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WEEK OF JULY

18-24 2019

INSIDE

THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD

WHY THE LIGHTS WENT OUT Con Ed blames blackout on relay system failure, P. 6

GEN Z ON THE CB Teenagers as young as 16 can serve on NYC community boards, P. 6

CELEBRATIONS These world-class athletes know how to throw a world-class party BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM

It was a euphoric scene of ﬂittering ticker tape in the streets of lower Manhattan. Thousands of fans repping jerseys of red, white and blue flooded the Canyon of Heroes last week to catch a glimpse of the 23 members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team in a parade to celebrate the team’s fourth FIFA World Cup title. The players danced atop their ﬂoats, thanking the fans along the way for their support throughout the month-long tournament, which they said was integral to their victory.

Jeffrey Epstein’s $77 million East Side mansion. Photo: Ema Schumer

BEHIND THE OAK DOORS LAW ENFORCEMENT A raid on Jeffrey Epstein’s UES mansion and details from his sex-trafficking indictment stunned the nation. But the revelations were not a shock to some NYC journalists who followed the saga for years BY STUART MARQUES

Fans at the Canyon of Heroes TickerTape Parade. Photo: Michael Appleton/ Mayoral Photography Office

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When FBI agents pried open the heavy oak doors of Jeffrey Epstein’s $77 million Upper East Side mansion, they had an idea of what they would ﬁnd inside. But they were astounded at the volume: They discovered a “vast trove” of “hundreds, if not thou-

sands, of sexually suggestive pictures of naked underage girls” locked in a safe. Prosecutors say the entries were carefully catalogued and labeled: “Young [Name] + [Name],” “Misc nudes 1,” and “Girl pics nude.” “Agents seized evidence, including nude photographs of what appear to be underage girls,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in unveiling a sex trafficking indictment alleging that Epstein, 66, “sexually abused dozens of minor girls at his homes” in Manhattan and Palm Beach, FL. Prosecutors say he recruited minor girls for sex acts and got them to recruit others. Epstein, who once taught math at the elite Dalton School on the Upper East Side,

paid the women several hundred dollars per encounter, which often began as a massage. “The conduct, as alleged, went on for years and involved dozens of young girls, some as young as 14,” Berman told reporters, adding that Epstein faces up to 45 years in jail, if convicted. “The alleged behavior shocks the conscience.” It was certainly not a shock to several New York-based journalists who have followed the Epstein saga for years and have had to deal with Epstein’s army of high-priced lawyers and powerful public relations firms who tried to kill or soften stories about him. He also moved in social circles with bold-

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THE CHELSEA HOTEL: A NEVERENDING STORY Delays continue to dog the renovation of the legendary 23rd Street landmark, P. 12

MARIANO RIVERA: MR. CONSISTENCY Reflections on the Yankee great as he enters the Hall of Fame, P. 8

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FOR HIM, SETTLING SMALL CLAIMS IS A BIG DEAL presided over Arbitration Man has three decades. for informal hearings about it He’s now blogging BY RICHARD KHAVKINE

is the common Arbitration Man their jurist. least folks’ hero. Or at Man has For 30 years, Arbitration court office of the civil few sat in a satellite Centre St. every building at 111 New Yorkers’ weeks and absorbed dry cleaning, burned lost accountings of fender benders, lousy paint jobs, and the like. And security deposits then he’s decided. Arbitration Man, About a year ago, so to not afwho requested anonymity started docuhe fect future proceedings, two dozen of what menting about compelling cases considers his most blog. in an eponymous about it because “I decided to write the stories but in a I was interested about it not from wanted to write from view but rather lawyer’s point of said Arbitration view,” of a lay point lawyer since 1961. Man, a practicing what’s at issue He ﬁrst writes about post, renders and then, in a separatehow he arrived his decision, detailing blog the to Visitors at his conclusion. their opinions. often weigh in with get a rap going. I to “I really want whether they unreally want to know and why I did it,” I did derstood what don’t know how to he said. “Most people ... I’d like my cases the judge thinks. and also my trereﬂect my personalitythe law.” for mendous respect 80, went into indiMan, Arbitration suc in 1985, settling vidual practice

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MANHATTAN'S APARTMENT BOOM, > PROPERTY, P.20

2015

In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS

The effort to help small seems to businesses in the city be gathering steam. Two city councilmembers, Robert Margaret Chin and Cornegy, have introduced create legislation that wouldSmall a new “Office of the within Business Advocate” of Small the city’s Department Business Services. Chin The new post, which have up told us she’d like to would and running this year, for serve as an ombudsman city small businesses within them clear government, helping to get through the bureaucracy things done. Perhaps even more also importantly, the ombudsman and number will tally the type small business of complaints by taken in owners, the actions policy response, and somefor ways to recommendations If done well, begin to fix things. report would the ombudsman’s give us the first quantitative with taste of what’s wrong the city, an small businesses in towards important first step fixing the problem. of for deTo really make a difference, is a mere formality will have to the work process looking to complete their advocate are the chances course, velopers precinct, but rising rents, -- thanks to a find a way to tackle business’ is being done legally of after-hours projects quickly. their own hours,” which remain many While Chin “They pick out boom in the number throughout who lives on most vexing problem. said Mildred Angelo,of the Ruppert construction permits gauge what Buildings one said it’s too early tocould have the 19th floor in The Department of the city. number three years, the Houses on 92nd Street between role the advocate She Over the past on the is handing out a record work perThird avenues. permits, there, more information of Second and an ongoing all-hours number of after-hours bad thing. of after-hours work the city’s Dept. problem can’t be a said there’s with the mits granted by nearby where according to new data jumped 30 percent, This step, combinedBorough construction project noise Buildings has data provided in workers constantly make efforts by Manhattan to mediate BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS according to DOB of Informacement from trucks. President Gale Brewer offer response to a Freedom classifies transferring they want. They knows the the rent renewal process, request. The city They 6 “They do whatever signs Every New Yorker clang, tion Act go as they please. work between some early, tangible small any construction on the weekend, can come and sound: the metal-on-metal or the piercing of progress. For many have no respect.” p.m. and 7 a.m., can’t come of these that the hollow boom, issuance reverse. owners, in business moving The increased beeps of a truck has generto a correspond and you as after-hours. soon enough. variances has led at the alarm clock The surge in permits

SLEEPS, THANKS TO THE CITY THAT NEVER UCTION A BOOM IN LATE-NIGHT CONSTR NEWS

A glance it: it’s the middle can hardly believe yet construction of the night, and carries on full-tilt. your local police or You can call 311

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for dollars in fees ated millions of and left some resithe city agency, that the application dents convinced

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‘A CHAMPION FOR WORKING PEOPLE’ LIVES The labor community and elected officials mourn the sudden death of union leader Héctor Figueroa BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM

Héctor Figueroa, the president of 32BJ SEIU, one of the city’s most inﬂuential labor unions, died suddenly of a heart attack the evening of July. He was 57. “Héctor’s personal and principled concern for working people, union staff and others will be sorely missed by those who had the opportunity to work at his side,” 32BJ offered in a statement Monday morning. “He strived to continually further the well-being of 32BJ members and working people on a national and international level.” Figueroa moved to the Bronx from Puerto Rico in 1982. Here, he completed his college education with a grant to study economics. Inspired after participating in Puerto Rico’s labor movement, Figueroa joined the Amalgamated Clothing Worked

32BJ President Hector Figueroa and Vivian Lee of NY1 at the 2015 Building Service Workers Awards with Straus News. Photo: George Cade

of America (now known as Workers United) in 1990. In 1995, he joined to SEIU, where

he worked on the union’s “Justice for Janitors” campaign and served as director for Puerto Rico. Later,

he served as 32BJ’s deputy trustee, secretary treasurer and then as the director of the New York metro district. In 2012, he was elected as the union’s president. The union represents 175,000 airport workers, window cleaners, superintendent, doormen, maintenance workers, cleaners, porters and security officers in Washington, D.C. and 11 states including New York, where there are 70,000 members. While Figueroa served as president, the union was a national leader in the Fight for $15 campaign to raise the minimum wage for fast food workers. He also advocated for the elimination of Puerto Rico’s public debt and defense of Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria. City and state officials offered words of condolence for those who knew and worked with Figueroa, while praising his dedication and service to SEIU. “It’s impossible to put into words what Héctor meant to the men and women of 32BJ SEIU, to working people and to the labor movement,”

Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “His love of 32BJ SEIU ran deep, but you’d be just as likely to see him on the picket line with fast food workers or taxi drivers as you would with the custodians, service workers and doormen he represented.” “Héctor Figueroa was a champion for working people, minorities, the poor, the voiceless — a hero of the labor community who did untold good for the working people of this state,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a tweet. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer called Figueroa a champion for the poor who spent countless hours negotiating contracts for workers. “Hector Figueroa was an important leader in the labor movement and dedicated his life to ﬁghting for the working people of New York,” Brewer said. Information on memorial services will be made public this week by the SEIU. Figueroa is survived by his wife, Deidre, and his children Eric and Elena.

