Our Town Downtown March 1, 2012

FAMILY CORNER

Your ultimate guide to summer camps (P14)

POLS SLICE UP DOWNTOWN

How redistricting will affect your neighborhood (P6)

DOWNTOWN SOCIAL

Tribeca celebrates the Oscars in style (P4)

TALKING UP DOWNTOWN

Morris Vogel, president of the Tenement Museum (P18)

MARCH 1, 2012 | WWW.OTDOWNTOWN.COM

PHOTO BY PATRICIA VOULGARIS

Board 2 UNIVERSITY TO EAT UP Community votes down NYU GREENWICH VILLAGE? expansion plan (P7)

� N E I G H BO R H O O D C HAT TE R TRIBECA DANGEROUS INTERSECTION GETS TRAFFIC LIGHT The Tribeca intersection of Duane and Greenwich streets has finally received a traffic light, first approved by the Department of Transportation (DOT) in October 2011. The light, which was officially welcomed to the neighborhood when Council Member Margaret Chin, State Sen. Daniel Squadron, Borough President Scott Stringer and CB1 Chair Julie Menin unveiled it on Feb. 22, signals relief for many advocates and members of the community.

Chin said, “I want to thank [the] DOT for recognizing and responding to the needs of a growing community. It is important to constantly evaluate and revise our traffic environment to make sure the safety regulations that are in place are adequate to protect pedestrians.”

Chin’s sentiments were echoed throughout the community. Nelle Fortenberry, a mother of two children and a past president of Friends of Washington Monument Park, reacted earlier this month to the construction of the light, saying, “We are thrilled for every preschooler on their way to the park, every elementary student en route to school, every elderly resident crossing to and from Independence Plaza

and the thousands of neighborhood residents who have traversed Greenwich daily at their own risk. Safer days are ahead.”

The intersection has been the scene of numerous accidents involving pedestrians. A recent victim was a 3-year-old boy, who was struck by a taxi while crossing the intersection with his mother last fall.

The DOT subsequently agreed to install the light and a new crosswalk.

Prior to this, their stance had been that the Duane and Greenwich intersection did “not meet traffic flow standards for a traffic light.” Now, pedestrians will receive 25 seconds to cross the street, is a welcome grace for Tribeca residents both young and old.

continued to campaign for fair play.

State Sens. Daniel Squadron and Tony Avella have promised to take another important step in ensuring New Yorkers’ longterm enjoyment of their favorite television programming with the introduction of a new bill into the state Senate Feb. 29.

Avella has spoken at length about the unfair negotiating tactics of service providers and networks, saying, “The people who get the most affected are the customers,” whom the senator believes “need to know that their cable franchise will provide the proper programming.” The bill proposes mandatory arbitration hearings by the Public Service Commission in disputes between major cable networks and service providers.

CITYWIDE TIME WARNER AND MSG REACH AGREEMENT Just in the knick of time, New Yorkers are celebrating the agreement reached between Time Warner Cable and MSG Network. The well-publicized resolution, which ended a blackout that had forced Time Warner subscribers to forego MSG content—including the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers and the surging New York Knicks—was at center court this week as leading city officials

STRINGER CALLS FOR END OF STOP AND FRISK Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, joined by a diverse coalition of elected officials, community and religious leaders representing all parts of Manhattan, held a rally Feb. 26 hailing the Manhattan Borough Board’s recent unanimous vote approving a resolution demanding reform of the NYPD’s controversial stop and frisk policy. The borough president called for a citywide campaign against the program, which he said un-

fairly targets black and Latino men.

“Stop and frisk as currently practiced is not just an outrage in communities of color, it is a stain on the conscience of our entire city,” said Stringer. “Today I am standing with a broad coalition of Manhattanites—members of all 12 Community Boards, people from east side and west side, downtown and uptown, and we are all speaking with one voice, demanding an immediate reform of stop and frisk in New York City.”

The borough president pointed to statistics showing that the NYPD recorded nearly 700,000 stop and frisk encounters in 2011, a record and a 600 percent increase since 2002. Police failed to find a gun in 99.9 percent of these encounters and failed to make an arrest in 94 percent of these cases. Nearly 86 percent of the stops targeted black and Latino men.

“In large parts of the city, today’s stop and frisk policies have made entire communities feel like suspects targeted by law enforcement instead of citizens protected by it, even if they have done nothing wrong,” said State Sen. Daniel Squadron. “As it’s practiced, stop and frisk has created a climate in which young black and Latino men and their families have a fundamentally different relationship with the NYPD than other New Yorkers.”

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downtown social

Oscar Viewing Party

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2YTribeca on Hudson Street held a live broadcast of the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday night. Comedians Giulia Rozzi and Eliot Glazer opened the night CODY SWANSON and entertained a crowd of well-dressed Oscar enthusiasts. Attendees were provided with their own ballots and a glass of champagne prior to the start of the show.

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OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | MARCH 1, 2012

NEWLY CONSTRUCTED APARTMENTS FOR RENT West 39th Street Apartments is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for 41 affordable rental apartments under construction on West 39th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, in the Clinton section of Manhattan. This building is being constructed through the Inclusionary Housing Program of New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the 80/20 Housing Program of New York State Homes and Community Renewal. The size, rent and income requirements of the 41 apartments are as follows: # APTS AVAILABLE

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APPLICANTS WILL BE REQUIRED TO MEET INCOME, HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND ADDITIONAL SELECTION CRITERIA. To request an application, mail a POSTCARD, including your name and full address, to: West 39th Street Apartments, One Penn Plaza, Box 6121, New York, NY 10119. Or DOWNLOAD an application from www.west39apts.com Completed applications must be returned by regular mail only (no priority, certified, registered, express or overnight mail will be accepted) to a post office box that will be listed on the application, and must be postmarked

by April 14, 2012.Applications postmarked after April 14, 2012 will be set aside for possible future consideration.

Applications will be selected by lottery.

Applicants who submit more than one application will be disqualified. Photocopied applications will not be accepted. Preference will be given to: Manhattan Community Board #4 residents for 21 units; mobility-impaired persons for 2 units; visual and/or hearing impaired persons for 1 unit; and City of New York municipal employees for 2 units. Preference for all units will go to New York City residents.

No broker’s or application fee should be paid to anyone regarding these applications.

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SATURDAY, MAR 31, 2012 Upper East Side St. Jean Baptiste School 173 E. 75th St. 12PM - 3PM

SUNDAY, APR 1, 2012 Upper West Side Congregation Rodeph Sholom 7 W. 83rd St. 12PM - 3PM

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� N EWS Downtown Democrats Wary of Redistricting Process Say current LATFOR map would weaken area’s representation | By ALAn KRAwiTz To many city residents, redistricting, whereby states redraw their political maps every decade to reflect population shifts recorded in the most recent census, is an alltoo-complex, seemingly esoteric process best left to political pundits and policy wonks.

