Our Town Downtown June 21, 2012

SAVingS inSiDE:

$25 OFF HOmE DEliVErED bEVErAgE PurcHASE INSIDE: ArmoND whItE oN americano P.6

NYPRESS.COM

• COMMUNITY NEWS BELOW 14TH STREET • JUNE 21, 2012

mitcHEll’S nY (SEE PAgE 16)

ALSO INSIDE

HORSE CARRIAGE CRISIS SOME VOTE TO SWAP OUT CARTS FOR REPLICA CARS P.13 WOULD BANNING BOTTLE SERVICE REALLY KEEP NEW YORK CITY SAFE? P.13

CONGRESSIONAL SHOWDOWN After 20 years in office, congresswoman Nydia “The Fighter” Velazquez faces competition for the 7th congressional district in the form of City Council Member Erik Martin Dilan, fluent Chinese speaker and economist Dan O’Connor and OWS member George Martinez. P.14

The Food & Wine Event in The Hamptons Presented By: FARRELL BUILDING COMPANY

Hosted by Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten

SATURDAY JULY 14 th, 2012

Sayre Park 154 Snake Hollow Rd., Bridgehampton, NY, 11932

TABLE D’HOTE OFFERS FRENCH, NEIGHBORHOOD FARE P.20

Get tix now to the hottest event in the Hamptons this summer Tickets available at

danstasteoftwoforks.com

THANK YOU

CRIME WATCH Beaten and Bruised On a recent afternoon on Park Row, a 60-year-old man was standing near his food cart when a middle-aged man approached him and shouted, “I’m going to crack someone in the head.” After he uttered these words, he struck the vendor with his cane on the left side of his head, causing a deep cut. The victim was rushed to the hospital, while the other man was arrested.

TO THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE OF NEW YORK STATE’S 29TH SENATE DISTRICT AND TO ALL THE SUPPORTIVE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES I HAVE WORKED WITH THROUGHOUT THE YEARS!

NYS SENATOR THOMAS K. DUANE 322 EIGHTH AVENUE-SUITE 1700 NEW YORK, NY 10001 212-633-8052 DUANE@NYSENATE.GOV

iPhone Thefts Continue A string of iPhone thefts should be enough to cause alarm in residents and keep their phones safe. A 20-year-old woman was walking down Thompson Street last week when a teenager took her $600 iPhone 4S out of her hand and ran away.

A similar incident happened earlier that week—a 23-year-old woman was talking on her iPhone 3G when a young man ran up behind her, snatched the device and fled on foot to the 1 train heading uptown.

There is potentially footage of the perpetrator at the subway entrance.

In another case nearby, a young female hostess left her $2,000 Macbook Pro and $700 iPhone 4S at her stand at the restaurant where she worked when she went to go get a glass of water. When she returned, both of the pricey items had been poached.

The following day, a woman fell asleep on the E train and her iPhone was stolen right out of her hands. In a surprising twist though, the police were able to arrest the 34-year-old thief and discovered that he was already carrying an iPhone and iPod.

Incident at the Nightclub

Visit either our Manhattan or Morristown office: New York, NY 530 First Avenue, Suite 6D 1-877-VEIN-NYU (834-6698) Morristown, NJ 95 Madison Avenue, Suite 415 1-973-538-2000

2 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • JUN E 2 1, 2 012

When spirits are high and the liquor runs quickly, altercations always seem to follow suit. This week was no exception.

Outside a club on Varick Street, a 25-yearold man reported to police that he accidentally bumped into a woman who allegedly flew into a rage, tossing her glass in his face.

The man told police that he ended up getting a cut on his right hand, but when he was taken to the hospital, he refused treatment.

At the same establishment a few nights later, a 22-year-old woman who was visiting from Australia had her purse stolen. The leather handbag contained an iPhone, her credit cards and an $800 Sigma camera.

But perhaps the most unsettling report to come out of a downtown club this month was the tale of a 27-year-old man who was talking on his cell phone outside

a nightclub on Bridge Steet. While talking, he watched as two men got out of a silver Nissan Altima, then started shouting at him, demanding his money and wallet.

After complying, the man was pushed to the ground. One of the robbers went so far as to try and pull off the victim’s boots.

Despite their efforts, the thieves ended up running away sans footwear but with $90 in cash, credit cards and a $60 wallet.

Jean Dash We’ve heard of marketing schemes, like buy two pairs of pants, get another pair free, but this woman may have taken this idea all wrong. A young woman managed to grab 10 pairs of jeans from a Prince Street store before she fled on foot. Police say the loot is worth about $2,000.

Theft from a Car Leaving your car parked on the street doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll get stolen, but it certainly doesn’t mean items in the car won’t. A 49-year-old woman parked her car on Lispenard Street in early June and left her pocketbook inside the car, underneath the driver’s seat. While the woman was only gone an hour, she claims her purse was stolen, though the car door lock was undamaged.

Pay and Leave?

Not the Case After a customer refused to pay, a 24-year-old parking attendant closed the garage door to make sure the man wouldn’t leave. But when two passengers got out of the car, the attendant upped the ante by standing in front of the vehicle, still demanding payment. According to police reports, the driver was unfazed and drove toward the attendant. The attendant fell and the car rolled over his hand, breaking it. The malicious group fled in their Range Rover.

Compiled by Adel Manoukian NY Press.co m

ThE uNION squarE ParTNErshIP Is PrOud TO PrEsENT

every thursday

a free weekly entertainment and programming series in union square Park

fun for all ages

June 14 to August 9

Fitness in the Square*

Kids in the Square

Thursdays sTarTING aT 7:00 aM

Thursdays aT 10:00 aM & 12:00 PM

re-energize your body and mind with free weekly running club, boot camp, and yoga classes for all levels presented in partnership with CLay health Club + spa and Brooklyn Bridge Boot Camp.

Thursdays kids rule the square midday so head over to the south Plaza for family fun, music, fitness and free snacks from Whole Foods Market!

JUNE 21ST 7:00 aM Morning running Club 8:00 aM Boot Camp 9:00 aM Power hour with Tom McClelland

JUNE 21ST 10:00 aM Mommy & Me yoga w/ Bija Kids 11:00 aM VocaPeople 12:00 PM hot Peas & Butter

JUNE 28TH 7:00 aM Morning running Club 8:00 aM Boot Camp 9:00 aM yoga

JUNE 28TH 10:00 aM Mommy & Me yoga w/ Bija Kids 11:00 aM Circus skills with TraCEs 12:00 PM suzy shelton

JULY 12TH 7:00 aM Morning running Club 8:00 aM Boot Camp 9:00 aM Power hour with Tom McClelland

JULY 12TH 10:00 aM Mommy & Me yoga w/ Bija Kids 11:00 aM Gazillion Bubble show 12:00 PM TBd

JULY 19TH 7:00 aM Morning running Club 8:00 aM Boot Camp 9:00 aM yoga with Christy Maskeroni

JULY 19TH 10:00 aM Mommy & Me yoga w/ Bija Kids 11:00 aM Circus skills with TraCEs 12:00 PM Baby Loves disco

JULY 26TH 7:00 aM Morning running Club 8:00 aM Boot Camp 9:00 aM Power hour with Tom McClelland

JULY 26TH 10:00 aM Mommy & Me yoga w/ Bija Kids 12:00 PM Zak Morgan

AUGUST 2ND 7:00 aM Morning running Club 8:00 aM Boot Camp 9:00 aM yoga with Christy Maskeroni AUGUST 9TH 7:00 aM Morning running Club 8:00 aM Boot Camp 9:00 aM Power hour with Tom McClelland *classes accessible to all ages and abilities

AUGUST 2ND 10:00 aM Mommy & Me yoga w/ Bija Kids 12:00 PM Bari Koral AUGUST 9TH 10:00 aM Mommy & Me yoga w/ Bija Kids 11:00 aM Circus skills with TraCEs 12:00 PM Little Groove

free

Dance in the Square Thursdays a aT 6:00 PM

Learn how to swing those hips or just enjoy the music with free dancing and music brought to you

by Peridance.

JUNE 21ST 6:00 PM Make Music New york Performance by alez skolnick JUNE 28TH 6:00 PM salsa with Baila society JULY 12TH 5:00 PM special Performance by the Peridance Company 6:00 PM hip hop with Kim holmes JULY 19TH 6:00 PM Zumba with sifa JULY 26TH 5:00 PM special Performance by the Peridance Company 6:00 PM salsa with Baila society AUGUST 2ND 6:00 PM hip hop with Kim holmes

south plaza

AUGUST 9TH 6:00 PM salsa with Baila society

Union Square Park ThaNK yOu TO Our 2012 suMMEr IN ThE squarE sPONsOrs FOr ThEIr GENErOus suPPOrT Partners:

Connect with the Union Square Partnership On the Square – unionsquarenyc.org Union Square Blog – unionsquareblog.org Facebook – facebook.com/unionsqNy

With support from:

We’re here to serve you.

Proudly serving the neighborhood for 30 years, the union square Partnership is the leading advocate for the union square-14th street community, working collaboratively with area residents, businesses and cultural and academic institutions to ensure the district’s continued growth and success. Our mission is to enhance the neighborhood’s quality-of-life by creating a safer, cleaner and more enjoyable environment.

Flickr – fickr.com/groups/unionsquareNy Twitter – @unionsquareNy USP Website – www.unionsquare.org

NYPre ss .com

June 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 3

DOWNTOWN SOCIAL

Robert De Niro Honored at the Ghetto Film School’s Benefit Gala Text by Adel Manoukian Photos by Ryan McCune for PatrickMcMullan.com

L

ast week, Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro was honored at a benefit gala hosted by the Ghetto Film School (GHS). The annual event, held this year at The Standard Hotel, celebrated cinematic education by handing out scholarships to some of the kids involved in GHS’ not-for-profit program.

Founded in 2000, GHS is the nation’s first film high school. Located in the Bronx, their programs reach out to teens in all five boroughs, teaching the art of filmmaking to inspire future generations.

De Niro praised the school in his acceptance speech, calling it “progressive.” Joe Hall, the founder and president of the school, was also in attendance and gave a speech.

Chazz PalmiNtEri, GraCE hiGhtowEr, robErt DE Niro

DaviD harboUr aND JUlia StilES

WAITING LIST OPEN Met Council is accepting applications for the waiting list of affordable housing rental apartments in our building located 315 West 61st Street in the Lincoln Square section of Manhattan.

SolEDaD o’briEN

WAITING LIST OPEN Met Council is accepting applications for the waiting list of affordable housing rental apartments in our building located 351 East 54th Street, NY.

Current Rent Range Income Range

$773.00 - $822.00 $26,490.00 - $35,160.00

*Monthly rent includes heat, hot water and gas for cooking. Seniors will be required to meet income guidelines and additional selection criteria to qualify.

Income limits are subject to change. One application per household.

Applications may be downloaded from: www.metcouncil.org/housing or requested by mail from : Council Management/West 61st Street Residence 80 Maiden Lane, 21st floor New York, NY 10038

$954.00 - $1105.50 $40,450.00 - $46,500.00

*Monthly rent includes heat, hot water and gas for cooking. Seniors will be required to meet income guidelines and additional selection criteria to qualify.

Income limits are subject to change. One application per household.

Applications may be downloaded from: www.metcouncil.org/housing or requested by mail from : Met Council/East 54th Street Residence 80 Maiden Lane, 21st floor New York, NY 10038 Please include a self-addressed envelope. No Broker or application fee.

Please include a self-addressed envelope. No Broker or application fee.

4 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • JUN E 2 1, 2 012

FraN lEbowitz

These studio apartments are for one person households only. The age eligibility requirement is 62 years of age at the time of application.

These studio apartments are for one person households only. The age eligibility requirement is 62 years of age at the time of application.

Current Rent Range Income Range

robErt DE Niro

NY Press.co m

NEIGHBORHOOD CHATTER Rally Demands NYPD Bring Dangerous Drivers to Justice Transportation Alternatives and community members rallied last week alongside the widowed husband of a woman killed last year in a hit-and-run, calling on the NYPD to reform its insufficient and unproductive investigations into serious crashes in the city. The rally followed a series of dangerous crashes in recent years in which perpetrators saw no repercussions and victims ended up injured or dead.

The Accident Investigation Squad, consisting of just 19 NYPD officers, is currently only called in for cases where a victim is “dead or likely to die,” leaving the majority of crashes to be precariously investigated by the NYPD. Frequently, these “investigations” result in short write-ups with no one brought to justice for the often serious—even fatal—accidents.

jobs are being created. The industries seeing the most job creation are professional and business services, meaning there are more openings for lawyers and accountants. The creation of specific niche jobs rather than jobs across all industries accounts for the puzzling disparity.

NYC Food Carts See New Regulations Proposal The Department of Health has proposed new regulations for the city’s food cart vendors. These regulations include everything

from sanitation practices to a crackdown on the black market for mobile permits after recent complaints, violations and black market proliferation. Officials hope the new regulations will clarify laws that may be confusing to mobile cart vendors.

Currently, the city hands out very few new permits, so many are rented out or sold on the black market for an extreme markup. Many vendors claim the already exorbitant fines and regulations prevent them from making necessary changes to their carts. A public forum on July 19 will address the new proposal.

Cuomo’s Cyberbullying Bill Gov. Andrew Cuomo has introduced a bill that would require New York City schools to crack down on cyberbullying. The bill calls for a more standardized procedure in responding to instances of cyberbullying, including electing an appointed official to deal with such cases and better cooperation and transparency with police. The bill also demands curriculum adjustments to address the dangers of cyberbullying as well as education for teachers and staffers on how to identify problematic patterns.

The bill will likely take effect by July of 2013.

Stringer Calls for Stopand-Frisk Reform Following an outpouring of recent controversy over stop-and-frisk laws, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s concession they should be amended, Manhattan Borough President and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer called for New Yorkers to march on Father’s Day in favor of stop-and-frisk reform. Stringer said a major strategic overhaul of the system is needed; currently, it predominantly targets people of color, usually for no reason.

A statistical analysis of last year’s stops revealed that 94 percent of stops resulted in no arrest, and over 86 percent targeted black or Latino individuals. Stringer called anything apart from reasonable suspicion in stopping a suspect a violation of the Constitution and ultimately counterproductive.

City Council Likely to Legalize Outdoor Sunday Brunch City Council is considering legalizing outdoor Sunday brunch by overturning a 1971 law that forbids restaurants from serving customers outside before noon on Sundays. Complaints by residents have recently prompted the city to crack down on this outdated law. The bill introduced by lawmakers would allow outdoor brunch to begin as early as 10 a.m. on Sundays. The bill is likely to pass.

NYC Creates More Jobs, but Unemployment Rises The city gained 25,000 jobs in May but unemployment continues to rise and is currently at 9.7 percent, says the state’s Department of Labor. Employment opportunities have been increasing at a faster rate in the city than in the United States as a whole, yet unemployment in New York City is mysteriously higher than the national average.