NORTHERN MANHATTAN STUDY OF METABOLISM AND MIND

NOMEM The purpose of NOMEM is to learn more about how blood sugar and other factors relate to the brain and mental abilities of persons living in Northern Manhattan. We are seeking your help to conduct this study. You are eligible to participate if you: x Live in Manhattan or the Bronx x Are between 60 and 69 years of age x Are able to do an MRI and a PET scan of the brain Participation will include these activities: 1. Questionnaires 2. Blood tests 3. A brain MRI 4. A brain PET scan with contrast We will compensate your time for participating in these 4 activities with $350. We will also give you the results of important blood tests.

PLEASE CONTACT US @ 212-305-4126, 646-737-4370, LS960@CUMC.COLUMBIA.EDU

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CRIME WATCH BY MARIA ROCHA-BUSCHEL STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st precinct for the week ending July 7 Week to Date

Year to Date

2019 2018

% Change

2019

2018

% Change

Murder

n/a

0.0

Rape

100.0

-40.0

Robbery

n/a

-8.1

Felony Assault

0.0

65.5

Burglary

0.0

94.1

Grand Larceny

0.0

481

514 -6.4

Grand Larceny Auto

n/a

$8 TIP JAR THEFT Police said a man stole $8 from the tip jar at Billy’s Bakery on Ninth Ave. and 21st St. on Friday, July 12. According to the police, the suspect entered the bakery and grabbed the cash before ﬂeeing. An employee at the bakery chased the suspect west on West 21st St., up Tenth Ave. and into Chelsea Houses, where police spotted and identiﬁed him. Police said they did not apprehend the suspect, but they did recover the money, which the suspect dropped during the chase.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ARREST Police arrested a 31-year-old man

-18.2

for allegedly strangling his girlfriend on West 18th St. on Sunday, July 14. A witness told police that the suspect and the victim were having an argument that escalated to a physical ﬁght. The victim later told police that the suspect, her boyfriend, pushed her to the ground and strangled her during the ﬁght, causing redness to her neck. She said that he also continued to hit her while she was on the ground, and that he threw her phone against the wall, causing it to break.

WOMAN GROPED ON EIGHTH AVE. Police arrested a 29-year-old man for groping a woman at Eighth Ave. at 14th St. in the early morning of

Photo by Toni Webster via Flickr

Saturday, July 13. The woman, 47, told police that the man walked up behind her and grabbed her buttocks without permission. When the suspect was arrested, police also recovered a bag of marijuana from his pants pocket. Police said that the victim was an on-duty MTA worker. The suspect was charged with forcible touching.

POSSIBLE SEXUAL ASSAULT Police reported that a woman may have been sexually assaulted inside an apartment at Eighth Ave. at 27th St. on Saturday, July 13. The 21-year-old victim told police that she went to a bar with friends and doesn’t remember anything after being there for 15

minutes. She said that she woke up in the building on Eighth Ave. without remembering how she got there and she thinks that she may have been sexually assaulted.

ROAD RAGE PUNCH A 53-year-old man told police that he was assaulted at the corner of Eleventh Ave. and West 30th St. on Saturday, July 13. He said that he got into an argument with someone while driving and when he and the other man got out of their cars the man punched him in the face, causing pain, bleeding and swelling. The victim said that the suspect ﬂed in a white van. No arrests have been made.

PRICEY DELIVERY BIKE STOLEN A 27-year-old delivery man told police that his bike was stolen while he was making a delivery at Tenth Ave. at 41st St. on Thursday, July 11. The victim told police that he locked his bike to a rack in front of the building and when he returned the lock had been tampered with and the bike was gone.The victim told police that the value of the bike was $1,730.

#BeUnderstood

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Mayor Bill de Blasio holds a press conference on West 64th Street on Sunday, July 14, the day after a major electrical blackout affected the area. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

WHY THE LIGHTS WENT OUT POWER Con Ed blames relay system for outage that hit Times Square and the West Side BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A relay protection system that should have isolated a faulty distribution cable but didn’t led to the loss of power that darkened Manhattan for several hours, Con Ed said Monday in a preliminary review. The relay system at a West 65th Street substation should have kept the problem that started in a nearby distribution cable from spreading by detecting the electrical fault and directing circuit breakers to de-energize it, Con Ed said in a statement. Instead the electrical fault was isolated at a transmission substation at West 49th Street, which led to the Saturday night power outage. The blackout affected thousands for about ﬁve hours along a 40-block stretch that included some of Manhattan’s busiest areas like Times Square and Rockefeller Center. It also created a political problem for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was in Iowa for his presidential campaign at the time. On Monday, he continued to fend off criticism. De Blasio said on MSNBC that he was in frequent contact with agencies handling the emergency and that he thinks ﬁrst responders did an “incredible job.” De Blasio sidestepped criticism from numerous quarters, including from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a fellow Democrat. A front-page New York Post editorial called for de Blasio’s ouster.

During an appearance Monday on “Morning Joe,” de Blasio insisted that the blackout response was wellmanaged with his remote supervision. No injuries were reported from the blackout, he said, noting that power was back on within several hours. “It doesn’t matter where you are, you’re in charge of your team and making sure people are executing a plan,” said the mayor, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president. “The important thing is to get the right people into the right place.” De Blasio said he took a four-hour car ride from Iowa to Chicago and got on the first available plane home. Cuomo, speaking on public radio Monday morning, said he would leave it to the voters of New York City to pass judgment on de Blasio’s response, but added that “there’s no substitute for firsthand information and firsthand knowledge” during an emergency. “People want to see their leader on site, in charge, in control, and it makes people feel more confident,” Cuomo said. “There is no substitute for showing up.” Cuomo ruled out the suggestion, raised by The Post’s editorial, that he use his authority to remove de Blasio from office. The outage stymied subway service throughout the city, affecting nearly every line. New York City’s Emergency Management Department said the A, C, D, E, F, M, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 trains had resumed running in both directions by around 2 a.m. Sunday. The outage came on the anniversary of the 1977 New York City outage that left most of the city without power.

Con Edison workers as Mayor Bill de Blasio held a press conference on West 64th Street on Sunday, July 14, the day after the blackout. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

Governor Cuomo announced power was fully restored following a widespread outage in Midtown Manhattan on July 13. Photo: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ﬂickr

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GENERATION Z ON THE CB COMMUNITY Teenagers as young as 16 are eligible to serve on New York’s community boards BY EMA SCHUMER

They are too young to vote. Age, however, will not keep them sidelined from government. They are the 16- and 17-year-olds who choose to serve on community boards throughout Manhattan. Four years after legislation reduced the minimum age to serve on the boards in New York to 16, nine youths under 18 currently serve on Manhattan’s 12 community boards, along with several who turned 18 after starting their service. Community Board 8 on the Upper East Side boasts three teens, including Jack Zimmerman, 16, who lives on East 80th Street. Zimmerman joined CB8 in April. He said his principal at Eleanor Roosevelt High School suggested he apply because of his “passion for transportation and more green spaces.” Zimmerman is interested in mitigating congestion in the city by promoting bike lanes. “I personally have a little scooter that I like to take around. There aren’t many bike lanes for me to use, so safety can be an issue,” he said. Bike lanes have become a hot-button issue for Manhattan’s community boards, which deliberate and pass resolutions on many issues facing their neighborhoods. Small businesses petition the boards for liquor licenses and sidewalk cafés; residents voice safety concerns and bemoan the latest high rise constructed on their block. Cece King, now 18, who graduated from Riverdale Country School in June, was concerned about the number of small shops going out of business on the Upper East Side. King, who lives on East 89th Street, joined CB8’s Small Business Committee to learn what she could do to promote local retailers, With help from fellow board member Dorothea Newman, who turned 18 last month, King organized a youth art contest held at local cafe Tenny & Betsy to “get kids involved and invested in saving small busi-

nesses,” King explained. Cafe owner Jennifer Gao happily reported that the event increased foot traffic. Gao commended King and Newman: “I just find those two were amazing. The fact that they were willing to donate the time to a community cause, I think it’s fantastic.”

