Chelsea Now

YOUR WEEKLY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CHELSEA, HUDSON YARDS & HELL’S KITCHEN

BARNEYS BARGAIN TABLE When Neighborhood Activism and CB4 Scrutiny Made a Retail Behemoth Blink

Photo by Tequila Minksy

Not buying what Barneys is selling, then or now: L to R, the 100 West 16th Street Block Association’s Paul Groncki, with 1980s street theater protest participants Randy Petsche and Roberta Gelb. See page 2. © CHELSEA NOW 2016 | NYC COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

VOLUME 08, ISSUE 08 | FEBRUARY 25 - MARCH 02, 2016

Luxury Store’s Return to Seventh Riles Residents

BY COLIN MIXSON This month’s launch of a Barneys New York in Chelsea has been hailed as a return to its famed Seventh Avenue roots, at the very spot where Barney Pressman pioneered the original, flagship Barney’s — apostrophe and all — after pawning his wife’s engagement ring for $500, which he parlayed into a fashion empire. But, for some longtime Chelsea residents, the thought of Barneys’ homecoming doesn’t manifest itself in the anticipation of great deals on the latest fashions. Instead, it conjures largely forgotten memories of outrageously theatrical protests in front of a burgeoning retail juggernaut, which was determined to expand throughout the neighborhood — no matter what the cost.

“It’s been absolutely forgotten,” said Penn South resident and veteran Chelsea activist Gloria Sukenick, 91, a stark opponent of the original Barneys.

“They’re talking about Barneys like it’s some gift from the gods,” she said of recent press coverage heralding the store’s return. “But they had a lot of enemies in Chelsea.”

By 1981, Barneys had outgrown its Seventh Ave. digs, and the luxury men’s clothing merchant was prepared to expand into the more lucrative realm of feminine attire. Towards that end, the store was eyeing two properties around the corner on the 100 block of W. 17th St. (btw. Sixth & Seventh Aves.) as the home for its inaugural women’s department. But there were a few challenges facing the retailer’s expansion, first and foremost of which was the acquisition of a special permit that would allow Barneys to operate on property originally zoned for light manufacturing.

The authority to grant this zoning allowance was then invested in the Board of Estimate, a defunct city agency legislated out of existence in 1990, whose powers were reinvested into the City Council. Leading up to that vote, however, the department store was first obliged to seek out a recommendation from Community Board 4 (CB4) — and it was there that Barneys found itself mired in opposition.

The acquisition of the property that would become Barneys’ first women’s department was not merely a matter of dollars and cents: The deal necessitated the removal of seven families, who enjoyed rent-stabilized apartments, and who paid a mere $90 and change per month for their W. 17th St. residences.

Those families had little hope of find-

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February 25 - March 02, 2016

Courtesy Roberta Gelb

Photo by Scott Stiffler

In her Penn South apartment, Gloria Sukenick holds an Aug. 21, 1986 copy of the Chelsea Clinton News. Protest signs include the slogans “Barneys Construction Means Chelsea’s Destruction” and “Press Pants, Not Tenants.”

Courtesy Roberta Gelb

Chelsea Coalition on Housing founder Jane Wood, seen here in 1984 as she creates signs for a Thanksgiving-themed street theater action that included protesters in turkey costumes. “One phone call from her, and people would turn out and fill a block,” recalls Gloria Sukenick.

ing other apartments in the neighborhood at a similarly affordable rate, and their displacement would have likely meant bidding farewell to Chelsea altogether, according to a Chelsea Clinton News article (“Landmark Barney’s Case Agreement: Businessmen Happy, Tenants Saved,” June 17, 1982).

The prospect of families living on meager incomes paying the price for Barneys’ expansion certainly didn’t sit well with local activists, according to one longtime Chelsea resident.

“They were living there, and they were forced out,” said Roberta Gelb, a Chelsea resident since 1977. “And for what? So rich women could shop with their husbands?”

The seven families received support from the community largely in the form of the Chelsea Coalition on Housing (CCH) and its late founder Jane Wood, a legend among local activists, who even now speak in awe of her ability to summon and organize hordes of local protestors.

“Jane Wood, she had all of Chelsea behind her,” said Sukenick. “One phone call from her, and people would turn out and fill a block. She saved a lot of people their homes, and she had a lot of intense loyalty.”

Galvanized by Wood and the shabby treatment of their neighbors, an alliance of activists (working under the group name “Blockeye on Barneys”)

Members of the Blockeye on Barneys brigade march in front of the luxury store, carrying signs whose slogans include “Save Chelsea From Barneys” and “Barney’$ Expansion Reduces Our Light And Air.”

headed to the sidewalks outside of Barneys, in protests taking the form of street theater — with all the exuberant, attention-getting visuals that term implies. One of the group’s first demonstrations occurred during a fashion show at Barneys, with the protestors sporting avant-garde attire inspired by their loathing of the department store, according to Sukenick.

“We hired a limo and we dressed up in costumes,” she recounted. “I had a jumpsuit with big dollar bills on it that said, ‘Barney’s Bill of Rights.’ ” The housing coalition, and its civic allies in particular, always celebrated holidays with theatrical protests. On Thanksgiving, protestors wearing turkey suits appeared outside the department store to hand out fliers bemoaning the store’s expansion; during Easter they donned bunny suits; on Christmas, there was none other than Old St. Nick himself demonstrating outside Barneys, according to Gelb.

The protests led CB4 to vote overwhelmingly in opposition to the department store’s coveted special permit, and the Board of Estimate followed suit. In response, Barneys was forced to make good with the community. The store found accommodations for five families two blocks away, on W. 17th St. btw. Eighth and Ninth Aves., and established a trust that would pay the difference on their rent for 12 years and six months, according to a Chelsea Clinton News report (“Barney’s Agrees To Rent Trust Fund”). Another family was paid off outright as part of the deal, while the remaining tenants continued

Continued on page 12 .com

Planned Service Changes

BDFM Mon to Fri Mar 7-11, Mar 14-18 10 PM to 5 AM No BDFM service at 6 Av stations: 14 St, 23 St, 34 St, 42 St, 47-50 Sts, and 57 St. D and F trains are rerouted to the 8 Av line.

B and M service ends early in Manhattan.

• Manhattan-bound service in Brooklyn and Queens ends at approximately 9:30 PM • Service in Manhattan is available until approximately 10 PM Stay Informed Call 511 and say “Current Service Status,” look for informational posters in stations, or visit mta.info – where you can access the latest Planned Service Changes information, use TripPlanner+, and sign up for free email and text alerts.

© 2016 Metropolitan Transportation Authority

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February 25 - March 02, 2016

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Public Piazza Planned for Final High Line Section

James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, courtesy City of New York

Preliminary plans for the final stretch of the High Line include a 4,500-squarefoot public piazza jutting out west along W. 30th St. and onto 10th Ave.

BY YANNIC RACK The northern section of the High Line could soon get a large public piazza and provide the Hudson Yards neighborhood with the park’s largest open space.

Construction on the last stretch of the elevated park — the area known as the “Spur” that juts out eastward from its W. 30th St. stretch, between 10th and 11th Aves. — is scheduled to start later this year, according to the Parks Department.

Preliminary plans for the section were approved by the city’s Design Commission this month, and include a 4,500-squarefoot square above 10th Ave., as well as balconies, a concession area and stepped seating space.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said Cub Barrett, a spokesperson for Friends of the High Line, the group that maintains and programs the park’s 1.45 miles snaking along the West Side between Gansevoort and W. 34th Sts.

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February 25 - March 02, 2016

Image from Google Maps, courtesy Friends of the High Line

Construction for Phase 2 is scheduled to start in late 2016.

“We’re very excited about it. It’s something that has been in talks for a long time, and we’re happy things are moving along,” Barrett said.

