Our Town Downtown November 2, 2011

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 | WWW.OTDOWNTOWN.COM

LIVING THROUGH 9/11

NASA sattelite image of Manhattan on 9/11/01

� N E I G H BO R H O O D C HAT TE R LOWER EAST SIDE: EVACUATION SUCCESS STORY Aixa Torres, Alfred E. Smith Houses Tenant Association president, is a good person to have around in an emergency situation. In the days of preparation for Hurricane Irene, Torres successfully coordinated the evacuation of 90 percent of the Smith residents. The housing complex, located on the Lower East Side, boasts a population of roughly 4,300 people.

Torres was honored last week by State Sen. Daniel Squadron, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Council members Margaret Chin and Rosie Mendez and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer for what is estimated to have been the most successful evacuation in New York City during the storm. Working with Smith Houses’ staff, the tenant association was able to recruit a number of volunteers and translators and helped coordinate transportation to evacuation centers with the New York City Housing Authority, elected officials and other sister agencies.

DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN: OUTDOOR PHOTO PROJECT Photographs of Manhattan snapped by local kids and submitted to the 91111 Moving Forward project are on display at

Tuesday, Sept. 6, the southbound side of the R line at the Cortlandt Street station has resumed service. The station was closed in 2001 after sustaining significant damage during 9/11 and was reopened in 2002. It was closed again in 2005 for construction, and the northbound side was back up in 2009. MTA chairman and CEO Jay H. Wilder, Assembly Speaker Silver, Congressman Nadler, State Sen. Squadron, Manhattan Borough President Stringer and Council Member Chin were on hand at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday.

Council Member Rosie Mendez, State Sen. Dan Squadron, Council Member Margaret Chin, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Aixa Torres with a small collection of the staff and volunteers who helped evacuate 90 percent of the residents of the Alfred E. Smith Houses during Hurricane Irene.

PhoTo couRTESy of SEn. SquadRon’S officE

various locations in Downtown Manhattan. The children were asked to capture the forward progression of New York City after 9/11 and to celebrate the diversity of the city. For a list of locations and to learn more about the project, visit www.91111movingforward.com.

Children are invited to vote for their favorite photos, and the winner will be

announced Friday, Sept. 16. They can vote at www.notestrokes.com.

LOWER MANHATTAN: CORTLANDT STREET SOUTHBOUND R SIDE REOPENS Workers, tourists and residents alike traveling to Lower Manhattan from uptown will be happy to know that as of

BOWERY: DELANCEY STREET GETS COUNTDOWN CLOCKS After both State Sen. Squadron and Council Member Chin wrote an official letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) about the dangers of sections of Delancey Street in August, citing numerous accidents that have taken place on the thoroughfare, the agency has responded by installing pedestrian countdown clocks along the street last week.

In a statement, Squadron noted, “DOT heeded our call to install countdown clocks and begin the process of making Delancey Street safer for everyone. We appreciate the quick response and know there is still more to do.”

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New York Citybased photographer George Denison spent an afternoon at ground zero on Labor Day, george denison Monday, Sept. 5.

In the days leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Denison asked a few onlookers what had brought them to the site.

Time is going by so fast. It feels so unreal.

I haven’t been here in years. It’s great to see everything rebuilt.

Jonas carlund, 24, sweden

Ben FuenteFria, 33, new Jersey

emma Bäck, 21, sweden

Janna christiana, 34, new Jersey

I come here often. You get to see a lot of people from all parts of the world.

You can meet people from all different cultures. It’s actually relaxing.

The fountains look beautiful.

It’s kind of strange for it to be a tourist site now, but we wanted to see it.

Zaman liton, 27, england

We’re really excited for the opening of the memorial.

scott codley, 23, england

It’s hard to imagine what went on here, but it seems that everything has regenerated and is moving along now. michael James, 24, england

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SE PTE M B E R 8, 2011 | otdowntown.com

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� N EWS

Finding Unity on Anniversary of 9/11 | By marissa maier

I

n most cases, noted Julie Menin, chair of Community Board 1, coordinating an event that involves hundreds of volunteers and thousands of participants in Downtown Manhattan would take roughly a year to plan. Menin and CB1, however, have managed to organize such an event, “Hand in Hand: Remembering 9/11,” in the span of six weeks, with more than a little help from New York City organizations and companies.

Hand in Hand, Menin explained, provides an opportunity for all New Yorkers—not just those directly affected by the terrorist attacks—to participate in commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

“The motto [of Hand in Hand] is to reflect, remember and unite—the idea behind it being that, on the 10th anniversary, this is a time to reflect and remember the lives of those who were lost, and to harken back to that unity that existed in the days and weeks after 9/11,” Menin explained. “This is a chance to remember what unites us as New Yorkers and not what divides us.”

The Hand in Hand: Remembering 9/11 event On Saturday, Sept. 10, the day before the will include a tree planting and Wall of Remembrance in Battery Park. anniversary, at 8:46 a.m.—the exact time the first plane hit the North Tower—thousands PhoTo By CaITlyn BIERMan

of citizens along the western waterfront of Downtown Manhattan will lock hands for a moment of silence, then join together in song.

The song selection is up to the participants, who will be emailed a choice of four songs including John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

Afterward, people are invited to go to Battery Park, where Menin has arranged for the Port Authority to fabricate boards for a Wall of Remembrance. Participants are invited to post a note or memento there, and a portion of the wall will become part of the permanent exhibition of the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

Later in the day, the public is invited to volunteer at a number of community projects. The activities include garden maintenance at The Urban Farm in Battery Park, art projects on the themes of peace, tolerance and unity at The Door on Broome Street and painting a mural at Pier 25, among others. (A full list of projects can be found at the Hand in Hand website, under the volunteer tab.)

Eventage, a West Village-based production company that oversees the New York City marathon, donated hundreds of hours to plan the event and will have 17 staff members on site on the day. New York Cares pitched in by agreeing to find between 200 and 300 volun-

teers to staff events. Sam Schwartz Engineering helped prepare the route on a pro bono basis and Nautica donated 5,000 T-shirts with the Hand in Hand logo imprinted on it.

As of last week, over 2,000 people had registered for the event, with roughly 5,000 expected to have registered to participate

by Saturday morning.

Companies, organizations and families have registered as groups to hold hands together in one section of the chain, while many others have signed up as individuals, a fact Menin finds particularly inspiring.

“The idea of Hand in Hand is very iconic, I think. It is the idea that you will find people holding hands with strangers. Again, it goes back to the days after 9/11,” Menin said, “when you lent a hand to a stranger in need. I think that is a very important part of the concept: We are all united.”

Although free to the public, Menin stressed that participants must register.

To register for Hand in Hand, visit www. handinhand911.org/register-now. Registered participants will receive an email with their assigned check-in station, and check-in stations will be open from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. on Saturday.

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 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 8, 2011

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Writing | Literature | Cultural Events The Jack Burstyn Memorial Lecture Dr. Alan Manevitz

October 17, 2011 | 7:00pm

An Evening with John Simon John Simon

October 27, 2011 | 7:00pm

The Humor of Sholem Aleichem Bel Kaufman

November 1, 2011 | 7:00pm

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Conner Guest Writer Francine Prose

November 14, 2011 | 7:00pm

Talented Young Writers Panel Stefan Merrill Block Alison Espach Haley Tanner Benjamin Hale

November 21, 2011| 7:00pm

Tina Santi Flaherty Irish Voices Literary Series Pete Hamill Barbara Leaming Dan Barry Iris Cornelia Love

September 22, 2011 | 7:00pm October 24, 2011 | 7:00pm November 15, 2011 | 7:00pm December 5, 2011 | 7:00pm

REGISTER TODAY FOR FALL 2011 CLASSES! Featuring: Master Classes

Alison Espach- Fiction and Daphne Merkin- Memoir Plus many more writing, literature, and specialty courses

To RSVP for events e-mail twcce@hunter.cuny.edu or call 212.650.3850 See our complete list of Fall 2011 courses at www.hunter.cuny.edu/ce/the-writing-center Lewis Frumkes, director

S E P T E M B E R 8, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m

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LIVING THROUGH 9/11

N

early a decade after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the New Yorkers who watched the planes hit the Twin Towers carry those images with them to this day. To commemorate the anniversary of this tragedy, Tribeca-based writer Wickham Boyle presents a powerful, visceral account of the day through the stories of five disparate eyewitnesses. —all accouNTS aS Told To Wickham BoYle

Father Raymond Nobiletti

pastor, ChurCh of the transfiguration it was that beautiful, clear day. i said the early mass at the church of the Transfiguration on 29 mott Street, then i went and voted. When i was back, the office said a plane hit the World Trade center. We at first thought it was an accident. Then we got the call saying, “We need a priest down here.” i started to gather my stole and my oils, and just then, a plane hit the second tower. The screaming and yelling from people in the neighborhood buildings was terrible. We realized it was an attack, not an accident. i ran between the courts and there were literally thousands of people coming out of the buildings, flooding the streets, screaming. i was bumping shoulders, being jostled at every turn. i thought, “Why am i doing this when everyone is running the other direction?” i went to the front of the millennium hotel, where they’d set up a triage center. People came and hugged me and fell into my arms. maybe they weren’t even catholic—or christian—it was the symbolism, i suppose, they felt from me. many were panting, burned and asking me to call people. one woman was totally burned, her face was exposed, i recall praying the “our Father” with her. i was there for an hour when we heard the crack of the South Tower collapsing. The top 20 floors came toward me. i ran to the gate of St Paul’s churchyard and grabbed on the gate, and then people grabbed onto my legs. in an instant, we were covered in the ash and paper and it was totally dark for what felt like a very long time. The ambulance near us was crushed. a policeman was screaming, “Get out of here, the next one is gonna come down.” i didn’t realize that i was covered in ash and bleeding. i walked down Fulton Street, trying to get back to the church, and then the North Tower collapsed and the impact pushed me into the street. i continued to walk to chinatown—as i went past the courthouse, some parishioners recognized me and tried to wash me off, but everything was stuck. i got to the church. i went to change my clothes and i found several patches of burnt flesh. i changed and came down. We knew that 19 people, new immigrants from our church, were missing. We later found that they were taken to New Jersey on a ferry.

