Our Town Downtown September 29, 2011

Occupy Wall Street Turns Ugly NYPD clashes with protestors (P2)

The Mixed-Up Files of 135 Bowery

An 1817 Federal style building loses landmark status (P22)

Light Saber Battle of 2011 (P4)

Talking Up Downtown with Council Member Margaret Chin Chinatown gets its very own BID (P30)

PHOTOS BY ANDREW SCHWARTZ & DANIEL S. BURNSTEIN

2011 Building Workers Awards . . . for Downtown and Beyond New Parents Expo: The best new products for your baby Everything you need from Pre-Natal to Preschool, plus speakers and activities for the whole family

Oct. 15-16 at Pier 92 Âť Get tickets at newparentsexpo.com

� N E I G H BO R H O O D C HAT TE R Chinatown THE PREVALENCE—AND frustrations—OF PONDING While water collecting on the streets and curbs of an urban thoroughfare after a rainfall might seem like a minor issue to most, this type of water accumulation, or “ponding,” has reached a serious level in Chinatown. A report compiled by State Sen. Daniel Squadron’s office released last week identified 93 unique ponds that weren’t fully drained within 48 hours of a rainfall in the neighborhood. One-block stretches of five streets in particular—Bayard, Mulberry, Mott, Baxter and Elizabeth Streets, all in the heart of Chinatown—accounted for roughly half of all instances, 47 of the 93 ponds.

Ponding isn’t only annoying or unsightly, the report revealed, it is a drain on the quality of life in the area and deters tourism. In a survey cited in the report, 72 percent of respondents noted that ponding negatively impacts their eating and shopping experience in Chinatown, with 40 pecent noting they were less likely to visit the area due to ponding. And while the problem appears common and well known, 76 percent of respondents who observed these small ponds said they didn’t report the problem. Citizens, however, might not know how to report these problems, as 58 percent of those surveyed didn’t know who to contact or didn’t know that reporting an

instance of ponding was possible.

To fill in this communication gap, Squadron has called upon the city’s Department of Transportation to create a 311 category specifically for ponding as a way to keep better records of these instances and track repairs. Squadron has also asked the DOT to collaborate with community organizations and elected officials to raise awareness about this enhanced reporting system, to continue evaluating the prevalence of ponding and to ensure the problem receives proper attention and funding.

“Until now, we haven’t had a full picture of the effect ponding has on the Chinatown community,” noted Council Member Margaret Chin. “This is more than an inconvenience after it rains. These pools of stagnant rainwater negatively affect the quality of life for residents, deter visitors and create a dangerous situation for pedestrians. I want to thank Senator Squadron and his office for conducting this study on ponding and giving us the evidence we need to fight this problem.”

Hudson Square CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF THE ARTS LAUNCHES NEW SPACE The Children’s Museum of the Arts (CMA) held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony this week to launch its new 10,000-square foot interactive museum

facility at 103 Charlton St. The CMA team was joined by a handful of politicians, including Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Assemblymember Deborah Glick.

Designed by Dan Wood and Amale Andraos, the new facility will triple the museum’s previous space on Lafayette Street in SoHo. In addition to hands-on, artist-led workshops and interactive workstations, the new space will feature a 2,000-square foot gallery and a new media lab featuring a sound station and videomaking and animation equipment.

The new location will officially open its doors to the public Oct. 1. The grand opening event will feature workshops, tours and performances.

Citywide LOVING YOUR BLOCK Looking to spruce up your drab city street? Hankering to start an outdoor beautification project with the neighbors in your building? Apply for a grant through the Love Your Block program.

The Citizens Committee, in partnership with the City of New York, will provide resident-led volunteer groups with cash grants of $500 to $1,000 and project planning and community building assistance to transform their city blocks. In turn, the city will match the cash grants by providing services such as trash collection, vacant lot cleanup, graffiti removal, dead

tree removal, tree planting, providing woodchip mulch, repair and installation of street signs and street lights and traffic surveys through the departments of Parks and Recreation, Transportation and Sanitation.

The grant application deadline is Nov. 8. To learn more about the program, visit www.citizensnyc.org/grants.html.

Lower East Side GOUVS UNVEILS FRUITS OF MODERNIZATION PROJECT Last week, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was on hand to unveil the first phase of Gouverneur Healthcare Services’ $180 million modernization project, which will eventually add 108,000 square feet to the health center.

“More than 60 years ago, my parents, who were immigrants to this city, brought me to the old Gouverneur Hospital so I could receive a smallpox inoculation,” Silver recalled. “I still have the scar…and it is an enduring reminder to me that ensuring the health and well-being of every citizen, regardless of the origin of their birth, is the mark of a truly civilized and democratic society.”

Silver also commended the center’s expansion of outpatient services, with the addition of a Women and Children’s Center, on-site dialysis and an ambulatory surgery center. Once finished, the ambulatory care center will be able to accommodate a 15 percent increase in patient demand.

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Occupy Wall Street Participants Reflect on Altercation with NYPD | By rebecca

chapman

 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011

photos by Wyatt Kostygan

What started as a pacifist movement dubbed Occupy Wall Street (OWS) descended last weekend into a whirl of chaos and resulted in the arrest of over 70 people, said protest organizers. On Saturday, Sept. 24, the OWS group marched from their base in Zuccotti Park to Union Square in a move, they believed, that would call attention to their seemingly underreported cause. As the protesters attempted to return back to Lower Manhattan, the New York Police Department allegedly descended on the group, arresting people and charging them with a variety of violations.

According to members of the makeshift movement, the group has been living in the park since Saturday, Sept. 17. OWS organizers say they have no single demand but rather wish to call attention to the anger and discontentment of their peers and form a network by gathering in large numbers.

As the group marched through the streets to Union Square last Saturday, they occasionally deliberately marched in the street against traffic in an attempt to create chaos, as one OWS organizer who wished to remain anonymous described, as well as to make it more difficult for police to arrest

protesters. “I mean, we were in the street,” he said.

According to the same protester, however, it was the police who instigated the violence on Saturday.

Brandon Szaley, who flew in from Colorado to be part of the march, described seeing a police officer run down the street toward a girl who was caught between a mesh net and a car in the street.

“He just blindsided her and kept running like he didn’t do anything,” said Szaley. He also described seeing participants pepper sprayed without cause.

The NYPD could not be reached for comment, but in a statement made to The New York Times on Sunday, Sept. 25, Police Department chief spokesman Paul Browne claimed pepper spray was used in an attempt to quell demonstrators who were preventing officers from erecting a mesh barrier.

The group occupying Wall Street is hoping that the NYPD’s reaction to this march and the subsequent publicity it has brought their protest will only make the movement larger and more sustained. Isham Christie, an OWS organizer, added that he believed the arrested protesters have since been released and most have returned to Zuccotti Park.

To see more photos of the occupy Wall Street base in Zuccotti Park visit otdowntown.com.

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In this special class for teenagers, students will learn to regain the easeful, upright poise that they had as young children. The Alexander Technique teaches better posture, less muscle tension, ease in movement, improved coordination, and more presence of mind.

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S E P T E M B E R 29, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m

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Discovering—and Enjoying— the Lesser Known Paris

By Joseph Alexiou With more than 15 million international visitors a year, Paris sees more tourists than any other city in the world.

And a great way to get there is on one of American Airlines’ two daily flights. One uses a Boeing 767-300, with 28 seats in business class and 195 in coach, and the other a Boeing 757, with 14 business class seats and 166 in coach.

Cultural institutions like the Musée d’Orsay, the Louvre and the Picasso Museum are home to some of the most celebrated works of art across the globe, while world famous cafés like Les Deux Magots, eternalized by Ernest Hemmingway’s A Moveable Feast, continue to serve chic salads and steaming espressos to a fabulously dressed clientele of Parisians and visitors alike. All of these places are the grand tradition during a visit to the City of Light, and it’s easy for even the savviest traveler to get caught up in the cachet of visiting the popular sites.

But the most rewarding challenge is to find a corner of Paris that hasn’t been discovered by the endless deluge of camera-wielding tourists. With some comfortable walking shoes, anybody can find their own favorite corner of this ancient city.

One of the most unsung of Paris’ unique cultural landmarks is the Halle Saint Pierre, also known as the Musée d’Art naïf Max Fourny (www.hallesaintpierre.org). An often ignored destination at the foot of the Montmartre hill in the north of Paris, the Halle Saint Pierre was built in 1868 as a covered market. Since 1986, it has housed a permanent collection of more than 500 pieces of “outsider” or “raw” art—creations by artists who fall outside of the mainstream, ranging from underground art collectives to the literally insane.

Created by artists you’ve likely never heard of, many of the works in the Halle Saint Pierre are weirdly ephemeral and sometimes creepy, but always a guaranteed unique cultural experience. Temporary exhibitions have included Art Brut Japonais (Japanese outsider art), Art spirite (art inspired by spiritual quests and medium readings) and the works of creature creators from horror and science fiction films.

At minimum, the visit will be great conversa-

tion fodder for before-dinner cocktails or even yummy pastries in the charming lobby cafe.

Not far off, a quick stomp through the twisting streets of Montmartre can provide at least two refuges from the offbeat art that are below the traditional tourist radar. The wildly inexpensive Le Refuge des Fondues (17 rue des Trois Frères), with its crowded bench seating and walls graffitied by past visitors, has a cheerful, all-night party ambience. Run by mustachioed Obélix lookalikes, this unpretentious restaurant is fueled entirely by tasty fondues and wine served in baby bottles (careful, refills cost only 2 euro!).

For a somewhat more upscale, low-key environment, Le Kokolion (62 rue d’Orsel) serves classic French dishes like confit de canard (preserved duck cooked in its own fat) at especially reasonable prices. Adorned with old movie posters and dimly lit by appropriately kitschy fixtures, Le Kokolion is at its best before the late-night theater crowd arrives—get your seats by 9 p.m.

Another relatively unknown spot is the Musée du Fumeur (Smoker’s Museum) (7 rue Pache) in Paris’ recently hip 11th arrondissement—a private museum of the history of all things tobacco. Although it appears to be little more than a storefront head shop, the exhibition inside features some fantastic colonial photographs of all types of smoking in former French colonies, not to mention some original and archaic pipes and smoking tools used in this once-ubiquitous pastime. After the museum, explore this neighborhood by the Voltaire métro stop to stumble across small art galleries, boutique shops run by up-and-coming clothing designers and a bevy of artisan studios that have set up shop in the last few years.