The Spur would be split into three sections, starting with a passage jutting off from the park’s westbound turn at W. 30th St. and running underneath 10 Hudson Yards, the first office tower of the titular development that would cantilever over the rail tracks.

The walkway would include two balconies that offer vertical views up the tower’s glass façade, as well as space for food vendors similar to those found on other covered passages along the High Line.

A densely planted threshold would then lead out onto the piazza, which is to be framed by seating steps and enlivened by a rotating arts program.

“When we were trying to figure out what to do with the space, we sort of went back to our roots and looked at what we’re good at — and that’s horticulture, programming and public art,” Barrett said.

In addition to new artworks, the roughly 10,000 square feet available

along the Spur would also provide additional space for existing programs like the park’s Teens Art Council program and Latin dance parties, according to the Friends.

“The Spur will also provide much-needed storage space for park operations, maintenance, and horticulture, as well as additional public restrooms — meeting a need voiced by our park visitors,” notes the group’s website.

The design of the space is in the hands of James Corner Field Operations, the landscape designers behind the rest of the park, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, its original architects.

A Parks Dept. spokesperson said construction is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The budget for the Spur is $31 million, with $15 million privately raised

by Friends of the High Line and Related Companies, one of the developers of Hudson Yards, contributing another $15M as part of a zoning contribution.

The city is providing the rest of the money, roughly $1 million.

Continued on page 17

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February 25 - March 02, 2016

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State Seeks Input on Site of Former Hell’s Kitchen Gas Plant

Courtesy Con Edison

An aerial photograph of the W. 45th St. gas plant in Hell’s Kitchen from 1924, which still shows the plant’s gas holder in the top center.

BY YANNIC RACK New York State has published plans to limit the impact of pollutants found beneath the site of a former gas plant in Hell’s Kitchen, and is now seeking input from the public.

The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC),

together with Con Edison, is looking for feedback on its proposal for a Remedial Action Work Plan (RAWP), which aims to limit exposure from century-old contamination during future construction work on the blocks between W. 44th and W. 46th Sts. and 10th and 11th Aves.

Although the area by the Hudson River waterfront is now mostly strewn with parking lots and warehouses, it was a very different location 100 years ago, when it housed the former West 45th Street Gas Works.

From the late 1800s to the mid 1900s, this Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) — like hundreds of similar sites across the state — supplied homes and industry with fuel for heating, cooking and lighting by converting (primarily) coal and oil into gas.

The Hell’s Kitchen plant ceased operation in 1913 and most of its buildings were razed, although the large cylindrical gas holder between W. 45th and W. 46th Sts. remained in use until 1965, when it was finally demolished.

Con Edison converted the site into a maintenance yard, and later sold it to New York State. It is now a parking lot for the nearby Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Today, a handful of businesses line the stretch along 11th Ave. on the eastern end of the blocks: a steakhouse, a printing shop, a hardware store and an ad agency, to name a few.

But New York’s gas plants left

behind more than just space for parking lots and small businesses — in many places, by-products of the gas-production process like tar and purifier wastes (materials formed during removal of other unwanted chemicals from the gas before it was sent out to customers) seeped into the ground and have remained there for more than a century.

The DEC is now overseeing the investigation and cleanup of contamination left behind from these plants across the state.

Con Ed conducted field investigations at the site of the W. 45th St. plant in 2006 and 2007, and found contaminated soil and coal tar 16-30 feet beneath the surface.

The RAWP essentially provides guidelines to limit and control exposure during future construction work, according to a Con Ed spokesperson.

“At this point, there is no immediate remediation work planned because the site is covered by buildings and a parking lot,” the spokesperson said.

Members of the public can comment on the plan, which is available at Con Ed’s website (coned.com/mgp), until Mar. 15.

Courtesy Con Edison

The site of the former gas plant is split into two operating units. The first, spanning most of its footprint, was investigated by Con Ed in 2006 and 2007 and was found to contain pollutants dating back to the time of the plant.

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juliusbarny.com

Preservation advocates emphasize that Julius’, inside and out, has been largely unchanged since 1966 and before.

Landmark Status Sought for Sight of ’66 Sip-In

BY ANDY HUMM The push is on to make Julius’ bar in Greenwich Village the second New York City building landmarked because of its unique role in LGBT history — as the scene of a pre-Stonewall civil disobedience action that won gay people the right to be served in public establishments.

The Stonewall Inn, scene of the 1969 rebellion that catalyzed the modern LGBT liberation movement, was given landmark status by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) last spring. Julius’ role in LGBT history came three years earlier and, unlike the Stonewall, looks much as it did inside on that occasion almost 50 years ago.

On Apr. 21, 1966, four gay men from the Mattachine Society, a pre-Stonewall gay group, stood at the bar of Julius’ (W. 10th St. &Waverly Pl.) and announced, “We are homosexuals. We are orderly, we intend to remain orderly, and we are asking for service.” They were refused on the grounds that the mere presence of gay people in a bar made it a “disorderly” premises subject to closure.

After their famous “sip-in,” the men — Craig Rodwell, John Timmons, Randy Wicker, and Dick Leitsch — challenged the State Liquor Authority regulation and prevailed, a crucial victory in the early gay movement. The New York Times headline on their action read, “3 Deviates Invite Exclusion by Bars.”

Wicker, whose gay activism goes back to 1958 and who is still at it, said, “Only Julius’ refused to serve us that day. Several others willingly obliged our request for a drink, but Julius’ did not want to become a known gay bar. They would police the door and if it got to be too many males inside, they would not let a man in unless accompanied by a female.”

The bartender at Julius’ was particularly .com

jumpy because the day before, a minister had been arrested for soliciting another man there, and a sticker had been placed on the door declaring the bar “a raided premises.”

Rodwell went on to found the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop in 1967 and co-led the first Christopher Street Liberation Day March — now the LGBT Pride Parade — in 1970. He died of stomach cancer in 1993 at age 52.

Leitsch, the leader of Mattachine then, is still alive and told our sister publication, Gay City News, he thought it was “a great idea” to landmark Julius’.

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), led by executive director Andrew Berman, is petitioning the LPC to designate Julius’ as a historic landmark before the 50th anniversary of the sip-in, which will be marked by a forum on Apr. 12 at 6:30 p.m., at the nearby Jefferson Market Library.

Landmark status “will insure that the building itself and the exterior are regulated and preserved,” Berman said. “It will also give recognition by the City of New York that this is a site of tremendous significance in our city’s history.”

While there were several gay rights demonstrations around the country prior to this, Berman said the sip-in was “the very first planned civil disobedience for LGBT rights in the world.”

Damaris Olivo, spokesperson for the LPC, wrote in an email that “the request is under review by the agency” and noted that the bar is protected as part of the Greenwich Village Historic District, and that any changes to its façade already require the approval of the commission.

But she did not respond to a follow-up asking if the request might be calendared in time for the sip-in’s 50th anniversary.

Continued on page 15

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THE WEST SIDE’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

PUBLISHER

Jennifer Goodstein

EDITOR Scott Stiffler

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Sean Egan

ART DIRECTOR Michael Shirey

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Rhiannon Hsu Chris Ortiz

CONTRIBUTORS

Lincoln Anderson Stephanie Buhmann Jackson Chen Sean Egan Winnie McCroy Colin Mixson Puma Perl Yannic Rack Lucas Ropek Paul Schindler Trav S.D. Eileen Stukane

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Bravo for the Blotter

Citibank ATM shortage

To The Editor: My wife and I are delighted by Sean Egan’s Police Blotter column in Chelsea Now. We’ve taken to reading it out loud to one another and it never fails to entertain.

You’ve taken what is typically a grim subject (especially in other local papers) and turned it into entertainment. So, thanks for that.

