Our Town Downtown - May 18, 2017 by OurTown Downtown

The local paper for Downtown wn

WEEK OF MAY

BRAVE NEW FASHIONS

18-24

◄ P. 12

2017

DINING FOR DOLLARS INVESTIGATION Where Manhattan politicians court donors and raise campaign cash BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN

The intersection of Whitehall Street with State Street and Water Street in the Financial District includes an “exclusive pedestrian phase” signal that stops traffic for pedestrians in all directions. Photo: Michael Garofalo

DANCING IN THE STREETS? SAFETY DOT to study “pedestrian scramble” crossing model at dangerous intersections BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

Pedestrian safety advocates are hoping that a new law will bring an old way of crossing the street back into vogue. If the legislation’s supporters get their wish, pedestrians walking diagonally from corner to corner while vehicles are stopped in all directions could soon become a common sight at some of Manhattan’s busiest intersections. Legislation passed unanimously by the City Council last week requires the Department of Transportation to explore the implementation of Barnes Dance crossings at high-crash intersections. Under the Barnes Dance crossing model, also

The path to grasping and retaining political power in New York City has long plowed through such sumptuous and moneyed Manhattan haunts as the Regency and the Harvard Club, the 21 Club and the Union

League Club, Jean Georges and Il Mulino. It still does, of course. Pols will always court the uber-rich and venture into their lairs for donations. No sea change has taken place. Probably, it never will. For all his down-with-the plutocrats posturing, even Mayor Bill de Blasio is not immune from their blandishments. In fact, his reelection campaign held a private fundraising event at the Robert De Niro-owned Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca in March 2016, spending $1,895 at the restaurant, according to its ﬁlings with the city’s

To see the interactive map, read this article on otdowntown.com.

commonly referred to as a pedestrian scramble, traffic signals include a phase that halts vehicles in all directions, allowing walkers to cross intersections as they please. “One in four of the crashes that kill or seriously injure people happens in the crosswalk when the pedestrian or the bicyclist has the right of way,” Council Member Helen Rosenthal, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a telephone interview after the legislation was passed. “As I learned about the different street engineering ideas, the Barnes Dance stood out as something that could make a real difference addressing exactly this problem.” The Barnes Dance takes its name from Henry Barnes, who served as New York City’s traffic commissioner in the 1960s and implemented the signal pattern

8 3

7 4 2 1

Maureen Eng Campaign Finance Board. Then last November, it paid $266 for an unspecified political meeting at Keens Steakhouse, the eatery at 72 West 36th Street, founded in 1885, that still boasts of the old-line conservatives like J.P. Morgan

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

DOWNTOWN ESTABLISHMENTS USED FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES

You can raise money just as easily at a humble diner as you can at a four-star restaurant.”

15 13 11 10

1. Les Halles 2. Barleycorn Craft Bar & Grill 3. Gee Whiz Diner 4. Tribeca’s Kitchen 5. Amazing 66 6. Joy’s Flower Pot 7. City Hall Restaurant 8. Greenwich Hotel 9. City Winery 10. Le Philosophe 11. Astor Wine & Spirits 12. Il Mulino 13. Il Cantinori 14. Balade Restaurant 15. Good Stuff Diner 16. The Brass Monkey 17. Brooks Brothers Red Fleece Café

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 GRAPHICS: CHRISTINA SCOTTI; MAP DATA: GOOGLE MAPS Downtowner

OurTownDowntown

O OTDOWNTOWN.COM @OTDowntown

Crime Watch Voices NYC Now City Arts

3 8 10 12

Restaurant Ratings Business Real Estate 15 Minutes

14 16 17 21

WEEK OF APRIL

SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12

FOR HIM, SETTLING SMALL CLAIMS IS A BIG DEAL presided over Arbitration Man has three decades. for informal hearings about it He’s now blogging BY RICHARD KHAVKINE

