Manhattan Express - December 27, 2018 by Schneps Media

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MIDTOWN, UPPER EAST & WEST SIDES

VOLUME 4, NUMBER 26

DECEMBER 27, 2018 – JANUARY 9, 2019

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

One of the lions, the symbols of the New York Public Librar y, outside the Stephen Schwar zman Building a.k.a. the Main Branch, at 42nd St. and Fifth Ave.

A new chapter for public libraries BY GABE HERMAN

s the New York Public Library “checking out” of its core responsibilities? Or do its current plans “check out”? As the N.Y.P.L. remains in the midst of overhauling its Midtown services, including the selling of one branch and the redesign of others, some library activists remain upset and charge N.Y.P.L. with shrinking its spaces and services and looking to continue selling branches. The N.Y.P.L. strongly denies this,

and argues it is making its system more efficient and modern, and that any branches sold are isolated incidents that are not part of a larger trend. The library also says it is expanding public space in many branches, including in Midtown. Citizens Defending Libraries is an advocacy group founded in 2013 over concerns that New York City libraries are being underfunded, while some are being sold, and physical spaces are being decreased. The group recently started a petition calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio and other officials to address

such issues, and has garnered more than 11,000 signatures so far. “This is not what the public wants,” said Michael D.D. White, co-founder of the organization, in a recent interview. “When we’re out collecting signatures, people are always upset about this.” N.Y.P.L.’s hotly debated Central Library Plan encapsulated many of these concerns and drew criticism from scholars, the media and the public. That plan, first introduced in 2007 and revived in 2012, would have sold both the Mid-Manhattan library, at 455 Fifth Ave. at E. 40 St., and the Science,

1 M E T R O T E C H • N YC 112 0 1 • © 2 0 18 S C H N E P S M E D I A

Industry and Business Library at 188 Madison Ave., at E. 34th St., and altered the Public Library’s main branch, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, at Fifth Ave. and W. 41st St., a research library, so that it would also be a circulating library. The sweeping plan also called for books to be moved to New Jersey, which protesters felt would cause delays in access. There were three lawsuits filed against the plan, two of which included Citizens Defending Libraries. The liLIBRARY continued on p. 3

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New chapter for libraries has watchdog growling LIBRARY continued from p. 1

brary dropped the plan in 2014, with its trustees citing higher renovation costs than expected, general public opinion and a new city government, since Mayor de Blasio was skeptical of the plan, according to The New York Times. Iris Weinshall, the Public Library’s C.O.O., in a recent exclusive interview, said, when the library looked further into removing central stacks at the Schwarzman Building, the cost raised a red flag. “That engineering challenge turned out to be extremely costly,” Weinshall said, “one that I think, in retrospect, the library decided was not the right road to go down. “It was a rather ambitious plan,” she said, reflecting on the Central Library Plan. “Very often with large projects, as you move forward, issues and challenges pop up.” Although that scheme was scrapped, Citizens Defending Libraries is also unsatisfied with the new plan, announced in November 2017. The new plan would cost $317 million and retain the Mid-Manhattan branch and renovate it, along with renovating and redesigning the Schwarzman Building. “There’s a lot of aspects of that plan that are ominously still alive,” said White, of C.D.L. In fact, the Science, Industry and Business Library ultimately was sold in 2016. White noted it was touted as a state-of-the-art library when the renovation of the building — formerly B. Altman’s flagship department store — was completed in 1996. The building is now reportedly set to become a pop culture museum. “So that’s getting rid of the science library,” White said, “with the idea that people would just get their science from the Internet.” The N.Y.P.L. said that the S.I.B.L. will remain open until the completion of the Midtown renovations, after which its research collection will be moved to the Schwarzman Building and its general materials to the Mid-Manhattan Library. An N.Y.P.L. spokesperson said that, according to data from 2016, in the previous 10 years, the S.I.B.L.’s print usage was down more than 68 percent and more than 72 percent of its collections budget supported online work. Business research remained popular, with program sessions up more than 100 percent. But increased online usage indicated researchers’ preferences, and is also how many publishers make materials available now, according to the N.Y.P.L. “We noticed over the years that people coming in to use the S.I.B.L. library were primarily using our computers to access the business information,” noted C.O.O. Weinshall. She said the renovated Mid-Manhattan building will boast an entire new floor — totaling 25,000 square feet — Schneps Media

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

The Science, Industry and Business Library on E. 34th St. was sold a few years ago and is being transformed into a pop-culture museum.

Weinshall said the renovated MidManhattan Library will include a children’s library and a space for teens, and would be the system’s largest circulating library. White, of C.D.L., specifically criticized the Schwarzman plans as “commercializing the library.” He said a focus is being put on the gift shop and adding a wine bar, while fewer books are now available there, citing off-site storage in New Jersey. The N.Y.P.L. strongly denies all these charges. Library officials and members of the system’s design team pointed out that the current cafe and gift shop on the first floor will be moved to a different area. As a result, there will be some more space for the cafe, but both will be in less-awkward spaces than their current locations in nooks near the library’s main entrance. A library spokesperson said there were never plans for a wine bar or any alcohol to be served at Schwarzman, and that the shop and cafe are consistent with offerings at other cultural attractions in the city. Weinshall noted there will be 20 percent more public space at Schwarzman, plus a new art education center, more research space on the second floor, and new elevators and an upgraded HVAC system and bathrooms, plus an improved layout for better separation of space for use by tourists versus researchers. The N.Y.P.L. denied any books are

PHOTO BY JONATHAN BARKEY

Leading library advocate Michael D.D. White, in general, neither approves of nor trusts the city’s plans for the public library system, including its signature Midtown Manhattan branches.

dedicated for business library needs, including computers and training rooms. White, meanwhile, blasted the plans as “a consolidated shrinkage plan.” But the N.Y.P.L. argues the changes represent efficient use of the libraries’ space to meet library users’ needs.

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missing from Schwarzman, countering that many were moved to a second sublevel beneath Bryant Park, for climate control and a more efficient organizational system. As for using New Jersey as an off-site space, library officials said the N.Y.P.L. collection is always growing and needs that space, but that these materials are still quickly available for those requesting them. The N.Y.P.L. frequently monitors which materials are most requested, and keeps the least-popular items in the New Jersey space, a spokesperson explained. But White sees a trend of selling off branches. “We think they’re picking off libraries one by one,” he said, referring to the S.I.B.L., the Donnell branch in Midtown in 2008 and another strongly opposed plan in Inwood, plus others in Brooklyn, which is under a separate system from the N.Y.P.L. “The public still prefers physical books,” he said, “the use of the libraries is up, and we’re selling them off and changing the nature of the libraries.” N.Y.P.L. officials said that Donnell and the S.I.B.L. were special cases, and emphatically denied any pattern of selling off more branches. “Just to the contrary,” countered Weinshall, pointing to many branches that are increasing physical space, including the McCombs Bridge Library in Harlem, which will enlarge from 500 to 3,700 square feet in a new building; the Van Cortland branch, which will add 2,200 square feet, also in a new building; and five renovated historic Carnegie branches that will enjoy increased space, with two of these in Manhattan. The Inwood branch has been part of a hotly opposed plan involving a developer and a 14-story residential building, and bigger issues of neighborhood rezoning. But Weinshall said the Inwood plan would add affordable housing in the building, and library space would increase by 5,000 square feet. About 25 percent of the residential building’s units are slated for permanently affordable housing, and the first three floors would be for the new library, according to Curbed. Weinshall said the overall system is hardly contracting — just the opposite. “We are not only enhancing our facilities, but they’re growing,” she said. As for ongoing renovations in Midtown, Weinshall said work is on schedule: The Mid-Manhattan branch is expected to reopen in 2020, and Schwarzman’s next set of renovations will finish in 2021. Regarding the evolution of the renovation plans, Weinshall said it can often happen for big-city institutions. She cited Lincoln Center’s 2017 decision to revise plans for its David Geffen Hall. “So it’s not uncommon for cultural institutions,” she said.

December 27, 2018

Police Blotter 19TH PRECINCT

Killed by car Police responded to a 911 call of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle at E. 72 St. and Fifth Ave. on Tues., Dec. 18, around 6:30 a.m. According to police, the officers discovered a man, 64, who was conscious but with serious head and leg injuries. He was taken to New York Hospital, where he died three days later. The man has been identified as Jong Kim of Fort Lee, New Jersey. A preliminary investigation determined that a 24-year-old male driver of a 2009 Honda sedan was heading east on 72 St. when he hit the pedestrian, who was crossing Fifth Ave., not in the crosswalk but at midblock. The driver remained at the scene. The incident is being handled by the New York Police Department’s Highway Collision Investigation Squad.