Best wishes, George Scott

Landmarks’ shocking stance To The Editor: Re “LPC Pans Gansevoort St. Design Plan” (news article, Feb. 18, 2016): This article doesn’t emphasize enough the height restrictions imposed on the developers by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Also, the LPC emphasized that penthouses and setbacks were inappropriate and should be removed from the proposal. So, there was some good news for the community.

That said, it is shocking that this entire low-scale landmarked block of Gansevoort St. will be destroyed by developers, with the aid of the LPC. By the LPC chairperson’s own count, she received 820 messages in opposition to this plan and only 30 in favor. There were also a huge number of people who signed a petition in opposition.

Isn’t this another example of how developers are supported by government against communities? Bernie, where are you? Go to savegansevoort.org for a video at “news and reports.”

Elaine Young Young is a founding member, Save Gansevoort

To The Editor: I’m surprised and dismayed that Citibank closed all the ATMs within close walking distance of my home in Westbeth. In December, Citibank closed the ATM at W. 16th St. and Eighth Ave. In January, they closed the one in Sheridan Square. Now the nearest one is at Sixth Ave. off W. Eighth St. That is not close when you live on West St. across from the Hudson River.

I contacted City Councilmember Corey Johnson, and his office has been very responsive, getting back to me twice, indicating they are looking into this. I suggested to the councilmember’s office that Citibank consider one of the many empty storefronts on Hudson St. Citibank customers in the West Village need to be able to get cash easily, without paying an added fee.

For many reasons, it would be a big hassle for me to switch banks, and I’m definitely not into online banking. But if this is how Citibank treats loyal customers in an affluent neighborhood — filled with other banks — I may have no choice but to take my business elsewhere. I hope this can be resolved.

I’d much rather have Citibank near my building than Citi Bikes.

Kate Walter E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to Scott@ChelseaNow.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to Chelsea Now, Letters to the Editor, NYC Community Media, One Metrotech North, 10th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. Chelsea Now reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Chelsea Now does not publish anonymous letters.

Amanda Tarley

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PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR: The Publisher shall

From Facebook Re “CITYarts Seeks Support for Chelsea Mural Projects (news, Feb. 18 2016): This whole business about putting a mural inside Clement Clarke Moore Park has been a big terrible mess from the get-go: 1) First, CITYarts says the park “feels abandoned!” All of the children in the area have heavily used this playground, including my own four kids, going back to 1970 when the trees in the Park were as big as broomsticks. One of my daughters was married in the Park. I spent a great deal of time, with other members of our Block Assoc., getting the Parks Dept. to renovate the Park and put in the cast iron fence in 1980.

2) What kind of a reputable organi-

zation mixes up a Community Board with a Block Association? Are they kidding? This is just unbelievable until one assumes they were trying an end run against the local community.

3) So CITYarts managed to get “permission” from the owner of the wall they want to decorate. Well this owner has been here about five minutes. No one here would give “permission” for something like this without consulting with the Block Association.

So I just want us to say goodbye to this ridiculous organization. They are either sneaky or stupid, and their working here does not bode well for our community.

Carolynn Meinhardt

Re “A Tale of Two Tenant Associations” (news, Jan. 28, 2016): Great to learn that tenant associations are formed all over New York! And yes, you are stronger in a group, than an individual would be. Next step perhaps would be to form neighborhood tenant associations; borough tenant associations; a citywide tenant association; statewide tenant associations. Where I am writing from, Sweden, the one and only national tenant associations has 530,000 members.

Good luck over there!� Magnus Hammar, International Union of Tenants (iut.nu)

not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for other errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue.

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February 25 - March 02, 2016

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Rhymes With Crazy

The Dishwasher Manual Was My White Whale

BY LENORE SKENAZY Man vs. man. Man vs. nature. Man vs. himself.

These, we learned in high school English, are the three great themes in all of literature. To which we must add one more: Man vs. newly purchased fancy-schmancy dishwasher.

Oh, perhaps there are those who would quibble that “The Old Man and the Maytag” just does not carry the same gravitas as a grizzled grump in a boat moping about a marlin. (That was the basic plot, right?

With some metaphors thrown in?)

But that’s only because they are not sitting in my kitchen examining, once again, a bunch of strangely slimy plates and still-milky glasses that just spent the past 90 minutes getting the wash of their lives. A

wash courtesy of our new, ergonomic, European-made dishwasher with more buttons than an old BlackBerry and all the cleaning power of a bar of Motel 6 soap.

“Read the manual,” said my husband when I called him at work to complain that the dishes looked as if they’d been licked by a camel with a cold.

Read the manual? Perhaps he’d like me to perform a double cornea transplant while I’m at it. Maybe I can pop over to Afghanistan and hammer out some kind “Evening of Healing Songs and Stories” with the Taliban, too. Did I mention the manual for this machine is 55 pages long and includes a section on, among other things, how to “Delay Start” the wash cycle? As if it is a NASA launch and there’s a funnel cloud

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February 25 - March 02, 2016

Lenore Skenazy authored the book, and founded the blog, FreeRange Kids (freerangekids.com). She is also a contributor at reason.com.

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has eyes?) and the “data plate” (calling HAL!), and everyone’s favorite, the “non-return valve.” How I love to curl up with a good page or two about non-return valves!

The thing is I don’t want a dishwasher that requires years of study.

I don’t want anything in my house that requires years of study, be it my phone, my digital toaster (guess which spouse bought that?) or my master’s degree. I got one of those in less time than it is taking me to calm down about this stupid non-washing dishwasher!

And manual!

UPDATE: When the toaster-buying, dishwasher-decider-in-chief arrived home, he thumbed through the 55-page marriage destroyer and discovered the problem. I hadn’t put in precisely the right amount of detergent: two flat tablespoons. No more, no less.

How could I have missed the “Adding Detergent” instructions?

There they are, just 28 fascinating pages in. Right after the marlin eats the old man and licks his bones clean.

Next time, when I choose the dishwasher, I know what I’m going to get.

A marlin.

Call to schedule an appointment!

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42 W. 38th St., Ste. 901 New York, NY 10018 Tel: 212-302-8970 www.goldburd.com

headed toward Cape Canaveral?

Manuals are great for people who read manuals. I have a husband and son who sit down and actually absorb the information, connecting the words to the diagrams to the real-world thing in front of them.

They poke and prod, and suddenly the thing lights up or rings or records a television program they then can (somehow) play later. Bully for them.

The other 98 percent of us open randomly to a page, see a line like, “Press and hold the 1 and 3 buttons, and at the same time turn on the dishwasher with the ‘On’ (15) button” and wail in there-goes-my-marlin despair. Here. You try reading about that “Delay Start” feature: “To delay the start of the wash [or NASA launch — L.S.], press the 18 button until the desired delayed start time appears in the time display. The delay start is set in one hour steps up to nine hours. If the Delay Start button is pressed after the nine-hour mark the delay start feature will be cancelled and must be re-selected.”

Copy that, Houston? I mean — typing it out, word for word, I do get the basic idea: Goof in pressing button 18 and you have to start again.

But that’s just one tiny paragraph about one tiny button for one ridiculous feature I will never, ever use.

There are still another 54-and-a-half pages about all these other features — the “optic indicator” (the thing

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POLICE BLOTTER GRAND LARCENY: The handyman had sticky fingers

PETIT LARCENY: Courtesy costs man a really cool hat

At just after 4:15 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 17, a repairman working for Bismarck Phillips Communication & Media (537 W. 25th St., 3rd Fl., btw. 10th & 11th Aves.) helped himself to an envelope from the petty cash drawer containing $1,140. In an ironic twist, which likely left his employers un-amused, the man was tasked with installing a new lock on the cash drawer — presumably to prevent thefts like the one he just committed. In a further twist, sure to leave the perp un-amused, video evidence of his crime is available.