An economist for the Department of Labor said the explanation lies in where the NYPre ss.com

J UNE 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 5

CritiCs PiCks

Edited by Armond White

New York’s Review of Culture • CityArtsNYC.com

CLASSICAL Reading Music: The Music Manuscripts Online project began in 2007, providing more than 900 manuscripts (almost 42,000 pages) of classic compositions now digitized and described for posterity. View works by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Haydn, Liszt, Mahler, Massenet, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Puccini, Schubert and Schumann, among many others, all in their own hand. themorgan.org/ music. [Phyllis Workman] DANCE Bausch Bequest: By way of India and Paris, Shantala Shivalingappa brings Asian and European influences together to creates sinuous and flowing physical lines and kinetic beauty. She debuts a performance titled “Namasya,” presenting all her inspirations and innovations, at The Joyce. This former member of the Pina Bausch troupe now steps out on her own and steps forward gracefully. June 27-July 1; $10+. The Joyce Theater, 175 8th Ave., 212-242-0800, joyce. org. [PW] GALLERIES Storybook Structures: Four New Yorkbased artists—Amy Kao, Colin O’Con, Butcher Walsh and Charmaine Wheatley— transform the windows of the ONYP Art Space for the River to River Festival. Their large-scale architectural storybooks lets viewers use their imagination to create and experience storytelling. June 21-Aug. 24.

One New York Plaza at Whitehall & Water Sts., rivertorivernyc.com. [PW]

Salma Hayek and Mathieu Demy in Americano.

The Son Also Rises For Mathieu DeMy, art is a FaMily saga

By Armond White

I

n tabloid parlance, Mathieu Demy is cinema royalty. Son of the late, great French new wave director Jacques Demy (Lola, Bay of Angels, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), he is also the son of Agnès Varda, the pioneering female director of the Left Bank who excels in fiction and nonfiction films (Vagabond, The Gleaners and I).

Both parental legacies are honored by Mathieu Demy’s directorial debut, Americano, a young man’s exploration of his family heritage that has obvious autobiographical parallels but is also an extraordinary personal investigation.

Demy himself plays Martin, a Frenchman who travels from Paris to Los Angeles, where his artist mother had relocated, to bury her and claim her estate. Pursuing more than his mother’s paintings, Martin’s fascination with his psychic heritage includes the cross-cultural fascination that American culture—the American ideal—has on European consciousness.

This personalized story of political and sexual colonization is localized in the mys-

tery of his mother’s best friend, a woman named Lola (Salma Hayek). Martin traces her to Mexico, where he discovers a Latin American version of nouvelle vague cultural magnetism; Lola strips in a bar named Café Americano, feeling exiled from the opportunities and livelihood just beyond the border.

For film students, Americano’s odyssey parallels the journey that both Jacques Demy and Varda made when the cinèphile couple trekked to Los Angeles in the late 1960s. There, Varda directed the documentary Lions Love and Demy directed The Model Shop—the former examining a countercultural demimonde, the latter an extension of the cinematic mythology that began with the film Lola, Demy’s own debut about the quest for love. For Lola’s characters, Desire epitomized Faith. It is one of cinema’s great humanist testaments, a farcical drama with a perfectly balanced narrative that plays as buoyantly as a musical.

In Lola, a romantic young man (Marc Michel) courts a small-town taxi dancer played

by Anouk Aimée who is also romanced by an American sailor. She awaits her first love’s return from a mysterious U.S. sojourn driving a long white Cadillac. Americano feels more noir-like than Lola; its plot is less naïve but shows the difficulty of Euro-American rela-

6 • O UR TOWN DOW NTOW N • June 2 1, 2 012

tions many decades, artistic styles and social movements later. Mathieu Demy repurposes the figure of Lola as a figment of imagination, the key to understanding his parents’ desires as well as his own—particularly his personal connection to human heritage.

Hayek’s Lola is a more powerfully erotic figure than that flighty Madonna the great Aimée embodied as an émigré who wound up posing for bawdy photos in The Model Shop. Americano’s noir complexities are shadowed by the puzzle of parental sexuality. This has been a subtext in some of the docs Varda has made commemorating Jacques Demy’s 1990 death from AIDS, and it is also interesting subtext in Americano.

This film’s cast includes a parade of secondgeneration cinema royalty: Geraldine Chaplin, Chiara Mastroianni and Carlos Bardem.

Exploring love and desire as a family saga takes work of staggering sophistication and bravery, which Mathieu Demy accomplishes with honesty, imagination and redemptive brilliance. The troubled and perplexed Martin realizes a more complicated innocence—not naïveté—than a mere fanboy movie tribute.

“I’ll walk you home,” he tells a Mexican urchin.

Americano is, at last, a cinematic version of the famous Delmore Schwartz parentcinema-child short story “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities.” It is Demy’s dedication to family heritage that turns his connection to a series of inherited clues and obligations into a film of genuine originality.

JAzz “Africa/Brass” Redux: Pianist McCoy Tyner, surviving member of John Coltrane’s immortal 1960s quartet, revisits “Africa/Brass,” a noble, sweeping suite for jazz orchestra, with the Charles Tolliver Big Band performing the original charts. Coltrane’s tenor sax solos will be emulated, not imitated, by Billy Harper and Bill Saxton, among others. June 21-24, 8 & 10:30 p.m.; $30 at the bar, $45 for a table.

Blue Note Jazz Club, 131 3rd St., 212-475-8592, bluenotejazzfestival.org. [Howard Mandel] The Longest Miles: Horn play in the long shadow of Miles Davis, by trumpeter Wallace Roney in the quartet of Davis’ favorite drummer, Al Foster, Jun 22-23; trumpeter Philip Harper, with his own quintet, June 27-28; and trumpeter Tom Harrell’s quintet with tenor sax powerhouse Wayne Escoffrey, June 29-30. All shows 8, 10 and 11:30 p.m. Smoke Jazz and Supper Club-Lounge, 2751 Broadway, betw. 105th & 106th Sts., 212-864-6662, smokejazz.com. [HM] Next-Gen Django: Hot Club of France guitarist Django Reinhardt would have great-grandchildren by now, and Air France presents a pride of them, called “The Young Lions of Gypsy Jazz,” to carry forth in the European light-as-a-feather/quick-as-a-wink melodic style. Local ringers Anat Cohen (clarinet), Grace Kelly (alto sax) and FrenchDominican singer Cyrille Amée are guest stars. June 20-24, 8:30 & 11 p.m.; $40, $10 food & drink minimum. Birdland, 315 W. 44th St., 212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com. [HM] NY Press.co m

Jazz CITYaRTS

Honor Thy Jazz Player Bestowing awarDs on what Matters

By Howard Mandel

I

the fact that almost everybody loves a party, and the JJA’s New York City Jazz Awards party is one of the few opportunities for players, pundits, producers, presenters and devotees to share face time without being shushed ’cause there’s a gig going on.

But the real reason we hold the Jazz Awards is to make some noise about jazz itself. This great American art form underlies nearly all American music made today, a point seldom articulated by the NEA, the

Contact Howard Mandel at jazzmandel@ gmail.com

To m ás sa r ac en o on The roof cloud cit y

LaPlacaCohen 212-675-4106

f you were to have walked into the Blue Note at 4 p.m. on June 20, you’d have heard guitar wiz Gabriel Marin improvising microtonal figures with a Middle Eastern tinge on double-necked guitar, electric bassist John Ferrara by his side. You could have grabbed a bottle of Brother Thelonious ale and plate of appetizers and, spying a friend across the room, navigated a mass of famous musicians, music journalists and significant others from the inner circles of the jazz industry/community, then schmoozed until MC Josh Jackson from WBGO introduced local “jazz heroes” Robin Bell-Stevens, executive director of JazzMobile, and Adrian

from the stage. Party favors include new CDs. A good time is had by all.

But why? Isn’t media attention, paying gigs and applause enough to thank jazz people for what they do?

Well, no. Most artists crave attention, and maybe especially jazz musicians, for whom the main rewards of the American entertainment industry—money and fame—are remote, but who strive to be productive, creative and expressive anyway. Then there’s

Grammies or other entities promoting culture here and now, but demonstrably true.

Why jazz is overlooked and underappreciated is a topic worthy of discussion; I think it’s taken for granted. Americans are improvisers by nature. We dig elegant and hard-driving rhythms. Given a basic melody line, we belt it out our way. That’s jazz, folks, as vital a base of our social interactions as democracy and freedom of speech or action. Of course we should applaud those who do jazz best, and those who let us know about them. Praise jazz!

Publication: City Arts Insertion date: June 21, 2012

Paulette McWilliams.

metmuseum.org The exhibition is made possible by

Additional support is provided by Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky, The Daniel and Estrellita Brodsky Foundation, William S. Lieberman Fund, and Eugenio Lopez.

Cloud City is lent by Christian Keesee.

Photograph by Camilo Brau © Studio Tomás Saraceno.

J une 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 7

NYPre ss.com MET-0142-Saraceno_CityArts_7.341x8.5(1.16)_June21_v1.indd 1

6/18/12 5:48 PM

Jr PAge 7.341x8.5 4C nP

Ellis, late of Jazz at Lincoln Center. You’d have been at the 2012 Jazz Awards.

Jazz honors are bestowed publicly in New York City twice a year: in January, when the National Endowment of the Arts celebrates Jazz Masters, and in June, when the Jazz Journalists Association hails excellence in music and media.

The JJA gala cocktail party, open to the public—with 13 related parties from Auckland, New Zealand, to Tucson, Ariz.—is a grassroots initiative produced by the music’s professional observers and biggest fans.

Awards include Lifetime Achievement, Up and Coming Musician of the Year, Players of the Year for all instruments and Best Record, Book, Blog, Periodical and Website. Winners are selected through two stages of voting by the organization’s journalist members.

We (I’m president of the JJA) provide food, wine, beer and entertainment—this year, alongside Marin and Ferrara, were the Organ Monk Quartet and singer Paulette McWilliams with pianist Nat Adderley Jr. The awards are announced and presented

CITYaRTS muSeumS

ellsworth Kelly’s plane Beauty

By Jim Long

a

t the Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street subway station, I was recently reminded of Ellsworth Kelly’s excellence in the realm of public art. Even with stacks of newspapers piled against the left panel of a green/blue arc and Service Changes taped to companion panels, his work seemed oblivious to the intrusion and, like a Cage composition accepting chance, it soldiered cheerfully on. Like Cage, it is Kelly’s acutely reductive sensibility at the intersection of abstraction and representation that makes his once uncomfortably “cool” classical simplicity now so accessible to the general public.

The artist has long been able to nourish an aesthetic usually associated with European art of the ’20s and ’30s and in New York with the Steiglitz group. Applying objective observation to chance subject matter, he met both originators of the genre, Arp and Cage, during his Paris years, and through conversations with each, Kelly

found “found.”

Closed contour drawing has been with us since the cave artists and continues as a tradition, but until medieval times, it depicted mainly humans and animals. Artists ignored the botanical world until plants acquired symbolic significance and the Renaissance brought forth studies of fruit and flowers as careful as those of anatomy.

Excepting his early years, Arp’s later work suffered from a surfeit of “art,” and something similar applies to the current survey of Kelly’s plant drawings. Encircling negative space with a deft contour line, the artist draws a blank so well that it feels more like a well-rehearsed performance than an attempt to describe what his eye sees. He does, however, acquaint us with another aspect of his ongoing concern: the plane in space and the planar aspect of a plant’s structural response to light and gravity.

In addition, Kelly refers to these drawings as portraits, and this writer feels that the portrait aspect applies as much to each individual specimen as it does to the many artists through whose eyes Kelly learned to resolve the tension between plane abstraction and the planar nature: Gauguin, Calder, O’Keeffe, Callahan, Léger, Matisse, Demuth,

Next Auction:

Monday, June 25th at 5:30pm View 400 lots at www.ClarkeNY.com

Photograph courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plant Life

Ellsworth Kelly, “Wild Grape,” 1961, Watercolor on paper, 22 1/8 x 28 1/2 in.

Mondrian and Hokusai, in addition to Arp and Cage. Seeing, and the representation of what is seen, are both learned and developed experiences.

The charming page of apples that opens the exhibition is distinctly Gauguin, and the intricate vertical “Seaweed” (1949) is closely informed by Léger’s holly leaves of 1928-30.

“Sweetpea” (1960) and “Coral Leaf” (1987) float with the grace of Calder’s constructions, and the wonderful back-side view of “Sunflower” (1983) is filled with da Vinci’s hours in the Vatican garden.

The calla lily is a signature motif in

O’Keeffe’s work, and Demuth’s watercolors have echoes here as well. A complex meandering outline identifies a chrysanthemum with a nod to Mondrian and is emblematic of Kelly’s method: to reduce and refine until only an essential image remains. As a whole, the works, curated by The Met’s Marla Prather, bring us some memories of drawings from an era when art was modern.

Ellsworth Kelly Plant Drawings Through Sept. 3, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave., 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org.

DIRECT FERRY SERVICE FROM NYC TO: MARTHA’S VINEYARD, MA

Departs East 35th St every weekend during the summer.

SANDY HOOK BEACH, NJ

Departs East 35th St/Pier 11 daily, all summer long.

30 Minutes to the beach.

(From left to right) Beauford Delany, African-American, sold for $176,250 Paul Evans, Slatetop Cabinet, sold for $16,800

Fine Art and Mid Century Modern Wanted for Consignment or Purchase “Walk-In Wednesdays”: Free appraisals 12pm-4pm

CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR

SAILING SAVINGS

Sandy Hook

Kids Ride Free (Monday thru Friday)

Clarke Auction ∙ 2372 Boston Post Road ∙ Larchmont, NY 10538 Ph: (914) 833-8336 ∙ Fax: (914) 833-8357 ∙ Email: info@clarkeny.com

www.ClarkeNY.com

8 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • June 2 1, 2 012

NY Press.co m

NYPre ss .com

June 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 9

InTeRvIew CITYaRTS

Tell the world

The CityArts Interview

YOUR STORY Mathieu Demy.

Mathieu DeMy

T

he son of the late French filmmaker Jacques Demy (Lola, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and his formerly estranged wife, Agnès Varda (Far from Vietnam, The Gleaners and I), Mathieu Demy sees his first directorial feature, Americano, as a riposte to his mother’s 1981 film Documenteur: An Emotion Picture. One of Varda’s many semiautobiographical/fictional conceits—the title translates to “Docu-liar”—that film enlisted Demy as a 9-year-old actor playing the son of a woman trying to start her life over in Los Angeles after a tumultuous breakup. Demy, who was in a sense that boy in reality, mixes the movie mythology of his father’s romantic nouvelle vague masterpieces with his own turbulent relationship with his vagabond mother and enigmatic father. It’s a journey worth following. [Gregory Solman]

Sterling silver charms from $25

412 W. Broadway • Soho, NYC 212.226.3413

1 0 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • June 2 1, 2 012

I expected to see the influence of your parents in Americano, but I saw Wim Wenders.

Paris, Texas, was definitely an influence.

