Manhattan Express - February 21, 2019 by Schneps Media

V isit us online a t w w w. M anha t t an E x pr e s s .co m

MIDTOWN, UPPER EAST & WEST SIDES

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 3

FEBRUARY 21 – MARCH 6, 2019

NOT FEELING A VOID

City stops work on ‘loophole tower’ Page 3

NO MORE HORSING AROUND! Judge: Carriages must queue in park

Page 6

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City pulls permits on tricky tower-boost try BY GABE HERMAN

ast month, the Department of Buildings revoked permits for a condo tower that was set to soar on W. 66th St. But this wasn’t your typical tower. Extell Development Company, which is constructing the high-rise, at 50 W. 66th St., between Central Park West and Columbus Ave., was accused by opponents of exploiting zoning loopholes to build a “supertall” building that would rise 775 feet yet have just 40 stories. A large “void” space in the building was set be used to save allowable floorarea ratio, or F.A.R., while allowing the developer to build more units higher up with better views that would command higher prices. D.O.B. said in a statement to this paper that the planned void is unusual and also potentially dangerous. “D.O.B. determined that the 160foot void proposed for this building is not customarily found in residential buildings, and so is contrary to the Zoning Resolution,” the statement said. “In addition, we have raised objections, which the developer has not addressed, that occupants of the building may not be able to get from one emergency stairway to the other — as is required — within the proposed void.” The original approved tower plans were for a 25-story building, which, according to D.O.B., Extell still has the right to continue to construct. But the department said that the developer must bring back amended plans that address the large mechanical space in the building if it wants to move forward with the bigger 40-story project. The “supertall” plan was vehemently opposed by local activists and officials, including Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, the W. 65th and 66th Sts. Block Association, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. “I applaud the decision by D.O.B. to revoke the permits for Extell’s proposed supertall tower on W. 66th St.,” Brewer said. “From the beginning, I have opposed the developer’s decision to use a monstrous 160-foot void to boost the number of condos with views — and boost sale prices — while robbing the community of sunlight and air. By ruling that a mechanical space with a floor-to-floor height of 160 feet is not an ‘accessory use’ allowed under zoning, D.O.B. correctly interpreted both the letter and the intent of the city’s zoning code.” By “floor-to-floor height,” Brewer was referring to the distance from the void’s bottom to its top. F.A.R. calculates a building’s square footage by the amount of physical floor space. So even if the void is 160 feet tall, it only counts as one floor’s worth of F.A.R., allowing the developer to add more F.A.R. — as Schneps Media

A rendering of the super tall tower planned at 50 W. 66th St., in the version that would have exploited a 160-foot-high “void” to allow taller construction. Rendering cour tesy Extell

Work was already under way on the project’s foundation when the permits were pulled. Photo by Chris Giordano

in, more real floors — above it, until the F.A.R. limit, under the site’s zoning, is reached. Chris Giordano is the founder and president of the W. 65th and 66th Sts. Block Association. “Our community is grateful to the hard work and guidance we’ve received from [community group] Landmark West, [zoning lawyer] George Janes,

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Roberta Semer of Community Board 7,” Giordano said. “We’re also pleased that the Department of Buildings is recognizing that it is not acceptable for developers to exploit loopholes like oversized intrabuilding voids. Our community plans to remain vigilant.” Work had already begun on the deMEX

velopment site at 50 W. 66th St. at the time of the stop-work order. “They appear to be very close to finishing the excavation phase of the project,” Giordano noted. Extell could not be reached for comment about the permits being revoked. Several other supertall buildings have been built or proposed in Lower and Midtown Manhattan, with voids being a favored tool of developers to boost their projects’ height, and “get around” F.A.R. limits. “This is a victory not only for the Upper West Side, but for communities all over the city that find themselves outgunned by developers who try to bend or break zoning rules for massive private profit,” Brewer said. “My office will continue to work with the City Council to urge the Department of City Planning to amend the Zoning Resolution so that communities do not have to resort to permit challenges every time a building like this is proposed.” Brewer also co-signed a Jan. 10 letter with all 10 Manhattan city councilmembers that asked City Planning and D.O.B. to comprehensively address zoning loopholes that Brewer and the pols say developers are using in projects. “The race for the most sweeping view of New York City and the equally stratospheric prices those views command, combined with recent technological advances in building design, have far outpaced the expectations of building scale when the zoning in many of the areas was adopted,” the joint letter read. “In these instances, the bulk regulations are not controlling for building scale and we are concerned this is the beginning of the wave of this kind of development. “We recognize the need for density to achieve very important public policy goals, including housing production,” the letter continued. “But the loopholes that are being exploited do not produce any new housing units. The loopholes simply put the same number of units higher in the sky, not only frustrating communities but also raising safety concerns from our emergency-service workers.” The elected officials’ letter urged that the definitions of zoning lots be tightened up to prevent “gerrymandering” of lots — when a developer tacks on the F.A.R. of a lot that can’t be built on itself but allows for more floor area at the planned building site. A City Planning spokesperson said the department had received the letter and was looking into the request. Subsequently, later last month, City Planning proposed a zoning amendment under which voids more than 25 feet tall would count toward the building’s F.A.R. Februar y 21 - March 6, 2019

Police Blotter Fresh thief A woman getting lunch suddenly realized she had no way to pay for her meal after discovering her wallet had been stolen. At 2:14 p.m. on Tues., Feb. 12., the 33-year-old woman reported her wallet missing after trying to pay for food at a Fresh & Co., at 127 E. 60th St. The thief took the victim’s two Chase Sapphire cards, a Bank of America debit card, driver’s license, $14 Gap certificate, $300 Bloomingdale gift card, three buybuy Baby gift cards worth $200 and a Capital One card. According to police, once the pickpocket snatched the wallet, he treated himself to some soup at the deli before purchasing a $1,442 Louis Vuitton bag with one of the Chase cards. After his lunch and shopping spree, the thief used the second Chase card to buy a cup of coffee at the Starbucks at 1021 Third Ave. Officers from the 19th Precinct were able to identify a possible suspect, described as a black male standing about 5-foot-10-inches tall, via security footage at Bloomingdale Louis Vuitton.

Bad movie A night out at the movies turned out to be not much fun when a Manhattan woman’s wallet was stolen while she sat in the theater. The 77-year-old was walking out of the AMC Orpheum 7, at 1538 Third Ave, at E. 86th St., when she noticed that her purse felt lighter. According to police, the victim noticed that her wallet and cell phone were missing from her bag. The moviegoer eventually found her purse and wallet in the theater, but all of her cards had been taken out of the wallet. Missing from the wallet were a $100 card, a MetroCard, a DMV photo ID card, a blank check and a Bank of America debit card, which was used to purchase $433 worth of goods at a Best Buy store. Police sources said that a few other patrons have reported things stolen while at this AMC Orpheum.

Church theft Police are asking for the public’s help in finding a man wanted for robbing an Upper East Side Catholic church. At 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 30, an unidentified man entered St. Monica’s Church, at 413 E. 79th St., and took four brass candlestick holders and placed them inside a suitcase. He then exited the house of worship and fled on foot in an unknown direction, according to police.

Februar y 21 - March 6, 2019

A sur veillance photo of a man who allegedly tried to rape a woman at knifepoint in Midtown. Cour tesy N.Y.P.D.

for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on the CrimeStoppers Web site at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting to 274637

The candlestick holders are worth about $3,000 each. Surveillance footage from inside the church shows the thief wearing all-dark clothing. Police describe the crook as between the ages of 40 and 50. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on the CrimeStoppers Web site at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.

(CRIMES) and then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.

Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech and Gabe Herman

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Attempted rape

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There was an attempted rape this past Sun., Feb. 17, in Midtown, according to a police report. Around 8:05 p.m., a 21-year-old woman met a man around E. 45 St. and Vanderbilt Ave. They then entered a residence, police said, and once inside, the man displayed a knife and tried to sexually assault the woman. She fought the attacker and suffered minor injuries, after which the man fled in an unknown direction. Surveillance video was provided by the police. The man is described as Asian/Pacific with medium complexion, about 18 to 25 years old, 5-feet-8 -inches tall and weighing 160 pounds. He has black hair and black facial hair, brown eyes and a medium build. He was last seen wearing a green jacket, black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and gray shoes. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or

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Februar y 21 - March 6, 2019

Hoof comes to shove: Horse lines moving to park

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

A carriage horse trudges through traffic along Central Park South.

An exhibit from the case Stephen Malone et al v Cit y of New York purpor ts to show how the carriage horses would queue bet ween existing curbs in the park, which would make it hard for the horses to get out of the line, if for example, a horse needs to “clock out” at the end of its nine-hour day. But animal-rights advocates say these areas are, in fact, being renovated, so Malone’s argument is misleading and moot.

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

A carriage horse in one of the horses’ traditional hack lines on Central Park South. Under the mayor’s plan, the hack lines will move inside the park’s entrances, repor tedly as soon as next week.

BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

he Central Park carriage horses will no longer pick up passengers outside of the park. On Wed., Feb. 13, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled in favor of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s push to ban horse-drawn carriages from waiting for passengers outside of the park. Edita Birnkrant, executive director of the animal-rights group New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS, hailed the decision. “This is obviously a victory for the horses and for the whole city,” she said. While running for mayor in 2013, de Blasio received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from NYCLASS and made a promise to ban carriage horses on “Day One,” if elected. The new rules, which were proposed last August, grant the city’s Department of Transportation authority over horsecarriage pickup locations, also known as “hack lines.” The city’s Department of Health and the Department of Consumer

Februar y 21 - March 6, 2019

Affairs are the agencies that actually regulate horse-drawn carriages. D.O.T. is now constructing three pickup locations inside the park’s entrances at Seventh and Sixth Aves. and Grand Army Plaza near Fifth Ave. But while animal-rights activists are delighted by Engoron’s ruling, horse-carriage drivers believe the new rules will makes things worse for the 200 horses in the city’s carriage industry. According to the carriage drivers that fought against the mayor’s idea in court, relocating the horses would be detrimental to the animals’ well-being. A horse expert, Dr. Joseph Bertone, professor of equine medicine at Western University of Health Science, weighed in with an affidavit filed Feb. 4. “They will be stressed by their new surroundings, which will be magnified because every other nearby horse will also be stressed,” Bertone maintained. The drivers also claim that the new hack lines are not long enough to comfortably fit 68 standing carriages — which, they say, is imperative when business is slow — and are not wide enough for two

carriages to pass one another safely. The proposed hack line at Seventh Ave. also would force the horses to stand for long periods of time at a downward incline, they added. Christina Hansen, the communications liaison for Historic Horse-Drawn Carriages of Central Park and one of the horse-carriage drivers fighting the new hack lines, described how this would be a recipe for trouble. “The physiology that horses use to be able to sleep standing up and to rest doesn’t work if they are pointed downhill,” Hansen said. “So, try telling that to D.O.T. when they don’t meet with you,” she added. Hansen claims that she and other carriages drivers have already tried to meet with D.O.T. three times to explain why the new hack lines would be dangerous, but to no avail. And not just the horses would be hurt by the new rules, but the passengers and drivers would be, too, according to Hansen. In court documents, carriage drivers claimed the new hack-line locations would make it difficult to pick up passenMEX

gers with accessibility issues. According to the court documents, the drivers fear that, under the new setup, they would get ticketed for working their horses for more than nine hours a day since the animals would have a harder time leaving the standing line — or would actually be stuck in line — when they are supposed to be “clocking out.” “Their agenda is not to help the horses, it’s not to help our business, it’s not even to deal with 59th St.,” said Hansen, referring to D.O.T. and NYCLASS. “It’s [being done] because they think nobody should be taking any carriage rides at all.” According to Birnkrant of NYCLASS, however, the areas for the new hack lines are being renovated to eliminate the conditions cited above that the drivers are complaining about, so those arguments are basically moot. She added that the new hack lines are scheduled to be completed by Feb. 25, which is also when the carriages would start operating out of those locations. D.O.T. has not responded to this paper’s questions seeking to confirm that timetable. Schneps Media

Affordable Housing for Rent 1766-68 Second Avenue Apartments 28 NEWLY CONSTRUCTED UNITS AT 1766-68 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10128 Yorkville Amenities: Bike room, laundry (card operated), roof deck. Transit: Trains: Q, 4, 5, 6, Buses: M15, M103 No application fee â&#x20AC;˘ No brokerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fee â&#x20AC;˘ Smoke-free building This building is being constructed through the Inclusionary Housing Program and is anticipated to receive a Tax Exemption through the 421-a Tax Incentive Program of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Who Should Apply?

Individuals or households who meet the income and household size requirements listed in the table below may apply. Qualified applicants will be required to meet additional selection criteria. Applicants who live in New York City receive a general preference for apartments.

A percentage of units are set aside for applicants with disabilities: o Mobility (5%) o Vision/Hearing (2%). Preference for a percentage of units goes to: o Residents of Manhattan Community Board 8 (50%) o Municipal employees (5%)

Studio 1 bedroom

2 bedroom

3 bedroom

Monthly Rent1

Units Available

$1018

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Household Size2

Annual Household Income3

1 person

$36,858 - $51,170

Minimum â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Maximum

80% AREA MEDIAN INCOME (AMI) UNITS

Unit Size

70% AREA MEDIAN INCOME (AMI) UNITS

AVAILABLE UNITS AND INCOME REQUIREMENTS Monthly Rent1

Units Available

$1168

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$42,069 - $58,480

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2 people

$45,018 - $66,800

2 people

$53,863 - $66,800

3 people

$53,863 - $75,120

4 people

$53,863 - $83,440

3 people

$62,298 - $75,120

4 people

$62,298 - $83,440

5 people

$62,298 - $90,160

6 people

$62,298 - $96,800

Rent includes gas for cooking and heat. 2 Household size includes everyone who will live with you, including parents and children. Subject to occupancy criteria. 3 Household earnings includes salary, hourly wages, tips, Social Security, child support, and other income. Income guidelines subject to change. 4 Minimum income listed may not apply to applicants with Section 8 or other qualifying rental subsidies. Asset limits also apply.

How Do You Apply? Apply online or through mail. To apply online, please go to nyc.gov/housingconnect. To request an application by mail, send a selfaddressed envelope to: 1766-68 Second Avenue Apartments c/o Breaking Ground, PO Box 4624, New York, NY, 10163. Only send one application per development. Do not submit duplicate applications. Do not apply online and also send in a paper application. Applicants who submit more than one application may be disqualified. When is the Deadline? Applications must be postmarked or submitted online no later than April 16, 2019. Late applications will not be considered. What Happens After You Submit an Application? After the deadline, applications are selected for review through a lottery process. If yours is selected and you appear to qualify, you will be invited to an appointment of eligibility to continue the process of determining your eligibility. Appointments are usually scheduled from 2 to 10 months after the application deadline. You will be asked to bring documents that verify your household size, identity of members of your household, and your household income. EspaĂąol

Presente una solicitud en lĂnea en nyc.gov/housingconnect. Para recibir una traducciĂłn de espaĂąol de este anuncio y la solicitud impresa, envĂe un sobre con la direcciĂłn a: 1766-68 Second Avenue Apartments c/o Breaking Ground, PO Box 4624, New York, NY, 10163 En el reverso del sobre, escriba en inglĂŠs la palabra â&#x20AC;&#x153;SPANISH.â&#x20AC;? Las solicitudes se deben enviar en lĂnea o con sello postal antes de 16 de abril 2019.

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KreyĂ˛l Ayisyien

Aplike sou entĂ¨nĂ¨t sou sitwĂ¨b nyc.gov/housingconnect. Pou resevwa yon tradiksyon anons sa a nan lang KreyĂ˛l Ayisyen ak aplikasyon an sou papye, voye anvlĂ˛p ki gen adrĂ¨s pou retounen li nan: 1766-68 Second Avenue Apartments c/o Breaking Ground, PO Box 4624, New York, NY, 10163Nan dĂ¨yĂ¨ anvlĂ˛p la, ekri mo â&#x20AC;&#x153;HATIAN CREOLEâ&#x20AC;? an AnglĂ¨. Ou dwe remĂ¨t aplikasyon yo sou entĂ¨nĂ¨t oswa ou dwe tenbre yo anvan dat avril 16, 2019.

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Februar y 21 - March 6, 2019

Obituary

Jack Taylor, 93, preserved Ladies Mile, Tammany BY GABE HERMAN

ack Taylor, a preservationist who fought to save many historic Downtown buildings, died on Feb. 8 at age

93. Among Taylor’s victories were the Ladies Mile row of century-old buildings on Sixth Ave. in the upper teens and low 20s blocks that were landmarked in 1989; and the Tammany Hall building at 100 E. 17 St., designated a historic site in 2013 after a decades-long struggle. A few years ago, Taylor fought a proposal to add to the Tammany building a turtle shell-shaped dome, referencing a statue inside the building. “It’s nothing that preservationists want, as far as I’m concerned,” Taylor told The Villager in 2015. “We pressured [the Landmarks Preservation Commission] for 29 years to landmark Tammany Hall — and now we got into this.” Taylor also noted in the article, “The Tammany building was designed to simulate the old Federal Hall on Wall St., where Washington took the oath of office. The original Federal Hall was a Georgian design — there certainly was no dome.” Marjorie Berk, who knew Taylor since 1981 and worked with him in the Union Square Community Coalition, said he had a remarkable knowledge of the city’s buildings. “It’s impossible to describe how strong historic preservation was in him,” she said, noting his leadership in so many preservation efforts. “He was extremely passionate about keeping as much of New York as possible.” Taylor was a board member at U.S.C.C., and was also on the board of the Historic Districts Council, which

Jack Taylor, left, giving a Ladies Mile tour in 2010. He was a leader of the effor t to landmark the blocks of former depar tment store buildings. Photo by Miriam Berman

Taylor was born on April 25, 1925, in the Hotel Earle, now called the Washington Square Hotel, at 103 Waverly Place, across from the park. He attended Trinity prep school in the city, where he was in a play with Truman Capote, and then went to Phillips Academy, in Andover, Massachusetts, where he knew George H.W. Bush, according to Berk. Taylor served in the Army during the later years of World War II, and was stationed in England. He later attended Georgetown University and worked for the Washington Post before being an editor at Family Circle Magazine, according to The New York Times. Taylor’s preservation work started after he retired as an editor, when he fought to save Luchow’s restaurant on E. 14 St. The famed eatery was eventually torn down in the 1990s.

bestowed on him its Landmarks Lion award in 1992. He was on the landmarks committees for both Community Boards 5 and 6, and was also involved with the Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association and the Gramercy Park Block Association. “He worked tirelessly, I don’t think he could ever be replaced,” said Anna Sawaryn, chairperson of the Coalition to Save the East Village, who also worked with Taylor at U.S.C.C. “When he talked about old buildings, how wonderful they are and how they need to be landmarked, it was like listening to a poem.” Jack Taylor lived on E. 18th St., according to Carol Greitzer, a former councilmember who worked with Taylor on some preservation efforts, including an unsuccessful effort to save composer Antonin Dvorak’s house on E. 17th St.

Though not every effort was successful, Taylor was instrumental in saving many of the historic buildings around Union Square. In 2015, Greitzer and Taylor co-wrote a brochure for U.S.C.C. that marked the 50th anniversary of the city’s Landmarks Law and noted the 14 buildings the group successfully supported for landmark designation. Some of those buildings include the former Bank of the Metropolis, at 31 Union Square West; The Lincoln Building, at 1 Union Square West; the former Union Square Savings Bank, at 20 Union Square East; and Tammany Hall, across from the park’s northeast corner. “He was a nice man, had a great disposition,” said Sawaryn, who recalled spending time with him every year at U.S.C.C.’s street fair. “He was wonderful to be around. I’m going to miss him tremendously.” Greitzer recalled that Taylor refused to buy a computer. She would receive letters in the mail from him, often relevant articles that he had duplicated, with even the envelope addresses punched out on his typewriter. She said if you were on a board or committee with Taylor, someone would always have to be appointed to call him to let him know about the next meeting date. “He was very proud that he got along without a computer,” she said. “I tried to tell him he was inconveniencing a lot of other people, but that didn’t seem to make any difference.” Berk said he was modest and didn’t want the limelight, instead preferring to focus on the preservation work. Sawaryn said of Taylor, “It’s going to take a lot of people to fill his shoes because he did a lot of wonderful things for our community.”

