DOWNTOWN EXPRESS, FEBRUARY 23, 2012

downtown n

MUPPET MEMORIES, P. 22

®

VOLUME 24, NUMBER 40

express ss THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN

FEBRUARY 22 - 28, 2012

Squadron calls for new B.P.C.A. structure

BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER In an op-ed in the Daily News on Sunday, Feb. 19, New York State Senator Daniel Squadron proposed a game-changing plan for the Battery Park City Authority.

Battery Park City is now 40 years old, observed Squadron, and has matured from empty landfill in the Hudson River to a community with thousands of residents, workers and visitors.

“It is time to reform how Battery Park City is run,” said Squadron. “New York City holds an option to disband the Battery Park City Authority [a public benefit authority controlled by the governor] — but an attempt to simply fold it into the city’s general operations would not fly with a community that pays significant-

ly more for services than the average New Yorker.

Still, the city’s option does present an opportunity to increase local representation and ensure greater reinvestment locally.”

Squadron would like to replace the existing Battery Park City Authority Board of Directors with a new board comprised of residents and to use funds in excess of those needed for the maintenance of Battery Park City to pay for affordable housing, parks and green spaces in Lower Manhattan.

Battery Park City was originally conceived as a planned community owned by the State of New York, with a mix of residences, offices, shops and parks.

Revenues from ground rents (the land on which Battery Park City’s buildings stand),

Continued on page 14 Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds

A first responder watches a presentation at last week’s S.T.A.C. conference on the link between cancer and exposure to toxins following the 9/11 attacks.

Panel sees link between cancer and 9/11, despite uncertainties

BY ALINE REYNOLDS Former Verizon worker Richard Dambakly toiled atop the pile at Ground Zero 12-to-16 hours a day for six months straight following the 9/11 attacks. The following year, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and underwent five months of intensive chemotherapy that sent his cancer into remission.

Dambakly, now 50 and the father of five children under the age of 15, lives with the constant fear that his disease

will reemerge, but he can’t afford the CT (computed tomography) scan that would alert his doctors to an enlargement of his lymph nodes.

“I have no medical insurance,” Dambakly said in a testimony delivered last week before the World Trade Center Health Program’s Scientific Technical Advisory Committee (S.T.A.C.). “How do you think that makes me feel?

Should I become a beggar and maybe raise the money for a CT scan?”

For the first time, federally-funded treatment might become available to Dambakly and scores of other cancerstricken 9/11 workers and area residents thanks to a recommendation the government-appointed S.T.A.C. will be making to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (N.I.O.S.H.) in April.

Though scientists have yet to estab-

Continued on page 18

The everchanging face of the meatpacking district captured in new book. Turn to page 26.

February 22 - 28, 2012

2

downtown express

Your doctor spent 5 minutes?

Photo courtesy of the Madison Square Garden Company

The inside of the Nom Wah Tea Parlor was packed with ‘Linsane’ Knicks fans for a special viewing party hosted by the Madison Square Garden Company last Wednesday.

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Community, pols struck with ‘Linsanity’

BY ZACH WILLIAMS In Chinatown, if there’s a will, there’s a way to keep up with the latest exploits of New York Knicks’ newest star, Jeremy Lin, even if it means getting your local politicians involved.

When more than 100 residents could not see Lin play on cable last Wednesday night, they packed a local restaurant to watch together. A long line snaked along Doyer Street as they sought to enter a quickly organized viewing party for the game between the Knicks and the Sacramento Kings, in which Lin posted a career-high 13 assists.

Local politicians meanwhile stepped up efforts aimed at pressuring Time Warner Cable and the Madison Square Garden Company to resolve an ongoing dispute keeping local Time Warner cable subscribers on the sidelines of the “Linsanity” surrounding the Chinese-American player. The two parties reached an oral agreement in time for last Friday’s game when the Knicks lost for the first time since Lin became the team’s starting point guard.

Pride in Lin’s roots and the underdog narrative, as well as devotion to the hometown team have brought the Chinatown community together. His fairytale rise to fame in the NBA, from a benchwarmer that was nearly cut from the team, into a hero among basketball fans nationwide is resonating with residents who said they see glimpses of themselves in the Harvard grad.

Lin’s play-making, offensive acumen and personal story has fueled the “Linsanity” in Chinatown. Wilson Tang, owner of Nom Wah Tea Parlor, which hosted the impromptu viewing, said the significance of Lin was “huge” in a much different way than that of Yao Ming, a seven-foot, six-inch behemoth who was the first NBA star from China.

“It’s just a very good feeling to see someone like Jeremy Lin. I can relate to him because I could have been going to school

in Palo Alto [California], I could have went to school at Harvard,” added Tang. “These are all tangible things. That’s why all Asian Americans relate to him and look up to him because someone finally made it into the big leagues, especially the NBA, and because it’s never happened before. So it’s definitely a very feel good story, any way you want to put it. It breaks a lot of barriers.”

The idea for the event at Nom Wah was instigated by Madison Square Garden to pressure Time Warner to come to an agreement. But enjoying a piece of the NBA money pie was not so important Wednesday, said Tang who added that while his business may have benefited from the increased patronage, something more valuable drove his decision to host the event.

Representatives from the two companies would not comment on the nature of the disagreement which kept Knicks games off cable T.V. until Friday, except to say it was financial in nature. “[The] fallout of this dispute has been acutely felt in the Asian American community in New York, many of whom have been unable to watch Knicks rising-star Jeremy Lin,” said City Councilmember Margaret Chin in a Feb. 16 letter to the two companies. “Basketball is incredibly popular with Asian American youth in our city. Mr. Lin is the first Asian American player in the NBA to make headlines, and he is quickly becoming a role model for many young people in our city. It is heartbreaking that thousands of Asian American families are unable to watch him play.”

Local representatives expressed relief over the weekend at the resolution after the stalemate ended. Proposed legislation aims to keep similar disagreements from happening in the future. A bill co-sponsored

by State Senator Daniel Squadron, who represents a portion of Lower Manhattan,

Continued on page 15

downtown express

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February 22 - 28, 2012

D

OWNTOWN DIGEST

OBAMA SOLICITS TAX CREDIT FOR W.T.C. President Barack Obama’s budget plan proposed last week includes a $200 million tax credit for transportation upgrades at the future World Trade Center, according to a Monday, Feb. 13 report in Reuters.

The annual benefits package for Downtown would amount to $2 billion over the next 10 years to both the city and the state and would extend from 2013 to 2022. The plan would supplant prior, currently defunct tax credits the feds previously approved to recover from 9/11, according to the report.

The new credits could monetarily assist the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which was recently decried by financial auditors as a “dysfunctional” agency that is burdened with millions of dollars in debt.

TOWER 4 CRANE COLLAPSES Minutes before 10 a.m. last Thursday, Feb. 16, a pile of elevated steel beams that had been lifted into the air by a crane atop Tower 4 fell to the ground. The accident resulted in no injuries, according to John Gallagher, vice president of public affairs at Tishman Construction.

“The cable of a crane broke,” Gallagher explained, “causing the steel it was lifting to fall approximately 40 stories back onto the flatbed truck that had transported the steel into the W.T.C. site.”

“Everybody was yelling and running,” construction worker Frank Pensabene told the Associated Press.

New York Police Department Commissioner Paul Browne

NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-9, 12-21 EDITORIAL PAGES . . . . . . . . . . 10-11 YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 - 27

confirmed the news and specified that the incident occurred between Towers 3 and 4.

Downtown service on the Number 1 train was temporarily suspended, and some of the construction at the W.T.C. site was stopped pending an investigation of the mishap, according to Gallagher. “We are investigating the matter in full cooperation with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the FDNY and the city Department of Buildings,” he said.

GREENWICH ST. GAINS TRAFFIC LIGHT After years of advocating for a safer intersection, the city Department of Transportation finally installed a traffic light at the intersection of Greenwich and Duane Streets in Tribeca on Monday, Feb. 20. The D.O.T. made the decision late last year after three-year-old Ozzie Carty was hit by a cab while crossing Greenwich Street on a scooter. Carty suffered minor injuries.

A study initiated by the D.O.T. revealed that the notoriously dangerous intersection adhered to federal guidelines, citing that pedestrian volumes at the site tripled since the Department’s previous study, according to Spokesperson Scott Gastel.

“I know the Tribeca community will be much safer with this traffic signal in place,” said Council Member Margaret Chin. “It is important to constantly evaluate and revise our traffic environment and to make sure the safety regulations in place are adequate to protect pedestrians.”

Community Board 1 Chairperson Julie Menin said she

CLASSIFIEDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

C.B. 1 EE TING S

M

A schedule of this week’s upcoming Community Board 1 committee meetings is below. Unless otherwise noted, all committee meetings are held at the board office, located at 49-51 Chambers St., room 709 at 6 p.m.

ON MON., FEB. 27: The Housing Committee will meet.

ON TUES., FEB. 28: The C.B. 1 full board will meet at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, located at 36 Battery Place. was relieved to hear the news as the mother of three young children who frequent the intersection.

“There is no more important issue than the safety and protection of our children, and by installing this light at this heavily trafficked intersection where there had been unfortunate accidents, we are ensuring that the hundreds of children who cross this intersection daily are protected,” said Menin.

Carty’s parents couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

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February 22 - 28, 2012

downtown express

Great Oaks proposal sparks larger debate over charters

BY ALINE REYNOLDS Community Board 1’s Youth and Education Committee last week unanimously shot down a proposal for a charter school on Governor’s Island.

The committee’s decision, however, was largely borne out of frustration related to the overcrowding crisis in Downtown public schools and had little to do with the specific proposal itself, according to committee members.

Great Oaks Charter School, a middle and high school in Newark, N.J., plans to open a new 450-student school accommodating grades 6-12 on Governors Island in Fall 2013. The program boasts small class sizes and two hours of daily tutoring for its students, according to Benjamin Carson, one of the founders of the Newark branch who presented the proposal to the committee at its Feb. 14 meeting in hopes that the board would endorse the plans in the form of a letter to the city Department of Education.

The Great Oaks tutors, Carson said, would be recent college graduates who would be sponsored by one-year fellowships offered

by Great Oaks, a program modeled after MATCH Charter School in Boston.

As with all other charter schools, students would be selected by a lottery, meaning that everyone would have an equal chance of acceptance, according to Carson.

“We’re really describing ourselves as a school that’s targeting Lower Manhattan,” said Carson. “Our goal is to create a really warm, safe school culture, where kids feel the adults around them know them and are very interested in their success.”

“By giving students a really rigorous high school experience,” Carson added, “we can put them on better footing to succeed in college.”

Carson and his team will be submitting its charter application later this month for a review by the State Board of Regents this summer.

Carson emphasized that competing with non-charter Downtown public schools for city-owned space, which is a major concern of C.B. 1, is not part of his team’s agenda.

“I want to underscore that we’re not at all interested in pursuing public space – we want to be part of the solution to school

overcrowding,” said Carson.

If the Governors Island site doesn’t pan out, the school would seek out private space Downtown, Carson said. A spokesperson for the Trust for Governors Island wouldn’t comment on Carson’s proposal, since the Trust hasn’t yet released a Request for Proposals for the leasing of its buildings.

“We’re really describing ourselves as a school that’s targeting Lower Manhattan.”

— Benjamin Carson

Despite Carson’s pledge, committee members left the meeting feeling anxious that the charter could end up taking precious space away from public schools – particularly since Innovate Manhattan Charter School initially committed to private space and then subsequently moved into the Tweed Courthouse for its incubation this year, according to C.B. 1.

“If they brought a copy of a private lease to the next meeting, then it would be a different conversation,” said P.S. 234 parent Tricia Joyce.

The citywide nonprofit organization Class Size Matters has filed a lawsuit charging the city with fostering a “separate and unequal” education system by allowing charters located in public school buildings access to approximately $100 million in space and services free of charge.

“I wasn’t opposed to charters initially, but I’ve seen the way it’s been implemented in New York City, and it’s been a disaster,” said Class Size Matters Executive Director Leonie Haimson, pointing to Ross Global Academy, which initially incubated at Tweed and was closed last spring due to poor performance. “They use all sorts of ways to discourage or push out kids when they’re not making [high] grades.”

Carson’s presentation reignited this larger debate of whether Lower Manhattan parents espouse charter schools in general.

Committee member Jeff Mihok, for one, is unilaterally against charters, contending that the schools’ control by organizations, even if they’re nonprofits, is an abdication of government responsibility, and that the schools are unduly influenced by private consulting firms in the background.

“I’m sure the guy is well-intentioned and believes in what he’s doing,” said Mihok of Carson’s presentation. “What I’m opposed to is private money being mixed into public schooling. We shouldn’t be mixing corporate money into schools.”

C.B. 1 Public Member Tina Schiller, another P.S. 234 parent, argued that charters don’t undergo the same level of scrutiny that non-charter city public schools do. “It’s a silent revolution to privatize education without any discourse about the direction this will take us,” said Schiller. “These schools have the ‘Cathie Black’ business model method of education reform all over them.”