We had funerals for cantor Fitzgerald workers and firefighter funerals, and still it seems as if many of us have not recovered. it was a time that really changed chinatown. For the anniversary, i think about the spirit of helping from the staff of the hotel with towels, of the police moving us out of the way and of the court workers offering water. all of the small things that came together as a community. it gave me an appreciation of how sacred the site became from the people. it is the presence of God’s grace in the face of evil.

 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 8, 2011

Left: Father Nobiletti at the ground zero site on 9/11. couRTESy oF FATHER RAyMoND NoBILETTI

Below: Sherwin, present day.

PHoTo By FRIEDA kAT

Henry Sherwin WiCkham Boyle’s son anD DoWntoWn paralegal

i’d turned 13 a week earlier and i’d joked that Sept. 11 was the second first day of school because my mother had been mistaken and made us go to school on that monday. We had to go back home and return the next day, Tuesday, Sept. 11. So it had a very jokey feeling to the start of the day. i was in Spanish class in the part of i.S. 89 that faces the West Side highway. We felt the building shaking first. We watched the planes fly pretty close to our eye level. it was close enough to see the windows in the plane.

Then we saw it hit the building.

The school made an announcement that there had been a gas explosion and all the kids were evacuated to the lunchroom. We were all milling around, still being kids, still joking; we didn’t see the second one hit, but we felt it.

Then you [Boyle] came and took me and a bunch of my friends out.

We were all on the West Side highway when the first tower was collapsing. i never broke down and cried, but a lot of kids were losing it. i just wasn’t sure why it didn’t shake me like the other people. afterward, my instinct was to find ways to be helpful. after we got home on the first night, it was quiet and supplies were being delivered. i went out and loaded and unloaded boxes onto a neighbor’s uncovered loading dock. The second night, it started raining and all the supplies were out in the rain, i heard it from my room and i got up at 3 or 4 in the morning. a neighbor kid named eric, an older kid, was there and we moved all of the supplies. There was water pouring on all the food and clothes.

We moved them undercover. it

felt good to have a real task that might be a help.

The first night, i went out with my dad and when we stepped out it was the moment when World Trade 7 or 5 fell.

People started running again. i.S. 89 was closed and they sent us to the lab School on 17th Street. it was hard to get back downtown past canal Street, as they had frozen the zone where i lived. But once you were down here in the frozen zone, there wasn’t any real regulation at first. i remember talking to the firefighters, asking if they’d found anybody and the guy responded, “We’re not gonna find any people alive.” i was 13 years old and it was intense to think they wouldn’t find anyone else alive.

The day everything changed William Nevins

Empty SockEt

My eyes search the horizon from my Tribeca home; they roam over the landscape idly like an errant tongue groping the empty socket that earlier held a gleaming tooth.

Over and over, my gaze comes to rest on the spot where the twin towers of the World Trade Center held sway as mighty landmarks. “Go south toward the towers,” I would direct endless foreign visitors.

Now in the darkness of the third night there is a crescent moon and stars, unusual in downtown Manhattan. But after all, these have been three glorious Indian summer days with crystal-clear skies, shockingly filled with acrid smoke and choking particles.

private investment advisor and art dealer I worked at Lehman [Brothers] for 20 years—I was a bond salesman. We were right across the street from the towers. I saw everything. It was on a Tuesday morning, a clear day. I was at the post, surrounded by computer screens and a big TV above everything so we could constantly watch the news. The TV abruptly switched and the picture was no longer news, but what looked like some Hollywood blockbuster film where aliens have put a hole in the World Trade Center. I swiveled around and said, “Who changed the channel?” Then I looked out the window and I saw a whiteout, tons of paper flying by the windows.

Our first thought was pilot error or a small Cessna. I knew that if it was a small plane it would bounce, like an insect off a windshield.

There were lots of phone calls saying there were people falling out of the windows. We all turned and looked. There were people holding hands or jumping one at a time, three at a time—holding hands. We were shocked. Most of our floor did not evacuate until the second plane hit. From out of the corner of my eye I saw a plane heading north, and when it hit the tower my knees buckled.

I hit the ground. I went and got my keys and wallet and walked down 29 flights to ground level and over to the marina in the World Financial Center.

It was chaos. Everyone was running toward the boats to get out of there. I walked through to Tribeca, on over the bridge. The North Tower had dropped and collapsed in front of your eyes. I said, “Game over—the world has now changed.” I walked to my apartment on Fifth Avenue near Washington Square Park. All the phones were jammed, but within 25 minutes, there were people who knew where I lived and they just kept arriving.

We turned on the TVs and watched in disbelief. Within minutes, there were two or three F16s constantly circling Manhattan.

They shut down the flights and we heard the newscasters say, “This was an act of war. We are at war.” From then on, we sat in disbelief, watching the chaos on the street going from downtown to uptown. Everything changed.

—Excerpted from Wickham Boyle’s book, A Mother’s Essays from Ground Zero

couRTESy oF aBBy McGRaTh

Nevins at a firehouse near Waverly Place, where he lived in 2001. The photos behind him are of the firemen who died on 9/11. PhoTo By MaRcia RESnick

Abby mcGrath filmmaker and director of renaissance House, an artists’ retreat Tony [McGrath’s husband] and I were driving down the West Side Highway to see our film editor with all of the equipment and the raw footage in the car.

We saw something hit the rear

of the car ahead of us. At a light, I got out to tell the guy in front what had happened. I looked up, and something had gone through the sunroof of our car, too. Then we noticed reams and shards of paper flying out of the World Trade Center. There was a group of kids going into Stuyvesant High School who turned and were pointing. It was ominous, like a horror film.

Lots of quiet and pointing. When we looked up, there was a hole in the World Trade Center.

We assumed there was some kind of gas explosion. There was no sense of urgency. I left Tony with the car and told him I was going to buy a quick cheap camera for insurance purposes. While I was looking, I overheard people talking about a war because someone had flown a plane into the WTC.

When I returned back to the car, there was the loudest sound I’d ever heard. Tony dove under the car, but, you know, I have a big backside and I couldn’t slide all the way under—my legs were hanging out and I thought I would be run over. Another man dove under our car and he said, “Stay here, there’s more of them out here.”

When it was quiet, we clambered out and saw that our dog Louise was gone. She had jumped out of the open car window. The noise was so loud and close when the second plane hit that the noise stayed in my head and I felt it in my bones.

Now my only aim was to find Louise. I went to the dog run and it all still seemed normal. Children were still playing and there were no sirens yet. I headed back to the car.

My husband was driving away be-

cause someone told him he had to go. I raced up to him at a stop sign.

We drove to Battery Park. A female cop said to get out of the vehicle. We left the car and went into the park. It was packed; everyone was told to go into the park and I was being mashed like at a rock concert. Some people were in a restaurant—the doors were locked and people were banging on the glass doors to be let in, but no one would open the doors. So many people were screaming and crying.

I followed the waterline, but you couldn’t see well because of the haze and paper falling everywhere.

I was afraid I might fall into the river, but we kept trudging north.

At some point, we could see the second tower falling. It seemed as if it was in slow motion. One floor, kerplunk, then another. I knew our

editor lived on Pearl Street and I thought we could make it there. We walked there not knowing that we had ash all over us.

We had no idea what happened to Louise. We later learned that she jumped out with her leash on and started running. A man we now call The Captain—he is the captain of a ferry that goes to the Vineyard—saw her and grabbed her, thinking her owner would come. The Captain ran to the water and there was a boat tethered there. He jumped on and threw Louise on the boat.

The Captain and the owner of the boat decided that they would ferry people over to New Jersey. All day, they took runs back and forth across the Hudson River with Louise as the co-pilot, comforting children and scared adults alike.

SE PTE M B E R 8, 2011 | otdowntown.com

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Impressions with Nick Griffin

D

aniel Bergstein, a 1980 alum of Stuyvesant High School, died on Sept. 11, 2001, while at the Port Authority office in Tower One (he served as board secretary for the organization). Nick Griffin is one of the co-founders of the Daniel Bergstein/SHS ’80 Memorial Scholarship, which gives an annual cash award to an outgoing Stuyvesant student on their way to Columbia University or Barnard College. Griffin sat down to reveal how the fund serves as a memorial not only to Bergstein but to the friendships he formed while at Stuyvesant.

How did you know Dan [Bergstein]?

We both grew up on the Upper East Side and went to the same public junior high in 1972. We ended up at Stuyvesant together. But after high school, the next time I saw him was at our 20th reunion in 2000.

There were probably 200 members ei N DaN be Rg sT of our class there. Unfortunately, it was one of those situations where someone taps you on the shoulder, you say, “Hi,” and then there is someone else to say hi to. The next time I thought about Dan was when I found out his name was on the list of the missing.

He was a very thoughtful and dependable guy. He was in the towers in the first bombing in the 1990s and was one of the cool heads who helped people get out.