New York, which has yet to approve redrawn legislative and congressional districts for this year’s election, is among one of the last states to comply with the mandate.

But at a meeting last Wednesday, Feb. 22, of the Downtown Independent Democrats (DID) in Tribeca, the message on redistricting was loud and clear: Partisan redistricting will weaken the Downtown community’s voice as it faces major issues.

In its resolution on redistricting, the DID expressed disappointment in the map released by the New York Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR). “Both the Senate and Assembly maps have been gerrymandered to favor political parties and incumbent politicians with little or no concern for community representation. This is undemocratic and unwise,” the resolution states.

At the meeting, Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, who has been in office since 2007 and who stands to get more of Downtown as a result of the redistricting, noted that the LATFOR maps included significant changes.

“There is tremendous uncertainty here

regarding the district lines and dates,” Kavanagh said. He added that it now looks as if the lines will be redrawn.

However, time is now of the essence, as the congressional primary has been set for Jun. 26 and the legislative primary for Sept. 11.

In keeping with the recent court decision to appoint a special magistrate to help with redistricting, on Monday, Feb. 27, a panel of judges in federal court in Brooklyn seized control of the congressional part of the redistricting process. They ordered magistrate Roanne L. Mann to prepare a map and deliver a proposal for the judges’ consideration by Mar. 12.

With the help of a redistricting expert, a professor at Columbia Law School, the judges say they will produce a revised congressional map by Mar. 20, the date set for the petitioning of prospective congressional candidates.

“The most important thing for me from the point of view of a local district leader is that we need to know what the lines are as soon as possible,” said Republican District Leader Janet Hayes.

Hayes said she agreed with the call for community cohesion and cited one example where the opposite was done “in her backyard”: the proposed 75th Assembly District had a bizarre “spike” running north from Midtown west to the Upper West Side, enabling the incumbent’s residence to be included in the district.

“With district lines like these that are drawn to accommodate a single individual,” Hayes said, “it’s no wonder that the average citizen is cynical about the process.”

Paul Newell, Democratic district leader in the 64th Assembly District, is also cynical about the redistricting process. “Albany insiders in both parties drew this map to essential-

ly scratch each others’ backs,” Newell said in an email.

“The [Republican-drawn] Senate map is much, much worse. But Assembly Democrats are equally responsible for it, as they will have to pass those lines,” Newell continued. “Why do they not stand up for their fellow Democrats in the Senate (and the millions of New Yorkers they represent)? Because they current assembly proposed assembly get the prize of drawing their own safe districts.”

Newell added that his proposed rules to ensure a more equitable redistricting process would take into account population equity, community cohesion (keeping neighborhoods together as voting blocs), minority representation and geographic compactness.

DID President Jeanne Wilcke current senate proposed senate explained that it’s important for residents to be informed about a good candidate when only half the commuthe controversy surrounding the changing of nity voting power can vote the candidate in, lines of elected officials. or vote out an official who has wronged your Wilcke said that most residents are not community when only half in the neighboraware that state elected officials are “playing” hood can vote that person out.” with the area’s voting power by redrawing Moreover, she said, Soho would not be lines that split up downtown New York City what it is today without residents organizing neighborhoods. to get laws changed to legalize artists’ live/ “You want officials who represent all of a work lofts. given neighborhood,” she says. “Community “Many of our state elected officials prominput and pressure is what gets elected ofised to allow an independent commission to ficials to do the right thing and represent the redraw fair district lines,” Wilcke said. “That people’s interests.” hasn’t happened…If our elected officials canUnderscoring the ill effects of inequitable not do the job, it is time for the judges to step in district lines, Wilcke said, “It is harder to elect and force fair voting districts for the people.”

How the DOE Handles Abuse, and Inappropriate Behavior | By MegAn BungeROTh After a string of sexual abuse cases in New York City public schools have come to light in recent weeks, some parents are calling into question how the DOE handles these instances.

“Parents are really angry, and rightfully so,” said Noah Gotbaum, a Community Education Council (CEC) member for District 3 and parent of children who graduated from P.S. 87, where a paraprofessional allegedly sexually abused a student.

Gregory Atkins, 56, was arrested Feb. 10 on charges of sexual abuse against a student at P.S. 87. Atkins had been working as a paraprofessional at the school since 2008. The victim reported the behavior, and on Feb. 3, Atkins was removed from the school, according to a letter Principal Monica Berry sent to parents.

Atkins was arrested, a 2006 letter from the

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DOE’s Special Commissioner of Investigation surfaced, detailing what was determined to be Atkins’ inappropriate behavior toward a young male student at his previous school, M.S. 322 in Upper Manhattan. No one at P.S. 87 had seen this letter, and parents are up in arms demanding to know why.

“There’s a lot of anger, obviously—anger primarily because of that 2006 report that wasn’t put in [Atkins’] file,” said Rebecca Levey, co-president of P.S. 87’s parent association. “There are a lot of questions about what the processes are at DOE, why the principal wouldn’t have access to that.”

The principal of M.S. 322 at the time reportedly delivered a verbal warning to Atkins but did not choose to place a letter in his permanent file.

How Atkins came to work at P.S. 87 is unclear. The DOE insists that since he applied for a transfer and had seniority as a paraprofes-

OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | MARCH 1, 2012

sional, the P.S. 87 principal who preceded Berry had no control over who came to the school.

The United Federation of Teachers disputes that and points to its paraprofessional contract, which states that paraprofessionals may apply for transfers and that the head of the school to which they apply makes the hiring decision.

In Atkins’ case, however, no one would have known about his past at M.S. 322 because no record existed in his professional file, and that’s what has local parents irate.

Gotbaum said that at a recent CEC meeting, parents wanted to know how the DOE determines what sort of behavior warrants termination and what warrants a simple reprimand. The DOE has said that their hands are tied by what the Office of Special Investigations recommends, but that they train their employees to recognize inappropriate behaviors.

“The Office of Equal Opportunity goes

into schools regularly to conduct trainings for teachers and other school-based employees.

We provide in-depth training concerning appropriate conduct in the workplace between teachers and students, including sexual harassment, unwanted touching and unwanted contact,” said DOE spokesperson Deidrea Miller in an email.

“We emphasize during the trainings that the focus is not on the teacher’s intent but whether the conduct or contact would make a student feel uncomfortable,” Miller said.

Some parents are pushing for more specific guidelines that would have clearly red-flagged Atkin’s behavior.

Upper West Side Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal said that as a result of this and other recent allegations of sexual abuse in public schools, she and other legislators are looking into ways to put tighter regulations in place at a state law level.

