december 1, 2011 | www.otdowntown.com
Holiday Stockpiling at the new Amsterdam market (P12)
The TalenTed Kids of downTown (P 7 )
Winter Body Wonderland where to work up a sweat in the coldest months of the year. (P15) photo by Cody SwanSon | www.CodyphotoS.Com
Theater and Waffles new Soho performance space offers brunch with plays. (P14) talking Up downtown with hERE artistic director Kristin marting. (P18)
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Lower Manhattan DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE KICKS OFF HOLIDAY SHOPPING CAMPAIGN AND WELCOMES NEW CONNECTION FLEET Last week, the Downtown Alliance launched its fourth annual Holiday Shopping campaign. Alongside print and outdoor advertising, direct mailings and promotions, the Alliance has released the 2012 Lower Manhattan Shopping & Dining Guide, designed to showcase the district’s 1,300 options for purchasing holiday gifts or gathering with family and friends for an amazing meal. Download or pre-order a free copy of the guide at www. downtownny.com/holiday or download the Downtown Alliance’s mobile app on iTunes. The Alliance is also spreading holiday cheer by decorating the streets of Lower Manhattan with 167 shooting stars and 41 star clusters. This marks the 16th year the Alliance has put up holiday fixtures, which are custom-designed for the nonprofit Business Improvement District. The decorative lights will stay up through January. “The Downtown Alliance is proud to add a bit more sparkle to the holiday season for our 309,000 workers, 56,000 residents and 9 million annual visitors,” said Elizabeth H. Berger, president of the Downtown Alliance. Downtown Connection, the Alliance’s free bus service that makes 37 stops and connects the South Street Seaport to Battery Park City, welcomed a new fleet of state-of-the-art buses. While the older models could accommodate up to 19 passengers, the newer editions have room for up to 25 people. The bus runs seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and boasts 900,000 rides per year. tribeca FILM FEST WELCOMES NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) announced this week that Frederic Boyer, who recently ran the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, has been named the artistic director of TFF. Boyer, 52, has served as artistic director and head of programming for the Directors’ Fortnight since 2009. From 2004 to 2008, he was the head of Cannes’ Film Selection Committee. He is the artistic director of the Les Arcs European Film Festival at the Les Arcs ski resort in the Alps. Before joining the Directors’ Fortnight, he created and managed Videosphere,
a renowned video store in Paris with a library of some 60,000 titles, including a wide range of arthouse films. “The Tribeca Film Festival has always been a platform for a wide spectrum of filmmaking, and Frederic shares our passion and curiosity for film and storytelling,” said Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal. “We know he will make our festival team even stronger and enhance the Tribeca experience as we enter our second decade.” “I could not be more honored and excited to begin this new chapter at Tribeca. This Festival has matured and developed so impressively from its origins, but there are many more frontiers to explore while keeping the core focus on discovering new voices in filmmaking,” Boyer added. Other changes to the TFF executive structure include the promotion of Genna Terranova, former senior programmer, to director of programming. The 11th annual TFF will be held April 18-29 in New York City in 2012. battery Park city ASPHALT GREEN’S NEW WEBSITE Asphalt Green, a not-for-profit health and fitness center, recently launched its new website, www.asphaltgreenbpc.org, to provide details on their new Battery Park City facility that will open in February. The Asphalt Green Battery Park City location will include two pools, a gymnasium, state-of-the-art exercise equipment, a culinary center, a performing arts space, and six multi-use studios and classrooms. Babysitting services will be available for members. Programs for children will include training in swimming, soccer, basketball, baseball/softball, volleyball, martial arts, culinary and cultural arts programs and a summer camp. Adult programs will include sports leagues and specialized training for marathons and triathlons, as well as a wide variety of exercise classes including yoga, Pilates, Zumba, cardio kickboxing, spinning, swimming and water exercises and extensive culinary and cultural arts programs. Asphalt Green Battery Park City will be located at 212 North End Ave., between Murray and Warren streets. A temporary membership office has been opened across the street, at 211 North End Ave. Membership information is available on the website and by calling (212) 298-2980.
w w w. c h p n y c . o r g correction Issue of Nov. 24, 2011 In the article, “A Citywide Guide to Eating Out on Thanksgiving” it was incorrectly stated that Griffou chef Mark Strausman was the former executive chef at Fred’s at Barney. Strausman is still the executive chef at Fred’s, in addition to his role as executive chef for Griffou.
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OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | DECE M B E R 1, 2011
downtown social
Christmas at the Seaport
t
hrough Dec. 31, the South Street Seaport, on historic Fulton Street to South Street, is hosting its first annual holiday market. Like most shopping outlets this time of year, the Seaport Holiday Market offers customers a variety of festive items, from ornaments to traditional German Christmas candy. Vendors also make holiday crepes, veronica hoglund flavored kettle corn and delicious sausages. The market runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
DECE M B E R 1, 2011 | otdowntown.com
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� N EWS DOE Presents More Palatable Rezoning Plan | By LiLLian Rizzo
Following weeks of parents, community board and Community Education Council (CEC) District 2 members voicing their distress over the latest rezoning plan for Lower Manhattan, the Department of Education (DOE) presented a new plan on Monday, Nov. 28. “We are presenting one new proposal… and we will keep it simple,” said Elizabeth Rose of the DOE at Monday’s meeting. Just weeks earlier, on Nov. 7, the DOE presented a rezoning proposal that displeased many community members and led to its rejection by the CEC less than two weeks later. In the hopes of pleasing the council, community board members and residents, the DOE this time introduced a school map that gave in to the demands they heard after the last rezoning meeting. According to the DOE, the latest plan creates a zone for the new Peck Slip School scheduled to open in 2015. Until Peck Slip opens, children will attend classes at an incubation site at the Tweed Courthouse. The zones for P.S. 89 on Warren Street and P.S. 276 in Battery Park City will change, along with a portion of the P.S. 397 (Spruce Street School) zone. The P.S. 234 zone in
Tribeca will not be touched, unlike in the last proposal. “P.S. 234 will likely have a waitlist because there won’t be any change to the zone,” said Rose. This time, all parties seemed happier with the proposal, expressing concern only over the need for more schools in Lower Manhattan to fully solve the problem. “I appreciate this new proposal and consider it much better than the previous one,” said Einar Westerland, a P.S. 234 parent from Tribeca. “Most of us move to certain neighborhoods to send our kids to certain schools.” The CEC had criticized the earlier proposal because it sent children from Tribeca to P.S. 1 in Chinatown, creating divides that would mean children within the same apartment buildings or on the same streets would be in different zones. “Families felt the proposal was breaking up their neighborhoods, and child safety and transportation issues were also involved,” said Eric Goldberg of the CEC before the DOE presented their proposal. “Based on that feedback, we told the DOE we had to focus on creating a zone for Peck Slip and no other aspects.” At the meeting, Lower Manhattan par-
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has until Dec. 14 to approve this latest plan so pre-registration for kindergarten classes in late January won’t be disrupted. Since the entire CEC wasn’t present at Monday night’s meeting, they could not make a joint statement on how they felt about it. However, Shino Tanikawa, CEC president, said after the meeting she was “personally happier with some aspects of the new proposal.” Goldberg also felt the DOE had heard parents’ feedback and incorporated it into this proposal. “Even with the Peck Slip School, there are not enough seats,” said Tanikawa. “I still wish the DOE would develop better projections.” There is still the remaining problem of the Southbridge Towers, cooperative buildings in Tribeca. Similar to the previous plan, Southbridge could be divided between the Peck Slip and Spruce Street schools. “This will basically cut our community in half,” said Danielle Bello, a Southbridge resident. “I urge the CEC to keep our kids zoned for Spruce Street. By forcing kids to be included at Peck Slip, you’re basically slicing and dicing this community up.” The CEC plans to vote on the proposal at its Dec. 14 meeting.