Rivera and Rosenthal call for softer sirens BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELLDOMENECH

n Feb. 13, Councilmembers Helen Rosenthal and Carlina Rivera introduced legislation to change sirens on city ambulances from the American wail to the European two-tone. The new legislation is a push to reduce the amount of noise in the city, one of New Yorkers’ most frequent complaints. According to the city’s NYC Open Data, there were 388,383 noise complaints made to 311 in 2018. “Noise pollution is an often unrecognized but very real public health issue,”

Februar y 21 - March 6, 2019

nai Hospital. Mt. Sinai has a total of 24 ambulances that responded to 100,000 emergency calls last year. By the time Rosenthal’s office reached out to the hospital, however, Mt. Sinai had already started testing the effect of European two-tone sirens — which emit a high and then a low tone — with four of their ambulances to address complaints. Davis learned in 2017 that the Whelen brand sirens used on Mt. Sinai ambulances can emit a variety of tones. The two-tone siren was then tested on four ambulances. “It’s funny that we changed it, and the complaints started to go away,” he

said Rosenthal. Studies have shown that exposure to chronic environmental noise, like construction and traffic, increase adverse health effects, such as sleep disturbance, cardiovascular disease and hearing loss. Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side, has received many complaints from constituents about sirens, especially from ambulances, since her first year in office. In 2017, her office reached out to Mt. Sinai Hospital about the complaints. The hospital is no stranger to siren complaints, according to Joe Davis, senior director of EMS Services at Mt. SiMEX

Davis. After hearing positive feedback from the drivers and crew, Davis decided to present the two-tone siren sound at a community board meeting at the hospital to gauge public opinion. “I told them what was available, what we had, and it’s funny they all picked the ‘high-low,’ ” said Davis. Now all of the hospital’s two-dozen ambulances use the less-piercing European two-tone. “We still get them,” said Davis about noise complaints to the hospital. People will always hate sirens, Davis conceded. “But it’s not as many as we had,” he said. Schneps Media

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In recent years, injury and even death, to pedestrians in automobile-related accidents has increased drastically due to increasing use of vehicles for travel as well as the number of them on the road at a single time. Add that to the foot trafﬁc of any street, major or small, especially in the City of New York, and it is a recipe for disaster. In one year, 76,000 pedestrians were injured in vehicle-related accidents, which means that roughly one pedestrian was injured every 7 minutes. Drivers of automobiles are often at fault for accidents in which pedestrians are injured. Driver fault examples include drinking or drug use, inattention due to the use of cell phones or other devices, and speeding. Other types of accidents where the driver is at fault include not yielding to pedestrians while turning, running a light or stop sign, failing to notice a pedestrian, and driving on the sidewalk, all causing injuries to pedestrians. Even pedestrians who bear some negligence or fault for their accident are usually entitled to a recovery, which will be reduced by the pedestrian’s percentage of fault. Although no-fault auto insurance coverage covers some medical expenses and loss of wages, they usually do not cover all the expenses

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involved for medical care from some serious injuries suffered in major accidents. When the statutory requirement for serious injuries is met, an action can be brought for compensation for pain and suffering suffered by a pedestrian in an auto accident. No-fault beneﬁts usually cover up to $50,000 for medical expenses and loss of wages. In addition to a recovery for pain and suffering, medical expenses and loss of wages above the basis of $50,000, no-fault limit can be secured as well for victims who suffer a “serious injury.” If you or a loved one were the victim of a pedestrian automobile accident, you may be entitled to recover damages in a lawsuit. You should contact an attorney immediately to discuss your options.

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Politicians push to regulate security deposits BY GABE HERMAN

ity and state legislation was introduced on Feb. 13 that would regulate security deposits on apartment rentals. City Comptroller Scott Stringer released a report last July that estimated that New Yorkers spent more than $500 million in security deposits in 2016. It

said that many low-income residents not in rent-regulated apartments often pay more than the typical deposit fee of one monthsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rent, especially those with lower credit scores. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For these low-wage renters,â&#x20AC;? the report said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;a security deposit of two or three times the monthly rent is not uncommon â&#x20AC;&#x201D; further evidence that it can be â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;expensiveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to be poor.â&#x20AC;? The report further said that prospec-

New legislation to regulate security deposits for rental apar tments is backed up by a repor t by Cit y Comptroller Scott Stringer.

tive renters can also sometimes have to pay fees for background and credit checks, which add to the financial burden. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We know that one major reason people canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford to live in New York City is out-of-control and completely unregulated security deposits,â&#x20AC;? Stringer said this week in a statement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preposterous that a landlord can demand many monthsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rent from a tenant and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s little recourse if they just decide to keep it.â&#x20AC;? State Senator Brad Holyman, who represents much of Downtown and Midtown Manhattan, is a co-sponsor of

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the state legislation. Backers of the City Council bills include local Councilmembers Carlina Rivera and Keith Powers. The proposed legislation would limit security deposits to one monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rent; allow for deposits to be paid in up to six installments instead of all at once; and create a protection program where a third party would hold the deposit, make sure it is returned, and resolve disputes between landlord and tenant. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unchecked security deposits are forcing tenants to lose out and help make our city increasingly unaffordable for New Yorkers,â&#x20AC;? Rivera said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Creating a fair system where residents know what landlords can charge them eliminates the abuse caused by bad actors in the real estate market.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;When landlords ask for thousands of dollars in upfront costs just to move into an apartment, they are shutting out thousands of vulnerable people â&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially those from marginalized communities,â&#x20AC;? Hoylman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Capping security deposits will eliminate one of the major barriers that prevent tenants from accessing safe, affordable housing across our city.â&#x20AC;? Stringer and the coalition of state and city officials have started a survey to hear from New Yorkers about issues faced with security deposits. The survey can be found at comptroller.nyc.gov/ security-deposit-survey/.

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Februar y 21, 2019

PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

At a press conference before the hearing in Albany on sexual harassment, from left, Leah Heber t, C ynthia Nixon, Erica Vladimir, Rita Pasarell, Danielle Bennett, Patricia Gunning and Eliyanna Kaiser. Heber t, Vladimir, Pasarell, Bennett and Kaiser are all members of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, or SHWG.

Cyn, victims call for crackdown on harassment in 27 years. “Some people in office view this as a problem that they would like to go away,” said Cynthia Nixon, the actor and activist who ran for governor last year, speaking at the law office of Cuti

BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELLDOMENECH

n Feb.13., the New York State Legislature held its first public hearing on sexual harassment

Hector Wang on Feb. 12. “But this is a problem that we need to not go away but that we need to solve,” she said. Nixon was joined by five members of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, or SHWG, and Patricia Gunning, a candidate for Rockland County district attorney, at the 305 Broadway law office. All seven members of SHWG say they suffered sexual harassment while formerly working in the state Legislature. The gathering’s purpose was to push for more hearings across the state on the issue and to emphasize the importance of new survivor-centric sexualharassment legislation. Assemblymember Aravella Simotas and state Senator Alessandra Biaggi introduced a series of survivor-centric sexual harassment bills in December. As a group of women who experienced sexual harassment or abuse while working in New York State government, the fight against sexual harassment is deeply personal for the SHWG members. The inspiration for Simotas’s and Biaggi’s bills came from a policy paper released by the group. All of the SHWG members present at the press conference, along with D.C.based member Elizabeth Crothers, planned to testify in Albany. They view themselves, unfortunately, as experts on the topic. “Some of the proposed legislation is very technical, so there might be unintended loopholes,” said SHWG member Erica Vladimir, who accused former state Senator Jeff Klein of unwanted kissing in 2015. “You won’t really know about those unless you are on the ground and you have actually gone through these expe-

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has received a Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) application from The Rector, Church-Wardens, and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, in the city of New-York; 92 HH LLC; New Remainderman 92 AOA LLC for a site known as 92 Avenue of the Americas, site ID #C231130. This site is located in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan in the County of New York and is located at 92-98 Avenue of the Americas. Comments regarding this application must be submitted no later than March 29, 2019. A copy of the application and other relevant documents are available at the document repositories located at New York Public Library –Hudson Park Branch, 66 Leroy Street, New York, NY 10014 and Manhattan Community Board 2, 3 Washington Square Village #1A, New York, NY 10012. Information regarding the site and how to submit comments can be found at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/60058.html or send comments to Steven Wu, Project Manager, NYSDEC, 47-40 21st Street, Long Island City, NY 111015401; steven.wu@dec.ny.gov; or call 718-459-7801. To have information such as this notice sent right to your email, sign up with county email listservs available at www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/61092.html.

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riences,” Vladimir said. “By telling our stories, that can really provide a strong foundation for the strongest laws in the nation.” Simotas and Biaggi introduced a total of six bills that aligned with SHWG’s mission. The first of these would require that anyone entering a confidentiality agreement first be given a written waiver explaining the full consequences of the agreement and the rights they would be surrendering. The second bill would require all employers to tell their employees that just because they have signed an employment contract with nondisclosure or nondisparagement provisions, they can still speak to law enforcement, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the state Division of Human Rights or a local Commission on Human Rights. The third bill would extend the time to file a sexual harassment or discrimination complaint with the New York State Human Rights Division from one year to three years. The fourth measure mandates that all state employees complete annual bystander-intervention training. The fifth bill requires all that all settlement agreements related to discrimination, sexual harassment or sexual assault be disclosed to the New York State Attorney General’s Office. The sixth would mandate that a victim of sexual harassment is entitled to extra compensation if she or he agrees to settling with a confidentiality agreement. “We are going to be watching and see who really shows up and who really listens,” Nixon said of the hearing. Schneps Media

Credico in Chelsea, out of Stone’s crosshairs BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

enturing into Manhattan, Randy Credico, a.k.a. “Person 2” in the Roger Stone indictment in the Russian collusion investigation, was out on the town in Chelsea Monday. Of course, right along with him was his ever-loyal canine sidekick, Bianca. Tagging along was a two-man Danish crew doing a documentary on Credico. But the standup comic-turned-activist/ radio journalist signed an agreement that the flick won’t air until 2020. They also met up with Martin Stolar, Credico’s attorney, and a lawyer friend of Credico’s for a bite at Hollywood Diner, at Sixth Ave. at 16th St. To hear Credico tell it, all the TV news shows are calling him right now, all wanting to land the first big interview with him since Stone’s indictment. He said he’ll likely go on one or two of the prime-time shows “very soon.” For right now, though, he’s not really talking to anyone. And he said he won’t be able to talk about the case on TV, though can talk about other things. Stone has fingered Credico as being his alleged “back channel” to WikiLeaks, purportedly tipping the G.O.P. “dirty trickster” off before WikiLeaks dumped e-mails damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Credico, though, denies he was

PHOTO BY JEFFERSON SIEGEL

Randy Credico and his dog Bianca tr y to relax Monday evening Feb. 18 at a diner in Chelsea.

