The local paper for Downtown wn
WEEK OF MARCH A CUSTOM-MADE ARMORY SHOW ◄ P.12
14-20 2019
Also inside:
THE MOST DANGEROUS TURNS IN TOWN ▲ P.5
The M31 crosstown bus travels at an average speed of just 3.9 mph, according to a report from the Bus Turnaround Coalition. Photo: Michael Garofalo
HOW YOUR BUS MEASURES UP TRANSPORTATION
STOP AVOIDING THAT COLONOSCOPY ▲ P.6
Elizabeth Street Garden is the proposed site of a 123-unit affordable housing development for seniors. Photo: Brafford33, via Wikimedia Commons
Sluggish speeds and poor reliability plague Manhattan routes BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Does your bus route deserve a passing grade? It’s not likely, according to a new study. Thirty-three of 41 Manhattan bus routes got an “F” in the Bus Turnaround Coalition’s annual report cards, which assign letter grades to every route in the city based on speed and reliability metrics. Most Manhattan routes posted average speeds well under the citywide average of 6.6 mph — no surprise, given the borough’s congestion woes — with some routes barely outpacing the average pedestrian walking speed of 3.1 miles per hour, the study found.
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SUIT FILED IN ELIZABETH STREET GARDEN BATTLE COMMUNITY Supporters of community garden sue city to block planned senior housing development BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
The long-running dispute over the fate of Elizabeth Street Garden is heading to court.
Supporters of the Nolita community garden filed a lawsuit March 5 in Manhattan Supreme Court in an effort to halt plans to build a sevenstory affordable housing building at the city-owned site. The development, known as Haven Green, would create 123 studio units reserved for low-income seniors, as well as retail and office space. Plans call for the building to occupy roughly two-thirds of what is now Elizabeth
Street Garden, a sculpture-filled green space on a mid-block lot stretching between Elizabeth and Mott Streets. The remaining area — roughly 6,700 square feet — would be preserved as publicly accessible open space. The development has attracted fierce opposition from supporters of Elizabeth Street Garden, who argue that Haven Green would destroy
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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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MARCH 14-20,2019
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR UES TOWERS AND RAMPS The 50-story tower proposed by Fetner Properties in the middle of NYCHA Holmes Towers needs to be scrapped (“Brewer Challenges de Blasio on Holmes Tower Plans,” (Feb. 28 - Mar. 6). Was it a coincidence that Fetner Properties (who were awarded the project) donated to Mayor de Blasio’s re election campaign? As if this wasn’t horrifying enough, the Marine Transfer Station submitted plans to add a second ramp which will affect area traffic, noise, pollution, etc. Kudos to all who can decipher a page from a power point presentation on the MTS second ramp traffic pattern. Erecting a 50-foot tower in this area is absurd. Linda Garvin Upper East Side
A FINAL STRAW ON CONGESTION PRICING As a retired professional born, raised, and living in NYC all of my life, I wish to notify supporters of congestion pricing that I will refuse to pay this onerous tax. I will not pay to move about in my own city and my own borough. It will be the final straw to make me relocate to another state where my
consumer and tax monies are welcome. Vincent A. Cipollaro, M.D. Manhattan
A TEMPLATE FOR HEALTH CARE Colette Swietnicki’s article in the February 21 - 27 issue — “Enough already! Pass the New York Health Act” — is right on target. Implementation of the Affordable Care Act has shown us that centralization of the health care delivery system is beneficial. The ACA has both lowered the rate of rise of medical care costs and reduced the number of uninsured. But medical costs continue to rise and remain problematic for many Americans and medical debt remains the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S. Only a universal single payer system can simplify this delivery system and eliminate waste. Opponents of NY Health argue that an abrupt transition to a universal single payer system will be traumatic. In truth, transition to a single payer system is both feasible and the only way to minimize cost. At present, much of our health care dollar goes to administrative waste, i.e., preauthorization, complicated billing and credentialing pro-
The planned East 92nd Street access ramp to the Department of Sanitation’s Marine Transfer Station would traverse a section of what is now DeKovats Playground. Image: NYC DDC cedures and corporate profit. These can not be minimized by further incremental change. As New Yorkers, we share a proud history of advancing progressive social legislation. Under Governor Al Smith 100 years ago, we passed momentous legislation regarding minimum wage and workplace safety issues that later served as a template for the New Deal.
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Let us now provide the template for a robust national health care system to come. Marc H Lavietes, M.D. Soho
IN PRAISE OF THE PUBLIC ADVOCATE To misquote Shakespeare, “Methinks Larry Penner doth protest too much.” In his letter calling for the elimination of the public advocate position (Feb. 28 - March 6), he says, “Any public opinion poll will tell you that ... taxpayers would be better off” without it. Yet
not only could I not find a single such poll, but the two most prominent voices against the position are The New York Post and Curtis Sliwa — not exactly unbiased sources. Penner suggests that other people and agencies (Borough Presidents, Councilmembers, Community Boards/District Managers) “provide better customer service” than the public advocate, and that the latter only “duplicates these functions.” Setting aside the fact that I have never had anything but excellent customer service from the public advocate’s of-
fice (no matter who was there), they are more limited in their scopes than the public advocate, who serves not simply a neighborhood, district or borough, but the entire city. Finally, based largely on public input, a commission was formed this year to expand the powers of the public advocate, including (potentially) providing the office with subpoena power, a vote on legislation, as well as expanding its oversight and watchdog roles over city agencies. Ian Alterman Upper West Side
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG WOMAN THWARTS PHONE THIEF On Wednesday night, Feb. 27, a 25-year-old woman was walking in
front of 12 Mercer St. when a man reached out and grabbed her phone from her hands, police said. A struggle ensued, during which the suspect struck the victim in the mouth, causing
pain and swelling. He then threw down her phone and ďŹ&#x201A;ed north on Mercer St.. Another man, possibly an accomplice, ďŹ&#x201A;ed south on Mercer. Police couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ďŹ nd the suspects in the neighborhood, but the victim did recover her phone, an iPhone X valued at $1,000.
LEAST SURPRISING TRUCK THEFT OF THE WEEK The possibility of a running, unattended vehicle being stolen is no idle threat. Around 7 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 25, a 40-year-old man left a white 2009 Ford F-350 Super Duty truck with New York plates EVM9373 running in front of 115 Broadway while he went inside the building to make a delivery. He returned less than ďŹ ve minutes later and found that the truck was gone. The police report didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t list a value for the stolen truck, but used 2009 Ford F-350 Super Duty models are selling online for $12,000 and up.
SHEARED SHEARLING At 2:37 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26, a woman entered the ARJĂ&#x2030; clothing boutique at 52 Wooster St. and removed a shearling leather coat from a display mannequin before ďŹ&#x201A;eeing the location in an unknown direction. The stolen coat was valued at $5,595. Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st precinct for the week ending Mar 3 Week to Date
Year to Date
2019 2018
% Change 2019
2018
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
1
0
n/a
Rape
0
1
-100.0 2
6
-66.7
Robbery
1
1
0.0
7
13
-46.2
Felony Assault
0
0
n/a
13
7
85.7
Burglary
1
2
-50.0
17
8
112.5
Grand Larceny
16
13
23.1
155
171
-9.4
Grand Larceny Auto
1
0
n/a
2
1
100.0
SUBWAY PHONE SNATCH
LINGERIE LOOTER NABBED
iPhone sales may have peaked, but iPhone thefts are still soaring. On Monday morning, Feb. 25, a 67-yearold woman and a woman in her 20s boarded the rear of a southbound N train at the Cortland Street station. As the train pulled into the Rector Street station, the younger woman grabbed the older womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s iPhone and ran off the train. The victim started to follow the thief when a witness stopped her, alerting her that she had left her bag on the train. A police search of the station later proved fruitless. The stolen phone was an iPhone XR valued at $1,000.
Victoria now has more than a secret â&#x20AC;&#x201D; she also has justice. At 12:34 p.m. on Friday Feb. 15, police said, a 42-yearold woman entered the Victoriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Secret store at 185 Greenwich St., concealed merchandise and left the store without permission or authority. The items stolen included multiple panties, pajamas and bras totaling $4,079. Seventeen days later, on March 4, police arrested Rachel Golden and charged her with grand larceny.
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Useful Contacts
Drawing Board BY SUSAN FAIOLA
POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct
19 ½ Pitt St.
212-477-7311
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233 W. 10th St.
212-741-4811
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230 W. 20th St.
212-741-8211
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230 E. 21st St.
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16 Ericsson Place
212-477-7411 212-334-0611
FIRE FDNY Engine 15
25 Pitt St.
311
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227 6th Ave.
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ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin
165 Park Row #11
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237 1st Ave. #504
212-587-3159 212-677-1077
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224 W. 30th St.
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State Senator Daniel Squadron
250 Broadway #2011
212-298-5565
Community Board 1
1 Centre St., Room 2202
212-669-7970
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3 Washington Square Village
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59 E. 4th St.
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330 W. 42nd St.
212-736-4536
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212-243-6876
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135 2nd Ave.
212-674-0947
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COMMUNITY BOARDS
LIBRARIES
HOSPITALS New York-Presbyterian
170 William St.
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10 Union Square East
212-844-8400
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CON EDISON
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THE MOST DANGEROUS TURNS IN TOWN SAFETY Understanding the risks posed to pedestrians and cyclists by leftturning vehicles — and what the city is doing about it BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Shortly before 6 a.m. on the morning of Feb. 4, Joseph Chiam, a 72-year-old East Village resident, was riding his bicycle north on Eighth Avenue when he was struck and killed by a commercial truck near West 45th Street. The circumstances of the fatal collision were familiar to observers of New York City transportation safety policy. The driver of the truck — who fled the scene and, more than a month later, has not been arrested — was also heading north on Eighth Avenue, and hit Chiam while turning left onto West 45th Street. Chiam was at least the fifth cyclist or pedestrian killed by a left-turning vehicle in Manhattan in the last six months, and one of at least 16 left turn fatalities citywide over the same period. A 2016 study conducted by the city’s Department of Transportation found that left-turning vehicles cause a disproportionate share of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities and injuries in New York City. The study indicated that 108 pedestrians and cyclists were killed by left-turning vehicles between 2010 and 2014 — accounting for more than one of every eight fatalities and more than a quarter of all injuries suffered by pedestrians and cyclists during the period. Left turns result in fatalities and severe injuries at three times the rate of right turns, the DOT found. Transportation planners attribute the so-called “left turn problem” to
A map showing the locations where the DOT has installed left turn traffic calming measures. Image: NYC Vision Zero View confluence of factors. Speed is a key issue: drivers tend to go faster turning left than when they turn right. When turning onto a twoway street from a one-way street, for instance, a driver turning right is forced to turn at a tight radius, which necessitates a slower speed. By contrast, drivers turning left often “cut the corner” across the double-yellow line, which in addition to allowing for higher speed also creates a larger zone of potential conflict with cyclists and pedestrians. A driver’s field of vision is also diminished during a left turn. The blind spot created by the portion of the vehicle frame between the windshield and the driver’s side window can often obscure passing cyclists or pedestri-
The “hardened centerline” of bollards and a raised rubber curb installed on West 34th Street in 2016 forces vehicles turning left from Eighth Avenue to drive at slower speeds. Photo: Michael Garofalo ans in the crosswalk. These risk factors are compounded further on two-way streets without dedicated left-turn signals, where drivers must time their turn to a gap in oncoming traffic and deal with socalled “back pressure” from trailing vehicles — potentially drawing their attention away from bikers and pedestrians in their path as they commit to the turn. These dangers are a factor in UPS’s longstanding policy of routing drivers to avoid left turns unless they are unavoidable. The company has also found that it saves time and fuel.