So You Want to Join the Community Board? Both Zimmerman and King were appointed to CB8 by City Council Member Ben Kallos, who introduced the legislation allowing 16-year-olds to serve on community boards. Kallos told Straus News that he tries to appoint a 16-year-old to the community board every year. “I believe that the community boards need to be reﬂective of all voices and according to the U.S. census 20 percent of our city is under 18. My hope is that by putting 16-year-olds on community boards we will have those voices better reﬂected,” he said. The application process to serve a two-year term on one of Manhattan’s community boards is “rigorous,” said CB8 chair Alida Camp. Applicants must write several essays and undergo an interview process.

Youth board members Cece King (second from left) and Dorothea Newman (third from left) with youth art contest winners and Tenny & Betsy cafe owner Jennifer Gao (right). King and Newman organized the contest in their capacity as members of the CB8 Small Business Committee. Photo: Courtesy of Cece King

full board. She said that meetings can last up to four hours. “I’ve gone home on school nights at 11:45 p.m. because people won’t stop talking about their feelings about the Frick Museum,” she said. “At times it’s like ‘I have to go home and do my homework.’ But it’s also just really exciting.”

Respect and Understanding

I’ve gone home on school nights at 11:45 p.m. because people won’t stop talking about their feelings about the Frick Museum. Community Board 8 teen member Dorothea Newman

Late Nights, and a Sense of Empowerment Newman, a rising senior at the Spence School, joined CB8 when she was 16. She attends CB8 meetings three times a month: one meeting for each of the two committees she serves on — the Small Business Committee and the Youth, Education, and Libraries Committee — and one meeting with the

kids who serve. Camp suggested that giving kids a seat at the table encourages older board members to entertain all sides of a discussion. “Age alone can’t define people, but age contributes to experience and perspective. There are younger people who live in the community and there are much older people. Everyone deserves representation and to have their perspectives examined.”

Youth community board members described their experiences as empowering. “Being on the community board is relatively — to everything that I can do — really powerful,” Newman said. Not only does youth involvement in the community board beneﬁt the

Even though she is a teenager, Newman said that people on the board take her seriously. “They’re really excited to welcome new people. Even if I am out of their age range, I think it’s all about that mutual understanding of ‘I’m here to learn from you but also know that I have valuable things to say as well’,” she said. Zimmerman believes his experiences distinguish him from other board members. “I go to school, which is publicly funded ... so I have a perspective which other people don’t. I take scooters around [so] I am more passionate about voicing the [need] to have bike lanes versus someone else who might drive a lot or take the bus,” he said. Co-chair of the CB8 Small Business

Cece King (left) and Dorothea Newman (second from the left) on a panel they organized through Community Board 8’s Youth, Education, and Libraries Committee on the need for schools to teach civics to students. Photo: Courtesy of Cece King

Committee Michael Mellamphy said that King and Newman, who serve on his committee, command respect: “They bring a certain conﬁdence and perspective that they’re not shy about sharing. I think our future’s in good hands when I see people like Cece and Dori who have a passion for helping the community.”

Raising Awareness Some of the teens serving on community boards were not aware of them until right before they applied. “I did not actually know the community board existed, I had never heard of it or seen it,” Zimmerman said. Such lack of knowledge may be one reason participation rates among young people are disproportionately low. Out of the 600 community board members in Manhattan, only nine were under the age of 18 as of May. Kallos admitted that “it is a challenge to ﬁnd [16-year-old] applicants every year.” To raise youth awareness, former youth CB8 member Sara Solomon — who graduated from The Dalton School in 2018 — published monthly summaries of the board’s work in her school’s newspaper. Solomon said that she received emails from community members in response to her column asking how they could get involved. “Across the city, I have noticed that students are genuinely interested in public service,” Solomon said. Newman and Solomon both encouraged other kids to get involved. “Your ﬁrst impact is your local impact, and the community board is the most local you get,” Newman said. Perhaps presciently, Newman also noted that most city council members start their public service careers on the community board. To learn more about joining a Manhattan community board, visit the Manhattan Borough President’s website.

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Voices

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FAMILY REUNIONS THAT UNITE ALL YEAR BY BETTE DEWING

Ever feel the talk that matters gets short shrift at family reunions? Indeed, ever feel the talk that matters is often lacking in general? And too often food gets to be “the main course topic?” Okay, so this different drummer dreamer has long believed what’s talked about during social meals needs inﬁnitely more concern — and surely for reunions as well, to make a healthful yearround difference. A healthful difference.

Questions Rather Than Statements Oh, the candidates speak a lot about health care — who pays etc, but not about nurturing conversation as preventive medicine and health maintenance. And isn’t nurturing conversation the shared kind, so that no one — the shy and not so easily verbal — is left out? Rhetorical question, but long overdue, I’ve come to believe such queries are more often more acceptable than statements that may go against the cultural grain, There’s an old-timey song that agrees: “It ain’t what you say, it’s the way how you say it, that’s what gets results. ” Hmmm, but really it’s the thought that counts. I mean, isn’t it the thought that really counts?

Plan to Connect Now about those family reunions, let’s stay with the statements, like planning ways to stay helpfully connected during the long times apart. And yes, some kindred moving closer together should be considered. But scheduling time for phone calls especially, and emails too, is so all-important. And may the conversation always be enough about any hard times and problems. An agenda could help. Don’t say you’re ﬁne when you’re not is a cardinal rule. Of

course, share the talk is another cardinal rule. Conference calls also exist, but so needed are the frequent, yes even daily calls, especially for those who may be too much alone or going through some sort of bad time.

It’s Everyone’s Business And yes, lonely and bad times need some sharing at these reunions which are too often just happy talk. And indeed to make this highly unusual group effort more acceptable, recall Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s urgent “save the world” directive to a Harvard graduating class: “Everyone must make everything their business!” And surely nowhere is it more needed than in these family reunions, and the rule “When you see something, say something.” surely applies. And when someone is saying too little, that may be a sign that something really needs to be shared. Yes, this is all pretty radical talk for these family reunions, but often it couldn’t be more needed. Indeed it couldn’t be more needed in general. The sharing one another’s burdens commandment could use a mighty revival. So no one is left out. And speaking of left out, how could I forget how those in this time of small and no families must somehow be included in the large intact kind, maybe not in reunions, but in everyday life, And again, those reunions must be the kind that unite all year especially, but not only for those too much on their own. It can be done if enough of us try, and if we see something we say something. And yes, if we make everything our business – make everything our business. It takes a village — all year round. dewingbetter@aol.com

MARIANO RIVERA: NY SPORTS’ MR. CONSISTENCY PUBLIC EYE BY JON FRIEDMAN

In the annals of the New York sports scene over the last half-century, Joe Namath remains the city’s most charismatic athlete, Walt Frazier the flashiest, Derek Jeter the most popular, Tom Seaver the classiest, Lawrence Taylor the most fearsome, Eli Manning the most durable, and Mark Messier the most Alpha Male. Meanwhile, New York Yankees’ ace closer Mariano Rivera sits atop a category all his own: He should always be hailed as the most reliable sports star of modern times. That’s why he is going to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 21. That “Mo” is getting in in his first year of eligibility is almost beside the point because it was so widely expected. Rivera racked up a record 652 saves during his 19-year career — all spent with the New York Yankees, where he won five world championship rings and made 13 all-star teams.

Dominant and Dependable I could go on and on reciting his accolades. But by now you get the picture of how great and durable and dependable this man was. Rivera spent most of his career as the Yankees “closer,” nailing down Yankee wins. Perhaps the greatest measure of the PanamanianAmerican Rivera’s dominance is that I, a Yankee fan since the days of Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford, can vividly recall when Mo failed to close a game. There was the playoff game in Cleveland in 1997, when Sandy Alomar took him deep, or the debacle in the ninth inning in Arizona, during the seventh game of the 2001 World Series. Let’s not even bring up the playoff series against Boston in 2004, okay? That I can reel off but a mere handful of high-proﬁle failures over Rivera’s nearly two-decade career exhibits how clutch he was. Most relief pitchers ﬂop far more often than they succeed.

