ALL THE RIGHT MOVES
Nichole Canuso Dance Company TAKES 3LD (P 10)
BREAK YOUR RESOLUTION
Indulge in wine and chocolate at Ayza without shame (P 11)
JANUARY 5, 2012 | WWW.OTDOWNTOWN.COM
The Case of PCBs and New York City Schools What the DOE plans to do about their noxious schoolhouses (P6)
HIGH-RISE HEAVEN Get a glimpse of new luxury condo 20 Pine The Collection (P 5)
DOWNTOWN SOCIAL
Celebrating the new year with poetry and Patti Smith (P 3 )
Janeane Garofalo Comedian takes to the stage in Russian Transport (P14)
PCBS: ILLUSTRATION BY ED JOHNSON | JANEANE GAROFALO: PHOTO COURTSEY OF THE NEW GROUP
Free Electronic Waste Recycling Event S U N D AY JAN. 8, 2012 10AM–4PM Rain or Shine Union Square Park - North Plaza
Cars may enter from E 16th Street and Union Square East WE ACCEPT : Working & non-working computers, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, cables, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, phones, audio/visual equipment, video games, cell phones & PDAs For more information contact the Lower
East Side Ecology Center at lesecologycenter.org or 212.477.4022 We would like to thank the Department of Parks & Recreation for hosting the event and our sponsor:
As a thanks for recycling, Tekserve offers all participants: A free raffle entry for an Apple MacBook Air and a special Mystery Coupon.
WHAT ARE YOUR KIDS DOING THIS SUMMER? Renee Flax, director of camper placement of the ACA NY & NJ, will be on hand to answer parents’ questions and help guide them in their search for the right camp!
Upcoming Fairs:
Downtown Grace Church School 86 4th Ave. 12PM - 3PM
SUNDAY, JAN 29, 2012
SUNDAY, JAN 22, 2012
SATURDAY, FEB 4, 2012
Upper West Side St. Jean Baptiste School 173 E. 75th St. 12PM - 3PM
Upper West Side Congregation Rodeph Sholom 7 W. 83rd St. 12PM - 3PM
Park Slope Union Temple 17 Eastern Pkwy 12PM - 3PM
Upper West Side Bank Street School 610 W. 112th St. 12PM - 3PM
New York Family magazine and the American Camp Association, NY & NJ are teaming up for their winter fairs! Meet dozens of different camp directors from local DAY CAMPS and SLEEPAWAY CAMPS from across the region. Great for children ages 3 to 17! pre-register at:
Newyorkfamilycamps.com For more info on summer camps:
TheRightCamp.com
2
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | JAN UARY 5, 2012
World Trade CenTer 9/11 MeMorial’s Millionth Visitor Open since Sept. 12, the 9/11 Memorial celebrated its millionth visitor the last week of December, 9/11 Memorial Chairman and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels announced. The memorial was dedicated to the families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, and Feb. 26, 1993, attacks on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 before it was opened to the general public the following day. “More visitors than ever before—50.2 million—came to New York City in 2011,” said Bloomberg in a release distributed by the 9/11 Memorial. “And this year, 1 million of them were able to add a visit to the 9/11 Memorial to their trip, commemorating the lives of those lost on that unforgettable day. The Memorial is now a part of the fabric of Lower Manhattan, and its 1 million visitors have helped the neighborhood reemerge as a vibrant and bustling part of our great city.” “For 10 years, people were only able to walk the perimeter of the World Trade Center site, stealing glances at the progress through construction fences,” Daniels added. “As of today, more than 1 million people have returned to this sacred ground to pay their respects and are able to witness the rebuilding of the World Trade Center all around them. It humbles us to see that the public’s will to commemorate the victims of 9/11 is as strong as ever.” ChinaToWn PoPulation sliP While the streets of New York City’s Chinatown still bustle with people, according to a recent piece on National Public Radio Dec. 31, there has been a 17 percent drop in the Chinatown population over the past decade. A few factors, from a waning local garment industry to high rent and utilities prices, were cited as encouraging an exodus to the nearby— and far cheaper—Flushing, Queens. Bus oPeration shut Down As reported by the Associated Press Dec. 29, Double Happyness Travel Inc., which ran buses from Albany, N.Y., Baltimore, Md., and Wilmington, Del., to Midtown and Chinatown, was ordered to stop operations by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The agency reportedly uncovered multiple vehicle maintenance and driver safety violations. In the past few years, as the article pointed out, inexpensive bus operations have become wildly popular, but have recently gained unwanted attention as the result of a several fatal motor accidents.
SATURDAY, JAN 28, 2012
SATURDAY, JAN 21, 2012
� N E I G H B O R HOOD CHAT TE R
CiTyWide 13,000 new Yorkers DroPPeD froM fooD staMP PrograM During November, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn recently reported, over 13,000 New Yorkers were dropped from the food stamp program. This is reportedly the highest decrease in
enrollment since December 2010. Quinn’s release also claimed that the city’s Human Resources Administration (has failed to provide an explanation for the spike in food stamp disqualifications. The city continues to fingerprint qualified applications, making it the only municipality in New York State to require this data. In the coming weeks, the Council Committee on General Welfare will hold oversight hearings on this issue Quinn’s Year-enD Message to lgBt coMMunitY City Council Speaker Christine Quinn wrote a special message to New York City’s LGBT population at the year’s end, highlighting the many achievements this community experienced in 2011. “This past year was an historic one for New York City’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. By working together, our families stood strong and proud, and through our collective strength and passion we helped changed the landscape of our city for generations to come,” wrote Quinn. Under the leadership of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York State passed legislation allowing gay marriage in June—the bill passed with four Republican votes. “Now that New York has passed this important piece of legislation, we look forward to other states soon following suit,” noted Quinn. “Together, we can show that marriage equality is the right thing for our nation—one that will strengthen our families and communities even more.” A few months later in September, the LGBT community celebrated another victory after the military’s 18-year-old Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy officially ended. Quinn pointed out that the repeal of DADT brought the U.S. military in line with other industrialized nations that allow gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military. “While effective leadership has been vital to accomplishing these victories, we also owe them to the relentless efforts of fearless advocates who didn’t stop fighting until their voices were heard. New Yorkers have shown the world we are dedicated and committed to achieving full equality, Quinn added. “Knowing that residents and advocates are out there every day on the streets in every borough defending equality should give us all renewed hope and optimism for the future of human rights.” “We cannot rest until the Defense of Marriage Act is repealed and the military recognizes same-sex marriages of service members who risk their lives to protect this country,” she continued. “In addition, we must address the epidemic of bullying in this country. We have seen far too many young LGBT people taking their own lives because of the meanspirited behavior of others. This is unacceptable—we must do better.”