Left to right: A protest held directly before the CB2 meeting; the church auditorium was packed with local residents, many of whom passed out flyers and wore stickers in support of CB2’s recommendation against NYU’s plan. PhOTOs by PaTricia VOulgaris

A Rallying Cry GV community takes on NYU plan

| BY Marissa Maier

I

n what promises to be a long process, Community Board 2 recommended last week that the City Planning Commission reject New York University’s (NYU) 2031 expansion plan in Greenwich Village. Although the decision was announced during CB2’s full board meeting, the gathering quickly turned into a community rallying cry against the Downtown university’s real estate development plans for two large plots it owns, bordered by West Houston, West 3rd and Mercer Streets and Laguardia Place.

“This is the end of the beginning…and there is a lot more work to do,” noted Community Board 2 Chair Brad Holyman to the crowd gathered at the Church of St. Anthony of Padua on Sullivan Street.

“Some say that we are not rich enough, not powerful enough to take on [an organization] like NYU… If you had told Jane Jacobs that, she wouldn’t have stopped a highway [from being built through Soho].”

Almost 700 local residents from Greenwich Village and its environs were packed into the sub-floor auditorium, cheering Hoylman’s opening comments. The list of speakers topped out at 115, and media from online to print to NY1 attended to hear the community admonish NYU’s development goals.

NYU has become not only a beacon of higher education but a behemoth when it comes to Downtown New York City real estate. The school first established its Greenwich Village presence in 1835 and later moved the main campus to the Village after selling its Bronx University Heights location in 1973. Today, says CB2, NYU is “the landlord for one of the largest stocks of affordable housing in the area.”

The Greenwich Village portion of NYU’s expansion plan, which includes adding square footage in Brooklyn as well as possibly Governor’s Island, would add 2.4 million square feet to the existing main campus and would include faculty residences, student dormitories, an athletics facility, a hotel and retail spaces. The plan includes creating four new buildings on two “superblocks,” which are for the most part residences right now.

For CB2, there are a host of concerns associated with this plan, including the bulk and density of the

development changing the character of the Village, 20-plus years of proposed construction and the acquistion of city-owned park strips.

The plan calls for rezoning the area, which CB2 says will greatly alter the character of the Village. The Above: renderings of the height of the proposed proposed new buildings.

Right: the amount of open buildings, ranging from 186 space currently at the site. to 333 feet, would dwarf the Bottom: Bird’s-eye view of buildings currently on the NYU’s proposed expansion property, which are around 160 in Greenwich Village. feet. While NYU says there is less than one acre of open space in this area, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) claims there is actually a total of 7.8 acres. The GVSHP estimates the plan will eliminate over one acre of open space, and the height of the proposed buildings will cast shadows on the remaining open parcels.

CB2 added that the new project would attract 10,000-12,000 additional people on a daily basis and house between 1,500-2,000 residents.

“The plan is opposed by NYU’s neighbors, its faculty, its students and many of its own alumni,” added GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman in a statement.

“NYU appreciates the community’s feedback to date and believes that our five-year dialogue with our neighbors has already yielded tremendous results,” said NYU Vice President Alicia Hurley in a statement.

“Thus far, in response to the community’s requests, we’ve produced a strategic plan that helps our projected growth on space needs; allows us to grow our footprint, with a full half of our projected growth on space outside the Village; and provides park land and open space and the donation of a $23 million location for a new public school.”

As Council Member Margaret Chin pointed out in a statement, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer will now have to hold a hearing on the plan. Stringer has until April 11 to submit a recommendation to the City Planning Commission, who will begin their review that same day.

march 1, 2012 | otdowntown.com

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THE 7-DAY PLAN THURSDAY

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BEST PICK

Steel Magnolias Cry-Along (03/03)

92YTribeca, 200 Hudson St. (betw. Canal & Vestry Sts.), 92y.org/tribeca; 10 p.m., $13, includes one beer.

For their second cry-along, 92YTribeca presents a tale of Southern belles (Dolly Parton, Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis and Daryl Hannah) struggling through ups and downs while keeping their hairdos intact at Truvy’s beauty salon.

Thematic outfits are encouraged; tissues will be provided.

FREE Jews and Booze: Becoming American in

the Age of Prohibition with Marni Davis Tenement Museum, 103 Orchard St. (betw. Delancey & Broome Sts.), tenement.org; 6:30 p.m., RSVP required.

Author Marni Davis explains how, when the 18th Amendment to the Constitution made alcohol commerce illegal, Jews discovered that anti-Semitic sentiments had mixed with anti-alcohol ideology, threatening their reputation and their standing in American society.

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Never Sleep Alone Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St. (at Astor Pl.), joespub.com; 11:30 p.m., $25 singles, $30 voyeurs.

Sexual psychologist Dr. Alex Schiller brings the hot, the single and the curious together for a night of laughter, music and sociosensual interaction. While finding your seat, Dr. Alex has some perhaps biting advice: “Single straight males should sit with single straight females, hot gays with hot gays, older rich men with younger drunk women—why sit with people you find sexually irrelevant?”

SATURDAY

❮

SUNDAY

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Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com.

Story Pirates After Dark!

92YTribeca, 200 Hudson St. (betw. Canal & Vestry Sts.), 92y.org/tribeca; 7 p.m., $13 in advance, $15 at door.

Story Pirates don’t dress as pirates or make anybody walk the plank, but they do steal: They take their inspiration from kids themselves, creating an entire show adapted from stories penned by authors under the age of 12. This literacy group’s official mission is to “honor the words and ideas of young people” by offering a hilarious glimpse of the world as seen through the minds of kids.

FRIDAY

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A Taste of Home with Ruth Reichl and Alex Guarnaschelli Housing Works Bookstore Café, 126 Crosby St. (betw. Prince & Houston Sts.), housingworks.org; 7 p.m., $100 & $250.

Join co-hosts Ruth Reichl and Alex Guarnaschelli for Housing Works’ third annual A Taste of Home, a chefs’ tasting and culinary-themed benefit event. Enjoy exclusive tastings by exceptional New York City chefs, including Michael White, Bill Dorrler and Gabe Thompson, among others. Proceeds support Housing Works’ advocacy and services for homeless and low-income people living with HIV/AIDS.

TUESDAY

Tribes Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St. (at Bleecker St.), barrowstreettheatre.com; 7:30 p.m., $75-$95.

This 2010 Olivier Award-nominated play makes its North American premiere at the Barrow Street Theatre. Tribes follows Billy, a deaf man raised inside the fiercely idiosyncratic and unrepentantly politically incorrect cocoon of his parents’ home. He has adapted brilliantly to his hearing family’s unconventional ways, but they’ve never bothered to return the favor. It’s not until he meets Sylvia, a young woman on the brink of deafness, that he finally understands what it means to be understood.

