offer, including union jobs, new green space and an elementary school.” Former Mayor Edward Koch

To ﬁnd out more and voice your support, visit www.WestsideHealthcareCoalition.com.

Former Mayor Edward Koch and George Gresham, Co-Chairs.

October 19 - November 1, 2011

Squash, pumpkin, figs are in season BY CARLYE WAXMAN, RD Vegetables can be super delicious and filling — especially those that pop up in the fall season. Apples, broccoli, mushrooms and sweet potatoes are something we easily recognize. But they can, and do, get boring. Writing about them can even get boring. So take advantage of all that fall has to offer by expanding your vegetable palate. Perhaps you’ve passed by a pumpkin and got intimidated, wondering how (and why) you were going to carry it home. How about those funny looking squashes that deserve a place on the windowsill instead of your belly? Here are my favorite fall vegetables — with nutrition facts and tips on how to easily prepare and cook them. Realize that eating extra servings of these vegetables are more food for your stomach, and less calories in your body. So keep slim while keeping your “I’m not going to cook tonight” mentality. ACORN SQUASH These heavy little things are an excellent source of vitamin C, which can help keep us from getting sick. Choose one that’s free of bumps and spots. They can store for three months in a cool dry place (like as a centerpiece on your table). Directions: Cut squash in two. Remove seeds. Add 1 pat of butter, 1 tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp maple syrup on each side.

Photos by Carlye Waxman

Great pumpkin! This hefty fellow is hanging at Union Square.

Put in a baking pan with a little water for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees, cut side up. Each half is about 120 calories.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH This big boy has a lot of fiber, magnesium, potassium and vitamin C, which is

InvisibleDogs.org

great for the heart and your satiety. Buy already cut from Trader Joe’s on 23rd Street, it’s easier than peeling and cutting one yourself. If buying one precut, use it right away. If you buy one in tact it lasts a few months. Directions: Place large chunks of cut

Good Stuff: At the vegetable exchange, outside of Chelsea Market.

squash in a baking dish and toss in 1-2 tsp olive oil, turmeric, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes on 400 degrees F. A half cup, cooked, will be about 50 calories.

Continued on page 18

October 19 - November 1, 2011

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

Occupy Wall Street occupies Times Square

Photos by Aline Reynolds

Saturday, October 15, late afternoon: Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters gathered at Times Square as part of a movement-wide demonstration.

Penn South meets Wall Street Continued from page 7 able to make it in today’s world. I hope these protests will lead to better times for them. They need to eat, sleep and bathe. I’m glad to help in any way I can.” Barbara Nazimova, a member of the discussion group where the idea for the Sandwich Brigade first took root, told Hogg, “I remember many of the Vietnam protests. I was too busy taking care of my young children to participate, but the Wall Street protesters remind me of them.” Asked to assess both the cause and its chance of success, sandwich maker Miriam Tenne observed, “Many things influence government. Civil Rights protests were effective and so were Vietnam protests. I believe this

too will make a difference.” Shirley Capich (one of the women’s discussion group members) said, “The Civil Rights marches were effective, and I think the Wall Street protests can go the same way.” Hogg assesses current efforts by noting the cultural and political shift achieved by previous generations: “Big decisions come out of what seems like a small thing to start with. When you protest, the snowball keeps growing. It brings about change.” At least for one night, that change didn’t have to happen on an empty stomach.

Gratitude in Three Movements:

Forgiveness, Acceptance & Thanksgiving

Photo by Randi Cecchine

They deliver: Nancy Spannbauer (at left) and Jane Hogg prepare to feed the huddled masses.

‘Big decisions come out of what seems like a small thing to start with. When you protest, the snowball keeps growing. It brings about change.’ —Jane Hogg

An Ecumenical Retreat for Gay and Bisexual Christian Men Nov. 10-13, 2011 Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center www.

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Robert V. Taylor (www.RobertTaylor.com) Chris Glaser (www.ChrisGlaser.com) and Joseph Palacios

October 19 - November 1, 2011

Fall for this: Vegetables in season Continued from page 14 BRUSSELS SPROUTS Hands down, this is America’s most hated vegetable. Seriously, it’s been rated. If you hate them, you’ve been cooking them wrong. Just four of these are 40 calories, and rich in folate. Keep them in a plastic bag for a few days after purchasing. If you wait longer, they’ll start to smell rancid. Don’t wash until you’re ready to eat them. Directions: Cut off the brown stems, peel off any yellow leaves and discard. Toss in a large bowl with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper. Transfer to a baking dish and roast for 35-40 minutes at 400 degrees F. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that they’re very good — especially when crispy (they sort of taste like French fries). FIGS Figs are not only famous for their mild laxative effect, but they’re a great source of B6 and potassium as well. Don’t judge them before you buy them (the shriveled, ugly ones are actually the best). Once bought, use them right away. Directions: Cut in half. Brush the cut sides with honey and cooking spray. Heat a pan and cook the figs (cut side down) for a few minutes. For a sweet snack, serve with Greek yogurt or add to your oatmeal at breakfast.