Left turn “calming treatments” As traffic deaths in New York City have reached historic lows in recent
Renderings of DOT street treatments designed to make left turns safer at various types of intersections. Image: NYC DOT
years (in spite of an uptick last year in pedestrian deaths), the city has prioritized improving dangerous left turn intersections as part of its Vision Zero street safety program. Since 2016, the DOT has installed low-cost treatments designed to reduce left turn speeds at more than 300 high-risk intersections citywide, including over 125 in Manhattan. These left turn traffic “calming treatments” vary by intersection configuration, but often include plastic bollards or rubber curbs intended to force cars to turn at a tighter radius, resulting in slower speeds. According to the DOT, pedestrian injuries have dropped more than 20 percent at intersections that have received these treatments, outpacing injury reduction rates at comparable locations. Vehicle turn speeds have also dropped about 20 percent. Additionally, the Taxi and Limousine Commission now emphasizes left turn safety in its drivers’ video training, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is currently exploring improved bus designs to enhance the bus operator’s view when making left turns. The DOT plans to install left turn traffic calming treatments at another 100 intersections in 2019. A spokesperson said specific locations will be released in the coming months. Meanwhile, many dangerous left turns along Vision Zero priority corridors such as Eighth Avenue remain without calming treatments, including the West 45th Street intersection
where Chiam was killed. At that intersection, vehicles use a turning lane adjacent to the curbside bike lane, and must account for passing cyclists as they cross the bike lane to turn left. Joseph Cutrufo, communications director with the bicycle and pedestrian advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, said that such mixing zones inevitably put cyclists in danger. “When we have to rely on drivers to protect cyclists, that’s clearly a flaw in the system,” Cutrufo said. “We can’t leave it up to drivers to keep cyclists safe. We need the design of the streets to do that.” At some similar intersections, DOT has implemented a treatment known as a slow turn wedge. These wedges, consisting of plastic bollards or rubber speed bumps extending from the corner of the curb, force drivers to turn at a tight radius, increasing driver’s visibility of cyclists and pedestrians heading in the same direction as the car. “I would hate to see the city wait for more cyclists to be killed or maimed before they start installing these en masse,” Cutrufo said. Another available option is the splitphase traffic signal configuration, which holds left-turning vehicles at a red light while allowing pedestrians and bicycles cross with their own green light, eliminating the conflicts created by mixing zones. Transportation Alternatives is also lobbying for automated camera enforcement of blocking the box and failure to yield violations.
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MARCH 14-20,2019
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STOP AVOIDING THAT COLONOSCOPY HEALTH March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, so don’t put off that screening any longer BY IAN COHEN, MD
Here’s the good news: since the Citywide Colon Cancer Control Coalition was formed in 2003 to advise the New York City Department of Health, colon cancer screenings among New Yorkers aged 50 and older has increased from 42 percent to 69 percent in 2017. So the word is getting out that colon cancer screening saves lives. However, many people are still procrastinating, and while some things can be put off in life, colorectal cancer screening is not one of them. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, a great reminder to get screened. Colorectal cancer is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of death in the United States. In New York State, about 9,000 men and women are diagnosed with colon cancer ev-
ery year, with about 3,200 dying from it annually. And more than 51,000 are expected to die from colorectal cancer nationwide this year. It is estimated that about one in every 20 people will be diagnosed with colon cancer at some point in their life. If all that isn’t motivation enough, consider this — according to the American Cancer Society, the colon cancer death rate could be nearly cut in half if people followed recommend screening guidelines. You may think you’re not at risk, since you may eat well and exercise, but when it comes to risk factors, age is key. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 90 percent of colon cancer cases occur in people who are 50 or older. The lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is similar in men and women, with the median age of colon cancer diagnosis for men at 68 and women at 72; while the median age for rectal cancer is 63 for both. And younger adults can get colon cancer too — with this proportion of cases nearly
doubling from 6 percent in 1990 to 11 percent in 2013. (Colon cancer in people under 50 may be more likely associated with heredity or other conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, known as Crohn’s disease, or ulcerative colitis.) A colonoscopy is the most thorough way for a physician (usually a gastroenterologist) to directly examine and evaluate the colon for disease and then, if necessary, to therapeutically act on it during the same procedure. This is particularly advantageous for colon cancer screening and the removal of precancerous polyps. There is up to a 90 percent reduction in colorectal cancer risk following a colonoscopy and polypectomy. The colonoscope is a thin, steering instrument with a high definition camera and light source on one end that allows the physician to traverse the entire large intestine, which is about three to four feet long. The most common concerns people have about a colonoscopy are the preparation for it and if it will be painful. It’s true that
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before a colonoscopy you will be required to drink a solution (with or without some pills) that will clean your colon of all residual stool. Today, there are a multitude of different preparations (large and small quantities, by prescription and overthe-counter) for this. As for the second worry, a colonoscopy is usually not painful. Almost all colonoscopies are now performed using sedation where you will feel drowsy and comfortable, while also breathing on your own. The most common type of sedation used also has an amnesic component, so patients do not remember the procedure. A thorough discussion with your health care provider can help determine the most appropriate preparation and sedation regimen for you. If you still resist the colonoscopy, there are other screening methods. The fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is a stool test that may detect small amounts of bleeding that some colon cancers and polyps may create. The stool DNA test, commercially known as Cologuard, also checks your stool for certain gene changes that can be found in colon cancer cells. A flexible sigmoidoscopy is similar to a colonoscopy, except that it only evaluates the distal one-third of your large intestine. A virtual (or CAT scan) colonography is an imaging test designed to look for colon polyps and cancer. The take home point is to at least choose one method in consultation with your health care provider. And please note that when an alternative screening modality has an abnormal finding, the recommendation is to proceed with a colonoscopy. Finally, keep in mind that the guidelines listed below are for people at normal (or average) risk of developing colon cancer at 50, the currently recommended age to begin screening. (Last year, the American Cancer Society made a recommendation to begin screening of all average-risk individuals starting at age 45. This proposal remains under review by other societies and task forces, and has not been approved yet by insurance carriers.) • Colonoscopy every 10 years • Annual FIT test • Flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 to 10 years • Virtual colonography every 5 years • Stool DNA test (Cologuard) every 3 years
Dr. Ian Cohen, a Mount Sinai gastroenterologist, says age is a key risk factor for colon cancer. Photo: Courtesy of Mount Sinai You may be at a higher risk of getting colon cancer if you have: • A family history of inherited colorectal cancer syndromes, such as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) • A family history of colorectal cancer or polyps. This usually means close relatives (parent, sibling, or child) who developed these conditions prior to the age 60. • A personal history of colorectal cancer or polyps • A personal history of inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease) • Are African American. The American College of Gastroenterology has recommended initiating screening for this patient population at the age of 45 due to a higher rate of colorectal cancer at younger ages. If you are in a higher risk category, you should speak to your health care provider as screening may commence at the age of 40, or even earlier. Most early colorectal cancers produce NO symptoms, which is why getting screened for colorectal cancer is so important. Some possible symptoms of colorectal cancer, which do not always indicate the pres-
ence of cancer, warrant an evaluation by your health care provider. These include: • New onset abdominal pain • Rectal bleeding in or on your stool, even if you think it may be from hemorrhoids • Persistent changes in stool caliber and shape • A significant change in your bowel habits including constipation and diarrhea • Unexplained weight loss As with most cancers, there are ways to reduce your risk of colorectal cancer, in addition to appropriate screening. Adhere to a healthy diet that maintains an appropriate weight. The diet should maximize consumption of vegetables, fruits and whole grains while limiting red meat and processed meats ssuch as, bacon, sausage and hot dogs. Also, exercise regularly, avoid tobacco products and limit alcohol intake. But above all, get screened, by whichever screening method you will actually follow through on. And never hesitate to speak with your health care provider. That’s what we’re here for. Ian Cohen, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Gastroenterology) in the Division of Digestive and Liver Disorders at Mont Sinai Beth Israel
MARCH 14-20,2019
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
TO BEARD OR NOT TO BEARD PUBLIC EYE The antidote to a New York man’s lamentable mid-life crisis? BY JON FRIEDMAN
Am I too uncool to grow a beard AND live in Manhattan? This is a burning question for these troubled times, which has probably dogged more than one man out there. Granted, we New Yorkers do have weightier matters to ponder — but hey, now that Amazon has taken its ball (and 25,000 promised jobs) back to Seattle and we’ve put the L train shutdown on hold, well, the time has come for this discussion. So, put down that cellphone and pay attention. Call this question a case of existential soul-searching and male-generational envy in New York City, the world capital of status-seeking poses by insecure poseurs. Look around the town. You can hardly throw a rock any more without hitting a dude sporting some sort of hair on his face — and not because the whippersnapper is too hungover to put razor to chin on a wintry morning somewhere in Bushwick or Greenpoint or Avenue A or, horror of horrors, an address above 23rd Street in Manhattan. The beard has morphed from a fashion gesture to a lifestyle statement. It tells the world, I’ve made it. This may just be the antidote to the crusty and lamentable male mid-life crisis. Don’t leave your wife for an intern! Don’t buy a gun, for the hell of it! Don’t start an expensive, trendy coke habit! No — grow a beard, guys! Even if it doesn’t look especially appealing, no problem. The message outweighs the attractiveness. It conveys a haughtiness that every fellow strives to show off. Which leads me to talk about my beard. I actually grew one last month — for eight days. I was riveted every morning by my progress and delighted by (what I interpreted as) strangers’ looks of approval. You betcha, I felt cool. At the university where I teach undergraduate-level classes, the reaction was, shall we say, mixed. My alert, all-knowing students either didn’t notice in the first place or didn’t care enough to give an opinion, much less say any-
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A mixed verdict. Photo: Jon Friedman thing. (Or they didn’t want to give me the satisfaction of offering a statement. Maybe if I decide to grow a beard again during the academic year, I’ll have to remember to offer an automatic A minus to any student who showers praise on my new look. Maybe not!) The most interesting aspect of my little experiment could be found in the reaction of friends on Facebook. After I posted a photo of my beard on day #6, the judgments came rushing in. It seems that every man gave it the thumbs-up verdict. Meanwhile, every woman, except one who lives in Kansas City, strongly disapproved. My sister, whose opinion on everything I take very seriously, took one look at it and shook her head. “That’s the worst thing I ever seen!” she concluded.
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I, of course, interpreted the women’s overwhelming response as a vote of confidence for the expressiveness and sheer attractiveness of my naked face. And a beard is itchy and occasionally uncomfortable. Maintaining a beard can be hard work, too. So, why grow one in the first place? Is status that important? The answer is yes — in New York. What does my decidedly unscientific conclusion say about our species? That we are shallow. That we are superficial. That we put style ahead of substance and flash before facts? Well, yeah. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the L train, while it is still in business.
