Our Town Downtown June 28, 2012

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INSIDE: ART ADVERTS START A NEW WAVE P.12

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• COMMUNITY NEWS BELOW 14TH STREET • JUNE 28, 2012

(SEE PAGE 18)

S G N I D L I U B N W O DOWNT K N I R B E ON TH The infamous ab

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WOULD SHUTTING DOWN BACKPAGE. COM END SEX TRAFFICKING?

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ALSO INSIDE COMEDIAN MICHAEL IAN BLACK LEARNS TO LOVE REPUBLICANS P.4 PROPERTY WORKER’S UNION MEMBERS SHOW OFF ARTISTIC SKILLS IN GROUP SHOW P.2

Dozens rally outside Village Voice offices in opposition to, and support of, online sex ad website P.5

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DOWNTOWN SOCIAL

Property Workers of NYC

Show Off Their Artistic Chops

Text By Adel Manoukian • Photos by Jonathan Springer Members of 32BJ SEIU, the largest national union for property workers, and their families had the opportunity to showcase their artistic talents this past Friday evening at the sixth annual 32BJ Free Art Show in the union’s building on 18th Street.

These artists, with full-time jobs as doormen, janitors and building service workers, hail from faraway places like South America and Europe but live and work in New York City and Northern New Jersey.

“We wanted to find out what motivates them,” said Lenore Friedlaender, who founded the art committee that organized the event and chose the showcase’s theme of “Interpretation Through Our Eyes.”

“Our workers should be able to express themselves how they see fit, whether politically or emotionally, through this medium. This show celebrates their talent,” she said.

“The show also brings the community closer, as this year’s entries have been the greatest to date—about 76 workers submitted photography, ceramics, oil paintings and pencil drawings. It is also expanding, the artists have presented their work at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and the Labor Museum in New Jersey this year already,” Friedlaender continued.

“I graduated from the School of Visual Arts hoping for a career in the arts,” said Julius Gaston Sr., a full-time porter for three buildings in Queens who made opening remarks at the ceremony. “But I have to provide for my family. As much as I love art, I don’t want to be a starving artist. Many here feel the same, so this is why this show is so important. We just love art.”

All the art, including Gaston’s two oil paintings and a pencil drawing, will be on display through the summer.

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NEIGHBORHOOD CHATTER Officials Push for Domestic Violence Penalty Laws City officials, including Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., are calling for immediate passage of a bill that would increase penalties for repeat domestic violence offenders. The legislation, led

by State Sen. Daniel Squadron and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, would provide district attorneys with the tools to crack down on reoccurring violent abuse by establishing the felony-level crime of “aggressive domestic violence” for abusers who commit two or more offenses within five years. Under the current law, only those who cause serious physical injury or kill their victims face felony charges, and those who repeatedly commit domestic violence offenses can only be charged with a low-level misdemeanor.

Quinn and Bloomberg Join to End Defense of Marriage Act City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that they will file a joint amicus brief to support Edie Windsor’s constitutional challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Windsor sued the federal government after being forced to pay $363,000 in estate taxes on her late wife’s estate be-

cause the government did not recognize her marriage to her partner of over 40 years.

Under DOMA, homosexual marriages are not recognized as legitimate, and therefore only heterosexual couples are exempt from having to pay their spouses’ estate taxes.

“Edie Windsor’s case is a tragic reminder of the work that still needs to be done to extend equality to all people,” said Quinn. “As courts across the country continue to strike down DOMA’s unconstitutional assault on our civil liberties, I’m proud to join Mayor Bloomberg and the chorus of voices that have called to repeal DOMA once and for all.”

Safety Improvements on Spruce and Beekman Streets After UPS worker Michael Rogalle, 58, was killed by an SUV on Spruce Street outside an elementary school, local parents have been petitioning for the addition of street signs and school crossing markings on Beekman Street between Gold and William streets.

According to the office of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the petition passed and the signs will be put up in a matter of days and painted during the following weeks.

Silver commented, “I look forward to further improvements so that we can do more to prevent tragedies such as the recent fatal accident at Beekman and Spruce streets.”

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

Newly Reconstructed Pearl Street Playground Gives Kids a Place to Cool Off Last Thursday, June 21, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe joined Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) President David Emil, City Council Member Margaret Chin, Community Board 1 Chair Julie Menin and neighborhood children to cut the ribbon on the $2.1 million reconstruction of Pearl Street Playground.

Generously funded by the LMDC, the reconstructed playground creates another improved public space along the Fulton Street corridor. The park was expanded into the roadbed of “Little Pearl Street” to provide an upgraded playground, including play equipment that meets current safety standards, a spray shower, swings and plantings. The enlarged park also has a pedestrian link to Beekman Street, several additional seating areas, a rock feature referencing the sandy bluff that once existed at the site and direct views of the South Street Seaport district.

First Tower on World Trade Center Site to be Completed World Trade Center Developer Larry A. Silverstein joined more than 1,000 construction workers at a topping out

ceremony to mark the completion of the steel erection for 4 World Trade Center on Monday, June 25 at the corner of Liberty and Greenwich streets. The last steel beam was signed by a representative group of construction workers before it was lifted 977 feet in the air and placed atop the building, which will be the first tower completed on the 16-acre WTC site when it opens in fall 2013.

Funding for Millennium High School’s new P.E. Space Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced that he has allocated $400,000 to Millennium High School in Lower Manhattan to replace its exercise equipment and renovate an auditorium so that it can serve as a space for physical education.

“Millennium High School is one of Lower Manhattan’s great success stories,” said Silver, “and I am proud to be able to allocate crucial funding to renovate this space and purchase new exercise equipment for students to have physical education. Providing the best possible environment for our children is a top priority of mine and I will continue to fight to ensure that Millennium High School, and all of our excellent Lower Manhattan schools, receive the resources they deserve.”

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J UNE 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 3

TALKING UP DOWNTOWN

Not So Blackand-White How comedian Michael Ian Black managed to blur party lines

By Angela Barbuti

I

n the lobby of WYNC’s offices on Varick Street, Michael Ian Black is chatting with Meghan McCain. It seems as though they are old friends catching up between sips of iced coffee. They’re not.

Actually, they only met in person less than a year ago, but in this short time they have toured the nation together and learned valuable lessons from one another, though they are of very different political thinking.

Black, a Democrat, and McCain, a Republican, prove that friendship and admiration can cross party lines.

Clutching the book they have penned together, America, You Sexy Bitch, I go over to greet them after their interview with Brian Lehrer. Black and I walk to the nearest Starbucks, where we speak about his book, Washington Square Park, and the first trip he took across the United States—dressed

as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

In the beginning of your book, you said that Ambien and Twitter were instrumental in getting McCain to sign on to this project. Is that really true?

Yes, I was on Twitter. I had taken Ambien. And the next morning, I woke up and went, “Did I just propose writing a book to Meghan McCain? I think so and I think she said yes. I think that’s what happened last night.” I had only met her once before, via satellite. I had been a fan of hers for years. I liked the way she spoke about the Republican party, and that that she wasn’t afraid to go against party orthodoxy. She seemed like someone who spoke her mind, which I respond to.

Did she meet your expectations?

She exceeded them in a lot of ways. She’s a lot braver than I would have given her credit for. In politics, it’s very hard to forge your own path, because the way the political system works, you’re either in one camp or the other. Meghan is a Republican, but the Republican establishment that exists rejects her because she does not toe the party line. As a result, she doesn’t have a home politically. It’s a shame, because for that party to succeed, it needs to have more Meghan McCains.

You said that her mother, Cindy, was

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4 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • JUN E 2 8 , 2 012

the first person who made you start to think you may have had the wrong impression of some Republicans. How so?

I had an impression of Cindy McCain based on what I knew from the media: She was rich, cold and aloof. None of that was true—except for the part about her being rich. She is really rich. [Laughs] But she was warm and hospitable and open with me in a way that surprised me because they’re a guarded family—as anybody would be in that position. To welcome a stranger into your home whose motivations probably seemed very unclear, I think, was really generous.

In the book, you explain your worry that your two children will not get to experience the American Dream as you did.

What do you mean by that?

Every parent worries about the opportunities their children are going to have. My fear for them is that they won’t even see the opportunities that my generation and all previous generations saw. The American Dream is a promise that one generation gives to the other and right now, it’s hard to give my kids that promise. It’s a scary time. That being said, my children are in a much better position than 80-90 percent of other kids in this country because I make a good living. They have a lot of advantages that others don’t, and yet I’m still frightened for my socioeconomically blessed children. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for people living from paycheck to paycheck.

You studied acting at NYU. What is your favorite place in the city?

I will always have a very soft spot in my heart for Washington Square Park. It’s where I came when I was a kid on my first trip to New York. We saw street performers there.

NYU is there; I spent innumerable mornings walking across that park and really feeling like a part of the city for the first time.

Do people recognize you here?

I’m not out there going, “Look at me—I was on cable.” People recognize me and are usually really nice and respectful.

The first time you traveled around the country you were 19 and dressed as Raphael, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

What was that for?

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were doing a live tour—like Disney on Ice, but with turtles and no ice. They needed people to travel ahead and promote the show. So that’s what I did; I dropped out of college to go be a turtle. It was an opportunity to see the country and make good

money. It was so weird and crazy that I thought, “I should do this.”

Do you keep in touch with your fellow castmates from Wet Hot American Summer?

That movie was populated almost entirely with friends or people who became friends. There are very few people I don’t see from that movie. The only one I don’t really see is Bradley Cooper, but that’s just because he’s in L.A. and is an A-list movie star. I’m actually shooting a movie in July called They Came Together with a lot of the same Wet Hot American Summer people.

How have your political views changed since touring the country with America, You Sexy Bitch?

My own political philosophy hasn’t changed—in a lot of ways, it was reinforced. I think my mind is a little more open than it was before about the conservative philosophy and lifestyle. I’m a liberal—will probably always be a liberal—but I feel like I at least caught a glimpse of what American conservatism is supposed to be about. And that there’s a lot to admire about it.

Are you going to work on this year’s presidential campaign? They’re going to want you to now, since you wrote this political book.

Oh no, I’m not going to do anything for the campaign. I’m not posting yard signs anywhere. I’m not stuffing envelopes.

Those are all the questions I had. But if you want to add anything…

Just that New York City is the greatest city in the world. Is that pandering enough?

Yeah—that’s fine.

OK, good.

NY Press.co m

NEWS

Visit either our Manhattan or Morristown office: Protesters rally outside of The Village Voice’s downtown offices. Photo courtesy of Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

Does Backpage.com Help or Hinder Sex Trafficking?

Protests outside The Village Voice disagree

By Paul Bisceglio “Village Voice, shame on you, most of you have daughters too!”

“Village Voice, you have a choice, stop selling girls with no voice!”

Last Wednesday, these chants echoed throughout Cooper Square, where protestors led by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) and Prostitute Research & Education (PRE) rallied outside The Village Voice’s office on the Bowery.

The crowd—mostly young women, but with a number of men, older citizens and a priest—marched in circles under pink umbrellas in the early evening to deliver a stern message to the weekly newspaper publisher: “Backpage—shut it down!”

Backpage.com is a classified advertising website owned by The Village Voice’s parent company, Village Voice Media, which includes the largest listing for adult entertainment services on the web. Though the site officially prohibits prostitution, the adult listings are explicitly sexual, offering escorts and in-house servicing of all varieties and fetishes. These listings are not illegal, but Wednesday’s protestors argued that the site’s proven links to sex trafficking—coercive, commercial sexual exploitation, often of minors—creates a human rights imperative that Village Voice Media shut the website down.

“There are now many documented cases NYPre ss.com

of sex trafficking directly facilitated through Backpage.com,” said Norma Ramos, executive director of CATW. These include 50 known incidents of child sexual services for sale that were recorded on the site last year.

Ramos added, “Backpage is responsible for 70 percent of sex trafficking ads.”

In addition to Ramos, speakers at the protest included Stella Marr, a sex trafficking survivor who has organized a network called Survivors Connect, City Council Member Brad Lander and Aaron Cohen, activist and author of Slave Hunter: One Man’s Global Quest to Free Victims of Human Trafficking.

“We cannot turn our backs to the suffering caused by these Backpage ads,” said Marr.

Another survivor agreed. “Don’t open a candy shop for predators to go shopping for our kids!” she yelled at The Village Voice’s windows.

Lander noted that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hines and the city of New York had called on Village Voice Media to shut down sex trafficking ads. “Village Voice [Media] says they know better than a 13-year-old girl [who is forced into sex trafficking],” he said. “They know something better: how to profit from human suffering and slavery.”

