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WEEK OF MARCH
9-15 2017
Arthur Rangini opened St. Kilda Coffee, on West 44th Street, in November. Photo: Lily Haight
AUSSIE CAFÉ VIBE PERCOLATES IN THE CITY TRENDS Artisanal confections, Wi-Fi-free spaces replicate Down Under’s coffee culture BY LILY HAIGHT AND CLAIRE WANG
February’s blizzard might have been the most fortuitous occurrence for a pair of Australian baristas launching their new coffee venture in Greenwich Village. While the storm raged, New York Fashion Week attendees found shelter amid fresh plants and bamboo walls. Banter, a quaint Sullivan Street space awash in pastel hues, is the brainchild of Nick Duckworth and Josh Evans, two beanie-sporting, 20-something down-to-earth dudes from Down Under. It is one of three new Australian cafés that opened up shop last month, attesting to New Yorkers’ growing affinity for Aussie coffee culture, which has slowly come to permeate life in the city.
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City Council Members Dan Garodnick and Vanessa Gibson (center) introduced legislation requiring increased police transparency. Photo: Michael Garofalo
NEW BILL AIMS TO KEEP TABS ON NYPD SURVEILLANCE LAW ENFORCEMENT Proposed legislation would require police to disclose use of controversial technologies BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
A new bill introduced in the City Council last week would allow for increased transparency on a topic that has long been opaque to elected officials and members of the public: the surveillance activity of the New York City Police Department.
court cases brought by civil liberties groups, rather than via disclosure to City Council members tasked with overseeing the department’s operations. For years, the NYPD spied on the city’s Muslim community, eavesdropping on conversations and infiltrating mosques with informers in a long-running program that, according to NYPD officials in court testimony first reported by the Associated Press, never resulted in a terrorism investigation or even a single lead. The NYPD is currently engaged in discussions to resolve two lawsuits relating to the pro-
The Public Oversight in Surveillance Technology Act, introduced by Council Members Dan Garodnick and Vanessa Gibson, would require the NYPD to publicly disclose surveillance tools it uses or plans to use, outline their capabilities, and issue policies and procedures governing their use. “It forces the NYPD to actually think about privacy before they jump into a new surveillance scheme,” Garodnick said. In the years since the 9/11 attacks, the NYPD secretly adopted various controversial surveillance tactics that later came to light through press reports and
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FOR HIM, SETTLING SMALL CLAIMS IS A BIG DEAL presided over Arbitration Man has three decades. for informal hearings about it He’s now blogging BY RICHARD KHAVKINE
is the common Arbitration Man their jurist. least folks’ hero. Or at Man has For 30 years, Arbitration court office of the civil few sat in a satellite Centre St. every building at 111 New Yorkers’ weeks and absorbed dry cleaning, burned lost accountings of fender benders, lousy paint jobs, and the like. And security deposits then he’s decided. Arbitration Man, About a year ago, so to not afwho requested anonymity started docuhe fect future proceedings, two dozen of what menting about compelling cases considers his most blog. in an eponymous about it because “I decided to write the stories but in a I was interested about it not from wanted to write from view but rather lawyer’s point of said Arbitration view,” of a lay point lawyer since 1961. Man, a practicing what’s at issue He first writes about post, renders and then, in a separatehow he arrived his decision, detailing blog the to Visitors at his conclusion. their opinions. often weigh in with get a rap going. I to “I really want whether they unreally want to know and why I did it,” I did derstood what don’t know how to he said. “Most people ... I’d like my cases the judge thinks. and also my trereflect my personalitythe law.” for mendous respect 80, went into indiMan, Arbitration suc in 1985, settling vidual practice
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MANHATTAN'S APARTMENT BOOM, > PROPERTY, P.20
2015
In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS
The effort to help small seems to businesses in the city be gathering steam. Two city councilmembers, Robert Margaret Chin and Cornegy, have introduced create legislation that wouldSmall a new “Office of the within Business Advocate” of Small the city’s Department Business Services. Chin The new post, which have up told us she’d like to would and running this year, for serve as an ombudsman city small businesses within them clear government, helping to get through the bureaucracy things done. Perhaps even more also importantly, the ombudsman and number will tally the type small business of complaints by taken in owners, the actions policy response, and somefor ways to recommendations If done well, begin to fix things. report would the ombudsman’s give us the first quantitative with taste of what’s wrong the city, an small businesses in towards important first step fixing the problem. of for deTo really make a difference, is a mere formality will have to the work process looking to complete their advocate are the chances course, velopers precinct, but rising rents, -- thanks to a find a way to tackle business’ is being done legally of after-hours projects quickly. their own hours,” which remain many While Chin “They pick out boom in the number throughout who lives on most vexing problem. said Mildred Angelo,of the Ruppert construction permits gauge what Buildings one said it’s too early tocould have the 19th floor in The Department of the city. number three years, the Houses on 92nd Street between role the advocate She Over the past on the is handing out a record work perThird avenues. permits, there, more information of Second and an ongoing all-hours number of after-hours bad thing. of after-hours work the city’s Dept. problem can’t be a said there’s with the mits granted by nearby where according to new data jumped 30 percent, This step, combinedBorough construction project noise Buildings has data provided in workers constantly make efforts by Manhattan to mediate BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS according to DOB of Informacement from trucks. President Gale Brewer offer response to a Freedom classifies transferring they want. They knows the the rent renewal process, request. The city They 6 “They do whatever signs Every New Yorker clang, tion Act go as they please. work between some early, tangible small any construction on the weekend, can come and sound: the metal-on-metal or the piercing of progress. For many have no respect.” p.m. and 7 a.m., can’t come of these that the hollow boom, issuance reverse. owners, in business moving The increased beeps of a truck has generto a correspond and you as after-hours. soon enough. variances has led at the alarm clock The surge in permits
SLEEPS, THANKS TO THE CITY THAT NEVER UCTION A BOOM IN LATE-NIGHT CONSTR NEWS
A glance it: it’s the middle can hardly believe yet construction of the night, and carries on full-tilt. your local police or You can call 311
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for dollars in fees ated millions of and left some resithe city agency, that the application dents convinced
2 City Arts 3 Top 5 8 Real Estate 10 15 Minutes
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gram, and recently agreed to a proposed settlement that would subject the department to increased civilian oversight. Technologies implemented by the NYPD without public input include Stingrays, which allow police to track the location of cellphone users and, in some cases, intercept their communications, and x-ray vans known as “backscatters” that can see through walls and vehicles, and which critics say may expose bystanders to harmful radiation. The department also uses
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MARCH 9-15,2017
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THEATERS DISH IT OUT CULINARY ARTS Real food features in a number of productions BY MARK KENNEDY
There’s a new version of the frightful musical “Sweeney Todd” playing in downtown Manhattan that’s undeniably meatier than most. Visitors to the Barrow Street Theatre planning to see the show about a homicidal barber whose victims are ground up into pies are being offered the chance to munch on real meat pies before the curtain goes up. “It adds something very fun, preshow,” says producer Rachel Edwards, who dreamed up the mash-up, which also happens to have real mashed potatoes. “It just gives people a different way in and a different way to experience something that they might not have thought of before.” The meat pies — created by a former White House executive pastry chef — are just part of a new wave of real food invading the world of theater, upping the realism as well as the immersive experience.
Pierogi are tossed to patrons at the Broadway musical “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” and real pizza slices are eaten onstage at “A Bronx Tale.” Off-Broadway, the cast members of “Everybody” munch on veggie burgers, actors in “Man From Nebraska” nibble on french fries, ham and oatmeal, and a risotto is attempted at the play “Linda.” More pies — this time, sweet dessert ones — appear in the hit Broadway musical “Waitress ,” where delicious odors waft through the theater thanks to a convection oven in the lobby. Pie consultant Stacy Donnelly creates some 15 real pies a week for the actors to use onstage and up to 1,600 mason jar pies are sold at a concession stand. “We do feel that nowadays people are so consumed with technology and the creators really wanted to make sure people were immersed in the experience,” said Donnelly. “Twitter can’t give you a smell. It can’t give you a feeling. It can’t spark an emotion the way food can.” The use of real food on stages and in auditoriums adds a dash of genuineness to the stagecraft, though theater professionals counsel that it can’t be forced. A few seasons ago, Hugh Jackman gutted and prepared a real raw
Theatergoers to the Barrow Street Theatre’s production of “Sweeney Todd,” above, can partake of meat pies prior to the performance. Food is increasingly playing a role, either on stage or off, at the theater. Photo: Joan Marcus fish with fennel and lemon onstage at “The River.” It made sense — he was playing a fisherman. That year, he was rivaled in culinary onstage skills by Carey Mulligan, who created a spaghetti Bolognese during the first act of the hyper-realistic revival of “Skylight” that left the whiff of sausage lingering deliciously during intermission. Theater creators say audiences paying hundreds of dollars a ticket demand more nowadays. “People expect the realness of something. They don’t want to see a rubber fish. They want you to go the extra mile,” said Donnelly.
For the new Broadway hit “A Bronx Tale ,” head prop person Mark Wasserman visits a deli near the Longacre Theatre before each performance and buys a ham sandwich, a slice of pepperoni pizza, a cannoli, breadsticks and iced tea (which stands-in for scotch onstage). “I don’t even need to order anymore,” he said, laughing. “They recognize my face and they prepare it.” His food props lend credibility to the story about a young man growing up in the mafia, especially seeing one actor munch on pizza. “It just adds to the character development that he’s actually onstage eating,” Wasserman said.