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GRAY IS GREAT, BALD IS BEAUTIFUL BY BETTE DEWING
And didn’t’ that get your attention, dear reader? And it just might happen as the Manhattan population gets increasingly older and old. Oh, yes, the word “old” will be used rather than age-denial labels like “older” and “senior.” Just one of many radical thoughts after reading last week’s Our Town front page story “The Graying of Manhattan” by reporter Douglas Feiden. This demographic change couldn’t be more important for all New Yorkers to read about, and especially its policymakers, whose bulletins say very little about old
people’s concerns. The welcome exception is another of Senator Liz Krueger’s Boomer Senior forums, scheduled for Thursday March 14 from 8:30 to 10:30 A.M. The accessible venue is Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, 331 East 70th Street. This forum’s topic is loneliness, and here’s hoping the most likely lonely senior group of people are able to attend. And these invaluable forums could use a little more interaction between the boomers and seniors sitting together at these large round tables — to at least say hello and my name is such and such. Hopefully, the aging of Manhattan will help
overcome the systemic age-segregation reason this doesn’t automatically occur. Isn’t this also an elder loneliness cause? But I have found that panelists on this topic mainly stress what individuals must do, especially elder ones who are told to “get involved, go to the senior center, etc.” Ah, but that involvement so needs to challenge the systems which segregate generations, not to mention the prejudice against getting older and old. Can you believe, there’s even a bias against assistive walking devices, unbelievably found in the paper of record’s Jane Brody column of February 26, “A Few Steps to Minimize
the Risk of Falling.” All the steps described are surely important, and we need to be reminded about eliminating whatever might trip us up. (Incidentally, my rule of thumb is to resist doing anything I wouldn’t want someone I love to do.) But what needs all-out protest are Brody’s unbelievable concluding remarks, which almost made me fall right out of my chair: “Anywhere and anytime your stability is uncertain, use a walking stick (or two), a cane or a walker. Think you’ll be painfully embarrassed? Think how much more humiliating and painful it will be if you fall.” W- h- a-a-at! And my protest letter was not seen fit to print. Surely, the first “falling risk” to combat is for the no-longer-young to think using a cane, or other assistive device is embarrassing! That’s not only age-
ist, but potentially dangerous. And why is it humiliating to fall? Isn’t that really blaming the victim? As for the loneliness dilemma, too often elders are blamed for this lamentable condition because “they’re cranky or complain too much.” Too often the opposite is true, and men especially are reluctant to share personal problems like loneliness. And that’s another much-needed column or volume also concerned with why so few men attend public forums like these. Here’s hoping the Graying of Manhattan will really address all the above, and above all, stress the need for intergenerational understanding and support. It takes a village — it takes a village. dewingbetter@aol.com
LIKE HEMLINES, ISAAC MIZRAHI’S CAREER HAS GONE UP AND DOWN BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL
Long before there was “Odd Mom Out,” there was Odd Isaac Out. Isaac Mizrahi was an overweight Brooklyn yeshiva boy who became the designer of Upper East Side socialites and Hollywood icons; then went from haute couture at Bergdorf Goodman to Target and QVC. The closeted-to-out-and-proud Mizrahi, celebrity pal and fashion “It” boy really wanted to be an actor, but ultimately just wanted to be loved and accepted for who he is, now reveals how he did it in his new memoir “I.M.” In a world where everyone wants to be seen as having an Insta-worthy life, Mizrahi lays it all on the line — the career high-highs and insomnia-provoking lows, the emotional roller-coaster of optimism and depression with a side of anxiety, plus bouts of imposter syndrome, even though he worked hard for his success (“I live to work”) and deserved every ounce he got. He’s not bragging — just noting — about how he got into the prestigious
High School of Performing Arts (the “Fame” school, now LaGuardia High School), started selling his designs while still a teen, graduated from Parsons, then went on to work to for Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein, before starting his own eponymous line. After shutting that down, he established a joint venture with Chanel. “What I thought was going to be a steady, secure climb was turning into a rather slippery slope,” he writes. Mizrahi is also very forthright about famous friends who ghosted him and those who broke up with him to his face, as in the socialite who told him she could not be seen in his clothes anymore because of his collaboration with Target. He is open about seeking peace of mind with shrinks and tarot card readers, and how when a few years ago the Jewish Museum presented a comprehensive tribute to his talent, which included a showing of “Unzipped,” the 1995 documentary about him, the designer watched in the dark and cried. Also described are his post-Chanel days filled with excit-
ing entertainment projects, none of which worked out. You needn’t have had to grow up in the outer boroughs or Orthodox or gay, nor toiled in fashion industry to relate to the one-time Oxygen TV show host; you just need to have experienced the loneliness and shame of feeling different. I grew up in the Bronx, an Italian/ Irish only child in an Irish Catholic neighborhood where all my peers had Brady Bunch-size families. Like Isaac, I was pudgy, then slimmed down in high school. I was artistic, as he was, escaping to Manhattan as he did in search of people with the same sensibilities. There were career ups and downs, and one or two re-inventions as well. Hence, closing this page-turner I felt I’d spent time with a kindred spirit. I actually did spend time with him, albeit briefly, when I went to his Symphony Space book talk moderated by “Grace Adler” herself, the Emmywinning Debra Messing. Even more poignant than reading his beauti-
fully written account is hearing him share stories of family estrangement because of his homosexuality, his partying days at 54 and the like, as well plans for his next chapter (a talk show perhaps?) — all with philosophical chasers, such as how just because you’re family, doesn’t mean you have to force making up. “If people don’t want to have a relationship with you, move on.” Although he is confident in his many talents, he seems less so about some of his choices. Per Perhaps that’s why later, at the book signing itself, the Carlyle cabaret singer seemed genuinely touched by my story of how my silver, gray and pink raincoat from his 2003 Target capsule collection, which I still wear, once caused a woman to chase after me on lower Broadway to find out where I got it. “Thank you,” he said to me, “I really appreciate knowing that.” I look forward to seeing where Isaac Mizrahi will land after his book tour.
FFrontt cover off “I “I.M.” M ” Photo Ph t via i Amazon.com A With all the marginally talented people on television and streaming — many with equally mediocre fashion lines — it would be refreshing to tune in each day for a dose of brilliance, Mizrahi-style. Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novels “Fat Chick” and “Back to Work She Goes.”
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MARCH 14-20,2019
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
A rendering of Haven Green, the proposed senior affordable housing complex that the city plans to build at the site of Elizabeth Street Garden. Image: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects
GARDEN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 a popular community hub in a neighborhood already lacking in open space. But proponents of Haven Green counter the project is necessary to address the shortage of senior affordable housing in Community District 2, where 4,600 eligible seniors now face average wait times of seven years. The lawsuit, filed by mem-
BUSES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Citywide bus ridership is down 17 percent since 2009 and has dropped in every year since 2013. The decline has been most precipitous in Manhattan, where average weekday ridership fell from 488,821 in 2012 to 380,075 in 2017 — a 22 percent drop in just five years. Transit advocates point to poor service as a primary factor driving the downward trend. Manhattan’s lone bright spot, according to the survey, was the “B”-rated M35, which runs between East Harlem and Randall’s and Ward’s Islands. Every other route in the borough received a “D” or “F” from the Bus Turnaround Coalition, a partnership between the Riders Alliance, the Straphangers Campaign, TransitCenter and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged in January to increase bus speeds 25 percent by 2020 through increased NYPD bus lane enforcement, new bus lanes, and the installation of traffic signals that give green light priority to buses at 300 intersections each year. The MTA is in the process
bers of the nonprofit group that manages and maintains the garden, alleges that the city failed to comply with environmental review laws as it assessed the housing development’s potential impact. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development determined last November that the project “will have no significant effect on the quality of the environment.” “HPD stands by its review of a project which is expected
to create more affordable housing,” Nick Paolucci, a spokesman for the city’s Law Department, wrote in an emailed statement. Paolucci said the department will review the lawsuit. Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden, a separate nonprofit group that supports the preservation of the garden, has announced plans to file its own lawsuit opposing the project.
DOWNTOWN BUS SERVICE CROSSTOWN ROUTE
AVERAGE SPEED
ON-TIME PERFORMANCE
M21
4.1 mph
66%
M22
3.8 mph
56%
M8
4.1 mph
73%
NORTH-SOUTH ROUTE
AVERAGE SPEED
ON-TIME PERFORMANCE
M1
4.8 mph
43%
M9
4.5 mph
49%
M15
4.7 mph
50%
M15 + SBS
6.4 mph
39%
M20
4.6 mph
42%
M55
4.3 mph
43%
= Best
= Worst Source: Bus Turnaround Coalition
of redesigning the entire bus route network and plans to introduce a new fare payment system that will allow for alldoor boarding to reduce the time buses spend at stops.
Transit experts are hopeful that congestion pricing, which state lawmakers may vote to enact this spring, will reduce traffic and contribute to faster bus service in Manhattan.
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MARCH 14-20,2019
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Providing for the Common Defense
Discover the world around the corner. Find community events, gallery openings, book launches and much more: Go to nycnow.com
MONDAY, MARCH 18TH, 7PM Sept. 11 Museum | 180 Greenwich St. | 212-312-8800 | 911memorial.org National Defense Strategy Commission Co-chair Admiral (Ret.) Gary Roughead speaks about his commission’s recent findings, including the country’s internal and external risks, and the general state of American military strategy and readiness (free ticket required).
Live Taping of Stay Tuned with Preet
TUESDAY, MARCH 19TH, 7PM NYU Skirball Center | 566 LaGuardia Pl. | 212-998-4941 | nyuskirball.org Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District (’09 until President Trump fired him in ’17), presents his new book with co-host of CBS This Morning Bianna Golodryga ($60, includes signed copy of Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Thought on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law).
EDITOR’S PICK
Just Announced | Michael Lewis in Conversation: Against the Rules
Sun 17
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3RD, 7:30PM
JOKE THIEF
92nd Street Y | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212-415-5500 | 92y.org Some of the most insightful reporting on the sea change of the last two years has been done by Michael Lewis of Moneyball and Liar’s Poker fame. Find him in conversation on his new podcast, talking to Malcolm Gladwell about what happens when the referee’s authority is lost ($55).
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org. The local paper for Downtown
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SubCulture 45 Bleecker St 10:30 p.m. $7 subculturenewyork.com 212-533-5470 Premises will be stolen and punchlines improvised as New York’s best standup comedians do a set from another comic’s joke book. Kill or bomb, the original author will reclaim the stage to deliver their set as it was meant to be told.
Call Vincent Gardino at 212-868-0190
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► MULBERRY ST. TEEN MOVIE HOUR: “PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE”
RAFIQ BHATIA: BREAKING ENGLISH
WOMEN’S RAGA MASSIVE
The Kitchen 512 West 19th St 8:00 p.m. $25 In this evening-length live performance, an electroacoustic trio of Bhatia, Ian Chang (electronic and acoustic drums) and Jackson Hill (bass and synthesizers), is transformed into an immersive multimedia experience by visual artist Michael Cina and video artist Hal Lovemelt. thekitchen.org 212-255-5793
The Rubin Museum 150 West 17th St 11:30 a.m. Free with RSVP This panel will bring together voices of artists, presenters, and leaders in media to discuss gender equality, representation, access to knowledge, power structures, and creating safe spaces for women and other marginalized individuals working in traditional Indian classical communities as well as contemporary music scenes in New York City. rubinmuseum.org 212-620-5000
Mulberry Street Library 10 Jersey St 4:00 p.m. Free Celebrate Women’s History Month and watch the 2019 Oscar-winning documentary short “Period. End of Sentence”. nypl.org 212-966-3424
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Anthology Film Archives 32 Second Ave 5:15 p.m. Free This daring collage of rhythms, abstractions, superimpositions, and wild shots of the railroad and other machines, made by the great German photographer Zielke, was originally commissioned to celebrate the centennial of the Nuremburg-Furth railroad line, and later banned by the Third Reich for â&#x20AC;&#x153;decadent aesthetics.â&#x20AC;? anthologyďŹ lmarchives.org 212-505-518
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A CUSTOM-MADE ARMORY SHOW With so much amazing art to choose from, our critic curated her own exhibit of great works by women BY MARY GREGORY
Faith Ringgold, “Coming to Jones Road Tanka #1 Harriet Tubman, “ 2010. Acrylic on canvas with pieced fabric border, 65 x 44 inches, (C) 2019 Faith Ringgold, ARS member. Photo: Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York.
It’s been said that no two people read the same book. With 198 galleries from 33 countries represented, and thousands of works of art, no two people see the same Armory Show. The breadth and scope of the fair, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, is outstanding even in a city filled with art fairs. Acres of art and exhibitors hoping to catch the eyes of tens of thousands of visitors promises lots of spectacle and eye-candy, as well as innumerable possibilities for moving, thoughtprovoking one-on-one interactions with compelling works of art. This year’s Armory Show wasn’t last year’s, or the year’s before. Sixty-three galleries brought their best artists here for the first time. They came from Rio, Berlin, Istanbul, and Singapore, among other places, transporting visions and voices from afar. Distant times also made an appearance, in the “Insights” section, which focused on early to late 20th century masters. With Matisses and Picassos vying for attention with art made last month, along with photographs, paintings, installations, sculptures, and video, how does one make the most of the experience without being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the Armory Show? I decided on a do-it-yourself approach. March is Women’s History Month, and disappointed by the dearth of exhibitions devoted to women artists (an exception being Chirlane McCray’s extraordinary “She Persists” at Gracie Mansion) I set out to curate my own. The Armory Show provides lists, directories and lots of navigational tools. With treasure maps it wasn’t hard to find great work by great women.