Dan was born and raised in the city. He attended Columbia University and worked for the Port Authority. Why do you think Dan spent most of his life in New York City?

I think New Yorkers are New Yorkers for a good reason.

Dan, as you said, did all of his education in New York City, including grad school, when he went to CUNY [The City University of New York]. I think he was a believer in public education and that is why we put together a scholarship. It was really to honor his commitment to public education. As a city boy, it made sense for him to chart that sort of course and…work in the public sector.

How did the idea for the fund come about?

I ran into a bunch of old classmates at St. Paul’s Church [at Bergstein’s memorial service]. We said that we needed to do something. We didn’t want to do some one-off event.

The fund was something we could do on a sustained basis.

We wanted to do something to carry on the memory of not only Dan but of our friendship with him. This is something that will remind people of the lasting ties of friendship and comraderie.

How much has the fund given so far? What’s the ultimate goal?

We have given over $15,000 in total since 2003. Essentially it is a cash reward and is the largest award given by a Stuyvesant class to a student that is done on annual basis. We have collected a lot more money that that. The proceeds from the endowment have gone towards these annual awards.

We set an original goal to raise $100,000 [for the endowment] and the basis of our thinking was with $100,000, the endowment would be able to generate up to about $5,000 a year in annual scholarships. We have a low-key approach to fundraising and so far we have been successful. I think the success of this effort says a lot about a unique bond between people who grew up together in five boroughs, who knew each other, were friends or acquaintances back when we were young. I think those bonds are really important.

A portion of the revenue from this issue of Our Town Downtown will be donated to the Daniel Bergstein/SHS ’80 Memorial Scholarship Fund as well as to the 9/11 Memorial Fund. [Ed. note: Manhattan Media President and CEO Tom Allon was a former classmate of Bergstein’s at Stuyvesant High School.]

 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 8, 2011

James Brown, Liz Thompson and Cherie Nanninga, chair of the Lower Manhattan Council at the Evening Stars Performance Series at the World Trade Center Plaza in 2000 as part of the River to River Festival. couRTESy of liz ThoMPSon

Liz Thompson director of ArtfulAction consulting And former executive director of the lower mAnhAttAn culturAl council, whose offices were in tower five I want to tell the story backward. I was actually thinking of giving myself a birthday party this year on Sept. 11, even though my actual birthday is in the spring, because this is the first time I feel completely free of 9/11 stuff.

It has taken a long time to feel free. I didn’t want it to be a memorial of how scary or unsettling it was. All of that made me shut down. It is sort of a triumph of now being really clear, honest and fearless about examining who I was [then].

Even though—on one hand, the years after 9/11, after I stopped working so intensely for LMCC, felt like wasted years. Nothing interested me.

I felt as if I had sawdust in my mouth. I didn’t cry for six or seven months. My kids kept saying, “Don’t you think you should see somebody?” I kept saying, “I’m all right.” I got my

staff to see people for therapy, but I eschewed it.

LMCC didn’t lose any staff, but we lost a Jamaican artist-in-residence, Michael Richards, who was working on a piece about the Tuskegee Airmen, the black fliers.

I learned later that I took the last elevator down because I was meeting with Geoff Wharton, who was Silverstein’s COO. We were talking about LMCC’s future at a breakfast at Windows on the World; we had pro bono offices in Tower Five.

Geoff had to find somebody before the workday began, and he apologized for cutting the breakfast short. I got up to leave with him. The express elevator was broken and the other elevator to the sky lobby opened. We got in. Then we took the next elevator to the lobby. If any of the two elevators hadn’t been in sync, it would have been a different story.

As we walked out of the elevator into the lobby, the first plane hit. We heard the glass.

It was like a vacuum. It was as if the air got sucked out of the lobby. We heard the crashing and Geoff took us down to the

sub-basement, looking for a command center. Down there, a man came running toward me with smoke pluming off of him. I turned and saw an exit sign and I got out by the Winter Garden. The first thing I saw was a pregnant guard and I walked her across and out back. We were all milling around outside and then I saw the second plane hit. I could only think about the people in the plane. Then I started to walk away from the site. I encountered someone I knew from the Berkshires. He took me home to his loft.

After 9/11, the spirit of Downtown was fantastic; it was like a small town. Everyone was caring and concerned.

There was a sense that we wanted to rebuild and rebuild right. You still couldn’t breath.

We had three temporary offices before we landed on Hudson Street. We didn’t miss a beat, not one grant deadline, not one community board meeting. The staff was amazing.

Afterward, there was nothing else to do but work intensely and build and take advantage of the community feeling.

A doc 10 years in the making shows rebuilding of ground zero and the stories of 9/11 survivors

| By mArissA mAier

T

here are documentaries with the power to transcend the silver screen and create lasting, perceptible change in the three-dimensional world. REBIRTH is one such film. A feature-length documentary, REBIRTH is part of a larger organization whose mission is not only to create a historic record of the rebuilding of ground zero but to examine the evolution of grief.

Project Rebirth, the organization, maintains one the largest time-lapse projects, which has chronicled the construction around the ground zero site since 2002. For the film, this footage was intercut with the stories of five people directly affected by 9/11: a survivor who managed to get out of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, a firefighter who lived through the collapse of the WTC but ended up losing his best friend, a high school student whose mother died, a woman who lost her fiancé and a construction worker who is working on the Freedom Tower despite the loss of his brother on 9/11.

Director Jim Whitaker explains the development of the project and how REBIRTH is a meditation on the individual experience of loss Whitaker began his career as a documentary filmmaker to raise money for nonprofit organizations. He wrote and directed Loaded, an award-winning public service announcement against drinking and driving in memory of a Georgetown University classmate.

Our Town Downtown: In October 2001, you visited ground zero for the first time. This visit became the launching point for the Project Rebirth organization and its time-lapse project. What struck you about ground zero when you saw it in person?

Jim Whitaker: The first was a feeling of dread and anxiety as I looked at the debris, the pile and smelled the smells of the site. I watched as a couple of people walked around the site and there was one person wearing a mask. They had this fixed look of determination on their faces. That made me focus on the debris and the fact that one day it would be gone—something else would be in its place. It gave me a sense of hope.

That was the inception point: How could you bring that experience of dread, anxiety and hope to an audience?

My first thought was to literally show the rebuilding, to put cameras up for 24 hours a day and allow ground zero and the site to tell its own story.

You have worked in the entertainment industry for many years, but this is your first feature film. [Whitaker serves as the chairman and producer of Whitaker Entertainment at Walt Disney Studios.] When did the idea for the documentary film component of Project Rebirth come about?

I started my career working for a film company that made documentary films for museums. My first thought was that there probably was going to be a museum here. I had the idea of the time-lapse installation with screens surrounding the audience, and the building literally rising up around the audience. I started from a place of wanting to record the history

PhoTo By STEvE PykE | PoMEgRanaTE aRTS

� SE E After Loss Comes Rebirth of the site, but as time moved forward, I wanted to record the site and the people. I thought that I should find the human context [of the event].

I read that your field producer, Danielle Beverly, was integral in finding participants for the film and started with 10 interviewees. Did you quickly realize that you needed to winnow down the film to the stories of only five people?

One dropped out after the first year. I went in and edited with all nine people in the film. I would edit each person’s story down to 15- to 30-minute pieces, but intercut [with the timelapse footage], the film was simple too long. I finally had to make the hard decision to only make it about five people. That decision was made based on where I started: ground zero. The starting place was loss. I felt as though the stories that needed to come to the fore were the ones about the most direct loss.

My mother passed away six months before 9/11. I came into this with a sense of openness and grief. 9/11 was a very different kind of traumatic loss, but how people evolve, manage and move through grief is curious. What I have learned is that it is a very individual and unique experience.

Project Rebirth includes one of the largest time-lapse projects ever undertaken, shot between roughly 2002 and 2009 in 35 mm, with 6 to 14 cameras on site. For this portion of the film, how much footage had to be edited down?

Well, for the time-lapse portion we had more than a million feet of film. The total amount of footage that we shot for the entire film was around 700 hours of film. [B]ut this has been a 10-year process. Everything kind of becomes relative with time.

What do you hope this documentary will help accomplish in couRTESy of PRojEcT REBiRTh a broader sense?

Brian Rafferty [chairman of Project Rebirth] has worked on finding ways to create teaching and learning tools around the film. Apparently, there has never been a record of people going through grief over this length of time. It can help prepare first responders for future events that could occur. There will be a class required of people entering the NYPD academy to see how grief looks, and the process of going through a traumatic experience.

[Since 2007, Project Rebirth has partnered with Georgetown University and Columbia University to create coursework drawn from the film in the fields of human development, psychology, social work and education.]

This film will be part of the permanent installation at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. What other footage will be part of the exhibit?

The film will play in a regular flow within the museum—in addition, we created what we call “pods,” 10 to 15 minutes versions of each participant’s story. We built the installation similarly to what I had imagined might be possible: we’ll have screens surrounding the audience to show the evolution of the site up to the present day.

REBIRTH is currently showing at the IFC Center (323 6th Ave. at West Third Street.) and will make its television debut on Showtime on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 9 p.m. To read the full version of this interview visit www.otdowntown.com

Impressions with Philip Glass

Composer Talks Scoring REBIRTH From Kundun to The Hours to The Fog of War, Philip Glass isn’t the type of composer to wed himself to one cinematic genre. Like an actor, Glass noted in a phone interview, he imagines the emotional motivation of the characters, fictional or otherwise, when scoring a film. While working on REBIRTH, the feelings behind this documentary were more accessible for Glass, a longtime Downtown resident.