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ents seemed content with the proposal but still unhappy with the direction in which their local schools were headed as neighborhood populations increase. “Being on the waitlist is so painful, especially for the child,” said Christine Brogan. Her son was zoned for P.S. 234 but was waitlisted and eventually sent to P.S. 130 on Baxter Street in Chinatown. When room finally opened up in P.S 234, he transferred there. “Waitlists affect the entire district,” she added. Like Brogan, many parents asked the DOE to simply create more schools. It was the common theme of the night, what many believe will be the only solution to this problem. CEC and community board members already predict new schools will have waitlists before they even officially open their doors. “We opened a new school last year,” said Rose, of the Spruce Street School. “We have been opening a lot of schools in District 2 in the last few years.” Rose also pointed to Peck Slip, the Foundling School and P.S. 281 at 35th Street and First Avenue, which are to be opened. District 2, which also reaches to the Upper East Side, will have another new school open there in the next few years. As with the previous proposal, the CEC
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dece m b e r 1, 2011 | otdowntown.com
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THE 7-DAY PLAN THURSDAY
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BEST PICK
Police Academy [12/5]
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St. (betw. Vestry & Debrosses Sts.), www.92ytribeca.org; 9:30 p.m., $12.
When the mayor loosens restrictions for entry into the Police Academy, a slew of misfits enroll, much to the dismay of Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes). Lassard’s solution? Get lackey Lt. Harris (G.W. Bailey) to run the sub-par applicants ragged so they’ll quit. But Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg) can’t quit: forced to sign up due to some trouble with the law, he employs his best pranks and wiseacre remarks to get thrown out. This screening will feature good laughs and an introduction by Guttenberg, himself.
FREE Untitled
IFC Center, 323 6th Ave. (betw. 3rd & 4th Sts.), www.ifccenter.com. In 2010, artist and activist Jim Hodges joined forces with filmmakers Carlos Marques da Cruz and Encke King to assemble a montage of archival and pop footage that conjures up the passionate activism sparked by the early years of the AIDS crisis. The product of their work was the documentary Untitled. Celebrate the lives and memories of those affected by the worldwide pandemic for World AIDS Day at this free screening.
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
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TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
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Steffani Jemison and Jamal Cyrus: Alpha’s Bet Is Not Over Yet New Museum, 235 Bowery (at Prince St.), www.newmuseum.org; $12. With a newsstand, collection of chapbooks and series of artist-produced posters, this exhibit investigates approaches to language, the written word and democratic distribution of knowledge. On view through Sunday, Dec. 4.
’80s Prom Night Webster Hall, 125 E. 11th St. (betw. 3rd & 4th Aves.), www.websterhall.com; 8 p.m., $55–$99. A blast-from-the-past party in the style of Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding and The Donkey Show set at Wanaget High’s Senior Prom... in 1989! All your favorite characters from your favorite ’80s movies are at the prom, from the Captain of the Football Team to the Asian Exchange Student, from the Geek to the Hottie Head Cheerleader, and they’re all competing for Prom King and Queen.
Bread and Puppet Theater Theater for the New City, 155 1st Ave. (betw. 9th & 10th Sts.), www. theaterforthenewcity.net; 8 p.m., $12. In this puppet show for the adult set, Man of Flesh and Cardboard is about PFC Bradley Manning, the soldier who was incarcerated for supplying restricted material to WikiLeaks.
The Jewish American Songbook The Village Temple, 33 E. 12th St. (betw. Broadway & University Pl.), www.villagetemple.org; 6:30 p.m., $10 requested donation. The American musical would not be the acclaimed art form that it is today without the many Jewish composers and lyricists whose works ignited the Broadway stage. Explore the American Jewish Songbook at a special worship service.
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FREE Mao Marathon
The Jane Hotel, 113 Jane St. (betw. West & Washington Sts.), www.maomarathon.com; 2:30–8 p.m. It’s been 40 years since Frederic Tuten’s first novel The Adventures of Mao on the Long March was published, and nearly 75 artists, writers, actors and musicians will be turning up at The Jane to read sections of the work, including Walter Mosley, Kurt Andersen, Ross Bleckner, Deborah Eisenberg, Francine du Plessix Gray, Edmund White, Oscar Hijuelos, Vito Acconci, David Salle and Cecily Brown, to name a few. RSVP online.
Khodorkovsky Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), www.filmforum.org; $12.50. Mikhail Khodorkovsky was once the richest man in Russia. Today he’s one of the world’s most famous political prisoners. This documentary film weaves together fascinating interviews with Khodorkovsky (at times sitting in a glass box in a courtroom), members of his family and former business associates.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Webster Hall, 125 E. 11th St. (betw. 3rd & 4th Aves.), www.websterhall.com; 8 p.m., $20. Celebrating the release of their new album Hysterical, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will be stopping at Webster Hall as part of their tour. NPR recently raved about the new record, saying Hysterical contains “some of the best songs of [the band’s] career...Hysterical balances the exuberance of the band’s first album with beauty and reflection.” Show is 18+.
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Corey Taylor of Slipknot Highline Ballroom, 431 W. 16th St. (betw. 9th & 10th Aves.), www.highlineballroom.com; 7 p.m., $25. If you are looking to work out a little built-up holiday aggression and rage to some hardcore tunes, look no further than this show with the Slipknot frontman.
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Atlas Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie St. (betw. Rivington & Delancey Sts.), www.dixonplace.org; 7:30 p.m., $10–$18. Featuring a combination of acrobatics and dance set to live and sampled music and exquisite visual art, the eight strong women of Lava will lead audiences on a journey through 360 degrees of space using every direction and means imaginable—walking on hands, soaring on wheels, dodging negative space and creating a literal human compass.
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | DECE M B E R 1, 2011
Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com.
World AIDS Day Duo Multicultural Arts Center, 62 E. 4th St. (betw. 2nd & 3rd Aves.), www.downtownmusicproductions.org; 7:30 p.m., $25. Celebrate the lives and works of artists touched by AIDS and join the fight against the disease. Included in the programs are rarely heard compositions from two composers lost to AIDS: Chris De Blasio and Kevin Oldham. The event will also include a screening of the documentary film, All the Way Through Evening.
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Possession Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), www.filmforum.org; $12.50. Possession is a Bergmanesque marriage duel escalated into the violent, the surreal and the bizarre, featuring intense performances from a pre-Jurassic Park Sam Neill and Cannes and César Best Actress-awarded Isabelle Adjani.
Visit otdowntown.com for the latest updates on local events.
FREE Mock Your World
Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen St. (betw. Houston & Stanton Sts.), www.mockyourworld.com; 6:30 p.m. With spinoff videos on Funny or Die and College Humor, the irreverent Mock Your World responds to culture at large, taking an unflinching look at uncomfortable subjects, adding a Broadway melody and turning them into a sidesplitting, taboo-shattering musical extravaganza. Check out the show before it hits Off-Broadway in 2012 and enjoy free admission with a two-drink minimum.
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Jenny Scheinman Village Vanguard, 178 7th Ave. (betw. Perry & W. 11th Sts.), www.villagevanguard.com; 9 p.m. & 11 p.m., $25 plus $10 drink minimum. Acclaimed composer and violinist Jenny Scheinman will perform alongside Grammy Award-winning guitarist Bill Frisell and renowned drummer Brian Blade. Scheinman will debut material written specifically for this occasion, as well as songs from her previous instrumental albums.
Searching for prodigieS From football stars to gymnastic phenoms, the outrageously talented tots of Downtown
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by b eth M e llow
owntown New York City, with its matrix of trendy neighborhoods, is no stranger to celebrity sightings. You don’t have to stray too far into Soho or Tribeca to stumble upon a well-known actress, a venerated singer or a titan of business. But along these avenues, streets and alleys can also be found a different kind of notable: a topperforming gymnast, a football player consistently covered by the New York Post, a Juilliardtrained musician, an awardwinning video game designer and a singer/thespian who has appeared on Lifetime and ABC
Family—none of whom have graduated from high school yet. These are the remarkable talented tweens and teens who work or study below 14th Street. They are defined not only by their prodigylike skills but by an intense drive to succeed in their chosen fields. As Dr. Susan O’Doherty, a New Yorkbased psychologist who works with artists, explains, young phenoms possess certain characteristics: “A kid can be gifted and lazy or gifted and driven. For some, the dream is just that, while others pursue it aggressively.” These youngsters are pursuing their dream with vigor.