While the 11th and 18th arrondissements are well known to Parisians, they are decidedly less marked on the tourist maps than the central Parisian neighborhoods. However, much like in New York, rising rents have forced the most innovative and unique places in Paris toward the northern and eastern edges of the city.

After all, the secret for continued success of any world-class metropolis is the constant striving to evolve as much as it stays the same.

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his past Saturday night, Newmindspace, a nonprofit organization which has been organizing free, large-scale all-ages events throughout North America since 2005 (known best for their tremendously popular pillowveronica hoglUnd fight), hosted their annual Jedi-worthy light saber battle in Washington Square Park. The event, which proved smaller than past years, was nevertheless a spectacle to be seen, with vibrant colors of green, blue and red enthusiastically lighting up the arena. Those who took part many adorned in their best Star Wars-themed ensembles—collectively improvised numerous battles, swinging their faux weapons about and illuminating the massive arch at Washington Square.

*Special Event: repurpose an old t-shirt into a grocery bag at the Recycling Loop-De-Loop on October 15

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UNION SQUARE GREENMARKET Compost Collection: Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, 8am-5pm Textile Recycling: Mon & Sat, 8am-6pm NE Section of Union Square Park

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S E P T E M B E R 29, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m

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The Best in the Building Business

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Presented by e woman or man who holds the h door for you, cleans your office or fixes your apartment has a story to tell, and this week we have the stories of 6 of the best Downtown building workers in the city, as picked by the 32BJ Service Employees International Union. (For profiles of all of the award winning buiding workers of 2011, visit otdowntown.com.)

You’ll read about a maintenance worker who saved a burning man from the World Trade Center a decade ago, a worker who cleans around medical waste and confidential files, and many more who’ve shined at work while raising their families in our annual Building Service Awards special section.

This year’s winners—supers, cleaners, security guards, doormen and women—were honored last week at a ceremony hosted by 32BJ SEIU and Manhattan Media.

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Job or No Job, He Saved a Burning Man on 9/11 | By emma thorn

H

e’s a proud maintenance worker for NYU now, but for Ivan Almenares, every day carries a reminder of his last job.

Ten years ago, Almenares was working for ABM Industries keeping 1 World Trade Center clean.

On Sept. 11, 2001, he was making a trip down to the basement to get Windex and rags when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the tower.

“I didn’t know it was a plane. I thought it was a bomb,” said Almenares, now 36. He and a co-worker ran out to see what was happening. “As soon as we came out of the office, we saw a guy burned—his face, his hands.”

The burning man had been waiting for the elevator when it crashed on the basement level, exploding in “a fireball,” Almenares said.

Through air so thick they couldn’t see and could hardly breathe, Almenares and his colleague carried the burning man to safety. It took them nearly 20 minutes.

Miraculously, when they reached the paramedics, the man was still alive— badly burned and in shock, but alive.

Just as the men got out of the collapsing first tower, the second plane hit, only a block away. As the second tower came down around him, Almenares suffered

Hero of 9/11 devastating back injuries that would leave him disabled and out of work for the next two and a half years. The pain stays with him even now, accompanying him on his daily duties at NYU. The Nicaraguan-born Almenares is the shop steward for SEIU 32BJ at NYU. He’s the “eyes and ears of the union,” representing his coworkers’ interests and communicating their needs to the management. An active member of the union for 19 years, Almenares has traveled across the country to countless rallies and meetings, and appeared on NY1 and CNN to campaign for workers’ rights.

Last year, Almenares’ dedication to the job won him an award from NYU Public Safety.

Almenares’ pride in his work is matched only by his devotion to his kids: Ivan, 15, and Ivana, 9, who was born one month to the day after the 9/11 attacks.

As his daughter approaches her 10th birthday, Almenares is careful to explain to her what happened on that day just before she was born, and how different her life could have been. He told her, “If I had died, your country would’ve taken care of you.” Almenares got choked up as he relayed Ivana’s response: “Dad, there’s nothing they could have done for me— not enough money in the world. I’m just glad you’re alive.”

After Ivan Almenares helped rescue a man on 9/11, he was badly injured from the collapsing Twin Towers and was unable to work for a two and a half years. photo by Daniel s. burnstein

Protecting the Vulnerable in a Public Bathroom | By linnea covington Deep in the depths of the booming bus station in Times Square, Cynthia Gonzales cleans, supervises and, most of all, protects the bathrooms on her watch. During her shift, as matron at Port Authority, Gonzales sees her share of wayward characters.

“I have one of the biggest bathrooms in the building,” the Trinidadian native said. “Some of the people I have to deal with, they aren’t so good.”

One tough situation she remembers dealing with was an older, homeless woman who, like many down-and-out people in that area, decided the bathroom was her private domain. The woman’s leg became so badly infected that Gonzales finally had to call someone to take her

and she thinks what she did is just part of away. That wasn’t until after the woman the job—a job Gonzales continues to do, attacked the matron. In the end, the leg as she has done there for over 20 years, was amputated and the woman was gone through pure strength and will. from Gonzales’ life. But others have taken “I really enjoy what I do,” she said over her place in one way or another. the phone. “I look at myself as a valuable The reason Gonzales won the buildemployee.” ing workers award is because she actually When she isn’t lording over the facilisaved another woman’s life. Not many people can say that, and Gonzales does so ties, she spends a lot of time at home with her family, including her 26-year-old reservedly, with reluctance. The situation son. As for her age, involved a sex Gonzales wishes offender com‘I like dressing up and the elit to remain a ing after a young egance of being an extra,’ she said. mystery, but she woman in the ‘And I like being out there, in the is spry enough to bathroom she atpublic eye,’ Cynthia Gonzales said. work stints in acting tended. It’s an oninto her schedule. going case and she Pursuing the silver doesn’t want to screen as a hobby, she has appeared as talk about it, nor did she want her photo an extra in numerous films and television to be published. She doesn’t want to be shows, including Law & Order. associated with the incident too much,

lifesaver “I like dressing up and the elegance of being an extra,” she said. “And I like being out there in the public eye.”

Funny enough, Gonzales hasn’t seen a single episode, film or even a clip of any of the pieces she has been in. “I’m just too busy,” she said. Instead of watching herself, she catches a football game, especially the Baltimore Ravens; or enjoys any basketball game, no matter who is playing. Sometimes she sews her own clothes, and the rest of her free time goes to the union and her efforts to organize and recruit new members.

While Gonzales remains satisfied with her work, the one thing she wishes is that after 20-plus years, she could finally get Sundays off to go to church.

SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011 | otdowntown.com

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Working Hard, Staying Upbeat at Moody’s | By wickham boyle The building workers union gives an annual award to honor longevity, and this year’s recipient, George Bell, was tracked down in Georgia in the middle of a barbecue so that he could share some of the wisdom and tenacity that led him to this place.

George Bell, 60, grew up in the south, and you can still hear the soft echoes in his cadence and parlance as he drawls through the ether from Georgia to New York.

“I grew up in Newbury, North Carolina, but I came to New York City when I was 21 years old because all my brothers and sisters were there already,” he said in a telephone interview. “I had spent summers in the city and liked it, so I came up and got a job in Miller Meat Packing in Brooklyn, on Myrtle Avenue. I worked there for about a year, and then I worked for a cabinetmaker all while I was living in Bedford-Stuyvesant. I started at Dunn and Bradstreet, that is Moody’s, in 1974.

They were on 99 Church Street at the time. We moved buildings, we are now at 250 Greenwich Street [7 World Trade Center], but I am still with them.”

Maintenance, it turns out, is a wide-ranging occupation. Bell sets up

conferences and does light construction as well as keeping things clean and, above all, safe. When asked if he was an organized child, Bell lets out a wonderful low rumbling laugh and says, “Well, my mother isn’t around now so she can’t say anything other, so yes, I will say I was neat and tidy as a child. I guess I do like order.”

Bell has a 23-year-old son named Connis, which is Bell’s middle name.

Connis lives with his mother, but Bell has many cousins with whom he visits.

In fact, he was taking his annual summer trip with the cousins when we caught up with him in between banana pudding, ribs, cornbread, sweet corn, grilled shrimp and chicken.

Back up north, Bell recalls the days at Moody’s in both 1993 and 2001 when the World Trade Center was attacked.

On both occasions he was working and saw a lot, although he doesn’t say much about it other than the fact that the maintenance workers were called back first, a week after 9/11 “to make order and clean up.”

Bell loves to take photographs and through the years he has taken some pictures of conferences that Moody’s has used, but his favorite place for photography is the roof of 7 WTC. “I love to

lonG evity go up and look down and see the city from that high up. The pictures can be beautiful.” Bell works long hours, usually arriving between 6:30 and 7 a.m. for the 8 a.m. shift. “ I like to get to work early, although there have been many different companies handling maintenance in this building, I always say I work for Moody’s and I think folks know I can be relied upon. During my shifts I have seen so many things: babies born, robberies, people sick, big conferences and of course the two attacks, but I have always been reliable. I guess people see that. I think I am good in a crisis.”

When the transit strike hit the city, Bell walked from Brooklyn to Downtown Manhattan for three days, always arriving early. “I lost weight with all the walking and it was cold. A few days before Christmas, Moody’s gives kids parties for the holiday and they had to be set up and broken down and I thought, well, can’t let the kids down. When someone asks me for something, 89 percent of the time I can do it.”

It seems Bell’s employers think he delivers on an even higher percentage.

George Bell began working for Moody’s predecessor 37 years ago. photo by Andrew schwartz

Cleaning Medical Waste and Confidential Files with Care | By laura shin

Yuet Hong Chu. photo by Andrew schwartz

Yuet Hong Chu came to the United States in 1982. She arrived with the motivation to work hard, and she hasn’t let it go.

“In China, the environment is that everyone works very, very hard.

It’s a cultural thing,” she said through a translator. “We’re taught from a young age, do the work, do it well and take pride in it.”

Chu, 46, is an office cleaner at the NYU Langone Trinity Center in the Financial District. As the sole daytime cleaner for the 22,000-square-foot medical facility, those who work at the center say Chu does it all.

Some of her responsibilities include cleaning up after each gastrointestinal procedure, cleaning bathrooms, shredding confidential files, collecting garbage and constantly cleaning the facility’s two waiting areas.

