Our Town Downtown - April 21, 2016

The local paper for Downtown wn A WORLD OF WORDS AT THE MORGAN, CITYARTS < P.12

HELPING TO DESIGN A NEIGHBORHOOD PARK NEWS Community sits down with Parks Department designers

BY JEFFREY KOPP

In a packed auditorium at P.S. 340 on Sixth Avenue and 17th Street, more than 50 Chelsea residents came together Tuesday evening to design a new neighborhood park.

After years of collecting signatures, fundraising, and mobilizing community

support, the Friends of 20th Street Park organization convinced the Parks & Recreation Department to contribute $4.3 million towards construction of a new park, at W. 20th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, on the former site of a parking lot for the Department of Sanitation. A vacant building on the east side of the lot will also be demolished to add additional room to the park.

Attendees broke off into small groups, where they

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Residents, Parks officials and Councilman Corey Johnson, standing at right, discuss potential features of a new park coming to West 20th Street. Photo: Jeffrey Kopp

THE OUT OF TOWNERS STREET LEVEL Having visitors gets you moving, with fresh eyes

BY BILL GUNLOCKE

You can’t not be glad to be at the Whiney. Photo credit: Bill Gunlocke

I tagged along. I usually don’t.

But my sister and brother-inlaw were in from Indiana and they had some places they wanted to get to so I went with them.

Best thing we did together was the Whitney. I hadn’t been.

When you live alone you can go anytime; so sometimes you need a reason to pick the day.

They were my reason. I liked everything about it. So did they. The light is wonderful. So is the floor plan. Windows with

They loved the Frick. I didn’t go with them. I was busy. I knew they’d like it.

We met for lunch at E.A.T., after the Frick, on Madison.

Lively. Bright. Food was fine. I got dessert. I usually do. Not a cheap lunch. I’m not sure why we went there. Once trendy.

Still the good logo.

Next day we went to the World Trade Center Museum.

I wasn’t ever going to go. I had run down there with my camera the day it happened . I saw a tower crumble in front of me.

I did shots in the neighborhood bar for days after. But it meant something for them to go see it. Their daughter’s best friend from college died in one of the towers.

Don’t tell anyone, but I wasn’t moved at all. I’ve seen too

the river to see. Outdoor art off a couple upper floors. From there you see Meatpacking District buildings and streets in a light rain. The art on all the floors is great American stuff.

Familiar and exciting right in front of you.

We had coffee in the stylish café in the museum. Very nice.

They’d just arrived that morning. It was thrilling for them to be there. For me too.

I didn’t care that we couldn’t go on the Highline. It was raining too much for that. To me, it’s all hype anyway. You can’t even walk at your normal pace.

You creep along so you can ooh and aah at shrubbery. But we would come back and walk it another day.

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Newscheck Crime Watch Voices Out & About

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City Arts To Do Business 15 Minutes

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WEEK OF APRIL

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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

21-27 2016

Our Take OUR MOMENT IN THE SUN It’s all over but the spin.

New York’s presidential primary on Tuesday served up a greatesthits tableau of how the rest of the nation sees the country’s biggest city. Candidates visited pizza shops and matzoh-ball factories, uptown townhouses and hipster Brooklyn. In a sense, it was a reminder of how entrenched the national stereotypes of our city can be.

But it was also a reminder of how fun democracy can be, when it really matters. For the first time in a very long time, New York voters were able to shape the trajectory of a presidential campaign. The fact that three of the candidates had very deep ties to New York, for better or worse, only added to the kick.

For a city like ours, which likes to think of itself as an island apart from the rest of America, with our own perks and our own problems, we learned in this election that, actually, we’re not that different from anybody else. The central issues that have emerged as the campaigns have traveled the country -- immigration, income inquality, the price of health care, America’s role in the world -- are central to New Yorkers, too. It turns out we may not be as different from other Americans as we may have thought.

Now, the withdrawl. If there’s anything we like as New Yorkers, it’s attention, and the national media spotlight of the last few weeks has been addictive (and, in our minds, entirely appropriate).

But now the circus moves on, to to the conventions this summer.

We’ll be watching, knowing, for the first time in a long time, that we played a part.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Downtowner

OurTownDowntown

WEEK OF APRIL

9-16

MANHATTAN'S APARTMENT BOOM, > PROPERTY, P.20

2015

In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS

The effort to help small seems to businesses in the city be gathering steam.

Two city councilmembers, Robert Margaret Chin and Cornegy, have introduced create legislation that wouldSmall a new “Office of the within Business Advocate” of Small the city’s Department Business Services.

Chin The new post, which have up told us she’d like to would and running this year, for serve as an ombudsman city small businesses within them clear government, helping to get through the bureaucracy things done.

Perhaps even more also importantly, the ombudsman and number will tally the type small business of complaints by taken in owners, the actions policy response, and somefor ways to recommendations If done well, begin to fix things. report would the ombudsman’s give us the first quantitative with taste of what’s wrong the city, an small businesses in towards important first step fixing the problem. of for deTo really make a difference, is a mere formality will have to the work process looking to complete their advocate are the chances course, velopers precinct, but rising rents, -- thanks to a find a way to tackle business’ is being done legally of after-hours projects quickly. their own hours,” which remain many While Chin “They pick out boom in the number throughout who lives on most vexing problem. said Mildred Angelo,of the Ruppert construction permits gauge what Buildings one said it’s too early tocould have the 19th floor in The Department of the city. number three years, the Houses on 92nd Street between role the advocate She Over the past on the is handing out a record work perThird avenues. permits, there, more information of Second and an ongoing all-hours number of after-hours bad thing. of after-hours work the city’s Dept. problem can’t be a said there’s with the mits granted by nearby where according to new data jumped 30 percent, This step, combinedBorough construction project noise Buildings has data provided in workers constantly make efforts by Manhattan to mediate

BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS according to DOB of Informacement from trucks.

President Gale Brewer offer response to a Freedom classifies transferring they want. They knows the the rent renewal process, request. The city They 6 “They do whatever signs Every New Yorker clang, tion Act go as they please. work between some early, tangible small any construction on the weekend, can come and sound: the metal-on-metal or the piercing of progress. For many have no respect.” p.m. and 7 a.m., can’t come of these that the hollow boom, issuance reverse. owners, in business moving The increased beeps of a truck has generto a correspond and you as after-hours. soon enough. variances has led at the alarm clock The surge in permits

SLEEPS, THANKS TO THE CITY THAT NEVER UCTION A BOOM IN LATE-NIGHT CONSTR NEWS

A glance it: it’s the middle can hardly believe yet construction of the night, and carries on full-tilt. your local police or You can call 311

n OurTownDowntow

COM

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

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

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CONTINUED ON PAGE

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Chapter 8

EVE AND OTHERS

BY ESTHER COHEN

When Naomi returned home from visiting Albert, there they were: Charles and Eve, sitting on the couch as though they were glued on, each one holding a copy of CUE. Charles ordered two subscriptions, worried that one might be stolen. What would he do, should he ever decide to leave the apartment? Unlikely possibility, but still. He had Lucky Number Seven yellow magic markers, to underline movies and art shows and even Broadway shows. What he would attend, if he could. Eve participated, too. Charles drew lines through his choices, and Eve made large loopy circles around those activities she might choose. They never went anywhere much, choosing instead to sit right there, in the center of the couch.

Eve and Charles. In a funny way, they seemed to have gotten married on another planet, had descended briefly, very briefly, into the bright orange living room. Beautiful Eve, as always, was bedecked.

Her shoes looked as though they’d previously belonged to Elton John. Very high, feet were balanced on red snakeskin platforms. Her legs were often crossed, legs, provocatively dangling. And Charles, neat Charles, he looked a little like a prosperous magician, a man who could saw anyone in two. Not a young unemployed CUE Magazine devotee.

“A man” Naomi paused, to create a little drama, “a man named Alyosha is actually missing,” she said, in a way she hoped would interest them both. “Maybe we should all try to find him. My friend Albert is his neighbor. Eve do you remember Albert? He’s a Rochester Button Company office temp. And talented clothing designer. He made me a hat from vintage ties. I can show you if you’d like. His neighbor just vanished,” she said. “The building doesn’t know what to do.”

Illustration by John S. Winkleman “That isn’t his real name,” Charles replied. “My guess is it’s Jack. Or even Bill. You know what percentage of people are actually named Bill? I read an article at the doctor’s office once – maybe I could find it again – that talked about

Bills. It’s a very high number.

You wouldn’t believe it. Don’t know why my first guess was Jack. It’s Bill,” he said. And I’m not talking William either.

Just Bill. There aren’t as many Charles’s as you might imagine.

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“Who are you named for?”

Naomi asked.

“I’m Jewish,” said Charles, “and I should be able to tell you about my Jewish uncle Charles, my mother’s favorite brother, who tragically died in an unfortunate drowning ac-

cident. That would make more sense than the reality here.

Her brother is actually named Teddy. He’s an accountant in Baldwin, Long Island. He can’t even swim. I’m named after Charles Laughton,” he said.

“My mother made all her own rules. And she liked Charles Laughton. Although his wife, Elsa Lancaster, that was another story.”

“Can we just call him Alyosha?” Eve asked. “I like that better. “Do we know his last name?

“We are in the process of finding that out. His super knows,” said Naomi. “I’d like to enlist Mrs. Israel too. I think she said she was a bookkeeper once. Her apartment would be perfect if we were to open a detective agency. Plenty of people disappear every day.

I don’t know why, but finding them suddenly seems like what I want to do.”

“Me, too,” said Eve. “I’m on the finding fence,” said Charles.

For previous installments of this serialized novel, check us out on the web. Esther Cohen posts a poem a day at esthercohen.com.

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

FEDS CLOSE IN ON KOREAN BROTHELS

Federal prosecutors have accused 11 people of money laundering following an investigation into a network of Korean brothels in the New York City area.

A criminal complaint shows the defendants laundered more than $1.4 million in illegal revenue from the

businesses between 2011 and 2016.

Prosecutors say some of the brothels posed as legitimate businesses and kept lists of customers who had been vetted by other brothels and customers and would only do business with them. Authorities say they were independently owned but shared prostitutes and advertising outlets.

The complaint says police found a computer file containing more than 70,000 entries that appear to describe the customers.

Nearly a dozen businesses in Manhattan were identified in the complaint as brothels. It’s unclear if they have been closed.