Any mother worth her salt will tell you good manners dictate you take your hat off at the dinner table — so naturally, that’s exactly what one man did when enjoying a meal at The Dish (201 Eighth Ave., btw. W. 20th & W. 21st Sts.) on Thurs., Feb. 18. While sitting at the restaurant at about 10:25 p.m., the 47-year-old placed his hat on a table/booth behind him. When he went to retrieve his handsome headgear, he found that someone had taken it. The handmade Austrian Hutmacher Zapf hat snatched by the newly capped crook was worth $300.

CASH FOR GUNS

PETIT LARCENY: Green card lost in red-light shop

$100 cash will be given (no questions asked) for each handgun, assault weapon or sawedoff shotgun, up to a maximum payment of $300. Guns are accepted at any Police Precinct, PSA or Transit District.

THE 13th PRECINCT Located at 230 E. 21st St. (btw.

Second & Third Aves.). Deputy Inspector: David Ehrenberg.

Call212-477-7411. Community Affairs: 212-477-7427. Crime Prevention: 212-477-7427.

Domestic Violence: 212-4773863. Youth Officer: 212-4777411. Auxiliary Coordinator: 212-477-4380. Detective Squad: 212-477-7444. The Community Council meets on the third Tues. of the month, 6:30 p.m., at the 13th Precinct. The next meeting is Mar. 15.

A 41-year-old Brooklyn resident’s sojourn to a steamy Chelsea hangout landed him in some hot water on Sat., Feb. 20, at around 7 p.m. The man was enjoying some entertainment in a booth at the adult store Rainbow & Triangle

.com

PETIT LARCENY: Cab sabotage While the confiscation of keys is surely a boon to business for many a cabbie, two yellow cab operators experienced an unfortunate paradigm shift on Sat., Feb. 20. According to the police report’s witness — a 53-year-old employee of the 64-year-old victim — five people (two male, three female) entered their taxi at about 9:55 p.m., in front of 234 W. 21st St. When the group was refused service, as the taxi was not allowed to take that many passengers, the hopeful passenger in the front seat grabbed the key out of the car’s ignition. The man then fled on foot, westbound on W. 21st St., and then southbound on 12th Ave., with the $200

.COM

key in tow. Police conducted a canvas of the area, to negative results.

GRAND LARCENY: Swede sours on app service On Fri., Feb. 19, an unethical Uber driver took a visitor from Sweden for a ride, in more ways than one. The Swiss mister entered a black sedan he’d hailed at around 6:45 p.m., in the vicinity of Penn Station. As the app-acquired wheel wielder began to drive, however, he changed the face price of the ride — and in protest, the passenger requested to stop and leave. As the man exited the vehicle at W. 21st St. & Seventh Ave., he tried to take his belongings out of the car — but the dastardly driver sped away. The victim attempted to call Uber to resolve the issue, but was unable to track the driver.

All said and done, the man suffered a $6,350 loss — including $2,000 worth of clothes, $800 in contact lenses, and pricey goodies like an iPad ($1,000), a Panasonic Camera ($400), and Bose headphones ($300).

—SEAN EGAN

Accurate Building Inspectors®

THE 10th PRECINCT Located at 230 W. 20th St. (btw. Seventh & Eighth Aves.).

Commander: Deputy Inspector Michele Irizarry. Main number: 212-741-8211. Community Affairs: 212-741-8226. Crime Prevention: 212-741-8226.

Domestic Violence: 212-7418216. Youth Officer: 212-7418211. Auxiliary Coordinator: 212-924-3377. Detective Squad: 212-741-8245. The Community Council meets on the last Wed. of the month, 7 p.m., at the 10th Precinct or other locations to be announced. The next meeting is Mar. 30.

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(second floor, 155 Eighth Ave., btw. W. 17th & W. 18th Sts.; formerly known as Splosh, when if offered adult products on the ground floor and dining upstairs).

After he left, the man realized some of his personal effects remained in the booth.

He returned to find the property — including $60 cash, his security license, and his green card — missing.

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11

Like a Good Neighbor? Barneys Continued from page 2 to hold out. It is unclear if any restitutions were made by Barneys on their behalf, according to the report.

The deal largely satisfied all parties.

The tenants’ concerns were, for the most part, assuaged, Barneys received the special permit it required to move forward with their expansion, and the protestors declared victory in their yearlong struggle with the department store, according to Randy Petsche, who demonstrated with, and handled press for, the CCH. “It showed the potency of the issue of tenant relocation and such,” said Petsche, who has lived in Chelsea since 1978. “That one was clearly a win.”

A legacy of that victory, Mary Rentes, who was nearly forced out of Chelsea amidst Barneys’ controversial expansion, still lives in that same apartment on the 300 block of W. 17th St., where Barneys footed the bill for more than a dozen years, thanks to the community’s ardent support.

But the coalition’s victory over Barneys would presage many years of perceived abuse at the hands of the growing department store, and, beginning in 1984, new construction occurring a block south on W. 16th St. would reignite the simmering tension between Barneys and its neighbors.

This time, the point of contention was off-hours construction, which began early in the morning and continued late into the night — raising a literally deafening racket, as one neighbor described in Eve Ottenberg’s “Hard Times” column in the Village Voice (“Barney’s Blasts Chelsea,” Apr. 3, 1984).

“Pumps, compressors, earth-movers, jackhammers. I can’t hear my stereo, my telephone, my smoke detector. It’s impossible to maintain a normal conversation,” then-141 W. 16th St. resident Stanley Koven told the Voice.

Once again, Wood’s Coalition on Housing jumped into the fray, and soon protestors were outside Barneys creating their own racket, Gelb recounted.

“We were so upset, the first skit we did was all about Barneys making noise,” said Gelb of an Oct. 20, 1984 demonstration. “We were banging pots and pans, and it was very much street

12

February 25 - March 02, 2016

Courtesy Roberta Gelb

Oct. 20, 1984: Having set up a mock living room outside of Barneys, neighborhood resident Randy Petsche sits in his chair, seeking elusive peace — as demonstrators clang pots and pans to simulate persistent off-hours construction noise (protective masks reference the area’s poor air quality).

“Just in case you need a $22,000 necklace leave Chelsea,” says Roberta Gelb, center, o fellow ’80s street theater activist Randy Pets Block Association president Paul Groncki.

the struggles fought, the community would ultimately be liberated of Barneys courtesy of forces beyond their control. The retailer reestablished itself with an even larger flagship store in more fertile shopping grounds uptown in 1993, and would abandon its Chelsea franchise altogether in 1997.

“The irony was that, not long after, they closed up and moved uptown and left an empty building. After all that destruction they turn around and leave the community,” said Gelb. “Now they’re back again.”

Barneys has now returned to a much different Chelsea than it left in the ’90s. Certainly, the kind of low-income families that formed the backbone of the neighborhood’s age-old beef with Barneys have long fled the neighborhood in the face of gentrification, and outrageous rents that dwarf the $90-per-month paid by the families the store sought to displace in ’82.

However, the move back to Chelsea has stirred up a whole new pot of community tension. In particular, Barneys’ dealings with the 100 West 16th Street Block Association, which it had negotiated with in late 2015 in pursuit of the block’s support for a liquor license the store required for its third-floor cafe, Fred’s, has left a bad taste in the mouths of nearby residents.

In speaking with Barneys’ lawyers, eight-year block association member

Gloria Sukenick takes her “Barney’s Bill of others garbed in avant-garde attire inspired b

theater. Of course we had props: chairs and a lamp, and somebody in a robe; and Gloria came out with curlers in her hair. It was very quiet, she was reading a paper, and then all this noise started.

We got very creative after that.”

The activists enjoyed some success, insofar as earning the ire of Barneys employees, according to Sukenick.