But she does far more than she is asked to do, said Patty Yee, pulmonary function tech at Trinity. “She goes above and beyond. She even helps doctors when they’re really busy. She’ll even heat up their lunch

lowe r man hattan for them.”

Chu has been working at Trinity since 2008 when it first opened. Her favorite part of her job is learning new things and building relationships with the people who work there.

“The people here are very nice,” she said. “If I don’t know how to do something, they are always willing to teach me how to do it.”

The most challenging part of her job is getting all of her tasks done on a day when there are a lot of patients.

As a fast-paced medical office, the work can get stressful, she said.

She always gets the job done, however, and always with a smile on her face, said Tracy Murrin, office manager of the center.

“She’s the most humble, genuine, hard-working individual that I think any of us have ever come across,” Murrin said. “It’s refreshing to see someone who always thinks of others around them and is never negative.”

Chu said she came to America for better opportunities. She lived in San

Francisco for many years, which is where most of her extended family still lives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.

When she isn’t working, Chu said she tries to spend as much time as possible with her kids.

“I take them out shopping. On Saturdays, we always go out to eat dinner and on Sundays we cook dinner together at home,” she said.

Her kids are one of the things she is most proud of in her life. It is important for her to be a good role model to them, she said.

Before working as an office cleaner, Chu worked as a waitress at a Chinese restaurant and also as a seamstress, but she said she likes her current job better.

As for her dream job, Chu said she would love to either stay home or work with children at a daycare.

Still, she loves her job at Trinity and the way everyone welcomes her. She said she feels like part of the family.

SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011 | otdowntown.com

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Keeping Students Safe and the Union Strong | By ellen keohane As a security officer, Nicole Tanis occasionally faces angry or annoyed people who just want to get past her.

“It’s really important to stay calm,” she advised. “You need to be patient, alert and aware of what’s going on,” she added.

Tanis, 57, currently works at Columbia University for Summit Security Services, which is a member of SEIU 32BJ, as a security officer and at times, a fire safety director. In honor of the quality of her work at Columbia she has earned this year’s Building Service Workers of the Year Award for Security Officer at a University.

“Nicole is a strong leader amongst her coworkers,” said John Patterson, lead security field representative for 32BJ. She is “highly respected” by her co-workers and her employer, he added. “Nicole leads by example.”

“It’s very rewarding. I’m very happy about it,” Tanis said at the union’s offices at 101 Sixth Ave. on a recent Friday evening. Wearing glasses, small gold hoop earrings, black pants and a windbreaker, Tanis occasionally pulled out handwritten notes while she spoke softly about her position at the university. “My duty is screening the students

who live at the dorm. And if they have friends with them, they have to register at the front desk—the same thing with their parents,” Tanis said.

Tanis also serves as a union shop steward. As part of her duties, she is in charge of a couple of sites, she said. “If they’ve got problems, I’m the one to handle it with my field representative.”

She recently took a six-week leave of absence from her job to participate in the union’s political organizing brigade. With other members, she visited local congress members’ offices, participated in a phone bank and knocked on doors to support candidates sympathetic to union-supported issues, she said. “Times are hard. If we don’t make a little noise, we don’t get anything at all,” she said.

Born in Haiti, Tanis moved to New York City in 1972.

“It was difficult [with] the language [differences], so I decided to go to Belgium because we had relatives there,” she said. “I studied there for a while, but then I came back here.”

A 19-year Chelsea resident, Tanis has spent the majority of her life in New York City. In her free time, she enjoys painting and recently participated in a union art show where her portrait of a conquistador was displayed. She is

lowe r man hattan

secu r ity office r also a mother and a grandmother. Her 29-year-old son, who is in the U.S. Navy, and her 6-year-old grandson live in San Diego.

Tanis studied fire safety at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1989. She also holds certificates in private security and investigation from the Barclay Career School, as well as certificates in tax consulting from the National Tax Training School and accounting from Adelphi University.

Prior to her position at Columbia, Tanis supervised security officers at a car impound lot and worked as a security officer at 6 World Trade Center in the 1990s, in addition to other buildings and government sites. She also has bookkeeping and accounting experience, and has worked as a freelance paralegal, she said.

Tanis has been at Columbia for three years—although in different locations on campus, she said. “It’s a very challenging job. I enjoy doing it,” she said. “Having also been a student, I understand the students very well.

They have a good sense of humor.”

Nicole Tanis. PHOTO BY DAN i e l s. B U R NSTE I N

Raising a Family and Strengthening the City | By tristan hallman

Alberto Moore was named Lower Manhattan Office Cleaner of the Year. photo by Andrew schwartz

 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011

Office cleaner Alberto Moore, 50, left the New York University campus at 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 13, but his day wasn’t done. Three hours later, he stood on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 91st Street, handing out flyers for New York State Assembly candidate Dan Quart.

Quart, a Democrat, won the special election for the Upper East Side assembly seat that night. Moore worked for Quart on behalf of SEIU 32BJ, a union that represents service employees such as porters, doormen, security guards and maintenance workers.

Moore downplays his work for the union’s causes. He said he is just a regular guy, no more deserving of special recognition than anyone else.

“To me, it’s not a big deal,” he said. “It’s not a sacrifice as they make it seem. It’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Moore said he joined the union more than 21 years ago at his then-girlfriend Brenda’s suggestion. He later married Brenda, who is now an administrator for Century 21 real estate. The couple raised two children, Crystal and Alberto Jr. Moore worked the overnight shift while his wife worked during the day. That way, one parent could always be at home with the kids.

“It put a little stress on us in our personal life, but we knew we were doing this for the bigger picture,” Moore said.

“And we had weekends.”

Crystal is now 24 years old. She works as a security guard and attends classes at Monroe Community College in The Bronx.

Alberto Jr. is 19. He attends Westchester Community College and hopes to become a police officer, Moore said.

Moore said he has encouraged his son to become a cop. Moore said his dream job was to be a firefighter— not that he doesn’t like his job now.

Moore’s worksite for the past two years has been the Stern School of Business at NYU. He said he prefers the night shift, so he starts work every weeknight at 11 p.m. He takes out the recycling, waxes floors, cleans bathrooms, moves furniture and does whatever else is required of him.

Moore’s company, Collins Building Services, is the fourth building services firm he has worked for. Because he has a union job, he said, a new company owner only means a new shirt.

That’s why Moore said he does the extra work for the union a few times per week, even though he works the night shift. He said the work commonly involves phone banking or assisting with rallies.

Sometimes it means traveling to other states, which he has more time to do now that his kids are grown.

When he isn’t at his worksite or working for the union, Moore said he likes to stay at home, or go shopping with his wife or watch Yankees games.

But when it comes time to go to work on or off the clock, Moore said he is grateful to be a union man.

“The job, yes, it helps me pay my living wages and stuff, and it helps me with the expenses,” he said. “But the union is what makes the job rewarding.”

Doorwoman of the Year Donna Brown and President Mike Fishman.

Clifton Minott and 32BJ Executive Vice President Kevin Doyle.

President Mike Fishman, Jimmy Breslin and Mary Calvi.

Supers of the Year Craciun Stan and Frank Rapino, with (center) 32BJ Executive Vice President Kevin Doyle.

Elia Perez and Max Cabral from The Shubert Organization.

Yuet Hong Chu and Councilmember Margaret Chin.

Council Member Carmen Arroyo and Hero of 9/11 Award winner Ivan Almenares.

President Mike Fishman and Doorman of the Year Eugene Amankwah.

Nicole Tanis and Council Member Gale Brewer.

The Longevity Award winner George Bell and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

Helping Hand Award winner Chavis Randy Fulton and Jimmy Breslin.

SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011 | otdowntown.com

ďœąďœą

THE 7-DAY PLAN THURSDAY

29 30 01 02 03 04 05

BEST PICK

FREE RECESS!

Space on White, 81 White St. (betw. Broadway & Lafayette Ave.); Oct. 2, 2–6 p.m, RSVP on Facebook.

Miss arts and crafts? Laura Baran and Patricia Geremia have got together to bring elementary school fun to adults. All workshops are 45 minutes long, and topics range from shoelace art to creative writing to unorthodox art appreciation—Baran suggests a piece is best understood when you physically enter it.

FREE U-n-f-o-l-d: A cultural response

to Climate Change Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons, 2 W. 13th St. (at 5th Ave.); 6:30 p.m.

Twenty-five artists, musicians and writers traveled to High Arctic regions to draw inspiration from climate change, and today you can attend the opening of their group show (running through Dec. 15).

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com.

FREE about midnight Saturday

Zürcher Studio, 33 Bleecker St. (at. Mott St.); 12–6 p.m., through Oct. 30.

A bold colorist who prefers to paint from memory, Matt Bollinger might be seen as throwback to Fauvism if his subject matter weren’t so modern. His work is peopled with 1990s Kansas City teenagers.

❮

❯

Mammuth IFC Center, 323 6th Ave. (at W. 3rd St.); various showtimes, $14.

Gérard Depardieu stars in this Benoit Delépine and Gustave Kervern road trip movie with an intriguing premise. Sixty years old, he is on the verge of retirement when he learns that past employers forgot to declare his earnings and he must now hop on his vintage motorcycle and revisit forgotten lives.

Remy & Brad Miller Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette St. (betw. White & Walker Sts.); 10 p.m., $10.

Remy plays the kind of techno Americans have come to expect from European DJs with one big difference: It’s always good.

His sound is indefinably somewhere between house, progressive and trance.

Imelda May The Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. (betw. Bowery & Chrystie St.); 8 p.m., $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

The bluesy Irish vocalist and musician’s songs regularly top charts abroad and have just started to here. Come see what all the buzz is about. The Ettes open.

HAROLD “DOC” HUMES Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave (betw. E. 1st & E. 2nd Sts.); 6 and 8:45 p.m., $9.

Harold “Doc” Humes was considered as good as Updike and Styron until he took copious amounts of LSD and never wrote another novel. Today he is remembered for founding the Paris Review and believing in aliens.

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin YIVO Institute at the Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.); 3 p.m., $10.

Yale professor Timothy Snyder has an interesting theory: Hitler and Stalin, though enemies in WWII, weren’t all that different. Join him as he lectures on two opposing but equally brutal regimes.

MONDAY

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

❮

❯

His Enemies The Living Room, 154 Ludlow St. (betw.

Stanton & Rivington Sts.); 9 p.m.

