The local paper for Downtown wn EDUCATION GUIDE 2018
WEEK OF JANUARY
P.13
11-17 2018
NEW SECURITY MEASURES IN WAKE OF VEHICLE ATTACKS SAFETY 1,500 additional bollards will be installed as part of $50 million project BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Nearly eight months after a driver steered his car onto a crowded Seventh Avenue sidewalk and accelerated toward Times Square, killing one person and injuring 22 others, Mayor Bill de Blasio returned to the site of the crime to announce a safety initiative intended to prevent similar vehicle attacks in the future.
The May 2017 incident ended when the car driven by Richard Rojas, an intoxicated Bronx man, came to a stop in Times Square after striking a metal bollard at West 45th Street. The bollard, one of the dozens of small metal stanchions rising from the streets and sidewalks around Times Square, brought the car to an abrupt halt, likely preventing further injuries — but only after the vehicle had traveled three blocks on the sidewalk at high speed, striking and dragging bystanders along the way. The city will install 1,500 additional bollards in Times Square and other high-profile locations as part of a new $50 million project to bolster security
in public spaces. “These bollards will make sure that the vehicles can never come into the places where pedestrians are,” de Blasio said at the Jan. 2 press conference announcing the plan. The May incident in Times Square was one of two deadly vehicle attacks in Manhattan in 2017. On Oct. 31, a man driving a rented truck steered off the West Side Highway near Houston Street and entered a protected bike lane running along the Hudson River waterfront. The driver, identified by police as Sayfullo Saipov, drove southbound on the bike path for nearly a mile, deliberately targeting
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Additional metal bollards will be installed in Times Square and other high-profile Manhattan locations as a protective measure against vehicle attacks. Photo: Ed Reed/ Mayoral Photography Office.
RESIDENTS OPPOSE PLAN FOR WATERFRONT BRIDGE COMMUNITY Entrance to proposed esplanade access span would sit in Sutton Place Park South BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
A map showing the proposed esplanade access bridge at East 54th Street, which would occupy a portion of Sutton Place Park South and is opposed by some neighbors. Image: NYC EDC
A plan for a new pedestrian bridge at 54th Street connecting Sutton Place Park South to a new section of the East Midtown Waterfront Esplanade has been met with opposition from
some neighbors, who say the bridge spanning the FDR Drive would disrupt the nature of the park, a small strip of green space adjacent to the FDR drive between 53rd and 54th Streets. Plans call for the ramp to the pedestrian bridge to sit in what is now the northern portion of the park, close to its entrance near Sutton Place and East 54th Street. Several local groups, including Sutton Area Community, the Sutton Place Parks Conservancy, the Turtle Bay Association and the boards of neighboring residential Downtowner
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WEEK OF APRIL
SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12
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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buildings, have expressed concerns about the proposed bridge, which some neighbors say would take up much of the existing park, eliminate benches and walking space, and block the views of residents of the lower floors of surrounding buildings. The bridge is one piece of a $100 million city initiative to build eight new blocks of waterfront pathway raised on pilings over the East River from 53rd to 61st Streets. This planned eight-block stretch of the East River
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JANUARY 11-17,2018
REBRANDING WINTER WEATHER The clickable #bombcyclone takes Manhattan BY ALIZAH SALARIO
Even a non-partisan snowstorm needs a little spin. Well before the first snowflakes fell, the “bomb cyclone” created a tempest in a teapot. First I Googled it. Then I checked Twitter to see if it was trending. Then my mother texted me. Bomb cyclone ... wear your hat ... layer up the baby. When would the hybrid storm, its name conjuring the worst of natural and man-made disasters, make landfall? If I knew anything about “bombogenesis” — wait, what? And so on. Old Man Winter is surely laughing at our attempt to gussy him up. But how else to make this year’s big storm more interesting — and more clickable — than last year’s than by giving winter a sleek rebranding fit for the digital age? Over the course of my thirty-something winters, I’ve noted the evolution of the season’s image. A cold snap is now a polar vortex. Winter hurricanes have replaced snowstorms. My hometown, Chicago, became “Chiberia.” Even the temperature, that number upon which daily wardrobe decisions hinge, became the wind chill and AccuWeather’s RealFeel. Subzero, glacial, arctic. Wonky meteorology terms are now modern parlance. The way we talk about winter has become more
Photo: MTA New York City Transit, via flickr
extreme, even though, my mother swears, today’s winters are mild compared to ones she grew up with. Undoubtedly, the internet shaped winter’s new brand. Social media encourages the documentation of minutiae, therefore a snowy branch elegantly dripping with icicles isn’t simply a scene in winter’s ephemeral performance. It’s an Instagram photo with a filter accentuating whiteout conditions, #brr #wintervibes #snowycentralpark. Weather once played a supporting role on the evening news; now it has its own blockbuster franchise, The Weather Channel. To maintain audiences, storms get narrative arcs, and each winter there’s a new bone-chilling villain. Hence, the #bombcyclone. Perhaps I’m cynical about the clickbait-y rebranding, but (I can’t believe I’m writing this) I’m a little nostalgic for my childhood winters. I recall the anticipation of waiting for my elementary school’s name to scroll across the chyron on the evening news. A snow day was a rarity; most storms were meant to be braved. If school wasn’t canceled, my sister and I took turns waiting outside for the bus, then scurrying back home when it came into view to tell the other one to make a run for it. Now, there’s an app for tracking the bus. I received an email and a text notifying me that my daughter’s day care would be closed. I will probably turn into my mother, and someday tell my daughter her winters are a piece of cake compared to mine. But it’s true.
Photo: Colin Poellot, via flickr With weather updates constantly at my fingertips, winter loses a little edge, a little mystery. But just a little. Storms are still storms. They always start with a whiff of moisture in the air, climax with a bluster, end with the stillness of fallen snow, and then there’s the slushy epilogue. Nature is inherently dramatic. In the rush to rebrand, did we forget that? When the worst storm in New York history struck over a century ago in 1888, the play-by-play was documented in a New York Times article titled
“In a Blizzard’s Grasp.” The reporter gives a compelling account of a city at a standstill that’s worth reading in full. Back in 1888, precipitation was “boisterous” and the streets were impassible to men or horses. No hyperbole or fancy terms needed. Back then, storms were braved in terrifying isolation. Today, we watch the weather unfold collectively in real time. Technology surely mitigates some of winter’s threat, but global warming, the backdrop against which all weather events occur, is our modern
supervillain. There is real drama in wondering whether New York’s bomb cyclone and freezing temperatures are related to melting ice caps and rising greenhouse gases. Amid real threats to our environment, there’s something a little precious about storms curated for maximum clicks. Winter: It’s cold and snowy, long and harsh. Period. And then, year after year, winter ends. With any luck, I’ll be complaining about sweltering heat and the stench of hot garbage before I know it.
JANUARY 11-17,2018
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG NEW YEAR, OLD CRIME
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st district for
The New Year started out poorly for one New Year’s Eve reveler. At 1 a.m. on January 1, a 26-year-old woman put her bag down inside Paul’s Casablanca nightclub at 305 Spring St. and turned her back to her belongings. When she returned around at 1:35 a.m., her bag and its contents were missing. Aside from the $300 purse, the items presumed stolen include a smartphone, a wallet, $200, an ID and various credit cards. The purse and its contents are valued at $1,700.
Week to Date
BAG STOLEN A thief proved to be a bagman in two meanings of the phrase. At 5:15 p.m. on Friday, December 22, a man asked a salesman to show him two bags at a retail store at 483 Broadway. The salesman gave the other man two bags to examine, and the latter hid one of them under his own personal bag before leaving the location without paying. The stolen item was a Louis Vuitton bag priced at $1,550.
Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr
WALLET TAKEN Something far from super happened to one supermarket shopper recently. At 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday, December 26, a 40-year-old Hoboken, N.J., woman was shopping at the C-Town supermarket located at 5 Saint James Place. There she used one of her credit cards to pay for her purchases before
replacing the card in her wallet. She later was that her bag was open and her wallet missing. She canceled her stolen credit cards but not before three of them had been used in the Bronx to the tune of $1,200. She was also out $400 in cash and a wallet valued at $150.