Stressful Job The closer has perhaps the most stressful job in all of sports. Hockey goalies can rely on their teammates. Quarterbacks have 10 other players to help them. But closers stand on the mound by themselves. Failing is commonplace (just ask the legions of frustrated New York Mets fans this year about their leaky bullpen). Rivera’s genius was wrapped up in one pitch: a cut fastball, which put batters on the defensive. Even though they knew it was coming most of the time, they

Photo: Keith Allison via Flickr

still couldn’t hit it solidly. Most major-league pitchers rely on several pitches to get batters out, ranging from power fastballs to curve balls, sliders, sinkers and change-ups. But Rivera famously threw that one pitch — the cutter — and made awestruck hitters talk to themselves as they retreated in failure to their dugouts. While Rivera, now 49, was the ultimate competitor, he did his job without fanfare — no equivalent to spiking the ball or dancing in the end zone. But the man had style, all right. Rivera entered games at Yankee Stadium to the ritualistic sound of Metallica’s song “Enter Sandman,” the logic being that Rivera put opponents’ bats to sleep and sent everyone home happy. (Forget for a moment that Rivera is the last person in the world whom you’d associate with a metalhead anthem).

A Special Day The induction ceremony at Cooperstown is a wonderful event every year. Everyone has special memories of the players. The fans are allowed to be over-the-top nostalgic, for once. We remember when (we and!) the players were young, and we can lose ourselves in conjuring up all of those warm and fuzzy memories. Mariano Rivera will make us feel young again on his special day. I have a feeling he’ll deliver a top-notch speech and extend his reliability to public speaking. By the way, New York Yankees fans have an embarrassment of riches for Derek Jeter, is eligible for the Hall of Fame next year. But for now, let’s celebrate the rallying cry of the moment, shall we? Enter Sandman, one more time!

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faced names like former President Bill Clinton, Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prince Andrew and President Donald Trump, with whom he ultimately had a falling out. John Connolly, who co-authored a book about Epstein called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Filthy Rich,â&#x20AC;? with novelist James Patterson and journalist Tim Malloy in 2016, said the only thing shocking about it is that it took so long. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a typical con artist; thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what he always was,â&#x20AC;? said Connolly, whose book detailed much of the original investigation, begun in 2005 under then-Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter, whom Connolly called â&#x20AC;&#x153;a courageous copâ&#x20AC;? who refused to be intimidated to drop the probe.

Secret Deal The new federal charges came on the heels of an exhaustive Miami Herald investigation which found that federal prosecutors had drawn up a 53-page indictment accusing Epstein of being a sexual predator more than a dozen years ago. The indictment was quashed in 2008, after a secret deal between Miami federal prosecutors â&#x20AC;&#x201D; led by Alexander Acosta, then the U.S. Attorney for Miami â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and Epsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team of high-powered lawyers, including Alan Dershowitz and former Whitewater Independent Counsel Ken Starr. The ensuing furor caused Acosta, who became President Trumpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Labor Secretary in 2017, to resign that post under pressure on July 12 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; just four days after Epstein was indicted. That deal allowed Epstein to escape federal prosecution â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and possibly dozens of years in jail â&#x20AC;&#x201D; by pleading guilty to relatively minor state prostitution charges. He served 13 months in the Palm Beach County Jail but could leave for 12 hours a day, six days a week to go to work. The victims were not told of the deal until it was ďŹ nalized, which a federal

judge recently ruled was against the law. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That deal should have never happened,â&#x20AC;? Connolly said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was so horriďŹ c. How can anyone in their right mind approve a deal like that ... Acosta should never have made that deal.â&#x20AC;?

More Bombshells? George Rush, who co-wrote the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rush and Molloyâ&#x20AC;? gossip column with his wife, Joanna Molloy, said he began looking into Epstein around 2010, when â&#x20AC;&#x153;a couple of sources in Palm Beach alleged he was continuing to bring girls to his mansion ... In other words, he was up to his old tricks.â&#x20AC;? Rush said Epstein was well-known to gossip writers at the New York City tabloids, and that they often had to deal with Epsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lawyers and PR people. Rush said he ran that gantlet and ďŹ nally got Epstein to agree to talk to him on the telephone. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a disappointing interview because he insisted it all be off the record,â&#x20AC;? Rush said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I can say that he showed no contrition ... no pity for his victims.â&#x20AC;? The current case has attracted national attention, largely because of Acostaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in the 2008 deal, and is likely to garner even more as it wends its way through the courts. Just days after the indictment, a woman named Jennifer Araoz told NBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Today Showâ&#x20AC;? anchor Savannah Guthrie that Epstein raped her in his Manhattan townhouse in 2001, when she was a 15-year-old student at Talented Unlimited High School in New York City. Connolly says he thinks there are even more bombshells to drop as federal prosecutors reexamine the circumstances surrounding Epsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;sweetheartâ&#x20AC;? deal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ďŹ x was in, no doubt about it, Connolly said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whatever happens, it canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be good for anybody who was involved with Epstein.â&#x20AC;?

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ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

A Familiar Face: Emoji Design Over Time

Calendar NYCNOW

MONDAY, JULY 22ND, 6:30PM The Cooper Union | 41 Cooper Sq. | 212-353-4100 | cooper.edu New York-based typeface designer Colin Ford leads a session on an ubiquitous facet of modern design. From the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to ‘90s mobile phones to Unicode and Apple, Ford will share his insight into the subconscious effect emojis have on our communication (free).

How to Do Nothing: Jenny Odell and Aparna Nancherla

MONDAY, JULY 22ND, 7PM McNally Jackson | 52 Prince St. | 212-274-1160 | mcnallyjackson.com Artist and critic Jenny Odell argues that nothing is harder today than doing nothing. She’ll talk about her new ﬁeld guide to focus, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, which posits that our attention is “the most precious—and overdrawn—resource we have” (free).

Just Announced | Malcolm Gladwell Presents “Talking to Strangers”

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH, 8PM Kings Theatre | 1027 Flatbush Ave. | 800-745-3000 | kingstheatre.com Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know questions the tools we use to evaluate. An interactive discussion looks at the stories behind ﬁgures like Bernie Madoff, Amanda Knox, Sylvia Plath, and Sandra Bland ($45, includes pre-signed copy of the book).

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EDITOR’S PICK

July 18 - September 16 SHRINE ROOM PROJECTS: WISHES AND OFFERINGS The Rubin Museum 150 West 17th St 11:00 a.m. $19 rubinmuseum.org 212-620-5000 When a person makes an offering they often have a speciﬁc thought or aspiration in mind, implying an intention as well as a wish. In Shrine Room Projects: Wishes and Offerings, contemporary works by Tsherin Sherpa and Charwei Tsai reﬂect sacred sites, objects, and practices, complementing the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room located at the center of the gallery. Offerings play an important role in Buddhist practices and culture.

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WESTSIDE EXPOSURE: WHITNEY STAFF ART SHOW 2019

CHUCHO Y AMIGOS!

FRESH OUT! NY: STAND-UP COMEDY

The Whitney 99 Gansevoort Street 1:00 p.m. Free with museum admission For the fourth time in its history, the Whitney’s Staff Art Show will be held in a public space, offering staff an opportunity to share their work and deepen connections with one another as well as a wider audience. This year’s exhibition will include the work of over ninety artists, presenting a wide range of media and content, and reﬂecting the diversity of thought and artistic practice among the Whitney’s staff. whitney.org 212-570-3600

The Magnet Theater 254 West 29th St 7:00 p.m. $7 CHUCHO is an Latinx improv team that regularly performs throughout NYC. CHUCHO has trained at Magnet Theater, UCB, iO, WIT, Groundlings, Dojo Comedy, Theater 99, and the mother-loving PBCC (Palm Beach Community College). Watch them do improv with friends! magnettheater.com 212-244-8824

Subculture 45 Bleecker St 11:30 p.m $14 Fresh Out! is a standup comedy show featuring the freshest comics available anywhere. From heavy hitters like past guests Zach Galiﬁanakis, John Mulaney, Jim Gaffigan, David Cross, Mike Birbiglia, and Janeane Garofalo, to the best of New York’s upand-coming comics, they bring you the best! subculturenewyork.com 212-533-5470

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Sun 21

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INFINITY OF NATIONS EXHIBITION TOUR

16MM FILM SCREENING: THE CONNECTION

National Museum of the American Indian 1 Bowling Green 10:00 a.m. Free Join a Museum Ambassador for a 45-minute tour of Inﬁnity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian. americanindian.si.edu 202-633-6644

Hudson Park Library 66 Leroy St 3:00 p.m. Free Clarke’s 1961 improvisational film centers on eight drug addicts who have gathered in a Greenwich Village loft to await their connection. To pay for their drugs, they have allowed a would-be documentary filmmaker to photograph them. The film-within-a-film records the junkies rapping, jiving, taunting the camera and offering an impromptu jam session. nypl.com 212-243-6876