(both ingredients already come chopped at whole foods) ½ small jalapeno pepper, diced 1 cup of cooked pumpkin, cubed 1 ½ cups of finely chopped Swiss chard 1 cup of peeled and chopped apple 2 cups of cooked brown rice ½ cup of vegetable broth 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional) Directions: In a large saucepan over medium heat coat with cooking spray. Add onion, carrot and jalapeno pepper for five minutes. Stir in the chard, pumpkin and apple and cover for another five minutes. Add pumpkin pie spice. After rice has been boiled and cooked, add it to the pot with the broth, bring to a simmer and cook for five minutes or until liquid is absorbed. For the drink: 1 cup of apple cider, heated 2 oz of cinnamon schnapps 1 cinnamon stick

Photos by Carlye Waxman

Gorge yourself…on gourds?

PUMPKIN Excellent source of vitamin A. Choose one that’s 5-8 lbs. (any larger, and it’s not as sweet; any smaller, and you have more skin than pumpkin). They store about a month in a cool dry place — but up to three months in the refrigerator. Pumpkins are packed with potassium, but also contain a high dose of vitamin C, calcium, betacarotene and folate. Directions: Cut around the stem and chop in half. Chop in half again. Remove seeds. Cook for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. Peel and cube. They go great mixed in a spinach salad with dried cranberries, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. SWEET DUMPLING SQUASH The same rules apply here, as with other squash. Find one deep in color; and it should be heavy. It stores for up to three months in a cool dry place. There’s 80 calories in the whole thing! Directions: Cut in half, scoop out seeds, flip it over and fork in some holes. Flip it to cut side up, add 1 pat of butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1 tsp of maple syrup. Cook in a baking dish with a little water on the bottom as long as you would the other squashes, cut side up. You won’t be disappointed. With the butter and syrup, it works out to about 140 calories in the whole squash. SWISS CHARD Swiss Chard delivers a delicious, earthy flavor and doesn’t take long to prepare! They have a great source of potassium as well as vitamins A and C. Choose fresh green leaves and avoid those that have started to turn yellow. You can store those that aren’t washed for a couple of days. Directions: Separate the stems and leaves from the bunch. Wash. Chop leaves roughly. Add to a pan with a little olive oil and sauté for about 10 minutes. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and add black pepper. Test it in your tiny kitchen and pair it with a drink! RECIPE: Swiss Chard, Pumpkin and Apple Brown Rice with Cinnamon Spiked Apple Cider Ingredients: Cooking spray 1 cup finely chopped onion 1 cup diced carrot

Land of plenty: A cast of seasonal characters, at Union Square Market.

October 19 - November 1, 2011

Waterfront Alliance honors harbor heroes Continued from page 2 decision to invite the public. “It was time to open the parade so everyone can come out to enjoy the show. There was a symphony of boats out there. We had to turn people away because so many wanted to be involved. Every year it grows and grows,” said Lewis — who was referring to the contingent of participating vessels, but could just have easily been assessing the crowd of onlookers (who numbered in the hundreds). Beginning four years ago as a parade with only eight vessels, this year’s event showcased 28 different boats on the harbor. The Parade of Boats served as a precursor to the MWA’s annual Heroes of the Harbor Awards Dinner. Special guests in attendance included NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Steel, Colonel John R. Boulé II (Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers NY District) and Captain Linda Fagan, Commander (U.S. Coast Guard, NY Sector). This year, Global Container Terminals USA president and CEO Jim Devine was honored. Praising the positive impact Devine’s leadership has had on protecting the environment, Lewis told Chelsea Now, “Jim Devine is a business leader in green port technology and deserves to be recognized as a Hero.” Speaking at the ceremony, Devine pressed for further reforms — telling the crowd, “Our harbor has been a nurturing body of water taken for granted. We abused what gave us life.” He then outlined strategies to help accomplish the shared vision of bringing recreation, transportation and commerce back to area waterways.

‘Our harbor has been a nurturing body of water taken for granted. We abused what gave us life.’ —Jim Devine Hudson River Park Trust President and CEO Madelyn Wils (who also serves as Chairperson of Community Board 1) was also named a Hero of the Harbor. After accepting the award, Wils recalled how she loved growing up in Lower Manhattan. Unfortunately, that era was a period during which she witnessed the demise of the harbor’s waterways. Noting with pride Hudson River Park’s contribution to the steady improvement in quality of life, Wils noted that more people are moving back to the area. “It is an honor to participate in all the changes to the waterfront,” Wils said. During her brief tenure as the new head of Hudson River Park, Lewis noted, “Madelyn has done work that has helped promote recreation and economic growth for the waterfront.” Before that, he recalled, “She has shown great leadership throughout her career as Executive Vice President of

Photo courtesy of Ian Douglas, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance

Making waves: This Coat Guard ship gets a standing ovation.

Planning, Development and Maritime of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.” Moments before the parade began, Lewis spoke to Chelsea Now about the work yet to be done. “With New York City being an island, it is a problem that there are no places for boats to dock in the city. We need to find a cure for this problem. People also lack the knowledge about the waterways in the city.” The MWA’s efforts to make waterfronts and waterways cleaner and more accessible were bolstered this past March by a plan to rebuild and use the docks in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. “Finally the 120,000 people in Bay Ridge can get from the Ridge to the Bay and the Bay to the Ridge.” Speaking at the awards ceremony on Mayor Bloomberg’s behalf, Deputy Mayor Robert Steel noted that there are about 130 projects planned, and the mayor hopes they can all be completed before he leaves office. For information about the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, visit waterfrontalliance. org or call 212-935-9831. For the Hudson River Park Trust, hudsonriverpark.org or 212-627-2020. For New York Container Terminal Inc., nycterminal.com or 718-2737000.