DECE M B E R 1, 2011 | otdowntown.com
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The Juilliard VirTuoso, lydia Van der swaagh
Music has always been an important part of 15-year-old Lydia van der Swaagh’s family tree. “I have five older siblings who played musical instruments, which inspired me to start playing music,” she explained. “My dad was also a professional singer. He performed with the Gilbert and Sullivan players.” Van der Swaagh is now a student in Julliard’s pre-college division. Her instrument of choice: the viola, which she picked up five years ago, though she has played the violin since she was 3. Her passion requires massive amounts of dedication. During a typical week, van der Swaagh studies viola at Juilliard for 10 hours, practices an additional 12 hours on her own and performs as part of the New York Youth Symphony. Oddly enough, she has no intention of becoming a professional musician. “I don’t want to pursue viola. Rather, I would want to pursue music therapy,” she said. “For the past few years, I’ve really had
a desire to reach out to others, particularly children. Music, I believe, is one of the best tools for outreach. So, when I heard about music therapy, I became really interested. I figured that I could do so many things to use music as therapy, since I’ve grown up playing a stringed instrument my whole life and I also love to sing.” When van der Swaagh isn’t playing viola, she sings as part of the North Jersey Home Schooler Association chorus and is a practice coach for two young violin players. The musical phenom also enjoys watching her favorite baseball team. She exclaimed, “I am a huge Yankees fan, like the rest of my family. I have been addicted to baseball my whole life.”
The Turning PoinT For Jesse Manning
Almost three years ago, 14-year-old Jesse Manning moved to New York City with no family and the chance to pursue his passion: ballet. Originally from Orlando, Fla., Manning studied at the School of American Ballet near Lincoln Center for a summer as a young teen. The school was so impressed with him that he was invited to continue his study full-time. Manning, now 17, made the move alone from the Sunshine State to the Big Apple. Until last year he lived in a dormitory at the school; his parents have recently joined him and the Manning clan now lives in the Financial District. Starting his freshman year of high school in a new city without the presence of his mother and father was understandably challenging. “It was really overwhelming when I first moved here for a number of reasons. I was homeschooled in Florida for 7th and 8th grades, so I had to get used to going to school again as well as the increased workload. I was also pretty homesick because I wasn’t living with my parents. Eventually I got used to it. It wasn’t easy, but it was good because I grew up really fast.” In the world of dance, the School of American Ballet is known as one of the most rigorous training programs in the
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country. It is regarded as a feeder school for the New York City Ballet, but even those students who don’t make it into the prestigious company generally end up performing with other top ballet troupes. Manning dances at the school six days a week, three hours a day and his coursework includes everything from technical ballet instruction to weight training. He has also performed with the New York City Ballet as an extra in a few of their productions, including Firebird and Vienna Waltzes. In addition, he is a student at the Professional Children’s School, which affords him the time and flexibility to pursue dance. When asked where this passion stems from, Manning said ballet is in his blood: “My mom inspired me to dance. She performed with the Joffrey Ballet back in the 1980s and went to Professional Children’s School, too,” he said. Although Manning plans to audition for spots with various ballet companies next year, his ultimate goal is to join the New York City Ballet. “When I was living in Florida and learning about the School of American Ballet, I made the decision that it was the only company I wanted to be part of,” he said.
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | DECE M B E R 1, 2011
The TalenTed Ms. FilsooF “Now that I’m doing martial arts, I’m toughening up,” 16-year-old Rachel Filsoof joked. The actress, singer, dancer and Professional Children’s School junior has been training in mixed martial arts for the past three months for a film. The yet-to-be-titled picture will be released in theaters in 2013, and Filsoof has a lead role. “I play a girl manufactured by the government to kill a bunch of bad dudes,” she explains. This marks Filsoof’s first foray into the action genre, where she will play a character very unlike her young, shy self. Filsoof admits to being teased and found it difficult to confront her tormentors when she was younger. Although she now lives in Battery Park City, she moved here only three years ago from Atlanta with her family. In Georgia, her fellow students were venomous when it came to her budding career: “Kids were not nice to me. I would miss school for auditions and rehearsals without being penalized, and they resented that. I also dressed in my own style, like wearing pink furry boots, and they would pick on me for looking different. It was rough. Now I go to school where everyone is like me. It’s awesome. I’ve made so many friends.” At the age of 9, Filsoof began performing in local theater productions, including Annie, and modeling in advertisements for companies like Macy’s, Escada and Home Depot. The smooth beginning of her career reads like the
type of fairy-tale story many young girls secretly dream of: Filsoof was discovered by a scout from Elite Modeling agency while walking her dog. Modeling opportunities led to acting gigs and Filsoof soon found herself traveling during summer breaks to New York and Los Angeles to perform on stage and in television roles. Eventually, she had booked enough jobs to warrant a permanent move to New York City with her parents in tow. Her father, who works in real estate, still makes regular trips to their old stomping grounds. “Everyone just left for me and my career. My parents had to completely sacrifice their lives for me. I really appreciate it,” Filsoof said. Tess, Filsoof’s mom, added, “We didn’t want to prevent her from reaching her potential as a performing artist since it is what she loves and she is so focused, disciplined and determined to make it in the business.” Over the past few years, Filsoof has toured with productions of High School Musical 1 and 2, starred in the Lifetime movie Flying By, with Billy Rae Cyrus and Heather Locklear, and landed a part in the ABC Family film Mean Girls 2. Filsoof is also simultaneously embarking on a singing career, and recently signed with a record label as part of a new girl group. She will be featured with her vocal coach, Trapper Felides, on a reality show debuting on the Oxygen network in February called The Next Big Thing.
Are you a Downtown parent looking for a summer camp for your child? New York Family magazine can help. The publication will run a series of Camp Fairs in the coming weeks to help parents make informed decisions about which camp is “the perfect fit” for their child. At the fairs, New York Family and the American Camp Association-NY (ACA-NY) bring more than 60 camps to parents and provide previews of the summertime experience that can have a positive impact on campers. For more information or to pre-register for any of the scheduled fairs, visit newyorkfamilycamps.com. (Those who pre-register will not only receive a gift bag at the fair but will also qualify to participate in a raffle that includes a chance to win a Camp Trunk from Lesters or the grand prize of a family trip). Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 Upper West Side Ethical Culture Fieldston School 33 Central Park West (betw. 63rd & 64th Sts.)
Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 Upper East Side St. Jean Baptiste School 173 E. 75th St. (betw. 3rd Ave. & Lexington Aves.)
Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 Downtown Grace Church School 86 4th Ave. (betw. 10th & 11th Sts.)
WILLIAM SOLOMON IS A LION ON THE FIELD
THE NEW, FRESH FACE OF GAMING Unlike his peers, Xavier High School sophomore Demetri Sofides doesn’t just play video games on his computer—he designs award-winning versions of them. In 2010, Sofides was one of 13 winners from around the world of “The Game Changers,” a digital media and learning competition co-sponsored by video game publisher Electronic Arts and the MacArthur Foundation. Sofides’ winning entry was a new level he developed for Electronic Arts’ game, Spor. “The game has this feature where you are able to create creatures and buildings, so I used it to create a ghost story called The Lantern Bearer,” he explained. Sofides’ prize was a trip to Electronic Arts’ studios in Redwood City, Calif. For Sofides, who has been designing games for as long as he has been able to type, it was a dream come true. “It was pretty cool. I still keep in touch with one of their lead designers,” he said. Sofides’ first love, however, is board games. He admits to still having a desk drawer filled with art and concepts for games yet to be created. At a certain point, however, he decided to retire Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit and try his hand at designing video games. His interest in art and writing is also an asset in developing his work, which often has pleasing aesthetics and engrossing storylines. With his end goal of becoming a professional game designer, Sofides explains that he follows the advice outlined in Malcolm Gladwell’s New York Times bestseller, Outliers. “People who reach the top of their fields, according to this book, accumulate 10,000 hours of practice. I’m working to get in my 10,000 hours of practice in game design.”
