Unwrapping indigenous art, p. 28
Volume 2, Number 17 FREE
East and West Village, Lower East Side, Soho, Noho, Little Italy and Chinatown
November 17 - 23, 2011
Krush Groove: Hightech trash cans offer hope in war on rats BY ALINE REYNOLDS A high-tech garbage collection method has been introduced in Chinatown and Tompkins Square Park — which definitely can use it, since they’re located in one of Manhattan’s most rodent-infested districts. The Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation, sponsor of the neighborhood’s forthcoming business improvement district, has partnered with Direct
Photo by Jason B. Nicholas
Angry Occupy Wall Street protesters took to the streets on Tuesday after they were evicted from their home base earlier in the morning.
Occupy’s try to pitch its tent in Hudson Square is blocked BY LINCOLN ANDERSON Hudson Square is a neighborhood still striving to raise its profile. And if Occupy Wall Street protesters had gotten their wish, that certainly would have happened in a big way, as the upcoming neighborhood would have been thrust into the glare of the international media spotlight that is following the determined fight of the “99 percent” for economic justice. However, an effort to turn a privately owned open space at Duarte Square into Occupy Wall Street’s fallback encampment on Tuesday morning ran into a stiff blue wall of opposition. Earlier Tuesday, a massive force of police officers had descended on Zuccotti Park at 1 a.m. They spent the next four hours systematically clearing the tent-filled park.
After O.W.S. was evicted from its home base, protesters marched around Lower Manhattan or camped out nearby, then, shortly after dawn, regrouped at Duarte Square, at Sixth Ave. and Canal St. Holding a General Assembly meeting, they resolved to enter the adjacent walled open space that has been used for LentSpace, a public sculpture park run by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Some of them then hopped over the wall, while two other individuals produced a bolt cutter, which they used to clip a gaping hole in the chain-link fence on the space’s southern side, allowing protesters to walk right in. However, police moved quickly to block a new epicenter for O.W.S. — a “Zuccotti II” — from taking root in the gated space, making about 20 to 25
arrests and forcing the protesters out of the enclosure. Garrett Perkins, 29, said the idea was to use the LentSpace site as a new camp-out area, partly because it was privately owned, but also because it has walls around it, which would have made it ideal. Perkins said he had actually managed to pitch his tent in the LentSpace area when the police moved in to clear out the protesters, at which point, he promptly threw his gear over the fence and hopped out. As he spoke early Tuesday afternoon, he pulled out of his pocket a small silver metal disk from an artwork on LentSpace’s eastern wall — a souvenir from an almost occupation. A metal worker from Chugiak,
Environmental Corp. (DEC Green) to install a solarpowered, digitalized trash compactor at the southeast corner of Canal and Mott Sts. Community leaders along with Councilmember Margaret Chin and others gathered at the Chinatown intersection on Wed., Nov. 9, to unveil the pilot compactor, dubbed, “BigBelly,” which holds five times the
Continued on page 14
O.W.S. had its two months, Mike says, as park is cleared BY ALINE REYNOLDS, CYNTHIA MAGNUS AND JOHN BAYLES
This time there was no warning, no advance notice and no time to organize; the clearing of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators from Zuccotti Park, in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday took everyone by surprise. About 1 a.m. police officers surrounded the park. Mayor Bloomberg, at a press conference later Tuesday morning said the park’s
owners, Brookfield Office Properties, had reached out to him and asked for help in enforcing park rules relating to health and safety. “In our view, it would have been irresponsible to not request that the city take action,” Brookfield said in a statement. “Further, we have a legal obligation to the city and to this neighborhood to keep the park accessible to all who wish to enjoy it, which had become impos-
Continued on page 4
APPEALING TO A HIGHER POWER PAGE 6
EDITORIAL, LETTERS PAGE 22
Continued on page 10
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November 17 - 23, 2011
Photo by Tequila Minsky
Grannies were gearing up Members of the Granny Peace Brigade were getting ready for Thursday’s day of action for Occupy Wall Street.
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SCOOPY’S
NOTEBOOK SCARLETT LIKES SCOTT: So far, Borough President Scott Stringer might not have raised the most money of potential mayoral candidates, though it’s still early. But he has the support of one of Hollywood’s most beautiful leading ladies, Scarlett Johansson. The native Greenwich Villager and P.S. 41 alum met Stringer for lunch over the summer and he made his pitch for her endorsement and won her over. It didn’t hurt that ScarJo’s grandma, Dorothy Sloan, has fond memories of campaigning as a tenant activist with Stringer on the Upper West Side in the 1980s or that Scarlett’s twin brother, Hunter Johannson a.k.a. HuJo worked as the B.P.’s Community Board 2 liaison a few years ago. Last month, Scarlett added her star power to two Stringer fundraisers at the Plaza Hotel and an after-party at the Jane Ballroom. According to the New York Post, Johansson is pro-bike lanes, affordable housing and urban agriculture. “I hope to get the Broadway community involved in this campaign,� Johansson told the Post’s Page Six. “Scott has always been an advocate for the arts and culture.� Hunter was at the parties, though hobbling around on crutches, recovering from knee surgery. Here’s to a speedy recovery. Other guests included Lady Gaga’s parents, Joe and Cindy Germanotta. Talk about “The Edge of Glory� — can Gaga’s endorsement be far behind? COMMITTEE GONE WILD: The Democratic State Committee is generally expected to support the governor as the state’s top Democratic elected official, but it sounds like things have gone too far — to the point where committee members are being denied the chance to vote on vitally important issues like hydrofracking and the “millionaire’s tax.� Rachel Lavine, the Village’s Democratic State Committee woman, filled us in on the sorry state of
affairs. Basically, this time around, the state committee sent out meeting notices so late that it’s now arguing it’s too late to have a vote on Lavine’s resolution banning hydrofracking. “The current chairperson, Jay Jacobs, has played very fast and loose with the rules,� Lavine noted disapprovingly. Plus, she said, it just so happens that Jacobs has land on the New York/Pennsylvania border that he’s leasing out to a gas company for drilling, which he didn’t disclose to committee members. “He has a lot of day camps and this is one he’s leasing out,� she noted. As for the millionaire’s tax, which Governor Andrew Cuomo is intent on letting expire, Jacobs again is twiddling his thumbs — this time with the help, Lavine tells us, of Charlie King, the committee’s executive director. Jacobs and King have decided to exclude discussion of the millionaire’s tax from the agenda of next week’s key meeting, she said. Lavine said she’ll work hard with the committee’s Reform Caucus and Rural Caucus, plus the Young Democrats, to try to finally bring these issues to the floor for a vote.
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November 17 - 23, 2011
O.W.S. must now occupy with their ideas, mayor says Continued from page 1 sible.” At the press conference, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who personally oversaw the evacuation, said the protesters were given until 3:30 a.m. to collect their personal belongings and leave. Though Brookfield solicited Bloomberg’s help in temporarily evacuating the park, the mayor took full responsibility for the action. “Make no mistake — the final decision to act was mine, and mine alone,” Bloomberg said. “I don’t feel bad, because they can come right back in,” he said of the protesters. While First Amendment rights are “number one on our minds,” Bloomberg continued, “It doesn’t give anyone the right to sleep in a park or otherwise take it over to the exclusion of others. ... We also have a similar, just as important obligation to protect the health and safety of the people in the park.” Following the initial displacement from Zuccotti, protesters dispersed to the surrounding blocks. Demonstrator Liesbeth Rapp said later that at one point protesters blocked a sanitation truck from driving to the park, assuming it was on its way to collect occupants’ items. O.W.S. medical team members Luc Baillargeon and Angeline Richards watched from a bench across Church St. as the camp was dismantled around 2 a.m. Baillargeon said they were able to salvage from the medic tent only what they could carry: two portable first-aid kits. Asked why he chose to vacate the park in the early-morning hours, Kelly replied, “We think it was appropriate to do it when the smallest number of people were in the park,” noting that the regular visitors to O.W.S. typically gather in the park during daytime hours. “Operationally, it went extremely well, and the officers conducted themselves with great professionalism,” Kelly said. “There was an awful lot of taunting and people getting in police officers’ faces, and the officers showed an awful lot of restraint.” The National Lawyers Guild has been representing O.W.S. arrestees in court since the occupation began. At 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning N.L.G. filed a temporary restraining order against the city, enjoining it from evicting protesters from the park “exclusive of lawful arrests for criminal offenses,” according to Martin Stolar, an N.L.G. defense attorney. The injunction was temporarily granted until around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, when State Supreme Court Judge Michael Stallman rendered a decision denying the T.R.O. and approving Brookfield’s implementation of the park rules. Sheryl Neufeld, a lawyer for the city, said of Stallman’s lifting the T.R.O. — which had been issued earlier by Judge Lucy Billings — that the decision recognized the rights of both O.W.S. and the general public. Douglas Flaum, Brookfield’s counsel, said outside the courthouse that he was “gratified that Stallman recognized that the rules Brookfield has put in place are ones that are necessary to ensure a clean, safe and publicly accessible Zuccotti Park for all, and that any regulation we have would be fully consonant with the First Amendment restrictions.” David Bookstaver, a court spokesperson, explained that a judge who “signs a T.R.O. in the middle of the night” is not necessarily the same one that will preside over the hearing the following day. “There are lots of conspiracy theories, which are always amusing, but there is no conspiracy here,” Bookstaver said. While O.W.S. protesters were eventually allowed back into Zuccotti Park around 5 p.m. Tuesday, people were and will be denied entry if they are carrying tents, camping gear or other equipment conducive to sleeping in the park. Roughly 75 protesters remained in the park overnight on Tuesday, many reportedly wearing ponchos in the drizzle.
Photo by Milo Hess
Police wearing riot helmets stood guard outside Zuccotti Park Tuesday. Eventually, protesters were allowed back in, but without any tents, tarps or sleeping gear.
Brookfield’s regulations governing Zuccotti Park bars people from lying down in the park, as well as erecting tarps and tents and using sleeping bags. Kelly stated earlier that the department would enforce rules prohibiting lying down on the park’s ground or benches. A Brookfield lawyer said, however, that O.W.S. would be welcome to use the park furniture. The issue may turn, in the coming days, on the definition of what is deemed “appropriate.” If park users violate the rules, the police commissioner
‘I think the mayor should have left it alone and the community would have policed itself.’ Daniel Alterman
said, they would be asked to leave the premises immediately, adding, “And if they don’t leave, they’ll be arrested.” At around 6 p.m. Tuesday evening, Stolar reported a total of 218 arrests, many of which involved disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. About three-quarters of the arrests occurred inside Zuccotti Park during the eviction, according to Kelly. Twenty-seven others were made at the intersection of Broadway and Cortlandt St. The rest occurred elsewhere in the park’s vicinity. “I don’t think any of these arrests are serious today,” said Daniel Alterman, a civil rights lawyer and Tribeca resident. The Guild’s former president, he will be representing some of the arrestees in court. “I haven’t heard of any felonies being charged,” he said. Like Stolar, Alterman found flaws in Bloomberg’s strategy with respect to the eviction.
“I think the mayor should have left it alone and let it take its course, and the community would have policed itself,” said Alterman. “First Amendment trumps the inconveniences [of the local community] when the health, safety and quality of life issues are not great.” Nevertheless, the mayor remained firm in his message to the park’s occupiers. “Protesters have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags,” he said. “Now, they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments.” Unlike the planned clearing out of O.W.S. a month ago, due to the secretiveness of Tuesday’s operation, elected officials on did not have an opportunity to negotiate with Brookfield or the city prior to the clearing of the park. Most of them learned of the eviction just moments after it occurred. In a joint statement, Congressmember Jerrold Nadler and state Senator Daniel Squadron said, “We agree that Zuccotti Park must be open and accessible to everyone — O.W.S., the public, law enforcement and first responders — and that it is critical to protect the health and safety of protesters and the community. We have also been urging the city to have a zero tolerance policy on noise and sanitation violations, and to make the results of its enforcement public. But we must balance the core First Amendment rights of protesters and the other legitimate issues that have been raised. “The city’s actions to shut down O.W.S. last night raise a number of serious civil liberties questions that must be answered,” the statement continued. “Moving forward, how will the city respect the protesters’ rights to speech and assembly? Why was press access limited, and why were some reporters’ credentials confiscated? How will reported incidents of excessive force used by the police be addressed? On the issue of Brookfield’s rules, we are very concerned that they were promulgated after the protesters arrived; the specific legal questions on this topic are being addressed where it is appropriate — in the courts.” Borough President Scott Stringer alluded to numerous
Continued on page 8
November 17 - 23, 2011
“Every part of a child’s life is important. If you are successful in lower school, feeling confident about yourself as an effective member of a larger group, the sky’s the limit.” LIBBY HIXSON HEAD OF LOWER SCHOOL, AVENUES Former Middle School Head, The Dalton School
WHAT MAKES A GREAT LOWER SCHOOL? A commitment from Avenues: The World School. At Avenues, our starting point for Lower School is emotional safety, because only when students feel safe do they welcome new ideas and new people into their lives. This is the time when our children begin to shift from living in the protective bubble of their parents to a growing awareness of the world outside. Introducing Lower School students to the world. “The World Course is the soul of our school,” explains Libby Hixson, head of Lower School at Avenues. “At the very start, we will pick up the threads that spiral up through-out the years at Avenues. We will connect social studies, science, art, math, music and literature to a child’s growing awareness of the world.”