Edwards, founder and producer of the imaginative Tooting Arts Club in London, dreamed up the idea of setting “Sweeney Todd” in a real pie shop and persuaded the 32-seat historic store Harrington’s to host it, giving the show a “pressure cooker, chamber of horrors atmosphere,” she said. Edwards transferred the show to the West End and now has faithfully recreated Harrington’s at the Barrow Theatre, where strangers can break bread together on communal benches before the show. “I think it’s a lovely way to begin a theater experience,” she said. So far, about 75 percent of patrons are pre-ordering pies.
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Making Kerouac Our Bitch: On Being a Woman and a Reader of Misogynist Writers
FRIDAY, MARCH 10TH, 7PM The Strand | 828 Broadway | 212-473-1452 | strandbooks.com Turning reading into an act of feminist subversion is one thread of this examination of the overt sexism of On the Road, which may conceal the” potential for radical feminist liberation.” ($20)
Be Fearless: What If Technology Could Help You Overcome a Fear of Heights or Public Speaking?
FRIDAY, MARCH 10TH, 6:30PM Samsung 837 | 837 Washington St. | 844-577-6969 | samsung.com “Be Fearless” was created to help people overcome a pair of common phobias. Learn more at a panel on real-life episodes where technology helped overcome barriers. (Free, RSVP required)
Just Announced | Aesthetics, Ethics, and Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lector’s Kitchen
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29TH, 7:30PM Blue Apron | 40 W. 23rd St. | thinkolio.org Goodness versus hedonism provides a point of division for a talk that will also touch on locavorism and New York restaurant culture. Host Blue Apron provides the beer and wine. ($15)
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
MARCH 9-15,2017
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG WELL-SHOD CLODS
STATS FOR THE WEEK
Two men from Brooklyn were injured in a scuffle over a pair of sneakers. At 11:50 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, a 20-year-old man was walking south on Greene Street between Spring and Broome Streets when he was approached by five men. The quintet said they wanted to buy the sneakers the 20-year-old had just purchased. When the young man declined their offer, one of the men ripped the bag containing his sneakers and was punched several times. His companion, another 20-year-old, was injured when he tried to help his friend. The gang of five then took the sneakers and headed north on Spring Street. The sneakers’ now former owner suffered pain and swelling to his face while his friend suffered scrapes to his neck. A search of the area proved fruitless, but one of the thugs – Warren Rose, 19 -- was arrested on Feb. 27 and charged with robbery. The stolen sneakers were valued at $250.
Reported crimes from the 1st precinct
LOW-LIFE WITH KNIFE A shoplifter threatened a drugstore employee with violence. At 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, a man took items of merchandise from the Duane Reade
The local paper for Downtown
Week to Date
Tony Webster, via flickr
store at 100 Broadway and attempted to leave the location without paying. A male store employee tried to stop the man, and a struggle ensued during which the shoplifter pulled out an orange knife and brandished it at the employee, saying, “Leave me alone!” The employee then allowed the suspect to leave and suffered no injuries. Police searched the neighborhood but couldn’t find the knife-wielding shoplifter. The items stolen included various Aveeno lotions, Cicatricure eye creams, microderm, and cream, Nexxus shampoo and conditioner, a Dove beauty bar, in all a total of $340.
PICTURE IMPERFECT Three baddies made off with a Port Washington man’s pricey camera equipment. At 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, a 30-year-old man was walking in front of 4 South St. when three men came up from behind him. As two of the men distracted the 30-year-old, a third man took the camera bag off his shoulder and fled on Water Street. The items stolen included a Nikon camera valued at $1,070, a Nikon lens worth $892, a Sigma lens priced at $892, a Nikon battery tagged at $90, a camera bag strap worth $178, an iPhone 6 valued at $535, and an SD card tagged at $40, making a total stolen of $3,697.
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Year to Date
2017 2016
% Change
2017
2016
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
0
0
n/a
Rape
0
0
n/a
2
2
0.0
Robbery
2
0
n/a
12
8
50.0
Felony Assault
0
2
-100.0
10
10
0.0
Burglary
1
2
-50.0
9
21
-57.1
Grand Larceny
16
15
6.7
142
176 -19.3
Grand Larceny Auto
0
0
n/a
0
3
NO TANKS
DISENGAGED
A moment of inattention cost a gym-goer her valuable watch. At 1:50 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 6, a 46-year-old woman was changing in the locker room inside Retro Fitness at 1 New York Plaza when she briefly left her locker open and unattended. When she came back she found that her watch had been taken by an unknown person. The stolen watch was a Cartier Tank Française valued at $4,300.
At 2:30 p.m. on Friday Feb. 24, a woman left her hotel room in the Ritz-Carlton at 2 West Street so housekeeping could clean the room. When she returned just five minutes later, she discovered that her diamond engagement ring, valued at $40,000, was gone.
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Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct
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MARCH 9-15,2017
UP AND DOWN, HIGH AND LOW BY PETER PEREIRA
MARCH 9-15,2017
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
HOMELESS STUDENTS SPIKE BY 22 PERCENT EDUATION More than 1 in 8 city public schools affected during recent five-year period BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
The number of students in New York City public schools who experienced homelessness between the 2010-11 and 2014-15 school years is larger than the size of the Boston and Seattle school systems combined. A 2016 study by the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness found that 127,000 of the city’s 1.1 million public school students have been homeless at some point during those five years. These students, which research shows are at a much higher risk for mid-year transfers and chronic absenteeism, are often concentrated in one or two schools in each district, and in some districts much more than others.
Homeless students are two times more likely to transfer schools, and every school transfer has been estimated to set a child back up to six months academically.” Jennifer Erb-Downward
The institute’s recently released interactive map showed that the Upper West Side’s P.S. 165 Robert E. Simon and Bloomingdale schools have the highest percentages of homeless students, with 23.1 and 22.4 percent, respectively. Liberty High School Academy for Newcomers in Chelsea is the only other school in the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Chelsea and Lower Manhattan neighborhoods with a student body that is more than 20 percent homeless. Although the number of homeless students dropped somewhat from just over 84,000 during the 2013–14
VIEW THE INTERACTIVE MAP BY READING THIS ARTICLE ONLINE AT OTDOWNTOWN.COM
school year to roughly 82,500 in 2014–15, there was a 22 percent overall increase in homeless students during the five-year period traced by the institute. Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan and the Upper East Side, as smaller neighborhoods, have fewer schools
and fewer homeless students. Jennifer Erb-Downward, the institute’s principal policy analyst, also noted that the generally higher-earning makeup of those four areas likely contributes to their smaller concentration of homeless students. “What I think is important to think about, too,
is while School District Two has a low percent of students who are homeless, it actually has a very large number of students who are homeless,” she said. District Two stretches from the tip of Manhattan to 100th Street, excluding the Upper West and Lower East Sides. School District Three, which encom-
passes the Upper West Side, is one of only two throughout the city that enrolls more homeless students than would be expected based on the percentage of homeless kindergarten and first-grade students enrolled in their district. In other words, it is one of two districts doing more than its share to educate homeless children. Chronic absenteeism — defined as missing 20 or more days of school — and multiple school transfers are crucial barriers homeless students face that many of their peers do not. “Once you have high school students who were chronically absent at some point during school, only 20 percent of them were graduating,” Erb-Downward said of her research. “Homeless students are two times more likely to transfer schools, and every school transfer has been estimated to set a child back up to six months academically.” Heidi Burkhart, a philanthropist and founder of the Dane Real Estate affordable housing firm, sees the symptoms of these challenges in the youth she works with at the nonprofit Covenant House. “I think the biggest difference [between housed and homeless students] is the support system and people that can mentor them and show them the next steps,” she said. According to the Politico news site, which earlier this month analyzed data pertaining to homeless students, the city has recently added 360 new bus routes to ease the often hourslong commutes these students face. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration last year announced $30 million to support students in shelters for programs such as in-school health centers and literacy coaches, but $10 million of it was absent from the mayor’s most recent budget. Toya Holness, a Department of Education spokeswoman, told Politico that the education department is “evaluating the impact of these programs to determine how best to allocate additional resources in the future.” In statement to Our Town, she added that homeless students and those in temporary housing “are among our most vulnerable populations” and said the department was coordinating with other city agencies to secure resources for them. In de Blasio’s most recent 128-page plan to fight homelessness, which he unveiled in a speech last week, the struggles of homeless students are mentioned once in reference to the $30 million the mayor pledged last year. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
MARCH 9-15,2017
SWASTIKAS CARVED INTO DOOR OF UPPER WEST SIDE CHURCH HATE CRIMES The Fourth Universalist Society, a progressive house of worship, discovered the symbols amid a rise in anti-Semitic acts BY RAZI SYED
In the midst of a national and citywide spike in anti-Semitic acts, an Upper West Side church, which recently announced its status as a sanctuary for the undocumented, discovered a series of swastikas carved into its front door. The Fourth Universalist Society, a Unitarian Universalist church, learned of the vandalism on the morning of Feb. 28. “Our building engineer arrived at church and saw it carved on the front doors, facing Central Park West,” the Rev. Schuyler Vogel said. “We suspect it happened sometime that night before; our building closed at 10 p.m. — sometime between that and 9 a.m.” The church reported the damage to law enforcement that morning. While Fourth Universalist did not have a security camera, camera footage from two of the church’s neighbors was viewed but no suspect was found, Vogel said. The congregation is considering installing its own security system. Unitarian Universalism has Christian roots but evolved into a progressive institution without a specific required set of beliefs, Vogel said, explaining that atheists, agnostics, Christians, Jews and followers of other religious philosophies are members of his congregation. The vandalism, which is being investigated by New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force, came in the midst of a 55 percent year-to-date increase in hate crimes from Jan. 1 to Feb. 26 compared to last year, according to the NYPD. During that same period, anti-Semitic crimes increased 94 percent. Nationally, the Anti-Defamation League has recorded a sharp rise in anti-Semitic acts, said Etzion Neuer, director of community service and policy. Since the start of the year, around 100 threats have been called into Jewish community centers and other Jewish institutions, including the ADL midtown Manhattan office. On March 3, a Missouri man was arrested for calling threats into the ADL office as well as seven other Jewish institutions. Vogel said he believes the national political climate has contributed to the increase in hate crimes. “I think there has been a lot of abdi-
NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said a proposed police surveillance oversight bill “would not be helpful to anyone in New York City.” Photo: Ed Reed/ Mayoral Photography Office.
