Serving Tribeca, Battery Park City, the Seaport and the Financial District VOLUME 30, NUMBER 21
NOV. 16 – NOV. 29, 2017
Bikeway blocks
In wake of terrorist truck attack, the city installs barriers on Downtown bike path Story on page 2 Photo by Lincoln Anderson
Last week the city placed concrete barriers along the Hudson River bike path to foil copycat attacks like last month’s terrorist attack in which a man drove a rental truck 15 blocks down the greenway, mowing down 19 people, killing eight and injuring 11.
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BIKEWAY BLOCKS After terrorist truck attack, city places barriers along Hudson River bike path BY LINCOLN ANDERSON Following last week’s horrific attack on the Hudson River greenway that saw an ISIS-influenced terrorist kill eight people as he gunned a truck for a mile down the crowded bike path, the state Department of Transportation has been scrambling to put protective barriers on the popular path. It initially has been a bit chaotic. At first, long Jersey concrete barriers were plopped down on the northern part of the path — running up to W. 59th St. — at an angle, significantly narrowing the bikeway, only allowing room for cyclists to pass single file on either side. On the path’s southern section, from the Village down to the Battery, smaller white concrete blocks — some stamped on their sides with “NYPD” in large blue letters — were added. A mayoral spokesperson stated that 57 spots from W. 59th St. down would get “blockers.” However, Streetsblog reported that
after complaints by Mayor Bill de Blasio and cyclists, DOT — which oversees the bikeway — agreed to straighten out the Jersey barriers. That was occurring Tuesday morning, as work crews could be seen busy north of Chelsea Piers, placing and aligning the Jersey barriers so that they were parallel to the path. In many cases, three of the barriers are being installed at key intersections to block full-size cars from getting on the path: one barrier is on the median stripe, and two others are on the outsides of the path. At tighter spots, there are two Jersey barriers on the path’s edges or side by side in the middle of the path. A crew of DOT workers, all wearing orange hard hats and vests, were supervising the installation of side-byside barriers near the “S” curve at the northern end of Chelsea Piers around 11:30 a.m. “This is a temporary fi x,” their
Photo by Lincoln Anderson
The heavy concrete barriers installed at intersections along the Hudson River bike path will prevent vehicles from turning onto the path.
chief said, regarding the Jersey barriers. He said they were going to install the long barriers “all the way down to the Battery,” but might also possibly keep some of the smaller white blocks. He didn’t say exactly how many barriers they were going to install, but that they will “assess it as they see it.” The Jersey barriers’ ends are painted orange for visibility and, as seen in ones installed on the path in the W. 30s, they
will also sport yellow lights at their ends for nighttime visibility. A quartet of Belgians on Citi Bikes who had run in Sunday’s New York Marathon were waiting on the path as a worker held a “STOP” sign as a crane was lowering one of the barriers into place. One of their countrywomen was among the eight killed in the Oct. 31 attack. When asked about the new BARRIERS Continued on page 23
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Tough lessons Teachers, students Downtown on 9/11 can register for federal benefits, says lawyer BY COLIN MIXSON Roughly 250,000 people who breathed poisoned air while living, working, and studying Downtown after 9/11 don’t realize they may be eligible for compensation and healthcare from Uncle Sam, with many of them still believing benefits related to the attack are reserved for emergency responders and cleanup workers only, according to an attorney specializing in 9/11 related health issues. “That law passed by congress is not just for the first responders — that’s what a lot of people think — but it affects everybody who was exposed to the toxic dust,” said Michael Barasch, who represented Det. James Zadroga, who’s disease, death, and subsequent autopsy inspired the 2010 Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack, the Environmental Protection Agency not only failed to warn firefighters and cops about the pulverized glass, lead, chromium, and
other carcinogens that lingered in the atmosphere Downtown — it also sounded the all clear for some 25,000 residents, 300,000 workers, and thousands of students and teachers to return to an area now known to have been fatally toxic, according to Barasch. The federal government has since determined that poisonous chemicals saturated the air until May, 2002, and to make amends, Congress enacted the two-part Zadroga Act, which has registered 80,000 people for free health care under the World Trade Center Health Program and paid out $3 billion from September 11 Victim Compensation Fund to 14,000 victims, according to the attorney. But that leaves hundreds of thousands more “forgotten victims” — people who lived, worked and went to school south of Canal Street who still haven’t applied for benefits through the federal program. And many of those people now developing cancer are not only failing to realize a link between
Photo by Colin Mixson
Attorney Michael Barasch, at podium, was joined at a press conference last week by Downtown elected offi cials including, left to right, state-senatorelect Brian Kavanagh, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, and Councilwoman Margaret Chin, to urge the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who lived, worked, and studied Downtown immediately after 9/11 to apply for benefi ts through the 9/11 Zadroga Act.
their health problems and the attack, but they’re unaware that they’re eligible for free medical coverage and other compensation from the government, Barasch said. “Why would I make the connection that my cancer could be caused by expo-
sure 10 years earlier when the government told me it was safe?” Barasch said. “We are getting calls every day from people living and working Downtown that they have cancer and they’re just FORGOTTEN VICTIMS Continued on page 15
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Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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After attack, locals demand the city better protect Peck Slip Play Street BY COLIN MIXSON In the wake of the deadly terrorist attack that killed eight people with a truck on a Downtown bike path last month, locals are demanding better protection for a small stretch of Peck Slip outside the eponymous school that closes during school days to provide a play area for the space-strapped campus. “Obviously, it is distressing we have to think this way today. We never had to, and now we do.� said Tricia Joyce, chairwoman of Community Board 1’s Youth and Education Committee. Local elected officials have joined the effort, calling on the city to install added security measures around the street-side play space and other vulnerable spots Downtown. “After the terrorist attack that claimed eight lives and injured more than a dozen, it is clear that Lower Manhattan continues to be a high-profile target,� Councilwoman Margaret Chin, Congressman Jerry Nadler, and Assemblywoman Deborah Glick
wrote in a letter to the Department of Transportation. “With several elementary, middle and high schools in the area, families are looking to the city to utilize all available measures to keep students safe from a similar attack.� To prepare the school against the threat of weaponized trucks, community members and elected officials are asking for removable bollards to be installed at either end of the block, which are capable of holding back a few tons of speeding metal, according to the pols. “We urge the city to install movable bollards on the corners of Peck Slip and Pearl St. and Peck Slip and Water St. to secure the play street during school hours and open the street for emergency access and other hours of the day,� the elected officials wrote. Currently, there are two forms of bollards being considered by locals for installation at the school — the manual variety, which would require school staff to install and remove them daily, or mechanical barriers
Photo by Tequila Minsky
Locals and elected offi cials are calling on the city to install removable, truckstopping bollards at either end of the Peck Slip Play Street.
