Our Town Downtown - March 1, 2018 by OurTown Downtown

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WEEK OF MARCH GOING ASTRAY WITH ANDRÉ ACIMAN ◄ P.21

1-7 2018

MTA TO PITCH BUS FIXES THIS SPRING TRANSPORTATION With city buses plagued by declining ridership, officials pledge solutions will be forthcoming BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

Though delays in subway service have attracted the bulk of attention surrounding the current struggles of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, steep and steady declines in bus ridership in recent years, concentrated largely in Manhattan, offer a reminder that the New York’s transportations problems extend to street level. Average weekday ridership on New York City Transit buses dropped 5.6 percent from 2016 to 2017, according to preliminary MTA data released last week, marking the ﬁfth consecutive year of declining ridership. Since 2012, average weekday NYCT bus ridership is down over 11 percent. MTA leaders plan to present detailed plans for enhancing bus service and reversing ridership trends this spring. Andy Byford, who took office as president of NYCT in January after previously heading Toronto’s public transportation system, has named improving bus service as one of his top priorities. “Performance is nowhere near good enough,” Byford said of the transit system as a whole at a meeting of the MTA board’s transit committee last week, adding that there are too many performance interruptions on the subway in particular. This spring, officials will release a bus strategy to mirror the subway action plan announced last summer by MTA Chairman Joe Lhota. Byford said that his team is planning to present a plan to the MTA board in April regarding implementation of improvements to local bus service. “That’s coming together, and that will be a compre-

A co-working space at The Artist Co-op on West 52nd Street. Photo: Rachel Berger

CO-WORKING GETS ARTSY WORKSPACES Nurturing the creative impulse at The Artist Co-op BY LEIDA SNOW

Ridership on NYCT buses is down over 11 percent since 2012, MTA data shows. Photo: Michael Garofalo hensive piece of work,” he said. Darryl Irick, president of MTA Bus and senior vice president of NYCT Buses, told MTA board members that the plan will take “bold and radical steps to really turn the bus system around.” “President Byford has challenged me and my team to take steps to improve the bus system and arrest the steady decline in ridership,” Irick said. “We accept that challenge and we envision

that challenge to be very bold, very aggressive, relying on many of the timehonored techniques that we’ve used in the past such as [Select Bus Service].” Though 2017 ridership data on a route-by-route basis is not yet available, ridership drops in past years have been most acute in Manhattan. Average weekday ridership on

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An unlikely newcomer to the explosion of co-working spaces caters speciﬁcally to the performing arts. The Artist Co-op (TAC) is a place where actors, writers, producers, directors, choreographers and dancers can come to sweat on their projects, hang out and network. A wide and welcoming entrance greets a visitor to the 2,000-squarefoot space in Hell’s Kitchen. There’s an undulating sofa and a huge table surrounded by chairs. Comfortable seats line the sides of the room, members balancing laptops on their knees. A young woman sits at a desk answering the phone and checking people in. You might expect a cacophony of chaos, but instead there’s an air of quiet concentration and professionalism. An A-frame highlights what’s on tap at TAC for that day — what’s Downtowner

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Crime Watch Voices NYC Now City Arts

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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

9-16

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

n OurTownDowntow

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Newscheck Crime Watch Voices

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

2 City Arts 3 Top 5 8 Real Estate 10 15 Minutes

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scheduled in the rehearsal rooms, at the conference table, or at a coworking happening. A member would check in, setup a work station, maybe write new pages for a project. Websites could be updated, scripts memorized. Meetings with collaborators might follow, or rehearsals in one of the other two rooms. There might be a play reading, done “cold,” by actors who receive their scripts just before performing. Author submissions are encouraged and readings are free and open to the public. Or there might be a panel taking on tough issues that affect theater and ﬁlm professionals. For example, did you know that there’s an organization called Intimacy Directors International? One recent panelist noted that just as there’s a position with the title “ﬁght director,” there’s also the relatively new post of “intimacy choreographer,” someone who ensures that scenes involving nudity or simulated sex are monitored, just as there is for those where violence is involved. Educating actors about their rights

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HANDS-0N SUPPORT FOR PUERT0 RICO ricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico last year. The quilt is yet to be completed, but when it is finished, it will be sent to Puerto Rico to honor the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, who spoke out against President Donald Trump’s response to the hurricane. Amsterdam Houses Resident Association President Margarita O. Curet and technology instructor John Figueroa spoke about the work done by Amsterdam tenants. “This is a digital design,” said Figueroa, explaining that it was created on a computer and then stitched onto the quilt that the

COMMUNITY Residents at the Amsterdam Houses on the UWS create a patchwork quilt in solidarity with those suffering from Hurricane Maria BY ASHAD HAJELA

The quilt is imposing: it measures 10 X 8 feet, showing cutouts of hands reaching for the sky below a map of Puerto Rico. Last Thursday, the quilt hung from an exposed pipe near the ceiling of the Amsterdam Houses Resident Association community room on West 64th Street as residents milled in and out of the room, taking pictures of the handiwork as the Amsterdam Houses Resident Association Executive Board looked on. Designed by residents of the Amsterdam Houses, some of whom hail from Puerto Rico, the quilt is a remembrance of Hur-

residents made. “We are trying to close the technology gap between residents and their grandchildren.” The cutouts of hands, he said, represent the upward reach of all people, no matter what age or race. And shadows of the Statue of Liberty and a Puerto Rican castle speak to the solidarity between New York and Puerto Rico. Figueroa also emphasized that the caption on the quilt, “Unidos Hacemos Más” or “United We Do More,” resonates through the generations. It would not have been possible to make the quilt without

expert tenant seamstresses like Delﬁna Esquilin, who used to work for Ralph Lauren and is of Guatamalan origin. Another tenant seamstress who worked on the quilt is Myrna Escalera, whose brother was in Puerto Rico when the hurricane hit. While he is ﬁne now, Escalera was motivated to show her support for him. “They worked together like a family,” said Frances Muniz, the treasurer at the Amsterdam Houses Resident Association about members of the community like Escalera and Esquilin. “They had hope for their families in Puerto Rico.”

Seamstresses including Martha Montalvo (left) and Myrna Escalera worked on the quilt. Photo: Ashad Hajela

ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

Art & Science Discussion Panel | Fossils: An Imperfect Messenger

FRIDAY, MARCH 2ND, 6:30PM Central Booking | 21 Ludlow St. | 347-731-6559 | centralbookingnyc.com A panel of artists and Natural History Museum veterans get together to look at the improbable journey of clues from the distant past, and what our projections onto them tell us about ourselves ($5).

Entertaining Science: You Are Experienced?

SUNDAY, MARCH 4TH, 6PM Cornelia Street Cafe | 29 Cornelia St. | 212-989-9319 | corneliastreetcafe.com Brain science and Jimi Hendrix come together at an evening that mashes up Professor of Neural Science André Fenton with solo guitar virtuoso Dario Acosta Teich. The latest science of how experiences change brains meets the latest directions and techniques for guitar ($10 + $10 min).

Just Announced | PEN Out Loud: Reimagining A Wrinkle in Time

MONDAY, MARCH 26TH, 7PM The Strand | 828 Broadway | 212-473-1452 | strandbooks.com Ava DuVernay’s upcoming ﬁlm adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time inspires this evening of unconventional ﬁctional saviors. Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughters/biographers, both authors in their own right, will be among the readers ($15 admission, includes $15 gift card).