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A TRIBUTE TO JENNIFER LOPEZ

FRANK STRAUSSER: PLASTIC

Caveat 21 A Clinton St 9:00 p.m $20 “A Tribute to ____” is a new live show dedicated to a different pop culture icon each month featuring comedy, music, and more. You don’t want to miss this! caveat.nyc 212-228-2100

The Strand 828 Broadway 7:00 p.m. $15 Join us as Frank Strausser sits down and shares his gritty new thriller with Dolores Barclay. strandbooks.com 212-473-1452

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JULY 18-24,2019

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SENDAK ON STAGE The famed children’s book author and illustrator also designed costumes and sets for opera and ballet BY VAL CASTRONOVO

Who doesn’t love Maurice Sendak? His books have sold more than 30 million copies and been translated into 40 languages. His fuzzy, funny characters — human and animal alike — have enchanted children and adults of all ages. Say “Let the wild rumpus start!” and everyone gets it. But Sendak’s treasured picture books, “Where the Wild Things Are” (1963), “Chicken Soup with Rice” (1962), “In the Night Kitchen” (1970), and “Outside Over There” (1981), are just part of the narrative. It turns out the award-winning storyteller and

who have stolen her sister.” In other words, music is a tonic, a balm. In Sendak’s world, it’s more important than pictures, the curator argues, which is why the author was so drawn to opera, essentially music and words, in the latter part of his career. The great illustrator undoubtedly had Blake on his mind when he created the finale backdrop for Mozart’s jewel, “Design for Temple of the Sun,” 1979-80, on display. The rainbow, the coloration — pale pinks, blues, yellows and greys — are strongly indebted to the English Romantic’s watercolor, “Milton’s Mysterious Dream” (ca. 1816-20), also on view and also seen by Sendak during a visit to the Morgan. Blake’s inﬂuence is evident from the get-go, in both the early drawings and the storyboard.

IF YOU GO WHAT: “Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet” WHERE: The Morgan Library & Museum 225 Madison Ave WHEN: Through October 6. themorgan.org illustrator, winner of the Caldecott Medal (1964) and the National Medal of Arts (1996), took a break from the book game in midlife and began working collaboratively to produce opera and ballet, around a dozen works in all. Designs for his five most important productions, “The Magic Flute,” “Nutcracker,” “Wild Things,” “The Love for Three Oranges” and “The Cunning Little Vixen,” are presented in the current show. Word to the wise from Sendak, who was born in Brooklyn to Polish Jewish immigrants and once worked as a window dresser for F.A.O. Schwarz: “Fifty is a good time to either change careers or have a nervous breakdown.”

Maurice and His Muse This is the fourth Sendak-themed show at the Morgan, with nearly 200 items detailing the adaptation

Maurice Sendak (1928-2012), Diorama of Moishe scrim and ﬂower proscenium (Where the Wild Things Are), 1979-1983, watercolor, pen and ink, and graphite pencil on laminated paperboard. © The Maurice Sendak Foundation. The Morgan Library & Museum, Bequest of Maurice Sendak, 2013.103:69, 70, 71.

Wild Indeed

Maurice Sendak (1928-2012), Fantasy Sketch (Mozart, Der Schauspieldirektor), 1987, ink and watercolor on paper. © The Maurice Sendak Foundation. Collection of The Maurice Sendak Foundation.

of his work and other classics for the stage. There are critter costumes, animal props, mechanical toys, drawings, watercolors, dioramas and storyboards, the latter like comic-strip panels and typically reserved for ﬁlms and television. Sendak had a special relationship with the Morgan, an institution he revered and bequeathed more than 900 drawings to after his death in 2012, at 83. Some 150 are on view here. He studied works in the collection by William Blake and Tiepolo — both Giambattista and son Domenico — and incorporated them into his oeuvre. The exhibit features a rare side-byside comparison of an original score by Mozart belonging to the Morgan and a Sendakian send-up, a so-called “fantasy sketch” of the composer clowning around on the staves of a musical page. “It’s impossible, it’s difficult to ﬁnd the words, you’re looking at the real thing ... you are with him at the moment when he is composing,” the selfdescribed “Mozart freak” enthused to PBS in 1987, as he handled manu-

scripts by his 18th century muse. So it is only ﬁtting that the exhibit kicks off with Sendak’s designs for the costumes and sets of the Houston Grand Opera’s production in 1980 of Mozart’s “Magic Flute,” his favorite opera. Sendak’s visual take on the classic is “an irreverent mash-up of styles,” an essay in the catalog states. The designs have their origins in drawings by Blake at the Morgan, Egyptian imagery inspired by the “Treasures of Tutankhamun” blockbuster at The Met in 1978, the engravings of German Romantic artist Philipp Otto Runge, Art Deco and more.

Music is a Balm At the same Sendak was designing the opera, “Outside Over There” was gestating. Curator Rachel Federman points out the thematic crossover from opera to book, writing in the catalog: “Just as Tamino, the protagonist of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute,’ molliﬁes wild animals and endures Sarastro’s trials by playing his ﬂute, the book’s heroine, Ida, plays her wonder horn to subdue the goblins

Just two weeks after the opening of “The Magic Flute,” a one-act opera based on “Where the Wild Things Are” premiered in Brussels on November 28, 1980, with both libretto and costume/set designs by Sendak. The production was incomplete and plagued with technical difﬁculties. The costumes for the Wild Things were hard to maneuver and to breathe in, and one Thing fell into the orchestra. A subsequent staging by the Glyndebourne Touring Company in 1984 ironed out the kinks and assigned three handlers to the costumes: two off-stage and one who inhabited the monster outfit and controlled the movement of all body parts save the eyes, which were operated via remote control. As the works on paper suggest, Sendak was clearly in his element creating for “Wild Things.” The costume studies for Max in his wolf suit, Mama cum vacuum cleaner and those Things include hand-written notes. The most explicit instructions were reserved for the Wild Things costume sketch, dated 1979, which visualizes a boy inside a monster getup. Witness the dualism, the yin-yang: boy-beast, beast-boy. Each exists within the other. It’s not an easy part to play: “Singer must hear and see peripherally ... There must be enough air for singer to breath [sic]” And so on.

JULY 18-24,2019

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

THE CHELSEA HOTEL: A NEVER-ENDING STORY LANDMARKS Eight years in, delays continue to dog the renovation of the legendary 23rd Street building BY DIANA DUCROZ

In its storied 136-year life, the Chelsea Hotel has reinvented itself several times — as an experimental housing cooperative, an elegant hotel, and most famously, a bohemian enclave of long-term residents and transient guests. In 2011, an entirely new chapter began in its life story: as a semi-permanent construction zone. Eight years into a major renovation, the building’s conversion to a luxury hotel and apartments is far from complete. During this same period, the six glass and steel skyscrapers in Hudson Yards were built from the ground up. In early 2018, Ira Drukier, co-owner of the hotel with Richard Born, said they hoped to have the upper floors of the building in operation by the end of 2018. But a year later, the hotel appears unlikely to reopen by the end of 2019, according to a hotel employee, who asked not to be named. Although much of the interior work, including the elevators, could be finished by November, the employee said, work on the electrical and plumbing systems will almost certainly continue into 2020. A partial stop-work order in place since November 2018 and a pending tenant lawsuit filed in January 2019 have the potential to further derail the schedule. According to the employee, the hotel lobby, main entrance, and a new cellar bar could still be ready to open to the public by the end of the year. Less certain is a reopening date for the first-floor restaurant, El Quijote, which closed in March 2018 for a sixmonth renovation, a project now entering its 16th month.

Lawyers, Snafus and Money The causes of the delays have been

well-documented in the news, on the internet and in social media. They include three different sets of owners since 2011, a revolving cast of contractors and architects, construction snafus, tenant conflicts, regular 311 complaints, stop-work orders from the city, multiple lawsuits and many millions of dollars spent. When the long-time owners sold the hotel in 2011, the 12-story building’s elevators and electrical, plumbing and ventilation systems needed a complete overhaul, work made trickier by the age of the building. The more significant challenge, however, were the 80 or so longterm residents, some under rent protection, who didn’t want to leave. While contractors have been forced to take extra care to not adversely affect the tenants, eight years of constant noise, elevator breakdowns, and unpredictable utility shut-offs have taken a toll. Only around 50 hardy souls remain.