Stone’s WikiLeaks connection. Last month, this newspaper reported exclusively that a jittery Credico was holed up in an apartment in a remote outer-borough location in the wake of his former off-and-on-again frenemy

Stone’s indictment. Five of the seven counts the grand jury charged Stone with involve Credico, including, notably, one for witness tampering. Credico continues to keep a low profile. Asked via Facebook messages if

anyone spotted him while he was out in Chelsea, he said no, that he wore sunglasses and a baseball cap. While with the documentary crew, Credico was mum about the upcoming court case, in which it’s expected he’ll testify as a witness. For his part, Stone has pled not guilty to witness tampering, as well as obstruction and making false statements to Congress. Though Credico told this newspaper he’s not talking about anything related to the case now, he gave a tip that he’d be back in his old Manhattan stomping grounds Monday with the film crew. Meanwhile, Stone on Monday posted an image on Instagram showing a crosshairs next to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman, who is presiding on the case. Last Friday, Berman slapped a gag order on the proceedings, prohibiting Stone, the attorneys and witnesses from talking about it publicly. Stone reportedly took the threatening image down after an hour. He later claimed it was a “random photo” and meant no disrespect by it. In their written indictment, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors said Stone, in an e-mail last April 9 threatened to take teeny Bianca — Credico’s therapy dog — from him. The same day, the indictment states, Stone e-mailed Credico: “I am so ready. Let’s get it on. Prepare to die [expletive].”

Make the City Your Classroom The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is ranked among the top five community colleges in the U.S. With nine locations in the heart of Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx, BMCC personifies the excitement and culture of New York City. BMCC attracts ambitious individuals of every age who are seeking intellectual enrichment and a supportive environment to start or continue their college career. Students benefit from leading associate degree programs in STEM, business management, criminal justice, liberal arts and nursing, in addition to career-focused continuing education. BMCC offers flexible day, evening, weekend and online classes as well as support services including academic advisement, tutoring, child care, LGBTQ services, financial benefits, counseling and mentoring to help students balance college life Schneps Media

with family and professional obligations. BMCC has forged transfer agreements with top colleges, and maintains unique partnerships with sur-

rounding businesses to offer students a range of opportunities and resources. The BMCC value includes an affordable, high-quality education that pays off. Graduates TVG

are reaching greater levels; prepared for what comes next and creating a clear path to their dreams. Attend the Open House on Saturday, March 23 to

discover all the exciting opportunities at BMCC. Reserve your spot www. bmcc.cuny.edu/cng Start Here. Go Anywhere. Februar y 21, 2019

Letters to the Editor Battle lines are clear

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Covering Manhattan in more ways than one

To The Editor: Re “Wanted: Candidates who’ll fight big real estate” (viewpoint, by Lynn Ellsworth, Feb. 14): Lynn Ellsworth has put a spotlight on two top candidates who, I agree, will stand up to the the mayor and the billionaire real estate bullies and racketeers who are running roughshod over New Yorkers. I also think Ben Yee is a grassroots activist working within the Democratic Party to help clean it up, and there certainly is a lot of cleaning up to do. He is an excellent candidate. Nomiki Konst and David Eisenbach have the experience, energy, integrity and courage a public advocate needs to effectively challenge city administrators who are in the pocket of REBNY (Real Estate Board of New York) and the many property speculators, ruthless developers and slumlords REBNY represents. Eisenbach, running on the Stop REBNY Party line, has been a tireless advocate to pass intact the Small Business Jobs Survival Act to save our momand-pop stores and other small businesses from further extinction. REBNY has prevented passage of the S.B.J.S.A. for 33 years, and REBNY Chairperson Bill Rudin and President John Banks have made it clear they have no intention to ever let it pass. You can view eight public advocate candidates showing the courage to publicly rebuke REBNY by boldly posing with a “Beware of REBNY Real Estate Bullies Plaguing New York” flier at http:// www.stopREBNYbullies.org They are Theo Chino, Dan Christmann, David Eisenbach, Nomiki Konst, Latrice Walker, Jumaane Williams, Ben Yee and Michael Zumbluskas. Ray Rogers Rogers is director, Campaign to Stop REBNY Bullies

Hendrix trip must be local To The Editor: Re “Bad trip for ‘Hendrix Way’ sign experience” (news article, Feb. 14): The petition should have the reasons for why the street should be co-named after Hendrix, including the impact he had on that street. So if 10,000 Brits signed the online petition, that is meaningless. Someone has to hit the pavement and get locals’ signatures. I am a Jimi Hendrix fan. I own a master recording

PRINT DIGITAL EVENTS 20

Februar y 21, 2019

REPORTER GABE HERMAN

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

with Jimi’s performance. But it’s about fairness to the people on that street. Julius Tajiddin

The shop has got sole To The Editor: Re “Downstairs shoe-repair hopes for an upside” (City Business article, Feb. 15): Nice to see the press get on this spot. My wife and I have stayed with them for more than 20 years. They have certainly been there for all of us. Jose does a great job on women’s boots and shoes, too. We all need to spread the word to newcomers to try their services. Arthur Kriemelman

Where is your tenant? To The Editor: Re “Will new cracks in facade break old P.S. 64 stalemate?” (news article, Feb. 14): LES, the people have spoken: Build the dorm! Where is your fi nancially viable tenant? It’s been 20 years. Time to get specific and stop saying you want a community center with no tenant. Who is the tenant? Who is paying the rent? That is how the real world works. The city won’t give a permit without a tenant, so who is it already? Of course you know they will do the same thing: Say it’s not a valid lease because they want the building for their benefactor. However, if there is a bona-fide tenant, let’s get a lease and send it to the Department of Buildings. It’s just rhetoric from the naysayers but no solutions. O.K., I need to go work on other properties in communities that are thankful we are there to make a difference. Gregg Singer

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 © 2019 Schneps Media

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Viewpoint

Some unusual looks from Fashion Week

PHOTOS BY MILO HESS

Some designs at Fashion Week turned the tables by turning the lens back at the audience. Hollaback girls are so yesterday. “Oculaback” girls are where it’s at, left. A model had a leg up on the situation, right. Hey, these might just be some designers wor th keeping an eye on!

Housing and classrooms vs. Noho zoning gridlock would, on economic rationales alone, wish to locate there, and creates incentives for other uses. On the whole, the zoning keeps Noho underdeveloped relative to the theoretical zoning it has, and the transit infrastructure that makes it so accessible. More sensible zoning would lead to investments that would benefit both the neighborhood and the city as a whole. Noho contains several individual city landmarks and is almost entirely within three historic districts. Noho’s architectural heritage is an important asset to the neighborhood and for the city as a whole. But this heritage need not be an impediment to the redevelopment of sites that do not contribute to the neighborhood’s historic character.

BY ERIC KOBER

f New York City is to mitigate its housing shortage, local land-use regulation needs to take advantage of the early 20th-century investment in subway transit, by allowing new housing at high densities in transit-rich areas. Simultaneously, the city needs to support the expansion of its highereducation institutions to ensure that its future labor force is equipped with the skills and education required to maintain the city’s position at the center of one of the nation’s most productive metropolitan areas. The Noho neighborhood in Manhattan is a striking example of a failure to update land-use policy in furtherance of these priorities. The location is one of the best for transit in Manhattan, with four subway lines (B, D, F and M) serving the Broadway-Lafayette station on Houston St., another subway line (the 6) serving the connected Bleecker St. station and the Astor Place station on Lafayette St., and the R and W serving the Eighth St. station on Broadway. The neighborhood bustles with pedestrians heading to or from home, school or work. Noho is a primarily residential neighborhood but not a dense one.

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Massive developments like 181 Mercer St., currently being constructed, above, have stayed west of Broadway due to “zoning gridlock,” the author argues.

ing conflicts with the dense residential neighborhoods of Greenwich Village and the East Village / Lower East Side. The area’s peculiar zoning, combined with historic district controls, effectively keeps out many of the land uses that

A second interesting aspect of Noho is that New York University largely stays west of Broadway. This major university has a limited presence in Noho, though it would seem an ideal area for the university to expand while limitTVG

Kober is a retired New York City planner and currently a visiting scholar at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. He was a senior research scholar at the Wagner School’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management from January through August 2018. From 1986 to 2017, he was director of housing, economic and infrastructure planning at the New York City Department of City Planning. The above piece is a report Kober wrote last year that has been posted on the Rudin Center’s Web site. Februar y 21, 2019

Eats

Mint Masala, a fresh Indian option on MacDougal BY GABE HERMAN

int Masala is among the growing number of halal restaurants in Greenwich Village, and its delicious food is great for any and all who happen to love good Indian food. Located at 95 MacDougal St., between Bleecker and W. Third Sts., it opened in summer 2014 as Mirch Masala, and recently changed its name to Mint Masala.

All of the food is freshly prepared in house, and the extensive menu includes a section of dosa, which is a type of pancake; appetizers that include several varieties of samosas; and many tandoori dishes, curry dishes and naan breads. Entrees range from about $11 to $25. There are also lunch specials offered every day, including the poultry option (which is chicken tikka masala), a vegetable side and basmati rice for $10.95. Not only is it delicious but it’s enough food for two meals. In keeping with the “mint” in the restaurant’s

PHOTO COURTESY MINT MASALA

Saffron chicken tikka masala at Mint Masala.

name, a fresh mint leaf as a garnish is included with every dish. “Hoping that the goodness of the mint will be beneficial to your health!” the restaurant’s Web site says. Mint Masala is generally a hit with online reviewers, with one recent Yelp poster saying, “Dosa masala was amazing along with the dips. Small restaurant. Great service. We went late and it was quiet. Perfect place for conversation and time to savor each bite.” Mint Masala only has five tables, which are set up in a row in its narrow space. It can get full during lunch and dinner times but often there is at least some seating available. Delivery is available through several sites, including Seamless and DoorDash. More information can be found at www.masalamac.com.

Februar y 21, 2019

Don’t forget to read your EATS... every week!