For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,

When completed, the quilt will be sent to Puerto Rico to honor the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz. Photo: Ashad Hajela

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG TAGGED

STATS FOR THE WEEK

Police arrested some graffiti taggers following a confrontation. At 9:15 p.m. on Monday, February 12, an officer saw four men and one woman spraying graffiti on a commercial building on Church Street. The officer identiďŹ ed himself and tried to apprehend the perpetrators, but a 21-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man Maced the officer, and the woman ďŹ&#x201A;ailed her arms, grabbed the officerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s handcuffs, and pulled his shield off in an attempt to evade arrest, according to police. Three members of the graffiti gang ďŹ&#x201A;ed to parts unknown, but Anwyn Goldberg, 21, and Solomon Watkins, 20, were arrested and charged with assault. Police are looking for their accomplice.

Reported crimes from the 1st district for the week ending Feb. 18 Week to Date

SAKS OFFENDERS Saks security personnel shut down shoplifters in two recent incidents. At 3:19 p.m. on Tuesday, February 13, a 26-year-old male employee in the Saks store at 230 Vesey Street observed a young male taking merchandise off a rack and putting it in his backpack. The youth tried to leave the store without paying, but the employee stopped him. Store personnel recovered clothing totaling $2,060. The 15-year-old was arrested and charged with grand larceny.

Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr

Then at 2:01 p.m. on Saturday, February 17, a 30-year-old man entered another Saks store at 250 Vesey Street, removed and concealed a $1,500 jacket, and tried to leave the store. Justin Murraine was arrested and charged with grand larceny.

NO EAGLE EYES HERE Apparently, placing a bag near a store security officer doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always make it secure. At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 16, a 19-year-old woman from the Bronx entered the American Eagle OutďŹ tters store at 599 Broadway and placed her bag on the ground next

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Year to Date

2018 2017

% Change

2018

2017

% Change

Murder

-100.0

Rape

n/a

100.0

Robbery

-100.0

-10.0

Felony Assault

100.0

-50.0

Burglary

100.0

-25.0

Grand Larceny

-14.3

129

134 -3.7

Grand Larceny Auto

n/a

to a security officer while she went shopping. When she returned 30 minutes later her bag was gone. The items stolen included a MacBook Air laptop valued at $1,000, a Microsoft laptop of no stated value, a pair of Steve Madden boots worth $150, a Forever 21 womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top, American Eagle pants priced at $80, and other items.

n/a

SCORING JEANS WITHOUT MEANS Jeans continue to appeal to shoplifters. At 3:35 p.m. on Saturday, February 17, a man went into the Gap store at 172 Broadway, grabbed 17 pairs of Gap jeans, and left the store without paying. Police searched the neighborhood but couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ďŹ nd the thief or the stolen jeans, whose value was put at $1,359.

MARCH 1-7,2018

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Useful Contacts

Drawing Board BY MARC BILGREY

POLICE 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

NYPD 13th Precinct

230 E. 21st St.

NYPD 1st Precinct

16 Ericsson Place

212-477-7411 212-334-0611

FIRE FDNY Engine 15

25 Pitt St.

311

FDNY Engine 24/Ladder 5

227 6th Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 28 Ladder 11

222 E. 2nd St.

311

FDNY Engine 4/Ladder 15

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.

Mount Sinai-Beth Israel

10 Union Square East

212-844-8400

212-312-5110

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

TIME WARNER

46 East 23rd

813-964-3839

US Post Office

201 Varick St.

212-645-0327

US Post Office

128 East Broadway

212-267-1543

US Post Office

93 4th Ave.

212-254-1390

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Crusty, one of RC Buckerz’s starter ponies, who helps teach the youngest kids how to get started. Photo: About You Photography (AUPhoto.net)

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BUCKING, A TREND

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BY ASHTON GERARD

LANSFORD, N.D. — Rodeo has always been a big part of Midwestern culture, and RC Buckerz is bringing it back to the kids. “Our goal is to help young children get a start in the rough stock side of rodeo,” RC Buckerz’s founder Michelle Rudland said. “We have size-appropriate, experienced animals we are very careful about putting children on.” Based in Lansford, Rudland is giving kids the opportunity to get their start in rodeo through her bucking pony company. Not only is it about learning new skills, RC Buckerz also teaches kids responsibility and respect for animals and others. Rudland said so far the kids have been nothing but great. The great thing about “Rough Stock,” according to Rudland, is participants don’t need their own animals. She said as long as kids and adults have the equipment and the right attitude, they can do it. Rudland started the program out of her own personal love of rodeo. Her father used to ride back in the day and she grew to love it through her parents. Now, with RC Buckerz, she’s trying to pass that love of rodeo on to her own children and

other kids in the area. “I noticed a decrease in rough stock riders in the state,” Rudland said. “Riders aren’t getting experience young enough to learn the basics. Kids at 16 or 17 years old will get bucked and hurt by the bigger animals.” Rudland is giving children the opportunity to learn the basics and hone their rodeo skills on smaller, experienced animals. With this approach, she said, kids will gain confidence and experience to be able to go on into rodeo as adults with a lower chance of serious injury. RC Buckerz has ponies and one mule they do all the trimming, seeding and check-ups for on their own. RC, like all of rodeo, is family-oriented for Rudland. She has the help of her children and together they take care of the animals and run their events. RC Buckerz will go to standard rodeos when invited, like the N.D. Rodeo Association, and will bring along their ponies. They work with the children and take care to put the kids on the right ponies. They made their debut last April with the Abrahamson Rodeo Company in Minot. Ponies, according to Rudland, only get better with time. They have a variety of ponies from high-buckers to starters. Their goal is to get kids educated, not hurt. As far as success, RC Buckerz had two kids, Coy Hepper,

a fifth-grader, and Tyler Villarreal, a seventh-grader, who were to compete in the Junior National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December. “Coy is a great kid. That young man is going places,” Rudland said. “We worked really hard with Tyler this year. It’s his ﬁrst year on ponies. We’re pretty proud of both young men.” The ultimate goal, aside from getting kids to Vegas, is getting the ponies themselves to Vegas. Rudland prides herself on the care she puts into the animals, and to be nationally recognized for their ponies would be a dream. Last spring, RC Buckerz held a bucking camp that was really successful, according to Rudland. She’s hoping to host more this spring before the season starts. This ﬁrst year for RC Buckerz has been nothing short of a success for Rudland. Not only for the kids, but the communities they go to. Rudland said the children’s rodeo is “some of the greatest cowboy action ever.” Rudland encourages everyone to experience junior rodeo, even if you don’t know anyone competing, because you are sure to be entertained. To follow the RC Buckerz journey or talk with Michelle Rudland, visit their Facebook page at RC Buckerz. Ashton Gerard is a reporter with the Minot (South Dakota) Daily News

MARCH 1-7,2018

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A Premier Day Camp for Boys and Girls LOCATED IN NEARBY ROCKLAND COUNTY, JUST 30 MINUTES FROM THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE

A UNIQUE CAMP EXPERIENCE for Boys & Girls, Ages 3-15

Clyde is probably the only actual bucking mule in North Dakota, as most mules donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have enough wither to keep a saddle or bareback rigging on them, said Michelle Rudland. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He is RCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most sought-after bucker and loves his job. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite the character! He is one of my favorites to photograph as well and seems to get better and better every time he comes out of the chutes,â&#x20AC;? she said. Photo: About You Photography (AUPhoto.net)

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(845) 354-1600 WWW.RAMAQUOIS.COM Michelle Rudland, who founded RC Buckerz bucking pony company in North Dakota, is giving children the opportunity to learn the basics and hone their rodeo skills on smaller animals. Photo: About You Photography (AUPhoto.net)

30 MOUNTAIN ROAD, POMONA, NEW YORK 10970

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EVERYONE’S BUSINESS! BY BETTE DEWING

More gun control — absolutely — appallingly, shamefully, long overdue. So thankfully, all-out attention is paid after the horriﬁc Florida high school massacre of 15 students and two heroic teachers. Beloved family members, they are whose loss is felt forever, and the grieving must be remembered and forever supported. And don’t forget grandparents and other kindred often overlooked in our nuclear family society. And isn’t that one of the problems — the lack of natural support systems?