North Battery Park City resident Kate Hayes, a future member of Great Oaks’ board of trustees, said she would champion

another school option in School District Two and hopes to be able to send her fiveyear-old son to the charter, particularly in light of the growing waitlists at the local non-charters.

“My perspective is, having more school choice is a good thing – with anything, private or public money right now,” said Hayes.

“My thought is that if there’s overcrowding currently in elementary schools in my neighborhood, at some point it’s going to boil over, and the same problem is likely to exist in the middle schools.”

Countering Haimson’s broader accusation of charters, Hayes said Great Oaks’ tutoring program will allow teachers to hone in on the students’ weaknesses. “When kids are struggling, there will be resources available,” she said.

Joyce’s opinion differed from both schools of thought: the Downtown community, she said, isn’t ready to have a debate about charters. “Until they take care of this elephant in the room which is the massive overcrowding of our public schools, then we can’t even have a discussion of charter schools,” she said. “Then, if we have the luxury of thinking about choices, we’ll look at that.”

Redistricting debate far from over If the Republican-controlled New York State Senate moves forward with its current redistricting plan, it’s sure to be vetoed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. According to NYS Senator Daniel Squadron, who could see his district sliced and diced under the current proposal, the Governor has already promised to use the power of his pen to make sure the plan does not move beyond his desk.

And as for the New York State Assembly, Speaker Sheldon Silver said though a plan has been released, it is “not a final plan as far as the Assembly is concerned.”

The Assembly plan has not garnered anywhere near the amount the criticism the Senate plan has. For example, Silver’s district would see essentially no change in boundaries when compared to

Squadron’s.

“The Senate Republican plan is out there, and it’s being criticized for being shockingly political and self-serving and the Governor has said he is going to veto it,” said Squadron on Tuesday.

Under the current plan, Squadron would lose Battery Park City and portions of Tribeca.

“I am very proud to represent Battery Park City and the parts of Tribeca that I’d lose and that I feel a real connection to,” said Squadron. “I’d be very, very sorry not to have the chance to represent those communities anymore.”

Squadron described the Senate’s current plan as “a power grab” and the result of a process “culled by a majority desperately clinging to power.”

— John Bayles

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5

February 22 - 28, 2012

City responds to call to release NYPD cancer data

BY ALINE REYNOLDS Forty-seven-year-old John Walcott’s never realized his dream of becoming a college hockey coach due to an incapacitating illness his doctors believe is tied to prolonged exposure to Ground Zero toxins.

Walcott, a former NYPD detective, was diagnosed with leukemia in May 2003, which he attributes to near-nonstop recovery work at Ground Zero for six straight months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

While Walcott is seen for other 9/11-related health problems at Mount Sinai Hospital’s World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, the former cop must seek cancer treatment elsewhere using private health insurance, since the disease is not covered by the James L. Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, the federal bill that subsidizes health care and compensation for select 9/11 illnesses.

“To me it’s a fifth [9/11] injury, but no one’s tracking it because it’s a non-recognizable injury,” said Walcott. “We know an unusually high number of early responders are diagnosed with cancer, yet no one seems particularly interested in trying to corroborate any of these findings.”

Walcott is one of many 9/11 first responder NYPD officers whose identities and medical information have been kept under lock and key by the city for years for reasons of confidentiality. But just last week, at the urging of worker’s union representatives and elected officials, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s

Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds

NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio stood on the steps of City Hall last Wednesday at a rally calling for the city to release the names and medical information of NYPD officers that have been diagnosed with cancer following 9/11.

office agreed to release the cops’ names to Mt. Sinai, which would inform the hospital’s future studies on 9/11-related cancers.

The studies, advocates say, could help persuade the government to add cancer to the Zadroga bill.

In a written statement issued Wednesday, Feb. 15, Deputy Mayor for Operations Cas

Army upholds charges in Chen case New developments in the death of U.S. Army Private Danny Chen’s have local Chinatown advocates hopeful that justice will be served with respect to two of the eight soldiers implicated in soldier’s apparent suicide.

Following preliminary military hearings in Afghanistan that concluded Sunday, Feb. 12, U.S. Army investigators have recommended that First Lieutenant Daniel J. Schwartz and Sergeant Travis Carden be tried for all charges, including dereliction of duty, maltreatment and assault of Chen.

It is now up to the brigade commander to make a final determination about whether or not forward the charges to a court-martial or turn over the decision to his superior for final disposition.

Schwartz, a 25-year-old Maryland native, faces eight counts of dereliction of duty, while 25-year-old Carden, from Fowler, Indiana, faces two counts of violation of a lawful general regulation, two counts of maltreatment and one count of assault toward Chen.

“It is significant that [the charges are] being recommended for a court-martial,” said Elizabeth OuYang, President of the Organization for Chinese American’s (OCA)

New York Chapter, a lead advocate in the Chen case. “We are relieved no charges were dropped.”

Schwartz allegedly violated military law when he failed to report mistreatment of Chen that he was apprised of, OuYang noted. “This is a blatant failure of leadership,” she said.

Chen’s parents released a statement, saying, “This is good news. We were pleased to see the process is moving forward, but we still must wait to see if justice will ultimately be served.”

Chen was found dead last October in a guard tower in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he was deployed. Investigations by the army have since revealed that the soldier was racially taunted and physically abused by his peers in the months leading up to his death.

The purpose of the hearings is to decide whether or not there are reasonable grounds for the accused soldiers’ trials, according to military officials. The army has yet to decide whether to hold the trials, pending their approval, in Alaska, Chen’s domestic military base; or in Afghanistan, where he was serving.

— Aline Reynolds

Holloway said the city is now committed to sharing the information with Mt. Sinai as quickly as possible.

“Since federal and state laws prevent us from disclosing the names of those who have reported that they have cancer or other

conditions without their permission,” said Holloway, “we are developing a process to ask all of those individuals if they will authorize the release of their names.”

Responding to Holloway’s statement, Mt. Sinai Spokesperson Ian Michaels said the hospital is “very pleased” to receive the information and plans to collaborate with the NYPD to transfer the names in a way that will comply with federal patient confidentiality laws.

Having the full list of cops’ names will enhance Mt. Sinai’s ongoing examination of the records of an estimated 20,000 patients that are currently enrolled in the hospital’s W.T.C. health program, Michaels added.

“This information will help our doctors to conduct analyses of patterns of cancer in 9/11 responders and to make informed decisions about the future care of these patients,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Mayor’s office declined to specify whether the city also has plans to disclose the police officers’ health records, whose release Public Advocate Bill de Blasio demanded for in his Feb. 13 letter to Bloomberg and NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

At a City Hall press conference held on the day of Holloway’s announcement,

Continued on page 19

Fighting to make Lower Manhattan the greatest place to live, work, and raise a family.

Assemblyman Shelly Silver If you need assistance, please contact my office at (212) 312-1420 or email silver@assembly.state.ny.us.

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February 22 - 28, 2012

downtown express

Tweed tour reassures some local parents

Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds

Maggie Siena, the future principal of the Peck Slip School, has been giving tours of the classroom space at Tweed Courthouse, where the school will open next fall to prospective parents and community members.

Hovitz, chairperson of Community Board 1’s Youth and Education Committee, as he stepped into one of the large classrooms fitted with sleek chairs, bookshelves and

student lockers. “It’s beautiful. This is twice the size of the rooms at P.S. 234,� said P.S. 234 parent and Community Education Council District Two

ARTS CENTER

PERFORMING

BY ALINE REYNOLDS An insider’s tour of the classroom space in the Tweed Courthouse last week led to a few Downtown education activists believing the city Department of Education can do more with less.

The neo-classical, four-story landmark, formerly the New York County Courthouse and now serving as the D.O.E. headquarters, is largely crammed with administrative cubicles. Though three of its floors are dedicated to offices, space is so scarce that D.O.E. officials have resorted to conducting interviews of principals in stairwells, according to sources. Yet down a few sets of castiron stairs is a grand basement comprised of charming French doors, elegant marble floors and eight sprawling chambers. Six of the rooms have been configured as classrooms for public school students since the founding of City Hall Academy in 2003.

Last week, P.S. 150 Principal Maggie Siena, the future principal of the Peck Slip School, gave a small group of neighborhood residents a tour of the classrooms, currently occupied by Innovate Manhattan Charter School. Next school year, Peck Slip will inhabit the incubator space. As the cofounder of City Hall Academy, Siena helped design the classrooms, whose walls are lined with inspirational quotes that relate to different academic subjects. “How bright, I love it!� exclaimed Paul

Member Demetri Ganiaris.

Next, the group was led into the government-themed room, whose linoleum flooring is meant to mimic a courtroom setting, according to Siena. “It sparks the imagination of the truth,� commented Hovitz.

Hovitz and others from the group also mused about further maximizing the square footage. “This could be two [separate] rooms,� said Hovitz. “I could see a standalone pre-k school in any one of these.�

Siena replied that, while temporary partitions are a possibility, the D.O.E. is limited by city landmark regulations in how it can divide the space. “You could have two classes in a room,� said Siena, “but it would be very noisy.�

Asked about the ground floor’s seventh room, where NYC Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott holds conferences, Siena said the D.O.E. had no plans to make the space available for students. “The shortage of space upstairs is staggering. It’s very hard to have a private conference up there,� said Siena.

Last month, Siena hosted the same tour for two groups of prospective Peck Slip School families, which purportedly reassured them of the space. Siena said she is looking forward to taking the helm at the

Continued on page 20

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downtown express

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February 22 - 28, 2012

Downtown Boathouse hopes to return to Pier 26

BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER Almost seven years have passed since the volunteers who run the Downtown Boathouse pulled the last of their kayaks out of Pier 26 near North Moore Street on the Hudson River and sadly shut the door of their funky boathouse behind them. Since 1995, when 100 members of the public had kayaked on the Hudson at that location, the Downtown Boathouse’s program of free kayaking at Pier 26 had grown to accommodate thousands of kayakers.

In 2005, more than 12,400 people signed waivers and lowered themselves into kayaks at that location for a spin around the embayment or a jaunt up and down the river. But the management of Hudson River Park said the pier had to go. It was decrepit, unsafe.

The boathouse would be replaced with something much finer. It would take just three years to rebuild and reopen.

Of course, that didn’t happen. But now that construction on Pier 26 is actually under way with an estimated completion date of the spring of 2013, the Downtown Boathouse gang hopes to get its old home back and is angling for Community Board 1 support.

To that end, members of the Downtown Boathouse appeared before C.B. 1’s Waterfront Committee on Feb. 16. “We wanted to give the local community a sense of what we want to do and to get some feedback from them as to whether that’s what they want,” said Graeme Birchall, secretary of the Downtown Boathouse. “Community Board 1 gave us a letter of support in 1990,

Downtown Express by Terese Loeb Kreuzer

Graeme Birchall, secretary of the non-profit, volunteer-run Downtown Boathouse, making a presentation to Community Board 1’s Waterfront Committee about where kayaks can be launched around New York City.

which is what got us going. They gave us another one in 1999, when we started to really expand the public program of free kayaking.”

Bounced out of Pier 26, the Downtown Boathouse group relocated to other piers along the Hudson and to Governors Island.

P.A.C. board’s first meeting The Performing Arts Center Board of Directors, currently made up of five members appointed by Mayor Bloomberg, met for the first time on Friday, Feb. 10 for a presentation on the building’s design by architect Frank Gehry.

However the presentation did not yield much discussion.

“The design hasn’t changed,” said P.A.C. board member and Chair of Community Board 1 Julie Menin.

Gehry’s design for the building includes two theaters, one of which will contain 1,000 seats and is set to be occupied by the Joyce Theater dance company. There will also be rehearsal space, classrooms and a café. Currently, the building is to be constructed on the current site of the temporary PATH station, just east of One World Trade Center.

According to Menin, the board will hold monthly meetings and the next meeting will focus on “logistics and planning.”

“Obviously we need to come up with a programming plan for the center before the board can go out and begin the fundraising process,” said Menin.

Menin said the board should determine quickly the different types of programming in order to develop a capital plan to take to the private sector.

The board will be responsible for coming up with $500 million dollars to finance the construction of the center.

Currently, the Joyce is the P.A.C.’s sole tenant, with talk of the Tribeca Film Festival occupying some space as well. Originally, the Drawing Center, the International Freedom Center and the Signature Theatre were designated as tenants for the P.A.C. Menin believes the center should feature different mediums, from performing arts to visual arts, and hopes the P.A.C. will resemble Lincoln Center and believes the center will play a vital role in the community’s revitalization. She mentioned neighborhoods such as SoHo and Chelsea as communities that have benefited in terms of art galleries leading to more retail businesses.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who helped secure some of the $155 million that has been earmarked for the P.A.C. said, “I believe it was a commitment made to the community, for all the years of disruption that has taken place [in Lower Manhattan].”

Silver said the center would be a “jewel” for Lower Manhattan and he was “100 percent” committed to making the center a reality.

— John Bayles

They now have kayaking programs at 72nd Street, Pier 96 at 56th Street and Pier 40 at Houston Street — all run by volunteers and

all free. But none has ever equaled the popularity of the Pier 26 location.