STATS FOR THE WEEK

A motorist was arrested after hitting one of New York’s Bravest with his car. Shortly after noon on April 7, a 31-year-old man driving up the wrong lane on Broad Street at Bridge Street.

An FDNY officer stopped the driver’s car and asked for his ID. The driver, later identified as Jeffrey Malek, said to the fireman, “F--- you; you’re not a cop!” He tried to drive away but hit the fireman with his car. The officer sustained minor injuries to his right knee and refused medical assistance at the scene. Malek was subsequently arrested and charged with assault on a peace officer.

Reported crimes from the 1st precinct for

CARD CAD Police remind the public that to avoid arrest, you should make credit card purchases using your own credit card. Shortly before noon on April 5, a 29-year-old man, later identified as Enrique Gomez, attempted to make a charge at the Pick A Bagel shop at 251 Vesey St. using a credit card that was not his. It was later determined Gomez had already made six other purchases with stolen credit cards. When police arrested Gomez the next day he was found with two stolen credit cards and one stolen debit card. He was charged with grand larceny.

Tony Webster, via flickr

NEW YORK’S DUMBEST

Week to Date

Year to Date

2016 2015

% Change

2016

2015

% Change

Murder

0

0

n/a

0

0

n/a

Rape

0

0

n/a

3

1

200

Robbery

1

1

0

15

10

50

Felony Assault

3

2

50

17

17

0

Burglary

2

1

100

33

43

-23.3

Grand Larceny

15

16

-6.3

293

234

25.2

Grand Larceny Auto

0

0

n/a

4

2

100

SUBWAY CONDUCTOR HIT

BY BOTTLE

MIDLIFE CRISIS

Hudson St. An investigation is ongoing.

This was quite the week for attacks on public service workers. At 4:30 a.m. on April 11, a 58-year-old female conductor on a northbound 2 train en route from Brooklyn to Bronx was hit by a thrown glass bottle while the train was stopped at the Houston Street station. The bottle hit her in the middle of her forehead, cutting her slightly. Her assailant, identified only as a woman, fled the station. Although conscious and alert, the conductor was taken to Montefiore Hospital for further care.

An exploding dye pack did not deter a bank robber. At 1:50 p.m. April 8, a man in his 50s with a gray goatee entered the Santander bank at 108 Hudson St., went to teller window number 3, placed a black plastic bag on the teller’s ledge, and told the teller, “This is a bank robbery. Do what I’m telling you to do, or I will hurt you.” He demanded bills in $50 and $100 denominations and then left the scene heading northbound on Hudson. A dye pack cached with the stolen loot, $530, burst in front of 112

TWO-WHEEL STEAL It would not be a Crime Watch column in spring without a bicycle theft report. At 3:30 p.m. on March 26, a 39-year-old man secured his bike to a bike rack outside 180 Varick St. before going to work inside the building. When he returned to his bike a few hours later, it was gone. The stolen two-wheeler was a black-with-white-lettering Cannondale CAAD10 3 with Gatorskin tires and worth about $1,820.

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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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.

212-477-7411

NYPD 1st Precinct

16 Ericsson Place

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

RUSSO STEPPING DOWN AT GODDARD NEWS

ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin

165 Park Row #11

212-587-3159

Councilmember Rosie Mendez

237 1st Ave. #504

212-677-1077

Councilmember Corey Johnson

224 W. 30th St.

212-564-7757

State Senator Daniel Squadron

250 Broadway #2011

212-298-5565

Executive director leaving after 40 years at the socialservices organization

BY KYLE POPE

COMMUNITY BOARDS Community Board 1

1 Centre St., Room 2202

212-442-5050

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.

Mount Sinai-Beth Israel

10 Union Square East

212-844-8400

212-312-5110

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

TIME WARNER

46 East 23rd

813-964-3839

US Post Office

201 Varick St.

212-645-0327

US Post Office

128 East Broadway

212-267-1543

US Post Office

93 4th Ave.

212-254-1390

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In the summer of 1976, Stephan Russo started work at Goddard Riverside Community Center on the Upper West Side as a youth outreach worker. Forty years later, he’s finally leaving.

Russo, executive director at Goddard for the last 18 years, surprised the organization’s board earlier this month with word that he plans to step down at the end of the year, having helped to turn the institution into a social-services powerhouse, with a $30 million budget and a staff of 350.

Goddard helps more than 17,000 people a year, with everything from college counseling and homeless services to job training for older New Yorkers.

In an interview, Russo said even though he’ll turn 65 in late April, he’s not yet ready to retire. He said he decided to step down this year because Goddard is strong, and he still has the energy for a new challenge.

“I feel I have another professional act in me,” he said. “I want to take what I know and use it in another form.”

Over the last couple of years, Goddard and its board have embarked on a strategic plan to determine the direction of the organization. With that work now set to begin, Russo said it seemed like a good time to let someone else take charge.

“It’s time for a new generation,” he said. “Change can be good for the organization.”

Last summer, Russo engineered a merger between his agency and Lincoln Square N e i g h b o r h o o d C e n t e r, strengthening the social-service offerings on the West Side.

Both organizations have been forced to deal with strained government services, particu-

larly in the area of homelessness.

Even though Mayor Bill de Blasio has been blamed for being slow to attack the city’s homeless problem, Russo said it would be a tough job for any mayor, given the shortage of affordable housing. “Systemically, we’ve got a real problem in this city.”

In terms of what’s next for Goddard, the board is expected to hire an executive recruiter and this week will start meeting about a replacement for Russo. Sabin Danziger, who sits on the boards of both Goddard and Lincoln Square, said Russo’s depth of knowledge and long tenure at the agency will be tough to replicate. “It’s

a loss, there’s no question,” Danziger said. “But the organization is bigger than any one individual. It’s an opportunity.

The person is out there somewhere.”

Russo agreed that the process of replacing him could represent a new chapter for Goddard. “I care deeply about this place,” he said.

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AN ENDLESS BATTLE AGAINST CONSTRUCTION NOISE NEWS A West Side resident complains of the slow progress of renovation

BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

To get to Randy Klein’s first-floor apartment at 498 West Avenue, you have to use a temporary entrance on 84th Street and walk through what was once a lobby and is now a gutted hallway filled with tools and plastic tarps.

Samson Management LLC, which bought the building in 2012 for $52.5 million, has promised that the completed lobby will be beautiful and garnished with marble, but Klein is frustrated with the slow progress and what he feels is disregard for the resi-

OUT OF TOWNERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 much documentary footage about it.

I was obsessed with watching such stuff. I’ve talked about the day with people a hundred times and every time my eyes watered, especially in my drinking days. I could still get watery watching CNN from that day. But not a museum about it.

They took a picture of their daugh-

dents in the building.

Klein, who calls himself Samson’s “worst enemy,” claims that the lobby was incorrectly measured, meaning that the marble had just been put in, then had to be loudly taken out again.

He also says too much cement was laid on the floor of the second story, causing his ceiling to cave in, narrowly missing his Steinway piano and his wife’s head.

While many of Klein’s complaints are not exactly uncommon for buildings undergoing renovation, he believes Samson’s handling of this construction has been particularly bungled.

“We’ve gone through I think eight or nine site managers,” he said.

When the construction was started roughly three years ago, the building’s tenants association negotiated a contract, with the help of attorney Sam

Himmelstein, barring after-hours construction and arranging for rent abatements, which Klein says have been honored but are “not enough” to make up for the disturbances. Latenight work and lack of compensation are frequent sources of resident ire at sites all over the city.

Klein acknowledged that Himmelstein, who declined to comment for this article, has advised him against speaking out so vocally against Samson for fear of further damaging the company’s relationship with residents, and added that he is acting independently and not speaking for the tenants association. Marla Ratner, a resident who represented the tenants’ association in working with Himmelstein, also declined to comment.

The original agreement signed by the tenants gave December 31, 2015 as

the end date of the project. In a statement provided by spokesman Steve Mangione, Samson said that “it is expected that virtually all of the construction in the entire 12-story building will be completed” in the next 30 days.

Perhaps Klein’s main complaint is the little to no warning residents get about major disruptions. As a composer and musician who often works from home, Klein struggles to perfect his music over the sounds of construction. “I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Klein, who has lived in his apartment since 1977. Once, albeit after receiving two days’ notice, Klein and his wife decided to take an impromptu vacation in anticipation of disruptive work. The work was still going on when they returned, so Samson put them up in a hotel.

As Klein described his frustrations with Samson’s progress, from his office overlooking West End Avenue, a pipe outside his window burst and sent water spraying into the air. Since that incident last week, according to an email from Klein, the elevator has stopped working and the plates covering the burst pipe have yet to be secured.

“With a building in excess of 100 years old and a crumbling infrastructure that required replacement of all major systems -- including gas, electric and plumbing lines, as well as elevators and new windows -- we were well aware that our tenants were going to live through a substanstial construction project,” Samson said in its statement.

ter’s best friend’s name engraved on a wall outside. By one of the pools that are the towers’ footprints, if I’m saying it right.

You could tell they were excited to be in the city. They’re travelers. But they’ve got kids and grandchildren in DC and Boston and two mountain towns out west, so New York’s been awhile for them. They’re good walkers. Their pace fits here. That’s all-important. Most important maybe.

They went out to a fancy dinner with

my two daughters and another night with a college-friend couple. They’re good at that. I’m not. I watched hoops at home.

You’re reminded who you are when you met up with family or go to a school reunion.

You see the city along with your visitors. It makes it fresh. You look up at places like you used to. You go in a store you haven’t been in in years. You even dress a little better.

You’re wowed by the dynamism of

the place. But you always mostly are.

You tell people who ask what it’s like to live there that you like every day here.

They went to a matinee of ‘The King and I’ at Lincoln Center. I met them for lunch at The Smith over there before their show. They didn’t love the show or maybe they didn’t love themselves for picking something so safe.

I walked over and met them on the Highline. I texted them that I was just getting on at 18th Street. They walked along it from 14th and met me. They

were singing its praises at that point.

Friends back home had told them not to miss it. Hell, everyone tells you not to miss it. We walked with our arms at our side to the end. By the end they agreed with me that it wasn’t much.

We met my daughters and grandchildren for dinner a couple hours later.

That was much.

After dinner, they asked someone outside the place to take our picture.