like those around the New York Stock Exchange Security Zone, which can be raised and lowered automatically. The former is cheap, but would be labor intensive for the school’s limited
staff, while the latter is expensive, and would require a major capitol investment on the city’s part that could take PECK SLIP Continued on page 12
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Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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BY JANEL BL ADOW Now it’s starting feel like fall. Are you feeling festive? GHOUL’S NIGHT OUT… Kids and parents carried on the decades-old Halloween tradition in the Seaport on Oct. 31, but far fewer costumed revelers were out this year — perhaps because of the terrorist attack across town on West Street, whose victims and their families are in all our thoughts and prayers. May all this horror cease. And may all the tiny goblins, superheroes and ninjas rule! Local families again met up at FishBridge Park at Water and Dover streets to trick or treat their way around the neighborhood. Kids done up as everything from princesses to monsters hooted and howled and squealed as they filled their bags with sugary loot. We caught up with one super scary, spooky group as Nicole Schafer, hostess at Mark Joseph Steakhouse, doled out sweets from a giant basket. Enjoying the fun were ninja John Ferrazza and mini-Spiderman Kai Steketee, among others. When asked what they liked best about the foolish fright night, both growled and ran. I think that was two thumbs up. CHRISTMAS CHEER… Want a giggle or three to usher in the chaos of the holidays? Get tickets to see Saturday Night Live alum Ana Gasteyer perform “Holiday Tipple,” her celebratory onewoman show. Enjoy her impressions of Martha Stewart and Celine Dion. But I’ve always loved her iconic characters: Bobbie Mohan-Culp, the overly dra-
Photo by Janel Bladow
Made Fresh Daily won’t be closing after owner Jacqueline Goewey moves on to other things. Suteishi Sushi proprietors Renee Lee and Victor Chan have bought the place and will not only keep it open, but expand its hours and menu.
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Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
Photos by Janel Bladow
(Above) Mark Joseph hostess Nicole Schafer hands out sweets to eager trickor-treaters on Halloween. (Top left) Mini-Spiderman Kai Steketee shows off his muscles. (Left) Local ninja John Ferrazza leads other costumed children through the Seaport for trick or treating.
matic operatic high school music teacher, and Margaret Jo McCullen, a cohost with Molly Shannon of the fauxNPR radio show, “Delicious Dish.” But did you know the comedienne trained as a singer at Northwestern University? A couple years ago she released a jazz album, “I’m Hip,” with the rhythmand-blues drinking classic, “One Mint Julep.” Hopefully it’s in her holiday repertoire. Saturday, Dec. 9, 7:30 pm, at Schimmel Center, 1 Pace Plaza. See SchimmelCenter.org for tickets. FRESH TAKE… When Made Fresh Daily (Front St.) owner Jacqueline Goewey was looking to sell her neighborhood cafe, she only had to glance down the street. Suteishi Sushi proprietors Renee Lee and Victor Chan were ready to pick up the spatula. The duo took over the eatery in July. “We loved the food at Made Fresh,” Renee told Seaport Report. “It has a homey vibe.” And the Suteishi Sushi folks already
know their way around the place. “After Sandy, our staff worked out of their kitchen,” she said. Both crews and owners grew close through that ordeal, like a family, she said. “It felt natural to step in.” They kept both staffs, with both restaurants operate independently — and even taking on one or two more workers, expanding and opening for dinner. Breakfast and lunch menus remain the same, with just a few new items added. Dinner will be comfort food, such as almond crusted chicken and country turkey meatloaf with maple sweet potatoes. The kids’ specials are $9, including the standards — mac and cheese, and spaghetti and meatballs. The cafe is now open seven days a week, until 9 pm. Except Thanksgiving, when they’ll close. “We like to have everybody spend Thanksgiving with the families.” And in preparation for the eat-till-you-bust holiday, Renee is getting pies from an upstate baker for the holiday. She’s
taking orders for five kinds — pecan, pumpkin, apple crumble, mixed berry and blueberry — priced around $30 each. So why take on another business in the Seaport? “The bottom line is we love this neighborhood,” Renee said. “There’s nowhere else we’d rather be taking on new business. Come have dinner with us. It’s our home.” GIVING THANKS… Like Made Fresh Daily and Suteishi Sushi, The Paris Cafe and Kiwi Cuba (nee Nelson Blue) and many other restaurants around the hood will be closed on Thanksgiving day. But if you want a special dining experience without the fuss of doing it yourself, make a reservation at Acqua Restaurant and Wine Bar at 21 Peck Slip. Chef Giuseppe Marrone will craft a three-course traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings — but adding an Italian twist. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! DowntownExpress.com
H O L I D AY M A R K E T AT WA N T E D D E S I G N STO R E Featuring over 20 vendors including:
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Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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AssemblyMember
Deborah J. Glick PRESENTS A TOWN HALL ON:
Climate Change, Sustainability and Development
Tuesday, November 28th, 2017 6-8pm
The New School, Bob & Sheila Hoerle Lecture Hall, 63 5th Ave.
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ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES IN EFFECT ALL WEEK Hopefully, you have lots to be thankful for this holiday season, but light traffic won’t be one of them. Friday is the first Gridlock Alert Day as some Thanksgiving travelers begin their long treks. But, the biggest get-away day of the year is Wednesday just before Thanksgiving. Tuesday is no slouch either. Expect huge jams at the Holland Tunnel both days starting in the afternoon through early evening. Wednesday night, almost miraculously, traffic pretty much clears by 9 pm so if you can wait until then you can avoid lots of aggravation. Thanksgiving Day is one of those quiets before the storm forecasts. Morning traffic Downtown will be a breeze. But after the Thanksgiving Day Parade, around noon, throngs look to escape NYC at once. Hardest hit are the Lincoln, Midtown and Holland tunnels. Last year, on Thanksgiving around 2–3 pm, my son David en route to my sister in NJ, spent more than an hour barely moving a couple of blocks trying to get to the Holland Tunnel and he had a newborn girl and my two grandsons in the car; to my dismay he eventually gave up. This year he’s leaving an extra hour early and so should you! The Giants play the Chiefs 1 pm
Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Heavy traffic will hit Lower Manhattan as drivers avoid the Lincoln Tunnel in favor of the Holland Tunnel. Demo Alert! Hundreds of cyclists are biking to rally at City Hall Park Sunday from noon to 1:30 p.m. This will likely affect Broadway and the Park Row approach to the Brooklyn Bridge. From the mailbag Dear Transit Sam, I am a frequent user of Uber, Lyft, and Juno, commuting between Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. Juno charged me tax on the E-ZPass toll through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. Since when are tolls charged a sales tax? I have never come across this before. Deborah Dear Deborah, Wish I could Lyft your spirits on this one, but I checked with the Taxi & Limousine Commission, and it turns out the app services can charge a toll tax as long as the ride’s total cost is clear. Juno and the others are supposed to pay tax on the tolls, and it is up to them whether they pass the cost on to you directly. By the way, taxis don’t pay a sales tax on tolls, avoiding a 51 cent charge at the BBT. Transit Sam
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SEARCH FOR SLASHER Police are searching for a woman who allegedly stabbed a 75-year-old man aboard a 5 train on Oct. 31. The victim told police he was on the train near Broadway and Wall Street at 10:14 pm, when a woman, who was accompanied by a male accomplice, alledgedly stalked up to him and slashed him on the arm and leg with a knife, before stabbing him in the gut. All the pair took was the old man’s cellphone, before fleeing into the Wall Street station, cops said. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. Detectives were able to track down a male suspect the day after the assault, and charged him with robbery, said cops, who are still searching for the woman and release a photo, asking for the public’s help. Police are asking anyone with information regarding the incident to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577–8477. The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.