Gaining proficiency and cultural sensitivity. “As a world school, Avenues places an emphasis on gaining proficiency in a second language and on an appreciation for other cultures,” says Hixson. “Immersion in a second language begins in the earliest grades. This isn’t merely language instruction; it’s learning subject matter like science, math or art, in Chinese or Spanish. This type of curriculum gives students the best foundation for succeeding in higher grades and beyond.” Building on human values. Our Lower School students will first look inward to learn about themselves, then look outward to better understand the world around them. We’re here to build a community where children can look at each other with respect and affection.
WWW.AVENUES.ORG
TO LEARN MORE, OR TO SIGN UP FOR OUR PARENT INFORMATION EVENTS, VISIT AVENUES.ORG OR CALL 212.935.5000.
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November 17 - 23, 2011
Fight to save church goes to state’s highest court BY ALBERT AMATEAU Lithuanian-American parishioners of Our Lady of Vilnius, the Roman Catholic Church near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, took their fight to Albany on Tuesday to save their parish and the 101-year-old building. Their lawyer, Harry Kresky, and lawyers for the Catholic Archdiocese of New York argued the case before the seven judges of the State Court of Appeals, the highest court of New York State. A group of parishioners have been holding Sunday prayer vigils on the shuttered church’s steps since February 26, 2007, after the archdiocese dissolved the parish and locked the church doors. The doors were locked while a parish administrator was at a meeting with Edward Cardinal Egan, then archbishop of New York, on the fate of the parish and the proposal to demolish the church building at 570 Broome St. completed in 1910. Since then, the Save our Lady of Vilnius Committee and members of the Lithuanian-American community have gone to the state courts to save the church, but the lower courts turned them down. However, a year ago, the Court of Appeals agreed to hear the case. Christina Nakraseive, vice chairperson of the committee to save the parish, said that about 10 members made the trip to Albany this week to hear the arguments. Among them was Stasia Aleliunas, whose husband, George, died last year at the age of 90, and her daughter. “It was really moving to see that Mrs. Aleliunas made the trip to Albany with her daughter,� Nakraseive said. “The judges asked Kresky and the lawyers for the archdiocese a lot of questions; they seemed to want to get to the crux of the matter.�
Photo by Jefferson Siegel
Supporters of Our Lady of Vilnius rallied outside the church in February 2007. Cardinal Egan had padlocked the Broome St. church by stealth a few days earlier.
Mindaugas Blaudziunas, known as “Gus,� the parishioner who filed the state action against the archdiocese, also
attended the Albany hearing. He said a favorable decision could affect many local parishes that have closed in recent years and others scheduled to be closed. Kresky said later that the Our Lady of Vilnius issue was similar to one six years ago involving St. Brigid’s Church in the East Village on Avenue B at E. Eighth St. But the St. Brigid’s issue was never decided because the case became moot when an anonymous “angel� donated $20 million to restore the badly deteriorated church and support area Catholic schools. The archdiocese agreed to reactivate St. Brigid’s parish and repair the 1849 building, so the case was dropped. Kresky said he argued at the Court of Appeals that a section of the state’s Religious Corporation Law and the bylaws of Our Lady of Vilnius made clear that the members of the corporation are the parishioners and as such they must approve the demolition of the church because it would result in a diversion of the corporation’s main asset. Lawyers for the archdiocese have been arguing, based on the First Amendment, that the State of New York and its courts have no business being involved in affairs of the Roman Catholic Church and what it does with its property. Kresky would not guess how long the court would take to decide. The complex issue has never been settled in state courts and a decision would need at least four of the seven judges concurring, he added. Nakraseive recalled that two years before the parish was dissolved, the archdiocese erected a scaffold in the sanctuary to monitor leaks in the roof. As a result, Masses, wedding and funerals were shifted to the basement. The shift subsequently caused attendance at Masses and religious functions to decline. Moreover, the neighborhood changed radically beginning in the 1920s when the Holland Tunnel was being built, impacting the local Lithuanian community, most of whom moved to the suburbs. Nevertheless, Nakraseive said, there were about 100 active Lithuanian-American parish members and some of them always showed up for Mass at the church. One parishioner, Joe Zaccaria, drew up petitions to the Curia in the Vatican pleading for Our Lady of Vilnius Church. “We received a letter in Latin which just said the Curia agreed with Cardinal Egan’s decision to close the church,� Nakraseive said.
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November 17 - 23, 2011
POLICE BLOTTER Stuy Town ice-pick mugger John Martinez, 40, pleaded guilty on Thurs., Nov. 10, to robbing three women at the point of an ice pick and a knife in and around the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village complex in November and December of last year. Martinez cornered his first victim on Nov. 22, 2010, in the elevator of her Peter Cooper Village building, pulled a knife, took about $700 from her and fled, according to the Manhattan district attorney. He pulled an ice pick on another woman and her 3-year-old son in the elevator of a Stuyvesant Town building on Dec. 2 and made the mother turn over $80, jewelry and credit cards. He then threatened to stab the child if the victim did not take him to her apartment. But the woman and her son managed to get into the apartment and shut Martinez out, according to court papers. Later on the same day, Williams entered an elevator with a woman and her two small children in a different E. 14th St. building, pulled the ice pick and forced her to give him her wallet and a ring. A half hour before the first Dec. 2 robbery, Martinez followed another woman
into a different building on E. 14th St., but she refused to step into the elevator after him and he fled, according to the district attorney. Martinez pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and three counts of attempted firstdegree robbery.
Rape-attempt arrest Police arrested Imre Meszesan, 35, on Tues., Nov. 15, for the attempted rape of an East Village woman around 3 a.m. Sun., Nov.13, as she entered her First Ave. building. The victim, 27, turned and fought off her attacker, who reportedly grabbed her from behind and lifted her skirt on a stairway. The victim could not identify her attacker from an array of police photos but a surveillance camera at her building recorded his image. Meszesan, of Bedford Stuyvesant, faces attempted rape and burglary charges. A police officer reportedly ID’d him from the video.
Parking-punch mistrial
14, in the February 2011 assault case against Oscar Fuller, who was charged with punching a woman who was holding an E. 14th St. curbside parking space for her boyfriend, causing her to fall into a coma. A sole holdout juror was reportedly the cause of the mistrial. Fuller was freed on bail until Jan. 5 when a new trial will be scheduled. The 4-foot-11-inch victim was standing at a curbside space between Avenues A and B saving it for her friend when Fuller drove up. They argued and Fuller threw a punch that knocked the victim to the pavement where she hit her head, after which she fell into a coma for nine days.
Bobst Library theft A woman in New York University’s Bobst Library on Washington Square South saw a man pick up her wallet, which was on the table beside her, around 10 a.m. Tues., Nov. 8. The suspect fled but N.Y.U. security guards stopped Lamarr Gaskin, 19, on W. Third St. at LaGuardia Place and charged him with larceny after the victim identified him. Gaskin was also charged with possession of stolen property, including the victim’s wallet with $80, credit cards and a California driver’s license. He was also linked to the theft of a laptop, electronic tablets, headphones and a wallet from other victims in the library and theft from students in another N.Y.U. building.
But graffiti is art, right? Police arrested two suspects for making graffiti on a wall at 155 Bank St. in the Westbeth artists’ residence complex at 2:15 a.m. Sun., Nov. 13. Michael Humphrey and Evan Gilbert, both 20, had five spray-paint cans in their possession and had sprayed their tags, “OPPS” and “MRH,” on a wall, police said.
Gansevoort larceny A patron of the wine bar in front of the Gansevoort Hotel, 24 Ninth Ave., spotted a man going through her bag at her table and called security, who arrested Zion Stayberg, 18, and charged him with larceny for stealing wallets from two victims and a cell phone from another.
W. 4th A.T.M. robbery A man was withdrawing cash from an automated teller machine in front of 204 W. Fourth St. at Sheridan Square around 1:15 a.m. Thurs., Nov. 10, when someone grabbed him from behind, swung him around violently and grabbed a $20 bill from his hand and fled, police said. Michael Joyner, 44, was soon arrested and charged with larceny.
A mistrial was declared on Mon., Nov.
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A female employee of the new Chipotle branch at 510 Sixth Ave. was charged with stealing $1,500 from the restaurant between Sept. 1 and Nov. 10, police said. She would ring up purchases on the register, then void them and pocket the money. A store audit discovered the theft and Natali Espinoza, 19, was charged with larceny.
Alber t Amateau
Pols question treatment of press Continued from page 4
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reports of members of the press being kept away from the park during the eviction and even arrested. “Last night, the administration acted to end the occupation of Zuccotti Park by forcible eviction, and I am greatly troubled by reports of unnecessary force against protesters and members of the media, including the use of ‘chokeholds’ and pepper spray,” said Stringer. “I am also troubled by reports of media being forcibly kept away at a distance from these events. American foreign correspondents routinely put themselves in harm’s way to do their jobs, in some of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. And their New York City colleagues deserve the freedom to make the same choice. Zuccotti
Park is not Tiananmen Square. I call for a full explanation of police behavior in this evacuation.” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn echoed the B.P’s statement concerning the treatment of the media. “Today’s actions include reports of excessive force by the N.Y.P.D., and reports of infringement of the rights of the press,” said Quinn. “If these reports are true, these actions are unacceptable.” Asked why members of the media were denied access to the park’s immediate surroundings during the evacuation, Bloomberg replied, “The Police Department routinely keeps members of the press off to the side when they’re in the middle of a police action, to prevent a situation from getting worse and to protect the members of the press.”
November 17 - 23, 2011
SCOOPY’S NOTEBOOK
SHOPLOCAL
Continued from page 3 EAR INN ANTICIPATION: What was expected to be just a few days’ renovation job at the Ear Inn on Spring St. wound up stretching into a full two weeks. Martin Sheridan, the historic Hudson Square watering hole’s owner, tells us his regulars are “angry” and clamoring for the place to reopen. “They say, ‘Why didn’t you put on the Web site that it was closed?!’ ” he said. Anyway, the Ear Inn faithful’s fervent prayers will soon be answered. Sheridan said the bar should be back doing business again by this Thursday and the kitchen by the following Monday. Initially, he had just wanted to put in some new tiles in the kitchen and bathroom. But when the kitchen floor was pulled up, some cracked beams — some of them 150 to 200 years old — were revealed. Workers “sistered” these suspect supports by putting new wooden beams alongside them. Wooden-peg construction was used in sections, adhering to the historic methods with which the landmarked building was constructed. The interior structure can’t be changed, since the building is an interior as well as exterior designated New York City landmark. Sheridan’s nephew Liam, who specializes in these type of delicate building renovations, is heading the job and his other nephew Gary, who tends bar at the Ear, has also been rolling up his sleeves and helping with the work, as are other staffers. The place is now structurally “stronger than ever,” the tavern owner assured. In the end, the job’s price tag comes to about $100,000, Sheridan said. That’s a lot of Guinnesses! … In other Hudson Square happenings, we asked Sheridan if he’d heard anything about the former Don Hill’s club space across the street, on the corner of Greenwich and Spring Sts. Sheridan’s good friend Hill died this March, and the landlords, the Pontes, recently repossessed the property. Sheridan said local scuttlebutt has always been that the Pontes want to build a hotel there — as if, at this point, the neighborhood really needed another one! (RE-)MARK YOUR CALENDAR! The victory celebration for St. Mark’s Bookshop will not take place on Tues., Nov. 29, as reported last week, but will be held on Thurs., Dec. 1, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the bookstore, at the southeast corner of Third Ave. and Ninth St. Members of the Cooper Square Committee, which led the community effort to get landlord The Cooper Union to reduce
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Martin Sheridan is cutting no corners in fixing up the Ear Inn.