17TH PRECINCT

Phone store bandits Police are asking for the public’s help in finding five men, wanted for questioning about 11 robberies, mostly in December, from cell phone stores throughout Manhattan, including at 144 Delancey St. on the Lower East Side, 462 Sixth Ave. in Greenwich Village and also in Midtown and on the Upper East Side. In each incident, various numbers of the men, ranging from one of them to all five, entered the store and snatched displayed cell phones before fleeing. The value stolen at each store ranged from $900 to $3,900. One of the wanted men has been identified as Timothy Adams, 17, described as Hispanic, 5 feet 7 inches tall and 120 pounds. The other four men are all described by police as black males in their late teens or early twenties, last seen wearing facial covering and all-dark clothing. Police have obtained photo and video from some of the incidents. Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline, at 800577-TIPS, or for Spanish, 1-888-57PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on the Crime Stoppers Web site, www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, on Twitter at @NYPDTips or by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577. All tips are confidential.

COURTESY N.Y.P.P.

Police say this guy attacked a woman with a pipe in Midtown.

COURTESY N.Y.P.D.

Photos of a group of robbers who have been targeting phone stores.

MIDTOWN SOUTH

Pipe attack A man hit a woman in the head with a metal pipe on the northbound N/Q/R platform at 34th St.-Herald Square on

December 27, 2018

Wed., Dec. 19, according to police. The 28-year-old woman bore gashes to her head, but later left Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. After striking the woman in the head, the man ran off in an unknown direction. Police are searching for a man seen in video footage holding a metal pipe on the platform in order to question him about the reported assault. He is described as black, 5-feet 8-inches, aged in his mid-50s. Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline, at 800-577-TIPS, or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on the Crime Stoppers Web site, www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, on Twitter at @ NYPDTips or by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577. All tips are confidential.

Gabe Herman and Sydney Pereira MEX

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December 27, 2018

Mayor is attacked on Amazon deal at town hall BY GABE HERMAN

any issues were raised at Mayor Bill de Blasio’s town hall meeting on the Upper East Side on Wednesday evening, Dec. 19, including passionate questions and crowd reactions about Amazon’s move into the city, which also drew protesters outside. The City Council District 4 event was held at Hunter College at 68th St. and Lexington Ave., and co-hosted by Councilmember Keith Powers. Other politicians attending included state Senators Brad Hoylman and Liz Krueger and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. Before the 6:30 p.m. event, a loud group of protesters chanted “No Amazon!” and “No, de Blasio, shame on you!” as a big banner was held up telling Amazon to get lost, in slightly more profane language. “Instead of giving these big tax breaks, why not invest in the CUNY system,” said one protester, Maheenul Burhan, as chants continued behind him. “CUNY is getting more expensive day by day. Why are you guys helping the rich?” Burhan, a freshman at Brooklyn College, held a sign that read, “Amazon gets enough $$$ from helping ICE deport New Yorkers.” Amazon has faced further criticism recently after it came to light that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has used the e-commerce giant’s facerecognition technology as it continues deportations. However, at a recent City Council meeting, Amazon’s vice president of public policy, Brian Huseman, said, “We think the government should have the best available technology.” De Blasio and Powers were grilled about Amazon and ICE at the town hall. The mayor said he had just heard of the issue in the last few days, but reiterated that his desire is to abolish ICE in its current form and replace it with an agency not based on punishing families. In terms of Amazon’s involvement with ICE, he said, “I am concerned about that, but I do need to get the facts.” Powers added that he condemns anyone affiliated with ICE but that he, too, had just recently learned of this situation at the Council meeting and needs to learn more. Both pols were asked more generally about Amazon’s new headquarters in the city, including the tax breaks and incentives the company received and the fact that the City Council was bypassed on these decisions. “Anyone who is frustrated with corporate America, I’m happy to align with,” said de Blasio, which drew some incredulous hisses and jeers. “The bottom line on the Amazon deal is it’s a nine-to-one revenue-ex-

December 27, 2018

PHOTOS BY GABE HERMAN

Mayor Bill de Blasio co-hosted an Upper East Side town hall meeting with Councilmember Keith Powers, sitting to the left of him, above, last week, and was peppered with tough questions on Amazon and other issues. took advantage of existing state subsi- De Blasio chimed in, “Let’s arrange for me to talk to those mayors and/or dies. “The state, I think, gave them one Governor Murphy and see what we can specific discretionary piece. The city do.” A woman from Tudor City said the gave them none,” he said. The mayor added the new Amazon steps going to E. 42nd St., built in the location in Long Island City would add 1930s, were eroding and cracked and a lot of jobs, “and a huge amount of rev- very dangerous, but that the City’s enue that will pay for the other things Transportation and Parks departments that we need and believe in,” which got were both passing off responsibility. “That’s not acceptable,” de Blasio applause from the crowd. He didn’t mention anything about the said. “D.O.T. and Parks, it’s both your deal having gone to a City Council vote, responsibility, and we need to fi x the and Powers quickly added, “I think it steps.” He said he would work with counshould go to City Council,” which got cilmembers and pledged to come up enthusiastic applause. On other issues, the mayor was also with a joint plan to repair the stairasked if he would work with Demo- ways. The mayor was also asked about crats in Albany to repeal the Urstadt Law from 1971, which prevents the idling motor vehicles being left out of City Council from passing stronger his climate plan, and the city’s selfimposed suspension of ticketing such residential rent-protection laws. “Yes,” he answered. “It’s a law that vehicles. “You are right, it is an additional never made sense. We are 43 percent of the state’s population and we should piece that we are not accounting for,” be able to control our own destiny on de Blasio said. “Personally, I am obsessed with the way people idle when those matters.” Protesters outside the town hall On tourist helicopters illegally flying they don’t need to.” decried the recent Amazon headDe Blasio said a big anti-idling plan over Central Park, causing a nuisance, quar ters deal for Long Island the mayor said, “I share your frustra- would be presented in a couple of Cit y. tion, in general, that over the years months. “It clearly is one of the things we we’ve had too much activity from tourpenditure deal,” the mayor said. “We ist helicopters.” need to do for climate change but also have $9 back for every dollar they got One of his agency commissioners it’s quality of life, it’s air quality,” he in incentives.” who was on hand said many of those stressed. “People should not be idling De Blasio said the city gave no ad- helicopters come from New Jersey, and unless there’s a damn good reason. So, ditional incentives, and that Amazon therefore the city can’t regulate them. coming very soon.” MEX

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December 27, 2018

It’s grande: Huge Starbucks offers booze, pizza BY GABE HERMAN

t may not sound like breaking news that a new Starbucks opened on Fri., Dec. 14, in Chelsea. But this particular shop is no average outlet of the ubiquitous coffee-shop chain. It’s a Starbucks Reserve Roastery, three stories, 23,000 square foot gourmet and upscale. Its offerings include sandwiches, fresh pizzas and salads, coffee beans for sale, a cocktail bar and, of course, coffee bars and pastries. Located at Ninth Ave. and 15th St., the Roastery — good to its name — also includes big, bronze-colored roasting machines on site. The roasters who man the contraptions cheerfully explain to curious onlookers how the process works, adding that all coffee and beans on the premises come from these roasters. In a Willy Wonka-like touch, coffee beans also continuously travel through tubes near the ceiling throughout the store. Conspicuously absent is any Starbucks logo, or even the logo’s color, green. Upscale merchandise is prominently displayed near the entrance, including barware items, coffee brewing tools, candles, scarves and Starbucks-branded clothes. This is the fourth Reserve Roastery worldwide, joining others in Seattle, Milan and Shanghai. Two more are planned for Chicago and Tokyo, according to Eater. On the morning of Tues., Dec. 18, the mega-shop had a cheerful mood, from smiling visitors snapping photos of the space and taking selfies, to customers ordering espresso drinks and fresh, oven-cooked pizza. A woman visiting for the first time said she lived nearby on Horatio St. and was “blown away” by the space. She said she was on her way to Chelsea Market across the street but went to the new Starbucks instead when she saw it had opened, and that she planned to return regularly. “This is heavy. This is really intense. I’m loving it,” she said as she looked around and took it all in. “It feels like a chic restaurant. “This is a destination and I’m so excited to be here,” she added. “It’s so cool!” Not surprisingly, though, not all locals are quite as enthusiastic. Bill Talen, a.k.a. Reverend Billy, a performance artist who performs with the Stop Shopping Choir in opposition to consumerism, is a longtime Starbucks critic. “In this time period of the de Blasio administration, there seems to be this resignation to the cancerous spread of the monoculture,” he lamented. The Roastery is within one block of Chelsea Market, an Apple Store and,

December 27, 2018

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

The new Starbucks Reser ve Roaster y, at 16th St. and Ninth Ave., has been drawing a crowd since opening t wo weeks ago.