Photo courtesy of Ian Douglas, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance

Hero of the Harbor: Hudson River Park Trust President/CEO Madelyn Wils accepts her award.

October 19 - November 1, 2011

CHELSEA: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Stop it, you’re scaring me

Horrifying Halloween events worth embracing ENTOMBED, THEN UNEARTHED, BY SCOTT STIFFLER

JASON BLANCHE’S HALLOWEEN HAIRFLIP Just a few short months ago, Jason Blanche’s funny/ tragic/true solo comedy show at the Magnet Theater minded laughs from the deep well of terror dug from turning 40 with only his fabulous hair and natural gift for denial to help him soldier on. This time up, Blanche puts his gallows humor to good use — by offering up a rotted smorgasbord of Halloween-themed comedy. Drag, spooky ghosts, a fashionable zombie, tricks, treats and Jason’s fabulous hair will all help scare up some laughs. Special guests Alexandra Cremer and Tim Lueke will be on hand to coax Blanche out of his depression should a heckler remind him of how very, very old he is. Mon., Oct. 24, 8:30pm, at The Magnet Theater (254 W. 29th St., btw. 7th and 8th Aves.). $5 admission also gets you access to “How Did I Get Here?” — Kelly Buttermore’s solo show. For info, visit magnettheater.com.

THE MERCHANT’S HOUSE MUSEUM: SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY, GHOST TOUR As haunted houses go, you can’t make this stuff up. Currently celebrating its 75th year of providing a frozenin-time glimpse of NYC domestic life as lived from 18351865, the Merchant’s House Museum long ago staked its claim as “Manhattan’s most haunted house.” Dozens of unexplained events and spectral sightings have taken place over the years (the most recent just a few weeks ago, on two successive nights during public events). The brave and curious will get a great history lesson — and maybe even a playful prod from a friendly spirit — at any one of the upcoming paranormal-themed events. Through November 28, “In the Spirit — Modern Photographers Channel the 19th-Century” is an exhibit of historic and modern images, including 19th century spirit photographs (considered to be proof of communication with the spirits of departed loved ones). You’ll also see current works by Sally Mann, John Dugdale, Hal Hirshorn and RA Friedman — modern “medium photographers” who use early photographic techniques. The exhibit is free, with regular admission to the museum. Hear true tales of unexplained encounters (some of them told by the people who experienced them) and learn about the servants and Tredwell family members said to have stuck around after their deaths — during the

Photo by Cedar

Storytellers Clay McLeod Chapman and Hanna Cheek give “The Pumpkin Pie Show” its creepy charm.

Photo by Hal Hirshorn

Spirit photography, 1800s-style. See “The Merchant’s House.”

“Candlelight Ghost Tours.” They happen Fri.-Sat., Oct. 21/22; and Thurs.-Sat., Oct. 27-29. The 50-minute tours begin every half hour. The 6, 6:30, 7 and 7:30pm tours are $25. The 8, 8:30 and 9pm tours are $30. The 9:30pm tour, for $40, includes a trip to the fourth floor servant’s quarters. On Sun., Oct. 30, 3-5pm, “From Parlor to Grave: 1865 Funeral Reenactment” finds the Merchant’s House parlors draped in black crape, for this recreation of the 1865 funeral of Seabury Tredwell. After the service, mourners will follow the coffin to nearby New York City Marble Cemetery for a tour ($30; $10 for graveside service and cemetery tour only). On Mon., Oct. 31 (at 7 and 8:30pm), “Spine Tingling and True: Ghost Stories of the Merchant’s House Museum” is presided over by Merchant’s House ghost-storytellers Anthony Bellov and Dayle Vander Sande — who’ll read 19th-century horror classics interspersed with true tales of the supernatural, as experienced by Merchant’s House visitors and staff (cost: $25). Bellov and Vander Sande return at 7pm on Fri., Nov. 18 as two of the four-member Bond Street Euterpean Singing Society. The latest program from this gifted vocal ensemble (“Chant Macabre: Songs of Death & Enchantment”) offers an atmospheric concert featuring 19th-century songs and classical arias ($25). All events take place at the Merchant’s House Museum (29 E. Fourth St., btw. Lafayette & Bowery). Museum Hours: Thurs.-Mon., 12-5pm. Admission: $10 ($5 for students/seniors). For info, call 212-777-1089 or visit merchantshouse.org.

THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW: LOVEY DOVEY A good amount of time before people paraded through the streets dressed up as Anthony Weiner or Snookie, real and lasting terror came from the simple act of storytelling. That ritual is what gave the long-running “Pumpkin Pie Show” its name (specifically referring to the Southern tradition of good old boys sitting in a field spinning tall, bloody tales). Getting your spine tingled and your sense of security shattered by PPS creator Clay McLeod Chapman and Hanna Cheek has become a LES October tradition. Both are charismatic and skilled performers who project a sense of calm and likeability that, by monologue’s end, has been thoroughly perverted in the service of scaring the living hell out of you. Expect to be traumatized well into the Christmas season. This year’s fall PPS (“Lovey Dovey”) tells macabre tales of romance gone rancid. “Michelle” features a man who recounts leading the search party for his next-door neighbor’s missing teenage daughter. In “Ascending the Stairway,” seventh graders are taken through a step-by-step process of making out to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Also (based on a true story), “Condo Lothario” concerns an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases spreading throughout a retirement community. Helping the overdose of medicine go down: music and lyrics from Obie Award winner Kyle Jarrow, as performed by the husband and wife duo Sky-Pony. Through Oct. 29. Thurs.-Sat., 8pm. At UNDER St. Marks, (94 St. Marks Place, btw. 1st Ave. & Ave. A). For tickets ($18, $15 for students/seniors), call 212-868-4444. For info, visit horsetrade.info and pumpkinpieshow.com.

Continued on page 23

October 19 - November 1, 2011

Tricks, treats and trauma: Halloween is kids stuff Best bets for batty dreams REANIMATED BY SCOTT “SPOOKY” STIFFLER

KIDS ‘N COMEDY: “THE WARM-UP TO HALLOWEEN SHOW” Forget zombies and psycho killers. For sheer terror that cuts to the bone, imagine being alone on stage and hearing the sound of crickets chirping where there should be waves of laughter. Those brave souls who haunt the “Kids ‘N Comedy” series know how to look the grim reaper of audience disapproval in the eye and laugh until it hurts — or until somebody gets bloodied up a bit. Stand-up comics Valerie Bodurtha, Conor Carroll, Angela Citrola, Mark Cohen, Ryan Drum, Joe O’Hare, Zach Rosenfeld and David Thompson have answered the challenge to come up with Halloween-themed material that’s funny enough to entertain mom and dad, yet disturbing enough to give their annoying younger siblings the nightmares they so richly deserve. Sun., Oct. 23, 1pm, at Gotham Comedy Club (208 W. 23rd St., btw. 7th & 8th Aves.). For tickets ($15, plus a one-item food or drink minimum), call 212-877-6115 or visit kidsncomedy.com.

Photo by Jonathan Slaff

Deeply troubled comedian Mark Cohen trains himself for eating Halloween candy. See “Kids ‘N Comedy.”

Photo by Yvonne Brooks

Sweet candy mice, good enough to eat: See “Ghoulish Gourmet.”

PUMPKIN PATCH and HIGH LINE HALLOWEEN HI-JINKS Fulton Youth of the Future, Friends of the High Line and NYC Council Speaker Quinn’s office have joined (dark?) forces to transform the High Line into a pumpkin patch. Purchase pumpkins to take home, or decorate them on the spot. Sat., Oct. 22, 12-4pm and Sun., Oct. 30, 12-4pm. On the High Line, in the Chelsea Market Passage (near W. 15th St.). For more fun atop the rails (or at least their skeletons), “Halloween Hi-Jinks on the High Line” happens on Sun., Oct. 30, from 12-3pm. Families are invited to dress in costume and join Friends of the High line for an afternoon of tricks and treats — and the firstever Halloween parade on the High Line. The ghoulish procession begins promptly at noon (at the Seating Steps, on at West 22nd St.). Puppet Master Ralph Lee will lead, as the parade travels south toward The Porch (the High Line’s new open-air café, at West 15th St.). Following the parade, stay at The Porch to paint faces, dance to spooky tunes and howl at the moon — in the dead of the afternoon. This event is free, and open to visitors of all ages. Children age 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult. For info, visit thehighline.org.

BOOKS OF WONDER The most terrifying experience you’ll have at Books of Wonder this Halloween season is being denied a frosted treat from ground floor neighbor Cupcake Café…or is it? A moonlit graveyard full of authors will be reading from some creepy books that may already be giving someone you care about bad dreams. On Sat., Oct. 22, 12-2pm (for ages 11-14), “Fantastic Fiction” showcases seven creators of fiction whose teenage protagonists find

Reprinted with the permission of Henry Holt Books for Young Readers Photo by Carlye Waxman

In the market for one of these? See “Pumpkin Patch.”

themselves in extreme situations. The featured authors include Sarah Beth Durst — whose new book “Drink, Slay, Love” tells the story of a teen vampire stabbed by a unicorn horn. Jon Skovron shares “Misfit” — the tale of 16-year-old half-demon Catholic school student Jael Thompson; and Gabrielle Zevin’s “All These Things I’ve Done” takes readers on a trip to New York in the year 2083. Sun., Oct. 23, from 12-1pm (for ages 3-8), cast members of the Broadway hit “The Addams Family” will sign autographs and take pictures with fans. Story Time will wrap up with one lucky family winning a free pair of tickets to see to see the show. On Sat., Oct. 29, 12-2pm (for ages 8-12), “Great New Chapter Books” welcomes seven authors whose works target middle grade readers. Elise Broach will read from the first volume of her new trilogy: “Missing on Superstition Mountain.” Illustrator and debut author Scott Gustafson spins the tale of a dark little boy who grew up to be the master of the macabre, in “Eddie: The Lost Youth of Edgar Allen Poe”; and Josh Lewis catches fans up with the adventure of Super Chicken Nugget Boy (whose latest adventure

finds him facing off against the Massive Meatloaf Man). At Books of Wonder (18 W. 18th St., btw. 5th & 6th Aves.). For info, call 212-9893270 or visit booksofwonder.com. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 10am-7pm; Sun., 11am-6pm.