According to Cohen, 89 percent of female prostitutes worldwide would leave the sex industry if they had the chance.

He emphasized that the vast majority of women in the industry are forced into

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J UNE 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 5

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prostitution by adverse social conditions like poverty, lack of work opportunities, unaffordable housing and discrimination.

CATW and Backpage’s opponents believe that Village Voice Media only lets the site operate for the profit. However, Liz McDougall, the alt weekly’s general counsel, argues that Backpage in fact helps the fight against sex trafficking.

McDougall contends that Backpage is able to monitor illegal trafficking activity and report it to law enforcement. Shutting the site down, she says, would only drive the sex industry further underground and out of reach. As reported by CNN, around 100 employees oversee the adult listings before they are posted, and the team reportedly identifies about 400 ads each month that potentially offer underage sexual services.

McDougall is not alone in her defense.

Next to Wednesday’s protestors was a smaller group protesting the protest. The Sex Workers Outreach Project—New York City (SWOP-NYC) and Sex Workers Action New York wore “I [heart] Sex Workers” pins and handed out their own brochures to passersby. They argued against what they considered CATW’s well-intentioned but misguided approach.

According to Lindsey Hennawi, a coorganizer of the rally, “We need to incorporate sex workers’ voices and experiences into the political discourse in order to better understand the issues that lead to exploitation in the sex trade. Ignoring those who are most impacted by these policies leads to incomplete and flawed understandings of social justice issues, which in turn creates ineffective solutions, like what we see here with the attempt to shut down Backpage.”

Kate D’Adamo, a community organizer for SWOP-NYC, emphasized that Backpage’s low-cost advertising can increase work safety and mean the difference between economic opportunity and poverty

‘America’s Next Top Model’ former Judge Nigel Barker Stands Against Sex Trafficking During his tenure on America’s Next Top Model, fashion photographer Nigel Barker was perennially kind and honest to the young female contestants— making him an antidote to Tyra Banks’ wonderfully crazy antics. Barker brought that same ethos to a talkback after a performance of Trafficked, a play about sex slavery and child exploitation, at the Bleecker Street Theatre last Thursday night. But this time, unlike his many countless panels on ANTM, Barker was brought to tears by the ensemble cast of local 15- to 21-year-old girls who wrote and performed in the work. The piece was produced by the Project Girl Performance Collective.

“This doesn’t happen too often,” Barker said, choking back tears on stage with the cast. “I’m kind of embarrassed to be a guy right now.”

Barker admitted that he works in industries— photography, fashion and advertising—that are notorious for their exploitation of women. “The first

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for people in the sex industry. Especially for the black and transgender populations disproportionately represented in sex trafficking, she argued, regulation of the industry is important for ensuring that they can work safely.

SWOP-NYC issued a letter to the City Council on June 20 that stated, “We feel that the crusade against Backpage.com is misguided and disregards human rightsbased approaches and best practices to fighting exploitation and coercion.”

The letter included two suggestions to the city for more effective resistance to sex trafficking: fund emergency shelters for homeless and housing unstable youth to keep those in danger of trafficking away from traffickers and deprioritize prostitution-related arrests to encourage trafficked women to come forward to report abuses.

“You want a hard fight?” one SWOP-NYC volunteer asked. “Empower sex workers.

Who’s better for rooting out illegal sex trafficking than sex workers themselves?

Give them the power to police their own industry.”

In CATW and its supporters’ view, however, prostitution is not something to be legitimized, and only rarely is it a choice. One of the pamphlets they distributed read, “Prostitution is not ‘work.’

It is violence against women and girls and a human rights violation. The term ‘sex work’ completely masks the physical, psychological and sexual violence inflicted on prostituted persons.”

“This isn’t theory, this isn’t moralism, this is human rights and real experiences across the world. We’re talking about the system that enables oppression,” said Clare Nolan of Sisters of the Good Shepherd, partners of CATW. Jonathan Walton of InterVarsity’s New York City Urban Project agreed in the conclusion to a poem he read to the vocal crowd. “This isn’t an event,” he said of the protest and its resistance to the objectification of women promoted by the sex industry. “It’s a lifestyle.”

thing you learn is ‘sex sells,’” noted Barker.

He added that even though he comes from a privileged, educated, churchgoing background, the issue of sex slavery never came to the fore until he started to do human rights advocacy work in adulthood.

“This issue is seen as being simply unsavory—not for polite discussion—but this play pulls the cover back,” Barker said. “This show needs to be seen by men…because men need to be better men.”

Barker, along with several audience members, noted that men need to be brought into the discussion not only on sex trafficking but on the overall treatment of women in society as well. But some asserted that the perceptions of men and boys will not change until a famous athlete, singer or actor publicly coming out against the mistreatment of women.

To learn more about the play, visit projectgirl performancecollective.org.

NY Press.co m

FAMILY CORNER

Welcome to Kelly World How Kelly Killoren Bensimon is raising two tween girls, running Manhattan and staying as hot as ever

K

By Whitney Casser

elly Killoren Bensimon is a name that rolls off the tongue with unusual grace, but it’s a name that was relatively unknown to those outside the fashion world until the former model hit the reality TV scene with Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City in 2009.

From then on, Bensimon’s life in the spotlight took on a whole new dimension.

Rather than spending her days posing for fashion photographers and writing about style, the leggy mom found herself letting cameras inside her home and into the most personal parts of her life as a New Yorker.

The result was a whirlwind two-plus years of filming, socializing and embodying her Housewives mantra: “I’ve created a great life and I love living it,” which eventually evolved into the more playful “I’m living the American Dream, one mistake at a time.”

To her credit, Bensimon is usually the first to admit her mistakes, but the past year seems to have been one of very few missteps. The prolific writer, successful career woman and mother of two tween girls has become a celebrity ambassador for the Food Bank for New York City, worked as guest editor for AVENUE magazine and acted as a judge for the Miss New York USA 2012 pageant.

This spring, she also ran a local halfmarathon to raise nearly $10,000 for Generosity Water, a nonprofit that brings clean drinking water to areas in need. During the race, a paparazzo stopped her midstride.

Fearing the worst, Bensimon braced herself for the expected onslaught.

“He said to me, ‘I just want you to know that you’re the only celebrity I’ve ever seen who says you’re going to do something and then actually do it,’” Bensimon recalled.

“I was sweating like a pig, but I literally started to cry because I was so moved.”

Aside from running around the city (in more ways than one), perhaps most exciting in Bensimon’s life right now is her latest publishing venture. She has just released her fourth book, I Can Make You HOT!: The NYPre ss.com

Kelly Killoren Bensimon with her daughters at Coney Island. Photo by Seth Kushner

dish to make for lunch or picking out what Supermodel Diet (St. Martin’s Press), and to wear to feel confident. is donating a portion of the proceeds to “Anyone can look like [this]; you just Generosity Water. have to work at it,” she In a nutshell, the said, referring to her fitbook is an easy-to‘Anyone cAn as-a-fiddle figure. navigate guide to look like [this]; For Bensimon, what nutrition and welloriginally started out as ness, with recipes you just hAve to an idea for a cookbook and hot tips by which work At it.’ evolved into something Bensimon lives her much greater. And life. The acronym in though it took her only a month to write the title, “Healthy Options Today,” is meant the book, the lessons found within its to inspire readers to make the best choices pages were learned over time. for themselves, whether it’s deciding on a

“When you meet people who are living on $39 a week for food, you have a totally different perspective on making healthy choices,” she said, thinking of her charity work with the Food Bank.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Bensimon details some of the extreme measures that supermodels go to in order to stay thin—and some of the methods she tried during her early days in front of the camera. As a former pro model, she’s learned a lot about health and nutrition.

“I was a healthy American girl from See KELLY on page 8

J UNE 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 7

Kelly’s HOT Tip on How to Eat Healthy A great way to combine meat and vegetables is by stuffing. Stuff cabbage, sweet peppers, tomatoes or even onions with ground meat, chicken or turkey seasoned with salt and pepper. Bake until the meat is cooked through and the vegetable is softened. If you mix the ground meat with cooked rice, you’ve got a whole meal in one neat package.

For Kelly’s Impromptu Pepper Party recipe, see I Can Make You HOT!, available in bookstores now.

Copyright 2012 by Kelly Killoren Bensimon. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

KELLY Continued from page 7 Rockford, Ill., and when I came to New York they were always telling me to lose weight—always telling me to lose 10 pounds,” Bensimon remembered.

Like most living, breathing human beings, Bensimon became frustrated under the pressure and did quite the opposite— dieting while also eating Dove bars and complaining about not losing weight.

Fast-forward 10 years. As an expectant mom, she gained 50 pounds during both pregnancies, eating what her body craved and letting nature take its course. But she didn’t let weight issues or motherhood keep her from following her career ambitions, such as writing for Hamptons magazine, launching ELLE Accessories, penning three books on culture and style and blogging about her daily adventures. In fact, all her weight-watching and mothering seem to have done quite the opposite.

“I’ve done a lot in the past 15 years, and my whole perspective changed because [of] my desire to be a better person for my kids,” she said.

But her résumé of career accomplishments—from book deals to fashion features— seems to pale in comparison to her family life at home.

“I’m most proud of my girls,” Bensimon gushes. “When you have kids, all of a sudden, your priorities change.”

To get a sense of where those priorities started, consider that Bensimon began modeling at the age of 16. As a result, she experienced all the glitz and glamour of New York’s fashion scene early on. It’s a fast and fabulous lifestyle that might lure other women into a routine of living for the moment, but Bensimon seems to have transcended the here and now.

As a working parent, Bensimon has always known that the juggle can be a struggle. “With working, everything I do that is away from my kids has to be 100 percent exactly what I want to do,” she said. “Otherwise, I would be taking time away from my kids.”

Bensimon’s daughters, Thadeus Ann, 11— who goes by “Teddy”—and Sea Louise, 14, are “New York kids with a Midwestern attitude,” according to their mother. “They’re synthesizers. They’re able to acclimate, too, which is very unusual for that age, because most tween kids are just so narcissistic,” Bensimon said.

“My girls, fortunately, are super interested in a lot of different things.”

As far as parenting philosophies go, Bensimon runs a tight ship. “I just want my kids to have really strong values and to be raised with integrity more than anything,” she said

with conviction. “The Bensimon girls, they have rules. They’re not like other girls. They always have to be polite and shake people’s hands. They always have to say ‘thank you’ and ‘please.’ They always have to write thank-you notes. They always have to be respectful of other people.”

The hands-on mom doesn’t mince words when it comes to her style of parenting. “If they’re in a mood to have a tantrum, they have to remove themselves.” she said. “We’re strict. We don’t play around.”

At the same time, Bensimon encourages her girls to push boundaries and discover the wider world for themselves. “The worst parenting advice that I ever got was just let kids be kids. I think that’s the worst thing you could ever do!” she said with a laugh. “If you let kids be kids, you’re not encouraging them to learn and exposing them to different things.”

It’s clear that the mom of two has given her mothering strategy a lot of thought—not to mention the consideration she gives to how she co-parents with the girls’ father, fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon, who lives next door. The former model takes a refreshing approach to her relationship with her ex-husband, whom she first met on set while shooting for ELLE. “One thing that bothers me about some divorced parents is that they’re always criticizing the other person. Well, if you didn’t love them so much, then why did you marry them in the first place?” she wondered. “I also think it’s really disrespectful to the children.”

Her approach seems to be working. Sea and Teddy come across as lively, gracious and highly self-aware young girls. They’re playful with one another, loving toward their mom and not afraid to try new things.

When asked about her daughters, Bensimon takes as much care to compose her descriptions as a pianist would a concerto or a photographer would a portrait.

“Sea is really, really pragmatic, but she’s also incredibly creative,” Bensimon said. “She really loves to write. She’s a great tennis player— a natural athlete. She is probably the nicest girl I’ve ever met in my entire life. And I’m not just saying that because I’m her mother!”

As far as younger sister Teddy goes, Bensimon praised her creativity. “She is carefree.

She is dynamic. She’s an incredible pianist; she plays by ear. She’s really, really talented.”

With summer on the horizon, the Bensimon girls look forward to a sun-soaked season on the East End of Long Island, where the haze of the city fades at the shoreline.

“I can’t wait to be out there, [horseback]

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NEW YORK FAMILY NEWSLETTER For tips on local parenting resources shopping and weekend events, sign up for a weekly e-newsletter at newyorkfamily.com

riding, bike riding and just being at the beach,” Bensimon said. “I love the Hamptons. The beach culture is such a huge part of my life.”