A barista whipping up something special at the Roaster y.

A man and his pal got toast y by a fireplace in the Roaster y.

inevitably, another Starbucks. Reverend Billy charged that Starbucks has a history of illegal labor, resisting workers’ attempts to form unions, and is not a fair-trade company. When an environment has the same types of buildings and chain stores all around, he said, it dampens creativity and individuality. “That instructs us not to be imaginative, not to be creative,” he said, “not to be the things that cafe culture celebrates. “So they are liars,” he said of Starbucks, adding, “And they make bad coffee.” Reverend Billy noted there are now many great places to get coffee in the

However, the smiling visitors inside during the Reserve Roastery’s fi rst week seemed blissfully unaware of any such dissatisfaction. And the Twitterverse was also full of caffeinated kudos for the new jumbo java-food-and-booze joint. Virpi Viinikainen tweeeted on Dec. 16, “Starbucks turns NYC’s coffee scene into an experience. A new must see in the city.” Also on Twitter, Nick Amador, a producer for ABC7, posted on Dec. 19, “In true Starbucks heaven. My coffee obsessed self took a stroll to the new Reserve Roastery in Meatpacking. I’ve reached new caffeine heights. 23,000 square feet of pure greatness.”

city, much more so than in previous decades. “There are alternatives to Starbucks just about everywhere,” he noted. Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir have targeted Starbucks before, protesting its “fake bohemia” as The Villager has frequently reported in the past. He has been banned from every Starbucks worldwide. Still, he said, a new protest might be in order, as a way to fight back. “The best thing that could happen right now is if Chelsea boycotts it,” the performance preacher declared. “Maybe the Stop Shopping Choir will go sing a song in front of it to encourage that boycott.”

MEX

Schneps Media

Volume 2 | Issue 5

The Pulse of

Lenox Health Greenwich Village

Ice and snow mean take it slow: 5 tips to avoid slips and falls this winter During the winter months, ice, snow and cold temperatures can make life challenging for everyone—especially as we get older. Practice these safety tips to stay upright this winter. 1. Walk slowly and carefully. Take shorter, shuﬄe-like steps with your toes pointed slightly outward to maintain a stable base of support. Bend slightly and walk flat footed to keep your center of gravity over your feet as much as possible. 2. Watch where you’re stepping. Stay aware of the surfaces ahead of you. Look down with your eyes only. (If you move your head downward, you may shift your balance.) 3. Keep your arms at your sides. Carrying items or walking with your hands in your pockets makes it harder to catch yourself if you lose your balance. Consider carrying items in a backpack instead. 4. Use caution exiting your car. Plant both feet firmly on the ground before moving; steady yourself on the door frame until you have your balance. 5. Remove shoes before entering your house. Take oﬀ wet shoes at the doorway, so you don’t slip when you come inside.

Did you know…

Almost 25 percent of slips and falls are caused by improper footwear. Wear shoes or boots with treaded soles to lower your risk of injury. Did you know…

More than one out of four people age 65+ falls each year, but less than half tell their doctor. Be open with your healthcare provider— they can evaluate your risk of falling and help you prevent another accident.

We’re providing local residents with a new model of community-based care. From 24-hour emergency services to a full range of medical specialties, we’ve got you covered. Visit us at Northwell.edu/LenoxHealth or call (646) 846-6105.

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“Carmina Burana,” December 29, 2018, 8PM Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall One of the most controversial classical works of the 20th century – “Carmina Burana” – is a symphonic cantata for choir, soloists and orchestra. From the moment of the premiere until the present day, one can meet diametrically opposed opinions about both the composition and its author. But these contradictions reflect the spirit of the epoch: 1937, Nazism in Germany, the composer’s Jewish roots ... it could only be described as fate itself, Fortune, had taken charge of destiny. When writing the work, Carl Orff was 40 years old. He was known as an innovative teacher who together with his wife taught his children on his own methods — through body movements, rhythm and playing the simplest instruments, they tried to “wake up” natural musicality and talent in a child. And at this very moment a medieval monastic collection of songs, dated 1300, fell into his hands. It contained 250 texts written by Goliards in spoken Latin, in Old German and Old French. The name “Carmina Burana” was given to it by the first keeper and publisher of the collection, Johann Schmeller, after the name of the place in which it was found. Thus “Fortune», playfully , slipped into Orff’s hands German songs and poems from manuscripts of the 13th century, that had nothing to do with religion, although the collection was found in the monastery. On the contrary, all the lyrics were very mundane- lyrical love serenades and romances, drinking songs, funny parodies. For the cantata, the composer selected 24 verses (the final 25 repeats the first one, thus closing the cycle) and immediately began writing music. The musical text was completely ready in 2 weeks. Since childhood, Karl Orff dreamed of his theater, made his own stagings, scenery, wrote texts for them, etc. Creating his own one-man performance was his aspiration. “Carmina Burana” became the embodiment of this idea. As planned by the composer, the stage incarnation of the cantata was supposed to include not only the orchesSchneps Media

K_\ :_fì f] :e\jèj Iljj`Xe 8ZX[\dp f] dlj`Z Xe[ >\eeX[p ;d\kipXb# Xik [ì\Zkfi Xe[ Z_`\] Zfe[lZkfi% tra, the voices of the choir and vocalists, but also color solutions. To implement his plans in full at the premiere in 1937, in Nazi Germany, the Jewish composer certainly was not able. After the war, “Carmina Burana” became part of the repertoires of many theaters, it runs with a huge success, because this composition allows any director show his worth. There were a great many experiments - the concerts and the scene were decorated in a most unpredictable way. However, recently Karl Orff’s music bestseller has been performed mainly in a strict concert version with moderate lighting in academic halls of the Conservatories. The concert version of Carmina Burana, which will be shown on December 29 at Carnegie Hall in New York City, the scale of the production with about 300 artists in-

volved, with the artwork and imagery content, the lighting spectrum and, of course, the team of star Soloists and groups assembled - can really become an impressive event, of which the composer dreamed. The cantata, staged by the director of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia Igor Ushakov for the Carnegie scene, is, ﬁrst of all, a show, a mysteria-play, that combines word, music, vocals, a kaleidoscope of paintings by great artists of the early and late Renaissance, and light fantasmagoria that ampliﬁes the sound effect of the music itself. Conductor Maestro Gennady Dmitryak, managed to join in one sound the voices of children’s, youth and adult choirs of the most eminent Russian choral groups. The youngest of them, the Big Children’s Choir named after Viktor Popov, is already 70 TVG

years old, and over the years many of the children have grown to mega-size stars at the stages of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theaters in Russia. In the massed choir, specially selected and created by Maestro Gennady Dmitryak for the performance at Carnegie Hall, and of particular importance is the youth group of 65 students of the Gnesins Academy, which has been well known among connoisseurs of classical music for over 150 years. The music of the cantata is very ﬂamboyant and strong even from the ﬁrst item- the famous choir “Oh, Fortune”. Within 88 sounding bars, it develops so rapidly to a most powerful crescendo that the further increase of tension in the music seems simply impossible! The impression is that the cantata begins with a climax! This phenominal effect,

conceived in the music of Carmina Burana, gains its highest point in the staging of the Russian artists, owing to the extraordinary selection and unique combination of the voices of the main creation of Gennady Dmitryak, the Yurlov State Choir, which has been called “Kremlin Choir” in Russia. Maestro has been leading it for more than twenty years. On December 29, at Carnegie Hall in Carmina Burana there will be a premiere performance of the Bolshoi Theater soloist Stanislav Mostovoy. It’s no secret that the soloist-tenor part in Orff’s cantata Olim lacus colueram sounds incredibly complex and beautiful. There will be a double debut of Mostovy on December 29 in New York - the first performance of Olim lacus colueram and for the first time onthe Carnegie Stage. For the Soloists of the Bolshoi Theater, an oriental beauty with a crop of nice hair Anna Aglatova and Vasily Ladyuk, whose voice is among the top three of the world’s strongest baritones, it is not for the first time to perform for the American public. But this does not release either debutants or experienced artists from worrying before stepping onto the legendary stage of one of the best halls in the world - the Great Stage of Carnegie Hall. A few words about important things. Though the words of the most famous part of the cantata “Oh, Fortune” have no church canon meaning, still their meaning is harsh and stern - Fortune commands people with a strong hand: while one is overthrown, it raises the other to heights so that to throw him back on the ground. No one ever knows what will happen to him next minute - therefore, it is worth living, enjoying every moment. It is somewhat symbolic that these words that call for appreciating Life, Loving and Enjoying every moment it sends, will be heard from Carnegie’s stage performed by Russian artists as New Year greetings to the Americans, as a wish for peace and prosperity in a period of very difficult relations between our two peoples. December 27, 2018