downtown social
Poetry on the Bowery
o
n the first day of the new year, hundreds packed into St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery for the 38th annual New Year’s Day Marathon Benefit Reading. The event featured over 140 poets and performers, including Patti Smith and Suzanne Vega, among others. The church opened its doors veronica hoglund in the mid-afternoon and the readings continued well past midnight—all various reflections on times past. The benefit is the church’s largest and likely most inspiring fundraiser, with donations going to fund a variety of events that take place throughout the year.
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3
� R E PORTE R’S NOTE BOOK
Talk of Occupy Pets and Politics Outside Zuccotti Park
Shane and his pet cat Mugan were outside Zuccotti Park Monday with fellow protestor Ned Merrill. PHOTO BY JOsH ROgeRs
Crime WatCh
Man Breaks into Tribeca Office and Assaults Woman
Police ask for public’s help in nabbing suspect The day after Christmas, Monday, Dec. 26, in the afternoon, a man made his way into a Tribeca office and assaulted a 23-year-old employee before making off
4
with several items, say police. The suspect can be seen on security footage entering the building on Broadway wearing a black coat, dark-colored sweater, beanie and jeans at around 3:15 p.m. According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), he then went to the 10th floor, where he forced himself into an office, armed with a knife. Once inside, the suspect reportedly tied up a young woman and proceeded to take what police say was an undetermined amount of cash, a backpack and a laptop computer. He then fled the scene, but not without injuring his victim. While police say she refused medical attention at the time of the crime, she
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | JAN UARY 5, 2012
| By joSH rogerS
position to the Patriot Act, but couldn’t square them with the candidate’s libertarian views, which would leave the wealthy ccupy Wall Street rang in 2012 alone. with a hard bang, and the “We can’t support Ron Paul for his movement was still feeling the positions on economic justice and we hangover two days later. can’t support Obama because of the Zuccotti Park remained military detention bill,” said Merrill, closed Jan. 2, after nearly 70 who opposes the new law allowing the protesters were arrested New military to imprison citizens without Year’s Eve. Less than a half-dozen people charges being filed. “Before the miliwere standing outside the barricades, tary detention bill, our one gripe [with collecting donations and conversing Obama] was that he buckled on the with well-wishers on Monday afternoon, bank bailout.” the official holiday. Shane, a 38-year-old Merrill said the president should who came up from Florida when the have forced the banks to make real reprotest began in September, said the form in exchange for the federal bailout. take that day was low. He and Shane both said they “People feel more sympathetic to planned to get involved with this year’s us when we’re standing on the other congressional elections, but were uncerside of the fence,” tain about precisely said Shane, who how. Merrill said he Ned Merrill, 50, said they just declined to give wanted represenhis last name to wanted to maintain a “symbolic tatives to disprotect his job close much more presence” at Zuccotti. opportunities. detailed financial Nestled in his information than they chest was another Occupy veteran who are currently required to do. did not disclose his last name, Mugan, Shane said he’ll probably end up a 6-month-old cat. Shane said Mugan voting for Obama, reluctantly. “He’s the sleeps at a friend’s house. Since tents lesser of two evils, but it still sucks,” he and sleeping bags were banned from the said. park two months ago, both spend about As for the park, Occupiers were six hours a day at Zuccotti. hopeful on Monday that it would reopen “He’s an attention slut,” he said of soon. That Saturday night, hundreds Mugan. He added that other protestors had returned to Zuccotti and tensions were keeping warm at a nearby building. escalated after police said one protestor Ned Merrill, 50, said they just wanted stabbed an officer with scissors. Merrill to maintain a “symbolic presence” at said everyone else remained nonviolent Zuccotti Park. and the incident could have occurred The Zuccotti protestors said they just as easily in Times Square or near hoped 2012 would bring changes to the any New Year’s revelry. Sixty-eight system and more jobs. They also had people were arrested. politics on their minds the day before A police officer outside Zuccotti said the Iowa caucuses. the park might reopen Tuesday, and it Merrill liked Republican Ron Paul’s did. One nearby resident said only a few stance on constitutional issues and oppeople showed up in the cold.
O
was later admitted to Flushing Hospital to treat a broken jaw. The NYPD is asking the public to help them identify the robbery suspect. Police describe him as a black man in his fifties, roughly 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8. Police estimate that the suspect weighs around 200 pounds. Anyone with information in regards to this case is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline, 800-577-TIPS. Pedestrian in CritiCal Care after Being struCk By MotorCyCle Crossing the street in the early hours, especially on New Year’s Day can be dangerous, as one recent police incident
in the East Village showed. According to police, they received a 911 call at 4:28 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 1, reporting a pedestrian accident. Police say a 33-year-old man was seen crossing East 12th Street in between avenues A and B when he was struck by a motorcycle. At the scene, the man was believed to have severe head trauma and he was taken to Beth Israel Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. The motorcyclist was a 38-year-old man driving a 1979 BMW. While the driver was taken into custody for further investigation, he was subsequently released without criminal charges.
� DWE LL
The 60-foot indoor pool.