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the store’s rent, will lead a discussion about the committee’s 52-year history of activism on behalf of local tenants and small businesses. Frances Goldin, a founder of the Cooper Square Committee, said that that discussion will be relatively brief. Store owners Bob Contant and Terry McCoy will be on hand to enjoy the festivities. There will be wine, crackers, cheese and fruit. CONGRATS! Reporter Lesley Sussman will soon be adding another credit to his name. A flurry of reports on Web sites, including the Hollywood Reporter, recently came out with the news that George Tillman Jr. has been hired to direct the Miles Davis movie based on “Dark Magus: The Jekyll and Hyde Life of Miles Davis,” the book Sussman wrote on the jazz great with Miles’s son Gregory Davis. So far, though, only Gregory Davis is getting mentions in the media, which is well and fine with Les. “My name is on the cover of the book as co-writer, but I don’t mind Gregory getting all the credit because it’s more important that readers know Miles’ son is the source,” Sussman told us. As for how he ended up writing the tome, Sussman said, “I don’t particularly care for jazz. I’m an old ’60s folkie. I prefer acoustic guitar and lyrics to some horn. I knocked on my next-door neighbor’s door to complain about someone playing the horn late at night, and she told me it was her boyfriend, who happened to be Miles Davis’s oldest son. I said, ‘Ask him if he wants to write a book about his father’ and the rest is history.”
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Effort by Occupy Wall Street to create a ‘Zuccotti II’ 2:15 a.m. “Police were pushing people away. They were rough. You could smell pepper spray in the air. People’s eyes were watery and tearing up. It was scary.�
Continued from page 1 Alaska, he’d been camping at Zuccotti for the past three weeks. With his belongings in big bags strapped to his back and over his stomach, plus a waffle-style air mattress folded up on his back as well, he was standing amid hundreds of protesters outside Zuccotti Park around 1:30 p.m., as they demanded to be let back in. A judge had granted a temporary restraining order on the eviction, but by 2 p.m. another judge had tossed it out. “I have a lot of cold-weather gear, enough for four people,� Perkins noted of his bulky bags. “Workers and students shut the city down!� some protesters were chanting nearby. A major day of protest was planned for Thursday, including a “Shut Down Wall St.� action, which, no doubt, prompted the city to act on Zuccotti.
PLANNED SITE OF ZUCCOTTI II
INSIDE THE EVICTION Perkins said he had almost fallen asleep in his tent in the northwest section of Zuccotti on Tuesday morning when the police action started about 1 a.m. After about five minutes of initial disarray, protesters put their preplanned emergency response into action. “We all stayed around our kitchen, which is the heart of our movement,� he said. Four
Photos by Tequila Minsky
An O.W.S. protester sitting on the LentSpace wall at Duarte Square during the General Assembly on Tuesday morning.
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to six people in the center locked themselves together with “U� locks around their necks, he said. Meanwhile, he was in a group that hooked themselves into their backpacks and luggage and then tied themselves together via their luggage. Eventually, at 3:50 a.m., police walked him out of the park with another protester he was linked to by their luggage. Perkins said that while he had been doing civil disobedience in the park, a police officer had punched him in the face, but he wasn’t sporting any visible bruises or cuts on Tuesday afternoon. A print reporter who was able to get into Zuccotti before the police action, said that, despite police’s orders to reporters and photographers to clear the park during the eviction, he stayed. He somehow managed to discretely hang around the O.W.S. kitchen, and ultimately ended up watching the eviction for the full four hours. “We just sort of stayed in the center,� he said. “It was sort of like being in the eye of the storm.� Right before it ended, he walked out of the park, avoiding arrest. Asked how police had conducted the eviction, the reporter said, “Methodical, relentless. They were depending on overwhelming force, which is what they had.� The veteran reporter said he had never seen a massing of so many police officers in one location. Freelance photographer Leah Kozak rushed down from her Sullivan St. apartment when she heard Zuccotti was being emptied. “When I got here I was a block away from the park,� she said Tuesday around
Duarte Square — a brick-lined plaza with benches and a statue of Juan Pablo Duarte, the father of the Dominican Republic — is owned by the city. The adjacent, dirt-covered Trinity-owned space was formerly home to an office building that was razed, and Trinity hopes to build a new residential tower there with a New York City public school in its base — provided a residential rezoning for Hudson Square is granted. Brookfield Office Properties, which owns Zuccotti Park, supported the efforts to clear Zuccotti of the tent city that had sprung up there in the past several weeks, and in fact, back in October, had supported efforts to keep people from sleeping there in sleeping bags even before the tents started going up. However, the mayor and police had “blinked� on Oct. 14 after having said the park would be temporarily cleared for cleaning, and allowed the protesters to stay. The Trinity-owned lot at Sixth Ave. and Canal St. is similarly privately owned. A temporary project, the LentSpace sculpture space was opened with a ribbon-cutting in September 2009. No doubt, it appealed to O.W.S. precisely because it is privately owned and thus not subject to city park curfews. Trinity Wall Street church has supported the protesters. However, the church said the Hudson Square open space was not open for occupation, and gave police the green light to make arrests.
TRINITY ISSUES STATEMENT Trinity issued the following statement: “Duarte Square...is comprised of both public and private land. Duarte Park, on the eastern edge, is city-owned public land. The larger, enclosed portion of the square is private space owned by Trinity Wall Street and currently licensed for use to the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council for a temporary art installation known as ‘Lent Space’ that is closed for the season. Neither Trinity Wall Street nor the L.M.C.C. has given permission for members of Occupy Wall Street to enter the private area. “Trinity respects the rights of citizens to protest peacefully and supports the vigorous engagement of the concerns of the protesters. Trinity continues to provide gathering and meeting spaces for Occupy Wall Street in its neighborhood center and facilities in and around Wall St.�
NIGHT FULL OF MARCHING Following the police action at Zuccotti, a group of O.W.S. protesters about 100 or 200 strong marched past City Hall and then up to Foley Square — where some of them
November 17 - 23, 2011
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encampment in Hudson Square is thwarted by police jumped atop the “Triumph of the Human Spirit” statue in the fountain as the group decided where to go next — then wended their way up Lafayette St. and Broadway to about Washington Place, then back over to Lafayette St. and finally back down to Foley Square. “We have all night to march around!” one man assured the group at one point. “Go home!” some of them yelled at the police. They were accompanied for most of the way by a strong contingent of officers, many wearing riot helmets and holding clubs, who ran along next to them in the street. Overhead, a police helicopter slowly circled low in the sky, shining down a searchlight, tracking the protesters’ movements. Efforts by the group to head to Union Square and Washington Square — “There’s a place at Washington Square,” it was announced at one “mic check,” apparently referring to Judson Memorial Church — were largely thwarted by police. At various points, police blocked the marchers as they walked on the sidewalk, and took every opportunity to split the march into successively smaller and smaller groups. At times sprinting in formation, like a well-drilled football team executing a designed play, the police would rush in to block the marchers’ path. On one such occasion, they surrounded a group of marchers who were all on the sidewalk just north of the Crunch gym on Lafayette St., giving the sense that arrests were imminent. But, after a tense few moments, the officers opened up the semicircle’s southern side, allowing the marchers to head back Downtown.
CANDIDATE / COMIC ARRESTED At the corner of Fourth St. and Broadway, police had a man seated and handcuffed in the street near the curb. “What’s your name?” protesters called out to him. “Randy Credico!” he called back before being stuffed into a police S.U.V. A standup comic turned antidrug activist, Credico ran against Senator Chuck Schumer in 2010 on the Libertarian line, winning 0.5 percent of the vote. “The guy said I had been on the street too long a block earlier,” Credico said of the arresting officer. “I was yelling ‘Attica!’ at them,” he said, though adding, “I was always on the sidewalk.” Credico said it could actually be better for O.W.S. that Zuccotti was cleared of its tent city. “We shook off some of the riffraff of the park,” he said, “and now it’s going to be serious. There were people down there that were just loafing around and not participating in marches and rallies.”
SHOWING SOLIDARITY Cosmo Baker, marching along with the group up Broadway on Tuesday around 4 a.m., said he wasn’t an Occupier but was
O.W.S. protesters perched on the wall during the General Assembly. Some had already started to enter the Trinity-owned space.
showing support. “I was in Greenpoint at home when I started getting noise via Twitter and Facebook — it’s sort of the Bat Signal situation,” said Baker, a DJ. “This is about a show of solidarity,” he stated. “I’m not even into Occupy Wall Street, necessarily. But when police have a chance to exert their force unnecessarily, citizens need to stand up.”
BILLY AND THE GRANNIES Outside Zuccotti Park on Thursday shortly after noon, Reverend Billy was telling everyone to prepare for mass arrests. His blond pompadour shaking excitedly above the crowd’s heads, he shouted out, “Mic check!... We may go to jail very soon. What happens tonight sets off Thursday. We need to have Thursday be as big a ‘Shut Down Wall St.’ as ever happened in history.” However, Joan Pleune, a member of the Granny Peace Brigade, said the idea was not to try to get arrested, but to get a message across. A psychiatrist on the Upper West Side, she said she had to get set for Thursday’s day of action. “I have clients in the morning — I have to reschedule,” she said.
the elaborate bridge action, he said. “We’re hoping to have a birthday party,” Perkins said with a smile.
HE QUESTIONS DUARTE ARRESTS Sean Sweeney, director of the Soho Alliance, said he was awakened early
Tuesday morning by the racket of the police helicopter hovering overhead, and turned on the news to see Julie Menin, chairperson of Community Board 1, criticizing the clearing of Zuccotti Park. Board 1 had made strides getting the protesters to work better with the community, Menin said, but the city never even sent anyone to their meetings. Sweeney walked over to Duarte Square to check out was going on. “The crowd was quite peaceful at Duarte,” he said, “so the arrests on Trinity’s lot were a surprise. The crowd itself seemed like transplants from a gathering of the Rainbow Family, that band of itinerant hippies. “I question what authority the N.Y.P.D. had to arrest people in Trinity’s property,” Sweeney continued. “I assume the charge was for trespassing. What else could it be? Disorderly conduct? For standing inside an empty lot? “I also thought that unless there are signs expressly prohibiting trespass, or else if the property owner presses charges directly, that the police have no right to arrest for trespassing.” Sweeney noted Paul Newell, a Democratic district leader out of the D.I.D. club, was also arrested at Zucotti Park, but was let out relatively quickly by 5 a.m. with a deskappearance ticket. “He must have been the only one arrested who was wearing a jacket and tie,” Sweeney quipped.
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FULL DAY OF EVENTS Thursday’s planned events include the declared “Shut Down Wall St.” action in the morning, followed by gatherings in parks in the afternoon that will reportedly converge at Foley Square. The evening could reportedly see some sort of event on the Brooklyn Bridge. Perkins said the bridge action will, in fact, include film projectors and screens and boats with video. Thursday marks the movement’s two-month anniversary. Money from unions and O.W.S. are funding the costs of
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November 17 - 23, 2011
Artist is firmly planted under the O.W.S. umbrella BY KHIARA ORTIZ She came for the art and stayed for the cause. Evelyn Talarico, a 67-year-old Puerto Rican artist from Brooklyn, became a daily protester at Occupy Wall Street a week after it began on Sept. 17. She had only intended to drop by, learn what the commotion was about, and snap a few photos. But after talking to some artists and sharing her love of painting with them, she knew she’d found her new home for the next two months. “I wanted to come and paint and the artists made me feel so comfortable,” she recalled. “The guys, they protected me. They told me how important I was to them.” After Tuesday’s early-morning surprise eviction by the police, only a small fraction of the original protesters persist in Zuccotti Park. Barricades remain in place around the park’s perimeter to discourage an influx of protesters from pitching camp again and new silver sign plaques declare the square as a “privately owned space that is designed and intended for use and enjoyment by the general public for passive recreation”: No tents, no sleeping bags, no personal property. “No, I’m not leaving,” said Talarico on Wednesday. “I’m staying right here.” Despite the fact that Zuccotti Park now lacks the commodities and services it had begun to accumulate under O.W.S. — like a library,
Red Cross and food tents — she plans to keep painting signs and banners for the movement. “When the police said to take the food out, it really bothered me because there’s a lot of hungry people,” she said. “But a lot of people took advantage of the situation. Mentally ill people, some of them with drugs, and it turned into a money machine. There were people asking for money and donations. “I was saying to myself, ‘I should quit,’” Talarico added. “But then this happened and I think it’s much, much better now. Before, the majority of the people were staying in their tents all day long while I was out with my sign talking to people.” As a young girl, Talarico’s politically active parents would drag her along to protests, sometimes waking her up at four in the morning. She moved to Brooklyn 50 years ago and Occupy Wall Street is the first time she’s ever been involved herself in a political movement. “I hated it, I always thought those people who protest were crazy,” she said. “And with O.W.S., I thought, ‘You can’t fight the American government!’ But this country is ready for a change.” Through her two months of protesting, her mentality has evolved and she’s started to doubt the integrity of the government and media. “I’m willing to die for this cause, I feel like I should do something for the children,”
Photo by Khiara Ortiz
Evelyn Talarico with her painted umbrella at Zuccotti Park on Wednesday.
she said. “We’re still slaves to the government and the rich. The ‘1 percent’ controls us.” All of her kids attended universities in the city and though they know she’s been protesting and aren’t exactly comfortable with it, nothing will stop Talarico from
showing up at Zuccotti Park with her painted umbrella. “I don’t want nobody to tell me what to do,” she said. “I’m so proud of myself for what I’m doing and I feel good about it. I’m not stepping out.”