FREE Sarah Vowell: Unfamiliar Fishes

Barnes & Noble, 33 E. 17th St. (betw. Broadway & Park Ave.), barnesandnoble.com; 7 p.m.

Vowell, the bestselling author of The Wordy Shipmates and frequent contributor to This American Life, reads from her newest work, an examination of Hawaii. With Unfamiliar Fishes, Vowell argues that 1898, the year the U.S. annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam, might be just as important in our country’s history as 1776; the country became an imperialist superpower almost overnight.

OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | MARCH 1, 2012

Mike Doughty City Winery, 155 Varick St. (at Vandam St.), citywinery.com; $22–$32.

You might know Mike Doughty from the 1990s, when he led the indie band Soul Coughing, or perhaps you recently became acquainted with him through his memoir The Book of Drugs, detailing his “ugly, drug-doing years.” Wherever you know Doughty from, he always promises a good show, and tonight he’s at City Winery belting tunes from his new album Yes and Also Yes.

NYC Vegetarian Food Festival Metropolitan Pavillion, 125 W. 18th St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), nycvegfoodfest.com; 5 p.m., $20–$30.

Foodies, locavores, vegetarians, vegans, flexitarians and those who simply want to find out more about living a healthy, sustainable lifestyle: This is the festival for you.

Vegetarian food companies, restaurants and health and wellness vendors will congregate to celebrate the delight of vegetarian food and cruelty-free living

MONDAY

WEDNESDAY

Visit otdowntown.com for the latest updates on local events.

FREE Na Yingyu: Our Homeland! Gone Just

FREE Old-Fashioned Piano Party

(Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St. (betw. Sullivan & Thompson Sts.), lepoissonrouge.com; 9 p.m., 21+.

This brand-new weekly open mic night is highly recommended for show tune lovers, Broadway enthusiasts, “Gleeks,” fans of Charles Nelson Reilly and anyone who ever wanted to do their own dream ballet. Pay homage to the old Village Gate, a nightclub/theater that opened in the late 1950s and premiered a number of Off-Broadway shows, including Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, in 1968.

Like That Location One, 26 Greene St. (betw. Canal & Grand Sts.), 212-334-3347; opening reception 6–8 p.m.

Shot in the highland villages of the Jade Dragon Naxi Autonomous Prefecture of Lijiang, Yunnan, China, in 2006 and 2007, this composite of video, sound and still images chronicles the encounters of the Manchurian video artist Na Yingyu among the Naxi people in the sandy pines at the foothills of the Himalaya.

❮ FREE

Girls Like Us The Cooper Union, The Great Hall, 7 E. 7th St. (betw. 3rd & 4th Aves.), 212-353-4195, RSVP to events@cooper.edu; 6:30 p.m.

Rachel Lloyd tells the moving story of her escape from the commercial sex trade in Europe, detailed in her memoir Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale. Once a teenage victim of exploitation, she has devoted her career to activism and helping other young girls escape “the life.”

Street Scene NYU Skirball Center, 60 Washington Sq. S. (at Laguardia Pl.); 8 p.m., $20.

Based on Elmer Rice’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Street Scene tells the story of the ordinary romances, gossip and quarrels of an East Side tenement. The musical theater production features music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Langston Hughes.

❯

❯ Outdoor Stunner DWE LL

Penthouse C at One Jackson Square in Greenwich Village features floor-toceiling windows and an expansive terrace.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CITI HABITATS

Getting space—and light—in Greenwich Village | BY VATISHA SMITH 122 Greenwich St., otherwise known as One Jackson Square, stands out from the other buildings on the block. In a neighborhood with brick high rises and squat mixed-use town houses, 122 has a winding façade and floor-to-ceiling windows, creating a striking appearance. And tucked into this stunning building is an expansive duplex for rent—at a reduced price, too, from $19,500 per month to $18,500.

Mitchell Cashwell, a senior associate salesperson with Citi Habitats, has been with the listing since he first sold Penthouse C to its current owners, who then placed it on the market for rent. This spacious abode boasts two bedrooms, two baths, three fireplaces and 20-foot ceilings, but its real draw is the southern view and adjoining terrace.

It is this unparalleled light-filled home and outdoor space that leads Cashwell to believe it is a one-of-akind listing. The apartment has already caught the attention of a few A-list celebrities and financiers, he admitted.

Aside from the enviable windows and size of the apartment, its location is also a selling point. Located

in Greenwich Village within walking distance of the Meatpacking District and Chelsea, leasees will have the benefit of great shops, clubs and restaurants. The building also comes with some upscale amenities like 24-hour concierge, valet parking, a spa treatment center and a landscaped garden.

“People love the unit,” Cashwell said. “When they see it, they want to buy it. I have to tell them, it’s not for sale, it’s for rent. If you want to live here, you’ll have to rent it.”

❯ DI G ITI ZE

Apps on a Train!

Broaden your mobile pursuits

O

K, I admit it: I look over your shoulder on the train. I see you playing Angry Birds, poker and backgammon on your smart phones and, hey, I don’t blame you. But there are some great games that aren’t infringing on the intellectual property of whichever bored human invented throwing rocks at windows.

Here are a few games for the iPhone that are trying something new: SUPERBROTHERS: SWORD & SWORCERY EP ($4.99) It’s hard to talk about this game without gushing praise, but jeez, talk about getting a game right! The art is all low-res and pixelated, but every element on the screen is intricately put together. Rustle the bushes and splash the water, no problem. The game is supposed to take a while, but that’s not a problem for the commuter—just close out and come back to it later on. In fact, after each ‘“session”—chapters of the game—it will urge you to take a break. Fine by me. Don’t rush it.

The greatest thing about Sword & Sworcery EP is how completely immersive it is, from composer Jim Guthrie’s atmospheric music to

the quietly alive environs you’ll quest through.

Real smart controls, too. For flight, just “tiptap” wherever or touch and hold the screen for quick action. When it’s time to fight, you rotate the phone into vertical and your sword is drawn. Please enjoy this game. It’s like a timebased art installation in the app store.

MY LITTLE MONSTER ($0.99) This game is flat-out adorable, as well as funny, dark and totally absurd. Styled after Monster trainers like Tamagotchi or Pokemon, My Little Monster is not quite the same.

It’s fun and good-looking, with pixel art mixed up with cel-shaded graphics, but more than anything, the game serves to showcase Par Fredriksson’s humorous take on game design.