Building Profile: 20 Pine
The terrace.
| By marissa maier
The hammam lounge. PHOTOs cOURTesY Of 20 PiNe THe cOllecTiON
With 20 Pine The Collection, a luxury condominium in Lower Manhattan’s Financial District, Deborah DeMaria of Warburg Realty intimately knows the comforts of living in the building. While DeMaria serves as sales director for 20 Pine—Warburg Realty is the exclusive marketing team of the development—she is also a resident and has firsthand knowledge of the unique amenities that set this building apart from others in the area. “I am probably slanted, but this has been my favorite job that I have ever had. I really believe in this building. It is not just a sales pitch—the appreciation is genuine,” DeMaria noted. While the available residences range from studios to three-bedroom
abodes, the amenities are the real calling card of 20 Pine. Armani Casa was responsible for the sleek, yet comfortable, interior design. The 1920s-era building, referred to as the Morgan Guaranty Trust building and the former headquarters of Chase Manhattan Bank, boasts some unusually plush amenities: a hammam, spa, gym, 60-foot pool, golf simulator, billiard room inside a converted bank vault, complete with 45-ton vault doors, and terrace, among others. In addition, the neighborhood boasts multiple subway lines. “They thought of everything,” DeMaria noted of developers AFI USA. “I think this is probably the best
building for someone who wants to live in the Financial District,” DeMaria added. “20 Pine is still competitively priced compared to the rest of the city. It is a great value.” With almost 95 percent of the homes—there are roughly 409 units—in the building sold, DeMaria said, “Now is the time to buy.”
The exterior of the 1920s-era building. A look inside a studio space.
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JAN UARY 5, 2012 | otdowntown.com
5
photo illustration by Ed Johnson
Toxic UnTil i 2022?
doE says it will take a decade to rid public schools of pCbs | by MEgan FinnEgan bungEroth with additional rEporting by Marissa MaiEr
t’s a strange day in New York City when toxic chemicals could become as commonplace in schools as pencils, books and tater tots. Polychlorinated Biphenyls–more commonly known by the abbreviation PCBs– could potentially be present in at least 700 public schools in the city, says a list compiled by the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) and distributed by Rep. Jerrold Nadler. PCBs are believed to cause cancer as well as serious damage to the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems in humans. The compounds were used in construction materials like insulation, electrical equipment and lubricants in the 1950s and ’60s until they were banned by the EPA in 1978.
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OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | JAN UARY 5, 2012
I
n 2010, the city allowed the EPA to conduct a pilot test program, measuring PCB levels and determining remediation strategies for five schools—one in each borough. While Downtown schools weren’t included in the pilot program, several schools in the area that are potentially contaminated with PCBs were part of the NYLPI list, including P.S.184 Shuang Wen in the Lower East Side and P.S. 150 in Tribeca. (The full list can be found on the NYPLI website.) The results from the schools that were included in the pilot program were astonishing. At P.S. 199 on the Upper West Side, there were higher-than-average levels of PCBs, 600-1100 nanograms per cubic meter in the indoor air at the school. The EPA’s reference dose, the quantity of PCBs that a person can be exposed to daily over a lifetime with little appreciable damage or risk, is 200 to 300 nanograms per cubic meter. The city has acknowledged the need to remove all known sources of PCBs from public schools, the biggest of which are old light ballasts, but the method of removal, including testing, proper abatement, determing the order in which schools will be worked on as well as a timeline and funding, are up for fierce debate among parents, politicians, health experts, the Department of Education and the School Construction Authority (SCA). “What we’ve been pushing for is that the city should come up with a remediation plan to remove these light ballasts quickly,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who represents the west side of Manhattan from the Upper West Side to Downtown. “They’ve got a 10-year plan and that is simply not acceptable.” A few weeks ago, the City Council passed a new law requiring schools to notify parents when PCBs are found and at what levels. Council Member Margaret Chin, whose district includes much of Downtown Manhattan from Tribeca to the South Street Seaport to Chinatown and the Lower East Side, noted that the Council is pushing for a much shorter, two-year plan to inspect “What we’ve been all city schools for PCBs. pushing for is that the Chin said 18 schools in her city should come up district were built between with a remediation 1959-1978. “The SCA is in our plan to remove these school regularly. This has light ballasts quickly. been a constant thing at They’ve got a 10-year our school, a constant plan and that is simstring of testing and results ply not acceptable,” and the action plan,” said said Rep. Jerrold Michelle Lipkin, co-president of the P.S. 199 PTA. Nadler. Lipkin said they’ve been dealing with PCB issues for the past four years, ever since they were first discovered in the building and the SCA removed all of the lighting ballasts. Ballasts made before the 1979 ban were filled with PCBs because the chemical compound acts as an excellent flame retardant, which kept fluorescent lighting fixtures from catching fire when the electrical current was switched on. This technology is now obsolete and the latent PCBs are either leaking or about to, but the ballasts need to be removed by abatement technicians who can not only safely take them down but also ensure that the PCB levels surrounding them remain low. Because of the cost and sheer scale of the project—an estimated $850 million—the city has set a 10-year timeline for removal. But now the communities around these affected schools are fighting back. Community Board 7, of the Upper West Side, recently penned a resolution, which they took to the full board this week. The resolution asks that “John King of the New York State Department of Education instruct the SCA to expeditiously inspect all schools constructed before 1978 or PCB contamination in lighting fixtures; and that the SCA lighting fixture remediation program be completed within the EPA recommended two- to three-year timeframe.” The state is not required to adhere to the EPA’s guidelines, but many are hoping that they will. The DOE, however, emphasized that they are doing more