NEIGHBORHOOD PARK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 each met with a Parks Dept. designer to discuss their priorities for the park. Group members tested different arrangements by drawing on paper diagrams that represented the available space, keeping in mind potential problem areas like noise, shade, and security.

Sally Greenspan, a member of Friends of 20th Street Park who has lived in Chelsea for 35 years, said parks like this one help make the neighborhood more livable. “Otherwise it’s a very impersonal city…I just want a park for everybody, where you can sit down and have a sandwich.”

Leatt Beder-Galtier, one of the Parks Department designers who helped community members organize their ideas, said, “What we end up doing is we see what overlaps. If everyone

Residents and Parks officials discuss potential features of a new park coming to West 20th Street. Photo: Jeffrey Kopp says they want an open lawn, that gets higher priority.”

After about 45 minutes of discussion, the groups reconvened to present their findings.

Common themes included the need for green space, an area for children and plenty of seating. Several also hoped for a water feature and WiFi coverage, and a few expressed interest in a mural on the wall of the

parking garage on the west side to reflect the arts scene in the neighborhood. There was also a general consensus that the park would be better off without a “comfort station” (a Parks term for a public bathroom) because it would be costly and take up too much space in a park that will only have a quarter acre to work with.

Craig Church, another de-

signer at the meeting who plans to be heavily involved in the design process, said, “We’re going to have to look at each ‘desire’ and try to fit it in the park.”

On July 14th, Parks designers w ill present a concept design to the Community Board 4 parks committee, and in the fall they will present a more detailed schematic design.

APRIL 21-27,2016

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Neighborhood Scrapbook NEW IMMERSIVE WORKOUT AT ASPHALT GREEN A high-tech, immersive workout system, popular at ďŹ tness clubs in Europe, will debut in North America this spring at Asphalt Green. The system uses pressure-sensitive ďŹ&#x201A;oors and walls, with integrated LED lighting and sound. The new system will be the centerpiece of Asphalt Greenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Sports Performance Center space, which also features a new turf area for additional speed and agility training, free weights, and access to mental training resources for athletes.

Photo courtesy Poby/Asphalt Green.

Share your news and whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going on in your life. Go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

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

Tuesday, May 10th at 9am

Tuesday, May 17th at 9am

Openings available for the 2016-2017 school year. %TTPMGEXMSRW [MPP FI GSRWMHIVIH SR E VSPPMRK FEWMW *SV QSVI MRJSVQEXMSR TPIEWI GSRXEGX XLI %HQMWWMSR 3J½GI EX I\X SV EHQMWWMSRW$XLIMHIEPWGLSSP SVK

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APRIL 21-27,2016

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.

MY PARTY PLANNING ADVICE FOR ANNA there. I think, quite frankly, that Anna needs to chill.

OP-ED

BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL

I never thought I’d feel superior to Anna Wintour, but that all changed with the new Andrew Rossi documentary, “The First Monday in May,” debuting this month at the Tribeca Film Festival, which chronicles the Vogue Editor-in-Chief’s hosting of last year’s Met Ball.

Aside from a love of oversized sunglasses, our commonality began in 1995 -- the year we both added master party planner to our CVs; she taking on as her pet project the gala, which each year kicks off the opening of the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while I began producing my kids’ birthday celebrations.

Yes, we are both considered handson facilitators and deem our respective events the Super Bowl of any social season, but our similarities end

GOD IS IN THE DETAILS – TO A DEGREE Apparently Anna is a perfectionist.

I like what I like the way I like it, but “perfect” can get silly. No one ever notices that the napkins are the exact Pantone shade of white as the rice inside the California Rolls. You obsess over the most minute elements, and still Gwyneth Paltrow, as in 2013, declares the night, “Unfun…”

FOOD TASTINGS NO MORE I reason these a waste of time and calories. Hire a top-notch caterer – Anna’s already collaborating with Glorious Foods – and trust that the pigs in a blanket will be divine.

nivores such as myself to eat the grass or starve. I make a habit to dine prior to these events as to not insult/argue with the host about how there’s nothing for me to consume. In turn, when I am throwing the affair, I am entitled to offer edibles that are a bit more meaty. Fair is fair, right?

EAT DRINK AND BE MERRY

THE SEATING CHART IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

Anna seems to be a bit over-accommodating to the vegan crowd and others with special dietary requests.

I have been to a number of events given by vegetarians who serve the food of their conscience, leaving car-

Anna likes to “mix people up.” This leads to comments like that of a disappointed Chloe Sevigny referring to her non A-list table assignment as “just like high school.” I’ve never done a seating chart – not even for my own

POEMS FROM READERS

Soon curiosity wanes and the introductions begin.

“Have you met my sister? She’s visiting for the summer” “How do you do. I really like your jewelry.”

“My husband made it for me.”

“It’s a fine piece of toolery.”

“How is your summer?”

“Oh, not so bad. A bit hot though.”

“It’s been such a long time since we last talked.”

“Indeed, we must soon chat again. But for now I must go.”

A FIRE ACROSS THE STREET A warm summer evening On a city avenue Piercing sirens alert curious ears Inviting neighbors out for a visit.

Across the street husky engines idle While officials gate off crowds Who look at the intense inferno Speculating at the start of such cacophony.

STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source

Photo by NoondayNews via flickr

A birthday party interrupted with cake still fresh Sits upon a paper plate while neighbors meet To affirm their existence During a fire across the street.

wedding. Everyone grabs a table for themselves and whomever they want to sit with. I’ve never had a problem or complaint.

FLOWERS, DÉCOR, AND ENTERTAINMENT – OH MY It takes Anna about 12 months to plan her event, with a level of intensity up around Mach 5. My last party, my daughter Meg’s Sweet 16, was perhaps the most stress-free. I used my son Luke as location scout, as years before he went to a sixteenth birthday at least once a week. The restaurant’s caterer provided both the dinner and the cake, which people still rave about. One of

UNTITLED My uncle, Zev, the Brooklyn poet, told me, Don’t worry about forgetting things you can’t remember, just write the damn poem, let it be as long as it wants to be, then cut off the beginning, but he never said why I should do that nor what I should do if the beginning is all there is.

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

INVISIBLE WALLS Oh many, many are the jails An innocent one can go to, There’s the jail of hating everyone Because you know that they hate you.

The jail of being in the hostel bed Of your friend who’s getting married, When you haven’t even a boyfriend, And must pretend to be ecstatic.

The jail of marrying the wrong man Before you make the great announcement That the next deed on your list Is a single life commitment,

Jules Bacal

Frank Theodore Koe

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

Meg’s teachers had a DJ business on the side, and another teacher had a boyfriend who was a professional photographer. Done and done. Her future wedding should go so smoothly.

It’s too late for Vogue’s fearless leader to take my advice concerning the 2016 gala themed “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” since it’s only weeks away on May 2nd.

But for next year? Anna, baby, relax.

It’s a party.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novels FAT CHICK and BACK TO WORK SHE GOES.

There are many jails I’ve been in And maybe many where I’ll be, But if they’re only psychological My persevering mind will rescue me!

Esther Lazarson

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

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

APRIL 21-27,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

IWantToBeRecycled.org

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APRIL 21-27,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Out & About Your neighborhood More Events. Add Your Own: Go to otdowntown.com

news source

otdowntown.com NOTICE TO PERSONS WHO MAY HAVE SUFFERED FROM INADEQUATE ACCESSIBLE FEATURES AT LIBERTY PLAZA AND OTHER RENTAL BUILDINGS On February 11, 2016, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent decree resolving a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice against certain builders and developers alleging that they failed to include certain accessible features for persons with disabilities required by the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(c), in the design and construction of Liberty Plaza.

Under this consent decree, a person may be entitled to receive monetary relief if, in relation to any of the properties identified below, he or she: E WAS DISCOURAGED FROM LIVING AT THAT PROPERTY BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF ACCESSIBLE FEATURES; E HAS BEEN HURT IN ANY WAY BY THE LACK OF ACCESSIBLE FEATURES AT THAT PROPERTY; E PAID TO HAVE AN APARTMENT AT THAT PROPERTY MADE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES; OR E WAS OTHERWISE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY AT THAT PROPERTY. The properties relevant to this notice are:

E LIBERTY PLAZA

E THE GRAND TIER

E BRITTANY

E BARCLAY TOWER

E PARAMOUNT TOWER

E EMERALD GREEN

If you wish to make a claim for discrimination on the basis of disability, or if you have any information about persons who may have such a claim, please contact the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York at 212-637-2800. You may also fax us at 212-637-2702 or write to: United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York Attn: Civil Rights Unit 86 Chambers Street New York, New York 10007 NOTE: You must call or write no later than February 11, 2019.

Thu

21

COMMUNITY BOARD 2 MEETING Scholastic Building, 557 Broadway 6:30 p.m.

Reports from the chairperson, district manager, borough president and standing committees. Speaker cards will not be accepted after 7 p.m.

212-979-2272. www.nyc. gov/html/mancb2

after pro-democracy uprisings.

646-732-3261. www. alwanforthearts.org

Fri

22

‘A CHORUS LINE’ Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza 7:30 p.m. $5, $15 Pace School of Performing Arts presents A Chorus Line, the musical-vérité about a chorus audition for a Broadway musical.

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

WITNESS BAHRAIN Alwan for the Arts, 16 Beaver St. 7 p.m. $5, $10 Film screening. Witness Bahrain is an award-winning documentary film that takes an in-depth look inside the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain two years

1934–2000 provides the first comprehensive and critical overview of Associated American Artists, the commercial enterprise best known as the publisher of prints

by Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood.

212-998-6780. www.nyu. edu/greyart

GREY ART GALLERY EXHIBIT: ART FOR EVERY HOME 100 Washington Square East 11 a.m.-6 p.m. $3 Art for Every Home: Associated American Artists,

Sat

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ART GALLERY TOUR 195 Chyrstie St. 1 p.m. $25 A tour led by Rafael Risemberg visits seven modern art galleries in the downtown center for contemporary art.

212-946-1548. www. nygallerytours.com

HAMILTON: THE SCAVENGER HUNT ◄ Watson Adventures, Battery Park 1 p.m.-3 p.m. $25 Join Watson Adventures on a unique scavenger hunt featuring Alexander Hamilton! Follow in Alexander Hamilton’s footsteps through the streets of Lower Manhattan, from Wall Street to Battery Park, to discover the places where the feisty Founding Father worked, played, debated, fought and planned his fatal duel.