November 17 - 23, 2011
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Krush Groove: New solar trash cans also rat-proof Continued from page 1 amount of garbage as a traditional trash receptacle and can reduce trash collection by 80 percent. The Chinatown BigBelly will join the two dozen or so others dispersed around Manhattan. “The aim is to explore its potential usefulness for the Chinatown BID area,” said Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership. The BID’s sanitation committee, which will be formed in the new year, will determine which other intersections would benefit from the compactor. “Certain locations require traditional garbage cans for traffic and a variety of other reasons,” said Chen. “We’re going to be very selective if we do implement it by first testing it out.” Containing a computer and a smartphone, the compactor connects wirelessly to the company BigBelly Solar’s headquarters in Massachusetts. The Web-based system is set up so that the BigBelly automatically tracks its own garbage load in real time. “It will report to a Web-based program and let you know when it’s full and needs to be changed,” said Franklin Cruz, chairperson of the Bronx-based D.E.C. Green, which is responsible for manufacturing New York State’s BigBellies. By applying 1,250 pounds of pressure, Cruz explained, the BigBelly crushes accumu-
Photo by Aline Reynolds
After unwrapping the new BigBelly can, Councilmember Margaret Chin dropped a piece of the ribbon into the compactor, as C.B. 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer gave an assist by holding the can open.
lating litter, clearing the way for more trash to be added to the container. “Toward the top of the internal bin is a laser, which sends an impulse to the computer notifying it of any obstructions,” he added. While celebrating the BigBelly’s installation at the corner of Canal and Mott last
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week, Chin proudly labeled the compactor the “garbage can of the future.” “I’m so glad that Chinatown is taking this major step in collecting garbage and keeping our community clean,” said the councilmember, who remarked on the compact size of the BigBelly — comparing it to an earlier, larger version she had seen in Flushing, Queens. “I can’t believe I’m so excited about a garbage can!” said Susan Stetzer, Community Board 3’s district manager, who led off the press conference. “This is a perfect example of why you need the BID. Who else is going to sponsor this?” she said of the Chinatown BID. Indeed, BigBelly solar cans were placed in Union Square Park two and a half years ago by the Union Square Partnership BID. While the mechized cans are a pricey $4,000 a piece, they can result in hefty overall savings for municipalities, according to Cruz. Now outfitted with about 1,000 BigBellies, Philadelphia, for example, has pared down its trash collection from 17 times a week to twice a week, leading to ciytwide cost reductions in sanitation of nearly $1 million, according to Cruz. Apart from economic waste, premature trash collection and landfill dumping have an adverse impact on the environment, Cruz argued. “This will delay the need for garbage pickups, save on car fuel and wear and tear on the roads, and dramatically reduce carbon emissions,” he said, adding, “The point of collection is where you can make a difference.” The relatively new trash collection technology doesn’t have to result in layoffs of sanitation workers, either, Cruz assured: In Philadelphia’s case, sanitation personnel were transferred to the city’s recycling program, which was enhanced following the BigBelly installations. The BigBellies have proven virtually indestructible. They weigh more than 300 pounds and are made of recycled car bumpers and polycarbonate — making them resistant to
extreme temperatures and any kind of weather. One BigBelly was even unharmed after being submerged in water in Port Jefferson, Long Island, during Hurricane Irene, according to Cruz. “I’ve been a distributor and assembler of the product since 2007, and I can count on the fingers of one hand how many service calls I’ve gotten,” he saids. Nonetheless, Cruz recommends the compactors be fastened to the ground for safety reasons. “It’s possible that you could have people who just for fun want to see if they could knock it over into the street,” he noted. And, while they’re not so big so as to lend themselves to being used for dumping pets or other living things, Cruz admitted that such destructive behavior is, unfortunately, possible. “I can’t speak for the public,” he said. “If somebody wanted to put something in there, I guess they could.” Chinatown community members welcomed the futuristic wastebasket into their neighborhood. “A lot of people think we’re a futile society and do it the old way with a broomstick,” said Chen. “This is a more innovative way to say there are greener, possible hybrid solutions to what we’re trying to tackle here.” “And more importantly, Ratatouille cannot get inside!” said Chen, referring to Remy, the fictional rat in the 2007 computeranimated film, “Ratatouille.” Studies have indeed shown that the BigBellies are impervious to rodents and help to curb rodent infestations, Cruz said. Following a pilot program in which three BigBellies supplanted traditional wastebaskets in Thomas Paine Park — north of Foley Square — from April to October this year, urban rodentologist Robert Corrigan, a city Health Department employee, reported a migration of the rats away from the park. An endless supply of litter that accumulates in public trash bins allows the rats to “flourish,” according to Cruz. “Corrigan’s theory is that, the reason why the rat population is so difficult to control, particularly in New York, is because it’s very difficult for sanitation to keep up with emptying trash baskets,” said Cruz. “So, if we could eliminate the food source and continue to bait, there might be some progress made in the fight against the rats in New York City.” Corrigan could not be reached for comment by press time. C.B. 3, a strong supporter of rat-proof garbage cans, has the second-worst rat problem of all of Manhattan’s 12 community boards, topped only by Washington Heights, according to Stetzer, who helped secure three pilot BigBellies for Tompkins Square Park. The high-tech receptacles were installed in the East Village park early last month, Cruz said, and will stay there for at least a year. Asked why it took so long for C.B. 3 to adopt the BigBelly program, Stetzer replied, “It’s a culture thing. It’s really hard to get change in New York City.”
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November 17 - 23, 2011
Photos by Milo Hess
Day of the Dead enlivens St. Mark’s Church in Bowery With traditional dances and costumes and lots of delicious Mexican eats, the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) was celebrated at St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery earlier this month. Observed in Mexico — where it’s a national holiday — and other Latin American countries, the occasion focuses on gatherings of family and friends who pray for and remember late loved ones. Favorite foods of the departed are left out for them. The holiday coincides with the Catholic holidays All Saints Day and All Souls Day.
November 17 - 23, 2011
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WTCProgress world trade center news and updates
WTC Transportation Hub’s Iconic Oculus Begins to Take Shape Street-level rendering of the WTC Transportation Hub Oculus.
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Photos by Tequila Minsky
Honoring those who served Seniors at the Village’s Caring Community observed Veterans Day with help from veterans of the American Legion Lieutenant B.R. Kimlau Chinese Memorial Post 1291.
though not yet visible to T THE HEART of The passersby on the streets Port Authority’s redeof Lower Manhattan. All velopment of the World of that will soon change Trade Center is renowned as the structure that will architect Santiago Calabecome the street level trava’s World Trade Cenentrance to the Transporter Transportation Hub. tation Hub—called the The WTC Transportation “Oculus”—begins to take Hub is a multibillionshape as slabs and foundollar transit project that dations are installed on will restore and enhance the levels of service that Santiago Calatrava sketch of the east side of the World Trade Center site. existed at the site before the inspiration for the WTC September 11, 2001. In Transportation Hub design. Over the coming months, addition to a new station entrance to the Port Authority the Grand Hall of the Oculus—approxiTrans Hudson (PATH) rail line through mately one and a half times the size a PATH Hall approximately the size of of Grand Central Terminal and located three football fields, this massive proj- approximately 60 feet below the surect also includes climate-controlled, face—will begin to rise to street level. underground connections between Starting next summer, enormous piecmultiple New York City Transit Subway es of the above grade, glass- and steellines and the World Financial Center in ribbed Oculus will be installed. The Battery Park City. The new transporta- commencement of construction on tion hub will also house a range of re- this iconic Oculus structure, designed to represent the wings of a bird taking tail services throughout. flight, is both exciting and representaMuch of this underground infrastruc- tive of the Port Authority’s goals to reture for the WTC Transportation Hub member, rebuild, and renew the World project is already well under way, al- Trade Center. 쏆 2WTC
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November 17 - 23, 2011
Photos by Jason B. Nicholas
Protesters braced for eviction but couldn’t stop it Clockwise from above: As police were moving into Occupy Wall Street’s encampment early Tuesday, protesters sat and interlocked arms around the camp’s kitchen; police flooded into the park and started removing the tents; making an obscene gesture at the officers, a woman readied for the eviction by donning a gas mask.
November 17 - 23, 2011
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Francis Ottaviano, 85, of Village medical dynasty OBITUARY BY ALBERT AMATEAU Dr. Francis Ottaviano, who lived and practiced medicine in the Village all his life, died Sun., Nov. 6, at the age of 85. One of his sons, Dr. Lorenzo Ottaviano, ran his own practice from the same Sheridan Square medical office as his father until two years ago. Dr. Francis Ottaviano, like his own father before him, was renowned as a member of a Greenwich Village medical dynasty. In addition to his son Lorenzo, another son, Paul, is also a physician. Francis Ottaviano practiced medicine in the same location until his health began to decline two years ago, said his daughter, Helena Stuart. “He was always ready with a joke,” recalled his daughter. “At his funeral, people came up and told us about the jokes he told them and how he saved their lives,” she said. Fly-fishing for trout was his lifelong avocation. “It was his passion,” his daughter recalled. “He used to get up at midnight and drive for an hour or two and sleep in the car so that he could be the first at his favorite spot — on the Housatonic, I think.” In later years, he would take his sons and a grandson to fish in Alaska for two weeks. “He was a big man and it was hard for him to move around, but he made the trip several times,” his daughter said.
He was born on Feb. 16, 1926, in Rutland, Vermont, where his mother was raised. His father, Dr. Francis Ottaviano, was a surgeon and his mother, Maida Heimz Ottaviano, was a nurse at St. Vincent’s Hospital. Francis Jr., one of five brothers and two sisters, went to Our Lady of Pompeii elementary school in Greenwich Village and Xavier High School on W. 16th St. At the age of 17 in the middle of World War II, he enlisted in the Army. As an Army medic he served in the South Pacific and was awarded the Purple Heart. “He had a finger missing and joked about it, but he told a brother that it happened when he tossed a hand grenade out of a foxhole,” his daughter said. After he was discharged, he worked for a while at the Daily News and attended St. Peter’s College in New Jersey. He met his wife, Helena Petracca, in New York on New Year’s Eve 1950 and they married two weeks later. With their 4-month-old daughter they left for Italy in 1951 where he studied medicine in Turin and Padua. “He had to learn to speak Italian before his medical studies,” his daughter said. “His favorite poem was ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling,” she said. In addition to his daughter Helena and sons Drs. Lorenzo and. Paul Ottaviano, his wife, Helena, two other daughters, Carol and Jean, and three other sons, Francis, Robert and Richard, also survive. Two sisters, Beatrice Breitenbach Lennon of Atlanta, Ga., and Carol Sperandeo of Long Island, also survive. Perazzo Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. The funeral was at Our Lady of Pompei Church and burial was in St. Michael’s Cemetery in Queens.
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Dr. Francis Ottaviano, who loved fly-fishing, with a trout he hooked.