is the common Arbitration Man their jurist. least folks’ hero. Or at Man has For 30 years, Arbitration court office of the civil few sat in a satellite Centre St. every building at 111 New Yorkers’ weeks and absorbed dry cleaning, burned lost accountings of fender benders, lousy paint jobs, and the like. And security deposits then he’s decided. Arbitration Man, About a year ago, so to not afwho requested anonymity started docuhe fect future proceedings, two dozen of what menting about compelling cases considers his most blog. in an eponymous about it because “I decided to write the stories but in a I was interested about it not from wanted to write from view but rather lawyer’s point of said Arbitration view,” of a lay point lawyer since 1961. Man, a practicing what’s at issue He ﬁrst writes about post, renders and then, in a separatehow he arrived his decision, detailing blog the to Visitors at his conclusion. their opinions. often weigh in with get a rap going. I to “I really want whether they unreally want to know and why I did it,” I did derstood what don’t know how to he said. “Most people ... I’d like my cases the judge thinks. and also my trereﬂect my personalitythe law.” for mendous respect 80, went into indiMan, Arbitration suc in 1985, settling vidual practice

9-16

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

2015

In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS

The effort to help small seems to businesses in the city be gathering steam. Two city councilmembers, Robert Margaret Chin and Cornegy, have introduced create legislation that wouldSmall a new “Office of the within Business Advocate” of Small the city’s Department Business Services. Chin The new post, which have up told us she’d like to would and running this year, for serve as an ombudsman city small businesses within them clear government, helping to get through the bureaucracy things done. Perhaps even more also importantly, the ombudsman and number will tally the type small business of complaints by taken in owners, the actions policy response, and somefor ways to recommendations If done well, begin to fix things. report would the ombudsman’s give us the first quantitative with taste of what’s wrong the city, an small businesses in towards important first step fixing the problem. of for deTo really make a difference, is a mere formality will have to the work process looking to complete their advocate are the chances course, velopers precinct, but rising rents, -- thanks to a find a way to tackle business’ is being done legally of after-hours projects quickly. their own hours,” which remain many While Chin “They pick out boom in the number throughout who lives on most vexing problem. said Mildred Angelo,of the Ruppert construction permits gauge what Buildings one said it’s too early tocould have the 19th floor in The Department of the city. number three years, the Houses on 92nd Street between role the advocate She Over the past on the is handing out a record work perThird avenues. permits, there, more information of Second and an ongoing all-hours number of after-hours bad thing. of after-hours work the city’s Dept. problem can’t be a said there’s with the mits granted by nearby where according to new data jumped 30 percent, This step, combinedBorough construction project noise Buildings has data provided in workers constantly make efforts by Manhattan to mediate BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS according to DOB of Informacement from trucks. President Gale Brewer offer response to a Freedom classifies transferring they want. They knows the the rent renewal process, request. The city They 6 “They do whatever signs Every New Yorker clang, tion Act go as they please. work between some early, tangible small any construction on the weekend, can come and sound: the metal-on-metal or the piercing of progress. For many have no respect.” p.m. and 7 a.m., can’t come of these that the hollow boom, issuance reverse. owners, in business moving The increased beeps of a truck has generto a correspond and you as after-hours. soon enough. variances has led at the alarm clock The surge in permits

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

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

n OurTownDowntow

COM

Newscheck Crime Watch Voices

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

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

12 13 14 18

CONTINUED ON PAGE

We deliver! Get Our Town Downtowner sent directly to your mailbox for $49 per year. Go to OTDowntown.com or call 212-868-0190

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

CROWDFUNDING PSYCHEDELICS HEALTH NYU researchers are studying psilocybin’s use in treating depression and alcoholism BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center are turning to the public to support clinical research on the use of psychedelic drugs for treating anxiety, depression and addiction. Fundamental, a crowdsourcing campaign based in New York, recently began efforts to fund ongoing studies at the forefront of psychedelic medicine, including two at NYU Langone. The campaign has raised over $18,000 of its $500,000 goal since it launched on May 9. One of the NYU studies, led by Dr. Michael Bogenschutz, aims to explore the use of psilocybin — the psychedelic compound found in so-called “magic” mushrooms — in treating alcoholism. Bogenschutz hopes to build on an earlier study he conducted, which found that alcoholic patients consumed alcohol less frequently and in lesser quantities after a 12-week course of therapy accompanied by