HALLOWEEN PARADE AND EXTRAVAGANZA AT THE SCHOLASTIC STORE On Sat., Oct 29 at 3pm (for all ages), Clifford the Big Red Dog leads the annual Halloween Parade. Listen to scary (but not too spooky) tales and dance the day away to bewitching music. Costumes are encouraged…treats are guaranteed. Then, on Sun., Oct. 30 from 5-7pm, the Halloween Extravaganza features storytelling, a “Black Cat Scavenger Hunt,” pumpkin bowling, eyeball relays and cupcake decorating — plus pizza, punch, snacks and goodies galore. The $20 per person ticket gets you a $5 in-store coupon. To RSVP, call 212-343-6166 or email thescholasticstore@scholastic.com. At 557 Broadway (btw. Prince and Spring Sts. Stroller Entrance: 130 Mercer St.). Regular store hours: Mon.-Sat., 10am-7pm

Oct. 29: Meet author Elise Broach, at Books of Wonder.

and Sun., 11am-6pm. For info, call 212-3436166 or visit scholastic.com/sohostore.

GHOULISH GOURMET HALLOWEEN PARTY It’s a fact: Evil eyeballs, ghastly ghost sticks, freaky Frankenstein fingers and putrid worm punch are almost as tasty as fresh human brains. But to get the most out of these undead snacks, they must be properly prepared. That’s what McNally Jackson’s Ghoulish Gourmet School of Halloween Cuisine is here for. With help from the fiendishly talented Chef Vladimir and Mistress of Scarimonies Yvonne Brooks, little monsters will learn how to conjure these dastardly dishes (then take their creepy cuisine back to their own dark crypt). They’ll also fly back home, like a bat out of a belfry, with a Haunted House Book of revolting recipes to prepare in their family laboratories. This free event is appropriate for ages 3-10. Costumes are encouraged, but not required. Sat., Oct. 29, 11:30am-1:30pm, in the McNally Jackson Café (52 Prince St.). For info, call 212-274-1160 or visit mcnallyjackson.com.

October 19 - November 1, 2011

Yiddish Theater will outlive us all As lecture revisits past, Folksbiene secures the present BY JERRRY TALLMER One day a thousand years ago (well, sixty years ago), my father figure, the great Charles Abrams, said: “Come with me. We’ll go to the East Side. I’ll show you where all the action was.” By East Side, Abrams — who lived with his wife and two daughters in a fine old brownstone on West 10th Street — meant what is now called the East Village. In particular, he meant the stretch of Second Avenue from 14th Street down to below Canal Street that had in the 1920s and ‘30s been the stronghold of New York’s Yiddishlanguage theater. It was a topic about which I knew nothing. But civil libertarian and urban housing warrior Abrams (1902-1970) — a man who might, standing at his fireplace, chortle Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Tit Willow” in Yiddish — had grown up with the Yiddish theater and its environs. “This is where you’d go at night after the show,” he said as we downed borscht and baked goods at Rattner’s (where the waiters were famous for abusing their customers) or

TALKS THE HEBREW ACTORS’ UNION AND SECOND AVENUE: CARETAKERS OF YIDDISH THEATER A lecture by David Freeland Thursday, October 27, 6:30-8pm At The Museum at Eldridge Street 12 Eldridge Street (between Canal and Division Streets) Free (reservations required) RSVP to rsvp@gvshp.org or 212-475-9585, ext 350

the Lafayette with its marble-tiled floors, or, above all, at the Cafe Royal (Second Avenue and 12th Street), where in the old days you might expect to catch Fyvush Finkle or Menasha Skulnik or Molly Picon or Maurice Schwartz supping and schmoosing after a show. All of these people and many others would eventually make the leap to stardom on Broadway thanks to reviewers who’d ventured Downtown, just as would the critics who only a few years later would come down

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Photo by Scott Stiffler

Just walk on by: Pedestrians stroll, largely oblivious to Abe Lebewohl’s Yiddish Walk of Fame (Second Ave. and 10th St.).

to the Village and discover Off-Broadway. “Watts Junior [the Post’s Richard Watts, Jr.] made me come Uptown,” Menasha Skulnik said to this journalist during his (Skulnik’s) 1965 stardom in “The Zulu and the Zayda,” four years after he’d arrived on Broadway in his late ‘60s in “The Fifth Season” (a comedy about the Garment District).

Those well-worn plaques are pretty hard to read now, and what was once the Second Avenue Deli is now, ironically enough, a Chase bank. But you can still make out some of those names on Abe Lebewohl’s Yiddish Walk of Fame. It was at 189 Second Avenue, directly across from the Cafe Royal, that Maurice Schwartz had planted his Yiddish Art Theatre — where he duked it out with his great rival twenty blocks south, Boris Thomashefsky, as Shylock and “Der Yiddisher Lear” and a whole array of other Yiddish-ized classics from Shakespeare to Shaw to Wilde and beyond. I once came across a photograph of

