Our Town Downtown - April 14, 2016

The local paper for Downtown wn SPRING ARTS PREVIEW, CITYARTS < P.12

WEEK OF APRIL

14-20 2016

TRUMP, CLINTON LEAD IN MANHATTAN STRAW POLL NEWS Front-runners carry neighborhood survey Manhattan’s neighborhoods are supporting Hillary and The Donald.

A straw poll conducted by this newspaper over the past week shows that a majority of voters on the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Chelsea and downtown are planning to support the two parties’ front-runners in the April 19 primary.

While there has been extensive

statewide polling in recent weeks, as New York’s usually irrelevant presidential primary has taken on unusual importance, there has been little insight into the leanings of Manhattan voters. Straus News, which publishes four newspapers in the city, asked readers to call and write in with their choice.

Our voters’ snapshot largely tracks recent statewide polls, which indicate that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will carry New York. In our city survey, 63% of Manhattanites say they’re for Clinton, compared to 37% for Bernnie Sanders. On the Repub-

lican side, Trump squeaks by with a much closer margin than in statewide polls. In our survey, Trump received 51% of the Republican vote, compared to 35% for John Kasich and 14% for Ted Cruz.

New York is seen as an important contest for Trump, after a recent stumble in Wisconsin. New York’s 95 delegates are imperative if he has any hope of winning the 1,237 electoral delegates needed to clinch the party’s nomination in advance of its convention this summer in Cleveland.

Trump, as well as Clinton and Sanders, has spent much of the past week

in the city, holding rallies and meeting with newspaper editorial boards.

While our findings are consistent throughout the city, they show a heavier dose of support for Sanders on the Upper West Side, compared to the Uppper East Side. Trump, meantime, performs slightly stronger on the East Side than on the West Side.

Many of our readers, who could vote by phone, email or the web, included explanations for their support of the candidates, offering some insight into reasons why the front-runners are holding strong.

“I’m a lifelong Democrat who will

be voting for Bernie,” one Upper East Sider wrote. “I’m sick and tired of the Clintons.”

Added an Upper West Sider, “Trump has the chutzpah this country needs.”

FULL SURVEY RESULTS INSIDE To see numbers, neighborhood breakdowns, and comments from readers, go to p.10

A MANHATTAN COMING-OF-AGE AT TRIBECA “Wannabe,” a short feature based on the filmmaker’s youth on the Upper West and East Sides during the 1990s, debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival

BY EMILY TOWNER

“Wannabe,” a short feature by Matt Manson debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival on Friday, is a coming-ofage story set in New York City about a young Jewish boy who falls in love with one of his African-Caribbean classmates in the summer of 1991. The story plays out during the peak of the Crown Heights riots, which turned African-American and Orthodox Jewish residents against each other, and severely weakened racial relations citywide.

The story is a testament to friendship, love and self-acceptance told from the perspective of two adolescents caught in the whirlwind of racial turmoil far beyond their control

or understanding. The male lead is Daniel, whose spirited quips are what every outcast only dreams they actually said, and the female lead is Emefa, whose confident choices resemble a satisfying dream sequence that never ends.

The film, which will be shot as a fulllength feature in the city this summer, is based on Manson’s experiences on the Upper West Side in the early 1990s.

“I was going to a sort of cushy, Hebrew private school on the Upper West Side when I was diagnosed with a learning disability, so my parents sent me to this school for kids with learning disabilities and developmental problems on the Upper East Side,” Manson, 35, said of that time. “I was this 9-year-old Jewish kid who was puny and who had never kissed a girl before, and I was in class with 11- and 12-year-olds who had some issues, and some of them were in gangs. I got bullied a lot, I had a gun pulled on me, I was mugged a bunch of times. ‘Wan-

nabe’ is about that experience: about feeling super out of place, super naive, really like a dork.”

Manson became friends with a girl, on whom the female lead, Emefa, is based. She was brash, and had severe dyslexia.

“Despite all those things that should make her be bullied, she wasn’t bullied, in fact she was pretty popular and she held her own against everyone,” Manson said. “I fell in love with her, and I forged a friendship that has stuck with me to this very day. It became a sort of life lesson about the fact that how you perceive yourself is how others will perceive you. It transformed into this story that I’ve held on to for a couple of years.”

Manson was 12 when he started cultivating his dream of becoming a filmmaker, after having gone to arts camp.

He followed his passion to film school at New York University, graduating in

“Wannabe” director Matt Manson. The short feature debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival April 15. Photo: Toby Louie

CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

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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

n OurTownDowntow

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

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WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD aides worked to create a temporary morgue at the lower Manhattan site. He oversaw the medical examiner’s office as pathologists worked for years to identify the remains of the more than 2,000 victims.

De Blasio said that after Sept. 11 Hirsch and his team “worked tirelessly, beginning the city’s now decades-long effort to identify the victims.”

Hirsch’s successor, Dr. Barbara Sampson, said he was “a steady presence and guide during some of the darkest hours.”

“He will be remembered for his exquisite blend of professionalism and compassion, while his legacy lives in the generations of medical examiners, including myself, that he trained in New York City,” she said.

Hirsch came under scrutiny in 2007 after concluding that retired police detective James Zadroga, who died of lung disease, wasn’t sickened by inhaling toxic ground zero dust, as a colleague in New Jersey had ruled. Hirsch’s finding meant that Zadroga’s name couldn’t be added to the Sept. 11 victims’ list.

Hirsch believed Zadroga, who died in 2006, got the lung disease that killed him by injecting ground-up pills into his bloodstream, leaving traces of the pills in the lung tissue.

But a third medical examiner later found glass fragments in Zadroga’s lungs and declared he died of dust inhaled at ground zero.”

Photo: Ludovic Bertron, via flickr

MEDICAL EXAMINER AT GROUND ZERO DIES Dr. Charles Hirsch, who oversaw the city medical examiner’s office for more than two decades and whose staff helped identify the remains of Sept.

11 victims, has died. He was 79. Hirsch, who led

the medical examiner’s office from 1989 until his retirement in 2013, died Friday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. The cause of his death was not released.

Hirsch rushed to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and was hit by falling debris as one of the twin towers collapsed. He and several

MICHAEL BALSAMO

THINK TANK REPORT: CLOSE 14TH ST. TO VEHICLES

policy think tank, has suggested in a new report that 14th Street should be shut down to private vehicles during upcoming the L-train repairs that will shut down the line for 18 months, DNAinfo reported.

The report suggests that 14th Street should be dedicated to pedestrians, bikes and buses as a host of alternative options for the more than 300,000 riders a day who use the L-train service, the publication reported.

The L-train tunnel flooded during Hurricane Sandy.

In addition, L-train ridership at the Bedford Avenue stop alone has increased 373% since 1995, DNAinfo reported.

By investing in new subway cars, increased electrical power, and subway car storage space, the MTA could boost capacity while making needed repairs, DNAinfo reported. In addition, the RPA pushes for a full shutdown of the line in order to prevent doubling the construction timeline as well as because it would be the most cost effective option, DNAinfo reported.

WOMAN STRUCK, TAXI DRIVER HAD POSSIBLE SEIZURE A taxi driver struck a passenger near NYU on Thursday afternoon after losing control of the car potentially after suffering a seizure that may have caused the crash, DNAinfo reported.

A 33-year-old woman was struck on University Place and East 8th Street, at 11:05 p.m. when the driver jumped the curb, struck a wall, and then crashed into the woman, DNAinfo reported. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical but stable condition according to fire officials, according to the news site.

Police are investigating.

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

JETS PLAYER WINS IN NIGHTCLUB PUNCHING CASE A jury in a civil trial found that a woman failed to prove she was punched by New York Jets receiver Brandon Marshall outside a Manhattan nightclub four years ago.

Marshall, 32, was not in court as the verdict was read after a federal jury deliberated less than two hours about the March 2012 encounter outside the Marquee nightclub.

His lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, said outside court: â&#x20AC;&#x153;He knew he never touched her and he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to pay a penny because he knows he did nothing wrong.â&#x20AC;?

The plaintiff, Christin Myles, sat with a look of devastation long after the verdict was read, with her attorney, Joshua Moskovitz, summoning her mother to console her. He declined comment.

Myles, 28, had testified during the four-day trial that she knew she was punched by Marshall because tattoos she saw on the forearm of the man who punched her matched the tattoos she saw on Marshallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arm on photographs she had taken inside the club, where Marshallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s group was seated next to hers in the VIP section.

She said her eyelid was cut by the punch, which also gave her a black eye and lasting neck and back pain.

Myles sought unspeciďŹ ed damages with her

lawsuit.

Marshall insisted he never punched her and video seemed to show his arms were covered by sleeves when he was outside, raising doubts that Myles could have seen tattoos on his forearm.

Marshall is a six-time Pro Bowler who has also played for the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears over a 10-season career.

APRIL GHOUL A 63-year-old man was slashed in a robbery attempt on the early morning of April 1, police said. The man was exiting the Chambers Street station at the corners of Vesey and Church Streets when he was approached from behind by an unknown man who said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Give me your money!â&#x20AC;? The victim replied that he had no money, at which the perpetrator cut his face with an unknown object, cutting on the right side of his face.