“One of the reasons why Pier 26 was so popular – it is close to the subway,” said Birchall. “It’s a lot closer than any of the more northerly locations. Pier 96 is very isolated. The blocks around it are strictly industrial. And the way Pier 96 is laid out, you can’t see it from the walkway.”

Pier 40 is relatively convenient, he said, but was only supposed to be temporary, so the Downtown Boathouse didn’t invest a lot in the facility. And the 72nd Street outpost is out of the way for many of the Downtown Boathouse’s fans.

According to Birchall, the Downtown Boathouse has put more than a half million kayakers on the Hudson since the program started. “From what we can guess, we put out 65 percent of the total number of people who go kayaking every year in the city,” he said. “In the park itself, it’s more like 90 percent, and if you count children, it’s much higher than 95 percent. That’s what we do with no government money, no subsidy and no corporate sponsorship.”

Birchall said that the Downtown Boathouse’s demographics reflect the city’s demographics by sex, age, race and income. “We provide kayaking to the public but we’re not a kayaking organization.

Continued on page 19

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February 22 - 28, 2012

8

downtown express

Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess

Hitting the links in SoHo Who says you can’t play golf in New York City? This street vendor was taking a break from selling his photography on Spring and Lafayette Streets on Saturday to practice his golf swing. He lined up weighted down milk cartons and practiced pitching them into a garbage can to the delight of passers-by.

ASH WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 Imposition of Ashes Continuously throughout the day Trinity Church, 7am-6pm St. Paul’s Chapel, 8am-6pm Liturgy of Ash Wednesday with Holy Eucharist St. Paul’s Chapel, 1pm, 6pm Trinity Church, 8am, 12pm , 6pm The Rt. Rev. Mark S. Sisk, Bishop of New York, Celebrant and Preacher, at 12pm Watch live or on-demand at trinitywallstreet.org

All Are Welcome All events are free, unless noted.

212.602.0800

Let’s do something together

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1pm Concerts at One Music of Tom Cipullo. Part of the American Art Song Series in collaboration with Joy in Singing, music curator and host Paul Sperry.

Trinity Church SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 10am How Do I Experience God. . .

As A Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender, Queer/ Questioning (LBGTQ) Person?

Led by Patrick Cheng, Episcopal Divinity School 74 Trinity Pl, 2nd Fl, Parish Hall SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 4:30pm Lenten Storytelling & Jazz Meditations: Blessed Are the Peacemakers Celebrate the lives of men and women of faith and courage with stories, readings, jazz meditations by Theodicy Jazz Collective, and prayers.

This week: Mahatma Gandhi.

St. Paul’s Chapel

trinitywallstreet.org

worship SUNDAY, 8am and 10am St. Paul’s Chapel Communion in the round SUNDAY, 9am and 11:15am Trinity Church Preaching, music, and Eucharist Sunday school and child care available MONDAY – FRIDAY, 12:05pm Trinity Church Holy Eucharist MONDAY – FRIDAY, 5:15pm All Saints’ Chapel, in Trinity Church Evening Prayer, Evensong (Thurs.)

Watch online webcast

TRINITY CHURCH Broadway at Wall Street 74 Trinity Place is located in the office building behind Trinity Church.

Leah Reddy

Trinity Wall Street

On Ash Wednesday, ashes will be imposed continuously throughout the day at Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel.

ST. PAUL’S CHAPEL Broadway and Fulton Street CHARLOTTE’S PLACE 107 Greenwich St, btwn Rector & Carlisle The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, Rector The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee, Vicar

an Episcopal parish in the city of New York

downtown express

9

February 22 - 28, 2012

A proposal to unpave a parking lot and make a park

BY ALBERT AMATEAU Edison Properties last week asked Community Board 2â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Parks, Recreation and Open Space Committee to consider a change to the proposed Special Hudson Square District to create a new park on Dominick St. Anthony Borelli, Edison Propertiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; vice president for planning, proposed an increased midblock height limit on through lots that would enable Edison to build a 7,300-square-foot green park on Dominick between Varick and Hudson Sts. and also provide an opportunity for affordable housing.

The 18-block Special Hudson Square District under Department of City Planning review was proposed last year by Trinity Real Estate, the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest property owner.

The district seeks to encourage new residential development and residential conversions in the current manufacturing zone to create a 24/7 residential/commercial district.

Trinityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s zoning proposal calls for street walls and a 320-foot height limit on new construction along the wide north-south thoroughfares, and a 185-foot height limit along the narrower midblock streets between Canal and W. Houston Sts. Edison, however, wants to increase midblock height limits to 320 feet for a proposed through-lot subdistrict between Varick and Hudson Sts from Dominick to King Sts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would make it feasible for Edison Properties to use the inclusionary housing program and provide 45 units of affordable housing, as well as building a privately owned public park,â&#x20AC;? Borelli said.

Edisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposed 320-foot midblock height would also apply to three other through-lot properties: a garage

A landscape concept by Edison Properties for the through lot at Spring and Varick Sts., now used as a parking lot.

site between King and Charlton Sts.; an inactive construction site between Vandam and Charlton Sts.; and a site between Spring and Vandam Sts. But other property owners in the proposed district said they objected to increasing the midblock height limit. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re opposed to any increase in the height limit,â&#x20AC;?

Richard Blodgett, president of the Charlton St. Block

Association, told the Feb. 8 Parks Committee meeting. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lovely low-rise block,â&#x20AC;? added Blodgett. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Increasing the height limit is something we would have serious misgivings about,â&#x20AC;? said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

Continued on page 20

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February 22 - 28, 2012

10

EDITORIAL The price of progress

PUBLISHER & EDITOR John W. Sutter ASSOCIATE EDITOR John Bayles ARTS EDITOR Scott Stiffler REPORTERS Aline Reynolds Albert Amateau Lincoln Anderson SR. V.P. OF SALES AND MARKETING Francesco Regini ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Allison Greaker Colin Gregory Julius Harrison Alex Morris Julio Tumbaco BUSINESS MANAGER / CONTROLLER Vera Musa ART / PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Troy Masters ART DIRECTOR Mark Hasselberger GRAPHIC DESIGNER Vince Joy CONTRIBUTORS Helaina N. Hovitz • Terese Loeb Kreuzer • Jerry Tallmer PHOTOGRAPHERS Milo Hess • Jefferson Siegel • Terese Loeb Kreuzer

Published by

COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC 515 Canal St., Unit 1C, NY, NY 10013 Phone: (212) 229-1890 Fax: (212) 229-2790 On-line: www.downtownexpress.com E-mail: news@downtownexpress.com

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Downtown Express is published every week by Community Media LLC, 515 Canal St., Unit 1C, New York, N.Y. 10013 (212) 229-1890.

The entire contents of the newspaper, including advertising, are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced without the express permission of the publisher - © 2012 Community Media LLC. 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 other errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue.

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The preliminary audit of the Port Authority in many regards only highlighted the obvious: that the agency is facing a huge debt exacerbated by the redevelopment of the World Trade Center.

The audit identified the W.T.C. project as the root of its financial woes, principally due to added costs associated with completing the 9/11 Memorial by the 10-year anniversary. The audit states that the project’s price tag increased from $11 billion in 2008 to a current estimated cost of $14.8 billion.

We find no coincidence that the year 2008 also happens to be the year that former Port Executive Director Chris Ward took the helm. Governors Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie were quick to pin the “dysfunction” of the agency, following the public outcry over last year’s toll increases, on Ward and to award a $2 million contract to a consulting firm to perform the audit.

As with any audit, there were suggestions of cost-cutting measures including requiring employees to pay into their healthcare plans, instituting new controls for overtime pay and eliminating add-on compensation programs like unused vacation days.

We must remember that these are typical areas that auditing firms tend to focus on to trim the fat at any corporation or city or state agency, and that, while many media outlets jumped on the opportunity to slam the Port, they failed to concede that any mammoth redevelopment project spread over many years reasonably entails budget changes and unexpected costs. To think the agency could have met the 10-year anniversary date for the memorial’s completion without cost overruns — which were directly attributable to dealing with third parties such as New York City, the MTA, Silverstein Properties, and the 9/11 Memorial Foundation — is nearsighted at best. Mayor Bloomberg acknowledged this fact, calling it “naïve” to not expect ballooning costs in the rebuilding of “perhaps the most complex construction project in the history of the world.”

Bloomberg also pointed out an important fact barely mentioned in the audit, which is that the $1 billion surplus for the tenant fitout of One W.T.C. wasn’t included in the project’s original budget calculations.

The audit does acknowledge the adversities the agency endured over the last 20 years, from the February 1993 bombing to the attacks of 9/11, which resulted in the death of its then executive director Neil Levin, along with 83 other employees. Needless to say, one of the adversities is managing a project of this length and complexity through four N.J. Governors, four N.Y. Governors, and four heads of the Port Authority.

But the agency can no longer use 9/11 as an excuse for its management flaws. With more than a decade of post-9/11 life behind us, we now call on the Port to continue reconstruction of the site as rapidly as possible while minimizing cost overruns. The agency must find a way to secure funding commitments from the third parties without delaying progress.

In particular, the Port must resolve the prolonged deadlock it has with the 9/11 Memorial Foundation over unanticipated construction costs as quickly as possible.

It is unacceptable that work on the Memorial Museum has slowed significantly due to a disagreement over the project’s finances.

As much as we must recognize these financial hurdles, it’s important for us not to forget the poignant milestones that were met. Completing the memorial by the 10-year anniversary was a strong first step. The audit tells nothing of the emotions that were felt when One W.T.C. finally started rising and when family members of those who died on 9/11 stepped foot onto the 9/11 Memorial last September.

What would the costs have been if we had to stand up in front of the city, the nation, and the world and admit we couldn’t get the job done?

downtown express

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ‘Angry NIMBYs’?

What nerve!

To The Editor: Re “N.Y.U. has a right to build, but must scale back plan” (editorial, Feb. 15): “Angry NIMBYs who want to protect their cherished and privileged corner of the world”?

Really? We’ve been inundated with bars, banks, tour buses and drunken bad behavior for many years. And a number of residents here are longtime neighborhood people, whose families have lived in Greenwich Village for decades; people who were displaced by N.Y.U.’s construction of faculty housing on Bleecker St. — on land practically “given” to N.Y.U. for a song.

Paul Rackow

N.Y.U. risks rotting the core To The Editor: Re “N.Y.U. has a right to build, but must scale back plan” (editorial, Feb. 15): Yes, N.Y.U. has a right to build. And we have existing zoning laws to cover what it may build on land it does own. But the university seeks to control land it does not own as well, land that belongs to the public. It also wants to change the zoning designation of the superblocks, the city zoning law text, and even to get additional waivers beyond that. Changes that may well set a precedent for the rest of the city — so be careful what you ask for.

“Half?” Why are you expecting N.Y.U. to have a change of heart, when for more than a year as it developed this plan, it refused to yield to the community by even a fraction.

When it gave up on the “pinwheel” hotel, it was only because of the embarrassment to N.Y.U. by I.M. Pei’s public rejection of the proposal — not because of any compromise with the community.

The superblocks’ existing zoning is a restriction on development agreed to first in the 1950s and again in the ’70s. Why would a deed restriction on land transferred to the city for a public school now in 2012 have any more meaning than the existing deed restriction on the superblocks created in past agreements? What happened to “A deal’s a deal”? Should past agreements be thrown out each time N.Y.U. wants more?

The wide support for the plan at the city level offers an opportunity to spread N.Y.U.’s growth throughout the city more widely. Opposition to this plan does not reduce the possibilities for job growth. On the contrary, it has the potential to spread jobs throughout the city. And the university’s strength would not be diminished by such a spread; rather, it would enhance it.

Consider the fact that N.Y.U. thrives now and is in several locations around this and

other cities. Perhaps that’s precisely why it is thriving.

N.Y.U.’s need to expand should not be fulfilled in its core. Expansion there will only serve to rot the core.

Jeffrey Rowland

Playing into N.Y.U.’s hands To The Editor: Re “N.Y.U. has a right to build, but must scale back plan” (editorial, Feb. 15): Many observations in your thoughtful editorial deserve further discussion. However, one critical point has been lost in the shuffle, and a misleading characterization must be corrected. I’ll put down my pitchfork and torch momentarily in this effort.

You describe maximalists responding unconditionally in the negative, and a need for compromise and negotiating tools from C.B. 2. It is astounding that a significant issue has been either ignored or forgotten: Borough President Stringer assembled a Community Task Force on N.Y.U. Development. This was an unprecedented attempt to deal with a community’s realistic concerns and have a straightforward dialogue to deal with conflicting needs. After four years and more than 50 meetings with N.Y.U., we produced a comprehensive, balanced report on March 25, 2010. Needless to say, we asked for a similarly thoughtful response. We waited. The deafening silence reverberates to this day.

Ultimately, to suggest that there has been an all-or-nothing stance on the part of this community is simply a distortion of reality.

N.Y.U. representatives have sat down with us, attended many meetings, and remained impassive. In its continued attempts to ignore and marginalize us, N.Y.U. has utterly precluded any dialogue, let alone compromise.