than other cities and insisted that their timeline is reasonable. “Our plan to replace light fixtures in more than 700 school buildings is unprecedented compared to other cities, and PCBs are a nationwide issue,” said Natalie Ravitz, director of communications at DOE, in an emailed statement in response to questions about the DOE’s handling of the removal. “While some people think we should spend more and do this faster, we continue to believe this is an aggressive, environmentally responsible plan that will cause minimum disruption to student learning and generate significant energy savings for the city and taxpayers in the long run.” But others believe that the matter is far more urgent. “PCBs are very very dangerous when it comes down to children’s development,” said Christina Giorgio, a staff attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) in their environmental justice department. “[They] attack every system of the human body. You will have permanently depressed IQs with long-term exposure. When you’re talking about the school environment, you are indisputably talking about long-term exposure.” NYLPI has filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of New York Communities for Change, a group that includes many concerned parents, to force the DOE and SCA to remove the ballasts sooner under the Toxic Substances Control Act, which requires that PCBs are properly removed immediately wherever they are found. “What the DOE likes to say is that there’s no immediate health risk. Provided you’re not a pregnant woman, if you walk into a room that is contaminated with a high level of PCBs, are you going to drop over dead? No, you’re not. But that’s not what we’re talking about,” Giorgio said. While all agree that the health risks are accumulated over time, some are insisting that any amount of time spent in PCBtainted air is too much, especially for women. “There’s a great deal of research showing risks to pregnant woman now, women who plan to become pregnant in the near future and even those who want to have families a decade from now,” said Andrea Miller, president of NARAL Pro-Choice NY. Other groups advocating for women’s reproductive rights, including Planned Parenthood, have stepped forward to urge the DOE to move more quickly to remove PCBs. Miller said that her organization understands that the DOE has a lot on its plate; they aren’t asking for immediate removal, they want the DOE to get started quickly and consider stepping up the schedule. “A woman working in our schools shouldn’t have to trade her ability to have a healthy pregnancy,” Miller said. “We’re just asking that they take this seriously and take a closer look at what the experts are recommending as far as an appropriate timeline.” “It’s a matter of putting pressure on the city and on the administration,” said Nadler. “They claim it will cost $700 million to $1 billion. We don’t think it will cost that much, but even if it did, we need to do it. We would come up with the money if it were an immediate catastrophe. This is a slow-moving catastrophe.” As for when Downtown schools might see new ballasts in their schools, members of New York Communities for Change learned that the city will prioritize the retrofitting of new ballasts in the following order: schools with visual signs of leaks, elementary schools built between 1950-1966, secondary schools built between 1950-1966, elementary schools built between 1967-1979, secondary schools built between 1967-1979, elementary schools built before 1950 and secondary schools built before 1950. As evidenced by the City Council’s resolutions, Chin believes awareness of PCBs is growing but that advocacy is still needed. She pointed out that principals and custodians must work to alert the DOE when ballasts clearly show signs of PCB leaks and repairs need to be made. She added that the EPA could help in educating communities and schools on PCBs. “Advocacy has to continue,” Chin said, “especially on the [City Council’s] Education Committee. This will be an ongoing process.” JAN UARY 5, 2012 | otdowntown.com
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THE 7-DAY PLAN THURSDAY
05 06 07 08 09 10 11 FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
BEST PICK
Occupy Cinema (1/7-1/8)
Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave. (betw. E. 1st & E. 2nd Sts.), anthologyfilmarchives.org; $9. In support of the Occupy movement, Anthology will present a series of short film programs featuring politically centered and protest-themed work by filmmakers Ken Jacobs, Peter Whitehead, Travis Wilkerson and others. The weekend will combine completed works with footage shot at Occupy protests around the world. Hot Wings Abron Arts Center, 466 Grand St. (at Pitt St.), support.henrystreet.org; 7 p.m., $15. As part of the American Realness festival running through Jan. 15, Hot Wings, by Laura Arrington, is a charged dance that examines representations of sex, gender and violence. The piece follows a cast of three women and a drag queen—all of whom are femme and fearless.
Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com.
Joni Mitchell’s Blue: A 40th Anniversary Celebration Christopher Street Coffeehouse, 81 Christopher St. (betw. Bleecker & W. 4th Sts.), christopherstreetcoffeehouse.org; 7:30 p.m., $15. As part of their Village Roots concert series, the Christopher Street Coffeehouse will present a special tribute concert to Joni Mitchell on the 40th anniversary of her landmark album, Blue. The evening includes covers of her work, as well as original songs inspired by Mitchell, performed by musicians like Meg Braun, Anna Dagmar and Honor Finnegan, among others. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Coffeehouse.
Au Hasard Balthazar Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (betw. Varick St. & 6th Ave.), filmforum.org; $12.50. Film Forum kicks off a three-week retrospective of French auteur Robert Bresson’s work with Au Hasard Balthazar, a fable detailing the parallel lives of a donkey and a young farm girl. This is the first North American restrospective of Bresson’s work in 14 years and will include masterpieces like Mouchette, Pickpocket and The Trial of Joan of Arc.
INVISIBLE-EXPORTS, 14A Orchard St. (betw. Canal & Hester Sts.), invisible-exports.com; opening reception 6-8 p.m. In this collection, Ron Athey, Walt Cassidy, Jesse Aron Green, Geof Oppenheimer and Sue Williams set out to examine the space between the public and the intimate, the sanctioned and the condemned, to suggest that displacement and exclusion might be civic virtues rather than social failures.
FREE Mulchfest and E-Waste Day
South end of Bowling Green (at Whitehall St.), downtownny.com; Mulchfest 10 a.m.-2 p.m., E-waste 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Looking for a way to avoid the post-holiday headache of discarding your holiday tree or getting rid of an unwanted electronic gadget? The Alliance for Downtown New York is hosting a mulchfest and e-waste recycling event to help Downtown citizens with this very problem.
❯
❮
Deadly Medicine: Creating a Master Race Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Pl. (at 1st Pl.), mjhnyc.org; 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m., $12. Using everything from photos to personal accounts, this exhibit shows how the Nazi regime aimed to change the genetic makeup of the population through measures known as “racial hygiene,” and the role scientists in the biomedical fields played in legitimizing these policies. Improv Nerds Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre East, 153 E. 3rd St. (betw. Aves. A & B), east.ucbtheatre.com; 10 p.m., $5. America’s favorite Improv Nerds Brandon Gardner, Chelsea Clarke and Phillip Jackson host and perform in this weekly celebration of making stuff up. Every show features some of the NYC improv scene’s newest rising stars.