Kids, especially, too much on their own – ah, but so are their grandparents and other elder kindred. Well, this surely needs ongoing discussion and led by Upper East Side granddad, Sherman Yellen, and as an established playwright, essayist and social critic, can really get this message across. Ah, we are surely grateful for the new “Kid Power” with nationwide marches and protest and taking “Never Again” to the White House. And may civic actions also become a natural part of their lives. And related to this latest horriﬁc shooting of innocents, surely the

many “missed flags” must be addressed, and not only by law enforcement and the FBI, but by the citizenry. An all-out bipartisan “Get Involved Party” is long overdue, one that goes beyond “saying something” about a suspicious box or package seen on the street or subway. Although it’s much harder to report suspicious behavior of someone we know — and even risky ... and on so-called social media, even a threat about being a professional school shooter gets a pass. But it wouldn’t if “saying something” were a major mandate — and with little to fear. Students would surely have said more about their classmate’s forbidding behavior. Ah, the passing of Billy Graham also reminds how often do you hear a Thou Shalt Not Kill sermon? And

Voices

are faith groups enough involved with members’ problems — or speak of the supportive community found in 12-step meetings held on their premises. Ah, but beware a conventional AA and Al-anon directive which says alcohol abusers must hit bottom all by themselves. Intervention does work, but is too rarely tried – we’ve been so carefully and wrongfully taught in general to mind our own business – not to be our brother’s and sister’s keeper. And schools sure need to teach communication skills — above all. The conﬂict resolution kind. Yes, they exist but most lamentably, somehow, they fell out of favor. Faith and mental health should be stressing these “get along, without going along,” rules — and not only to prevent violence. And yes, this column is all over

the place – more than usual, you say? Well, I do have a recovering eye malady, which on Presidents’ Day initially received not only effective but enormously caring treatment from the First Avenue and 81st Street Urgent Care medics. Some doctors and hospitals and nursing home rehabs could take some caring lessons from them. Maybe we all could — for a non-violent society. As for that bipartisan Get Involved Party, revive we must, Russian social critic, Pulitzer Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s timeless Harvard commencement address mandate: “Everyone” he said, “must make everything their business!” If you remember nothing else from this column ... and It can be done if enough of us try. dewingbetter@aol.com

FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD TO OUR TOWN BY CHRIS DASTOOR

For the last six weeks, I have been interning at Our Town as a journalism student from the lower west side ... as in 10,000 miles lower and west. I study at the University of South Australia in Adelaide. It’s been a short stay, but I’m grateful for how much I have experienced within that time. Adelaide is a predominately suburban city, with a central business district located on the Torrens River. Our winters are mild (average low of 45 degrees), but our summers are extremely hot, often hitting 100110 degrees. It’s home to 1.3 million people over 1,258 square miles. It’s a multicultural city, but most of the population is white. We have a growing arts and entertainment scene, which is becoming one of our biggest industries. The idea of working in a different city, even if only temporarily, always appealed to me. You develop a bet-

ter understanding of a place, as opposed to coming through as a tourist. Manhattan always stuck out in that respect. Although it is one of the globe’s great tourist destinations, I was drawn to the experience of living in the Big Apple. I was overwhelmed upon arriving. I thought I was used to multiculturalism, but New York is another level. The amount of choice of what to do, what to eat and where to go, as well as conversing with people from a diverse range of backgrounds felt like I was re-starting my whole adult life from scratch. Given that Adelaide never sees cold weather like New York, dealing with an East Coast winter was a struggle. Working in it was ﬁne, once I got into my routine it was easy catching the train and getting to work, but trying to spend time outdoors and exploring the city was a challenge. While I was at Times Square, my phone froze from the cold! Despite that, being in Times Square was sur-

real; even in bad weather it’s still as bright and beautiful as on TV. Central Park is beautiful, and adds the perfect contrast in the skyline. I can’t believe how much I enjoyed the subway. OK, “enjoyed” is an overstatement; I was generally using it to commute and I certainly got the full “New York City subway experience” with delays, crowds, homeless sleepers and violent passengers, but these issues exist at any metro network. At home, there is less coverage and the time between trains or busses is usually half an hour, so I avoid using it. Here, I don’t even check the subway schedule, I just go to the station and wait ﬁve minutes for a train. My biggest pet-peeve during the whole trip was the take-away coffee cups. Coffee places in Australia generally use insulated paper cups that don’t burn your hand when you hold it for extended periods of times. The cardboard sleeves are meant to mitigate that effect, but they are

completely ineffective. I thought living in a less densely populated city was easier, but being able to walk out the front of my building and cross the road to get pizza or go to Dunkin’ Donuts is amazing. I thought I’d miss driving my car, but I haven’t thought about Taylor (the name of my white Suzuki Swift) at all. I didn’t experience driving here, but it looks awful. Despite the occasional rude drivers here, the people are generally friendlier here than their reputation suggests. It was never hard to ﬁnd someone willing to help you out if you had a question or were lost, and people might still chat with you at a traffic stop. Although it wasn’t easy settling in upon arrival, Manhattan became to feel like home, despite my short stay. It’s sad that my journey here is over, after spending so long planning for it. I hope to make it back, although I don’t really know what the future holds.

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MARCH 1-7,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

KARPOFF AFFILIATES 4FOJPS .PWF .BOBHFS t 3FBM &TUBUF #SPLFS

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The MTA will review elevator and escalator systems at stations on the Second Avenue subway due to questionable performance that one official characterized as â&#x20AC;&#x153;not where you want it to be for a system thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that new.â&#x20AC;? Photo: Steven Strasser

ACCESSIBILITY AN ISSUE ON SECOND AVENUE SUBWAY RIDERSHIP MTA: elevator and escalator performance at Second Avenue stations â&#x20AC;&#x153;unsatisfactory for new systemsâ&#x20AC;? BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

After one year in operation, the Second Avenue subway is nearing ridership forecasts and easing pressure on the nearby Lexington Avenue line, but the stationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; new escalators and elevators are failing to meet expectations. Performance of the escalators and elevators in the Second Avenue subway is â&#x20AC;&#x153;unsatisfactory for new systems,â&#x20AC;? Janno Lieber, chief development officer with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said last week at a meeting of the MTA Boardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transit committee.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Their performance is sort of borderline to our standard,â&#x20AC;? Lieber said. The MTA applies the same performance standards for elevator and escalator to systems of all ages, including recently installed systems like those at the Second Avenue subway stations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I actually have directed the team to engage a consultant to review not just the caliber of the system but the installation process,â&#x20AC;? Lieber said, adding that the review would examine â&#x20AC;&#x153;if there was anything that went wrong in how they were installed or that we can learn from going forward, because clearly itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not where you want it to be for a system thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that new.â&#x20AC;? The Second Avenue subway now serves an average of 190,000 riders each weekday, Lieber said, just shy of the 200,000 daily riders projected by MTA officials before the line was built. Lieber added that