The slasher then ďŹ&#x201A;ed in an unknown direction. The victim was treated at his place of work on Vesey Street and refused additional medical treatment.

Police searched the area but could not locate the slasher.

DEMOTED A ďŹ ght between two promoters resulted in an arrest. At 4 a.m. on April 2, a 26-year-old male promoter inside the Haus Nightclub at 285 West

Broadway was punched in the face by another promoter, who was identiďŹ ed only as a 26-year-old male. The victim left to alert security when the attacker, later identiďŹ ed as Harvinder Ramoutar, hit him from behind, causing the victim to put his assailant in a headlock.

Ramoutar then bit the victim on the stomach and pulled his bracelet off his left wrist. The item stolen was a Louis Vuitton bracelet valued at $500. Police later arrested Ramoutar and charged him with robbery.

RESTAURANT BURGLARIZED A burglar hit a restaurant late at night recently. At 9 a.m. on April 3, a woman arrived to work at the Estancia 460 restaurant at 460 Greenwich St., only to discover that the back window to the kitchen was open and several items missing. A cash register drawer had been pried open, and the cash and an iPod were missing. Additional items had disappeared from the downstairs office along with cash removed from an unlocked lockbox. The property stolen included $1,586 in cash, an iPad worth $500, an iPod valued at $200, and a Mac laptop priced at $1,600, making a total haul of $3,886.

STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st precinct for Week to Date

Year to Date

2016 2015

% Change

2016

2015

% Change

Murder

0

0

n/a

0

0

0

Rape

0

0

n/a

3

0

0

Robbery

2

1

100.0

14

63

77

Felony Assault

1

2

-50.0

14

-12

-13

Burglary

2

4

-50.0

31

42

-26.2

Grand Larceny

19

21

-9.5

281

218

28.9

Grand Larceny Auto

1

0

n/a

5

2

150.0

ICE PICKPOCKET At 3:10 p.m. on March 29, a 32-yearold Brooklyn woman was standing in line waiting to get ice from an ice machine in the Dona Bella Pizza shop at 154 Church St., when an unknown person bumped into her. Moments later, she noticed that her wallet was no longer in her jacket pocket. She reported missing a black Chanel wallet valued at $1,000, $305 in cash, a Social Security card, a New York driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license, an insurance card, and several credit cards. She subsequently

canceled her credit cards.

NO AFFINITY One bicyclist might want to consider renting Citi Bikes. At 5:20 p.m. on March 29, a man locked his bicycle to a bike rack in front of 199 Chambers St. When he returned at 6:50 p.m., his bicycle and lock had been stolen. The stolen two-wheeler was an Affinity cycle valued at $1,205, along with a Bell lock worth $20, making a total of $1,225.

Spring Admission Events Please join us for coffee and conversation with IDEAL Head of School, Janet Wolfe, followed by a brief tour.

Lower School (grades K-5)

Upper School (grades 6-12)

Tuesday, April 26th at 9am

Thursday, April 28th at 9am

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APRIL 14-20,2016

Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct

19 ½ Pitt St.

212-477-7311

NYPD 6th Precinct

233 W. 10th St.

212-741-4811

NYPD 10th Precinct

230 W. 20th St.

212-741-8211

NYPD 13th Precinct

230 E. 21st St.

NYPD 1st Precinct

16 Ericsson Place

212-477-7411 212-334-0611

FIRE FDNY Engine 15

25 Pitt St.

311

FDNY Engine 24/Ladder 5

227 6th Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 28 Ladder 11

222 E. 2nd St.

311

FDNY Engine 4/Ladder 15

42 South St.

311

ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin

165 Park Row #11

Councilmember Rosie Mendez

237 1st Ave. #504

212-587-3159 212-677-1077

Councilmember Corey Johnson

224 W. 30th St.

212-564-7757

State Senator Daniel Squadron

250 Broadway #2011

212-298-5565

The lobby entrance to the Museum of American Finance on Wall Street. Photo: Crystal Wolfe

COMMUNITY BOARDS Community Board 1

1 Centre St., Room 2202 North

212-669-7970

Community Board 2

3 Washington Square Village

212-979-2272

Community Board 3

59 E. 4th St.

212-533-5300

Community Board 4

330 W. 42nd St.

212-736-4536

Hudson Park

66 Leroy St.

212-243-6876

Ottendorfer

135 2nd Ave.

212-674-0947

Elmer Holmes Bobst

70 Washington Square

212-998-2500

LIBRARIES

HOSPITALS New York-Presbyterian

170 William St.

212-312-5110

Mount Sinai-Beth Israel

10 Union Square East

212-844-8400

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

TIME WARNER

46 East 23rd

813-964-3839

US Post Office

201 Varick St.

212-645-0327

US Post Office

128 East Broadway

212-267-1543

US Post Office

93 4th Ave.

212-254-1390

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A WEALTH OF RICHES ON DISPLAY Hamilton, gold shine at The Museum of American Finance

BY CRYSTAL WOLFE

The Museum of American Finance recalls the opulence from days gone by, and riches from time immemorial.

The museum, fittingly, is housed in the former — and last — home of the Bank of New York, at 48 Wall St. Built in 1929, the Colonial Revival structure’s original architectural details remain, including three enormous brass chandeliers, a checkered marble floor and a marble staircase that leads to a grand banking hall.

The museum, 30,000 square feet on three stories, with 30-foot ceilings and exotic Palladian windows, is an imposing structure. It was designed and constructed to dissuade robberies at a time when a bank’s security was not as formidable as today.

But magnificence was also on order.

Murals on eight arched walls on the third floor’s panels, composed by the artist and architect J. Monroe Hewlett and completed in 1929, by turns depict a ship, bluecollar workers, uniformed soldiers, and well-heeled ladies and gentlemen about town. All symbolize facets of the Bank of New York’s enterprises — whether trade, agriculture, credit, transportation and other ventures.

The center mural features Alexander Hamilton, who founded the Bank of New York and guided it through its formative years. He is represented with a permanent exhibit on the third floor. The museum’s deputy director, Kristin Aguilera, called Hamilton the museum’s patron saint.

Among the museum’s permanent exhibits — there are more than 10,000 objects in its collection — are the nation’s largest museum archive of financial documents and artifacts.

The museums’ newest exhibit, “Worth its Weight: Gold from the Ground Up,” certainly ranks among its, well, richest.

Trading and Financial Market exhibits at the Museum of American Finance. Photo: Crystal Wolfe Among the items on display — the museum has gathered items from 46 lenders worldwide — are a Tiffany jewelry suite from the 1940s, dentures with a gold base and a Gemini astronaut training helmet with gold visor.

The museum’s “Jewelry Box” room distils the glamour of gold designs, where rare and stunning jewelry, including an ornate gold powder case that belonged to Elizabeth Taylor, are on show. The “Midas Touch” room features the artistic designs of Sidney Mobell, a modern day Midas whose panache for turning everyday items like shovels, gum machines, pacifiers and cellphones into opulent gold displays, made him famous.

Aguilera’s “can’t-miss-piece” is an 18-carat gold Monopoly set by Mobell with corresponding gems matching the

board game’s colors. It has an estimated worth of $2 million.

The “Gold in America” gallery looks at finance, mining and refining, and the nation’s three major gold rushes.

“Many people know about the gold rush in California and Alaska but the gold rush in North Carolina and Georgia is lesser known and actually began with a 12-yearold boy who found a 17-pound gold brick in his backyard in 1791,” Aguilera said.

The exhibit, which runs through the end of the year, takes you through the history of the metal in medicine, religions, art, awards and even its scientific uses.

All told, the museum has a wealth of information — and just plain wealth — and its current exhibit is definitely worth its weight.

APRIL 14-20,2016

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Chapter 7

EVE, AND OTHERS The story Albert told Naomi, although it was full of his favorite words (fantastic! horrific!) about Alyosha disappearing was sufficiently vague for her to conclude that Anything Could Have Happened. Alyosha, said Albert, was a tap dancer from somewhere Albert could never remember. Eastern Europe-ish. Maybe even Georgia or Uzbekistan or Azerbaijan. Alyosha might even have been Armenian. What was his last name? Of course he was handsome, Albert said, in a too tight dark pants way. More flamenco than tap. He even had a moustache, full and black. Like quotation marks around his lips.

Albert himself loved pants. He had more pairs than he could count, and did not discard them to oblivion. Did not give them to Goodwill or Salvation Army. In one corner of his apartment (his ceilings were very high) he actually had a pants

cemetery – pairs he had no intention of discarding forever. They went from the floor nearly to the ceiling. He’d even had to start a second pile. “There are some,” he’d said once, “who let go. And some hold on. I’m one of those who loves forever.

Especially pants,” he said, and smiled. “I just want them with me.” Once Naomi went through the piles with him, and he told her stories about every pair.

“When did you know that Alyosha was missing?” she asked.

“Our super knows everything,” he said. “Quite handsome by the way. Half Dominican half Haitian. Anibal. Hannibal in Spanish. Married though. Maybe he’s unhappy.”

“When did the super tell you?”

“He’s always in front. One day two weeks ago he said that Alyosha’s mother had called him. I wonder if he saved her number.

She said she couldn’t reach her son. Anibal went upstairs to check and he was gone. Just gone.