WEDNESDAY
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | JAN UARY 5, 2012
❯
FREE The Displaced Person
Sxip Shirey Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St. (betw. Astor Pl. & E. 4th St.), joespub.com; 9:30 p.m., $15. Performance composer Sxip Shirey brings his mutant harmonicas, red marbles and other sonic wonders back to Joe’s Pub on the heels of being awarded a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Artists Fellowship.
TUESDAY
8
Visit otdowntown.com for the latest updates on local events.
Looking for a Missing Employee Howard Gilman Performance Space, 450 W. 37th St. (betw. 9th & 10th Aves.), ps122.org; 5 p.m., $20. The highly anticipated U.S. debut of renegade Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué is the premiere of Looking for a Missing Employee, a multimedia performance detailing the disturbing case of a missing employee and the political factors responsible for his disappearance.
Standard Hotel’s Ice Rink The Standard, 848 Washington St. (at W. 13th St.), standardhotels.com; noon-midnight, $12 admission, $3 skate rental. Try out those rusty double axels at this Downtown skate rink near The Highline. The 3,000-squarefoot outdoor rink includes the Kaffeeklatsch, which serves up sweet and savory crêpes, waffles, hot chocolate and spiced apple cider.
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❮ FREE
Pen Parentis Literary Salon’s Robert Burns Celebration The Libertine Library at Gild Hall, 15 Gold St. (at Platt St.), penparentis.org/literary-salon.html; 7 p.m. Join Marie Howe, Evan and Joanna Smith Rakoff, Martin MacKinnon and Tina Chang as they read some of Burns’ poems and some of their own and discuss balancing a literary life with an active family. 21+.
FREE Speed Shrinking for the New Year with Susan Shapiro Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby St. (betw. Prince & Houston Sts.), housingworks.org; 7 p.m. To celebrate the publication of Unhooked, by Frederick Woolverton and Susan Shapiro, come speed shrink for the New Year and try the fascinating speed-dating therapy phenomenon. Liquid and sugar courage will be served.
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FREE Gotham Writers’ Workshops 111 Washington Pl. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), writingclasses.com; 7-9:15 p.m. The Workshop is offering a series of gratis classes; on this evening, the hour-long sessions will focus on screenwriting, humor writing, fiction writing, children’s book writing and nonfiction writing 101. While classes are free, space is limited and pre-registration is required at free.writingclasses.com.
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� SE E
The P Word New film Pariah corrects the stereotypes of Precious | By armoND White
Pariah is such a decent film it is a shame that its title seems designed to keep people away. The “P” word title is too close to Precious, the abomination that set back recent cultural progress. In Pariah, debut writer-director Dee Rees tells a coming-of-age story rooted in the family and social customs of black Americans, but the lead character, Alike (charmingly portrayed by Adepero Oduye), lives a universal story: Alike is a teenage lesbian who has difficulty making her sexual awakening compatible with her strict family life. She alternates between two worlds: the teen dyke subculture and the boundaries of her home life with a policeman father and socially obsessed mother. Alike is on the verge of romantic access, the state of expectancy too often overlooked in an era that programs kids to become immediately sexually active. (Blame Madison Avenue and its flip side, Hollywood/MTV.)
Choosing realism as a storytelling mode, Rees introduces an exotic subculture of tough, physically thick girls alongside the conventional high school girls and daddy’s pets. Ethnically, there hasn’t been a film like this since How She Move, departing from the conventions of Bring It On and Easy A, essentially derivations of John Hughes movies that queers and teens of color relate to even without seeing their own reflection. The way Alike interacts with different sets of peers (her younger sister, her best friend and a new duplicitous flirt) reveals new sides of American teen life. Part of what made Precious so scandalous was its distortion of non-white teen life as bizarre, contradicting the progress that mainstream media likes to claim for the Obama era by indulging the worst racist-liberal stereotypes about African Americans. It may have so seriously damaged the general perception of African American femininity that the makers of Pariah felt compelled to respond—or conform to mainstream interest. The gamble has not worked. Pariah has been ignored in the year-end awards chase—with The Help providing the main-
Adepero Oduye in Pariah.
stream’s preferred slander of black women. The unsettling title Pariah exaggerates Alike’s fear of being an outcast, as if begging for toleration rather than asserting her humanity. The good news is that Rees tells an individual, momentous story in a modest way and she directs her performers so that their full humanity is displayed: Charles Parnell as the stern, loving father, Aasha Davis as the flirt (“I’m not gay gay”) and Kim Wayans as Alike’s panicky mother, herself the product of a different, inflexible feminine tradition.
That’s a TAKE Nichole Canuso Dance
Company comes to 3LD | By susaN reiter Philadelphia has an active dance scene, but companies and artists from that nearby city rarely show their work in New York. One of its busier dancer-choreographers, Nichole Canuso, is coming to town this week with an installation piece entitled TAKES. In this hour-long work, Canuso and Dito Van Reigersberg’s movement activity within a large translucent cube are filmed by three cameras and projected on the walls of the structure. Canuso’s bio says that her eight-yearold company “focuses on developing fully investigated and legible hybrid dance projects. These works exist at the crossroads of movement, visual art and theater.” TAKES, which had its premiere in September 2010, is certainly representative of that focus. Canuso collaborated with Pablo N. Molina to create the software design for the piece while Lars Jan is responsible for the installation design; he edits and mixes the projected images live
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Nichole Canuso Dance Company’s TAKES at 3LD.
for each performance. Speaking recently by phone from Philadelphia, Canuso explained the title, which refers to the idea of film takes.“[It] suggests iterations of the same moment; one gets chosen, the rest fall away.” She described the piece as a “snapshot of two people’s lives over time.” Her own movements in TAKES have a wild looseness verging on gawkiness; Van Reigersberg is more contained. Their projected images at times dwarf them, other times creating a dense layering of overlaps and confrontations.