“There was no difficulty in imagining those emotions. They were immediate and firsthand,” Glass said.

“What I noticed was that people put photographs [of their missing loved ones] all over the city…the bottom line is that [the event] was about suffering…human suffering.”

On Sept. 11, 2001, Glass was on tour in Brazil. Many of the musicians he works with, however, were based in Tribeca and had to leave their homes. “Just being able to talk [on the phone] with your family was difficult,” Glass said of the hours and days after the event.

For REBIRTH, instead of creating musical motifs for each of the five subjects chronicled in the film, Glass’ score focused on the passage of time since 9/11.

“The point is almost everybody experiences the same thing. In the first years, it’s all about suffering and loss. Gradually that diminishes… to a place of renewal and living your life again. The rebirth happens to everybody,” Glass noted. “So the music followed the timeline…of how people experienced it.”

Glass hopes the film will be screened and exported widely throughout the world, especially to other regions with a history of recent trauma like Mumbai or South Africa.

He points out that the documentary isn’t ideologically or politically motivated, and that the politics surrounding the event aren’t a focus of the work.

“My hope is that when people see this film, they understand that 9/11 was about people,” he noted.

SE PTE M B E R 8, 2011 | otdowntown.com

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MeMORIAl IS ReADy | By JOSh rOgerS

T

Above: Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and Joe Daniels, executive director of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, on a tour of the site last week.

he 9/11 Memorial plaza looked just about ready to open last Thursday as Downtown community board members took in the oaks and the empty square reflecting pools built at the Twin Towers’ footprints. The memorial pools with water flowing down the sides will open on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, during a ceremony Sunday for family members of those who were killed. President Barack Obama, former President George W. Bush and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be attending with other elected leaders.

The plaza opens to the public Sept. 12, although all of the free tickets for entry on Monday have already been reserved. As of Tuesday, there were still a few available spots as early as Sept. 16, and more times beginning Sept. 22 (reserve at www.911memorial.org).

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver arranged a tour after community leaders were denied a special visiting time in September.

Many thanked Silver for arranging the preview and Silver said he was glad they at least got a chance to view it before it opens. “This is Day 1 minus two,” he said.

Residents were mostly impressed with the memorial, comparing it favorably to the vast, concrete plaza that used to be there.

Pat Moore, who lives across from the WTC, said she liked the trees but could do without the reflections on 1 WTC (left center photo). As a plane flew over the Hudson, she said, “I really don’t like that you can see planes flying into the building.”

PHOTOS BY andREw ScHwaRTz

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

Catholic Charities Brought Help &

Hope

www.catholiccharities911.org

 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 8, 2011

THE 7-DAY PLAN THURSDAY

08 09 10 11 12 13 14

BEST PICK

FREE Observance of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 St. Paul’s Chapel, 209 Broadway and Trinity Wall Street, 79 Broadway.

Trinity Church will offer prayers and reflections at St. Paul’s Chapel and Trinity Wall Street. At 11:15 a.m. at Trinity Wall Street, the Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper will preach on the spiritual legacy of 9/11. At 2:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Chapel, members of the 9/11 volunteer community, first responders and recovery workers will participate in a public service. For a full list of events, visit www.trinitywallstreet. org/news/features/remember-to-love.

FREE Tribute and Remembrance:

Asian Americans After 9/11 Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre St.; 7-8:30 p.m.

A 69-minute documentary that examines the ways 9/11 impacted the Asian-American community. The film will be followed by a Q&A with Cao O, executive director of the Asian American Federation.

FRIDAY

FREE The Bad Guys

The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St.; 7 p.m.

Come out for a free reading of a play about tight bonds and angry collisions between young men over an Indian summer. By Alena Smith, the free reading is part of a series at The Public Theater that’s meant to showcase emerging artists, running through Sept. 18.

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SUNDAY

FREE September 11 Commemorative Performance Rockefeller Park, north end of Battery Park City; 5 p.m.

The Joyce Theater Foundation will present performances by the Limón Dance Company with Voices of Ascension, the Paul Taylor Dance Company with The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, A Song for You by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and a world premiere by Jessica Lang Dance created especially for this occasion, among other pieces.

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110 Stories NYU Skirball Center, 60 Washington Square South (betw.

Laguardia Pl. & Thompson St.); 8 p.m., $40-$110 (proceeds go to charity).

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a distinguished cast of film, TV and stage actors will gather for a benefit stage reading of Sarah Tuft’s 110 Stories, a play based on first-person accounts of Sept. 11, 2001.

BMW Guggenheim Lab, First Park (at the corner of Houston St. and 2nd Ave.); 2-5 p.m.

Take a ride on a biodiesel-powered bus to find out where much of New York City’s power comes from and waste goes. Visit community leaders who are creating parks and green spaces in the forgotten corners of the borough.

Sixth annual FringeNYC Encore Series SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam St., and The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal St.; various showtimes through Sept. 26, $18.

FringeNYC Encore Series gives theater lovers another chance at seeing some of the favorite shows from the Fringe Festival. The series will present nearly 20 works in rotating repertory: The Legend of Julie Taymor, Fourteen Flights, The More Loving One, Facebook Me and You Only Shoot the Ones You Love, among others.

FREE Hand in Hand: Remembering 9/11

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Lower Manhattan Westside Waterfront, 8:46 a.m.

Join thousands of fellow New Yorkers in forming a human chain along the waterfront in remembrance of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Participants must register at handinhand911. org to receive instructions and updates on logistics. Registered participants will receive email with their exact check-in location.

FREE Out of Many, One: Unveiling and Blessing of

❯

the Flag Charlotte’s Place, 109 Greenwich St.; 1 p.m.

Charlotte’s Place and Lower Manhattan artist Muriel Stockdale teamed up this summer to create a 12-foot-wide community flag to remember the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Crafted of cloth contributed by people from different countries and cultures, the flag represents the desire of the diverse communities of New York to work together, respect one another and celebrate their differences.

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com.

FREE South Bronx Toxicity Tour

SATURDAY

Beware the Gonzo Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick St. (at Laight St.); 6 p.m., $8.

Showing for only one week, Beware the Gonzo is the story of a 17-year-old student who starts a revolution in his high school by uniting the nerds, outcasts and geeks, but nearly loses himself in the process.

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

Playwrights Horizons 2011/2012 Preview Panel 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson St. (at Canal St.); 7:30 p.m., $15.

Moderated by The New Yorker culture writer Michael Schulman, Playwrights Horizons presents a panel discussion featuring all six writers of its upcoming 2011/2012 season, including Itamar Moses (Completeness), Kirsten Greenidge (Milk Like Sugar), Jordan Harrison (Maple & Vine), Leslye Headland (Assistance), Dan LeFranc (The Big Meal) and Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award-winner Gina Gionfriddo (Rapture, Blister, Burn).

Vanguard Jazz Orchestra Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave. (at 11th St.); $25 and one-drink minimum.

Established by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, the Grammywinning Vanguard Jazz Orchestra has been playing Monday nights at the club since 1966. This big band features trumpets, trombones, reeds and rhythm sections.

FREE Discover Jewish Italy

NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimo, 24 W. 12th St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.); 7:30 p.m.

This exhibition, which includes a screening of two short films and a music talk, provides a dynamic guide to both historical and contemporary Jewish Italy, allowing viewers to explore the cultural treasures of the most ancient diaspora community in the West. Region by region, it highlights both famous and lesser known sites. Reception with kosher wine to follow. RSVP required at rsvp@primolevicenter.org.

WEDNESDAY

The French Connection Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (betw. 6th Ave. & Varick St.); various times through Sept. 22, $12.50.

William Friedkin’s high-octane thriller The French Connection (1971), starring Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider as New York City cops Popeye Doyle and Buddy Russo, will run at Film Forum in a new 35mm print. The film’s recreation of an actual drug bust—the biggest space in New York City history—set new standards for screen chases (and violence) and nabbed Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Hackman.

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SE PTE M B E R 8, 2011 | OTDOWNTOWN.COM

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� EAT NoShiNg aT NoM | By JOSHUA M. BERNSTEIN

B

esides zombie clowns and working a full-time office job, few things frighten me as much as listening to a barber talk.

To me, being confined to a chair with scissors clacking and clippers whirring is a form of temporary imprisonment. It’s trusting your life, or at least your looks, to another human being. My unease is exacerbated by idle chitchat about the weather and whether or not I think the Yankees will win the World Series.

In standard social settings, it’s easy to flee inane chatter. In a barber’s chair, you’re unable to escape conversation.That’s why I get my hair cut in Manhattan’s Chinatown, where the barbers barely speak a lick of English.

Over on crooked Doyers Street, barbershops line the block. Though they appear indistinguishable, trial and error has led me to settle on Hip Kee Beauty Salon (10 Doyers St., betw. Pell St. & Bowery, 212-587-3305).

“Haircut?” the barbers call out as I enter the rectangular room festooned with photos of folically immaculate Chinese men and women. “Not too short,” I tell the barber. He nods. Our conversation ends. The haircut

begins. After my hair is hacked off, the barber straight-razors my sideburns and scrapes my hirsute neck till it’s as smooth as gelato.

For almost seven years I’ve been getting my hair cut at Hip Kee. During that time, I never ventured across the narrow street to Nom Wah Tea Parlor (13 Doyers St., betw. Pell St. & Bowery, 212-962-6047). It’s Chinatown’s oldest dim sum salon, slinging dumplings, pastries and steamed buns since 1920. Given my dumpling addiction, it’s surprising that I’ve avoided Nom’s potstickers. But I had my routine, hitting dollar-dumpling shacks such as Prosperity Dumplings (46 Eldridge St., betw. Canal & Hester Sts., 212-343-0683) or A-Wah (5 Catherine St., betw. Division St. & Broadway, 212-925-8308), home to crisp, clay-pot rice topped with mushrooms and an egg—bibimbap by way of China.