The eclectic New York band known for everything from rock to folk to jazz will take the stage with plans to play an inimitable set. All songs will be never-before-heard pastorals.

Glass House Dixon Place, 161 Chrystie St. (betw. Rivington & Delancey Sts.); 7:30 p.m., $10.

Tonight Bob Morris, the award-winning author and New York Times and NPR regular, is presenting a staged reading of his new play. The story follows Anthony and Abbey, a couple who move from Brooklyn to an affluent suburb, and their struggles with social standing, style and superficiality.

❮

Joe’s Pub Grand Re-Opening and Passing Strange Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St. (betw. Astor Pl. & E. 4th St.); 7 p.m., $30.

The newly renovated music venue is making its comeback in style. Stew, Heidi Rodewald and Jon Spurney are revisiting the songs of a show that began in that very room and went on to become a hit on Broadway and a Spike Lee movie.

FREE Dykes on Mics

FREE New Green City

RF Lounge, 531 Hudson St. (betw.

Charles & W. 10th Sts.); 8 p.m.

Host Amy Beckerman leads an assemble of LGBT-friendly comics including Sabrina Jones, Keli Dunham, Mindy Raf, Alison Grillo and Chanelle Futrell for a night of stand-up and mingling.

 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011

Union Square Park; 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Expected to draw over 200,000 people, the event will feature interactive exhibits, scavenger hunts, a recycling Q & A, a farmers market and more. Tutorials will encourage attendees to take what they’ve learned and apply it at home.

Issue Project Room Benefit Art Auction Industria Superstudio, 775 Washington St. (betw. W. 12th & Jane Sts.); 6:30 p.m., $50 members, $125 regular.

With all proceeds going towards the nonprofit’s $100,000 goal, feel free to bid liberally on pieces by Peggy Ahwesh, Paul Chan, Wayne Coyne, James Franco, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol and more. Performances throughout the night by Steve Roden, Kim Gordon, Tony Conrad and John Miller.

FREE Spottiswoode &

Bebe Neuwirth & Friends: A Very Special Benefit Performance Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand St. (betw. Pitt St. & Abraham Pl.); 7 p.m., $250+.

The star of Chicago, The Addams Family and Sweet Charity is getting together with Brenda Braxton, Roger Rees, Karen Ziemba and the Dontee Kiehn Dance Company for a one-of-a-kind show to raise money for the Henry Street Settlement and the Equine Advocates.

Garth Fagan’s Madiba The Joyce Theater, 175 8th Ave. (betw. W. 19th & W. 18th Sts.); 7:30 p.m., $10.

Inspired by Nelson Mandela, the acclaimed choreographer of The Lion King has just produced a non-narrative homage to the South African leader. The dance will be the centerpiece of a week-long rotating program.

The Last Picture Show Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (betw.

6th Ave & Varick St.); 2, 4:30, 7 and 9 p.m, $12.50.

Nostalgic for the 1950s? Peter Bogdanovich’s Academy award-winning elegy to small-town America should fix that. Timothy Bottoms and Jeff Bridges star as best friends and co-captains of a dying city’s football team.

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Tickets and Information: NewParentsExpo.com For more info, contact Rebecca Martin, rmartin@manhattanmedia.com, or 212-284-9732 S E P T E M B E R 29, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m

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O U R TOW N : D OW N TOWN | S E PTE M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 1

� E DUCATION For Unemployed, a Chance to Work More and more job seekers are turning to continuing ed programs | By laura shin

A

s the national unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 9.1 percent, more unemployed New Yorkers are considering continuing education courses to help pave the way to a new job.

“We have many students who are adults who have worked before and are trying to reinvent themselves because of the job market,” said Diane Romeo, executive director of the Division of Continuing Education at CUNY’s City College of Technology.

“Most of our students are somewhere in the 35 to 45 range,” she said.

Continuing education courses are generally designed for adults looking to enhance their work skills or gain skills in a new area. There has been an increase in enrollment in these courses since the recession, said Romeo.

One reason these courses may be a worthy investment is that many schools offer pre-certification or state certification upon completion of the required courses. These certifications open the door to the many jobs that require them.

For students who are unemployed and looking for job opportunities, the most popular areas are teaching assistance and childcare, computer courses, building operations, basic plumbing and housing, medical courses and billing and coding, Romeo said.

“People feel secure inveswting the time and money for these courses in order to find a job with benefits,” Romeo said.

Most colleges in the city, both public and private, offer some kind of continuing education program. While costs may differ, there are many affordable options.

City Tech has just started offering an installment payment plan for students taking certain courses. While other forms of financial aid are not available there, Romeo said their tuition is affordable.

And the courses aren’t just popular among the unemployed. Many adults currently working in the field are also taking courses as a way to enhance their skills and add value to their resume.

“It’s just as competitive to keep the job that you have these days,” Romeo said.

Some students also take courses for personal enrichment, she added. For example, many people choose courses such as home repair to learn to repair things on their own, eliminating the need to hire a handyman and saving money.

SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011 | otdowntown.com



More CUNY Award Winners 4 RHODES SCHOLARS in 6 YEARS 7 TRUMAN SCHOLARS in 6 YEARS 8 GOLDWATER SCHOLARS in 3 YEARS 7 NSF GRADUATE FELLOWS in 2011

RHODES



O U R TOW N : D OW N TOWN | S E PTE M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 1

TRUMAN

G O L D WAT E R

ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: Zujaja Tauqeer, Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, Rhodes 2011; David L.V. Bauer, Macaulay Honors College at CCNY, Rhodes 2009, Truman 2008, Goldwater 2007; Eugene Shenderov, Brooklyn College, Rhodes 2005; Lev Sviridov, CCNY, Rhodes 2005, Goldwater 2004; Ayodele Oti, Macaulay Honors College at CCNY, Truman 2011; Gareth Rhodes, CUNY Baccalaureate at CCNY, Truman 2011; Anthony Pang, CCNY, NSF Fellow 2011; Jamar Whaley, Queens College, Goldwater 2009; Christine Curella, Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, Truman 2007; Celine Joiris, Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, Goldwater 2011; Claudio Simpkins, Macaulay Honors College at CCNY, Truman 2005; Ryan Merola, Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, Truman 2006; Don Gomez, CCNY, Truman 2009; Lina Mercedes Gonzalez, Hunter College, NSF Fellow 2011.

N AT I O N A L S C I E N C E F O U N D AT I O N

Than Ever!

Z

UJAJA TAUQEER, CUNY’S 2011 RHODES SCHOLAR, is exceptional but not the exception.

CUNY students are winning more highly competitive awards and scholarships than at any time in our history. The City University of New York is attracting an ever-growing

number of outstanding students. Our Macaulay Honors College is home to many of this year’s winners. Assisted by a world-class faculty, they achieved their success studying at the nation’s leading urban public university. They are exceptional but not the exception.

Matthew Goldstein Chancellor

Visit cuny.edu/awardwinners

1-800-CUNY-YES S E P T E M B E R 29, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m



� SE E Dancing Between Two Worlds

Director of new doc gives inside look at a cultural exchange | By JULIE COHEN

I

n a lot of ways, dancer and choreographer Pedro Ruiz is the quintessential New Yorker. He’s spent decades on the arts scene A-list—21 years as the principal dancer at Ballet Hispanico, followed by teaching and choreographing gigs with Alvin Ailey and the Joffrey Ballet. The apartment he shares with his partner of 12 years, Andy Aachsen, and a spirited King Charles Spaniel named Vienna, is perfectly situated for regular runs to Lincoln Center and Fairway.

But in the 37 years since his family first arrived in the U.S. when he was a teenager, part of Ruiz has always remained in his native Cuba. A pretty big part, it turns out.

“The blood, the Cuban blood, I feel running like a river through my veins,” said Ruiz.

So when Ruiz was invited by Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, the island nation’s top modern dance troupe, to come to Havana and choreograph a work with them, there was no question he’d say yes.

After some negotiation and much bureaucracy, both the U.S. and Cuban governments approved the project.

Officials also allowed a PBS film crew, of which I was the director, to accompany Ruiz on the trip to document both his journey home and the creation of Horizons, the first ever dance choreographed by a CubanAmerican choreographer for a Cuban company. The dance premiered at Havana’s Mella Theater in January of this year. Then the Cuban dancers came this past May to New York City for a two-week run at the Joyce Theater in Chelsea, the first time any of them had ever been to the U.S. The artistic exchange was a powerful reminder that 50 years after the U.S. cut

Top: A scene from Horizons, the first ever dance choreographed by a Cuban-American for a Cuban dance company. The piece was staged at Havana’s Mella Theater and the Joyce Theater in New York City this year. Left: New York City-based, but Caribbean born, choreographer Pedro Ruiz. PHOTOS BY ALEX LOWTHER,

BETTER THAN FICTION PRODUCTIONS.

political and economic ties to Cuba following Fidel Castro’s Communist revolution, a deep human connection between Cubans and Cuban Americans remains.

That connection was especially apparent inside Danza Contemporanea’s rehearsal studios. “It’s back to my roots,” Ruiz noted after watching the dancers go through an Afro-Cuban drill combining rigorous technique with Caribbean soul. “It’s back to my identity. It’s back to who I am.”

And the immediate bond he felt with the dancers was mutual. “When I see Pedro, I see a Cuban,” said dancer Yaday Ponce.

Working together for four weeks, Ruiz and 16 of Danza Contemporanea’s dancers created a 30-minute work incorporating Cuban and American influences.

Ponce, a tall and regal dancer who wears her hair in a dramatic Afro, represented Yemaya, the Afro-Cuban goddess of the sea. Entering the stage on the shoulders of two male dancers, she raised her arms

 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011

with a command that made her convincing in the goddess role.

In between grueling rehearsal sessions, Ruiz and the dancers took some time to get to know one another, as dancers and as people. They talked art, food, hometowns and family. But there wasn’t much talk of politics.

That was a deliberate choice on Ruiz’ part. He’s well aware he’s walking a delicate line. His goal, pursued through a U.S. nonprofit called The Windows Project, is to foster artist-to-artist and artist-to-audience connections between Cubans and Americans, to help thaw relations between the two countries from a grassroots level.

But the Castro government is notoriously sensitive to criticism—any hint of it could get his exchange programs banned.

“I’m an artist and for me the more important thing is this wonderful cultural exchange,” he said. “Art has much more weight to open doors than politics.”