MTA data indicates the Second Avenue subway has helped reduce ridership at frequently overcrowded Upper East Side stops on the nearby Lexington Avenue line â&#x20AC;&#x153;in excess of 40 percent.â&#x20AC;? Lieber did not share detailed performance data for the elevators and escalators at the Second Avenue stations. At press time the MTA had not responded to a request for comment. The Second Avenue subway, which opened on January 1, 2017, features three new stations on Second Avenue at 72nd, 86th and 96th Streets and an expanded station at 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue, all of which are fully accessible to disabled riders when elevators and escalators are operational. Roughly three-quarters of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s subway stations are noncompliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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MARCH 1-7,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH

HOLY WEEK 2018 Discover the world around the corner. Find community events, gallery openings, book launches and much more: Go to nycnow.com

EDITOR’S PICK

Mon 5 ‘A SOLITARY FANTASY CAN TOTALLY TRANSFORM ONE MILLION REALITIES’ BMCC, Richard Harris Terrace, 199 Chambers St. 6 p.m. Free 212-220-8000. bmcc.cuny.edu Professor Jaime Weida uses Maya Angelou’s quote as a starting point to discuss positive female role models from classic pop culture, and how they can inﬂuence girls and women’s perception of themselves as more empowered in modern society.

Dr. Michael B. Brown preaching March 25, Palm/Passion Sunday 10:00am - Family Worship, Prayer Circle and Bible Study with Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton 11:00am - Courage (Mark 11:1-11) March 29, Maundy Thursday 7:00pm - Trust (Mark 14:32-36) Commemorating Jesus’ ﬁnal night with dramatic readings, and special music by The Marble Choir. Holy Communion. March 30, Good Friday 11:30am - Instrumental Music for Prayer and Meditation Noon - Atonement (The Passion Story) Solemn Masterworks of Lamentation sung by The Marble Choir and Festival of Voices, with Orchestra 1:00-3:00pm - Prayer Vigil April 1, Easter Sunday 8:15am - Prayer Circle 9:00 & 11:00am - Life

View the full schedule at MarbleChurch.org/Worship/Lent-HolyWeek Event listings brought to you by Marble Collegiate Church. 1 West 29th Street / New York, New York 10001 212 686 2770 / MarbleChurch.org Download the Marble Church App on iPhone or Android

Thu 1

Fri 2

Sat 3

SLOW WINE TOUR 2018: ALL-ACCESS TASTING ▲

A DAY OF PUZZLES WITH EEBOO

ON WRITING: WHEN THE NEEDLE IS STUCK ►

Eataly NYC Downtown 101 Liberty St. 6 p.m. $60 A walk-around tasting featuring more than 70 wines from Italian and American wine regions. Slow wine focuses on small-scale winemakers working with respect for the environment. 212-897-2895 eataly.com

Strand Bookstore 828 Broadway 3 p.m. Free Boutique education toymaker Eeboo will have puzzles out on the Strand’s main ﬂoor, including its brandnew Women’s March puzzle, available as part of Women’s History Month. 212-473-1452 strandbooks.com

Mulberry Street Library 10 Jersey St. 1 p.m. Free If you’re having trouble writing or unsure how to really get started, the Writers Studio Method can help your writing break free of uncertainty with an emphasis in narrative voice. 212-966-3424 nypl.org

MARCH 1-7,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

ish s W m er u- p rk Yo til 9 Yo s- un w -A Sat Ne Pay Fri & ys ys wa da Al en 7

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Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas Eric “Slowhand” Clapton. Photo: F. Antolín Hernández, via Wikimedia Commons

Through May 28 The Met Fifth Avenue Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.

Sun 4 Mon 5 Tue 6 MARCH MASH-UP: A FAMILY FESTIVAL Center for Jewish History 15 West 16th St. 11 a.m. $10 family admission Experience the diversity of Jewish culture from countries around the world with this Purim-themed March mash-up of family fun. Enjoy a puppet show, storytelling, colorful craft projects and singalongs. 212-294-8301 programs.cjh.org

‘CONCERT FOR GEORGE’ SCREENING ▲ IFC Center 323 Sixth Ave. 7 p.m. $15 One year after the passing of The Beatles’s George Harrison in 2001, his wife Olivia Harrison and longtime friend Eric Clapton organized a performance tribute with a superstar lineup. See a screening of the tribute 15 years after its creation.

PERSON PLACE THING WITH RANDY COHEN BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center 199 Chambers St. 7 p.m. $10 Randy Cohen hosts his live interview show with theater director Woodie King Jr. Members of the band The Ebony Hillbillies will perform throughout the evening. 833-733-4232 tribecapac.org

Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300–Now) Opens March 21 The Met Breuer Madison Ave. at 75th St.

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Wed 7 YEAH SHE DID: STORIES ABOUT WOMEN YOU SHOULD KNOW CAVEAT 21 Clinton St. 9 p.m. $20 Celebrate some extraordinary comedians, writers and storytellers, including Aparna Nancherla (Comedy Central, Bojack Horseman) Nicole Silverberg (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee) and others. 212-228-2100 caveat.nyc

Imagine, Create, Explore MetFridays Every Friday night experience art making, creative conversation, and performances that connect you to art in unexpected ways. For Teens Ages 11–18 Free gallery conversations, sketching, and studio workshops encourage teens to explore, create, and connect with art. Daily Highlights Tours Take a guided tour and discover works of art representing different cultures and time periods.

All events are free with Museum admission unless otherwise noted.

metmuseum.org

#TheMet

#MetBreuer

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Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas is made possible in part by DAVID YURMAN. Additional support is provided by the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, Alice Cary Brown and W.L. Lyons Brown, the Estate of Brooke Astor, the Lacovara Family Endowment Fund, William R. Rhodes, and The Daniel and Estrellita Brodsky Foundation. The exhibition is co-organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Getty Research Institute. | Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300–Now) is supported in part by the Jane and Robert Carroll Fund and The Modern Circle.

Above: Octopus Frontlet, A.D 300–600. Moche; Peru, La Mina. Museo de la Nación, Ministerio de Cultura del Perú, Lima. Willem Danielsz van Tetrode, Hercules (detail), ca. 1545–60. The Quentin Foundation, London. Photo: Maggie Nimkin, New York. Photo of artist: Filip Wolak.

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MARCH 1-7,2018

HARVEY DINNERSTEIN’S NEW YORK An UES retrospective of a realist painter who evokes the rhythms of city life BY DAVE ELDER

How well do you know the city? Though you might have the major landmarks memorized, NYC has so many odd and unique corners that no one can know them all, so if you see “Harvey Dinnerstein’s New York” at the Gerald Peters Gallery, you may recognize some familiar places. The show might also introduce you to some others that you hadn’t previously encountered, particularly if you haven’t spent much time in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In addition, even some of the familiar scenes might reveal a few interesting angles from Harvey’s perspective that you hadn’t noticed before. And what would make “Harvey Dinnerstein’s New York” worth a look? As a realist artist, Dinnerstein has spent most of his nine decades depicting the rhythms of NYC life, so if you appreciate that painterly quality of expression that can capture the essence of daily pedestrian moments and render them in a memorable way, you might very well ﬁnd Harvey’s work engaging. Maybe you won’t personally know any of the cast of characters that enliven the collection, but you might very well feel as if you do know at least a few of them, and perhaps you may have bumped into one or two on the street, though Dinnerstein’s portrayals could make them deserving of much more than a passing glance. One aspect of “Harvey Dinnerstein’s New York” that will surely grace the gallery walls will be his images from the MTA. Subway scenes have lit his creative spark for decades, possibly beginning during the early 1940s, when he regularly rode the train from Brooklyn to attend the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. In fact, Dinnerstein has a 2008 book entitled “Underground Together” that features a significant portion of his underground output, copies of which will undoubtedly adorn a special spot not far from the framed hangings.