Not dining at Nom Wah was an oversight.

But I recently saw the restaurant in a new light, thanks to news that Wilson Tang, the nephew of longtime owner Wally Tang, had taken over. Instead of slashing and burning decades of history, creating a shiny tourist temple, Wilson merely gave Nom Wah a facelift. Lights were brightened, tables made less rickety, the kitchen modernized. The result was a restaurant with one foot in 1956

and the other in 2011. It was a timeless eatery that it was high time to visit.

The opportunity arrived via email. Fellow writer and cheap eats fan Craig Nelson invited me to Nom Wah to celebrate the release of his Chinatown Chow Down app, which decodes the neighborhood’s restaurants. Per usual, the barbers at Hip Kee did right by me and my unruly locks were tamed. To do the same for my appetite, I crossed the block and popped my Nom Wah cherry. I filled my plate with a sampling of plump har gow, shrimp-pork-mushroom siu mai, oyster sauce-slicked greens and deep-fried, salt-and-pepper spare ribs. I sat at a table topped with a red-and-white checkerboard tablecloth, pulled on my Taiwan-brand lager beer and nibbled my dumplings tentatively, then ravenously.

I’ve dined on my fair share of dim sum, but these handmade nibbles were a 180 from the wan, soggy eats typically doled out from carts by ancient women. These dumplings were fat, juicy and flavorful, not

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even requiring a soy A haircut and a dumpling: Sampling sauce shower. The thin-sliced pork was the Dim Sum houses of Chinatown. salty and crunchy, a PhoTo BY CaiTlYN BiERMaN potentially winning salvo in the ceaseless war against hangovers. And the lightly blanched greens were bright and snappy, a pleasing workout for my incisors and my molars. Much like waiting ’til I went to college to make the beast with two backs, I thought to myself, Why did I wait so long to experience such pleasure?

I ran my hands through my buzzed hair, hoping it’d re-grow soon to give me another reason to return to Doyers Street.

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PENNILESS EPICURE

Testing and tasting the root beers of Maine | By JOSh perillO

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I

Portland), this brew has a dark yellowishbrown hue, with a great, long-lasting, did start writing this week’s column sudsy head. The main event in this bottle about wine. I promise I did! was licorice, both on the nose and palate.

As anyone who has read my There were also strong notes of clove and recent columns knows, I’ve become nutmeg. Wintergreen played a supportcompletely obsessed with root ing role in this soda, while sarsaparilla beer, specifically, with figuring out how and sassafras were only background to brew and ferment my own. This has notes. led me to spend countless hours rumMore interesting, though, was the maging through obscure spice shops Maine Root Company Sarsaparilla. Pourin out-of-the-way corners of Manhating it out, the color was the first shock: it tan and drinking more small batch and was a light, slightly cloudy blond, with a microbrew root beer than any grown hefty head. Immediately, the overpowerman should ever admit to. When my wife ing scent of wintergreen took hold. Sarwalked in on me with my nose buried deep in a pint glass of soda, “oohing” and saparilla and wintergreen were the two major players in this flavor profile. Not “ahhing” to myself, she was confused, to a root beer, per se, but a close cousin. say the least.

Definitely worth a try.

“Oh, I’m writing an article about Hailing from Bar Harbor proper was these for ‘Penniless,’” I explained. the Atlantic Brewing Company Old Soaker “Do you have to get permission to do Root Beer. This came out of the bottle a bit that?” darker than the Maine Root Company’s “What?” root beer, with a color less yellow and more “I mean,” she said, raising an eyeamber. Mild and vanilla-laden, the flavor brow, “they hired you to write a wine column and all you’ve been talking about of this brew was smooth and easy, with honey and bourbon notes on the finish. lately is root beer.”

The real showstopper of the bunch, “Yeah,” I said, returning to my dark, however, was Capt’n Eli’s Root Beer from frothy elixir. “I’m hoping they’ll let this Portland, Maine. Out of the bottle and slide.”

And as I packed our bags for our year- into the glass, the dark color mimicked the hue of Guinness and held an impresly vacation to Bar Harbor, Maine, I made sive head with sure to include silky, small my notebook of bubbles. When tasting notes on Out of the bottle and into the glass, the dark, rich lesser-known scents of molasArgentinean red the dark color mimicked the hue ses and wildvarietals. Once of Guinness and held an impresflowers wafted we’d arrived and sive head with silky, small bubbles. from the glass, I was perusWhen the dark, rich scents of I knew I was in ing the aisles of molasses and wildflowers wafted for something the small-town from the glass, I knew I was in for completely difgrocery store for ferent. This is hickory chips, I something completely different. one of the few saw it: An entire root beers I’ve section deditasted that has cated to local a discernable front, middle and end-ofmicrobrew root beers. I asked the shoppalate differentiation. keeper about the section, and he told Up front, the Eli’s offered licorice and me that root beer was its own cottage baked molasses flavors, much like that of industry in this region. shoofly pie. In the middle of the palate, It had to be a sign. there was an abundance of pumpkin So, with a quick apology to my very pie spice. Mace, nutmeg and cinnamon lenient editor, I would like to profile ruled the roost. Then on the finish was some of the absolutely stunning and the refreshing bitterness of sassafras and delicious local root beers from the great a hint of wintergreen. One of the best state of Maine. root beers I’ve ever tried.

The first two are from the same So, while I can’t promise that I’ll never producer, but are completely different in write about root beer again (I mean, style and flavor. The Maine Root Comwho am I going to brag to once I nail my pany Root Beer is a lighter-bodied root recipe?), I can at least promise that I’ll beer but is still incredibly complex. From write about wine next week. Probably.

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Relax, Panic Attacks Can Be Treated The success rate is about 90 percent for those who seek treatment

By Dr. Cynthia Paulis ou can be driving through a tunnel, riding in a plane, going up in an elevator, shopping in Bloomingdales or even asleep when it hits. Suddenly, your palms get sweaty, your heart starts pounding, you’re sweating and shaking, your chest hurts and it feels like you’re being smothered. You become dizzy, start hyperventilating—now you’re going numb, you know you’re going crazy, you’re dying!

No, you’re not; you’re having a panic attack, and you are not alone. At least 20 percent of adults in the United States, or 60 million people, will experience symptoms of an anxiety disorder at some point in their lifetime, and about three million people will have a full-blown panic attack.

Dr. Robert Leahy, psychologist, author of 21 books and director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy in Manhattan, theorizes that panic attacks stem from an evolutionary process, “It’s the right response to get away from danger at the wrong time, when there is no danger. Your ancestors got out of dangerous situations and survived. It’s your primitive brain telling you to run because you feel trapped, but then you are immobilized because you are in an elevator, plane, theater or store.”

No one knows what triggers panic attacks, but most typically occur after excessive caffeine or alcohol use or when the person is fatigued or stressed. Symptoms of panic attacks can last between five and 35 minutes, leaving the person feeling shaky for up to six hours or longer afterward. Panic attacks can occur starting at age 8, but the typical age at which they appear is the late teens to early twenties, with women experiencing them two times more than men.

Panic attacks can also have a genetic component. Leahy, whose mother had panic attacks, shared his own experience when he was first starting his practice in New York.

“I had just moved to the city, was starting a new job and I had bought this new couch that I couldn’t afford. As I lay down, I started to become clammy, my heart was pounding, I felt dizzy. I was having a panic attack—or you could say a couch attack.” he chuckled. “Panic attacks can occur from underappreciated stresses, such as a new job, relationship conflicts, new demands or even going to a college reunion.”

His next event occurred in Bloomingdale’s,

Y

where the prices could give anyone a panic attack. He recalled feeling overwhelmed by the bright lights and got so dizzy that he had to lean against a counter. “Some people with panic disorders are light sensitive, they get over-stimulated. Many people with panic disorders will wear sunglasses.”

In his book Anxiety Free: Unravel Your Fears Before They Unravel You, Leahy discusses the need to understand the cause of panic attacks.

“If [the cause] is not addressed, it can lead to avoidance behavior, such as not going on planes or into elevators or tunnels because that is where you had the panic attack.” He stresses that 75-80 percent of patients with panic attacks who undergo cognitive therapy will be successfully treated. “The treatment can help patients identify their anxieties and teach them how to act in spite of their anxieties and overcome their fear.”

About 25 percent of patients who visit the emergency room because of chest pains are actually experiencing a panic attack. Dr Jeffrey Sacks, a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, weighed in on the importance of being properly evaluated for panic attacks.

“The first step of intervention is evaluation of whether you need to contact your medical doctor to rule out any underlying medical problems, such as cardiac, thyroid, anemia or often in the case of the elderly, dehydration, which can lead to confusion and a sense of dread, especially with the change of time or day,” he said Sacks cautions, “You have to be careful if you seek treatment for panic attacks without a full evaluation, because you can be prescribed benzodiazepines, which have a short half-life. Those drugs can actually precipitate panic attacks when they wear off.

Then there is the confusion if you are having additional panic attacks or withdrawal from the drugs,” he said.

About 90 percent of people with panic disorders who seek treatment do find relief. Unfortunately, many people don’t seek treatment. According to Sacks, “The gold standard of treatment is a mixture of medication intervention and cognitive behavior therapy. Panic attacks deserve a lot of attention because they can be the harbinger of generalized anxiety disorder, and

it needs professional evaluation.”