“We made their lives miserable. The Barney boys were standing behind their glass doors glaring out at us. If looks could kill...they were very unhappy,” recalled Sukenick, who was intimately familiar with the noise and poor air quality generated from the Barneys expansion project (she lived at 125 W. 16th St. during that time, then moved to Penn South in 1991).

However, Barneys would ultimately win out in this second contest. Similar to the first struggle, the protestors were hoping to leverage Barneys’ desire for a new suite of special permits it required through the Board of Estimate for the W. 16th St. expansion, but, despite the community’s blatant misgivings, the board would ultimately award Barneys the zoning allowances it required in 1985, according to Petsche.

“Once they got their permits from the Board of Estimate, that ended with a certain amount of bad feelings on that block,” he said. “But that was done. It was a done deal.”

After all the hardships endured and

.com

is Back, with Bad Blood in Tow

Photo by Tequila Minsky

Courtesy Gloria Sukenick

Photo by Scott Stiffler

on a Saturday afternoon, you don’t need to outside the new Seventh Ave. Barneys with sche (foreground) and 100 West 16th Street

To disrupt a Barneys fashion show, Gloria Sukenick (in dollar dress) and cohorts arrived in a limousine — briefly evading the suspicion of security, then proceeding to picket the store.

Relocated during the 1980s, Mary Rentes still lives on W. 17th St., where Barneys footed the bill for more than a dozen years as part of an agreement reached after much pressure from community activists.

Courtesy Gloria Sukenick

Rights” dress for a test run, before joining by their loathing of the department store. .com

and current president Paul Groncki made it clear that the block’s support was contingent on numerous conditions, an important component of which was that no deliveries, food or non-food, should occur on the narrow W. 16th St., Groncki said.

In fact, a draft agreement undersigned by Barneys representative Marc Perlowitz, which included the stipulation banning deliveries on W. 16th St., left the block association feeling as though this Barneys was new in more ways than one, Groncki said.

“I shared that agreement with everyone on the block association. Everyone was thrilled, and we thought maybe this new Barneys is a good Barneys,” he said.

Having spoken and shaken hands with Barneys reps, Groncki and his block association felt secure in what appeared to be a firm promise from the retailer. As a result, block residents, including Groncki, who handled negotiations with Barneys, didn’t feel any need to appear at a subsequent meeting of CB4, which is ultimately responsible for conveying and, in effect, ratifying the neighborhood’s stipulations with the State Liquor Authority (SLA) — a big mistake.

Amongst the stipulations sent to the SLA in return for the community’s blessing, the condition that no deliveries be made on W. 16th St. was

conspicuously absent. Adding insult to injury, the store posted a notice at its main entrance on Seventh Ave. that all deliveries were to be sent to — you guessed it — W. 16th St. “They just lied to our faces,” said Groncki. “They agreed to all these stipulations, and so we didn’t show up in force at the community board.”

Jesse Bodine, CB4’s district manager, said he sympathized with Groncki’s sentiment that Barneys had outmaneuvered him, but conceded that the Business Licenses & Permits Committee — which is accustomed to more drawnout negotiations than other CB4 committees — ultimately gave the store its blessing after Barneys reps said they could agree to all the stipulations worked out with the West 16th Street Block Association, save the condition regarding deliveries.

“That was the one thing they would not agree to,” said Bodine. “But when somebody comes in and agrees to nine out of 10 stipulations, that’s usually pretty good.”

According to a Barneys spokesperson, the whole episode was an honest misunderstanding. The attorney who dealt with Groncki had confused an agreement between Barneys and its building’s co-op management board — which stated that trash should be picked up on Seventh Ave. — to mean that all deliveries and pickups should

be directed to Seventh Ave. and, ergo, was under the impression that the company wouldn’t be accepting deliveries on W. 16th St. anyway.

Meanwhile, about 50 renters living above Barneys remain without gas, after Con Edison inspectors found an “improperly installed” connection valve, which left three times that number of residents without gas in May, according to a New York Times report (“2 Businesses Reopen, But Tenants Upstairs Remain Without Gas,” Feb. 23, 2016).

The Times reported that Barneys asserted it had done its best to make good with the community, even providing residents with electric hot plates to tide them over until their gas started flowing.

“Barneys New York sincerely appreciates the patience demonstrated by all of the tenants of 161 West 16th Street during the build-out of our new downtown store,” the retailer said in a statement.

But for Groncki, who’s lived on the 100 block of W. 16th St. since 1987 and has grown familiar with both the old Barneys and the new, the long saga of the retailer’s many struggles with the community have taught him one important lesson.

“You can’t trust Barneys,” he concluded.

February 25 - March 02, 2016

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February 25 - March 02, 2016

.com

Julius’ Bar Owner Vows to Continue Mission of LGBT Pride Continued from page 7 Berman said that the 1969 Village district designation report “makes no mention of the architectural or historical significance [of Julius’]. It goes through building by building, and it is the guide by which the commission regulates. If the report doesn’t highlight special significance, the building is potentially vulnerable to changes — even demolition.”

When GVSHP gathered support for the Stonewall designation in 2014, many of those endorsing it seconded the call for city landmark status for Julius’ — including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, State Senator Brad Hoylman, City Councilmembers Corey Johnson and Margaret Chin, and the LGBT Community Center.

In his recent letter to the commission, Berman wrote that in 2012, “The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation deemed Julius’ Bar as eligible for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places on the basis of its place in LGBT and civil rights history.”

Julius’ has been a bar since 1864, in a building dating to 1826. It was a speakeasy during Prohibition. Its tables, chairs, and bar were made out of wooden barrels from the Ruppert Brewery of Yorkville in the 19th century. It is the city’s oldest continuous gay bar, developing a reputation as such in the 1950s even though gay customers, prior to the sip-in, were sometimes harassed.

Some of its famous gay regulars included Rudolf Nureyev, Tennessee Williams, Vladimir Horowitz, and Truman Capote.

Berman said, “Certainly the interior is an incredibly valuable time capsule and we would like to see the bar continue to operate there in perpetuity with as much of the interior remaining intact as possible, but landmarking generally applies only to exteriors.”

Helen Buford, the owner for the past 14 years — including with her husband Eugene until he died seven years ago — is “very excited” about the prospective landmark status.

“I’m a caretaker of memories,” she said, so that “no one has to worry about it remaining Julius’ bar as long as I am here.

My mission is to continue restoring it.”

At the time of her interview, Buford

noted the eighth Mattachine Night party, billed as “spinning vintage vinyl from queer yesteryear,” was scheduled at the bar for Thurs., Feb. 18 at 10 p.m., led by performers John Cameron Mitchell, Amber Martin, and Angela Di Carlo.

Tom Bernardin, 67, “the unofficial, self-described historian of Julius’,” in his words, has been a denizen of the bar since 1974 — with some interruptions, coming back for good in 2000 and finding special solace in the community of patrons there after Sept. 11, 2001. He and others raised $6,000 to get a period lamppost installed outside the bar. Bernardin said he welcomes landmark designation, noting that the sip-in was “an accelerant” in the progress toward the Stonewall Rebellion “three years and two months later.”

Bernardin tells the sip-in story in an online video (visit YouTube.com, and search for “LGBT History: The “Sip-In” at Julius’ bar, 1966”).� This reporter first went to Julius’ in 1972 at age 18, and frequented it more in the late ’70s as a place to repair to with groups of Dignity members after meetings.

Father Bernárd Lynch of Dignity said, “It used to be my office in the early ’80s when I did my AIDS ministry.”

YoutTube.com

Tom Bernardin, “the unofficial, self-described historian of Julius’,” has made a YouTube video chronicling the history of the 1966 sip-in.

He recalled that it was very friendly to priests, and said he was just there recently, during a visit from his home in London, to meet an interviewer and enjoyed one of the bar’s famous burgers. Lynch noted that the Gay Officers Action League held their early meetings at Julius’.