two psilocybin sessions. The followup study is underway at NYU and partially funded; Fundamental aims to deliver the remaining funding required to complete the study. Though the research is promising, funding studies through conventional avenues has proven difficult. Most medication development research is funded by the pharmaceutical industry or the federal government, primarily through the National Institutes of Health. Pharmaceutical companies have shied away from funding studies exploring drugs like psilocybin and LSD because securing exclusive marketing rights for the drugs would likely prove elusive. Additionally, research suggests that patients treated with psychedelics may experience longterm benefits after only a handful of treatments. “It’s hard to see how you would make money off of a drug that people only have to take a couple of times,” Bogenschutz said. The NIH often plays a role in funding research of potential value that, for lack of profit motive or other reasons, is not pursued by the private market — an umbrella that studies like those at NYU would seem to fit comfortably under, were it not for most psyche-

delic drugs’ Schedule I status under federal law. By definition, Schedule I drugs have a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use, and lack evidence of safety when used under medical supervision. NIH has been reluctant to commit public funds to researching substances that are scheduled and, in some circles, remain controversial due to lingering cultural stigma dating to the Wild West days of psychedelic use in the 1960s. “The fact of the matter is that classic hallucinogens like psilocybin are not addictive,” Bogenschutz said. He added that psychedelics are not without dangers and can be abused, but that such risks are mitigated in the controlled settings in which clinical studies are performed. Due to these roadblocks, researchers exploring potential clinical applications for psychedelic drugs have had to turn to alternative sources like nonprofits and private donors to support their work. These barriers to traditional funding sources prompted Rodrigo Niño to launch Fundamental. As the CEO of the Prodigy Network, a real estate development firm based in the Financial District, Niño raises money from the public to fund commercial real estate

Psilocybe semilanceata, aka magic mushrooms and liberty caps. Researchers at New York University would like to explore the ability of psilocybin to treat alcoholism. Photo: Patrick Ullrich, via Wikimedia Commons ventures. Niño was inspired to apply the crowdfunding model to funding psychedelic research after a cancer scare, during which he discovered the beneﬁts of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic brew that is a traditional medicine used by indigenous peoples of the Amazon, in easing his anxiety. “This crowdfunding campaign is not only about raising funds, but it’s also in many ways about raising awareness, and I think that’s the big difference between this funding campaign and others,” said Ismail Ali, a policy fellow with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a

nonprofit organization that is sponsoring one of the studies Fundamental will support. “The Fundamental project is really geared toward the public, which is really cool because it not only involves the public in supporting this amazing, innovative research, but it also gets a lot of information out which otherwise might have been contained within our networks.” “I think it’s brilliant to see a way to go outside of those usual structures and go directly to people who have an interest in this work and have some means to contribute,” Bogenschutz said.

)XOO 6HUYLFH 'HQWDO 2ɝFH Emergencies Promptly Seen Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics State-of-the-art Location with Comfortable Amenities

GoDental365.com Additional locations in Union Square and the Upper West Side, Park Slope, Brooklyn, Maspeth, Queens and Long Island.

Now Open in Tribeca! 19 Murray St, New York, NY | 212-941-9095 between Church St and Broadway

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st precinct Week to Date

Year to Date

2017 2016

% Change

2017

2016

% Change

Murder

n/a

Rape

-100.0

20.0

Robbery

-100.0

-5.0

Felony Assault

-75.0

-4.0

Burglary

-50.0

-58.3

Grand Larceny

-6.7

316

370 -14.6

Grand Larceny Auto

n/a

-25.0

photo by Tony Webster via ﬂikr

SENTRA BOOTY

OCULUS OCCURRENCE

HUGGER MUGGERS

It appears that a man needed an overnight sentry for his Nissan Sentra. At 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, a 60-year-old man from Queens parked his 2016 model at the Northeast corner of Wall and William Streets. The car was gone when he returned the next morning. A license plate camera recorded the car heading outbound on the RFK Triborough Bridge that morning. The Sentra’s value was given as $15,000.

Ah, spring, when some young men’s thoughts turn to – stealing iPhones! At 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 3, two men entered the Apple Store located at the World Trade Center Oculus C level 1 and took two of the precious communications devices from the display wall. The stolen phones were a silver 128 GB iPhone 7 and a gold 128 GB iPhone 7 with a total value of $1,498.