On a mission to destroy the world, you and your monster battle foes like Lost Hiker, Lo-Res Mage and Skinned Fox. The one downside to it is, being such a short game, how limited it feels. There’s no chance to max out your monster, and less damage received translates into more points to spend, so the only upgrade worth buying is defense. Once you’ve beaten the game once, play through it again with a winner’s experience multiplier. The art and music

are worth your buck alone—thankfully, it’s fun to boot.

DESI LEAVES TOWN ($3.99) The app store doesn’t have a games subsection for literature, but that’s just what this game is. Pajamahouse Studios was making a bold move when they released Desi. In a time when people throw actual tantrums over milliseconds of lag, Desi Leaves Town requests an audience—one with patience, at that.

The game is an adaptation of the novel Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysman. According to Wikipedia, the 1884 novel is about “Jean des Esseintes, an eccentric, reclusive aesthete and antihero who loathes 19th-century bourgeois society and tries to retreat into an ideal artistic world of his own creation.”

That same blurb aptly describes what Pajamahouse is attempting with this game.

I tip my hat to these guys, though. As a proud literate myself, the idea of mixing literature and technology is appealing. The story is dark and quirky, the music is intriguing and the animation is endearing. What the game lacks, however, is the part we’re all here for: the games! I hope we’ll see some updates that revamp the app’s mini-games with the typical ADD player in mind.

THE IMPOSSIBLE GAME ($0.99) The Impossible Game by FlukeDude is actually impossible. It’s so nauseatingly

frustrating I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack. Why am I still playing it?

It’s simple: the game is minimalistic and addictive. You control a box that CARIB GUERRA moves unstoppably forward. Your only defense against inert triangles and other boxes is that you can jump. Timing is everything here. You’ll learn the course through brutal trial and error alongside a techno soundtrack programmed in time with the obstacles. It’s great. Simply put, this is a pure game.

GRAND THEFT AUTO III ($4.99) GTA III was rereleased for the game’s 10th anniversary so it’s not technically new, but in adapting the classic gang life free for all for iOS, Rockstar has done something special.

The touch screen controls are excellent and slick and allow for a bit of customization if necessary.

It’s best to leave the missions for your lunch break, lest you miss your stop. This is the same huge world we all remember, and it’s still just as fun as ever. Catch some unique stunts and run a few rampages while you’re waiting for the G train. I mean, if you’re waiting for the G train, just go ahead and play.

You’re not going anywhere.

MARCH 1, 2012 | OTDOWNTOWN.COM

9

� SE E Same Song, New Verse Unsung Musicals presents languishing shows for new audiences

| By Mark Peikert Over the last few years, Ben West’s name has become familiar to Broadway show queens.

West and Unsung Musicals first resurrected How Now, Dow Jones? at the 2008 Fringe Festival, then tackled the infamous flop Platinum for the 2009 Fringe Fest. Since then, Unsung Musicals has provided fans of the Golden Age of musical theater a chance to see such curios as a never-before-produced musical version of The Great Gatsby in concert and readings of shows almost forgotten, like The Fig Leaves Are Falling.

Now, West and Unsung Musicals are staging their very first full production: Make Mine Manhattan, a satirical musical revue from 1948 about life in New York City that starred a young Sid Caesar.

How do you choose the shows to produce?

Ben West: I come to each show a bit differently. With Make Mine Manhattan, one of the things that prompted me to do it was the fact that after it got rave reviews in 1948, Sid Caesar, David Burns and Sheila Bond all became prominent performers. It was actually at the Library of Performing Arts where I found the material, and I thought it was really interesting, especially given our budgetary constraints. It was originally conceived to be an eight-person pocket revue with two pianos. So it’s in both the artistic and the business wheelhouse, so to speak.

But everything comes down to the material, because I really am trying to find shows that are not just obscure but are artistically sound and have an involving story. So that’s what it comes down to when I research.

With a larger budget, what shows would you like to tackle?

I’d love to do a 50th anniversary Seesaw.

I would qualify Make Mine Manhattan in

using Carolyn Leigh and Lee Pockriss’ score for Caesar’s Wife, which they wrote in the late ’60s and then it never came to fruition.

But they wrote a full score, and what we’re doing is presenting the score live but it will also include audio clips of the original demo and will include some of her setups that she does, several of her letters to either the producers or her authors regarding notes on the show and her initial concept for the show.

Ben West. PHOTO BY dixie sHeRidAn

its current form as sort of a dream show. In terms of when we have a larger budget, I’d love to do Fade Out, Fade In, Skyscraper…

This year will become a template of what it will ultimately become, although perhaps it will be more than one show a year. Probably when we’re able to get fully going, I anticipate it will be two shows a year, a couple of concerts throughout and then of course the reading series.

At the end of May, beginning of June, we’re doing the life of a show that was never produced. It’s essentially a live musical doc

So will the focus moving forward be on Golden Age shows that have fallen out of the public eye?

Shows that have fallen out of the public eye with artistic merit. There are fewer things like Gatsby and Caesar’s Wife. Gatsby is one of the few fully written musicals that has never been produced. The book was complete and a full score was written.

There aren’t that many more shows that would ultimately be considered new.

Make Mine Manhattan. March 1–17, The Connelly Theatre, 220 E. 4th St. (betw. Aves. A & B), unsungmusicals.org; $18.

Hudson River Pageant Brings a Community Together Parade is one of many earth Celebrations outreach efforts

| By DoUg StraSSler

Looking for something to do in the coming months? Earth Celebrations has an idea to combat spring fever.

Founded in 1991, Earth Celebrations is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering ecological awareness through the arts.

Felicia Young, founder and executive director of Earth Celebrations, has established environmental arts programs, creative advocacy projects and theatrical pageants—she is a theatrical pageant director—to help preserve community gardens throughout New York City. Three years ago, Young launched a set of new programs to help restore the species and habitats of the Hudson River and address climate change in the city.

The Hudson River Pageant is one such program. An educational environmental art workshop designed to appeal to schools, community centers and local youth and adults alike, the pageant is the culmination of a series of workshops running from March 3 through May 9. The outdoor pageant will take place May 12 in the Downtown section of Hudson River Park.

In the workshops, participants work with resident artists Soule Golden and Lecrecia Novia to create puppets and costumes for the parade. The free costume and puppet workshops take place at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center and Teatro LATEA on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons.

10

An artistic fish becomes part of the outdoor Hudson River pageant. PHOTO BY JACques TORCHOn

The pageant will feature a cast of thousands—literally. “About 2,500 people participate in the pageant on the day,” Young said, adding, “There are at least 500 artists and performers engaged in the project and over 5,000 spectators on the pageant day.”

According to Young, all performances will highlight both the Hudson River’s history and its future restoration. The parade, which will display costumes, giant puppets, mobile sculptures and live bands and will perform 13 site-specific performances at the piers and other stops, runs from Battery Park North to Gansevoort Street. Titles of

OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | MARCH 1, 2012

planned performances include “Dance of the River Grass,” “Oyster Planting,” “Live Fish Release” and “Boat Dance.”