RESIDENTS’ INPUT SOUGHT FOR CHELSEA PARK $4.3 million in city funds have been secured for its construction on a former Sanitation Department parking lot

BY JEFFREY KOPP

Chelsea residents will have the opportunity to design the newest neighborhood park, to be built at 140 West 20th St., between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.

A group of neighborhood residents, the Friends of 20th Street Park, have mobilized support for a park since 2010. In November, the Parks & Recreation Department announced in November that it would contribute $4.3 million toward construction on the 10,000 square-foot lot, formerly a parking facility for the Department of Sanitation.

Community members will be invited to give input on what they would like to see in the new park at an April 12 meeting with Parks Department designers at the Sixth Avenue Elementary School.

A Parks spokeswoman, Crystal Howard, said department planners and designers will be present to share information about the space, after which community members will have a “facili-

tated brainstorming ... [where they will] have their voices heard and dictate shared priorities.”

Parks designers will then develop a schematic design that will be presented to Community Board 4 for public review.

“After years of effort by the community, we were able to win a new public park for Chelsea.

Now it’s time to design the park. This is the fun part. The Parks Department wants to know what our vision is, and this is a great opportunity for community members to give input,” said Councilman Corey Johnson, who has supported development of the park at the site. His office is now involved with its design and construction.

“We want this park to be a product of community input,” Johnson’s chief of staff, Erik Bottcher, said. “It’s not often that a brand-new public park happens and that the community will be able to help design it.”

The question of what to build on the lot had been a source of debate, with some community members advocating for affordable housing there.

Johnson has suggested that an affordable housing development could be built on what is now a nearly 25,000-square-foot lot at 11th Avenue near 40th Street, which is now parking lot used by the NYPD.

A cold cup of coffee was sitting on his table.

As though he’d be right back. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t leave a cold cup of coffee on my grandmother’s formica kitchen table. Don’t you love that table? Not something you’d find at Pottery Barn.”

Public Hearing

BY ESTHER COHEN

PREVIOUSLY: 1980s Manhattan. It seemed as if many of us were young. Old people sat on benches. The world seemed objectively different.

Eve and Naomi are roommates. Their clothes are thrift store evocative. Eve has a for-now boyfriend named Charles. Naomi spends some time with her gay friend who pronounces his name Al Bear. It’s Albert, really. His across the hall neighbor, Alyosha, has disappeared. Vanished really.

“I do,” I said. “Can you find out his mother’s name and number? That might be what we do next.”

“We?” he asked.

“Yes we,” she replied.

Proposed revisions to M5 bus route The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) proposes to revise the M5 bus route in Manhattan. These changes are proposed in order to improve reliability on the M5. The M5 would be split into two separate routes: the northern route would run between the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal at West 178th Street and West 37th Street in Midtown and the southern route (M55) would run between West 37th Street and the South Ferry Terminal.

The M5 is a 12-mile, north-south route that provides local and limited-stop bus service in Manhattan between the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal (at West 178th Street) and the South Ferry Terminal. The M5 serves approximately 11,700 daily riders. The M5 is consistently one of the worst performing bus routes in Manhattan and is plagued by operational issues that result in uneven and unreliable service.

Splitting the M5 route into two shorter routes will help to mitigate the effects of delays along the route while allowing for better recovery from delays and providing more even and reliable service for customers.

Date and Place of Hearing Wednesday, April 20, 2016 Hearing begins at 5 p.m. Registration is from 4–7 p.m.

2 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10004 The hearing will begin at 5 p.m. All registered speakers will be heard. Each speaker is permitted up to three minutes to testify. Comments will be accepted until the close of the hearing.

Directions

By Subway: 4 5 to Bowling Green; R to Whitehall St or Rector St; or 1 to South Ferry or Rector St

By Bus: M5, M15 (local or SBS), M20, X1, or X10

By Ferry: Staten Island Ferry to Whitehall Terminal Use TripPlanner+ at www.mta.info for specific directions, including express bus routes.

Those wishing to be heard must register in advance either by telephone, by calling 646-252-6777, or in person at the hearing. Verbal presentations will be limited to three (3) minutes. You may present verbal testimony or submit written statements in lieu of, or to supplement, oral testimony concerning the proposed service plan. Email comments will be accepted and you may visit www.mta.info to submit comments online. All written statements must be submitted by April 27, 2016. Comments received after that date and time will not be considered.

Accessibility and Interpreter Services The hearing has been scheduled at a location that is accessible to people with mobility impairment. Sign language and/or foreign language interpreters will be available upon request by calling 646-252-6777 no later than April 13, 2016.

Hearing- and/or speech-impaired customers should call 711 for relay services and then ask to be connected to 646-252-6777 to communicate with an agent to arrange sign language interpretation.

www.mta.info

6

APRIL 14-20,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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Thu

14 Fri 15

REVOLUTIONARIES: THE LATE WORKS OF BEETHOVEN & GINASTERA

16

Sat

WORK UP 2.3

SUSTAINABLE Gibney Dance, 280 Broadway BUILDING CHALLENGE

8 p.m. $10 Skyscraper Museum, 39 Gibney Dance performance Battery Place with Nora Stephens, Randy 10:30 a.m. $5 Reyes/Barrio Cartography & After a tour of the current Trinity Church, 75 Broadway Connor Voss. exhibit, WOHA: Garden 1 p.m. Free www.downtownsymphony.org City, Mega City, kids will be This festival celebrates the challenged to use everyday centennial of Alberto Ginastera materials that can be found by pairing music from his third compositional period with that of ALWAN ARTS, EDITION outside such as, grass, ďŹ&#x201A;owers, sticks, rocks to see how they can fellow revolutionary Ludwig van IVâ&#x2013;˛ be incorporated into their very Beethoven. www.trinitywallstreet.org Alwan for the Arts, 16 Beaver St. own skyscraper! www.skyscraper.org 9 p.m. Free This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edition of artworks is not meant as a sale of SYNTAGMA â&#x20AC;&#x201D; objects or an appeal of wont. It CELEBRATING JAYNE SKYBRIDGE EXHIBIT is an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investments and CORTEZ contribution in preview and Sky Bridge Art Space, 65 validation of Alwanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s affinities West 11th Street Poetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s House, 10 River Terrace to the mission of aesthetics 5-7 p.m. Free 3 p.m.-4 p.m. Free and the potential of artists to Syntagma presents the work Honoring the legacy of poet, of eight artists who approach the claim and expand their rightful performer and activist Jayne medium of painting from various ownership of an organization Cortez with LaTasha N. Nevada wherein they are its pivotal perspectives. Syntagma is the Diggs, Camonghne Felix, Robert backbone.

Greek word for a systematic Hershon, Erica Hunt, Karma www.alwanforthearts.org collection of statements or Mayet Johnson and others, propositions. The exhibition each reading a favorite poem extends this idea with a series of

by Cortez and discussing her propositions made by the works inďŹ&#x201A;uence on their work. on display.

212-431-7920. www. www.events.newschool.edu poetshouse.org

APRIL 14-20,2016

17

Sun

INTRUDE ▲

Brookfield Place, 230 Vesey Street 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Free Gargantuan 2- and 4- story white inflatable rabbits, spectacular art installation called Intrude to come to life at Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan. www.amandaparer.com. au/intrude-public-light-artinstallation/

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

JOKES JOKES JOKES Seward Park Library, 192 East Broadway 4 p.m. Free.

Come and read funny joke books and make up funny jokes on the beanbag chairs!

Maximum of 10 children: first come, first served. Ages 8-12.

212-477-6770. www.nypl.org/events/ programs/2016/04/18/jokesjokes-jokes

‘SCARLETT EPSTEIN HATES IT HERE’ McNally Jackson, 52 Prince St. 7 p.m. Free Anna Breslaw’s ‘Scarlett Epstein’ has been called “A sparkling, unabashedly feminist debut” by Kirkus Reviews.

212-274-1160. www. mcnallyjackson.com

20

Thu

‘A CHORUS LINE’ BOWNE PRINTERS WOODTYPE WORKSHOP►

Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza 7:30 p.m. $5-$15 Pace School of Performing Arts presents A Chorus Line, the stunning musical-vérité about a chorus audition for a Broadway musical. It tells of the achingly poignant ambitions of professional Broadway gypsies to land a job in the show, and is a powerful metaphor for all human aspiration.

212-346-1715. www.pace. edu/schimmel

South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton St. 1 p.m. $75 In this 3.5-hour workshop participants will design and print a broadside poster from moveable wood type.

646-628-2707. www. southstreetseaportmuseum.org

18 Tue19

Mon

SCIENCE-FICTION: ‘ALPHAVILLE’ Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave. 6:30 p.m. $11; students/ seniors, $9 212-505-5181. www. anthologyfilmarchives.org

BAGUA ZHANG

China Institute, 100 Washington St. 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. $5-$10 A presentation by martial arts master Wang Hanzhi 212-744-8181. www. chinainstitute.org

‘THE MAKING OF THINKING OF YOU’ New York University, Silver Center for Arts and Science, Room 405, 31 Washington Pl. 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Free A screening of the documentary produced by Anna Di Lellio and Fitim Shala. The screening will be followed by a conversation between Di Lellio and Ruti Teitel. www.events.nyu.edu/#event_ id/103897/view/event

7

8

APRIL 14-20,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Voices

Write to us: To share your thoughts and comments go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a letter to the editor.

OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN HONORED FOR ARTS COVERAGE

Our Town Downtown has been honored by the New York Press Association for its coverage of the arts.

THE DANGERS OF THE COUNTDOWN CLOCK

Letter FAKE MONKS ON THE HIGH LINE To the Editor: My wife and I live in Chelsea. We love to take walks along the High Line. However, over the past few years there has been a growing problem which is ruining our peaceful enjoyment of those walks. The problem is every time we take our stroll we are aggressively approached by many Asian men dressed as Buddhist monks who hand people what look like little Buddhist prayer cards. They then take people by the arm in a forceful manner and attempt to place a beaded bracelet on their wrists. Next they ask for money by saying the word “donation” in a very thick Asian accent.

These people are not Buddhist monks.

They are imposters! At least people (except for kids) know that the Times Square characters of Spiderman, Elmo, etc. are in costume, but many people think that these men on the High Line are real Buddhist monks. This is outrageous!

Today we were approached and I was grabbed by one of these phonies. He tried to place a bracelet on my wrist. He smelled of beer and his hands were filthy.

My wife and I were very upset and felt very violated because he touched me.

I pulled away from him and we walked away from him. We came upon three Park Rangers and told them what had happened to us. A Ranger told us it has been a long-running problem, but legally there was nothing he could do. He said it was a freedom of speech issue and that these phony monks were protected by the First Amendment. I said I did not think that the First Amendment made it OK for this imposter to grab and touch people.

We continued our walk and within the next 10 to 15 minutes we were approached by four more aggressive monk imposters!

They were like locusts! One of them put

STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source

his hand on my shoulder! I was so taken off guard, I almost punched him in self defense!

These deceptive, so-called men of the cloth approach locals and trusting tourists who do not know that these fake monks are running a scam. One after another, they are plucking unsuspecting people who let their guard down due to the peaceful tranquility the Highline provides, which makes people feel like they are in a safe place. People are giving money to what they believe is a bonafide charitable religion. This is in itself appalling! It seems the Parks Department has good control over homeless people loitering or sleeping in the various sitting areas and there are no street performers around either. So why are these schemers allowed to roam free scamming and harassing innocent people?

Is it not against the law for a person to impersonate men of the cloth, police officers, a doctor, etc. for the purpose to deceive others? I also thought it was illegal to touch someone without their permission.

What is it going to take to finally rid the beautiful High Line of these ugly panhandling imposters? They ruin it for the locals and visitors alike. Perhaps a solution is to pass out fliers and post notices, in several languages, at all High Line entrances. Fliers informing the public that the monks are not actual Buddhist monks, that they are simply people wearing Buddhist monk costumes. Then at least people can decide if they want to give a so-called “donation” to them. If we make people aware of what these guys are really doing and people stop giving them money, eventually the phony monks will stop coming to the High Line when they realize that the people are on to their scam and there is no more money to be made there.

Problem solved.

Sincerely, J. Valdata

Vice President/CFO Otilia Bertolotti Vice President/CRO Vincent A. Gardino advertising@strausnews.com

The newspaper, which is published by Straus News, received a First Place honor in the Best Coverage of the Arts category.

The judges singled out stories by Gabrielle Alfiero, Mary Gregory and Valenice Castronovo for the honor.

The stories were chosen from hundreds of entries from newspapers throughout New York.

The arts award was one of three awards received last week by Straus News papers in Manhattan.

Associate Publishers Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth Regional Sales Manager Tania Cade

OP-ED

BY NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE LETITIA JAMES

Imagine that you are on your morning walk to work, the same walk you take each and every day.

When you get to the intersection, the countdown clock at the crosswalk has already begun, but according to the sign you have still have 16 seconds to make it across before the red hand stops flashing. So, like any New Yorker would, you begin crossing the street. But this day, out of nowhere, a car making a left turn slams into you, throwing you to the ground.

According to current New York City law, if that tragedy occurs and you, or someone else is hit by a car while crossing the street under the exact same scenario, you are at fault, not the driver.

Common sense dictates that the entire point of having countdown clocks at intersections is to tell pedestrians how much time they have to safely make it across a crosswalk. But common sense would fail you here.

That is why my office introduced a new bill in November that will change this outdated law that shields drivers from being held accountable if they hit a pedestrian who leaves the sidewalk when the crossing signal shows a blinking “don’t walk” sign or a countdown clock. This bill, which is supported by the NYPD, the City’s Department of Transportation (DOT), and 34 City Council members, makes a consequential but simple fix to an issue that should

Photo by Kenny Louie via flickr be clear for drivers and pedestrians alike: when a pedestrian is in a crosswalk, unless the crossing signal specifically prohibits that person from walking, he or she has the right of way.

In January and February of this year alone, 22 pedestrians were killed in traffic-related incidents and almost 2,000 pedestrians were injured, indicating just how desperately we need to fix our ambiguous and outdated laws to protect the millions of pedestrians who traverse New York City’s streets every day.

But we also need to ensure that when a crash or a fatality does occur, the driver is not let off the hook because of a loophole in an outdated law that was created decades ago. No longer should a driver who injures or kills a pedestrian face no consequences for a reckless or dangerous decision.

This is just one critical component of our efforts to achieve Vision Zero. Last August, my office introduced two bills to protect pedestrians and drivers. The first bill would require the DOT to establish protected left turn signals at our most unsafe inter-

President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Account Executive Editor In Chief, Kyle Pope editor.ot@strausnews.com Fred Almonte Director of Partnership Development Deputy Editor, Richard Khavkine Barry Lewis editor.dt@strausnews.com

Staff Reporters Gabrielle Alfiero, Madeleine Thompson Director of Digital Pete Pinto

sections for pedestrians. According to a report commissioned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, New York State has the most pedestrian fatalities caused by left-turning vehicles of any state in the country.

And according to the New York City DOT, left-turn pedestrian collisions outnumber right-turn collisions 3-to-1. These left turn signals would make it very clear to both pedestrians and drivers when a driver has the right of way to make the turn.

The second bill will require the DOT to provide reports on all pedestrian right-of-way violations to identify intersections requiring better safety measures. This will allow the DOT to target the most dangerous intersections in the City and implement the necessary measures to make those intersections safer for all who use them.

Too many pedestrians are killed and injured crossing New York City’s streets, and there are simple, common sense reforms to protect them. By ensuring that pedestrians have the right of way when a countdown clock is running, we are updating the law to reflect the reality of crossing streets in our City. By protecting left turn signals, we are focusing on the most dangerous intersections in New York City. And by requiring up to date reporting, we are ensuring that safety measures adequately meet our needs.

Only through updates to our laws, proper enforcement, and education will we truly achieve Vision Zero.

Block Mayors Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side

APRIL 14-20,2016

AP

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

FOLLOW THE BOUNCING PILL LABEL GRAYING NEW YORK

EXAMS

BY MARCIA EPSTEIN

I have a cabinet full of overthe-counter supplements which I can’t seem to throw out, though I don’t think I’ll be taking them again. That is, unless the thinking changes back to when I first bought them.

Meanwhile, they remain half empty, awaiting new information which refutes the old information which refuted the information before that.

Take Vitamin E, for example.

Everyone thought Vitamin E was the magic elixir, until it wasn’t. As an antioxident, it was supposed to help prevent heart disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer, among others. Then the studies began to show no benefit, and maybe harm. Then new studies showed maybe it helped, while other studies showed it might hasten your death. So into the cabinet it went.

I stopped taking calcium supplements when I read that there was little evidence it prevented fractures and might raise the chance of heart disease. The Mayo Clinic says it might or might not raise the risk of a cardiac event. Also in that “to be thrown out…maybe” cabinet are probiotics, which I took for years. A recent double-blind study showed that they were no more effective than placebos for diarrhea associated with antibiotic use or C. difficile infection, and no research that proves that they are effective for other gastrointestinal conditions, according to Sarah H. Yi, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Very helpful! I think I’ll go with a daily yogurt.

My doctor does recommend Vitamin D, and so I take it, just waiting for a study that shows it is ineffective or dangerous. I do take Prilosec, even though the latest is that it might increase the risk of fractures and hasten the onset of Alzheimer’s. Scary! But I can’t deal with the heartburn, so I trudge on with it. What’s a person to do? The news can change tomorrow, so why worry?

Old is in! Aging is sexy! Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, partnering with the

9

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ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

Photo by frankleleon via flickr Dana Foundation/Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives celebrated Global Brain Awareness Week 2016 in March by hosting Up with Aging, a brain health fair. The goal was to change attitudes about aging from dependence and decline to an understanding of the possibilities that come with a long life. The panel included information on aging brain function and how to maintain brain fitness. Afterwards, panelists were invited to explore the Expo, which featured ways to keep the aging brain healthy.

AARP is starting #DisruptAging, a new movement to challenge outdated beliefs about aging and present new solutions so that people can choose how to live and age well.

You can follow this movement on social media and sign up for their monthly newsletter. You can go to the AARP website and type in Disrupt Aging for more information.