Year to Date
2017 2016
% Change
2017
2016
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
9
0
n/a
Rape
1
0
n/a
18
9
100.0
Robbery
0
1
-100.0
69
60
15.0
Felony Assault
0
2
-100.0
91
78
16.7
Burglary
2
2
0.0
65
117
-44.4
Grand Larceny
15
18
-16.7
1,067 1,083 -1.5
Grand Larceny Auto
2
0
n/a
17
51
-66.7
CELLPHONE SNATCH
PICKPOCKET STRIKES
A brazen young woman stole another’s cell phone in the subway. At 10 p.m. on Wednesday, December 27, a 29-year-old woman was waiting for the northbound A/C platform of the Fulton Street station when a 20-year-old woman took her $1,000 smartphone from her right hand, saying, “Don’t even try to chase me!” The phone snatcher then fled the station, and a later search of the area proved fruitless.
A thief ruined a Japanese woman’s visit to the Big Apple recently. At 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 23, a woman from Yame City, Japan, was shopping on the second floor of the Cortlandt Street Century 21 store when another customer told her that her bag was open. The Japanese visitor then discovered that her $400 wallet, along with $500, was missing.
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
The History of the End of the World
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 12TH, 7PM The Strand | 828 Broadway | 212-473-1452 | strandbooks.com Catch dual presentations on the social and political forces that lie behind apocalyptic fantasies. Mid-20th century atomic fever and 19th-century radical utopias will be the focus ($20, includes complimentary beer and wine).
Advice Not Given: Mark Epstein
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16TH, 7PM McNally Jackson | 52 Prince St. | 212-274-1160 | mcnallyjackson.com Psychiatrist Dr. Mark Epstein, an expert in the intersections of Buddhism and psychotherapy, talks about his new book, which reveals similar conclusions from Eastern and Western practices about the relationship between ego and well-being (free).
Just Announced | HBO’s Mosaic: Preview Screening & Conversation with the Cast & Writer
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16TH, 7:30PM 92nd Street Y | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212-415-5500 | 92y.org Catch Sharon Stone as she talks about her new series, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Following a screening of two episodes, series stars join Stone and writer Ed Solomon for a conversation ($35).
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Useful Contacts
Drawing Board
POLICE
BY PETER PEREIRA
NYPD 7th Precinct
19 ½ Pitt St.
212-477-7311
NYPD 6th Precinct
233 W. 10th St.
212-741-4811
NYPD 10th Precinct
230 W. 20th St.
212-741-8211
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230 E. 21st St.
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16 Ericsson Place
212-477-7411 212-334-0611
FIRE FDNY Engine 15
25 Pitt St.
311
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227 6th Ave.
311
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222 E. 2nd St.
311
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42 South St.
311
ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin
165 Park Row #11
Councilmember Rosie Mendez
237 1st Ave. #504
212-587-3159 212-677-1077
Councilmember Corey Johnson
224 W. 30th St.
212-564-7757
State Senator Daniel Squadron
250 Broadway #2011
212-298-5565
Community Board 1
1 Centre St., Room 2202
212-669-7970
Community Board 2
3 Washington Square Village
212-979-2272
Community Board 3
59 E. 4th St.
212-533-5300
Community Board 4
330 W. 42nd St.
212-736-4536
Hudson Park
66 Leroy St.
212-243-6876
Ottendorfer
135 2nd Ave.
212-674-0947
Elmer Holmes Bobst
70 Washington Square
212-998-2500
COMMUNITY BOARDS
LIBRARIES
HOSPITALS New York-Presbyterian
170 William St.
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10 Union Square East
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CON EDISON
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JANUARY 11-17,2018
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PERFECT FOR BRUNCH & DINNER If anyone knows how to make an amazing dish, it’s Socarrat Paella Bar’s Lolo Manso. His restaurant serves up authentic Spanish eats, specializing in tapas and paella. For the first time ever, he’s stepping up to the plate at Our Town’s Art of Food event February 10, where
Our Town’s
ART OF FOOD
Discover the world around the corner. Find community events, gallery openings, book launches and much more: Go to nycnow.com
at
Presented by
he will be challenged to create a wholly unique dish inspired by a piece of artwork at Sotheby’s. While we wait to see his new masterpiece at The Art of Food, he’s sharing a favorite recipe with our readers: Tortilla Espanola.
EDITOR’S PICK
Tue 16 ‘IT OCCURS TO ME THAT I AM AMERICA’ ANTHOLOGY LAUNCH The Strand, 828 Broadway 7 p.m. $30 admission & signed copy of the book/$15 store gift card and admission 212-473-1452 strandbooks.com
Tortilla Espanola Serves 8-12
Many of America’s foremost writers and artists have condemned the current administration; 30 of them have created original work for “It Occurs To Me That I Am America: New Stories and Art.” Hear a panel of contributors, including Susan Minot, Angela Flournoy and Michael Cunningham, discuss the anthology and what it means to be free.
INGREDIENTS: 10 large eggs 4 cups extra-virgin olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 ½ pounds peeled and sliced russet potatoes 1 ¼ pounds diced onions 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped Dash of kosher salt
DIRECTIONS: 1. Place the onions, pepper, garlic and potatoes in a large bowl. Season with a dash of kosher salt. 2. Heat the oil over high heat in a 12-inch, deep-sided skillet. Carefully add all the potatoonion mixture and stir gently. Cook the potatoes at a simmer, stirring occasionally so they become soft, not crispy, for 20 to 25 minutes. Drain the potatoes through a colander and let them cool until warm. 3. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs and season with kosher salt and pepper. Stir the potatoes gently into the eggs. 4. Place skillet over medium high heat until very hot. Then, pour in the potato & egg mixture, spread evenly throughout the skillet. Using a spatula, gently pull the edges of the tortilla towards the center to release them from the pan and let any liquid egg run out the sides. 5. After about 4 minutes, cover the pan with the bottom of an oiled baking sheet. Using towels or oven mitts, carefully invert the tortilla onto the sheet, and slide back into the pan. Cook, without stirring, for about 3 minutes. Both sides of the tortilla should be golden brown. Slide tortilla onto a serving plate and serve warm.