877-946-4868. www. watsonadventures.com

APRIL 21-27,2016

AP

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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Sun

AGRITOURISM SHOWCASE: VINEYARDS, ORCHARDS & MORE ◄ South Street Seaport, Pier 17 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free A free family-friendly event of food samples and beverage tastings featuring local craft brewers, farmers and regional travel destinations within a day’s drive or train ride of New York City.

NEW YORK CITY’S www.southstreetseaport.com TASTE OF THE NATION

FOR NO KID HUNGRY 9/11 MEMORIAL 5K RUN/WALK Intersection of Albany Street and Greenwich Street 8 a.m.-12 p.m. $20-$35 Registration is now open for the fourth annual 9/11 Memorial 5K Run/Walk and Community Day. The event begins at Pier 26 in Tribeca and takes participants through scenic Battery Park along the waterfront esplanade before finishing near the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

212-312-8800. www.911memorial.org/5krunwalk-community-day

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Mon

WHERE DO PHYSICS AND PHILOSOPHY INTERSECT? New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. $5-$15 A distinguished panel including writer Jim Holt, philosopher David Z. Albert and science writer Kate Becker discuss the philosophical meaning of the theories of modern physics. www.nyas.org

Taste of the Nation, 225 Liberty St. 6 p.m.-9 p.m. $250 The annual tasting event will feature the city’s top chefs, sommeliers and mixologists united for a cause: making sure all children in this country get the healthy food they need, every day. Proceeds from the event benefit No Kid Hungry’s work to end childhood hunger in America. www.newyorktaste.org

Tue

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MANHATTAN COMMUNITY BOARD 1 MEETING Governors Island Ferry Terminal, 10 South St. 6 p.m. Free Photo ID is required to enter building. Please notify CB1 two days in advance, if wheelchair access is required.

212-669-7970. www.nyc. gov/html/mancb1/

HOLLYWOOD AND THE NEW COLD WAR The New School, various locations

4 p.m.-7 p.m. Free To mark the 25th anniversary of the end of the Cold War, the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy hosts a series of panel discussions and film screenings. www.events.newschool.edu/ event/hollywood_in_the_new_ cold_war_era

EXAMS

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Wed

(IN)VERSE: POETS TRANSLATE EACH OTHER Poet’s House, 10 River Terrace 7 p.m.-8 p.m. Free To celebrate National Poetry Month, hear from poets who translate each other’s work.

212-431-7920. www. poetshouse.org

MAY 2

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The local paper for Downtown

passtheregents.com or call 212-453-9895

Course Location: St. Vincent Ferrer HS, Manhattan

6$7 ,, DQG 5HJHQWV SUHS DOVR DYDLODEOH

Advertise with Our Town Downtown today!

Call Vincent Gardino at 212-868-0190

KIMBERLY BARTOSIK/ DAELA Gibney Dance, 280 Broadway 8 p.m. $12, $15 Kimberly Bartosik’s new duet for Joanna Kotze and Lance Gries, “Étroits sont les Vaisseaux,” is an homage to Anselm Kiefer’s 82-foot long, undulating, wave-like sculpture of the same name. www.gibneydance.org

otdowntown.com

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APRIL 21-27,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

A HIDDEN WORLD OF WORDS EXHIBITION ‘Treasures from the Vault’ at the Morgan Library & Museum

BY MARY GREGORY

As a young man, John Pierpont Morgan fancied himself a bit of a collector. It was a gentleman’s game, an armchair safari seeking the rare and elusive. Prize catches were displayed on shelves and in cases, rather than taxidermied and hung over fireplaces.

He accumulated a small group of drawings and some autographs of literary and historical interest. It was something the rich and well educated did. Over time, he developed a library of volumes bound in leather with gold leaf filigree, possibly never read or meant to be, but signaling taste and erudition. Then, in 1890, when Morgan was in his 50s, his father died.

Suddenly he was in charge of a huge fortune and successful businesses whose gears were already turning and churning out reliable streams of profit. J.P. Morgan turned his attention to serious collecting, focused largely on books, manuscripts and the history of the written word, and amassed an Aladdin’s cave of riches.

“Treasures from the Vault” is an ongoing series at the Morgan Library & Museum; the current selections will be on view through July 10th. Interesting rotating exhibitions are on display all the time, highlighting a single theme, artist or epoch. But, luckily for us, the curators also turn their eyes to the permanent collection and choose works for display. These “treasure” shows change, but never fail to dazzle.

Beyond the temporary exhibitions galleries, visitors can step up a few stairs into the original 1906 building and enter a different realm. The rotunda gallery, with its marble columns, soaring domed ceiling and intricate mosaics, displays important historical letters and documents.

To the west, Pierpont Morgan’s red damask and bookshelf-lined study is filled with Renaissance paintings, lush furnishings, and most of all,

books. It’s fun to peer through latticefronted cabinets and spot early copies of famous novels or renowned scientific works. Capturing center stage, just below an imposing portrait of Morgan, is a stunning French, 15th century “Book of Hours,” opened to a page sure to enchant bibliophiles.

St. Luke in his study pens a script with one hand, and turns the pages of a book with another. The opulent volume whispers not just of its sacred messages but of the wealth of those who’ve possessed it.

The Vault Room, where things even more precious were once locked behind a thick steel door, is just off to the side and opened now, for curious eyes.

The North Room traces the written word back even further with a fascinating collection of cuneiform tablets, hieroglyph covered sculptures, and carved cylinder seals.

Probably the most breathtaking is the East Room, both for its beauty and for the riches within. Floor to ceiling shelves house the some of the rarest and most valuable books ever created.

The Morgan is the only institution in the world to own three Gutenberg Bibles. Printed in 1454-55, it’s the first major example of the use of moveable type, and the first mass produced book in the Western world. There are only 21 complete examples extant. One is on view, giving visitors the chance to stand before a book that, rather than recording human history, rewrote it.

Glass cases present original music scores by the likes of Mozart and Brahms; annotated, dedicated and doodled upon pages by famous novelists; medieval illuminated manuscripts with meticulously inked glories; and letters from kings and poets that speak of power and beauty.

Even amongst all these, the gem of Morgan’s collection is the Lindau Gospels, on display through May 1st.

Unlike any other, it’s an amalgam of styles, centuries, geographies and artists. Very few jeweled books remain intact. They were often looted or taken apart to adorn crowns or fingers. The back cover, made in the 8th century, is a masterpiece of metalwork presenting classic Celtic twisting abstracted

J.P. Morgan’s Study with a Book of Hours from c. 1460. Photo by Adel Gorgy animal forms. The text was penned by monks in the Carolingian period (800–924). The front cover, stunningly carved in gold, was designed not just to house or decorate a book, but to tell another version of its story. A peaceful, classically posed Jesus spreads his arms more in welcome than in pain or death. A cross surrounds, extending equally in four directions. It’s lavishly adorned with emeralds and sapphires, rubies and pearls and refers to the gates of Jerusalem and the shapes of cathedrals. Without words, it promises the

glories of heaven through the way of the church.

When he purchased it in 1901, Morgan paid a princely $50,000 for the Lindau Gospels. “No price is too high for an object of unquestioned beauty and known authenticity,” Morgan reportedly said. While many of today’s billionaires hide their wealth, as well as important examples of the world’s cultural heritage, in tax havens or anonymous freeports, thankfully, we can all visit Morgan’s Library and Museum whenever we want.

IF YOU GO Treasures from the Vault When: March 8 through July 10 Where; Morgan Library & Museum 225 Madison Ave. at 36th Street Tuesday through Thursday: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Friday: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. www.themorgan.org

APRIL 21-27,2016

RED BARN RISING

M AR B LE C OLLE GI ATE C HURCH

Diane Bish

TO DO Cornelia Parker’s Roof Garden Commission at The Met evokes cinema, art and, well, farmhouses

Host of The Joy of Music television series.

BY BRYTNIE JONES

The real world meets the imagination in “Transitional Object (PsychoBarn),” British artist Cornelia Parker’s installation for this summer’s Roof Garden Commission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Parker merged her idea to recreate a rural barn in an urban setting with her fascination with the architecture of the mansion in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film “Psycho.”

“The roof is such a gift to any artist. When I saw the space for the first time, I just couldn’t believe that this would be mine,” Parker said next to her creation on the Met’s roof Monday. “The thing that’s so brilliant about the roof is the view. How can you compete with the view of New York and Central Park?”

Atop the museum’s roof, overlooking Central Park and in contrast to the New York skyline, Cornelia Parker’s transitional object looks dreamlike.

Parker’s 30-foot tall recreation was also inspired by the familiar red barn as well as Edward Hopper’s painting “House by the Railroad.”

Parker is known for combining her fascination with materials and popular culture and by altering familiar objects to comment on the culture at large. “Transitional Object (PsychoBarn)” title alludes to the idea of children’s playthings, such as a teddy bear that helps a child develop independence, Parker said.

The piece has obvious similarities to a set piece on a movie lot, specifically to the Bates home in Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”

Parker’s piece is scaled down to two-thirds the size and is propped up with scaffolding and water tanks.

Parker’s piece — with its red siding, whitewashed posts, corrugated steel roofing and windows made from milking stools — is made of materials salvaged from three separate barns in upstate New York.

The juxtaposition of the barn materials and the piece’s cine-

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 7:30PM

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

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

ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

When God Isn’t Green: A World-Wide Journey to Places Where Religious Practice and Environmentalism Collide

THURSDAY, APRIL 21ST, 6PM NYU Bookstore | 726 Broadway | 212-998-4667 | bookstores.nyu.edu Author Jay Wexler talks about his travels from Singapore to Guatemala to the top of Alaska, and looks at how societies can balance religious freedom with environmental protection. (Free)

Hollywood in the New Cold War | Caught in the Crossfire: International Media and Politics

TUESDAY, APRIL 26TH, 4PM The New School | 55 W. 13th St. | 212-229-5108 | newschool.edu Catch a panel discussion and a screening of Forward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution, which explores the short-lived Grenada Revolution and Reagan’s 1983 intervention to end it. (Free)

Just Announced | LIVE from the NYPL: Helen Mirren

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27TH, 7PM Stephen A. Schwarzman Building | 476 Fifth Ave. | 917-275-6975 | nypl.org “Transitional Object (PsychoBarn)” seen from behind. Photo: Brytnie Jones

matic and art historical echoes simultaneously intrigue, puzzle and entice.