To stereotype the opposition to N.Y.U.’s overreaching plan as absolutist NIMBYs protecting their “privileged corner of the world” (interesting choice of words; is this relevant?) is a heavy-handed oversimplification and erroneous. Of course, in any charged situation there will be extremists. I have attended dozens of community meetings on this topic. Despite the threat to what is perceived as the very quality of life and remaining identity of Greenwich Village, for the most part, residents have been reasonable and articulate and have offered wellconsidered feedback.

N.Y.U. would enjoy fostering this easy assumption and portrayal, thereby contrasting the irrational mobs with its prudence and beneficence. It’s a predictable tactic.

Don’t fall for it.

Beth Gottlieb Gottlieb is president, Mercer-Houston Dog Run Association and former member, Borough President’s Community Task Force on N.Y.U. Development

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February 22 - 28, 2012

NOTEBOOK Bugging out on my couch, but what was it all about?

BY KATE WALTER “Do the test so you can stop obsessing,” said my shrink, Dr. R. I’d told Dr. R. I was afraid that my convertible couch, which doubled as my bed in my West Village studio, might be infested.

My panic started last fall when I woke up one morning scratching my ankles. Never mind that I was still spending weekends at the shore and sitting outside at night wearing flip-flops. Any sane person would have suspected mosquito bites, not bedbugs. Plus, what I had looked nothing like what I saw on the many Web sites devoted to this new urban pest epidemic.

That should have reassured me, but the day I found a bite on my index finger, I freaked out. I recalled the note my annoying neighbor had placed under my door a while back indicating the person who had moved downstairs from me had bedbugs in her previous apartment. I’d dismissed this warning and filed it away with her other crazy letters, but what if she was right? Now I stripped the sheets, pillowcases and mattress cover from my bed, tossed all this into the laundry. I pulled up the mattress and frantically searched under it for bugs. I found nothing.

So then why did I keep waking up so early, like at 5 a.m.? Right before dawn was when the critters started feeding. Was it jobrelated anxiety? After all, this did start when I returned to teaching in the fall. I also wondered if it was fear of bringing a new woman into my bed after my partner of 26 years left me. I analyzed whether I was projecting my anxiety about a new love affair onto a fear of bedbugs. Or was it the real deal? Every time I saw a tiny dark fleck on my sheet, I was

afraid it might be fecal matter from those bloodsuckers.

The first time I went into a panic, I was lobbying for another apartment in my building and had dreams of being offered an amazing space with direct views of the Empire State Building. I had to get out of this tiny studio. I was officially too old to be sleeping on a pullout couch. On my birthday last year, I became eligible for Social Security.

Of course, my shrink wanted to know why the possibility of a new home scared me.

I indicated it must be related to my distorted thinking that I don’t deserve a bigger place where I could have a real bed. The only way I could take this in was to counterbalance with something negative: bedbugs. I grew up with twin beds in a small room shared with my sister. When I left home, I splurged and got a waterbed. (It was the ’70s.) After I moved to Manhattan, I slept in loft beds, futons and now a convertible couch.

“You think you only deserve tidbits of happiness,” my therapist analyzed. This was also her theory as to why I spent three decades with my former partner, whom my shrink felt never returned my devotion.

“Getting what you want scares you,” Dr. R. said.

When I was not offered that apartment, my fears calmed down for a few weeks until I saw the tan speck on my sheet. I picked it up and put it into an envelope.

“So what does it look like?” my therapist asked, referring to the speck.

“Well, it looks like a piece of granola,” I said, feeling silly. “But it also looks like the picture of a bedbug I saw on the Internet.”

“Bedbugs don’t look like granola,” Dr. R. said. “What’s going on in your love life now?”

I told Dr. R. about the fabulous first date I’d just had with an attorney. We walked on the High Line at sunset, followed by dinner at an Italian restaurant where we drank a bottle of wine. The conversation flowed easily. She was attractive and I sensed chemistry.

Even better, she e-mailed me later that she had fun and wanted to get together again.

I really liked her but I could never invite her to my apartment to sit on my couch if I thought it was infested.

The only people who knew about my fear were my therapist and my best friend. Since my friend’s ex owned a mold-removal business, I asked her to speak with him. That was how I learned about the test. He said to put sticky glue mousetraps under the four posts of my convertible couch before I went to bed. If I had bugs, they would be on the traps in the morning. It was time to discover the truth.

It was super-hard to get the glue traps under the posts of my heavy couch. This was a two-person job, but I refused to call anyone in my building who could assist me move furniture. This needed to be a stealth operation. I pulled the couch up with my right arm and slipped the traps under with my left hand.

I thought I’d be unable to sleep that night, but I slept soundly. At least, I’d have an answer when I woke up. I got up at 7 a.m. and peeked at the edges of the traps — they were all clean, thank God. But I could not be positive until I pulled them out completely.

This task was much harder than inserting them because now the traps were stuck to

the wooden posts. I managed to free the back two first because they were not wedged in as deeply. All clear — yes!

But the front ones were impossible because I’d stuck them under more securely.

I yanked and pulled with my left hand, holding up the couch with my right hand, like Superwoman. The traps came flying off in pieces, the glue side landing down on my floor. I saw blood on the last trap I removed.

It was mine, I realized with relief, as I saw a big gash on my index finger. I was cut and bleeding and glue was stuck to a section of my wooden floor, but I didn’t care. My couch had passed the exterminator’s exam.

The next day I woke up happy and planned to go to yoga but my shoulder and wrist were sprained from lifting the heavy couch. No way could I do downward dog without injuring myself again. I had to skip class, which I needed after all that stress. I found the envelope with the suspicious speck and examined it again. It looked like a piece of granola.

A month later, I was offered a sunny onebedroom near quiet neighbors.

I was thrilled about this upgrade after 12 years on a waiting list for a bigger place.

When I signed the lease, there was another form, indicating my new apartment had no history of bedbugs.

So I moved and finally, at age 62, I had my own one-bedroom and was looking to buy a bed. On our third date, I invited the sexy attorney over. As we sat on my couch drinking wine and chatting, surrounded by unpacked boxes, I felt like it was worth the long wait and envisioned how I’d be decorating my brand-new space, transforming it into a real home.

HISTORY Prison to Pad Thai, Bleecker building has seen it all

BY ERIC FERRARA On the afternoon of Feb. 24, 1813, at the height of the War of 1812, the U.S.S. Hornet, an 18-gun warship, set its sights on a British sloop anchored on the Demerara River in Guyana, South America.

While navigating a sandbar at the river’s mouth to position itself for an attack, the Hornet found itself sandwiched between two enemy ships as the man-o’-war H.M.S. Peacock approached from the Caribbean Sea. Hornet commander James Lawrence opted to engage the equal-sized Peacock — disabling it in less than 15 minutes after a short but fierce artillery exchange. The Peacock quickly sank, though many survivors were rescued by the Hornet’s American crew.

It wasn’t until April that the Hornet returned to U.S. soil with her prisoners of war, who were brought to New York City and confined in an old, three-story, wooden structure at the southeast corner of Bleecker and Bank Sts. referred to as the “Barracks.”

According to a 1918 Daughters of the American Revolution magazine article, inmates were content with their treatment during the ordeal and “expressed their appreciation” by authoring a card that stated, “We ceased to consider ourselves prisoners. Everything was done for us.” (However,

the same article opened with, “This is the place where we heaped coals of fire on the heads of the British!” So let’s assume the truth is somewhere in between.)

The P.O.W.’s were released at the end of the war in 1815, though heroic Captain Lawrence did not fare as well. He was killed during his next battle on June 1, 1813 — but not before muttering words that would become synonymous with maritime war, “Don’t give up the ship!”

The original three-story structure that hosted the Barracks at 417 Bleecker St. (82 Bank St.) was converted into a hotel

by Charles A. Laux sometime around the turn of the 19th century. The Laux estate then sold it to another party in 1914, who applied for permits to alter the building in 1918.

By the 1930s a fourth floor was added and extensive modifications were made.

Other tenants of this address have included a liquor store in the 1870s, an antique shop in the 1970s and the Saint Lucia Hotel, which was the center of New York City’s Basque community for three decades between the 1920s and 1950s. Most recently, in 2010, Toons Thai restaurant closed its doors after more than two decades at this location.

On a related note, that century-old Daughters of the

American Revolution magazine article mentioned earlier ended with the following prophetic paragraph: “Few pass this building who have any idea of the historic association. Perhaps the time is not far distant when it will disappear and be forgotten. But it should mean much to those who love their history. And it might be well to pay it a visit, before it vanishes forever from the map of New York City!”

Ferrara is director, Lower East Side History Project Sources: “The Story of the Naval War of 1812,” by C.S. Forester, Chapman Billies, 2004; “The Naval War of 1812,”

by Theodore Roosevelt, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1882; The American Contractor, Volume 40, F. W. Dodge Corp., 1919; Daughters of the American Revolution magazine, Volume 52, R.R. Bowker Co., 1918; “The Real Estate Field,” The New York Times, June 2, 1914; “Goulding’s New York City Directory,” Lawrence G. Goulding, 1877; “The American Metropolis: From Knickerbocker Days to the Present Time; New York City Life in All Its Various Phases, Volume 1,” by Frank Moss, P.F. Collier, 1897; 1969 Designation Report, published by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

12

BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER SECOND ANNUAL MAH JONGG MARATHON AT THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE: Last year’s hugely successful mah jongg exhibit and mah jongg fundraising marathon at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, called for an encore. On Sunday, March 11, from noon to 5 p.m. the museum will host the second annual Mah Jongg Marathon, with all proceeds going to support the museum.

Players of all levels are welcome. In fact, for those who would like to participate but who don’t know how to play, the museum will offer a free mah jongg lesson on Wednesday, Feb. 29 at 6 p.m.

It costs $36 to register in advance or $54 at the door. Like a walk-athon, participants are encouraged to get sponsors to support their efforts. Those who register online through FirstGiving.

February 22 - 28, 2012

com (http://www.firstgiving.com/mjh/ mah-jongg-marathon-2012) can set up a personal fundraising page. Phone registrations are also accepted. Players can choose to enroll in the marathon as a team or as singles. Single players will be matched with other players of their own level. Participants can play for as little or as long a time as they wish. Snacks will be included and lunch will be for sale at the museum’s café. For extra fun, this year’s mah jongg marathon will include a raffle with prizes.

Mah jongg originated in 19th century China and became popular in the United States in the 1920s. Almost from the beginning, it was used as entertainment at charitable events and as a way to raise money.

For more information on the marathon, email mahjongg@mjhnyc.org or call (646) 437-4224.

A light sculpture in the West Thames Street cul-de-sac designed by Audrey Matlock Architects and installed in December 2010 was broken by snow plows in March 2011. It still has not been repaired.

FIRE ON CHAMBERS STREET: At 7:27 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 20, a fire was reported on a 19th-floor roof deck at 400 Chambers St. According to a fire department spokesman, 20 units from 20 different companies and 78 firefighters responded.

The fire took around an hour to bring under control. Seven firefighters with minor injuries were taken to New York Downtown Hospital. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The 28-story building in which the fire occurred, Tribeca Park, was developed by and is managed by the Related Companies.

It has 395 rental units.

ART UPDATE: WEST THAMES STREET LIGHT SCULPTURE: A light sculpture in the West Thames Street cul-de-sac designed by Audrey Matlock Architects and installed in December 2010 was broken by snowplows in March 2011. At the Battery Park City Authority Town Hall meeting on Nov. 17, 2011, some B.P.C. residents whose apartments overlook the cul-de-sac said they would be glad if the L.E.D. lights were not replaced. They said they didn’t want to have flashing lights right outside their windows.

“The Battery Park City Authority filed a ‘claim with the comptroller’ regarding some financial recovery from the damages,” said Matthew Monahan, a spokesman for the Authority. “Round caps or disks are going in the original spots.”

The sculpture still has not been repaired.

Matlock’s firm renovated the cul-de-sac for a fee of approximately $400,000, which included the light sculpture.

Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer

A game of Mah Jongg, in progress at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City. The museum is staging its second annual Mah Jongg Marathon on Sunday, March 11 as a fundraiser.

downtown express

FLORIAN EXHIBIT AT POETS HOUSE: Douglas Florian, whose poems and artwork are favorites in the children’s room at Poets House, 10 River Terrace, will be honored with an exhibit of his work opening on Feb. 26 and running through April 21 during regular library hours. “I’ve been sharing his poems and artwork with classes here at Poets House since I started working here in 2004 and he was one

of the first poets I found that all classes generally agreed upon as being great,” said Mike Romanos, the children’s room director.

Romanos said that Florian’s poetry is educational – usually about science and nature – but not didactic and that his illustrations are “otherworldly.”

Florian has written and illustrated more than 30 books of poetry including the national bestseller “insectlopedia,” “lizards, frogs, and polliwogs,” “zoo’s who” and “beast feast,” winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award.