Whether it’s making pancakes, letting the dogs and kids run around or simply getting some sun, Bensimon is anticipating the sweet release of finding some downtime.

But that’s not to say that she won’t miss Manhattan. Some of her favorite local spots include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she’s involved with the Costume Institute; SoulCycle in Union Square; Nobu in Tribeca; Delicatessen, where executive chef Michael Ferraro is a great friend of hers; and Barrio Chino for Mexican cuisine on the Lower East Side.

“I just love their spicy margaritas,” she said. “You have to wait two hours, but the food is really, really good and worth the wait.”

Another thing that might be worth the wait? Mr. Right. But Bensimon isn’t hoping for someone to come running down Fifth Avenue and sweep her off her feet—she’s a bit more practical about the matter. What she really wants is someone who has a good education and confidence.

“I definitely want to get married again,” she said.

What kind of love is in store for Bensimon remains to be seen, but in the meantime, she apparently has a lot of love for New York City.

“I feel really lucky to be able to live in a city like this, because I’ve met so many unbelievable parents and they’ve been such great friends,” she says. “They encourage me to do all of this!”

For more of our interview with Kelly, visit newyorkfamily.com.

NY Press.co m

THE 7-DAY PLAN THURSDAY

28

BEST PICK

FREE Ecstatic Summer Music Festival

The outdoor jam will kick off with performances by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, vocal group Roomful of Teeth and composer William Brittelle. Also in the mix: an ensemble of voices, electric guitars, keyboards and percussion called The Yehudim perform stories from the Hebrew Bible with music.

FREE We Are One: The 1982 Chinatown Garment Strike, 30 Years Later Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre St. (betw. Howard & Grand Sts.), mocanyc.org; 3 p.m.

The museum explores and honors the history of rebellious union garment factory workers and the events leading up to their 1982 strike that changed the way female Chinese immigrant workers were treated. Find out about the heroic tale from some 1982 strikers and the organizer, who will attend the opening and participate in a discussion.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

01 02 MONDAY

TUESDAY

03 04 WEDNESDAY

NYPre ss.com

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

Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com.

Wall St.: A Farce In Three Acts

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Medicine Show Theatre, 549 W. 52nd St., 3rd Fl. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), medicineshowtheatre.org; 8 p.m., $18.

If you want more theatrics from the 99 percent, come see this play directed by Obie Award winner Barbara Vann. The work hilariously explores the issues the 1 percent protestors faced during the Panic of 1819. Featuring songs created well after the 1800s, the play features Royal Pains star Dieter Riesle.

Sierra Leone’s Refugee

FRIDAY

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[6/30]

World Financial Center Plaza, 200 Vesey St. (at West St.), worldfinancialcenter.com; 7 p.m.

❮ All-Stars

Highline Ballroom, 431 W. 16th St. (betw. 9th & 10th Aves.), highlineballroom.com; 8 p.m., $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

See the band that made their humble start in a West African refugee camp perform uplifting reggae songs about faith and joy.

Veronika Voss and Fox and His Friends

Canal Park Playhouse, 508 Canal St. (betw.

Washington & Greenwich Sts.), canalparkplayhouse.com; 8 p.m., $18.

Frank McGuiness tells the story of overcoming nationalistic differences when an Irishman, an Englishman and an American are kidnapped by unseen Arabs in Lebanon. Together, the men must help each other survive in this award-winning play.

Block Party Blowout

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City Winery, 155 Varick St. (betw. Spring & Vandam Sts.), citywinery.com; 1 p.m. $45 in advance.

If your passions include wine, music and barbecue, come out to this second annual block party hosted by the City Winery and Finger on the Pulse, a consulting firm out of Williamsburg. Speak with culinary masters, including David Burke and Garrett Oliver, about the perfect grilling techniques while listening to the funky sounds of DJ Pasternak and others. Each partygoer gets eight gourmet dishes to nosh on, one from each of the chefs in attendance.

92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St. (betw. Desbrosses & Vestry Sts.), 92y.org; 7 p.m., $12.

Commemorate the 30th anniversary of iconic German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s death by watching his classic films Veronika Voss (1982) and Fox and His Friends (1975).

Faceboyz Follies

Sami Van Ingen

Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave. (betw.

1st & 2nd Sts.), anthologyfilmarchives.org; 8 p.m., $9.

See the impressive work of Finnish experimental filmmaker Sami Van Ingen as he explores colonialism, capitalism and power in five of his shorts. Then, chat about his political statements after the presentation with the filmmaker himself.

❮ Matt Doyle: Constant Release

Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St. (betw. 4th St. & Astor Pl.), joespub.com; 9:30 p.m., $20.

You may remember singer/songwriter Matt Doyle as a part of the original cast of Spring Awakening and from his role in War Horse. Now, the Broadway veteran hits the stage solo for his new EP, Constant, released early last month.

Housing Works Bookstore Café, 126 Crosby St. (betw. Prince & Jersey Sts.), housingworks.org; 7 p.m.

Take this rare opportunity to meet Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai and hear him read an excerpt debut 1985 novel, Satantango, followed by a discussion of Hungarian literature by critic James Wood. Buy the book and your money will benefit those living with HIV/AIDS.

Atlantic Stage 2, 330 W. 16th St. (betw.

8th & 9th Aves.), ptpnyc.org; 7:30 p.m., $25.

See the revival of this Neal Bell production based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The play is a chilling tale about a man’s obsession to instill life in his creation and explores the reckless consequences that follow after the scientist ceases to look after it and lets it roam free.

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Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (betw. Bleecker & Houston Sts.), bowerypoetry.com; 10 p.m.. $10.

Before it closes for renovations this summer, the club will host its burlesque variety show featuring drag queens, live music, an array of short films and dance performances in a downtown celebration of Parisian entertainment in the 1800s.

FREE McNally Jackson and New Directions Present: László Krasznahorkai

Monster

Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me

FREE Jazz in the Square Concert Series Union Square Partnership, West Side Seating Area of Union Square Park, unionsquarenyc.org; 12 p.m.

Any fan of jazz and the outdoors will appreciate an afternoon of music by jazz performers Camila Meza, Dorota Piotrovska and Martin Doykin, in collaboration with The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. Don’t fret if you miss it this Tuesday—you can check it out next week while grabbing lunch, as the program runs every Tuesday through Aug. 7.

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❮ Spectacular Fourth of July Fireworks Sail

Shearwater Public Sails, Pier 17 (at South Street Seaport), manhattanbysail.com; 5:30 p.m., prices vary.

See the awe-inspiring Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks from the best seat in the house: aboard a ship. Set sail on the massive Clipper City Tall Ship or the Shearwater Classic Schooner and celebrate America’s birthday in the company of landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge, Governors Island, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty as the boats cruise past. While admiring the view, enjoy cocktails at the open bar and a classic American-style catered barbecue.

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EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

Abandoned, deteriorating, neglected— Every building tells a story

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t’s difficult to imagine that amid the coveted, prime real estate of downtown Manhattan, where rates often top $200 per square foot for commercial space, some buildings remain idle, abandoned, deteriorating or otherwise neglected.

Although it’s unknown exactly how many abandoned, vacant or unused properties there are in the city, recent efforts to count such properties included a 2006 boroughwide survey of vacant properties undertaken by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s office that identified enough undeveloped space in Manhattan alone to build more than 20,000 housing units.

In 2011, the homeless advocacy organization Picture the Homeless did its own survey of abandoned buildings in the city and found more than 10,000 citywide, including more than 500 in Lower Manhattan.

The stories behind some of these abandoned or neglected properties vary, according to housing experts, and run the gamut from financial difficulties for their owners to landlords who choose to speculate and intentionally keep buildings and apartments off the market in an effort to drive up prices. Still other reasons why properties are abandoned or neglected remain a mystery.

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Photo by Jonathan Springer

By Alan Krawitz

Northern Dispensary (165 Waverly Place)

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n the case of the landmarked Northern Dispensary, a former medical clinic built in 1831 in the West Village, the building has been vacant since 1998, when it was purchased by real estate investor William Gottlieb.

“The building is a historical gem that has been lying vacant for decades,” said Andrew Berman, president of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP). A notable bit of history of the building recalls that Edgar Allan Poe was once treated at the dispensary for a head cold in 1837, along with tens of thousands of needy patients.

“The tragedy is that Gottlieb’s estate continues to sit on it and not do anything with the building,” Berman said. Gottlieb died in 1999.

Calls to Neil Bender, Gottlieb’s nephew and now sole controller of his 100 or so Village properties, were not returned.

Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, suggested his own idea for a use for

the Dispensary. “I think it should be used once again as a medical clinic.” Bankoff said that now more than ever, after the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital, the area is in need of another center to provide emergency or other medical care to village residents.

A stipulation in the deed to the Dispensary requires the building’s use to remain “serving the medical needs of the worthy poor.” But it is unclear whether the stipulation is enforceable in the event that another use for the building is imminent.

A proposal from the early 1990s to use the Dispensary as an AIDS hospice never came to fruition. Berman added that he still gets regular calls from people asking why the building is empty, suggesting appropriate uses.

Berman said that a couple of years ago, an architect checked the building to make sure it wasn’t deteriorating and it appeared to be in decent shape.

“The best way to preserve a building is to use it,” he said. “We hope the building will be brought back to life sometime soon.”

NY Press.co m

43 MacDougal Street

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Photo by Joe Wolf

Photo by Jonathan Springer

Photo by Jonathan Springer

hile the Northern Dispensary may be unused, at least its condition appears satisfactory. Such is not the case with 43 MacDougal St., an 1846 row house located in the Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District. Berman and the GVSHP have documented conditions at the long-vacant building that include rats, mice, water damage and deteriorating materials, which have contributed to the building’s structural instability.

According to both Berman and the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), the building’s previous owners, the estate of Arthur Blasof, were unresponsive, despite racking up nearly $120,000 in building violations.

In fact, the situation was bad enough that in 2009, the LPC sent a letter to the owner of the building regarding initiation of a demolition by neglect lawsuit, which would compel the owner to make necessary repairs to the house.

Berman’s group also reported that graffiti was present on the building’s façade and that squatters have been seen in the building and on the sidewalk shed at different times over the last few years, a “great safety concern to neighbors.”

In September of last year, Para Mac Holding of Brooklyn bought 43 MacDougal St. for about $449,000 and Berman sent a letter on behalf of the GVSHP to the new owner advising him that funding for restorative work is available, since the building is located in a historic district.

“Some preliminary steps have been taken to stabilize the building, such as shoring the roof and boarding windows, but there is still a long way to go…to bring this building back from the brink of deterioration,” said Berman.

Old City Hall Subway Station (Park Row & City Hall Park)

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dventurous subway riders who have remained aboard the 6 train as it leaves the Brooklyn Bridge station and loops back around to head north may have noticed an unusually ornate, wellmaintained station that no one has used since 1945.

That station is the all-but-abandoned old City Hall station, which opened in 1904 and still sits on a loop of track in front of City Hall. It was the original southern terminal of the Interborough Rapid Transit subway.

According to the New York Transit Museum, the station’s platform and mezzanine feature Guastavino arches and skylights, colored glass tilework and brass chandeliers. The arched ceiling of the platform area includes brass light fixtures along its length.

The undoing of the City Hall station was an expansion of the subway system and subsequent station lengthen-

NYPre ss.com

ing in the 1940s and 1950s.

City Hall, because it was situated on a tight curve, could not be lengthened. That, combined with new longer trains with center doors on each car, made it dangerous to open the train’s doors due to a large gap that formed between the doors and the platform. The MTA decided to abandon the station in favor of the nearby Brooklyn Bridge station.

City Hall closed to passenger service on Dec. 31, 1945.

According to NYCsubways.org, the City Hall station was never particularly well-used, as the nearby Brooklyn Bridge station served both local and express trains and had the Brooklyn Bridge streetcar terminal above it.

The Transit Museum hosts periodic tours of the station; the last one for this season was June 17.

Plans to reopen the station have never come to fruition due to perceived security risks in the area around City Hall.

Keller Hotel (150 Barrow Street)

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he Gottlieb estate is the owner of yet another abandoned, historic property: The Keller Hotel. The building is one of the last surviving Hudson River waterfront hotels that served transient sailors around the turn of the century, according to records from the LPC. It was built in 1897 in the Renaissance revival style by German designer Julius Munckwitz, then the supervising architect and superintendent of parks for New York City.

LPC documents indicate that during the 1980s, the Keller Hotel became a single room occupancy hotel that the city used to house the indigent.