The Cuban audience who welcomed

Horizons, and Ruiz, with an openingnight standing ovation seemed to prove his point. And so did the New Yorkers who went wild for Danza Contemporanea during its run at the Joyce in May. The dancers themselves were thrilled, if a bit overwhelmed, by their trip to Manhattan.

“New York is a fascinating city, so much movement,” said Ponce.

“It’s the capital of the world, no? The center of the world. I say it’s amazing,” enthused Osnel Delgado. In between performances, he and the others visited Central Park, Times Square and the Statue of Liberty.

“It’s so developed, so many things we haven’t seen before,” added Edson Cabrera.

They were less impressed by the weather (chilly) and the food (fast). But they well understood their visit was far more than a sightseeing trip.

“We feel like we’re constructing the next step,” Cabrera said. “The culture between our pueblos.”

Julie Cohen is the director of Pedro Ruiz: Coming Home, which airs Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. on WNET.

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S E P T E M B E R 29, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m

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� EAT PENNILESS EPICURE

Chianti No Longer a Dirty Word in Wine World

I

quality of their wines slip. They were able Italian restaurants that only serve food to do this because the name “Chianti” was and wine from, say, the Piemonte region so well recognized that they could make or Puglia. I’ve spoken to the wine direcanything and the American market would tors of some of these places, and their justification is that Chianti is too common buy it. Eventually, though, we Americans caught on and the name Chianti became and is not an interesting enough wine for synonymous with “cheap, crappy wine.” their esoteric lists.

Ultimately, their laziness proved to be I think that mindset is both unfortua good thing. It led many of the producers nate and idiotic. While there were a good in Tuscany who really handful of decades cared about wine in the mid-toThe trouble all started in the early to break tradition late 20th century ’70s, when many producers of Chiwith Italian wine when Chianti went anti let the quality of their wines slip. laws and start makthrough a very sad ing what are now decline, the region known as Super Tusis back and firing on cans. Eventually, the Chianti producers all cylinders. They are producing some of stepped their own game back up and are the most consistently excellent wines in now, again, one of the first-class growing Italy overall, and some of the most affordregions of the world. able vino from Tuscany specifically.

I had the pleasure of trying several The trouble all started in the early ’70s, Chiantis at the portfolio tastings recently when many producers of Chianti let the and am happy to report that this year’s offerings look very good. The Fattoria di Faltognano Chianti Montalbano 2008 ($12 at Yorkshire Wines and Spirits, 1646 1st Ave. at 85th St., 212-717-5100) is a great

n my previous column, I began my annual, weeks-long rehashing of the fall season’s portfolio tastings. The portfolio tastings are a chance for distributors in the New York City area to invite their clients from both restaurants and retail stores to taste everything.

Literally. It is an overwhelming offering, but the purpose is more the opportunity to try things you may not usually be looking for, sort of like the wine equivalent of a visit to the Strand.

I like to write each year about some of the trends and products that stand out.

Last week I wrote about the continuing popular trend of California (specifically Napa Valley) Sauvignon blanc. This week I’m heading to Europe to talk about the ubiquitous and often maligned Chianti.

There are Italian restaurants in New York City that do not serve Chianti. And I’m not talking about ultra-region-specific

example of this.

The hallmark scent of burning leaves is the main event on the nose in this wine, complimented by a slightly herbal josh perilo backbone with hints of black licorice. The flavors are led by notes of tart black cherry and bitter herbs. The middle holds up with mild tannin and the finish is peppery and robust. Old world charm all the way.

If you like your Chianti a little earthier, I would recommend the Tenuta di Lilliano Chianti Classico 2008 ($29.99 at 67 Wine and Spirits, 179 Columbus Ave. at 68th St., 212-724-6767). Right from the start, wafts of fresh Portobello mushroom and wet earth pour from the glass.

There is a surprising amount of tart fruit in this wine, with brambleberry jam notes up front. The middle has excellent structure, with just enough tannin and acidity to balance out the fruit, and the finish returns to the earth with more mild mushroom notes.

One of my favorites was the Agricola San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva Poggio Rosso 2004 ($42 at Beacon Wines and Spirits, 2120 Broadway at 74th St., 212877-0028). This one was one of the classic, floral-style Chiantis, with powerful scents of rose petals and cedar right out of the bottle. While this wine lacked the tannic structure the others had, it made up for it in subtlety. Dried flower petals, orange rind and clove were the major flavors up front with a good acidity down the middle and a touch of mulberry and pepper on the finish.

Next week, I’ll conclude my overview of the annual portfolio tastings. Stay tuned!

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 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011

New York Press It’s online. NYpress.com.

� SE E NOW PLAYING | By Armond White

30 Minutes or Less A satire about the competition for money and recognition that drives Americans crazy. It’s made more humorous than cynical by Danny McBride and Jesse Eisenberg’s solipsistic humanity as kidnapper and victim. Minor but authentic new millennium century comedy. Dir. Ruben Fleischer.

Bill Cunningham New York Saluting the New York Times’ roving photographer assigned to the fashion world, this promotional doc hides the Times’ hegemony behind Cunningham’s modest, unassuming wielding of power.

Dir. Richard Press.

nic defense of France’s ’60s pop icon and rebel Serge Gainsbourg shows a caricaturist’s whimsy—especially in the subtext of Jewish self-consciousness, psycho-political anime effects and Eric Elmosnino’s lead performance. Laetitia Casta does a worthy, knock-out Brigitte Bardot impersonation. Dir. Joann Sfar.

The Help America’s s Jim Crow history reduced to sisterhood entertainment about servants and masters. Still, the white actresses (Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard) take center screen, squeezing out the black actresses (Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer). Dir. Tate Taylor.

The Black Power Mixed Tape 1967-1975 An unenlightening curio that pilfers unused footage shot by Swedish TV documentary reporters about U.S. black radicalism. It waxes nostalgic about matters now swept under the “post-black” carpet.

Dir. Goran Olsson.

Midnight in Paris Name-dropping 1920s American expatriates in Paris (Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, etc.), Woody Allen takes on another story about cheating, narcissistic bourgeois (Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams) evading responsibility to each other. Don’t be fooled by the mock-surrealism, this is obnoxious. Dir. Woody Allen.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams Exploring the prehistoric Chauvet Cave drawings in France, this 3D doc contemplates mankind’s earliest effort to mark territory. An awed yet agnostic art lecture. Dir. Werner Herzog.

Our Idiot Brother Not even Paul Rudd’s charm can redeem this story of a holy fool—a hippie throwback—who shames his three bourgeois sisters. It’s smug, preachy and visually hideous. Dir. Jesse Peretz

Columbiana Striking entertainment and an emotional action movie. As a sexy, damaged assassin hunting down drug dealers to avenge her parents, Zoe Saldana gives the movie star performance of the year—a soulful, modern-day Irma Vep. Dir. Olivier Megaton.

Restless Doomed girl (Mia Wasikowska) and gloomy boy (Henry Hopper) crash funerals and muse on death and godlessness.

A nihilistic love story for depressive teens.

Dir. Gus Van Sant.

The Debt Shameless-bordering-on-ludicrous Holocaust exploitation as a Mossad trio brings a Nazi war criminal to justice. In flashbacks, Jessica Chastain plays the same rueful agent as Helen Mirren—a cipher out of a spy novel. Dir. John Madden.

Drive Fake toughness, fake sentimentality, fake style infected by Michael Mann.

Brooding existential stuntman and petty criminal Ryan Gosling is so laconic and cool he’s inadvertently comic. This second-rate actor occasionally drops his Steve McQueen impersonation and lets slip Mickey Rourke’s old smile. Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn.

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life An inventive political, cultural and eth-

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Rousing and thoughtful sequel that does full justice to the original series.

It’s also a completely modern vision of our anxieties about science and society.

With an especially moving performance

by Andy Serkis as the ape who learns revenge. Dir. Rupert Wyatt.

Straw Dogs (2011) An affront to our art heritage and sense of humanity, this shoddy remake of Sam Peckinpah’s 1971 masterpiece reduces psychological depth (about a man defending his home) to cheap slasher film theatrics and dumb political agit-prop.

Dir. Rod Lurie.

Toast Biopic about British food writer Nigel Slater’s childhood (Oscar Kennedy and Freddie Highmore) is actually funny and edgy about the development of a gay

Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper in Gus Van Sant’s Restless.

male’s sensibility. Helena Bonham Carter wonderfully portrays Slater’s nemesis/ inspiration—a full-blown, memorably ambivalent characterization. Dir. S.J. Clarkson.

Loopy premise but lots of high drama and deep theatrics. Dir. Gavin O’Connor.

Warrior Actors Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte as brothers and dad who take family dysfunction to the boxing ring.

Weekend (2011) Rather precious but not unaffecting love story about two young gay British men (Tom Cullen and Chris New) facing the limits of attraction and commitment.

An indie take on the ’70s classic Sunday Bloody Sunday. Dir. Andrew Haigh.

MICHAEL SHANNON

JESSICA CHASTAIN

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SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011 | otdowntown.com



� DWE LL City Council Votes to Strip 135 Bowery of Landmark Designation | By Alan Krawitz Despite strong opposition from preservationists, community activists and local residents alike, the City Council voted last Wednesday to strip the circa 1817 Federal style row house located at 135 Bowery of its landmark status. The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission had designated the site as a landmark in June.

The vote to de-designate 135 Bowery was won by a landslide (49 to 1), with only Council Member Rosie Mendez voting against the measure.

The decision came as little surprise to area preservationists who were still reeling from a City Council Land Use Subcommittee hearing and vote on Sept.

15 that denied the landmarking of the historic row house by a vote of 4 to 1.

Council Member Margaret Chin said at the subcommittee hearing that she had changed her support for landmarking once she was made aware of the poor condition of the building, as well as the assurances from the property’s owner, First American International Bank, that it would build a seven-story commercial building on the site offering belowmarket rents to help stimulate business

development in the area.

The question of whether or not 135 Bowery could be ultimately preserved is one that has divided preservationists and the building’s owner from the onset. The building’s owner produced engineering reports that indicated the building had been repeatedly altered over the years and would need extensive renovations in order to be fully integrated as part of any new development.

“We saw reports, and some of our staff members were inside the building, and it was in an utter state of disrepair—it was really quite dilapidated,” said Kelly Magee, communications director for Chin’s office.

On the other side of the divide, preservationists pointed to the fact that the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had already designated the building as a landmark. They also provided reports at the Sept. 15 council subcommittee hearing indicating that the building could, with proper renovations, be preserved.