William Solomon’s greatest love—so far, after all, he is only 15—is football. And boy, is he good at it. The sophomore at Xavier High School near Union Square was recently nominated by the New York Post as New York City’s top high school running back. Solomon was part of his high school’s undefeated junior varsity football team in 2010. Recently, he helped his team clinch the regular-season division championship, earning three touchdowns and a two-point conversion in a single game. According to his coach, Chris Stevens, it is not typical to see a player as young as Solomon performing at that level on the football field and playing in both defensive and offensive positions with equal success. Stevens explained, “His ability to come through on both sides [defensive and offensive] of the game as a sophomore, long before we expected him to, is a testament to his versatility and maturity as a player.” Although Solomon has been a football prodigy since grade school, he isn’t your typical sports-focused jock. “I’m not just here for football. Xavier didn’t choose me just for that, but because I work hard in the classroom,” he said. In fact, despite a rigorous six-days-a-week practice schedule, Solomon boasts an impressive 90-plus average in almost all of his classes. He coyly admitted, “Latin is my toughest subject. It’s the class that I struggle to maintain an average in the 80s.” William hopes his dedication to football will not only pave the way to a career in sports but to a college education. “I play football to be the best,” he said. “I’d like to play in the pros, but football is not all I have. As my mom says, it’s not just about football. It’s about academics, and football is just a way to get there.”
A 12-YEAR-OLD FUTURE OLYMPIAN Not unlike a disciplined dancer, Ted Karakitsos is studying the graceful choreography of the high bar. The 12-year-old Karakitsos is an award-winning gymnast who recently nabbed the New York State Championship. The 7th grader, who trains at Chelsea Piers, began gymnastics when he was just 5 years old. He has a simple explanation for what started him on this path: “Some of my friends were doing gymnastics and I just wanted to try it.” A young curiosity developed into extreme dedication over the next few years. Karakitsos now goes toe to toe against kids a year older than himself and trains 20 hours
a week in six different events: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and high bars. Karakitsos explained that he loves gymnastics because of the competition. He said his favorite event is the rings. Although Karakitsos has already accumulated some impressive achievements, he still admits to being worried before events. “I get very nervous every competition,” he said. “I’m constantly going over the routines in my head.” Despite these pre-performance jitters, Karakitsos is very clear about his future goals: “I know it’s going to be really hard, but I really want to go to the Olympics one day.”
DECE M B E R 1, 2011 | OTDOWNTOWN.COM
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� DWE LL WeWork Creating Offices of the Future
The WeWork space in the Meatpacking District.
Photo CouRtEsy of WEWoRk
| By WICKHAM BOyLE
Manhattan is abuzz with buildings going up and others coming down. There is a continual thrum and almost rhapsodic cacophony played out by jackhammers, cranes and cement trucks, but it is rare to feel hopeful about the economy or the state of the city when one views this upheaval. Enter WeWork. WeWork is a company launched four years ago with the mission to nurture entrepreneurs by providing the connective tissue and support they need to succeed. Or, more simply put, WeWork provides flexible, month-to-month shared office spaces with a laundry list of amenities. “We want to support people to do what they love. If your work is your passion, you will ascend. If we can help by keeping the place clean, the trash empty, the coffee running and the vibe of your workplace, whether it is 20 people or just you, a very positive and collaborative one, then WeWork works. Really, it’s that simple,” said co-founder Adam Neumann. There are already four successful WeWork offices dotted across Manhattan, one in San Francisco and another debuting in Hollywood this spring. Some of the spaces
even have waiting lists. One might expect the shared office space to be cold cubes with sterile architecture and annoying hubbub swirling around it. But stepping into the WeWork office on Little West 12th Street is like entering a Hogwarts-style collaborative high school for the cool entrepreneurial kids. Perhaps the positivity comes from the unique architecture. All of the sitting rooms are one-of-a-kind and feature overstuffed furniture, leather chairs and bookcases filled with curios. The glass doors allow co-workers to peer in to see new product pitches or just furious thinking, writing and creating. In the WeWork space in Soho, 30 percent of the tenants are now engaged in projects with each other. There is real synergy afoot. There are five floors at the Little West 12 Street location, featuring large conference rooms to share, a coffee bar and an actual bar. Tenants of WeWork can stay for a month or years. They are a diverse group: gold traders, theater people, hedge fund managers, inventors, shoe designers, new technology wizards and public relations mavens. WeWork is also adding a new Tribeca site in spring 2012. The location at 175 Varick St., a full 74,000 square feet, will occupy
floors 3, 4, 5 and 8, as well as some groundfloor space. The space will feature highend office suites in addition to conference rooms with LCD monitors and screening rooms for movies and presentations. Amenities include a recording studio, pool table, Xbox lounge, fresh fair trade organic coffee, purified water and meditation rooms for breaks and relaxation. Clients also have access to private phone booths, bike storage on the roof and discounted Zipcar memberships. As Neumann said, “The space was designed to let tenants be creative by eliminating many of the negative aspects of the mundane work environment.” As a startup company, you cannot usually offer your employees many perks. WeWork’s concept, however, as explained by Eric Meyer, a manager at the development corporation Colliers, who worked with WeWork to create the new space on Varick Street, is “a next-generation office suites company that wanted to be part of the creativity and technological explosion in
Hudson Square. With its nearby presence, Google sets the standard for campus-style workspaces. WeWork shares a cultural DNA that made Hudson Square a natural draw.” Miguel McKelvey, 37, who co-founded the company with Neumann, believes WeWork is “attempting to create a basis for a new environment of responsibility. We are bringing together people who are progressive in their work minds and lives. “WeWork is making connections through a shared work environment and we are hoping to create a new paradigm that allows people to focus on creativity, much the way they did at Google by providing a collaborative environment. But WeWork is for entrepreneurs who need and want their own private Google,” he explained. In a time when it seems as if constraints of finance and space make it impossible to dream, WeWork can provide a startup office for as little at $275 dollars a month for a shared desk—there is no charge for the synergy.
8 million stories
ELIN HAWKINSON finds more than just fresh produce in Union Square
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hat freak snowstorm at the end of October had me worried I wouldn’t be able to make my weekly trip to the Union Square Greenmarket for fresh veggies and fruit. I have a soft spot for this particular market; it not only keeps me in greens, but a little over a year ago it brought me true love. Who knew the way to man’s heart was through organic produce? I was 26, freshly single and lonely, when a girlfriend suggested I try an online dating site called Plenty of Fish. Without much hope, I logged on and created a profile. The questions were simple, but the last one me stumped me: What is your idea of a great first date? Had I ever been on a great first date? Not recently. I shrugged and started to type that my perfect first date would be the beach, sunset, champagne, roses and serenading, invisible violins. Then I caught myself. What the heck was I thinking? I lived in Manhattan. Goodbye, champagne and roses. In their place I wrote: My idea of a great first date would be to meet up in Union Square and
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walk around the greenmarket. We could get some nice bread and cheese and fruit, and have a little picnic. I held my breath and pressed send. My phone woke me the next morning. Sixty-six unread messages. All from Plenty of Fish. I spent the day reading posts from wannabe suitors. They had only two things in common: They were male and they loved my idea for a first date. “When I saw you like the Union Square Farmers Market, I knew we were soul mates,” wrote Blade33blue. DRKUTS said, “Thank you for being the only woman on this site who doesn’t think a first date should be on a beach. Want to go to the market this weekend?” And Yankeeman02 paid me the highest compliment he could when he wrote, “You are the only pretty girl who doesn’t sound like a total nutjob. Meet me at the Farmers Market tomorrow? I’ll be the one in blaze orange.” Two days into my search, I came across one promising guy. He was from Israel. Exotic past? Check. He coached water polo at Queens College. Steady job? Check! He was
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | DECE M B E R 1, 2011
hot. Check. Not long afterward, he called me up and asked me out. I asked him where he wanted to go and he replied, “How about the Union Square Farmers Market? When I read your profile that’s what first caught my eye.” There was just one glitch: It was December, not ideal picnic weather. “Let’s start with coffee,” I suggested. “Meet me at the Union Square Starbucks.” The morning of our date dawned bitter and rainy. I tied a black-and-white checked scarf around my neck and arrived early. We were supposed to meet at noon, but at a quarter past there was no one answering his description. What if he didn’t show up? Worse, what if he’d shown up, looked through the window and bolted for the nearest subway? Two minutes later my phone buzzed. “Where r u?” I glanced around, but it was the same crowd of stroller pushers, hipsters and writers crafting intense sci-fi novels in the corner. I frantically texted back: “Here! I’m the one in the black-and-white scarf.” Torturous silence, then a new message. “I’m at the wrong Starbucks.” Five minutes later he arrived, soaking
wet, after a jog through the rain from the Starbucks across the Square. We warmed up over hot chocolate. The rain stopped and we strolled around the Union Square Christmas stalls before heading north. We passed the skating rink at Rockefeller Center and glimpsed a hundred tubas gathered on the ice playing “Silent Night.” His arm slipped around my waist and I rested my head on his shoulder. Who needed violins? We made plans to go ice-skating the following Tuesday, his birthday. He kissed me goodnight on my doorstep while I did a little tap dance of joy. On Tuesday, I headed back to the Union Square Christmas stalls. I was searching for the perfect belated birthday gift. Finally I found it: a wooden Christmas ornament shaped like three little fish dangling from a hook with a hand-painted message: Catch of the Day. We’re still together. Thinking of this during the snowstorm, I decided to pull on my boots and brave the weather. When I got to the market, I paused to say a little prayer of thanks to the gods of Union Square for helping me hook a live one.