Thu 11 Fri 12
Sat 13
‘DRAGON AT THE EDGE OF A FLAT WORLD:’ JOSEPH KECKLER
UNDER THE RADAR: PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
► MODERN WARRIOR LIVE: A COMBAT SOLDIER’S JOURNEY
McNally Jackson 52 Prince St. 7 p.m. Free Best known for his threeplus-octave operatic voice and his storytelling, performer Joseph Keckler combines original pieces with material from his shows in his new book, “Dragon at the Edge of a Flat World.” Hear him read from stories that blur the line between illusions and reality. 212-274-1160 mcnallyjackson.com
NYU Skirball Center 566 LaGuardia Place 7:30 p.m. $25 Created in collaboration with six dancers from the highly acclaimed Slovenian dance company EnKnapGroup, this innovative theater piece explores the rough-and-tumble myth of the Wild West, where whiskey pours, fists fly, and bullets ultimately settle the score. Runs through Jan. 14. 212-998-4941 nyuskirball.org
Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, 18 Bleecker St. 7:30 p.m. $35 The psychological weights of war, the challenges of reintegration as a civilian, and the potential for positive personal and communal growth are the subjects of this heartfelt theatrical presentation, cocreated by U.S. Army veteran Jaymes Poling and musician Dominick Farinacci. Additional performance Jan. 14. 212-925-2812 modernwarriorlive.org
JANUARY 11-17,2018
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Photo by Diliff, via Wikimedia Commons
Sun 14 Mon 15 Tue 16 GOING BEYOND THE DREAM: THREE EPISTLES ON RACE IN AMERICA Trinity Church Wall Street, Broadway at Wall Street 10 a.m. Free Poet and NYU professor Fred Moten reflects on James Baldwin’s “Letter from a Region in My Mind.” The event is part of Trinity Church’s reflective speaker series on race in America throughout January in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. 212-602-0800 trinitywallstreet.org
SOUL TO SOUL CONCERT
▲ BIRD WALK IN THE BATTERY
The Museum of Jewish Heritage, Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place 2 p.m. $25 Explore the experiences of two minority peoples and their paths to America’s promise of freedom through music and song. This event features stirring songs in Yiddish and in English, culminating in a highenergy collection of enthralling music from the civil rights era. 866-811-4111 mjhnyc.org
Meet at Netherlands Memorial Flagpole, corner of Broadway, Battery Place and State Street 8 a.m. Free If our feathered friends can brave the cold, then so can you. Join Gabriel Willow, an educator from NYC Audubon, on a tour to explore the diverse wintering birds that find food and habitat on the Battery’s waterfront, such as ducks, geese, loons, grebes and gulls. With any luck, you might spot a seal. 212-344-3491 nycgovparks.org/events
Wed 17 CECILIA VICUÑA IN CONVERSATION WITH AMARA ANTILLA The Drawing Center 35 Wooster St. 6:30 p.m. Free The aesthetics and politics of disappearance and surrender will be the subjects of a fascinating dialogue between Amara Antilla, assistant curator at the Guggenheim Museum, and the Chilean-born artist, poet and filmmaker Cecilia Vicuña. They’ll also discuss Vicuña’s street performances and actions in the 1980s and ‘90s, and their relevance today. 212-219-2166 drawingcenter.org
Chef Mark Strausman at the 2016 Art of Food event.
FREDS AT SOTHEBY’S Mark Strausman, head chef of Freds at Barney’s, preps for the Art of Food
Ragu to match his artwork, Picasso’s “Tete de Femme.” In 2017, Strausman was paired with Jack Pierson’s “Applause,” which com“A chef that doesn’t appreciate art, that plimented the eggplant parmesan dish he I don’t understand,” says Mark Strausman, served alongside it. Aside from being an art buff, Strausman Freds at Barney’s head chef. For him—and continues to particimany culinary buffs— pate in this event each art and cuisine go handOur Town’s year because of the in-hand. During the year crowd it pulls in. “This he spent in Holland, his is a neighborhood event, favorite spot to frequent and we’ve always conwas the Van Gogh Museat sidered ourselves to be um. “I love art,” he says. a neighborhood restauPresented by “Art is a passion.” rant,” he explains. “I Which is why he’s back really like that I always for his third consecutive year to participate in The Art of Food, a see a lot of people I know, a lot of customers, quintessential New York event at Sotheby’s people who I see in the morning on my way to where the art and dining worlds collide for pick up coffee. Plus, it’s the easiest commute one night only. There, he and about 30 other for me because I live in the neighborhood!” His favorite thing about living on the UES? top chefs will each be assigned a piece of artwork, and challenged to create a unique dish “It’s so not cool, that it’s cool.” Taste masterpieces, and discover what to pair with it. The first year, he dished out expertly makes the Upper East Side cool at The Art of plated portions of Rigatoni with Brisket Food: www.artoffoodny.com.
ART OF FOOD
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JANUARY 11-17,2018
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Voices
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RE-USE, RECYCLE, RECOVER Top 10 things Upper East Siders, and New Yorkers, can do to reduce waste this year BY JACQUELYN OTTMAN
Upper East Siders create more waste than residents in most other city neighborhoods. And with a waste transfer station set to open next year at East 91st Street, it would behoove us to reduce the amount of waste we generate by recycling as much as possible, and prevent waste before it’s created. Thanks to internet technologies and several programs now available through the Department of Sanitation, reducing waste is easier than ever. Doing
so can help us keep trucks off the streets, unsightly bags from piling up on sidewalks, and put still useful items into the hands of people who can use them — and out of landfills. Here are 10 suggestions for Upper East Siders to pursue this year. 1. BYO Reusables — Help to cut down on trash and litter by bringing your own coffee cup, water bottle and shopping bag. Take the NYC Zero Waste ‘BYO” Pledge: www1. nyc.gov/site/greenyc/take-action/ byo-pledge-form.page 2. Collect Food Waste — did you know that food and other ‘organics’ represents a third of the waste stream and degrade in landfils into a greenhouse gas that 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide? Learn
how to start collecting food scraps right in your building and help to build healthy soil vis composting here: www1.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/ zerowaste/residents/food-scrapsand-yard-waste.shtml 3. Collect E-waste — It’s against the law in New York State to throw used electronics in the trash. Some local retailers collect ‘e-waste’ but it’s even more convenient to work with the city to get a free ‘e-cycle’ cage in your building to conveniently recycle cell phones, computers and more. Learn more here: www1. nyc.gov/assets/dsny/zerowaste/ residents/electronics.shtml 4. Give stuff a new home — Giving your wardrobe a lift? Moving? Check out all the places in New York City where you can donate gently used items. www.nyc.gov/donate While you’re at it, check out local thrift stores on the list — and dis-
cover possibilities in our neighborhood for vintage finds. 5. Free Stuff — Who doesn’t love getting free stuff? Simply repurpose a carton or other container for your laundry room or other public space, and help your neighbors start to “leave stuff” and “take stuff” right in your building. 6. Free Book Exchange — Even if it’s just one shelf in their building’s laundry room, more city buildings than you can imagine have a little free library. Start one in your building by repurposing a used bookcase, and discover how much a simple amenity like this can enhance your neighbors’ lives. 7. Swap Don’t Shop — Organize a clothes swap with friends. Host a swap event in your building’s lobby. Contact Grow NYC and learn how: www.grownyc.org/swap 8. Repair broken products — With
repair shops hard to find, learn how to fix items yourself using ifixit. com videos, or take them to various FixUp locations around Manhattan: www.fixuprepair.com/howitworks 9. Junk mail — Save trees and paper by getting off junk mailing lists. Here’s how. www1.nyc.gov/assets/ dsny/zerowaste/residents/junkmail.shtml 10. Sharing is Caring — Join Nextdoor.com and start borrowing and lending stuff to neighbors right in your building and block. The group Upper West Side Recycling has information on its website at www. uwsr.org Jacquelyn Ottman is a resident of the Upper East Side, a zero waste consultant and a member of the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board.
COMINGS AND GOINGS EAST SIDE OBSERVER BY ARLENE KAYATT
The East Side Observer pushed aside the bean soup and ordered another margarita. Photo: Taavi Burns, via flickr
An OPENING not a closing — Great to report a new business on the block. It’s not yet open, but a welcome is awaiting the arrival of Otto’s Tacos brick-and-mortar on the corner of Third and 88th. It replaces Roma Pizza, which moved several storefronts north to a space three times the size. I’m not complaining (OK, I am) but since Roma’s moved, the service has slowed down. While the pizza’s just as good, it seems that the new spot is suffering from size. When Roma’s was in the smaller space, customers were crowded into one little corner spot, and the claustrophobia behind the counter may have caused the staff to keep things — like pizza and other orders — moving at record speeds. Now, in the newer, bigger location, it takes forever to get a slice or a pasta or a soda or anything. And the staff is forever chatting it up with each other as they walk back and forth behind the counter with nary a slice nor a pasta order in hand. Result: orders don’t ar-
rive until there’s been a showdown between an exasperated customer and the counter staff with the customer stomping out or calling for the boss or manager to take matters in hand. Period of adjustment? I hope so. In the meantime... anyway, welcome Otto’s Tacos to the UES. Goodbye again — This time to Pioneer supermarket on 93rd and Lex. Don’t know why it’s gone, but it is. Another neighborhood business is no more. Razing redux — The block between 65th and 66th and First — west side of street — looks like it’s getting readied for a razing. All those storefronts boarded up. Maybe another tower? Maybe another — or series of — medical facilities? Only time will tell. New year. New culture. Out with the old. In with the new? Strange, but nothing’s new anymore. The same thing keeps happening. Tear down. Build up. Move outs. Evictions. No more small. All big. Everything looks the same. No more neighborhood distinctions. Now, the block 65th/66th Street block, in the immediate vicinity of Memorial Sloan Kettering on First Ave. is joining the going, going, goners. Maybe there will be an addition, or additions, to “hospi-
tal row”? Presently, on the same side of the street as MSK, there’s a medical diagnostic facility. Hard to keep apace with neighborhood demolitions and replacements in our 24/7 world of fast-breaking news and commercial development. The spoon’s too full — So soup’s not on. This story’s about a soup spoon. Yes, a soup spoon. One that falls into your soup after taking a mouthful and then, when placing it into the bowl before the next go round, falls into the soup. Here’s how it went: Here goes. A pre-freezing December afternoon between stops found me lusting for a frozen margarita and a hot bean soup. Perfect place in the vicinity was Gabriela’s, on Amsterdam Ave in the 90s. Excellent libation. Heavenly soup. Struggle came with the bean soup which was served in an oversized crock bowl with an undersized soup spoon. Result: a minimum mouthful of soup and the too-small soup spoon getting lost in the soup. Reporting it to the waitress was useless. She’d heard it all before. Same answer. That’s the soup spoon. Take it or leave it. I got the message. Left the soup. Had another margarita.