SHARP CROOK
WATER TAXI A suspected car thief abandoned the taxi he alledgedly stole and jumped into the Hudson River to escape police on Nov. 3, where he had to be rescued by a ferry service, which handed him over to the NYPD harbor patrol, cops said. A cab driver told police the suspect, a 28-year-old man, hopped into the driver seat of his taxi parked on Murray and Vesey streets at 8:40 pm, and witnesses saw him peel off and hang a left on Murray Street at high speeds. Police recovered the cab on Murray Street over by River Terrace, and a passerby said he saw the alleged thief bail out of the vehicle there and leap into the
A pickpocket nabbed a man’s wallet aboard a northbound 2 train on Oct. 31. The victim told police he was aboard the train as it neared the Chamber Street subway station at 4:45 pm when he felt someone bump into his right side. The man checked his pockets a moment later and, realizing his wallet had been stolen, turned to confront a group of men standing next to him, but they denied his accusations and the victim was left standing there empty handed, cops said. — Colin Mixson
some time to appropriate, Joyce said. “Something like that would take time, and significant allocation of funds,” said Joyce. The CB1 committee has met twice to discuss safety at Peck Slip School but hasn’t drafted a resolution defining its approach to play street safety concerns. The Peck Slip Play Street that began last month was the product of a joint effort between members of Community Board 1, staff at Peck Slip School, and Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
Hudson, from which he was plucked by a NY Water Way Taxi ferry and soon collected by the harbor patrol.
Cops are hunting the razor-wielding wacko who slashed a 17-year-old boy on Fulton Street on Nov. 2. The victim told police he was between Dutch and William streets at 3:45 pm, arguing with a stranger when the fiend whipped out a box cutter and slashed his arm. The slasher fled down Nassau Street heading south, cops said.
PECK SLIP Continued from page 6
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NYPD
Police say this woman stabbed a 75-year-old man aboard a 5 train on Oct. 31.
PICKY SITUATION
the city’s education and transit agencies, which negotiated with LAZ Parking lot, the operator of a nearby parking lot, which was initially reluctant to lose an entrance that let out to the proposed play area between Pearl and Water streets. But the parking lot owner, along with landlord Milstein Properties, agreed in October last year to fund the construction of a new entrance on Pearl Street, allowing the play street to remain closed to traffic and open to kids throughout the school day. DowntownExpress.com
ADVERTORIAL
TOP DRIVER DISTRACTIONS Using mobile phones Leading the list of the top distractions behind the wheel are mobile phones. Phones now do more than just place calls, and drivers often cannot pull away from their phones, even when driving. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, studies have shown that driving performance is lowered and the level of distraction is higher for drivers who are heavily engaged in cell
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phone conversations. The use of a hands-free device does not lower distraction levels. The percentage of vehicle crashes and nearcrashes attributed to dialing is nearly identical to the number associated with talking or listening.
Daydreaming Many people will admit to daydreaming behind the wheel or looking at a person or object outside of the car for too long. Per-
haps they’re checking out a house in a new neighborhood or thought they saw someone they knew on the street corner. It can be easy to veer into the direction your eyes are focused, causing an accident. In addition to trying to stay focused on the road, some drivers prefer the help of lane departure warning systems.
Eating Those who haven’t quite mastered walking and
chewing gum at the same time may want to avoid eating while driving. The majority of foods require a person’s hands to be taken off of the wheel and their eyes to be diverted from the road. Reaching in the back seat to share some French fries with the kids is also distracting. Try to eat meals before getting in the car. For those who must snack while en route, take a moment to pull over at
a rest area and spend 10 minutes snacking there before resuming the trip.
Reading Glancing at an advertisement, updating a Facebook status or reading a book are all activities that should be avoided when driving. Even pouring over a traffic map or consulting the digital display of a GPS system can be distracting.
Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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That’s the ticket! Fidi leads city in parking citations BY COLIN MIXSON Cops ticketed cars parked in the Financial District more intensively last year than anywhere in the city, a new study found. Manhattan meter maids handed out 25 tickets per parking spot in Fidi, edging out the Upper East Side — where cops handed out 24 citations per spot — according to the study published by SpotAngels, which helps drivers find parking in the city. On the other end of the spectrum, cops only wrote six tickets per spot in Harlem and nine tickets per spot in Washington Heights. The city stuck Fidi drivers with 118,289 parking tickets last year, costing them an average of $89.10 each, with the city raking in a grand total of $10,537,175 in fines last year throughout the neighborhood. Fidi didn’t generate the most money for the city — the Upper East Side enjoyed that dubious distinction, generating $33,193,180 in revenue for municipal coffers — but Fidi’s parking was spot-for-spot the most heavily fined, with each one generating $2,219 for the
Wikimedia Commons / Alex Proimos
The city issued a whopping 118,289 parking tickets to cars in Fidi last year, the highest tickets-per-spot ratio of any neighborhood in the city.
city last year. Battery Park City motorists also made the study’s highlight reel, with each citation handed out in the coastal community costing drivers an average $101 — higher than any other neighborhood, and more than 20-percent more expensive than the Manhattan average. All in all, the city handed out $440,371,030 in fines throughout all boroughs, with Manhattan drivers paying the lion’s share, with a total of $200,344,785, most commonly for leaving their cars in no-standing zones.