Panic attacks cannot be prevented, but there are things you can do to reduce stress and decrease symptoms, like reducing your consumption of caffeine, as in cola, tea, coffee and chocolate. Limit your alcohol consumption. Exercise daily, especially aerobic exercises and yoga, eat a healthy balanced diet and get enough sleep. Basically, do everything your mother told you to do but you didn’t.

S E P T E M B E R 8, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m

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Dr. Kloda is an expert in the outpatient detoxification from alcohol; opioids such as Vicodin, Percocet, and Oxycontin; and benzodiazepines such as Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, and Ambien.

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After advising patients through the acute detoxification process, Dr. Kloda is highly experienced in treating withdrawal symptoms that might persist beyond the acute detoxification period. He is also very skilled in determining proper addiction medications that may be prescribed in order to decrease the chance of relapse, and to help maintain sobriety.

Additionally, Dr. Kloda provides treatment for smoking cessation, assisting his patients to maintain longer, healthier lives. Dr. Kloda also provides addiction counseling, assisting his patients to find internal motivation for change, as well as skills to cope with cravings, maladaptive behaviors, and distressing emotions. He will also assist you with entry to different types of recovery treatment such as psychotherapy, outpatient group therapy, self-help meetings, and acupuncture. If you or a loved one needs support and guidance, do not hesitate to call Dr. Kloda directly to schedule a consultation. He can be reached directly at 646.713.6578.

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S E P T E M B E R 8, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m

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Brain Testing for Antidepressant Treatment

Healthy Manhattan

Depression can be a serious and debilitating disease. Undiagnosed and untreated depression is believed to be the number one cause of the almost 50,000 suicides that occur in the U.S. annually, as well as countless long-term hospitalizations. Most Individuals do recover, but are at risk of increasingly severe relapses during their life time.

Depression can range from common mild “blue” moods to severe and highly disabling moods that come and go unexpectedly, and often with no obvious causative impetus (known as “endogenous depression”). Everything may seem normal and bright in a person’s life until there is an unexpected mood change. It can also be a chronic condition. Often sadness is accompanied by an inability to perform normal daily tasks or to interact with others, as well as poor concentration and fatigue, or even thoughts of suicide. Although many effective treatments exist, little is known about the causes of this affliction. It therefore often goes undiagnosed, and can be difficult to treat. There is a need for specific physiologic tests that can make the diagnosis and treatment more effective by eliminating much of the trial and error which is currently characteristic of depression treatment. This is part of a growing trend in science and medicine toward “personalized medicine”, which is an effort to tailor treatment specifically to a predictive biological profile of an individual.

Unique and exciting new research at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032; 212-543-5734) has demonstrated that the brains of depressed patients have some distinct differences from those of non- depressed control subjects, and that those brain differences can help to determine which treatment will best treat their depression.

One example is “perceptual laterality”. In these tests, participants wear ear phones which present a different sound to each ear. The individual indicates what is heard, thereby informing the researchers which ear hears which “type” of information better. Typically, control subjects hear verbal information (such as rhymed words) better in their right ear, while the left ear processes nonverbal noises better (e.g., musical tones). Some depressed patients do not process either information well with their left ear. Such individuals it was found are more likely to benefit from an older class of medications called tricyclic antidepressants. Depressed individuals whose right ear processing is better than controls may benefit from treatment with cognitive behavioral “talk” therapy. Other processing patterns may correlate with high likelihood of response to Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Fluoxetine (Prozac® ).

Another example comes from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies which indicate that depressed subjects show decreased activity in certain brain regions than nondepressed control subjects, which may also correlate with differential treatment response.

Thus, research holds the potential for defining consistent models to predict which patients may benefit from which treatment, based on particular biological measurements.

This development would significantly reduce the suffering and dysfunction commonly associated with depression by delivering the most effective treatment quickly, thus curtailing the duration of symptoms. Research findings may hold promise for clinical applications in treatment selection after repeated verification with validation studies.

ANTIDEPRESSANTS HAVEN’T WORKED FOR YOU? You may be eligible for a federally funded research study for people who have taken antidepressants but are still depressed. The study uses brain imaging technology to identify predictors of antidepressant treatment response.

All participants will receive a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and treatment by a Columbia University faculty psychiatrist with extensive experience with an FDA approved medication at no cost for up to seven months.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 65 and in good medical health, call the Depression Evaluation Service at the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry at (212)-543-5734.

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O U R TOW N D OW N TOWN | S E PTE M B E R 8 , 2 0 1 1

Talking is Still Needed to Treat Depression Psychiatrists say talk therapy along with medication is best

By Lisa ELainE HELd For doctors and researchers who treat and study depression, and for the people who are just trying to get better, the relationship between antidepressants and psychotherapy is a complicated one.

“There are a lot of factors,” said Dr. Jonathan Stewart, a psychiatrist, professor of clinical psychiatry and co-director of the Depression Evaluation Service at Columbia University. “It’s a complicated business.”

A complicated business in which the question of which treatment is more effective—drugs or therapy—is simply the wrong question.

Instead, an overall shift in the medical world toward integrative care is inspiring deeper questions, according to several New York doctors who are leaders in the field.

Questions about how the general practitioner, psychologist and psychiatrist coNTiNueD pg 17

a monthly advertising supplement

FROM pg 16

The Moody’s Center For Cardiovascular Health At New York Downtown Hospital

and president of the Manhattan Psychological Association, said that one response is to make the public aware that can work together to determine the best psychotherapy can be just as effective as course of treatment for each individual, medication, depending on the situation and about how the effects of medication and the person. Oftentimes, therapy can and talk therapy can often complement complement a drug’s effects. each other.

“There are people who definitely Of course, the answers are far from simple. need medication to sustain themselves, In the past couple of decades, a lot of but it’ll be easier for them to move out attention has been paid to the fact that of the gloom if they’re finding other more and more Americans are being ways to find meaning in life and deal prescribed antidepressants. with the automatic thoughts that take In August 2009, researchers them back to a place where they can’t at Columbia University and the function,” she said.

University of Pennsylvania published She pointed out that most people a study entitled “National Patterns in see the use of antidepressants as a Antidepressant Medication Treatment” biological treatment in the Archives of that treats faulty General Psychiatry.

“There are people who brain mechanisms The study and psychotherapy examined national definitely need medication as a psychological survey data and to sustain themselves, but treatment that treats found that between it’ll be easier for them to less severe cases, 1996 and 2005, the move out of the gloom if as when people percentage of people Through the generosity of the Moody’s Foundation, we were able they’re finding other ways are facing difficult over age 6 who were to find meaning in life and to create a comprehensive, state-of-the-art center that focuses on situations such as the treated with an deal with the automatic the prevention, early detection, and treatment of cardiovascular death of a loved one antidepressant during thoughts that take them or the loss of a job. the course of a given disease through a holistic, integrative approach. Our team of back to a place where But talk therapy year nearly doubled, physicians works with you to assess your cardiovascular risk they can’t function,” may also affect brain from 5.8 to 10.1 and design individualized treatment plans that allow you to live Dr. Sharon Brennan said. functioning. percent.

“Research has The researchers a healthier, more active life. Additionally, our cardiovascular been burgeoning over the past 10 years, also found that during this same time specialists can perform procedures at NewYork-Presbyterian through neuropsychology and imaging, period, the percentage of people being Hospital — Weill Cornell Medical Center, allowing our patients that shows how structures of the brain treated for depression who underwent access to innovative treatment options. can be realigned through psychotherapy,” psychotherapy significantly declined.

Brennan explained. “We’re seeing that Another study, published in Health Our Cardiac Rehabilitation Center has been recognized for talk therapy has an absolute benefit in Affairs this August, found that between terms of a person’s sense of themselves, 1996 and 2007, the proportion of its high level of service, and we offer Cardiovascular Wellness relationship enjoyment, work productivity doctor’s visits at which antidepressants Evaluations designed to attain approach to of medical condition New York Downtown Hospital is a center of excellence for a multi-faceted prevention and treatment and the overall way of being in the world were prescribed without notation of a achieving your best health.

UILDING FOR Aand aEALTHIER OMORROW Wellnesslife. and inpatient and ambulatory care, common to women; digital mammography; com A Prevention, lot of psychiatric diagnosis increased from 59.5 as someone who’s enjoying leader in the field of emergency preparedness. non-invasive cardiovascular assessment; and cance the research points to theNew impact of talk percent to 72.7 percent.

York Downtown Hospital is acommitted center of excellence for prevention of medical We are to providing a superior and leveltreatment of care and patient conditions therapy on brain mechanisms.”

A variety of possible reasons were and detection through Downtown Hospital’s af Wellness and Prevention, service, inpatientand and ambulatory care, and amore common tothe women; digital mammography; compr invite you to learn about services we offer.

And the psychological effects of talk noted in both studies and by doctors You will find an efficient and effective health care experience at Strang Cancer Prevention Center. leader the field of emergency preparedness. non-invasive cardiovascular assessment; and cancer s therapy should not be seen as ainless interviewed for why the number of Consultative appointments and testing services are easily scheduled New York Downtown Hospital and will have the best of both and detection through Downtown Hospital’s affil important aspect of treatment, or as a people being prescribed antidepressants withprivate a single phone call, inatmost casesthe can be arranged and most up-to-dat worlds: the of your own physician alongand with Bringing latest medical Center. research, willsupport findless an efficient and effective health care experience Strang Cancer Prevention treatment course only forYou those with has risen so dramatically, especially performed within 24 to 48 hours.