The LPC declined to comment for this story.

“First American Bank is a certified community development institution…which means they’ve satisfied the government’s requirements for investing in underdevel-

oped and low-income areas,” said Adam Rothkrug, an attorney representing First American Bank. “They are currently pursuing tax credits for subsidized office spaces for Chinatown businesses.”

Rothkrug said the bank has agreed to try to reuse some of the materials from the row house or to attempt to preserve as much of the façade as possible.

Asked about the landmarking of 135 Bowery, Rothkrug said he felt that the building should never have been landmarked to begin with. “We were shocked when the LPC went ahead with the landmarking process. We thought that after our engineers concluded their reports and after Council Member Chin’s staff toured the building and saw the deterioration, we figured LPC would just drop the issue,” Rothkrug said.

Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council (HDC), a city preservation organization, said the landmarking was a longshot following the council’s subcommittee vote. If 135 Bowery is demolished, it will be the second historic site lost in the area this year, following the recent demolition of an 1825 row house at 35 Cooper Square.

In a phone interview, Bankoff said he was “not happy” with Chin’s decision to

reverse her support for the site. Chin had testified in June in favor of landmarking the property.

Bankoff did say that Chin, whose district includes the Bowery, has a generally good record on preservation issues. He hopes that HDC will be able to work with the council member on future preservation issues.

Local preservation groups including the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative (LESPI) and the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, which sponsored an online petition of more than 500 signatures to save 135 Bowery.

“City Council’s de-designation of 135 Bowery was a serious blow to the historic Bowery and Lower East Side. This structure was one of the true gems of early New York—a basically intact 1817 Federal style building, a type that once predominated in early New York. Surviving examples of these buildings are rare and irreplaceable,” wrote Richard Moses, who heads the steering committee for LESPI. In the meantime, preservationists say that despite the long odds, they will continue the fight for 135 Bowery. They scheduled a meeting on Wednesday at the Merchant’s House Museum.

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Healthy Manhattan a monthly advertising supplement

Shed Pounds With Yoga?

Studies say probably, although the reasons are unclear

By Lisa Elaine Held

L

ike many men, Brandt Passalacqua ended up in a yoga class because his girlfriend at the time made him go.

He was overweight and recovering from a serious illness, and he needed to make a change.

“Long story short—I started taking yoga and my obsessive-compulsive eating stuff started to diminish,” he said. “Through my own process, I realized that yoga was a really good tool for weight loss.”

His book, Peaceful Weight Loss Through Yoga, was published in 2005. Since then, Passalacqua, now a registered yoga teacher and 100 pounds lighter, has dedicated himself to teaching other people to shed pounds the same way.

As yoga has become increasingly mainstream in the United States (and especially in New York City) in recent years, many people have turned to the practice for its physical benefits rather than spiritual enlightenment.

Women’s magazines and DVDs, in turn, advertise its weight loss potential with overzealous claims. Blast belly fat! Get chiseled abs! You can have it all with yoga!

But is this just a case of commercialization and marketing, or is yoga a truly effective method when it comes to slimming down to a healthy weight?

The body of research that has emerged so far, while far from robust, points to the latter. continued pg 24

Yoga appears to be linked to weight loss, perhaps because it can reduce stress eating.

S E P T E M B E R 29, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m



Seeking Advanced-Stage Cancer Patientswith Anxiety For Research Study Seeking Advanced-Stage Cancer Patients with Anxiety For Research Study We are looking for volunteers to participate in a scientific study exploring the effects of spiritual or mystical states of consciousness on anxiety and emotional distress associated with a diagnosis of advanced cancer ___________________________________________ A person receiving a diagnosis of advanced cancer is faced with multiple and severe physical, emotional, and spiritual or existential challenges. Often, the feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, and questions around meaning and spirituality contribute to more overall suffering than physical symptoms. It is now widely believed that issues related to meaning, spirituality, anxiety, and depressed mood are at the core of the suffering that patients with advanced cancer may experience.

Researchers at New York University School of Medicine and Bluestone Center for Clinical Research are conducting a scientific study using a novel drug, psilocybin, a psychoactive agent found in a specific type of mushroom and used for centuries for religious and spiritual purposes. Entheogens, the class of plants and chemicals that includes psilocybin, have been used for thousands of years as sacraments to induce mystical or spiritual states of consciousness as part of spiritual and healing observances.

Volunteers who participate in this study will receive careful medical and psychological screening, preparation, and educational materials about the details of the study. The study will consist of two study sessions. Additional meetings will involve preparation and supportive counseling to assure comfort and safety throughout the study. Questionnaires and interviews will be used to evaluate the effects of the study drug on mood and quality of life.

This research study is fully approved by and adheres to the strict regulations of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Participants must be between the ages of 18 and 76, have received a diagnosis of advanced-stage cancer, and be experiencing anxiety or mood changes secondary to their diagnosis. Further information regarding eligibility is available upon inquiry.

Strict confidentiality will be maintained on all persons inquiring or participating in the study.

If you, a family member, or someone you know is interested in this study, please call Krystallia Kalliontzi, M.Sc., Clinical Research Coordinator, at (212) 998-9252.

Version Date – 1/20/09

24

O U R TOW N D OW N TOWN | S E PTE M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 1

NYUSOM IRB APPROVED 2/2/09

a monthly advertising supplement

FROM pg 23 One study that included over 15,000 participants, published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine in 2005, found that regular yoga practice for four or more years was associated with better weight maintenance among participants at a normal weight and with greater odds of weight loss among overweight participants.

“Although causal inference from this observational study is not possible, results are consistent with the hypothesis that regular yoga practice can benefit individuals who wish to maintain or lose weight,” the researchers wrote.

A review of clinical research related to yoga published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice this year, cited several studies that showed a number of results, such as yoga leading to an overall reduction in food consumption and eating speed, lower weight gain and decreased body mass index.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean that yoga is burning calories at the same rate as a Zumba class.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine Calorie Activity Table, a 150-pound person burns about 180 calories in an hour of Hatha yoga.

The same person would burn about 500 calories by exerting a “moderate effort” on a stationary bike in an hour.

This, of course, is an estimate, and more vigorous forms of yoga such as Power Vinyasa or Bikram (hot yoga) would yield much higher numbers. But the numbers do provide a foundation for comparison—when it comes to calorie burning, yoga seems to be on the low end of the spectrum compared to other popular forms of exercise.

But calorie counting is old news, says Tara Stiles, celebrity yoga teacher, owner of Strala Yoga in Soho and author of Slim, Calm, Sexy Yoga.

“Most people I know that are having problems with weight loss, they’re eating unconsciously or because they’re stressed out,” Stiles said.

According to Stiles, yoga addresses that by putting you in touch with what your body really wants and needs and by reprogramming your nervous system so you start to crave things that are healthier for you. The mindfulness you develop will also help you recognize when you’re full.

“Everything just becomes more common sense,” Stiles explained.

“Yoga is the practice of becoming more intuitive, and I think that’s why it’s really beneficial for weight loss.”

Passalacqua agrees. The system of weight loss he developed and now teaches, which is aimed at the severely obese, doesn’t even necessarily include a vigorous form of physical yoga. It uses the physical postures to gradually teach body awareness, retool the nervous system and reduce stress.

“We do the prep—movement, breathing, meditation, getting their nervous system in check, getting the awareness of their body up—that’s the yoga stuff,” he said. “The last thing is the weight loss.”

The process is not a quick fix diet, and Passalacqua usually works with clients for a minimum of six months. Often, it will be for two or three years.

The reward for such longterm dedication, he says, is a system that allows you to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life rather than going through the ups and downs of dieting.

Yoga may also help with weight loss because lower stress levels reduce the amount of cortisol in the body, and high levels of cortisol increase abdominal fat, said Dr. Christina Geithner, a professor of human physiology and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.

And, while it may not sound like exercise science, Geithner also said that yoga classes tend to take the focus off of the limitation of the body and encourage practitioners to accept their bodies at any weight.

“Some people have said it’s the first time they’ve had a loving relationship with their body,” she said.

“If you care about your body, you’re going to make better choices.”

“Yoga is the practice of becoming more intuitive, and I think that’s why it’s really beneficial for weight loss,” Tara Stiles said.

Healthy Manhattan

Here’s the Rub There is none for careers in massage therapy as demand grows

By Lisa Elaine Held

S

hortly after the economy went into panic mode in the fall of 2008, Sean Chillemi, a student of massage therapy at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, opened the doors to Ren-Shen Healing, his own center for massage and acupuncture.

“It was a bit nerve-wracking at first,” he said. But instead of collapsing, his small business grew enough that by the following year he expanded into a space that was three times as large.

This past February, he expanded again into a space that is nine times the size of his original center, and he’s on track to make six figures by the end of this year— just three years after getting his license to practice massage therapy in New York.

As the economy continues to falter and stock fluctuations raise fears of a second



recession, many people like Chillemi are choosing careers in massage therapy, a profession that may not have been considered a lucrative career path in the past but was named one of the 50 best careers of 2011 by U.S. News & World Report.

“More spas and massage clinic franchises are popping up to meet increased demand for massage services,” wrote Alexis Grant in the U.S. News report, and the Labor Department expects employment in the industry to grow 19 percent between 2008 and 2018.

“Consumers have become more aware of the stress-reduction and medical benefits of massage,” said Lynn Temenski, head of the massage department at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine near the Flatiron building. “And their experience has been validated by rigorous scientific research showing that massage is effective in reducing stress hormones.”

Temenski said that the medical community has also shown increased interest in massage as integrative medicine has become more mainstream, and physicians are increasingly referring their patients to massage therapists.

Another reason demand for massages may be up is that more people consider

O U R TOW N D OW N TOWN | S E PTE M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 1

a massage a necessary antidote to their economic woes—while the recession may have nixed their resort vacation this year, an hour-long shiatsu is still affordable.

“People are making massage therapy a priority in their lives,” explained Meg Darnell, the dean of alumni and student services at the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences in Chelsea. “It’s not the luxury or indulgence it used to be considered.”

So as the demand for massage services grows, so does the demand for qualified therapists, the majority of whom typically enter the field as career changers, like Chillemi, who was on track to start a career in finance when an aggressive skin cancer diagnosis just after his 21st birthday inspired a major shift in perspective.