Letters to the Editor

Schneps Community News Group

Covering Manhattan in more ways than one

We’re losing the spirit

Generous, bar none

To The Editor: Re “The Cornelia St. Cafe: This one really hurts” (talking point, by Michele Herman, Dec. 20): This is another reason for commercial rent control. We had it until 1963. If we don’t get some form of commercial rent control, Manhattan could soon be run totally by absentee landlord billionaires, who are the only ones who can afford city real estate, and by politicians like de Blasio and Cuomo, who only seem to want to appease the Real Estate Board of New York, with its financial largesse that its members are eager to throw around to these politicians. Leaving the Film Forum at night and walking past the Cornelia Street Cafe made me feel like a New Yorker in the Sixties! It made me believe that esprit was still alive in the Apple. Too many city streets have really started to reek of suburbia. My wife and I have lost about five valued restaurants over the past three years! It’s time for all of us to join some preservation groups so we can fight to preserve the soul of New York!

To The Editor: Re “Musicians know: 11th St. Bar is place to play” (arts article, by Puma Perl, Dec. 20): Say what you will about early-morning drunken Liverpool FC revelers. But this bar and its revelers/ patrons have given more to the homeless and needy in the East Village through their food drives then anyplace else. God bless the 11th Street Bar.

Terry Brennan

Matt Yust

Someone...help!

A historic moment

To The Editor: Re “The Cornelia St. Cafe: This one really hurts” (talking point, by Michele Herman, Dec. 20): Aren’t there any philanthropically inclined New Yorkers who could give a hand? As for the crooked landlords, can they not be publicly embarrassed?

To The Editor: Re “At last, small business bill has a champion” (talking point, by Sharon Woolums, Dec. 20): Sharon Woolums earns our respect again for bringing vital news the big media almost always ignore. This time she informs us of a significant moment concerning the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, now being debated in the City Council, that might stop so many of our favorite shops being shuttered and abandoned. If Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez stands firm here, who knows — maybe we just might get a bill! There are fleeting moments when a politician can be become something much, much more than that — how about a true leader?

David Russell

There’s always...Brooklyn? To The Editor: Re “The Cornelia St. Cafe: This one really hurts” (talking point, by Michele Herman, Dec. 20): This is a terrible, terrible loss. Doma Na Rohu on Morton St. closed and so much else has, too. I’m a second-generation Villager and this is becoming so deeply painful. I go to the Cornelia St. Cafe’s downstairs all the time. Where shall we go now? The answer increasingly is Brooklyn. So, so sad. Hannah Aron

PRINT DIGITAL EVENTS 12

December 27, 2018

REPORTER SYDNEY PEREIRA

Publisher of The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now, Downtown Express and Manhattan Express PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS

CONTRIBUTORS IRA BLUTREICH BOB KRASNER TEQUILA MINSKY MARY REINHOLZ PAUL SCHINDLER ART DIRECTORS JOHN NAPOLI MARCOS RAMOS

CEO & CO-PUBLISHER JOSHUA SCHNEPS

ADVERTISING CLIFFORD LUSTER (718) 260-2504 CLUSTER@CNGLOCAL.COM

EDITOR IN CHIEF LINCOLN ANDERSON

CIRCULATION SALES MNGR. MARVIN ROCK TVG

Eric Faber

Small shops — our heart To The Editor: Re “At last, small business bill has a champion” (talking point, by Sharon Woolums, Dec. 20): Small businesses are the heart and character of Greenwich Village. I hope The Villager continues to cover this story and that Villagers continue to support our local entrepreneurs.

Bennett Kremen E-mail letters, maximum 250 words, to news@ thevillager.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 1 MetroTech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published.

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES GAYLE GREENBURG JIM STEELE JULIO TUMBACO ELIZABETH POLLY PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR The Publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for others errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue. Published by Schneps Media One Metrotech North, 10th floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 Phone: (718) 260-2500 Fax: (212) 229-2790 On-line: www.thevillager.com E-mail: news@thevillager.com © 2018 Schneps Media

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Notebook

Schumer, ‘The Finger,’ pest control and Trump BY HARRY PINCUS

must admit to a good chortle as I watched Senator Chuck Schumer extract a tantrum from Donald Trump the other week. Our Senate minority leader managed to provoke the president into such a pique that his usual shade of orange turned into a version of pull-me-over red, just as he admitted that he was willing to “shut down the government” if “I don’t get what I want!” Yes, said The Donald, I will take full responsibility! Since Chuck is from my old neighborhood, and his father Abe was our exterminator, I thought I had a pretty good idea of the trick that managed to turn our president into an overgrown infant hurling the most intemperate of admissions, thus proving once and for all that Trump is merely from the borough of Queens, but Chuck Schumer, alas, hails from the borough of Kings! As far as I could see, the first thing Senator Schumer did was to point a finger at the president, an old trick back in the neighborhood. THE FINGER! Well, just as in “The Sunshine Boys,” THE FINGER represents a major affront. After that, the senator cleaned up by leaning forward, like an old man cleansing his soul in the schvitz at the Brighton Beach Baths, and avoiding eye contact entirely. This drew Trump forward, and into his foolish admission. Alas, mission accomplished. Schumer is a few years older than me, but was most likely still at Madison High School when my school, Wingate, battled them in tennis. There I was, the tenth man on the squad…though I still maintain that there were at least two others even worse than me! At any rate, Chuck Schumer was representing Madison in another arena, on the “It’s Academic” television quiz show. Only three of the brightest were chosen from each school, and in my case, all three were my friends and classmates, but I was nowhere near the top. These days, I get street cred for just having attended Wingate, a midcentury banjo-like edifice situated across the street from the psychiatric building at Kings County Hospital, where Woody Guthrie was incarcerated. A few years after I graduated, the school was featured in a double-page spread in New York magazine called, “The Worst School in New York.” In the accompanying photo, it looked like every window had been knocked out and replaced with plywood! Now all I have to do is tell any youngster I meet in Brooklyn that I went to Wingate. It always elicits the same squeal of delight: “Yo, dude went to the ’Gate!” Another graduate, Barbara Levy, class of ’58,

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U.S. SENATE PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO-JEFF MCEVOY

The writer had a revealing elevator conversation with Chuck Schumer, above, whose father took care of a situation for the writer, below.