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SECURITY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 cyclists and pedestrians along the narrow trail, leaving eight dead and seven injured by the time he was apprehended by police after colliding with a school bus near Stuyvesant High School. Police said that Saipov, a 29-year-old Uzbek immigrant, was inspired by the Islamic State. In the days following the attack, city and state transportation officials installed dozens of large concrete barriers along the Hudson River Greenway at potential access points for vehicles as a temporary safety measure, prompting some cyclists to complain that the bulky blocks impeded the flow of traffic in the lanes by forcing bikers into dangerously narrow spaces. Under the new initiative, temporary concrete barriers
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com around the city will be replaced this month with “more aesthetically pleasing blocks” on a temporary basis until the installation of permanent metal bollards begins in March. The 1,500 new bollards will be installed over the next few years. The city has not shared a detailed list of the locations of the new security measures, but officials said new bollards will be installed in Times Square and additional sites will include “business corridors, tourist attractions and iconic sites.” Pedestrian and bicycle safety measures became an area of increased focus for city officials in 2017 in the wake of the two Manhattan incidents and recent jihadist-inspired vehicle attacks in London, Berlin, Nice and elsewhere. In December, the City Council passed legislation requiring the DOT to submit annual reports to the council detailing the installation of bollards beginning in
July of this year. The mayor said that the bollards’ utility extends beyond protecting pedestrians from intentional vehicle attacks alone. “It’s also important to recognize that sometimes we’ve seen tragedies that were not based on an attack,” de Blasio said. “We’ve seen cars that just spun out of control or reckless drivers, or someone who, God forbid, had a heart attack while driving. We’ve seen cars go into pedestrian areas. We want to make sure in some of the most heavily traveled areas of this city that these bollards protect against those kind of tragedies as well.” There were 101 pedestrian deaths and 23 bicyclist deaths citywide in 2017, the lowest combined total since the Vision Zero traffic safety program was launched in 2013. Pedestrian fatalities are down 45 percent since program started.
A cyclist passes temporary concrete barriers installed on the Hudson River Park Bikeway in Lower Manhattan following the Oct. 31 vehicle attack that killed eight people. Photo: Michael Garofalo
BRIDGE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Sutton Place Park South is the site of the proposed entrance to a pedestrian bridge that would provide access to a new stretch of waterfront esplanade on the East River. The plan is opposed by some neighbors. Photo: Michael Garofalo
Greenway is the second phase of the East Midtown Waterfront Esplanade project, which upon completion will run uninterrupted from 38th to 61st Streets, closing one of the largest remaining gaps in the Manhattan’s network of waterfront paths. Construction on the second phase is expected to begin in 2019 and last three years. Plans for the project include the construction of new access points to the esplanade across the FDR drive, including the proposed pedestrian bridge at 54th Street. The New York City Economic Development Corporation is the lead city agency on the project. Last month, Community Board 6 passed a resolution requesting that EDC provide in writing its rationale for the proposed location of the bridge at 54th Street. The community board also requested that EDC present the design to the Sutton Place community for further comment. An EDC representative said the agency is currently reviewing the resolution; at press time, EDC had not provided a written response to the community board. EDC representatives are scheduled to attend the Jan. 22 meeting of Community Board 6’s land use and waterfront committee. “We will work closely with the community and welcome their important feedback as the project moves forward,” EDC spokesperson Shavone Williams said in an emailed statement. “EDC plans to attend the upcoming community board land use committee meeting and we will continue to work closely with our designer to reflect the needs and priorities expressed by the local community and their elected of-
ficials. We look forward to taking the next steps to provide [an] ADA compliant ramp for bicyclists and pedestrian access to the waterfront and improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers.” The Sutton Place community’s concerns have attracted the attention of elected officials. U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney voiced her opposition to the proposed 54th Street bridge and requested that the EDC reconsider its placement in a letter to James Patchett, the EDC’s president and CEO. Maloney wrote that the bridge, as planned, “would harshly cut through the park, destroy the harmonious design and eliminate access to much of the space.” “The design overtakes much of the available walking space and completely overwhelms the park,” Maloney’s letter continued. “Instead of creating harmonious connections to the new esplanade, the design virtually supplants the old park and renders it incidental to the massive and intrusive pedestrian bridge.” City Council Member Keith Powers, whose district includes the proposed location of the bridge, told Our Town, “I share concerns that the 54th Street pedestrian bridge could result in lost open space in and around Sutton Place, specifically concerning an existing park. I look forward to working with both the community and the EDC to explore alternatives and identify a solution.” Charles Coutinho, the president of Sutton Area Community, a nonprofit that represents the neighborhood’s residents and businesses, said that his organization is working with an architect to identify alternate locations for the access bridge. Michael Garofalo: reporter@strausnews.com
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WOODSON NAMED ‘YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE’ AMBASSADOR Acclaimed NYC author will take on two-year role for Library of Congress BY HILLEL ITALIE
Jacqueline Woodson, the country’s next National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, originally had someone else in mind for the job. “It’s funny, because I called him [current ambassador Gene Luen Yang] awhile back to suggest another person,” the award-winning author told The Associated Press during a recent telephone interview. “And he told me, ‘Thanks, we already have a person we want.’ I had no idea it was me.” The Library of Congress, which along with the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader announced Woodson’s appointment last
Thursday, will hold a formal ceremony this week to begin her two-year term. One of the country’s most acclaimed writers for young people, Woodson won the National Book Award in 2014 for the memoir-in-verse “Brown Girl Dreaming” and is also known for novels such as “Feathers” and “Another Brooklyn.” She has previously served as “young people’s poet laureate,” an advisory position for the Poetry Foundation. “We are delighted that Jacqueline Woodson has agreed to be the new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. “I have admired Jacqueline Woodson’s work for years, especially her dedication to children and young-adult literature. The Library of Congress looks forward to Jacqueline’s tenure of encouraging young readers to em-
Jacqueline Woodson presenting at the 2017 National Book Awards, where she was chair of the fiction panel of judges. Photo: Beowulf Sheehan brace reading as a means to improve the world.” The ambassador position was established in 2008 with a mission to raise “national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education and the development and betterment of the lives of young people.” Previous ambassadors also include Jon Scieszka, Walter Dean Myers, Katherine
Paterson and Kate DiCamillo. Woodson has developed a platform called “READING (equals) HOPE x CHANGE (What’s Your Equation?).” According to the Library of Congress, the idea is to encourage “young people to think about — and beyond — the moment they’re living in, the power they possess, and the impact reading can have on showing them ways in which they can create the hope and the
QUEST FOR THE TRUMP CHRONICLES PUBLISHING Bookstores desperately seek “Fire and Fury” as readers hunger to wolf down Michael Wolff’s tell-all book BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
Photo: Shakespeare and Co.