Harvey started young with realism, forming a small “outsider” group with other like-minded rebels at Music and Art who opposed the modernist orthodoxy promoted by the faculty, their fellow students and the art world in general, which had strongly embraced abstract expressionism. These rebels would continue to pursue realism in whatever manner suited them, and in early 1961 they mounted a group show called “A Realist View” in Manhattan as a statement to the art world establishment. They attempted to awaken the general public to their efforts to continue and further expand the representative art traditions of an earlier era. Their show didn’t create the kind of ripples they had hoped, but the lack of response did not dampen their enthusiasm for realistic expression, and they each carried on the struggle to update realism and make it meaningful in the modern context. As Harvey nears the end of his ninth decade and the beginning of his tenth, realist art seems to have regained a certain amount of respect and appreciation, and the Gerald Peters retrospective will showcase some intriguing samples from Dinnerstein’s journey. On a side note, over his career Dinnerstein has portrayed other points of view in addition to NYC. In late 1955, he visited the Montgomery bus boycott that triggered the civil rights movement, accompanied by his wife, art historian Lois Dinnerstein, along with his close friend and fellow realist Burt Silverman. He traveled extensively over the next two decades, depicting major newsworthy events of the time, and even spending a year in Rome. Dinnerstein amassed an extensive array of likenesses, and perhaps a selection of those may adorn the walls of a nearby gallery at some point in the future. The exhibition at the Gerald Peters Gallery at 12 East 78th Street will run through March 16. You can ﬁnd out more about the gallery from their website at www.gpgallery.com. The 2011 movie “The View from Here,” about Dinnerstein and his realist artist circle, has a website at theviewfromheredoc.com.

MARCH 1-7,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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BEYOND BROADWAY - DOWNTOWN The #1 online community for NYC theater:

www.show-score.com

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RELEVANCE

A WALK WITH MR HEIFETZ

692 REVIEWS ENDS MAY 27

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124 REVIEWS JUST OPENED

An immersive pie-shop staging of Sondheim’s iconic macabre musical.

A world premiere centering around a collision of ideals within feminism. Who decides your worth?

World premiere drama about a violinist and composer in pre-Israel Palestine.

BARROW STREET THEATRE - 27 BARROW ST

LUCILLE LORTEL THEATRE - 121 CHRISTOPHER ST

CHERRY LANE THEATRE - 38 COMMERCE ST

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AMY AND THE ORPHANS 186 REVIEWS JUST OPENED

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S LONG LOST FIRST PLAY (ABRIDGED) OPENS MAR 2

A side-splitting Shakespearean spoof! Uproarious and rapid-fire, the Bard’s 39 plays are spun into a fast, funny and fictional 40th.

After their father’s death, three siblings reunite for a raucous family road trip.

THE NEW VICTORY THEATER - 209 W 42ND ST

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LAURA PELS THEATRE - 111 WEST 46TH ST

GRAND HOTEL, THE MUSICAL OPENS MAR 21

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EDWARD ALBEE’S A HOME AT THE ZOO 113 REVIEWS JUST OPENED

A new staging of the Broadway hit, about Berlin’s most glamorous crossroads at the end of the Weimar Era.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER / MAINSTAGE UPSTAIRS - 131 W 55TH ST

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A revision of Albee’s ‘The Zoo Story,’ from 1959. Starring Tony Award-winners Katie Finneran and Robert Sean Leonard.

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD PREVIEWS START MAR 22

PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER - 480 W 42ND ST

A revival of the Tony winning play about a spirited deaf girl and a devoted teacher.

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IS GOD IS

STUDIO 54 - 254 W 54TH ST

11 REVIEWS ENDS MAR 25

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A darkly comic modern myth about twin sisters who sojourn from the Dirty South to the California desert to exact revenge.

The Olivier-Award winning revival of Federico García Lorca’s drama about a Spanish woman desperate to have a child. Starring Billie Piper.

SOHO REPERTORY THEATRE - 46 WALKER ST

THOMPSON ART CENTER AT PARK AVENUE ARMORY - 643 PARK AVENUE

KEY:

MARCH 1-7,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS FEB 14 - 20, 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.

Dunkin’ Donuts

266 1 Avenue

Grade Pending

Rossy’s Bakery & Coffee Shop

242 East 3 Street

Post

42 Avenue B

Ninth Street Espresso

341 East 10 Street

C&B

178 E 7th St

Hudson Bar And Books

636 Hudson Street

Three Of Cups

83 1 Avenue

The Quarter

522 Hudson Street

The 13th Step

149 2 Avenue

Luv Tea

37A Bedford St

Juke Bar

196 2nd Avenue

Rosie’s

29 E 2nd St

Grade Pending (26) Food Protection Certiﬁcate not held by supervisor of food operations. Evidence of mice or live mice 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.

575 Pub On Second

93 2nd Ave

Pasticceria Rocco

243 Bleecker Street

Bull Mccabes

29 St Marks Place

IFC Center

323 6th Ave

Rosa Mexicano

9 East 18 Street

Taim West Village

222 Waverly Pl

Ray’s Pizza Bagel Cafe

2 Saint Marks Pl

Cubbyhole

281 West 12 Street

The House In Gramercy Park

121 E 17th St

Sweet Life Cafe

147 Christopher Street A

Barcade

6 Saint Marks Pl

Molly’s Cupcakes

228 Bleecker Street

Joe Coffee

37 E 8th St

Tanuki Tavern

18 9th Ave

New Mizu Sushi

350 E 9th St

Maison Kayser

326 Bleecker St

The Grey Dog’s Coffee

90 University Place

Voula Restaurant

9 Jones Street

The Pokespot

120 4th Ave

Josie Wood’s Pub

11 Waverly Place

Kiin Thai Eatery

36 East 8 Street

CLOSED (33) Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/ or non-food areas. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/ or non-food areas.

Not Yet Graded (24) 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. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Sweet Time Dessert Cafe

171 W 4th St

Grade Pending (47) 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. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Burger 101

270 Bleecker St

Prodigy Coffee

33 Carmine St

2nd City

525 Hudson St

Grade Pending (39) 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. 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.

Rubirosa Pizza & Ristorante

235 Mulberry Street

Yi Zhang Fishball

9 Eldridge Street

Black Crescent

76 Clinton St

Sunita

106 Norfolk Street

Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin Robbins

140 Delancey St

Trattoria Il Mulino

36 East 20 Street

Headless Horseman

119 East 15 Street

Grade Pending (23) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

Mee Noodle Shop

Soho Tiffin Junction

223 1st Ave

42 E 8th St

Grade Pending (27) 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. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. 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 (20) 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.

Numero 28 Pizzeria

176 2nd Ave

Klong

7 Saint Marks Pl

Grade Pending (15) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/ or non-food areas.

Senya

109 1st Ave

Special Attention

Chawlas2

216 3rd Ave

CLOSED (40) 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.

325 East Houston Street

Minnie’s

29 Clinton Street

Taverna Di Bacco

175 Ludlow Street

Pure Green

152 2nd Ave

Not Yet Graded (24) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

The Boil

139 Chrystie Street

Juice Generation Inc

4 Astor Pl

Not Yet Graded

Grade Pending (48) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Shellfish not from approved source, improperly tagged/ labeled; tags not retained for 90 days. Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations.