Some of the costumes and puppetry are original works created specifically for the pageant, while others are pre-existing pieces or were adapted from larger works. It isn’t too late to get involved; any artist interested in contributing or performing can apply by sending work samples or links to their work.

Young herself is a third generation New Yorker, equally passionate about her local roots and her heritage. Her inspiration for Earth Celebrations was drawn from the

civic pageants in New York City from the early part of the last century, as well as from a more personal place: the ritual theater and large-scale mythic dramas staged in her mother’s native India. Her goal was to utilize all elements of the creative and visual arts “for a common goal, addressing issues and effecting positive change.”

Earth Celebrations has received many awards, including the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Public Service Award from 1995–2005 and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council: Fund for Creative Communities Award, which it has won every year since 1996. But it is the organization’s ability to unite local youth that Young views as its main achievement.

“Earth Celebrations has empowered youth from diverse cultural backgrounds to work together creatively to raise awareness on a variety of environmental issues and has grown deep roots building a community network,” Young said.

“People get involved for many reasons,” she explained. “People feel that they are making a positive difference to address issues of habitat preservation and the future of the planet, connecting to the river and the earth on a deep level through the experience of the ceremonial pageant. They also meet other great people participating in the project who have many talents, skills and a commitment to working toward a positive future.”

Looks like it’s pretty easy being green.

And fun, too.

For information about Earth Celebrations, visit www.earthcelebrations.com.

� DI N I N G

Asian Invasion Why are two of Downtown’s most exciting new restaurants West Coast transplants?

| By Regan Hofmann New York City has the best of everything, right? That’s why people trek halfway across the world to catch a glimpse of the skyline, why kids in Milwaukee save up to afford three months in a shared hovel in Bushwick, why fashion stylists study photos of people on the street for inspiration.

If you can make it here, and all that jazz.

So why are some of the most exciting new restaurants in the city transplants from somewhere else? And not just somewhere else, but the Pacific Northwest, the continent’s perma-fried, super-laid-back cousin—a land better known for its innovations in hiking gear than serious cuisine.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that both of these—Japadog (30 St. Mark’s Pl., betw. 2nd & 3rd Aves., www.japadog.com/newyork_ en.html) and Pok Pok Wing (137 Rivington St., betw. Suffolk & Norfolk Sts., pokpokwing. com)—are Asian, and seriously so. Isn’t this the great melting pot? Doesn’t New York City have the highest ethnic representation per capita? What happened to us?

While we’re not giving up the crown just yet, it has to be admitted that in some respects, the PNW has us beat—especially when it comes to Asian culture. Vancouver, where Japadog built an army of street carts before crossing over to New York, is the first port of entry for many Asian immigrants, and its beauty and wealth of natural resources make it a tough

proposition to leave once you’ve landed.

Portland, Ore., where Andy Ricker runs a Thai empire with his Pok Poks, is not as fortuitously situated, but what it lacks in access it makes up for with its concerted effort to accept all types. Judgmental New Yorkers would have a lot to say about a chef who took his inspiration from a twentysomething’s trip across Southeast Asia, not one who was born and raised and steeped in the traditions. But in Portland? They tasted the food, they liked what they tasted, and Ricker won the 2011 James Beard Award for Best Chef, Northwest.

What’s interesting is how different the two are, and yet how much they both signal the same changing attitude in the city toward newcomers.

Japadog is the mad invention of Noriki Tamura, a first-generation Japanese immigrant who moved to Canada to pursue his food-cart dreams. Its limited menu consists of hot dogs in traditional Japanese flavor configurations, like the Okonomi, which takes all of the fixings of okonomiyaki, the bar-food staple savory pancake filled with things like cheese and shrimp and topped with mayonnaise, a sweet Worcestershire-type sauce and bonito flakes, and dumps them on top of a pork dog in your run-of-the-mill white bun.

The genius of Japadog is its fearless fusion, a word New Yorkers learned to fear after choking down their millionth smoked salmon spring roll. It’s a lot easier to make hot dogs, the whitest food imaginable, taste like a Japanese delicacy when there aren’t 75 people lined up to tell you how quickly you’re going to fail before you get started.

While Ricker’s Oregon restaurants serve

Japadog’s Croquette and Terimayo hot dogs. PhOTO BY BiOnicBiTes.cOm

a range of Northern Thai foods near impossible to find outside of L.A.’s Thai Town or Woodside, Queens, Pok Pok Wing similarly limited its range for its New York debut. The Lower East Side counter serves fish-saucemarinated, deep-fried chicken wings that are caramelized and tart and spicy all at once, as well as a real-deal papaya salad. That’s all. It’s an experience that doesn’t need dressing up some ethnic stamp of approval—it succeeds

on the strength of its flavors.

Both restaurants have had the benefit of advance buzz on their home turf and are coming to New Yorkers fired up by curiosity, rather than contempt, to see what our country cousins have been doing while our backs were turned. If they succeed, it may well signal a new era of cross-continental collaboration. Hopefully they can make it here after all.

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march 1, 2012 | otdowntown.com

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� CAM PS

Is Your Child Ready For Camp?

Most kids have some trepidation the first time. here’s how you can bolster their overall readiness (and yours)

Tips fOR GeTTiNG YOURself ReaDY

| By Jess Michaels

Y

our child going to summer camp for the first time is a big step in his or her life. While it is an exciting time, going to camp may cause some nervousness for both you and your child. So how do you know when the right time is to send your child to camp? “When considering camp, you want to make sure you look at your child with an objective eye,” said Adam Weinstein, executive director of the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey. “How do other people describe your child to you? How well does your child interact with friends and adults? What activities does your child enjoy? Does your child need a great deal of nurturing or do they tend to be independent? Answering these questions will help you figure out if your child is ready for camp and which camp environment is right for him or her.”

Interest & Readiness - How did your child become interested in going to camp? “Talk to your child in order to assess his or her readiness,” said Ross Coleman, director of Coleman Country Day Camp. “Does your child sound excited about the adventure? Is he or she comfortable separating from you for segments of time? Does your child enjoy playing with other children? Does he or she thrive on achieving milestones of independence?” Answering these questions will help you determine if your child is both interested and ready for camp.

Remember, the decision to go to camp should be made together. Keep in mind that the more involved children are in the process, the more ownership they feel.

This helps ease concerns about camp and can help make a child’s camp experience more successful.

Age: You want to consider your child’s age when considering camp. Day camps are designed for children three years and up. Children can go to sleepaway camp at the age of seven. But families should keep in mind that just

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because a child is 7 years old, it doesn’t mean he or she is emotionally ready for sleepaway camp.