Sixth Ave. in the late ’70s. The city was overrun by cockroaches, but our building was especially infested, as my nextdoor neighbor, a well-known Downtown character, refused to kill any insects, claiming that the word “roach,”

moved to California and became Barbara Boxer, the former senator. I’ve always followed Chuck Schumer’s career with some interest, especially after his father Abe first came to exterminate our building in Soho on TVG

which he pronounced “roh-ach,” meant soul in Hebrew. I still don’t get it, as “nephesh” is the Hebrew word for soul. But, anyway, it meant business for Abe Schumer and Acme Exterminators. I finally met the giant of the Senate a few years ago at a political event sponsored by the Downtown Independent Democrats on Bleecker St., during the lead-up to the 2016 elections. At the D.I.D. get-together, I had spoken out forcefully on a foreign policy issue, after which I decided to take a break. So I left the room and waited by the place’s side entrance for the main event, which was Senator Schumer. When a tall, familiar figure alighted from a car and came over, I introduced myself as a former customer of Abe’s, and followed him into the elevator. “You knew Abe?” he asked. “Yes, we always used Acme. I even have a letter from him. How is he?” “He’s fine,” Chuck Schumer said. “He’s 92 now.” I mentioned our similar backgrounds. “You know,” the senator said, “people don’t understand it when I tell them that, in our house, DDT was the smell of love!” I then asked him why he wasn’t supporting Bernie Sanders, another alumni of Madison High School. “I like Bernie, and he’s a friend,” said my new friend Chuck. “But you have to understand that, if Hillary wins, I’ll be Senate majority leader. Imagine me, the son of Abe, who never finished high school, as Senate majority leader.” When we got off of the elevator, a harsh light greeted us, and I pulled out the little camera I had brought. The senator looked very tired, his face lined, and his back stooped. He later apologized for having had a long day, something about a wedding or a bar mitzvah, but I wondered about what it must take to be a leader in the Senate. He introduced me to everyone. “This is my friend, Harry, who likes to take pictures!” So here was my friend, in the Oval Office, talking to the son of the guy who owned Trump Village and Steeplechase, the beloved 19th-century amusement park near my father’s handball courts in Coney Island. Just as Donald Trump proudly vowed to shut down the government — and then did — his father bought Steeplechase Park, then distributed bricks to his friends so that they could destroy the ancient glass pavilion. Certainly, Chuck Schumer’s dad Abe, who turned the smell of DDT into love, wouldn’t have done that! December 27, 2018

Notebook

Bleecker Bob, the Village’s ornery record king BY STEVEN WISHNIA

here are a handful of records for which I remember where I was the first time I heard them as vividly as I recall where I was on 9/11, albeit with more pleasure. Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze,” watching the BBC’s “Top of the Pops” show as a seventh grader in Edinburgh. The Patti Smith Group’s “Horses,” in a dorm room at Stony Brook University. And the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the U.K.,” a Britishimport 45 I bought for $3 at Bleecker Bob’s on Mac-

dougal St. on a cold leaden-skied day in 1976, and spun obsessively in my Brooklyn apartment. The store’s last location, at 118 W. Third St., closed in 2013. Its owner Bleecker Bob, born Robert Plotnik, died Nov. 29 at the age of 75. He was the irascible potentate of the scene of record collectors and rock obsessives who perused its bins for obscure ’60s garage-band discs, bootleg LPs of unreleased Bob Dylan songs and live Patti Smith shows, and the latest imports from the British punk and post-punk scenes. “For those who knew him, he was both lovable and

Bleecker Bob in the Village in his heyday.

December 27, 2018

extraordinarily obnoxious,” said Tommy Dog, who started hanging out there as a precocious preteen in the late ’70s. “He was a true force of nature.” Bob used to throw him and rock scribe Lester Bangs out “almost every Friday afternoon,” he recalled. “We’d get into these debates and Lester could be a tad loud, and being as young as I was, I really was a fun challenge for him.” But there was “not a drop of real anger in it,” he added. Record geek and tour manager Bryan Swirsky first went into Bleecker Bob’s as a punk-obsessed adolescent in 1978, spending more than $200 on discs by the Buzzcocks and the Adverts. When Bob found out it was his bar mitzvah money, he gave Swirsky a free import copy of the Heartbreakers’ “L.A.M.F.” “Whatever Bob was, that one moment overrode the 99 percent of the time he was a prick,” he said. Guitarist R.B. Korbet, singer in the early-’80s punk band Even Worse, said she learned a valuable lesson in business when she sold the store a slew of 7-inch records in the early ’90s. Bob paid her $5 for a copy of Heart Attack’s “God is Dead,” Jesse Malin’s first record. He put it on the wall for $100. “I was gobsmacked,” she said. “He said the price wasn’t based on its actual value, but the fact that if he stuck it up on the wall like that, someone might eventually be tempted to buy it for that price.” The store’s first incarnation as Village Oldies on Bleecker St. led to a seminal compilation: Future Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye, who worked there, was inspired to compile his 1972 garage-band anthology, “Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968,” by the 45s in stock by the likes of the Count Five and the Blues Magoos. Critics coined the term “punk rock” to describe bands whose drive and attitude exceeded their depth and talent — and made great records both despite and because of that. Music downloading and high rents have since devastated record stores, and with that, their role as have-you-heard-this social centers for music geeks. My old band stopped selling our records at Bleecker Bob’s in 1982. When they quickly sold out of our second single, Bob called us up and barked at our guitarist, “Hey asshole, I need another 10 copies.” I still have that Sex Pistols 45, though.

TVG

Schneps Media

KIDS

& EDUCATION

The mural illustrates fathers’ role as protectors and nur turers in their children’s development.

Dads create a ‘bridge’ for special-needs kids BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

athers of District 75 students showed they care with a new mural they designed at the district’s administrative office on E. 23rd

St. A small leadership group of dads of the students, who have various disabilities, came up with the visual — and real — concept that they are like a “bridge,” helping their children get from a place of bullying and low self-esteem to success and confidence. The project not only was for the kids themselves, but also empowered the fathers through the process of conceiving, designing and ultimately painting the artwork. And, counter to the stereotype of dads being uninvolved, it helped them engage more closely with their children’s education. Working with District 75 — which has school sites citywide — the social-action mural project was spearheaded by the Center for Educational Innovation, an education nonprofit that has a new arts division. Leading the project was Alexandra Leff, CEI’s director of arts education. The mural was unveiled in October inside the school’s lobby at 400 First Ave. “Art is a powerful tool for expression, and CEI’s work with District 75 has been a great

Schneps Media

PHOTOS BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Alexandra Leff, the director of ar ts education at CEI, led the mural project.

The group of fathers who worked on the mural were themselves empowered through the process.

TVG

opportunity for us to support its Fathers Initiative and present a mural project that engages fathers in their children’s education, gives them a voice to express themselves, and impacts others through this inspiring mural,” said CEI C.E.O. Michael Kohlhagen. “This project is aligned with our important work with the My Brothers Keeper Initiative and our commitment to parent engagement and the success of all students.” “This social-action mural gives fathers a voice through the power of art,” Leff said. “It reflects their love, sensitivity, respect and care for their children — expressing to fathers everywhere that being actively engaged in their children’s lives and education is vital to the growth, success, self-confidence and happiness of their sons and daughters.” District 75, the special-education district of the New York City Department of Education, has sites in all five boroughs and is devoted to serving nearly 25,000 special-education students facing a wide range of challenges, including severe learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, cognitive disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and multiple physical disabilities. Founded in 1989, CEI’s mission is to guarantee a quality education for every student. CEI’s motto is to “work directly with students, teachers, school leaders and the community to create the schools their children need to succeed.” December 27, 2018

Totally ﬂaked out

From the Bench

Village leading light

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Civil Court Judge Carol Feinman definitely would not have missed the Village Independent Democrats’ holiday party at Frieda Bradlow’s

place on Charlton St. Feinman is a former V.I.D. president, as well as a former chairperson of the Village’s Community Board 2.

PHOTO BY BOB KRASNER

Every year, Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta, head chef and co-owner of Il Posto Accanto, at 190 E. Second St., makes 60 or so snowﬂ akes by hand to celebrate the holidays.

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PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER

Composer Patrick Grant at “The Alamo” with his “Tilted A xes” per formance group.