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People

Carmen Trotta, prisoner of his own conscience BY MARY REINHOLZ

t’s not every day that I get a chance to interview a devout man of faith and derring-do whose religiously inspired activism has put him under house arrest at an East Village soup kitchen and men’s shelter run by Catholic Worker volunteers. However, I did just that when I recently sat down with Carmen Trotta, indicted last spring after an anti-nuke protest in the deep South. There, inside the Catholic Worker’s fifth-floor walk-up building on E. First St., his longtime residence, Trotta, 56, wears an ankle monitor and awaits trial out of state. The reason why? Trotta joined six elderly pacifists who, on April 4, broke into the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia under cover of darkness to mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. They splattered blood on government property to protest the anti-ballistic nuclear missiles stored inside the port’s Trident submarines, calling them illegal, immoral and an existential threat to the planet. “We went to the scene of the crime,” Trotta told me. He was referring to his Catholic comrades in the radical Plowshares movement who carried bolt cutters, hammers, crime-scene tape, vials of human blood and their own indictment of nuclear weapons. “These weapons are illegal,” he insisted. “If they’re not illegal, then there is no law.” It took naval officers more than two hours to discover the seven protesters, according to early news reports. A base spokesperson, Scott Bassett, flat-out refused to answer my questions on what appeared to be a major breach of security at Kings Bay. I reminded Trotta that he had broken laws to get inside a 1,700-acre base of the Atlantic Fleet, which has at least six subs that contain missiles with nuclear warheads capable of delivering far more firepower than the U.S. bomb dropped on Hiroshima. “Is it a crime to to break into somebody’s house if it’s burning?” he responded. In the wake of his April 5 arrest, for which he pleaded not guilty, Trotta — who was named Carmen after his immigrant Italian grandfather — spent about 50 days in a Georgia county jail. He was then released on $1,000 bond. He told me he now faces the possibility of up to 20 years in federal prison. A court date for his jury trial has yet to be scheduled, so he continues to cook meals for hungry people who come to St. Joseph House (“St. Joe’s”) from all over the city. A sturdily built bachelor described

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PHOTOS BY MARY REINHOLZ

Carmen Trotta at St. Joseph’s House on E. First St.

Carmen Trotta must wear an ankle monitor as he awaits trial out of state after he and fellow protesters were arrested for breaking into a Georgia nuclear-missile submarine base and splattering human blood inside of it.

as “angelic” by criminal defense lawyer Ron Kuby, who once represented him years ago, Trotta also remains politically active. He’s an associate editor for the Catholic Worker newspaper and a member of the executive board of the War Resisters League. Since 2009, he has divided his time between St. Joe’s, where

he helps feed hungry people from all over the city, and Long Island, where he looks after his 91-year-old widowed father. Trotta’s life changed dramatically when he and his co-defendants were hit with an indictment for alleged criminal conduct at Kings Bay. Among the others are Martha Hennessy, 63, TVG

a granddaughter of the late Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Christian anarchist Catholic Worker movement, which is committed to fostering peace and social justice. Day is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church. The aging protesters are being called the Kings Bay Plowshares Seven. They were charged with three felonies, including conspiracy to commit damage on federal property and one misdemeanor for trespassing. Trotta said their intent was to stage a nonviolent and “symbolic disarmament” of the Trident submarines. “We wanted to address the single most-lethal weapons on earth,” he said. “A single Trident submarine, if it’s blasted off, with all it has inside of itself, could drastically change life as we know it on this planet.” Trotta’s protest at Kings Bay was his first “non-Gandhian” action under the aegis of Plowshares. A controversial movement, Plowshares takes its name from the biblical prophecy of Isaiah, who called on nations to “beat their swords into plowshares.” There have been about 100 raids of nuclear sites since the group’s founding in 1980 by the famed Jesuit priest Daniel Berrigan and his brother Philip Berrigan. During a hearing on the case in U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Ga., federal prosecutor Karl Knoche claimed that the movement has created a “cottage industry” for activists seeking to denuclearize the U.S. “I believe that they think they are trying to prevent the end of the world,” countered Bill Quigley. A prominent civil-rights lawyer and professor at Loyola Law School in New Orleans, Quigley is one of a group of pro bono attorneys representing the Plowshares defendants. He views them as part of a long tradition of civil disobedience by people “willing to risk arrest and prison” for their beliefs. On Jan. 16, Quigley filed a brief in Georgia’s Southern District Court for dismissal of the charges against the Plowshares defendants. His argument was based on provisions of a littleknown federal law called the Religious Freedom Revival Act of 1993. As for Trotta, who had no prior felonies from his more than 30 arrests over decades of activism, Quigley believes that “realistically” he could spend a year behind bars. Trotta is not that optimistic. “I’m preparing for five years,” he said. “A long time.” This reporter hopes he gets lucky. Februar y 21, 2019

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HEALTH Rango, which has a mobile app, helps individuals with H.I.V./AIDS and other serious health issues cope with their conditions and also stay on top of their medication regimens.

VillageCare’s Rango: Innovative treatment adherence BY VILL AGECARE

eing diagnosed with a chronic illness such as H.I.V., diabetes or cancer can come as a blow and an instant change of life. This was the case for Diana, who received such news right around her 44th birthday. She had lived most of her adult life in a rough New York City neighborhood, as she struggled with drug addiction and fell victim to abusive relationships. Diana had been urged to be tested for H.I.V. and the result came back positive. It was earth-shattering to her state of mind. “I panicked and felt crushed,” she recalled. “I thought I was going to die.” Diana was connected to a clinic where doctors prescribed antiretroviral therapy (ART), a combination of medications that effectively allows people to manage the disease and, in most cases, live longer and healthier lives. Over the last few decades, these medications have transformed H.I.V./AIDS from a death sentence to a chronic condition. But staying compliant with the strict ART drug regime and maintaining a positive lifestyle that is integral to successful treatment can be extremely difficult. This was the care for Diana until she discovered Rango, an online platform and mobile app designed to help people cope with the disease through a combination of clinical and social supports. VillageCare is a community-based nonprofit organization that offers post-acute care, managed care and community services for individuals with chronic-care needs. In 2015, Village Care was awarded a three-year, $9 million grant from The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to develop an online platform, as well as a mobile app, that offered a variety of essential tools, including medication and medical appointment re-

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minders, otherwise known as Rango. Participants had access to virtual support groups, discussion boards and live chats about issues related to living with H.I.V./AIDS. Users could also access databases for information about digital therapeutics and social services. With encrypted data transmission and privacy protections, Rango became a safe online community for people like Diana who otherwise felt isolated and alone. “Rango gave me a forum to speak my mind with people like myself, without fear or judgment,” Diana said. “It made me feel empowered.” A critical component of treating these diseases is ensuring that people consistently take their medications. In exploratory research, VillageCare had concluded that only 60 percent of individuals with H.I.V., for example, reported full compliance with their medication regimen. This is detrimental not only to their health but also to slowing the rate of new diagnoses, since full compliance with ART can reduce the risk of transmission. Rango prompted users to take their medications and keep up with doctors’ visits through text notifications and alerts. It also provided social support such as health coaches and discussion boards that tackled all aspects of living with H.I.V. in a confidential-conversation environment. “The live support was a key element in our design,” recalled Emma DeVito, president and C.E.O. of VillageCare. “While progress has been made to remove the stigma surrounding H.I.V./AIDS, many people prefer to keep their condition private.” Studies confirmed Rango’s positive impact on health indicators and patient engagement. New York University’s Health Evaluation and Analytics Lab found that Rango users had a relative reduction in hospitalizations of 8 percent, and a relative TVG

increase in primary-care visits of 3 percent, assessed against a comparison group. In the same analysis, the rate at which users refilled their H.I.V. drug prescription rose by 6 percent. Rango’s design can serve as a model for new H.I.V. initiatives, including managing secondary conditions like Hepatitis C or assisting those using antiviral drugs to prevent transmission. It can also be applied to other chronic conditions, such as diabetes, reminding individuals to check glucose levels or suggesting a more suitable diet While technology can’t solve all health and healthcare-management challenges, it can be leveraged to help people with long-term chronic diseases enjoy more stable, productive and healthy lives. Recently, New York State named Rango a finalist at the Social Determinants of Health Innovation Summit. Constantly exploring new and innovative ways to help individuals better manage their chronic care needs, VillageCare is a data-driven organization that strives for effectiveness resulting in superior outcomes from the care provided. Its data-driven culture ensures that its clients/patients, as well as health-plan members receive the most appropriate healthcare and related services through the most efficient means possible Disclaimer: This publication was made possible by Grant Number 1C1CMS331353 from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or any of its agencies. The research presented here was conducted by the awardee. Findings might or might not be consistent with or confirmed by the findings of the independent evaluation contractor. Februar y 21, 2019

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CAMP GUIDE 2019

Ready, set, camp! Y ou are considering a summer camp, but how to choose? There’s a camp that is ideally suited for every child, providing a summer of growth and fun whether your child attends a day or overnight camp, a specialized or traditional camp. With a little help from the camp professionals at the American Camp Association, here’s some sound advice that helps parents sort through the choices and benefits that camp delivers. As spring approaches, parents and children can look forward to planning for the future — a future that includes the opportunities for exploration and discovery that arrives with summer camp.

Benefits of camp nearby • Easier to evaluate and visit • Friends and family are likely familiar with camp • Minimal travel costs • Likely contact with classmates or children from same region Benefits of camp far away • More choices • Different experiences, different geography, e.g., mountains or oceans — even different languages • Promotes independence, particularly for early and late adolescent campers • Diversity of campers • Chance for family to visit and vacation at close of camp

How to decide when your child is ready for camp

Session length offers another choice

Children are ready for new experiences at different stages. Parents know their children best and these questions can help gauge whether this is the summer your child will start camp: What is your child’s age, and what is your perception of his readiness level? Children under 7 who have not had overnight experiences may do better with a day camp as their first camp experience. If you think your child might not be ready for an overnight camp experience, consider the day camp experience to prepare them for future overnight camp. How did your child become interested in camp? Does your child talk about camp on a sustained basis? How much persuasion is necessary from you? Has your child had positive overnight experiences away from home? Visiting relatives or friends? Were these separations easy or difficult? What does your child expect to do at camp? Learning about the camp experience ahead of time allows you to create positive expectations. Are you able to share consistent and positive messages about camp? Your confidence in a positive experience will be contagious.