NYPD SURVEILLANCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The Fourth Universalist Society, which recently announced its status as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. Photo: Razi Syed cation of leadership, particularly at the national level, around denouncing rhetoric that encourages racial divide, racial tension,” Vogel said. “The idea that certain people belong here and certain people don’t — that we’ve heard a lot of on the national level — is really harmful.” Neuer said that while swastikas will always represent hate and the Nazi Party for Jews, they have also been used to attack and intimidate nonJewish groups. “It’s not unheard of to see them as a generic symbol of hate,” he said. In addition to the swastikas, the words “race office” were carved into the doors in block letters. “None of us knew what that meant, so we Googled it,” Vogel said. “It turns out that it is a reference to a department within the Nazi Party during the Third Reich that focused on enforcing racial hierarchies and political propaganda. So whoever did it, we surmise, is not simply just a casual passerby but someone with some familiarity and knowledge of fascism and the ideology attached to it.” To cover up the damage before the doors can be permanently repaired, the Fourth Universalist Society sanded down the door and applied lacquer over the affected area. The congregation has Jewish members, including one who fled Europe as the Nazi Party came to power, Vogel said. Fourth Universalist congregation member Jim Saslow, who was raised Jewish and still considers himself culturally Jewish, spoke about his reaction to the carvings. “I was very upset when they carved that stuff into the door because, as a Jew, you’re raised from childhood knowing that your group have been victims of oppression, hatred, murder, pogroms, and the Holocaust for
thousands of years,” Saslow said. “You grow up knowing that it has always happened and always thinking, it could happen again.” Vogel said he was happy to see widespread support for the Fourth Universalist Society in the midst of the vandalism. “We’ve got emails from people across the country offering their support,” Vogel said. “We’ve been in conversations with our denomination, the Unitarian Universalist Association, both at a national level and also more regional — and they have been really wonderful. As well as our neighboring churches.” In response to the carved swastikas, Fourth Universalist is holding an interfaith event on March 10 at 5:30 p.m. to rededicate the building. In addition to Vogel, speakers include journalist and former White House Press Secretary Bill Moyers, West End Synagogue Rabbi Marc Margolius, Faith in New York executive director Onleilove Alston and Jonathan Soto, senior community liaison with the mayor’s office. The motive of the assailant remains unclear. “We don’t know why someone decided to target us,” Vogel said, suggesting that perhaps the publicity around the sanctuary status or a “Black Lives Matter” sign in front of the building could have been the cause. “It has led to a reflection, at least for me, on the seriousness of social justice work,” he said. “And how often it can be seen, particularly among people of a certain degree of privilege, as exciting; as sort of a sexy thing, you know: ‘We’re going to stand out there and go to a rally and protest.’ “And real, true social justice, which is incredibly difficult and sometimes dangerous,” Vogel said. “And this is just a small threat — the people here can weather it — it’s a slippery slope from that to something far worse.”
a platform known as the Domain Awareness System that aggregates data from various sources, including license plate readers, MetroCard swipes, and thousands of publicly and privately owned surveillance cameras, enabling police to track the movement of individuals throughout the city. “Once we started hearing about the Stingrays and the backscatters and the technology that was brought to light by the NYCLU and Brennan Center [for Justice] and others, it left some of us scratching our heads, because we don’t really understand how it’s being used and we probably should,” Garodnick said. In addition to its disclosure requirements, the bill would require the department to detail whether outside agencies within the state or federal government have access to information collected by the NYPD. Gibson said that the bill was not drafted in response to recent actions taken by President Donald Trump to step up federal immigration enforcement, but Garodnick said the measure takes on increased significance in light of the current political climate. “This reinforces our commitment to being a real sanctuary city, and makes it clear to every New Yorker whether data collected by our own surveillance tools can be shared, or even is shared, with the federal government,” he said. The bill does not require the NYPD to provide an accounting of surveillance tools or tactics utilized in the past that are no longer employed, nor does it provide a mechanism for the City Council to prevent the adoption of controversial new technologies by the NYPD. Gibson and Garodnick said that the bill will not impinge on the NYPD’s ability to keep New Yorkers safe, since it does not restrict the department’s use of technologies or require
disclosure of operational details. Despite those assurances, police officials were quick to push back against the proposed oversight measures. “This bill would not be helpful to anyone in New York City,” NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said at a press conference on crime statistics after the legislation was announced. Lawrence Byrne, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for legal matters, called the bill “misguided” and said that the department “strongly” opposes it. Byrne invoked the name of a jihadist publication to make his point, saying, “If we had to comply with this bill, the next issue of Inspire Magazine that came out after it would be devoted to: ‘Here are all the technologies the NYPD uses to prevent terrorist attacks.’” Byrne said that he knows of no police department in the country that is subject to requirements like those laid out in the bill. But Michael Price, counsel at the Brennan Center’s Liberty & National Security Program, which helped to draft the bill, explained that surveillance oversight legislation has been passed or is pending in several cities and counties across the country, including Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, and Santa Clara County, California. “We certainly looked at those bills when we were drafting this,” he said. “There are differences, but that legislation coming out of California and Washington really sort of gave us the inspiration to do it here.” Price said that while other laws have given local legislatures the power to approve or deny the use of police technologies, the New York City bill is strictly an oversight and transparency measure. The bill’s authors say that it will help to foster trust between citizens and the NYPD. “Let’s face it. People learn about police surveillance tools, eventually,” Garodnick said. “This bill gives a chance for the public to understand it, not just by hearing it leaked out in dribs and drabs.”
MARCH 9-15,2017
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Voices
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FORESTS AND TREES BY MELITTA ANDERMAN
Remember the old fashioned adage, “you can’t see the forest for the trees”? A lot of interpretations can be read into those few words: not being appreciated for lack of real insight, too many available choices that mar the clarity of what’s in sight, or flitting like a butterfly from one activity to another. At this time and place I am surrounded by countless choices that plow down the trees without allowing me to find my personal forest. My forest of choices consists of books, films and theater. (To say nothing of politics.) They are all trampling my well-trod path. Books are a big part of my life. I like the shape and feel of each book, especially the end papers which can be
a work of art. There is a book store in London called Persephone that caters to women writers from the 20th century, and they promote artistic endpapers. You can surmise that I’m a reader who needs to hold a book in hand, but books can be listened to, or read on a Kindle. I love going to movies in the city, especially now that reclining seats are available. I take a shawl, wrap myself in a cocoon and pretend I’m on a plane awaiting my little bag of chips. I can also go to a movie with regular squashed seats, and pay a tiny fortune to see half a dozen previews of movies scheduled for openings next year. Or I can go to Netflix where I have hundreds of choices in all genres, and where it will take me half a night to make a choice. When I
Photo: Nova, via flickr think I’m ready to settle in and start watching, I find the foreign language film I’ve selected has no English subtitles. Choosing a theater production in New York is also a cause for chaos. I belong to a number of organizations where for an annual fee you get loads of choices and the entrance price is
nominal. You have to be alert and check several times a day what show pops up and hastily reserve seats. Then you have to know what password you posted to get into the site, so you need a place to save these vital facts. Sometimes all this effort is worth the price of admission, but often it’s easier just to call a marketing
FOOD FOR THOUGHT EAST SIDE OBSERVER BY ARLENE KAYATT
Church and a state of mind — Standing on Lex near 89th waiting for a local bus. Construction worker in a hard hat walks out of the convenience store. Standing in the portal of the store, he crosses himself. Couldn’t understand why he would do that. There was a church on the next corner, but he wouldn’t see it until he exited the store. Noticed that he was holding something in his hand. Lifting it to his lips, he kissed it. A stack of lottery tickets. Kisses and crosses. Hoping they worked. The whole world’s in their hands — Whole Foods is taking over the city. UES, LES, crosstown, Uptown. Everywhere. The latest encounter I’ve had with the behemoth is the newly opened Bryant Park location. Looks spiffy, but as you enter the verticalhorizontal sprawl mid-block between 42nd and 43rd Streets on Sixth Ave, it
feels like you’re in maybe Grand Central Station, Penn Station or Union Station. Off to the right is News Agency — love the name and its promise of maybe a newspaper (they do carry The New York Times) — a coffee hub with pastries, pre-made, packaged sandwiches, salads. To the left is the entrance to the world of produce, dairy. In the middle are stairs and escalators leading to the food court. Unlike any other Whole Foods stores I’ve been to or am aware of, this one has vendors and kiosks and a food hall where you can eat-in, take-out, or sitdown and dine. As I recall, the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle had a wine shop at one point. No more. Well at Bryant Park location, there’s Harbor Bar where you can have cocktails, and Frankie’s Spuntino’s where you can have wine. Seems that Frankie’s also may be taking over the town. In addition to their several Court Street locations in that outer borough, they have a Hudson Street restaurant. We’re in a Whole Foods evolving world. Post haste — The promise of haste —
service, pay the grossly over-the-top price and call it a day. Right now I will call it a night and remove these weighty choices from my overloaded mind. Maybe I can find Dorothy’s yellow brick road and get back home.
he (the man) would start all over at the counter. “No, it’s being mailed. Can’t do anything about it.” Until the manager had second thoughts and hurried the man over to the counter. Had the mailing recalled. The man started all over again which meant that the postal worker behind the counter had to remove the labels and replace them with new ones. A surgical procedure to be sure, but a huge success. Nodding his head in disbelief and looking at his watch, the man’s parting words to those still on line, “Wait. Wait your turn. No shortcuts, trust me.”