Maurice Schwartz. It was the handsomest male face I had ever seen, and for some years it was fastened to one of my walls next to Jeanne Moreau, Billie Holiday, Picasso and Franklin D. Roosevelt. But by then, the Cafe Royal was long gone (as was the Yiddish Art Theatre itself). In 1988 producer Joseph Papp, who loved, spoke and could charmingly sing in Yiddish, brought forth a show called “Café Crown” — a sort of memorial to that whole past. The Yiddish Art Theater premises at 189 Second Avenue would house through the years such worthy works as Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author” and less worthy ones like Ken Tynan’s “Oh! Calcutta!” Today it is the locale of a multiplex movie house. When in the early 1960s the New York Post, not knowing what else to do with me, sent me — whose knowledge of Yiddish was limited to “schlep” and “schlemiel” and “mespuche” — to review Yiddish theater, that whole scene was already dying or dead. Or so I thought, so everyone thought. What shows still existed were limited to kitchen sink dramas or sweet sad little musicals, with the handful of elderly onlookers blurting out the Yiddish equivalents of “Watch out!” or “Oh no!” as each crooked business proposition or unwed pregnancy loomed on the horizon. But Yiddish theater in New York City was not dead. It has been carried on in recent years by the National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene, on West 29th Street (folksbiene.org) — under the direction of Zalmen Mlotek, a music man and conductor who learned his craft from none other than Leonard Bernstein.

Continued on page 24

October 19 - November 1, 2011

Horrifying Halloween events Continued from page 20

DARK LIGHT Jagged Night Theatre’s horror play comes with an upfront warning that will either scare you away or draw you in:

“Please note that this show contains explicit language, stage blood, staged violence, and gruesome or scary images. Not recommended for children or people with heart conditions.” Still reading? Then you’ve probably got the intestinal fortitude to witness the strange tale of Emily and her little brother Tim — whose trip to the circus is cut short by a costumed psychopath. When Emily wakes to find herself imprisoned in an abandoned facility, she discovers a group of strangers who are being used as test subjects in a twisted experiment. To escape, and find her missing brother, Emily must navigate the underground prison while confronting a shocking revelation about her dark past. Fri., Oct. 21-Mon., Oct. 31, at 7:30pm; Sat., Oct. 22, Fri., Oct. 28 and Sat., Oct. 29 at 7:30pm and 10pm. At The Zoo Theater at Triskelion Arts (118 North 11th St., 3rd Floor, Brooklyn; btw. Berry St. and Wythe Ave.). For $16 tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com (use promo code DARK9286) or call 800-838-3006. Visit jaggednightheatre.com

DRAGONS OF ZYNTH

Photo by Marc-André Charbonneau

Beware the costumed psychopath: A lesson learned from “Dark Light.”

Move over, Kiss and Gwar — there’s a new band poised to perform a Halloween gig in full costume. Known for their discordant guitar tones, elastic vocals and fractured rhythms, Dragons of Zynth counts former costumed freakazoid David Bowie among their fans — as well as TV on the

Photo courtesy of DOZ and 92YTribeca

Bowie-approved: Dragons of Zynth.

Radio’s David Sitek (who produced their debut album, “Coronation Thieves”). The Dragons are: twin brothers Aku (vocals, keyboards) and Akwetey (vocals, guitar) as well as J. Bizza (drums) and FonLin (bass). This gig at 92YTribeca’s mainstage venue will feature new songs from their forthcoming sophomore album.

Sat., Oct. 29. Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9pm show. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of. At 92YTribeca (200 Hudson St.). For info, visit 92YTribeca.org or call 212-601-1000.

Continued on page 27

October 19 - November 1, 2011

Yiddish Theater lives Continued from page 22 “We are the legacy of that whole [Yiddish theater] culture,” says Bronx-born Zalmen Mlotek. “The last and longest-running professional Yiddish theater company in this country. We’re carrying the torch.” “Folksbiene means ‘people’s theater,’” Mlotek points out. “That whole culture came into being as counterpoise to the shund” — the junk culture, the trash of the streets, that confronted the waves of immigrants flowing in past the lady with the uplifted torch. At 12 Eldridge Street, on the Lower East Side, there is a museum — The Museum at Eldridge Street, no less — where once there stood a synagogue that first opened its doors 125 years ago. There, on Thursday, October 27, from 6:30 to 8pm, researcher David Freeland will offer “a virtual tour” — i.e., a talk (admission free) on the territory and goings on from the Cafe Royal. on 12th Street (the “Sardi’s of Second Avenue”), down to the red brick structure on East 7th Street that was once the headquarters of the formidable, all-powerful Hebrew Actors’ Union (HAU). Those 125 years at 12 Eldridge Street are also being celebrated in a whole series of events staring Sunday, November 13, with a cornerstone laying at 1pm followed by a social from 2-4pm. Midway between the HAU and the Cafe Royal is the corner of Second Avenue and

10th Street. It is there that for years, the famed Second Avenue Deli nourished a neighborhood (and everyone else) until its founder and owner, Abe Lebewohl, was shot dead as he was carrying the weekly payroll from the bank on March 4, 1996. He left behind him a lot of broken hearts and, in the sidewalk in front of his joint, some 50 copper plaques — each bearing the name of some immortal of the New York Yiddish theater of the era you’re reading about here. Those well-worn plaques are pretty hard to read now, and what was once the Second Avenue Deli is now, ironically enough, a Chase bank. But you can still make out some of those names on Abe Lebewohl’s Yiddish Walk of Fame. Abraham Goldfaden! Ida Kaminska! Lillian Lux! Pesach Burstyn! Mike Burstyn! Paul Muni! Molly Picon! Joseph Buloff! Fyvush Finkel, who, snooted by the HAU in his youth, had to go to Pittsburgh to win his union card. Dear old, wonderful old “Picket Fences” Fyvush, still alive and working to this day. Boris Thomashefsky! Maurice Schwartz! Jacob Adler!!! Oh my God, Jacob Adler, monarch of the whole mespuche — who defiantly took his Yiddish-speaking Shylock to Broadway — was brought there by Arthur Hopkins (while everyone else in the company spoke good high-flown Shakespearean English).