A very moving symphony of strings and bells BY BOB KR ASNER

f you feel the need to simplify composer Patrick Grant’s long-running “Tilted Axes” project, you could call it a marching band for electric guitars. But given the complexity of the compositions and the dedication of the musicians, that description falls way short. The latest performance of Grant’s “Music for Mobile Electric Guitars” was realized by 24 musicians, including Grant, on the winter solstice, in the Sasaki Garden at Washington Square Village, “The Alamo” at Astor Place a.k.a. “The Cube” and the streets between. The event was commissioned by Faculty Housing Happenings at New York University — where Grant is a professor — as part of “Make Music New York.” The confab featured music evenly divided between older pieces, structured improvisations and premieres written specifically for Friday night. One of the new pieces, “Tiltinnabulation,” was written to include another Make Music group, “Bell By Bell.” According to Tom Peyton, the leader of that multigenerational group of bell ringers, they were notified that their path might cross with “Tilted Axes” and they were given the choice of avoiding each other or playing together. Happily, they chose to do two numbers together at “The Cube” and the result was a perfect com-

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“Tilted A xes” per formers playing their “axes” (blues lingo for guitars) while crossing Broadway on their way to “The Alamo” at A stor Place.

bo of chiming guitars and bells. Guitarist Angela Babin, a “Tilted Axes” veteran, called the collaboration “fabulous!” “It was like a ‘West Side Story’ gang meet-up, TVG

with music and camaraderie and solstice celebration love,” she said. Carrying an electric guitar and an amp through the streets while playing somewhat complex music is a daunting task, but the participants found it more than worthwhile. “The universal joy of the people we encountered on our parade route caused me to transcend the discomfort I felt at not being fully in command of the music, the weight on my back and shoulders,” David Demnitz said. Sam Weisberg voiced a similar sentiment, noting, “It’s a rush like no other. It was so worth the chronic right-shoulder pain!” Grant made it through the balmy evening with a case of laryngitis that forced him to hoarsely whisper directions to bassist Sarah Metivier Schadt, who amply conveyed his instructions to the crew. “There are many unforeseen elements that we could never have predicted,” Grant reflected. “We’re thinking on our feet, we’re performing live, we’re adjusting to the public in real time. Being there, mobile, right up against the public, brings out musical choices that we’d never come up with in rehearsal. There’s nothing like it.” Onlookers concurred. “The public went nuts, in a good way!” Grant enthused. “We couldn’t be happier.” December 27, 2018

New ‘WW 3’ takes on Trump and other monsters

Satirical car toons by Peter Kuper from the current issue of “ World War 3 Illustrated.”

BY GABE HERMAN

he latest issue of “World War 3 Illustrated,” an annual countercultural graphic novel, was released in early December, continuing its tradition of serious social commentary from the left. Titled “Now is the Time of Monsters: A Graphic Discourse on Predatory Capitalism,” the collection from several artists looks at a number social issues, including Trump, but beyond

him, as well. “We wanted to talk about the morality of the age of Trump without necessarily talking all the time about Trump,” said Seth Tobocman. Tobocman co-edited this issue and co-founded WW3 in 1979 as a magazine from volunteer artists and activists based in New York City. He said that when the new issue’s theme was coming together, the word “predator” came up, which has often been in the news but has a sexual

connotation. The comic’s issue, however, was looking beyond only sexual themes. “So we thought of the term ‘monster,’ and we thought about how in Greek mythology, monsters are symbolic of the vices of humanity,” Tobocman said, adding that in medieval times, monsters represented human failings. The economy is a big theme in the issue. “We wanted to attack this notion of the wonderful robust Trump economy,” Tobocman explained. He said that even though the stock market and employment numbers are up, wages are not and many are underemployed. Tobocman noted there are high suicide rates among Uber and taxi drivers, which parallel high suicide rates among industrial workers in China. A piece in the issue called “Don’t Be Conned By Foxconn,” by Susan Simensky Bietila, explores a deal that Trump made to bring Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics company, to the U.S., despite the business’s record of worker suicides and accusations of treating employees poorly. “The economy is becoming, in a lot of ways, more desperate,” Tobocman stated. “And people have less security, even if they have greater employment

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than they might’ve had 10 years ago.” Another work in “WW 3” is “Good Jobs,” by Terry Tapp. An industrial worker most of his life, Tapp highlights the dangers of manufacturing jobs, which he says are only good jobs if workers can unionize for rights. Tobocman is a longtime East Villager and teaches at the School of Visual Arts. For this volume of “WW 3,” he contributed a graphic comic called “The Monster in Albany,” exploring environmental issues and fracking in New York State. “WW 3” co-founder Peter Kuper contributed comic monster illustrations of Trump, members of his cabinet and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Tobocman noted the collection has a section by Jenny Gonzalez Blitz that looks at the situations of people with mental illness in the workplace, and another by artist and journalist Kevin Pyle that focuses on border issues. “I could go on about every single artist because I love these folks,” Tobocman said. “They do great work, and I’m really happy to be able to present it to the public.” More information about the current issue and “World War 3 Illustrated” can be found at www.ww3.nyc . Schneps Media

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December 27, 2018

Village Independent Democrats Invite You to a

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Invited Candidates Assembly Member

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Attorney

MICHAEL BLAKE

RONALD KIM

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Assembly Member

THEO CHINO

NOMIKI KONST

LATRICE WALKER

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MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO JUMAANE WILLIAMS

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DANNY Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;DONNELL

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TONY HERBERT

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By Stuart Appelbaum, President Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, UFCW mazon has been well documented as one of the most anti-worker, anti-union companies in the U.S. and around the world. Amazon is a trillion-dollar company and is controlled by the wealthiest man on the planet; yet it consistently mistreats and dehumanizes its workers around the globe â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the very women and men who have made the company successful. Amazon workers in Germany, Italy, and Spain have gone on strike, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen massive demonstrations by Amazon workers in Great Britain over the way they are being mistreated. Amazonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business model is based on receiving taxpayer subsidies, paying little or no taxes, and mistreating their employees. Amazon warehouse workers face outrageous work quotas and cruel working conditions that have left many with illnesses and injuries. Contracted workers, such as those making â&#x20AC;&#x153;last mileâ&#x20AC;? deliveries, have described inhumane working conditions and demands. These couriers say they cannot take bathroom breaks and often feel compelled to drive dangerously to satisfy the stringent demands of Amazon. In the United Kingdom alone, there have been 600 ambulance calls to the online retailerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s warehouses in the past three years, and, according to a study by the GMB union, roughly 80 percent of workers experience pain on the job. Gov. Cuomo was absolutely right when he said recently at a rally about Charter Communications: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening in this country is thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more and more corporate power and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re trying to abuse workers. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening all across the board. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening all across the nation. But weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re saying itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not going to happen in the state of New York.â&#x20AC;? The importance of Amazon and what it means for the future world of work transcends one company. These issues and more are examined and exposed in a new report by the RWDSU called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wrong With Amazon?,â&#x20AC;? which can be viewed online here: https://tinyurl.com/WhatsWrongWithAmazon. The report details the extent of Amazonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s detrimental effects on workers and communities, and shows why, in the words of Sharan Burrow, the newly reelected head of the global labor movement, Amazon is the global labor movementâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s number one target. Nobody can call themselves pro-worker or pro-union if they exempt or ignore Amazonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behavior. If Amazon wants to be welcomed in New York, it needs to change the way it treats working women and men and their unions.

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December 27, 2018

Manhattan Happenings BY SYDNEY PEREIR A

ARTS Keith Duncan: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Easyâ&#x20AC;?: Fort Gansevoort, at 5 Ninth Ave., features works by Keith Duncan in his latest collection, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Big Easy.â&#x20AC;? The New Orleans-based artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s show opens Thurs., Jan. 10, and runs through Sat., Feb. 23. Duncanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paintings are inspired by Southern influences, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and African-American history. For more information, visit http:// www.fortgansevoort.com/. FREE

COMEDY â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mistakes Were Made: Storytelling About Failureâ&#x20AC;?: Lower East Side bar and venue Caveat hosts six storytellers sharing tales about failure Sun., Dec. 30, at 7 p.m., at 21A Clinton St. The host is storyteller Tija Mittal, who has performed with the Moth Mainstage at New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Apollo Theater. Tickets in advance $12; at the door $15. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Ages 21 and over. For tickets, visit https://www.caveat.nyc/event/ mistakes-were-made- -stor ytellingabout-failure-12-30-2018. â&#x20AC;&#x153;On this dayâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;?: Caveat, at 21A Clinton St., features comedians Nicole Pasquale, Sandi Marx, Jacqui Rossi, Calvin Cato and Eva Kirkman in a show of nostalgia based on Facebook memories and the Timehop app, which

shows what users posted years ago in the past. Hosted by Angel Yau and Ross Brunetti, Thurs., Jan. 3, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets, $10. For tickets, visit https://www.caveat.nyc/event/on-thisday-1-3-2019.