dece m b e r 1, 2011 | otdowntown.com
� EAT Super Market Sweep Win the holiday wars and stay well fed at the New Amsterdam Market | By RegAN HofMANN With the advent of December comes the fall of the farmers markets that dotted the summer city landscape and the rise of a thousand holiday markets, like mushrooms on rotting trees, in their stead. Obscenely ripe peaches are replaced by crocheted scarves, crisp green lettuces by shoddily beaded earrings and impossibly sweet baby carrots with hilariously screen printed onesies. Yes, you will eventually have to start buying gifts, much as you’re loath to broach that hornet’s nest of disappointed spouses, interest-less parents and eccentric siblings. But you still have to eat, and we didn’t all spend the summer stocking our root cellars with preserves like Laura Ingalls Wilder. Enter the New Amsterdam Market, a more-than-a-farmers-market tucked under the elevated FDR Drive in the commercially picturesque South Street Seaport. Just a few blocks from the stalls on Fulton Street pushing kettle corn and license-plate purses in
the shadow of an enormous Christmas tree, a scrappy camp of tables, chalkboards and benches perches in the parking lot behind what was the historic Fulton Fish Market. Launched in 2005 as a reimagining of the public market as the center of community activity, and with an eye toward stimulating the practical revival of the Seaport as more than just a tourist mecca, the New Amsterdam Market brings together local farmers, yes, but also craftsmen and independent food merchants of all stripes. On any given week the market may host three farmstands and twice as many bakeries; cheesemongers from as far away as Vermont and a host of candymakers, picklers, foragers and vintners. Oh, and red-hot-hip Blue Bottle Coffee and Luke’s Lobster in case you need a snack. The variety of vendors is what keeps the market relevant through Dec. 18, the last market day of the season—it’s also what makes it a great secret holiday stop. Why buy your aunt another Guatemalan friendship bracelet when you could get her an olive oil sampler pack from Olio di Melli. The oils range from sweet and buttery, perfect for drizzling over a delicate winter salad, to grassy and bold, the kind you dip a loaf of bread in and call it dinner. Take her on a
Get what remains of the fall bounty at the New Amsterdam Market before it closes at the end of the month. Photo CouRtEsy of thE NEw AMstERDAM MARkEt.
virtual tour of Italy and tout the relationships the shop builds directly with olive farmers in the hills of Puglia and watch her fair-trade eyes light up. And why bore your dad with an artfully blurred framed photo of the Chrysler Building when Brooklyn Butcher Blocks has handhewn chopping blocks to add serious masculinity to any kitchen? Beautifully grained cherry or walnut (grown in Western Pennsylvania and milled in-house) boards are a hefty 2 inches thick and come in a variety of sizes, or place a custom order from Nils Wessell, the one-man-band behind the operation. A number of stalls are outposts of brickand-mortar operations. For a particularly pork-obsessed pal, Brooklyn Cured, which sells sausages, hams and charcuterie accoutrement, leads classes on sausage making, beginning Jan. 17. If your friend asks real nice, maybe they’ll hand over the recipe for some of their special sausages, like lamb with black olive. Ask real nice yourself and maybe he’ll make you
some —it’s the only proper way to repay such a generous gift, after all. Then there are the inevitable potlucks. While many insist on the social hierarchy that ranks hours spent in the kitchen above all, most partygoers will confess to placing a premium on deliciousness. Bringing homemade Oreos sure makes you look like a superstar, but if they’re close to inedible, all anyone’s going to remember is how much they want actual Oreos. Avoid the hassle and heartache and head straight for deliciousness with a few of Pie Corps’ more ingenious concoctions, like mac and cheese (yes, pie) and chocolate bourbon pecan. Nobody’s going to smile politely while looking for a place to stash these offerings. Some stalls change from week to week, but the core vendor group remains steady. Check www.newamsterdammarket.org for the current list or just head down and surprise yourself. The market is open Sundays from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. through Dec. 18.
It isn’t all woodshop-inspired flavors Valley cabernets are prohibitively expenin modern Napa cabernets, though. There sive across the board. While there are are plenty of easy-to-drink bottles from scores on which you could easily spend the famous valley that feature fruit, fruit hundreds of dollars per bottle, there are and more fruit as their main event. Take, five times as many that are a fraction of for example, the Sterling Napa Valley the price and are still very, very good. Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 ($18.95 at The Beaulieu Vineyard Napa ValSherry-Lehmann ley Cabernet Wine and Spirits, Sauvignon 505 Park Ave. at 2008 ($16.99 at Many of this area’s most coveted 60th St., 212-838Garnet Wines wines are over-extracted, almost 7500). The nose and Liquors, syrupy bottles of thick juice with gives this wine 929 Lexington tannins so rough right out of away right from the Ave., betw. 68th first pour. Cherry & 69th Sts., the bottle that you may as well pie and wisps of va212-772-3212) gargle with sandpaper afterwards. nilla bean greet you is one of those There’s something about early at first sniff. On the wines. The winter, though, that makes all of palate, the fruit flabrand’s ubiquithese qualities work. vors continue, with tous red “BV” baked blueberry on every bottle and cinnamon may scare away throughout and even more cherry on the the connoisseur in each of us, but if you finish. Although I would personally like a think about it, there’s a reason why you tad more tannic structure, this wine will can find it everywhere: It’s damn good. certainly do the trick if you want a glass of Cedar and pipe smoke on the nose give cab sans food. way to crushed mulberry and currants On the opposite end of the spectrum, up front on the palate. The mid holds there are a handful of Napa producers together with tight tannins and the finish that are embracing the old-world style unfurls, long and full, with woody notes of cabernet made popular by the Haute and more currant.
Medoc area of Bordeaux. The Mount Veeder Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($37.99 at Beacon Wines and Spirits, 2120 josh perilo Broadway at 74th St., 212-877-0028) couldn’t be more Bordelaise if it were wrapped in a French flag and served with a country pâté. Wet earth and old leather are the primary notes on the nose right out of the bottle, but it starts giving up mild cedar scents once it opens up. The palate is complex and equally earthy, starting with hay and clay notes up front. The middle has a mild cassis flavor backed by bracing tannin, and the finish becomes herbal and spicy with swirling flavors of rosemary, black pepper, rose petal and burnt sage. This wine is a must for herb-crusted lamb chops. With something for virtually every palate and pocketbook, Napa Valley’s cabernets aren’t just for collectors anymore. But don’t expect to share a bottle with me come March or April. By then I will have packed my cabernets away for the following winter, along with my wool suits and long underwear!