Berman noted that, in the case of the Keller Hotel, the Gottlieb estate supported the landmarking of the building in 2006 and had quite a bit of work done in an effort to convert the upper floors into residential

apartments.

“They started doing the work and then they just stopped several years ago…it’s a mystery, and it’s particularly striking, with the location of the building—Manhattan’s ‘Gold Coast’ on the Greenwich Village waterfront,” Berman said.

He went on to say that “whatever is holding up” the construction of the apartments has less to do with market interest in the site and more to do with the “Gottliebs and the way they do or don’t get things done.”

A check of Department of Buildings records confirmed that no work is currently being performed on the Keller Hotel.

Berman worries that the building’s “lack of work and lack of attention” may allow further deterioration if work is not resumed in the near future.

J UNE 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 1 1

Movie Bulletin Téchiné’s unforgeTTably greaT ‘unforgivable’

By Armond White

Edited by Armond White

for tickets in the living room at the Arts Reach conference at New York University last March. Put bluntly: Can you reach the graying and balding with tweeting and social networking?

Exceptions notwithstanding, there’s no mistaking certain demographic trends.

Big-ticket performing arts companies—the symphony orchestras, the chamber music societies, the Broadway belt that needs tourists to shell out $86.28 for the worst seats in the mezzanine—count on a privileged sector of the baby-boom generation and older.

Trends indicate that those might be the last generations who take a daily newspaper. Newspapers’ Internet-edition paywalls are, for most publications that have tried them, useless for converting paid subscrib-

Continued on next page

Continued on next page

New York’s Review of Culture • CityArtsNYC.com

Art Adverts Start a New Wave adverTising sTraTegies gearing up for nexT season Take arT ouT The wilderness.

CityArts surveys The new media TacTicians who bring broadway shows, museums and oTher arT venues To popular aTTenTion. arT and iTs paTrons all benefiT from millennial arT adverTising’s new TacTical sTraTegies.

Part 1 of a two-Part series.

By Gregory Solman

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ew Yorkers with long memories can’t shake the specter of the TV commercials for the original runs of A Chorus Line and Evita—the same commercial execution, using identical snippets of song for maximum numbing effect, running for what felt like years. The Evita spot became so famously infuriating a fixture it occasioned one of SCTV’s most inspired commercial parodies: Andrea Martin starring in a road show of Indira and—ingeniously intermixing infomercial annoyance—Joe Flaherty as a bandoliered, yodeling Slim Whitman.

Marketing the performing and museum arts today seems like science fiction in comparison. You might be up late watching a WNET symphonic performance when an on-screen icon prompts you to hold up your Shazam-enabled smart phone. The app will sample the sound from the TV, identify the performance and give you the option of downloading the MP3 or ask you a question to win a coupon for a matinee in your neighborhood, having already correlated the cable or satellite box with your ZIP code

Raven-Symoné in Sister Act gets a new ad campaign.

and assiduously segmented demographic information on your probable age, gender, income, past buying habits and even whether you prefer cats or dogs. Why? Well, maybe dog lovers like Wagner and cat lovers Stravinsky. Who knows? They’ve got their reasons.

Most importantly, the phone will be connected to the sponsoring organization’s seating chart, allowing you to pick a seat for a performance, charge your preloaded credit card and download an electronic ticket you can present at the concert hall by flashing your smart phone at a scanner.

If that interactive/invasive process seems more like something for you than your remote-control-challenged mother, you’re not far off. In fact, the growing generational divide between patrons of the arts and their media consumption habits was the blue-haired elephant queued up

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herubina, the nickname given to Judith (Carole Bouquet) in Unforgivable, comes from the love trickster in Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro. Judith, a former model with a bisexual past, now sells real estate, brokering a villa in Venice to the macho novelist Francis (André Dussollier), and they become lovers. Their emotional tension and physical passion prove the complexity of human character, evoking the aria “Non so piu cosa son” (“I don’t know anymore what I am”).

This mystery, echoed in the tumultuous relations of Judith and Francis’ friends and children, is André Téchiné’s specialty. The turbulent, elegant, multilayered Unforgivable ranks with his greatest films. Few other movies define family relations with such interconnected depth and spiritual exuberance.

Casual moviegoers may be perplexed at Téchiné’s speed (especially if they don’t pick up on the rhythm of his intricate character interactions) as he collapses time and affinities and misunderstandings, all in life’s onward rush. Téchiné knows the mistakes that people make define their lives, and Unforgivable (starting with Judith and Francis’ meet-ugly) zeroes in on the errors that take a lifetime to understand and, possibly, rectify.

Julien Hirsch’s video imagery focuses on people in motion—literally, through the streets of Venice or cruising its waters—to visualize their emotional states. “I need to be unsettled” says Alice (Melanie Thierry), Francis’ beautiful, insecure actress daughter. Her immature confusion parallels what in Judith is now tough but unique, nervy, tense—Téchiné’s usual Deneuve archetype seen freshly. “I no longer desire or inspire.” Judith laments.

The extraordinary balance of these unsettled lives (lovers, parents, children) refreshes a French movie tradition. Unforgivable suggests an invigorated version of Renoir’s Rules of the Game, which was also based on Beaumarchais (the original author of The Marriage of Figaro) but filtered through—delivered from—contemporary cynicism. Among its Venice spectacle is a quizzical shot of the Rendentore church that, after Téchiné’s marvelous AIDS drama The Witnesses, testifies to life’s fertile potential after the plague.

NY Press.co m

ClassiCal CiTYaRTs

Wieldy Ax a wonderful mozarT piano concerTo aT The philharmonic

By Jay Nordlinger

i

once heard Emanuel Ax, the pianist, give a great performance. Google has recalled the specifics: It was in August 2005 at the Mostly Mozart Festival. Ax played Mozart’s Concerto No. 22 in E flat, K. 482. I have now heard Ax give another great performance. It was of the same concerto.

This second performance was on a Wednesday night in the same hall: Avery Fisher. The conductor and orchestra were different, however. They were Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic. Ax’s phrasing was exemplary. He breathed along with the composer. He was both smooth and articulate. He was sensitive without being mousy. What rubato he used was intelligent. He fudged a trill or two, particularly at their resolution, but this was of little importance.

Crucially, he was not afraid to play simply. “‘Tis the gift to be simple.” And you may

Continued from previous page ers and generating revenue. Yet, printing is prohibitively expensive and readership is sliding in favor of eyeballs online, where banner ads aren’t making enough money, despite the audience.

Facebook boasts hundreds of millions of users, obsessively checking in several times a day—that’s reach and frequency. But the company’s IPO revealed that although half of Facebookies use mobile devices to access the site, they are devices for which there is no Facebook advertising model… yet.

More than 44 percent of Americans have smart phones, but they skew young. The elderly have gone from the poorest group in America to the wealthiest, with the disposable (literally, some critics would argue) income to pay $262 to watch a play. But arts companies need to refresh their audience with Gens X and Y and millennials to survive as something more than museums of tourism.

“While the traditional media audience has moved on, the rates have increased,” objects Doug Mobray, president of Mogo Arts Marketing in Corte Madera, Calif., pointing to a counterintuitive direction of newspaper ad rates and readers. “The cost per impression has increased substantially.”

The decline of print readership, exaggerated by the generational split between baby boomers and older and nearly newspaperNYPre ss .com

remember a Rubinstein quip: “Mozart is too easy for children and too hard for adults.”

For the second movement, Andante, Ax chose a perfect tempo.

Tempos in these “slow” movements of Mozart’s are hard to get right. He sang this movement with an inevitable and natural feeling. The Rondo was jaunty and stylish. It was humorous in spots without being hammy. The cadenza that Ax has composed for this movement is fitting and clever; I thought I heard horn calls.

Above all, Ax played the Rondo, and all of the concerto, Emanuel Ax. with pleasure. It is a privilege to play Mozart. I believe Ax knows punching feeling. But, on the whole, the this. As the audience applauded, the man orchestra was alert, correct and compact. behind me said to his wife—loudly and The beginning of the Andante was positively twice—“Good ol’ Manny Ax.” He was more beautiful. than “good ol’ Manny Ax” on this occasion: The main work on this program was He was a great Mozartean. one of the main works of Mozart’s life, Gilbert and the orchestra did their roles and of music at large: the “Great” Mass in ably. There was a botched entrance in the horns near the opening, which was unfortu- C minor. The orchestra was again alert, correct and compact (and so were the New nate. Some of the exposition had a clock-

free youth, is the “first and most obvious change,” says Tom Greenwald, executive creative director at SpotCo, one of New York’s specialized arts marketing agencies.

“It used to be a foregone conclusion that the lion’s share of a media budget would go to The New York Times,” he says. “Now you might advertise there just to please the stars and agents, but the campaign is going to be mostly online banner ads and social networking.”

Greenwald says a lot of live entertainment still targets the 55-year-old woman; though she might not be constantly on Facebook, she’s probably online somewhere, and sites such as broadway.com can gear their initiatives toward that demographic. She may not be tweeting or playing Facebook games, but she will find some online point of purchase.

Greenwald says more than half of Broadway ticket sales happen in online transactions rather than phone sales. “It’s gotten to the point where they don’t even put phone numbers in the ads,” he points out.

Now Greenwald oversees Facebook campaigns that celebrate the 20,000 fans of Chicago with ticket giveaways. Samuel L. Jackson tweets to Twitter followers about The Mountaintop. A “nun” from Sister Act performs a video blog. Most shows, Greenwald says, use a combination of “social networking presence and refreshing websites.

The great thing about the Internet is that it is an extension of the show. In the tradition of those Evita TV ads, you can run video

content with sound.”

He “roadblocks” (commands all of the display ad space) select sites. Banner ads can be programmed with Flash and HTML to sport animation and sound. Live clips can be constructed from B-roll of the shows themselves, but they can be cinematic and even conceptual. Advertising on TV is now supplemented by so-called earned media—working the morning news shows least likely to be DVRed. “It’s expensive to buy TV,” Greenwald says, “but everyone works it.”

Soliciting the South Park generation for The Book of Mormon means a website with a working doorbell and online campaigns imploring fans to “Like us on Facebook” and “Follow us on Twitter.”

It’s not as if Spotco abjures traditional outdoor advertising or print, but “spending $110,000 on The New York Times won’t pay off,” Greenwald declares.

Clint White, president of New York’s WiT Media and lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, acknowledges the arts audience is “growing older, absolutely. But the good news is that those patrons are converted and believe in chamber music—or theatre or causes or art—and all have made it clear that they’re interested. All we have to do is tell them what’s going on and they’ll sign up.

It’s the other [younger] audience that has to be introduced.”

Next week: Broadway comes alive through new media.

York Choral Artists). Gilbert was never less than competent. He was completely assured and thoroughly prepared. In my judgment, however, this performance was barren of spirituality. It was also, I’m afraid, a bore.

But I must say it was nice to hear the Mass performed with some richness, beauty and blood. In recent years, I have heard nothing but “period” performances, particularly at the Salzburg Festival.

They are thin gruel, with some straw sticking out. They also feature mindlessly fast tempos. At the Philharmonic, it was a relief to hear “Laudamus te” at a sane, musical pace.

The evening’s soprano was Jennifer Zetlan, who was starry when she was a student at Juilliard. In the Mass, she began a little uncertainly and had no low notes. But she soon gained her stride and was wonderful. The other singers were adequate, with the tenor, Paul Appleby, sounding like a Polenzani in the making. The bass in Mozart’s Mass has even less work to do than the mezzo-soprano in Beethoven’s Ninth.

A famous mezzo once told me she had a piece of advice for other mezzos engaged for the Ninth: “Wear a pretty dress.”

Continued from previous page

Carole Bouquet as Judith.

Unforgivable embarrasses the childish solipsism that currently passes for adult storytelling in recent American movies. It takes cues from life and Téchiné’s cinephile past, using Adriana Asti as Judith’s former lover to make a subtextual homage to Bertolucci’s Before the Revolution, because Téchiné insists our artistic and moral heritage still matters. Téchiné also evokes Last Tango in Paris in the film’s blood-rich sensuality, which includes a shocking act of vengeance so politically astute that our film culture would benefit by discussing it for the rest of the decade.