“Hell on Earth” These days, residents must pass through protective plastic sheeting to enter or leave their apartments. Corridors have unfinished walls, floors, and ceilings, and only one working elevator serves the building. Rita Barros lives on the 10th ﬂoor, where a persistent roof leak wreaks havoc on her apartment and the hotel corridor with every hard rain. She and her neighbors have lived with the leak for going on eight years. “It is a tragic story for those of us who still live there.” Barros said in an email. “It’s been hell on earth. The drilling, dust, lack of services, continuous ﬂoods, etc etc.” In late 2011, environmental testing revealed toxic levels of lead and asbestos in the construction dust. More testing in 2017 found lead levels well above the acceptable limit. Pamela Wolff, who serves on Community Board 4’s Land Use committee, has lived in the Chelsea neigh-

borhood most of her life. Her mother even lived in the Chelsea Hotel for a time, she said. She worries about the fate of the historic interiors of the hotel, such as the 1880s-era ceiling murals that decorate the men’s smoking lounge and ladies’ ‘parlor’ on the ground ﬂoor. In an early meeting with the current owners, Wolff said “I begged them at the time to be sure and preserve everything they possibly could. And they said that was their intention.” The building management did not respond to requests for updates. The hotel employee conﬁrmed the intention to preserve these special elements, but could not provide their actual status.

The Chelsea Hotel has been undergoing a renovation since 2011. Photo: Diana DuCroz

Positive Signs of Progress Wolff hopes the current owners will finally bring the project to a close, above all for the sake of the residents. “If [the owners] go broke, they’re going to sell at a bargain price to some other developer and there they go again. And there all those tenants go again with the same battles all over again. That’s why I’m hoping they don’t [sell], that the tenants and their problems, that are very real and very desperate, don’t break the backs of these owners.” Wolff said. “It would be really bad if they went bankrupt or just bailed.” Positive signs of progress are ﬁnally starting to appear. The sidewalk bridge on West 23rd Street is still in place, but the scaffolding and black mesh that covered the building’s striking red-brick façade for several years ﬁnally came down a few months ago. Wolff said she likes what she sees so far. “From my preservationist’s eye, the whole street-facing façade is now quite lovely, as it always has been. They didn’t muck it up. They didn’t trash it with terrible windows. They kept the stained glass,” she said. “Preservation-wise, at least on the exterior, it makes my heart warm to see that they’ve done that job.”

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The 10th ﬂoor, which is home to several residents. Photo: Diana DuCroz

JULY 18-24,2019

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS

Mole

57 Jane Street

Grade Pending(23) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

The Clam

420 Hudson St

Grade Pending(26) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

JULY 3 - 9, 2019 The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml. Kellogg’s Nyc

31 E 17Th St

Paul & Jimmy’s Restaurant 123 East 18 Street

Codino

62 Carmine St

Be Juice

Grade Pending(30) Food Protection Certiﬁcate not held by supervisor of food operations. Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Marie Blachere

303 6Th Ave

Closed

Llamita

80 Carmine St

Lombardi’s

32 Spring Street

Lahore Delicatessen

132 Crosby Street

Grade Pending(38) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

121 University Pl

W New York Union Square

201 Park Ave S

Royal Fried Chicken

13 Avenue D

Grade Pending(2) Food contact surface not properly maintained.

Sweet & Vicious

5 Spring Street

Famous & Fresh 99¢ Pizza

91 Avenue A

Madison St Pizza

223 Madison St

Horus Cafe

293 East 10 Street

Michaeli Bakery

115 Division St

Arepa Factory

147 Avenue A

Kiki’s

130 Division St

Tai Thai

78 E 1St St

Go Believe Bakery

239 Grand St

The Spotted Pig

314 West 11 Street

Grade Pending(20) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies

Grade Pending(24) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Dig Inn

350 Hudson Street

Grade Pending(27) Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Freemans (Freemans Alley) 191 Chrystie Street

Dudleys

85 Orchard Street

Grade Pending(23) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Sweet Chick

178 Ludlow St

New 21 Shanghai House

21 Division St

Grade Pending(15) Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed.

Fine Bakery City Inc

303 Grand St

Closed

Deng Ji Ll

51 Division St

Grade Pending(19) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Delicious Huang Bakery

139 Hester St

Em Star Cafe

19 Division St

East Broadway Restaurant

94 East Broadway

Grade Pending(30) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. 2) Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. 3) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

Yan Kee Beef Jerky

44 Canal St

Ifc Center

323 6Th Ave

Feast On Us

645 Hudson St

The Beatrice Inn

285 W 12Th St

Grade Pending(22) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

Dean & Deluca

2935 9Th Ave

The Woodstock

446 W 14Th St

Grade Pending(55) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

JULY 18-24,2019

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

TOURISTS ON THE TOWN SUMMER IN THE CITY The summer months continue to draw record-breaking numbers of visitors to the city BY JADEN SATENSTEIN

Talk to any New Yorker who’s walked through Times Square recently and you’ll hear all about how tourists seem to have taken over the city, especially in the summer. An April 2019 report by NYC and Company found that 65.1 million people visited New York City in 2018, over 11 million more than in 2013. So what keeps tourists flocking to the Big Apple at unprecedented rates?

Tourist Central “We heard it’s a great place for tourists and people who want to go on vacation,” said Josh Bekele, who visited New York from Virginia last week. “They say it’s really nice, and it is.” Bekele traveled to New York for a two-day visit with his father, Zack Bekele, and family friend Mike Haily, who also noted New York’s reputation as a center of tourism. “We came because New York is a tourist city and a center of business around the world,” Haily said. “So that’s why we came to see Times Square. And, especially me, I want to see where the Stock Exchange buildings are.”

New Yorkers Rude? No Way! Many first-time visitors, like the Bekeles and Haily, make sure to hit major tourist sights. Although the

The impression is New Yorkers are rude. It’s the opposite, in fact. Tourist Vic Kumar, from Toronto Kumar family, who drove to Boston and New York from their home in Toronto, Canada, saw the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and Times Square, they said that getting a real sense of the city’s energy was more important to them than seeing every attraction. “We didn’t want to do the bus tours,” said Vic Kumar, who traveled with his wife, Puja, and two sons. “They’re so impersonal. You want to go there and feel it yourself. Even if it is not everything, but we’ll touch two or three main sights.” Puja Kumar felt that the city’s energy matched its famous reputation. “I think the city doesn’t sleep,” Puja Kumar said. “It’s like always a lot of people.” The Kumar family agreed, however, that not everything they’ve heard about New York proved to be true. “The impression is New Yorkers are rude,” Vic Kumar said. “It’s the opposite, in fact. We’ve had a very good experience overall.”

Once is Not Enough Lots of people seem to share Kumar’s feeling, since so many who have visited before keep coming back. Tampa resident Ashley Howard, who traveled to New York with

her friend’s family, noted striking differences in the city since she last visited just a few years ago. “I came about eight to 10 years ago, but I feel like it’s my ﬁrst time all over again because the city’s changed a lot since then,” Howard said. “We did the 9/11 Memorial, which was probably my favorite personally because when I was here last the memorial wasn’t [ﬁnished]. It was just where you could go and it was just Ground Zero still.”

Something in the Air Although Howard said she was enjoying her trip, she had one complaint that most New Yorkers could easily understand. “The smell and the trash,” Howard said. “It is overwhelming. It’s different, especially toward the end of the day, when the trash kind of gets built up. It’s new for us. We don’t have that in Tampa.” Howard was not alone in her grievance with the city’s odors. When asked what he enjoyed least about the city, Heber Valley, Utah resident Troy Turner had a very simple answer. “The smells,” Turner said.

A Change of Pace However, that didn’t stop Turner, his wife, Wendy, and their four sons from having a great time on their trip, which also included stops in Boston and Washington D.C. The vacation was the idea of Troy and Wendy’s eight-year-old son, Tyson. “We liked it,” Troy Turner said. “We live in like a resort mountain town, so the big city’s a little different. We like the resort mountain town but this is a good experience for us.” Although New York is starkly different from Heber Valley, the Turners were impressed by the ease at which they were able to get around the city. “It’s walkable and transportation is great,” Wendy Turner said. “It’s easy to get around.” Interestingly, many New Yorkers do not share her sentiment. A 2019 survey conducted by Speaker of the City Council Corey Johnson found that 62 percent of respondents were either unsatisfied or very unsatisﬁed with the subway system.