It’s one of my favorite films ever and an inspiration for Americano, definitely. Obviously, I try to put in references, winks, inside jokes, and in that state of mind as an audience, you get caught up in that game and find stuff not intended by the director. I just wanted to put in iconic imagery, connections to films that I loved as a child. They are not necessarily understandable to get the story, but it’s something else on top of the story you can have fun finding.

Walter Hill, who was a friend of your father, told me that Jacques Demy believed American directors had discovered a secret—that the ideal length of a feature is 85 minutes—then lost it.

I’ve never heard that. At 105 minutes, I missed the point—I’m fucked! In a way, I agree and don’t really agree. When it comes

to perception, what’s so fascinating about time and so fascinating about memory is that it’s not equal. I didn’t get bored for a second watching Titanic at three hours and 20 minutes, and I recently watched a onehour film that seemed to be a year. When it comes to traditional storytelling, I think this is pretty smart; it’s true. But then again, the perception of time is so different from one person to another.

But as a filmmaker, it seems you applied a certain discipline to the construction of scenes.

When I was editing, my perspective was that I had to make it as short as possible without hurting the feel of the film. If I could have made it 85 minutes, I would have loved to, but it would have damaged, a little bit, that sort of mellow feel I wanted. I wanted people to dream about other films to get into those references, escape a little bit, because that’s the sort of film it is.

Were you influenced by the nouvelle vague or the Rive Gauche group or did you feel unconstrained about adopting American influence?

Unconstrained. I knew I wanted to make a film that fit my influences, which are not only French or new wave, because of my parents. You mentioned Wenders—Jacques would show me westerns—Rio Bravo, Shane, Johnny Guitar—and American musicals and his musicals…

Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Gene Kelly?

Yes. And Disney cartoons—lots of Disney cartoons. I wanted to put all those influences of the films I love, have them there, because Americano is really a film about my childhood and related to Documenteur— being an actor in my mom’s film—and also related to the films that Jacques would show me as a kid. A Belgian journalist said I was

Continued on next page NY Press.co m

CITYaRTS danCe

Youth and Life Force

WOODY ALLEN

Bolshoi anD Kirov vitality preserveD

ALEC BALDWIN

By Joel Lobenthal

L

egendary Russian dancers show why they are legends in the new DVD Treasures of the Russian Ballet (ICA Classics/Naxos). It contains performances by Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet and (then) Leningrad’s Kirov filmed by the BBC in London from 1956 to 1963, some on stage, some in the television studio.

The longest excerpt in the anthology is Act 1 of Yuri Grigorovich’s The Stone Flower, recorded during the Kirov’s debut London season in the summer of 1961. Yuri Soloviev was 20 and Alla Sizova 21 at the time they were filmed here. But for once we’re privy to young dancers not trying to merchandize their youth, but instead experiencing it.

They create a portrait of young love that is irrefutable not only visually but artistically.

Alla Osipenko dances the role of a mythical mountain dweller who bewitches Soloviev’s character. Her role is filled with jumps to suggest ferality and brittle full stops enabling her unsurpassed arabesque to imprint itself. The preserved performance is a fitting birthday tribute to Osipenko, who turned 80 last week.

The Bolshoi’s Raissa Struchkova and Maya Plisetskaya: call them the Life Force ballerinas. Filmed here in excerpts from Cinderella, Struchkova is a quintessential embodiment of the vitality for which the Bolshoi was celebrated. Dancing Kitri in Don Quixote, Plisetskaya transcends soubrette clichés—or is what she’s really doing instead a revelatory distillation of the charm and power of the archetype? Her partner, Vladimir Vasiliev, like Soloviev, and the Bolshoi’s Maris Liepa and Mikhail Lavrovsky, show in this DVD the way they revealed to the world new possibilities for male ballet expression.

Continued from previous page “avant premier film,” before your first film.

That was pretty smart. Because if I hadn’t the ambition to talk about where I’m coming from, the style would probably have been different.

I’d like to hear more about the cinemathèque run by your parents.

They felt that as parents, the best thing to do was to show what they like and afterward let me see whatever I want. Those 16mm films they would show me at the family house on the west coast of France in the summer when I had a school vacation would include mostly Jacques’ films, but also Jean Vigo’s L’Atalante, Pickpocket, Singing in the NYPre ss.com

Galina Ulanova was a product of the Kirov but was transferred to the Bolshoi at the end of World War II. At 46, Ulanova is quite astonishing in the White Swan adagio from Swan Lake, captured during the company’s debut season in London in 1956. Her performance is technically imperfect by the standards of her day or ours, and yet at any calendar age or historical epoch Ulanova would be the kind of artist about whom quibbles are irrelevant. Every step she takes demonstrates a personal and masterly way of shaping a step, a phrase, a role, a larger metaphor.

ROBERTO BENIGNI PENÉLOPE CRUZ JUDY DAVIS JESSE EISENBERG GRETA GERWIG ELLEN PAGE

Indeed, it’s not possible here to mention, let alone do justice to all the great performances in this collection—let me just say that everything on it is crucial viewing!

Read more by Joel Lobenthal at Lobenthal. com

Rain, the westerns I mentioned, Max Ophuls and Hitchcock, The Birds and Psycho.

I’m intrigued by your decision to shoot on film. Why was that important to you?

It’s still possible. Soon enough it won’t be possible at all, so it was interesting for that. And I wanted to find a form that that could dialog with Documenteur—and be distinct from Documenteur but also be the same organic thing. We match modern Super 16mm with 35mm in 1981. It’s the same thing but very different. The stock is much better now and much different.

We wanted to shoot in CinemaScope for this change in format, we tried 35mm, but it was too clean. It didn’t match Documenteur, and I wanted a dialog.

TO ROME WITH LOVE WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY WOODY

ALLEN

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS PRESENTS A MEDUSA FILM & GRAVIER PRODUCTION A PERDIDO PRODUCTION “TO ROME WITH LOVE” WOODY ALLEN ALEC BALDWIN ROBERTO BENIGNI PENÉLOPE CRUZ JUDY DAVIS JESSE EISENBERG GRETA GERWIG ELLEN PAGE CASTINGBY JULIET TAYLOR PATRICIA DICERTO BEATRICE KRUGER COSTUMEDESIGNER SONIA GRANDE EDITOR ALISA LEPSELTER PRODUCTIONDESIGNER ANNE SEIBEL, ADC DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY DARIUS KHONDJI, ASC, AFC CO - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JACK ROLLINS CO - PRODUCERS HELEN ROBIN DAVID NICHOLS PRODUCED BY LETTY ARONSON STEPHEN TENENBAUM GIAMPAOLO LETTA FARUK ALATAN WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY WOODY ALLEN © 2012 GRAVIER PRODUCTIONS, INC.

SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE ON MADISON GATE

WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM

STARTS FRIDAY, JUNE 22ND!

LINCOLN PLAZA CINEMAS

BROADWAY BETWEEN 62ND & 63RD STREET FOR INFO & ADVANCE TICKETS, CALL 212-757-2280 OR VISIT WWW.LINCOLNPLAZACINEMA.COM

CITY CINEMAS

CINEMA 1,2,3

60TH STREET & 3RD AVENUE 1-800-FANDANGO #2705

CITY CINEMAS

ANGELIKA FILM CENTER

CORNER OF HOUSTON & MERCER STREET 1-800-FANDANGO #2707 WWW.ANGELIKAFILMCENTER.COM

VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.TOROMEWITHLOVE.COM J une 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 1 1

THE 7-DAY PLAN

BEST PICK

The Losers Lounge Tribute to Sonny and Cher [6/21]

Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St. (betw. 4th St. & Astor Pl.), joespub.com; times vary, $25.

At The Losers Lounge, a collaboration of musicians and singers team up to perform hits from the duo Sonny and Cher. Listen to the sounds of the ’60s and ’70s from talented guests, including Brooklyn-based musician Corn Mo.

THURSDAY

22 23 SATURDAY

❮

Third Annual Cheesemonger Invitational Pre-Party

The Homestead, 67 Irving Pl. (betw. 18th & 19th Sts.), blog.bedfordcheeseshop.com; 7 p.m., $10.

Sample and discover cheeses from all around the world while sipping on beer and wine at this party hosted by the Bedford Cheese Shop. Learn about feta, gouda and muenster and get some ideas about them you couldn’t possibly think of on your own.

The Dumb Easies

Third Annual H.P. Lovecraft Festival

Kraine Theatre 85 E. 4th St. (betw. Bowery & 2nd Aves.), radiotheatrenyc.com; 8 p.m., $25.

If you’re a fan of horror and gore, don’t miss RadioTheatre’s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s A Shadow Over Innsmouth and a reading of five shorter works, all directed by Dan Bianchi. The show combines the antiquity of outloud storytelling and the modernity of an accompanying orchestra and some aural and visual props.

❯

FREE The Improv Nerds Jam!

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, 153 E. 3rd St. (betw. Aves. A & B), ucbtheatre.com; 10 p.m.

Get up on stage or watch fellow audience members perform in this improv show hosted by Improv Nerds. Show off your talents while laughing at yourself and others.

MONDAY

WEDNESDAY

Strange Loop Gallery, 27 Orchard St. (betw. Canal & Hester Sts.), strangeloopgallery.com; 6 p.m.

Celebrate the fine world of pop Americana at this art exhibit’s opening night. See a live performance tribute by Shane Shane and the premiere of his latest video, Fag. As part of the evening, artist Kitsch Famous will present Satellite of Love, a slideshow of the American struggle and chronicle of the gay rights movement in the U.S. from 1910 to today.

Tibet House, 22 W. 15th St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), tibethouse.us; 7:30 p.m., $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

See the NYC premiere of Peace Village, an award-winning documentary about the teachings of the elders of Native American tribes. The film captures never-before-seen footage of the spiritual teachings at the annual Elders Gathering at the Sunray Peace Village in Lincoln, Vt. Come 45 minutes before the showing to meet Algonquin Elder Bastine and Queen Mother Sylvia Jordan of New York City, a Cherokee elder and bishop of the Ethiopian Coptic Church.

Arlene’s Grocery, 95 Stanton St. (betw. Ludlow & Orchard Sts.), arlenesgrocery.net; 7 p.m., $10, 21+.

This small grocery store-turned-rock bar hosts The Dumb Easies, a pop/rock band from Ohio. Stick around to see other musical acts perform after the show, including Mama’s Love and Bob Spring. You could be watching the next big thing in music, as the small venue has paved the way for artists like The Strokes and Jeff Buckley.

24 25 26 27

FREE Anthem

92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St. (betw. Vestry & Desbrosses Sts.), 92y.org; 7 p.m., $15.

See the comedy musical duo The Parodivas perform everything from Lady Gaga to The Divinyls and Tina Turner in a parody that’s downright hysterical. The fun night includes special guests Delilah Dix from America’s Show Girl, Phoebe Kreutz, Empress of the Joke Folk Genre, and Ukelele Junkie’s Ben Lerman.

Peace Village

SUNDAY

TUESDAY

Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com.

The Best of The Parodivas & Pals

21 FRIDAY

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

From Home with the ❮ Live Portland Cello Project

Housing Works Bookstore Café, 126 Crosby St. (betw. Prince & E. Houston Sts.), shop.housingworks.org; 8 p.m., $15.

Independent and orchestral music are rarely heard in the same sentence, but The Portland Cello Project is just that. Hear this indie orchestra of cellists perform entirely new arrangements to benefit those living with HIV/AIDS.

FREE The Last Werewolf

McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince St. (betw.

Mulberry & Lafayette Sts.), mcnallyjackson. com; 7 p.m.

Author Glen Duncan discusses the recent werewolf craze in his new thriller, The Last Werewolf, a novel about a young man’s struggle as the last werewolf to grace the earth. Megan Abbott, the Edgar awardwinning novelist who recently penned the crime novel The End of Everything, joins in the discussion.

FREE Angelo Sosa in Conversation with Carla Hall

Barnes & Noble, 33 E. 17th St. (betw.

Broadway St. & Park Ave. S.), barnesandnoble.com; 7 p.m.

Hear stories from the kitchen as Social Eatz owner and head chef Angelo Sosa, who was a contestant on the seventh season of Top Chef, speaks with fellow contestant Carla Hall about his new cookbook, Flavor Exposed.

1 2 • O UR TOWN DOW NTOW N • JUN E 2 1, 2 012

FREE South Street Seaport Museum

South Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton St. (betw. Front & South Sts.), southseaportmuseum.org.

Local members of the community are invited to spend their lazy Sunday in this museum for free. See the 22-minute film Timescape, about the diverse history of New York City, and 16 modern installations that show the connections between city, sea and the Seaport neighborhood. Then, set sail in the 1907 lightship Ambrose at Pier 16.

Anthology Film Archive’s Preservation Honors and Benefit

The Standard, 848 Washington St. (betw. 13th & Little W. 12th Sts.), anthologyfilmarchives.org; 7 p.m., $175.

This soiree honoring Cinetech, The Women’s Film Preservation Fund and Richard Pena for their work in film preservation features cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a raffle. Hear the postpunk, band Bush Tetras with special guests Felice Rosser and Richard Barone, in addition to DJ Michael O’Neill of Men.

FREE Spirits of America

Wollman Hall, Eugene Lang Building, 65 W. 11th St., 5th Fl. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), newschool.edu; 6 p.m.

Quench that thirst for knowledge and learn about the importance of rum, vodka and gin and how they’ve changed American history. Join Patricia Herlihy, author of Vodka: A Global History; Richard Foss, author of Rum: A Global History; and Gin: A Global History’s Lesley Jacobs Solmonson as they discuss their newly penned works.

Triassic Parq—The Musical

Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam St. (between 6th Ave. & Varick St.), triassicparq.com; $39.50-$59.50.

See dinosaurs sing of science, faith and love in this 85-minute show about one dinosaur’s sex change and how it affects the whole community. Once the operation is complete, the other prehistoric creatures question their own sense of self and the facts of life they once believed as definite truth. This 2010 Fringe Fest Best Musical winner is directed by Marshall Pailet and includes narration by Morgan Freeman.

❯

NY Press.co m

NEWS

The End of Carriages

out yearly, and 70 out of 200 horses disappear,” said McCoy. “Accidents are a frequent occurrence.” One sign held by a rally participant clarified: “10 Accidents in 10 Months.”

“That says enough,” said de Blasio of the sign.

McCoy added that the horses are treated inhumanely once cycled out; many are slaughtered post-retirement.

NYCLASS discussed its proposed solution to the problem of animal cruelty: eco-friendly electric vintage replica cars. Introduced into legislation by Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito under Intro 86A, the fleet of cars would create jobs, increase industry income and allow for more work days, in addition to being safer and cleaner, explained Knudson.

The substitution would also be made at no cost to the city. NYCLASS proposed a prototype pilot program before implementing the cars, which would be funded entirely by NCLASS. Currently “employed” horses would be humanely retired by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The speakers condemned Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker

of provocations. Meek Mill, part of Drake’s entourage, was reportedly the first to throw a bottle, to which the other side responded with…more bottles.