Photo by Scott Stiffler

Faded, but not forgotten: Abraham Goldfaden’s star still shines.

Jacob Adler, whose son Luther Adler I saw on stage with my own eyes in “Golden Boy” (by Clifford Odets). Jacob Adler, whose daughter Stella Adler reshaped the whole future of American acting beginning with Marlon Brando. Luther and Stella Adler, brother and sister, who appeared together in the 1935 Group Theater premiere of “Awake and

Sing.” Also by Odets, this theatrical event that changed everything is, when you look at it closely — the daughter getting knocked up, the grandfather falling off the roof — just a kitchen sink drama par excellence (with Marx and Stanislavski thrown in). Charlie Abrams, I want you to know that the Yiddish theater will outlive all of us. Meet you at the Royal after the show.

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

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L-R: Parker Leventer as Helene (a French documentary filmmaker), Keona Welch as Halima (a young Darfuri girl), Matthew Park as Emilie (a Parisian doctor of Chinese ancestry) and Devere Rogers as Chidi (a Senegalese peacekeeper), in â&#x20AC;&#x153;We in Silence Hear a Whisper.â&#x20AC;?

Photo courtesy of Fourth Arts Block

Dig in: Korean Fried Chicken at MONO+MONO. See â&#x20AC;&#x153;East Village Eats Tasting Tour.â&#x20AC;?

Just Do Art! COMPILED BY SCOTT STIFFLER

WE IN SILENCE HEAR A WHISPER The Red Fern Theatre Companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world premiere of Jon Kernâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;We in Silence Hear a Whisperâ&#x20AC;? concerns the challenges faced by a Darfuri refugee as she attempts to lay her brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soul to rest. Combining action, drama, unexpected humor and puppetry, the play

PERFORMING

ARTS CENTER

â&#x20AC;&#x153;explores the redemptive power of connection and how the greatest tragedies only happen when we look awayâ&#x20AC;? by following the young womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quest through the wilds of Sudan. Thurs.-Sat., 8pm and Sun., 3pm. Through Oct. 23, at The Theater at the 14th Street Y (344 E. 14th St., btw. 1st and 2nd Aves.). For info, visit redferntheatre.org. For tickets ($25), call 866-811-4111 or visit theatermania.com.

Dance Series 2011/12

DuĹĄan TĂ˝nek Dance Theatre Two Exciting Programs!

Widowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Walk Oct 27 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 29 Portals Nov 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5 Thurs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sat at 7:30PM Tickets: $25

EAST VILLAGE EATS TASTING TOUR Fourth Arts Block â&#x20AC;&#x201D; champion of that Renaissance patch of side street thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home to some of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most reliable and innovative arts organizations â&#x20AC;&#x201D; will get all of the funds raised by the â&#x20AC;&#x153;East Village Eats Tasting Tour 2011.â&#x20AC;? A reasonable $50 fee gets you access to tasty bites at Downtown eateries and bars. Top noshes include Destination Barâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IPA-Mustard Pretzels, Jimmyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No. 43â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Banh Mi Sandwiches, Hecho en Dumboâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Carnitas de Costilla, spicy Korean Fried Chicken at MONO+MONO, a half pint of craft beer at Idle Hands and Lukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lobster Shrimp Roll. Just tell yourself youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to walk it off â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which you will! Sat., Oct. 22, 1-5pm. Tickets are $50. To purchase, visit fabnyc.org. To learn more about Fourth Arts Block: facebook.com/fabnyc and twitter.com/fourthartsblock.

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Czech-born choreographer DuĹĄan TĂ˝nek is known internationally for his striking blend of theatricality, musicality, and humanism in formally structured modern dance and has been called â&#x20AC;&#x153;an undoubted talentâ&#x20AC;? by The New York Times.

The program Widowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Walk (Oct. 27 - 29) will include the brand-new NYC premiere work â&#x20AC;&#x153;Widowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Walk.â&#x20AC;? Also to be performed from DuĹĄan TĂ˝nek Dance Theatreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s repertory will be â&#x20AC;&#x153;Middlegameâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fleur-de-lis.â&#x20AC;? The program Portals (Nov 3-5) includes the NYC premiere â&#x20AC;&#x153;Widowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Walkâ&#x20AC;? as well as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Middlegameâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fleur-de-lisâ&#x20AC;? featuring live music by baroque violinist Leah Gale Nelson.