Photo: Andrij Bulba, via flickr Don’t even think about it at the post office — Post-lunchtime on a Tuesday afternoon. Man standing on line holding two overnight “priority” envelopes in his hand at the FDR Post Office on Third Avenue and 54th-55th Streets. Medium to long line. He was standing, tapping his foot. Obviously in a hurry. A smile crossed his face when a postal worker looking to shorten the line said to him, “Come with me. You’ll be out in no time.” She escorted him over to the side. Took out her phone with all of
the accoutrements to input information for the mailing label and to accept credit card payment in “1-2-3,” she said, and we’re done. As luck would have it, life intervened. The ZIP code wasn’t matching. The label wasn’t printing. Tried again. Same thing. Along came a manager. Similar problem until he said “OK, it went through” — “IT” meant the two envelopes the man was holding, and IT was taken to the counter for mailing as the man implored the manager to recall it and
Dems not the only ones — Seems Manhattan Republicans are feeling the heat of the Trump presidency. The Metropolitan Republican Club on East 83rd Street, which has tripled its membership in the last two years, is having its own internecine battles. Seems former executive committee members who supported Trump weren’t re-nominated to the executive committee and they’re blaming it on their support of the president. The club’s saying that there are other “valid reasons” for their not being voted in. And that new blood keeps them (the Met Club) “vibrant.” Out with the old. In with the new. Nothing new about that. But when it happens, it’s real, not fake, news.
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FOURTH MAN IN THE ROOM PROFILE ormer state Senator Seymour Lachman details Albany’s disfunction BY LEIDA SNOW
Few city dwellers realize that decisions made in Albany determine tax rates, infrastructure repair schedules, economic development subsidies, even air and drinking water quality. In fact, the recent opening of the initial phase of the Second Avenue subway was probably the first time many realized that the city’s subways and busses are run by a state agency, the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Seymour Lachman, the former state senator from Brooklyn, now an Up-
per Eastsider, says he loves the new Q train line, and luxuriates in its location just blocks from the rental apartment in the East 60s that he shares with his wife of more than 50 years, Susan. But nobody knows as well as Lachman does just how difficult it is to get anything done in Albany. After serving five terms as a state senator, Lachman penned an exposé of bribery, kickbacks, embezzlement and general malfeasance in Albany, called “Three Men In a Room,” published in 2006. Not much has changed since then: “Over the prior 15 years,” he said, “33 Democratic and Republican legislators in the Assembly and State Senate have been forced to leave office due to criminal charges, ethical lapses, or alleged wrongdoing.” When Lachman, 83, launches into what’s wrong with state government,
Seymour Lachman’s “Failed State” will be released next month. Photo courtesy of SUNY Press.
...the legislature lacks an internal democratic process. Members cannot do anything on their own. The leaders have ironclad control. No bill gets through the legislature without the support of the leaders” Seymour Lachman
he speaks in a voice loaded with authority, vividly describing his disillusionment with the pay-to-play culture of Albany. He has now expanded and revised his book, once again with his colleague, Robert Polner. “Failed State: Dysfunction and Corruption in an American Statehouse” will be published in April. Born in the Bronx, Lachman’s family moved to Brooklyn when he was young. He became active in community affairs early in life, and by 34 was selected to head the New York City Board of Education. “I was teaching then at the City University of New York,” he chuckled. “They wanted someone who could bring people together, but also, somebody no one had heard of so no one would object.” He was subsequently elected president of the board, and sponsored the first Holocaust studies curriculum, which was replicated by school systems throughout the country. A Democrat, he was elected to the New York State Senate in 1996, and served five terms. He also served as president of the National Association of Jewish legislators. In his book, Lachman meticulously explains how the wheels turn in Albany, where those who go along get plum committee assignments and extra money for their districts. He is adamant that “individual legislators are powerless.” Decisions about budget, agenda and legislation, are made in secret meetings between the Assembly speaker, the Senate majority leader and the governor – the legendary Three Men in A Room – he said The juicy details are all there — how Lachman was told in no uncertain terms that he could receive tens of thousands of dollars more in members’ items if he agreed to vote with the leadership on major issues. A negative response would doom his senate career. “I wouldn’t go along,” he says. According to Lachman, “the legislature lacks an internal democratic
Seymour Lachman. Photo: Wagner College
Seymour Lachman will be reading and discussing “Failed State: Dysfunction and Corruption in an American Statehouse” at 5:30 p.m. on March 8 at the 67th Street Library, 328 East 67th St., and at 6:30 p.m. on March 15 at Shakespeare & Co., 939 Lexington Ave. (RSVP at events@shakeandco.com).
process. Members cannot do anything on their own. The leaders have ironclad control. No bill gets through the legislature without the support of the leaders.” Lachman’s bursting resumé also includes a long stint as distinguished university professor of government at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College on Staten Island, where he was a founding director and dean emeritus. He is also the former chair of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry. In 1993 he co-authored “One Nation Under God: Religion in Contemporary American Society, which was an alternate selection for the Book of the Month Club. Among his other books are “The Man Who Saved New York: Hugh Car-
ey and the Great Fiscal Crisis of 1975” and “Mr. New York, Lew Rudin and His Love of the City.” As long as Lachman served in the State Senate, Brooklyn remained home until three years ago, when he and Susan decided to move into Manhattan. “Both our children are grown and we have 11 grandchildren,” he said. “I’m free now — to lecture, write, do whatever I like. Susan loves Manhattan,” he continued. “She has a doctorate in sociology and recently retired from teaching. Now she runs to lectures, concerts and the theater, and we both walk everywhere.” To solve the issues in Albany, Lachman’s prescription calls on New Yorkers to vote for a Constitutional Convention (ConCon) in the fall. By law, the referendum is on the ballot every 20 years. Most news these days is Trumped, but Lachman says he’s “hoping that readers of Our Town and others who are concerned, will wake up to the dangers of continuing the status quo.” Lachman acknowledges that successful disruption doesn’t guarantee something better will emerge, “but if we don’t take this risk, we’ll face another 20 years of dazzling dysfunction.”
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Your neighborhood news source
Out & About More Events. Add Your Own: Go to otdowntown.com
otdowntown.com ARTIN A TIME OF CHAOS
Thu 9 ‘DEFYING THE NAZIS’ Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Pl. 3-6:30 p.m. Free. Pre-register. A showing of a documentary about two Unitarian ministers, a husband and wife, who in 1939 traded family life for a dangerous mission to rescue refugees. Discussion with director Artemis Joukowsky follows 646-437-4202 mjhnyc.org/
EXPANDED VISIONS▼ Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, 26 Wooster St. 6-8 p.m. Inaugural exhibit in renovated space: “Expanded Visions: Fifty Years of Collecting,” a historic collection show with about 250 works on view. 212-431-2609. leslielohman. org
Sat 11 INSTANT SHAKESPEARE Mulberry Street Library, 10 Jersey St. 1 p.m. Free An on-your-feet, instant staged-reading of Julius Caesar, an ongoing series. Audience members often participate. 212-966-3424. nypl.org
‘KYLE’ | THEATRE▲
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Under St. Marks, 94 St. Marks Pl. 7:30 p.m. $25 Dark comedy by Hollis James, inspired by his knock-downdrag-out battle with drugs: Jack’s life spirals out of control. Will Kyle (cocaine) destroy him? 212-777-6088. hottrampproductions.com
Fri 10 BREAKING TRAD
Downtowner
NYU, Glucksman Ireland House, 1 Washington Mews. 8 p.m. Free This Irish band Breaking Trad are described as “dazzling, unorthodox, unique and high octane, a powerhouse band reviving ‘trad’ with modern Horst P. Horst (aka Horst) Male Nude I (Frontal) NY, 1952. Gelatin twist.” silver print, 17 x 14 in. Gift of Ricky Horst. Collection of Leslie- Lohman Museum 212-998-1212.