The fight left five people injured, including Brown, NBA player Tony Parker and a 24-year-old Australian tourist who was hit in the head by Dom Perignon collateral damage.

On Friday, Quinn issued an official statement calling for an emergency meeting between her office, the NYPD and the Nightlife Association to discuss current regulations on bottle service. It has been suggested that the Council will consider passing a law making bottle service illegal in New York City.

While this project has been criticized by many as another instance of government overextension, another, perhaps more pressing question shines through: Would the elimination of bottle service actually make New York clubs safer?

Let us examine the argument here. At first glance, it seems that the city’s main quarrel with bottle service is that said bottles may end up being used as weapons. State Sen. Tom Duane made it clear that the age of using broken bottles as means of persuasion is over in America. “This is not the Wild West,” he said. “Bar fights, bottles being used— they are not permitted.”

OK, so the city doesn’t want people hurling bottles at each other when they go out

clubbing. Point taken.

Clearly, Brown and Drake’s posses were in the wrong. But is banning the bottle really the best solution?

Following this logic, shouldn’t we ban any item that could be used as a weapon?

We have all seen Prison Break or Oz or, if you live in a cave, The Shawshank Redemption at the very least. We all know how After a fight between rappers Chris Brown and Drake in Soho, easy it is to kill someCouncil Speaker Christine Quinn called in the NYPD to discuss one with a toothbrush. banning bottle service in clubs. Creative Commons Photo So why bottles? Well, there seems to be more man into a blood-crazed bar brawler, there to the story than simply using them as is still no research to date proving that this weapons. You see, not only can you smash undesirable side effect is influenced by the a bottle on someone’s face (if there are container in which it comes. Whether served no famous rappers around, an Australian in a bottle, glass or plastic cup, the end result tourist will do), but you can also drink what is pretty much the same: people get drunk. it contains—before you smash it, that is.

However, drinking the precious liquor in the And when they’re drunk, they break stuff.

I am surprised that nobody has considbottle may make you a lot more likely to end ered forcing club owners to tape bubble up smashing it. On someone’s face. Hence wrap around their Grey Goose. Think about the dilemma. it. Not only would this be a cheap, rapperThis dilemma seems like a forced one, friendly alternative to a ban on bottle serthough. If we agree that booze is actually cavice, who doesn’t love bubble wrap? pable of turning a perfectly civilized gentle-

Pols and residents fight to replace horse-drawn carts with replica cars

By Alissa Fleck They came from all walks of life, some in heavy horse suits despite the midday June weather, to descend on the steps of City Hall and rally for an end to New York City’s horsedrawn carriages.

They were New Yorkers for Clean, Livable & Safe Streets (NYCLASS), accompanied by community members and advocacy groups who believe the city’s horse-drawn carriages are archaic and harmful across the board.

Diane Moss, a native New Yorker who is not affiliated with NYCLASS but gives money to PETA, is appalled that no one seems to be paying attention.

“I have hated horse-drawn carriages since I was conscious,” said Moss. “We need someone in the White House who cares about animal rights.” For now, advocacy groups like NYCLASS are focusing more locally.

PETA representative Emily McCoy, NYCLASS Executive Director Carly Knudson and New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio alternately took the stand Friday to discuss the issue.

“One-third of the city’s horses are cycled

Bar Brawl in Soho

Laurent Berstecher asks if elimination of bottle service would actually make New York City clubs safer New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn called for an emergency meeting with the NYPD and the New York Nightlife Association following rappers Drake and Chris Brown’s brawl at the W.i.P. club in Soho last Thursday. Quinn said she was “deeply concerned” by the incident and added that existing guidelines and legislation surrounding bottle service in New York City would have to be re-evaluated.

What started like any other celebrity evening at W.i.P. spiraled into a full-blown bottle fight after an argument was sparked between Drake and Brown. Fans may already be familiar with the stars’ ongoing rivalry over the singer Rihanna, which led to a Twitter war last month. Thursday’s fight allegedly started after the rappers and their respective entourages exchanged a series NYPre ss.com

stables.”

He was sitting in a carriage at the time; when asked the horse’s name, he replied that he did not know.

When asked if he thought replacing carriages with replica cars might hurt tourism, he conceded that there are enough tourist activities in New York for it not to have an effect.

He also added that if the replacement were to happen, he would not drive one of the cars.

When asked if a vintage car could be as romantic as a horse-drawn carriage, he said, “It’s not about the romantic aspect. The park was designed for carriages. It was a demonstration area for carriages to show off in the horse-drawn era.”

Four other carriage drivers declined to comment.

Many tourists enjoying Central Park on a Friday evening hardly seemed interested in the carriages. When asked if he would ever ride in a horse-drawn carriage, Lee Sang Yun, who was visiting New York City with a friend, said, “No. There’s no time. We like to walk.”

The Ramajos, a French couple enjoying ice cream cones on a park bench, had similar feelings. “No, we don’t want to take a horsedrawn carriage,” said Mrs. Ramajo. “We want to walk,” said her husband.

Regardless of the carriage driver’s dismissal of this proposal, according to NYCLASS, 85,000 New Yorkers have supported the vintage replica car trial, and Knudson says they will not stop fighting until horse-drawn carriages in the city are a thing of the past.

Christine Quinn for sidestepping the issue.

According to de Blasio, Bloomberg fears the repercussions for tourism if horse-drawn carriages—the supposed epicenter of New York City’s tourist appeal, he joked—are banned.

When asked what other options were being explored, Knudson told Our Town Downtown her group was only currently considering the electric replica cars. She said other bills propose an outright ban, but her group acknowledges the economic necessity of finding an alternative to the carriages.

Moss agreed with this assessment. When asked for her thoughts on the replica car, she said, “I don’t know anything about the car, but it’s offering an alternative. [Carriage drivers] only know this trade.” Following her comments, Moss donned a NYCLASS t-shirt, grabbed a sign and joined the rally.

Our Town Downtown took to the streets surrounding Central Park, where these horse-drawn carriages are most prevalent, to find out if the end of the carriages means the decline of romance—or at least tourism, as Bloomberg has proposed.

One semi-retired carriage driver, who would not give his name, has been driving carriages in the park on and off for 30 years. He said there have been proposals like this one for years, and Central Park will simply never allow it. When asked why, he said, “It just goes against the characteristics of the park.

“This is an animal rights Trojan Horse,” he said. “They just want access to the horse

J UNE 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 1 3

Challengers Hope to Unseat a 20-Year Incumbent in Newly Drawn 7th Congressional District ting as Velázquez seeks re-election to the congressional seat she has held since 1992, which as the result of the 2010 Census has undergone redistricting.

Many political insiders say this could be the veteran congresswoman’s toughest fight yet,

GeorGe Martinez

According to his campaign manager, Cecily McMillan, George Martinez has been part of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement since the second week of its encampment, and he wrote and performed the OWS hiphop anthem during the third week.

McMillan writes that Martinez was a primary organizer of Occupy Sunset Park and Occupy Bed-Stuy, as well as “Occupy the ’Hood” in New York City and nationwide.

Martinez is currently involved in the End Corporate Personhood Affinity Group. In the world outside the Occupy movement, Martinez was the former district leader for the 51st Assembly District and former assistant director for the New York State attorney general.

He is currently a U.S. Cultural Ambassador to Latin America and Asia, a member of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and an adjunct professor of political science at Pace University in Manhattan.

Martinez’s main focus is an “election with a new direction”—to hear Martinez articulate his platform, it is basically to get the money out of the process and the people in.

“We want to empower people to solve their own problems,” Martinez said.

His OWS-style, hip-hop campaign is the prototype of a community-based, direct action style he has named “Bum Rush the Vote.”

as she goes up against three challengers in the upcoming Democratic primary on June 26.

Term-limited Brooklyn Councilman Erik Martin Dilan, political newcomer Dan O’Connor and Occupy Wall Street/hip-hop activist George Martinez are all vying to

oust Velázquez from the new 7th District, which is now 20 percent Chinese and includes parts of Chinatown, the East Village and the Lower East Side in addition to areas in Brooklyn such as Williamsburg and Sunset Park and Woodhaven in Queens.

Dan o’Connor

Photo by James Kelleher

n a letter sent to constituents in the newly drawn 7th congressional district, Rep. Nydia Velázquez wrote that she is sometimes referred to as “La Luchadora,” Spanish for “The Fighter.”

That label may prove more than fit-

By Alan Krawitz

The Bum Rush premise is predicated upon controlling politics without money, which is what he calls “people power.”

Martinez said OWS has exposed some of the ways that corporations have used money to influence elections. “People don’t trust public officials anymore,” Martinez said.

“We were told that it takes an average of $1.2 million dollars to run for Congress, much of which comes from corporate backers,” Martinez said. “However, with less than $5,000, we made it on to the primary ballot and even won a ballot challenge!”

“Velázquez was in office for 20 years and she didn’t author one piece of legislation that really affected people in their neighborhoods,” Martinez added.

Martinez said his campaign team is truly grassroots, made up of volunteers. “Canvassers contributed countless hours petitioning for over 3,000 signatures. We’ve had campaign, media, photography, graphic design and web design consultants donate their time and skills. We’ve had individuals and small businesses donate space and resources for meetings and fundraisers, etc.”

Calling the OWS movement the canary in the coal mine, Martinez said he wants to fix Washington, D.C., and “move the agenda forward.”

1 4 • O UR TOWN DOW NTOW N • JUN E 2 1, 2 01 2

Brooklyn-born challenger Dan O’Connor is unique for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is his familiarity with Chinese culture, keen knowledge of economics and decided lack of any political experience.

O’Connor, an economist and businessman who worked at an unnamed alternative energy company in Manhattan, was immersed in Chinese culture during a six-year stay in mainland China, where he learned to speak fluent Mandarin and Cantonese. He also studied economics at Johns Hopkins University in Nanjing, China, and later worked at an economic think-tank in Hong Kong before returning to the United States in 2009.

In March, O’Connor opened a campaign office in Chinatown and has knocked Velázquez for all but “ignoring” the Chinese community while growing increasingly complacent as a result of being unchallenged for so long.

But O’Connor, who made it on to the ballot with about 9,000 signatures in early May and has raised just over $50,000 for his campaign, has repeatedly warned of Washington’s economic policies and the corrupt relationship between big business and government that has produced a crop of politicians who are only concerned with pleasing corporate sponsors and getting re-elected.

A spokesman for O’Connor reported recently that polling is going well and that the candidate has been reaching out to thousands of voters each week.

“Dan is coming off a strong showing on the May 24 edition of NY1’s Inside City Hall and is looking forward to an upcoming candidate forum,” said spokesman Paul Hanson. “Dan’s focus has been on connecting with voters on the issues they are most concerned about—jobs and the economy foremost among them—and showing them that they have an alternative to Nydia Velázquez’s corporatist cronyism.”

Further, Hanson said, “We are planning a full-court press as June 26 draws nearer, and we are looking forward to shocking the establishment by making Dan the nominee of the Democratic

Party for District 7.”

In an interview with Our Town Downtown in April, O’Connor commented on Velázquez and her “disregard” for the Chinese population in Manhattan.

“Everyone knows that she [Velázquez] has completely ignored the Chinese population and has only recently begun to visit the community since I entered the race,” O’Connor said.

“She brags that she has brought back a lot of federal money to the community, but in fact she has brought back less money to this district than any other representative in New York.”

When asked what he would do differently if elected, O’Connor said he would opt to help stabilize the middle class.

“Instead of giving bailouts and trillions of dollars to large banks, hedge funds and corporations, I will fight to put money back in the hands of everyday middle-income and lower-income families,” he said.

“I will provide real solutions to fix the economy, not the failed attempts to revive the economy of recent years.”

Photo by James Kelleher

I

Rep. Nydia Velázquez could face toughest battle since her election in ’92

NY Press.co m

Rep. Nydia Velázquez Nydia Velázquez, who is leading her three challengers in fundraising with more than $300,000, according to the latest figures from Opensecrets.org, prides herself on fighting for the city’s working families.

“Most recently, I secured more than $50 million for numerous public housing facilities throughout the city,” said Velázquez in an email interview. “I’ve consistently fought to ensure NYCHA receives the federal funds it needs to keep our public housing stock safe and affordable while protecting programs that prevent working families from being evicted from their homes.”

When asked about her greatest achievements in the past two decades in office, Velázquez pointed to legislation she authored on the Women’s Procurement Program, which, she said, has helped female entrepreneurs tap into the $500 billion federal marketplace.

“By standing up to Republican efforts to gut and weaken small business programs, assistance for thousands of New York City entrepreneurs was preserved,” she said.

Responding to accusations by some of her challengers who have called the congresswoman a “career politician” whose major donors include large financial institutions, Velázquez countered that she came to Congress to be an “independent voice” who stands up for working families.

In addition, Velázquez, who has received endorsements from powerful politicians including Sen. Chuck Schumer and State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, said a current analysis of all representatives’ voting records found that she was among the members of Congress “most likely to stand NYPre ss.com

up to special interests.”

Regarding the issues of most concern to her constituents, Velázquez said that given the economy, jobs are paramount.

“First and foremost, we need to stay focused on creating good-paying, local jobs,” she said. “With new, high-technology businesses migrating to Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan and Queens, we can create another wave of economic opportunity.

In addition, we need to make the investments in infrastructure and education that provide immediate job opportunities while creating conditions for long-term prosperity.”

Once again reiterating her commitment to help the city’s small businesses, the congresswoman cited legislation favoring small business tax breaks.

“I’ve introduced a measure providing a $6,000 tax break for small businesses that add new workers to their payrolls,” Velázquez said. “Tax incentives like these are also a priority of the president’s and can make the difference for a restaurant, store or small manufacturer trying to grow in a tough economy.”

She added, “Our economy is getting better, but we still have a long way to go.

I have the experience to implement policies ensuring New Yorkers benefit as our economy turns the corner and our nation moves back toward prosperity.”

Erik Martin Dilan, a lifelong resident of the 37th Council District, which covers the communities of Bushwick, Cypress Hills, East New York, Ocean Hill-Brownsville and Wyckoff Heights, was first elected to City Council in 2001 and is currently serving his third term in office.

Generally seen by political insiders as the most credible threat to unseat 20-year veteran Velázquez, Dilan, as chair of the Council’s Housing & Buildings Committee, has worked to create housing laws and policy that are balanced to both building owners and tenants.

With a focus on construction safety issues, Dilan has worked on legislation to improve housing inspections and repairs in addition to helping increase the safety of suspended scaffolds, tower cranes and retaining walls at construction sites.

He has also worked to secure roughly $4 million to completely renovate Irving Square Park and more than $10 million to rehabilitate parks across the district.

To better safeguard his council district’s local neighborhoods, he helped appropriate nearly $450,000 for NYPD precincts 75 and 83 for a Mobile Command Vehicle.

On his congressional campaign website, Dilan wrote that he believes Congress must kickstart economic growth immediately by supporting small businesses, incentivizing new hiring and easing the tax burden on working families.

Further, Dilan added that small businesses need to be supported with tax cuts, grants and loan programs so they create jobs in our communities.