“To me, Julius’ is a touchstone to our history,” Bernardin said, “a place that gay visitors from the US and foreign visitors come back to. It seems not to change. It’s like going home.”

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February 25 - March 02, 2016

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James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, courtesy City of New York

The mid-section of the extension would send visitors through a planted threshold to the piazza — a remnant, perhaps, of earlier plans for the site that called for a “dense woodland” experience.

High Line ‘Spur’ Will Have Plaza, Plants, Public Art Continued from page 4 The first phase of the park’s northern section, comprising the park’s east-west transverse along W. 30th St., opened in Sept. 2014 and cost roughly $34 million to build, by comparison.

Although the Spur represents the last portion of the High Line that has not been restored and opened to the public yet, Barrett said the “Interim Walkway” wrapping around the rail yards between W. 30th and W. 34th Sts. still had a fenced-off section that would become accessible some time in the future as well.

“There are plans to build that out at some point, but nothing is on the books yet,” he said.

The tracks running along the Spur

were originally built to support freight trains headed to the US Postal Service Morgan Processing and Distribution Center that sits on the block between Ninth and 10th Aves., and W. 29th and W. 30th Sts. Previous plans for the section included a Jeff Koons-designed art installation called “Train,” that would have featured a full-size replica of a 1940s steam locomotive suspended from a crane above the tracks, according to the Friends of the High Line.

The last concept floated for the site was a bowl-shaped structure “rimmed with dense woodlands, meant to offer an immersive experience of nature in the heart of New York City,” according to the group’s website (thehighline.org), but those plans were abandoned due to cost and space constraints.

Image from Google Maps, courtesy Friends of the High Line

The “Interim Walkway” that winds its way around the rail yards (btw. W. 30th & W. 34th Sts.) is already open to the public, but will be expanded in the future.

.com

February 25 - March 02, 2016

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ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT Collaboration a Core Strength of Baryshnikov Arts Center Poetry, dance merge in icon’s performance at namesake venue

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC Sometimes the germ of an artistic idea takes time to bloom. Take, for instance, the upcoming “Brodsky / Baryshnikov” collaboration.

Joseph Brodsky (US Poet Laureate, 1991–1992) and iconic dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov were very close friends — both men were born in the Soviet Union, and then came to the United States.

“Joseph Brodsky was a hugely influential artist in Misha’s life,” explained Georgiana Pickett, executive director of the Baryshnikov Arts Center, in a phone interview (“Misha” is Baryshnikov’s nickname).

Pickett said the two men had discussed a project that would include Brodsky’s poetry and Baryshnikov as a performer. Due to Brodsky’s passing in 1996, that artistic endeavor didn’t happen, but the idea stayed with Baryshnikov, she said.

Enter Alvis Hermanis, the director of the New Riga Theatre in Riga, Latvia.

Hermanis approached Baryshnikov about doing a project, Pickett said, and that seed sown long ago sprung to mind.

Together, Hermanis and Baryshnikov created an original script built on Brodsky’s work.

“I think that’s very interesting — the idea of taking this huge body of work and trying to weave it together from a different perspective,” Pickett said. “But of course, the beauty and resonance of Joseph’s writing is very, very prevalent in the show.”

“Brodsky / Baryshnikov” premiered in Latvia in October, and had its second run in Tel Aviv. It will have its US premiere from March 9–19 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (450 W. 37th St.).

“It’s a hugely important show for us, because Misha doesn’t usually perform here at the Baryshnikov Arts Center,”

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February 25 - March 02, 2016

Photo by Francis Dzikowski

Founded in 2005, the Baryshnikov Arts Center counts Lincoln Center, PS122 and the Irish Arts Center among its cultural partners.

she said. “He never wanted this place to be perceived as an organization that he built to support his own career, and so he’s been very, very careful not to perform here that much, because he made this center for other artists.”

Pickett added, “It’s good for us because he’s a remarkable artist, and it elevates our program when somebody of his caliber performs on our stages.

We’re very happy that he’s decided to do the show here, and that to do it in his own home, I think, is very fitting for

a work that’s so personally important to him.”

She noted that Baryshnikov is not reciting Brodsky’s poetry, and that the one-man show will be performed in Russian. There will be English surtitles, which are subtitles that are projected onto surfaces on the set.

Coincidentally, there is another solo show in the Baryshnikov Arts Center’s season: “A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing,” running from April 20–30. Based on the acclaimed book of the same title by

Irish author Eimear McBride, the show follows a woman — played by Aoife Duffin — who navigates her life after encountering some traumatic experiences when she was young, Pickett explained. The production marks the New York debut of The Corn Exchange, a well-regarded Irish independent theater company.

Both “Brodsky / Baryshnikov” and “A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing” are “tough works, with strongly emotional content, but very commanding performances,” Pickett noted.

Pickett said “A Girl is a Half-formed Thing” is also an important project, as it marks the center’s fifth collaboration with the Irish Arts Center (553 W. 51st St., btw. 10th & 11th Aves.).

“Collaboration is a very important part of our institutional philosophy,” said Pickett, who mentioned the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Lincoln Center and PS122 as other important cultural partners.

Founded in 2005 in Hell’s Kitchen, the Baryshnikov Arts Center has had a consistent mission, said Pickett, who has been its executive director for four and a half years.

“I think the growth hasn’t been around any change of the [Center’s] original intention, but just in the volume and the work that we’re able to do, and the depth of which we’re doing it,” she said. “But this place was always conceived of — by our founder Mikhail Baryshnikov — to be a place that supported working performing artists to make work, to perform, to develop new ideas, and to collaborate across disciplines.”

Pickett said the center, which has around 30 residencies a year, provides the tools and mechanisms — such as space and resources — to help artists

Continued on page 20 .com

Art and Poetry on the Same Page Poets House exhibit teams two artistic temperaments

BY LINDSAY BU Visual art and poetry may not always share common ground, but they do exhibit commonalities. Both rely heavily on the audience to interpret what is presented before them, and to consider the full story behind a single image or a line. But grappling with visual art and poetry is very different when the two are combined.

At Poets House (10 River Terrace), the exhibit “Metamorphosis: The Collaboration of Poet Barbara Guest & Artist Fay Lansner” features a creative dialogue between the two women, by presenting a number of Lansner’s portraits of Guest, as well as her charcoal and pastel pieces that incorporate lines of Guest’s poetry.

The poetry of Barbara Guest (1920– 2006) began to rise in prominence during the late ’50s, when she was considered among the New York School of Poets — whose other members included John Ashbery, Frank O’Hara, and James Schuyler.

Influenced by surrealism and abstract expressionism, Guest’s work is characterized by the lyricism and musicality of her words; a painterly impulse that evokes gentle but poignant images. Fay Gross Lansner (1921–2010) was a prolific member of the abstract expressionist movement. Affiliated with well-known artists such as Willem de Kooning and Joan Mitchell, Lansner was committed to figurative painting and symbolic imagery.

Though a definitive timeline of how their friendship began is unclear, the first visual record of their relationship dates to the 1950s, with a series of portraits Lansner completed of Guest. One of the large oil portraits from the ’70s (“Portrait of Barbara Guest”) is on view at the Poets House exhibit. In it, Guest — clad in a lavender skirt and black top — sits with her legs crossed against a dark blue backdrop with visible paint strokes.

Her hands are pink squares, and Guest’s straw-blonde hair contrasts with the striking blue behind her.

According to Poets House Artistic Director Stephen Motika, their relationship might have been spurred by frequent interactions in the professional art world (they both published reviews in ARTnews, a popular art magazine), as well as the similarities in their personal lives.

“They’re these two friends who circled each other creatively in this world .com

Courtesy Poets House

Courtesy Poets House

Fay Lansner: “Portrait of Barbara Guest” (1970s. Oil on canvas, 60 x 36 in.).