MARCH 1-7,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Average Weekday NYCT Bus Ridership

VISION BECOMES REALITY

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BY LEIDA SNOW

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Source: MTA

BUS FIXES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Manhattan local bus routes dropped 3.4 percent from 2015 to 2016, the largest drop of any borough. From 2011 to 2016 local bus ridership in Manhattan fell 16 percent, according to a report released last fall by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer. The MTA cited reduced customer demand as justiﬁcation for service cuts to several Manhattan bus routes last year, including the crosstown M31, M42, M66 and M72 routes. The move was criticized by some bus riders and local elected ofﬁcials, who claimed that ridership drops could be attributed to slow and infrequent bus ser-

vice. (The M31, M42, and M66 routes were each among the four slowest buses in the entire city, according to Stringer’s study.) Critics feared the service changes would lead to what some bus advocates characterize as a self-perpetuating cycle of cuts and further ridership drops spurred on by decreased service. Lhota has called for the enhanced enforcement of traffic laws and the implementation of a congestion pricing plan to improve traffic flow and bus efficiency. The Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group, wants the MTA to allow riders to board buses using all doors to reduce the amount of time buses spend at stops. In March, the MTA will unveil a new performance metrics

dashboard for the bus system. The dashboard, which will be available online, is intended to present riders with data measuring service quality in a userfriendly format. The dashboard will allow users to track recent and historical performance of the bus system using a number of new metrics, including bus speeds, additional wait time and additional on-bus time, in addition to so-called legacy performance measurements long used by the MTA such as wait assessment. The tool will be similar to the subway performance dashboard released by the MTA last fall, which allows users to track systemwide performance and data measuring individual subway lines.

NYCT President Andy Byford has promised to release a comprehensive plan to improve bus service. Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit

When Broadway hopeful Rachel Berger was 27, she realized that a Tony Award was not in the offing, and that any theatrical acting job that wasn’t related to the word “fringe” was seemingly not in her future. “I was a frustrated actress,” she said inside The Artist Coop, which she founded and opened on West 52nd Street in May. “I thought seriously about MFA programs, auditioning at Juilliard, Yale and NYU. But I didn’t get in.” So she continued the hustle for bucks: She worked at a ﬁtness studio and did her share of babysitting and dog walking. Then, seeing the success of WeWork, a co-working space for entrepreneurs, Berger wondered: “Why aren’t there places like WeWork for artists? Someplace where actors,

writers, producers, directors, choreographers and dancers could hang out, network, have rehearsal space — a coworking space for artists that would be affordable.” Berger turned her dream into reality over a two-year period. At the New York Small Business Development Center, she learned how to craft an effective pitch and mission statement, and how to decide what capabilities her space should have. At the Center For Social Innovation, a co-working space for nonprofits, she learned the basics of running an organization and produced a pop-up event. Her Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign raised $27,000, including from her parents and two older brothers. She mined Fractured Atlas, a national organization that advises individual artists and

ARTSY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 is part of what TAC is all about, according to frustrated actress turned founder and TAC executive director Rachel Berger. TAC’s mission, she said, is to build an intentional community that will embrace activism. A high-energy 29-year-old with chocolate-colored, flowing hair and an irresistible smile, Berger said she spoke to anyone and everyone about her vision. “I just tell people what I want to do and ask, ‘You wanna help me?’ And now the Artist Co-op is a reality,” she laughed, her enthusiasm palpable. The expansion of startups and freelancers has led to an abundance of co-working spaces in the city — from collectives like Fueled, Bond and LMHQ, to organizations like Regus and WeWork: places that supply everything from free Wi-Fi to fee-based conference rooms. Corporations have stepped up. Barclays has opened a financial/technology-focused accelerator space called Rise; IBM has a learning environment called the IBM Cognitive Curriculum. There’s even a global network of live-work spaces called Roam. Berger said TAC attracts a different community, and that key to its success are the two rehearsal spaces, which are

Rachel Berger, The Artist Co-op’s founder and executive director. Photo: Caitie McCabe kept spare to remain affordable. Members enjoy free Wi-Fi, mailboxes, lockers, printer and fax; educational programming and community events; and a library with scripts and props. The organization, launched last May, now has 80 members, Berger said. Getting there took two years, advice from New York’s Small Business Development Center, apprenticeship at the Center For Social Innovation, and an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. There was also invaluable support from a Connecticut businessman, Ron Black. “Several years ago, I started to have the time, interest and re-

arts organizations. She leveraged social media, mostly Instagram and Twitter. And she networked tirelessly. Born in Miami, brought up in Kentucky, Berger went on to Choate, the prestigious boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut. She graduated from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She settled in New York in 2012 following an acting apprenticeship in Cincinnati. Berger’s success here, though, might have its roots in the Blue Grass State, where she attended a school for creative and performing arts and where she played the oboe in the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra. In the eighth grade she won the Renaissance Award. “I was a jack of all trades, so that’s kind of what I am now,” she said.

sources to help emerging performing artists,” Black said. But not for investments, as Black is “not looking for any monetary gain.” As he explained it: “Some guys buy expensive cars or second homes on the beach.” Black said he is “driven to help and support projects and people that need it.” TAC positions itself on the side of inclusiveness, welcoming the polyglot inhabitants of the entertainment world, where diversity is a touchstone. A recent TAC event, and its “ﬁrst live community conversation,” focused on sexual harassment in the theater and was streamed live via Facebook. The panelists discussed how power relationships can easily morph into mistreatment; how demoralizing verbal and physical abuse can be; how race plays its part; and how explorations of men-women issues overlook the situations where men are the victims. Money is always a concern for artists, and upcoming at TAC is a financial support group session. The aim is to educate student and professional artists on ﬁnancial nut-and-bolts, how to advocate for legislative and institutional changes, and how to manage loan debt and budget on an erratic income. But it’s not all serious. There’s also a weekly theatrical games workout at the clown gym class.

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MARCH 1-7,2018

Business

FINANCIAL ADVICE FOR YOUNG MANHATTAN WOMEN Keep to a budget, invest early and often and prepare for life’s milestones BY SUZANNE M. AKIAN, CFP

Young women have unique financial needs. Their timelines and sets of milestones can often differ from those of young men. And women still earn an average of 20 to 25 percent less than men for the same job. That’s why it is crucial for women just starting out in their careers to pay special attention to their finances. First and foremost, young women should understand that personal finance is a priority. Like all the other commitments a young woman makes as she builds a life for herself, a woman should dedicate time and energy to understanding, safeguarding, and growing her personal wealth. Female executives typically stress the importance of financial education and being comfortable with financial terms and processes. There are myriad applications and websites that can help to create a good foundation by teaching the terminology of finance. Financial literacy helps individuals use money more efficiently and make informed decisions. Once the basic concepts are familiar, a next step can be to gain an understanding of fundamental strategies for building wealth. For young women just starting out in their careers, one particularly important element is budgeting. A first income can be intoxicating, and there is a great temptation to spend, especially if few responsibilities exist. But add the realities of rent and transportation, food, utilities, and paying off student loans — and suddenly the need to budget becomes a necessity. Once again, technology to the rescue: there are free budgeting apps and websites which calculate and track spending and help to map out a plan for expenses. According to some professionals, these apps can help to change behavior, making excessive daily expenditures a thing of the past. A budget means looking beyond immediate purchases to the future: What does life hold in store in five, 10, or 20 years? A budget should include not just the amount a person spends in a given month, but how much she saves and how much she invests. Many financial advisors recommend that young women keep up to a year of living expenses on hand in cash.