Modern Masters Hollis Taggart Gallery used their booth to highlight the impact of New York’s Art Students League, a beacon of brilliance, in part because women were there. A who’s who of 20th century masters was on view. Absolute delights were Helen Frankenthaler’s ethereal fields of tone, Grace Hartigan’s bravura brushwork packed with color, Louise Nevelson’s complex forms devoid of color, Lee Krasner’s sophistication, and an early piece by Audrey Flack (done when she was 20) of earthy biomorphic shapes that give no clue of the later photorealism that we think of when we think of Flack. London’s Bernard Jacobsen Gallery also had beautiful Frankenthaler works on display.
Rebels with a Cause
Brie Ruais, “Weaving the Landscape (four times 130lbs),” 2018. Glazed and pigmented stoneware, hardware, 95 x 152 x 8 inches. Photo: Courtesy Albertz Benda Gallery, New York.
Miriam Schapiro’s charming chintz fabric assemblages, on view at Eric Firestone Gallery, were a second-wave feminist punch aimed at male-dominated art circles. She took quilting, cloth, and thread and proved that great, meaningful works of art could come from historically female domains. Contemporary artists like Nick Cave
Grace Hartigan, “Kansas,” 1959, Oil on canvas, 87 3/4 x 86 3/4 inches. Photo: Courtesy Hollis Taggart, New York. (also on view at the fair) and Ghada Amer might not be making art from fabric if Schapiro hadn’t smashed preconceptions. Also pulling threads (among other media) into powerful works of art is Harlem-born artist, Faith Ringgold, shown at ACA Galleries. Known for her award-winning children’s book and to New York subway riders for “Flying Home Harlem Heroes and Heroines” at 125th St., Ringgold’s work can stop you in your tracks, take your breath away, and bring tears to your eyes. It’s that strong, honest and moving. Her “Tar Beach 2” quilt, along with others like “Coming to Jones Road Tanka #1 Harriet Tubman” blend traditional women’s work, spiritual references and proud documentation of African American history into unforgettable works of art. Feminist artist Marilyn Minter’s work is in more of the in-your-face variety. Her fearless, frank images deal with lips, eyes, makeup, fashion, and the complex layers behind them. “Loop-de-Loop” a 2013 chromogenic print, was on view at Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art.
Up-and-Coming Brie Ruais, a New York artist presented by Albertz Benda Gallery, creates ceramic works that bridge the worlds of sculpture and painting. Imagine gestural brushstrokes, like those of Franz Kline or Robert Motherwell, jumping off the canvas and becoming three-dimensional. The physicality of Ruais’ sculptures imparts a presence, balanced by calm, earthy tones. California artist Fay Ray (on view at Shulamit Nazarian’s booth) makes large-scale sculptures of rock, chain and metal that bring to mind giant sized earrings, wind chimes, Calders and Mirós. They’re at once fanciful, serious, and original.
Uncategorizable, But Not to Be Missed Vija Celmins amazing work at Susan Sheehan Gallery. Celmins’ black and white images bring to mind the kind of tireless, devoted work done by manuscript illuminators in medieval scriptoriums. She recreates realms of sky, sea and earth in minute detail through precise observation and unimaginable effort. Look closely, and they become etched in your mind. The 2019 Armory Show may be over, but these artists are forever. Seek out their work, you will be the richer for it.
MARCH 14-20,2019
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ACTUALLY WE’RE F**CKED
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73
82 In this theatrical hip-hop manifesto, Baba Brinkman breaks down the politics, economics, and science of global warming.
The Flea Theater presents this New York premiere addressing #metoo feminism at the intersection of gun and sexual violence.
A world premiere about four millennials who gather every week to order take-out, drink too much wine, and argue about how to fix the planet.
SOHO PLAYHOUSE - 15 VANDAM ST
THE FLEA THEATER - 20 THOMAS ST
CHERRY LANE THEATRE - 38 COMMERCE ST
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COMING SOON
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RAP GUIDE TO EVOLUTION 26 REVIEWS ENDS APR 09
PERP PREVIEWS START MAR 16
In Lyle Kessler’s world premiere, with a killer on the loose, a kindhearted man finds himself the target of detectives who need a win at any cost.
85
TBG MAINSTAGE THEATER - 312 W 36TH ST
Baba Brinkman presents a hip-hop tour of modern evolutionary biology. Winner of the Scotsman Fringe First Award in Edinburgh.
FROM $48
SOHO PLAYHOUSE - 15 VANDAM ST
THE WHITE DEVIL PREVIEWS START MAR 19
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WE ARE THE TIGERS 89 REVIEWS ENDS APR 17
In Jacobean dramatist John Webster’s tragedy, wickedness and beauty intersect in a hellish world of fake news and hypocritical holy men.
LUCILLE LORTEL THEATRE - 121 CHRISTOPHER ST
81 FROM $49
This original pop/rock musical centers around a dismally low-ranking team of cheerleaders who are terrorized by a serial killer.
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THEATRE 80 - 80 ST MARKS
A new musical celebrating Broadway’s legendary lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II.
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Irish Rep presents Irish master Sean O’Casey’s drama about a poet who gets pulled into the chaos of the Irish War of Independence.
The Public’s new drama offers a portrait of the Athenian philosopher, a complicated man who changed how the world thought.
IRISH REPERTORY THEATRE - 132 W 22ND ST
PUBLIC THEATER - 425 LAFAYETTE ST KEY:
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MARCH 14-20,2019
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS FEB 27 - MAR 5, 2018 The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml.
Monte’s
97 Macdougal Street
A
Think Coffee
248 Mercer Street
A
Ed’s Lobster Bar
222 Lafayette Street
A
V-Bar & Cafe
225 Sullivan Street
CLOSED (65) Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. 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. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
KFC
242 E 14th St
Grade Pending (2)
Broken Coconut
15 E 4th St
A
Newsbar
107 University Place
A
La Colombe
270 Lafayette Street
A
Rosa Mexicano
9 East 18 Street
A
Mi Tea
101 Macdougal St
Grade Pending
Miso-Ya
129 2 Avenue
A
Mamacha
312 Bowery
Nanoosh
111 University Place
A
Madame Vo BBQ
104 2nd Ave
Not Yet Graded (34) Toxic chemical improperly labeled, stored or used such that food contamination may occur. 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. Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Grade Pending (15) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Berlin Döner
104 Macdougal St
Not Yet Graded (28) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/ or non-food areas. 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 not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Liquiteria
145 4th Ave
A
Wa Lung Kitchen
557 Grand Street
Grade Pending (2)
Blue & Gold Bar
79 E 7th St
A
Perfect Taste
51B Canal St
Starbucks
145 3 Avenue
A
Not Yet Graded (30) No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment.
Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 2 Avenue
A
Lucky Jack’s
129 Orchard Street
A
Klimat
77 East 7 Street
A
120 Essex Street
A
Royal Bangladesh Indian Restaurant
93 1 Avenue
Grade Pending (24) Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Shopsins General Store (Store #16) Santo Domingo Bakery
93 Clinton Street
A
Chinatown Chinese Restaurant
250 E Houston St
A
New Homemade Dumpling
27A Essex St
A
My Noodle Station
19B Eldridge St
A
Happy Family
213 E Broadway
A
Curry House Indian Cuisine
123 Allen St
A
Bar Verde
65 2 Avenue
A
Bowery Meat Company
9 E 1st St
A
Pinks
242 E 10th St
A
Kikoo Sushi
141 1st Ave
Grade Pending (25) 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. A
Freemans (Freemans Alley) 191 Chrystie Street
A
S. Wan Cafe
85 Eldridge Street
A
M & W Bakery
25 East Broadway
A
Lower East Side Pizza
181 East Broadway
A
Rossy’s Bakery & Coffee Shop
242 East 3 Street
One and One
12 1 Avenue
A
Bite of Hong Kong
81 Chrystie St
A
Crown Fried Chicken
117 Avenue D
A
140 Delancey St
A
Dian Kitchen
435 E 9th St
A
Dunkin’ Donuts / Baskin Robbins
Market Table
54 Carmine Street
A
Alphanso’s Pizzeria
525 Grand St
Pasticceria Rocco
243 Bleecker Street
A
Arbor Bistro
226 West Houston St Grade Pending (24) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. 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.
Grade Pending (23) Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/ refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Old Rose
113 Jane St
A
QQ Bakery
50 E Broadway
A
Cocu Rotisserie
26 Carmine St
Grade Pending (18) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Manon Cafe / Leonidas
120 Broadway
A
Clock Work
21 Essex Street
A
Wogies
39 Greenwich Avenue
A
Golden Unicorn Gourmet
18 E. Broadway
A
Kava Cafe
803 Washington St
A
Mr. Fong’s
40 Market St
A
Masala Times
194 Bleecker Street
A
Cervo’s
43 Canal St
A
MARCH 14-20,2019
15
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST Jan. 10, 2019 8
Jan. 18, 2019 JANUARY 10-16,2019
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
OUTSIDE COMES IN AT OUTSIDER ART FAIR BY MARY GREGORY
Elizabeth and Jane Bennet (played by Collette Astle and Hannah McKechnie) in a new play based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Photo: Courtesy of Goddard Riverside Community Center.
AN INSPIRED ‘PRIDE AND PREJUDICE’ PERFORMANCE A new play based on the Jane Austen classic fills out the stories of the five Bennet sisters BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Elizabeth Bennet is an empowering female character in classic literature. Jane Austen’s heroine has inspired a variety of screen and stage adaptations (including a parody book and movie featuring zombies) of Austen’s enduring novel “Pride and Prejudice.” And it’s the character’s independence and boldness that made it the perfect play to stage during Goddard Riverside’s Women History Artist Month (WHAM) festival. “When Susan Matloff-Nieves (creative director of WHAM) asked what we could do for Women’s History Month, I thought, of course, ‘Pride and Prejudice!’ said Susane Lee, who wrote and directed the adaptation. “There are so many wonderful women [in this story] and they’re so strong and so interesting.” Now in its third year, WHAM is a month-long festival celebrating art, music and theatre created about and by women. Organizers faced an unusual obstacle in putting on the festival this year, according to Matloff-Nieves, when unexpected renovations at the community center forced the group to find new venues for the vari-
That’s really what I wanted to do with this production: to give every woman and every girl a voice.” Susane Lee, who wrote and directed the adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic
ous events with just a couple of weeks notice. The Advent Lutheran Church was especially kind, MatloffNieves said, in becoming a partner of the festival and hosting many of the events — including an opera concert and solo stage performances — that will take place in the coming weeks. Earlier this year, Lee, who serves as the executive director of the Hudson Warehouse theater company, wrote the adaptation that began its run March 8 at the West End Theatre. “I know the story so well that I was inspired. I added a lot more to this adaptation,” said Lee, noting that she wanted to elevate the women of the play and fill out each of the five Bennet sisters’ stories. “I always felt that Mary [the middle Bennet sister] had always been neglected in all of the movie versions. When I was reading the book, there are so many narratives in the book that are so powerful that I never saw on the screen — so I gave all of those lines to Mary.”