“Transitional Object (Psycho-

Barn)” is on view through October 31, weather permitting.

Oscar-winner Helen Mirren marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death at the NYPL, where she’ll reflect on her stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Bard’s unending influence. ($40)

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

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

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APRIL 21-27,2016

MAY 3-8, 2016 VIP PREVIEW MAY 3

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APRIL 21-27,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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CHEERING FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD WALKING & TALKING Covering ground, and shopping, Ken Roman

BY DAVID WILLIAMS

Ken Roman is the former CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, the advertising agency founded by David Ogilvy.

He joined the firm in 1963 and served as chairman from 1985 to 1989. After 26 years with the firm, he joined American Express in a senior communications role before becoming a consultant, board director and author.

Mileage covered: 2.2 miles Sunny, 28 degrees A certain famed, AMC series about the world of advertising at mid-century never comes up. During my 10028 and 10128 walk with the former advertising executive, Ken Roman, we talk about Carl Schurz Park (a lot), what’s changed for the good (also a lot), and the bad (one guess*) in the neighborhood.

But MAD MEN? Nah. I meet Ken in the lobby of his classic, 1929 apartment building that overlooks the southern end of Carl Schurz Park. He understands why we are meeting: to walk and talk as we set out on his rounds of a chilly, late winter morning. No cab. No car. No public transportation. Just the great New York mode of getting around: hoofing it.

Spend enough time in your community, especially once you’ve uncoupled from the moving target of a successful career, and those kids have kids of their own, you settle into a pattern.

Groceries here. Shoemaker there. Cortado up the next block.

If you are lucky enough to live near a city park, you evolve a pathway, desire lines of the familiar and the reassuring.

We walk out the door and head east.

“I always go this way. I’m such a big fan of the park and the neighborhood and I go around promoting it all the time. I’m a bloody bore! I’ve raised some money for the park (through the Carl Schurz Park Conservancy) and I keep feeding them ideas. “ (You can take the adman out of advertising but you can’t take the ...)

We turn to walk north along John Finley Walk, a cold wind blowing off the river.

We take a minute to check out the

smaller canine activity in the “SDR” (Small Dog Run) before we pause a moment in front of a park bench. On it is a plaque, carrying the words: “To Ken. Celebrating his love for this park.

From Ellen on his special birthday“ “I always walk and check what I consider ‘my’ garden’. I picked out a bench and (my wife) Ellen, as a birthday present, gave me one. And we wrote the inscription in such a way that other people would get the idea that they could give a bench,” he notes.

Like many caring citizens in this city who find it hard to abide the sight of litter, Ken straddles the iron fence above “his” bench to pluck litter from within the still-brown plants in the bed.

Back on the move, I ask Ken about the advertising business. The author of an authoritative book on the founder of the agency where he hung his hat, “The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising,” Ken speaks fondly of those glory days. And the profession as a whole.

“I LOVE the business. I loved working for an agency. Working with clients.

I like helping people. I like working with ideas. That’s the essence of the advertising business. I like working with bright interesting people who are always coming up with ideas. They were fun, they were funny, they were bright.”

I ask him whether he ever took that enthusiasm to the front of a classroom. Did he ever teach?

“We had major training programs (at the agency). It was in our lifeblood because David Ogilvy insisted upon it.

We had training programs in each office. We had training programs for regions. We had international training programs. We had training programs for our account people. For media people. For research people. For finance.

We had training programs for our major clients. “ Returning to limning the glories of Carl Schurz Park, and the good works of the Conservancy, “I tell people who I take on these walks that this park is maintained so beautifully because it’s all volunteers. I think that what (Conservancy volunteers) Pat Nadosy (she’s just a FORCE!) and Judy Howard and Ellen Halstead and Banford Weissmann do ... . It’s a model for me.

Volunteers take a responsibility for their neighborhood and have the government in some form help them. It’s a marvelous partnership. It would work everywhere.”

Ken Roman. Photo: David Williams By now we have reached the northern end of the 15-acre park, *the Waste Transfer Station, looming like the skeleton of a winter palace through the bare trees. “(This) leads me into the discussion of the Marine Transfer Station. The whole issue that every borough must take a responsibility I get. And the whole issue of not in my background yard. I don’t want it in my back yard.

I don’t want it in YOUR back yard. It should be in an industrial back yard.”

After half a block of stewing silence, we head across York Avenue.

“We’re going to go the Vinegar Factory. I worship at the altar of Eli Zabar.

I think he is a genius. I love going up there. I know every inch of the store.”

This is a one-item “round” for Ken. He has told me that the foodie within has been gently reined in by Ellen. I ask if she has sanctioned this visit.

“Yes. We have a very limited shopping list. We just came in from London …and I got up very early. I have been allowed to look for some special mel-

ons. “ Surprised to see that the footprint of his beloved Vinegar Factory has shrunk by about half since his last visit, it takes us a few minutes to get our bearings.

“We buy the breads here. I won’t buy any other kind of bread. I buy their soups. You freeze them. When we came back from London I went into the freezer: macaroni and cheese! Chicken pot pies were frozen.”

Before there was Seamless Web there was the Roman freezer.

Navigating the store’s altered retail landscape, Ken finds that the canary melon he is in search of is, alas, not to be found. A close second, a cavaillon melon ($5.99 a pound) will have to do.

Walking about the rest of the store to further see what has changed, Ken puts on the brakes at the now relocated cheese counter. Fearing he might have lost his zip code’s source of Irish cheddar, he is relieved to discover the Vinegar Factory still carries it.

His single item grocery list having

been padded with Irish cheddar, we hasten to the checkout: “We better get outta’ here before ... ” Ken’s rounds at an end, we retrace our steps back to his apartment. I suggest walking back a different route but no… circling back will afford another opportunity to duck into his beloved Carl Schurz Park.

“I hug the park,” he says, no doubt meaning both definitions of that term.

We speak a bit about the theater he and Ellen caught while in London.

Good: HANGMAN. Meh: LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES. Two blocks from his home, we detour a bit, around and through the park.

And shake hands as we end his rounds.

“I feel happy in my neighborhood. I feel happy in my home. I feel blessed to be here.”

I state the obvious: “You’re a very positive fellow, Ken Roman.”

He replies, also obviously: “Well, I’m a cheerleader!”

16

APRIL 21-27,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS APR 9 - 15, 2016

Hunan Bistro

96 3rd Ave

Grade Pending (60) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment.

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

Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.

Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed.

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

Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

5 Napkin Burger

150 East 14 Street

A

Schnitz

177 1St Ave

A

Cinema Village

22 East 12 Street

A

The Immigrant Nyc

341 East 9 Street

A

Prime & Beyond New York

90 East 10 Street

A

Fish Bar

237 East 5 Street

A

Professor Thom’s

219 2 Avenue

A

Shades Of Green

125 East 15 Street

A

Royal Bangladesh Indian Restaurant

93 1 Avenue

A

Stillwater Bar & Grill

7880 East 4 Street

Grade Pending (26) 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.

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

Nanoosh

111 University Place

A

Lui’s Thai Food

128 E 4th St

A

Joe Jr. Restaurant

167 3rd Ave

Grade Pending (21) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml.

North Square

103 Waverly Place

A

Subway

37 7 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.

Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.

Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Westville

246 West 18 Street

Grade Pending (17) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours.

Google-Truck Pit

111 8 Avenue

A

Flavors

100 West 23 Street

A

Serai

150 West 17 Street

A

Tuck Shop

75 9th Ave

A

Barrys Bootcamp

135 W 20th St

A

Beans & Greens Kosher

121 W 19th St

Not Graded (21) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.

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

Old Town Bar & Restaurant 45 East 18 Street

Grade Pending (17) Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Gramercy Cafe

184 3 Avenue

A

The Kitchen Sink

88 2 Avenue

A

Hot Kitchen

104 2 Avenue

Grade Pending (20) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Dorado

28 East 12 Street

A

Momofuku Ko

8 Extra Pl

A

Jack’s Sliders And Sushi

171 3 Avenue

A

Bingbox Snow Cream

125 2nd Ave

Not Graded (4)

Soho Tiffin Junction

42 E 8th St

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.

Jules Bistro

65 St Marks Place

A

Ennju

20 East 17 Street

A

Dunkin’ Donuts

40 Union Square East A

Hotel Tortuga

246 East 14 Street

A

Starbucks

491/2 1 Avenue

A

Sahara Citi Restaurant

137 East 13 Street

A

El Diablito Taqueria

60 East 3 Street

A

Fresh & Co

127 4h Ave

A

Desi Galli

172 Avenue B

Not Graded (2)

Tompkins Square Bagels

165 Avenue A

A

Cafe Silan

280 E 10th St

A

Kos Sushi

208 3rd Ave

Grade Pending (26) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

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. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

APRIL 21-27,2016

17

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Photo by Madeleine Thompson

CLOSING TIME FOR AN EAST SIDE INSTITUTION NEWS Yorkville Copy has been in the neighborhood for more than 50 years

BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

On a recent Monday afternoon, Liz Torres sat chatting with a customer in the cozy disarray of Yorkville Copy Services, on E. 84th Street and Lexington Ave. After 51 years at its current location, the shop finds itself with no choice but to move because it can’t afford to pay the nearly $30,000 in back taxes the building’s owner, the Parkoff Organization, is asking for.

“We’ve had numerous landlords … and three of them we never paid real estate taxes on because they never asked,” said Bill Torres, owner of Yorkville Copy, along with his wife Liz. Two of the landlords, including Parkoff, have asked him for real estate taxes, and he has paid. At his most recent lease renewal, however, Parkoff claimed that Torres owed $41,000 in real estate taxes from the decade before they bought the building in 2010, which they have since lowered to just under $30,000. Either way, Torres can’t afford it.

“They said they’ll include it in my rent,” he said, calculating that that would mean $1,500 extra on top of his monthly $5,835 rent. “I can’t do that.”

Torres is an East Side institution. His shop’s mom-and-pop charm and reputation for community engagement have been featured before in both Our Town and The New York Times. Torres got a job at the shop 51 years ago as part of his training at the New York School of Printing, and he has been there ever since. “They had a work

program that if your grades are high in your senior year … you can go out and work in the field,” he said. “So I got sent here and I started doing letterpress printing.” Asked if he likes the printing business, Torres said, “No, I love it.”