PENNILESS EPICURE
Keeping Warm with Napa Valley Cabernets The air has finally become crisp and blustery. The leaves have all but been completely shed from the trees in Central Park. New York City’s requisite two weeks of fall weather have come and gone and we are hurtling, full speed, into winter’s icy clutch. This only means one thing as far as I’m concerned: It’s Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon time! It’s not like I plan this yearly obsession. I wouldn’t by any stretch call myself a “fan” of Napa cabernets. Throughout most of the year, I might even say I find them somewhat annoying. Many of this area’s most coveted wines are overextracted, almost syrupy bottles of thick juice with tannins so rough right out of the bottle that you may as well gargle with sandpaper afterwards. There’s something about early winter, though, that makes all of these qualities work. The chill in the air that makes the pile of merino wool sweaters under your bed look cozy and inviting does the same thing to Napa cabernets — they’re the warm and cozy winter mufflers of the wine world. So, to celebrate the kickoff of the coldweather season, I offer you my favorite Napa cabernets for this year. There is a decades-old myth that Napa
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OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | DECE M B E R 1, 2011
❯ SE E
How Unique Got Ordinary Hugo is Scorsese’s fantasy autobiography | BY ARMOND WHITE
the pixilated world of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, a vision of Paris’s cultural heart that was auAs a children’s film, Martin Scorsese’s thentically marvelous in Amélie, The City Hugo is overwrought and under-thought. of Lost Children and last year’s wondrous, Its story of Hugo (Asa Butterfield), an underappreciated Micmacs. orphaned boy who lives in a Paris train Unsuited to 3-D, Scorsese’s Hugo world station where he surreptitiously maintains looks like the obsessions of a cultural the clock mechanisms, suggests a fantasy hoarder. The screen is literally cluttered autobiography. He wants to think of himwith so much ornamentation and junk self as a child of cinema, always working that there’s no feeling for materiality behind the scenes at the actual preservaof the industrial era (a specialty of the tion of old films and—egotistically—main- little-known animated film Robots). The taining the very idea of cinema. Unfortutechnology stifles Scorsese’s sensibility nately, it’s the idea of cinema that Hugo and distorts it. shortchanges, just as Scorsese betrays Hugo’s opening foretells the coming what at one time seemed his gift. two-hour disaster. It’s a super digitally These are Scorsese’s hack years. He enhanced traveling dolly shot, like the hasn’t made a decent movie since hitching famous Copacabana entrance scene of his cineaste ambitions to Leonardo DiGoodfellas, which drew viewers into the Caprio’s box-office power. Each recent cagangster world and its corrupt, seductive tastrophe (Gangs of New York, The Aviator, pleasures. Here, the shot goes on too long, The Departed, Shutter Island), routinely doing rollercoaster-style loop-the-loops. hailed by critics as masterpieces, lacks the This is not the exhilaration of movement; personal, real-world touch that had been it’s digital overkill. Throughout Hugo, the promise of Who’s That Knocking at My Scorsese loses spatial and veristic reality. Door, Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. (A train wreck occurs without showing the The childtrain jump the hood fantasy track.) The slapThese are Scorsese’s hack years. in Hugo doesn’t stick action scenes express ScorsHe hasn’t made a decent movie are incoherent, ese’s urban and 3-D “closesince hitching his cineaste ambiItalian Catholic ness” violates the tions to Leonardo DiCaprio’s boxsensibility; it’s cuts to long shots, office power. a false, Pixarish losing geographic externalization orientation, of the ethnic, making the action chaotic. Any critic who hormonal and psychic tensions that praises this mess is simply bowing to the distinguished even a second-tier Scorsese Scorsese brand as to the Pixar brand. movie like The Color of Money—it’s either Scorsese the artist gets lost among Huabout a boy’s search for an artistic father go’s sweetly roguish characters—a spunky figure or a brash young acolyte’s competilittle girl (Chlöe Moretz), a crotchety old tion and infatuation with a mentor. Take man (Ben Kingsley), a cute, dog-loving your pick. couple (Richard Griffiths, Frances de la In Hugo, Scorsese trivializes boyhood Tour), an emotionally crippled war vet flic passions into merchandise—that is, 3-D (Sasha Baron Cohen, mugging), a flower technology that sells out and misrepreseller (Emily Mortimer) and a boy hero too sents his perception of the world. The much like Harry Potter. you-are-there quality of the bars, streets Who is the director of Goodfellas and and tenements of Scorsese’s best films are Casino trying to kid with this craven cast abandoned for an undistinguished artifiof puppets? Hugo’s falseness recalls the ciality. Hugo is cluttered with bric-a-brac arch, excessively technological style of Baz intended to salute fin de siècle industrialLuhrmann. Hugo and friends’ constant ization related to the birth of the movies. blather about dreams is Hollywood huckBut unlike Peter Bogdanovich’s charming, ster babble. Scorsese, an expressionist silent-era fable Nickelodeon, Hugo sacrirealist, should know better than to make fices a historically accurate sense of place. a Moulin Rouge—but now he’s worse than Instead, Scorsese seems to be imitating Luhrmann: He’s a hack.
Asa Butterfield and Chloë Moretz in Hugo.
This is how a once special filmmaker destroys his virtues and becomes ordinary. Scorsese’s fakery gets worse when it pretends to shift into sincerity and little Hugo’s obsession with a mechanical automaton leads him to encounter silent filmmaker and magician Georges Méliès. Here’s where Scorsese panders to film geeks with his love for all cinema. As with
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the preposterous celebration of Howard Hughes’ Hell’s Angels in The Aviator, Scorsese pretends to honor cinema history by exaggerating the importance and wonder of movies that are frankly unwatchable, only notable as historic footnotes. This celebration of Méliès is as disingenuous as pretending to rediscover the essence of cinema in 3-D.
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DECE M B E R 1, 2011 | OTDOWNTOWN.COM
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� SE E The Play’s Not the Only Thing at Canal Park Playhouse New Downtown venue offers homespun events for theatrical community | By Doug StraSSler Anyone strolling along the westernmost stretch of Canal Street lately may have noticed a new neighbor on the block. The newly founded Canal Park Playhouse (CPP), located at 508 Canal St. between Greenwich and West streets in a landmarked building from 1826, may be geographically on the fringe, but its mission couldn’t cut more directly to the heart of the creative New York storytelling scene. CPP producer Kipp Osbourne and managing director Sara Murphy have created a fun, family-friendly environment that appeals to audiences of all ages and interests. “Our work is meant to be enjoyed by an intergenerational, diverse audience,” Osbourne said. Ever in sync, Murphy agreed, saying, “It is important to us that the audience we bring come from all possible walks of life. Our staff ranges from 22 to 67, and we strive to create shows that they all will want to bring their friends to.” “My father never finished high school,” Osbourne continued. “My father-in-law went to Harvard. I choose programming that these two guys could watch together and know how they were connected rather than how they were different from each other.” Emblematic of this wide-ranging mix is the recently closed Perfect Catch: A Throwmantic Comedy, an unconventional
The Waffle Iron Café at Canal Park Playhouse, a new Downtown theater. Photo CouRtEsy of Canal PaRk PlayhousE
workplace romantic comedy created and performed by real-life couple Michael Karas and Jen Slaw. The two played a couple of clockwatchers who discover they share a special skill: juggling. In keeping with Osbourne’s goal of accessible, all-inclusive art, Catch had elements of circus, dance and physical comedy. “The juggling in Perfect Catch acts like a song would in a musical—when the characters experience strong emotions, they juggle about them,” Karas explained. The performer also praised the support he has received at CPP. “Canal Park Playhouse is a fantastic place to create! In the hustle and bustle of New York City, there’s a warm, down-to-earth sensibility about the place that is very welcoming and inspiring.
I hope to continue to work and support the Playhouse for years to come.” Catch also kickstarted CPP’s brunch matinee series, in which the staff opens up its kitchen, known as the Waffle Iron Café. Brunch items, all made on a waffle iron, can be purchased for a fixed price of $8.95 at the door or $6.95 online when ordering tickets. Starting Dec. 1, the Playhouse offers its own irreverent take on holiday fare with A Christmas Carol, as Told by Charles Dickens (Himself). In this adaptation written by Greg Oliver Bodine and directed by David F. Chapman, audiences get to hear the story unfold from the mouth of its creator (Jimmy Kieffer stars as Dickens). “A Christmas Carol is a story of redemption, generosity and hope—all things we
associate with the holidays,” Chapman said about his unique production. “We learn so much about ourselves from watching how Scrooge changes.” Like Karas, Chapman also waxed effusive about his CPP staff. “Sara, Kipp and the rest have been so welcoming and accommodating. It’s terrifically exciting to feel a part of something special right from its foundation.” In fact, when discussing the Playhouse, the word that keeps coming up is family. Murphy agrees with this assessment, saying that CPP’s small space—it seats just 48— and proximity to its audience engender a homely, honest feel. “Our size makes the space safer for performers,” she said. “It is also the kind of place where the audience is a part of the family; it is intimate and close-up in that way. Because the audience is close, our performers have to be real. As soon as you lie to an audience that is 5 feet away from you, they know.” As often happens in life, the conversation comes back to food. Murphy says that the Playhouse’s kitchen lends a big hand to its family-friendly appeal. “Some of the best times at the Playhouse involve the brunch,” she said. “There are always kids hanging around the concession stand. Recently, a little girl could not believe that her waffleiron-shaped French toast was really French toast. When she finally took a bite, the look of pure excitement on her face was priceless.” Sounds like an expression the Playhouse proprietors will have to get used to. For more information about Canal Park Playhouse and its programming, visit www. canalparkplayhouse.com.