Fay Lansner: “Sadness and Felicity” (1989. Charcoal and stamps on paper, 22 x 30 in.).

together, and had a great deal of respect for each other’s work. They both also had daughters, and they lived in Long Island for part of their careers. I would imagine that that’s maybe how their friendship really bloomed,” Motika observes.

It was only in 1982, however, that their collaborations began to take shape, with Guest’s poem “Tessera” inspiring multiple artworks by Lansner.

Lansner’s “Sadness and Felicity” (1989), for instance, is a work of charcoal and stamps on paper, depicting a woman with curly hair coiffed in an up-do, and a large bird sitting atop the right side of her head. The woman’s expression is not easy to decipher, Her large eyes look rather melancholic, but her mouth upturns into the slightest smile. Around this image of her face are different lines scrawled in script from Guest’s poem, such as “I’m here in the land of sunbeams/and silk oak,” and “Sadness and felicity/you’re coming back.” What’s perhaps most interesting is the liberty Lansner took in re-creating these lines — the words are clustered together in a way that does not preserve their original line breaks.

Perhaps this was an issue of space, but perhaps it is intentional.

This careful selection of which lines to

Continued on page 20

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Irish and Baryshnikov Arts Centers All in on ‘Half-formed’ Continued from page 18 develop and perform their work. There is also marketing and documentation support, writing about the artists’ work, and producing video pieces.

“There’s a great level of care and investment that goes on with every single resident artist that we have here,” she said. “We don’t just give them a key to a room and then disappear.”

The nonprofit is currently focused on building an endowment, said Pickett. The Baryshnikov Arts Center recently received its first one: a $3 million gift from the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation.

Photo by Janis Deinats

Worth waiting for: “Brodsky / Baryshnikov” is the realization of a collaboration discussed years ago. A line forms at the box office one hour in advance for tickets to the sold-out Mar. 9–19 performances.

“We’re always striving to find ways to provide more support to empower artists, she said, “…to stabilize their lives, because there’s not enough support here in our city.

We need to find more ways to continue to attract artists and to keep them here.”

“Brodsky / Baryshnikov” is performed Mar. 9–19 at the Baryshnikov

Arts Center (450 W. 37th St., btw. Ninth & 10th Aves.). The run has already sold out, but a wait list will begin at the box office one hour prior to each performance. Tickets are $35–$45. “A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing” is performed April 20–30. Tickets are $25.

For reservations, visit bacnyc.org or call 866-811-4111.

Photo by Fiona Morgan

Aoife Duffin stars in Irish independent theater company The Corn Exchange’s adaptation of “A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing,” Apr. 20–30 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

Experiencing Guest’s Poetry Through Lansner’s Lens Continued from page 19 present in the charcoal work gives the viewer an opportunity to truly consider the significance, the ebb and flow, of each word. The curls of the script — from the shaky “s” to the loopy “y” — bring the weighty burden behind the word “sadness” to life. Even more so than translators of poetry, Lansner serves as a determined broker between Guest and the reader — one who can decide to emphasize certain lines, or make the reader subconsciously experience certain words differently based on how they are presented.

Yet, the title of the exhibit, “Metamorphosis,” is especially suited for this series of art on “Tessera.” Guest has another rendition of “Sadness and Felicity” (1990s), among many others, that is startlingly different than the aforementioned version. This charcoal and pastel on paper exudes life and color. Again, Lansner pulls excerpts of Guest’s poem, but here they seem to be the focus. Various lines, taken from different parts of the poem, are written in seemingly random diagonals. There are pink cloud-like shapes drawn throughout the page, thick, bright yellow lines underneath certain words, small patches of teal grass in corners, and a picture of a black dandelion resting in a skinny bottle at the bottom of the canvas. It’s a rather strange combination — the whimsical colors, reminiscent of Easter Sunday and baby showers, and the actual words themselves.

“Barbara is known for her abstract work. It’s not like Frank O’Hara; it’s not like images of New York or anything. It’s more of an internal and modern work, inspired by other poets like H.D. [Hilda Doolittle]. But these

20

February 25 - March 02, 2016

Courtesy Poets House

Courtesy Poets House

Fay Lansner: “Hot Turns” (1982. Pastel on paper with collage, 38 x 44 in.)

Fay Lansner: “Tears go into the Urn” (1987.

Charcoal and pastel on paper, 50 x 38 in.).

paintings [by Lansner] are often playful, and colorful, and live,” says Motika, “and it’s like these two temperaments are coming together.”

Lansner’s artwork is on display throughout the second floor. Poets House has an intimate exhibition space ideal for showing manuscripts and small works on paper; larger works must be installed in the reading and conference rooms. Motika stated that the exhibition’s layout gives appropriate space to the various chronologies, as well as the themes explored through the artists’ productive relationship.“Barbara had a remarkable body of work. It grew sharper — its lyricism deepened and became unparalleled in American poetry,” says Motika.

“We don’t know exactly why they decided to make so

many renditions of the same poem [“Tessera”], but I do think it’s really interesting when you work and respond to something visual very differently [than you would with text]. I can’t think of that many cases where there’s this interesting exploration or reverberation of different textures and colors in relation to words.”

“Metamorphosis: The Collaboration of Poet Barbara Guest & Artist Fay Lansner” is on view through Apr. 23, at Poets House (10 River Terrace, at Murray St.). Hours: Tues.–Fri., 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Closed Sun. & Mon. Free admission. Call 212-431-7920 or visit poetshouse.org. For artist info, visit faylasner.com. .com

Just Do Art BENEFIT PERFORMANCE OF “PENNY PENNIWORTH”

Photo courtesy Monk in Motion

Photo by Arthur Cornelius

L-R: Mateo Moreno and Robert Honeywell in the stage adaption of Paul Auster’s “City of Glass,” through Mar. 12 at The New Ohio.

BY SCOTT STIFFLER

CITY OF GLASS In the convoluted world of noir gumshoe tales, he who picks up the phone often does so at great personal risk — and so it goes, in “City of Glass,” the first entry in author Paul Auster’s pulpy “New York Trilogy.” The trouble starts when unassuming Daniel Quinn receives a call, then takes a case in the name of the man he’s mistaken for: Paul Auster. But the newly minted PI soon regrets that decision, when he’s plunged into an Upper West Side world of men without language, femme fatale protectors, and fathers with murderous intentions. Described by producing entity Untitled Theater Company No. 61 as a “meditation on the nature of identity… wrapped in a surreal mystery,” director Edward Einhorn’s adaptation — in which strange situations unfold via video projected onto surfaces of cracked glass — promises to deliver a down-the-rabbit-hole experience every bit as post-modern, uneasy, and ambitious as its source material.

“City of Glass” contains nudity and adult themes. Through Sat., Mar. 12: Wed. at 7 p.m., Thurs.–Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. Added performance Sat., Mar. 12 at 2 p.m. No show Sun., Feb. 28 or Wed., Mar. 2. At The New Ohio (154 Christopher St., btw. Greenwich & Washington Sts.). For tickets ($25$30), visit untitledtheater.com or call 888-596-1027.

WEST VILLAGE CHORALE WINTER CONCERT: “OH, FREEDOM!” Songs of hope, freedom, and inspiration from around the world give glorious voice to the triumph of human decency over social and political oppression, in .com

Artwork by Katie Sanborn-Price

The West Village Chorale sings songs of hope and freedom, at their Mar. 6 winter concert.

this winter concert from the 45-member, nonsectarian, West Village Chorale. The program includes a concert arrangement of selections from the “Les Misérables,” spirituals, freedom songs, and the premiere of “In Honor of Martin.” A tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the choral piece was created by renowned sacred music composer and organist David Hurd, who recently stepped down from his academic and musical leadership posts after 39 years at General Theological Seminary. Malcolm J. Merriweather, the Chorale’s new artistic director, conducts.