Though Bill and Liz live upstate, he grew up in the area and has long-term relationships with many of his neighbors and customers, who put together a book of tributes from the “Friends of Bill” (F.O.B) for his 60th birthday. He is a regular at parties in the building and a go-to guy when it comes to small repairs. “Whenever there’s a problem, everybody comes to Bill,” said Kathy Jolowicz, resident and founder of the East 84th Street Block Association, who has lived in the building since 1966. “It’s a family member that we’re losing.” Torres prints newsletters for the block association, and participates in a golf club with the shop’s neighbors.

Alexandra Self, who lives one building over, has been coming to Yorkville Copy for the last 20 years. “I come here because they’re excellent at what they do, but I like the feeling, the conversation, the upbeat stuff,” Self said. “If I want to find out what’s going on in my building I ask them.”

As she chatted with Liz, a U.S. postal worker came in to deliver the mail. When the subject of the store’s move came up she said, “Oh, don’t make me start crying.”

Torres said he has taken his case against Parkoff to court and that it is advancing to the state level. He does not have high hopes for a win.

At the very least, Torres has been looking at some promising rentals in the area, so he wouldn’t have to move too far from his community. “It’s just that nobody looks out for small businesses anymore,” he said.

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APRIL 21-27,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Business

In Brief RECORD JOB NUMBERS IN THE CITY A record 4.3 million jobs are on the books in New York City following the addition of 2,800 jobs in February, the city’s Economic Development Corp. reported.

Based on seasonally adjusted numbers for March 2016 by the state Department of Labor, participation in the labor force also reached a record 61.5 percent.

“We’re seeing very strong growth in good-paying, career track jobs,” the EDC quoted Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen as saying. “And the key investments we are making in targeted sectors like life sciences and advanced manufacturing are going to are going to ensure we deepen that inclusive growth.”

The city has added 254,900 jobs since January of 2014, when Mayor Bill de Blasio took office, representing an increase of 7.3 percent. Since then, significant gains have been made in the health care and social assistance sector, which added 48,000 jobs, and in the professional, scientific, and technical services area, which grew by 38,200 jobs, the EDC reported.

ASKING FOR SUBWAY SWIPE NO LONGER CAUSE FOR ARREST Asking for a subway swipe will no longer land you in jail on its own.

Last month, police stopped arresting those asking for a swipe and instead began issuing tickets or summonses, The New York Times reported.

The Times also cited a review of statistics and court records in reporting that city police made more than 10,000 arrests on swiping charges since 2013. This year alone, 800 arrests were made on swiping charges before the change, The Times reported.

An internal order to rank and file officers said the change followed the Manhattan District attorney’s office announcement that it would stop prosecuting people on minor charges, such as smoking in the subway, taking up two subway seats and so-called swipe begging.

The Times quoted Cyrus Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, as saying that the change would free police and other law enforcement from minor cases.

“And by reducing unnecessary incarceration, we make our criminal justice system fairer for all New Yorkers,” The Times quoted Vance as saying in a statement.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS LEGALIZED IN STATE New York became the last state in the nation to authorize competitive mixed martial arts when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that reversed what in effect was a nearly 20-year ban on the sport.

Cuomo’s office said mixed martial arts competitions would bring in more than $137 million in economic activity to the state’s economy and yield $5.4 million in taxes each year.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship, a leading promoter of mixed martial arts, announced a major pay-per-view event at Madison Square Garden scheduled for Nov. 12. A second event upstate will follow within a few weeks.

“It’s time to bring mixed martial arts competitions to the New York stage,” Cuomo said in a statement. “With venues like Madison Square Garden, New York truly is the international icon for great sporting events, and we’re excited to begin a new chapter of MMA in the Empire State. This legislation will make the sport a better sport for all involved, and bring new economic activity into arenas across the state, and I’m proud to sign it into law.”

About 66 MMA events are expected to place in the state each year, Cuomo’s office said.

VERIZON WORKERS STRIKE OVER PENSIONS AND LAYOFFS NEWS Installers, customer service employees affected

BY MICHAEL BALSAMO

About 39,000 Verizon landline and cable workers on the East Coast walked off the job after little progress in negotiations since their contract expired nearly eight months ago.

The workers, members of two unions -- the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers -- represent installers, customer service employees, repairmen and other service workers in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., for Verizon’s wireline business, which provides fixed-line phone services and FiOS Internet service.

“We’re on strike to maintain good jobs and maintain our standard of living,” said Keith Purce, president of CWA Local 1101 which represents about 3,500 workers in Manhattan and the Bronx.

Standing on a picket line in Manhattan with hundreds of union workers, Purce said they were prepared to stay out “as long as it takes.”

He said talks broke off last week and no new talks were scheduled.

Verizon spokesman Rich Young said the company was very disappointed that union leadership has called a strike.

He said it has trained thousands of non-union workers to fill in for striking workers and “we will be there for our customers.”

The workers’ latest contract expired in August.

The unions say Verizon wants to freeze pensions, make layoffs easier and rely

Photo by Thomas Altfather Good via flickr more on contract workers.

The telecom giant has said there are health care issues that need to be addressed for retirees and current workers because medical costs have grown and the company also wants “greater flexibility” to manage its workers.

“The company is being very stubborn about certain issues that are really important to us,” said Liz Null, a computer technician picketing in midtown Manhattan. “One that’s very important to me is the fact that they want to freeze our pension after 30 years of service. I just can’t believe that a company would penalize an older worker like that.”

Verizon also is pushing to eliminate a rule that would prevent employees from

working away from home for extended periods of time. In a television ad, the unions said the company was trying to “force employees to accept a contract sending their jobs to other parts of the country and even oversees.”

“The main issues are job security and that they want to move workers miles and miles away,” said Isaac Collazo, a Verizon employee who has worked replacing underground cables in New York City for nearly 19 years.

“We have a clause currently that they can’t just lay anyone off willy nilly and they want to get rid of that,” said Collazo, a single father of three children. “I feel if the company had the opportunity, they would just lay people off.”

But Young said the unions’ talk about offshoring jobs and cutting jobs is “absolute nonsense.”

“These contracts have provisions that were put in place decades ago. ... They need to take a look at where the business stands in 2016,” he added.

In August 2011, about 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike for about two weeks.

Verizon Communications Inc. has a total workforce of more than 177,000 employees. In its statement, the company said it had been willing to participate in mediation if the unions extended their strike deadline, but that the unions instead called a strike.

APRIL 21-27,2016

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Celebrating the 97th anniversary at Our Lady of Peace

NEW YORK INVALUABLES MY STORY

BY BETTE DEWING

Maybe it’s an improbable dream, but it would have been great if Senator Bernie (his last name is so formal) had put in a good word to Pope Francis about reopening Our Lady of Peace church. Its members have worked so long and hard to make it self-supporting for the next 10 years, and the pews were remarkably well-filled. Members have petitioned the Vatican for its reopening with all this information and according to church law.

And just maybe, Senator Bernie (and other wannabees) need informing or/and reminding how churches and synagogues serve the city, the nation, at large. I think, especially of 12 Step meetings often held there because these programs do such incalculable good, preventing booze-fueled violence, above all, including the drunk driving kind. These meetings potentially enable so much else which leads to a safe, healthy and even a solvent society.

Faith groups provide other support systems, too, especially but not only in the congregation, and in a society growing more impersonal, people Senator Bernie’s age and older often need them the most. New York had many more houses of worship when Senator Bernie lived here.

Again, a reminder of how Our Lady of Peace members have faithfully held services at 6 p.m. outside their church on East 62nd Street between Second and Third. And the church’s 97th anniversary was observed there the same day as the Democrat debates were held in New York.

And the next day Senator Bernie was off to the Vatican. I might add that the East Sixties Neighborhood Association has long been concerned and sent letters of support to Cardinal Dolan and the Vatican.

So Senator Bernie and even Pope Francis may need reminding how we can’t afford to lose any

more churches or synagogues, or for that matter, any more affordable neighborhood stores and eateries. Why even supermarkets like Gristedes are being replaced by luxury residential towers.

Now, isn’t that a kind of immoral economy both Pope Francis and Senator Bernie so strongly deplore?

And about that earlier noted safe and stable community, it so depends on those who put their lives on the line to ensure it, especially in high crime areas, But still they’re called racist and brutal. If ever there were an injustice, it’s how ignored and untold is the enormous overall good the great majority of police officers do, often at their peril, too often at their sacrifice. Too little considered is how police officers contend with the worst elements of the human condition. They also deal with the very grim and tragic all too frequent traffic tragedy scenes.

And that reminds me that only through a Governor Kasich campaign ad did I learn that both his parents were killed by a car driven by a drunk driver. But why, or why, are these so preventable terrible deaths not widely remembered and publicly decried and denounced? Ah, and whatever happened to the 2007 Vatican decree against road rage and all manner of traffic crimes? Yes, there was such a right-to-life movement, Virginia.

And doesn’t all this somehow relate to the Passover Festival which begins Friday, April 22 at sundown? A time to be grateful for the deliverance we have from so many evils, for those who provide that protection, and, of course, for faith groups which also benefit the communityat-large in so many “love thy neighbor” ways.

And here’s to leaders with the vision to see what makes a just and caring society, and the knowhow to bring it about. It’s up to you and me, too.

It’s up to you and me, too. dewingbetter@aol.com

APRIL 21-27,2016

21

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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

YOUR 15 MINUTES

AN ATMOSPHERE OF ACCEPTANCE The director of Accessibility Programs at Theatre Development Fund is enhancing the experience for theatergoers on the autism spectrum

BY ANGELA BARBUTI

The Theatre Development Fund is best known by New Yorkers and tourists alike for its TKTS Discount Booths in Manhattan. What people may not know is that besides their commitment to making theater affordable, the organization is going above and beyond to make it accessible to all.

As director of TDF Accessibility Programs, Lisa Carling has spent 30 years aiding those with mobility issues and providing sign-language-interpreted and open-caption performances for those with hearing and vision loss.

It was because of her work with disabled students that teachers reached out, expressing a need for programming for their autistic students. For two years, she consulted with parents, teachers and therapists with this goal in mind. In 2011, with the unwavering support of Disney Theatrical Group, the Autism Theatre Initiative launched with a sensory-friendly production of “The Lion King.”