“We get 18-year-olds to 50-yearolds from all different backgrounds and all different walks of life,” said Darnell.

Temenski agreed, but noted that as massage becomes more mainstream, she has noticed an uptick in the number of high school students choosing massage therapy as their first path right after graduation.

A degree is not required to practice massage therapy in New York State, but a license is. In order to become licensed, students must complete 1,000 hours of instruction in a state-approved program, only five of which are located in New York City, according to the state’s website.

The required coursework is a combination of western courses such as anatomy and physiology and practical training in eastern and western massage techniques. Once the coursework is completed, students must pass the statelicensing exam to begin practicing.

Schools like Pacific College and the Swedish Institute offer a slightly more extensive training program that allows the student to fulfill the state licensing requirements while also completing an associate’s degree. They can even go on to complete a master’s in Oriental medicine or acupuncture.

While both schools report high rates of employment after graduation, it’s important to know that most massage therapists are self-employed or work parttime as free agents at several different facilities. Because of the nature of the work, an entrepreneurial drive is extremely helpful, especially when a therapist is starting out.

And while it’s possible to make a comfortable living as a massage therapist, Chillemi cautions that no one should go into the field for the sole purpose of making money.

“A good business plan will help tremendously to keep you focused and able to support yourself,” he said. “But if you don’t love what you do and aren’t passionate about it, that will reflect in your treatments, and it will be difficult to succeed past a certain point.”

Education on a Phone Wire | By linnea covington

Twenty-two years ago, Myrna Shapiro opened up her local Long Island newspaper and discovered an ad for classes she could take at home over the phone. Since Shapiro was confined to a wheelchair, she immediately decided to try it.

“I started taking one or two classes and I got hooked,” the 75-year-old said.

Provided by Dorot, an organization that has helped the elderly since 1976, the program she joined was University Without Walls. They offer about 160 courses each term on subjects across the board, including opera, poetry, film, finance, art, and religion.

The first class Shapiro took mimicked today’s book clubs, where the participants read and discussed a four books over time, all without actually meeting in person. Nowadays this might not sound so novel, but University Without Walls started in 1989, when online video chatting didn’t exist and the conference call wasn’t a common thing.

“The genesis of the program is figuring out a way to create a community for seniors who have a hard time getting out of their house, whether they are bed-

bound, need assistance, or because of the weather,” said Bonnie Jacobs, Dorot’s director of education. “People know they are expected to be on the call—if they aren’t, people are concerned.”

The process of the program proved simple. Each class gets a facilitator for about 10 to 12 students. The price is cheap, around $12 per course, and they don’t give out any homework or tests.

Once signed up, on the appointed day and time everyone calls in and the course becomes an interactive discussion. Or karaoke, like the “Sing-Along Broadway” course led by Leo Schaff, an actor and songwriter.

Another way the itinerary becomes interactive is through books that Dorot ships to the students, like the one used in “The Modern Portrait,” a course on objects in the Museum of Modern Art taught

by Diana Bush, an education specialist at MoMA. “Trying to make a connection over the phone is so different than lecturing in a gallery,” said Bush, who has been giving art courses with the organization for four years. “But the most rewarding thing is how much I learned through our discussions.”

The “Old Books, Rare Books” semi-

nar is taught by a rare book cataloger from the New York Public Library; the “Poetry Co-Op” is run by a poet and former New Yorker writer, and “Folktales of Sukkot” features discussions with a rabbi.

For Ricki Saady, University Without Walls has deepened her connection with her religious community. At 52, Saady is one of the younger students, but since she is homebound with chronic fatigue and severe asthma, it has helped her stay active and kept her going. For 11 years she has participated in discussions about the Torah, Jewish mysticism and biblical studies and has facilitated courses on different people in the Bible like King David and Jacob.

“It’s been a lifesaver, the program,” she said. “It’s helped people that can’t go to schools to take courses and I have also developed a lot of friends through it.”

Shapiro said she too has clicked with a few people and developed long term friendships based on shared interests and chemistry through the courses.

Over the phone, naturally, Shapiro said, “I am very grateful to Dorot because it has provided a wonderful outlet Dorot, which runs University Without Walls, offers about 160 classes over the for me and I only have good things to telephone to students like Kathy Leeds. say about everybody.” photo by Russell Dian

The only dedicated Assisted Living Facility in New York City specializing in Enhanced Memory Care.

A remarkable force at The 80th Street Residence, Lola Stephens, Recreation Coordinator, is but one shining example of the workers that makes this Alzheimer’s and dementia community so unique. No matter what the task, she exudes compassion and understanding.

Lola never says no and helps anyone who needs a hand — be it a Resident having a bad day or a Family Member who needs a hug.

She often spends an hour or two of her own time with a Resident frustrated by the Effects of Alzheimer’s or dementia and is dedicated to providing a rich activity program day in and day out. Never leaving without checking on those not having a good day, Lola will sit and encourage a Resident in her own special manner and then be on her way. While this alone is daunting work, her day does not end here.

Upon returning to the home she shares with her Mother battling Alzheimer’s disease, she eagerly accepts the responsibility of caring for her, her devotion evident. Although most would find this vocation enough, Lola brings yet endless love and energy back to all at 80th Street even on days that she has gotten little sleep caring for Mom. Lola is a gem, and The 80th Street Residence knows that it is “that something special within” each of its exceptional Staff members that makes this assisted living community so intimate and special.

430 East 80th Street, New York, NY 10075 • 212-717-8888 • www.80thStreetResidence.com

 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011

Ensconced in the landmark neighborhood of the Upper East Side, Residents continue to enjoy the heart and soul of this incomparable city they have always loved.

• Beautiful Upper East Side Environment • Each floor a “Neighborhood” with Family Style Dining & Living Room • 24-hour Licensed Nurses & Attendants specially trained in dementia care • Medication Management • Around the clock personal care, as needed • Housekeeping, Linen & Personal Laundry • Courtyard & Atrium Rooftop Garden • Chef prepared Meals Nation’s first recipient of AFA’s Excellence in Care distinction.

80th Street Residents in Central Park with the Essex House Hotel peeking from behind.

430 East 80th Street, New York, NY 10075 Tel. 212-717-8888 www.80thstreetresidence.com

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To reserve space in the biggest issue of the year, please contact your account executive at 212.284.0384

• • • • • 79 Madison Ave • 16th Floor • New York, NY 10016 • 212.284.0384 • nypress.com • • • • • S E P T E M B E R 29, 2011 | otd ow n tow n . c o m



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

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. OTDT Classifieds assumes no financial responsibility for errors or omissions. We reserve the right to edit, reject, or re-classify any ad. Contact your sales rep directly for copy changes. All classified ads are pre-paid.

employment

TRACK BY JACK

Early Education Coordinator Wanted Coordinate 3 early childhood education centers in the Northwest Bronx.

Programs include child care (private pay and funded). Head Start and UPK for children 1-5 years old. Supervise large staff, develop budgets, and work with Board and Parent Association.

Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education NYS teacher’s Certification (birth-2nd grade) 10 years administrative experience in ECE required. Supervisory Licenses, SDA, SAS and SBL recommended.

Resumes and 3 letters of reference to employment@mmcc.org.

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Legal Notices NYC Dept. of Consumer Affairs will hold a public hearing on Wed. 10/12/2011 at 2pm at 66 John Street, 11th Fl., on a petition from 83/Amsterdam Restaurant Corp. to continue to maintain and operate an enclosed sidewalk cafe at 477 Amsterdam Ave. in the the borough of Manhattan for a term of two years. Requests for copies of the proposed revocable consent agreement may be addressed to: Department of Consumer Affairs, Attn: FOIL Officer, 42 Broadway, NY, NY 10004.

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

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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a license Number 1256773 has been applied for by Mozaik Inc d/b/a Mahzen to sell Wine & Beer in a restaurant at retail for on premises consumption under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at: 739 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a license Number 1256772 has been applied for by SBS 1310 Corp d/b/a Bistro 1310 to sell Liquor, Wine & Beer in a restaurant at retail for on premises consumption under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at: 1304 40th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11218 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a license, serial # pending, for Beer, Wine & Liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell Beer, Wine & Liquor in a restaurant under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at: TYL 88 LLC d/b/a 360 Lounge, 13346 37th Avenue, Bsmnt, Flushing, NY 11354 for on-premises consumption.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a license, Number 1257102 for Beer, Wine & Liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell Beer, Wine & Liquor at

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retail in a Restaurant under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at: 7708 Woodside Ave, Elmhurst, NY 11373 for on-premise consumption. A&L Thai Restaurant Corp d/b/a Ayada Thai Restaurant.

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O U R TOW N : D OW N TOWN | S E PTE M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 1

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MASSAGE ACUPUNCTURE BEST RELAXING CHINESE BODYWORK Excellent for health & stress. Lic. All credit cards SPECIAL PRICE 212-941-1926 AS AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE Seasonal specials. Relax and let go of all your stress.

Call Anne: 646-543-5147

MAGIC TOUCH Exceptionally relaxing touch by European ladies. Private, 24/7.

E 30th St 212-661-6407 E 60s St 212-705-7068 E 40S St 212-576-1025 YOU WILL KEEP COMING BACK! Talented, trained bodyworker does amazing Swedish and Shiatsu work on a table in a beautiful Chelsea apartment. Friendly guy who will focus on your specific requests.

Very high repeat clients because you will like it! Call 646-734-3042 SWEDISH/SHIATSU CHINESE GUY Expert masseur. Swedish & Shiatsu.

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Private. 52nd St & 3rd Ave. Stephen: 646-996-9030 SCINTILLATING FALL BODYWORK Relax and let me melt away your stress. AllAmerican early bird special.

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CITY COUNCIL MeMBER

|By Marissa Maier

L

ast Wednesday, the City Council unanimously voted in favor of creating a Chinatown Business Improvement District (BID), a plan that has been in the works for decades. We spoke with Council Member Margaret Chin about how the BID will benefit the area and how much business owners will pay on an annual basis.

Let’s begin with the basics. What is a BID and how does it work?

Margaret Chin: Property owners in the boundaries of the BID all have to contribute an annual fee, or assessment, into the BID to make up its budget. This assessment is calculated based on store frontage and assessed property value. When the BID is formed, every single property owner has to pay this annual fee.

The Chinatown BID will provide sanitation services, help small businesses improve their storefronts and provide streetscape enhancements such as signage and way finding, graffiti and snow removal and holiday lighting…things to help improve the quality of life and the small business environment.