Feds to test chemical-weapon sensors at Oculus transit hub BY COLIN MIXSON The Department of Homeland Security will install experimental sensors designed to detect chemical weapon attacks inside the Oculus transportation hub as part of a year-long project to test the effectiveness of the new gassniffing gadgets, the agency announced on Nov. 9. Homeland Security is working in partnership with the Port Authority and Argonne National Laboratory, a research center located near Chicago, to install a suite of different types of sensors throughout the $3.7 billion train station, including close and longrange detectors, according to Homeland Preparedness News. Throughout the test, the federal security agency will determine which devices were most effective and best suited to safeguarding the Oculus and other large public facilities, reported American Security Today, citing Don Bansleben, program manager at Homeland Security’s Chemical and
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Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
Biological Defense Division. The use of chemical weapons is prohibited under the the Geneva Convention, but gas has seen limited use by terrorist organizations against civilians since the 1990s, most notably by the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult in 1995, when members released sarin gas as part of a coordinated attack on the Tokyo subway system in Japan, killing 12 people and injuring roughly 5,000 commuters. ISIS has also employed chemical weapons in conflicts in Iraq and Syria on multiple occasions between 2015 and 2017. After the devices are installed, Argonne National Lab will kick off a year-long training program for Port Authority security officers. The WTC Transportation Hub links eight subway lines with PATH trains destined for Newark and Hoboken in New Jersey, which carried more than 16 million passengers through the Oculus in 2016, according to Port Authority statistics. DowntownExpress.com
FORGOTTEN VICTIMS Continued from page 4
learning about their rights under the Zadroga Health and Compensation Act,” he said. To get the word out, Barasch spoke at a press conference in Chinatown on Nov. 9, along with elected officials and representatives from the United Federation of Teachers, where a team of advocates led by union member Elle Angler noticed a trend of Downtown teachers falling ill. “We started seeing anecdotal evidence of members coming to us with specific types of cancer,” said UFT president Michael Mulgrew. “She noticed there’s a trend, especially from people who worked in the 12 schools below Canal Street after 9/11.” Retired math teacher Catherine Heron, for example, was teaching at the High School of Economics and Finance at 100 Trinity Pl. on 9/11. While she was evacuating her students, they were caught in a cloud of toxic dust when the second tower fell, and developed lung cancer in 2007. But she never thought to register for the Victim Compensation fund until this year when the union reached out to retired educators teachers with help to enroll. “I was always, well, overwhelmed with the idea of the paperwork, and it
just brought everything back. But with help, it made sense to take the step and do it,” Heron said. And it’s not just teachers succumbing to cancers and pulmonary illnesses as a result of their exposure to Downtown’s toxic air, but former students now in their twenties are sick with lung ailments and one of 68 cancers linked to the attack, according to Barasch. “We now represent a dozen kids with cancer,” said Barasch. “A 28-yearold girl should not have breast cancer. A 29-year-old boy should not have bladder cancer. The only thing they did wrong was listen to the EPA.” The World Trade Center Health Program and the Victim Compensation Fund have different eligibility requirements. For example, the coverage map for the Victim Compensation Fund just covers Downtown from The Battery to Canal Street, while the map for the World Trade Center Health Program extends up to Houston Street and even into Brooklyn Heights. Anyone looking for more information about enrollment in 9/11 health and compensation programs should attend a forum at PS 124 at 40 Division St. in Chinatown on Nov. 18, which will feature a two-hour forum on eligibility and benefits available through the federal programs.
Photo by Colin Mixson
United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew led his union on a campaign to sign up New Yorkers for benefi ts under the 9/11 Zadroga Act after discovering Downtown teachers were falling ill as a result of toxic fallout from the 2001 terrorist attack.
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Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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BY LENORE SKENAZY Helicopter parents who hover over their kids are the most popular of punching bags. Remember the mom who sued her 4-year-old’s $19,000 a year pre-school because the kid was spending time with the 2-year-olds, thus ruining her chances of getting into Harvard? You might figure I’d join the chorus of shame, since I founded Free-Range Kids, the movement dedicated to giving kids more freedom, and am now president of Let Grow, a new non-profit whose aim is overthrowing overprotection. And okay, you’d be right. Hard to resist a little shaming of that particular mom. She didn’t even realize that mixed-age play is the greatest thing for kids since the invention of the sippy cup. Her daughter lording over all those 2-year-olds could have learned everything she needed to rule Silicon Valley when she’s 28. But in general, beating up on moms and dads desperately trying to do the best by their kids is pointless and even kind of cruel, when in truth they have very little choice. Ours is a culture that forces parents to micromanage. Even if you’re a parent who wants your kids to walk to school on their own or play in the park till the streetlights come on, there are fewer and fewer kids out there for them to do this with. In my day — which shall go un-pinpointed — the majority of kids walked to school. Today it’s 13 percent, nationally. Here in New York, each morning the school playgrounds are full of parents dropping off kids whom a generation ago would have been mortified to be
chaperoned. Meantime, we’ve all heard of parents who’ve been arrested for letting their kids go outside on their own. Once it is no longer the norm to let kids do anything unsupervised, it’s a vicious cycle. Parents helicopter because it’s hard (and sometimes illegal) not to. After I wrote about letting my 9-year-old ride the subway alone I went on talk show after talk show, starting with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, defending my belief that kids can do some things — even some slightly confusing or scary things — on their own. Many disagreed. They still do. But we are living in the safest era in human history, according to Harvard’s Steven Pinker. (A professor that lady’s 4-year-old will never have!) New York’s murder rate for 2017 is on track to hit a new historic low. So why supervise our offspring like we’re living in the end times? Kids need some independence — and even a little risk. A study on risky play published in Evolutionary Psychology found that kids “dose” themselves with the level of risk they can handle — for instance, by climbing ever higher on the monkey bars. The thrill they feel is their reward for being brave. The more kids tiptoe to beyond their comfort level, the braver they become. Facing your fears (as anyone in therapy can attest) has a sort of “anti-phobic effect.” Children deprived of the chance to face those fears because an adult is
always standing by to “help” them can end up more anxious. What’s more, with constant adult assistance and intervention, they don’t even get to organize their own games, or solve their own spats. They never get lost and have to find their way home, scared but then triumphant. So all these coping skills get less developed. And it could be argued that this is why today’s college students are having a harder time than earlier generations getting along on their own. In just five years, 2011 to 2016, the number of undergrads reporting “overwhelming anxiety” jumped from 50 to 62 percent. Having been protected from so many risks and discomforts as children, they are hypersensitive to these at university. Hence, perhaps, the demand for a “safe space” when someone they dislike comes to speak. It’s not that these students are literally not safe. But it may feel that way because something is making them anxious and no one is stopping it, the way adults always have till now. The antidote is simple: Make it easier for adults to give kids back their freedom. Don’t arrest or shame parents who let their kids do things on their own. Don’t exaggerate the dangers and difficulties of childhood. Don’t say, “What if something bad happens?” and then use that made-up, what-if, unlikely scenario as if it’s a real, immediate and probable risk. Put simply: Don’t step in when you can step back and let your kids go … and grow. Lenore Skenazy is founder of FreeRange Kids, president of Let Grow, and a contributor to Reason.com.