While it is, at its roots, a love story between Elizabeth (played by Collette Astle) and Mr. Darcy (Jake Lesh), the most striking scenes of the play showcased Elizabeth’s courageous independence. “Without marriage you really have such low status within their society. So for her to refuse two marriage proposals, she really put her future in jeopardy — but she did it,” Lee said. “She had to follow her own heart. I just found her courage inspiring.” In years past, Lee has adapted and directed plays for the WHAM festival, including “His Girl Friday” and “Trojan Woman.” “We did Trojan Woman last year because we were all kind of depressed at the state of the world,” she said. “This year I wanted to lift our spirits and have everyone walking out feeling happy and joyous.” The show will run from Thursday, March 14 through Sunday March 17. Performances are at 7:30 p.m., except for Sunday, when the show wraps up with a 3:00 p.m. matinee. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at goddard.org/WHAM, where additional WHAM events are listed as well. Lee hopes audiences will get to know these characters anew through her adaptation. “What I really love about this story is that all the women, and all of the sisters, have very strong story arcs,” she said. “That’s really what I wanted to do with this production: to give every woman and every girl a voice.”
tan Museum’s recent exhibit “History Refused to Die,” featuring Gee’s Bend quilts and major works by Thornton Dial, or the Smithsonian’s current “Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor,” the first major museum exhibition for an artist born into slavery. The Outsider Art Fair includes works by Dial and Traylor. So inside has outside become that even Hollywood stars are gathering at this year’s fair. Actor and comedian Jim Carrey will be exhibiting political drawings, and photographs by Mark Hogancamp, whose life and work are the subject of “Welcome to Marwen,” a film starring Steve Carell, will be presented by 1 Mile Gallery. What brings it all together is the inclusive vision of Wide Open Arts, organizers of the fair. “For outsider art, the fair utilizes the definition of self-taught or non-academic work. We try to be very broad so we can be open to all work that comes our way,” said Becca Hoffman, Outsider Art Fair director. “We start with self-taught, and from there we explore.” Some of art’s most groundbreaking greats, like Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Joseph Cornell, were selftaught. So was William Edmondson, who made sculptures so powerful that, in 1937, they earned him the spot as the first African American artist to be given a solo exhibition at MoMA.
In 2014, art critic Walter Robinson made a wave (that swelled to a tsunami) in art world circles when he identified a trend in contemporary art he called “Zombie Formalism,” where countless young MFA-wielding painters cranked out innumerable eerily similar works. But you won’t encounter those types of paintings at the 27th annual Outsider Art Fair. What you will find instead are deeply personal, idiosyncratic glimpses into unique personalities with singular visual voices. Art is the soul’s language, and our polyglot culture is richly reflected in the breadth, depth and emotional impact of art that is at times quirky, elegant, boisterous, whimsical, mysterious, touching, unsettling and elevating. Many of the works, presented by some 65 international galleries, stand squarely outside the mainstream. Others, like Morton Bartlett’s photographs of meticulously sculpted, dressed and posed figures (from Julie Saul Gallery), might spark thoughts of James Casebere or Cindy Sherman, though they were created decades earlier. This year’s Outsider Art Fair proves there’s a fine line between the art world’s insiders and outsiders. That fact will resonate with museum-goers who’ve seen the Metropoli-
original exhibitor at the fair, spoke of the artists she championed as ones who made art “not because they might want to but instead because they had to.” (One might, of course, say the same of workaholics like Michelangelo and Picasso.) Ms. Kind, who is honored with a tribute exhibition organized by the critic Edward M. Goméz, certainly did not associate compulsion with lack of aesthetic control. Control is evident at every turn. It’s pinpoint fine in 1940s crayon images of fantasy landscapes by the German artist identified only as Angelika (at Henry Boxer, Surrey, England). It’s coolly stripped-down in drawings of what look like Bauhaus temples by the Senegalese-born street artist Ousseynou Gassama, known as Hassan (at Ricco/Maresca, New York). And control feels explosive in paintings mixing antique Japanese themes and contemporary cartoons by Yuichiro Ukai (at Yukiko Koide Presents, Tokyo). After time spent with Mr. Ukai’s detonations of detail, you may be in need of retinal relief, and you’ll find it in the show’s scattering of abstract art: in biomorphic pastels by Julian Martin (at Fleisher/ Ollman, Philadelphia); in tantric paintings from western India (Galerie Hervé Perdriolle, Paris); and in sewn canvases by Sidival Fila (James Barron Art, Kent, Conn.) With Mr. Fila’s work, outsider shades into the less dramatic category of self-taught work. A Brazilianborn Franciscan monk living in Rome for decades, he began to make art only in 2006. Yet his monochromatic paintings, with their meticulous stitching, have gained a following and earned him some money, most of which goes to paying for the education of children in Africa and elsewhere. Mr. Fila is, in a sense, an outsider by choice, as are — but again, only in a sense — the artists in a special exhibition, “Good Kids: Underground Comics From China,” assembled by Brett Littman, director of the Noguchi Museum, and Yi Zhou, partner and curator of C5 Art Gallery in Beijing.
Jayne County, “See Me in No Special Light,” 2004, mixed media on paper. James Barron Art. Photo courtesy Outsider Art Fair. His work can be seen at the Ricco/ Maresca booth. There are plenty of contemporary artists to discover, as well. Jana Paleckova, represented by Fred Giampietro Gallery, starts with vintage late 19th or early 20th century photographs. She obscures some parts, paints others in, and creates astonishing, complex, surreal imagery that’s at once haunting and elegant. Mary F. Whitfield’s watercolors convey themes of poverty, slavery, survival, love and triumph. Her work, on view at the Phyllis Stigliano Art Projects booth, has been called visionary. And then there is Jayne County. “Jayne County was Punk Rock’s first openly transgender performer, inspired Andy Warhol, David Bowie and participated in the Stonewall uprising,” said Hoffman. “She’s someone that people should know, but might not.” Her technicolor dreamscapes, peopled by mythic figures, are presented by James Barron Gallery Also a highlight for Hoffman are the assemblages of Staten Island artist, John Foxell, whose life and art spilled into one another. “Foxell was an administrative assistant in the Manhattan family courts for a long time. He was also a poet and a preservationist,”
explained Hoffman. His small, saltbox house became so transformed by his art that it’s now a landmark. His eccentric, often humorous tabletop assemblages will be on view at the Norman Brosterman booth. The Outsider Art Fair will also present off-site exhibits at Ace Hotel, including a pop-up Troll Museum, a presentation of Boro textiles from Japan, and a group of short films. A talk titled “Unusual Brains: Neurodiversity and Artistic Creation” will be held at the New Museum, and two curated spaces, one featuring underground comics from China and another dedicated to gallerist Phyllis Kind, will also be part the fair. God’s Love We Deliver will be the beneficiary of a silent auction and part of the opening night’s proceeds. Some things can be taught in art schools, like theory, history, materials and techniques. But art, itself, comes from a deeper place – from the heart, from life lived. “This work speaks from a place of warmth and authenticity,” Hoffman said. “It’s exciting for me to watch people come into the fair and discover something they love. The art dealer will tell them about the story of the artist, and suddenly the visitor will be talking about themselves. It’s a really connected experience.”
Mary F. Whitfield’s “4 Swans in Alabama,” June 2003. Phyllis Stigliano Art Projects. Photo courtesy of Jeanette May.
IF YOU GO What: Outsider Art Fair Where:Metropolitan Pavilion 125 West 18th Street When: Jan. 17-20 www.outsiderartfair.com Outsider Art, which once had fringe cachet, is now pretty well inside the mainstream fold. As a genre, it has developed branding strategies, a collecting base and a marketable canon of (mostly male) stars, with Henry Darger, Martín Ramírez and Bill Traylor leading the list. All three are present, like tutelary deities, in the 27th New York City edition of the show, at the Metropolitan Pavilion. With 66 exhibitors from seven countries, it’s an expansive display of mostly smallish, textured, densely detailed things — modest-size figurative paintings and drawings dominate — but with a good share of stop-and-stare surprises. One comes with a group of large-scale architectural models by the Philadelphia artist Kambel Smith. Born in 1986 and diagnosed with autism as a child, Mr. Smith began painting, and when his family could no longer afford to buy canvas and oil paint, he turned to constructing models from cardboard, with the goal of creating what amount to sculptural portraits of historical Philadelphia buildings. At the fair, the booth of his dealer, Chris Byrne, from Dallas, is all but filled by a model of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, replete with pediment murals. The city’s Betsy Ross House hugs the wall nearby. According to the gallery, Mr. Smith’s work now takes up more than half of his family’s home.
Bill Traylor’s “Man and Cat on Organic Form,” Poster paint and graphite on cardboard, c.1939-42. From California’s Just Folk. Photo courtesy Outsider Art Fair.
And in the house-crowding category, there’s the sculpture of another artist making his solo debut, John Foxell (1944-2016), represented by the East Hampton, N.Y., dealer Norman Brosterman. Mr. Foxell, who lived alone in a snug 1840s house on Staten Island, had post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the events of Sept. 11. To relieve anxiety, he used art as therapy and filled his home with tabletop assemblages made from stuff he found in flea markets and on the street — toys, buttons, acorns, bones. The results are funny, erotic and macabre. He’s a consumerist Joseph Cornell. Busy is a word that might be applied to this work. And there’s a good amount of busyness in the fair, which perhaps supports the art-making-as-compulsion narrative by which outsiderness is often defined. The term embraces artists with psychiatric disabilities, like Darger and Ramírez, as well as those like Traylor, who had no conventional art training. The American art dealer Phyllis Kind, an
Feb. 21, 2019
The saga of these “kids” is complicated. It began when a small group of artists, disaffected by mainstream culture, began sharing images online. The group grew in size to become a self-exhibiting and self-publishing enterprise. What didn’t change was its underground status. Participants still operate under government radar. The fact that much of the work deals with officially frowned-on subject matter, including homosexuality, keeps the project marginal even within the contemporary Chinese art world. By contrast, certain other political art in the show delivers an antiauthoritarian message in plain sight; indeed, in the spotlight. Such is the case with a recent series of satirical Trump cartoons by the actor Jim Carrey, brought by Maccarone Gallery of Los Angeles. The drawings have bite, but their over-the-top insult style is now the common language of American culture. To speak it is to take few risks. Mr. Carrey qualifies as an outsider artist by being self-taught. Yet because, he is also a celebrity insider, he has been awarded the kind of critical enthusiasm and (I’m guessing) collecting attention that most of the artists in this fair could only dream of. Maybe true Outsider art, which this is not, really is still far outside after all. Outsider Art Fair Through Sunday. Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, outsiderartfair.com. Correction: Jan. 18, 2019 An earlier version of this review referred incorrectly to the dealer Phyllis Kind. She was an original exhibitor at the Outsider Art Fair. She was not one of the fair’s founders. Holland Cotter is the co-chief art critic. He writes on a wide range of art, old and new, and he has made extended trips to Africa and China. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2009.
Feb. 24, 2019
THE ETERNAL ORPHANAGE COMMUNITY A Yorkville priest and the head of an elite private school thrash out a plan to memorialize a beloved vestige of a 19th-century chapel — even as its inevitable disappearance looms
I do not doubt that one day, this relic of the past will reemerge to astonish future generations.”
BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
The clock is quickly ticking on the future of the Ghostly Remnant of East 90th Street. But there’s good news, too: Due to a breakthrough deal hammered out in a Feb. 15 meeting, the majestic ruin will be commemorated forever. Construction of a new field house for the Spence School on the block between First and York Avenues is already underway. And as it advances, the beloved fragment that survived from the chapel of the old St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum will vanish from view. Built in 1898 to serve the orphanage, which was founded in 1857, the neo-Classical, brick-and-stone church has endured, in truncated form, ever since. That won’t change. But late this year or in 2020, the vestige is expected to be obscured, perhaps indefinitely, behind the six-story, 85-foot tall athletic complex that Spence is now building directly to the east. It won’t go quietly: Its fans have been fighting to save it ever since Our Town chronicled its history, status and uncertain future in two articles in January, “The Ghostly Remnant” and “Rallying for a Remnant.” In response, East Side City Council Member Ben Kallos — who once lived in the condo at 402 East 90th St. in which the remnant is spectacularly
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
City Council Member Ben Kallos
A seven-story vestige of an old Yorkville chapel, embedded into a neighboring building, stands sentinel over an empty lot where the Spence School is constructing a new field house. The facade will vanish from view when the work is completed, but the chapel will be memorialized both inside and outside the new Spence building. Photo: Sarah Greig Photography / FRIENDS of the Upper East Side Historic Districts
Oct. 19, 2018
Nov. 20, 2018
‘GRAMMAR ZEN’ IN VERDI SQUARE COMMUNITY New Yorkers talk tricky tenses, punctuation passions and more at Ellen Jovin’s UWS pop-up table BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Are you prepositionally challenged? Hesitant around hyphens? Undergoing a comma crisis? Simply enraptured by the beauty of a well-placed ellipsis? Ellen Jovin wants to talk grammar with you. Jovin has become familiar to Upper West Side word lovers in recent weeks as the face and founder of Grammar Table — a public forum for open-ended discussion of all things language. Armed with a folding table and an array of reference books and style guides, Jovin sets up shop near the northern entrance to the 72nd Street subway station on Broadway to d l li ( ih
dole out complimentary (with an “i”) pointers, guidance and emotional support to all comers, from devoted syntacticians to the downright grammar-averse. “Hi, this looks lit,” a young woman said on a recent afternoon as she approached Grammar Table (lately Jovin has been trying out the name without the definite article). The woman introduced herself as
a fifth-gr and soon had found vin. A spi the joys o ensued. A steady paused in hour scru the Gram were wa embolde
FI R S T I N YOU R N E I G H BO R H O O D
(212) 868-0190
16
MARCH 14-20,2019
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
SOS FOR THE UWS ‘COMMERCIAL DESERT’ A new grassroots organization is looking to solve the problem of empty storefronts in the neighborhood BY JASON COHEN
With vacancies on the rise throughout the city, a group of women in the Upper West Side recently decided to take action and formed a grassroots organization with hopes of addressing this issue. In February, five women — Beth Krieger, Ann Meyerson, Susan Eley, Debbie Spero and Stephanie Pinto — launched Save Our Stores (SOS) on Facebook. Its mission is to stop the epidemic of empty storefronts and revitalize commercial life in their neighborhood. “This is a problem that the whole city has been trying to deal with,” Krieger said. The group met once in February and held its second meeting on March 6. Last week SOS established five task forces; legislative action, commercial revitalization, communications/media, vacant storefront research and community outreach. Before its next meeting
in April, members are doing outreach for more volunteers and each task force will come up with proposals for action. The problem is acute: citing a City Council report from 2017, the New York Post wrote in January that “Manhattan’s overall vacancy rates doubled from 2.1 to 4.2 percent between 2012 and 2017.” Some recent closures on the UWS include La Vela, 373 Amsterdam Avenue; Harriet’s Kitchen, 502 Amsterdam Avenue; Coffeeberry, 618 Amsterdam Avenue; Chocolate Works, 641 Amsterdam Avenue; Seasons, 661 Amsterdam Avenue; and Big Bang Burger, 426 Amsterdam Avenue. “I’ve been very distressed [by] what I call the commercial desert of the Upper West Side,” said Meyerson, who is a lifelong resident of the neighborhood. “Why is the place looking like we are in a depression?” Meyerson, 70, said she has witnessed poor economic times in the 70s, 80s, 90s and during the recession in the 2000s, but has never seen such a rash of vacancies. In January, she posted her displeasure with the current situation on Nextdoor, a
STOREFRONT VACANCIES BY AVENUE 15%
14.7%
14.0%
12.0%
10%
10.5% 8.5% 7.6%
5%
0% BROADWAY
AMSTERDAM
2007 Survey Results
COLUMBUS
2017 Survey Results
Source: Small Business Health Report: Commercial Vacancies on the Upper West Side in 2017, report by Office of Council Member Helen Rosenthal
Business
social media site for specific neighborhoods. Many people quickly replied, echoing her sentiments. “There must be something deeply systemic,” Meyerson remarked. “We know that it’s not just our neighborhood.”
Double-digit vacancy rates Meyerson and her fellow members hope that with a new Democratic state legislature, things can finally get rolling. She said that while high rent, property taxes and minimum wage have forced places to close, many landlords have chosen to keep stores empty for numerous years. With Mayor Bill de Blasio lobbying for the state to implement a vacancy tax on landlords, Meyerson and her fellow members feel this would be a step in the right direction. According to the Post, “a number of recent studies have found retail corridors in prosperous Manhattan neighborhoods are struggling with double-digit vacancy rates, from 27 percent on Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side to 20 percent on a stretch of Broadway in Soho. Five percent or less is generally considered ‘healthy.’” Meyerson explained that some of the commercial vacancies in the UWS can be attributed to the recent luxury developments that have caused commercial rent to increase to keep up with the residential costs. She emphasized that it isn’t just restaurants that are disappearing, but supermarkets, wine shops, hardware stores and more. Elected officials have taken notice. In 2017, Council member Helen Rosenthal did a study about the issue titled, “Small Business Health Report.” In the summer of 2017, her staff canvassed Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, along with numerous crossstreets. Their key findings were: 88 percent of the 1,332 storefronts surveyed were active
Poster from the SOS Facebook page. Photos: Kevin Kinner businesses; 12 percent of storefronts were unoccupied; Broadway had the largest number of empty storefronts; an estimated 67 percent of the street-level businesses along Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus are independently owned small businesses; 24 percent are national chains; and 9 percent are local chains of some sort.
Shopping habits on the UWS “It has been very challenging,” said Sarah Crean, communications director for Rosenthal. “It’s a city-wide issue. Council districts throughout the city and the mayor’s office haven’t been able to address this the way people would like. There have been ongoing discussions for years about city rent control.”
Crean noted that the way people shop today is different than 15 or 20 years ago, but that is no excuse for landlords keeping storefronts empty. It is a daunting task to protect small businesses when landlords control rent, she said. One person who has seen the changing landscape of the UWS is Janice Horowitz, a longtime resident and member of SOS. Horowitz told the West Side Spirit that this is not the community she has grown to know and love. She said she used to be able to walk a few blocks and get almost everything she needs on her way home from work, and now, that is simply not the case. Horowitz acknowledged that companies like Amazon and Fresh Direct have taken away
business, but many people, including the high number of seniors on the UWS, still prefer to shop in person. People should not have to walk half a mile to shop, she said. “There isn’t the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker anymore,” she said. According to Horowitz, the greed of landlords has gotten in the way of a well-functioning city. She said that landlords don’t seem to mind that stores are empty, while in actuality they are hurting the economy and the community. “Landlords have gotten carried away and some have gotten this fantasy that better rent is the better way,” Horowitz said. To volunteer for SOS: goo.gl/forms/ L1CWyscekLIDVSLy1
MARCH 14-20,2019
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MARCH 14-20,2019
LITERACY: NEVER TOO LATE EDUCATION The Henry Street Settlement’s adult program can change lives BY BRIAN DEMO
Jorge De Jesus, 59, is studying for a high school equivalency diploma at Henry Street Settlement. Photo: Brian Demo
The subject was Galileo. About a dozen students, young and older adults, read two paragraphs on the Italian astronomer and answered questions. What was the main idea of the passage? What’s a statement of fact, and what’s an opinion? There was a tangent: How did Galileo die? Some students took their time to read and speak, while others responded quickly. Lisa Diomande, their friendly, conversational teacher, kept pushing the discussion. Diomande is the High School Equivalency (HSE) program coordinator at the Henry Street Settlement’s Adult Literacy Program, where she teaches reading, writing, and social studies. The HSE program prepares students for the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), which replaced the familiar General Educational Development (GED) test in New York State in 2014.. Diomande draws from living in Harlem and teaching English as a second language (ESL) at the YMCA there. “You have natives and immigrants who don’t have their high school diplomas,” she said. “I like teaching ESL, but I saw a greater need for high school diplomas — a broader and deeper need.” Her motivation is to help people become “active learners.” Strong reading and critical thinking skills, she said, help adults in every aspect of their day-to-day lives.
A Diploma Makes a Difference The Henry Street program has three levels: HSE, for the students most ready to take the TASC; Pre-HSE; and Adult Basic Education (ABE), for students who need the most preparation. An HSE diploma carries significant weight. It can mean more job opportunities and higher earnings. According to 2018 data from the U.S. Bureau
Lisa Diomande is the High School Equivalency (HSE) program coordinator for the Henry Street Settlement. Photo: Brian Demo
of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for people with high school diplomas was 4.1 percent, compared to 5.6 percent for those without. The same data also showed a nearly $200 difference in median weekly earnings between the two groups — $730 versus $553. However, HSE stats are not great in New York. In a March 2017 report, the Center for an Urban Future (CUF) — a nonpartisan policy organization — found that New York State had a 60 percent GED pass-rate in 2010, compared to a national average of 73 percent. And according to a 2015 study of the TASC, the New York State passrate for the new test was just under 52 percent. For that same year, CUF reported that New York City’s TASC pass-rate was 46 percent. CUF says the New York State Education Department is working to improve those numbers by training HSE instructors to prepare students with more rigorous prep curriculums, working with the TASC vendor to better match test questions with graduation requirements, and offering more support for test centers. The good news is that HSE prep programs, like those offered by Henry Street, can improve students’ chances of passing the TASC. CUF reported in 2015 that test-takers from prep-courses had a TASC pass-rate of 65 percent, compared to 45 percent for those who did not take a prep course.
An Artist and Future Chef Gabriel Sarmiento, 19, was among the students discussing Galileo in Diomande’s three-hour night-class. Sarmiento, who started in Pre-HSE last November and moved up to HSE, said he spent about half-a-year at school after what should have been his senior year in high school, but never earned enough credits to graduate and dropped out. Now in HSE prep, “I give more time and priority to school because I’m trying to go to college,” he said. Sarmiento house-hops and cur-
rently lives in the Bronx. He studies and works multiple jobs. In addition to baby-sitting, he works for Postmates and DoorDash, and leaves the city on Fridays for Long Island, where he records music under his artist name, Briel. Along with his music goals, Sarmiento wants to become a chef and has enrolled in a culinary training program to get his meat handler’s license. He knows that passing the TASC could mean less house-hopping and a steadier work schedule, all equating to less stress.
On a Better Path Jorge De Jesus, 59, has been in the ABE level since last October. He said he was nearly illiterate into his youngadult years. “When I was young, I had a learning disability,” he said. “The kids [at school] used to laugh at me. I used to fight a lot.” De Jesus explained how he dropped out of junior high school and began to use drugs. “I was caught up using cocaine and dust,” he said. He robbed small markets, and it caught up with him, he said. He served a 15-year sentence for armed robbery, he said, eventually followed by another sentence of 10 years. He’s on a better path now, he said. “I’ve been sober for 30-35 years.” On weekdays, he attends HSE prep classes and often exercises. Although he lives in midtown Manhattan, he volunteers at a Christian church in the Bronx, where he does painting and repair work.“I would love to become a counselor,” De Jesus said. “I would also like to become a pastor.” For now, De Jesus wants to prove to others, and himself, that he can pass the TASC. “I wanted to find out how to read and write, and get a GED so my family can see me and be proud of me,” he said. He enjoys making use of his improved reading and writing skills, which have even made subway rides more interesting. He now spends time underground scanning for the nearest sign, reading it, and moving on to the next.