He also favors restoration of fairness to the tax code by cutting taxes for working families and ensuring that wealthy Americans pay their fair share while working to eliminate tax loopholes that corporations exploit to keep profits overseas, redirecting that money to small businesses to facilitate job creation both here and at home.

On energy and the environment, Dilan supports adoption of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biofuel as well as other new transit technologies.

Dilan’s time in office, however, has not been without controversy.

In March, Dilan was investigated for obtaining a city-backed apartment that he was seemingly not entitled to by virtue of having too much income. According to news reports, Dilan’s combined household income was $160,000, while the cap for the apartments was $114,000. In addition, the developer of the apartment was found to be a donor to Dilan’s campaign.

And a recent report by the Daily News found that Dilan, along with two other city politicians, had dipped into the Council’s discretionary funds for more than $10 million, according to a report by Citizen’s Union.

In recent days, Velázquez has publicly said that Dilan, a close political ally of Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez, would not be in the race were it not for Lopez’s backing.

Dilan has since denied the accusations in statements to reporters, telling the press that he is “his own man.”

J UNE 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 1 5

Photo by Jonathan Springer

Photo by Jonathan Springer

CouNCilmaN eRik dilaN

The Race for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s Seat Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand may rank favorably in polls, but Republican hopefuls are duking it out for her seat, with the June 26 primary fast approaching.

The three Republicans vying for her postition, who participated in a primary debate last week, have elucidated their plans to decrease government control and spending. In the televised debate, they “fought to stress their differences,” the New York Times reported, though they demonstrated mainly similarities between them.

Rep. Bob Turner, the bestknown candidate, who last year won Anthony Weiner’s congressional seat with Tea Party support, has presented himself as a more moderate vote than the others. Turner, a generally adamant critic of the Obama administration, has taken criticism for not ruling out tax increases, unlike his opponents, who signed Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge. Norquist issued a press

release slamming Turner, calling him “reminiscent of Barack Obama,” while Turner has maintained he will make compromises if necessary.

Wendy Long is a Manhattan lawyer and political newcomer whose campaign has suffered some financial setbacks. She currently holds $193,000 in debt, City & State recently reported, though a campaign spokesperson said she will have sufficient funds to compete in the primary due to prominent backers.

Long has an extensive history of involvement in conservative activism and politics as a lobbyist for conservative judges; she pushes for an end to what she sees as “limited self-government” and “elite liberal” destruction of the Constitution and individual rights and enterprise. According to Norquist’s release, Long is the only candidate of the three who has committed to not raising taxes.

Nassau County Comptroller

George Maragos accuses his opponents of being indecisive on the tax issue and focuses heavily on his own history of business experience in finance.

Prior to his political career, Maragos was a vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank and Citibank before founding SDS Financial Technologies, of which he was president for over 20 years. Maragos says that what’s lacking in Congress is solid economic theory above all else. He believes the government’s top priority is restoring economic growth and creating private sector jobs. Maragos says our economy requires a “fundamental restructuring,” including a restoration to free market principles.

Despite the contentious issues on the table, experts anticipate a low turnout at the primaries; a recent Siena College poll shows 70 percent of Republican voters do not prefer any candidate.

—Alissa Fleck

Overweight, Post-menopausal Women Needed

ENDORSEMENT

Bob Turner, the GOP’s Best Senate Choice GOP primaries are not the norm in New York City, but this Tuesday, registered Republicans have the chance to pick a nominee to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in November.

Of the three candidates, U.S. Rep. Bob Turner seems to have the best experience and is the one most ready to represent all New Yorkers in the Senate.

We realize that the thing that stands out most to us about him—his openness to compromise with Democrats on taxes—will not be seen as a plus by many Republican voters.

And admittedly, many may not put much stock in the endorsement of a paper that endorses Democrats much more often. But these voters may want to look less at ideological purity and more at who has the best chance to win. Our interest is in having the two strongest candidates.

Many Republicans feign interest in the national debt when it comes to government programs they don’t like but ignore it when it comes to taxes or defense spending. Turner’s interest in the debt is sincere and he is at least willing to listen to Democrats, rather than closing the door to any real negotiations.

It is clear to us that he would be better than most Republican senators, as well as his two opponents, Wendy Long and George Maragos. He deserves the chance to try and make the case that he is also better than Gillibrand. We endorse Bob Turner in Tuesday’s Republican primary.

Mitchell’sNY The World’s Finest Delivery Services

Beverages Delivered to your Door in New York

The Rockfeller University Hospital is seeking overweight, post-menopausal women to participate in a research study looking at the effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid.

Free Manhatta Delivery!n Conventional, Unique and Hard to Find Brands Over two thousand varieties of bottled water, iced tea, soda and more delivered straight to your door!

You may be eligible if you are: • Post-menopausal (last period must be >24mo ago) • 40-70 years of age • Very overweight (BMI >35) • Not diabetic Participation involves: • Two, 3-day inpatient stays at The Rockefeller University Hospital (private room) • Fat biopsies • Taking Omega-3 Fatty Acid Compensation is provided for participation

To learn more, contact our Recruitment Specialist at 1-800-RUCARES or email us at RUCARES@Rockefeller.edu 1 6 • O UR TOWN DOW NTOW N • JUN E 2 1, 2 012

Wh hat’s on sale?

OURTOWN Receive $ 00 DOWNTOWN READER your next online order* SPECIAL! www.mitchellsNYbeverage.com

25 OFF

*Limit one per household. $60 minimum purchase required.

enter promo code bevnyot25 at checkout

www.mitchellsNYbeverage.com | 800-662-2275 ext 5 NY Press.co m

Our Vote’s For Velázquez Over the course of her 20 years in Congress, Nydia Velázquez has earned the nickname of “La Luchadora,” “The Fighter.”

And for the first time in almost a decade, Velázquez is facing a serious fight against three Democratic opponents in the race over the newly redrawn 7th Congressional District. In a congressional environment where the Republicans are likely to control the House and stymie Democratic proposals at every turn, Velázquez’s connections and familiarity with the issues and political system are what are needed for the two years ahead.

Whether you are a critic of her work or not, her résumé is impressive, as are the many political “firsts” she has under her belt: the first Hispanic female New York City Council Member, the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress and the first woman to chair Congress’ Committee on Small Business. It is her experience on this committee that is most important as the government tries to create jobs and foster economic growth.

While the criticisms that Velázquez hasn’t done enough for her constituents, especially those within our portion of her district, hold some merit, it is now virtually impossible for any Democrat to make headway in the Republican-controlled House. Instead, Velázquez focuses on working in committee to broker whatever compromises can be reached on already proposed legislation. This nuanced—yes, “insider” — view of how Congress unfortunately works at the moment is another reason we support Velázquez.

While it seems likely Velázquez will be victorious in this race, we wholeheartedly believe there are better potential candidates out there.

No candidate better communicated this change than George Martinez. His participation in the amorphous Occupy Wall Street movement might be clear grounds for some to outright dismiss him as a legitimate candidate, but in person he is decisive, clear, even inspirational. Martinez cohesively packages the ideals of OWS and makes one think that if OWS infiltrated the political system, it could be a strong antidote to the Tea Party movement.

Martinez, however, doesn’t seemed to have energized Occupy supporters as much as he needs to this late in the game.

He is also very well-versed in and focused on local issues, begging the question of

Nadler Looking to Represent ‘New’ District When Jerrold Nadler goes out for his 11th term as a member of Congress this year, there will be a few similarities and one major difference from his prior elections.

The difference is that Nadler, the incumbent 8th District representative, will not run again in the same district but will run for the new 10th District in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The new district is extremely similar to Nadler’s old one, meaning he’ll be serving a new congressional district but many of the same New Yorkers. Nadler’s current area runs along Manhattan’s West Side and includes parts of the Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen and Greenwich Village and extends into Brooklyn, covering parts of Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Bath Beach and the surrounding area.

The newly reconfigured 10th District will not extend as far south in Brooklyn and will stretch further north in Manhattan. If elected, Nadler would lose Coney Island—his jurisdiction would only extend as far as Cropsey Avenue—but in NYPre ss.com

Manhattan, he’d extend past Central Park as far north as 123rd Street.

Nadler is, once again, the favorite in his election.

Vying for the 10th District against Nadler is Republican Michael Chan. Chan is the only Republican running to represent the district.

There are three candidates who will try to replace Nadler’s title as representative of the “new” 8th District. Hakeem Jeffries and Charles Barron are both running to represent the Democrats, while Alan Bellone runs uncontested on the other side.

Their new district will be strictly in Brooklyn and will serve parts of Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Hamilton, Canarsie and Bergen Beach, among others. It will retain Coney Island and its neighbors.

The current 10th District is represented

by Edolphus Towns, who will retire at the end of his term after 15 terms—30 years— in office.

Photo by Jonathan Springer

ENDORSEMENT

whether a federal position is the best fit for him.

But a defeat in this race isn’t likely to deter Martinez from politics, and we believe he will become a formidable candidate over the next few years.

Dan O’Connor is perhaps the most interesting candidate in this race—a white, New York City-born economist who is fluent in Chinese and shares many ideological similarities to libertarians. However thought-

provoking O’Connor’s ideas are, he clearly has no interest in bringing more federal resources to the district.

As a City Council member, Erik Martin Dilan has proven himself to be active and engaged, but his close ties to the Brooklyn political machine are unsettling.

For this race, our nod goes to Velázquez, but we are encouraged to see more serious contenders for this district this time and hope to see better candidates in two years.

Deborah J. Glick first openly LGBT Assemblymember proud to serve since 1991.

Great Tips on...Parenting,

Shopping, Activities and more! newyorkfamily.com

Visit to learn more about the best parenting e-newsletter in the city.

—Nick Gallinelli J UNE 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 1 7

cONTiNUiNg edUcaTiON

Swimming 101 for Adults

By Laura Shin

F

rom stress relief to reducing the risk of heart disease, there are many reported benefits to swimming. And on a hot summer day in New York City, it’s also a great way to cool off. These are just a few reasons why some adults who never learned to swim are signing up to learn now.

“Everybody can learn to swim—it has nothing to do with age,” said Lori Pailet, managing director of Aqua Skills, a swim instruction group in Manhattan. “There are so many benefits—it’s great cardio, great for circulation, great for flexibility and it doesn’t hurt your joints.”

Aqua Skills offers group classes as well as private and semiprivate lessons for adults at different locations in Manhattan. It offers a flexible schedule with classes seven days a week and an “Early Bird” class that begins at 6 a.m., said Pailet.

Many other programs also offer beginner swim classes for adults in the city.

Mary O’Donoghue, aquatics specialist for the YMCA of Greater New York, said there are five YMCA locations in Manhattan that all offer swimming classes for adults. She said participants range from adults in their twenties to those over the age of 60.

“One of our members was 65 when she started taking lessons,” she said. “When she grew up, she didn’t have the finances or time to learn to swim. She wanted to enjoy the water with her grandchildren, so she decided she was going to do it.”

The adult beginner classes cover the basics of swimming as well as addressing any fears that adults may have about being

in the water. The class is a good fit for adults who have never swum before or those who can swim a little bit but have not gone into deeper water, O’Donoghue said.

For more information about Aqua Skills, visit www.aquaskills.com or call 212-206-6976. To find a YMCA location, a class schedule and rate information, visit ymcanyc.org or call 212-630-9600.

Below are a few options available in Manhattan: Asphalt Green: Freestyle 101 Learn the basics of freestyle swimming in this intro course—breath control, floating, submersion, kicking and arm movements.

Note: Swimmers must be able to comfortably float on their front with their face in the water.

Dates: Saturdays, June 30–Aug. 18 Time: 3:30–4:15 p.m.

Price: $240 for members, $288 for nonmembers Location: Asphalt Green, 555 E. 90th St. For more info or to register, call 212-3698890 or visit www.asphaltgreen.org.

Private beginner lessons for adults are also available at Asphalt Green for the summer term, which runs June 25 through Aug. 18. Half-hour lessons are $65 per lesson, and 1-hour lessons are $130. For more information, email privatelessons@asphaltgreen. org or call 646-981-2387.

NYC Parks: Learn to Swim Program The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation offers swimming lessons for people of all ages free of charge. Space is limited and registration is by lottery. Applicants who do

not win a spot are placed on a waiting list.

Dates: Session 1: July 9–July 24 Session 2: July 25–Aug. 9 Session 3: Aug. 10 – Aug. 24 Classes are Monday through Friday.

Time: 7:15–8:15 p.m.

Price: Free Location: Lasker Pool, 110th Street and Lenox Avenue For more info or to register, visit www. nycgovparks.org/registration/aquatics, 92Y: Beginner Swim Group No experience is necessary for this adult beginner swim class, where you’ll learn basic skills and proper body alignment.

Dates: Sundays, July 29–Aug. 19 Time: 6–7 p.m.

Price: From $132 Location: 92Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street For more info, to register or to find more sessions this summer, visit www.92y.org.

92Y also offers “Water Fear Wash-Away for Adults” courses for individuals with aquatic phobias. Check out their website for more details.

The Jewish Community Center: Adult Beginner Swim The JCC offers adult learn-to-swim classes taught by American Red Crosscertified instructors. Beginner courses cover the basics: breath control, self-propulsion, buoyancy and water safety skills.

Dates: Summer Session: Mondays, June 18–Aug. 13 (classes are prorated for late registrants) Fall Session: Mondays, Sept. 10–Nov. 5

Time: 7:30–8:30 p.m.

Price: $315 for members, $405 for nonmembers Location: JCC, 334 Amsterdam Ave. For more info or to register, call 646-5055708 or visit www.jccmanhattan.org .

Physique Swimming Physique Swim School offers adult beginner swim classes throughout the summer at different locations throughout Manhattan, including uptown, the Upper East Side, Midtown East and Downtown.

Dates: Various Time: Various Price: $400 for 8 courses, $720 for 16 courses Location: Various For more info or to register, call 212-7250939 or visit www.physiqueswimming.com/ schedule/ny/adult.

Kids Learn About the Great Outdoors Alley Pond Park | Queens High Rock Park | Staten Island

By Jennifer Lehner

Y

ou and the kids may be dyed-in-the-wool urbanites, but come summer, that doesn’t mean that you don’t crave cooling ocean breezes and sand between your toes, yearn for the chance to break out binoculars (you just have to find them first) and gaze up at the stars, and desperately want to set up a tent somewhere other than your coop’s living room. Here’s how you can get out of your walk-up and into the New York City “wilderness” as soon as the weather warms.

CAMPING COOLEST CAMPING FOR KIDS Fridays and Saturdays in July and August, families can join the Urban Park Rangers (nycgovparks.org) for an overnight camping experience in New York City. The night includes a cookout and other evening

activities like stargazing, nocturnal walks, orienteering, nature crafts, campfires, fishing and bird-watching. The program is free, but registration is required and campers are chosen by a lottery system.

Participating locations include: Van Cortlandt Park | Bronx Marine Park | Brooklyn Central Park | Manhattan

MOST MAGICAL STARGAZING The city that never sleeps is not the ideal venue for aspiring astronomers, but there are still a couple of places that offer the least light pollution—perfect for spotting shooting stars.