MARCH 9-15,2017
ISLAMIC COINAGE
SANCTUARY CITY
American Numismatic Society, 75 Varick St., 11th floor 1-4 p.m. $50. RSVP. Second lecture in “Money Talks” series, introduces members to beginnings of Islamic coinage in 7th century and its vast trajectories within Arab lands and beyond. 212-571-4470. numismatics.org
Urban Justice Center, 40 Rector St. 7 p.m. Free. RSVP. What does it mean for NYC to be a sanctuary city? How will this help vulnerable immigrant communities? How can community groups & individuals support it? 646-602-5600. urbanjustice. org
Sun 12 Tue 14 CINDERELLA▲
Schimmel Center at Pace Univ., 3 Spruce St. 3 p.m. $20 adults/$10 children. A dancing clock, wacky stepsisters, fave princess Cinderella; choreography by Donald Mahler, costumes by Met Opera’s Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan. Ages 3+. 212-346-1715. schimmelcenter.org
KEYS BEYONCE RIHANNA Cafe Wha?, 115 Macdougal St. 7:30 p.m. $15 + 2 drink min. Versatile singer Angel Ram comes with a rousing tribute to American pop divas Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Rihanna. 212-254-3706. cafewha.com
Mon 13 BACH AT ONE St. Paul’s Chapel, 209 Broadway 1 p.m. Free Lunchtime concert features musicians from the periodinstrument ensemble New York Baroque Incorporated and soloists from The Choir of Trinity Wall Street. 212-602-0800. trinitywallstreet.org
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LITERARY SALON Andaz Wall Street, a Hyatt Boutique Hotel, 75 Wall St. 7-9 p.m. Free The Pen Parentis Literary Salon, theme “Aspects of Love,” with authors Jennifer Probst, Marcy Dermansky and John Reed. Readings are followed by Q&A. penparentis.org.
‘PACHINKO’ The Tenement Museum, 103 Orchard St. 6:30-8 p.m. Free. Author Min Jin Lee reads from her new book, “Pachinko,”
which follows a Korean family through generations, beginning in 1900s Korea, and moving to Japan. 212-982-8420. tenement.org
Wed 15 CHINESE ART▼ China Institute, 40 Rector St. 6:30-8 p.m. Free “Why the Seven Sages?” Willow Weilan Hai explores archeological findings related to this topic and deciphers meaning of the theme as cultural symbol. 212-744-8181. chinainstitute. org
Everything you like about Our Town Downtown is now available to be delivered to your mailbox every week in the Downtowner From the very local news of your neighborhood to information about upcoming events and activities, the new home delivered edition of the Downtowner will keep you in-the-know.
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Winter Garden, 230 Vesey St. 7 p.m. Free You vote which film to be screened: “Moonrise Kingdom,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou” or “Romeo & Juliet.” DJ set by Ben The Beyonder at 5:30 p.m. Popcorn. 212-978-1698. brookfieldplaceny.com
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TURNER’S HARBOR VIEWS MUSEUMS The Frick showcases a trio of early 19th century port paintings by the “Cockney poet” BY VAL CASTRONOVO
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), master of luminous landand seascapes, is making waves in New York this winter with a focused show at the Frick, “Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages Through Time.” Two monumental oils from the museum’s West Gallery, “Harbor of Dieppe: Changement de Domicile” (exhibited 1825) and “Cologne, the Arrival of a Packet-Boat: Evening” (exhibited 1826), now hang in the Oval Room alongside a third, unfinished work, “The Harbor of Brest: The Quayside and Château” (1826-28), on loan from Tate Britain. The three port scenes comprise a series and are being shown together for the first time, along with some 30 oils, watercolors and prints. Henry Clay Frick purchased the West Gallery’s mainstays “Dieppe” and “Cologne” more than a century ago. The painting of Brest’s harbor in Brittany was discovered by accident in 1943 in the basement of London’s National Gallery by then-director Kenneth Clark, who was looking for space for bomb shelters. More than 50 years later, Ian Warrell, a Turner specialist and one of the show’s curators, identified the subject. The canvas, part of the Turner Bequest to the nation in 1856, had never been exhibited or sold because it was unfinished. Here it serves to illuminate the painter’s process. The three radiant harbor views are paradigms of Turner’s mid-career style, with color, light and atmospherics the central features. Widely heralded as Britain’s greatest painter, this son of a barber and wig maker from Covent Garden was obsessed with light. He has been dubbed the “painter
J.M.W. Turner. “Harbor of Dieppe: Changement de Domicile,” exhibited 1825 but subsequently dated 1826. Oil on canvas, 68 3/8 x 88 3/4 inches. The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Michael Bodycomb of light” for his shining vistas, a feat he achieved by priming his canvases with white grounds and using newly invented pigments such as chrome yellow and chrome orange. Turner’s sunny style was undoubtedly influenced by a trip to Italy in 1819. But critics faulted him for painting northern European ports in such light tones. The new hues, in fact, were deemed unnatural. His penchant for yellow prompted one reviewer to gibe he suffered from yellow fever. The interest in ports derives in part from the border closures (sound familiar?) during the Napoleonic Wars, when Britons were banned from crossing the English Channel until the emperor’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Once the restrictions were lifted, Turner, an obsessive traveler, joined the throngs who streamed across the Channel to the Continent. He made two trips to Dieppe, in 1821 and 1824, sketchbook in hand (one is on display). He drew in situ and returned to his London studio to commence painting — from the sketches, from memory
IF YOU GO WHAT: “Turner’s Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages Through Time” WHERE: The Frick Collection, 1 East 70th St. WHEN: Through May 14 www.frick.org and from his wild imagination. As the Frick’s director, Ian Wardropper, remarked at a preview, ports in the post-Napoleonic era became “symbols of trade, travel and commerce.” They represented freedom, and with the lifting of the ban, Turner was free to wander and continue the shift from naturalism to a more atmospheric and abstract style. Call it modern. The Frick’s senior curator, Susan Grace Galassi, who had the idea for the exhibit, analyzed the two principle works, “Dieppe” and “Cologne.” Dieppe on the Normandy coast was a centuries-old fishing village. To an
England that was undergoing industrialization, the picturesque port felt “very foreign and exotic, like landing on the moon,” she said. Viewers of the canvas have the sense of “gliding in on a boat with Turner. It’s a scene of massive sky, a painting about light with the city as a frame.” Beautifully detailed architecture appears to the right, betraying Turner’s early apprenticeship as an architectural draftsman. The picture is monumental in scale, a size normally reserved for history paintings — but here the subject is “the quotidian,” Galassi said with reference to a buzzy open-air market and a couple unloading (loading?) household items from two boats. Eyes are directed back to the dome and tower of the parish church St. Jacques, which “gives a spiritual quality to the light,” the curator said. The composition shows the influence of French landscape painter Claude Lorrain (1604/5-1682), who worked in Italy and used the device of a central distant sun.
The honey-toned “Cologne” is similarly monumental and similarly luminous, but this Rhine River harbor scene is set in the evening and refers back to 17th century Dutch marine painters, with a large boat blocking the deep space that is the hallmark of “Dieppe.” Once again there is a distant church with a tower, in this case Gross St. Martin. Stray figures on the shoreline appear to be laboring into the sunset; a tourist boat, meanwhile, sweeps by the medieval buildings and telegraphs the themes of leisure travel and passages through time. The hazy “Harbor of Brest” was included as “an interesting example of work arrested at a certain stage,” Galassi said. It’s “in a molten state [showing] chaos before creation.” Indeed, as Simon Schama relates in the BBC’s “Power of Art” about the artist he calls the “Cockney poet”: “One critic despaired that Turner delights in abstractions that go back to the first chaos of the world.”
MARCH 9-15,2017
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
RECHARGE THIS WEEK AT THE RUBIN MUSEUM Hamilton signature. Image courtesy Seth Kaller, Inc.
HAMILTON, UP CLOSE HISTORY Rare original documents on display at the Antiquarian Book Fair BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
In a development sure to delight history buffs and fans of the musical â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hamiltonâ&#x20AC;? alike, a collection of original letters and documents offering a rare glimpse into the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton will be displayed for the first time at this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory. The collection, assembled by historic document dealers Seth Kaller and John Reznikoff, consists of over 1,000 items relating to Hamilton and the founding of the United States, including original letters handwritten by Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. The asking price for the collection is $2.3 million. Among the highlights is a 1780 love letter from Hamilton to his future wife Eliza Schuyler, sent from the ďŹ eld during the Revolutionary War in the midst of their courtship. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You are certainly a little sorceress and have bewitched me,â&#x20AC;? Hamilton writes, continuing, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love you more than I ought.â&#x20AC;? Later in the letter, he teases Eliza and shows a bit of his famous ego, writing, â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is again an age since I have heard from you. I write you at least three letters for your one, though I am immersed in public business and you have nothing to do but to think of me.â&#x20AC;? Hamilton even jokes to Eliza about ďŹ nding â&#x20AC;&#x153;a new mistressâ&#x20AC;? while he is away, before assuring her that to do so would only cause him disquiet and â&#x20AC;&#x153;make me return to you with redoubled tenderness.â&#x20AC;?
Photograph by Filip Wolak
FEATURED EXHIBITIONS Sacred Spaces: Himalayan Wind and the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room Transport yourself to the high Himalayas through an immersive sound experience by Soundwalk Collective. Hear the ZKLVWOH RI VWURQJ ZLQGV WKH Ă DSSLQJ RI SUD\HU Ă DJV DQG WKH FKDQWLQJ RI EOHVV ings at some of the highest Buddhist monasteries in the world.
OM Lab: Offer Your Voice Are you ready to OM? Offer your voice in the OM Lab, a new interactive space. Learn about this sacred syllable, record your OM in the soundbooth, and then hear your voice mixed with thousands of others in the June exhibition The World Is Sound.