“Fearless Girl” statue near Wall Street. Photo: Anthony Quintano, via ﬂickr And as early as possible, a woman should get into the habit of investing a comfortable amount each and every month. She should start with a small amount, perhaps $25 — small enough that she doesn’t feel it missing. Choose an amount that can be maintained and raised in small increments, rather than an amount that is too large and must eventually be reduced. First steps in investing might include “maxing out” an employer 401(K), and starting a Roth IRA. Investing small amounts at first and making the investments easy to understand is key. Investments that involve compound interest should be considered. Whether her money is earned, saved or inherited, every woman should understand how her money is invested. Preparing for life’s milestones is another critical element of ﬁnancial

planning. Young people should not necessarily count on a life partner who can help ﬁnancially. Working towards a home, putting a child through college and retirement might all be within the scope of milestones to plan for. All of these considerations are especially critical for young women living in Manhattan, as New York State and New York City residents are amongst the highest taxed in the country. This makes investing early a priority, particularly in tax-deferred accounts like a 401(K) that much more impactful on long-term ﬁnancial success. If a New York City resident invests a dollar in a 401(K) instead of taking the funds and investing post-tax dollars, they are investing much more over the long run. There also is the very high cost of living adjustment associated with living in Manhattan. Obviously, this city is

much more expensive than many others; for women living here long term, investing early in tax-efficient instruments is imperative. Young women may face the potential financial impact of having children. At what point in a career might she decide to exit the workforce to have a baby? More and more women are deferring motherhood to their thirties and even forties. What are the implications on earnings? On contributions to retirement plans or social security earnings? Fewer years in the workforce means less compound growth. And an extended absence to look after children might require a woman to re-train before re-entering her profession. For young families with children, one consideration might be a NY 529 college savings plan, which allows for

a deduction of a portion of the investment in New York tax. In the process of beginning to invest, trusted advice is essential, whether it comes from a professional, a parent, or even a knowledgeable friend. Putting together a team for support in ﬁnances — one that might include a tax attorney and an accountant — is a wise decision. Understanding concepts and strategizing with a team can help create the best possible ﬁnancial roadmap for the future. Suzanne M. Akian, CFP ® is a Financial Advisor with the Global Wealth Management Division of Morgan Stanley in New York, NY. She can be reached at 212613-6773 or at fa.morganstanleyindividual. com/akianzalanskas.

MARCH 1-7,2018

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‘SAVE THE UNION CARBIDE BUILDING!’ VIEWPOINT A mega-bank and its ally at City Hall want to tear down a classic of Park Avenue corporate modernism and demolish the legacy of an unsung woman who was one of the great architects of the post-war era BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN

It was a wanton act of urban desecration that was executed by one of the city’s storied corporations and blessed by municipal government, to its enduring shame. In broad daylight, wrecking crews demolished the Singer Building, an ornate Beaux-Arts masterpiece that had graced lower Broadway at Liberty Street since 1908. The year was 1968, and it was the early preservation move-

ment’s most spectacular failure. Now, half a century later, that dark chapter in city history is at risk of repeating itself. Crowned by a shimmering mansard roof and glowing multi-story lanterns, the 612foot, 47-story home of the old Singer Sewing Machine Co. was the tallest building in the world ever to be intentionally torn down. Soon, it could lose that dubious honor: JPMorgan Chase has disclosed plans to raze its 707foot, 52-story tower at 270 Park Avenue and erect in its stead a super-tall headquarters soaring 1,200 feet and 70 ﬂoors. “It would be the largest voluntary demolition in human history,” said Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, a preservation advocacy group that is galvanizing opposition to the plan. It would also erase from our skyline a structure that helped

Her mind and hands worked marvels in design.” Nathaniel Owings, a founder of architectural giant Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, about architect Natalie Griffin de Blois

define mid-century Manhattan as the capital of capital and positioned Park Avenue as the must-have corporate address. Most troubling of all, it would negate the breakthrough work of a woman pioneer in the old boy’s club of post-war American architecture. Natalie Griffin de Blois is not a household name. That’s regrettable. She helped make midtown midtown. As senior designer at the architectural laboratory of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, she was a driving — if often uncredited — force in the classics of American corporate modernism, including such branding statements as the Lever House of 1952 and the Pepsi Cola Building of 1960, both on Park. Both are typically attributed to Gordon Bunshaft, SOM’s Pritzker Prize-winner and a legend in the male-dominated ﬁeld. “It has been said that she did all the work,” Bankoff said. “And he got all the credit.”

ONLY THE DIVINITY KNEW

The Singer Building on lower Broadway at Liberty Street in a 1920s-era photo. It was razed in 1968 and has remained the tallest building in the world ever to be intentionally demolished -- a dubious status it will lose if JPMorgan Chase completes plans to tear down its headquarters at 270 Park Avenue. Photo: New York Public Library Digital Collection

Indeed, SOM has belatedly acknowledged that the ﬁrm’s signature works on Park Avenue could never have taken shape without de Blois. For she not only cracked the glass ceiling, she also built it: “Her mind and hands worked marvels in design,” wrote Nathaniel Alexander Owings, an SOM co-founder, in his 1973 autobiography. “And only she and God would ever know just how many great solutions, with the imprimatur of one of the male heroes of SOM, owed so much more to her than was ever attributed by either SOM or the client.” Lever House and Pepsi Cola are both designated landmarks. Both will endure. But there is a third SOM building in the International Style, its design team led by de Blois, which has never been designated, though in 2013, the

The headquarters of JPMorgan Chase at 270 Park Avenue, a 1961 classic of corporate modernism that was designed largely by Natalie Griffin de Blois, one of the most accomplished women architects of her time. It could be demolished under plans developed by the bank to build a new home, 500 feet higher. Photo: Reading Tom, via ﬂickr city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) found it “may merit designation.” And that is the old Union Carbide Building at 270 Park — a sleek black-and-silver, glassand-steel tower, with doubleheight lobby, built to straddle the railroad tracks, completed in 1961, a masterpiece both of elegance and restraint — that JPMorgan Chase wants to disassemble. The chief cheerleader of the demolition? None other than Mayor Bill de Blasio, who on Wednesday, February 21st joined bank CEO Jamie Dimon in announcing plans for the new 2.5 million square-foot tower, which would be built on the ashes of the current 1.5 million square-foot de Blois building. Under the city’s 2017 East

Midtown rezoning plan, a 78-block district enveloping Grand Central Terminal, where scores of office buildings are over 75 years old, can now be rejuvenated, redeveloped or replaced outright with taller, modern towers. JPMorgan is expected to become the ﬁrst major project to take advantage of the initiative through a complex purchase of air rights from nearby landmarks, like Grand Central or St. Patrick’s Cathedral for instance, in return for substantial contributions to mass transit or other public realm improvements. Those are worthy goals. But so is retaining our heritage, our history, our architecture — and even the stainless steel mullions, glazed with Union Carbide products, that de Blois

used to frame her building. The city has been down this road before. Ernest Flagg’s Singer Building was leveled three years after the creation of the LPC in 1965, which itself came into existence, a year after the destruction of Pennsylvania Station, to forestall similar calamities. Those were the early days of preservationism. No such excuse exists 50 years later. It should never have happened then. It should certainly not happen today. And LPC, now a mature agency with a decent track record, cannot in good conscience make the same mistake twice. Landmark 270 Park Avenue. Or as Bankoff wrote to 10,000 followers in an emergency eblast last week, “Save the Union Carbide Building!”