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November 17 - 23, 2011
Nadler: Focus on the jobs crisis, not the deficit BY TONY HOFFMANN As a standing-room-only crowd of close to 100 people listened raptly, Congressmember Jerrold Nadler looked up from his prepared script and said, “I hope that Supercommittee fails.” Nadler was referring to the congressional committee of 12 that is on deadline to decide what drastic budget cuts are to be implemented, and the word is out that the Supercommittee is bent on cutting Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other fundamental entitlements. After a moment of silence the crowd spontaneously responded with cheers. Democrats — at least this crowd — want no cuts to the benefit programs, the safety net of programs that serve the middle class and the needy. And they want to be sure Washington hears it. This was one of the highlights of last Thursday evening’s Village Independent Democrats’ sponsored forum entitled, “The U.S. Economic Crisis.” The forum featured Nadler and author and columnist Jeff Madrick and was moderated by former District Leader Tony Hoffmann, a V.I.D. club member. The forum led off with Madrick, who maintained that the root cause of the U.S. economic crisis is greed run rampant. Madrick stated that Washington has been manipulated in a shift of attitude toward government, one that didn’t begin with
‘I hope that Supercommittee fails.’ Jerrold Nadler
Congressmember Jerrold Nadler, center, and Jeff Madrick, right, were the featured panelists at last Thursday’s V.I.D. forum on the economy.
President Bush or President Obama, but originated with deregulation in the 1970s. Madrick went on to trace the series of economic crises that the U.S. has endured over the past 40 years as the deregulation craze has gripped both parties in Congress.
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Referring to the present Wall St. debacles, Madrick stated emphatically that, “Without prosecutions, Americans will never understand what happened. Was it just some well-intentioned Wall St. people making big mistakes or was it corruption and unethical activity? I think the latter.” He concluded his remarks with a condemnation of both Wall St. and Congress. “We are not reregulating adequately,” he said. “Wall St. did not perform its functions adequately for nearly 40 years. Over that time, wages have declined or stagnated. We haven’t built our infrastructure, education, energy technologies, etc…and some farfrom-progressive people think it was a net drag on growth.” Congressmember Nadler agreed with Madrick that years of deregulation have allowed our financial institutions to become too large to fail and take tremendous risks. He emphasized that we need to reregulate these institutions and that we’ve clearly forgotten the lessons of the Great Depression. One lesson is that cutbacks during times of job loss only lead to the loss of more jobs. Calling out Congress’s single-minded focus on budget cutting, Nadler said, “We don’t have a deficit crisis, we have a jobs crisis. We have to get people back to work. Deficit spending is essential to deal with
today’s crisis. Get employment up first and then fix the deficit.” Nadler advocates for New Deal types of programs, such as infrastructure spending, unemployment insurance and W.P.A.type make-work projects that will increase employment and aggregate demand. Amplifying Madrick’s remarks, Nadler expressed his dismay over the growth of income inequality in the U.S. during the past four decades, and how the top 1 percent of income earners have garnered all of the country’s income growth. Middle-income wage earners have received none of the increases, and low-income people have lost ground, he said. Nadler was particularly disturbed that, contrary to Republican claims, corporations are not contributing their fair share toward government revenues. Both their “real” rate of taxation, which is only 17 percent, and their contribution to total U.S. tax revenues, about 7 percent, have fallen precipitously over the past 30 years. Representative Nadler went on to praise the Occupy Wall Street movement and had particular words of esteem for state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Nadler said that before O.W.S. there was little public notice of the lack of jobs. O.W.S. has shined a light on it. Nadler also stated that Schneiderman, along with a very few other attorneys general, has led the way toward standing up to the banks and refusing to go along with a brokered deal that would basically let the banks off the hook for the subprime mortgage debacle. The forum concluded with a half hour of incisive questions from the audience and indepth responses from the panelists. According to Jonathan Geballe, V.I.D. president, this was the fourth in a series of public forums that the V.I.D. has presented in the past six months. The first one was on the complex love-hate relationship between New Yorkers and bicycle riders. The second focused on how to increase voter participation, and the third forum featured renowned AIDS physician Dr. Paul Bellman speaking on issues related to the AIDS epidemic.
Turkey’s on BAMRA and Le Souk In a repeat performance, the Bleecker Area Merchants’ and Residents’ Association (BAMRA) and Le Souk are throwing the Second Annual Neighborhood Thanksgiving Dinner. The complimentary meal is intended for those who will be alone on Thanksgiving or who are unable to afford a hearty holiday dinner.
“Nobody should be lonely or hungry on Thanksgiving” is the dinner’s motto. Two dinners will be served, with seating at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Reservations are required. For information or to R.S.V.P., call 212-777-5454. Le Souk is located at 510 LaGuardia Place, between Bleecker and Houston Sts.
November 17 - 23, 2011
21
Bowery, Bialystoker, bikes, buses top town hall list BY LESLEY SUSSMAN A new grassroots organization that is trying to gain landmark status for the historic Bialystoker Nursing Home building, at 228 East Broadway, has won the support of state Senator Daniel Squadron, who said that he favors such a designation. Squadron made his remarks at a “Community Convention” follow-up meeting on Tuesday evening at the Bowery Residents’ Committee Senior Center, at 30 Delancey St., in Sara Delano Roosevelt Park. The meeting was attended by about 100 residents from the East Village, Lower East Side and Chinatown, many of whom had attended a Community Convention last March that was sponsored by the state senator. This week’s meeting was designed to give Squadron an opportunity to address many of the concerns that were raised by local residents at the prior convention. Squadron heard from Mitchell Grubler, a member of the Friends of the Bialystoker Home and the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors (BAN), who told the state senator that the new grassroots group wants to preserve the historic former nursing home, which was built in the Depression era. The financially struggling nursing home is no longer operational, and the Bialystoker Home’s board of directors hopes to transform the building into a residential apartment complex. Grubler described the nine-story art deco brick institutional building, which dates back to 1929, as an “architectural treasure that deserves landmark protection.” He said a “request for evaluation” had already been filed with the city’s Landmarks Preservation Committee by Linda Jones, a Lower East Side preservation activist and Community Board 3 member, who is one of the founding members of the Friends of the Bialystoker Home. Squadron said the nursing home’s closing was a “terrible loss and not a solution” to the problems the owners of the facility were facing. “Losing the building would compound this issue,” Squadron said. “We’re looking very closely at the situation to see if we can make a case for landmarking the building. I’ve also urged the state attorney general to look very closely at this.” On another issue, Grubler told Squadron, “We’re losing the Bowery” to hotel and high-rise developers. He said BAN has called for height restrictions for any new hotel or other building constructed on the east side of the Bowery. Grubler explained that the gritty boulevard’s west side below Houston St. is protected from high-rise development because it is part of the Little Italy Special Purpose District, while above Houston St. much of the Bowery is located within the Noho Historic District Extension. Squadron told the community activist that he, too, was concerned about what was happening along the Bowery, “but I haven’t yet looked at your new proposal.” After the meeting, Grubler said, “We already see a 23-story hotel at Cooper Square, an 18-story hotel that just went up on the corner of Hester St. and a threatened 30-story hotel just north of Delancey St. Can you imagine that?”
State Senator Daniel Squadron led a town hall meeting on Delancey St. for the surrounding neighborhoods on Tuesday night.
Squadron responded to a potpourri of other concerns that were raised at the twohour meeting, ranging from reckless cyclists who endanger pedestrians, to poor bus service on the Lower East Side and the threatened reduction of funds for programs geared to the elderly and childcare in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. Michael O’Connor, a resident of Seventh St. and Avenue B, told Squadron, “I’ve been hit by bikes three times and a bicyclist ran over my dog’s tail on the sidewalk.”
Marilyn Cooper, who told the state senator that bus service on the Lower East Side “was getting worse and worse.” “It’s not fair for the city to have reduced bus service in a neighborhood where there are many senior citizens,” she said. “We have the worse service in the entire city.” Cooper further complained that buses often arrive in bunches or after a long wait. “There’s either bunched buses or no buses,”
she said. Squadron told her and other residents to note down the numbers on those buses they observe arriving in bunches and to forward the information to his office. “We’re gathering a big dossier and pushing the M.T.A. wherever we’re getting a lot of complaints,” he told Cooper. “The M.T.A. planners don’t understand that this is an area not served well by subways.” Squadron described the M.T.A. as a “problem child.” “We have to give them extra attention and love,” he said of the authority. “The truth of the matter is that the state government has not funded the M.T.A. adequately. We have to do a better job of funding the M.T.A.” Po-Ling Ng, director of the Project Open Door Senior Center, 168 Grand St., stood up to laud Squadron for all his efforts to preserve senior citizen and childcare services in Chinatown and elsewhere on the Lower East Side. “Please continue to do your wonderful job and keep these senior and childcare centers open,” she said. “Don’t let them cut senior programs, youth programs and childcare programs. We feel that Chinatown and the Lower East Side are being ignored and that services will be cut here.” Squadron replied, “That I take it as a challenge to continue all these programs. We’re going to have to fight cuts that are being proposed in all these areas.”
‘The M.T.A. doesn’t understand that this area is not served well by subways.’ Daniel Squadron
O’Connor said that over a six-month period, “I’ve counted seven bicyclists flying through red lights.” He added, “The Department of Transportation says bikes have made the streets safer. I say they have made them more dangerous.” He also said that traffic enforcement officers have told him they have orders not to ticket cyclists. “That’s crazy to hear that traffic enforcement cops can’t write tickets for bikers,” Squadron responded. “We need to have an increase in enforcement and we also need to have a culture of people who follow the rules of the road. “I’ve been pushing for a while for a culture of compliancy,” Squadron continued, “and I’ve also been pushing the Police Department for stricter and better enforcement. Cyclists should not be speeding down the sidewalks or racing through red lights.” Squadron also heard from local resident
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November 16 - 22, 2011
EDITORIAL Saving Cooper Union The past president and trustees of The Cooper Union say they were always transparent about the school’s financial situation, and that the college’s annual reports have always been open to the public. But the full extent of the school’s economic woes only seems to have registered last month when Jamshed Bharucha, Cooper Union’s new president, went public in the press about the predicament. Sending a shockwave through Cooper Union’s 900-member student body, its faculty and its alumni, Bharucha raised the possibility that tuition might have to be charged at the famously tuition-free elite school in order to help it make ends meet and survive. The school must find new revenue of $28 million per year by 2018, Bharucha explained. He said charging tuition would only be “a last resort,” but must be put on the table as an option. The new president stressed that low-income students would continue to have a free education, as would many middle-class students, and that no current students would have to pay tuition. The Cooper Union was founded in 1859 by wealthy industrialist Peter Cooper with the goal of making a free education obtainable for all. However, in fact, the college wasn’t completely tuition free in its first few decades. Back then, those who could afford to pay tuition did. Subsequent endowments by Andrew Carnegie and Cooper’s family allowed the school to become all tuition free in 1902. Thanks to, among other things, owning the land under the Chrysler Building — for which it gets about $10 million in revenue annually — The Cooper Union’s institutional model was sustainable until about 1990. However, at that point, the school’s revenues started to fall short of its expenditures, and the problem has persisted. So, Cooper has been taking the risky step of dipping into its endowment principle. Amid this economic uncertainty, Cooper recently built its new Thom Mayne-designed academic building at 41 Cooper Square, at a cost of $166 million. While an impressive edifice, one has to wonder how wise it was to construct it at this point. The school’s board of trustees has also pointed the finger at alumni for their low rate of contributions, around only 20 percent. But, let’s face it, many artists, architects and even engineers wind up struggling, even more so in the current economy. The simple fact is that a not-insubstantial number of Cooper’s students do come from well-to-do families. It seems reasonable that these students should pay some or full tuition, which would ensure that those students who truly need it would continue to have their educations fully funded. Certainly, there would have to be firm parameters in place so that Cooper maintains its mission of providing top educations for working-class New York students: The number of affluent students would have to be capped. The Cooper Union is truly a special institution — to both the East Village and New York City. Efforts must be taken to ensure it survives this current financial hurdle and to put it in good shape to flourish into the future. While Bharucha’s comments caused a firestorm of protest, he comes from a deep higher-education background. His predecessors, George Campbell Jr. and John Jay Iselin, while able, lacked Bharucha’s prior experience as an academic administrator. It sounds like Bharucha is the type of leader that Cooper Union needs at this critical moment — not merely a fundraiser, but someone who can steer this great academic institution through the extremely troubled waters it currently faces. The new transparency and openness to dialogue is a promising starting point.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR O.W.S., you’re no fun anymore! To The Editor: Re “Mic check: The whole world is watching, and thinking” (talking point, by Sharon Woolums, Nov. 10): The Page 1 caption under your photo of David Crosby performing in Zuccotti Park tells it: To paraphrase the lyric, “It’s getting to the point where it’s no fun anymore.” The world watched. The world listened. The party’s over. Go home. Debbi Levin-Ruiz
Revolution is in the air To The Editor: Of course the Oakland and San Francisco Occupational forces are burning cars and fighting cops. People in those areas were doing that long before I was born, and I’m 62 years old! And it’s only natural that Portland and the Pacific Northwest are having edgy and confrontational demonstrations. That is the part of the nation that gave birth to the Wobblies. And around the country, there will be occasional skirmishes and outbreaks of violence between the 1 percent and the 99 percent. There is, after all, the feeling of revolution in the air. And the 1 percent are not going to be easily removed from the stage of history. But Occupy Wall Street has set the stage with nonviolence and pacifism, and as long as we maintain those basic principles that feeling of revolution can only grow! Yippie! We are the 99 percent. Jerry The Peddler
A BID wolf in sheep’s clothing To The Editor: Re “Soho BID needs work” (editorial, Nov. 3): Thank you for your well thought-out editorial in opposition to the proposed Broadway Soho Business Improvement District. You are right. This BID proposal does not pass the smell test. It doesn’t pass it on so many levels. You wrote of the 40 Mercer St. condo whose 40 votes were cast by a single person — the sponsor. Did you
know we’d need 40 co-operative buildings to equal the votes from that single building. This disparity will follow into the actual votes for the BID’s directors should the BID actually form. Property owners, by law, must be represented by the majority of directors. Condo owners get to vote for those “majority” directors. Co-op owner/residents, despite as large a financial stake and historically greater ties to the neighborhood, do not. Is this the kind of democracy we have a right to expect? I disagree with you, though, in your statement that the BID is offering basically benign things. Those are the sheep’s clothing hiding the wolf within. The fact is, this is a fight for the future direction of Soho. A fight for control. In addition to taxing power, BIDs have enormous political power. Their voting directors include people from the Mayor’s Office, the Department of Finance, the local City Councilmember and the borough president. Which means these guys get the ears of decision makers much more easily than, say, a block association. Their initial budget has $200,000 for “advocacy” — a.k.a. “lobbying.” Soho can survive not having a BID. True, trash on the sidewalk is bad on weekends without ACE. But the city could put out some more trash cans so the litter won’t fall to the ground. That’s a city responsibility; it can actively promote its “adopt a can” program. Store owners can individually contract with ACE. The city can enforce rules applying to food trucks, which add substantially to the sidewalk mess. Lastly, there were numerous public and community meetings held last year regarding the BID. Councilmember Margaret Chin’s representatives were at every one. Chin attended the largest. People rejected the BID — vehemently. Chin received numerous letters in opposition from residents and even commercial building owners. It was clear from the beginning that there is no substantial support from the residents. It was clear that the balloting was flawed. Yet, Chin keeps saying “show me.” What’s with that? We are starting to ask who is her constituency, since it clearly isn’t the residents. Lora Tenenbaum
Board can vote for owners To The Editor: I am writing in response to your editorial “Soho BID needs work” (Nov. 3) and its inaccurate portrayal of the par-
IRA BLUTREICH
Promises! Promises! Another campaign continues!