The Empire State Building has been a major tourist attraction since it opened in 1931. Photo: Eric Kilby via Flickr

A Slice of the City

The Turner family, from Heber Valley, Utah, outside the Empire State Building. Photo: Jaden Statenstein

However, the Turners did have one opinion of New York that any New Yorker would ﬁght to defend: How good the pizza is. “Lombardi’s pizza was really good,” Troy Turner said. “We ate a bunch of pizza there.” Ashley Howard, right, from Tampa, Florida, with friends. Photo: Jaden Saperstein

JULY 18-24,2019

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Business

NYC’S LUXURY HOME BUYERS REAL ESTATE Russian and Chinese investors have exited the market — as growing numbers of wealthy Americans are drawn to the city BY FREDERICK W. PETERS

Who’s buying big-ticket New York City homes? In San Francisco, it’s the Silicon Valley people. Conventional wisdom has it that when the IPOs go through, all the newly minted multi-millionaires will upgrade their homes in the city by the bay, making that enormously expensive real estate market even more enormously expensive. In Los Angeles, it has mostly always been show business and music that have continued to fuel the mansion market, a market in which the discerning observer can recapitulate the world history of architecture within the space of two blocks. The identity of the New York ultra-luxury buyer has tended to be a more elusive target. During the 1980s it was traders, investment bankers and leveraged buyout specialists. During the run-up to the recession of 2008/2009, it was venture capitalists and, once again, the traders, many of whom were hawking mortgage-backed securities. And after the recession — the hedge fund guys (as with Silicon Valley, hedge funds have tended to be something of a boys’ club.) But who’s buying New York now? And is that popula-

tion of prospective purchasers large enough to make a dent in the ballooning inventory which Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City now hold? There are no more Russian buyers in New York City. The oligarchs exited the market a number of years ago, as the reign of Russia’s 21st-century czar Vladimir Putin became more entrenched and defying him in any way became more overtly dangerous. The escalation of the trade war rhetoric between our two countries has also reduced the number of active Chinese buyers, as has their economic slowdown and the increasing difficulty of moving money out of the country. And South and Central American buyers still concentrate their sights primarily on Miami. According to data from several of the top recently built condominium sales offices, Americans make up 70 percent or more of recent buyers. Many of these are pied-a-terre buyers from other parts of the country, all of whom were rushing to close before the mansion tax rates went up on July 1. Finance people no longer have a monopoly. As we all know, hedge fund magnate Ken Griffin bought the most expensive home ever sold in the United States at 220 Central Park South, but many other lines of work play prominently among our buyers. We have our share of tech entrepreneurs. Real estate people remain an important buying group, as do entrepreneurs from such diverse industries as aviation and gaming.

We can draw some conclusions. First, our luxury market no longer depends as heavily on foreign money. An increasing number of wealthy Americans are drawn to owning a part-time home in New York, and the appeal to full-time residents of a perfect new apartment needing no renovation cannot be overstated. Second, the buyer pool comes from an increasingly diverse set of industries nationwide and worldwide. New York is no longer the ﬁnance industry’s company town. Third, the city can expect an overhang of unsold inventory for years to come. New units reach the market every month, increasing the oversupply which has made developers anxious and negotiable. Supply exceeds demand. The good news is, men and women from all over the U.S. wish to live here, at least for part of every year. Their desire to have a property in New York, not as a tax or money laundering strategy but to enjoy the unique cultural and entertainment beneﬁts found only here, provides a testament to the diversity and vibrancy which are the city’s lifeblood. Each year the U.S. becomes less of a rural and more of an urban nation. As that happens, the increasing breadth of diversity in New York’s buyer group has made both the market and the city better and more stable as an investment choice. Frederick W. Peters is Chief Executive Officer of Warburg Realty Partnership.

Ask a Broker

IS HIGHER ALWAYS BETTER? BY ANDREW J. KRAMER

A few weeks ago we listed our one-bedroom coop in Gramercy Park with a broker. We were searching online and just noticed that another onebedroom in the same line just came on the market five floors below us. Their asking price is $25,000 less than ours and we were wondering what the value is of being 5 floors higher? The answer to your question about price involves than just the five floors between you and

your competition. Let’s start with the condition of the apartments, as an apartment on a higher floor that hasn’t been touched in decades may not command as high a price as one on a lower floor that has been renovated. New windows alone could add more to the value of an apartment than what floor it’s on. And that’s before we consider the kitchen, bathrooms and/or any custom built-in’s. Also, a lower-floor apartment might provide a lovely courtyard or garden view, where its

higher floor counterpart might look right into someone else’s apartment. The simple answer to your question is several thousand dollars/floor (which fluctuates based on the caliber of the building). But as you can see, pricing an apartment is more of an art than a science. Andrew Kramer is a Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker with Brown Harris Stevens. Direct your real estate questions to askandrew@bhsusa.com. You can learn more about Andrew at www.kramernyc.com or by contacting him at 212-317-3634

Photo: Cary Horowitz

Photo: Steven Strasser

JULY 18-24,2019

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Real Estate Sales

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

JULY 18-24,2019

DEAN & DELUCA CLOSES ON MADISON AVENUE BUSINESS The UES shutdown reflects the company’s larger financial troubles BY EMA SCHUMER

Dean & DeLuca ’s Madison Avenue location — notorious for its high prices in a neighborhood known for its exorbitance — shuttered its doors on the last day of June. Upper East Siders once thronged the gourmet grocery store — located on Madison Avenue and 85th Street — for its fresh produce, sushi, baked goods and other prepared foods. Now, pedestrians linger around the ghostly

storefront, peering into its vast windows that reveal nothingness. “It is with deep regret that we announce we are temporarily closing this location,” a sign taped to the door read, before falling off. “We have been a proud part of this community for over 10 years and we thank you for your patronage,” it continued. Ronald Guttman, an actor who lives on the Upper West Side, said he has been shopping at the Madison Avenue store for the past 15 years. He said that he would pick up organic, Irish salmon from the store to bring to his in-laws who live on Park Avenue. Three weeks ago, Guttman noticed that the store was running low on items.

Checking out the empty shop. Photo: Ema Schumer

Madison Avenue storefront. Photo: Ema Schumer

The New York Times reported that shelves were visibly meager in the last months of business. Dean & DeLuca, which was acquired by a real estate company in Thailand in 2014, is in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt to New York City food vendors alone. It recently closed two of its other stores in addition to its Upper East Side location. Dean & DeLuca did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Many pedestrians walking by the empty UES storefront noted the store’s high prices. Burt, who asked to be identiﬁed by his ﬁrst name only and has lived on 88th Street and Park Avenue for 20 years, said the

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most expensive item he purchased at the store was Montgomery cheese for $33 per pound. “I couldn’t live without it,” he said. Endre Molnar, who lives on 81st Street and Fifth Avenue, recalls buying a bouquet of flowers for $80. “I bought them only once,” he asserted. Despite the pricey items, locals continued to shop at the store. “I felt like their prices were a little high but for convenience people were willing to pay a premium,” explained Dana Coppolina, who lives on 83rd Street and Madison Avenue. Currently plagued by financial troubles, Dean & DeLuca was one of the first of its kind. Marsha Lee — who said that she frequented the Madison Avenue location when it first opened

— recalls how Dean & DeLuca revolutionized food shopping. “It was an institution that changed food markets. It was a real trailblazer for gourmet groceries,” she said. By shopping at Dean & DeLuca , “[you] could bring restaurant quality [food] to your home.” Dean & DeLuca ’s closure denotes the addition of yet another empty storefront to the landscape of Madison Avenue. Zee Pierro, who has lived atop the Madison Avenue storefront for the past 42 years, wants alternative gourmet grocer Citarella to move into the space. “We don’t need another clothing store on Madison Avenue,” she said.

JULY 18-24,2019

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

SOCCER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The players didn’t stop dancing when they arrived at City Hall — where Mayor Bill de Blasio presented each with a key to the city — strutting across the stage as Good Morning America’s Robyn Roberts introduced them to more cheering fans.