“To research my subject I might go to the American Museum of Natural History, not far from my studio in New York City,” Florian said. “I also borrow a great number of reference books from libraries in addition to purchasing relevant titles. Field guides are an especially valuable source of information and are usually up to date. Naturally I prefer primary sources recently written by scientists who specialize in the field I’m studying.”

He said that he uses a wide variety of materials to create his illustrations — not just artist’s supplies. For “zoo’s who,” for instance, he used watercolor, gouache, colored pencils, inks, tin foil, candy wrappers, shredded papers, stencils, rubber stamps, and collages on primed paper bags.

Florian will be present for an opening reception and book signing on Sunday, Feb. 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. He will read from his books at 11 a.m.

The Constance Laibe Hays Children’s Room at Poets House is open Thurs.Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays at 10 a.m. are set aside for toddlers. For more information, contact Mike Romanos at (212) 431-7920, ext. 2825 or mike@poetshouse.org.

To comment on Battery Park City Beat or to suggest article ideas, email TereseLoeb@mac.com

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February 22 - 28, 2012

OPEN THINKING | ON A NEW SCHOOL OF THOUGHT No. 3 IN A SERIES

TIME TO REINVENT THE CLASS SCHEDULE?

By Ty Tingley Co-head of school, Avenues The school day has traditionally been divided into equal periods. But is that really the most effective way for students to learn? Certain classes — such as science or literature — might benefit from longer periods, while others are better taught in shorter, more frequent sessions. A flexible schedule can play a critical role in a student’s education.

Read more about Ty Tingley’s thoughts on education at www.avenues.org/tingley. You’ll find articles, video, interviews and details on parent information events hosted by the leadership team of Avenues: The World School.

Ty Tingley is the co-head of school at Avenues and oversees the development of the school’s curriculum.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Muir

Avenues is opening this fall in Chelsea. It will be the first of 20 campuses in major cities, educating children ages three to 18 with a global perspective.

“Valentines Blow Your Minds,” a 7eventytwo members-only party held on Feb. 10, featured four popular bands from the area.

New Tribeca venue is all about teen spirit

BY MARSHALL JAMES KAVANAUGH Teens in Lower Manhattan have a new venue to spend their Friday nights and express their artistic sides and it’s designed exclusively for them.

The new program, dubbed ‘7eventytwo’ and hosted by the Church Street School for Music and Art, tailors to neighborhood teens seeking to draw, play music, and pursue other types of art once the school day ends. The programming will be housed in the Church Street School’s new center at 72 Warren St., adjacent to its main building at 74 Warren St. Currently, the 7eventytwo space, which features with 16-foot-high ceilings and measures 1200 square feet, is being used for members-only concerts and film screenings.

But it can easily be converted into an art classroom with the addition of tables and supplies, according to 7eventytwo Curriculum Co-designer Azikiwe Mohammed, a program director at the Church Street School.

Put aside the tables and add some chairs and the room transforms back into a theater for film viewings, explained Mohammed’s colleague, Z Behl. A former student at the Church Street School, Behl studied film design at Wesleyan University and has worked on music videos for bands such as “MGMT” and “Sunny Day in Glasgow” as well as the 2012 Sundance award-winning film, “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

“The point is to take our friends and our artists and bring them back to the community,” explained Behl.

The 7eventytwo programming features musical performances by local bands and Church Street students along with movies made by neighborhood filmmakers. For “Valentines Blow Your Minds,” a 7eventytwo members-only party held on Feb. 10, four popular bands from the area including “Claire’s Diary” and “The Indecent” performed while films made by local directors

were projected overhead.

Teens have the chance to ask the artists and performers questions in the setting of a post-film Q&A, according to Mohammed.

Students will also have the chance to practice art on a college level. 7eventytwo’s six, four-week courses in the spring semester cover contemporary topics such as sculpture in fibers, music through technology and beatbuilding, music video production, graphic design, and legal street art.

The coursework will afford students the opportunity to acquire new techniques under the guidance of neighborhood artists, according to Mohammed. “[The students] take control of their art,” said Behl. “We just provide the space.”

The program’s emphasis on participation from the local art community reflects the school’s primary mission, according to Church Street School Executive Director Lisa Ecklund Flores.

“The school’s philosophy is that you need to actually engage in art to understand it, then make it your own to develop,” said Flores. “7eventytwois a space for [the students] to learn how to dictate [their art] for themselves.”

Membership at 7eventytwo is $400, which includes enrollment in two of the six courses the curriculum offers per semester as well as free admission to all of the events at 72 Warren St. 7eventytwo members also have unlimited access to the services available at 74 Warren St., including soundproof performance spaces for bands. The first fourweek course begins on Tuesday, March 6, and registration closes on Saturday, March 31. On Friday, March 23, the Church Street School will host a members-only release party featuring performances by “Das Racist” and a secret guest. For more information, visit the Church Street School for Music and Art’s website at www.churchstreetschool.org.

WWW.AVENUES.ORG

16 galleries packed with installations that will appeal to families and adults, including: t --?:C '+66 #><//> += -+:>?</. ,C :29>949?<8+63=>= t 3=:6+C= 90 >996=N =23: 79./6=N =23:= 38 ,9>>6/=N +8. 79</ t 29>91<+:2C ,C .A+<. ?<>C8=5CN /H 23/8\ =381 3+9N +8. #C6@3+ 6+-2C WEDNESDAY–SUNDAY 10 am–6 pm 12 Fulton Street, New York City (between Water and South Streets) $5.00 admission, children under 9 are free www.southstreetseaportmuseum.com | 212-748-8600

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February 22 - 28, 2012

downtown express

Photos by Jefferson Siegel

Who let the Lower East Side dogs out? Woof! Wa-woof!

Getting ready to represent the Lower East Side in the 136th annual Westminster Dog Show were, in photo at left, from left to right, San Remo’s Tug of War, age 2, the No. 7 pug in the country, with sons San Remo’s Charlie Chan and San Remo’s Remington Steele, both seven months old, at the Hotel Pennsylvania on the Sunday before the show’s start. Their owner, Barbara Glazer (not shown), lives on the Lower East Side. Meanwhile, at right, Moses, a 3-year-old French mastiff, with Pam Smith of Tennessee, was salivating at the thought of competition — or was it dog chow?

B.P.C.A. needs restructuring, says Squadron Continued from page 1 PILOT fees (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) and other fees were to be used in part to subsidize affordable housing elsewhere in the city.

However, Squadron wrote, “Today’s process for spending surplus dollars has more to do with horse-trading than principle. Just a couple of years ago, $200 million of these surplus dollars were swept away in one shot to close the state budget gap.”

“Affordable housing was the founding principle of Battery Park City,” Squadron said in a telephone interview the day after his article appeared. “It is one that has not been fully realized by any stretch but that’s not inconsistent with local priorities. We need affordable housing locally and we have open spaces that are in crisis when it comes to funding — from Hudson River Park all the way down to the East River. Those two priorities are what surplus dollars from Battery Park City should be used for. They

benefit Battery Park City and they meet the broader goal that it was founded on.”

He said that Hudson River Park is in urgent need of funds both for operating expenses and capital expenditures and that the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, which maintains Battery Park City’s 33 acres of parks and gardens and organizes programming throughout the year, has “very, very high costs.” He went on to say that, “We know that along the East River we have some wonderful, new open spaces without any funding mechanism.”

Squadron’s Daily News piece was the first public statement of his idea for reform. He said that the reaction has been positive.

“I think that people think there’s real promise here,” he said. “The devil is often in the details so the conversation needs to continue – but when it comes to assured local representation, when it comes to affordable housing – across the board people in Battery Park City and in Lower Manhattan know we need a change.”

At the present time, the Battery Park City Authority Board of Directors has just one local resident — Robert Mueller, director of Urstadt Biddle Properties. He was appointed to the board in June 2006. Recently, Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed a second Battery Park City resident to the board, Martha Gallo, the general auditor for JP Morgan Chase, but her appointment has to be approved by the New York State Senate.

Squadron said that he appreciated the governor’s appointment of Gallo to the board, but “we can’t pray for good news floating down the river from Albany. We should have a structure that ensures sufficient local representation.”

Squadron’s plan for Battery Park City could be implemented quickly. New York City has an option to take over Battery Park City, he explained. “If that were done without the protections I talk about, I think we would all have to oppose it,” he said. “But if the City were willing to commit to the things we’re talking about in a binding obligation,

that’s all it would take. The [B.P.C.A.’s] debt would move to the City in that case, and there are questions about how that would work, but we believe the City would have the capacity to assume that debt.”

Squadron praised the Battery Park City Authority’s chairman, William C. Thompson, Jr. and the Authority’s president, Gayle Horwitz for having done “a commendable job.” But he went on to say, “This is not about the current administration in Battery Park City. It’s about a structure that makes more sense for the community over time.”

He regards his proposal as a starting point for further discussion. “I’m sure there are ways to improve on what I’ve thrown out there,” he said. “I would love feedback from the community about this idea and a way to work with my colleagues, with the City, to move forward. There’s a lot that should be preserved about the current structure, but I hope that there’s openness to improvements on it.”

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February 22 - 28, 2012

Seaport Museum floats programs for kids and families

BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER The word “scrimshaw” is probably not in the vocabulary of most 6-year-olds, but Lelia McGeough, who is actually not quite 6, now knows exactly what it means. With her brother, Finnegan, and her sister, Fiona, she participated in the South Street Seaport Museum’s first Saturday program for families on Feb. 18.

The hour-long session began with a tour of some of the museum’s holdings, including a scrimshaw walrus tusk carved by a sailor into a cribbage board to pass the time on what might have been a voyage of several years. Then the children delved into “activity bags,” each containing objects to be held, inspected and identified — in this case, hanks of thick rope and a fid (the children learned what it is and how it’s used) – followed by a chance to make their own versions of scrimshaw using cakes of Ivory Soap as a base, orange stick carving tools and bottles of tempera paint.

The South Street Seaport Museum at 12 Fulton St. is rolling out the welcome mat for kids and their families, with programs designed for children from 1 year old to 9 years old. The Family Programs series for 6 to 9 year olds, revolving around such topics as a sailor’s life aboard a merchant ship, the 19thcentury Seaport and life in New Amsterdam, takes place every other Saturday morning.

The next one will be on March 3.

Mini Mates programs for children from ages 18 months to 3 years currently meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and on Thursday after-

noons (12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.) but the program has proven so popular that Wednesday morning sessions will be added starting on March 14. The children play in a large room enticingly stocked with toys and open-ended materials such as paints and Play-Doh, and do art projects on a “theme of the day.” Part of each session is also devoted to movement and music. The fee is $15 for a single session or $40 for four consecutive sessions.

On March 16, the museum will start “Circle Time” for children 1 and 2 years old.

It will meet every other Friday morning for 30 minutes with story readings and songs at a cost of $10 per child.

“We want little ones to get comfortable in a museum setting and start learning,” said Franny Kent, director of the Frederick A. O. Schwarz Children’s Center at the Museum of the City of New York, and now fulfilling the same role at the South Street Seaport Museum, which is being managed by the uptown museum for a year, or perhaps longer, to see if the Seaport museum can be made financially viable after having nearly closed.

Barbara Barry, an artist and an educator, leads the Saturday Family Programs and the well-loved Mini Mates programs that started under the South Street Seaport Museum’s previous administration but have been reconfigured with additional equipment and new activities. Of the Family Programs she said, “We’re linking the museum to art and to the history of the area. The art project is a way of putting the content into a material form that the children can take home.”

Kent said that the experience is for the

Downtown Express photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer

Last Saturday Barbara Barry, Family Programs instructor at the South Street Seaport Museum, helped Fiona McGeough and her sister, Leila, carve bars of Ivory Soap inspired by the scrimshaw that they had seen earlier in the museum.

children and for the adults who come with them. “We don’t want the adults sitting on the sidelines,” she said. “We want them to learn together.”

The Saturday Family Programs cost $15 per child and $5 for each accompanying adult, which includes admission to the museum. After the program is over, they are encouraged to explore the museum on their

own, fortified with new information and understanding.

“You’re never too young to start learning,” Kent said — or too old.

For more information about South Street Seaport Museum programs for children and their families or to register, email reservations@seany.org. All programs meet at the museum, located at 12 Fulton St.

Local pols use ‘Linsanity’ to end cable dispute Continued from page 2 would require binding arbitration by the Public Service Commission to resolve future disputes between cable providers and independent cable channels run by companies such as the Madison Square Garden Company, according to a Feb. 18 statement.

“As Linsanity has taken hold in New York, I’m glad that the insanity between Time Warner and MSG has come to an end,” said Squadron in the statement. “Now, we need to pass this bill and prevent future impasses that benefit companies at the cost of fans. Jeremy Lin is a once in a lifetime story.

Let’s ensure that these cable standoffs are too.”

In Chinatown, as in China, watching sports easily becomes a communal affair. Residents have a particular relationship to “Linsanity” but it is a phenomenon transcending cultural lines. The local community believes it is not about winning or losing but rather being an active participant in an ongoing New York City saga where everyone feels something personal is at stake.