BOOKS â&#x20AC;&#x153;Popovers and Candlelightâ&#x20AC;?: Marcia Biederman with Michael David Quinn: At the New York Public Libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Main Branch Library (Schwarzman Building), at 476 Fifth Ave., 42nd St. entrance, in the program room on Wed., Jan 2, author Marcia Biederman will be joined by Michael David Quinn, former Time magazine staff writer, for a discussion about Biedermanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book â&#x20AC;&#x153;Popovers and Candlelight.â&#x20AC;? The tome tells the true story of Patricia Murphy, who bought a rundown Brooklyn diner with her last remaining dollars in 1929 and went on to run a restaurant empire. Doors open at 6 p.m.; event begins at 6:30 p.m. The N.Y.P.L. recommends registering in advance for free events. For more information, visit www.nypl.org/events/ prog ra ms /2 019 / 01/ 02 /popoversand-candlelight-marcia-biedermanmichael-david-quinn?nref=370068. FREE Reading: Gaby Dunnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bad With Moneyâ&#x20AC;?: Author Gaby Dunn appears in the city on Wed., Jan. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway, with Josh Gondelman of Showtimeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Desus and Mero,â&#x20AC;? and again on Thurs., Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m. at the 92nd St. Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., with Akilah Hughes of HBOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

On Jan. 12, the Batter y Park City Authorit y will hold the first of t wo family workshops to celebrate Por tuguese-speaking countries through music and ar t.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pod Save America.â&#x20AC;? Admission for the Strandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jan. 16 event is either buy a copy of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bad With Moneyâ&#x20AC;? or a $5 gift card. To purchase tickets, visit https://www.strandbooks.com/ event/gaby- dunn-bad-w ith-money. Admission for the 92nd St. Yâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jan. 17 event starts at $30. To purchase tickets, visit https://www.92y.org/event/ bad-with-money.

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Park City Authority holds family workshops to celebrate Portuguesespeaking countries through music and art for kids 4 and older at 6 River Terrace, Sat., Jan. 12, 4 p.m. Pianist Renato Diz will perform â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Will Play Your Soulâ&#x20AC;? in an interactive, improvised piece. There will also be an art workshop to create azulejos (â&#x20AC;&#x153;tilesâ&#x20AC;? in Portuguese), inspired by those in Lisbon, Portugal. For more information, visit https://bpca.ny.gov/news/ events/. FREE

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Trigger: Rock to shots BY GABE HERMAN

EXPR

nother Downtown landmark is shuttering. This time it’s the Continental, a dive bar and former rock venue that’s been on Third Ave. near St. Mark’s Place since 1991. The Continental’s closing was expected this summer, but got pushed back. The final night is set for Dec. 31. Real Estate Equities Corporation bought the rights to the block’s corner properties for 99 years, paying more than $150 million, and reportedly plans to develop one big “boutique office building.” The Continental’s owner and founder, who goes by Trigger Smith but usually just Trigger, admitted he’s been emotional about the closing. “I live on Avenue A. It’s going to be hard to walk by that corner and not be crushed inside,” he said, “because the place has meant so much to me. It becomes your life.” He added that while the past 12 years of the Continental as a bar were great — “I call it a ‘classy dive bar,’ some people might disagree,” he said — it was the first 15 years of music that meant the most to him. Trigger said this was partly because he loves playing music, including guitar and jazz sax, which he hopes to take up again with more free time. The relationships also made the music special. “The musicians, you know — creative, artistic, crazy, dysfunctional people in a local rock scene,” Trigger said. “You just get so close. You have a lot in common. Most of the bands aren’t gonna blow up and become rich rock stars. A few of them have… . But you’re in it together, blood sweat and tears, and you’re in it for the love of music.” Big names that played there included Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Guns N’ Roses and The Wallflowers. Trigger wanted two local bands mentioned, Sea Monster and The Waldos, who were good friends and whose music he loved. During the place’s live-music years, Trigger developed a friendship with Joey Ramone, who lived a block away, at Ninth St. and Third Ave. — “in the big white building” — and often walked by. Initially they just nodded. “I didn’t know him,” he said. “Of course, I’m a huge Ramones fan.” Joey came to see live music, but the ice wasn’t broken until they were at the same Catskills ashram, and talked about how they would see each other outside the club. Trigger meditates daily. “We hit it off, we became buddies,” he said. “We started having ‘unsigned band nights,’ bands that he was beSchneps Media

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Is giving away passes to the biggest Broadway fan convention of the year.

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

January 11–13, 2019

Trigger, outside the Continental, above, and Joey Ramone became friends while at an Upstate ashram.

at the New York Hilton Midtown in NYC

hind.” A Christmas show with Joey followed, then a birthday show, and he ended up performing there many times, including his final show, in 2000. In the early 2010s when it was a bar, the Continental was accused by some of having a racist door policy. There were protests by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, and complaints filed with the city’s Commission on Human Rights. But the commission cleared the bar of any wrongdoing or discrimination, as The Villager reported in 2013. In Trigger’s goodbye on the site, he wrote, “Our door policy was strictly about dress code and vibe code. And I’m absolutely certain we denied entry to more intoxicated, caucasian, bro types than any other group or race. A busy, centrally located, bar without a Door Policy will soon devolve into chaos, violence and things disappearing.” He doesn’t plan to duplicate the Continental. “It means a lot that we have our place in New York City rock lore,” he said. “But it’s real stressful and it takes a lot out of you.” Despite the changes to the East Village that have now also affected his business, Trigger remains fond of his home of three decades. He compared it to Burning Man, which he has attended for 17 years, which now draws Silicon Valley types to the annual desert fest. “You can’t avoid the gentrification to a certain degree, but there’s still a great vibe in the East Village,” he said. “Is it what it was 20 years ago? No, but what is?”

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December 27, 2018

To serve and digest: Police serve up beef feast

Friends, a great meal and enter tainment equaled lots of fun.

Auxiliar y Officer Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Onofrio was in charge of the wine beat.

he Annual Police Roast Beef Dinner on Dec. 13 at the senior center in Father Demo Hall at Our Lady of Pompeii Church, at Carmine and Bleecker Sts., was a delicious time for all. The food was donated by local merchants and the Sixth Precinct Community Council and was served by Sixth Precinct officers. The police

brought the beef while Le Souk provided a vegetarian option. The cost of admission was just $13 and more than $1,500 was raised, all of which goes to the senior center. Novac Noury and his merry band of carolers for the senior center provided the eveningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s musical entertainment.

PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Sixth Precinct police officers mustered at the ser ving table just before the dinner began. The officers dished out the food to the appreciative crowd.

December 27, 2018

Everyone loves the Annual Police Roast Beef Dinner, which also had a vegetarian option.

TVG

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Eats

Steaks are sizzling at Ikinari on Bleecker St. BY GABE HERMAN

kinari Steak, a restaurant chain from Japan, opened its latest Manhattan location in the Village at the end of November. The sit-down eatery, at 205 Bleecker St., between MacDougal St. and Minetta Lane, is less pricey than a traditional steakhouse. It offers a variety of cuts, including ribeye, sirloin, filet and rangiri — or assorted steaks — with prices varying depending on the size ordered. The menu also offers wagyu, or American-style Kobe beef. The meat is cooked to order and brought out still sizzling on a skillet, along with sides that can include rice, mashed potatoes, corn, broccoli or other veggies. Lunch specials range from $10 to $20 and also include salad and a cup of beef broth. There are also a large variety of mochi ice cream flavors available, including different ones every day. Wine and beers are sold, along with an extensive sake list. The chefs in the open kitchen loudly greet everyone who enters the shop with a hearty “Irasshaimase!” (“Wel-

PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

A lunch special at Ikinari Steak is a prett y hear t y meal, all for around $13.

come!”), which is potentially a little jarring for unsuspecting first-time visitors. A server said that business has been rather slow so far, but they’re expecting it to pick up after the holidays. I tried a lunch special — 7 ounces

of Angus chuck beef, with corn, white rice, salad and cup of beef broth, for around $13 — and found it delicious. Ikinari Steak first opened in Tokyo in 2013, and is owned by chef and restauranteur Kunio Ichinose. In an ex-

pansion pace that would make McDonald’s proud, it now has more than 300 locations in Japan. Hideki Kawano, president of Ikinari Steak USA, said of the Bleecker location, through a translator, “From the second we identified the space, I loved the neighborhood and we are very excited that we are able to open our doors here. Many of our guests at the Bleecker St. location said that they never had Ikinari Steak before, and they love it. We are getting a lot of positive feedback from our guests.” The Bleecker location is the eleventh in Manhattan for the chain, which has others in Midtown and on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side. There are also two Chelsea locations, at 96 Eighth Ave., between 14th and 15 Sts., and at 154 Seventh Ave., between 19th and 20th Sts. There is one in the East Village at 90 E. 10th St., between Third and Fourth Aves. An Ikinari spokesperson said there are currently no specific plans for more New York locations. Ikinari offers takeout and is available on Seamless. More information can be found on its Web site, ikinaristeakusa. com .