MARCH 1-7,2018

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GOING ASTRAY WITH ANDRÉ ACIMAN The author of “Call Me by Your Name” talks about the Oscars, his Upper West Side favorites and all the lives that could have been BY ALIZAH SALARIO

In the beginning, the writer André Aciman wasn’t taking the story of two young men who fall in love on the Tuscan Riviera one summer very seriously. Aciman, struggling with a novel, did what he often does when feeling blocked: he rode the subway, took out his pen and started writing. That’s when Elio, a 17-year-old student, and Oliver, a research assistant who comes to work for Elio’s professor father, found their way onto the page. For Aciman, subway writing didn’t count, so there was a freedom that came with chiseling away at Elio and Oliver’s courtship and romance. One thing led to another, and what started as off-the-record subway writing became the acclaimed novel “Call Me by Your Name.” It’s more than a little ironic that the novel, now an Oscar-nominated ﬁlm, began as a detour. Director Luca Guadagnino’s ﬁlm starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet brings Aciman’s coming-of-age narrative and piercing study of desire to life. When we caught up with Aciman at a café near his Upper West Side apartment, he reminded us that “Call Me by Your Name” is also a story of the power of what’s left off the page.

First thing ﬁrst. “Call Me by You Name” is nominated for four Oscars, so congratulations. What was your reaction when you ﬁrst heard about it? About the Oscars? Because I’m very superstitious, I won’t allow myself to think that it’s going to happen. But then if I deny that I do that, then I’m still guilty. So there’s a part of me that is ecstatic, and then another one that is totally repressed and won’t even admit that it’s happened.

Whenever a book is turned into a film, people always want to know what it got wrong. But you’ve spoken very highly of the film and the director, so I’m curious if you learned anything about your own novel by watching the movie. The film does things that are amazing. I thought the father scene, though it’s lifted almost verbatim from the book, I thought it was so beautifully done that I forgot what the words were. I knew the words, but it was powerful. And then the final scene

was exceptional. It was something that was not in the book. I think you’ve read that I’ve said to the director, “The ending of your movie is better than the ending of my book, because it just arrests you.”

That must have been very validating to see your novel inspire a piece of art that you admire. What validates it even more, almost palpably, is when I walked into the theater the second time — the ﬁrst time was in Berlin, and I don’t know the audience in Berlin — at Alice Tully Hall and it was the premier here in New York City. I walked in, and I was sitting among the audience, and I kept thinking to myself, my god, everybody in this room — and it’s ﬁlled to capacity, a thousand people or more — they’re all here because of something that I cooked up right across the street here and I said, are they really here for this? Could it be? For me, the most amazing moment was when somebody on the stage said you know, the author is in the audience, could he please stand up? And I’m going no, I’m not going to stand up. But my son was with me, he says you’ve got to stand up, otherwise they think you’re not here. I said OK, that’s a good reason to stand up. So I stood up and everybody sort of turned — it was an acclamation, before the movie even started. For me it was a highly New York experience. Basically the best of New York was there.

Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer star in “Call Me by Your Name,” the Oscar-nominated ﬁlm based on André Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name. Photo courtesy Sony Pictures one of the few things I can say with a straight face. Because I think that when you read a book, one reads for many reasons, but I only look at one thing. I look at the style of the writer, and I want to speak about the humanity that is dying to speak itself though the style. Which means that I hate any kind of -ism that is attached to any form of literature. Bad literature, I don’t care, you can do with it what you want. But if you’re going to

I read that you really like Straus Park.

Why is that? The real reason is that I like it. I like the statue, and the spot. But if I try to use the word excavate.... I tried to see Straus Park as a place where I could be at the center and imagine that I am in those places of the world that I have been close to: London, Paris, Rome, Italy, particularly the beaches. It’s all fantasy and projection, but being in Straus park allowed me, as a writer, to write about Straus Park as if it’s a construct of a displaced person trying to ﬁnd his own home. Through time, and through space. But is this what really happens? I don’t know. When I go to Straus Park, I like to either have a pizza or read a bit.

Oooh. Where do you get pizza? That’s a good question. Now you’re talking. I go to Sal & Carmine’s, on 100th and Broadway. Among the best pizza in New York I think.

My experience of reading the book was that Elio knew my heart, and what I mean by that is his self-doubt, the sense of being fractured, the way he anticipates loss before it happens, all felt very personal. What was it like to write something that resonates with so many people?

Is there anywhere you ﬁnd foods from your childhood in Egypt? There’s a place, I think it’s called Jerusalem [Restaurant], which I have not been to in probably 25 years because it’s so full of garlic, but the smell instantly takes me back to Egypt, and I love that. The irony is that when I was in Egypt, and I’d pass by a falafel vendor — they’re all over the place — I would just feel myself nostalgic for New York, on Broadway, where there’s Jerusalem falafel. Here I am, in Egypt, the capital of falafel for me, where I grew up with it, and I’m thinking of New York.

I’ve always written about how we react to other people who intimidated us. I’ve always written about people who make me feel ashamed of wanting to touch them. And I’ve also written about the fear of offending someone. I mean, these are things that I’ve lived through, and I know them.... All hope I’ve done, for those people who never took the time to understand what they were going through, was to give them a kind of map, or a kind of grid, where they can chart the course of how they themselves went from A to B to C.

Has teaching at CUNY informed your perspective as a New Yorker, and as a writer? I’m a very good teacher. This is

be studying Thucydides, which is my favorite book, you can’t just talk about the point of view of the Jew, the point of view of the gay person, the point of view of the women, the point of view of the subaltern, the oppressed, what is it, postcolonialism? All that stuff, I hate it, because it’s a way of not really delving into what the actual book is struggling to say.

Novelist André Aciman. Photo: Sigrid Estrada

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Z H L H U A P P U B U W M L O

D J Z S I F D P N F C D V E T

50 Manipulative one 54 “American ___” 55 Great deal 56 Have it and eat it too..... 57 Drags 58 Umpire’s call 59 Saw Down 1 Las Vegas dancer accessory 2 Pot 3 Indochinese language 4 World-weary 5 Impersonator 6 ___ stick 7 River between the US and Mexico (2 words) 8 Beet soup 9 Oriental sash 10 Pinnacle 11 Dudes 17 Earl Grey is an example of this drink 19 Bass pitched instrument 20 Dye-yielding shrubs 21 Block (2 words) 22 Inferior to

Q T R O P I C A L W O O R Z M

H X Q W S W Y T M P L F L A L

L I L Y M P N I Q N D J R I M

O G L G Q E S W H E E J E O D

C C C W K P C D S T O R M D C

C A I N E D R C O G T H H S C

WORD SEARCH by Myles Mellor

Z H L H U A P P U B U W M L O

Q T R O P I C A L W O O R Z M

L I L Y M P N I Q N D J R I M

C C C W K P C D S T O R M D C

Across 1 The start of a tulip 5 Spring month, for short 8 Two together 12 Toothbrush brand with B 13 Luau fare 14 Wind instrument 15 Miniature water buffalo 16 Self-glorifying endeavors (2 words) 18 Lights 20 French farewell 23 Hurrying 27 Photographer Goldin 28 Test version 31 Icy coating 32 World ﬁnanciers 33 Desert plant 35 Pursue a young lady 36 Hide in the shadows 38 Well-behaved 39 Sound booster 40 Extra tires 42 Bottle inhabitant 44 Red-faced 47 A long slender cigar

3 8

8 4

2 6

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.

D O

O W S

SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan

by Myles Mellor

CROSSWORD

MARCH 1-7,2018

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