It is an optimistic time for fans in a city still reveling over a Super Bowl victory, according to Steven Mitchell, a Canal Street vendor who lives in Brooklyn. He added that Lin is an example of how one succeeds in a city where success comes down to rising above setbacks.

“I’m just happy that they gave him a shot,” said Mitchell.

“When you get the opportunity to do what you have to do, you must rise to the top in any aspect of life. Once you get an opportunity to put your foot in the door, you gotta squeeze [both] feet into the door… and that’s what Lin did.”

Photo courtesy of the Madison Square Garden Company

The line for the special viewing party for the Knicks game hosted by Madison Square Garden Company stretched outside the door of the Nom Wah Tea Parlor.

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February 22 - 28, 2012

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downtown express

BY JANEL BLADOW What a week – Monday a holiday with Presidents Day and we shopped. The next day was a wild fest with Fat Tuesday and modified Mardi Gras parties at local pubs, Ash Wednesday and we started Lent by giving up chocolate (again!). Award season comes to an end this weekend with the Academy Awards. The end of February may seem like the time to dig in and hibernate, but if you still want to party, Seaport Report has found plenty of occasions to get down.

OSCAR PARTIES… several of the local establishments in the Financial District are hosting Academy Award viewing parties on their big screens. So if you want someone to bicker with about red carpet best dressed, Billy Crystal’s hosting, boring song and dance routines or just winners you weren’t expecting, pop over to one of the hood’s watering holes of a lively night.

YIPPEE, AN EXTRA DAY… So many reasons to celebrate Feb. 29! Leap year only comes around every four years so for many of us, that’s reason enough to party. But let’s declare it International Frog Day! Or celebrate St. Bridget who petitioned St. Patrick to make it an Irish tradition for women to ask

February 22 - 28, 2012

S EAPORT R EPORT

men to marry them so they would have more say in choosing a mate. That tradition has carried on as Sadie Hawkins Day. So however you say it, smile, you have an extra day!

GET YOUR IRISH ON… And if you still need an excuse to get out and do a jig, how about St. Patrick’s Day, March 17? It’s the holy day of drinking and singing and bellying up to the bar for the shamrock crowd. Green beer will be on tap at whole slew of pubs from Stone Street to Southbridge Towers. A few SR favs: Irish Punt, 40 Exchange Place; Mercantile Grill, 126 Pearl St.; The Full Shilling, 160 Pearl St.; TJ Bryne’s, 77 Fulton St.; and Jeremy’s Ale House, 228 Front St. FLEET-FOOTED FESTIVITIES… Now if you want to put aside the partying for a while, shape up and do a good deed, start training for the NY Road Runner’s classic half-marathon on March 18. You have a month! While some 15,000 runners are already signed up, you can still get a place by running for a charity. The 7th annual run begins in Central Park near 64th St. but finishes with a big bang in the Seaport on Water St. at Maiden Lane, where the fun will be. It follows a new route through the park into Times Square and down the West Side

along the Hudson River. To sign up, visit: www.nyrr.org WEDDING BELLS… While this is a bit off SR’s beat, we have to give a shout out to one of our favorite new couples. Our niece Jacqueline Moncrieff Oliver, a teacher from Whitestone, married Joseph Michael Scotto III, a firefighter from Brooklyn, on Saturday, Feb. 18, at St. Luke Church in Whitestone.

The bride looked beyond beautiful in a strapless, fitted beaded white gown with a fullruffle tulle mermaid train. The groom was dashing in a tailored black tux. A fabulous reception of cocktails, sit-down dinner and dancing and Viennese dessert bar followed at Chateau Briand in Carle Place.

You might be saying, what’s this got to do with downtown? Joe is a Dragon Fighter.

That is, he’s based out of Engine 9, Ladder 6 at 77 Canal St., in Chinatown. Now that is a bit north for SR but…we like to cover

www.

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a wide berth!

Some trivia: The firehouse was known as Phoenix Hose Co. before NYC had a paid fire department and the location was a Civil War hospital and Armory. In 1865, Ladder 6 was formed as part of the Metropolitan Fire Department. And most importantly, Jackie’s grandfather, the late Richard Oliver Sr., a decorated NYFD fireman, was also assigned to Ladder 6. So the circle remains unbroken.

Congrats to a great couple!

STICKY FINGERS AT THE DRUGSTORE… A cashier at the Water St. Duane Reade was arrested for allegedly selling customers’ credit card information to a third party. Lazandra Tirado, 19, was arrested last Thursday for taking the data from 10 customers between Feb.7 and Feb 16. She was charged with grand larceny, unlawful possession of a skimming device and unlawful possession of personal IDs.

DOWNTOWNEXPRESS .com

February 22 - 28, 2012

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Panel recommends adding cancer to Zadroga bill Continued from page 1 lish a definitive link between first responders’ cancer and Ground Zero toxins, the S.T.A.C., sufficiently persuaded by gripping testimonies and available data, unanimously agreed that lung, blood and other select forms of cancer should be added to the James L. Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The committee also concurred that certain pediatric cancers as well as rare cancers such as mesothelioma should be considered for inclusion under the bill.

The decision was the result of a two-day conference held on Wednesday, Feb. 15 and Thursday, Feb. 16 at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Lower Manhattan, where panelists listened to hours of scientific testimony and first-hand accounts from 9/11 first responders with cancer.

“The public really made a compelling argument for why it’s important in their view for us to act on it, even though we don’t have all the evidence we’d like to have to make a scientific determination,” said S.T.A.C. Chair Elizabeth Ward.

After receiving the S.T.A.C.’s written recommendation, N.I.O.S.H. Director John Howard, the bill’s health program administrator, will have until June to decide whether to add the cancers to the Zadroga bill. The illnesses would be the first to be included in the law since its passage in late 2010, and would take at least

Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds

S.T.A.C. Chair Elizabeth Ward (right), together with the other members of the panel, is drafting a formal a reccommendation to add cancer to the list of illnesses covered under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

several months to be implemented, according to a spokesperson for N.I.O.S.H. Community Board 1 Vice Chairperson Catherine McVay Hughes, who serves on the S.T.A.C., said the presented material convinced her of a correlation between Ground Zero carcinogens and the development of blood cancers, particularly lymphoma, and lung cancer.

“The panel was right to finally conclude that cancer could be an outcome of W.T.C. exposure,” said Hughes. “This is a very important step in the right direction.”

Making the call about exactly which cancers the S.T.A.C. should recommend adding to the

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bill wasn’t so obvious, Ward said. Scientists are still grappling with the causes of certain forms of the disease, and assessing peoples’ degrees of exposure to Ground Zero toxins is all the more difficult when key exposure samplings – particularly from the first week after the Sept.

11 attacks – are missing.

“We’re trying very hard to look at the available data and draw conclusions about what people were exposed to and how much they were exposed,” said Ward, “[but] we’re really lacking a lot of the data that we’d like to have about that.”

These gaps in evidence, however, didn’t deter panelists such as Stephen Cassidy, president of the Uniform Firefighters Association of Greater New York, from forming an opinion about the data that was presented. According to S.T.A.C. member John Dement, a professor at Duke University’s School of Medicine, exposure to asbestos, a mineral used to insulate some floors of the former World Trade Center, is associated with a heightened risk of cancer of the lung, larynx and ovary. It is also tied to mesothelioma, an uncommon form of cancer that occurs in the layer of cells that line the body’s internal organs.

The theory of a link between Ground Zero carcinogens and cancer was further substantiated by an alarming statistic cited in a forthcoming study by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. According to Dean Philip Landrigan, who chairs the hospital’s preventive medicine

department, there is an approximate 14 percent higher-than-normal cancer rate among its 20,000 9/11 recovery worker patients and a “statistically significant” excess of thyroid, prostate and blood cancer. Oddly enough, lung cancer, one of the most common types of the disease, wasn’t prevalant in the group.

“You clearly don’t have the kind of epidemiological proof that you’d like to have to declare with 95 percent certainty that there’s a cause-effect relationship [between cancer and 9/11 exposure], but you have to bear in mind that in legal cases, you don’t have to get to 95 percent, you have to get to 51 percent,” said Landrigan. “I’d ask you as members of this committee to weigh that as you make this decision.”

“When you want to start breaking down the studies and add them all together, you have a toxic stew [of chemicals],” said Cassidy. “It bears out clearly that those who were there and spent extensive times there have a more likely chance of coming down with these cancers.”

That’s not always the case, according to Ward, who noted that even small doses of asbestos and other toxins can cause cancer, which further complicated the committee’s decision of which cancers to attribute to 9/11.

“Even though most commonly cancer occurs with people of high, long-term exposures,” Ward explained, “there can be an increased risk with someone of these substances at lower exposures.”

The committee has until Monday, April 2 to submit its recommendation to Howard.

The original deadline was Friday, March 2, but Howard agreed last week to grant the committee a 30-day extension. Howard will then have 60 days to decide whether or not to endorse the committee’s recommendation and modify the bill accordingly. It is unclear exactly how long it might be until 9/11 cancer patients would start treatment at the governmentfunded W.T.C. Centers of Excellence.

Responding to the outcome of the S.T.A.C. conference, Howard said in a statement, “We realize how personal the issue of cancer is to 9/11 responders and survivors and their loved ones and will give the advisory committee’s recommendation serious review and thoughtful consideration prior to making a final decision.”

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Hoping for Pier 26 return

City’s cancer response Continued from page 5 de Blasio expressed dissatisfaction with Holloway for not disclosing a more specific time frame for sharing the cops’ names with Mt. Sinai. “I appreciate their statement, but… it didn’t guarantee what we need to see,” said de Blasio. “To use a rock n’ roll quote from The Who, ‘We won’t get fooled again.’”

The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the largest worker’s union representing NYPD officers, believes a law should be established obligating the city to release cancer-related information of 9/11 first responders.

The P.B.A.’s own research recently revealed that 297 first responder cops whose average age was a young 44 have been diagnosed with cancer since 9/11.

According to the union, 56 of them have since died.

“It is our sincere opinion that the city has done nothing to facilitate any cancer study and has been actively working to prevent a comprehensive examination of the issue,” said P.B.A. Research Director Frank Tramontano during a City Council 9/11 Health hearing last month.

Following the city’s announcement, P.B.A. President Patrick Lynch said, “That we are over 10 years past the events of 9/11

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February 22 - 28, 2012

and this data hasn’t yet been turned over, even though hundreds of responders are suffering with cancers, confirms that a legal mandate is required.”

Elected officials present at last week’s press conference backed the P.B.A.’s position, saying the city needs to do more to prove the link between cancer and Ground Zero exposure.

“In light of all we know and all of the heartbreaking stories we’ve heard, I find it staggering that the city has refused to recognize that responders exposed to cancercausing toxin dust are dying because of it,” said Councilmember Margaret Chin.

“Without [this and other] steps, the Zadroga Act will fail in its mission to help heal the heroes of 9/11.”

“The fact that we’re standing here more than 10 years out and are again fighting for good information and fighting against bureaucracy boggles the mind. Hopefully today marks the end of that,” said State Senator Daniel Squadron.

Squadron then turned to a group of first responders in attendance and said, “To everyone who came down and cleaned up the pile, to all those who lived right around the site, I want to promise you: Whether today is the end of this battle for fairness or just another step, we will be with you all the way, ‘till the end, until justice is served.”

Continued from page 7 We’re not a club. We’re just serving the public. There is no other city, basically on the planet, where you can go to the waterfront and get on a kayak for free.

The historical reason for this had to do with the way the city abandoned the waterfront in the 1950s and 1960s and gave an opportunity for people to get in there and do funky things. Now the city has an intense interest in the waterfront.

We’re a little queasy about the fact that most of it consists of a promenade and a fence. They’ve spent billions of dollars cleaning up the harbor, but mostly all you can do is look at it.”

At a cost of approximately $6.2 million funded by the city and the state, the Hudson River Park Trust is currently building a boathouse and a restaurant on Pier 26. The Pier 26 boathouse will be one of four (or possibly five) under the Hudson River Park Trust’s jurisdiction that will be subject to an RFP requesting operators in the coming months. The other boathouses are located at Pier 96, Pier 84, Pier 66 and possibly at Pier 40 (it is not presently clear whether that location will be included.)

A single R.F.P. will be issued for all locations, and respondents will be able to

BEACH STREET CAMPUS 53-55 Beach St. NYC 10013

bid on as many of them as they wish.

A separate R.F.P. will be issued for the restaurant on Pier 26.

The Downtown Boathouse group regards this prospect with some trepidation. They view their operation as “family friendly” and hope that any restaurant that comes to the pier would be consonant with that ambiance and not a rowdy hangout.

Also, it’s by no means certain that they will be able to return to Pier 26. They know that the Hudson River Park Trust is strapped for cash and they wonder whether the rent for the new boathouse would be beyond their reach. In the old days, they paid no rent but maintained the pier and went “dumpster diving” to keep their boathouse in repair. They built the original docks themselves.

“We’re not rich but we make a lot of people happy and we think we deliver a lot of value to the city,” said Birchall. “We don’t need a gold-plated boathouse to do what we do.”