Baba Brinkman schools audiences on Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales Remixed | By Doug StraSSler There are few people who fondly recall Middle English literary works. For most, classic texts like Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales were little more than a hurdle to overcome on the way to graduation. Some, it’s safe to say, didn’t even read the Tales themselves, seeking out either CliffsNotes or Wikipedia as a substitute. Yes, there may be some literature scholars out there with a legitimate love for the Pardoner or the Squire, but they are firmly in the minority. But what if there was a way to make The Canterbury Tales more accessible to the masses? Artist Baba Brinkman may be providing just the tonic at SoHo Playhouse. The hip-hop artist both wrote and performs in The Canterbury Tales Remixed, a unique theatrical experience that utilizes hip-hop music to bring the Tales to life. To Brinkman, the link between the two
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art forms is perfectly clear. “They are both oral, rhymed narrative forms that tell stories for a live listening audience,” he said. And if that explanation still sounds like the dry rhetoric of a university professor, Brinkman added that both “are infused with sex and violence, greed, lust, infidelity and a gritty reality that gives the voices behind them urgency.” Brinkman, who has a master’s degree in Medieval and Renaissance English literature, says it’s those same juicy elements that Chaucer laced throughout his masterwork that drew him to rap and hip-hop. But he also praises the genre’s wit and creativity. To date, he has written five hip-hop theatrical works, including The Rap Guide to Evolution, which claimed the Scotsman Fringe First Award at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival before enjoying a successful run this past summer at SoHo Playhouse. “It’s all part of one big vision, which is to use hip-hop and theater as a vessel for
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | DECE M B E R 1, 2011
communicating great ideas and great stories and at the same time show people that rap has very deep roots in human history,” Brinkman said. The basic kernel of Remixed, directed by Darren Lee Cole, is that the hedonistic characters central to The Canterbury Tales share the same ambitions as today’s chest-thumping hip-hop stars. Brinkman (who cites the Wife of Bath as his favorite of Chaucer’s creations) enacts these characters’ stories to the backdrop of a soundtrack mixed by DJ Simmonds. The music draws out the inherent emotional currents that run through each tale, helping draw parallels between the characters and the audience members. A studio album of Remixed is forthcoming. “Mr. Simmonds brings an emotional tone appropriate to each tale, allowing the music and voice to interact much like the music that would have accompanied medieval storytelling,” Brinkman said.
For the director’s part, teaming with Brinkman was a no-brainer. “When Baba was here with The Rap Guide to Evolution, I was blown away by the intelligence, talent and entertainment value he and Mr. Simmonds brought to the stage,” Cole recalled, applauding Brinkman’s musicianship. “I knew he had this hip-hop version of The Canterbury Tales and we immediately discussed reinventing it for the SoHo Playhouse. The Tales and Baba’s style meld perfectly together—his use of rhythm and cadence hold audiences’ attentions, young and old.” “From this show, people can expect shivers, laughs and for their minds to be stimulated,” Brinkman said. Universities, beware: If Remixed takes off, it could give birth to a flurry of Middle English scholars. For more information and a schedule, visit www.sohoplayhouse.com.
� MOVE
The David Barton gym has the amenities of Equinox with the pizazz of a disco party. Locations are in Chelsea and Astor Place. PHOTO COuRTEsy Of DaviD BaRTOn GyM
Winter Workouts
W
ith the temperature falling, New Yorkers are beginning to exchange linen dresses for bulky winter coats, tank tops for sweaters and gladiator sandals for knee-high boots. And it’s not just our wardrobes that get altered as days get chillier—our exercise routines must be reinvented as well. It’s easy to come up with excuses when the thermometer drops. I know the winter workout struggle firsthand. A few years ago, I lost 132 pounds and began exercising daily. It’s hard to keep up healthy routines but, luckily for all of us living and working in Manhattan, there are activities here for every fitness level, price range and desired goal. Swimming (inSide) Growing up in Arizona, I swam competitively. The sport is an unbelievable workout—who doesn’t want abs like Michael Phelps? Most indoor pools are heated, and this low-impact exercise is a great for those who need a break from hitting the pavement. If you’re new to swimming, JackRabbit Sports (42 W. 14th St., betw. 5th & 6th Aves., jackrabbitsports.com) offers swim classes for water lovers of all ranks. The level 1 class begins Jan. 8, is offered Sundays in Union Square and costs $175. On the other end of the spectrum, if you’ve swum competitively in the past and miss the action-packed workouts, try out Red Tide Swim Club (various locations, www.redtidenyc.org), a United States Swim Master’s team with practices and workouts multiple times a day. Fees vary, from $110 per month for a minimum of two months, $140 for 10 swims or a $20 drop-in rate. The daily STairmaSTer One of the best fitness tips any time of year is to take the stairs. When I first moved to the city, I worked out with a personal trainer who had me sprint up and down the steps at the gym. The concept is easy, but it’s
the toughest workout I’ve ever done. The best part of this is that you can do it in your apartment or office building. If you live on the fifth floor, walk up and sprint down every day. If you work on the 10th floor, walk down every day and walk up on mornings when you’re not headed for a big meeting. Make sure to walk heel to toe—this will give you the best workout for your butt. It’s estimated that you can burn around 300 calories in 30 minutes of walking stairs. The gym rouTe It seems like there are as many gyms in Manhattan as there are nail salons, and it can be hard to find the right fit. To save some money but still have access to fitness equipment, join a New York City Recreation Center. There are locations all around the city, and membership ranges from $100 to $150 a year for adults. They give you access to everything from treadmills to fullsized pools—at 27 cents a day, the Alfred E. Smith Recreation Center (80 Catherine St., betw. Cherry & Monroe Sts., nycgovparks. org) is a bargain, especially if you only use the gym on the weekends. If you’re looking to hire a personal trainer and work out by the light of a disco ball, check out David Barton Gym (various locations, davidbartongym.com). They offer an alternative experience to most gyms; their personal training packages require multiple sessions per week, but they’ll throw in the membership at no extra cost.