Continued on page 24
November 16 - 22, 2011
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Occupy Wall Street: Yes, we are anti-capitalist! ing elite! In 1896, when the populist candidate William Jennings Bryan famously said before the Democratic Convention in Chicago, “You shall not crucify mankind
TALKING POINT BY BILL WEINBERG For the first time since the 1999 Seattle protests, a movement in the United States is in the vanguard of global resistance to capital. But this time, the stakes are much higher. Now, from Europe to the Arab world to South America to Manhattan and Oakland, the planet seems headed into a revolutionary situation. Occupy Wall Street, which has brought the struggle to the very nerve center of world capitalism, has responsibilities on a world scale. There are some things that it is very important that we get right. Lots of criticism of the O.W.S. movement is of course being made dismissively and dishonestly. It is not necessary, as so many insist, that the movement immediately adopt a discrete list of demands. It is probably healthier if a set of demands emerges from an organic process, after being hashed out on the ground. But it is important that we debate ideas, and not allow suppression of serious differences in the name of unity. This has already led to the movement’s message being garbled. The most significant example is the unfortunate hedging on anticapitalism. Some Occupiers have objected to the media calling the movement “anti-capitalist.” A slogan has even been heard in response to this moniker: “We aren’t against capitalism, we’re against corporate greed.” The assumption behind this response is that with enough public oversight or (in the more reactionary versions) if Wall St. brokers acted with greater patriotism, capitalism could “work.” This equivocation is leading to the proliferation of some very bad ideas in the movement. Instead of class analysis, we are getting more and more gold-standard crankery, Federal Reserve fetishism and other right-wing, pro-capitalist responses to the crisis. Partisans of Ron Paul are a visible presence at O.W.S. They are plugging a free-market Republican whose rhetoric targets the Federal Reserve Bank for the wrong reasons — not because a private institution has been granted a public function, but because, in his words, it has a “loose monetary policy” that favors “big-spending politicians.” This has been standard Republican code since Reagan for too much social spending and perceived coddling of the working class. Even Murray Rothbard, ideological guru of laissez-faire capitalism, has been put forth by some at Liberty Plaza as providing the answers to the current crisis. He actually provides a more extreme version of precisely the policies that got us where we are now. All the talk about returning to the gold standard is particularly ironic. The U.S. went off the gold standard under Franklin D. Roosevelt not because of some nefarious scheme by bankers, but in response to a popular groundswell — and in spite of the wishes of the bank-
The concept that the Earth and its wealth belong to society must be redeemed. on a cross of gold,” he was referring to exactly the bigmoney interests that we are protesting today. Then, it was understood that the gold standard and “tight
A protester held a judge’s temporary restraining order allowing Occupy Wall Streeters to return to Zuccotti Park with their tents and sleeping bags as a helmeted officer stood guard at the park Tuesday morning. The T.R.O. was soon overturned, but police allowed protesters back into the park, though without tents or sleeping gear. Attorney Arthur Schwartz, president of Advocates for Justice, joined National Lawyers Guild attorneys Tuesday morning as they argued to extend the T.R.O., but Judge Michael Stallman rejected them. Schwartz and the N.L.G.’s Gideon Oliver did most of the talking on behalf of O.W.S. during the hearing, which lasted an hour and 15 minutes. The N.L.G.’s Yetta Kurland spoke for about a minute at the end, answering one of Stallman’s questions. Schwartz said that, since Stallman has shown his opinion, it’s pointless to continue the case before him in State Supreme Court, and that a new First Amendment case should instead be filed in federal court. “The idea is that the tents facilitate the free speech and therefore they are a part of it,” Schwartz explained. “If you want to demonstrate in the winter or make it through the night, you need a sleeping bag. Sleeping itself may not be an expression — but it facilitates
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monetary policy” were good news for the bankers and brokers — and bad news for the rest of us. Obviously, the gold standard did nothing to prevent the Great Depression, and F.D.R. abandoned it precisely to bring some relief to the country’s working people and unemployed. Since then, the population has greatly expanded, far outstripping the gold supply — making the gold standard even less tenable, and more of an inevitable mechanism for imposing austerity. The proffering of such retrogressive pseudo-solutions is worse than self-defeating — it threatens to undo the all the progress O.W.S. has made in stealing the populist fire from the Tea Party. No, the Ron Paul folks aren’t nearly as toxic as the Teabaggers, but they both represent a right-wing response to the crisis. Rather than wooing
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free expression. And the camp itself is a statement — having the camp and tents and squatting facilitate it, and it
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24
November 17 - 23, 2011
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
RICHARD BRYAN ATTORNEY, P.C.
Continued from page 22
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ticipation of 40 Mercer St. in the formation process of a BID for Soho’s Broadway. I am currently the president of the condo board at 40 Mercer St. and was a member of the board in July 2010 when a board vote was taken (unanimous in approval) in order to complete the “ballot� provided by the Soho BID Steering Committee. At that time, the condo board of 40 Mercer St. consisted of individual resident condo unit owners and the sponsor, represented by Mr. Jerry Karr, who acted as president and therefore signed the ballot. The board was duly constituted and authorized the vote on behalf of the residential owners — a commonplace, democratic process. While the sponsor and the owners had numerous issues, there has never been any question that all parties supported the BID, and continue to support the BID. Lastly, it is our hope that the legislative process for the BID will be respected and continue go forward.
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To The Editor: Re “Soho BID needs work� (editorial, Nov. 3): Soho residents and property owners have never wanted the business improvement district designation for what it brings to the neighborhood: the increase in layers of unnecessary administration, the division between the voters and what is being approved, information kiosks and booths, more congestion in every way, as well as the impossibility of removing them later. We recently learned that underlying this proposal which has so vigorously been pushed on us, is that it appears to have been crafted through fraudulent means. This should render all those who supported it to be suspect. The Soho BID Steering Committee membership has never reflected the diverse neighborhood where the BID would take hold. Narrowly focused real estate interests have been behind this scheme since the beginning and they continue to push this bad plan. As you know, Community Board 2 overwhelmingly voted to reject this bad Soho BID plan. Councilmember Margaret Chin’s Office has been given BID documents showing that those behind the BID are looking for a “seat at the table� in City Hall and that the BID proponents are making a concerted effort to bypass our local community board. This is a scheme to consolidate their power and work their way around the voices of the local community. Doesn’t this clue everyone in to the undesirability of it? Soho is unique. It is not a troubled retail district. Those behind the BID are not “small� businesses. What should be a small issue of garbage collection — and has been forcefully foisted on us by withdrawing ACE — could easily be fixed by enforcing the
requirement for street vendors to maintain trash receptacles of their own. The city also should simply put out more trash cans, as is the city’s responsibility, and for which we already pay hefty taxes. Lisa Bradshaw
I’m totally against it To The Editor: Re “Soho BID needs work� (editorial, Nov. 3): I agree 100 percent. Letting a BID in is asking for long-term trouble. They do not care what it’s like for residents. They only want to make money. I do not want these politicians running the show when they can’t even follow the rules that are already in place! They make it up as they go along and do whatever they want. They want $200,000 for lobbying? There you go. It’s got nothing to do with anything except what the politicos want. I am totally against a Soho BID. Everyone should clean up their own sidewalks. And the food carts (that strangely are not allowed yet are always there) should clean up their trash, too. Why do the residents have to pay for that? Anne Snow
Families don’t need this To The Editor: Thank you for the recent editorial “Soho BID needs work� (Nov. 3). The points made reflect the sentiments of a great number of us who live here and are trying to raise our families here. Thank you so very much. O. Jules Jr., M.D.
Keep an eye on that Parks To The Editor: Re “Park is needed more� (editorial, Nov. 10): Just keep an eye on the Parks Department so they don’t take a “contribution� from a high bidder (or “patron�), then put up a fence with a locking gate in their name. After all, the Parks Department has totally disregarded the wishes of the community many times. Lawrence White E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to news@thevillager.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to the East Villager, Letters to the Editor, 515 Canal St., Suite 1C, NY, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The East Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. The East Villager does not publish anonymous letters.