Camps offer widely varying options to help parents and children reach their goals for summer fun and exploration. Talking with your child about the goals you both share helps determine which choice is right for you. Benefits of short sessions (one–three weeks) • First-time or younger campers have a chance to learn new skills • Bonds develop with other campers and staff • Great exposure to camp experience with less expense • Minimizes homesickness Benefits of longer sessions (four–12 weeks) • Strong sense of belonging to camp community • Chance to learn new skills • Development of specialized skills • Multiple opportunities for learning and enrichment • Lifelong friendships • Opportunities to contribute to camp culture

A camp for every child — the perfect ﬁt Camp can last for just a few days or stretch to all summer long. It’s well worth the trouble to investigate the variety of choices offered by camps before your child packs a backpack. These questions help you consider the options: Near or far? Where do you want your child to go to camp? Locally or far away? While each camp experience has something unique to offer your child, this is an opportunity for families to assess what they value for their campers. Schneps Media

With a shor t-session camp, first-time or younger campers have a chance to learn new skills.

who act as nurturers • Mirrors and prepares campers for everyday living in a co-ed world • Allows families with a boy and a girl to attend the same camp • Offers diverse points of view • Breaks through rigid divisions set up in school when campers participate in equal footing

A camp for every child — traditional, specialty, and special needs Choices abound when it comes to camp programs. One may highlight a wide variety of activities geared to campers of all ages and skill levels, others, because of their setting and expertise, may concentrate on one or two activities while providing traditional activities as well. Parents of children with special needs are pleased to learn about the range of camp activities that help kids be kids first. Benefits of traditional camps • Wide variety of activities • Chance for campers to try new activities • Exposure to more campers and staff at varying activities Benefits of specialty camps • One or two specialized activities (often combined with traditional offerings) • Expectation for increased proficiency during camping session

Boys only, girls only, or co-ed? Now may be the opportunity to explore the choices and benefits of all boys, all girls, or co-ed camps. Benefits of single-sex camps • Breaking gender stereotypes — girls interact with women in positions of authority and boys interact with men who act as nurturers • More opportunities to “be yourself” without impressing or competing with the opposite sex • Camp philosophy may be tuned into gender strengths and weaknesses • Brother or sister camps may share activities Benefits of co-ed camps • Breaking gender stereotypes — girls interact with women in positions of authority and boys interact with men

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• Deepens knowledge and skill in particular area of interest or ability Benefits of special-needs camps • Activities geared to campers’ abilities • Knowledgeable staff with expertise to understand campers’ strengths and challenges • Supportive and fun atmosphere to share with others

The value of camp for every child What happens when you make the decision to choose camp? You open up a world of discovery and learning for your child, a world that values children for who they are and who they will become. Camp gives each child a world of good. For nearly 100 years, the American Camp Association has been serving the camp community and families considering camp. Visit www.CampParents. org, to learn more about the camp experience, search the Find a Camp database, and explore the world of child and youth development. For more information about child development and the camp experience, visit www. CampParents.org or call (800) 428– CAMP (2267). Originally printed in CAMP Magazine, reprinted by permission of the American Camp Association © 2015 American Camping Association, Inc. Februar y 21, 2019

CAMP GUIDE 2019

Begin planning kids’ summer recreation now

ue in part to high demand, parents who want to place their kids in summer rec programs or summer camps should being vetting such programs and camps well in advance of summer. Ask for recommendations. Speak with fellow parents and trusted friends about where they send their children. Personal recommendations can be very helpful, providing firsthand insight into a particular camp or program. Schedule appointments to visit camps that fall within your budget. Take your child along so she can get a sense of what camp will be like. Explore all options. Certain camps may be faith-based ministries while others may focus on particular sports. Band camps and art camps may appeal to creative kids. Also, there are plenty of general-interest camps that offer various activities without narrowing in on any particular one. Parents may need to choose between a sleepaway camp or day camps, depending on which camp experience they want for their children. Inquire about camp schedules. Many

camps are flexible, but day camps do not have the same level of flexibility as after-school programs. Speak with camp staff to see which types of afterhours programs, if any, are available. Determine your camp budget. Government-run camps may be less expensive than those offered by private companies. Day camps typically cost less than those that provide room and board. Find out if a particular organization subsidizes a portion of camp costs. Scouting programs often have a dedicated camp and may offer affordable options for scouts. Martial arts schools and dance centers frequently offer camp schedules. If camp seems out of reach, look into local summer recreation programs at parks or schools. Such programs may not be as extensive, but they can quell kids’ boredom and keep children occupied during the day. Remember to plan for some free days so kids can just enjoy downtime. It’s never too early to start making summer plans, including finding camps and other activities for kids.

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NYC WORKS ★

CELEBRATING LABOR IN THE BIG APPLE

Organized labor divided after Amazon pulls out of Queens BY BILL PARRY

nions representing thousands of workers across the city were split early on about Amazon’s plan for Long Island City — but were united in lament after the retail giant derailed their proposal last week. When Amazon’s anti-union policies were exposed during a City Council oversight committee hearing last month when a company executive, Brian Huseman, told City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer that he could not support labor neutrality for workers in Long Island City, the gallery exploded in protest. But outside City Hall that day, construction workers and labor unions rallied in support of the deal that the state and city struck with Amazon to build its HQ2 campus at Anable Basin and create 25,000 well-paying jobs over 10 years, with a plan to grow to 40,000 over 15 years. Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union had carved out a position that Amazon, which doesn’t have a single unionized facility anywhere is the country, might adopt a more labor neutral posture once it was established in progressive and pro-union New York City. “Amazon’s new headquarters will be a model for how organized labor can power the next generation of U.S. companies to greater success,” 32BJ SEIU Political Director Alison Hirsh said during the rally. “These new jobs and significant neighborhood commitments will help uplift Queens families and the city as a whole.” 32BJ SEIU had already secured a commitment from Amazon that would have created thousands of permanent jobs and good wages for cleaners and security guards at the proposed HQ2 campus in Long Island City and its

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leader, Hector Figueroa, who had organized thousands of airport workers during a years-long campaign right here in Queens. Figueroa figured he could do the same with Amazon’s headquarters in Long Island City. The day before Amazon walked away from the project, four of its executives, including Huseman, met with organized labor leaders in Governor Cuomo’s Manhattan offices where they worked out a framework for a deal. Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the powerful Retail, Wholesale and

Department Store Union, had been a fierce opponent of Amazon was present along with the regional chapter of the Teamsters and New York State’s AFL-CIO. Appelbaum later said he was “amazed” that Amazon owner Jeff Bezos cancelled the HQ2 project. “Rather than addressing the legitimate concerns that have been raised by many New Yorkers Amazon says you do it our way or not at all, we will not even consider the concerns of New Yorkers,” RWDSU Director of Communications Chelsea Connor said. “That’s not what a responsible

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business would do.” When the deal collapsed, Figueroa lamented the loss of so many union jobs, and the potential for so much more. “The news that Amazon has decided to cancel its plans to build its second headquarters in New York City is a disappointing development for working people in our city,” Figueroa said. “This is a lost opportunity for Queens and New York on many levels. Of course, the loss of 25,000 direct jobs and many more indirect AMAZON continued on p. 32

Februar y 21, 2019

NYC WORKS CELEBRATING LABOR IN THE BIG APPLE

!" # ! $ % & $ $ & & $ $ $ # # & $ ' & ( $ # ( & & & $ & ( & ' ) & * ( ( & ( $ $$ ( + ( ( # # * $ & # ' , - $ ( $ & $ # . $ & . $ / ( # ( ' ) & & & ( & & ( $ & & & # ' 0 # * & 1 & ( & & * ( # & ( ' ) * ( ( & & & * ' # 2 & ( # & / & $ # & ' , 3 # ( 455 ( & & * && ( 067 85 & $ 2 & / (' ( # 1 && ( $ $ $$ & * 9 ) ( # & $ $ 2 $ # ' ) !" ( # ( $ & - # ( & ' ) $ # # & # & # & & # : ' , * * $ $ $ & & # & $ & $ & & $ & ( ' :& & # & ( - $ / $ '

COURTESY OF 32BJ SEIU

32BJ SEIU President Hector Figueroa had hoped to unionize Amazonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HQ2 campus once it was established, but the oppor tunit y, along with thousands of jobs, is now gone.

Divided over Amazon AMAZON continued from p. 31

ones as well as the billions in revenue that the project was expected to bring into our city is unfortunate.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;For labor however, this is also a missed opportunity to engage one of the largest companies in the world and to create a pathway to union representation for one of the largest groups of predominantly non-union workers in our country,â&#x20AC;? he added. But Figueroa, who led the sevenyear campaign in which airport workers marched, held sit-ins and rallies, and committed civil disobedience such as shutting down the 94th Street Bridge approach to LaGuardia Airport in their fight for dignity and economic justice, will continue to fight. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a labor union with members in 11 states and Washington D.C., 32BJ will continue to advocate for family sustaining, union jobs and our union is committed to organizing with working people in New York and other states across the country,â&#x20AC;? Figueroa said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We remain supportive of the many efforts to unionize workers in New York, where Amazon will still have thousands of yet-tobe unionized employees who could benefit from union wages, benefits

Februar y 21, 2019

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and representation. Union jobs remain the most effective pathway to the middle class for working people in America.â&#x20AC;? Gary LaBarbera, the president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said he was stunned by the â&#x20AC;&#x153;unfortunate newsâ&#x20AC;? after the corporation had promised to use all-union construction at the HQ2 campus, providing at least 5,000 jobs building its 4 million-square-foot complex with an opportunity to expand to 8 million square feet. LaBarbera lamented not just the union jobs however, but the loss of the 25,000 to 40,000 jobs the HQ2 campus would have provided. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Politics and pandering have won out over a once-in-a-lifetime investment in New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy, bringing with it tens of thousands of solid middle class jobs,â&#x20AC;? LaBarbera said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This sends the wrong message to businesses all over the world looking to call New York home. Who will want to come now? We will remember which legislators forgot about us and this opportunity.â&#x20AC;? Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.com or by phone at (718) 260â&#x20AC;&#x201C;4538. Schneps Media

Save New York Jobs. Buy American.

www.americanmanufacturing.org

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In Pictures

Pigs were big at Lunar New Year Parade Celebrating the Year of the Pig, the Lunar New Year Parade wended its way through Chinatown on Sunday, down Mott St. from Canal St., through Chatham Square, onto East Broadway and finally onto Forsy th St.