Alexander Hamilton portrait by John Trumbull, 1806. Image from Wikimedia Commons â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure a couple of decades later he wished he hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t acted on that,â&#x20AC;? Kaller said with a laugh. Years later, Hamilton became embroiled in a sordid blackmail scheme that has been called the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst sex scandal, and publicly admitted carrying on an extramarital affair in a document known as the Reynolds Pamphlet. An 1800 printing of the pamphlet is included in the collection. Other notable pieces include a 1788 ďŹ rst edition of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Federalist,â&#x20AC;? Hamiltonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collected essays advocating for the ratiďŹ cation of the Constitution, and a lock of Hamiltonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hair, kept by his descendants for generations. The collection also includes dozens of letters and documents from other notable ďŹ gures of the period that provide additional context about contemporary culture and politics. While the average â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hamiltonâ&#x20AC;? fan wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be in the market
to purchase the collection, a number of the most impressive items will be on display for all visitors to the Antiquarian Book Fair. In contrast to the formality of a museum setting, the book fair offers visitors the opportunity to get an intimate look at original documents and, in many cases, hold history in their hands. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re used to people getting much closer to the documents,â&#x20AC;? Kaller said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You can really get up close and personal.â&#x20AC;? Other highlights of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s show include a book adaptation of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Snow White and the Seven Dwarvesâ&#x20AC;? signed by Walt Disney and 51 of the ďŹ lmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s animators and a first edition of Charles Dickensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oliver Twist.â&#x20AC;? The New York Antiquarian Book Fair runs March 9-12 at the Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue. Daily admission is $25.
MEDITATION PROGRAMS Awakening Practice Morning Mindfulness in the Shrine Room March 11 11:30 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;12:15 PM
Can Meditation Change the World? A talk with Khentrul Thokmeth Rinpoche + GaĂŤlle Desbordes March 12 6:00â&#x20AC;&#x201C;7:30 PM
TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT RUBINMUSEUM.ORG Sacred Spaces and Himalayan Wind are made possible through the generous support of Audio-Technica. Additional support has been provided by Christopher J. Fussner, The Hoch 2009 Charitable Lead Trust, and Rasika and Girish Reddy, as well as Bob and Lois Baylis, Ashwini and Anita Gupta, Preethi Krishna and Ram Sundaram, William and Pamela Michaelcheck, Tulku Tsultrim Pelgyi, Manoj and Rita Singh, Venkat and Pratima Srinivasan, the Zakaria Family Foundation, and contributors to the 2015/2016 Exhibitions Funds. OM Lab is made possible through the generosity of HARMAN. Additional support provided by contributors to the 2017 Exhibitions Fund.
THE RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART 150 WEST 17TH STREET NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10011 RUBINMUSEUM.ORG
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SAT/SUN
11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;5:00 PM CLOSED 11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;9:00 PM 11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;5:00 PM 11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;10:00 PM 11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;6:00 PM
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS
The Wing
45 E 20Th St
Grade Pending (40) Food from unapproved or unknown source or home canned. Reduced oxygen packaged (ROP) fish not frozen before processing; or ROP foods prepared on premises transported to another site. Food contact surface improperly constructed or located. Unacceptable material used.
Kfc
242 E 14Th St
A
Subway
29 E 8Th St
A
D.B.A.
41 1St Ave
A
FEB 22 - MAR 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/restaurantinspection.shtml. Hot N Juicy Crawfish
243 W 14Th St
Not Yet Graded (12) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Coffee Project Ny
239 E 5Th St
A
Le Petit Parisien
32 E 7Th St
A
Excellent Dumpling House
165 W 23Rd St
Not Yet Graded (26) 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. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
Solas
232 East 9 Street
A
Beauty Bar
231 East 14 Street
A
Starbucks
145 3 Avenue
A
City Gourmet
238 East 14 Street
A
Rosie’s
29 E 2Nd St
A
China Star
145 1St Avenue
CLOSED BY HEALTH DEPARTMENT (55) 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. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
Mr. Moustache
227 E 14Th St
A
Madame Vo’s
212 E 10Th St
A
The Loop
173 3Rd Ave
Not Yet Graded (23) Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Rainbow Falafel
26 East 17 Street
A
Ukrainian Restaurant
140142 2 Avenue
A
Phebes
359 Bowery Street
A
Penny Farthing Restaurant
103 3 Avenue
A
Milon Bangladesh & Indian Restaurant
93 1 Avenue
A
Snowdays Shavery
241 E 10Th St
A
Caffe Bene
24 Saint Marks Pl
A
Patea
227 E 14Th St
Not Yet Graded (33) No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed.
Zum Schneider
107109 Avenue C
A
A
Tree
190 1 Avenue
A
Not Yet Graded (32) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment. Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Zadie’s Oyster Room
413 East 12 Street
B
Haile Bristro
182 Avenue B
Grade Pending (17) Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations.
Nublu
62 Avenue C
A
Minca Ramen Factory
536 East 5 Street
A
Five Tacos
119 Saint Marks Place
A
Akina Sushi
424A E 14Th St
B
Ess-A-Bagel
324 1St Ave
A
Caracas Arepa /To Go
91 East 7 Street
A
Buenos Aires
513 East 6 Street
A
FBGB
770 Broadway
Al Horno Lean Mexican 57 1St Ave Kitchen
Happy Burrito
211 E 14Th St
Not Yet Graded (38) No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Dunkin’ Donuts
215 1 Avenue
A
Cafe Cortadito
210 East 3 Street
A
Vapiano
113 University Place
Grade Pending (28) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/ sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Yerba Buena
23 Avenue A
A
Xe May
96 St Marks Place
A
Boulton & Watt
5 Avenue A
A
Yankee Pizza Restaurant
181 Avenue C
A
Dorian Gray
205 East 4 Street
A
A
Noreetuh
128 1St Ave
A
A & C Kitchen
134136 Avenue C
A
Phoenix
447 East 13 Street
A
Zabb City
244 E 13Th St
MARCH 9-15,2017
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AUSSIE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Since 2015, roughly 10 independently owned Aussie coffeehouses have opened in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Bluestone Lane, now a franchise with multiple storefronts from Greenwich Village to Wall Street, and Two Hands, which opened a second location, in Tribeca, in 2016, were some of the first Aussie shops to open. Centered around the idea that a café is not just a fuel stop to grab your daily fix of caffeine, but also a sanctuary of sorts where one can relax and catch up with friends, Australian-style coffee shops are a sharp contrast to corporate-owned chains like Starbucks and Peet’s. Australia’s burgeoning coffee culture owes its roots to a post-World War II immigration boom, when Italian and Greek immigrants established a massive and enduring espresso hub on Lygon Street, an iconic thoroughfare in Melbourne. Since the 1990s, coffee aficionados in Melbourne and other Australian cities have fostered a third-wave espresso culture, cultivating coffee’s artisanal properties and favoring smaller, wellprepared drinks rather than the large, milky ones popular in the U.S. “I don’t think that the Aussie thirdwave espresso category is ever going to supplant or replace the Starbucks [culture], but it’s definitely shown that there’s a subset of consumers who seek that more thoughtful preparation.” said Eddy Buckingham, owner of The Good Sort, an Aussie-style café that opened on Doyers Street in Chinatown in February. “There are categories of restaurants that are prevalent and really established in the U.S.A. If you go to a French bistro, you know exactly what you’re going to get,” he added. “What we’re seeing now is the idea of this Australian café category.” To Evans and Duckworth, Banter offers coffee devotees, local residents
St. Kilda Coffee, on West 44th Street, is one of about 15 Aussie-style cafés to open up in the city since 2013. Photo: Lily Haight and college students a quiet alternative to Downtown’s boisterous nightlife: caffeine instead of liquor, a gentle breeze instead of blinding LED lights. “We shouldn’t have to be out at night drinking just to catch up with friends,” Evans said. “Doing it over coffee in the daylight can be just as fun and much healthier.” The menu at Banter is an eclectic bag of international flavors. Novelty items like the golden turmeric latte are as popular with early morning customers as the long black — a double shot of espresso with extra hot water — or flat
Southern Cross, an Australian-style coffeehouse on East Fifth Street, opened in February. Photo: Claire Wang
white — a less milky, more espressolaced latte. Aussie favorites like the avocado toast and the bacon-and-egg roll tango with modernized Asian classics such as soba noodle salad and pulled pork baguette, a spinoff of the bánh mì. Evans hopes to soon add an American classic, a chicken and waffle plate, to the collection. Not every Aussie café in New York is owned by Australians. After spending three years backpacking through Queensland and working in Melbourne, native New Yorker Arthur Rangini opened St. Kilda Coffee, an Aussie-style café in Midtown West, in November. “Melbourne is a really artsy city, very modern ... I wanted to bring that here,” Rangini said, sitting at the café counter in St. Kilda’s, which looks out on a colorful graffiti-painted wall that spells out the word “coffee.” “There’s a lot of love in the things [Melbournians] do, especially when it comes to coffee.” Rangini set up shop in Midtown to bring quality Aussie coffee outside of the typical areas of SoHo and the Village to a place where chain coffeehouses are prevalent. “It’s the reputation that Aussie coffee shops carry. If you go to an Aussie coffee shop you know you’re going to get a solid flat white, a solid cappuccino,” he said. To the owners of Southern Cross Coffee, an Australian and Argentine café that opened up on East Fifth Street in late February, roasting high-quality
coffee is a way to preserve the kindred connection they have to their home countries. Founded by Adam Sobol, an Australian, and Sergio D’Auria, an Argentinian, the café serves only Italianbased espresso drinks (“We don’t like drip!” Sobol said) with a small selection of pastries, which are made with premium, local ingredients. Sobol and D’Auria, both of whom quit corporate America to offer an authentic taste of their rich cultures to New Yorkers, hire only highly experienced baristas and source beans from roasters in Brooklyn and Upstate. With a more selective vetting process for barista and ingredient, an Aussie coffee — espresso or drip — is more aromatic and consistent in flavor than its American counterpart. “When I go to a chain coffeeshop like Starbucks or The Bean, I don’t know if the latte or Americano I order will be too watered down or too bitter,” said New York University senior Ann Park, a regular at Aussie cafés Downtown. “At a local place like Southern Cross, you know they’ll always put in the time and effort to make a decent cup of coffee.” Aside from the stellar brew, Park also enjoys detoxing from social media to chat with both friends and strangers. Two years ago at Toby’s Estate, one of many Wi-Fi-free Aussie cafés, she struck up a conversation with an elderly couple visiting from London, with whom she would exchange contact information and reunite when she studied in their city a year later.