Much More Than Just a Soccer Team It was clear as players spoke at the podium that Wednesday’s festivities encompassed more than a celebration of their athletic dominance. It was a celebration too of the bigger messages the team represents, such as equality, inclusion and compassion. “This group is so resilient, is so tough, has such a sense of humor,” Megan Rapinoe said at the podium. “It’s just so badass. There’s nothing that can faze this group. We’re chilling. We got tea-sippin’, we got celebrations. We have pink hair and purple hair, we have tattoos and dreadlocks. We got white girls and black girls and everything in between. Straight girls and gay girls. I couldn’t be more proud to be a cocaptain with Carli [Lloyd] and Alex [Morgan] of this team. It’s my absolute honor to lead this team out on the field.” It was a message received with wild applause and waving of American and LGBT pride flags. The crowd frequently bellowed chants of “equal pay,” particularly when U.S. Soccer Federation President Carlos Cordeiro took the stage. Just months before the World Cup, the team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination, citing wages and working conditions that are inferior to those of their male counterparts, who’ve had much less success on the world stage. Rapinoe, though, thanked Cordeiro, as well as the entire staff at U.S. Soccer, saying she trusted him to make things rights. “Everyone in the position of power gets booed. I think that’s a sign of affection though right?” Rapinoe joked. “I’m going to stick my neck out there a little bit: I’m going to endorse Carlos. I think he’s with us. I think he’s on the right side of things. He’s proven every day since he’s been in office for us that he’s with us.” “I look forward to holding those feet to the fire,” she added. “Be More, Be Better” The 34-year-old star ender her speech with a call to action in light of her recent scuttle with President

We have pink hair and purple hair, we have tattoos and dreadlocks. We got white girls and black girls and everything in between. Straight girls and gay girls. Megan Rapinoe Donald Trump in which she declared she would not visit the White House if the team won. “We have to be better,” she said. “We have to love more, hate less. We got to listen more and talk less. We got to know that this is everybody’s responsibility. Every single person here, every single person who’s not here, every single person who doesn’t want to be here. Every single person who agrees and doesn’t agree. It’s our responsibility to make this world a better place.” Rapinoe said that she and her teammates are more than just athletes and that the fans are more than just soccer supporters who tune in every four years — they’re all members of a community. “This is my charge to everybody,” she said. “Do what you can. Do what you have to do. Step outside yourself. Be more, be better, be bigger than you’ve ever been before. If this team is any representation of what you can be when you do that, please take this as an example. This group is incredible. We took so much on our shoulders to be here today, to celebrate with you today, and we did it with a smile. So do the same for us, please, I ask you.” Just before confetti fell over City Hall, Rapinoe shouted with her fearless ﬂare, “New York City, you’re the motherf---ing best!”

Members of the United States women’s national soccer team celebrate at City Hall. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray with Megan Rapinoe. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

Your neighborhood news source Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray presented members of the United States women’s national soccer team with keys to the city. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

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JULY 18-24,2019

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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Our Town|Dow Downtowner wn w ntto own wne er r otdowntown.com

YOURS DREWLY The NYC life and times of a standup comic from Fargo, North Dakota BY CARMEN ARROYO

Fifty people clapped as Drew Lausch took the stage for his first paid comedy gig in New York City two years ago. He held the microphone with one hand and moved the other towards his naked hip. At this show “Comic Strip: An all naked comedy night’’ at Club Cumming in East Village, Lausch and other comedians could talk about anything they wanted, as long as they followed one rule: do it nude. Tall, skinny and white, Lausch smiled on stage, blinded by the spotlights, wearing nothing but sneakers. “Hey, guys. My name is Drew. I am a friendly faggot from Fargo, North Dakota,” he started. He got a laugh. Named for its co-owner, actor Alan Cumming, Club Cumming is a narrow gay bar where drag queens sing, DJs spin, and LGTBQ comedians perform under red lights. On a recent Wednesday, drag queen Tammy Spanx hosted the Club Cumming Variety Show and welcomed the crowd — a mix of millennials, drags, and gay couples — with: “Ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between, welcome.” Lausch, 25, laughed. The host had given him the seventh position of the night, so he sat next to the stage with his friend Danny Smith, drinking cocktails for more than 40 minutes. Around 11:30 PM, Spanx introduced Lausch, the only comic of the night. He arranged his blond hair, took the mic and offered the audience graphic details about his sex life. People laughed. Lausch has been doing comedy since he moved to New York City in 2017. An extroverted performer from — indeed — Fargo, he finished his musical theater degree at Ithaca College and realized that he didn’t want to dance, sing or act in plays any more. He was done with theater; he just wanted to talk. He turned to comedy. Two years later, Lausch works as a stand-up comedian four to five times a week, a film actor on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, a retail clerk on Fridays and a show producer every other weekend. On stage, he talks about his sexual orientation; on screen,

he plays a gay friend. nd. The three shows he produces in Manhattan with a colleague, Zach h Teague, feature a mix of drag ag and LGBTQ performances. es. At Scotch & Soda, a clothing thing store in the Upper West Side, Lausch sells jackets kets and pants for $16 an hour. our. Lausch grew up wantanting to be an actor. He sa n g, d a nced , a nd performed all the way through childhood. On a Friday, after his retaill shift, Lausch buys a salad at Lenwich, a noisy sandwich ch shop on Columbus Avenue. e. He rearranges his tufts of hair under a blue cap and confesses es he’s famished; he hasn’t eaten since morning. Dressed in skinny ny jeans and white sneakers, Lausch ch grabs the only free table at the shop. As a kid, “I was obsessed,” bsessed,” he says. “I was like,, ‘Give me as much attention ass you can, please’.” He got it. His mother, her, Sheryl Lausch, rememberss a threeyear old singing for or anyone who would listen. “Drew rew hated his pre-school meals,” s,” Sheryl reports, laughing. “Instead nstead he performed for the other kids during lunch hours.”

Drew Lausch at “Haus Party.” Photo: Carly Hoogendyk

In third thir grade, appearing in the “Orphan Train” in school, show “O Lausch knew he would become a singer. In I sixth grade, he played the in “Oliver!,” sure he main character ch would be a star. By eighth grade, his classmates had figured out he was classma something he didn’t admit to gay, som himself. He was still determined to hit Broadway. Broad “Suddenly my sexuality was up “Sudde Lausch recalls with for debate,” de leaving his salad on a shrug, sh the table. “I was tap dancing in North Dakota, you know? I was w gay.” But Lausch, a popular kid, fought back. “I was a psycho bitch,” he laughs. New to New York, Lausch took two comedy classes and started scouring the a city c for open mics and bar gigs. He also met Zach Teague, 25, a comedian from San Antonio, now his co-producer on three comedy shows monthly. As Lausch writes on his website, La “Dreams “Dream really do come Drew.” Teague, Teague a head taller than Lausch, finds him hi hilarious. “Drew plays on stage a heightened version of himself. His H persona is a twinkly gay guy that says crazy things and t gets away with it,” he says. “In real life he is smart and aware.” Indeed when he performs, Ind Lausch Laus becomes an over-sharing flirt. His humor is raw and raunchy, similar to his favorite raun comedians’, Amy Schumer and com Chelsea Handler. Che

21 Offstage, Lausch is a polite, cheerful, 25-year old trying to get gigs, produce and earn enough money to get by. On Mondays, Lausch rests. He sleeps till noon, runs errands, catches up with friends or auditions for acting gigs. At night, he does stand-up at queer shows and Brooklyn pubs like the Metropolitan Bar in Williamsburg. He doesn’t earn much at those gigs, maybe $5 or some drink tickets. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Lausch shoots a web series in Harlem called “Sugar Baby” with episodes ranging from 8 to 15 minutes long. He wrote the script last fall and presented it to Ben Schwartz, a producer for the video company Prime Focus Media. For weeks, they emailed back and forth revising the script. “I was doing another pilot and Drew was cast,” recalls Schwartz. “When I saw him improvise, I realized that we could work on the preproduction of this project.” In the show, Lausch plays a gay friend in charge of a baby — just another version of himself, he confesses. The team has filmed most of the first season, and Schwartz doesn’t know if there’ll be a second. He’ll release the web series in a few months, then wait for the public’s response. On Thursdays, Lausch is free to work on his act, contact comedians and drag performers for his shows, and go downtown to get some laughs. He spends Fridays at Scotch & Soda, where he loves his co-workers, Mona and Delia. On Saturdays and Sundays, Lausch and Teague organize the two monthly comedy shows they host at the West Side Comedy Club on the Upper West Side: “Homo You Didn’t,” an LGTBQ stand-up show, and “Bottomless,” a drag variety show. Every other month, they also produce “Haus Party” at Chelsea Music Hall, now their favorite show. Dreaming out loud, Lausch says he’d love to write and produce a show, perform more, tour the world. He doesn’t have a Plan B; he has to succeed. “My only Plan B is finding a sugar daddy,” he jokes. “I am going to try until I die or until my parents send me to rehab, whichever comes first.” For Lausch and Teague’s final “Bottomless” show, they assemble half a dozen comedians for a brunch. The room is half empty, but the crowd laughs hysterically at the hosts’ gay jokes. After two hours, Lausch and Teague pull down their pants, underwear on, and say goodbye. The audience laughs one last time.

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SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan

by Myles Mellor

CROSSWORD

JULY 18-24,2019

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