November 17 - 23, 2011
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EASTVILLAGERARTS&ENTERTAINMENT You Go, Girl! Strong women at center of two Off-Broadway productions THEATER ASUNCION Rattlestick Theater at the Cherry Lane 38 Commerce St., btwn. Barrow & Bedford Sts. Through Nov. 27, Wed.-Sat. at 8pm, Sat at 2pm; Sun. at 3pm $75; ovationtix.com or 212-352-3101 BY CHRISTOPHER BYRNE The momentary relief one gets laughing at one-liners in Jesse Eisenberg’s new play “Asuncion” are insufficient to compensate for its fatal weaknesses. Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, which moved into the Cherry Lane for this production, is clearly trying to capitalize on the celebrity Eisenberg earned from his Oscar-nominated and affectless portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network.” Unfortunately, his would-be comedy is characterized by contorted plotting and weak structure that ultimately undermine a supposedly earnest attempt at social criticism. For any comedy to work, there needs to be a modicum of plausibility, even when situations are over-the-top. Edgar is a would-be journalist, post-grad slacker living with Vinny, a former college teaching assistant of his that he idolizes, in a dumpy apartment in upstate Binghamton. Edgar’s older, financially successful brother, Stuart, arrives and announces he’s married to a Filipino woman named Asuncion whom for reasons he can’t divulge must stay with Edgar and Vinny. In an irrational mental leap, Edgar immediately decides his brother bought Asuncion and is keeping her as a sex slave. Hoping to make his name as a journalist, he sets about to expose this nightmare, while Vinny and Asuncion discover they like to party together. Fearful of further “oppressing” Asuncion, however, Edgar cannot bring himself to ask her any direct questions and so flounders in his mission. When the truth of Asuncion’s situation emerges, he becomes even more disengaged from those around him. To give Eisenberg the benefit of the doubt, he may be trying to make a comment about how modern media culture blows stories out of proportion based on emotion rather than facts. The idea is hardly original but could prove engaging if presented in a novel way. But Eisenberg’s play is unfocused, even sketchy, so Edgar comes across not as tragically mistaken, but rather simply nuts. Why can’t Asuncion stay at a hotel? Why does Vinny put up with Edgar as a roommate
Photo by Sandra Coudert
Jesse Eisenberg and Camille Mana in Eisenberg’s “Asuncion.”
who sleeps on a beanbag chair? The answers could provide the details that make comedy work. Do we really need an LSD trip to get characters to tell the truth? That’s really the last refuge of a stuck playwright. Worse, Eisenberg doesn’t even end the play — it just stops. It’s never a good sign that the audience knows to clap only when the actors appear for the curtain call. The rare pleasures of this production are the performances by Justin Bartha as Vinny and Camille Mana as Asuncion. They both have charisma and energy that overcome the weak script. Remy Auberjonois as Stuart is fine in a one-dimensional part. Eisenberg as Edgar gives a manic version of his “Social Network” performance. He shows courage in writing himself a thoroughly unappealing character and offers
some glimmers of comic timing but can’t overcome his flat line readings and inability to connect with other actors. Director Kip Fagan’s ability to keep all this moving at a good clip provides some relief, but not nearly enough.
CHILDREN TACT at the Beckett Theatre 410 W. 42nd St. Through Nov. 20, Tue.-Thu. at 7:30pm, Fri.-Sat. at 8pm, Sat., Sun. at 2pm $56.25; telecharge.com or 212-239-6200 Aside from John Cheever, no writer knew the mid-20th century WASP like
A.R. Gurney. The 1970 play “Children” brings the two together in Gurney’s adaptation of Cheever’s story about a family facing crisis. Like most of Cheever, the story has a deceptive gentleness, and the tensions and passions that stir beneath the surface enliven the storytelling. After the death of a family’s patriarch, his wife considers remarrying, but if she does the ancestral home will go to her three children. One of them wants to sell out, but that would be a hardship for all of them. From this simple plot, Gurney spins a tale about morality, choices, and the costs and traps they entail. A home on Martha’s
Continued on page 26
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November 17 - 23, 2011
At TACT, a WASP Continued from page 25
Vineyard or Nantucket — we’re not sure which — provides the metaphor, but the drama is far more universal. TACT, the Actors Company Theatre, is giving the play its first major revival since 1974, and under the direction of Scott Alan Evans it’s a fluid, finely nuanced, and wonderfully observed snapshot of a family at risk. Set designer Brett J. Banakis has created an evocative summer cottage deck where the action takes place. Gurney crafts the play so that only four of the characters ever appear — siblings Randy and Barbara, Mother and Randy’s wife Jane. Through them we see the history of the family, its current tensions, and most importantly the challenges created by the arrival of black sheep brother Pokey and his family. The unaccustomed upheaval brought on by their actions — everything from serving children Coke with meals to wearing non-preppy clothes and threatening to force the sale of the house, all unseen — has a nearly seismic impact on everyone. The cast is uniformly excellent. Richard Thieriot and Margaret Nichols as Randy and Barbara are completely believable as siblings, down to the subtle ways they push each other’s buttons. Lynn Wright is charming as Jane, prodded by Pokey’s wife to rethink her life. Darrie Lawrence as Mother is superb, giving a rich and detailed performance. This is a warm production of a play without a lot of bells and whistles, but don’t let that fool you. It’s intensely human and the stakes are high, and that’s what makes it so appealing as theater.
Photo by Stephen Kunken
Darrie Lawrence and Margaret Nichols in A. R. Gurney’s “Children.”
Meetings & Events More than a movie theater Available for business meetings, employee appreciation events, product launches, worship services and more!
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November 17 - 23, 2011
27
Just Do Art! COMPILED BY SCOTT STIFFLER THE SUGAR HOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS When dad dies, mom goes on a “grief pilgrimage” and leaves Chinese adoptees Greta and Han in the quasi-capable hands of their ex-rock star uncle and his considerably younger girlfriend…and that’s just the beginning of Carla Ching’s new play. Shipped off to the wilds of New York, Greta and Han do mom one better in the grief-stricken soul-searching department — when Greta runs afoul of the law and Han runs away to become a street musician. Live music, and a live Twitter feed, put a very contemporary spin on the familiar rites of passage that come from growing up fast and finding yourself. Presented by the always ambitious, Ma-Yi Theater Company — a Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning collective that consistently delivers challenging, entertaining new works by Asian American playwrights. Through Sun, Dec. 4; Tues.-Fri. at 7:30pm; Sat. at 2pm/7:30pm; Sun. at 3pm. At The Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St., btw. Aves. A & B). For tickets ($25), call 212-352-3101 or visit ma-yitheatre.org.
CHANT MACABRE: SONGS OF DEATH AND ENCHANTMENT Halloween has come and gone. But before you succumb to visions of sugarplums and holiday merriment, spend a little more time contemplating mortality — 19th century style. “Chant Macabre: Songs of Death and Enchantment” is the latest from the Bond Street Euterpean Singing Society (BSESS), a talented ensemble with a (vocal) flair for the dramatic. As the arts group-in-residence of the possibly/probably haunted Merchant’s House Museum, BSESS concerts have been known to attract the attention of the museum’s deceased Tredwell family members, servants and caretakers. Why? The 19th century, BSESS tells us, “is replete with gothic stories and melancholic poetry. This heritage, rich with beautiful lamentations, gothic ghouls and otherworldly tales touches the heart to its core with either compassion or dread.” So come mourn your cares away, as the BSESS pour their voices into harrowing musical tales and expressions of sympathy for the dearly departed. Then, and only then, should you begin penning that letter to Santa. Fri., Nov. 18, 7pm. At the Merchant’s House Museum (29 E. 4th St., btw. Lafayette and Bowery). Admission: $25 general, $15 for museum members. For info, call 212-7771089 or visit merchantshouse.org.
KID SHAMROCK Only on YouTube — or ringside in Vegas or possible at a charity event — will you find a more impressively credentialed roster of boxing legends in the same room. What makes this event different is the fact that the athletes in question happen to be on the stage and working behind the scenes. “Kid Shamrock” is playwright/sportswriter Bobby Cassidy Jr.’s telling of middleweight contender “Irish” Bobby Cassidy’s epic battles of defeat and triumph — in the ring, and with the bottle.
Photo by Margaret Fox
The Bond Street Euterpean Singing Society. Left to right: Anthony Bellov, Jane Rady, Rosalind Gnatt and Dayle Vander Sande.
London-born, Queens-raised former WBO world heavyweight champion Michael Bentt (who turned in a dynamic performance as Sonny Liston in the film “Ali”) makes his directorial debut. Veteran actors Vinny Vella (“Casino”) and Patrick Joseph Connolly (“The Sopranos”) are joined by a cast of accomplished boxers — including Olympic gold medallist Mark Breland, Ireland’s John Duddy, Wayne Kelly, Seamus McDonagh and Bobby Cassidy himself. Actors and boxers both train long and hard so they can tap into that moment of charismatic excellence when the bell rings or the curtain rises — so the collective intensity on display here should be well worth the time of theater geeks and sports fans alike. Fri., Nov. 25 through Mon., Dec. 4. At the TADA Theater (15 W. 28th St., btw. Broadway & Fifth Ave.; handicapped accessible). For tickets ($40), visit bronwpapertickets.com or call 800-838-3006. For more info on the play, email kidshamrockplay@ gmail.com. For Twitter: @KidShamrockplay. For Facebook: Facebook.com/KidShamrock.
MANHATTAN CHILDREN’S THEATRE: A CHIRSTMAS CAROL George C Scott, Bill Murray, Susan Lucci and dozens of others have put their spin on the evergreen tale of a miser who finds redemption thanks to a visit from three very persuasive ghosts — but none of them sang and danced and did it all live on stage in a production fit for ages 5 and up. For that, you’ll have to travel to the new location of Manhattan Children’s Theatre (in the gallery space at The Access Theatre). Once there, you’ll be treated to the first main stage production of their 2011-2012 season. This adaptation of the Charles Dickens holiday classic (adapted and directed by MCT Artistic Director Bruce Merrill) features original music by Eric V. Hachikian. Through Dec. 24. Sat./Sun., at 12pm and 2pm; also on Fri., Dec. 23, at 12pm and 2pm. At Manhattan Children’s Theatre (380 Broadway, 4th floor; two blocks south of Canal St., at Broadway & White). Tickets are sold online for $18 (adults) and $16 (children). At the door, $20. For reservations and info, call 212-352-3101 or visit mctny.org.
Photo by Web Begole
Ali Ahn (left) and Christopher Larkin. See “Sugar House.”
Photo by Chris Cassidy
Director Michael Bentt (third from left) and actors/boxers Richie Neves, Tommy Rainone and Mike Brooks during a rehearsal at Gleason’s Gym.
Photo by Mark Osberger
Adam Kee as Scrooge and Liz Tancredi as Marley.
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November 17 - 23, 2011
Klingbiel creates ‘language for an era that lacks clarity’ Northridge, Native Americans also resonate ART BY STEPHANIE BUHMANN
KARL KLINGBIEL: THE GATES OF EDEN Klingbiel’s abstract paintings and largescale woodblocks are characterized by vivid gestural strokes that are densely layered. Much of his aesthetic is rooted in the New York School (Willem de Kooning being a strong reference here) — but other sources of inspiration include Mayan cartographic pattern-making, Dutch tapestries, 18th century British engravings, comic books and computer models of the universe. Despite these diverse and often historic citations, Klingbiel’s overall contemplation is determinedly contemporary. He employs abstraction as a means to process the overwhelming amount of information we face
His visuals translate as elaborate networks, serving as metaphors for various information outlets. One gathers that Klingbiel is significantly inspired by how the layering of news channels and digital media co-exist and are often co-dependent. Despite this implication, his paintings are intuitive and spontaneous. Klingbiel runs on instinct rather than calculation. He is not concerned with analyzing contemporary existence, but rather to create a language for an era that lacks clarity. His ambition is to develop and follow a steady stream of consciousness — a stark contrast to a world that increasingly faces fragmentation, quick shifts and a general lack of depth. To achieve this goal, Klingbiel ponders what the common denominator of a shared language could look like. He states: “I am after the idea of relationships, or the ghosts of relationships as different histories that veil and unveil themselves at points of demarcation, points of transition that are
One gathers that Klingbiel is significantly inspired by how the layering of news channels and digital media co-exist and are often co-dependent. Despite this implication, his paintings are intuitive and spontaneous. Klingbiel runs on instinct rather than calculation. He is not concerned with analyzing contemporary existence, but rather to create a language for an era that lacks clarity.
on a daily basis. His compositions strive for complexity. His forms are energetically interwoven — assembling, at times, into solid clusters before breaking apart to let light penetrate. They are rhythmic and confidently fluent and devoid of any notion of stagnancy. While things appear to be morphing constantly, Klingbiel still succeeds in establishing a sense of structure.
themselves in transit.” At first glance, these energetic compositions produce much noise. Upon closer inspection, they become increasingly calming — and, at times, even meditative. Through Dec. 17, at Masters & Pelavin (13 Jay St., btw. Hudson & Greenwich Sts.). Call 212-925-9424 or visit masterspelavin. com.
Courtesy of Masters & Pelavin
From Karl Klingbiel: The Gates of Eden (2011; Oil and wax on panel; 48 × 48 in. Signed by artist on reverse).