Floyd Bennett Field | Gateway National Recreation Center | Brooklyn nps.gov/gate Great Kills Park | Staten Island nycgovparks.org BEST PLACE TO SNOOZE WITH ANIMALS Family Overnight Safari | Bronx Zoo This popular family event books up

early and features a picnic dinner, handson animal experiences, scavenger hunts, games, sing-alongs, guided walks and a sea lion wake-up call. wcs.org

NATURE BEST FOR BIRD-WATCHING Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Gateway National Recreation Area | Queens Look for long-legged waders like egrets, herons and ibises; shorebirds like sandpipers and plovers; and a variety of songbirds such as olive-sided flycatchers and blue grosbeaks at this bird sanctuary— one of the largest in the northeastern United States. nyharborparks.org MOST MAGNIFICENT TREE

1 8 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • June 2 1, 2 012

NY Press.co m

24 • O UR TOWN • J une 2 1, 2 012

NY Press.co m

continuing education Magnolia Tree Earth Center | Brooklyn The 40-foot Magnolia grandiflora at this nature center was declared a living landmark in 1970 and is an excellent way to teach your kids about the importance of trees (and sadly, their rarity) in urban landscapes. nycgovparks.org PERFECT RAINY DAY ACTIVITY IN CENTRAL PARK Charles A. Dana Discovery Center Central Park | Manhattan The kids had their heart set on exploring Central Park, but it’s raining cats and dogs. Now what? Dash between the raindrops to the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center for a perfect (not to mention, dry) view of the 11-acre Harlem Meer and learn all about the wildlife found there, including great egrets, cormorants and bullfrogs. centralparknyc.org BEST NATURE CENTER IN DISGUISE The Henry Luce Nature Observatory at Belvedere Castle, Central Park | Manhattan From this vantage point, you can view migrating hawks and monarch butterflies, turtles sunning themselves on pond rocks and birds flitting about the Ramble.

Plus, there’s plenty to see inside the Woodlands and Water Discovery Room. centralparknyc.org

OLDIE BUT A GOODIE Alley Pond Environmental Center, Alley Pond Park | Queens Tucked inside the 635-acre Alley Pond Park, this nature center—which opened in the ’70s— was one of the city’s first of its kind. Its Animal Room lets kids get up close and personal with the likes of Bernie the Corn Snake, Loke the Prairie Dog and Henry the Ring-Necked Dove. It boasts a myriad of family programs, including nature walks on the Alley Pond Nature Trail, nature photography classes, animal care training and stargazing workshops. alleypond.com GREAT FOR BAT-WATCHING Bats abound in the city, but during the day they stay tucked away, hanging upside down and hiding from predators. The best time to see them is in the summertime at dusk, especially on humid evenings. Here’s where to go to catch a glimpse of these furry, flying creatures: The Gerritsen Creek Nature Trail Marine Park | Brooklyn nycgovparks.org The Great Hill, Central Park | Manhattan centralparknyc.org Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Gateway National Recreational Area | Queens

JOHN KRTIL HOME;  FUNERAL  YORKVILLE FUNERAL SERVICE, INC.       

Dignified, Affordable and Independently Owned Since 1885 Kindergarten-Grade 1 Scholarships Saint  FAITHS AND COMMUNITIES WE SERVE ALL Saint Albans School is pleased to announce that it has a limited number of

• scholarships Direct Cremations Complete • Direct $2250 $2850 for children in Kindergarten and Grade 1 forBurials Fall 2012.

These  • Expert Pre-Planning Available scholarships are made possible by the Teddy Forstmann Scholarship   Program, of the Childrens’ Scholarship Fund. Saint Albans welcomes  students in PreK through Grade 8. We are located at 317 East 50th Street  th  FirstManhattan, Ave (69th & 70the St.) • John S. Krtil in1297 mid-town near United Nations.

For Owner/Manager information on the  Newly Renovated & Enlarged • www.krtilfuneralhome.com Forstmann Scholarships and admissions, please visit our website at Each cremation service individually performed by fully licensed members of our staff. We use no outside agents www.saintalbansnyc.com. or trade services in our cremation service. We exclusively use All Souls Chapel and Crematory at the prestigious

212-744-3084

St. Michael's Cemetery, Queens, NY for our cremations unless otherwise directed.

  

Kindergarten-Grade 1 Scholarships Saint 

Saint Albans School is pleased to announce that it has a limited number of scholarships for children in Kindergarten and Grade 1 for Fall 2012. These  scholarships are made possible by the Teddy Forstmann Scholarship   Program, of the Childrens’ Scholarship Fund. Saint Albans welcomes  students in PreK through Grade 8. We are located at 317 East 50th Street   in mid-town Manhattan, near the United Nations. For information on the  Forstmann Scholarships and admissions, please visit our website at www.saintalbansnyc.com.

NYPre ss.com NYPress .com

nps.gov/gate Spring Pond, Blue Heron Park | Staten Island nycgovparks.org THE BEST OF BOTANICAL GARDENS New York Botanical Garden | Bronx Oh, the many reasons to visit this massive, gorgeous garden this summer: the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, the country’s largest Victorian glasshouse; the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden featuring a boulder maze, hedge maze, a natural wetland and Discovery Center; and the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden— where kids can dig, plant and grow in one of the many hands-on gardening activities on offer. nybg.org Brooklyn Botanic Garden | Brooklyn This oasis is home to the country’s longest operating children’s garden (it opened in 1914), and its 52 acres are the perfect size to explore with young ones. Go in June, when the Cranford Rose Garden’s blooms are at their most magnificent. bbg. org Queens Botanical Garden | Queens The Bee Garden houses plants and trees that attract bees or flavor honey— if nothing else, it provides an ample opportunity to have that proverbial talk

with your kids (wink, nudge). The shady Woodland Garden, with its woodchipcovered walking trails and streams, will make the whole fam forget that you’re actually smack dab in the middle of Flushing. queensbotanical.org Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden | Staten Island Children will love the Connie Gretz Secret Garden, a charming space inspired by the 1911 children’s classic of the same name featuring a turreted castle and a hedge maze leading to its very own secret, brick-walled garden of dogwoods, roses, and other blooming trees and flowers. snug-harbor.org MOST ECLECTIC COMMUNITY GARDEN Liz Christy Garden, Lower East Side | Manhattan Located on the northeast corner of Bowery and Houston Streets, the city’s oldest community garden houses: a pond home to fish and red-eared slider turtles, a wildflower habitat, wooden furniture perfect for afternoon storytime, a grape arbor, a grove of weeping birch trees, fruit trees, a dawn redwood, vegetable gardens, berries, herbs and hundreds of flowers. After racking up 20 hours volunteering, your family is granted a key. lizchristygarden.us

Léman Léman Manhattan Manhattan

Parents seeking a private school education for their Parents seeking a private school for their child have many excellent choiceseducation in New York City. child have excellent in New York City.

But there is many no school quitechoices like ours.

But there is no school quite like ours.

Located in historic downtown Manhattan, Léman Located inishistoric downtown Manhattan, Léman Manhattan the school that offers the rigorous Manhattanand is the school thatan offers the rigorous academics plans to offer International BacacademicsDiploma and plans offer an International Baccalaureate bytoMay 2015. calaureate Diploma by May 2015.

It’s the school that teaches the critical thinking skills It’s the teachestoday’s the critical thinking skills that are school keys tothat preparing graduates to sucthat are keys to preparing today’s graduates to succeed at top choice colleges and throughout their lives. ceed at top choice colleges and throughout their lives.

It’s the school that believes learning courage, resilience, empathy and open-mindedness is It’s as theimportant school that resilience, empathy and open-mindedness is just asbelieves learninglearning calculus,courage, chemistry and history. just as important as learning calculus, chemistry and history.

It’s the school with state-of-the-art facilities including: a light-filled library, performing It’s the school with state-of-the-art a light-filled library,gymnasiums, performing arts auditoriums, rock climbing wall,facilities roof-topincluding: playground, regulation-size arts auditoriums, rock climbing wall, roof-top playground, regulation-size gymnasiums, personal training room and two competition-size pools. personal training room and two competition-size pools.

It’s the school that offers small classes and Personal Learning Plans designed to challenge It’s the school offers andpotential.

Personal Learning Plans designed to challenge and excite eachthat student tosmall reachclasses his or her and excite each student to reach his or her potential.

It’s the only preparatory school in Manhattan with established sister schools in Europe, It’s the onlyAmerica preparatory school in Manhattan with established sister schools in Europe, Asia, Latin and throughout the US offering our students exciting opportunities Asia, Latin America and throughout the US offering our students exciting opportunities to participate in international academic, athletic, music and art exchange programs. to participate in international academic, athletic, music and art exchange programs.

Léman Manhattan offers a one-of-a-kind international boarding program where students Léman Manhattan offers a one-of-a-kind international boarding program where students from around the world can share culture and diverse perspectives to create a truly from around the world can share culture and diverse perspectives to create a truly global community. global community.

All of this contributes to a learning experience that is second to none.

All of this contributes to a learning experience that is second to none.

Where does your child go to school?

Where does your child go to school?

212-232-0266 EXT. 259 * Janet Barrett, Director of Admissions 212-232-0266 EXT. 259 * Janet Barrett, Director of Admissions jbarrett@lemanmanhattan.com * www.lemanmanhattan.org jbarrett@lemanmanhattan.com * www.lemanmanhattan.org

J une 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 1 9 June 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N • 25

THEATER CiTYARTS

The Puzzle: Marble’s Theater Festival

By Rebecca Harris On Monday, June 25, one East Side church will transform into a live theater for a week of never-before-seen plays performed in front of an audience. Monday marks the beginning of production week for The Puzzle Festival of New Work, an amateur theater festival that will showcase the unfinished plays and musicals of 10 playwrights.

In its second year, the festival hosted by the East Side’s Marble Collegiate Church affords playwrights the opportunity to see their works in progress performed as staged readings by professional actors. Each of the chosen writers, selected by Marble’s Arts Ministry from a pool of more than 100 submissions, was provided with a production team consisting of a director and a handful of actors and two weeks of studio time to rehearse, make edits and get their piece stage-ready.

“Being so new to playwriting, the fact that they are taking care of casting for me, finding a director for me, allowing me a chance to actually process and write—it’s a very nurturing experience,” said Ashley Gorham Johnson, a New York resident whose short play, Don’t

Waste the Pretty, will debut as a work in progress on Marble’s stage next Thursday evening.

For Johnson, participating in last year’s inaugural Puzzle Festival inspired her to submit her work for potential production for the first time since she began writing plays.

“I’d never really taken the plunge to submit before, but it was such fun, such great production quality last year that I thought I would give it a try,” she said. “It was a really exciting feeling that they believed enough in my work to give me the space to continue to create.”

The Puzzle distinguishes itself from other theater festivals by giving playwrights the chance to stay involved in the creative development of their work at every step until it is shown on stage, according to Marya Spring Cordes, co-founder and artistic director for the festival.

“Our vision for The Puzzle was a playwright-driven festival. A lot of times, when plays are submitted to a festival, the producing body really takes over from there,” Cordes said. “Our vision is the opposite.”

Brian Hampton, co-founder and producer of The Puzzle, worked with Cordes to craft that vision after becoming director of Marble’s Arts Ministry last year. He hoped to both foster

community at Marble and to draw new visitors who might be interested in becoming involved in the church.

“We’re inclusive and progressive, and sometimes it’s a surprise for some artists who maybe had stepped away from going to church when they moved to New York. I’m a Brian Hampton and Ashley Gorham Johnson. Photo by Greg Lum preacher’s kid, so I know how will be able to give the playwrights “talk-back” that is,” Hampton said. evaluations after their works are read on stage.

This was true for Mark Garcia, a secondHe said receiving feedback can help writers year Puzzle winner who has been drawn to like Garcia adapt and edit their plays for future Marble since participating in the festival last production. year.

The audience—about 500 people attended “I found myself going to services when I the festival last year over the course of the hadn’t been for quite a while. They were so week—includes members of the Marble welcoming, it was such a family; I wanted to congregation as well as “people right off the be part of that,” Garcia said. street who just kind of walked by,” according Garcia will be the first playwright to present to Hampton. on Monday with a short, 15-minute play enThe Puzzle events are free and open to the titled Inscriptions. His winning entry last year, public. a full-length play, is currently in the process of development for production in Brooklyn in The Puzzle Festival of New Work, Marble ColleMarch. giate Chuch, 1 W. 29th St. (at 5th Ave.), marbleAccording to Hampton, audience members church.org; June 25-30, 7 p.m.

DiNiNg

Paris off Madison Avenue Table d’Hôte is your standard neighborhood spot—if your neighborhood spoke French

By Regan Hofmann One of the great joys of city life is the neighborhood restaurant. They’re friendly, comfortable, conveniently located—usually on a quiet side street—and the food is good but not complicated, skillful but not demanding. They’re the kind of place you can return to several times in a week without feeling like a foie gras goose, overstuffed and greasy.

New Yorkers know these spots well. We tend to forget, though, in that special worldview that reduces much of the rest of the world to “OK to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there,” that we’re not the only ones. In Barcelona, every few blocks has its own cafe for seafood a la plancha. Seattle has more retro-styled locavore comfort food than you can shake a stick at. And Paris has a bistro on every corner with a prix fixe menu that starts with pâté de campagne and ends with crême carame. Ex-pats can spend a lifetime bemoaning their loss, seeking out every Spanish restaurant in L.A. only to find not one of them can make pan con tomate properly.

For those French in New York performing that desperate search, there is light on East 92nd Street. On a quiet corner, with a barely existent awning and an unassum-

ing entrance, is Table d’Hôte (44 E. 92nd St., betw. Park & Madison Aves., tabledhote.info), a neighborhood restaurant that manages to be both local spot and Parisian vacation.

Stepping through the glass-fronted door is like taking a trip straight to the 13th Arrondissement, faster than the Concorde and not nearly as pricey.

There has been a restaurant in this location for some 30 years; when chef-owner William Knapp bought it from the original owners last year, he knew he had to keep much the same so as not to alienate those who had grown reliant on their own neighborhood spot. But while the chairs and chalkboards are the same, the approach is brand-new.

Knapp’s CIA training and years in the belly of New York’s fine dining beast, including time served under Tom Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern and then Craft, have given him a mastery of traditional techniques and preparations as well as an easy hand with seasonality and creative interpretation based on what’s available this minute. Impossibly crispy-skinned salmon with gently cooked, still red flesh comes with new green peas and their shoots today; in two months, it will almost certainly have a dog days of summer accompaniment.