The reviews are in from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and they’re not very pretty: “A really boring and untruthful book,” panned @realDonaldTrump. “A garbage book” penned by a “garbage author,” said White House aide Stephen Miller. “A total fabrication,” said press secretary Sarah Sanders. “Complete fantasy.” “Cease and desist from any further publication,” wrote Charles Harder, the president’s personal attorney. Retract “false/baseless statements.” New Yorkers aren’t buying the invective. In fact, to their great dismay, legions of would-be readers have not
been able to buy the book either. The 336-page tell-all in question — the “phony new book,” in Trump’s infelicitous phrase, by that “total loser who made up stories” Michael Wolff — is of course “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” published by Henry Holt & Co. “We had 440 copies on Friday, and by Saturday morning, they were all gone,” said Chris Doeblin, owner of Book Culture, which operates three stores on the Upper West Side. “The phone has been ringing off the hook ever since from people trying to find it.” Trump’s intervention and the frenzied attacks from aides may have boosted sales by some 425 copies at Doeblin’s shops on Broadway, Columbus Avenue and West 112th Street: “Before the uproar, we had planned to order about 15 copies,” he said. Across town, at the Corner Bookstore on Madison Avenue at 93rd Street, manager Chris Lenahan said he managed to get 70 copies last week and another 25 on Monday. “They were all gone before they got
into the store,” he said. “They never got put on display because so many people called asking us to hold the book for them.” At least 50 people are still on a waiting list. But Manhattanites aren’t exactly known for their patience. At Logos Bookstore, on York Avenue at 84th Street, owner Harris Healy III says some customers placed reservations when they couldn’t get copies, but plenty of others simply “zoomed in and zoomed out of the store” to hunt for it somewhere else. “It’s the hottest story of the moment, they want it right on the spot, and nobody wants to wait,” Healy said. In a 90-minute period starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 9th, Straus News canvassed seven bookstores by phone, including the Barnes & Noble on Union Square, the B&N on Broadway and West 82nd Street and the Strand Bookstore on Broadway and East 12th Street. Only one of the seven — or 14.3 percent — had physical copies of the book in stock that morning, and employees of both B&Ns said they didn’t antici-
JANUARY 11-17,2018
change they want to see in the world.” A prolific writer who has three upcoming books in various stages of completion, the 54-year-old Woodson says she is feeling excitement and “some trepidation” about her new job. “I love my solitude,” she says, “just having the time to create stories.” But she also welcomed a rare opportunity to reach young people in a direct and personal way, and to express opinions openly, to “be didactic.” A resident of Brooklyn, she hopes to visit rural communities and prisons, places where her books may not be available. She already is planning to attend an event at the Legacy Museum & National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which opens this spring in Montgomery, Alabama. “I think I’ll be eating, sleeping and dreaming literacy and literature for the next two years and how to make an impact,” she says. “We’re at such a crucial time in our history and we need to have the conversations that literature allows us to have. I feel like I’m stepping outside of myself a little as a writer. Writing had always been about trying to change the narrative through literature. And here I’m trying to do it through talking, having conversations, and not through my characters.”
pate receiving any more copies of the Wolff broadside before January 19th. The lucky shop still sporting inventory was Shakespeare & Co., on Lexington Avenue at East 69th Street, and owner Dane Neller offered to prove the point by sending along three photographs showing a handful of copies in the display windows and the best-seller section. “It’s hugely in demand,” he said. “And it’s in the store right now, and of course it’s on display, so come on over and buy it!” When was the last time a publishing phenomenon left so many readers and booksellers similarly emptyhanded? Doeblin and Lenahan agreed: It was in 1989, after the publication of “The Satanic Verses,” when Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of novelist Salman Rushdie for blasphemy. The global outrage created a run on the book and propelled it to best-sellerdom. There is a common thread spanning the three intervening decades. “Back then, it was the Ayatollah Khomeini who told us not to buy the book,” Doeblin said. “This time, it is the Ayatollah Trump.”
JANUARY 11-17,2018
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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS DEC 26 - JAN 1, 2017 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.
Rochelle’s/205 Club
19 Stanton St
A
388 Cafe & Deli
1-3 Eldridge Street
A
Bep Ga
70 Forsyth St
A
Aizumi Sushi
283 Broome St
Not Yet Graded (60) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. 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. 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.
Kabisera Kape
151 Allen St
Not Yet Graded (36) No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Rosario’s Pizza
173 Orchard Street
A
Katz’s Delicatessen
205 East Houston Street
A
La Sultana Cafe
124 East 4 Street
A
Hou Yi
97 2nd Ave
A
Sigiri Ny
91 1st Ave
A
Starbucks
1325 Astor Place
A
The Central Bar
109 East 9 Street
A
Cafe Mocha
116 2 Avenue
A
New Double Dragon
37 1 Avenue
A
White Oak Tavern
21 Waverly Pl
A
770 Broadway
A
Bagel Bob’s
51 University Place
A
Raj Mahal Indian Restaurant
322 East 6 Street
A
2 Bros Pizza
32 St Marks Place
A
Dunkin’ Donuts
208 E 14th St
A
The Bean
147 1 Avenue
A
Bluestockings Womens Bookstore Cafe
172 Allen Street
A
Matcha Cafe Wabi
233 E 4th St
A
La Flaca
384 Grand Street
A
Big Gay Ice Cream Shop
125 E 7th St
A
Whiskey Tavern
79 Baxter Street
A
Papa Johns Pizza
210 1st Ave
Grade Pending (5) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
West New Malaysia Restaurant
4648 Bowery
A
The Mill
75 Varick St
A
Corner Bistro
331 West 4 Street
A Sam’s Deli
30 Mulberry St
Grade Pending (2)
Bennys Burritos
111113 Greenwich Avenue
A Ajisen Ramen
14 Mott Street
CLOSED (53) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Yves
385 Greenwich St
A
Mike’s Noodle House
80 Nassau Street
A
Dos Toros
101 Maiden Ln
A
Rosella’s Pizzeria
164 William Street
A
Woodrows
43 Murray Street
A
Rosa Mexicano Tribeca
41 Murray St
A
Four Seasons Hotel Employee Cafeteria
27 Barclay St
A
Galerie Decafe
49 Warren St
A
Apple Gourmet
225 Broadway
A
Bagatelle
1 Little West 12 Street A
Hoa Noodle And Tea
401 6th Ave
A
Kawa Sushi 8 Avenue
24 8 Avenue
A
L’aile Ou La Cuisse (L’a.O.C)
314 Bleecker St
Grade Pending
Monte’s
97 Macdougal Street
A
Lure Fishbar
142 Mercer Street
A
Scholastic Publications Cafe
557 Broadway
A
Dig Inn / Matchabar
70 Prince St
Not Yet Graded (65) 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. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Food contact surface improperly constructed or located. Unacceptable material used. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
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EDUCATION GUIDE
JANUARY 11-17,2018
2018
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
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JANUARY 11-17,2018
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
IN NEW YORK CITY, DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY College graduation rates remain low, particularly in the outer boroughs BY JONATHAN BOWLES AND TOM HILLIARD CENTER FOR AN URBAN FUTURE
Whereas 60 percent of adults in Manhattan have earned at least a bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree, only one-third of adults in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island have done so. The rate is just 19 percent in the Bronx. Pictured, graduating students cheering at the 2017 City College of New York commencement. Photo: CUNY Office of Communications and Marketing
In his ďŹ rst term, Mayor Bill de Blasio took important steps to reduce inequality with bold policies such as universal pre-K and computer science for all. But if the mayor is serious about making headway on his signature issue, his administration should now turn its attention to another important educational reform: boosting the rate at which New Yorkers earn a college credential. While a college credential has become the single most important ticket to the middle class, far too few New Yorkers have one. This includes thousands of young people who enroll in the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public colleges and community colleges with the express purpose of getting a degree. All told, about 3.3 million city residents over age 25 lack an associateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree or higher level of college attainment. Whereas 60 percent of
adults in Manhattan have earned at least a bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree, the same is true for fewer than a third of adults in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and just 19 percent in the Bronx, the second-lowest rate among the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 largest counties. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no coincidence that the parts of the city with the fewest degree-holders are also those with the largest and most stubborn pockets of poverty. To the mayorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s credit, New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high school graduation rate hit an all-time high of 76 percent in 2016, up from 50 percent in 2000. But alarmingly few of these high school graduates are succeeding in college. Only 22 percent of students who enter CUNYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community colleges earn a diploma in three years. In some communities, the completion rate is even lower: 16 percent at Bronx Community College and 19 percent at Borough of Manhattan Community College. To be sure, graduation rates at CUNYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community colleges have steadily improved over the past eight years â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from 14 percent to 22 percent. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a big jump from a low base,