June 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 1 3

WOODY ALEC ROBERTO PENÉLOPE JUDY JESSE GRETA ELLEN ALLEN BALDWIN BENIGNI DAVIS EISENBERG GERWIG PAGE CRUZ

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1 4 • O UR TOWN DOW NTOW N • J une 2 8 , 2 012

people bought to hang in their homes. Most are “door guardians” from the late 19th century, round-cheeked generals and kitchen gods with open, cartoonish faces. There Type: XXX Specs: XXX Line Screen: 85 are a few moving, expressionistic woodBy Kate Prengel Size [s]: cuts from the revolutionary period, too.

And the show does include some exciting he Metropolitan Museum sees SIXTH PAGE works from the 1980s and beyond, notably itselfXas3.638” a teaching museum, 4.917” Chen Haiyan’s “Dream,” an evocative swirl which may be why its curators are of animals on a black cloud, and Wu Jide’s trying to cram the entire history of “Fleeting Years.”

Chinese printmaking into one exhibit: The But these pieces beg the question: why Printed Image in China: 8th-21st Centuries. Ninth-century Buddhas, 16th-century peonies and 20th-century are all Made inpeasants QuarkXPress 8.1 Version: Advertisement prepared by lined up in the back rooms Cardinal Communications of The Met’sAve. Asian 295 Madison NY NYwing 10017 •for 212.997.3200 your edification.

The JE DMtrouble CC BL JB CC JP TE is Spell that printing is a repetitive Chk. Grammara show of this many medium; Artwork prints can be a hard slog, even Title Treat. with some Work Req beautiful pieces to liven it up.

F. Times Theatres The Chinese invented Ad Size printing. And in woodblock Bugs China, printing very quickly Reader took on religious implicaAcademy tions—Buddhism teaches Websites Resreproducing # that sacred texts 100% THIS BOX IS 3 INCHES WIDE isAT a way to receive blessings, so printing became a way to receive blessings while spreading the state religion.

The exhibit starts with a room of seventh-, eighth- and ninth-century prints of the Buddha with short texts. There are a few standouts, like the luxuriously painted “Banner with Bodhisattva.” But after a while, most of the prints start to take on the sameness of dollar bills—they’re spiritual currency.

The show moves on to the Ming period (1368-1644), where prints of leaves and flowers are executed with military precision. The period saw a big growth in literacy and wealth; at the same time, color printing took off. The exhibit Door Guardian, 19th century China. includes many examples from the Ten Bamboo Shoots Collection of Calligraphy and Painting, a manual isn’t The Met giving these artists an exhibit for artists full of lichen-covered stones and of their own? We would never see contemvines. porary French or Italian artists wedged into Color printing flourished into the Qing a show of this historic scope. Contemporary dynasty (1644-1912), whose Manchu rulers Chinese artists deserve the same respect we gave away prints to their guests to show off give their Western counterparts. their power. The Qing period verges on the garish; loud pinks and greens, overflowing The Printed Image in China: fruit plates and flower baskets all scream 8th-21st Centuries money.

Through July 29, The Metropolitan The warmest pieces in this show are the Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave., so-called popular prints, which ordinary 212-923-3700, www.metmuseum.org.

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We have a million of everything.’ I sent out emails to everyone I knew—‘I want to do an evening of monologues, would you join me?

But they have to be original—yours or someone else’s—we don’t need to do Death of a Salesman again. That’s the deal,’” she says.

McCall remembers that some friends PRESENT THE advised: “‘Make them two to four minutes; PRESENT BUILDING SERVICE PRESENTTHE THE BUILDING otherwise, you’ll die!’ I thought people BUILDINGSERVICE SERVICE WORKERS OF THE YEAR OF THE YEAR PRESENTWORKERS THE WORKERS OF THE YEAR could use them for auditions. Instead of BUILDING SERVICE WORKERS OF THE YEAR [playing] Blanche Dubois and eyes rolling back in heads, they could do something that makes a person sit up and say, ‘Hey, who wrote that?’”

The Monologue Slam also started at Cornelia Street, but, McCall worried, “it had guest judges and an award at the end of the Doyou you know doorman, porter or “handy-man” where you live? where you live? Is there an Do knowa great a great doorman, porter or “handy-person”

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n the midst of the overpriced, dull landscape that has become Greenwich Village stands the Cornelia Street Café, a survivor from an earlier era when audiences discovered young Bob Dylans and Maya Angelous.

Monologues and Madness, a monthly event in the Café’s basement, restores that now-rare glow of discovery. Founded and hosted by actress/writer/theater reviewer/ wedding officiant Tulis McCall, the evening features cliché-free, often brilliantly per-

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Tulis McCall.

evening. I didn’t want that. I wanted people formed brief pieces written by the monolo‘I don’t knowat if this is going to work. gists themselves. make lifetoago, little easier work?

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212.268.8600; Lconnor@manhattanmedia.com me to have a night of my own. I did a few, Tulis McCall’s theater reviews can be which were tremendous failures, but he or Jessica Ramos at 212.388.3782; Jessica.Ramos@seiu32bj.org read at www.ushersnob.com and www. kept inviting me back. I love to do mononewyorktheatreguide.com For wedding logues, so I wondered if anyone else would. ceremony inquiries, call 917-318-8943.

“As Ed Koch said, ‘This is New York City.

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NYPre ss .com

Nomination Deadline is Tuesday, September 13th, 2012.

• 15

BUSINESS

Lights On…in LOwer Manhattan

Downtown Alliance’s Kelly Rush lets us know what’s opening and closing

S

ummer has officially begun and, just in time, we have a renovated playground open for children who aren’t stuck in a hot classroom, an Asian kitchen featuring healthy food so we don’t balloon out during swimsuit season and a lovely French café with plenty of iced coffee options. As usual, if you see any new retailers or spot changes to a long-time establishment, please email me at tre@downtownny.com and I’ll check it out.

café french gOurMand

9 Maiden Lane, betw. Broadway & Nassau St., 646-756-4911

This quaint establishment features the best aspects of a French café much closer to home.

The menu offers breakfast and lunch items with enough variety to please most everyone in the office. Hot sandwiches on ciabatta include a piadine of tomato, mozzarella and prosciutto and the classic croque monsieur. Cold sandwiches on offer include a French variety of roast beef, tomato and salad dijonnaise. The salad bar includes fennel, brie, goat cheese, chicken and radishes. Several soups are homemade every day.

Breakfast, my favorite meal of the day, includes one of my favorite meals, the ham and cheese croissant. They also offer bagels, oatmeal, muffins and flavored croissants. Top your breakfast off with a specialty coffee such as an iced macchiato.

Yushi asian Kitchen

100 Maiden Lane, betw. Gold & Pearl Sts., 212-742-2150, www.yushi.com

Yushi Executive Chef Danny Lachs took a trip to Thailand when he needed inspiration for his pad thai. It’s this passion and attention to detail that’s making Yushi a popular new dining destination in Lower Manhattan. The company operates one other branch in Midtown, which is graband-go, but for the new location, Lachs said he and owner Luke Fryer wanted to expand to include a build-your-own-meal bar. Customers can still get pre-packaged food made fresh daily, but they can choose from the bar, which includes protein options such as tofu, chicken, beef or pork, a base of rice or bok choy salad and vegetable options to complete the bowl. Choose a sauce such as orange-sesame vinaigrette to

PearL street PLaYgrOund

Pearl Street betw. Fulton & Beekman Sts.

Customers wait in line at Yushi Asian Kitchen. Photo by James Kelleher

top it all off.

“People can come in three days a week and get a totally different experience,” Lachs said.

The kitchen doesn’t stop at Thai influences—it also pulls in Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese flavors. Customers can order sushi, potstickers and, coming soon, several kinds of bahn mi sandwiches. The restaurant is what Lachs calls “fast-casual,”

and though some establishments of this kind often serve foods high in fat and calories, Yushi features veggie-based, low-cal options for the health-minded.

But one of the most important aspects of the restaurant for Lachs is the way the food is prepared. “To me, what is crucial is the open kitchen. When chefs are behind closed doors, they can’t interact with the customer.”

Throughout the winter, I watched renovations continue on this playground and wondered when it might reopen. The other week, I stopped by and discovered the playground was packed with children. The renovated space features new play equipment, a water fountain, spray shower and a safety fence. The playground is within sight of the South Street Seaport and nearby piers. Children could even do a playground crawl, stopping first at Imagination Playground on Burling Slip and continuing on to Pearl Street.

DINING

The Gateway Drug No-fail foods to cure a picky eater

By Regan Hofmann The picky friend is the bane of the foodlover’s existence. It can be tough to accept that someone you like and respect could be so stubbornly opposed to something you love, like finding out your best friend thinks Prince is just a short weirdo with an unhealthy attachment to the color purple. More friendships have ended over dim sum meals gone south than loans gone unrepaid—at least in my circle.

But while the first instinct of any food evangelist is to apply reason (ie. argue, loudly), these poor lost souls are too far gone to be receptive to facts. Yes, dark-meat chicken is more flavorful than white meat, higher in tasty fats and therefore less prone to becoming dried-out, stringy sawdust, but white meat lovers are as entrenched as fourthgeneration Chicago Cubs fans, still holding on after 103 years of disappointment.

No, the tactic to take with these people is a sneakier one: gateway dishes. Unless they’re allergic or one of those genetic mutants

who can’t taste cilantro, no one hates a food wholecloth. They hate the idea of it or the way they’ve had it prepared in the past; for years, a friend hated asparagus because as a child his mother had only ever served the canned version—he thought those colorless, water-logged spears were the vegetable’s natural state.

Present your pal with an creative preparation or one that downplays the food’s more objectionable qualities and let him come to the realization on his own that it might not be so bad after all. If necessary, order out of earshot and let the offending food arrive at the table incognito—but don’t play coy if he asks what it is; these people are highly attuned to trickery and will run at the first sign of a trap. Given a light push by a caring friend and one of the following amazing dishes, any irrational food resistance will melt away faster than Otto’s olive oil gelato on an August afternoon.

OYsters Though sushi hasn’t been a gross-out food since The Breakfast Club, for some reason raw oysters remain a bridge too far for some.

Maybe it’s their soft, moist texture, which comes across slimy for those who need to poke and prod food before trying it. Or maybe it’s the technique for eating them,

1 6 • O UR TOWN DOW NTOW N • JUN E 2 8 , 2 01 2

Oysters are still an off-putting food to some—introduce the picky eater in your life to them at Blue Ribbon Sushi.

Creative Commons photo

which can be intimidatingly Neanderthal— and, in the wrong hands, leaves you spitting flakes of shell. Ease into the experience at a sushi bar like Blue Ribbon Sushi (119 Sullivan St., blueribbonrestaurants.com), and get your friend drunk on high-quality toro before ordering a couple of West Coast oysters, traditionally more fully flavored and robust than East Coast versions. If he’s still reluctant, get them to add spicy masago on top to add a textural counterpoint and a hit of heat.

Off cuts At Hakata Tonton (61 Grove St., tontonnyc. com), the base for every one of their rich, unctuous hot pot soups is pig trotters—or,

as they so delicately put it, collagen. The connective tissue and fat that make up the majority of this indelicate cut melt away into the stock, leaving no tell-tale bits behind to tip off your companion. The restaurant itself is a temple to the trotter, with odes to the part’s healthfulness inscribed on the menus and walls to assuage any squeamishness—it’s great for the skin! Once you’ve made headway with the soups, push the boundaries by ordering the grilled pork tonsoku, the trotter itself brought out into the open. The (admittedly scanty) meat is tender and deeply flavored, like short rib taken to the extreme.

BrusseLs sPrOuts Great-Aunt Louise has a lot to answer for.

Almost every Brussels sprouts objector has the same childhood trauma driving their hatred of the unassuming crucifer: overboiled, sulfurous balls of mush forced upon them yearly at tense family Thanksgivings. Hell, even those who love the veg have had to overcome that to get to where they are today. Casa Mono’s (52 Irving Pl., casamononyc.com) Spanishinflected Brussels sprouts are grilled a la plancha, keeping the leaves fresh and green while giving them a nutty, roasted flavor from the hard sear on the grill. If your pal has ever enjoyed the char on a street fair corncob, these sprouts will be the perfect therapy for her PTSD. NY Press.co m

Urgent Care

special health supplement

Urgent Help Faster Than an Emergency Room NYC is finally seeing urgent care centers for times when your life’s not in danger

By Traver HuTcHins It’s long been known that the East Coast represents the epicenter of medical academia. What’s lesser known, however, is that innovation in health care almost always travels from the West Coast to the East.

The recent crush of urgent care organizations hitting the greater New York area are arriving a full 10 years after they first gained popularity out West.

“Urgent Care” is defined as all care other than emergent. In other words, a patient can be seen in an urgent care facility for almost any condition other than the truly life-threatening ones. Recent entrants into the greater New York City area include City MD and Med Excel, to name a few.