more accurate and detailed description of the attack or the attacker (such as “this was a terror attack by an Islamist supremacist”). It was committed by a “lone wolf with no evidence to suggest a wider plot or wider scheme.” Though Saipov swore allegiance to the exact same ideology that drove the 9/11 Islamist supremacist terrorists just a few blocks away. No connection to any “wider scheme” or ideology worth noting. And this “deadly and ugly event” did not motivate Cuomo to initiate his “hate crime” effort; crimes committed against people based on “race, color, national
origin, religious practice, ancestry,” etc. All of which Saipov was admittedly guilty of but all of which was ignored by Cuomo and de Blasio. “Terror attack” now means crimes committed by non-race, non-religion, non-culture, non-background, non-ideological persons for reasons never recognized. Cue the usual faux tough, pseudo pep talks about “we shall not be defeated” and divided and we will go on, etc. etc. etc. Then let’s add more barriers, more security, This isn’t tolerance; it’s cowardice. Michael
Posted To TERRORIST STRIKES DOWNTOWN — AGAIN (NOV. 1) After the “deadly and ugly events in Charlottesville” Cuomo issued an online petition to call on President Trump to “clearly and unequivocally condemn and denounce the violent protest organized by the white supremacists and neo-Nazis ... President Trump must immediately call this for what it is – no cover, no euphemisms. This was a terror attack by white supremacists.” This attack however, is neatly described with the euphemism “terror attack” for reasons not acknowledged or
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Stress Test Confidential: The Year of Living Trumpishly BY MAX BURBANK Here’s a kind of interesting thought I think you’ll enjoy: In preparing to write a column on Donald Trump’s first year in office (well, since his election), I was reminded of that time back in 2004 when the History News Network surveyed 415 prominent historians asking who the worst president in American history was. A significant majority agreed it was George W. Bush! Isn’t that cute? Oh my God, how was the world ever that young? It’s like looking at that Polaroid of myself in the ’70s with the puka shell necklace and bell-bottoms. More like that picture from the ’80s with the mullet, in that my nostalgia is tinged with revulsion and not a small amount of self-loathing. It’s been a little over a year since I stayed up all night re-writing what was supposed to be my last regular feature for the NYC Community Media publications, such as this fine one you happen to be reading. I’d been hired to write a satirical column on the election called “Stump Speech.” For 11 months I covered it all — Iowa, Super Tuesday, the bizarre transformation of Donald Trump from sideshow attraction to nominee, the conventions, and the debates. At first it was easy and fun, like slamming cartoon villains with a frying pan and enjoying the way their heads would be frying-pan-shaped for a second before popping back to normal. When Trump won the nomination it was definitely unsettling, but I thought, you know, silver lining: A ringside seat to the collapse of the Republican Party. My editor asked me to live tweet both conventions. My daughters had to set up my account and teach me how — because not only am I old, but I’m also something of a caveman when it comes to operating the computer machines. It was fun at first. I got up to speed, learned the Twitter ropes, and poked Twitter fun at Chachi (which is like shooting a tuna-sized Twitter fish in a very small Twitter barrel with a Twitter grenade launcher). And then it got not fun. I don’t even mean the Grand Old Party of Nuremberg’s “Down Home Convention Rally and Ol’ Time Flag-Fetishizin’ Tent Revival Medicine Show.” All that dystopian dog-and-pony crap is to be expected. Melania’s uncanny valley teleprompter cover version of Michelle Obama was welcome comedy relief, and even Laura Ingraham’s spur-of-the-moment Nazi salute was funny in a sort of jaw-dropping, audience-at-the-opening-of-“Springtime for Hitler” way. It was late when Trump finally lumbered out. I was wearing headphones so as not to wake my family. And his voice. That voice. There’s a villain from the 1940s Captain Marvel comic, Mr. Mind, a chubby little talking worm. And Captain Marvel was a kid’s comic. Simple drawings, bright colors. “Shazam!” Light stuff, right? Mr. Mind was a goofy, silly villain. Except he DowntownExpress.com
wasn’t really. He was a repulsive, slimy little leech with glasses. He slimed into your ear while you slept, and scooched down right up against the drum like a sentient snot, and whispered directly to your brain. He told you to believe terrible, evil stuff. And you didn’t want to. But you did. Because of the headphones, Trump was in my damn head, and the speech lasted weeks! America as Hellscape, our lives a horror of relentless trauma, terrible savage brown people coming to tear our children to pieces as we watched, helpless — and he alone, HE ALONE could save us. Jesus President, deigning to descend a golden escalator into Armageddon to pull the white and righteous up from the mire! When it was over, I was sick. Not metaphorically. For days afterward, I felt as if I’d been dragged behind a truck. I haven’t listened to him since. Oh, sure, I hear snippets on the radio. I’ve read thousands of pages of transcripts. But I can’t listen to his voice. It’s like Pennywise talking out of the storm drain, if Pennywise was (and I’m quoting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson here) “a f**king Moron.” So yeah, my column got harder, but it was all good, because I knew how the series would end. My last column was going to be about the election of America’s fi rst female president — a woman who, whether she was your fi rst choice or not, you had to admit was totally prepared, smart as hell about the kind of things a president needs to know, and who worked harder in a day than any of us did in a year. Well. Harder than I do in a year, anyway. A year ago I felt like I’d been given a hard shove and when I looked up, there was black-and-white TV Rod Serling talking to an invisible audience about how I was rewriting my column. Talking like I wasn’t even there. “I can hear you, Rod! I’m right Illustration by Max Burbank here!” I wanted to scream. I didn’t. My family was asleep and I didn’t want to wake them up to the world I was writing my column in. Pick your metaphor: A year down the rabbit hole? 365 days in The Upside Down? Like the “Annus Horribilis” season of “Star Trek: Voyager,” the only tolerable season the show had and, let’s face it, still not that great? We promised not to normalize any of this, but in the end if something goes on long enough, isn’t that the very definition of normal? Think about this, though: The wall is unbuilt. Obamacare didn’t get