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JANUARY 11-17,2018 thanks in large part to CUNY’s pioneering Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) initiative, which provides a range of supports, from counseling to financial help, that help keep students on track. But for a combination of reasons — because many young people aren’t ready for college-level work, and because college costs, even when they seem low, are a burden — it remains abysmally low. New York needs to make a lot more progress in tackling its college success problem if it has any hopes whatsover of wrestling with its inequality problem. And although leaders at CUNY and the Department of Education have major roles to play, serious progress requires leadership from de Blasio himself. First, the mayor can help ensure more of the city’s low-income students overcome the financial burdens that derail so many on their paths to a degree. As a new report by the Center for an Urban Future details, affordability isn’t just about tuition — roughly 57 percent of CUNY students attend college tuition-free — but the burden of daily expenses such as housing, food, transit, books and childcare, often while foregoing full-time jobs. CUNY estimates indirect costs of $10,000 a year for students living at home. This matters in a city where 71 percent of CUNY community college students come from households with incomes of less than $30,000 per year. To address a key non-tuition cost
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com contributing to the high dropout rate, the mayor should provide MetroCards for all community college students. Free monthly MetroCards have helped the ASAP initiative more than double graduation rates among participating students. This major incentive should be expanded to all CUNY community college students. At the same time, de Blasio should demand ASAP expand further. In his first term, the mayor admirably invested $77 million in the innovative program, enabling it to scale up to 25,000 students per year. But that’s still only half of all full-time community college students. Meanwhile, to prepare more high school students to succeed in college, the mayor should push the city’s public schools to put a full-time college access counselor in every high school and overhaul the math curriculum, which currently fails far too many students. Beyond the promising Algebra for All initiative, the city should expand math instruction in all four high school years. New York City’s college success problem worsens inequality and holds back economic mobility. As he embarks on his second term, Mayor de Blasio has a vital opportunity to change that. Jonathan Bowles is executive director of the Center for an Urban Future. Tom Hilliard is the center’s senior fellow for economic opportunity.
Only 22 percent of students who enter CUNY’s community colleges earn a diploma in three years. Pictured, graduates’ mortarboards at the 2017 Macaulay Honors College commencement. Photo: CUNY Office of Communications and Marketing
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A nascent apprenticeship program brings schools together with employers, and helps meet the needs of students and companies alike. Companies partnering with the program are in high-growth ďŹ elds such as information technology, advanced manufacturing and other ďŹ elds. Photo: Connor Einarsen, via ďŹ&#x201A;ickr
A PATH TO CAREER â&#x20AC;&#x201D; AND SCHOOLING No longer an either-or proposition: Students plan apprenticeships then college on the way to the workforce. BY TARA GARCĂ?A MATHEWSON
At least in word â&#x20AC;&#x201D; if not always in deed â&#x20AC;&#x201D; school districts across the United States have shiftedfrom preparing students for college or careers, to preparing students for college and careers. District missions and visions have been rewritten to reflect efforts to ready graduates for both paths, a signature goal of former President Barack Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Race to the Top education program. But the difference between word and deed is an important one. And closing this gap is a
major challenge for schools. In Colorado, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a nascent effort to use apprenticeships to give high schoolers work experience, and to do so in high-wage, high-demand career ďŹ elds. At the end of the apprenticeships, which last three years, students have on-the-job experience, a useful credential in hand and one year of college credit. They also earn about $30,000 in wages over the duration of the program. The program, CareerWise Colorado, has placed 116 apprentices from four school districts with 40 employers this year, its first. Students split their time between a traditional classroom, the workplace and a training center, where they receive technical instruction theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need on the job. The
program starts the summer before a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s junior year and ends one year after high school graduation. Gretchen Morgan, president of CareerWise Colorado, a nonproďŹ t intermediary that brings schools together with employers, said during a panel at the Global Learning Network conference last month in Boston that the program is designed to meet the needs of students and companies alike. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what should make it sustainable. For companies, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fresh talent and a ďŹ nancial return on their investment in students. At the beginning of the apprenticeship, students are paid more than their productivity might warrant. But by year three, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re significantly more productive than their
JANUARY 11-17,2018
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wages. In the Swiss model on which CareerWise is based, companies see an average return on investment of about 10 percent. In Switzerland, 70 percent of young people choose to do apprenticeships through their schools. Students, of course, earn money, along with the credential, transfer credit to college and work experience that could lead to a full-time job. They also build a professional network, which Morgan said can go a long way toward alleviating inequality. “People have the networks they are born into,” she said. Children of white-collar parents often receive professional exposure early on that helps them make informed decisions about career pathways. For students who aren’t born into these networks, school-based apprenticeships can help create or expand them. CareerWise has made sure to limit barriers to entry for prospective apprentices. There is no GPA requirement to apply. Students just need to be able to graduate on time and have enough space in their schedules to accommodate the pro-
gram. Morgan said Denver Public Schools has been particularly committed to supporting apprentices who need extra academic help. Highachieving students also tend to be drawn to the program as a way to make themselves more marketable for future jobs. CareerWise did find it more difficult than expected to recruit students, however. School counselors and parents, especially, had to be convinced that this modern apprenticeship system wasn’t a second-tier alternative to college, as traditional vocational education has sometimes been. CareerWise’s leaders stressed to families that the companies partnering with their program are in highgrowth fields — information technology, advanced manufacturing, business operations, health care and financial services. Bob Schwartz, a professor emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and co-leader of the Pathways to Prosperity Network, said at the Boston conference that many career-focused programs in high schools around the country now emphasize partnerships with similar industries,
in part to change the image of career education. And Schwartz expects the popularity of career education would be very different if parents were removed from the equation, and young people themselves could choose between a traditional high school education and an opportunity to mix work and learning, earn money and a credential with labor-market value, and still leave open the option of postsecondary education. “If we put that choice to young people, I’m sure they would vote with their feet,” Schwartz said. In Switzerland, which provided the inspiration for CareerWise, fully 70 percent of young people choose the apprenticeship route. In Colorado, CareerWise hopes to expand over the next decade to serving 20,000 apprentices per year — 10 percent of the state’s juniors and seniors. And that’s a start. This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for its newsletter at hechingerreport. org/
This Spring, Make Your Child’s Weekends Count!
NYU High School Academy Weekend Workshops In addition to excellent grades, the college admissions process requires that high school students demonstrate they are serious about their academic and professional future. The NYU High School Academy at the NYU School of Professional Studies offers weekend workshops to provide high school students with programs of study that allow them to explore their professional options and enhance their college portfolio. These workshops are offered in condensed, weekend formats and are taught by top industry experts. They provide rigorous coursework and serve as an impressive addition on a college application.
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Spring workshops begin in February, and the deadline to apply is Monday, January 29, 2018. Space is limited. Courses Available
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Advanced Computer Science Concepts with JavaScript
Journalism: Reporting, Researching, and Writing Features
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NewYorkPublishNotices.com is a joint venture of the New York Press Association, the New York News Publishers Association, and American Lawyer Media (publishers of the New York Law Journal).