Sun., Mar. 6 at 6 p.m., at Judson Memorial Church (55 Wash. Sq. South, at Thompson St.). For tickets ($25, $10 for students), visit westvillagechorale.org or call 212-517-1776.

The voice of tomorrow, today: Jazz vocalist Vuyo Sotashe, one of the “Monk in Motion” winners, gets his solo concert on Mar. 19 at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

annual “Monk in Motion: The Next Face of Jazz” event. This year’s three-part concert series showcases winning vocalists from 2015’s Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, who perform with their own bands. Feb. 20’s installment featured the First Place Winner — 23-year-old Jazzmeia “Jazz” Horn, a Harlem resident currently putting the finishing touches on her latest album. On Mar. 5, it’s Runner-Up Veronica Swift — who, at 21, is already headlining around the country. The series concludes on Mar. 19, with Second Runner-Up, Vuyo Sotashe — a 23-year-old South African who moved to NYC in 2013 and has gone on to win honors at a number of other prestigious competitions — including the Audience Prize Award and second overall placement at Switzerland’s 2015 Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition.

Sat., Mar. 5 & 19, at 7:30 p.m., at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (199 Chambers St., btw. Greenwich & West Sts.). For tickets ($25, $15 for students/seniors per concert), tribecapac. org or call 212-220-1460. For info on the Institute, visit monkinstitute.org.

All’s well that ends well — but not until this 70-minute, Victorian Englandera farce (purporting to be a lost Charles Dickens epic) has subjected its young protagonist to all manner of strange relationships, as dirt poor but plucky Penny Penniworth finds herself alone in the world, after her childhood love is chased out of town for his involvement in a near-fatal incident involving a wealthy businessman. Playwright Chris Weikel’s ridiculous tale, performed by a “short-staffed theatre troupe with Royal Shakespeare Company aspirations,” was an Off-Broadway hit in 2010 and 2012. As directed by Mark Finley, the original cast returns for a benefit performance that will help fund the Drama Desk-nominated Emerging Artists Theatre’s New Work Series — which provides artists of different disciplines the opportunity to present a work in progress that solicits audience feedback directly following the performance. See the direct results of your kind support, when the New Works Series returns, Feb. 29–Mar. 20, to the venue that plays host to this one-shot revival of “Penniworth.”

Mon., Feb. 29, at 7:30 p.m., at TADA! Theater (15 W. 28th St., 2nd Fl., btw. Broadway & Fifth Ave.). For tickets ($75, which includes post-show mingle with the cast, hors d’oeuvres and a cocktail), visit brownpapertickets.com and search for “Penny Penniworth.”

Artist info at newworkseries.com and emergingartiststheatre.org.

Continued on page 23

MONK IN MOTION: THE NEXT FACE OF JAZZ “These are people under the age of 30 who’ve devoted most of their lives to the craft, in the same way that Charlie Parker or Chet Baker once did.” That excerpt, from an article we published back in 2014, is exactly why we’re always singing the praises of BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center and the Thelonious Monk Institute’s

Photo by Ned Thorne

L to R: Jamie Heinlein and Christopher Borg will revisit their “Penny Penniworth” roles, in a Feb. 29 benefit performance for Emerging Artists Theatre’s New Work Series.

February 25 - March 02, 2016

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Just as one person’s junk is another’s treasure, what constitutes kink is purely in the eye of the beholder.

Everyone, after all, likes something specific when it comes to what goes down in the sack — or dungeon, or rooftop, or kitchen counter, or “furry” anthropomorphic animal costume. Proudly dedicated to providing alternatives to a culture that sells sex while shaming those who embrace it, the CineKink Film Festival wants to help you celebrate your own “pervy” predilections, while broadening your horizons. The screenings and special events (some mildly spicy, others downright explicit) include “S&M Sally,” a humorous look at lesbians exploring BDSM; “The Pleasure of Rope,” a Japanese documentary about practitioners of bondage; “Coming Out Like a Porn Star: Sex Workers’ Words and Wisdom,” a panel whose members (Jiz Lee, Stoya, Chelsea Poe, Colin and Angie Rowntree, Morgana Muses) get personal about their chosen profession; the porn film showcase “Bring It!”; “Rites & Roles,” a collection of shorts exploring rituals and roles in sex play; and the closing film, “Schnick Schnack Schnuck,” a “sun-dappled homage” to 1970s porn.

Kickoff gala and fundraiser (with music, sexy performances, cinematic gems) on Tues., Mar. 1 at 8 p.m., at Taj (48 W. 21st St., btw. Fifth & Sixth Aves.).

Wed., Mar. 2–Sat., Mar. 5, festival screenings at Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Ave., at Second St.). On Sun., Mar. 6, at 7 p.m., awards celebration.

At 9 p.m., AfterGlow party (both events at Bowery Bliss; location provided to ticketholders). Screenings are $10, $8 for students/seniors. Kickoff gala, $20 at door, $15 in advance. Awards celebration free, with RSVP. AfterGlow party: $30/individual, $40/couple, $50/triad; no door sales. All-access pass: $85, $65 for students/seniors. For reservations and info, visit cinekink.com.

THE FRIGID FESTIVAL Horse Trade Theater Group has cleared the decade mark since they first drew names out of a hat (then, in subsequent years, a plastic pumpkin) on Halloween night, for a very democratic determination of who makes the cut for this annual collection of solo shows, music, cabaret, and experimental oddities. Among the offerings: Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters go old school, or, more specifically, schoolhouse, in “Lil’ Women: A Rap Musical.” Presented by Orlando, FL’s Lil Theatre Company, it tells the classic story in contemporary (i.e., hip-hop) style. Sick beats and the spitting of rhymes are rock solid certainties. At The Kraine Theater: Thurs., Feb. 25 at 7:10 p.m., Sun., Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m., Tues., Mar. 1 at 8:50 p.m., Fri., Mar. 4 at 5:10 p.m., Sat., Mar. 5 at 3:20 p.m. Writer/ performer Brad Lawrence and director Cyndi Freeman — the couple responsible for Downtown’s long-run-

Photo courtesy CineKink

Don’t get roped in by sexual politics — celebrate what turns you on, at CineKink’s film screenings and mixers (Mar. 1–6).

Photo courtesy Horse Trade Theater Group

Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters, as seen through a hip-hop prism — in “Lil’ Women: A Rap Musical,” through Mar. 5 at the FRIGID Festival.

ning, tribute-themed “Hotsy Totsy Burlesque” (currently ensconced at The Slipper Room) — team up for “The Gospel of Sherilyn Fenn”— a nod to the long, alternately debilitating and empowering shadow cast on young Mr. Lawrence by all manner of 1980s pop culture and political events. At UNDER St. Marks: Sat., Feb. 27 at 3:50 p.m., Thurs., Mar. 3 at 5:30 p.m., Sat., Mar. 5 at 10:30 p.m. Estranged pals Kate and Eddie have a chance meeting at a therapist’s office, in “Thank You For Waiting,” at The Kraine Theater: Sat., Feb. 27 at 6:40 p.m., Wed., Mar. 2 at 10:30 p.m., Sat., Mar. 5 at 12 p.m. Highly recommended is a favorite of this publication: swishy storyteller (and tongue-twisting ace of alliteration) Dandy Darkly, whose “Trigger Happy” tours an American landscape where PTSD, gentrification, and celebrity worship get the horror treatment, with hilarious and disturbing results. At UNDER St. Marks: Fri., Mar. 4 at 10:30 p.m., Sun., Mar. 6 at 1:50 p.m.

FRIGID Festival shows are at the Kraine Theater (85 E. Fourth St., btw. Bowery & Second Ave.) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Pl., btw. First Ave. & Ave. A). For tickets ($8–$15), visit frigidnewyork.info.

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