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | JAN UARY 5, 2012
photo bY lARs JAN
“Everything you see is a live feed,” Canuso explained. “There are three cameras in the space. We’re doing the editing by where we place our bodies in space. We’re choreographing for the live audience and the cameras at the same time. In some spots, we’re in view of all three cameras. We’ve memorized the map of that. It now feels second nature. “It was a fantastic challenge, especially as a dancer/choreographer, considering both perspectives—being aware that the detail that a camera can pick up needed to be balanced with the energy an audience needed. This installation forces you to think about macro
photo coURtesY of focUs feAtURes
Finding no villains and no outcasts, Rees (and surely executive producer Spike Lee—a more socially conscious producer than Lee Daniels) has made a movie that includes a full range of family and social complexity. Rees’ view of adolescent controversy deliberately avoids controversy—and that’s its strength. It recalls another taboo-adjusting, gay-themed, P-word movie, Carl Franklin’s little-seen Punk. It’s worth checking out, too. Follow Armond White on Twitter @3xChair. and micro perspective at the same time.” The audience is encouraged to view the work from various perspectives, since “each wall shows different images and the piece looks different from up close and far away. Everybody has a different way of watching, we’ve found,” she said. At 3LD, chairs will be placed around the space and people can switch locations as often as they like. Michael Kiley is the sound designer/ composer for TAKES. Some of the musical selections represent what the performing couple play on the record player within their space, which includes a chair, but little else. Canuso describes the score as “a mix of sounds that captures everyday life. The record player in the couple’s space is a big part of their relationship. Choosing the albums we play was tricky, since they come with connotations. It’s important that the sound comes from within the space.” TAKES actually has two components. During gallery hours on Saturday, people are invited to enter the projection cube to create their own dance within the installation. “Being on the inside is an amazing experience,” Canuso observes. “During gallery hours, people become the characters and we give prompts.” Takes. Jan. 5–8, 3LD Arts and Technology Center, 80 Greenwich St. (at Rector St.), 866-811-4111; $10.
� EAT Wine and Chocolate —But No Pajamas Ayza Wine and Chocolate Bar rescues the two from sad-lady status | By RegAn HofmAnn If we have learned anything from Cathy cartoons, yogurt commercials and the Bridget Jones oeuvre, it’s that women are fickle, selfloathing creatures caught in a perpetual cycle of denial and punishment. They use words like “indulge”; food is either “guilt-free” (carrot sticks) or “decadent” (meat, cheese, bread, sweets, etc.). They drink too much wine (straight from the bottle, if no men are looking). And if there were no consequences, they would eat nothing but chocolate. It’s a shame, because few foods are as well paired as wine and chocolate. Think of a full, tannic rioja with fruity, bittersweet chocolate; light, semi-dry prosecco with rich milk chocolate. Both have layers of flavor that come out in the tasting; both can reveal markedly different
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characteristics when matched up in different combinations. Both have serious connoisseurs who talk about things like terroir and vintage— it’s about time both were rescued from the stereotype of the Hungry Lady. Ayza Wine and Chocolate Bar, which just opened a location in the West Village at 1 7th Ave., aims to right this wrong stealthily, presenting a dimly lit, red-lined interior and kitty cat logo to lure in unsuspecting Girls’ Night Out-ers. It is possible to get in and out of Ayza with your Sex and the City delusions intact—cocktails are adorably named, and a sub-species of drinks are made with chocolate but called martinis—but you’d miss the point entirely. The bar aims to be everything to everyone, a useful approach when you’re out with a group, some of whom may be more Bartles & Jaymes than barolo. Unfortunately, this leads to a long, distracting menu, columns running into columns of wines, cheeses, chocolates, appetizers and items to dip into the chocolate fountain that runs perpetually behind the bar, all prefaced by the instruction to choose three or four or six
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or eight. You may have to be the one to rally the troops behind a plan of action and remember everyone’s selections when it comes time to order, or you’ll end up staring blankly at one another, asking, “What looks good to you?” It’s a low-pressure job, though. Even if you end up Bible-dipping your way through the menu, pointing at random and deciphering the results later, you’ll be satisfied. Try to remember to get the mushroom pita tart, a tiny round that beats you over the head with the umami from the mushrooms, two kinds of cheese and truffle oil. Any cheese will do you well, as will any charcuterie; pretzels and raspberries in the dark chocolate fountain are a perfect balancing act of sweet, salty and fresh. But man cannot live on snacks alone. There will come a point in the evening—or at the outset, if you’re a responsible adult— when you realize that substantial food is needed. Ayza’s entrées keep the throughline of sweetness but reduce it to a minor chord, playing against savory melodies in a number of composed dishes. High-class ingredients are presented
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with just enough elements to make a plate interesting without coming across confused; a special served barely seared scallops atop kale purée, bright and smoky, alongside dehydrated kale leaves, raw jicama batons and a fine dice of strawberries. The jicama and scallops played off each other, fresh and crisp, creamy and saline, while the sweetness of the fruit enlivened the earthy purée. Cocoa-braised short ribs were more mole than Hershey’s, the bitter chocolate used as a dark undertone to the tender beef. Chocolates are sourced and credited as the wines are, with attention paid to provenance and maker. An edited list from Jacques Torres and Martine’s has been chosen to pair especially well with the wines; try Martine’s milk chocolate-covered butterscotch caramel with a French muscat or Torres’ dark chocolate-coated espresso ganache with an Argentinean malbec. Oh, and if someone wants to order a round of chocolate martinis? Don’t fight it; they’re actually pretty good—like a light, deceptively boozy chocolate milk. Now that’s something everyone can get behind.