It’s nice to see that aging seems to be “in.” Jane Brody writes many wonderful articles for The New York Times on how to age healthily. Recently

passtheregents.com

she wrote about how the music of Alzheimer’s patients’ childhoods awoke something in their brains that brought them out of their fog. It made them smile and sing or move their bodies. I happen to be someone who cannot dance, sing a note or draw a straight line, but I am a voracious reader and crossword puzzle doer. I do those things because I love them, but also hope they are helping to keep my brain healthy. Each to his or her own.

Finally, a pet peeve. Have you ever bought a newspaper or magazine and taken it onto the bus or subway, only to have ads fall out onto the floor, especially those card inserts that are so annoyingly prevalent. Does anyone actually read them, or do they just end up flying away towards some unsuspecting rider or under someone’s seat?

The department store flyers are just as bad. The Kindle readers frown as these newspaper inserts drift off to the far corners of the bus. A small annoyance, but there you go. Life is full of them. Let all annoyances be small.

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

States of Incarceration: A National Dialogue of Local Histories

FRIDAY, APRIL 15TH, 9AM The New School | 55 W. 13th St. | 212-229-5108 | newschool.edu The U.S. has 5% of the world’s population and 22% of the world’s prisoners. Catch the new traveling exhibition “States of Incarceration,” with project representatives telling stories like those of the Dakota Wars, Angola, and Rikers; the program launch is 4/14 at 6pm. (Free)

Obscura Day 2016: William S. Burroughs’ New York with Katelan Foisy

SATURDAY, APRIL 16TH, 1PM Burroughs’ Bunker | 255 Bowery | atlasobscura.com In this lecture and walking tour discover New York City through Burroughs’ eyes, visiting his old haunts, and hearing about the works and experiments that arose from his time in Gotham. Part of the citywide explorations of Obscura Day. ($25)

Just Announced | Shakespeare Birthday Bash

FRIDAY, APRIL 22ND, 12:30PM Bryant Park | 42nd St. & Sixth Ave. | 212-873-9050 | shakespeareintheparkinglot.com The 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death is celebrated with monologue karaoke, performances of great death scenes and a mock jazz funeral led by the Jambalaya Brass Band. (Free)

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

sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.

10

APRIL 14-20,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

WHO SHOULD BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?

MANHATTAN

OTES

Our straw poll was conducted over the last week, by phone, email and the web. Readers contributed from the Upper West Side, the Upper East Side, Chelsea and Downtown.

(D)EMOCR AT

37%

Hillary Clinton

U PPER E A ST SI DE R E A DER S

Hillary Clinton

70% Bernie Sanders

30%

I’m a lifelong Democrat who will be voting for Bernie. I like his fresh approach to many problems we are facing in this country.

I realize that Hillary is extremely qualified, but at the same time I’m sick and tired of the Clintons.

Ted Cruz

14% 51%

63%

Bernie Sanders

(R)EPU BL ICA N

Donald J. Trump

52%

35%

Donald J. Trump

John R. Kasich

DOW N TOW N R E A DER S

Sanders is the only true leader, with truly humanitarian values and agenda, to emerge in USA politics in decades.

HRC is well qualified in domestic and foreign policy and she can deliver. She has already been thoroughly vetted.

John R. Kasich

38% Ted Cruz

10%

CH ELSE A R E A DER S

As a woman for Bernie, I’m voting against the candidate who voted for the Iraq war, & seems owned by Wall Street. Can’t trust her. Do trust him. He may not get everything he talks about but he will fight like hell on our behalf and her real constituents are the Insurers, and those who benefit from mega-Trade Deals, etc.

W E ST SI DE R E A DER S Donald J. Trump

There is no one more qualified, more appropriately experienced, more intelligent or more strategic and realistic in [Hillary’s] understanding of how to achieve democratic and progressive goals.

Bernie Sanders is the ONLY candidate against Fracking and GMOs.

Hillary Clinton

60% Bernie Sanders

[Bernie Sanders] is for real.

40%

43% Because [Trump] has the chutzpah this country needs.

Ted Cruz

28.5% John R. Kasich

28.5% Graphics and Illustrations by Christina Scotti

APRIL 14-20,2016

11

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MAY 3-8, 2016 VIP PREVIEW MAY 3

INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ART FAIRS 150 GALLERIES 1200 ARTISTS 50 COUNTRIES

PIER 94

55TH ST & WESTSIDE HWY TICKETS+EVENT DETAILS AT:

ARTNYFAIR.COM CONTEXTNYFAIR.COM COMPLIMENTARY ADMISSION FOR FRIEZE VIP CARDHOLDERS

COURTESY SHUTTLE BETWEEN PIER 94 AND THE FRIEZE FERRY AT 35TH STREET MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO, “AUTORITRATTO”, 1962-1973, SILKSCREEN ON POLISHED STAINLESS STEEL, DAVID BENRIMON FINE ART, NEW YORK

12

APRIL 14-20,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

SPRING ARTS GUIDE

BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO

Along with spring art shows and play openings, this season marks the start of a stretch of free outdoor events, from a museum crawl up and down Fifth Avenue to a celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday in Bryant Park.

MUSEUMS HUMAN INTEREST: PORTRAITS FROM THE WHITNEY’S COLLECTION

Eldzier Cortor Dance (Dance Composition No. 31), 1978 Etching and aquatint with flat bite and hand-coloring, 20 1/2 x 15 1/4 in.

Associated American Artists Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of the artist in memory of Sophia Cortor, 2012.72.3

The Whitney Museum of American Art opens a two-floor, 200-artist show of portraits from the museum’s own holdings.

The more than 300 works on display, all created in the last 116 years, include the celebrated, by artists including Edward Hopper, Alice Neel, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol, and the recently-acquired that will receive their first showings at the museum.

Divided into 12 sections, the exhibition explores glam celebrity portraits from the early days of motion pictures, including Edward Steichen’s magazine shots, as well as street photography like Helen Levitt’s Spanish Harlem images. Artists’ likenesses also appear, including Robert Rauschenberg’s photograph of Cy Twombly, and a portrait of Jasper Johns captured by Richard Avedon. Among the recent works is a wax candle sculpture by Urs Fischer of artist Julian Schnabel.

Human Interest: Portraits from the Whitney’s Collection Opens April 27 The Whitney Museum of American Art 99 Gansevoort St., between Washington and West Streets Museum hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; closed Tuesday Admission $22 For more information, visit whitney.org or call 212-570-3600

MUSEUM MILE FESTIVAL Exploring just one of the Upper East Side’s art destinations can often become a full day excursion, but the annual Museum Mile Festival makes seven of the area’s cultural

meccas accessible and family friendly for an evening. During the festival, now in its 38th year, galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper Hewitt, the Jewish Museum and others open to the public for free. Street performers and chalk artists take over Fifth Avenue, which is open to pedestrians only during this three-hour stretch, and musicians perform outside the museums.

A retrospective of painter László MoholyNagy’s work at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Roz Chast’s cartoons at the Museum of the City of New York are among the shows on view.

Museum Mile Festival Tuesday, June 14 Fifth Avenue, from 82nd Street to 105th Street 6-9 p.m.

Begins at 5:45 p.m. at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave., at 82nd Street FREE For more information, visit museummilefestival. org or call 212-606-2296

GALLERIES “ART FOR EVERY HOME: ASSOCIATED AMERICAN ARTISTS: 1934-2000” A new exhibition at New York University’s Grey Art Gallery looks at the 20th century rise of Associated American Artists, which thrived on commercial commissions and a broad base of buyers. The exhibition looks at how companies like Standard Oil and Lucky Strike commissioned these artists for advertisements, and how the company’s founder and director Reeves Lewenthal capitalized on the post-war prosperity of the late 1940s and 1950s by selling ceramics and other home decor for mass consumption.

“Art for Every Home: Associated American Artists: 1934-2000” April 19-July 9 New York University’s Grey Art Gallery 100 Washington Square East, near Washington Place Gallery hours: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Wednesday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday Suggested price: $3 For more information, visit greyartgallery.nyu.edu

or call 212-998-6780

THEATER A SHAKESPEAREAN BIRTHDAY BASH The Drilling Company, which performs annual, free outdoor Shakespeare productions in a parking lot on Norfolk Street, celebrates the playwright’s birthday and the 400th anniversary of his death with a day of monologues, music and death scenes. Free to the public, the event includes live music by the Natalie Smith Band, and, in a nod to a funeral, a jazz procession with the Jambalaya Brass Band. The celebration concludes with performances of death scenes from “Othello,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Cymbeline” and other plays.

A Shakespearean Birthday Bash Friday, April 22 Bryant Park Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street 12:30-8:30 p.m.

FREE For more information, visit http://shakespeareintheparkinglot.com

“HARPER REGAN” In “Harper Regan” by Simon Stephens, the title character takes a break from her complicated relationships with her daughter and husband to spend time with her ailing father in a hospital in Manchester, which ignites the need to mend ties with her family.