Since then, ATI has held 16 performances, including a non-musical, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” which also proved to be a success. On April 24, the group will complete its fifth season of autismfriendly performances by attending a matinee of “The King and I” at Lincoln Center Theater. “’The King and I’ will have an honest appeal to families, parents and grandparents which addresses the importance of the whole family being able to go and do something together in a supportive environment,” Carling said.

Parents regularly send overwhelmingly positive feedback about their experience at the shows. Carling explained one touching letter she received from a mother who said, “I’m sitting in a theater with 2,000 people whom I don’t know, but I feel that we are all one family.”

How long have you been with the organization?

I’ve been with TDF for 30 years, hard

to believe. I came from theater, divorced and had a young child to raise.

I saw a classmate of mine from drama school at St. Bartholomew Church’s coffee hour. And I said, “Help, Barbara, I need a job.” And she said, “There’s an opening at TDF. They need a parttime receptionist.” So I took it. And then there was an opening in the accessibility department and I moved into that. My boss there left and so I took over and loved the work. It was a way of being involved in theater and working to the good. And I have seen so many things change. There’s always something more to be done.

When I first began working there, we helped with general accessibility, people with mobility issues, and then the sign language-interpreted performances, that was in the eighties.

And in the nineties, I was able to help with open-caption performances for people with hearing loss. And then, in 2011, autism-friendly performances. I helped design TDF’s Autism Theatre Initiative.

How did Autism Theatre Initiative come about?

The teachers primarily. We had very successful programs, open-caption, sign-language interpreting, bringing kids with hearing loss to Wednesday matinee performances. The same for kids who are blind or have low vision.

And the special ed teachers were saying, “What can we do for my class, all these children on the autism spectrum?” And that was a challenge. It took us a good two years to figure out how best to make Broadway accessible to those children. And after talking to parents, teachers, therapists and the one Broadway producer that stepped up to the plate and really seemed interested in helping solve this, Disney Theatrical. We realized that a designated performance, not on sale to the general public, for families was the best way to go. Because this was very much an atypical audience and that was the way we could provide a supportive, judgment-free environment for them.

How did Disney Theatrical help start this?

They were willing to take a chance.

And that’s what we did with “The Lion King” back on October 2, 2011. And we

didn’t even know if we should sell the whole house, but we decided to sell every ticket. There was concern about press or not and what it would be like.

And it was a fantastic success. This was very much for families. A third of the audience was people with autism.

Disney Theatrical has been behind this effort from the get go and very generous in their accommodations.

An example is that we have talkbacks after “The Lion King” and “Aladdin.”

They are more than happy to do this and will assign one of the Disney teaching artists to help with the Q&A.

How are the shows modified and changed to accommodate your guests?

There are modifications with sound, capping any intense sound levels at 90 decibels. Modifications in lighting.

Are there any strobe lights or lights that pan out into the audience? Eliminating those if possible. And then also, if there’s any audience interaction with the actors. If you have actors on stage who come down into the audience and want to choose audience members and bring them up on stage, we ask that that is cut. That would put people in the community in a very uncomfortable position. We emphasize keeping the script the same, the modifications slight, and making it the same great performance that typical audiences are seeing. We’re not interested in a watered-down version. We want our attendees to experience the same great show that their neighbors have been able to go to.

The first non musical you offered was “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”

Oh yes, what a powerful play. We were somewhat reluctant to do that because it was the first play we did.

And we weren’t sure how it would go over with our audience, but it resonated so deeply. It also enabled us to bring in an older audience, college students, young adults and parents with middle-aged children on the autism spectrum. So it was so worth doing and such a unique piece. Really the connection the audience felt with Christopher on stage was overwhelming. When we do our cast and house staff training we try to prepare the actors for what it’s going to be like, and we always say, “You will hear sounds

Photo: David LeShay that you’re not used to, could be clapping or laughing at unexpected places.

Answering back questions, you know, if an actor asks another actor on stage a question, you might very well hear a response coming from one of our audience members.” It was that kind of engagement with “Curious Incident,” where our audience was really riveted by that show. And it was deeply moving for the cast as well.

What has been some touching feedback you’ve gotten?

Over the past five years, we hear from parents pretty consistently. They write in that it means so much to them that they’re free to be themselves.

We hear this again and again from parents. We hear how special these

events are to families. One mom wrote in about “Aladdin,” “We’ll never be able to celebrate graduations or weddings with our son, but we will always be able to celebrate this day being the day that we were all able to come to ‘Aladdin’ together as a family.”

For more information on Autism Theatre Initiative or to sign up to hear about upcoming autism-friendly performances and on-sale dates, go to: www.tdf.org/

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

“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.

APRIL 21-27,2016

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24

APRIL 21-27,2016

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THE M NEW ET'S MODE

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His Eminence Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan

Dr. Maura D. Frank Gustavo Goncalves

Just $49

James Grant Paul Gunther

Harris Healy

Susan H enshaw Jones

Mallory Spain

CELEBR BEST OF ATTHING THE EAST SIDE E UPPER Dr. David Thomas

Bett y Cooper Wallerstein

IS THE LUX SLOWING DURY MARKET OWN?

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UP TH NG MET'SE TEMPL E

, ma fen t The Am lands ke up the groPark, amon ders cap g erican BY GABRIELLE Histor Hilderbr e archit up. The pro othALFIER Mu y ec O hood for is tapping seum of Na ings, wh and will tu re fir m ject’s int also att Reed ich be that wi a communit o the neightural “It en gin portionll weigh in on y working bor- wo ’s always be on March d meet4. rk with group en where of Theodo the redesignCITY the com our inten AR the TS re ob the tion to munit jectiv museu Roosevel of a wo , P.1 quartery to t uld lik2 > es of wh m at the achieve e to do posed acre of gre pla ns to Park, the mu us expan en spa ne sion. ce for e a as thi eds of the and make su seum Frien a procom re s profit ds of Roose Dan Sli project mo munity are that vel ves for met the cit that manage t Park, the ernme ppen, vice wa y’s presid rd,” said nt relati mu seu Parks De s the park non- thi ent of on nk pa wi m, s tha rtm at th all govthe mu t what with the wi ll co y sol -chair ent and the we’re seu museu the gr m. Blo we alw idifying, in doing now m. “I ou ck ass a ays int is ociation p ended.”way, efforts res, CO that NT

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to hav e is the sixthin the city. past thre been hit by a person car in the to The ee days alone. least 20New York Tim According cyclists pedestrians es, at have bee and thr accidents ee n kill more tha so far this ed in traffic VOL. 2, yea n ISSUE been inju 900 pedest r, and 08 rians hav It’s demred. e of victim oralizing. If fam s, ilies heighten a devoted mayor and a dent in ed awarenes the proble s can’t ma Amid the ke m, wh at can?

New Yor carnage, Immedia kers once agathough, hit, bys tely after Da in rallied.

A CASI group tanders ran to uplaise was MANH NO IN managof them, workin try to help. in hopesed to flip the carg together, A < BUSI ATTAN? of NESS, on res its cuing Unfor sid P.16 She wa tunately, it didDauplaise. e, Bellevues pronounced n’t work.

The a short wh dead at citizensefforts of our ile later. fell to hearten save a str ow us, despit anger sho recklessn uld e who con ess of a danthe continued a place tinue to makegerous few THE SE of traged our street y.

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SHELTER HOMELES RACE S RS

First, obvious: let’s start wit condition h the city’s hom s inside thi disgrace. eless shelte rs are as A ser one mo ies of terrible (includinre horrible tha crimes, month g the killing n the last of ear lier this daugh a woman has higters in Statenand her two hlighted Island), living con the the ma ditions for shameful cities inrgins of one ofpeople at Blasio, the world. Ma the richest wh yor o has bee Bill de his app from theroach to homn halting in has final beginning elessness proble ly begun to of his term, from thim, but years ofaddress the others, s administra neglect, tion and will take But years to correct. recent none of that exc office grandstanding uses the appareof Gov. Andrew by the Cuomo, he can’tntly sees no iss who In the try to belittl ue on which attempt governor’s late the mayor. officials at a hit job, est sta compla then pro ined te Post, abomptly to the to the city, homele ut a gang New York alleged ss shelter, purape at a city VOL. 77 had tim event before blicizing the , ISSUE pol e 04 As it turto investigate ice even ned out, it. never hap the officials pened, infuriaincident media hitwho called it ting city a ” “po aim the mayor ed at em litical . More cha barrassin counter-c rges and g THfolElow the me harges Dicken antimeA , of cou ed. In Tditrse men, wosian livingR OionF, the con in New men D kidsIM s for Yor andEN Here’s k goe s on. in shelters CITY ARTS, leadershi hoping tha t som P.2any eday our as intere p in Alb 0 as it is in sted in helpinwill become back fro agains scoring pol g them t sit itical poi 17 fee m FDR Drour ive byting mayor. nts t 16 to out of and raise

IN CEN KIDS AGTARIAL PARK, WEIGHI NST DOCNAl NG LiDnTtRo UMnP WEEK OF JA NUARY-FEBR UARY 28-3 MOVING FO R A GUIDE TO CAMP

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BUILDING, WARD ON THE DESPITE C ONCERNTSIN 3 Top Arts 8 Re 5 10 15 al Estate Minutes

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PAGE 9

it on the floo as red d plain, e foot uc building e the heigh as well three. from four t of the storie HAPP s to The ref urbishe would SNOWY LITTLE d sit FLAKES pier pil atop newl bu ild ing y food ma ings and restored Reme board co Transpa officia sio’s fi mber Mayo Jean-G rket overseenntain a expre ls, but rst r Bil eorge linger ov rency concer by sse me W ch Th s Vong hat a winter in his l de Blaef mbers e pr ns develop d concern dif fer redeveloper Howard Hu new years the de oposal also erichten. er ’s vis s that the ence Se ma molit ca lls a coup job?

Seaport ment plans ghes’ pieapor t is be ion for th Ho ion for Hit wi kes. le of for the ing e tw use and Lin of the He ceme after th a snow ad o dil k Bu compre al instead relea sed sto tak new ma ing off ice rm shortly of in on adjacen apidated str ild ing, hensive Howa

BY DAN t e in pro uc The new would yor fumble in 2014, th IEL FIT front ofto the Tin Bu tures CB1’s rd Hughes posal. d in a wa ZSIMM e co Jan. 19 ly restored me Pie ild joi ONS Re half of ing r 17. to The joi cen Tin presen South nt La nd mamet with his ter define th y that nt La nd tation Building, as by the tly announ Stree un So rk e m. to Comm fi ut fir s lle envisio ced Ho h ma Ce Po an t Seap st d.