The rise of urgent care has paralleled both the rise of the utilization of health care and the concurrent drop in the number of doctors to meet the growing demand. As a result, when you suddenly have a health issue and try to see your doctor immediately, you will often find that they can’t see you in a timely fashion.

Before, your main alternative was to go to the emergency room.

The East Coast sees more visits to the ER per capita than anywhere else in the country. As a population, we have grown accustomed to the four-hour waits, the uncomfortable environment and the pricy service that sums up the ER experience. Not surprisingly, there are fewer urgent care facilities on the East Coast per capita, as well.

Only a small percentage of the cases that are presented at the ER are life-threatening, which is what it is geared toward. That poor service is a result of all the non-emergency cases who didn’t realize they had an alternative.

That’s about to change.

Today, there are over 9,000 urgent care facilities, and they are growing by over 5 percent per year. Compare that to in-pharmacy clinics, which handle minor health issues such as flu shots, etc, of which there are only 1,000 locations and virtually no growth over the past decade. There are now 15 urgent care chains backed

NYPre ss.com

by institutional funds rolling out their brands in their region of influence but there is as of yet no national player, nor is there a significant player in the Northeast.

How will the change happen?

While the rest of the country knows what urgent care is, Easterners generally do not. There is a new educational campaign underway by the Urgent Care Association of America designed to raise awareness and make people comfortable with the idea that you can see a medical practitioner right away at a reasonable cost and with a quality outcome. Once experienced, that trifecta of benefit will rapidly migrate the patient flow from the ER to the urgent care clinic, as it has in the rest of the country.

From a cost perspective, any time a health issue can be handled by a lower-cost provider with the same level of outcome, the service should be done by that lower-cost provider. While this is disruptive to the

general hospital model still so prevalent in the Northeast, this change is unstoppable and ultimately benefits both our health care system and the individual.

The average cost for an ER visit is $600, and the patient’s average co-pay is $100. Compare that to $130 for an urgent care visit with a $30 co-pay on average for the very same case. Not surprisingly, insurers are now heavily educating their Eastern insureds on this new class of care option that has long been in fashion out West.

So the next time a health issue arises and your doctor isn’t available, do yourself (and your wallet) a favor: go to an urgent care facility. You will wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

Traver Hutchins is the chairman and founder of Remedy Health Media. He is also the CEO and founder of ASAP Urgent Care, which is focused on bringing urgent care to New England.

J UNE 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 1 7

+

No Appointment Needed

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Emergency Room Doctor On-Site

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Serving Children & Adults

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Most Insurance Accepted

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Open 365 Days A Year

Weekdays 8am-10pm Weekends 9am-9pm

OPENING FALL 2012

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Upper East Side 336E 86th St 212-772-3627

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Upper West Side 2465 Broadway 212-721-2111

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Columbus Circle 315W 57th St 212-315-2330

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Flatiron District 37W 23rd St 646-596-9267

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East 67th Street 1150 3rd Ave

www.CityMD.net 1 8 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • J une 2 8 , 2 012

NY Press.co m

CityMD New York’s Urgent Care Providing immediate care for anything that you feel needs the attention of a doctor now.

www.CityMD.net

What is CityMD? CityMD is the place you can rely on for anything you feel deserves the attention of a doctor NOW. It is a modern convenient alternative to the typical emergency room experience or when your physician’s office can’t accommodate an unscheduled same day visit. CityMD offers accessible and convenient urgent medical care, on a walk-in basis, 365 days a year with extended hours of operation. CityMD is open from 8am to 10pm on the weekdays and 9am to 9pm on weekends accepts most major insurance plans and sees children and adults.

CityMD is staffed by Board Certified emergency medical physicians and you will be seen in brand new, state of the art offices. They are equipped with on site X-ray capabilities.

Access to care when you are not feeling well is part of what has been missing when it comes to patient care. CityMD provides patients with a significantly reduced waiting period when compared to a typical emergency room visit. At CityMD, often you are seen with little to no wait time. CityMD puts the care back into healthcare. They respect your time and as New Yorkers understand the limited time you have to seek treatment.

When an unexpected medical need arises such as a cold, cut, burn, sprain or fracture CityMD Urgent Care is equipped with state of the art exam rooms including onsite x-ray technicians, phlebotomists as well as laboratory services and is staffed with a licensed provider at all times to perform minor procedures such as casting and suturing.

CityMD has convenient locations across the City. Their board-certified physicians provide prompt, professional medical care to both adults and pediatric patients without the need for an appointment or referral. CityMD was established in 2010 and provides walk-in urgent medical care during its expanded hours of 8am to 10pm on weekdays and 9am to 9pm on weekends. For more information visit www.citymd.net.

Upper East Side 336E 86th St. 212-772-3627 NYPre ss .com

Upper West Side 2465 Broadway 212-721-2111

Columbus Circle 315W 57th St. 212-315-2330

Flatiron District 37W 23rd St. 646-596-9267

OPENING FALL 2012

EAST 67th St. 1150 3rd Ave

June 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 1 9

Urgent Care

Dr. Judah Fierstein

Mount Sinai Goes Crosstown with New Center

By AmAndA Woods Mount Sinai Hospital recently opened an urgent care center on the Upper West Side, a step that administrators consider important for the hospital, for the neighborhood and for urban medical care.

“The hospital is trying to expand its presence on the West Side, bringing in new patients who don’t want to go across the park,” said Dr. Judah Fierstein, one of two doctors at the center, which opened May 30. “The biggest thing is that the hospital

is just recognizing that the urgent care model is really attractive to patients and that it’s hopefully a way also to unburden the emergency room, to care better for the people who really have to be in emergency rooms and not overwhelm the many other people who could be cared for in a more appropriate setting.”

The Upper West Side, with its high foot traffic and high-rise apartments, is a key location for Mount Sinai to extend its services, said Bill Foresman, the administrative manager at Mount Sinai Urgent Care.

But urgent care is growing in demand not only on the Upper West Side, but citywide and nationwide, he added.

“Americans are trying to find more alternatives on a basic care level,” Foresman said. “If you look across most urban places like New York City and you want a primary doctor to take care of your needs, good luck finding one.”

Urgent care centers like his offer an al-

20 • O UR TOWN DOW NTOW N • JUN E 2 8 , 2 01 2

ternative for hard-to-reach primary care doctors—and overcrowded emergency rooms. Mount Sinai’s center handles nonemergency health problems such as allergies, colds, fevers, gastrointestinal problems and heart palpitations. It also offers basic physical examinations, Xrays, on-site lab services, HIV testing and vaccinations. Patients don’t have to make an appointment and can simply walk in. Most patients are seen within five to seven minutes.

On the second floor of the new center, Mount Sinai has a different kind of medical office—a multispecialty physician practice. If urgent care patients need to see cardiologists, dermatologists, orthopedists or other specialists, they can simply go upstairs, instead of traveling elsewhere, Fierstein said.

The center also offers an online service called MyMountSinaiChart, which allows for easy communication between doctors

and patients. Patients can review their medications, immunizations, allergies and medical history online and can use the service to retrieve test results within 72 hours after they have been released.

The new center helps Mount Sinai get ahead and respond to a growing health care need, Dr. Fierstein said.

“There are a lot of private people who are getting into this business who see that it’s a very attractive model, and the hospital doesn’t want to fall too far behind,” he said. “The integration into a larger medical center will really have an appeal.”

Mount Sinai Urgent Care will be open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No appointments are necessary and most insurance plans are accepted. For information about the new center, call 212-828-3250 or visit www. mountsinai.org/urgentcare.

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212.721.4200

When you need a doctor – NOW – come and experience a new model of medicine that puts patients first in an exceptional environment on the Upper West Side.

Urgent Care Manhattan provides expert evaluation and treatment for a wide range of minor emergencies – and we do it without the long wait or high cost of a visit to a hospital emergency room

NOW ACCEPTING MOST MAJOR INSURANCE PLANS

• No appointment necessary • Treating Adults and Children • Emergency Physicians • Superior Service

Walk-in medical care has never been easier in NYC!

Need a doctor today?

Come see us.

199 Amsterdam Ave at W. 69th Street New York, NY 10023 Open 7 Days

www.UrgentCareManhattan.com

URGENT CARE MANHATTAN When you need a doctor NOW - experience a new model of medicine that puts patients first, in an exceptional environment on the Upper West Side.

At Urgent Care Manhattan, access to walk-in medical care has never been easier in NYC! Board certified emergency physicians provide expert evaluation and treatment for a wide range of minor emergencies - and do it without the long wait or high cost of a visit to a hospital emergency room. With ER’s overflowing, and patients finding it ever more challenging to find a doctor when they need one, Urgent Care Manhattan was opened to provide exceptional care and personal attention at your convenience.

Unlike most urgent care centers and walk-in clinics, at Urgent Care Manhattan, you will always be treated by a board-certified emergency physician. We are committed to a new model of medicine that puts patients first. No Appointment is necessary. Adults and Children are treated with the highest standards of care.

INSURANCE: Medicare, AETNA, BLUE CROSS, CIGNA, HIP, GHI, EMBLEM, OXFORD and UNITED are accepted for payment, as well as cash and credit cards for co-pays, or if you are paying yourself.

If you need non-emergency medical care, Beth Israel Medical Group has multiple locations offering same-day and weekend appointments for treatment of minor illnesses and injuries. Walk-ins also accepted.

Call, walk in, or book an appointment online at www.BethIsraelMedicalGroup.com 55 East 34th St. (between Park and Madison) 212.252.6000 Open 7 days a week from 8 am to 8 pm

202 West 23rd St. (at 7th Ave.) 212.352.2600

Open 7 days a week from 8 am to 8 pm

222 West 14th St. (between 7th and 8th Aves.)

212.604.1800 Monday to Thursday: 8 am to 8 pm Friday: 8 am to 5 pm Saturday: 9 am to 2 pm

HOURS: Monday-Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday-Sunday: 10am-6pm, Open Holidays: Please call for hours.

NYPre ss .com

June 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 21

HO S P ITA L

FOR

JOINT

DISEASES

Urgent Care

The Authority in Immediate Orthopaedic Care

iCare at HJD  301 East 17th Street at 2nd Avenue  New York, NY  212.598.7600 The Samuels Orthopaedic Immediate Care Center (iCare) is New York City’s only walk-in clinic for adults and children with urgent muscle, bone and joint injuries and conditions. Located in NYU Langone’s Hospital for Joint Diseases (HJD), iCare offers: • Shorter wait times than hospital emergency rooms • Expert care by HJD’s world-class physicians and nurses • State-of-the-art diagnostic equipment for quick evaluation and treatment • Access to further orthopaedic care or admission at HJD, for more significant injuries • A modern, comfortable environment • Seven-day-a-week-care, from 8am - 10:30pm Conditions treated include suspected hip, arm, or leg fractures; suspected dislocation or joint injury; injuries to hands or feet; acute back/spine injuries; sprains or strains of any joint; suspected bone or joint infection.

For more information, call 212.598.7600.

Hospital for Joint Diseases Offers Immediate Orthopaedic Care, Seven Days A Week Emergency rooms can be congested, with long waiting times for non lifethreatening conditions such as some bone and joint injuries. But since 1992, NYU Langone Medical Center’s Hospital for Joint Diseases (HJD) has been offering world-class care for muscle, bone, and joint conditions and injuries at the Samuels Orthopaedic Immediate Care Center (iCare). iCare is New York City’s only walk-in orthopaedic clinic, open seven days a week. The modern, newly renovated facility sees over 7,000 patients a year and is designed to speed admissions, diagnosis and treatment of bone and joint injuries in adults and children. More than 70% of iCare patients leave the hospital in less than two hours.

Exam rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment to allow for efficient and accurate evaluation and treatment. Most rooms have LCD televisions to create a less stressful environment.

Beyond the convenience of shorter wait times and the comfort of the facility, the most important benefit of iCare is being treated by some of the best bone and joint specialists in the country – the experts at HJD, ranked among the top ten orthopaedic centers in the country by U.S. News and World Report.

And, with the facility located in HJD, operating rooms and more extensive care are only minutes away for patients with more significant injuries.

iCare is located in the Hospital for Joint Diseases, 301 East 17th Street at Second Avenue. Contact iCare at 212-598-7600.

22 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • JUN E 2 8 , 2 01 2

Dr. John Andrilli consults with Denis Tejada , RN.