The Downtown Boathouse group seeks community support for their vision. “Go kayaking!” said Birchall. “That’s a good start. The harbor belongs to the people.

There should be free access.”

The kayaking season starts in mid-May when the water warms up enough, and runs through mid-October.

GOLD STREET CAMPUS 2 Gold St. NYC 10038

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Open House Tuesday, March 6th, 5:30 - 6:30 pm (Gold St.) phone: (212) 334-0400 email: administration@montessorimanhattan.com website: www.montessorimanhattan.com

February 22 - 28, 2012

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Proposal to unpave a parking lot make a park Continued from page 9 Edison owns the through-lot outdoor parking facility between Spring and Dominick Sts. adjacent to its existing high-rise mini-storage warehouse.

Under the current Hudson Square proposal, with the 185-foot height limit and street-wall requirement, Edison would have to develop two residential buildings, one fronting on Spring and the other on Dominick St., with a mandatory 60-foot rear yard between them. Because the property between Spring and Dominick Sts. is only 175 feet deep, there would be no room for public open space, Borelli said.

The 320-foot height limit for midblock through lots would allow Edison Properties to erect one high-rise building on Spring St. with about 235 apartments, including 45 affordable units in the inclusionary housing program, Borelli said.

The more marketable apartments in a taller building and the tax credits available in the inclusionary housing program would make the project feasible, he said.

“It’s unlikely that we could build anything at all with the 185-foot height limit,” Borelli said.

Edison’s parking lot is adjacent to the city-owned Fire Museum at 278 Spring St. and adjacent on the Dominick St. side

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to a Port Authority parking lot.

Borelli gave the C.B. 2 committee a map of the proposed 7,300-square-foot public park expanded by another 6,400 square feet with the inclusion of the Port Authority parking area and some Fire Museum rear property.

“We’ve spoken to the Fire Museum and the Port Authority about our conception of a park that would include their properties,” Borelli said. “They appeared interested but they do not endorse the concept. We’ve included it in our map to show our idea about how public land might be arranged in the future.” He noted that the eastbound approach to the Holland Tunnel goes under the P.A. lot, so the lot is not a potential development site.

Trinity last year submitted its proposal for the entire Hudson Square Special District, including a subdistrict bounded

by Sixth Ave., Canal, Varick and Grand Sts., which would be the site of an expanded Duarte Square and a 420-foottall residential building with a pre-K-tosixth grade public school on the ground floor.

Borelli reminded the committee that the Hudson Square rezoning plan was still open because the Department of City Planning has not yet issued a final scoping document for the district environmental impact statement.

Tweed tours reassure some local parents Continued from page 6 new elementary school – particularly at the Tweed site, which she is all too familiar with.

“It’s exciting to think about starting from scratch with just one grade,” said Siena.

One challenge, Siena noted, will be integrating the city’s Common Core standards in the Peck Slip School’s kindergarten curriculum while maintaining a play-based learning environment.

Peck Slip kindergarteners, Siena added, will have plenty of opportunities to be physically active. Apart from City Hall Park just outside Tweed’s Centre Street entrance, students will have ample space for pyshical activity in the large, corner classrooms.

The D.O.E. is currently searching for funding for ancillary teachers that could guide the students through activities such as dance and puppetry. But first, the D.O.E. must find teachers for the elementary school’s core staff.

“The highest priority is finding the most qualified people to work with the kids.”

— Maggie Siena

“The highest priority is finding the most qualified people to work with the kids,” said Siena.

Asked about where the D.O.E. is in the hiring process, Siena said, “At this point, it’s too early in the game.”

The Peck Slip school, which has received 35 kindergarten applications during preregistration thus far, is on track to fill all of its 50 available slots for next year, according to Siena.

downtown express

February 22 - 28, 2012

COMPILED BY SCOTT STIFFLER

FUNKY FAMILY PURIM CELEBRATION The Mama Doni Band is returning to the Museum of Jewish Heritage for a special prePurim concert featuring brand-new songs and a costume parade (geared for children ages 3-10). Families will receive free CDs and giveaways. Sun., Feb. 26. From 1:30-3:30pm, there will be craft activities (free with purchase of concert ticket; the concert happens at 2:30pm). Admission to the event is $10, $7 for children 10 and under; Museum members $7, $5 for children 10 and under.

At the Museum of Jewish Heritage — “A Living Memorial to the Holocaust (at Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place). For info, or to purchase tickets, call 646-437-4202 or visit mjhnyc.org.

other things, driving and taking care of a police car. For older children, there’s a crime scene observation activity that will challenge them to remember relevant parts of city street scenes, a physical challenge similar to those at the Police Academy and a model Emergency Services Unit vehicle where children can climb in, use the steering wheel and lights, hear radio calls with police codes and see some of the actual equipment carried by The Emergency Services Unit. At 100 Old Slip (btw. Front and South Sts.). For info, call 212-480-3100 or visit nycpm.org. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 10am-5pm and Sun., 12-5pm. Admission: $8 ($5 for students, seniors and children; free for children under 2).

THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE MUSEUM Through Feb. 24 (1-3:30pm each day), the “Jr. Police Academy” is a mid-winter recess drop-off program at which children can spend a fun afternoon learning about the police and the museum’s collection.

Wednesday will focus on the way police communicate with one another (by making string phones). Thursday will focus on learning about museum collections and exhibits (children will build their own shoebox exhibits). Friday, the Academy graduates will use all the skills they learned to solve a mystery. Register for one day, or all week (at nycpm.org). The cost is $30 per day. Registration is required, and space is limited. All year long, the Junior Officers Discovery Zone is anexhibit designed for ages 3-10.

It’s divided into four areas (Police Academy, Park and Precinct, Emergency Services Unit and a Multi-Purpose Area), each with interactive and imaginary play experiences for children to understand the role of police officers in our community — by, among

TEATRO SEA PRESENTS “CENICIENTA/CINDERELLA” Latino children’s theatre Teatro SEA is putting a bilingual, tango-infused musical spin on the Cinderella tale. All the classic characters are here: Cinderella still falls in love with the Prince, and she’s still overworked by an evil stepmother and a few jealous stepsisters — but “Cenicienta” parts ways with tradition when it comes to the Fairy Godmother. In this version, she’s sick and a surprise character replaces her. Sat., Feb. 25 — at 3pm. At Teatro SEA, New York’s Latino Children’s Theatre (Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, 107 Suffolk St.). For tickets ($18; $15 for children), call 212529-1545. For info, visit teatrosea.org.

SATURDAY AFTERNOONS AT THE SCHOLASTIC STORE Every Saturday at 3pm, Scholastic’s in-store activities are designed to get kids reading, thinking, talking, creating and

YOUTH ACTIVITIES moving. At 557 Broadway (btw. Prince and Spring Sts.). Store hours are Mon.-Sat., 10am-7pm and Sun., 11am-6pm. For info, call 212-343-6166 or visit scholastic.com/sohostore.

NEW YORK CITY FIRE MUSEUM Kids will learn about fire prevention and safety through group tours, led by former NYC firefighters. The program — which lasts approximately 75 minutes — includes classroom training and a simulated event in a mock apartment (where a firefighter shows how fires can start in different rooms in the home). Finally, students are guided on a tour of the museum’s first floor. Tours (for groups of 20 or more) are offered Tues.-Fri. at 10:30am, 11:30am and 12:30pm.

Tickets are $3 for children and $5 per adult — but for every 10 kids, admission is free for one adult. The museum offers a $700 Junior Firefighter Birthday Party package, for children 3-6 years old. The birthday child and 15 of their guests will be treated to story time, show and tell, a coloring activity, a scavenger hunt and the opportunity to speak to a real firefighter (the museum provides a fire-themed birthday cake, juice boxes and other favors and decorations). The NYC Fire Museum is located at 278 Spring St. (btw. Varick and Hudson). For info call 212-691-1303 or visit nycfiremuseum.org.

THE BULLY This musical from Vital Children’s Theatre (part of their touring repertoire since 2005) returns to NYC for an extended run.

“The Bully” tells the story of a bus mix-up stranding Lenny (the nerd) and Steve (the bully) at the wrong school — where they both get picked on for being “the new kids.” When the boys are forced to

21 work together to get back to their school, they begin to learn that they might not be so different after all. Appropriate for ages 4-12.

Through Feb. 26; Sat. & Sun. at 11am & 1pm. Weekday 11am & 1pm school holiday performances on and Feb. 22, 23. At Vital Theatre (2162 Broadway, 4th Floor, on the North East Corner of 76th St. and Broadway). Tickets are $25 (seating in the first three rows, $30).

For reservations, call 212-579-0528 or visit vitaltheatre.org.

POETS HOUSE The Poets House Children’s Room gives children and their parents a gateway to enter the world of rhyme — through readings, group activities and interactive performances.

For children ages 1-3, the Children’s Room offers “Tiny Poets Time” readings on Thursdays at 10am; for those ages 4-10, “Weekly Poetry Readings” on Saturdays at 11am. Filled with poetry books, old-fashioned typewriters and a card catalogue packed with poetic objects to trigger inspiration, the Children’s Room is open Thurs.-Sat., 11am-5pm. Free admission. At 10 River Terrace. Call 212-431-7920 or visit poetshouse.org.

CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF THE ARTS Explore painting, collage and sculpture through self-guided arts projects at this museum dedicated to inspiring the artist within. Open art stations are ongoing throughout the afternoon — giving children the opportunity to experiment with materials such as paint, clay, fabric, paper and found objects. Regular museum hours: Mon. & Wed., 12-5pm; Thurs.-Fri., 12-6pm; Sat.-Sun., 10am-6pm. Admission: $10; free for seniors and infants (0-12 months). Pay as you wish on Thurs., 4-6pm. At 103 Charlton St. (btw. Hudson and Greenwich Sts.). Call 212-274-0986 or visit cmany.org. For group tours, call 212-274-0986, ext. 31.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR EVENT LISTED IN THE DOWNTOWN EXPRESS? Send information to scott@chelseanow.com. Please provide the date, time, location, price and a description of the event. Information may also be mailed to 515 Canal Street, Unit 1C, New York City, NY 10013. Requests must be received at least three weeks before the event. Questions?

Call 646-452-2497.

February 22 - 28, 2012

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DOWNTOWNEXPRESSARTS&ENTERTAINMENT Earl explores mind of Muppets maker Jim Henson’s ‘right hand man’ recalls, reflects FILM JIM HENSON’S FANTASTIC WORLD Through March 4 At the Museum of the Moving Image 36-01 35th Ave. (at 37th St.), in Astoria Subway: M (weekdays only) or R to Steinway St. Q (weekdays only) or N to 36th Museum Hours: Tues.-Thurs., 10:30am-5pm; Fri., 10:30am-8pm; Sat./Sun., 10:30am-7pm Admission: $12 ($6 for ages 3-18; $9 for students & 65+; admission to the galleries is free on Fridays, 4-8pm For info, call 718-777-6888 or visit movingimage.us Also visit puppetschool.com and jimhensonlegacy.org

BY SCOTT STIFFLER A frog, a log, a swamp, a song and a dream: That image, from the opening scene of 1979’s “The Muppet Movie,” is also the first thing you see upon entering “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World.” Through early March, you can find that world — in the form of a remarkably insightful Smithsonian traveling exhibition — in Astoria. Make the trip. It’s worth the effort.

Snake your way through the lobby of the Museum of the Moving Image, up a set of stairs and past the amphitheater’s screening of Jim Henson’s 1965 live action short “Timepiece,” and you’ll come face to face with the soft-spoken visionary’s most enduring creation. There’s Kermit the Frog — under glass, frozen in time, not having aged a bit since his days on public television, in the movies and as a TV variety show host.

In addition to drawings, storyboards, props, video clips and photographs, the exhibit features 15 original puppets. Some are familiar and iconic. “Sesame Street” buddies Bert and Ernie are there, as is Miss Piggy — in full bridal regalia, eagerly anticipating her wedding to a certain amphibian. Other Henson creations, seen in the form of video clips from his early work on 1960s TV commercials, are less familiar. But they set the stage for things to come (Sir Linit, a knight whose body is made out of a spray can, looks an awful lot like Ernie; and the clumsy gait of a giant dragon anticipates that of Big Bird).

“I was taken with the fact that people were laughing at this old commercial of the dragon coming around the corner and

Photo courtesy of the Puppet School

Puppet School co-founder Michael Earl (with glasses, back row, left) preps a new generation to build on the Henson legacy.

knocking grocery items off the shelf with his tail,” says Michael Earl. A four-time Emmy Award-winning puppeteer (formerly Mr. Snuffleupagus on “Sesame Street”), Earl and his business partner, Roberto Ferreira, joined us on a trip through “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World.” Of audience reaction to those ancient black and white TV commercials, Earl notes, “I thought it was funny that they laughed so much. I saw it twice, with two different groups of people, and it reminded me of the timelessness of Jim’s humor.”

Earl, who had touched or worn most of the Muppets on display, began his career as a 19-year-old puppeteer working on “The Muppet Movie” (that’s him, as Big Bird, in the film’s climactic scene). Early on in the filming, Earl recalls, “I noticed there was a spot on the monitor, where the director sits.