PHOTOS BY MILO HESS

Feeling pumped up for all things pig for the Lunar New Year.

Even the phones were festooned at the Chinatown parade.

Dog days at the Garden; Stars were all fetching

Getting the hair just right before strolling out on stage. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t call it a cat walk!

Februar y 21 - March 6, 2019

The 143rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was pure fun and excitement for fans of pure-breed dogs. A s usual, photographer Milo Hess got special backstage access to the competitors as they relaxed before strutting their stuff on the Madison Square Garden stage. Hundreds of hounds, terriers, toys, nonspor ting and spor ting, working and herding dogs vied to advance to the Best in Show competition. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winner was King, a wire fox terrier with a snazz y goatee and an impressive pair of projecting mutton chops.

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PHOTOS BY MILO HESS

Getting some TLC before the per formance. Schneps Media

Colors and chaos at Contra Galleries’ ’80s show today. “The real difference now is that, then, if the artist was good, [the art] would surface,” said an attendee. “Now that there are so many artists, there’s a serious possibility that a good artist could be ignored.” As artists and collaborators perused the art, they exchanged memories of the 1980s, from the hardcore music played at gallery openings to their stories from the Lower East Side. In a way, “The Art of New York: 1980s” does more than display an iconic period of art. It also tells a story about Manhattan’s lost art culture — a story that’s gritty, meticulous and somewhat mythical, just like the art on display.

BY ROSE ADAMS

olors explode and demons lurk in the “The Art of New York: 1980s,” an exhibition by WhiteHot Magazine at Chelsea’s Contra Galleries. The show brings together the past and present work of streetart luminaries from the ’80s and ’90s, like Rick Prol, LA II and Keith Haring, among many others. “It’s a postage-stamp collection of a certain era,” said Linus Coraggio, the show’s curator. “It’s a selection of the best of the 1980s.” Coraggio’s impressionistic paintings, motorcycle sculptures and steel chairs feature prominently in the collection. While the works vary in their color and subject matter — some forgoing the era’s classic bubble-gum palette and cartoonish figures — they all embody a certain carefully executed chaos. T-shirts become canvases; scraps of metal bend into furniture. But while the materials may appear raw and haphazard, the precision of the construction is anything but. “You’re always striving for one unified goal,” said painter Rick Prol, who has four pieces in the show. “There’s no parts.” Each work combines elements of street art with the execution of a master. In one of Coraggio’s paintings, bright pink lines scatter over shades of green and turquoise. From afar, the piece looks like a tornado of color. But up close, its many strokes appear precise and purposeful, adjoined like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Other artists, like Prol, evoke the grittiness of street art by painting on found materials. To create his largest painting in the show, “Untitled” (2018), Prol slathered oil paint over a Visible Woman model kit, an anatomy kit from the 1950s. “You can call it expressionist, but those terms aren’t really enough,” Prol said about his style. “It’s more alla prima” — a technique in which wet paint is layered over itself. Through the artists’ use of found materials and psychedelic colors, many of the works in the show tell their own myths. Prol’s painting “Untitled” (2018) depicts a green demon balancing on a tightrope with a guitar in one hand and a bloodied dagger in the other. The subject looks downward thoughtfully, his mouth open, as if trying to decide which object to deploy. All four of Prol’s paintings feature green figures whose varying expressions suggest their different disposi-

PHOTOS BY ROSE ADAMS

“Untitled” (2019), by L A II, acr ylic on canvas, 24 in. x 24 in., left, and “Kembra” (2018), by M. Henr y Jones.

212 - 254 - 1109 | www.theaterforthenewcity.net | 155 First Ave. NY, NY 10003

“Untitled” (2011), by Linus Coraggio, acr ylic on board, 22 in. x 30 in.

tions, like characters in a play. Together, the paintings seem to exist in their own dystopian universe. “It’s my language and my invention, and it’s never something I can’t tap into,” Prol said about his process. The myths implicit in the show’s artworks speak not only to their own subuniverses, but to a lost era. Many of the artists and attendees at the show’s opening reminisced about the ’80s art scene, lauding it as a period of peak creativity and opportunity for New York City artists. “It’s nothing like what it was,” Coraggio told me. “Each generation has their own version of it. But [in the ’80s] it was this mass bubble that burst.” Others lamented the market-driven nature of the current art world, the effect of social media on art consumption, and the sheer number of artists

THELONIOUS!

CATAPULT!

Written by Claude Solnik

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Thur - Sat 8PM, Sun 3PM February 07 - March 03

Thur - Sat 8PM, Sun 3PM February 21 - March 10

Sandcastles

February 16 - 24

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“The Art of New York: 1980s” is on view on at Contra Galleries, 122 W. 26th St., fifth floor, through Feb. 28. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, visithttps://contragalleries.com/pages/ the-art-of-new-york-1980s

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Februar y 21, 2019

Manhattan Happenings BY RICO BURNEY AND ROSE ADAMS

ART Kerri Scharlin, “In Her Studio”: Bold lines and blocks of color shape Kerri Scharlin’s abstract paintings. Scharlin’s work depicts women in their art studios, celebrating women artist’s growing visibility. The show runs from Sat., Feb. 23, to March 24 at New Release Gallery in Chinatown, 60 Mulberry St. Gallery hours run from Fri. to Sun., noon to 6 p.m. For more information, visit http:// www.newreleasegallery.com Artist Talk: Wendy Red Star:Wendy Red Star discusses her work in the Brooklyn Museum exhibition, “Half the Picture: A Feminist Look at the Collection.” Red Star’s art explores the relationship between her Native American heritage and colonialism through photography, sculpture, video, fibers art, and performance. Sun., Feb. 24, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m, at the Brooklyn Museum, 4th floor, 200 Eastern Parkway. Tickets are $16 and include Museum general admission; $14 for members.

MUSIC The Ace of Cupsnever achieved the fame of the groups the performed alongside, such as The Band, Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix, The Band and The Grateful Dead, due to not recording an an album in their first incarnation. However, the all-female San Francisco-based rock band from the Sixties have recently reformed and finally have an album to their name featuring collaborators like Bob Weir and Taj Mahal. The band will be playing The Mercury Lounge at 217 E. Houston St. on Tues., Feb. 26, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $20. More information and advanced tickets are available at https://www.ticketfly. com/purchase/event/1826830?fbclid= IwAR2D1xap3p_wE0gdnJFe6oheY4dR I3mXDSVxcfHR4n0DZoG520HT4oY 4jbs&utm_medium=bks. Ecstatic Music Festival: Irreversible Entanglements, Amina Claudine Myers & Nicole Mitchell:The Ecstatic Music Festival, which showcases the work of trailblazing artists, has been hailed as “a who’s who of the music scene.” (WQXR) Its third installation features Amina Claudine Myers (pianist/vocalist/improviser), Nicole Mitchell (jazz flutist and composer) and Irreversible Entanglements poet, Camae Ayewa who will premier a collaborative piece. Thurs., Feb 28, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25; students $15. For more information, visit https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/ecstatic-music-festival-irreversible-entanglements-aminaclaudine-myers-nic/

Februar y 21, 2019

The closing procession of last year’s Ear th Celebrations’ Procession for Climate Solutions.

near the start of the #MeToo Movement in 2017, will be in conversation with New Yorker magazine fiction editor Deborah Treisman to discuss her new short story collection “You Know You Want This” and viral success on Mon., Feb. 25, at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd St. The program beings at 6:30 p.m. Preregistration can be found here https://www.showclix.com/event/youknowyouwantthis. Free. Ta-Nehisi Coates, “I tried to make the letter ‘M’”: Ta-Nehisi Coates, a recipient of the MacArthur fellowship and the author of three bestselling books, including “Between the World and Me,” will speak about identity politics. Wed., Feb 27, at 5 p.m. at the NYU Skirball Center, 566 LaGuardia Place. The event is free, but RSVP necessary. For more information or to RSVP, visit https://nyuskirball.org/events/ tony-judt-memorial-lecture-ta-nehisicoates/?utm_source =wordfly&utm_ medium = email&utm_campaign = M KTG18%2F19Februarynewsletter&u tm_content=version_A

FILM Athena Film Festival: The Barnard College Film Festival, now in its fifth year, honors documentaries, feature films, and shorts about resilient women. This year’s selection includes “Rafiki,” a film about two Kenyan women who fall in love, and “On Her Shoulders,” a documentary about ISIS survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Nadia Murad. Thurs, Feb 28, to March 3 at Barnard College. Screening locations and individual ticket prices vary. For more information and the festival’s full schedule, check out https://athenafilmfestival.com/ “I Am Not Your Negro,” the 2017 documentary based on an unfinished manuscript by James Baldwin and narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, will be screening at 2 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 23, at the St. Agnes Library at 444 Amsterdam Ave., between W. 82nd and 83rdSts. Free. The New York International Children’s Film Festival returns Fri., Feb. 22, for four weekends of thoughtful and off-beat movies for kids between the ages of 3-and-18. Screenings take place at the S.V.A. Theater and select movie theaters across the city. Tickets start at $14. The lineup, tickets and more information can be found at https://nyicff. org.

ENVIRONMENTAL Ecological Art Workshops: Earth Celebrations, an organization that works with New York City communities to enact ecological and social change, will be hosting puppet workshops every Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and costume workshops every Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. beginning March 2. Help design costumes, construct large-scale puppets, and plan performances about local sustainability

TALKS Kristen Roupenian, writer of “Cat Person,” the short story that went viral TVG

for the Procession for Climate Solutions on Sat., May 11. Hosted by Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, 275 Cherry St. To participate, e-mail mail@earthcelebrations.com

COMMUNITY BOARD Community Board 1 meets at 6 p.m. on Tues., Feb. 26, at the Manhattan Municipal Building, 1 Centre St., mezzanine north entrance. Community Board 3 meets at 6:30 p.m. on Tues., Feb. 26, at P.S. 20, 166 Essex St.