The play, which premiered in England in 2008, returns to New York after a 2012 run at the Atlantic Theater Company. The English playwright won a Tony Award in 2015 for “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”

“Harper Regan” May 4-June 4 T. Schreiber Theatre 151 W. 26th St., 7th Floor Assorted show times Tickets $20-$30 To purchase tickets, visit tschreiber.org or call 212-352-3101

APRIL 14-20,2016

13

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Van Dyck: ÉŠF "OBUPNZ PG 1PSUSBJUVSF Through June ď&#x2122;&#x2C6;, ď&#x2122;&#x2026;ď&#x2122;&#x192;ď&#x2122;&#x201E;ď&#x2122;&#x2030; THE FRICK COLLECTION 1 East 70th Street at 5th Ave, NYC t GSJDL PSH

Ariel Rivka Dance performs â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ori.â&#x20AC;? Photo: David Gonsier

â&#x20AC;&#x153;100 Glorious Worksâ&#x20AC;?

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DANCE ARIEL RIVKA DANCE FESTIVAL Ariel Rivka Dance joins forces with three other companies to present a dance festival in honor of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ninth season. Along with solo work choreographed and performed by Elisa King, a premiere from Heidi Latsky Dance and two pieces from RIOULT Dance NY set to music by Maurice Ravel, Ariel Rivka Dance presents four ballet pieces. A quartet of cellists accompanies the dancers in the works choreographed by the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founder Ariel Grossman.

Anthony van Dyck (1599â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1641), Mary, Lady van Dyck, nĂŠe Ruthven, ca. 1640, oil on canvas, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

M AR B LE C OLLE GI ATE C HURCH

Ariel Rivka Dance Festival May 19-May 21 New York Live Arts 219 W. 19th St., near Seventh Avenue Assorted show times Tickets $30 To purchase, visit newyorklivearts.org or call 212-9240077

FILM

Diane Bish

â&#x20AC;&#x153;THE MAYSLES & CO.â&#x20AC;?

Host of The Joy of Music television series.

The ďŹ rst feature ďŹ lm from the brothers Albert and David Maysles has been sparingly viewed because of rights problems. Now, the newlyrestored 1963 ďŹ lm â&#x20AC;&#x153;Showman,â&#x20AC;? about Hollywood producer Joseph E. Levine, whose credits include â&#x20AC;&#x153;Herculesâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Graduate,â&#x20AC;? screens during a two-week Maysles retrospective. Also showing are 1970â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gimme Shelter,â&#x20AC;? which looks at the Rolling Stonesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 1969 tour, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Salesmanâ&#x20AC;? about Bible sellers in Florida, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Grey Gardens,â&#x20AC;? which peers into the lives of an eccentric mother and daughter duoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the family of Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Maysles & Co.â&#x20AC;?

Through April 21 Film Forum 209 W. Houston St., near Varick Street Assorted dates and show times Tickets $14 For schedule and tickets, visit ďŹ lmforum.org or call the box office at 212-727-8110

FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 7:30PM

$25 at the door and $20 for students and seniors

Walt Kuhn, Clown in His Dressing Room, 1943. Oil on linen. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Gift of an anonymous donor

1 West 29th Street / New York, New York 10001 / 212 686 2770 / MarbleChurch.org

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APRIL 14-20,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS MAR 7 - APR 8, 2016

Jake’s Saloon

206 West 23 Street

A

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 http://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/services/restaurant-grades.page

Chelsea Thai

88 10 Avenue

A

Chelsea Bagel & Cafe

139 West 14 Street

A

Mikado Bistro

525 6 Avenue

A

Subway

7 E 14Th St

A

East Village Thia Restaurant

32 E 7Th St

Not Yet Graded(30) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Chop T

51 Astor Pl

A

Il Cantinori Restauraunt

32 East 10 Street

A

San Loco

124 2 Avenue

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. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Red Room

85 E 4Th St

A

Bluestone Lane

770 Broadway

A

Red House

203 E 14Th St

Grade Pending (22) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Maru

11 W 32Nd St

Grade Pending (17) 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.

Belgium Beer Cafe

220 5Th Ave

A

99 Cents Best & Fresh Pizza

166 West 27 Street

A

Nuchas

97 W 32Nd St

A

Stix Chelsea/Hotel Indigo/ Rooftop Bar

127 W 28Th St

A

Brendan’s

42 West 35 Street

A

Swagat Indian Restaurant

205 West 29 Street

A

New Dynasty

393 8 Avenue

A

Brgr

287 7 Avenue

Grade Pending (18) 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. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

Frame Gourmet Eatery

424 West 33 Street

A

Fairfield Inn & Suites Penn Station

325 W 33Rd St

A

Stop & Eat

39 W 31St St

A

Starbucks

494 8 Avenue

A

Cupcake Market

74 E 7Th St

Not Yet Graded

Wichcraft

641 West 27 Street

A

Village Yokocho

6 Stuyvesant Street

A

Koffeecake Corner

775 Avenue Of The Americas

Grade Pending (22) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewageassociated (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.

Frank

88 2 Avenue

A

Aroma

36 East 4 Stree

Grade Pending (20) Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Everyman Espresso

136 East 13 Street

A

Gotham Bar & Grill

12 East 12 Street

A

Wafels & Dinges

102 W 35Th St

A

La Sirena

88 9Th Ave

A

New York University- Hall Cafe/Burger Studio

110 East 14 Street

A

The Mezz (Google)

75 9Th Ave

A

Juicy Lucy’s

72 East 1 Street

A

Tbsp

17 West 20 Street

A

Naples 45 Restaurant

200 Park Avenue

A

Asuka Sushi

300 West 23 Street

Grade Pending (22) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Miso-Ya

129 2 Avenue

Grade Pending (19) 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.

Chinese Fast Wok

230 7 Avenue

Grade Pending (33) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment.

Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

The Cottage

120 East 16 Street

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

Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Waga

22 St Marks Place

A

Otafuku

220 E 9Th Street

A

Insomnia Cookies

299 E 11Th St

A

Blue 9 Burger

92 3Rd Ave

A

One Star

147 W 24Th St

A

APRIL 14-20,2016

“WANNABE” FILM

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 2004. In 2011, he won a grant for first-time filmmakers, after writing the script for “Wannabe” in just three weeks.

Manson shot the short as a way to showcase the tone and the feeling for the longer, upcoming feature. “As soon as my producer, Toby [Louie], came on board, we got it all together in really like three weeks,” Manson said. “I wrote it, we cast it and we found the locations. It was invigorating to get it done so quickly because this story has been with me for a number of years.”

The film was produced with an all-female camera department, a female editor, set designer and costume designer.

“I felt that because this film has a very strong female lead, I wanted to sit down and create shots and talk about character with someone that could come at it from a female perspective,” Manson said. Cinematographer Catherine Goldschmidt “is really talented. She’s got insight into characters. She’d look at things like not what’s a cool shot, but what does this say about the character. I feel like that’s really rare,” Manson said.

“It was really nice to have that female perspective behind the camera.”

The pervasive themes of escalating racial tensions explored in ‘Wannabe’ appear to be as pertinent today as they were 25 years ago this summer.

15

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com “With things like Ferguson and Eric Garner, it’s sad that not much has changed over the years,” Manson said. “Having all these things happen really brought me back to that time in the early ‘90s.”

Manson recalls racist accusations being spouted from every news broadcast and highlighted on every newsstand.

“One thing that really stuck with me was that right after the Crown Heights riot happened, I was walking down the street, I wasn’t wearing a sign that said I was a Jew or anything, and some kid just spit on me.” Manson said. “What was going on in the news was so powerful and it was really just about two cultures fighting and clashing.”

Despite the animosity and hostility going on around them, Manson said he had both AfricanAmerican and Jewish friends at the time.

“I think it’s a testament to friendship, that we were all able to remain friends. That’s kind of what the film is about,” he said.

Manson said the full-length feature will delve deeper into the story of two very different families, Daniel’s and Emefa’s, and how they experienced intolerance, tackled self-acceptance, and struggled to find love with each other, while the city seethed.

“I’m looking forward to telling a coming-of-age story where not only are the kids coming-of-age and the parents are coming-of-age,” he said, “but the city is coming-of-age at the same time.”

BE THE SOMEONE

WHO HELPS A KID BE THE FIRST IN HER FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST The local paper for the Upper East Side

At Dizzying Heights, Prices of Luxury Apartments May Have Found Ceiling

It’s a question of supply and demand.

On a seven-block stretch of 57th Street and nearby, there are at least 300 apartments in seven buildings priced at a billionaire-friendly $5,000 a square foot either for sale or scheduled to go on the market in the next 24 months.

But despite a record $100 million sale of a penthouse last year, the volume of sales at that level topped out two years ago, at 55 transactions. In 2015, there were just 47

March 10, 2016

March 15, 2016

The local paper for the Upper West Side

August 10, 2015

August 5, 2015 The local paper for the Upper East Side

LUXURY MEGA-TOWER COMING TO SUTTON PLACE EXCLUSIVE East Side officials already gearing up to fight the project

BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS

Plans have been drawn up for a luxury 900-foot condo tower in Sutton Place, which, if completed as planned, would rank as one of the tallest buildings in Manhattan.

The 268,000-squarefoot tower will become the second-tallest on the Upper East Side, behind the in-progress 432 Park Avenue at 1,400 feet, and one of the tallest in the city.

Construction permits

degree views of Midtown, Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan, Central Park and the East River.”