How long have local business and property owners and politicians like yourself been lobbying to create this BID? When did you become involved in this process?

Groups have been trying for decades— at least since the 1980s—to organize a BID for Chinatown. However, the early groups were funded by donations, which are not always reliable. One of the first groups was the Council for Cleaner Chinatown, which lasted for about 15 years but did not get to the stage where it was applying for a BID. I got involved after 9/11. Chinatown business was hurt by 9/11 and as part of the rebuilding effort reports were done that showed that Chinatown needed a kind of organization to maintain cleanliness and do promotion for the area. In 2006, the Chinatown Partnership, the sponsor of the BID, was formed. I was a founding member of the Chinatown Partnership, which was billed as a “taste of a BID.” The organization received LMDC [Lower Manhattan Development Corporation] 9/11 recovery funds to start their Clean Streets Program and other initiatives to help rebuild the neighborhood. This showed what a BID could do for the community, from trash baskets—because they were overflowing then—to holiday lighting, but as you know the funding was used up

 OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011

by last year.

Do you feel the issue came to a vote now because the four-year, $5.4 million LMDC grant came to an end in 2010?

The effort to start organizing for the BID started about four years ago. In anticipation of the LMDC funding being used up, they formed a BID steering committee to look at what the options were.

[For example] they looked at volunteer operational work, property owner contributions or a BID in Chinatown. I think back then there were [dozens] of business improvement districts and there were a lot of good examples of how BIDs help revitalize communities.

In the case of Chinatown, the LMDC recovery money granted to the Chinatown Partnership allowed the Partnership to execute a street and sidewalk sanitation program that transformed Chinatown.

That money has since run out, so the natural next step is to apply for a BID. The City Council vote on the BID came down to a 50-0 vote. Were you surprised by this landslide support for the BID? Not really, mainly because when the vote came, a lot of council members already had a BID in their district—some had more than one. Council members are familiar with the functioning of a BID and they were very supportive to see one come to Chinatown. One council member said that she walked through Chinatown today [Tues., Sept. 27] and was happy to see that the community has gotten better in terms of cleanliness than what she had seen before.

I know that businesses will have varying assessments for the BID. Roughly how much will most businesses pay in annual fees for the BID? On average, about 74 percent will pay under $1,000 a year. A lot of those are property owners who own office condos, like doctor’s offices. Those office condos will pay about $200 a year. Property owners who own residential condos or tenement buildings where the whole building is residential, will pay $1 a year. Commercial property owners will pay on average $900 a year. Not-for-profits are exempt.

You have said that this BID will help revitalize Chinatown. How will it do this?

One of the most important things, aside from making the community cleaner and brighter, is that having a BID will connect Chinatown to other neighborhoods. A BID is very important in terms of promoting more visitors, and there is great opportunity with working with BIDs in the area.

We will have more signage, or way finding, so visitors will know which way to turn from Chinatown to get to other neighborhoods or where Chinatown is situated.

The BID will also help advocate for small businesses in their dealings with city agencies, assist business owners with limited English capacity and foster small business development.

I read that the BID’s projected budget for its first year is $1.3 million with around 78 percent of that allotted to sanitation needs. Why is the majority of the budget to be used for this and what will the rest of the budget be used for?

Every BID is designed in response to what that community’s needs are. In Chinatown, it is overwhelming sanitation. If you remember the Chinatown of the past, it was unfortunately known for how dirty it was.

The CPLDC [Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation] changed that and the BID will continue that mission.

Part [of the rest of the budget] is for administration and promotion. One thing is that a lot of people will find out different places to visit from the [BID] website. A website can do a lot more to promote individual businesses and tourist attractions. Putting [these businesses] on the Internet is a great asset to small businesses. One restaurant had a positive story in The New York Times, and now you can see lines outside of the restaurant. We want people to come here not just on the weekend, but also during the week and especially in the evenings.

Some business owners say the fees associated with the BID will be burdensome.

What is your response to this?

The vast majority—74 percent of property owners—will be paying under $1,000 a year to the BID. I am confident that this will be the best—tax deductible—money they have ever spent.

I think the main thing is that we believe the future in Chinatown will be much brighter and more visitors will come. A lot of small businesses will be able to increase their business and attract more patrons, and the extra money will offset the fees that go into the BID. To see a map of the Chinatown BID, visit otdowntown.com.

courtesy of Council Member Margaret Chin’s office.

Manhattan media

� TALK I N G U P D OWNTOWN Margaret Chin

on topic

The Right Age For City Kids to Walk Home

A

s the mother of three agedisparate children, I often find myself chatting with other parents about the right time to let kids “go.” To let them go to bed a little later, to let them go to sleepaway camp, to let them go to the movies by themselves. However, as city parents raising city kids, there seems to be one “when to let go” question that reigns supreme: When do I let my child go to school alone?

Never.

At least that’s the quick answer I got when I asked a well-known and well-regarded parenting expert during one of his lectures. And he’s right.

Our kids tend to lobby hard for the next privilege on the developmental ladder. And they lobby early. They want cell phones, Facebook accounts, time alone with friends. It’s completely natural for them to want to separate from us; and, as parents, it’s completely natural for us

to want to hold them a little closer when they back away.

But what we have to do, when faced with the next developmental shift from our kids is ask ourselves if what they’re asking for is safe. We can supervise—to some extent—their cell phones and their computers, but walking to and from school alone can be risky.

For city families, the walk-alone discussion usually crops up when our kids enter middle school. Free from the many restraints of elementary school, kids suddenly feel empowered and grown. Clearly, they are not grown. But they should be given the opportunity to feel empowered.

That’s the gift we give them as parents, all along this incredible journey. Yesterday, when they were chubby-faced toddlers, we thrilled them with the introduction of solid foods to their diets, and today we’re letting them navigate city streets on their own.

For everything there is a season.

As the mom of a high schooler, a mid-

� S OU N D OFF: LET TE RS TO TH E E D ITO R

To send us your letters or comments, please email otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com.

“It was at this point things got ugly” For the past week and a half, people of all ages have been camped out in the Financial District protesting the unaccountability of Wall Street banks under the self-assigned name of “Occupy Wall Street.” Although I had been aware of the protest, it wasn’t something I was paying much attention to until this past Saturday when, walking back from brunch in the Village, I saw several hundred protesters being “kettled” (pinned with nets) by the NYPD. My boyfriend Eric and I got there right as police began to rush the demonstrators.

At first there were only about 20 cops on the scene. Then, in a matter of moments, helicopters appeared and nearly 300 more officers arrived. At this point, protesters and bystanders had joined forces, chanting “Let them go” and “Let us go,” but the cops kept expanding the nets to trap more people. It was at this point that things got ugly.

The group of police officers who had just arrived on the scene either had less understanding of the situation than the officers who intitiated the sting or were trying to provoke people to violence so they could make arrests. Thankfully, both protesters and bystanders did not resort to violence—unlike the police. The new officers acted as if there had been a bomb or mass murder, throwing people to the ground and up against walls. I saw at least a dozen women get thrown to the ground by 200-pound men.

While this was happening, Eric and I tried to talk to the officers to get them to explain why these people were being shown such violence when they had clearly done nothing to warrant such an extreme reaction. Most of the officers either refused to speak to us or told us that if we didn’t stop interfering, we would be arrested as well.

The most telling moment of the horrific afternoon was when a cop told us, “[Just because] it says you can do something in the Constitution, that doesn’t mean it’s your right.” This sentiment really summed up the NYPD’s attitude— not only did they severely violate these people’s First Amendment rights, they fundamentally disrespected them as human beings.

The one positive, inspiring result of Saturday is that I now realize I cannot afford to be a bystander while these people and others around America bravely take a stand against our uninterested government, institutionalized economic corruption, deeply unjust justice system and extreme, rampant poverty in this, the supposedly richest country in the world.

On Saturday, the lines between social activist and casual bystander were blurred and everyone became a witness.

I encourage anyone reading this to also be a witness—participate, tweet, post on Facebook, write, blog, donate and speak your mind. No one will do it for you.

—Daphne Muller, via email

dle schooler and an elementary schooler, I never take a one-size-fits-all approach.

It just doesn’t work. There are things a 16-year-old can do that an 8-year-old cannot. It makes sense—it’s not always appreciated by the younger members of our family—but it makes sense. And we know our own kids. Each of my kids displays different levels of maturity at different ages. So I have to preach accordingly.

When that famed parenting expert (and I should clarify here that he was speaking to middle-school parents) replied that we should never let our kids walk to school alone, his emphasis was on the “alone.” They should travel with a group—or, at least, with a trusted friend.

This is a tough city, no matter how low our crime rates may be. This is a busy city. This is a distracted city. Adults have difficulty making their way from time to time. How can we feel comfortable letting our 11-, 12-, 13-year-olds go?

We set guidelines and limits. The travel-

buddy approach is a good approach.

I always insist that the cell phones my tween and teenager “had” to own be charged and on when they mary dipalermo leave the house.

They have to touch base before and after each outing. They have to be reachable by said cell phone along the way. And they have to be where they say they’re going to be, all the time. Those are the rules. Do they get broken? Sometimes. And then the “privilege” of walking somewhere without me gets revoked.

It’s not easy, this business of letting go.

But kids and parents can learn from each other. They’ll let you know when they’re ready, and we let ourselves know when we’re ready, too. The beauty of this parenting life is that there’s always another something to let go.

� STR E ET S C E N E

| text & photos by george denison For more street scene photos and features, visit www.otdowntown.com.

How do you feel about the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?

�

It was depressing to see the soldier get booed at the GOP debate. It shows there is still a lot of prejudice than maybe we realize there is since we live in New York. There is still a long way to go. —Leia Dorin I think it’s an overdue amendment to a really dumb idea to begin with.

It’s great. — Kevin Sheneberger

It doesn’t really affect me. My brother is in the military, but it doesn’t affect me in the day to day.

�

— Anthony Giudarelli

Yeah, doesn’t affect me, but I’m cool with it either way.

— Matt Anderson

�

I think that everybody has their right. To each his own. I don’t think that anyone’s performance in the military or law enforcement or any professional position should be judge based on the sexual preference. This country has a lot of unnecessary hang-ups.

—Chris Witherspoon

SE PTE M B E R 29, 2011 | otdowntown.com

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