Urgent care centers fill some of the gap for former St. Vincent’s patients

By DaviD GiBBons For many observers, the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital—one of the oldest community hospitals in the nation and a New York City icon throughout the 20th century—was a disaster, a disgrace, a moral failure, an avoidable tragedy.

After its demise at the end of April 2010, professionals in other downtown medical centers noted a surge in ER visits and ambulance runs. Now, just over two years later, the question is: Have the others been able to fill the gap?

The two major area players are Beth Israel Medical Center, part of Continuum Health Partners (CHP), and the North Shore-LIJ Health System. Beth Israel had already doubled the size of its emergency room after the closing of Cabrini Medical Center in 2008, so it was well prepared

for the St. Vincent’s surge; other local hospitals also expanded and adapted to pick up the slack. Meanwhile, both CHP and North Shore-LIJ, as well as several independent partnerships of doctors, have begun to offer more options for urgent care.

In March, 2011, North Shore-LIJ partnered with VillageCare to open an urgent care center at 121A W. 20th St. Around the same time, North Shore-LIJ announced its trump card; plan to convert the O’Toole Building—the white wedding cake-like landmark on 7th Avenue between 12th and 13th streets that was part of the St. Vincent’s complex—into “the first stand-alone emergency and ambulatory facility in the New York City metropolitan area.”

“We developed what we felt was a reSee DOWNTOWN on page 4 NY Press.co m

NYPre ss .com

June 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 23

Urgent Care Save Time. Feel Better.

Emergency care and

General Health Care

JUST WALK IN...

Waiting time: ONLY MINUTES!

919 2nd Ave (Bet. 48 and 49) - 212.935.3333

X- ray and lab onsite - O p ens early till late

DOWNTOWN from page 22

WWW.MEDRITEURGENTCARE.COM

Your Urgent Care Center in New York City If you have a condition or treatment that needs immediate attention, MedRite Urgent Care Center is here to serve you. Now there’s an alternative to the impersonal and often expensive visits to the Hospital Emergency Room and the long waits to see your doctor. You don’t need an appointment, and we accept most medical plans.

Our staff of experienced doctors and medical professionals treats a wide range of injuries and medical conditions. We’re here for small injuries like cuts and bruises or more severe problems like fractures and lacerations. If you are sick and need immediate treatment, we are here for you.MedRite is open when you need us. We are open early every morning and we stay open late. Our trained professional staff is ready to treat a wide range of ilnesses and injuries on your schedule. When you can’t wait for a doctor’s appointment or need to schedule around your work and other commitments we’re ready to give you the treatment you need. Walk–ins are always welcomed.

Check in is easy and comfortable. We have several exam rooms, an X-Ray department, and an on-site lab so you will receive high quality medical care that’s both fast and convenient.

Contact us to find out more about MedRite Urgent Care services and its location.

MedRite Urgent Care 919 2nd Ave.(Bet 48th & 49th St.) P:( 212) 935-3333 www.medriteurgentcare.com

24 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • JUN E 2 8 , 2 01 2

alistic proposal to restore comprehensive health care to the West Side,” said Terry Lynam, a North Shore-LIJ spokesperson. “We’re investing $110 million to build a true community resource that will go a long way toward giving people access to health care that has been lacking since the closing of St. Vincent’s.” It is scheduled to open as The Lenox Hill Hospital Center for Comprehensive Care in early 2014.

“North Shore is doing a commendable job trying to rebuild some services,” said Dr. Fred Hyde, clinical professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and an expert on management and policy. “Still, the closing of a hospital is irrelevant to the utility of urgent care centers, since hospitals were never much good at outpatient care in the first place. Urgent care is a substitute for available primary care physicians, of which we may have too few—local, state and national.”

Hyde estimates that an individual physician, depending on how “muscular” a schedule he or she is willing to tackle, can serve a primary care base of 2,000 to 2,500 patients. These figures, together with a projection from the Urgent Care Association of America of one clinic per every 40- to 50,000 people, suggest that roughly 50 hardworking doctors staffing urgent care clinics in an area the size of southern Manhattan could have a significant impact.

“If St. Vincent’s was like a lot of hospitals, it had an ER half-full of nonemergency patients who could have been treated in an urgent care clinic,” said Lou Ellen Horwitz, the Urgent Care Association’s executive director. “So while urgent care can’t replace hospital beds, it can create access for a lot of patients who would have gone to an ER.” CHP’s strategy is to build neighborhood primary and specialty care practices that accept walk-ins, one of the many ways it strives to meet the needs of the community, according to spokesman Jim Mandler. Marked by their familiar awnings with the blue Beth Israel logo, they are currently located in the West Village (222 W. 14th St.), Chelsea (202 W. 23rd St.) and lower Midtown (55 E. 34th St.).

The Chelsea practice is expanding and will relocate to the northwest corner of 23rd Street and 8th Avenue on Sept. 1 with 12,000 square feet of space on two floors.

Tom Poole, vice president of Continuum Medical Groups, who oversees development and operation of CHP’s community medical centers around Manhattan, calls it “our newly renovated state-of-the art facility for walk-in primary and specialty care, one-stop

shopping sorely needed to serve Chelsea and Penn South,” a neighborhood development with a large elderly population.

In November, Continuum will open another new Beth Israel facility on 8th Street in the West Village, able to handle 36,000 patient visits per year at full capacity.

“Our model for the future is easy, open access,” said Poole. “We’ve found this is what patients increasingly expect; they don’t want to wait six weeks to see their doctor. We aim to treat patients who need immediate or urgent care and create an environment that provides a satisfactory experience for everybody. To put it simply: We want happy patients, happy physicians and happy staff.”

“We’re able to see this with our practice on 14th Street, and we hope it will continue with the new locations on 23rd and 8th streets,” Mandler added.

Poole says he feels a year from now will be a good time to re-evaluate the success of this new model; he also expects the increasing demand for urgent care to grow hand in hand with new housing development along the West Side.

(For more information on Beth Israel’s practices, visit www.bethisraelmedicalgroup.com or www.wehealny. org.)

At CityMD (www.citymd.net), they are equally bullish: “From our perspective, we see a major need for quality urgent care throughout the city and particularly in the downtown area,” said COO Dr. Nedal Shami, adding that business is good. The company opened its new Flatiron branch at 37 W. 23rd St. on May 8 of this year, has another scheduled to open on 67th Street in the fall and is actively seeking a location in Tribeca or the Financial District for the near future.

Other private partnership practices along the lines of Beth Israel’s primary care walk-ins are opening up, among them the One Medical Group (www. onemedical.com), which has five locations, including in the West Village, at 408 W. 14th St., and the Wall Street area, at 30 Broad St. Additional urgent care options in Manhattan’s Lower West Side include New York Doctors Urgent Care, 65 W. 13th St.; Emergency Medical Care, 200 Chambers St. (www.emcny.com), and Medhattan Immediate Medical Care, 106 Liberty St. (www.medhattan.com).

According to rules of thumb and guesstimates from several experts, it appears that southern Manhattan’s urgent care needs are being addressed, and that the closing of St. Vincent’s, in the cold light of history, may one day be considered more of a transition than a debacle.

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Urgent Care

A Look at Some of Manhattan’s Urgent Care Centers

By AmAndA Woods “In the past, the emergency room was your only option for receiving care for any minor or not-so-minor injury,” said Mark Melrose, D.O., co-founder of Urgent Care Manhattan on the Upper West Side. “The ER was the only game in town.”

Today, about 40 percent of visits to hospital emergency departments are for nonurgent or semi-urgent problems, resulting in unnecessarily overcrowded emergency rooms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For many conditions, urgent care is a more suitable option.

Urgent care centers offer treatment for a variety of ailments, ranging from strep throat to broken bones and fractures. In some centers, physical exams for schools, summer camps and employment are also provided.

Urgent care is not a new concept—it has existed for about 25 years, according to Bill Foresman, the administrative manager of Mount Sinai Urgent Care—but it has recently taken off both nation- and citywide, Melrose said.

Urgent care centers are open to walk-ins, and patients are usually seen within minutes of their arrival.

Citywide urgent care is a necessity that fits into the rhythm of Manhattan life, said Samuel Fisch, the CEO of MedRite Urgent Care in Midtown East.

“An urgent care center is definitely a model that belongs to New York City,” Fisch said. “People [have] busy schedules and it’s so hard to get in to see a doctor. We felt it’s a service that’s needed in the city more than any place else.”

Many issues play into the surge of urgent care in the city.

“You hear of the financial strife of hospitals closing, and they’re having trouble providing efficient care to all patients,” said Anthony Ruvo, M.D., a co-owner of New York Doctors Urgent Care. “Patients still need to be seen in a timely manner.”

Previously, it was too expensive for urgent care centers to open a Manhattan office. The financial crisis has actually helped that situation, Melrose said, and many urgent care centers can now afford to open up.

Many of the urgent care centers that have cropped up in Manhattan are staffed by board certified emergency physicians—a huge plus in a city filled with large medical institutions, said Douglas Kaiden, M.D., a doctor at MedRite.

Below is a list of some of the urgent care centers on the Upper East and Upper West sides and in surrounding neighborhoods.

Urgent Care Manhattan Upper West Side—199 Amsterdam Ave., 212721-4200, www.urgentcaremanhattan.com Urgent Care Manhattan is a walk-in medical center that provides pediatric and adult care for common illnesses, minor emergenNYPre ss.com

medical and surgical illnesses and side effects of cancer treatments. Staff at the center evaluate patients’ hospital records, take a brief medical history, do a physical exam and conduct tests based on the physical symptoms. Then, the staff will determine whether the patient should go home or be admitted into the hospital.

cies, wound repair and X-rays. Patients can also receive travel vaccinations, diabetes and cholesterol screenings and blood tests and lab analysis. Students are welcome at the center for school and summer camp physical screenings. Alcohol and drug testing, along with HIV screenings, are also available at the facility.

CityMD Upper East Side—336 E. 86th St., 212-7723627; Upper West Side—2465 Broadway, 212-721-2111; Columbus Circle—315 W. 57th St. Another Upper East Side location (1150 3rd Ave. at East 67th Street) is set to open in the fall. citymd.net CityMD physicians treat injuries, common illnesses and pediatric needs. They also provide X-rays and conduct health screenings for employment, STD testing and flu and mononucleosis screenings. The facilities also offer travel vaccinations. Besides the four locations mentioned above, CityMD also has an office on West 23rd Street in the Flatiron District.

MedRite Urgent Care Midtown East—919 2nd Ave., 212-9353333, www.medriteurgentcare.com MedRite treats non-life-threatening illnesses including upper respiratory infections, the flu and migraines and injuries such as sprained ankles. X-rays are also available on-site. The doctors on staff are board-certified emergency physicians, said Douglas Kaiden, a doctor at MedRite. The office is open seven days a week, and patients can come in for school, sports, occupational and other physical exams. Patients have the option to fill out a check-in form online before they arrive at the office.

New York Hotel Urgent Medical Services Upper East Side—952 5th Ave., Ste. 1D, 212737-1212, travelmd.com/site1/home/newyork-hotel-urgent-medical-services This center handles minor medical emergencies for city tourists, and its doc-

tors follow up with patients’ primary care physicians back home, providing detailed reports. New York Hotel Urgent Medical Services also offers 24-hour in-room medical care—doctors usually arrive at the hotel room either within the hour or at the patient’s requested time. The doctors carry portable medical equipment, and most medications are immediately available.

EMERGeCARE Upper East Side—210 E. 86th St., Ste. 203, 212-510-8092, www.emergecare.com This center treats various medical needs, ranging from the common cold to bites and stings to dehydration. Most major insurances are accepted here, but those who aren’t insured pay an all-inclusive $125 fee.

Manhattan Physician Group Upper East Side—215 E. 95th St., 212-9968000; Upper West Side—154 W. 71st St., 212-496-4600. www.mpgcares.com Here, patients can receive treatment for common illnesses. General and vascular surgeries, as well as social services, are also available at the Upper East Side location.

Internal medicine services are offered at both locations.

DR Walk-in Upper West Side—775 Columbus Ave., 212932-8060, www.drwalkin.com This urgent care center is located inside a Duane Reade pharmacy. Here, patients can receive general checkups, treatments for back and joint pain, physical exams for work and school and blood sugar testing, to name a few.

The Urgent Care Center of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Upper East Side—1275 York Ave., 212-6397081, www.mskcc.org/doctor/department/ department-medicine/urgent-care-service Memorial Sloan-Kettering patients are treated for problems related to cancer,

Mount Sinai Urgent Care Upper West Side—638 Columbus Ave., 888-407-1848, mountsinaifpa.reachlocal. net/about-us/locations/upper-west-side/ urgent-care This is a brand-new urgent care facility.