MARCH 14-20,2019
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‘KISS ME, KATE’ IN THE AGE OF #METOO THEATER How the new revival of Cole Porter’s masterpiece deals with sexism in the original show — and the Shakespeare play on which it was based BY LEIDA SNOW
With “Kiss Me, Kate” once more lighting up Broadway in previews and due to open March 14th, fans of the classic musical might be mulling on the show’s misogynistic foundation in Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.” The co-writer of the show’s narrative structure was once quoted as calling “Shrew” Shakespeare’s “slap your wife around and she’ll thank you for it play.” That was Bella Spewack who, with her husband Sam, created the book for many shows and films in the 1930’s through to the ’50’s. But in their successful body of work, “Kate” was recognized as something special. It was the first musical to win the top Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award in 1949. It was composer Cole Porter’s masterpiece, with dazzling music matched by witty lyrical wonders: “Another Op’nin’, Another Show,” “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” “So In Love,” “Too Darn Hot,” Always True To You (In My Fashion),” “Why Can’t You Behave?” among them. But it was also “a masterpiece of musical theatre,” as Alan Jay Lerner notes in his book about Broadway. Lerner, the great “My Fair Lady” lyricist, points out the imaginative play-within-a-play construction of the book for Kate, that interweaves Shakespeare’s “Shrew” into the story of a tumultuous backstage romance. Revivals of “Kate” are left facing the problematic sexism in the original Shakespeare play. Sometimes, a director can make subtle changes in stage action without altering a word of dialogue. At the end of one revival of “Fiddler On the Roof,” minor costume modifications transformed the Jews leaving Anatevka into refugees in our own time. In the current “My Fair Lady,” Eliza is shown leaving Professor Higgins by the way she exits the final scene. In the original 1948 “Kate,” the leading lady got spanked. That wouldn’t work for today’s #MeToo audiences, so that’s gone and the dialogue had to be tweaked. In reviving the musical, the producers looking to soften the sexism couldn’t make any revisions without running into a thicket of intellectual rights holders — organizations, estates and individuals who have control over what goes up on stage. In the 1999 revival of “Kate,” any reworking had to get a green light from Sam and Bella Spewack. Sam died in 1971, Bella in 1990. They had no children and willed their intellectual property rights to their close friends, Lois and Arthur Elias. The Eliases were vigilant in seeing that the script in that production honed closely to the original. They were also insistent that no one get credit for the book except the Spewacks. After their deaths, that authority rests with their daughter, Minna Elias, who lives on the Upper West Side with her husband and two teenage children. The 58-year-old lawyer, who works in the federal government, takes her showbiz responsibilities seriously. Over eggs Benedict near her Upper East Side
Minna Elias says that the work remains viable and potent today. Photo: Leida Snow
Any changes are surgical rather than significant ... [we’re aiming for a] Kate that can shine and not be seen as a relic of the past.” Minna Elias
Ad for the new revival. Photo: Leida Snow
office, Elias said that whatever issues are presented by the underlying material, she is certain that the work remains viable and potent today. “It’s important that the Spewacks get the credit they deserve,” she emphasized. “I met with [Director] Scott Ellis,” she said. What they arrived at, along with those representing the Cole Porter estate, is that “any changes are surgical rather than significant.” Elias said that what they’re aiming for is a “‘Kate’ that can shine and not be seen as a relic of the past.” Productions of “Kate” have always been flexible, Elias said, but for this Roundabout Theatre revival, starring Kelli O’Hara, Will Chase and Corbin Bleu, she believes the audience will understand why the leading lady in both the play (Lili) and the play-within-the-play (Kate), returns to the man she’s been fighting with. “This production solves the issues of ‘The Taming of the Shrew,’” she said. “It allows us to see the resolution as the coming together of two equals. Lilli/Kate is not tamed. She returns to the man she loves on her terms, and to the theater, where she can have fun and be her true self.” Some changes in staging contributed to this concept, Elias added. For example, if Kate were spanked, that “would make a contemporary audience cringe.” And, she said, Lilli/Kate is given additional stage business. She and her co-star tussle physically. Kate is not subdued. Purists may not like some of the changes. When a single word, “women” is changed to “people,” how many in the audience will notice the shift in the famous Shakespearean line so it becomes “I am ashamed that people are so simple”? In a post, Roundabout’s Artistic Director and CEO Todd Haimes said: “It is exactly the work of a revival ... [to present] the truth of our past alongside the perspective of our present.”
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YOUR 15 MINUTES
Ellen Gilman, author of “The Home,” at Shakespeare & Co. in front of the Expresso Book Machine. Photo: Caley Pigliucci
IN THE END, WHAT IS A HOME? Ellen Gilman, a longtime theater writer, publishes a memoir about working as an art specialist for over 20 years at a retirement facility in the Bronx BY MEREDITH KURZ
“I loved Mount Zion Home for the Elderly, dream of being back there almost nightly ... and pray I’ll never have to live there,” writes Ellen Gilman in the opening chapter of “The Home.” Gilman’s self-published memoir has mobsters, a Nobel Prize winner and a graffiti list of the dead sprayed down the side of a Bronx tenement. Living and working with staff and residents for over twenty years as an art specialist at the retirement home gave Gilman a unique view into the personal lives and drama of the staff and residents. Gilman has lived for over 50 years on the Upper West Side. She’s a theater buff and now has some time to enjoy this hobby. She’s been primarily focused on the memoir this year, though last month she had a gallery showing on 57th Street. Gilman will be reading passages from “The Home” on Thursday, March 28th at 7 p.m. at the new Shakespeare and Company on 2020 Broadway be-
tween 69th and 70th Streets. There will be a book signing as well, and the event is free and open to the public.
First things first: Where can people buy your book? “The Home” will is available at any Shakespeare and Company bookstore, and also online at Bit.ly/GilmanTheHome. Signed copies will be available on March 28th at 7 p.m. at the new Shakespeare and Company on 2020 Broadway between 69th and 70th Streets.
What made you decide to write this memoir? I’ve always loved to write, however my primary focus was writing for the theater. I grew up in a very creative family. Both my parents were artists, and my father started his career as a ballet dancer. Someone was always doing artwork or sharing poetry or discussing either or both. I remember resenting the long visits to the Museum of Modern Art. Who cared about staring at Kandinskys? I went to New York City’s High School of Performing Arts on West 46th where I majored in drama. I earned a B.A. in literature from Grinnell College, then a master’s degree in theatre at Smith College. Along the way I was fortunate to receive a few
awards for my fiction and poetry and also the Guthrie McClintic-Katharine Cornell Award for Creative Writing in Theatre. I’ve continued to write and perform, so creating a memoir was a natural extension of those skills.
How did you make the transition from a career in teaching young students to being an art specialist in a long term health facility? My grandmother lived with us when we were growing up, and it was this relationship, this love, that helped me through my childhood and when I went off to college. She and I shared a room, and every night I watched as this stern matriarch disrobed, took off all her corsets and confinements and finally her false teeth, and then, halfashamedly showed me who she really was. Then I would give her a warm hug and kiss goodnight. I knew I would care about the people in the facility, just as I cared about my grandmother.
Many readers are interested in the process of writing a memoir. How did you retell stories that could be slightly vague in your own memory, and how do you recreate a story without all the exact details? In the beginning of the book I ex-
plained that this memoir is a filtered memory, as all memories are. I’ve taken situations that happened frequently and created composites at times.
Can you offer any advice on how to treat people’s privacy and also avoid hurt feelings? Every name has been changed, and even their extended family number has been altered, to prevent a breach of privacy.
If you could have done something differently when you began writing this memoir, what would it be? Originally I wrote this as a play, and working my way through the process came to realize that was more easily expressed as a book, giving me greater freedom to express more places, people and situations.
How would you sum up working for twenty years in a nursing home? I think my book says it best: “Oh God,” my family and friends used to say to me, “Don’t you find it depressing to work there — all those sick old people and people dying all the time? I’d try to explain that, no, I didn’t find it depressing. It was exciting. It felt like a very important place to be. It was a privilege to be with the elders at that
I knew I would care about the people in the facility, just as I cared about my grandmother.” Ellen Gilman author of “The Home” time of their lives. They were the surviving heroes and they were, or should have been, the keepers of history and of mystery. To be of service to them made me feel both humble and proud and I felt brave and powerful. I was in a place — a nursing home — that so many people were terrified to enter, even to briefly visit people they knew and loved. For so many people it was like having to look into an open coffin, getting a giant whiff of mortality, a head-on collision into what awaits. For me it was something like walking into the lion’s cage. I’m here to encourage people, to enliven them, to sustain or raise their life condition and because they’re mature, they have the ability to immediately express their appreciation.
Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.
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to hav e is the sixthin the city. past thre been hit by a person car in the to The ee days alone. least 20New York Tim According cyclists pedestrians es, at have bee and thr accidents ee n kill more tha so far this ed in traffic VOL. 2, yea n ISSUE been inju 900 pedest r, and 08 rians hav It’s demred. e of victim oralizing. If fam s, ilies heighten a devoted mayor and a dent in ed awarenes the proble s can’t ma Amid the ke m, wh at can? New Yor carnage, Immedia kers once agathough, hit, bys tely after Da in rallied. A CASI group tanders ran to uplaise was MANH NO IN managof them, workin try to help. in hopesed to flip the carg together, A < BUSI ATTAN? of NESS, on res its cuing Unfor sid P.16 She wa tunately, it didDauplaise. e, Bellevues pronounced n’t work. The a short wh dead at citizensefforts of our ile later. fell to hearten save a str ow us, despit anger sho recklessn uld e who con ess of a danthe continued a place tinue to makegerous few THE SE of traged our street y. OFsOU COND DISG
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SHELTER HOMELES RACE S RS
First, obvious: let’s start wit condition h the city’s hom s inside thi disgrace. eless shelte rs are as A ser one mo ies of terrible (includinre horrible tha crimes, month g the killing n the last of ear lier this daugh a woman has higters in Statenand her two hlighted Island), living con the the ma ditions for shameful cities inrgins of one ofpeople at Blasio, the world. Ma the richest wh yor o has bee Bill de his app from theroach to homn halting in has final beginning elessness proble ly begun to of his term, from thim, but years ofaddress the others, s administra neglect, tion and will take But years to correct. recent none of that exc office grandstanding uses the appareof Gov. Andrew by the Cuomo, he can’tntly sees no iss who In the try to belittl ue on which attempt governor’s late the mayor. officials at a hit job, est sta compla then pro ined te Post, abomptly to the to the city, homele ut a gang New York alleged ss shelter, purape at a city VOL. 77 had tim event before blicizing the , ISSUE pol e 04 As it turto investigate ice even ned out, it. never hap the officials pened, infuriaincident media hitwho called it ting city a ” “po aim the mayor ed at em litical . More cha barrassin counter-c rges and g THfolElow the me harges Dicken antimeA , of cou ed. In Tditrse men, wosian livingR OionF, the con in New men D kidsIM s for Yor andEN Here’s k goe s on. in shelters CITY ARTS, leadershi hoping tha t som P.2any eday our as intere p in Alb 0 as it is in sted in helpinwill become back fro agains scoring pol g them t sit itical poi 17 fee m FDR Drour ive byting mayor. nts t 16 to out of and raise