The short menu is stacked with comfortable (not comfort food—an important distinction) dishes that would be at home on any residential rue—a substantial, meltingly

20 • O UR TOWN DOW NTOW N • JUN E 2 1, 2 01 2

tender leg of duck confit, steamed mussels with saffron and the aforementioned pâté de campagne. American touches like the crab cake with cucumber salad remind you not to break out your The chalkboard menu at Table d’Hôte. Photo by Jonathan Springer high school language skills with buttery toffee; the candy is somehow both the waitress, but even that could be found in lighter and more decadent than crunchier, some of the cooler quartiers (have you heard more caramel-colored renditions. AcknowlBrooklyn is the next big trend in Paris?). edging his own limitations, Knapp wisely According to Knapp, he’s forbidden from recruited Elishia Richards, former executive swapping many of these off the menu in pastry chef at Esca, to design a short but verfavor of new ideas; customers, as one does satile dessert menu to mirror his approach to at one’s neighborhood spot, become set in the mains. They end the meal on a high note their “usual” and have staged uprisings when that doesn’t overwhelm or leave you wada beloved Sunday night meal goes missing. dling out the door.

So he makes the most of the daily specials, Working with a kitchen barely big enough recently offering refreshingly light salmon ril- for two and the practical concerns of taking lettes as a counterpoint to the more autumover an established restaurant (“I was going nal pâté. to put in banquettes, make it look a little Desserts move up the sophistication more modern,” he said, “but the chairs that ladder a rung or two—the chocolate tart is were here are perfectly good—why waste the spiked with a smoky Earl Grey tea essence money?”), Knapp has made his Table d’Hôte and the hazelnut brittle that accompanies the sort of instant classic Parisians demand the mocha semifreddo is shockingly blond, and New Yorkers didn’t know they could spiked with macadamia nuts that amplify the have.

NY Press.co m

CALL 8 0 0 4 2 0 4 0 0 4

medical know-how magical somehow

There’s good. There’s excellent. Then, there’s Beth Israel. With advanced technologies and a vast array of therapeutic resources, we’re committed to total patient care. Because we know it’s not just about the ailment, it’s about the person as well. Visit us at BethIsraelNY.org

WHERE HEALTH AND HEALING COME TOGETHER FIRST AVENUE AT 16TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY June 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 21

NYPre ss .com 113980_ManhattanMedia_NYPressandOutTown_P4C_BIMK4P.indd 1

Client: Beth Israel Component: Print Ad AD Code: BIMK4P

8/11/11 1:59 PM

Special SecTiON

A Poster Couple a Year Later

By David Gibbons

Freedom to Marry (FTM) sparked its campaign to win the right to same-sex marriage in New York State last year with a series of short videos featuring charming, engaging gay couples—not least among them George Constantinou and Farid Ali Lancheros—that put a human face on the issue and helped insure the movement’s success.

“It was very much a fulfillment of our approach of giving the reachable but not-yetreached personal, local stories that open hearts and change minds, as the president recently described,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of FTM and a civil rights lawyer who has argued cases all the way up to the Supreme Court.

The videos highlighted the couples’ commitment and sincerity, nudging viewers to the conclusion that they deserve a chance at marriage just like anybody else.

Where are they today? Constantinou and Lancheros are about to get married, if only they can find an hour or two to tear themselves away from their thriving, demanding business and hurry down to the courthouse for a civil ceremony. (The celebration will come later.)

Their daily life constitutes a version of the classic American Dream: A young couple, the hard-working offspring of striving immigrants, sets up a household in Brooklyn, opens a restaurant a few blocks away, puts in the sweat, builds the business and, after a few years, decides to start a family.

“I guess you’d have to say we’re living the gay American dream,” Lancheros said. “It’s astounding. And it’s really testament to the fact that with determination, faith and action, all things are possible.”

The first and most obvious question— how did they have children?—is answered in their baby shower video. (Go to YouTube and search “George and Farid” or “Farid and George’s Baby Shower.”)

The short answer is they worked with a Boston specialty clinic that found a compatible egg donor and a surrogate willing to bear twins.

They each fertilized 10 eggs, and the two most viable were implanted—one from Constantinou’s batch and the other from Lancheros’, so each of the men would be the biological father of one of their children.

Farid Ali Lancheros and George Constantinouwith their son and daughter, Milena and Gustavo at their restaurant Bogota Latin Bistro. Photo by Jonathan Springer

Lancheros, 47, is the son of a Colombian mother and Palestinian father. Constantinou, 36, is from Long Island; his mother immigrated from Costa Rica, his father from Cyprus. Together, they form a typical New York City melting-pot family.

The couple met at a speed-dating event in 2001 and have been together ever since. With his easygoing, fluid manner and quick smile, it’s no surprise that Constantinou found success young as a bartender and restaurant manager. Lancheros was reluctant to relinquish his 9-to-5 paycheck, but after a trip to Colombia where they

“We’re living the gay American dream.”

22 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • JUN E 2 1, 2 01 2

sampled the local cuisine, Constantinou convinced him they ought to follow his dream and open their own restaurant.

Thus was born Bogota Latin Bistro in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on July 5, 2005. The place turned a profit almost immediately and has become one of the most popular, successful Latin-themed eateries in the five boroughs.

Their twins, Gustavo and Milena, were born Nov. 6, 2011, and they were able to attend the birth. “They are a delight—healthy, happy, and they both sleep through the night,” said Constantinou. “They’re 7 and a half months old and are the most amazing babies—all smiles, they only cry when they’re hungry, they want to be picked up or they’re teething. Yesterday we had a first: Milena cried when we left for work.”

“In light of the fact that we’re both men,

our pediatrician said she’s never met two calmer parents,” Lancheros said. “The restaurant is incredible training for that.

Stuff happens and you manage, you forge ahead. I’ll tell you what: These two babies are a piece of cake compared to running a restaurant.”

Anyone who questions a gay couple’s suitability to marriage and raising kids need only glimpse Constantinou and Lancheros in action to sense not only the open, energetic, exuberant and humorous approach they take to negotiating the challenges of sustaining a relationship and becoming responsible, loving parents, but also the underlying seriousness and honesty of their commitment to the endeavor.

But don’t trust this account; go online and check out Constantinou and Lancheros for yourself in their own words—and smiles.

NY Press.co m

Special SecTiON

peTS

Pets Don’t Sweat HigH temperatures can be deadly for fido

By Robin Breenen

T Last year’s Gay Pride Parade. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

By Rebecca Harris

N

ew York City’s Gay Pride Week kicked off this past Sunday, drawing hundreds of thousands to participate in the largest celebration of LGBT pride in the United States. From now through Sunday will be a wide range of events throughout Manhattan, from street fairs to parades to raging dance parties.

Here’s a list of some of the city’s top Pride Week attractions.

RaptuRe on the RiveR

Sat, June 23, 4-11 p.m.

Pier 57 (15th St., at the West Side Highway-Hudson River Park) LGBT women can dance the night away to musical performances by entertainers like headliner DJ Whitney Day and openers Missy B and Trini. Pier 57 features easy access to bars, social spaces and restrooms. Tickets can be purchased for $25 online or $35 at the door. VIP tickets are also available online.

pRideFest

Sun, June 24, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

Hudson St. betw. Abington Square & W. 14th St. The 19th annual LGBT street fair featuring vendors, entertainers and community activities attracts thousands of local and out-of-state residents, business owners and community leaders every year. This event is free and open to the public. Registration to be a vendor is available online.

the MaRch

Sun, June 24, noon Starts at 36th St. & 5th Ave., ends at Christopher & Greenwich St. NYC Pride presents the 42nd annual LGBT Pride Parade, drawing hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of Manhattan each year to celebrate gay pride with floats, musical performances and more.

The oldest gay pride parade in the United States, The March is a massive civil rights demonstration first held in 1970 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. Cyndi Lauper, Chris Salgardo, Phyllis Siegel and Connie Kopelov will serve as the parade’s grand marshals this year. This event is free and open to the public. Special needs seating will be available at 23rd Street and 5th Avenue.

dance on the pieR

Sun, June 24, 5 p.m.-2 a.m.

Pier 57 (15th St., at the West Side Highway-Hudson River Park) The 26th annual music and dance event will follow Sunday’s March, featuring musical performances by Eva Simmons, Eddie Baez, The Perry Twins and DJ Borris, among others. Tickets can be purchased online for $90. VIP tickets are also available online. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to NYC Pride and other LGBT organizations.

NYPre ss.com

Andrew Roberts

Celebrating Gay Pride With Plenty of Events

he dog days of summer can be hazardous for your pet. Be a cool owner and help your canine companion beat the heat this summer.

It is important to realize that people and animals differ greatly in their ability to regulate internal body temperature.

Humans have hundreds of sweat glands, all over the body, that help us stay cool by releasing moisture which evaporates on the skin’s surface. Dogs have very few sweat glands, all of which are located in the pads of their feet. Dogs cool themselves primarily by the process of panting and breathing, with the moist lining of their lungs, tongue, mucous membranes and windpipe serving as the evaporative surfaces. Dogs also release heat by dilating blood vessels in the face, ears and hairless areas of the body like the armpits and groin. This allows blood to flow closer to the skin’s surface, where it has a chance to cool down.

Minimizing your dog’s exposure to extreme temperatures can prevent a life-threatening condition called hyperthermia, which can lead to heat stroke.

A dog’s normal body temperature is 101–103 degrees Farenheit. Hyperthermia is a sustained core body temperature over 105, due to the dog’s inability to cool itself efficiently. Certain dogs are at higher risk because of their body conformations or medical conditions.

At-risk dogs are those that have thick hair coats, flat faces (like bulldogs), lung/breathing or heart problems, or that are older or overweight. Symptoms include hard and harsh panting, deep red gums, drooling, sluggishness, disorientation, vomiting and diarrhea. Internal body temperatures over 105–106 degrees can quickly lead to organ failure and death. These temperatures can be reached even with moderate heat and exercise. I have seen this happen to a dog who sat under a hair dryer too long while at the groomer!

Never leave your dog unattended in a parked car, even for a minute. Temperatures inside that vehicle can easily reach 160 degrees in a matter of minutes. Five minutes inside can lead to death. Consider leaving your dog at home when you run errands on a hot day.

I see many dogs being walked with canvas muzzles in place, presumably

because they don’t get along well with people or other dogs. While you may be trying to prevent a bite, you are also preventing your dog from panting and cooling off. Basket muzzles are a much better alternative, as they allow your dog to pant freely, but also add the layer of protection you are looking for.

If you enjoy exercising with your dog, do so at the coolest part of the day.

Noontime jogs are not a good idea.

If you think your pet may be experiencing heat stroke, take immediate steps to cool him/her down, then seek veterinary attention at the Animal Hospitals at Bideawee or from your veterinarian. This usually entails hosing your dog off with cool water or submerging him/her in a tepid bath; it may not be enough to just bring your pet into an air-conditioned room. Ice packs applied to the armpit and groin can also help cool your dog. Once at the vet, further cooling procedures can be administered. However, some of the consequences of prolonged, extreme elevations in body temperature can cause an irreversible process of multi-organ system failure leading to death.

On hot days, the coolest thing to do may be to leave Fido at home.

Robin Brennen is chief of veterinary services & VP Program Operations at Bideawee.

J UNE 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 23

CLASSI FI E DS Classified Advertising Department Information Telephone: 212-268-0384 | Fax: 212-268-0502 | Email: advertising@manhattanmedia.com Hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm | Deadline: Monday 12 noon for same weeks’ issue

SERVICES

MANHATTAN EXPRESS DELIVERY Moving & Delivery Servicing NY/ NJ/ CT $10 OFF Furniture Delivery $100 OFF Moving Jobs over $800 CALL: (646) 509-8181

CARPET CLEANING

CARPETS & UPHOLSTERY professionally steam-cleaned. 20 years experience. JP Carpet. 212-831-1189

HOME SERVICES HANDYMAN, PAINTER, ODD JOBS Basic plumbing, Repair leaky faucets, Replace faucets, sinks and toilets.

Replace window and door screens.

Paint any standard size room, 1 color - $175. Power-washing also available.

Call 212.203.1936

TUTORIAL SERVICES

TUTORING ALL LEVELS ALL SUBJECTS, from elementary to college level, short term or long term, highly qualified (PhD level Teacher), very reasonable rates. Please contact me so we can discuss your needs & how I can help you. 646.761.4183 or elotstein@nyc.rr.com

REAL ESTATE

THINKING OF MOVING TO CONNECTICUT? Full-time and Vacation homes. 15 years exp. selling in Fairfield County, CT. Rob Grodman, Realtor. The Riverside Realty Group. 203-952-6117 www.RobGrodman.com email: westportagent@hotmail.com 2 BR CO-OP APARTMENT FOR SALE, WOODMERE, NY Top School District 14, Bright & Spacious, 2 Large Master BR’s, Walking distance to shopping, restaurants, LIRR, NYC 41 Min., Synagogues & Churches, well maintained building, BELOW MARKET PRICE, ASKING $169K. Owner 917.362.6354

BAYSIDE, BELL BLVD medical center, (directly opposite Bay Terrace shopping center) Furnished & Equipped.

PERFECT FOR: DDS, MD, psych, other professionals. On-site valet parking. P/T & F/T. Signage!

Location! 718-229-3598

Healy Woodworks Inc. COMPLETE RENOVATIONS Interior Remodeling, Custom Carpentry Kitchen, Bathroom, Closets, Moldings, Doors, Floors, Framing, Sheetrock, Skimcoating, Painting, Decks A Fully Insured / License No: 1085217

www.healywoodworks.com

Office Tel: 212 470 6236 Email: freeestimate@healywoodworks.com

Puzzle 142231292

Answers at www.sudoku-puzzles.net 24 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • June 2 1, 2 012

POLICY NOTICE: We make every effort to avoid mistakes in your classified ads. Check your ad the first week it runs. We will only accept responsibility for the first incorrect insertion. Manhattan Media Classifieds assumes no financial responsibility for errors or omissions. We reserve the right to edit, reject, or re-classify any ad. Contact your sales rep directly for copy changes. All classified ads are pre-paid.

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

MARKETING DIRECTOR-PARTNER, Biomedical Engineering co. is looking for an experienced, motivated & results-oriented marketing expert to be part of our fast-growing firm.

We have a unique niche, specializing in restoring diagnostic medical equipment that are no longer being supported by their manufacturers, but are still viable & acceptable for medical use. We are looking for a marketing guru who will help us expand our client base on a national level. Compensation will be based on your experience & yur propsed strategy to begin with & then increased based on your results. DO NOT SEND A RESUME. Send bullet points outlining why you are qualified for this position: tw@medequitech.com

SENIOR DIRECTOR , WOMEN, FAMILY & SPECIALTY PROGRAMMING at Sirius XM RadioDevelop, launch and manage women’s, family and specialty programming across SIRIUS XM’s talk programming platform. Bachelors preferred. Minimum ten years experience overseeing traditional and/or new media content with demonstrated expertise in targeting a women and/or family audience. Apply at https://careerssiriusxm.icims.com/jobs/7443/job.