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Janeane Garofalo Actress, comediAn, PoliticAl Activist, Writer
| By marissa maier
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Janeane Garofalo is probably best known for her numerous television and film appearances (24, Reality Bites, The Truth About Cats & Dogs), her stand-up work and hosting duties on Air America’s The Majority Report. This winter, however, marks the first time Garofalo will star in a play: the Off-Broadway production of playwright Erika Sheffer’s debut, Russian Transport. The work, staged by The New Group, tells the story of Diana and Misha, an immigrant couple in Sheepshead Bay struggling to maintain their car service business. While the play opens for a limited engagement Jan. 17 at the Acorn Theatre, Sheffer and Garofalo will grace the stage of 92YTribeca Jan. 11 to discuss the work’s back story and its path to the stage. Is Russian Transport the first play you have starred in? I did Love, Loss and What I Wore [last year], but that was more people sitting and reading vignettes. I’ve done some work with The Fire Dept. theater company-they are very avant garde…I don’t even know how to describe it. It was less structured than a play. This is my first official play. I have been a fan of The New Group, and I never imagined that I would be asked to participate in something like this. It is both daunting and exciting-I have never had that feeling with my work, being both excited and terrified. What terrifies you? That I could suck. That I could be horrible. The other actors are so good and New Group does such good stuff. I think, What if I am the weakest link? It is the usual debilitating self-loathing. What appealed to you about Russian Transport ? First, it came as quite a surprise that they wanted me. My agent told me that the director, Scott Elliott, asked if I would like to do this part [Diana] in this play. I don’t usually get asked that. The script was really, really good, which is unusual. Most of the scripts are mediocre at best. Initially, I passed. I thought I couldn’t do it, play a Russian immigrant mom who is running a business. I didn’t think I could vacillate between the English with the Russian accent and the Russian dialogue. I met Scott to tell him this and by the end of lunch I had agreed to do it. He talked me into it, but he is one of the greatest directors I have ever worked with. He says
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | JAN UARY 5, 2012
all the right things all of the time. What did he say to you that convinced you to sign on? He just said, “You can do it. I’m never wrong. It’s not going to be a problem at all.” And for some reason, by the end of the lunch I thought, I can do this. He had absolute confidence. He is always unfailingly confident, that is one of his gifts. Beyond that, it was also a very good script. How does preparation for a play differ from preparing for a stand-up show or a film or television role? Well, I can’t speak to all plays. I can only speak to this one. Every day you go in and drill it, drill it, run it and run it. Scott is so intuitive. He guides you through and asks questions like, “What if you felt this way?” or says, “Now this time, be really excited.” He takes you through these exercises. It makes you feel that you are collaborating. In a lot of TV and film work, directors don’t have the time or the inclination to unpack things and get under the emotion, especially in mainstream work. In studio films, it is much more about the look and appealing to the most amount of people; of course, that isn’t true of the indie film world. As for stand-up, my approach to stand-up is so undisciplined and it has been that way since 1985. Sometimes I wish I was more disciplined.
Given the news that has come out in the last year, from the Arab Spring to the potential Republican candidates, do you find yourself missing having an outlet like your Air America show to express your views on current events? Yes and no. Sam Seder [who co-hosted The Majority Report on Air America] still does his shows. [Seder developed The Majority Report into a podcast in 2010.] Sometimes I go on his show or I do other people’s podcasts. I discuss it to a degree in stand-up. But I do miss the Monday through Friday at Air America — I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed the medium of radio. I learned so much, there was so much information coming in all the time. I still have outlets, but not as regular. I still do find that I can communicate in that way with people. Because you are very politically outspoken, have you found that people come up to you on the street and want to engage in that kind of dialog? Occasionally. It used to happen all the time during the Bush era. It tends to always be some right-wingers. They know I am an easy target as a 5-foot-1 female. They don’t do it to a Sam Seder or a Tim Robbins. They don’t do it to the big guys. Garofalo and playwright Erika Sheffer will discuss Russian Transport at 7 p.m., Jan. 11, 92YTribecca, 200 Hudson St., www.92y.org/tribeca.
on topic
Joining OWS and examining my profession as a doctor
“
Aren’t doctors supposed to be neutral?” I turned, wearing my white coat, to face the man who had said this. He hadn’t realized I could hear him, and his face flushed. “I didn’t mean…um...” he said, trailing off. It was Oct. 5, the day of a rally that had brought thousands of supporters of Occupy Wall Street to Foley Square in Lower Manhattan. As we marched, chanted and carried signs, the man’s words rang in my head. He was right; doctors are supposed to be neutral. Our job is to care for the sick, regardless of political ideology. It is precisely this neutrality that permits the Red Cross access to war zones where even journalists are not allowed. So what was I doing at Occupy Wall Street? I had to go back four years to find the explanation. Jorge was in his early forties when I met him. It was 2007, and I was a new intern starting my primary care clinic. He sat in the squeaky chair in my exam room and told me his back hurt. I went through the usual questions to rule out red flags: Did the pain wake him up at night? Was it worse when he was lying down? Had he recently lost weight? No, he hadn’t lost weight, he said. Just the opposite. He had gained 40 pounds in the past six months. I probed deeper. Was he eating more for some reason? Was he depressed? Were there problems with his marriage? Had he recently lost his job? Nothing like that, he said. The problem was the Yankees. I did my residency in the Bronx, and my clinic was on 161st Street, a few blocks from Yankee Stadium. For years, Jorge told me, he had played pick-up soccer in the grassy fields of Macombs Dam Park, which bordered the stadium. But in the summer of 2006, construction began on the new Yankee Stadium, leaving no land for Jorge and his friends to exercise. Without exercise, he gained weight. When he gained weight, his back started to hurt. And that’s when he came to the clinic. Nearly every U.S. medical student learns about the biopsychosocial model of medicine, in which the patient’s condition is not considered purely biological but includes psychological and social factors. Overall health or disease results from the interaction of all three factors. Jorge was a classic case of “social medicine.” He had a medical problem that was caused not by something going wrong in his body but by something going wrong in his environment. I could write him a prescription for ibuprofen, but that would just treat the symptoms. To cure him, I would have to change the