Most major insurance plans are the latest developments carewill andhave specialty services. advancem New York Downtown Hospital and the best of both techniques, and the newest technological severe depression who are not in need of in preventive among those without a psychiatric accepted, andphysician convenient appointments are including of Lower Manhattan, our Wellness and Preves worlds:Karasu, the support of your own private along with heart Bringing theavailable, latest medical research, most up-to-date medication, said Dr. T. Byram diagnosis. psychiatrist-in-chief at Montefiore Some of these reasons include the latest developments in early preventive care and services. techniques, andon thehow newest technological Our Wellness and Prevention Teammorning provides a specialty broad of will advise you to preserve your advancemen single mos and late range afternoon visits.

Medical Center. services including a Women’s Health Program, dedicated to the asset…your direct-to-consumer marketing by drug heart of Lower Manhattan, our Wellness and Preventit good health! This is our commitment “Even biological depression, which and Prevention Team provides a broad range of will advise you on how to preserve your single most im companies, the eroding of social stigmas Our Wellness responds to medication, services would usually related to mental health care in general including a Women’s Health Program, dedicated to the asset…your good health! This is our commitment to y have accompanying psychological and an increasing public acceptance causes,” said Karasu. “Addressing of the concept of a biologic cause of these causes through psychotherapy depression. But overmedication and is essential—not only in speeding the misdiagnosis were rarely cited, contrary response to medication but also in to what the public often perceives as a preventing future relapses.” problem.

Collaborative care between general “These results do not clearly indicate A community hospital committed to meeting the healthcare needs of people who visit, live, and work in Lower M practitioners—who can prescribe a rise in inappropriate antidepressant A community hospital committed to meeting the healthcare needs of people who visit, live, and work in Lower Ma antidepressants and refer patients use, but they highlight the need to gain to specialists—psychologists and a deeper understanding of the factors psychiatrists is a step in that direction. driving this national trend and to In the end, “We’re develop effective policy responses,” wrote 83partners GoldinStreet, New York, NY Telephone:(212) 312-5000 www.downtownhosp 17010038 William Street, New York, NY 10038 treating the whole person,” the study’s researchers in Health Affairs.

83said Gold Street, New York, NY 10038 Telephone:(212) 312-5000 www.downtownhospita Telephone: (646) 588-2526 Brennan.

Dr. Sharon Brennan, psychologist

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O U R TOW N D OW N TOWN | S E PTE M B E R 8 , 2 0 1 1

Healthy Manhattan

Women’s Healthcare Services Trauma is Often at the Returns to Tribeca Root of Sex Addiction, Following the closure of St. Vincent’s Hospital, many physicians came to New York Downtown Hospital so they could continue to serve their patients on the West Side. With the opening of a new Center on 40 Worth Street, we are pleased to welcome two exceptional physicians back to the community. They will be working in collaboration with physicians from Weill Cornell Medical Associates.

Dr. Zhanna Fridel and Dr. Vanessa Pena are board certified obstetricians and gynecologists utilizing leading diagnostic and treatment methodologies across a broad spectrum of women’s health issues.

• Normal and High Risk Obstetrical Care • Complete Well Woman Care • Diagnosis and Treatment of Gynecologic Conditions • Laparoscopic Surgery • Osteoporosis Detection and Treatment • Urogynecology (female urology) • Cord Blood Banking • Cervical Cancer Vaccination • Menopausal Management • Contraception

For an appointment with Dr. Fridel and Dr. Pena,

call (212) 238-0180

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O U R TOW N D OW N TOWN | S E PTE M B E R 8 , 2 0 1 1

Experts Claim

By Linnea Covington Sue Silverman had been a sex addict since her teenage years, a byproduct of being molested by her father from the age of 4 onward. After numerous affairs, she lost a husband, felt oppressing shame and struggled for years to reign in her addiction.Ten years later, she is in recovery from her addiction and wrote a book on the subject as a way to heal and help other people deal with their own trials.

“It’s similar to being an alcoholic,” said Silverman over the phone. “They will say something like, ‘I just love how scotch tastes,’ which is like, ‘I just love sex’—but really, it’s just denial.”

An estimated 3 to 6 percent of people in this country are sex addicts, an affliction that can take any form of sexual expression, be it pornography, masturbation, sadomasochism, sex with strangers, voyeurism and so on.

“Sexual addiction is a chronic pattern of progressive, self-destructive, out of control sexual behavior,” said Mavis Humes Baird, who has been working with sex addicts for over 20 years. She added that just enjoying the aforementioned sexual acts doesn’t make you a sex addict. “It’s when it becomes a compulsion or you cross the line and realize it’s something you want to control and get out of your life, but you can’t.”

This situation was where Silverman found herself, which she delves into in depth in her book Love Sick. It’s not that she slept around with a lot of people per se, rather that she had sex with men who were either married or while she was married as a way of becoming emotionally detached. Even though she had a husband, she didn’t feel good enough about herself to get close and needed mindless sex to help numb her. She would meet her men in hotel rooms, and often, she said, it was the fantasy leading up to the encounter that was the star of the show.

This is a form of dependence Baird refers to as a “romance addiction,” meaning it centers around a knight-in-shining-armor kind of fantasy in which the woman gets lavish gifts in exchange for sexual prowess or gets stimulated by the seductive chase.

“It becomes an addiction when it feels good but is actually self-destructive,” said Baird. “Then, in the later stages, it doesn’t even feel good.”

Dr. Patrick Carnes, executive director of Pine Grove Behavioral Health’s Gentle Path program, conducted the largest study into sexual addiction some years ago and discovered that 91 percent of the cases came from emotional trauma, 81 percent from sexual abuse and 72 percent from physical

(nonsexual) mistreatment.

“Sex addicts come from all walks of life and most were abused as children either sexually, physically and/or emotionally,” Carnes wrote in 1992. “The majority grew up in families in which addiction already flourished, including alcoholism, compulsive eating and compulsive gambling.”

Another common childhood upbringing among sex addicts is a strong conservative or orthodox background. One Hasidic man anonymously spoke about how, for the past 10 years, he has struggled with a sex addiction.

“It’s ruining my life,” he said over the phone. “I am living a double life and it’s taking away from my future and my dreams.”

Like Silverman, this man also cheated on his spouse, but instead of unattached or married women, he seek escorts. He said he has to see one at least once a week, and though he’s tried to stop several times, he hasn’t succeeded.

Because certain religions have rigid rules about sex and people are often made to feel ashamed about their desires, it breeds an unhealthy relationship with the actual act.

Of course, this doesn’t happen to everyone, but Baird said some people are more predisposed to it, based on their genes and family life. One of Carnes’ studies found that 68 percent of sex addicts came from rigid and disengaged family systems.

Baird said the two main things that keep people from reaching out for help are an inability to see the addiction because they justify their behavior, like with a 1960s attitude of “free love”; or feeling that they are bad people, their problem is immoral and they can’t be helped.

“Sex addiction is neither of those things,” she said. “It’s a real disorder.”

Silverman understands the way shame can have a hold on recovery, and the fact that many people don’t see it as a real addiction. But, as Baird said and so many doctors agree, it is real and, like any disorder, needs to be stopped as soon as it starts ruling and destroying your day-to-day life.

For Silverman, a 12-step program changed her life. For the past two years, she has maintained a healthy relationship—a goal, she said, she hopes to share with others afflicted by a sex addiction.

“There are reasons we become addicts,” she said. “You aren’t a bad person; it’s just that something bad happened to you.You have to ask for help because help helps.”

But the first step, as both Silverman and Baird agree, is realizing and admitting you have a problem.

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Join the Institute for Senior Action (IFSA) and learn how to get more involved in the legislative process and be an effective advocate! The 10-week IFSA program integrates critical aging policy issues, with practical grassroots action. Classes focus on a wide variety of subjects, including: navigating the federal, state and local legislative processes, public speaking, understanding senior benefits and entitlements, and much more. The fall semester meets on Wednesdays from September 21st – December 7th, 2011, 10am2:30pm at Cooper Square, 200 East 5th Street in Manhattan.

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S E P T E M B E R 8, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m

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

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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 DiReCTOR OF iNTeRaCTive MaRkeTiNg aND DigiTaL sTRaTegy Jay Gissen jgissen@manhattanmedia.com

editorial

exeCUTive eDiTOR Allen Houston ahouston@manhattanmedia.com MaNagiNg eDiTOR Marissa Maier mmaier@manhattanmedia.com CONTRiBUTiNg eDiTOR aND sPeCiaL seCTiONs eDiTOR Josh Rogers jrogers@manhattanmedia.com aRTs aND CULTURe eDiTOR Mark Peikert mpeikert@manhattanmedia.com FeaTUReD CONTRiBUTORs Melissa Berman, Wickham Boyle, C.W. Duffy, Annie Lubin, Tom Miller, Josh Perilo, Paulette Safdieh, Kevin Sheehan CONTRiBUTiNg PHOTOgRaPHeRs Veronica Hogland, Caitlyn Bierman, George Denison

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� TALK I N G U P D OWNTOWN Elizabeth Berger president of the downtown AlliAnce

| By mArissA mAier

T

he Downtown Alliance, the Business Improvement District (BID) for Lower Manhattan, is a powerhouse of information and statistics. Recently, the Alliance published a report entitled “The State of Lower Manhattan,” which showed the numerous ways in which the area has not only recovered but flourished since 9/11. We sat down with Downtown Alliance President Elizabeth Berger to discuss the report and the BID’s work.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Downtown Alliance, what is it, when and why was it created and what does it do now?