Many of the urgent care doctors here also treat in the hospital’s emergency department, but at the urgent care center, they are able to treat patients more quickly and with greater privacy. This center has a unique perk—access to Mount Sinai’s clinical pathology and diagnostic services.

One Medical Group Columbus Circle—1790 Broadway, Ste. 182, 212-530-0624, www.onemedical.com/nyc/ doctors One Medical Group offers same-day appointments for patients in need of immediate attention. On the center’s website, there is a link to the member services portal, My One, which allows patients to sign up for an appointment whenever they like. Using MyOne, patients can enter their medical history online and, after their appointments, follow up with doctors and schedule their next visit.

New York Doctors Urgent Care Greenwich Village—65 W. 13th St., 212414-2800; new office at 205 Lexington Ave. (Murray Hill) to open July 16. www.nydoctorsurgentcare.com At this office, the two doctors, Anthony Ruvo and Alvaro Alban, treat immediate health needs such as acute lacerations, minor fractures and occupational-related injuries. The doctors—both with experience in emergency medicine—also handle common illnesses such as allergic reactions, bronchitis and upset stomachs. Patients usually wait only 10 minutes in the casual, café-style waiting room to be seen by a doctor, Ruvo said, and they usually spend no more than an hour total in the office.

Emergency Dentist NYC 212-486-9458 www.EmergencyDentistNYC.com Located near Union Square, Emergency Dentist NYC specializes in treating all dental emergencies, traumas and pain relief.

Seven days a week including weekends and holidays.

J UNE 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 25

WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO WAIT

OUR DOCTORS ARE

ON YOUR SCHEDULE. At Mount Sinai’s new Urgent Care Center you’ll receive exceptional treatment by board-certified emergency medicine physicians from one of the country’s top medical centers.

We’re right here in the heart of the Upper West Side and ready to serve you with exceptional and compassionate care where and when you need it most.

URGENT CARE

UPPER WEST SIDE & MULTISPECIALTY PHYSICIANS

Daily – Evenings – Weekends On site X-ray and labs. Most insurances accepted.

No appointment is necessary for urgent care–just walk in.

THE MOUNT SINAI MEDICAL CENTER OPENS NEW URGENT CARE FACILITY ON MANHATTAN’S UPPER WEST SIDE Emergency Medicine Physicians Will See Walk-in Patients Seven Days a Week A new state-of-the-art urgent care facility staffed by The Mount Sinai Medical Center physicians and staff has opened at 638 Columbus Avenue at West 91st Street, ground floor. Mount Sinai Urgent Care Upper West Side is a walk-in medical facility that will be open seven days a week, with no appointments necessary.

“We know that life happens,” said Kevin Baumlin, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “We all know someone who has had an unexpected injury or illness that requires treatment. Yet, we can’t always wait for an appointment with a physician, and the condition might not be serious enough to require a visit to an emergency room. Urgent care facilities offer a more convenient option.”

According to Dr. Baumlin, an urgent care center is a great alternative for high-quality, immediate, and reliable treatment – especially since it is an integrated part of The Mount Sinai Medical Center, an internationally acclaimed academic medical center. There are plenty of advantages including no long waits at an emergency room for a non-emergency, and lower costs than a hospital visit. If a patient is found to need more extensive care, the center will facilitate immediate transfer to a hospital emergency department and will contact the patient’s primary physician.

Both children and adults will be seen. All physicians are board-certified in emergency medicine. The center contains an on-site x-ray and lab, and will be fully integrated with Mount Sinai’s Electronic Medical Records (Epic) and patients will be able to access their own personal electronic records (MyChart).

Among the conditions that will be treated are allergies and asthma, broken fingers and toes, bronchitis, earaches and eye infections, fevers and flu, headaches, minor cuts that require stitches, moderate back problems, sinus infections, skin rashes and infections, sore throats and coughs, sprains and strains, stomach ailments; urinary tract infections, vomiting, and diarrhea or dehydration.

Mount Sinai Urgent Care will be open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No appointments are necessary and most insurance plans are accepted.

For information about the new center call (212) 828-3250 or

www.mountsinai.org/urgentcare.

638 Columbus Avenue at 91st Street 212-828-3250 www.mountsinai.org/urgentcare

26 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • J une 2 8 , 2 01 2

The Mount Sinai Medical Center has been named by U.S. News & World Report to its 2011-2012 Honor Roll of elite hospitals. Every physician at Mount Sinai Urgent Care is board-certified in emergency medicine and a faculty member of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

NY Press.co m

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June 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 27

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

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J une 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 29

y

seNiORs

Giving Confidence to Seniors with Dementia

Isabella House

Independent Living for Older Adults Our amenities include: • Spacious studio and one-bedroom apartments starting at $2,200 • Spectacular views • Complimentary Lunch and Dinner served restaurant style every day • Basic Cable TV and all utilities included • 24-Hour Security • On-site visitor parking • Education programs, exercise classes, computer training, arts and crafts and much much more.

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515 Audubon Ave. NY, NY 10040

Ph: 212-342-9539

By Roy Herndon Smith

not remember how to tell the time from a digital clock. She did not know how to retrieve messages from her answering any older people live alone and do not have a close family machine. She was overwhelmed, uncertain and close to despair. member or friend living nearSince that first meeting, I have met with by who can help them if they her in her home for two hours a week. As become ill and unable to do all the tasks I help her go through her mail, pay bills, necessary to maintain their lives at home. check her email and do other tasks, I repeatThey or a family member will sometimes edly confirm what she can do. She is a witty employ a geriatric care manager. conversationalist. She has become active in A geriatric care manager can perform the senior center and is going to be teaching a range of needed tasks, such as helping a writing class there. She maintains close with paying bills; planning for medifriendships. cal care and ensuring that a client goes By the second or third meeting, she had to doctor’s appointments; working with become more confident. She has stopped doctors, nurses and social workers at getting lost or panicked on the subway. hospitals and rehabilitation centers to She continues to ensure that a client have difficulties receives the best Case managers with other tasks, possible medical help seniors but, as I help her care; arranging for with them, her lack and supervising handle diffiCult of ability rarely home care aides; tasks and give overwhelms her. She and working with a is enjoying her time client to maintain them the at the senior center his or her quality of ConfidenCe to and conversations life. stay aCtive. with friends.

For example, a proThis case illustrates fessional colleague a principle in workreferred me to Ms. D, ing with someone suffering with dementia: who lives alone. She had been a professor Help with the specific tasks with which until she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s she is having difficulty, but repeatedly and disease. consistently confirm her remaining abilities The first time I met her, she told me that and help her find others who will appreciate she had been having increasing trouble what she knows and can do. remembering how to pay her bills. Sometimes she got disoriented on the subway, Roy Herndon Smith, Ph.D., is with Comeven when going to a familiar place, and munity Geriatric Care (communitygeripanicked when she realized she did not atriccare@gmail.com), a subsidiary of know where she was. She needed help Foremost Home Care. logging on to check her email. She did

M

30 • O UR TOWN DOWNTOWN • J une 2 8 , 2 01 2

www.isabella.org

Isabella House

fb.com/IsabellaOrg

twitter.com/IsabellaOrg

BAYARD

ADVERTISING AGENCY, INC

JOB #: 001382

Isabella House The senior living facility in northern Manhattan has thought ofCLIENT: everything to PUBS: our town enrich and enhance an independent senior’s life.

SIZE: 4.91 x 5.41 DATE: 6-22-12

COST:for indepenMJ When she came with her daughter to look at Isabella’s apartments dent seniors, Mary was not in the best of spirits. Her husband ARTIST: of 43 years recently COMP: bayard died and her best friend just moved to Virginia. Left alone in the home where REV. 0 she had raised her children, Mary found herself overwhelmed OK bytodaily chores and Release reminders of years past.

She only agreed to accompany her daughter to Isabella House to silence her.

After an overview and a tour, Mary and her daughter were invited to participate in a pottery class.

For the first time she handled clay and formed it into creative shapes. She was surprised at the ease of the clay — and the fun she was having. As the afternoon progressed, Mary felt more comfortable. She liked the people she met and was impressed with the genuine warmth of Isabella House. She saw a model apartment and was fascinated with the size and the panoramic views of New York. As she was preparing to leave, the director invited her to come for a trial stay to see if she would really like living as a resident at Isabella House. Mary agreed.

Mary did come for the stay, and moved into Isabella House a few months later.

Today, she is a proficient potter, has taken up pen-and-ink drawing, and made many new friends. Her daughter is happy as well. Those monthly visits are something both of them look forward to now. Mary is just one of our many Isabella success stories at Isabella House.

For more information or to arrange a visit, call: (212) 342-9539 or visit ww.isabella.org NY Press.co m

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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

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Small Business is Best, Except When it’s Not Save mom-and-pop StoreS, but they Should Save uS from bad Service

By Christopher Moore

I

don’t love that cute independent pharmacy in my neighborhood.

This is a secret—or it was until about a sentence ago. I cannot count the number of stories I’ve edited over the years about this pharmacy. I even wrote one. The pieces have chronicled the personal relationships between the pharmacist and local residents; how he’s provided medicine without charging for it during an emergency; and the time activists and even a state legislator rallied against the landlord’s possible eviction of the drugstore.

When I went there, though, my prescriptions were not ready—even after I’d been assured by phone beforehand that they would be filled. I will never get back the hours I spent standing around waiting for the men in white coats to get their work done.

Currently, I get my prescriptions filled by Frank at Duane Reade.

If bigger is not necessarily better, well, neither is smaller. This is something I’ve been thinking about as the Bloomberg administration and West Side Council Member Gale A. Brewer are working with many others to save small businesses. Proposed regulations would limit the scope of some storefronts, to encourage fewer banks and more independent

“Because I don’t like this,” the woman said.

I don’t like it either. Yesterday when the three men at the diner counter in lower Manhattan chatted with each other and ignored me, I didn’t like it. I walked out. Whenever someone takes a phone call instead of dealing with me, when I took the time to shops. Just last week, Bloomberg went further show up in person, I don’t like it. The young and unveiled plans for a new office to help waiter at the unsurprisingly now-defunct businesses, especially smaller ones, “navigate Italian eatery who was texting instead of takcity bureaucracy,” as the ing orders? The gentlemen at Wall Street Journal put it. the pricey restaurant uptown I’m backing both proposwho take away plates before als. But I stopped believing we’re finished eating them? I that every mom-and-pop don’t like any of it. store deserves to succeed When I was growing up, my around the time I noticed parents owned an indepenthat mom and pop were dent bookstore. The place treating me like crap. had nearly a three-decade Sometimes, small places run. When it was over, I screw up. My spouse and zipped into Barnes & Noble I go through dry cleaners and bought a membership the way the Octomom goes card. I was exhausted from CHRISTOPHER MOORE all the years of fighting the through Pampers. Some of our clothes recently played good fight, being on the side a dramatic game of lost and found. We go of the little guy. Now it turns out that Barnes back and forth between the expensive cleaner & Noble, after killing bookstores across the who keeps calling to say he forgot to charge nation, is the little guy in the battle against for one of the shirts or the woman with the Amazon. Talk about what goes around, ecofascist lecture promoting a special clothcomes around. ing case—one we would have to pay for—so Let’s do what we can to create a fair playing as not to use up plastic dry-cleaning bags. In a field for small businesses. Then, within those city with so many dry cleaners, why are all the establishments, let’s set up rules on how to annoying ones in my neighborhood? treat customers better. Surely, fine service I’m not alone in my mixed feelings about must be central to what smaller businesses the occasional small business. “I was overoffer their communities. charged,” a harried-looking woman told a What I want in a store or restaurant, big merchant in front of a little city market on or small, is to be noticed, appreciated and Broadway in April. “At this point, I’m not treated well. coming back.”

“Why are you not coming back?” the felChristopher Moore is a writer living in Manlow said, evidently having missed the part hattan. He’s available by email at ccmnj about her being overcharged. @aol.com and on Twitter @cmoorenyc.

STREET SCENE

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

Primary voting on June 26 A voter enters a polling location on Baxter Street.

Photo by James Kelleher

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Public Art Fund’s newest installation

Conceived by Paola Pivi, “How I Roll” is a 28-foot-long plane that rotates 360 degrees on exibition until August 26 in Central Park. Photo by Dana Davenport J UNE 28 , 2012 • O UR TOW N D OW NTOW N • 3 1

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