repealed and replaced. Trump’s clearly racist travel ban has been knocked down by court after court. All that happy, crappy “on day one” Kool-Aid turns out to be bullshitflavored. And then of course there are the November 7th election results, a tiny little crack but one that, nonetheless, let’s us see a little Goddamn sunlight. Without that, this column would have been so depressing I’d have recommended column euthanasia. Seems like when Trump said, “I alone can save you,” he meant, “As long as you slavishly do every single thing I tell you to.” Hell, he can’t even get his base to do that, let alone the remaining 70-some-odd percent of the rest of the country. So maybe it’s time to stop saying, “This isn’t normal.” Maybe it’s time to start saying, “This normal blows. I hate this normal. This normal can kiss my resistant ass,” and we can fight like hell for a new normal where next year, at this very same time, the orange hue of a certain treacherous, elderly fat man isn’t the work of an ill-applied spray tan. It’s a damn prison jumpsuit. Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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YouTube Space: The Free Frontier Slick facility feeds needs of hungry content creators BY RANIA RICHARDSON High above Chelsea Market, YouTube Space New York is a hive of activity, as video makers working in a variety of genres take advantage of a rare opportunity: free resources. YouTube is a video sharing website that allows users to upload, view, and share content. Along with large companies, independent creators contribute to the site and often gain a grassroots following for their online channel. Anyone with a YouTube channel that meets a minimum subscriber threshold can access the Chelsea production facility’s state-ofthe-art equipment, in-house experts, and educational programs. “We have finite resources. So to democratize access, we ask for at least 10,000 subscribers,” said Adam Relis, head of YouTube Space NY, during a recent visit. “It’s a measure of concerted effort and consistency,” he noted, as opposed to counting “views” for individual videos, which could be in the millions, but occur without predictability. “It’s also a good milestone to reach,” Relis said of the 10,000 minimal subscriber number (1,000 for registered nonprofits), “and it motivates up-and-coming creators to hit the mark.” The upside for YouTube, a Google company, is being right there with their content providers as they work in the space, taking risks and experimenting. Google and the wider YouTube team contribute to the effort with new products and technology, such as updated live streaming. YouTube Space NY is a full-service production facility for all levels, from emerging creators setting up a tripod and using the professional studio for the first time, to established ones who want access to expensive equipment and the latest technologies and knowledge in the field. The wood bleachers in the hallways of the space resemble those of the nearby High Line, and loft rooms with exposed brick identify the location as New York City. All 20,000 square feet of the Chelsea facility are equipped for filming. Each of the 10 global spaces — from São Paulo to Berlin to Mumbai — include unique characteristics that reflect the local community.
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Photos courtesy YouTube Space NY
L to R: Brook England, Dnay B. and Tiffany M. Battle co-hosted the Sept. 8 edition of “Did Y’All See?” (new episodes every Friday).
This aim is carried out in a rotating group of seasonal film sets that are easy to modify. A CBGB punk-rock club, a subway car, and a “Seinfeld”-like diner join non-New York City spaces such as a submarine and spooky cabin. During the 2016 election season, a White House Press Briefing Room and an Oval Office set The hallway at YouTube Space NY was designed to be a gathering place with seating that invokes the nearby High Line.
YOUTUBE SPACE NY continued on p. 20 DowntownExpress.com
Buhmann on Art ‘Partners in Design’ at Grey Art Gallery
(Top) Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: Barcelona Chair, designed 1929 (Stainless-steel and leather, 30 7/8 x 29 1/8 x 30 in.). Produced by Knoll International, NY.
Photo by Richard P. Goodbody
(Left) Eva Zeisel: Cloverware Bowl, designed c. 1947 (Plexiglas, 2 1/2 x 12 7/8 x 11 in.). Produced by the Clover Box and Manufacturing Company, NY. (Below) Installation shot, “Partners in Design.”
Photo by Nicholas Papananias
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Photo by Denis Farley
BY STEPHANIE BUHMANN Showcasing the beauty of common objects, textiles, housewares and furniture, NYU’s Grey Art Gallery explores the hugely influential collaboration between Alfred H. Barr Jr., MoMA’s first director, and Philip Johnson, its first curator of architecture. By orchestrating a series of pioneering exhibitions at the museum in the 1930s and 40s, both men had been responsible for exposing American viewers to avantgarde European Modernist design for the first time. In addition, their revolutionary vision helped to inspire generations of museum professionals to come. Sparked by their passion, design slowly became understood as something that could be discovered everywhere. Suddenly, a chair or a table were deemed worthy of a museum display not because of their historic relevance, but due to their aesthetic qualities. The precursor for Barr and Johnson, of course, was the Bauhaus, the famous art school founded by the architect Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1919, where crafts and the fine arts came together in the name of design. David A. Hanks, curator of “Partners in Design,” succeeds in pointing out the Bauhaus legacy, while also enabling visitors to explore the ultra modern interiors of “The Barr and Johnson Apartments” through 3D simulations of Johnson’s living room on E. 52nd St., for example. In fact, Johnson’s apartment (once described as “the most modern interior in America”) and Barr’s home (which for three years was directly above Johnson’s) served as laboratories where both men experimented with new designs and discussed them with each other incessantly. “That Modern design became a dominant esthetic in North America,” noted Hanks in the exhibition’s press release, “wasn’t inevitable. Rather, it took the convergence of an emerging European design movement, a young museum, and a unique partnership — one that spanned fifty years, two continents, and countless conversations — to generate the modernism that to this day still says ‘home’ to millions of Americans.” Through Dec. 9 at Grey Art Gallery (100 Washington Sq. East, btw. Waverly & Washington Places). Open Tues., Thurs., Fri., 11am–6pm; Wed., 11am–8pm; Sat., 11am–5pm. Thanksgiving week, closed as of 5pm Wed., Nov. 22, open again Tues., Nov. 28, 11am. Visit greyartgallery.nyu.edu or call 212-998-6780.
Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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Photos courtesy YouTube Space NY
Better than the best bedroom backdrop: YouTube Space NY’s production studios offer everything needed to create high-end programming. YOUTUBE SPACE NY continued from p. 18
were used for news programs, humor, and even a beauty feature on candidate hairstyles. The Chainsmokers, a critically acclaimed and massively popular musical production duo, promoted voter registration with a stunt to see how many tacos they could assemble in the 1 minute and 34 seconds it takes to register to vote. (The answer is eight tacos, but guacamole may be missing in some; see (tinyurl.com/y8xm5qxa.) A newly built talk show set enhances the “Did Y’All See?” program recorded Thursdays (episodes air Fridays at tinyurl.com/y9onk3tr). The sleek sofa, glass coffee tables, and backdrop of the Manhattan skyline signal a sophisticated production. An offshoot of MadameNoire. com, a lifestyle website of news and inspiration for millennial women of color, “Did Y’all See?” began organically with the site’s editorial team believing that their discussions of current events and trending topics could engage others, in the vein of ABC’s “The View.” The first episodes, from early 2014, were filmed at the editors’ desks. Eventually the program built a core audience, and now has 151,000 subscribers. In June, they recast the show with new co-hosts that have backgrounds in style blogging, professional dance, video production and social media influence. According to executive producer Raven Carter, via email, “We worked really diligently to build our audience and subscribers so that we could begin to film at Space NY. What we’ve gained is better production quality, access to state-of-the-art equipment, and now, an actual talk show set, not to mention the incredible staff at YouTube.” In an empty room, where a digital image will replace a green screen, filmmaker Michael Della Polla sets up audio and camera equipment — including two high-end RED cameras — for Andy Mineo and Reach Records (youtube.com/user/reachrecords). Other assets on hand
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The diner set is done in the Art Deco style and offers an “exterior” window view of either daylight or nighttime conditions.
are lights, electrical, and grip equipment. The soup-tonuts resources on offer include editing suites and voiceover recording booths. A virtual film school is available through training workshops such as “Pre-Production and Narrative Structuring,” “Mics & Mixers: Recording Audio,” and “Advanced Gear Trainings and Post-Production,” in addition to individual customized consultations that can include mock presentations reviewed by technical experts. According to conventional wisdom, there are fewer women video makers than men, so YouTube is proactively addressing the imbalance with initiatives for females in front of and behind the camera at Space NY, and around the world. One global production program for women includes mentoring as well as workshops, and a “supercharger” boot camp helps women get their original series
of the ground, from pitch packages to business models. The types of channels utilizing YouTube Space NY run the gamut: “ScIQ” (tinyurl.com/yc8p4sz8) is dedicated to promoting scientific literacy; “TeamBackpack” (tinyurl.com/yaodp2ja ) spotlights underground and independent emcees; “Glove and Boots” (tinyurl.com/ ybw6g8ge) is a puppet series; and The Laurie Berkner Band (tinyurl.com/y9asydll) presents songs for preschoolers. In addition to providing next-level resources, Space NY holds workshops and events that are open to the public at large. For more information, check out YouTube Space NY at youtube.com/yt/space/new-york.html. For online help, YouTube Creator Academy (tinyurl.com/ y9dgtwr9) tutorials can help the development of a creative process. DowntownExpress.com
Just Do Art BY SCOTT STIFFLER
“YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN” The run of their show is only four days, but this one’s going to be EPIC — as in, another ambitious project from the EPIC Players Inclusion Company. Back in July, when we last heard from the neuroinclusive troupe (comprised of artists and technicians both with and without developmental disabilities), they were about to present their inaugural production. EPIC could have played it safe, but instead chose to set the bar very high indeed. Their choice of play was “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead” — Bert V. Royal’s unauthorized, decidedly dark, speculative work that follows the “Peanuts” gang into their (to put it mildly) difficult teen years. At the time, “Dog” director David Bonderoff told us, of EPIC, “Our mission is simply to say, with the right amount of preparation, this population can put on a show that an audience will be invested in and impressed by.” Just a few months later, it’s mission accomplished: EPIC is now an “Anchor Partner” of The Flea Theater (whose spiffy new Thomas St. home ensures the prestigious Off-Off Broadway space will remain a Downtown destination for a very long time — preferably, forever). As for EPIC’s first effort under the canopy of The Flea, they’ve pulled another savvy move that speaks to the source material of “Dog Sees God” while providing a show the whole family can enjoy. Aubrie Therrien, the group’s artistic director, explained it thusly: “In our first production, we gave some of our actors the chance to explore topics they are normally shielded from, as adults living with developmental disabilities are often times infantilized. They got to talk about sex, drugs, loss, and love with depth and honesty. In ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,’ we get to explore innocence… And of course, who doesn’t want the opportunity to do a fun musical on a New York City stage as well — especially if you’ve never been given that chance before?” That’s reason enough for us, but here’s one more: Seeing EPIC while they’re still in their formative years will give you “early adopter” status when the neuroinclusive troupe becomes every bit as iconic as The Flea (whose roots go all the way back to 1996). And, modesty aside, what could be more quintessentially New York than rock solid bragging rights? At 7pm Thurs., Nov. 16 through Sat., Nov. 18; 3pm matinee on Sun., Nov. 19. At The Flea Theater (20 Thomas St., btw. Broadway & Church). For tickets ($25 general admission, $55 for VIP reserved seating) via theflea.org. Artist info at epicplayersnyc.org. Facebook: facebook.com/epicplayersnyc.
“THE HISTORY MYSTERY” AT TADA! YOUTH THEATER A popular song of the bygone day told us, “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future.” But here, we have a clear-cut case of time travelers going back into the past, in a show that’s come full circle. With its original run having closed on President’s Day, DowntownExpress.com
Photo by Charlene Warner
L to R: Travis Burbee (Snoopy), Meghan Ellen Gilson (Marcy), Melissa Jennifer Gonzalez (Sally), Gianluca Cirafici (Charlie Brown), Andrew Kader (Franklin), Samantha Elisofon (Lucy), and Elizabeth Kotite (Peppermint Patty) in EPIC’s production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” Not in photo: Gideon Pianko as Linus, Brandon Looney as Schroeder, and Andrew Kader as Franklin.
ence members the chance to meet the cast, with the whole group engaging in a discussion about how show’s themes of equality and justice relate to modernday life. Fri., Nov. 17 at 7pm, Sat., Nov. 18 and Sun., Nov. 19 at 2pm & 4pm. At TADA! Youth Theater (15 W. 28th St., btw. Fifth Ave. & Broadway, 2nd Floor). Tickets start at $15. For reservations, visit tadatheater.com or call 212252-1619. More info at facebook.com/ TADAyouththeater and on Twitter: @ TadaTheater.