MATTHEW NORTHRIDGE: PICTURES BY WIRE AND WIRELESS The diverse works featured in Northridge’s first solo exhibition with this gallery navigate between play and order. They range from elaborate constructs and larger installations to rather intimate works on paper. His archive of magazines, maps, advertisements and everyday packaging (as well as the inherent practices of collecting and cataloging), mark key sources of inspiration. When incorporating these materials into his work, Northridge edits and rearranges them to the extent that they become disassociated from their original context. Whereas
they once provided glimpses of contemporary culture, they now become part of a new landscape. In fact, Northridge’s works frequently evoke architectural structures, models and maps. Characterized by precision but without lacking humor, Northridge is less interested in improvisational freedom than clarity of thought. His process involves self-established rules that are to be followed, which occasionally can be altered. His works appear to be both completed thoughts and beginnings of larger ideas. They are at once realization and inspiration.
Continued on page 29
November 17 - 23, 2011
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Focus on indigenous artists ‘rare and overdue’ Indian Tribes of the United States” (published between 1847 and 1857) that one gets to ponder how Western civilization has viewed and analyzed Native American cultures in the past. In art, scientific analysis and the reliance on statistics are void. Instead, while browsing the examples of Western works assembled here, we witness how personal and diverse the emotional and aesthetic impact of
Continued from page 28
In the back gallery, an installation of an ongoing series of collage works stands out. Named after a popular 1950s reference book published by Time Life, “The World We Live In” was begun in 2006 and currently involves over 165 pieces (each measuring 8 x 10 inches). The project is sparked by Northridge’s ambition to create a comprehensive account of today’s world — a concept that involves the natural and manmade. Employing found imagery, collage, photography, text and drawing, it translates as a thorough investigation of the subject matter. But more importantly, it translates as the inspired attempt to create a map for contemporary reality. Through Dec. 17, at Kansas Gallery (59 Franklin St., btw. Lafayette & Broadway). Call 646-559-1423 or visit kansasgallery.com.
KINDRED SPIRITS: NATIVE AMERICAN INFLUENCES ON 20TH CENTURY ART Much has been written about the impact of African sculptures and Japanese printmaking on Western 19th century and 20th century art. Meanwhile, American art of the period is usually examined in relation to concurrent European movements. In particular, the influence of Cubism and Surrealism on Abstract Expressionism is a well-covered subject. But as much as scholars have focused on far away influences, they have overlooked the inspirational potential this continent’s cultural heritage has to offer. “Kindred Spirits” is a rare and overdue attempt to examine how Native American cultures of the Southwest and the surrounding desert landscape have resonated with Western (and especially American) artists for decades. The exhibition features works of indigenous peoples from the Southwest region of the United States — including funerary vessels, paintings, pottery, weavings and baskets from 14 tribes (among them, the Apache, Hopi, Mimbres, Navajo and Zuni). Arranged in elegant display cases or installed on the wall, these precious objects are shown alongside modern and contemporary works by artists such as Josef Albers, Max Ernst, Helmut Federle, Agnes Martin, Bruce Nauman and Charles Simonds. Particular treasures include a Sioux parfleche box from circa 1900, two works on paper by Jackson Pollock and a stunning canvas by Georgia O’Keeffe. The latter’s “Blue, Black, and White Abstraction # 12” (1959) — which translates as an abstraction of a large black bird sweeping skyward — finds a beautiful counterpart in a Navajo drawing made in the early 20th century. Meanwhile, a collection of iconic landscape and portrait photographs by Ansel Adams, Edward Curtis, Sumner Matteson, Paul Strand and Adam Clark Vroman establish an appropriate sense of grandeur. It is when viewing the six-volume set of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft’s legendary “Historical and Statistical Information, Respecting the History, Conditions and Prospects of the
When incorporating these materials into his work, Northridge edits and rearranges them to the extent Courtesy of Peter Blum Gallery, New York
Sioux (Lakota) Parfleche box (circa 1900; Cowhide, commercial paints; 9 x 10 x 14 1/2 inches (22.9 x 25.4 x 36.8 cm).
that they become disassociated from their original context. Whereas they once provided glimpses of contemporary culture, they now become part of a new landscape. In fact, Northridge’s works frequently evoke architectural structures, models and maps. Characterized by precision but without lacking humor, Northridge is less interested in improvisational freedom than clarity of thought.
Courtesy of Kansas Gallery, NY
Matthew Northridge’s “12 Ladders or How I Planned My Escape” (2009; Wood and found image; 30 x 22 x 9 in / 76.2 x 55.9 x 22.9 cm).
Native American art can be (and has been). A different voice is offered through works by the contemporary artist Nicolas Galanin (a Tlingit Aleut who comes from a long line of Northwest Coast artists). When entering the gallery, one has to step over his “Indians” — a sidewalk carving of the Cleveland Indians baseball team logo. Aiming to balance his origins with his contemporary practice, Galanin has noted: “In the business of this ‘Indian Art World,’ I have become impatient with the institutional prescription and its monolithic attempt to define culture as it unfolds.” Culture is unfolding constantly, but “Kindred Spirits” is an avid reminder that inspiration is without boundaries and therefore timeless. Through Jan. 14, at Peter Blum SoHo (99 Wooster St., btw. Prince & Spring Sts.). Call 212-343-0441 or visit peterblumgallery.com.
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November 17 - 23, 2011
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November 17 - 23, 2011
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A question for Donald Trump on losing our jobs base CLAYTON BY CLAYTON PATTERSON A question to Donald Trump since he is presidential material and does business in our part of New York City. First, let’s agree that we differ in opinion about Occupy Wall Street. (See my Oct. 27 piece in the East Villager, “O.W.S. has many messages: Ignore them at your own risk.”) And it is with our difference on O.W.S. that I bring forward this question. The question is related to jobs. And it is the base of another reason why I don’t support these foreign wars inspired by special-interest groups. Included in the question is the idea of lost jobs, and who our military is fighting for if the uniforms are made in China? A part of war is protecting one’s own resources, future and industrial complexes, like manufacturing and factories. Much of the stability of a country and a community is related to jobs for the masses. Most people are not lazy. They want an opportunity to work, have a family, buy a home, and attain all that is attached to the American Dream. But look on the Internet and see where America’s lost manufacturing base has gone — China.
However, this latest example is an even more brutal reality. I was in Austria and I spoke to a man who owned an army/navy-type store. He was having real problems getting American military uniforms to sell because of the “Made in China” label. Austrians do not want “Made in China” American military wear. I believe he was having a similar problem with Smith & Wesson knives. Donald, as a Republican, how can you support the making of U.S.A. military uniforms in China? Why aren’t you vocal about this fact? Another reason for O.W.S. to exist. And by the way, we — you and I — did have an interaction in 1989. On April Fools’ Day, April 1, the city of New York came in, evicted, then, in the same day, tore down a five-story tenement that was being squatted as their home by Tia Scot and her family. Tia was devastated. You put her up in the Chelsea Hotel for a month. I came with Tia to your office in Midtown. I always remember your generosity and help in that situation. For Tia, an elegant lady, a shelter was the last, bottomend option. So, thanks for that emotional and mentally stabilizing help. Your care sheltered a devastated woman.
Photo by Clayton Patterson
An American military-style uniform made in China on sale in an army/navy store in Vienna, Austria.
Occupy Wall Street: Yes, we are anti-capitalist! Continued from page 23 Tea Party rank and file away from their odious leadership, we run the risk of the reverse happening — our own movement being subject to a stealth takeover by our worst enemies. Inevitably, anti-Semitism emerges in right-wing populist exploitation of rage against financial elites — the Jews being history’s special scapegoats in this context. Activists have become confused on this question because the pro-corporate right (not to mention the pro-Israel right) portray anti-Semitism as a phenomenon of the left, and cynically use the charge to delegitimize any challenge to the system. But just because right-wing pundits use the charge of anti-Semitism as a baseball bat to beat O.W.S. with doesn’t mean (as the movement’s defenders reflexively argue) that it is free from any taint of anti-Semitism. In fact, O.W.S. Web pages are positively infested with Jew-hating comments — possibly left by mere Internet trolls rather than actual activists, but still met with little protest or repudiation. Many protesters at Liberty Plaza have in fact repudiated the persistent wingnut in their ranks (seized upon by the pundits and propagandists) with the sign reading, “Google Jewish Billionaires.” The recent case in Los Angeles in more disturbing — a protester who proved to be a local schoolteacher ranted into a TV mike about how “the Zionist Jews who are running these big banks and the Federal Reserve...need to be run out of the country.” She was subsequently sacked from her job, and local TV news reported that Occupy L.A. activists held a rally at the
L.A. School District in her defense. Defending her free speech rights would be legitimate — if the protesters made clear that they repudiated what she said. Adding to the confusion, it was also reported that Occupy L.A. activists had protested at the School District over budget cuts and teacher layoffs — raising the possibility that media accounts had conflated the two issues. In any case, there has been little and lukewarm repudiation of the ugly comments from Occupy L.A., and nobody has come forward to clarify the reports of a protest held in the teacher’s defense. On a far lesser but still irksome point, the ubiquitous Guy Fawkes mask, popularized by the movie “V for Vendetta,” is a very poor symbol for the movement. By using it, we are allowing Hollywood to commodify and recuperate our dissent. Worse, the movie was highly problematic, glibly glorifying terrorism and adventurism. Worse still, the actual Guy Fawkes was even more problematic, not only a (would-be) terrorist and adventurist, but a reactionary Catholic militant who hoped his plot would spark a Spanish invasion of England. Finally, the proverbial 99 percent of the O.W.S. protesters probably don’t even know who Guy Fawkes was. It should also be noted that some elements attracted by the Occupy movement who purport to be anti-capitalist are, in their own way, just as problematic as the right-wing populists — the various sectarian Stalinist cults (the worst being the Workers World Party) that inevitably attach themselves like leeches to any authentic popular upswell in the United States and especially New York City. But that’s another discussion. The O.W.S. movement will become
truly dangerous to the global power structure if it can unite meaningfully with the European econo-protests (especially in Spain and Greece), the revolutionary movements in the Arab world, the student strikes in Chile and Colombia — and, if it can overcome its equivocation on the Palestinian question, the movement protesting rising rents in Israel. The coordinated global protests on Oct. 15 were a powerful step in this direction. The recent Egyptian march in solidarity with the Oakland protests was another significant sign of hope. Egyptians marching from Tahrir Square to the U.S. embassy carried hand-written signs reading “#OAKLAND #GREECE #LONDON #SYDNEY --> THE SAME GOAL” and “FROM EGYPT TO WALL STREET: DON’T AFRAID, GO AHEAD.” Washington and the West have been doing everything they can to control the political trajectory of the Arab Spring, to impose an imperial agenda on the freedom movement by posing as its defender, to downplay demands for economic justice in favor of (narrowly defined) “democracy,” and to conflate “freedom” with “free markets.” If imperialism succeeds in imposing its agenda, the coming contest in the Arab world could be one of Western-backed technocrats versus fundamentalist jihadis. Similarly, if right-wing populism holds sway over the Occupation movement, the emerging struggle in the United States could be neutralized in the bud, narrowing to one between populist and corporate exponents of the political right. In short, all the potential of 2011’s amazing advances for progressive forces on the global stage could be squandered — and
those advances radically reversed. Bad ideas don’t just go away. They have to be opposed. Apart from the outright Jew-haters and other racists, nobody should be purged from the Occupation movement. But the purveyors of bogus populism must be confronted and debated, and their faulty formulas exposed and rejected. Otherwise, all our efforts could be derailed into a simulacrum of resistance easily recuperated by the ruling elites. The movement needs to start saying it clearly: Yes, the problem is capitalism. “Greed” isn’t a moral failing, it is the governing principle of society, systematically rewarded by our economic institutions. Capitalism is predicated on limitless acquisition, on exploitation of human labor, on the maintenance of a permanent underclass, on concentration of wealth in the hands of the few and pauperization of the many, and ultimately on the destruction of the planet. Greater public oversight of the financial sector and repealing corporate personhood and even nationalizing the Fed are good demands. But we must understand that such public restraints on the workings of capitalism are necessary because of the system’s inherent rapaciousness. We must dare to dream and to speak of its eventual abolition — and to struggle for it. Even the nebulous and anemic word “liberal” has been effectively demonized in U.S. political discourse since Reagan. The fear of being seen as “socialist” is deep-seated. It is time to get over it, and reclaim the word, as gays did the word “queer.” The concept that the Earth and its wealth belong to society must be redeemed. Everything, ultimately, is riding on it.
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November 17 - 23, 2011