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� TALK I N G U P D OWNTOWN Manhattan Media
editorial
exeCUTive eDiTOR Allen Houston ahouston@manhattanmedia.com MaNagiNg eDiTOR Marissa Maier mmaier@manhattanmedia.com CONTRiBUTiNg eDiTOR aND sPeCiaL seCTiONs eDiTOR Josh Rogers jrogers@manhattanmedia.com aRTs aND CULTURe eDiTOR Mark Peikert mpeikert@manhattanmedia.com FeaTUReD CONTRiBUTORs Whitney Casser, Penny Grey, Tom Hall, Mary Morris, Robby Ritacco, Lillian Rizzo, Paulette Safdieh CONTRiBUTiNg PHOTOgRaPHeRs George Denison, Veronica Hoglund, Wyatt Kostygan, Andrew Schwartz iNTeRNs Kristina Reisinger, McCamey Lynn
adVertiSinG
advertising@manhattanmedia.com PUBLisHeR Gerry Gavin ggavin@manhattanmedia.com DiReCTOR OF NeW BUsiNess DeveLOPMeNT Dan Newman assOCiaTe PUBLisHeRs Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth aDveRTisiNg MaNageR Marty Strongin sPeCiaL PROjeCTs DiReCTOR Jim Katocin seNiOR aCCOUNT exeCUTives Verne Vergara, Rob Gault, Mike Suscavage DiReCTOR OF eveNTs & MaRkeTiNg Joanna Virello jvirello@manhattanmedia.com exeCUTive assisTaNT OF saLes Jennie Valenti jvalenti@manhattanmedia.com
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PRODUCTiON
PRODUCTiON & CReaTive DiReCTOR Ed Johnson ejohnson@manhattanmedia.com eDiTORiaL DesigNeR Sahar Vahidi svahidi@manhattanmedia.com aDveRTisiNg DesigN Quran Corley OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN is published weekly Copyright © 2011 Manhattan Media, LLC 79 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor New York, N.Y. 10016 Editorial (212) 284-9734 Fax (212) 268-2935 Advertising (212) 284-9715 General (212) 268-8600 E-mail: otdowntown@manhattanmedia.com Website: OTDowntown.com OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN is a division of Manhattan Media, LLC, publisher of West Side Spirit, Chelsea Clinton News, The Westsider, City Hall, The Capitol, The Blackboard Awards, New York Family, and Avenue magazine. To subscribe for 1 year, please send $75 to OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN, 79 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10016 Recognized for excellence by the New York Press Association
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Kristin Marting Kristin Marting, artistic Director of Here
| By penny gray
photo By Carl SkutSCh
PResiDeNT/CeO Tom Allon tallon@manhattanmedia.com gROUP PUBLisHeR Alex Schweitzer aschweitzer@manhattanmedia.com CFO/COO Joanne Harras jharras@manhattanmedia.com DiReCTOR OF iNTeRaCTive MaRkeTiNg aND DigiTaL sTRaTegy Jay Gissen jgissen@manhattanmedia.com
T
he New York Times has called HERE (formerly HERE Arts Center) “one of the most unusual arts spaces in New York and possibly the model for the cutting-edge arts spaces of tomorrow.” Kristin Marting, artistic director of HERE, speaks about the shifting cultural scene Downtown and HERE’s place in the middle of it all. How long have you been with HERE? I’ve been with HERE since its inception in 1993. I was one of the founders. There were two theater companies that had recently been kicked out of their spaces—The Tiny Mythic Theater and The Home for Contemporary Theatre & Arts. We found each other and discovered that we could do more by combining our efforts. And what was the combined result? The result is HERE! We created a multidisciplinary space that could support artists from a variety of disciplines in the hopes that they would start bouncing ideas off of each other. Our aesthetic represents the independent, the innovative and the experimental, and in 17 years, we’ve supported over 12,000 artists and attracted more than 950,000 arts patrons. The core of what we do is develop and support resident artists. Over the course of three years, they develop a project. We show it here, and then hopefully we can launch them on tour. In your nearly 20 years leading HERE, what changes have you witnessed in the Downtown arts scene? There are really significant changes in terms of the quality of the work. Among the various artistic disciplines, there is less segregation and more integration. There’s also been a real increase in the range of people participating in arts events Downtown, and an increasing openness to the sort of work that is made down here. Having said that, there’s also been a real shift of available spaces. There has been an addition of spaces but a loss of spaces as well. Before HERE moved in, very few people went west of Sixth Avenue, but a lot of people come to HERE and I think we’ve really helped open up the neighborhood. We have a young demographic, with most of our patrons in their twenties and thirties, and most of them don’t live Down-
OU R TOWN DOWNTOWN | DECE M B E R 1, 2011
town because it’s become so expensive. Downtown really is a state of mind. What do you love most about your job? I love the opportunity to work with artists to help them realize what they’re thinking. Every artist thinks in a completely different way, and every end result reflects that. It’s like, every time you create a new product, each new product is a new thing, entirely unrelated to the product before. So the fun and the challenge is in being fresh and open with each project. What do you like least about your job? I hate spending so much time raising money. It’s always a challenging task. We’ve got great support on so many levels—a broad range of support—but it’s awfully time-consuming. It’s also a continual struggle to compensate artists for their work. If you averaged out the hours artists work on their products, they’re working for less than minimum wage. It’s frustrating to spend so much time raising money and still not be able to resolve that income gap. What can we look forward to coming up at HERE? In December, we have a wonderful show called Stick Up! (Braquage) coming into the space. It’s a French piece of
puppet object theater and it’s an absolute delight. The show involves cat burglars, bombs, car chases… it’s very physical. It’s a great piece for the family, lots of fun and quite spectacular. We’ll also continue with our Puppet Parlors, which Basil Twist curates. Puppeteers of New York pool their resources and present little pieces in a wonderful mélange. In January, we’ll have more shows from our resident artists. Miranda, by creator, composer, librettist and producer Kamala Sankaram, is a steampunk murder-mystery chamber opera in which the musicians do all of the acting and singing as well. And Chimera, by Deborah Stein and Suli Holum, is an arresting new play inspired by a real-life horror story, which explores what happens when technology shatters our ideas of who we think we are. How has your Downtown location affected what you do and make at HERE? We have no pressure to create commercially, so we can support the uniqueness and vision of the artists we work with on their own terms. We have a real freedom to select artists. We don’t have to edit our choices, and the artists don’t have to edit their choices either. The art has integrity and professional quality, but it can be whatever it wants to be.
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Let Me Hear Your Body Talk
D
espite universal notions and theories, at the end of the day, attraction remains idiosyncratic to the individual. Often, this works to a romantic’s benefit—you need only people watch in the Big Apple to validate the “there’s somebody for everyone” saying. When it comes to attraction, our body’s reaction is often the most trustworthy measure. It doesn’t matter if your blind date is smart, successful, good looking and charming—if you don’t feel it in your bones, it ain’t a match. However, it is also possible that our bodies are not always a reliable gauge of whether we are truly attracted to someone. The uniqueness of attraction is one of life’s most elusive and fascinating facets of study. There may be several types, but passionate attraction is what sets the stage for love. This may be characterized by two factors: first, that physiological arousal occurs due to an increasing heart rate and second, the notion that another person is the cause of our racing pulses. If our beating hearts are indeed due to the presence of a new love, our attraction to him or her is appropriate. However, in the event that something else is to blame for our vibrating
picture and asked participants to create a heartbeats, we may be experiencing a story based on his interpretation. Subsephenomenon known in psychology as the quently, the attractive researcher handed misattribution of arousal. This process participants her digits and invited them to usually occurs when we experience a give her a ring if they needed to follow up. rapid increase in heart rate from anything The results indicated that men who from running fast to participating in walked across the precarious bridge fear-inducing activities like skydiving or reported watching a scary higher levels of movie. When Even if my beating heart wasn’t sexual content in the presence due to the surplus of men around in their stories. of an attractive Furthermore, individual, we me but instead to my long run, these men may mistake our perhaps this is OK. were also more beating hearts for inclined to later indicators that call the research assistant. Although the we are attracted to this person. In other men who walked across the safer bridge words, we’re misplacing the source of our encountered the very same woman, they attraction and our bodies are talking out reported less to nearly no sexual imagery of turn. in their stories. Interestingly, those who To test what sets our hearts aflutter, walked along the stable bridge were also social psychologists created two distinct less likely to phone the woman. Evidently, situations. In a condition generated to the adrenaline bridge intensified feelings induce arousal, men were asked to walk of arousal. alone across a shaky bridge suspended by With this in mind, it should have wire hundreds of feet above treacherous come as no surprise when I frequented a boulders. In the second scenario, men different bridge for some heart-inducing breathed easily as they strolled across a exercise, a run, and instead found myself stable bridge placed just a few feet off the focusing on everyone’s body but my own. ground. In both circumstances, walkers After completing a 7-mile trek, I noticed were approached by an attractive female that I had never both been attracted to so researcher who showed an ambiguous
many people in so little time. As my heart calmed and the sun shone brighter, I realized that perhaps I had been seeing things with adrenKRISTINE KELLER aline goggles. The hottie in the hoodie seemed shorter than at first glance, and I could have sworn that the guy on the light-up rollerblades had been on a bike. Alas, perhaps it wasn’t “real” attraction after all, I sighed. There were other factors at play. However, even if my beating heart wasn’t due to the surplus of men around me but instead to my long run, perhaps this is OK. What if participating in more fear-inducing activities and enhancing our heart rates actually makes us take more risks and fall for people that weren’t initially on our radar? At the end of the day, it might be difficult for psychologists and lay people to isolate the true source of attraction. But even if initial attraction is misattributed, perhaps it can evolve into real attraction. Since greater potential for love can be found via heart-pounding activities, I’ll see you on the tallest bridge in the city.
“An Intimate Place to Learn in the Heart of a Great City” Dear Parents: You are cordially invited to attend one of our OPEN HOUSE at York Preparatory School.
Thursday, January 12th
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Wednesday, January 25th
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
York Prep is a coeducational college preparatory school for grades 6–12.
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