COMMUNITY COUNCIL First Precinct Community Council meets at 6:30 p.m. on Thurs., Feb. 28, at 16 Ericsson Place. Fifth Precinct Community Council meets at 7 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 27, at 19 Elizabeth St. Sixth Precinct Community Council meets at 7:30 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 27, at Our Lady of Pompeii, 25 Carmine St. 10th Precinct Community Council meets at 7 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 27, at 230 W. 20th St. 17th Precinct Community Council meets at 6 p.m. on Tues., Feb. 26, at Sutton Place Synagogue, 224 E. 51st St. 20th Precinct Community Council meets at 7 p.m. on Mon., Feb. 25, at 120 W. 82nd St. Schneps Media

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Februar y 21, 2019

Scoopy’s Notebook V.I.D. VOTES: The elections for district leader were the main attraction at the Village Independent Democrats’ meeting last week. In the race for female district leader, Jen Hoppe squeaked out a win against Elissa Stein by one vote. District Leader Keen Berger had previously announced she would not seek re-election. We hear Berger asked Sharon Woolums to run, too, but that Woolums declined, saying, “I’m a oneissue person. I really just like to get into one issue.” Interestingly, Berger also spoke at the meeting — against the club’s endorsing her district co-leader Arthur Schwartz for re-election. As it turned out — at the end of the day, they didn’t. It was a split vote for Schwartz, with 24 V.I.D.’ers voting for him and 24 declining to endorse him, translating into no endorsement. Speaking beforehand, Schwartz had told us he was hoping for his first endorsement from V.I.D. “since 1997.” It was shortly after then that he got mired in a feud with his thendistrict co-leader Aubrey Lees and eventually left the club, only finally recently rejoining it after more than two decades. In addition to Berger, no doubt it was mostly veteran club members who put the kibosh on supporting Schwartz, of whom some have said in the past, “Arthur is all about Arthur.” But, more to the point, Schwartz has been going after Assemblymember Deborah Glick — who is a power in V.I.D. — for years now, to the point where he even ran against her a couple of years ago. Then, last year, Schwartz campaigned for Cynthia Nixon on the Working Families Party against Glick in the general election, even though Nixon stressed she actually wanted Glick to win re-election! “Keen was saying like I have to earn their trust. Give me a break! Like I have to prove something to V.I.D.,” Schwartz told us. “I don’t think that I would ever ask for their endorsement again. … It’s two less meetings a month,” he said, of not being elected to V.I.D.’s executive committee. Schwartz said he’ll instead focus on his work with New York Progressive Action Network, the Bernie Sanders-inspired organization, of which he is statewide political director. However, David Siffert, the club’s new president, sounded a conciliatory tone in a V.I.D. post-election e-mail blast. “Though we did not endorse in the male district leader race, I want to thank Arthur Schwartz for attending the meeting and speaking to us in good faith,” Siffert said. “Though he will not be V.I.D.’s endorsed district leader, he is still a valued member of the club and the community, and I look forward to working with him this year to help make our city and community a better place. I hope he will continue to be an active participant in V.I.D. going forward.” POTENTIAL FLATS FIX: Following the muchlamented closing of Tex-Mex favorite Tortilla Flats last October, Phil Mouquinho, who formerly ran P.J. Charlton restaurant, at Charlton and Greenwich Sts., had the idea of inviting the Flats’ owners to reopen in his space. For one, both locations are on the southeast corner, he noted. “They have a Wall St. crowd,” he added at the time of the Flats’ finale. As for P.J. Charlton, Mouquinho shuttered the Hudson Square eatery because of the construction project that was going on around both sides of the building, then leased it out as an office space for the project. We haven’t heard an update on Mouquinho’s offer. ELECTRIFYING EXPERIENCE: While buying a ticket for a movie at the Regal Union Square theater, you can also switch your home electricity provider from Con Ed to Green Mountain Energy. It’s pretty quick and simple, plus you’ll get a $5 gift card for 38

Februar y 21, 2019

FILE PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

Phil Mouquinho and Cairo in front of his former restaurant, P.J. Charlton, a few years ago.

The cover image of “John Wilcock: New York Years, 1954-1971,” an online biography in graphic novel st yle. Page four, about Wilcock’s dream of star ting a new paper, has a dig at The Villager, whose contents back then he describes as “mostly bridge club par t y repor ts.”

Regal. As Kat, who signed us up recently near the theater’s automated ticket machines, explained, most Con Ed electricity is produced using fracked gas and coal. Meanwhile, Green Mountain Energy’s electricity comes from four or five wind farms from around New York State. The company is the nation’s largest wind-power provider. And they don’t use hydropower from Canada, meaning they’re not complicit in ruining the ecosystem up there with dams. Kat and Co. can also often be found stationed inside the Best Buy store around the corner. ONION-WORTHY: After it was floated last month by some financial outlets that Ivanka Trump was “under consideration to lead the World Bank,” Michael Novogratz tweeted out his disbelief. “Is this the Onion?” he scoffed in response to a Business Insider article. “Novo,” who is the board chairperson of Hudson River Park Friends, is a billionaire ex-hedge TVG

fund manager now heavily into cryptocurrency. As, it turned out, Ivanka will only “help pick” the new World Bank leader. Phew! NEWSSTAND NEWS: Readers have noted they’re not seeing Jerry Delakas at his newsstand at Astor Place and Lafayette St. anymore. That’s because his nephew Angelos Delakas is now manning the kiosk every day. Jerry had not been feeling too well — plus kids had been stealing candy from him. As a result, he was keeping the newsstand’s front gate rolled down and selling lottery tickets from its side door. Angelos now keeps the newsstand’s front gate open once again. He said Jerry will be back in the warmer weather. COJO, SJP, PEPPERONI: Council Speaker Corey Johnson has been “eating crow” this past week for having made notorious homophobe Ruben Diaz, Sr., the chairperson of a City Council committee, in return for Diaz’s support for Johnson becoming speaker. On a lighter note, not too long ago Johnson had a cute tweet about eating…pizza. “I just walked into my neighborhood pizza place for a slice in my pajamas,” he posted. “The owner says: ‘It’s my lucky night!!’ I said: ‘Huh?’ He says: ‘All the local big wigs tonight are here Corey! Sarah Jessica Parker just came in 20 minutes ago for a slice!’ SJP + CoJo = ???” Well, it definitely equals one pumped-up pizza guy, that’s for sure! Guest drops in: Famed feminist author Susan Brownmiller recently had a high-flying guest visit her Jane St. penthouse — namely, a red-tailed hawk. The raptor hung out around 10 minutes, its talons wrapped around the rooftop deck’s railing. “Donna Schulman, my niece and a famous birder, thinks he/ she was a fledgling from a Bobst/N.Y.U. nest,” Brownmiller told us. You can find Schulman’s avian insights on Facebook. R.I.P., JOHN WILCOCK: Soho news source Harry Pincus tipped us off a while back that John Wilcock, the first news editor of the Village Voice, had died. Wilcock passed away last year at age 91 in Ojai, California. Jerry Tallmer, a founding editor of the Voice and its first film and theater critic, wrote a piece about British expat Wilcock that The Villager published posthumously in February 2015, a few months after Tallmer’s death at age 93. “I used to bump into John at wide intervals through the years, and he always bitterly felt he never got proper credit as one of the founders of The Village Voice,” Tallmer wrote. “He was right. He didn’t. He was a pain in the ass, but an integral piece in this long-ago jigsaw puzzle. … I wish him well.” POT SHOTS: Dana Beal is off the hook. At the end of last year, an agreement was reached under which the “Grandfather of Pot” was ordered to perform 10 hours of community service. That’s all Beal gets after being busted in Northern California two years ago for trying to drive 22 pounds of marijuana back East. Beal, 72, had already served two years in prison in Nebraska back in 2010 and ’11 for two similar offenses, though in those cases he was transporting more, around 100 pounds of pot. He suffered a near-fatal heart attack during that stint, so dreaded the prospect of doing more hard time behind bars, fearing he wouldn’t survive. Anyway, Beal told us, since California legalized weed in 2016, the most anyone is getting for trafficking pot nowadays is a wrist slap. “People with 200 pounds are getting nothing,” he chuckled. As for his plans for community service, he said, “I’m finding a cure for crystal meth. … They should give us back No. 9,” he added, apparently apropos of that. Nine Bleecker St. is home to Overthrow Boxing, but used to be the Yippies’ headquarters. Schneps Media

Reall Estate

FILE PHOTO

This past November, activists marked the anniversar y of Occupy Wall Street at Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, which is a POPS, or privately owned public space.

Contest for one logo to rule all the POPS plazas BY ROSE ADAMS

he city wants to add some pop to its POPS — privately owned public spaces, that is. Mayor de Blasio, the Department of City Planning, Advocates for Privately Owned Public Space and the Municipal Art Society are holding a competition for a new logo to be displayed at more than 550 POPS citywide. These privately owned atriums, plazas and arcades have provided New Yorkers with public indoor and outdoor space for decades. Created under the 1961 zoning resolution, the POPS program incentivizes developers to build publicly accessible spaces in exchange for increased floor area. “When you have an incredibly dense city like New York, there understandably is a desire for places that provide a little respite from the density,” said Jerold Kayden, a Harvard professor of urban planning and design and president of Advocates for Privately Owned Public Space. The POPS program has created around 3.8 million square feet of public space around the city — equal to roughly 24 Union Squares. Some better known POPS include Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park and Lincoln Center’s Rubinstein Atrium. The logo competition, launched in January, comes after the City Council passed a law in 2017 requiring POPS to post signage detailing the space’s hours, amenities and owners. These signs will also display the winning logo. “The POPS logo design competition is a unique opportunity for one creative symbol to unify all POPS locations,” said Councilmember Rafael Salamanca, the Council’s Land Use Committee chairperson. Participants can submit their designs to the competition’s Web site by Fri., March 15. Submissions will be

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This wall mounting — at Big Screen Plaza at Kimpton’s Hotel Eventi, at Sixth Ave. bet ween 29th and 30th Sts. — spor ting the Depar tment of Cit y Planning tree logo, signifies that it is a POPS, or privately owned public space. The cit y is currently searching for a new, better logo for the hundreds of POPS around town.

on view at a public event in March, where visitors will vote for their favorites. Three finalists — chosen by the public vote and a panel of judges — will be announced May 20 and win $2,000. The Department of City Planning’s director will then select a winner who will win an MEX

extra $2,000. To find a POPS near you, see https://www1.nyc.gov/ site/planning/plans/city-wide.page For more information about the logo design competition, visit the www.popslogo.nyc. Februar y 21 - March 6, 2019

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