Day or Sleepaway: If you are considering sleepaway camp, make sure your child has had successful overnights away from home with friends and relatives.

Were these overnights positive experiences? You want to make sure your child is mature enough to go away for an extended period of time and that he or she can do certain things independently, like showering, getting dressed and brushing their teeth.

Expectations: You should learn about the camp program ahead of time and create positive expectations for your child. Talk about camp throughout the year. “The known is comforting to a child so take a tour of the camp the summer before,” said Ann Young, director of Camp Hilltop in Hancock, N.Y. “Go

OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | MARCH 1, 2012

into a cabin and meet and talk to the directors. Touring will build your child’s excitement about camp while familiarizing them with the camp program, activities, camp layout, the cabins and the staff.” Many overnight camps also offer Rookie Days, which give future campers a chance to experience camp in session by joining in on camp activities for the day or for a weekend. The more a child feels involved in the process of choosing a camp, the more successful their camp experience is likely to be.

Positive Messages: It is important for parents to share positive messages about summer camp. It is common for a child to have some apprehension as the first day of camp approaches—encourage your child to talk about these feelings. Let your child know you are confident in their ability to have a wonderful summer camp experience.

» Make sure you talk to the camp director. When you are choosing a camp, ask the camp director questions and get to know him or her. Ask the director to describe the camp’s philosophy and how the staff implements it. Make sure the philosophy reflects your own family’s value system. Find out about the camp director’s background and the staff training. Ask about the age of the counselors and the counselor-tocamper ratio. Talking to the camp director and learning about the camp program will help you feel more comfortable and will ease any nervousness you may have. » Keep in mind that camp directors have your child’s best interests in mind and the skill to guide your child towards an appropriate level of independence, self-confidence and success. » Remember that kids often get over the adjustment to a new experience and a new environment before parents get used to the next stage of development. While your child is adjusting to camp, don’t make pick up deals and offer to rescue your child from camp. Instead, offer positive encouragement that you know he or she will have a successful summer. » If your child is at sleepaway camp, don’t focus too much on correspondence from camp in the first few days. If you receive a discouraging phone call or a letter from your child, remember that like any new experience, adjusting to camp may take a few days and that severe homesickness is rare. Encourage your camper to enjoy all the exciting camp activities that camp has to offer and remind him or her of all the wonderful aspects of camp. » When your child is at camp, allow him or her to solve their own problems or ask a counselor for help.

Camp is a setting that allows your child to experience the real world in a safe environment. Kids learn quickly to rely upon themselves and the staff they trust at camp instead of their parents.

Only 19 miles f rom N YC!

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y e l k c Bu mp ay Country D

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Contact us for a personal tour Open House Saturday, March 3 11am –2pm 2 I.U. Willets Road, North Hills, Roslyn

One-half mile south of the Long Island Expressway (exit 35)

Upcoming Open House on Sunday, March 25 • 11am –2pm

(516) 365-7760

www.buckleycamp.com

M AR CH 1 , 2 0 1 2 | ot d owntown. c o m



� CAM PS

A CAmp For

EvErY BudgEt

If you’re worried about how to afford summer camp, here are some cost-saving steps to consider

S

ummer camp is a wonderful opportunity for children to learn life lessons like leadership, independence and self-confidence, as well as trying new activities like sailing, ropes course and waterskiing. It’s hard to put a price tag on your child’s learning and growth experiences, but parents should know that with a little planning and research there are a number of ways—some perhaps obvious,

some less so—to help make summer camp more affordable. Adam Weinstein, executive director of the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey, said, “With careful planning, parents can find a camp that works within their families means. When you think about how much it costs to have a child home all summer, with child care and activities, you realize you can be paying a very small premium for a very rich experience.”

Look for camp earLy

It isn’t too early to look for a summer camp for the summer of 2012 or even 2013. Tour camps this summer while the camp is in action. Some camps offer early bird specials for registering now so you can register soon after the camp tour for savings. Searching for camp early also gives families a longer time to plan financially for camp.

Gifts

Camp can be given to children as part of birthday gifts and holiday gifts and parents can budget for these gifts throughout the year. Likewise, members of the extended family, like grandparents, may also contribute to a gift like camp.

search camps by cost

There is a camp for every budget. Families can search the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey’s website searchforacamp.org by cost as well as day/sleepaway, location, activities or single-sex/coed/brother-sister camps. (Therightcamp.com also has a good camp search engine.) Likewise, families can also call the American Camp Association, NY and NJ camper placement specialist at 212391-5208 for free, one-on-one advice on finding the right camp at the right price for your family. Keep in mind that some Y camps, in particular, view it as part of their mission to accept a certain percentage of kids from families with modest means.

assistance offered from the U.s Government

The government offers programs that may help families save money on summer camp.

• A Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account—A Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account allows parents to be reimbursed on a pre-tax basis for child care or adult dependent care expenses that are necessary to allow parents to work, look for work, or attend school full-time while they are caring for qualified dependents. Visit the FSA Feds website at fsafeds.com for more information. In certain circumstances, day camp expenses, including transportation by a care provider, may be considered dependent care services.

• Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit—the IRS allows an income tax credit of up to $6,000 of dependent care expenses if you have two or more dependents (up to $3,000 for one dependent). The amount of the credit is based on your adjusted gross income and applies only to your federal taxes. This applies to qualifying day camp expenses as well. Visit the FSA Feds website for more information.

taLk to the camp director

Parents should talk to the camp director at the camp they are interested in sending their child to. Some camps offer sibling discounts or early bird specials for registering early and payment plans—and that’s just the official policy. If you have your heart set on a camp but can’t afford it, talk to the director to see if he or she would consider a sliding scale rate in your case. You never know.

hoLd a fUndraiser

I know this might seem like an overly self-serving solicitation, but if you do it in a way that shows spunk and creativity—and your child helps take the lead on it—you’d be surprised how friends and neighbors might be charmed by the idea of an effort to raise money for camp. Even something as old-fashioned as a lemonade stand with good signage about where the money is going might be an attention-getter and profit-maker. But use real lemons. People appreciate authenticity.