“EXPLORATIONS IN MUSIC/ART/DANCE” The weather outside might not be frightful (not yet at least), but the Washington Square Music Festival’s delightful summertime outdoor concert series is very far away, indeed, at this point. So warm up to the notion of getting cozy inside the confines of St. Photo by Chad David Kraus Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery for this TADA! Youth Theater’s “The History Mystery” takes its own trip into the celebratory afternoon of performanchistory books after Nov. 19’s final performance. es. Featured works include the world premiere of “Skyscrapers,” Heather TADA! Youth Theater recently brought “The History Schmidt’s string quartet that takes its inspiration from Mystery” back to its W. 28th St. boards fall — the first the Paul Klee painting “Composition 1914.” Dancers time they’ve ever revived a previous show for a fall from the Annabella Gonzalez Dance Theatre offer an production. Most of the young cast from this winter’s exploration of music by J.S. Bach and György Kurtág, run have returned, to once again tell the musical tale and the Washington Square Chamber Ensemble perof how good citizens through the ages have taken a forms selections by W.A. Mozart and Benedetto stand against injustice. Along the way, our intrepid Marcello. Free. Sun., Nov. 19, 3pm at St. Mark’s Church-intime travelers meet the childhood versions of Ben Franklin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, the-Bowery (131 E. 10th St., at Second Ave.). For info, and other major game-changers. After Nov. 17’s 4 pm call 212-252-3621 or visit washingtonsquaremusicfesperformance, a Community Talk session offers audi- tival.org. Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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Photo by Lincoln Anderson
Photo by Edwin J. Torres / Mayoral Photography
security measures on the path, they said it was the right thing to do. “It’s terrible,” one of them said of the attack, adding of terrorism, in general, “It’s all over.” The hard hat holding the “STOP” sign said it’s obvious what should be done. “See those bollards that are sticking up,” he said, referring to some stout metal posts along the north edge of the “S” curve. “That’s what you gotta do. They have ’em at the airport. They have ’em at the World Trade Center.” Attorney Steve Vaccaro — who represents seriously injured cyclists and pedestrians — cycle-commutes on the Hudson River bikeway daily from his Upper East Side home to his law office in Lower Manhattan. Speaking the day before DOT started straightening out the Jersey barriers, he said, “I think they present an unacceptable level of danger and slow down traffic on the bike path. Governor Cuomo rushed those in. They came from the state. This is the busiest bike path in North America, and to narrow it down to single file, you’re really asking for trouble. It’s a bike superhighway.” He said he prefers the NYPD white blocks that were installed on the path’s lower section. On the other hand, Vaccaro said, “Bollards present a hazard, but we may have to live with them.” The key, he said, is to block sedansize cars and vehicles from getting onto the path, while still allowing smaller vehicles, like the ones Park Enforcement Patrol officers and Hudson River Park Trust staff use, to go through. The bike attorney’s recommendation is to have bollards that can be remotely lowered to allow police cars and ambulances to get by, as needed. He suggested that a set of “master controls” could be manned at the Trust’s headquarters, at Pier 40, at W. Houston St., and people could call the person at the switch if they needed to get through. Yet, some have pointed out that if terrorists really still want to attack the path, they could simply drive over the grassy median that separates it at points from the highway. “I don’t believe you can make the path 100-percent impervious to a terrorist attack,” Vaccaro admitted. Speaking earlier this week, Assemblymember Deborah Glick said she preferred the smaller white concrete blocks over the long, angled Jersey barriers that were making it difficult for cyclists to get by the newly created pinch points.
Photo by Lincoln Anderson
BARRIERS Continued from page 2
(Top) The concrete barriers hurriedly placed along the Hudson River bike path last week may eventually be replaced by specially designed bollards. (Above left) Mayor de Blasio, at right, and Argentine President Mauricio Macri lay flowers on Nov. 6 near the site where fi ve Argentinians were killed in the Oct. 31 terrorist attack on the Hudson River bike path that killed eight people and injured 11. (Above right) A shrine to Anne Laure Decadt, the Belgian mother of two who was killed in the attack.
“Hopefully, the Jersey barriers will be adjusted in a more appropriate fashion,” she said, adding, “We’ve reached out to the Hudson River Park Trust and apparently they feel that it’s really state DOT that’s involved in this.” State Senator Brad Hoylman initially refrained from discussing specifics of the bike path’s new security measures. “At this point,” he said, “my thoughts are with the victims and their families, including our neighbor Nicholas Cleves who grew up as a Village kid and was just starting his life. It’s unimaginable that Nick and seven others would be murdered during such a simple and joyous activity as riding a bicycle at this beautiful location. I’m extremely grateful to the NYPD and other fi rst responders who prevented a wider tragedy, and the staff of the Hudson River Park, who were immediately on the scene and deserve our deepest thanks for their professionalism dur-
ing this difficult time. “As for the additional barriers being put on the Hudson River bike path, I think it’s appropriate to refrain from commenting on security measures, especially during an open investigation.” Tobi Bergman, a former chairman of Community Board 2, a longtime waterfront park activist and an avid cyclist, also weighed in on the bike path situation. “There is no doubt they are very ugly and I am worried they may cause accidents,” he said, responding to the initial diagonal placement of the Jersey barriers. “I understand the need for the authorities to deal quickly with what’s in front of them, but I don’t think weaponizing the city is the answer. Fortunately, the technology exists to design and install systems that prevent cars and trucks from slamming into people, purposefully or not, and manufacturers should
be motivated to respond to the public need. “How about calling for a requirement that all rental trucks be fitted with breaking systems that stop the truck when an object, including a pedestrian, is at risk?” Bergman suggested. “The capability is there because some cars have it. I guess it would require federal law. Not sure.” Bergman noted of the terrorists that they often like to attack “where people are having fun” — like the bike path. As the Daily News reported, ISIS is now pushing vehicle attacks, saying vehicles — unlike, for example, knives when found on people — don’t arouse suspicion. “It is for this obvious reason that using a vehicle is one of the most comprehensive methods of attack,” a sick article in an ISIS magazine pronounced last year. On Monday morning, Mayor de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, joined Argentine President Mauricio Macri and his wife, Juliana Awada, on the bike path at Desbrosses St. in Tribeca for a memorial tribute to the victims. Five of the slain were school buddies from Argentina on vacation in New York. “On Tuesday, we all felt a sense of shock, and you see this setting — this peaceful, tranquil setting — where good, innocent people were enjoying the beauty of this city,” the mayor said. “And that’s what we understand about the horror of terrorism, that it is aimed at the innocent, it’s aimed at the unassuming, and it’s meant to change us and undermine us, to make us doubt ourselves and our values. “But let’s be clear,” he said, “this was not just an attack on eight individuals, not just an attack on New York City [or] an attack on the United States of America, it was an attack on all of humanity. “We will always be open and welcome to people of all backgrounds, to visitors from all over the world. And even in the depths of our grief, we will not stop being who we are and we will not change our values.” Afterward, each couple laid a bouquet of white flowers wrapped with a blue ribbon — the colors of Argentina — on the bike path’s low stone wall. An impromptu memorial to the eight victims is located near the bike path outside the entrance to Pier 40, at W. Houston St., the spot where the terrorist drove onto the path to start cutting his path of carnage. There are eight white crosses, some wrapped with blue-andwhite jerseys of Argentina’s national soccer team. Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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Nov. 16 – Nov. 29, 2017
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