Stree nter d Ce plans poration ward Hu ned unity Bo storm Official wa tholes we t Seap rks and nter gh pla ns on Jan. 19 or t/Civic nt ’s ard 1. in Howard Hu at the for the Tin es Corfor th to unve Residen severity wernings on the a resolucomm ittee or t/Civic ghes a fou e s passe re mu ts in ne re ce iveSouth Stree Building r-s tory Tin Build il the pr tion in did dd igh d n’t led t supp structur ing bo op prov al d preli mi Seaport plaine vote for de rhoods tha . e at thelandm arke , of Howa osal, but req or t of na co d from being that their strBlasio com-t comm ry ap - Hording to the Seaport. Acd pla n for rd Hughes uested plo un ity a was lat wed -- a eets weren - ing wa rd Hu gh presentation - the Seap redevelopmmaster su ’t es ort , wo to mo tion-trucer proven spicion tha ve the is propos uld inc as a whole ent at ou t Tin Bu , wh lude the This k GPS data. t by sanitailding compa ich new detime aroun ny’s CONTINU d, ED ON ch arge Blasio seem an entirely PAGE 5 was for . Before th ed to be Sanitati e storm in ceful, Ins on bu tea , t no he d architect Dept. build closin of jumpin t panicke d. g g storm ure, is press ing, praised waited subways or the gun an ed into for d service its then ac for the storm schools, he during detectedted decisive to develop the , We do a sense of huly. We even n’t wa mor in The bu cre nt it all dit tha to give

BY DEE to life ilding looks him mo . someth n is due, PTI HAJ , all re bu ELA ing can loo angles an like a mode t there about seeme rn d wa thi d nation k bluish or gra edges, with art painting New Yo to bring ou s storm tha s t rkers. t the be in any of the three. yish or wh concrete wa come On Su itish, or settin lls st of functi g, but It would be some that alpine nday, the cit an no on pounds it was cre ne more tha unusual str combiskiers vil lage. Cr y felt like an ate uc of the n rock sal d for --- sto the fairly pro ture snow plied the pa oss-cou nt ry rin t bo sai tha rks g CONTINU c tho t the cit hot ch ots and pa , people y’s De usands of ED ON ololat rkas ord in partm PAGE 29 wi es, th su ered kid ent of of sledd nburned fac s came home es after ding.

There a day tent. Qu were pock ets the plo eens reside of disco nand elew trucks by nts felt th at the sch cted offici passed them, als closed ools should there sa id for ha But ov another da ve stayed %TGCVKX just en erall, consid y.

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FOR PARK REDESIGN

Bu On Sa 13 10 15 siness

BY EM ILY TOW parishioturday mo Minutes 16 NER rn and low ners, comm ing, archit 19 ered in er Manhatt unity me ects, mb vision St. Paul’s Ch an residents ers for Tr ap gat el hto discu inity Ch building ss urch’s The ex . new pa the rish Place acr isting bu ild been cle oss from Tr ing, on Tr inity inity Ch ared for 1923, urc de it the chu no longer sermolition. Buh, has tower rch and the ves the ne ilt in wi com ed The we ll be built in munity. A s of new in a ser ekend me its place. eti — collabies of commu ng was the needs orative for nity “charr fifth an um ett the low d wants of s to addre es” a whole er Manhatt the church ss the and an com .

“In ou munit of r y initial as about charr buildinghow we wa ettes we talked for the to be a homented th is pa hood,” homeless an for the spi rish rit fer, Tr said the Re d for the neigh ual, v. Dr. Wi ini bor“We tal ty Wall Street lliam Lu ked ’s prector What ab . they wo out minis try act look,” uld be ivi Lu marke pfer said. , how they ties. wo t underst study in ord“We condu uld cte desires and neighbo er to objec d a dream as well as rhood needtively s.” parish s and He sai hopes and sion em d the churc tality braces a ph h communit The can tha ilo ride in coming t is “open sophy for y’s viCe carouseldidate’s owne ho , flexibl .”

On the ntral Park.

“We wa e and spifamilia puts New Yo rship of the wela white wall next to nt it street r bind rkers in , access to be visiblP.9 > that rea placard wi the entrance a Gemm ible to e from the com and Re ds, “Trum th red letter is well, a Whitema the CONTINU p Ca munit gulat ing who we n and ind It’s y,

BY DAN Engla ED ON Joel Ha re on lat icatio ions” -- rousel Ru PAGE 6 weekd e afternoon IEL FITZSIMM presid ns that Do one of the les day, nd and rode vacation uxONS ay, an on only sai the en fro nald a mi tial d lining opera bearing d they notic carousel Mo m up to pakids and tou ld winter tes the candidate, J. Trump, ed the Trum ntially ow car ris y Tr $3 for “It p’s ns an placar New Yo a qu ts are see um p’s po ousel. d ma was in my name.

OurTown d rk mo lit ics ping int n, he ment: intesenDowntow wh ad o the car have be 20gav a carou weigh 16 e he en asked ,” said Wh n gu sel an aft a deep ernoo ousel, as rid n in En r pause. “H if the realiz iteOTDOW O n esc ly divisiv gla ati ers e’s NTOW like, ‘Do nd, so in my not very lik on e candid ape again N.COM st he ed I want ate.

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BY DAN trend 14’s 67 shu 0 percent s to the New Yorworst and the IEL FIT ey on Mak has been ap toffs. increa ZSIMM takeo An So far pears to be Monday k were both best of ONS ut tha spending mid-d in 2016 increa d the upwa se on displa mo mo issert n acc mid a the sin re rd docto ording y town. rning on 36th mong eve re ha ation is worki Street in ng at lea , and her ne rate stude “Since to the DO ve been 157 n more: Ca rol “A lot nt B. Da shu w rice st as uplaise, toffs, noticing the spring owner cooker to eat of it is just ou hard. the a no gas, a lot of pe of last year crossingof a jewelry com 77-year-o cook at lot more,” t of pocket, op we sta going rted water either cookin le coming Street Madison Av pany, was ld steam home it’s jus said Mak. “W ,” out in ing an said Donna g gas or he that had when a during the mo enue at 36th cally.” things with t a rice cooker hen we at livery-cab rning rus it, or ma Ameri d commun Chiu, direct and hot cor . You can ner h dri ity or can La st Se and hit ke rice, her. ver turned the Chiu cal s For Equa ser vices forof housptemb The basihundred er Asian said AA led the inc lity. arresteddriver of the car no natur s of others her bu ild ing ing an FE is worki rease “freak pedest for failing to was joi ned an ins al gas, cut across the d pe off town almost a dong with Ma ish,” and been citrian, and cop yield to a Building ction blitz by Con Ed city with an ser vic d the Lowe zen others k’s buildtraffic vioed for at leasts say he had a month s that bega by the city’sison after es.

10 oth lations advocat And Ch r East Side in ChinaIt sin wa East Vil after a fat n last April, Dept. of iu, lik ce 2015. er es, ha al ga e ma to restor exp les litany ofs but the latest lage tha s t claim s explosion s than lon loitation by witnessed ny housinge that hav traffic deaths in a sad ed two bu g servic in the a lives. e interr ilding owne pattern of Mayor e lingered on, and injuries rs wh uptions curb traBill de Blasio’s despite CONTINU in an eff o proffic crashe efforts ort to ED ON Da to uplais s PA

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accuse capita d of overleve l. very James Beninati anraging invest lions aftCabrera, we d his partn or re

BY DAN Antar er the firm sued for mier, The Ba IEL FIT es ZSIMM condo uhouse Gr assets was stripp ’s collapse, lONS and ou ed of mo in p’s 90 the lat project on A rep the late-a st of its 0-foo Sutto n Place t the Ba resentative ughts. velopmeest lux ur y res for uhouse fundin nt to suffer idential is a req Group Beninati an ue de g, fro did st for d - tim as inv ingly comm not return estors m a lack of e. wary ent by are inc of fin at the Sto press rea ler an top a surpl end of the cing projec s- Deal ne also spok outlookus in inven market du ts a notic wspaper las e to the Re tor e will ma on whether y and a tep to ap ar tmeable decre t month ab al ase out affluent terialize id lig en News buyer hted ma t sa les, whin high-end down of s the roa the 80 rke ich hig squa re avera d.

-st ge nu t data tha hmb April, foot propo or y, 260,0 t apart ments er of days said the an 00 squat d sent the sa l broke las spent in new for-sa neigh and sleepy comparative t perce on the marke developme le VOL. 42 bo nt munit rhood int Sutton Pla ly and the between t increased nts , ISSUE o the y 47 en 09 tions, Board 6 vo a panic. Co ce “E very d of last yea end of 20 man ice 14 on d r. d Council e’s a its ob Kallos Stoler lit jec the bu came out str member Be - $2,50 told TRD. “W tle worri ed ilding 0 ’s heigh ongly again n lende [per square ith anything ,” plicat ions. rs are t and soc st at foo t] ver or But it Stoler ial imtold thi y cautious.” more, opposit wa sn’t jus s ne wspape house ion workingt commun CONTINU r that ED ON Mi aelprincipal Jo against Baity PAGE 5 seph u20ch Sto ne r16 at the ler, a mana Beninati.

Jewish invest ging pa son Re wome me n and the wo backg alty Capital, nt firm Ma rtgirl rld by rou lighting s light up candle tares Inv nd also plasaid Beninatidis every the Sha yed bbat Friday 18 min a role. ’s Benin estment Pa eve utes bef < NEW An ati co Friday ore sun ning -foundertners, the fi schoo S, Ma set. l rm P.4 For mo rch 11 – 5:4 boast classmate thad with a pre 1 pm. re info ed $6 rm www.c billion t at one po p habadu ation visit int in ass pperea ets, wa stside.co s m.

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Our To wn ha The pa s much 2016, per celebrat to be thank an OTTY d this we es its 45th ful for. ek Award anniv made ersary winnershonors its a un lat The OT ique differe , noting pe est group in ople wh of nce on You -- TY award the o ha s ha munit ve always -- short for OuUpper East ve Sid be y strong. service, an en a reflect r Town Th e. d this anks year’s ion of deep Our ho list is parti combusiness norees inc cularly owners lude co heroe mm an s.

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