It’s just been one of those (holiday) weeks! Please check thevillager.com for Scoopy’s Notebook! Happy holidays!

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Real Estate

St. Mark’s: Still lively after all these years BY MARTHA WILKIE

t. Mark’s Place in the East Village has had many more than nine lives. It’s been home to Peter Stuyvesant’s fruit orchards, waves of immigrants and, eventually, poets (Auden), artists (Joan Mitchell), musicians (Debbie Harry), counterculture figures (Leon Trotsky, Lenny Bruce) and countless other creative types. By the 1960s, St. Mark’s Place was the epicenter of hippie counterculture, and in the 1970s, of rock, punk and new wave music. Led Zeppelin’s iconic “Physical Graffiti” album cover was shot there, as was a Rolling Stones video on the stoop of the same building. Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin founded the Yippies on St. Mark’s Place and it was home to radical shops such as Trash and Vaudeville and Manic Panic. Famed photographer Roberta Bayley, who chronicled the punk/new wave scene (Blondie, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols) has lived on St. Mark’s Place since 1975. I recently spoke with her after she’d just returned from Buenos Aires where her work is featured in museums and galleries. (The Ramones are huge in Argentina, who knew?) She worked the door at CBGB and knew everyone in the Downtown music and art world. What changes has she seen? “When I first came, there were almost no places, just CBGB, Max’s [Kansas City],” she said. “St. Mark’s was a very quiet block. Little by little, places started opening: Club 57, Café Orlin. What I liked about the ’70s music scene was the casualness of it all. The ‘stars’ of the scene, even the New York Dolls, who were the most famous New York band back then, would just be walking down the street like anyone else, and you could just say hello. Nobody acted like stars. It was like San Francisco in the ’60s when you’d see Janis Joplin taking the Muni bus on Haight St. Then at night, two or three good bands would be playing, and you might have to go back and forth between CB’s and Max’s to catch both sets.” “Then maybe they’d get a spot at a bigger venue like The Bottom Line or as opening act at the Palladium, and you’d go see them there, and all your friends would be there, too,” she recalled. “Nobody was making much money, so it didn’t make sense to have more than a friendly rivalry with another band. Even the groupies were friends! We were all in it together.” Bayley feels that today’s St. Mark’s is still lively (and much better than during the druggie days of the ’80s), even if a swath of empty storefronts around the corner from the (soon-to-be-closed) in-

December 27, 2018

PHOTO BY MARTHA WILKIE

The Daniel LeRoy House at 20 St. Mark’s Place was built in 1832 in the Greek Revival st yle. A New York Cit y landmark, it’s also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s the former home of the Grassroots Tavern and Sounds, the last record store on St. Mark’s. It’s now been empt y for more than t wo years.

PHOTO BY ROBERTA BAYLEY

In funkier times, Anya Phillips and Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys in front of Manic Panic, at 33 St. Mark’s Place, in 1977.

famous dive bar the Continental probably portends another glass tower. The closing of record and book shops saddens her as do the empty retail spaces. While she misses old favorites like Café Orlin, she enjoys the fun new Asian restaurants and karaoke bars that have popped up on the street. Bayley is optimistic that new efforts by the city to incentivize landlords to fill empty storefronts with small businesses might help. Even the John Varvatos shop in the old CBGB space doesn’t get too harsh a condemnation. Of Varvatos’s juxtaposition of expensive clothes with remnants of 1970s grime, she said, “A $4,000 jacket is a little incongruous! At least it’s better than another bank.”

Author Ada Calhoun, who grew up on St. Mark’s, beautifully outlines the street’s vivid history in her 2015 book “St. Marks is Dead: The Many Lives of America’s Hippest Street.” The title alludes to generation after generation claiming that their own particular “back in the day” was the street’s peak. “I’m dismayed by all the empty storefronts, and by Sounds closing a couple years back,” Calhoun said. “I’m glad East Village Books is hanging on, and Gem Spa and B&H. And it seems to me that the street’s primary identity as a place for young people to meet up and hang out has not changed, in spite of the new developments. Rent is skyhigh, but the sidewalks are still free.” To purchase prints of Bayley’s phoTVG

tography, visit rockpaperphoto.com or RobertaBayley.com. If you enjoy the St. Mark’s spirit, here are four places nearby to rent or buy. Only one place for sale is actually on St. Mark’s: No. 51, a sleek modern one-bedroom for $820,000 in a 1920s building. The renovation makes the most of a long and skinny floor plan. (https://streeteasy.com/building/51st-marks-place-new_york/10) At 64 E. Seventh St., for a mere $18 million, is a grand and idiosyncratic five-bedroom, five-bath house with a backyard garden, roof deck (complete with pizza oven), and five fireplaces. Built in 1899, it looks like the lair of a very rich, mad scientist. (http://www.ronteitelbaum.com/ East_Village_Mansion.html) For rentals, at 10 St. Mark’s Place is a sweet one-bedroom with an original (nonworking) fireplace and an attractive black-and-white kitchen, for $2,475 a month. (https://www.bondnewyork.com/ east-village/apartment-for-rent/saintmarks-place/1503217) And, finally, there’s a newly renovated duplex at 103 St. Mark’s Place in a 1920s house for $2,500 a month. It’s the former home of wildly eccentric ’80s performer Klaus Nomi. If strangers leave roses outside Emma Lazarus’s house, what do Nomi fans leave? ( ht t ps : //st r e ete a sy.c om / building /103 -st-marks-place-new_ york/3a) Schneps Media

SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS

Lower Manhattan Will Have Much to Celebrate in 2019 9P A<JJ@:8 C8GG@E

ten’s food hall will open in the Seaport’s Tin Building.

This is a special time of year. For sure, it’s a time to reﬂect. As I say goodbye to 2018 and take stock, I feel very fortunate for my family, friends, the great team at the Downtown Alliance, and the opportunity to work in this dynamic neighborhood and to live in this incredible city. This is also a time to look ahead and feel energized by the potential that comes with every new year. And 2019 should be an exciting year for us in Lower Manhattan. While we have quickly become home to an impressive collection of critically-acclaimed restaurants and museums, that trend will only continue to grow, especially when it comes to restaurants that pair excellent food with show-stopping views. In addition to Danny Meyer’s Manhatta, which opened a few months ago on the 60th Floor of 28 Liberty, we can look forward to the opening of another skyscraping culinary treat when

In terms of art and culture, Pier 17 will continue to host world class concerts and events. Last summer showcased acts like Amy Schumer and Kings of Leon for rooftop performances. I can’t wait to see what next year’s concert schedule looks like. And that’s not all. There are three big openings on the horizon that will keep people coming from near and far: the Statue of Liberty Museum, Whole Foods and the Alamo Drafthouse.

acclaimed chef James Kent opens his ﬁrst Downtown restaurant at the Art Deco building 70 Pine Street, more than 60 ﬂoors above the street. The Seaport District will also be adding several restau-

rants in the new year that will have foodies feasting on the banks of the East River. David Chang and Andrew Carmellini will open restaurants at Pier 17 alongside farm-to-table purveyor Malibu Farm. Additionally, Jean-Georges Vongerich-

The Statue of Liberty Museum, a tremendous undertaking, will open on Liberty Island in May. The facility will feature the statue’s original torch and provide millions of visitors with a new perspective on Lady Liberty. 1 Wall Street, the residential conversion project at the corner of Broadway and Wall, will soon be home to Manhattan’s newest Whole Foods,

bringing a grocery store to the center of our neighborhood. Alamo Drafthouse, the pioneer in the dinner-and-a-movie concept will open their second New York City location in the base of 28 Liberty. The theater will be joined by a host of retail options that will create another neighborhood shopping destination. All of this is just the beginning of what will surely be another great year for the neighborhood. That said, I want to hear from you about your vision for Lower Manhattan. What are your favorite local spots? What shops, restaurants and activities would you like to see here in 2019 and beyond? Let us know at whatsmissing@downtownny. com Thanks reading, for your partnership, and for your passion for our neighborhood. From the Alliance family to yours, I wish you a healthy, happy and peaceful new year. See you in 2019!

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