The 268,000 square feet of buildable space and air rights, which includes 58,000 square feet of inclusionary housing rights, have already been delivered. It’s unclear if the affordable housing will be offered on- or offsite, or how many units of affordable housing will be included. Representatives for The Bauhouse Group, which owns the site, declined to field questions about the Sutton Place Development, but a representative of the company provided a press release to Our Town that said the

April 7, 2015

April 8, 2015

FI RST IN YOU R NEIGHBO R H OOD

(212) 868-0190

newyorkcares.org Eastsider Downtowner

Clinton Westsider

16

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

APRIL 14-20,2016

Property

In Brief CITY COUNCIL VOTES FOR MORE CONTROL OF PEDESTRIAN PLAZAS The City Council passed legislation that will give the Department of Transportation more control over the city’s more than 60 pedestrian plazas and the various costumed characters, desnudas and ticket sellers they contain.

The only “no” vote came from Brooklyn Councilmember Robert Cornegy who, according to Gothamist, is against regulating any legal and non harmless activities of New Yorkers trying to make money. “Don’t knock the hustle,” Cornegy said.

The Times Square pedestrian plaza, for example, could be divided into eight rectangular “activity zones” measuring 8-by-50 feet and 10-by-50 feet to contain characters and ticket sellers, according to DNAinfo, while pedestrians traverse the area in designated “flow zones.” The characters and ticket sellers themselves, of course, are concerned that such restrictions will decrease their income and put them more directly in competition with each other.

HISTORIC LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST DEPT. OF EDUCATION Eleven public school students and their families are suing the city’s Department of Education over violence in public schools. The families, along with the advocacy group Families for Excellent Schools, allege that the public school system has deprived their children of an education free from violence, bullying and harassment. They claim that violence in schools has been increasing, and that it disproportionately affects LGBTQ students and students of color.

According to a press release from Families for Excellent Schools, it is the first class-action lawsuit on the subject of school safety to be filed in the state.“The Department of Education needs to recognize every child’s right to a safe school environment, and needs to act before more students suffer,” CEO Jeremiah Kittredge said in a statement.

The parents involved in the suit report incidents of their children being abused and assaulted, both verbally and physically, by both teachers and classmates. Mayor Bill de Blasio disputed the lawsuit’s claims in a statement last Thursday, citing statistics that show crime in schools as down by roughly 14 percent.

SALE OF LOWER EAST SIDE NURSING HOME UNDER INVESTIGATION New York state attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman opened an investigation into the sale of Rivington House, on the Lower East Side. The nursing home, which was until recently protected from sale by a restrictive deed, was sold to a condo developer for $116 million in late February, according to the New York Times.

POLITICO reported that subpoenas were sent to eight parties connected to the deal, which was made possible by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services agreeing to, in a rare move, lift the protective deed. Rivington House has historically served as a nursing home for people with AIDS, and considerable opposition has been expressed at its Mayor Bill de Blasio has told media outlets that he was not aware of the deal beforehand, and he indicated that his advisors had not been adequately keeping him in the loop. He said those responsible would “face very serious consequences.” In a statement, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer urged the mayor to “make this community whole by investing millions to create a new community facility and replace the beds lost in the sale of Rivington House.”

PIER 55 MOVES AHEAD NEWS Project wins in lawsuit over environmental issues

BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

In a big win for Pier 55 Inc. and the Hudson River Park Trust, the New York State Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit seeking to derail the massive project along the Hudson River.

Filed last June by the City Club of New York, the lawsuit hoped to delay or stop billionaire Barry Diller’s $130 million park, which will jut out into the Hudson River at West 13th Street, where Pier 54 currently sits in disrepair. It claimed that the park’s environmental review had not been diligent enough, and requested that the project go through an approval process by the state legislature.

“On behalf of Hudson River Park Trust, and all those involved in this project, I’m so glad we can get back to the work: that of building a great park and performance center for the people of New York and all those who come to visit,” Diller said in a statement. The 2.7-acre park will provide open green space infused with an emphasis on the performing arts.

City Club President Michael Gruen said he was disappointed by the dismissal and is considering an appeal, though the group hasn’t “reached a firm conclusion.”

“We think that there are errors pretty much throughout [the decision],” Gruen said. For example, he pointed out that the alternative action plan, which is required to compare the environmental impact of the proposed plan versus taking no action at all, was incorrect. This could be advan-

tageous to City Club should they decide to appeal.

The New York Post reported that City Club was asking for legislative approval because “the project would allow ‘nonpark purposes’ including ticketed concerts in a public space,” though many events will be free or low-cost. They also cited concerns about the effects of such a project on species such as the American eel and shortnose sturgeon.

In her decision, Judge Joan Lobis wrote that she did not believe the park would cause “significant adverse impacts on the aquatic habitat.”

Construction is slated to begin this year and the park is projected to open in 2018, though it first needs to be approved by the Army Corps of Engineers.

APRIL 14-20,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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APRIL 14-20,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

FOSTERING A GENERATION OF WORLD TRAVELERS NEWS Everything you like about Our Town Downtown is now available to be delivered to your mailbox every week in the Downtowner From the very local news of your neighborhood to information about upcoming events and activities, the new home delivered edition of the Downtowner will keep you in-the-know.

An Upper West Side hostel hands out scholarships for study abroad

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Another scholarship winner, Mohammed Altareb, 22, is an Upper West Sider who moved to the neighborhood five years

BY DANIEL KRIEGER ago from Yemen to live with his father. Ever since, he’s been Earlier this year, Dalvin Delia drawn to Spanish, which he’d was trying to figure out a way never heard before coming to take part in a study abroad here. He studied it at school program in South Africa. A juand talked a lot with a coworknior at City College, he did the er from Mexico at his uncle’s 99 math and realized the funds cent shop in Midtown. just weren’t there. “I really A liberal arts major in his secthought it wasn’t a possibility ond year at Borough of Manat all,” he said. hattan Community College, he Then he heard about a scholwanted to go to Oviedo, Spain, arship from Hostelling Internafor a one-month imtional New York City, or mersion program HI NYC, that would help over the summer. pay for such a trip. He But he didn’t have filled out the application the money. Then and hit ‘submit.’ he heard about the In February, HI NYC scholarship, applied, launched the Explore and got it. “I’m crazy the World Scholarship, about Spanish,” he one of several educasaid, demonstrating tional programs that his fluency. “For a further the nonprofit’s long time, I’ve wantmission to promote ed to go to a Spanishcross-cultural underspeaking country.” standing. The scholarChristina Walthall, ship was limited to New a scholarship winYorkers between 18 and ner who’s heading to 30 who were ‘Pell-qualTokyo, Japan, next ified’ and had a trip almonth, shares this ready planned. Twenty fervor. “I’m religiouswinners were chosen ly studying Japanese from a pool of 116 based every day,” she said. on their educational A 23-year-old entreand/or service goals as preneurship major well as lack of travel exat FIT from East New perience.

York, she was always “Our goal is to cre- Mohammed Altareb, an Upper West Sider who was ate a new generation one of the scholarship winners. Photo by Daniel Krieger interested in Asian culture; and then a of travelers,” said Emyear ago, after signily Gallagher, HI NYC’s community engagement and neighborhood” and recalled ing up for a Japanese class, she education manager, address- the fight she joined to rescue its was smitten.

For what will be her first trip ing an audience of 100 at the very special building, a Victoscholarship ceremony on a rian Gothic by Richard Morris abroad, she is going to take an recent Friday afternoon at the Hunt, a major American archi- intensive Japanese course and Upper West Side hostel. She tect who was commissioned plans to scope out some Japaexplained that American trav- to design a nursing home by nese fashion labels with an elers ought to represent this the Association for the Relief eye toward job prospects after country’s diversity, which is of Respectable, Aged and In- graduation – when she’d like why they aimed to reduce one digent Females. Completed in to go back to spend more time of the biggest obstacles would- 1883, the red-brick edifice with there.

The winners will share their a mansard roof on Amsterdam be travelers face.

Someone like Dalvin Delia, Avenue between 103rd and experiences with the hostel afa 20-year-old international 104th Street was nearly de- terwards. Walthall mentioned studies major from Queens Vil- molished before becoming a she might also like to give lage whose parents came from landmark in 1983. After much talks at local colleges. “I want Haiti. When he got the call restoration, Hi NYC opened in to inspire other students from telling him he’d won, he was 1990; nowadays, about 80,000 similar backgrounds to study thrilled. This summer, he’ll travelers from 90 countries abroad and take that leap of faith,” she said. spend one month in Port Eliza- visit annually. beth, South Africa, studying human rights and doing community outreach. (The $2,000 scholarship covers half of the total expense.) His interest in the country began with Nelson Mandela, who inspired him to be a better person, he said, adding, “I’d really like to give back to another community.”

At the ceremony, speakers reflected on the role of travel and HI NYC’s support of it. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said the hostel “has always been a beacon in the

APRIL 14-20,2016

19

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

CLUELESS ABOUT THE ZIKA VIRUS HEALTH With summer mosquito season approaching, poll shows Americans don’t know much about the illness

BY LAURAN NEERGAARD AND EMILY SWANSON

Americans don’t know a lot about the Zika virus that is linked to birth defects and creeping steadily closer to the U.S., according to a new poll that found about 4 in 10 say they’ve heard little to nothing about the mosquito-borne threat.