PUBLIC NOTICE

NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF TRAN S PO RTATI O N NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING The New York City Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing on Wednesday June 27, 2012 at 2:00 P.M., at 55 Water St., 9th Floor Room 945, on the following petitions for revocable consent, all in the Borough of Manhattan: #1 The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York -to construct, maintain and use a conduit, together with pull boxes, under and along W 168th St. and under, across and along Audubon Ave. #2 Richard Cantor and Esther Altmann- to construct, maintain and use a stoop on the south sidewalk of W.87th St., west of West End Ave. #3 Francesco Scattone and Judith Gibbons.-to construct, maintain and use a stoop and a fenced-in area on the south sidewalk of E 93rd St., west of Madison Ave. #4 Kurt W. Rueloffs Jr. and Shyanne Rueloffs-to construct, maintain and use a stoop and stair on the south sidewalk of W 88th St., east of Central Park West.

Interested parties can obtain copies of proposed agreements or request sign-language interpreters (with at least seven days prior notice) at 55 Water St., 9th Fl. SW New York, NY 10041, or by calling (212) 839-6550

BUY/SELL Place your ad here. 212-268-0384

Is Your Computer Running Slow Or In A Coma?

Don’t Throw Out Your Old Computer!

SAVE YOUR MONEY! SAVE THE PLANET!

PRODUCER, TALK PROGRAMMING at Sirius XM Radio Oversee production of daily conservative talk program.

Responsible for all aspects of content including guest booking, topic selection, audio production, and studio operations.

Min. 4 years radio, audio, or political media experience . Apply at https:// careers-siriusxm.icims.com/jobs/7441/job.

LET US RESTORE YOUR OLD COMPUTER FOR AS LITTLE AS $195 Your Computer Will Be Re-Newed & Run @ Lightning Speeds

M.E. TECHNOLOGIES 212.758.9280

GET ABSOLUTELY BY

1-800-NEW-FLOORS 1-800-639-3566 FLOOR COVERING AUCTION! HUGE $AVING$$$

LOOKING TO BUY

ESTATES PURCHASED Antiques, Jewlry, Etc.) Clean-out service available.

Call 212-260-1851. brooklynbridgebuyers.com

CHAT LINE Hot Guys! Hot Chat! Hot Fun! Hook up with local guys now!

Call FREE! 646-201-5127

EHEALTH SERVICES ***HIV/STD TESTING*** IMMEDIATE RESULTS! LOWEST FEE. Discreet. Expert Genital Wart Treatment & STD Treatment. Dermatology. www.CentralParkMedicalAssociates.com 212-246-0800

MASSAGE

BODY WAX & DEEP TISSUE HEALING MASSAGE By dual-licensed, experienced male therapist. Deep Tissue massage, men’s facial & body wax. Private. Shower available.

W 55th St NYC. Also in L.I.C. Queens.

718-612-1719

$400 -10 hours massage, free membership (Save $250) $225 - 5 hours massage, free membership (Save $100) Member free use sauna NY Press.co m

rs

CLASSI FI E DS BODYWORK YOU WILL KEEP COMING BACK! Talented, trained bodyworker does amazing Swedish and Shiatsu work on a table in a beautiful Chelsea apartment. Friendly guy who will focus on your specific requests. Very high repeat clients because you will like it!

Call 646-734-3042

MASSAGE

SEXY LATINA — J.LO Midtown Loc. West 40’s Incalls only. 845-332-1891 Ask About Specials.

No Blocked Calls.

MASSAGE

BEAUTIFUL, RELAXING MASSAGE BY SYLVIA My massage session is a wonderfully pleasant experience that creates harmony and peace.

Quality service. Please call me at 212-888-0611

MASSAGE

get him on the line

SWEDISH/SHIATSU CHINESE GUY Expert masseur. Swedish & Shiatsu.

Therapeutic & relaxing.

Private. 52nd St & 3rd Ave. Stephen: 646-996-9030 AWESOME BODYWORK BY STEVE. Experienced hands will take your stress away. M4M. By appt. only. Call or text 917-686-4160 • bodyworknownyc@ aol.com SENSUAL BODYWORK -young, handsome, smooth, athletic Asian. In/Out. Phillip. 212-787-9116

After Hours

GREAT BODYWORK

BY EUROPEAN Open late, Midtown East 212-813-0038

Real hookPreups, fer red real fast.

Plu s

Free TRY FOR

646.201.5127 646.429.1300 18+ / Ahora en Español / www.interactivemale.com

ENJOY THE BEST

Sensual Body Work Private Dancing & Light Fetish/ Domination w/Beautiful Girls 917-463-3739

E!

Local #s: 1.800.926.6000 www.livelinks.com Ahora en Español 18+

NEW YORK Large and Lovely Connection!

Exclusively for full figured ladies FREE for and gentleman who adore them.

EVERYONE CALL: 646-507-5110 718-280-0011 201-708-6148 in JUNE 732-510-2999 908-376-1999 516-471-5056 973-867-7930 Connect LIVE with LOCAL CALLERS in our chatroom RIGHT NOW!

44

FULL BODYWORK STRESS...GONE

by Stefan Upper West Side

646-496-3981

DATING, for serious minded CASUAL ENCOUNTERS, no strings ALTERNATIVE, take a walk on the wild side LIVE CHAT, sharing whatever is on your mind w/ sexy strangers You must be an adult over 18 years of age to use this service and fully understand that APC, Inc., DBA Plus Preferred does not prescreen callers and anyone using this service hold APC, Inc. harmless with regard to any interactions with other callers occurring as a result of using this service.

You must be an adult over 18 years of age to use this service and fully understand that APC, Inc., DBA Plus Preferred does not prescreen callers and anyone using this service hold APC, Inc. harmless with regard to any interactions with other callers occurring as a result of using this service.

NYPre ss.com

J une 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 25

FAMILY CORNER

A New Day at Coney Between the new rides and the classic attractions, Coney Island is, once again, a hit with city families

By Eric Messinger

S

lowly and reliably, Coney Island has revived to the point where it offers local families one of the most fun, special days anywhere in the city. Here are a few tips from someone who grew up nearby and still goes back with his kids.

The AquArium I often recommend starting a day in Coney with the New York Aquarium, taking in the crowd-pleasing sea lions, plus all sorts of exotic and marine life. (Note: The Aquarium has the most ample parking lot in the area.) nyaquarium.com The CyClone If you like roller coasters, the historic wooden Cyclone is one of those experiences that just has to be had, usually more than once. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether to tell the uninitiated about the first drop. lunA PArk In the last few years, large swaths of Coney Island have been reconceived and rebuilt under the umbrella name Luna Park, which was one of the great anchors of Coney Island in the past. The remake has brought a lot of varied and wonderful rides and games, so toddlers can have their thrills—but so can tweens and teens.

One of the new sections, the Scream Zone, incorporates several new roller coasters, including the Steeplechase (another historyminded tribute). lunaparknyc.com Deno’s WonDer Wheel AmusemenT PArk There’s no better way to immerse yourself in Coney Island than by enjoying the gentle swaying and big vistas of the iconic Wonder Wheel. A proud second-generation operation, Deno’s also features a kiddie park with 17 rides and a few other classics for adults, including Spook-A-Rama and bumper cars. wonderwheel.com 26 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • JUN E 2 1, 2 01 2

BEach & Boardwalk PoiNtErS The Atlantic Ocean doesn’t hit Coney Island head-on; it’s more like a very big inlet, so the waves are almost always kid-friendly.

Looking west along the boardwalk, you’ll see the really long Coney Island fishing pier. For a taciturn tribe, fishermen typically love introducing their passion to kids.

At the end of the day, you can also walk east on the boardwalk, savoring the breezes and the human parade, and end up in Brighton Beach for dinner at a Russian restaurant. If you see a kid looking out the window of his apartment building, that was once me.

nAThAn’s FAmous I don’t know why it’s true, but it is—Nathan’s hot dogs taste even better when purchased at the original home in Coney Island. Same goes for those thick wedge fries. nathansfamous.com ToTonno’s As long as we’re on the topic of food, it’s worth noting that the original Totonno’s, widely recognized by pizza foodies as one of the city’s great brick-oven joints, is also in Coney Island.

The Brooklyn CyClones A lower division off-shoot of the Mets, the Cyclones offer fans the full Minor League treatment, with lots of special promotions and events that are perfect for families. My favorite: Stay after the game on Friday night and watch the fireworks. brooklyncyclones.com For more info on Coney Island, visit coneyislandfunguide.com. And for more great ideas for summer fun around the city, visit newyorkfamily.com.

NY Press.co m

ON TOPIC

Marijuana Shouldn’t Be a Crime MaNhattaN MEdia

PrEsidENt/CEO Tom Allon tallon@manhattanmedia.com group puBLISHEr Alex Schweitzer aschweitzer@manhattanmedia.com CFO/COO Joanne Harras jharras@manhattanmedia.com

EditOrial

ExECUtivE EditOr Allen Houston ahouston@manhattanmedia.com EditOr-iN-ChiEF Marissa Maier mmaier@manhattanmedia.com sPECial sECtiONs EditOr Josh Rogers jrogers@manhattanmedia.com FEatUrEd CONtribUtOrs Leonora Desar, Penny Gray, Courtney Holbrook, Regan Hofmann, Alan Krawitz, Robby Ritacco CONtribUtiNG PhOtOGraPhErs George Denison, Veronica Hoglund, Wyatt Kostygan, Andrew Schwartz iNtErNs Laurent Berstecher, Paul Bisceglio, Rebecca Harri, Alissa Fleck, James Kelleher, Adel Manoukian, Jonathan Springer, Amanda Woods

advErtisiNG

advertising@manhattanmedia.com PUblishEr Gerry Gavin ggavin@manhattanmedia.com dirECtOr OF NEw bUsiNEss dEvElOPMENt Dan Newman assOCiatE PUblishErs Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth, Mary Ann Oklesson advErtisiNG MaNaGEr Marty Strongin sPECial PrOJECts dirECtOr Jim Katocin sENiOr aCCOUNt ExECUtivEs Verne Vergara, Mike Suscavage dirECtOr OF EvENts & MarkEtiNG Joanna Virello jvirello@manhattanmedia.com ExECUtivE assistaNt OF salEs Jennie Valenti jvalenti@manhattanmedia.com

bUsiNEss adMiNistratiON CONtrOllEr Shawn Scott CrEdit MaNaGEr Kathy Pollyea billiNG COOrdiNatOr Colleen Conklin CirCUlatiON Joe Bendik circ@manhattanmedia.com

I used to turn down pot so I could someday run for Congress

W

hen I was a young man, I refused to smoke marijuana when offered the opportunity. I thought that it might interfere with my future career—at the time, I thought I might like to run for Congress and that if you were caught, you were disqualified.

Of course, we now know that weed is a rite of passage. Presidents and presidential candidates freely admit to drug use.

We also know that white middle-class kids and their parents are exempt—it’s tough to get caught smoking dope when you are on the 15th floor of a Park Avenue apartment. On the other hand, if you are a black or Latino kid on the streetcorner, it is very easy to get stopped and frisked and sent off to jail.

Right now there is a great debate on whether to make marijuana possession legal or almost legal. I have a doctor friend, one of the top addiction specialists in the country, who tells me that marijuana is what we might call a “gateway drug.” She says that if you start with weed, you often graduate to something stronger. I have great respect for this doctor, who has to deal with people who have been sucked into drug use, and I find it difficult to dismiss her concerns. Yet the inequalities I mentioned above are also of great concern.

spend it on giving people an economic Let there be no mistake about it: Alcohol chance and some hope—I am sure that is every bit as dangerous as marijuana. In would go further than consigning them fact, judging from the number of automoto a life of hell byw sending them to jail. bile accidents every year caused by alcohol Even a history of a violation may well hurt abuse, strong drink is much more dangersomeone’s chances in life. ous than marijuana.

We know that cannabis has helped Now that the Rockefeller drug laws have people who are terminal cancer patients. been modified, things have gotten more Our congressional and legsensible. Fewer kids are islative hearings are replete being put into the system, with such testimony from but there is still a glut of arsome very high-ranking rests among our most dispeople in this country, inadvantaged citizens. Some cluding judges and doctors. distinguished lawmakers It is hard to believe that have suggested it is time there isn’t a simple majority, to legalize marijuana and even among the Republiother much more deadly cans in the state Senate, and heavy drugs. Some who haven’t used marihave suggested that if we juana. That makes it rank legalize cannabis, the same arguments that lead to its ALAN CHARTOCK hypocrisy to criminalize its use. Otherwise, I suggest legalization will be used for that all those sitting in the other drugs. upper House should turn themselves in. I Such a debate is really above my pay mean, wouldn’t that be the right thing to grade; I certainly can see all the arguments do? for and against it. As long as there is povSometimes in life, choices have to be erty and a lack of hope, there will be drug made. We know that when we tried to use in this country. criminalize the use of alcohol, the result The idea of making marijuana posseswas catastrophic; a black market resulted sion a violation, like a speeding ticket, is and criminals got rich. The same thing is a step in the right direction. Jail or prison true with the distribution of marijuana. time is just not an answer. The only people The time has come to do the right thing who make out in that scenario are those and use available money to help people who run our gigantic prison industry. We who have developed serious drug probknow that there are just too many people lems. Makes a lot more sense than what we behind bars. I certainly think that if we are doing. are going to spend the money, we should

sTReeT sCeNe

PrOdUCtiON

PrOdUCtiON dirECtOr Heather Mulcahey ejohnson@manhattanmedia.com EditOrial dEsiGNEr Sahar Vahidi svahidi@manhattanmedia.com advErtisiNG dEsiGN Quran Corley

OUr tOwN dOwNtOwN is published weekly Copyright © 2012 Manhattan Media, llC 79 Madison avenue, 16th Floor New York, N.Y. 10016 Editorial (212) 284-9734 Fax (212) 268-2935 advertising (212) 284-9715 General (212) 268-8600 E-mail: otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com website: NYpress.com OUr tOwN dOwNtOwN is a division of Manhattan Media, llC, publisher of west side spirit, Chelsea Clinton News, the westsider, City & state, the blackboard awards, New York Family, and avenue magazine. to subscribe for 1 year, please send $75 to OUr tOwN dOwNtOwN, 79 Madison avenue, 16th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10016 recognized for excellence by the New York Press association

Out With the Old

Photos by James Kelleher

With another summer season on the horizon, Animus Art Collective’s neon plastic-tie art piece “Flaming Cactus, installed in Astor Place as part of the Department of Transportation’s Summer Streets program, was taken down on Tuesday, June 19. The collective will reportedly bring the piece to 23 poles along Spring Street.

NYPre ss.com

J UNE 21, 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 27

TRIM

TRIM

10x11.25

M

TRIM

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. PASS IT ON.

©2012 Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. Ad: Arnell Group

Here’s how to cut your cooling costs by 20 to 50 percent.

Switch to a high-efficiency air conditioner and lower your air conditioning use.

Turn off the A/C whenever possible and use fans instead. Fans use a lot less energy.

©2012 Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. Ad: Arnell Group

100+ energy saving tips at conEd.com

LEARN MORE

facebook.com/powerofgreen

TR

M

NY Press.co m TRIM

TRIM

28 • O UR TOWN DOW NTOW N • J une 2 1, 2 012