“America is so schedule-oriented, and coffee is always on-the-go,” D’Auria said. “A hole-in-the-wall is at odds with our cultures and our concept of a conversation-friendly space.” Besides, he added, the café’s combination of small black tables, pink and blue backless chairs, and, of course, lack of Wi-Fi service makes face-toface interaction inevitable. For Rangini, St. Kilda’s is a personal passion project. Not only does he work there seven days a week, but he also completely gutted and refurbished the shop, adding his own touch to the interior design. The café’s simple white walls and black floors give it a minimalistic vibe. On one wall, a triangular bookshelf holds a book exchange library. Interior design is an important aspect of the carefully cultivated vibes of Aussie cafés. Australian designers Xavier Bartolomeo and Claire Weller concocted Banter’s logo and interior layout using a mixture of Scandinavian and Australian aesthetics. A light color palate fuses with minimalist designs to soothe nerves and inspire conversation. Bold artworks from Australian painters spill patches of blues and reds on nude walls. All the components, Evans explained, are part of a larger puzzle to enhance the urban living experience for busy New Yorkers. “We want to create an intimate relationship with customers,” he said. “Banter, after all, means to chat.”
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MARCH 9-15,2017
Business
STREET VENDORS VERSUS UPPER EAST SIDE BUSINESS OWNERS A task force requests that a “city entity” be created to oversea new food locations
focus of the committee. “[Vendors] tend to go in front of a business that sells like merchandise,” she said. “When the Second Avenue subway opened and the construction materials were removed you were left with this corridor of open sidewalk, so it was an invitation for vendors to line up.” But brick-and-mortars weren’t the only ones desperate for the new line to open; street vendors who had been in the area just as long were displaced entirely. Sean Basinski, director of the Street Vendor Project, has heard the community board’s claims before. “[CEO of Gristedes Foods] John Catsimatidis used to complain that there were all these vendors outside of his stores ... and so we went to every one, and there were five or six vendors that were across the street or down the block, and there were zero that were selling right out in front,” said Basinski, calling the members of the task force “professional complainers.” He added that he often hears racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic undertones in the conversations held on this topic. “Sometimes they have no particular complaint about vendors except that there are vendors,” Basinski said. “I live on the Upper East Side, so I can say that about my neighborhood.” Basinski credited Council Member Ben Kallos with getting local business owners to “see the vendors as a positive resource,” and cited a recent compromise with the East 72nd Street Neighborhood Association over one vendor’s intrusive neon sign as an example of the vendors’ willingness to have a dialogue with the community. Attendees at the community board meeting last week also spoke out against the Street Vendor Modernization Act more generally. Armando Crescenzi, a member of the Veterans First organization, called the push for more street vending permits “an abomination.” Expressing frustration over the difficulty of acquiring permits for veterans and those with disabilities, Crescenzi suggested that areas that want more street vendors be required to petition for them. Under the Street Vendor Modernization Act, 35 of the 600 additional permits issued by the Department of Health would be reserved for veterans and those with disabilities.
BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
It was a move born of frustration. Last week the Community Board 8 Vendor Task Force passed a resolution — pending approval by the full board — to request that a “city entity be formed to address and oversee locations for food and general merchandise street vendors.” In response to business owners’ complaints that a wave of new street vendors has been intruding on revenues since the opening of the Second Avenue subway, the task force requested that such an entity be established to process and respond more directly to community input. A bundle of legislation known as the Street Vendor Modernization Act, which was introduced into the City Council last fall, proposes to do just this by creating an advisory panel to model the bills’ rollout, as well as by increasing the number of vending permits available and updating the rules for street vending. “The system in which [vendors] have been licensed and regulated has been dysfunctional for years,” Council Member Mark Levine, a major sponsor of the bills, said in October. “The establishment of a Street Vendor Advisory Board and the creation of a first-of-its-kind Office of Street Vendor Enforcement will ensure fairness and consistency in the way street vendors are regulated.” While the new Second Avenue subway was under construction, Upper East Side business owners suffered waning profits behind tall fences and roadblocks that hindered customer access. Mary Silva, owner of Maz Mezcal on East 86th Street, estimated last fall that her business had declined between 30 and 50 percent. Now, some business owners are saying the influx of street vendors is hurting their recovery. “With all the vendors there in front of the restaurant, we’ve started to suffer again,” Francisco Quijada, who owns an interior design shop at East 72nd and Second Avenue, said at last Tuesday’s meeting. “My business begins to smell like a rotting egg with all the vendors, all that smoke, all this cooking.” Michele Birnbaum, co-chair of the vendor task force, said after the meeting that vendors’ locations are a main
Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com
At a July 2016 march in favor of the Street Vendor Modernization Act. Photos: Nancy Chuang
MARCH 9-15,2017
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
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SPRAYING SERENITY ART & CRAFT New York artist creates mist to quell emotional disturbances BY CLAIRE WANG
Since Feb. 17, an unfurnished storefront on the ground floor of a luxury SoHo condo has been transformed into a laboratory of sorts, an interactive DIY installation revolving around an organic spray its creator says fosters emotional
resilience. Trigger Spray is an innovative aromatherapy mist designed by New York-based artist Elana Langer. Swarming with lavender, mandarin, tarragon and hemlock, the potion elevates you to a Zen state by soothing the nervous system. At least momentarily, it imparts a peace of mind that enables one to think through an emotional stimulus rather than impulsively react to it. “I was fighting with the people I loved,” Langer said. “This product comes from a desire to help people get along.”
Curated by Chashama, a nonprofit organization that supports local artists by turning unused property into art spaces, the Trigger Spray PopUp Shop is a hybrid of an art installation and a boutique store. Merging art, philosophy and commerce has been the central theme of Langer’s projects. “It’s a store, but I’m not just selling a product,” she said. “I’m also selling a message, and that’s the art.” The product costs $20, but the message is free. The building’s spartan aesthetic stands in stark con-
NOTICE TO PERSONS WHO MAY HAVE SUFFERED FROM INADEQUATE ACCESSIBILITY AT THE VERDESIAN, THE VANGUARD CHELSEA AND THE SOLAIRE On February 13, 2017, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent decree resolving a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice against certain builders and developers alleging that they failed to include certain accessible features for persons with disabilities required by the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(c), in the design and construction of The Verdesian, The Vanguard Chelsea, and The Solaire. Under this consent decree, a person may be entitled to receive monetary relief if he or she: • WAS DISCOURAGED FROM LIVING AT THIS PROPERTY BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF ACCESSIBLE FEATURES; • HAS BEEN HURT IN ANYWAY BY THE LACK OF ACCESSIBLE FEATURES AT THIS PROPERTY; • PAID TO HAVE AN APARTMENT AT THIS PROPERTY MADE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES; OR • WAS OTHERWISE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY AT THIS PROPERTY AS A RESULT OF THE INACESSIBLE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION. If you wish to make a claim for discrimination on the basis of disability, or if you have any information about persons who may have such a claim, please contact the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York at 212-637-2800. You may also fax us at 212-637-2702 or write to:
United States Attorney's Office Southern District of New York Attn: Civil Rights Unit 86 Chambers Street New York, New York 10007 NOTE: You must call or write no later than February 13, 2020.
Visitors to New York artist Elana Langer’s SoHo installation jotted down people or incidents that elicit negative emotional reactions from themselves. Photo: Claire Wang trast to purpose of the gallery within. Its glass walls are bare but for a baby-pink, Pop Artinspired “Trigger Spray” logo stamped near the gallery door. A trio of bold, catchy verbs written on paper dangles below: “Stop,” “Spray,” “Breathe.” Each has a corresponding, roughly sketched emoticon. “The most important tool is our awareness,” reads a sign propped up on a sheet music stand inside. The maxim expresses Langer’s philosophy on feelings. Aromatherapy, she said, prescribes certain characteristics to one of the four elements: earth, fire, water and air. Earth, for example, represents the “cool” and the “life-giving,” while air embodies the adventurous. Each emotion has an antidote in smell: grapefruit mist neutralizes anger, laurel mist lifts up melancholy. The theory offers people a more artful, positive way of analyzing fiery emotions. “Instead of saying, ‘Oh you have a lot of anger in you,’ you say, “Oh, you have lot of fire in fire,” Langer explained.