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OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | MARCH 1, 2012

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� TALK I N G U P D OWNTOWN Manhattan Media

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exeCUTive eDiTOR Allen Houston ahouston@manhattanmedia.com eDiTOR-iN-CHieF Marissa Maier mmaier@manhattanmedia.com sPeCiaL seCTiONs eDiTOR Josh Rogers jrogers@manhattanmedia.com MaNagiNg eDiTOR Mark Peikert mpeikert@manhattanmedia.com FeaTUReD CONTRiBUTORs Whitney Casser, Penny Gray, Tom Hall, Regan Hofmann, Mary Morris, Robby Ritacco, Lillian Rizzo, Paulette Safdieh CONTRiBUTiNg PHOTOgRaPHeRs George Denison, Veronica Hoglund, Wyatt Kostygan, Andrew Schwartz iNTeRNs Andrew Rice, Patricia Voulgaris

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Morris Vogel President of the tenement museum

| By penny gray

W

e went on a talking tour with Morris Vogel, president of the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side, in the hope that New Yorkers will take a walking tour of the museum at 97 Orchard St. What happens at the Tenement Museum?

We tell the stories of the people who lived in this building, from the time of construction in 1863 until 1935, when the building was condemned. Immigrants from 20 different countries lived in this building; most were Jewish families but there were also many German, Irish and Italian families.

In the 1980s, our founders decided they wanted to open a museum dedicated to honoring immigrants. They looked all around New York for a space in which they could build a museum. Then they stumbled upon 97 Orchard, a tenement building that had failed to reach building codes in 1935 and so was boarded up as a kind of time capsule—everything remained as it was.

And it’s possible to just walk around this old building?

Visitors take guided tours of apartments that recreate immigrant life in the 19th and 20th centuries. Along with a glimpse of the past, tours offer insights into current debates about immigration and public health. Tour options include “Hard Times,” exploring how immigrants survived economic depression between 1863 and 1935, “Sweatshop Workers,” illuminating how immigrants balanced work, family and religion at the turn of the century, and “Irish Outsiders,” exposing the hardship and discrimination the Irish faced in the 1860s.

How many people have this experience every year?

We receive about 176,000 visitors per year. Twenty-five percent of these are international visitors, 25 percent are American visitors from outside of the city, 25 percent are New Yorkers and 25 percent are students and educators.

How did you and the Tenement Museum cross paths?

The Tenement Museum was already

18

OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | MARCH 1, 2012

a going institution and very much part of the New York cultural scene when the search for a successor to the creators of the museum came about in 2008. In many ways, I spent my life and career getting ready for this job. I’m an immigrant who originated in a displaced persons camp in Germany and I spent my career as an academic studying American social and cultural history.

What’s the most exciting thing happening at the Tenement Museum right now?

We’re building out an exhibition called “SHOPLIFE,” about immigrant entrepreneurship.

The ground floor of the building was in use from 1863 until the 1980s as a shop of varying natures, from a German saloon to a kosher butcher shop to a discount underwear store. We’ll be peeling back the layers of that history to expose the various incarnations of the space, all of which celebrate the enterprising spirit of the immigrant upon which this nation is founded.

Entrepreneurship comes from immigrants servicing a niche market without much capital. People created opportunities for themselves at any price—their families worked, they broke the law, they bargained. That all happened here. And it’s an important part of our collective history to explore it. “SHOPLIFE” will open in August.

How is the museum affected by being Downtown, and how is Downtown affected by the museum?

Downtown is a vibrant, lively community. This neighborhood provides so much energy to the city. People have a sense that it is a community that represents what

photo Courtesy the tenement museum

PResiDeNT/CeO Tom Allon tallon@manhattanmedia.com gROUP PUBLisHeR Alex Schweitzer aschweitzer@manhattanmedia.com CFO/COO Joanne Harras jharras@manhattanmedia.com DiReCTOR OF iNTeRaCTive MaRkeTiNg aND DigiTaL sTRaTegy Jay Gissen jgissen@manhattanmedia.com

New York City is about, and they’re right.

In many ways, the neighborhood is still a mirror to the museum. For generations, Downtown was a place where immigrants landed and brought their dreams, whether it was Five Points or the Lower East Side or Chinatown. All of these communities in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty gave the city its vitality and it continues to do so today.

Why should a lifetime New Yorker visit the Tenement Museum?

We are New York’s story. We are the iconic New York institution telling the story of the people of New York. There are wonderful organizations like the Museum of the City of New York and the New-York Historical Society in the city dedicated to the history of the city itself, but we tell New York’s basic story, the story of how New Yorkers became a people of extraordinary dreams and drive. It’s an exploration of why we are here and what we’re all about.

8 million stories

How Deborah Fenker knows the boy next door

r

emaining friendly with my ex-boyfriends has always been my M.O. Recently, however, I realized that this may have had more than a little to do with the fact that the post-breakup has historically found me and my ex on separate continents—or at least opposite coasts. More recently, I thought the distance from Chelsea to Brooklyn would adequately replicate that continental buffer.

Until he moved next door.

Not in the next building or across the street, kind of kitty-corner—I mean wall-sharing, within earshot, might-as-well-be-living-together, A3-to-A4 next door. In sleep, our bodies lie but 20 or so feet from one another.

It’s weird, at best. In our building, these two ground-floor apartments have the New York City luxury of a humble courtyard behind them. With this most recent occupant, however, my previously prized haven of solace has been rendered a potentially hellish, too-close-for-comfort point of collision, divided only by a flimsy

cedar fence and a thick dollop of resentment.

My previous neighbors were the brilliant couple that introduced us. Approximately a year ago, when their twosome became nine months away from being a trio, they knew they would have to break their lease. Who better to fill the void than their old friend, her college buddy, his drinking buddy—my ex-boyfriend?

We had actually reached a comfortable tolerance after a raspy breakup, but when my soon-to-beex-neighbor broke the news to me over dinner one night, I don’t think I processed the depth of the situation. Despite a few hopeful lapses regarding a shoddy credit record and several delayed move-in dates, the lease was signed Nov. 15.

Since then, I’ve seen him maybe three times, with just about as many words exchanged on each occasion. His nine-to-five and my inconsistent freelance schedule provide for thankfully few encounters.

The frustration on my end lies simply in my insatiable curiosity; I honestly couldn’t care less what

he feels about me at this point, though this might answer a few lingering uncertainties, but I do desperately want to know how he regards me, whatever it is. Disdain, disinterest, unrequited passion, animosity, vengeance (should I be wary?), fond nostalgia? I don’t know if I care which of these it might be (though my druthers would be the latter), I would just love to know whatever the hell he is thinking.

Beyond that, my only point of contention thus far is that he plays his raucous thrash music loud enough that I can feel the bass in my chest. Nearing 10-ish on a weekday winter night, having endured a solid two hours of his iPod shuffle, I guess I’d had it. I thumped five times, hard, on our shoddy sheetrock dividing wall.

It was only then that I bothered to recognize to tune that was invading my soundspace. I believe the band is Bread. I believe the title of the track is “Everything I Own.” Yup, that’s right: “Just to have you back again.” Do understand, though—it was coming from his Bose, not mine.

� STR E ET S C E N E

photos by patricia Voulgaris

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