IN CEN KIDS AGTARIAL PARK, WEIGHI NST DOCNAl NG LiDnTtRo UMnP WEEK OF JA NUARY-FEBR UARY 28-3 MOVING FO R A GUIDE TO CAMP
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it on the floo as red d plain, e foot uc building e the heigh as well three. from four t of the storie HAPP s to The ref urbishe would SNOWY LITTLE d sit FLAKES pier pil atop newl bu ild ing y food ma ings and restored Reme board co Transpa officia sio’s fi mber Mayo Jean-G rket overseenntain a expre ls, but rst r Bil eorge linger ov rency concer by sse me W ch Th s Vong hat a winter in his l de Blaef mbers e pr ns develop d concern dif fer redeveloper Howard Hu new years the de oposal also erichten. er ’s vis s that the ence Se ma molit ca lls a coup job? Seaport ment plans ghes’ pieapor t is be ion for th Ho ion for Hit wi kes. le of for the ing e tw use and Lin of the He ceme after th a snow ad o dil k Bu compre al instead relea sed sto tak new ma ing off ice rm shortly of in on adjacen apidated str ild ing, hensive Howa BY DAN t e in pro uc The new would yor fumble in 2014, th IEL FIT front ofto the Tin Bu tures CB1’s rd Hughes posal. d in a wa ZSIMM e co Jan. 19 ly restored me Pie ild joi ONS Re half of ing r 17. to The joi cen Tin presen South nt La nd mamet with his ter define th y that nt La nd tation Building, as by the tly announ Stree un So rk e m. to Comm fi ut fir s lle envisio ced Ho h ma Ce Po an t Seap st d. Stree nter d Ce plans poration ward Hu ned unity Bo storm Official wa tholes we t Seap rks and nter gh pla ns on Jan. 19 or t/Civic nt ’s ard 1. in Howard Hu at the for the Tin es Corfor th to unve Residen severity wernings on the a resolucomm ittee or t/Civic ghes a fou e s passe re mu ts in ne re ce iveSouth Stree Building r-s tory Tin Build il the pr tion in did dd igh d n’t led t supp structur ing bo op prov al d preli mi Seaport plaine vote for de rhoods tha . e at thelandm arke , of Howa osal, but req or t of na co d from being that their strBlasio com-t comm ry ap - Hording to the Seaport. Acd pla n for rd Hughes uested plo un ity a was lat wed -- a eets weren - ing wa rd Hu gh presentation - the Seap redevelopmmaster su ’t es ort , wo to mo tion-trucer proven spicion tha ve the is propos uld inc as a whole ent at ou t Tin Bu , wh lude the This k GPS data. t by sanitailding compa ich new detime aroun ny’s CONTINU d, ED ON ch arge Blasio seem an entirely PAGE 5 was for . Before th ed to be Sanitati e storm in ceful, Ins on bu tea , t no he d architect Dept. build closin of jumpin t panicke d. g g storm ure, is press ing, praised waited subways or the gun an ed into for d service its then ac for the storm schools, he during detectedted decisive to develop the , We do a sense of huly. We even n’t wa mor in The bu cre nt it all dit tha to give BY DEE to life ilding looks him mo . someth n is due, PTI HAJ , all re bu ELA ing can loo angles an like a mode t there about seeme rn d wa thi d nation k bluish or gra edges, with art painting New Yo to bring ou s storm tha s t rkers. t the be in any of the three. yish or wh concrete wa come On Su itish, or settin lls st of functi g, but It would be some that alpine nday, the cit an no on pounds it was cre ne more tha unusual str combiskiers vil lage. Cr y felt like an ate uc of the n rock sal d for --- sto the fairly pro ture snow plied the pa oss-cou nt ry rin t bo sai tha rks g CONTINU c tho t the cit hot ch ots and pa , people y’s De usands of ED ON ololat rkas ord in partm PAGE 29 wi es, th su ered kid ent of of sledd nburned fac s came home es after ding. There a day tent. Qu were pock ets the plo eens reside of disco nand elew trucks by nts felt th at the sch cted offici passed them, als closed ools should there sa id for ha But ov another da ve stayed %TGCVKX just en erall, consid y. G 9TKVK PI r &CPEG snows dured the secering we ha r /QVK torm in d QP 2KE lovely our his ond-biggest VWTG # litt TVU r and his le chapter tory, it was /WUKE a for the subjects r 6JG mayor CVTG r . 8KUWC
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Bu On Sa 13 10 15 siness BY EM ILY TOW parishioturday mo Minutes 16 NER rn and low ners, comm ing, archit 19 ered in er Manhatt unity me ects, mb vision St. Paul’s Ch an residents ers for Tr ap gat el hto discu inity Ch building ss urch’s The ex . new pa the rish Place acr isting bu ild been cle oss from Tr ing, on Tr inity inity Ch ared for 1923, urc de it the chu no longer sermolition. Buh, has tower rch and the ves the ne ilt in wi com ed The we ll be built in munity. A s of new in a ser ekend me its place. eti — collabies of commu ng was the needs orative for nity “charr fifth an um ett the low d wants of s to addre es” a whole er Manhatt the church ss the and an com . “In ou munit of r y initial as about charr buildinghow we wa ettes we talked for the to be a homented th is pa hood,” homeless an for the spi rish rit fer, Tr said the Re d for the neigh ual, v. Dr. Wi ini bor“We tal ty Wall Street lliam Lu ked ’s prector What ab . they wo out minis try act look,” uld be ivi Lu marke pfer said. , how they ties. wo t underst study in ord“We condu uld cte desires and neighbo er to objec d a dream as well as rhood needtively s.” parish s and He sai hopes and sion em d the churc tality braces a ph h communit The can tha ilo ride in coming t is “open sophy for y’s viCe carouseldidate’s owne ho , flexibl .” On the ntral Park. “We wa e and spifamilia puts New Yo rship of the wela white wall next to nt it street r bind rkers in , access to be visiblP.9 > that rea placard wi the entrance a Gemm ible to e from the com and Re ds, “Trum th red letter is well, a Whitema the CONTINU p Ca munit gulat ing who we n and ind It’s y, BY DAN Engla ED ON Joel Ha re on lat icatio ions” -- rousel Ru PAGE 6 weekd e afternoon IEL FITZSIMM presid ns that Do one of the les day, nd and rode vacation uxONS ay, an on only sai the en fro nald a mi tial d lining opera bearing d they notic carousel Mo m up to pakids and tou ld winter tes the candidate, J. Trump, ed the Trum ntially ow car ris y Tr $3 for “It p’s ns an placar New Yo a qu ts are see um p’s po ousel. d ma was in my name. OurTown d rk mo lit ics ping int n, he ment: intesenDowntow wh ad o the car have be 20gav a carou weigh 16 e he en asked ,” said Wh n gu sel an aft a deep ernoo ousel, as rid n in En r pause. “H if the realiz iteOTDOW O n esc ly divisiv gla ati ers e’s NTOW like, ‘Do nd, so in my not very lik on e candid ape again N.COM st he ed I want ate. Newsche to give ad I was a bit ck money @OTD CO Cri me Wa NTINU to this owntown 2 Cit tch ED ON y
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Accor DOB, Coding to sta STREETORY OF OU tis R agency nEd report tics provid S ed by over 20 in 2015, a ed 343 shutoff the The 40 Ruby BY DAN trend 14’s 67 shu 0 percent s to the New Yorworst and the IEL FIT ey on Mak has been ap toffs. increa ZSIMM takeo An So far pears to be Monday k were both best of ONS ut tha spending mid-d in 2016 increa d the upwa se on displa mo mo issert n acc mid a the sin re rd docto ording y town. rning on 36th mong eve re ha ation is worki Street in ng at lea , and her ne rate stude “Since to the DO ve been 157 n more: Ca rol “A lot nt B. Da shu w rice st as uplaise, toffs, noticing the spring owner cooker to eat of it is just ou hard. the a no gas, a lot of pe of last year crossingof a jewelry com 77-year-o cook at lot more,” t of pocket, op we sta going rted water either cookin le coming Street Madison Av pany, was ld steam home it’s jus said Mak. “W ,” out in ing an said Donna g gas or he that had when a during the mo enue at 36th cally.” things with t a rice cooker hen we at livery-cab rning rus it, or ma Ameri d commun Chiu, direct and hot cor . You can ner h dri ity or can La st Se and hit ke rice, her. ver turned the Chiu cal s For Equa ser vices forof housptemb The basihundred er Asian said AA led the inc lity. arresteddriver of the car no natur s of others her bu ild ing ing an FE is worki rease “freak pedest for failing to was joi ned an ins al gas, cut across the d pe off town almost a dong with Ma ish,” and been citrian, and cop yield to a Building ction blitz by Con Ed city with an ser vic d the Lowe zen others k’s buildtraffic vioed for at leasts say he had a month s that bega by the city’sison after es. 10 oth lations advocat And Ch r East Side in ChinaIt sin wa East Vil after a fat n last April, Dept. of iu, lik ce 2015. er es, ha al ga e ma to restor exp les litany ofs but the latest lage tha s t claim s explosion s than lon loitation by witnessed ny housinge that hav traffic deaths in a sad ed two bu g servic in the a lives. e interr ilding owne pattern of Mayor e lingered on, and injuries rs wh uptions curb traBill de Blasio’s despite CONTINU in an eff o proffic crashe efforts ort to ED ON Da to uplais s PA
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accuse capita d of overleve l. very James Beninati anraging invest lions aftCabrera, we d his partn or re BY DAN Antar er the firm sued for mier, The Ba IEL FIT es ZSIMM condo uhouse Gr assets was stripp ’s collapse, lONS and ou ed of mo in p’s 90 the lat project on A rep the late-a st of its 0-foo Sutto n Place t the Ba resentative ughts. velopmeest lux ur y res for uhouse fundin nt to suffer idential is a req Group Beninati an ue de g, fro did st for d - tim as inv ingly comm not return estors m a lack of e. wary ent by are inc of fin at the Sto press rea ler an top a surpl end of the cing projec s- Deal ne also spok outlookus in inven market du ts a notic wspaper las e to the Re tor e will ma on whether y and a tep to ap ar tmeable decre t month ab al ase out affluent terialize id lig en News buyer hted ma t sa les, whin high-end down of s the roa the 80 rke ich hig squa re avera d. -st ge nu t data tha hmb April, foot propo or y, 260,0 t apart ments er of days said the an 00 squat d sent the sa l broke las spent in new for-sa neigh and sleepy comparative t perce on the marke developme le VOL. 42 bo nt munit rhood int Sutton Pla ly and the between t increased nts , ISSUE o the y 47 en 09 tions, Board 6 vo a panic. Co ce “E very d of last yea end of 20 man ice 14 on d r. d Council e’s a its ob Kallos Stoler lit jec the bu came out str member Be - $2,50 told TRD. “W tle worri ed ilding 0 ’s heigh ongly again n lende [per square ith anything ,” plicat ions. rs are t and soc st at foo t] ver or But it Stoler ial imtold thi y cautious.” more, opposit wa sn’t jus s ne wspape house ion workingt commun CONTINU r that ED ON Mi aelprincipal Jo against Baity PAGE 5 seph u20ch Sto ne r16 at the ler, a mana Beninati. Jewish invest ging pa son Re wome me n and the wo backg alty Capital, nt firm Ma rtgirl rld by rou lighting s light up candle tares Inv nd also plasaid Beninatidis every the Sha yed bbat Friday 18 min a role. ’s Benin estment Pa eve utes bef < NEW An ati co Friday ore sun ning -foundertners, the fi schoo S, Ma set. l rm P.4 For mo rch 11 – 5:4 boast classmate thad with a pre 1 pm. re info ed $6 rm www.c billion t at one po p habadu ation visit int in ass pperea ets, wa stside.co s m.
WEEK OF MAR CH
AMNH electe d transpo working gro and pa officials, Co up rtation, park reds to focus on of Teddrk advocacy mmunity Board group y Roose esign LIGHTI 7, ers De vel
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OurTown EastSide
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AN EN D "BR TO WINDO OKEN WS"? NEW
2016
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VOL. 2, ISSUE 10
10-16
Our To wn ha The pa s much 2016, per celebrat to be thank an OTTY d this we es its 45th ful for. ek Award anniv made ersary winnershonors its a un lat The OT ique differe , noting pe est group in ople wh of nce on You -- TY award the o ha s ha munit ve always -- short for OuUpper East ve Sid be y strong. service, an en a reflect r Town Th e. d this anks year’s ion of deep Our ho list is parti combusiness norees inc cularly owners lude co heroe mm an s. Cardi We’re also d medical anunity activi na tak fall’s wi l Timothy ing a mome d public saf sts, Franc ldly succes Dolan, who nt to recog ety is. nize sheph sful vis Kyle Po In his interv erd it iew wi to the city ed last pressi pe, Dolan by th Our ref ng Town Pope warning issues sti lects on thaCI Editor ll TYit, ARon movin s he receiv facing the t vis TS, g to Ne city,2 an>d on the w York ed from his P.1 Read nine his profile, seven years friends be the OT TY an fore ag Thom awards d the profi o. pso les of the oth We are n, in the spe by repor the wi proud to bri cial sectio ter Madelei er nners n ne part of ng it to you inside. our com , and pro ud to cal munit y. l
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