Computer Information Systems: Cyber Defense
Photography: New York City through the Camera Lens
Creative Approaches to Writing the College Application Essay
Podcasting: An Introduction to Audio Storytelling
Creative Writing Workshop: Finding the Truth in Fiction
Pre-Law: An Introduction to Torts
This website is a public service made possible by the newspapers of New York.
Digital Filmmaking: Storytelling on Film
Start-ups and Innovation Lab
Global Economics
The Sports Management Core: Understanding the Business of the Game
NewYorkPublicNotices.com is a comprehensive database of public notices published throughout the state of new York. The website provides access 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to public notices published throughout the state, regarding foreclosures, public hearings, advertisements for bids, ordinances, zoning, and environmental issues, and other government activities that are legally required to be published. All of the notices that appear on this site will have originally been published in New York’s newspapers, the primary source for community information.
Interactive Marketing Campaigns: The Power of Public Relations and Social Media Introduction to Architecture
Social Media 101 for the Digital Sports Fan
Writing for Television: Creating and Writing a New Series
Investing Fundamentals: Shaping Your Financial Future
To apply, visit: sps.nyu.edu/hsacademy/weekend07 For questions, please call 212-998-7006 or email sps.hsacademy@nyu.edu
New York University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution. ©2018 NYU School of Professional Studies.
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READY, SET, TEACH! Reflections on teacher leaders from a pro football coach BY MIKE GOLDSTEIN
The best teachers get students to “own” schoolwork, much like a football coach wants players owning the preparation work, the author writes. Photo: Bob Stephan, via flickr
It’s 2006 at a Minnesota Vikings practice. Darren Sharper, a ninthyear veteran and star player, is loafing at practice. A voice calls out: “Hey Sharper, you ain’t immune to this.... Get your ass over here.” Sharper glares. Silence. Then Sharper walks over, grabs a helmet, and starts the drill. The challenge came from Kevin Williams, a fellow Vikings player, in just his third year. The relieved young coach, absorbing the whole exchange? Brendan Daly. “Kevin Williams was an all-in team guy,” Daly recalled. “He was an on-field coach, not afraid to challenge guys. A leader. He just commanded respect.” When Daly joined the New England Patriots as a coach in 2014, he found another player like that. “We had Vince Wilfork anchoring our defensive line. He was the whole package: a no-nonsense star who set the tone. If you have a leader like Vince, you can
add a couple of other guys who might have some [things] to deal with, because Vince will get them right.” Every teacher hopes for a Vince Wilfork: a respected student who can set a positive tone for other kids, who can counteract a ringleader who nudges the classroom culture towards disaffection or disorder. Similarly, every principal hopes for a Kevin Williams on his teaching team: a respected educator who holds his peers accountable, who pushes for a focus on achievement, who can counteract a ringleader who complains frequently. The New England Patriots don’t just hope for these types. They seek them out. I interviewed Daly in a coffee shop back in April, two months after the Pats won Super Bowl LI. Before becoming a coach, Daly spent a brief stint as a school teacher. “Coaches are teachers,” he said. “That’s all it is. We just teach a different subject than the stuff in school.” Even though it was the off-season, Daly had been scouting. “We’re looking for players who will
call out other guys when needed,” he explained, “and who won’t just leave that to coaches. “We believe the best way for learning to happen is when small groups of players are studying hard, without coaches... that’s what we prefer,” Daly told me. It sounds obvious. But isn’t. Anyone will choose a leader-with-talent over a non-leader-with-equal-talent. The question is: Will you sacrifice athletic talent for better leadership? “We’re no different than any other sport,” Daly, turning to basketball, explained. “LeBron James clearly sets expectation about defensive intensity, so his teammates notice. Isaiah Thomas does the bare minimum on defense, in the most obvious way. We need leaders in our meetings, in our film sessions, in our practices... and most of all when we [the coaches] aren’t around.” This reminds me of the best teachers, who get students “owning” the work, wrestling with the key questions in small groups or alone, rather than with the teacher spoon-feeding it. Coaches want the same thing: players “owning” the preparation work.
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JANUARY 11-17,2018 “How do you scout leadership?” I asked Daly. “Leadership is definitely the hardest quality to assess,” he said. “I can see the player’s technique on film. I can read their physical scores. But I learn about leadership by talking to coaches and assistant coaches. Some I trust. Some I don’t. Some trust me and will tell me what they really think. Others probably don’t. “Bear in mind, when a head football coach is fired or leaves, all the assistants typically get fired — because a new coach doesn’t want to deal with people they don’t know and trust. Probably not true in schools — if a principal leaves, the teachers and assistant principal don’t leave as well. So football is culture where ‘who you know’ matters a lot for new jobs. That in turn affects scouting, and makes it more relationship-driven.” I’m reminded here of teacher hiring. In many schools, the process is: resumes are sorted, then the interview process does the heavy lifting, with a throw-in reference check at the end, where someone reads a few glowing references to make sure the word “axe-murderer” is not in there. In many charter school networks, however, the teacher
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com hiring process is inverted. They use LinkedIn to find a first or second-degree acquaintance who really knows the candidate, and seeks out a candid blind reference. That information is gold. It goes to what the teacher is “really like” in the staff room, in meetings, in the hallways, during summer professional development. Only after praise in that reference check does the interview process unfold, and even there the tone might be, “We’re already impressed and want to make you a job offer, so this discussion is more answering your questions to assess if you think our school is the right fit.” There’s an aspect of Daly’s recruiting work that involves decoding language. “If I hear ‘Leads by example,’ often that’s faint praise. ‘Will say something if needed’ — OK, based on that comment, maybe it’s not a natural leadership, but the player is at least making an attempt. The phrase ‘More feared than respected by teammates’ is different from ‘He confronts other guys, he jumps on their ass, and demands a certain level of performance.’ That last part sounds promising. Tom Brady is vocal during games,” Daly continued. “Fans
see that. What’s unseen is [his leadership] all the other hours of the week.” Status matters, too. “Trey Flowers is not a vocal guy. But from an intangibles standpoint, doing what the coaching staff wants in terms of preparation, he’s as good as it gets. In 2015, some saw Trey as a sorry rookie. By 2016 he had quickly gained the respect of the other players, because of his on-field performance as a D-lineman. That matters. Players don’t listen as much to the leaders who aren’t also top performers. If you’re a great leader who doesn’t play much, that’s some value, but not the same.” There’s been a focus on strengthening teacher evaluation in recent years. That’s great. In the past, most “evaluations” were meaningless. One thing I would love researchers to explore: whether there is a measurable “teacher leadership” effect, something that shows up perhaps in student test score gains or faculty retention — the way it does on the scoreboard on Sundays in the NFL.
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Mike Goldstein, a FutureEd senior fellow, is the founder of Match Education in Boston.
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Business
Bette Midler takes a bow at “Hello, Dolly!” Photo: Raph_PH, via flickr
BOOM TIME FOR BROADWAY Many shows had their most profitable weeks ever at the end of 2017 BY MARK KENNEDY
The year on Broadway came to a very sparkly end for theater producers as many shows recorded their most profitable weeks ever despite theatergoers facing bitter cold and some eyepopping ticket prices. Ten shows in the last week of December earned more than $2 million, led by “Hamilton,” “The Lion King” and “Wicked,” which each pulled in more than $3 million, according to the Broadway League, a national trade association for the industry. The year ended with grosses soaring to $1.6 billion, attracting 13.74 million patrons, both yearly records. New weekly highs were reached by shows including “Come From Away,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “The Play That Goes Wrong,” “Waitress” and “The Band’s Visit.” Even the musical “Chicago” got into the act at the mature age of 21, earning a record $1.3 million. Those who boasted surpassing the $2 million mark included “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Hello, Dolly!”