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SPANISH SPANISH ANYONE? SpanishForAllnyc.com Courses all levels, including for HispanicsHeritage/Bilingual. Location of your choice including Skype Contact@ spanishforallnyc.com or 347-770-2415. United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation PS Form 3526 1. Publication Title: The Villager. 2. Publication number: USPS 0578-930. 3. Filing date: 10/1/11. 4. Issue frequency: weekly. 5. No. of issues published annually: 52. 6. Annual subscription price: $29. 7. Mailing address of known ofďŹ ce of publication: Community Media LLC, 515 Canal St, Unit 1C, New York, NY 10013. Contact person: John W. Sutter. Tel: 212 229 1890. 8. Mailing address of headquarters: Community Media LLC, 515 Canal St, Unit 1C, New York, NY 10013. 9. Names and addresses of Publisher and Editor and Managing Editor: John W. Sutter, Publisher, same address. Lincoln Anderson, Editor and Managing Editor, same address. 10. Owner: Community Media, LLC, 515 Canal St., Unit 1C, New York, NY 10013. 1l. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: Kathleen Kucka, 487 Greenwich St, Apt. 6A, New York, NY 10013; John W. Sutter, Community Media LLC, 515 Canal St, Unit 1C, New York, NY 10013. 12. Tax status: (for completion by non-proďŹ t organizations only). 13. Publication title: The Villager. 14. Issue date for circulation data below:

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October 19 - November 1, 2011

Bloody good Halloween events Continued from page 23

STEAMPUNK HAUNTED HOUSE: THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS Zombies, chainsaw-wielding maniacs and bloodsucking children of the night have nothing on the lasting trauma to be had from a trip in Wonderland. For its third annual production, Steampunk Haunted House mines the psychodrama of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice stories. Audience members are admitted in small groups, suddenly separated, and thrust Photo Credit: Chad Heird into a beautiSeasonal Carrolls: ful and terrifySteampunk Haunted ing dreamscape House’s Red Queen of elegance and rules. clockwork horrors. The experience sprawls throughout the twisting hallways, looming balconies and labyrinthine cellars of Abrons Arts Center’s century-old Playhouse. From Oct. 22-31. Tickets are sold in 15-minute intervals, and the experience

lasts roughly 20 minutes. Arrive 30 minutes before the time slot you purchase. Advance purchase is recommended. All walk-up sales are first-come, first served. Online sales end two hours before the first haunted house tour of the evening. Student tickets will only be sold at the door as walk-up sales. No children under 8 admitted. Times and prices vary according to date. Special Tours on Oct. 26 (8:15-8:45pm), with Benefit Halloween Party ($50). For reservations and ticketing info, visit steampunkhauntedhouse.com. At Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand St., at Pitt St.).

GUTTERDRUNK: THE POE REVISIONS The Hyper Aware Theater Company’s new work takes you deep into the dark, hallucinatory mind of horror genre giant Edgar Allen Poe. Hopefully, you’ll find a way back into the land of sanity (unlike that unlucky fellow who crossed paths with the author’s infamous raven). “GUTTERDRUNK: The Poe Revisions” unites seven international playwrights whose original works reimagine some of Poe’s most (in)famous stories and poems — including “The Tell Tale Heart” and “Annabel Lee.” Adding to the jeepers creepers factor: “GUTTERDRUNK” will be presented (rain or shine) on the grounds, and in the basement, of the historic John Street Church. Audience members will illuminate the action with flashlights — revealing characters who’ve

been buried alive, bricked behind walls, smothered and stabbed — until only a rattled and wasted Poe remains. Thurs., Oct. 20 through Sat., Oct. 22 at 8pm; Thurs., Sat. and Sun. (Oct. 27, 29, 30) at 8pm. Photo courtesy of Hyper Aware At John Street Theater Company Church (44 John One foot in the grave: St., at Nassau Louis Aquiler, in St.). For tickets “GUTTERDRUNK.” ($18), call 800838-3006 or visit brownpapertickets.com. Also visit hyperawaretheater.blogspot.com.

THE PINK ROOM: FIRE WALK WITH ME Are you old enough to remember how young you were when “Twin Peaks” was torturing you with the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer? The rather horrifying thought that it’s been 21 years since VCRs were all aflutter in an attempt to ferret out the meaning of dancing midgets and buried lockets is what makes the return of burlesque performer Franny Fluffer’s monthly David Lynch tribute (“The Pink Room”) as sweet as a slice of cherry pie and a cup of

damn good coffee. “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Burlesque.” You’ll think you’ve time traveled back to 1990, when you witness some of the Pink Room regulars dolled up as sexy sirens from the hit TV show — displaying the dark and adult nature of the R-rated prequel to the show (“Fire Walk With Me”). Hosted by Schaffer the Darklord, with performances by Amelia Bareparts, Apathy Angel, Photo by Franny Fluffer Franny Fluffer, Gemini Rising, L to R: Gemini Rising Nasty Canasta, (as Audrey Horne), Tansy Tan Dora Amelia Bareparts and Victoria (as The Log Lady), Privates; go-go Franny Fluffer (as by Satanica. Laura Palmer) and Specialty cock- Tansy Tan Dora (as tails will be Donna Hayward). served all night. You’ll need them. Tues., Oct. 25, 9:30pm, at The Parkside Lounge (317 E. Houston St., at Attorney). Tickets are $10 in advance (brownpaperticket.com) and $15 at the door. 21+, 2-drink minimum. Visit parksidelounge.net and frannyfluffer.com.

October 19 - November 1, 2011