Jim was standing there, and I said, ‘There’s a spot on the picture.’ It turned out there wasn’t a spot on the film, just the monitor.

Very graciously, instead of getting annoyed with this young kid, he said, ‘It’s okay. We have people to take care of things like that.’

In a gentle and caring way, he let me know I needed to relax and not worry.”

Henson’s mellow demeanor remained

Continued on page 23

Photo by John E. Barrett. TM & © 2007 SesameWorkshop. All Rights Reserved.

Michael Earl gave life to Ernie’s right hand.

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February 22 - 28, 2012

Muppets Continued from page 22 consistent throughout their years of working together, Earl says â&#x20AC;&#x201D; adding, however, that the businessman who ran the Muppet empire was â&#x20AC;&#x153;a delegator who only gave one minute to a problem. When he set a goal, he wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look at the whole staircase, just a step at a time.â&#x20AC;?

When it came to creative collaboration, delegation was a necessity. Earl spent time as Hensonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right hand man â&#x20AC;&#x201D; literally. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would have been around 1978,â&#x20AC;? Earl recalls, when for the first time he performed as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sesame Streetâ&#x20AC;? regular Ernie. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Muppets have something called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;right handing,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;? explains Earl. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When Jim and Frank [Oz] would do Bert and Ernie, they needed somebody to do the right hand, and sometimes Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be assigned the job. The right hand has to sort of compliment the lead puppeteer. If you watch any Muppet performance, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll notice the left hand is the most active â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which is not something people would think about, because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supposed to be seamless.

But the technique behind that seamless quality is that the right hand movement is very subtle, like salt and pepper on a meal.â&#x20AC;?

The meat of the exhibit, for Earl at least, was the wealth of production notes.

Hensonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s handwritten thoughts shed light on the conceptual phase of everything from

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fraggle Rockâ&#x20AC;? to 1982â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Dark Crystalâ&#x20AC;? (an ambitious original fairy tale that Earl refers to as Hensonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fantasiaâ&#x20AC;?). â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love that you could see inside the mind of Jim, through his sketches and storyboards.

I love seeing all those pieces together in the exhibit, because it gave you a more complete picture of who he was.â&#x20AC;? Having known Henson largely as the man whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d show up on set as a puppeteer, Earl says he now has a greater appreciation that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;This was only one side of him. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the intimate nature of his conceptual mind. When you see the actual drawings with pencil marks on it you realize that even though he had people like Don Sahlin build [Muppets] for him, the original idea for a character like Rowlf still originated with Jim. So there are the two sides of him that I now think about â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the one that came to work, and the one that sat quietly and conceived these other worlds and characters.â&#x20AC;?

Michael Earl and Roberto Ferreira are founders of the LA-based Puppet School, which recently brought its curriculum to NYC. Beginning Feb. 25, Earl will teach a 4-week course in NYC (Interimediate TV Puppetry Workshop). Beginning Feb. 26, The Puppet School offers a 6-week course, also in NYC (Beginning TV Puppetry Workshop). For info, call 818-986-9944 or visit puppetschool.com, facebook.com/ puppetschool and youtube.com/puppetschool.

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24

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Two handfuls of reasons to love the FRIGID New York Festival Three theaters, 12 days, 150 performances â&#x20AC;&#x153;Conversation Storm/Great Hymn of Thanksgiving,â&#x20AC;? in FRIGID 2008, was the show that introduced Rick Burkhardt to New York. Rick went on to win an Obie for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Three Pianosâ&#x20AC;? (at New York Theatre Workshop) last year. But FRIGID fans saw him first.

BY MARTIN DENTON Just when the winter doldrums threaten to kick in, along comes FRIGID New York to bring a jolt of energy and excitement to the NYC theater landscape. A production of Horse Trade Theater Group, FRIGID packs in a surprising variety of performance in a truly festive environment. I love FRIGID, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m about to tell you why you should too.

FRIGID FEATURES TOP-NOTCH TALENT STRETCHING THEIR WINGS Mac Rogers, stellar award-winning playwright, is starring in a one-man play (not written by him) called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Judge, Yuri and Executioner.â&#x20AC;? Actress Ching Valdes-Aran, whose credits span decades at La MaMa, Ma-Yi Theatre and other venerable companies, is directing â&#x20AC;&#x153;Breathe, Love, Repeatâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and former Blue Man Group performer John Grady is doing a one-man play called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fear Factor: Canine Edition.â&#x20AC;?

FRIGID IS EASY ON THE POCKETBOOK All of the shows cost between $10 and $16.

You could see everything in the festival (which would keep you very entertained â&#x20AC;&#x201D; there are 30 shows altogether!) for about the price of 3 Broadway theater tickets.

FRIGID IS ARTIST-FRIENDLY One hundred percent of box office receipts goes to the individual shows. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know of another theater festival in town that operates in this fashion.

FRIGID IS NOT JUST A BUNCH OF SOLO SHOWS

FRIGID IS NOT CURATED That means that thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a degree of randomness in what shows end up in the festival. Randomness breeds diversity, and diversity is good. I can honestly say that in five years of FRIGID-going, I have only seen

Photo by David Leyes

One part Lady Gaga and two parts Sam Kinison (with a splash of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vagina Monologuesâ&#x20AC;?), Rachelle Elieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Big Girls Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Cryâ&#x20AC;? tackles Haitian fathers, Kenyan night clubs and aging Barbies.

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FRIGID IS A BREEDING GROUND FOR EMERGING TALENT One example: No.11 Pro-ductions has been in FRIGID three times. Their first show was a rare revival of Antonin Artaudâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supposedly unproducible â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jet of Blood.â&#x20AC;? They followed that with a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Medea.â&#x20AC;? Then last year, they hit pay dirt with an original musical called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Quest for the West: The Oregon Trail!â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a show that has gone on to runs at the Capitol Fringe and Kentucky Repertory Theatre. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been exciting watching these young artists grow and learn. So Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m looking forward to their 2012 FRIGID offering (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Coosje,â&#x20AC;? about two modern-day artistsâ&#x20AC;Ś and a singing pear).

There are plenty of one-person entertainments in the festival, to be sure, but just as many multi-cast efforts. This year, look for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Initium Finis.â&#x20AC;? by Theatre Reverb, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Drowning Ophelia: A New Rock Musical,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Missed Connectionsâ&#x20AC;? (based on Craigslist ads) and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stripper Lesbians from Rising Sun Performance Company,â&#x20AC;? among others.

FRIGID IS LIKE A VAUDEVILLE BILL YOU PROGRAM YOURSELF, WITH DRINKS IN BETWEEN Everything in FRIGID lasts an hour or less. Shows start right after work on weekdays and around 1pm on weekends, and run until midnight or thereabouts. The Red Room and the Kraine are housed in the same building (85 East 4th Street). Under St. Marks, four blocks north and one block east, is a leisurely ten-minute stroll. So you can easily pack in two, three or even four shows in a single day/ evening. The East Village location means that there are plenty of pubs, taverns, saloons and eating establishments of every stripe nearby.

See a 6pm show at the Red Room, have dinner, catch a 9pm show at Under St Marks, grab a quick drink and wrap up your night with the late show at the Kraine at 10:30pm.

FRIGID EQUALS GOOD PLAYS Lots of shows in the festival are of the comedy/variety/burlesque type, but just as many are authentically fine dramatic literature. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re celebrating this fact on Indie Theater Now â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the website I founded and curate that is best described as â&#x20AC;&#x153;iTunes for playsâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with a FRIGID New York collection that features 16 of the best scripts from the past yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; FRIGID festivals, including works by Chris Harcum, Bricken Sparacino and Una Aya Osato, all of whom will have new shows in 2012. (Check out their previous work to get an idea of their styles.)

FRIGID IS WHERE I DISCOVER AT LEAST ONE GREAT NEW THEATER ARTIST EVERY YEAR Honest â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and often, I find the gems where I least expect them. Best example:

FRIGID IS FUN The most important reason of all! The nights Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve spent floating from one FRIGID show to another are some of the most enjoyable Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve spent in my years covering NYC theatre. This is a festival with an easy, relaxed vibe. The array of offerings is eclectic and delightful â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from a teeny-weeny tabletop show inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Poe-Dunk: A Matchbook Entertainmentâ&#x20AC;?) to a two-person clown/acrobatics show (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aerial Allusionsâ&#x20AC;?) to no fewer than three burlesque programs. Something for everybody, as they say.

Martin Denton is editor/producer of nytheatre.com (where you can find reviews of FRIGID shows throughout the festivalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s run). His latest project is indietheaternow. com.

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25

February 22 - 28, 2012

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downtown express

Grit, glamour and seismic shifts BOOKS BLOOD & BEAUTY: MANHATTAN’S MEATPACKING DISTRICT

By Pamela Greene Published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd. (2011) $34.99 Visit schifferbooks.com and pamelagreenephotography.com

BY SCOTT STIFFLER Like an enduring red stain on a white butcher’s coat, the 124 photos from Pamela Greene’s wry look at nine years in the evolving life of the Meatpacking District settle into your head and remain stubbornly lodged there. It’s not an unpleasant sensation — although the sights aren’t what you might expect from a collection of images taken during the decline of one industry and the rise of another.

Rather than mourn the loss of longtime establishments or praise the area’s rapid ascension as a fashion hub, Greene’s body of work (shot from 2002-2011) instead succumbs to the wonder of a neighborhood that lives and dies every 24 hours — then does it all over again.

An embedded witness to the daily changing of the guard from retail glory to nightlife glamour to industrial grit, Greene’s insightful framing and chronological storytelling extracts common elements shared by meatpacking workers, models, restaurateurs, clubgoers and prostitutes. All possess a similar devotion to routine, but only some are aware (and care) that their days are clearly numbered.

Given the fact that so many dynamic worlds collide within this relatively small patch of Manhattan, it would have been

“Blurred Unloading”

Images courtesy of Schiffer Publishing Ltd. and Pamela Greene

“Miro Rames”

easy for Greene to simply pursue moments when all those disparate elements could be jammed into one busy shot. Instead, she wisely plays her juxtaposition card by way of the layout. The naked slabs of meat in “Hanging Hoofers” (on page 116) are complemented, just to the right, by page 117’s “Coats” (white butcher’s long coats dangling from their own miniature version of the same hooks lodged firmly in those aforementioned hoofers).

Greene’s left/right study in contrast gets a similar workout when page 30’s “Shadows and Light” shows construction workers unceremoniously emptying a garbage can — while, on page 31, “Tourists” has a couple consulting their map as a companion busily chats on his cell. This method provides a much more effective window into the changing times than what would have been achieved if Greene strained to make a single photograph do that job.

“Walking Across the Plaza”

“A model going up the street, trying to dodge a side of beef? You didn’t really see that,” Greene maintains — noting that in reality, it was the photographer who often found herself yielding ground to the Meatpacking District’s most enduring product. “I was flat against the wall,” she says of the process that gave “Blood & Beauty” its cover shot. “You didn’t have to tell me not

Continued on page 27

downtown express

February 22 - 28, 2012

27

Meatpacking District photo project charts change Continued from page 26 to move. I mean, you don’t want to run into a side of beef.

That’s six hundred pounds. You’d be a goner.”

Considering all the people she did run into (and all the cows she managed to avoid), Greene emerged remarkably unscathed — but not unchanged. “It was personal by then,” she says, pinpointing a time in 2003 when she realized, “I

‘You didn’t have to tell me not to move. I mean, you don’t want to run into a side of beef. That’s six hundred pounds. You’d be a goner.’ wanted to do a book, a long-term project. I got to go deep, and understand the people — not the neighborhood. I wasn’t interested in the political science of it,” says the former poli-sci major without the slightest desire to shade that comment with irony. “I wanted to know the people. Although there were times when I took a month or so off, I completely immersed myself.” Greene, who’s been working for some time now on an “immigration project,” declares she’s not yet sure where that effort will lead — except to say, “I really am much happier when I’m working on a project that takes all of my time.”

What Greene found in the Meatpacking District was a hive of subcultures — most of which were in the throes of collapsing or bursting. “People adapt,” Greene says admiringly.

Referring to the meatpacking workers, she notes, “The key people I photographed are still around…but they’re working on the real edges of the district.” Of James Rogers (see his photo in this article: “James at Hector’s”), Greene recalls, “I took a lot of pictures of him. He told me he was very proud of his years in the Meatpacking District, and put his pension on hold so he could work as a freelancer. He knew that eventually, all of these plants would probably go.”

Greene doesn’t cast the fashion industry in the role of encroaching villain (in fact, she praises its pioneer spirit).

Nonetheless, she recalls how meatpacking workers like Rogers viewed the new arrivals. “As soon as they heard [Diane] Von Furstenberg was going to move her world headquarters to Washington and 14th, they knew that virtually everything was going to be renovated, and they’d have to move. No question about it. One group was leaving — and they made their whole lives in that neighborhood.”

“James at Hector’s”

Images courtesy of Schiffer Publishing Ltd. and Pamela Greene

“Fashion Fun”

“Street Scene”

February 22 - 28, 2012

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