Even among people who’ve been following the Zika saga at least a little, many aren’t sure whether there’s a vaccine or treatment -- not yet -- or if there’s any way the virus can spread other than through mosquito bites.

Still, with mosquito season fast approaching, more than half of the population supports a variety of efforts to control summer swarms -- from spraying pesticides to releasing genetically modified mos-

quitoes, says the poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The government is considering a field trial in the Florida Keys of male mosquitoes, which don’t bite, that are genetically altered so that when they mate with wild females, the offspring quickly die. The poll found 56 percent of people would support introducing such mosquitoes into areas affected by Zika.

“I think it’s kind of the wave of the future, to be honest,” said Janis Maney, 63, of Pensacola, Florida, who sees mosquitoes nearly yearround in her warm climate. She’s open to “anything that would control those little buggers.”

The Zika virus has exploded throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. While adults typically suffer mild, if any, symptoms, there’s an increasingly strong link between infections in pregnant women and fetal death and devastating birth defects -- babies born with small heads that signal a damaged brain.

U.S. health officials are warning

pregnant women and those attempting to conceive to avoid traveling to Zika-affected areas. More than 300 cases of Zika have been diagnosed in the U.S., all so far associated with travel.

But the mosquitoes capable of spreading Zika live in parts of the U.S. And while experts don’t expect an epidemic here, they worry that small clusters of cases are likely, particularly in Florida or Texas, if the insects bite returning travelers and then someone else.

“We have only weeks to prepare before the mosquitoes, and perhaps the virus, get ahead of us,” said Dr. Edward McCabe of the March of Dimes.

Leah Zeleski, 27, of Lincoln, Nebraska, said she won’t travel too far south this summer. A nursing student, Zeleski calls this a “very scary” time for women of childbearing age and wonders what scientists will discover next about Zika’s risks, unknown until the current outbreak began in Brazil last year.

Zeleski said she’ll wear insect repellent and cover up during mos-

quito season.

The AP-NORC Center poll found that among people who’ve heard about Zika, 90 percent know mosquitoes can spread it but there are some other key gaps in knowledge: * About 1 in 5 couldn’t say whether Zika was linked to birth defects. * Zika also sometimes spreads through sexual intercourse, but 14 percent wrongly thought it couldn’t, and another 29 percent said they didn’t know. That’s worrisome, because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says men who’ve traveled to Zika-affected areas either should use condoms with their pregnant partners or avoid sex until the baby’s born. * More than half didn’t know if there was a vaccine or treatment for Zika -- there is not -- or a diagnostic test. There are tests but they’re not perfect, and they’re being used primarily with pregnant women.

More public education is needed before there are any homegrown Zika infections, said Gillian SteelFisher of Harvard’s school of public

health, whose own polling has found even more misconceptions about Zika.

“We have an opportunity, before there’s a case, to get people to worry where they need to and not where they don’t,” SteelFisher said. “With good information, people can take the right steps to protect themselves.”

The poll found few people -- 16 percent -- are very worried that the U.S. will experience much Zika.

“I’ve kind of grown numb” about outbreak warnings in recent years, said Valerie White, 24, of Montgomery County, Maryland, who doesn’t plan to travel during her pregnancy.

“Once people realize it’s a problem, there’s usually a quick response, so I’m not worried.”

Only a quarter of people said U.S. athletes should withdraw from the Olympics in Brazil this summer.

When it comes to those genetically modified mosquitoes, some activists in Florida have argued against them -- but the new poll found only 16 percent of Americans overall are

lower manhattan has many landmarks. but only one hospital.

NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital.

Just two blocks southeast of City Hall at 170 William Street.

nyp.org/lowermanhattan

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APRIL 14-20,2016

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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

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PAGE 9

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21

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YOUR 15 MINUTES

To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to otdowntown.com/15 minutes

SUPPORT AND NURTURE AT SMITH SCHOOL An alternative education on the Upper West Side individualizes learning

BY MELODY CHAN

The Smith School is one of a kind. On West 86th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, everything from its location on the upper levels of the Jewish Cultural Center (accessible only by stairs or a single aging elevator) to its array of services for 50 middle school and high school students is unique. The alternative school provides individual attention and oversight to all students, instilling in them the confidence for safe passage to young adulthood.

Principal Karen Smith founded the school in 1990, endeavoring to craft an organic learning environment that catered to students much like those that used to come over to her house after classes when she was teaching in Los Angeles.

Smith is a place where each student is made to feel singular and significant in an environment that is both relaxed and individualized. While several students have learning disabilities — for which the five-to-one, or even oneto-one student-to-teacher ratio was designed — the school also accepts kids who have had difficulty adjusting to the sometimes merciless environments in city public schools. Smith is a safe haven and second chance for those who could not fit in a public education system that serves nearly 1 million students.

“Oftentimes if students are slipping through the cracks in their old school they begin to have doubts in their confidence and abilities,” the school’s fulltime social worker, Rebecca Levin, said. “And then they come here and recognize in a smaller setting that they are capable and they can excel.”

One 16-year-old’s language disorder caused his parents to take him out of three public schools and place him in a homeschooling program. Until they found Smith. The parents attribute their son’s progress to the school’s warm environment and educators’ devotion.

“Smith has taken him from zero to something. As an educator, I’ve never met somebody like Karen Smith,” his father, a public high school teacher, said. “She’s remarkable because she will figure out a plan for every child at that school to make them feel great.

Get a load of this: Knowing how he struggled to socialize and how he loves video games, Karen sanctioned a video game club in our apartment.

So he was able to start having some friends over every Thursday and they

Karen Smith, principal and founder of The Smith School, and Daniel Madden, the school’s assistant vice principal and learning specialist. Photo: Melody Chan

Smith School’s social worker, Rebecca Levin, has been at the school just a year. Photo: Melody Chan got credit for it too!”

The boy, now a junior, started at the school in 2012. Smith provided him with confidence and the skills needed for success; he learned how to read at

age 12, made the honor roll and flew by himself this spring break to visit a university in Florida. He’s thinking about studying video game design there.

Smith takes up three floors: one for

its eight classrooms, where classes with a maximum size of 5 or 6 are held; another where the entire student body has gym class for two hours every Friday; and the third dedicated to the one- on-one tutoring available full time for kids who need it.

There is also a cultivation of the arts; the school’s narrow hallway, which leads into its eight of classrooms, is lined with students’ paintings and mosaics. The Smith School Rock Band has a legacy as well, having raised $1,100 on Kickstarter to record an EP of their original music in 2012. Students are also given control and ownership of the yearbook, participate in various clubs, and are given the freedom to explore their curiosities. One senior, Maddy Tuten, expressed an interest in psychology. Through an independent study program, she is now the only Smith student studying the discipline.

“I like going to Smith because I’m around a bunch of people I like all day,” she said. “Everybody really understands and embraces each other and their differences.” She has been attending the school since sixth grade after having struggled with anxiety at her former school. After a year of Smith’s individualized, one-onone teaching program, Tuten joined Smith’s regular small classes and gradually overcame her fear of failure.

“Smith has supported me through a lot and sort of acted as a second home and second family. When I first got

to Smith, school was not a place that I wanted to be at all,” she said. “They understood and accepted that. It wasn’t a problem.”

Tuten is thinking about majoring in psychology at either Hunter College or Simmons College starting this fall.

“You get to know kids, especially those who have been here for a long time, and their families,” said Brendan Klages, Smith’s high school English teacher. He interrupted himself to call to a Smith student walking down the hall: “Do you need something or are you just grabbing a glass of water?

OK. Just behave yourself.” Klages, who has been teaching at Smith for four years, emphasized the diversity of the population as well as the difference that being in a small environment makes. He’s been able to differentiate between students and their learning levels and create a program where everybody moves forward together even as individual students continue getting the guidance they need.

There is a daily 45-minute study hall for all students, an after-school program where students can complete their homework with teachers and a two-hour staff meeting each Friday.

“We sit down and hammer out topics such as who’s not completing homework, who’s struggling and who’s class it’s happening in,” he said. “So there’s a lot of communication, we develop strategies as we go throughout the year and eliminate problems before the child feels that they’re so far behind they can’t even try.”

As for after Smith? Students are given real-world experience even though they go to a small school with only 49 other kids and a group of friendly, dedicated staff. Levin runs a program with the speech and language pathologist Judy Nussbaum teaching real-life practical skills to some students. Levin and Nussbaum take them to the supermarket to shop for groceries and interact with others and provide the chance to experience what life is like outside Smith while still under its tutelage. Tuten, while reasonably nervous for university, is ready to go. “I learned how to advocate for myself and that’s a huge part of being an adult,” she said. “I think Smith has prepared me in a way I won’t fully realize until I go away.”

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“I WISH SOMEONE WOULD HELP THAT HOMELESS MAN.”

BE THE SOMEONE. Sam New York Cares Volunteer

Every day, we think to ourselves that someone should really help make this city a better place. Visit newyorkcares.org to learn about the countless ways you can volunteer and make a difference in your community.

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APRIL 14-20,2016

NOTICE OF PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2016 THE POLLS WILL BE OPEN 6 A.M. UNTIL 9 P.M.

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