We are a Business Improvement District—the largest one in New York City. We are a BID that services roughly everything south of Chambers Street. We were created in 1995, at a time of high commercial vacancy in Lower Manhattan and high anxiety about the enduring future of Lower Manhattan as a compelling business address.

We were one of several initiatives undertaken by the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association [D-LMA], a group of Lower Manhattan executives founded by David Rockefeller, at a time when some financial services were moving uptown.

Rockefeller [and D-LMA] envisioned the future of Lower Manhattan as a new kind of business district. If you look at what they proposed in the 1950s and 1960s, it is radically striking—the intense mixed uses. [In their plans,] the way to support commercial tenants was by building large institutions like the World Trade Center, the seaport or creating parks and making transportation improvements…things that encourage residential and cultural activity. The other remarkable thing about the original vision was how much of it came true today.

Fast-forward to the early to mid-1990s.

[D-LMA] worked very closely with the city on a 1993 plan—one of the things it proposed was the creation of a Business Improvement District. Around the country, BIDs are often formed as an economic development tool. [At that time in Lower Manhattan,] commercial vacancy was high and not many people lived here, so a BID was set about to change that.

There were three initial things that really endured—firstly, supplemental services, which is a key function of any BID. The second was that we encouraged new development based on the theory that residential growth as well as tourism is intrinsic in supporting commercial vitality. The third was to identify Lower Manhattan as a home of innovation, and that happened in the mid- to late

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1990s with the creation of the tech district.

Sixty percent of our budget is supplemental services: sanitation, safety, homeless outreach, tourist kiosks—there are four in Lower Manhattan, three of which we run—and transportation. We are the only BID in New York to provide free transportation, a bus which makes a loop around Lower Manhattan.

Another 30 percent of our budget is for economic development research and advocacy around capital projects, leasing incentives and visions and plans for development.

We are a new kind of business district.

We were putting up building blocks with the government well before 9/11. When I moved here in 1982, only 10,000 people lived here.

In 1990, only 14,000 [did]—but on 9/11, there were 26,000 people living here. There were supermarkets and a new streetscape.

There were restaurants and retailers open on the weekend. Lower Manhattan was really emerging as a new kind of district and, of course, the devastation of 9/11 destroyed a lot of that community-building.

But there was this fierce commitment to this community on behalf of business leaders, residential pioneers and politicians to rebuild. Today, we have 309,500 people who work in Lower Manhattan and 56,000 people who live here, which is more than double the population on 9/11.

We have seen diversification of the economy. We have gone a long way to insulate Lower Manhattan—not that we are immune to the ravages of the recession. Government is the No. 1 employer, but we have seen a rise in professional services and creative services.

It is a mature community, more people live in families and 25 percent have children. Forty-seven percent of residents own. They are drawn by the multimobile transportation hub; it is easier to get in and out [here] than in any other region. Thirty percent of people walk to work and 40 percent work in the area. They are drawn to the parks and the waterfront. You have the biggest buildings on the smallest streets.

There is a powerful sense of community.

When you put together the 309,500 who work here and the 56,000 who live here, they have a combined buying power of $4.6 billion, and that is clearly reflected in the sophistication of the retail market.

Recently, the Downtown Alliance came out with “The State of Lower Manhattan: A New Report Detailing a Decade of Progress.” Could you describe how different the Lower Manhattan of 10 years ago—after 9/11—is from the Lower Manhattan of

Photo courtesy of the Downtown AlliAnce

today?

Ten years ago, there was an unprecedented physical attack on New York City, on the United States and, really, on democratic society. And the results were shown in the staggering images that are seared in the brains of millions of people. We had 13 million square feet of office space destroyed.

Utilities were damaged. It was a mess. I think it is incredible how much rebuilding has happened and how many funds have been put into Lower Manhattan. It is amazing how they have attracted visitors—there has been $30 billion worth of reconstruction. It isn’t like Lower Manhattan has been roped off.

Your website recently won a Best in Class Award at the 2011 Interactive Media Awards. It is user-friendly and is a great information portal. Why did the Downtown Alliance go in this direction with its website?

We spent a year and a half rethinking and relaunching our site. We really focused on “Who are the main users?” and “What do they want to do?” There was a tremendous amount of research that went into this. We thought the biggest focus should be what to do in Lower Manhattan and what is going on and finding ways to tell the story of Lower Manhattan. We are mobile-friendly to make it easy for people to learn all that Lower Manhattan has to offer.

The Downtown Alliance generates a great deal of information—I’m thinking specifically of the “facts and figures” section of your website.

A part of our mission is to do research and advocacy. We are the single largest source of synthesized demographic and economic information for Lower Manhattan. We compile and aggregate and share in ways that are useful and meaningful.

Is there a fact or figure you have found particularly surprising?

I think it is fascinating that the number of hotels has tripled, and the number of hotel rooms has grown more than 80 percent.

The occupancy isn’t just for business—30 percent of it is for leisure. Lower Manhattan is becoming a destination. We were always a tourist attraction, but now we have new architectural icons. People are coming for the old and the new.

on topic

A Decade After 9/11, Lower Manhattan Survives and Thrives

t

en years ago, there were 30,000 people living in Lower Manhattan and the neighborhood was a 24/7 destination. Then on one fateful day, 3,000 lives were tragically lost and a 16-acre hole blasted through our community, taking 50,000 jobs and 60 percent of all Class A Downtown office space.

The total economic damage in Lower Manhattan was estimated at approximately $31 billion—citywide, it was approximately $83 billion. Many predicted that no one would ever want to live, work or even visit Lower Manhattan again. Economic experts spoke about the decline of New York City as an economic center. Our city lost 11,130 jobs in September 2001 alone.

In the months following, 7,000 apartments near the site sat uninhabited, an estimated vacancy rate of 45 percent. After Sept. 11, 2001, approximately one-third of Battery Park City’s rental tenants left their

� STR E ET SCE N E

apartments, and the overall occupancy rate in Lower Manhattan fell to 65 percent.

Our remarkable success 10 years later is thanks to the dedication and perseverance of our community. It is also thanks to the firm commitment and dedicated investment of the federal, state and city governments, all of which invested in reconstruction and rebuilding of Lower Manhattan’s infrastructure. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s Residential Grant Program encouraged residential growth, providing a total of $227 million to 156 businesses and 39,805 households from 2002 to 2005.

The program was so successful that as of 2006, over half of the residents in the area around the WTC site had moved to Lower Manhattan since Sept. 11, 2001.

At Community Board 1, we have conducted our own studies of neighborhood population growth and the numbers are stunning—our population Downtown has more

than doubled since 2000, to 70,000 residents.

In the Financial District, it has tripled.

The growth Downtown has been so tremendous that one of our main efforts as a community board has been to ensure that community facilities and public services keep pace. We have fought, for example, for the construction of three new schools—P.S. 276, P.S. 397 and another planned to open at the old Peck Slip Post Office. We helped create a community center, the Manhattan Youth Downtown Community Center and a new community center and branch of the New York Public Library in Battery Park City. We have also helped build many new playgrounds, numerous new parks and a new ballfield.

We have rezoned Northern Tribeca with the Department of City Planning and insisted on inclusionary zoning, so more affordable housing can be built in our neighborhood. We have limited the size of big-box retailers in Tribeca so we can

preserve the character and context of our neighborhoods. We convinced the city to adopt NotifyNYC, a citywide notification system for julie menin emergencies. But still more services and amenities are needed to accommodate our ever-growing population.

Our community has endured a lot in the last 10 years—terrorist attacks and recessions and even, most recently, earthquakes and mandatory evacuations for hurricanes.

It is based on this experience that I can say, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, we are a community of survivors, determined to thrive and grow no matter what the future has in store for us.

—Julie Menin is the chairperson of Community Board 1.

� T WE ET S PEAK | photographed by CaItLyN bIermaN Send photos of murals, posters, etc. you have seen in your neighborhood to otdowntown@ manhattanmedia.com or upload to our website www.otdowntown.com.

@Sept11memorial (9/11 Memorial & Museum) “each 1/2-in. thick bronze panel lining the #911memorial pools weighs 1,000 pounds. built to serve as a lasting tribute.” (Sept. 2) @nYcSchools (New York City Public Schools) “In partnership w/@Sept11memorial, we’ve created a curriculum that schools can use with their students to discuss 9/11.” (Sept. 1) @downtownnYc (Downtown Alliance) “Stone Street. esplanade. W hotel. bLt burger. group of Four trees. Canyon of heroes. #Lowermanhattan has it all!” (Sept. 2) @BatteryParkcity (Battery Park City New York Public Library) “the 1st part of our peace Crane project exhibition is up! more up in the coming days. photos to follow!...and join us Sat 9/10 12-4 p.m.” (Sept. 1) @I Love nY “#LoveNyhistory Sept. 5, 1664, after days of negotiation, the dutch settlement of New amsterdam surrenders to british, who rename it New york.” (Sept. 5) @UnSqGreenmarket (Union Square Greenmarket) “Fall is fast approaching: concord #grapes, acorn & spaghetti squash.” (Sept. 5) @HenryStreet (Henry Street Settlement) “only 17 tix left for ‘real housewives of henry Street, 1905’ on 9/25! Learn about the lives of immigrant LeS women.” (Sept. 4) @nYGovcuomo (NY State Gov. Andrew Cuomo) “poWer Update: LIpa: 616 (nearly 100% restored to the date); Con edison: Fully restored; National grid: Fully restored #irene.”

(Sept. 5)

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