“Dear Evan Hansen,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Aladdin,” “Springsteen on Broadway” and “The Book of Mormon.” The time around Christmas and New Year’s is usually Broadway’s boom time, but this holiday season was particularly flush, pushed by premium pricing and several shows going from eight performances a week to nine. The average price for a seat at “Hamilton” was $358, while it was $508 to hear Bruce Springsteen. The official top premium price to see Bette Midler in “Hello, Dolly!” was $996. Not every show was popping Champagne. The holiday revue “Home for the Holidays,” which featured the winners of various TV singing competitions, ended its run as one of the poorest performing shows ever on Broadway. It crept out of town with a weekly haul of under $80,000 over eight performances, or 5 percent of its potential gross. The average ticket was just $26, but the theater was 70 percent empty. The data this year is based on a 53week calendar year, which is periodically necessary so 365-day years can be lined up with 52-week-long sales windows measured Monday through Sunday.
Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim, via flickr
Crowd for Springsteen. Photo: Raph_PH, via flickr
Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim, via flickr
JANUARY 11-17,2018
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to otdowntown.com/15 minutes
YOUR 15 MINUTES
WELCOMING LIFE INTO THE WORLD Lenox Hill OBGYN on his rewarding work that spans generations
tremendous difference.
What makes Lenox Hill special? BY ANGELA BARBUTI
On the second day of the new year at Lenox Hill Hospital, Dr. Saul Stromer delivered the child of parents he delivered months apart there 19 years ago. In practice for nearly three decades, he enjoys the fact that he gets to age alongside his patients, delivering their children and even grandchildren. The Upper East Sider, who lives one block from Lenox Hill, praises the hospital for its care for each and every patient as well as the strong comradery that exists amongst his peers. Stromer is a native Manhattanite whose education was also all rooted here: he attended Manhattan Day School, Yeshiva University for high school and college and then NYU Medical School. The 57-year-old intends to keep working for some time. “My ultimate goal, since I delivered that couple’s baby, is one day, God willing, I’d like to deliver a baby for their child,” Stromer said. “If she follows the path of her parents, it will be 19 years, and she will have her baby.”
When did you know you wanted to become a doctor? Probably sometime in college and I also was leaning strongly to being an OB because overall it’s a very happy profession. It could be physically very taxing, but if you love what you do, it’s not a hassle at all.
What was your experience like at NYU? I went there because from all the schools I was accepted to, it was one of the best. It was really phenomenal, cutting-edge medicine and education. Everything about NYU School of Medicine was fantastic.
Then you did your residency at Mount Sinai. After residency and being a chief resident, I joined the practice at the hospital, but then moved right next door to Lenox Hill. And I went out on my own and opened my own practice. And living next door to the hospital makes a
What’s phenomenal about Lenox Hill is the way each and every patient is treated. And yes, we have had some celebrities there and I have had some celebrities, but what I like is that every single patient is treated beautifully there. The nurses are phenomenal; they really put their heart and soul into their job, making my life and my patients’ lives so much more palatable.
As far as celebrities go, you don’t treat them any differently. Absolutely not. And most doctors that I know treat all their patients the same, which is the only way to do it.
What is the atmosphere among the doctors at Lenox Hill? It’s a very collegial attitude. I will tell you, with the utmost of certainty, that if there ever is an emergency on our labor floor, any doctor on the floor will help their colleague, which is beautiful to see. Because at the end of the day, we’re all in it to take care of patients, to bring life into the world and to have good outcomes. And if you have an emergency and your colleague asks you if you need an extra set of hands, there’s no better feeling.
Do you keep in touch with a lot of the families and children you deliver? I keep in touch with them because I have patients who are coming to me if not for another baby, for GYN care, some of them for over 20 years. And you’ve seen their kids grow up and patients have matured over time.
When did you know you were delivering the baby of parents you had also delivered? Her mom, who is also my patient, called me to say, “By the way, you delivered my son-in-law too.” And that made it a little more exciting. It’s always exciting, but a case like this is even more so.
How did the couple choose you as their doctor? They chose me because, very often, patients will get a referral from their
mom, sister or sister-in-law. Family members who use a doctor who they’re satisfied with, end up going to that doctor.
What can you tell us about them? They’re a very exciting and happy 19-year-old couple who really have a love for life. And they were so happy when their baby was born. They were happy when they were in labor. They were happy on the visits leading up to labor. And they were happy when eventually, their baby was delivered.
What are the challenges to your job? Being up a few nights in a row since I have no partners or associates. And then going to the office the next morning. But again, if you love what you do, it’s not onerous.
How have you seen the industry change with the introduction of new technology? One of the main technological advances that I have seen is that we now, at 10 weeks and two days of pregnancy, can draw blood on an expectant mom and it will tell us with 99.2 percent certainty what the risk of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18 and Trisomy 13 is, and what the gender of their baby is. And that is pretty phenomenal, because on the Upper East Side, we see more and more 40-plus-year-old patients and that, of course, puts them at a higher risk for chromosomal abnormalities. We do that test, and then they can relax.
Tell us a memorable story from your career. On Wednesday [Jan. 3], in my Brooklyn office, I saw for GYN care, a woman, her daughter and her granddaughter. And I delivered some babies for her daughter and I delivered her granddaughter’s baby.
Photo: V Pottinger wonderful young man, and two sons.
What are your future plans? My future plans, God willing, are to continue being an obstetrician because I absolutely love what I do. I am blessed to be able to make a living doing something I love. And to continue enjoying my wife, kids and my professional life. I have three children. I have a daughter who is married to a
So you never get tired? Physically, the human body does get tired. When you’re up two nights in a row, you are a little tired. The hospital is one block to the left; the office is one block to the right. And sometimes you can steal away a one-hour nap and life is fresh and great.
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Across 1 Talk 5 Overly smooth 8 “Guilty,” e.g. 12 Guns 13 Singer Yoko 14 Bring home 15 Maple for one 16 Cleaned 18 Vacation souvenirs 20 Type of beam 23 Pronouncements 27 Not necessary 31 Current events 32 Directional abbreviation 33 City head 35 Wreath 36 Cork’s country 38 Gave a blow-by-blow 40 Factual evidence 42 Monetary unit of Denmark 43 Disguise source of funds 47 Cause resentment 50 Addict 54 Breed
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Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9X9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3X3 squares. To solve the puzzle each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult.
A
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SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan
by Myles Mellor
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2
CROSSWORD
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1
JANUARY 11-17,2018
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
JANUARY 11-17,2018
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JANUARY 11-17,2018
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Our Town’s
ART OF FOOD
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
ar toffoodny.com
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Honoring chef Claus Meyer, cofounder of Noma, voted best restaurant in the world and the gastronomic entrepreneur behind Grand Central’s Michelin restaurant Agern and Great Northern Food Hall.
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Hosted by acclaimed artist and architect, Richard Meier, who will be in attendance alongside a selection of his original collages. Ph :M oto
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5 Napkin Burger Andy D’Amico Candle 79 Angel Ramos
Amali/Calissa Dominic Rice Crave Fishbar Todd Mitgang
Freds at Barneys New York Mark Strausman Little Frog Xavier Monge
Bistro Chat Noir Mario Hernandez Flex Mussels Alexandra Shapiro
Jones Wood Foundry Jason Hicks
Sen Sakana Mina Newman
T-Bar Steak Benjamin Zwicker
The East Pole Fish Bar Joseph Capozzi
La Esquina Fabian Gallardo
Maya David Gonzalez
Orwashers Bakery Keith Cohen
Sahib Hemant Matur
Socarrat Paella Bar Lolo Manso
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Magnolia Bakery Bobbie Lloyd
Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque Hugh Mangum Quality Eats Delfin Jaranilla
eli
Paola’s Stefano Marracino Serafina Always Vittorio Assaf
The East Pole Joseph Capozzi
The Great Northern Food Hall Claus Meyer
The Meatball Shop Daniel Holzman
The Penrose Nick Testa
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Saturday February 10, 2018
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