the Harlem River. Perhaps, I thought, this environment in which he lived. was where Jorge was playing his pick-up We tried to come up with an alternate exercise plan, but Jorge loved soccer. After soccer. It was no longer in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, but at least he could get a few wasted minutes discussing Zumba his exercise. and Pilates, I gave up. I told him to try to Traveling between the fractured pieces find another soccer field or start walking of park, however, involved scampering to work. along a crosswalk painted onto the Major I wasn’t able to do much for Jorge, Deegan Expressway. Next, a concrete but he continued to see me at the clinic bridge took me over a set of train tracks, anyway. And because of his story, I followed the construction of the new Yankee and I somehow found myself inside the newly built Gateway Shopping Center. Stadium with interest. As I wandered the mall looking for yet The stadium didn’t open until April another kiosk map, I pondered the irony 2009, and during that time Jorge was left of it being difficult to find a simple field without a place to exercise. But New York of grass in the Bronx. Two hundred years City had pledged to replace every acre of parkland that was lost, and on my subway ago, the problem would have been the exact opposite. rides home I watched with hope as the In the 1800s, the Bronx was a farmold stadium was taken down, seat by seat, ing community. Separated from bustling brick by brick. Manhattan by the Harlem River, its In the summer of 2010, when I finresidents were concerned that they would ished my residency and said goodbye to be left behind as the city’s economy Jorge, there was still no place for him to grew. They coaxed rich New Yorkers to play soccer. He was still 40 pounds overbuild homes outside the city, and by the weight, he had developed hypertension 1920s, the Bronx had become an upscale and his LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) had suburb. gone from under 100 to over 170. No one was bemoaning the loss of Finally, in the summer of 2011, as the green space then—there was still plenty Yankees started their third season in the to go around. new stadium, But in the 1960s, the city anthe city built nounced that Everyone in America seems sprawling public the renovation to agree that we should invest housing projects was complete. in preventing disease and in the Bronx, By then I maintaining health rather than cinder-block towwas living in pay more to treat disease after ers that stacked Brooklyn, and thousands of I wondered patients get sick. For decades, people on top of if Jorge had we have been talking about this each other. More heard the anwithout actually doing it. people, less park nouncement. space. I wondered if By the late he was, once 1970s, the South Bronx was a poster child again, playing soccer in the shadow of for urban blight, famous for burning Yankee Stadium. buildings and rubble-strewn vacant lots. So last fall, I returned to Macombs The borough that people escaped to had Dam Park. I went on a Sunday afternoon, become a place to escape from. one of the days he had told me he used to And over the past 40 years, with fewer play soccer. and fewer green spaces left, the obesity While riding the subway uptown, I rate in the South Bronx has skyrocketed, pictured the old park in my mind: a wide from under 10 percent in 1980 to over 25 swath of thick grass with a few shade percent today. Not surprisingly, this has trees at the edges. How would it look been accompanied by a corresponding now? rise in diabetes and hypertension, which The first thing I noticed was the new has led to an increase in heart attacks, train station, which let fans arrive by either subway or Metro-North train. I also strokes and early death. The 2010 death rate in the South noticed that the 50-foot-wide pathway Bronx was 35 percent higher than New leading from station to stadium was York City overall. The life expectancy of a counted as replacement parkland. resident of the South Bronx is four years To one side of the walkway was a new less than that of a resident of the Upper parking garage. Examining a kiosk map, East Side, just four subway stops away. I discovered that the parking garage was With the help of the kiosk map, I also counted as replacement parkland, finally reached the replacement parkland. since an artificial turf field had been built It consisted of tennis courts surrounded on top of it. (The field is closed on game by a large red brick esplanade. No grass. days.) No green space. The rest of the replacement parkland I was growing disillusioned. Then I had been moved half a mile away, along
saw a middleaged Hispanic man who reminded me of Jorge. Wouldn’t this be a funny coincidence, I thought. cameron page I approached him and noticed he was holding a neon yellow flag. He was directing cars arriving for the Yankees game. “Do you know where the park is?” I asked. He nodded and pointed in the direction all the cars were headed. “That’s where the park is?” He nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Parking.” His English was not good. “No, not parking,” I said. “Park. You know, futbol?” “Ahhhh! Futbol!” A smile broke out across his face. Then it dropped. “No.” “No?” “No futbol.” He waved his hand in a broad circle to indicate the surrounding area. “Are you sure?” “No futbol.” He said it with such certainty that I could not doubt him. Everyone in America seems to agree that we should invest in preventing disease and maintaining health rather than pay more to treat disease after patients get sick. For decades, we have been talking about this without actually doing it. What if, rather than merely paying lip service to this notion, doctors had actually fought for it? What if, over the past 100 years, we had actively battled against the decline of parks and the rise of junk food? What if we had taken to the streets; marched, chanted, carried signs? Maybe we wouldn’t have the health crisis we have in this country today. Maybe we wouldn’t have an obesity epidemic and skyrocketing health costs. The biopsychosocial model is something we doctors learn in school but rarely apply in the clinic. We don’t apply it because we don’t know how. We tell ourselves that we’re not park builders or gym owners or managers of organic supermarkets. We sit in our clinics and hospitals and tell ourselves that other people have to solve the big, complicated problems. We’re just simple doctors; there’s nothing we can do. But the truth is that there is something we can do. We can become politically active. We can advocate strongly for the things that improve our patients’ health. We can chant and march and carry signs. Maybe it’s time that became part of a doctor’s job description. Dr. Cameron Page currently works at Manhattan’s Beth Israel Medical Center.
JAN UARY 5, 2012 | otdowntown.com
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