The studio splits into a pair of installations. In the forewing is nestled the “emotional body,” a ribbon-riddled cave-like space enclosed by black velvet curtains. Inspired by the animated movie “Inside Out,” the body is a physical demonstration of the way triggers are formed. Like conflicting feelings, ribbons and yarn swerve and snake into inextricable knots that can be freed only through thorough examination. Building the emotional body was a cathartic, interactive exercise involving half dozen participants. During the first 10 days of the exhibit, Langer invited visitors to chart their thoughts on the web of emotions. They draped and yanked strings over her original design, creating knots and tangles that represented triggers, or points of conflict in their private lives. Some jotted down their feelings on notebook paper and hung them in batches on a string. They dangle from the ceiling like handcrafted chandeliers. Langer compared emotional unrest to a scratch on a vinyl
record, a blemish that can be easily be mended given a little time and patience. “I wanted to show people what it’s like to sit and walk around in something that’s bigger than you,” she said. “Order may be desirable but it’s tenuous; we all have to learn to control chaos.” The back-wing of the studio consists of a Trigger School– a miniature model of a high school classroom complete with a whiteboard, notebooks, and tablet-arm desks where visitors can write and talk about their “trigger topics” – of memories, whether traced to persons or incidents, that elicit overwhelming emotion, be it grief or bliss. This can be the recollection of the death of a parent, of a devastating breakup, or of an inconsiderate fellow subway rider, Langer said. “Coming to an understanding of your emotions takes time,” she said, “so it’s important to remember to give yourself space — to stop and breathe — before you react.” The exhibit closes today, March 9.
MARCH 9-15,2017
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Nothing beats newspapers as the most reliable source of local news in print and online Recent studies show:
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Newspapers led online consumption for local news” Coda Ventures Survey August 18, 2016
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Local media users named newspapers as their “most relied on” source for deals across a range of goods and services.” Coda Ventures Survey August 18, 2016
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What accounts for print’s superiority? Print - particularly the newspaper - is an amazingly sophisticated technology for showing you a lot of it.”
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Local newspapers are still the top source of news about readers’ communities, including their branded Web sites and social media channels.” Publisher’s Daily - August 30, 2016
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Residents are eager for news about their own communities, which, increasingly, only local news organizations can provide” Editor & Publisher - June 1, 2016
Politico - September 10, 2016
STRAUSMEDIA your neighborhood news source 212-868-0190 | nypress.com
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PUTTING HER HEART INTO CARE Hospice nurse with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York on her dedication to her patients BY ANGELA BARBUTI
While earning her nursing degree, Claudia Paul knew she wanted to focus on geriatrics. Now, as a hospice nurse for the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, she is certain of her career path. “With the geriatrics population, you learn a lot. It helps you grow as a person,” she said. “I’ve learned to love the relationships that are being built, the stories that I’ve heard and the people who I’ve helped. Even if it is cooking that one boiled egg or sitting down or playing a game of spades.” A Haitian native, she came to the States United in 1985 at nine years old and settled in Brooklyn. Paul began her career as a home health aide at the suggestion of her mother, who worked as a home health aide as well. She explained that her role was always centered on building relationships and trust with her patients. One of her first assignments was caring for New
Yorkers with AIDS. When asked how she maintains her composure around terminally ill patients, she said it’s important to be confident and not bring any fear or stress into the environment for the patient as well as the family. “And even if we don’t have all the answers, maybe just your presence is enough,” she added. Your mom was also a home health aide. How did you get your start in the profession? She had suggested that I get into the field, so I wouldn’t be too dependent on them. I was about 22, going to John Jay. She had referred me to her agency and I did attend the class and get the certification. And my first patient — I was not as confident as I should have been — was able to help me build my confidence by practicing on her what I would be doing.
What was your experience like as a home health aide? Basically, what I’ve encountered were relationships that were being built around trust. Because we are going into these patients’ homes. They are not knowing our background,
criminal background, yes, but personally, they don’t have a clue of who’s coming into their house, but they have to trust this person to come in and take care of them. And I’ve been able to provide that at a pretty young age. And I’ve moved forward to get my nursing degree. I was working at the VNSNY Lombardi Program, making home visits as well, again, building relationships and trust. We were able to teach medication compliance. If they are forgetting their medications, we will pre-pour the meds for them, do injections if needed and provide wound care.
Tell us a story about a patient you had a special connection with. There was one patient in particular at the Haven [VNSNY Haven Hospice Specialty Unit]. Her daughter and I went to EMT school and we lost the connection. She happened to see me when I was giving birth to my twins and she was also pregnant with her twins. But the last time I saw her was when her mom was being admitted at hospice and that’s how we reconnected. I lost my twins, but her twins were 11 years old and seeing them I’m picturing my boys would have been that age. I’m seeing what could have been. But, in the end, her mom always requested, “Claudia, come in. Claudia has to do this. She does it better.” It was not that I did it better. It was just a familiar face of comfort, a connection, not only with her, but her daughter. And when her mom died, it was very emotional. I did not know her mom until she got to the Haven, but I knew her daughter. When she was leaving that day, her statement was, “I hope we meet again, but not under these circumstances.” And then she thanked us and said that her mom couldn’t have been taken better care of. Her mom died peacefully and comfortable. It’s a small world, the circumstances that bring us back.
You worked with New Yorkers living with AIDS. What do you want people to know about the disease?
Visiting Nurse Service of New Yor hospice nurse Claudia Paul checks in on a patient. Photo courtesy VNSNY
One thing I learned from my early experience was that the side effects of the medication can be a factor in noncompliance. In my experience, most patients were non-compliant with meds because they were not aware of the potential side effects like distended stomach, loss of appetite, and so on, and how to manage these conditions. If people could be taught what to expect before they start the regime, I think they would have been more compliant. However, I think with antiretroviral therapy and new treatments things have grown tremendously. Now, instead of 14 or more pills, many patients are on only three or four. And also, with the internet, people have
Claudia Paul, standing. Photo: Bernard White, Visiting Nurse Service of New York easier access to information about medications and side effects. However, if a trusted primary physician, nurse or case worker had sat down and said, “This is what to expect from this medication when you take it,” I think that would have made it easier back then for compliance.
When did you start working for the VNSNY? How have they supported you throughout your career? In the city, back in 2012, but I’m with Visiting Nurse Service of New York since 2008. I’ve been very lucky that I’ve had managers who knew my potential and acknowledged my work. As a LPN in Lombardi, my manager Yveline Louis-Champagne has always pushed me forward to continue my education and get my RN degree. And my manager at the Haven, Theresa Feeney, who is my director right now, has acknowledged my dedication to my work in pushing me forward to not just stop here, but continue with education because, like I said, the health field is moving and we have to keep up with the changes that are taking place, so we can better serve our patients and our clients.
Tell us about the VNSNY Goodman Brown Hospice Residence located on the Upper East Side and your role there. I am the manager here. For these patients, home is no longer an option.
Sometimes, safety is of concern at home, the patient might be falling a lot. Sometimes they are relocating to be closer to family members who work or live around the area. Our residence consists of eight beds. I oversee five LPNs and five HHAs. I coordinate the care with our team, which consists of our doctor, social worker and our spiritual care counselor. The goal of care while the patient is here is discussed. If they wish to remain here or go home, then we will discuss and plan that. Also, because it’s a home setting, we assist the family, and they can spend the night. It’s 24 hours and we provide a pull-out couch for family members to spend the night with their loved ones.
What are your future plans? To obtain my master’s in health education and public health. To continue teaching, because as I get older, I’m hoping to leave a generation that has the care and passion that I have. And if I’m able to teach that, I think my generation will be taken care of as well.
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WORD SEARCH by Myles Mellor
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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.
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SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan
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CROSSWORD by Myles Mellor
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Downtowner 1
MARCH 9-15,2017
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
MARCH 9-15,2017
CLASSIFIEDS NEED TO RUN A LEGAL NOTICE?
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
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MASSAGE
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OFFICE SPACE
Call Barry Lewis today at:
AVAILABLE IN MANHATTAN
212-868-0190
300 to 20,000 square feet
Elliot Forest, Licensed RE. Broker
BE THE SOMEONE
REAL ESTATE - RENT
212 -447-5400 abfebf@aol.com
Antique, Flea & Farmers Market
WHO HELPS A KID BE THE FIRST IN HER FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE.
SINCE 1979
East 67th Street Market (between First & York Avenues)
Open EVERY Saturday 6am-5pm Rain or Shine Indoor & Outdoor FREE Admission Questions? Bob 718.897.5992
Antiques Wanted TOP PRICES PAID t 1SFDJPVT $PTUVNF +FXFMSZ (PME t 4JMWFS 1BJOUJOHT t .PEFSO t &UD Entire Estates Purchased
212.751.0009 :H DUH D SURXG PHPEHU RI WKH $VVRFLDWHG 3UHVV DQG WKH 1DWLRQDO 1HZVSDSHU $VVRFLDWLRQ
Proceeds BeneďŹ t PS 183
newyorkcares.org
VRC has helped New Yorkers find great volunteer opportunities for 28 years!
SOHO LT MFG
462 Broadway MFG No Retail/Food +/- 9,000 SF Ground Floor - $90 psf +/- 16,000 SF Cellar - $75 psf Divisible Call David @ Meringoff Properties 212-645-7575
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