One young man from Staten Island will have to be more careful choosing which school friends he hugs. At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2, a 17-year-old gave a friend a hug in front of 4 South Street while a second friend accompanying the ﬁrst took the victim’s wallet from his pocket, according to a police account. The two so-called friends then ﬂed in an unknown direction. The victim told police he knows the two perpetrators, and they all go to the

T h e D own to wn A ll ia n ce en t an d F os un pr es

PRESENTED BY:

Downt ownNY.com/DineAroun #DownIsWhatsUp

za a l P y t r e b i L 8 2 3 2 y a M Tuesday Shine & William) and Nassau e in P & y ibert (Between L

Rain

- 3pm m a 11

*As of press time

Scores of in O n e

same school. Rayqwaun Turpin, 18, and Walter Franks, 16, were arrested May 2 and charged with grand larceny. The items stolen were a black wallet valued at $320, school and New York City IDs, and $300 in cash.

UNDER BLUNDER Police remind female bar and restaurant patrons that the best place to keep your pocketbook when you’re

seated is in your lap. At 7 p.m. on Monday, May 1, a 46-year-old woman put her pocketbook under the table in the Dos Caminos Mexican restaurant at 475 West Broadway. When she went to pay, she found that her pocketbook had been knocked over and her wallet was missing from inside. The woman, presumably a traveler from Germany, lost her visa, a bank card, a driver’s license, and a museum membership card.

staurants e R s u o l u Fab al F o o d F e s t iv

* Par ticipants include : Bar Adrienne’s Pizza Amada Restaurant ATRIO Wine Bar & s Bavaria Bier Hau l Beckett’s Bar & Gril Bill’s Bar & Burger Park City Blue Smoke Battery ouse Bobby Van’s Steakh The Capital Grille Cowgirl SeaHorse taurant Delmonico’s Res The Dubliner wn Eataly NYC Downto Fresh Salt s & Bar The Growler Bite ak Harry’s Cafe & Ste Harry’s Italian & Sushi Bar Haru Restaurant Inatteso use The Ketch Brewho Le District i The Malt House FiD ouse MarkJoseph Steakh akhouse Mor ton’s The Ste et OBAO Water Stre ub Open Door Gastrop k Parm Battery Par se Pier A Harbor Hou house Route 66 Smoke ern Stone Street Tav Stout NYC FiDi SUteiShi The Tuck Room se Ulysses’ Folk Hou

iskey Vintry Wine & Wh Wei West

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct

19 ½ Pitt St.

212-477-7311

NYPD 6th Precinct

233 W. 10th St.

212-741-4811

NYPD 10th Precinct

230 W. 20th St.

212-741-8211

NYPD 13th Precinct

230 E. 21st St.

NYPD 1st Precinct

16 Ericsson Place

212-477-7411 212-334-0611

FIRE FDNY Engine 15

25 Pitt St.

311

FDNY Engine 24/Ladder 5

227 6th Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 28 Ladder 11

222 E. 2nd St.

311

FDNY Engine 4/Ladder 15

42 South St.

311

ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin

165 Park Row #11

Councilmember Rosie Mendez

237 1st Ave. #504

212-587-3159 212-677-1077

Councilmember Corey Johnson

224 W. 30th St.

212-564-7757

State Senator Daniel Squadron

250 Broadway #2011

212-298-5565

Community Board 1

1 Centre St., Room 2202

212-669-7970

Community Board 2

3 Washington Square Village

212-979-2272

Community Board 3

59 E. 4th St.

212-533-5300

Community Board 4

330 W. 42nd St.

212-736-4536

Hudson Park

66 Leroy St.

212-243-6876

Ottendorfer

135 2nd Ave.

212-674-0947

Elmer Holmes Bobst

70 Washington Square

212-998-2500

COMMUNITY BOARDS

LIBRARIES

HOSPITALS New York-Presbyterian

170 William St.

Mount Sinai-Beth Israel

10 Union Square East

212-844-8400

212-312-5110

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

TIME WARNER

46 East 23rd

813-964-3839

US Post Office

201 Varick St.

212-645-0327

US Post Office

128 East Broadway

212-267-1543

US Post Office

93 4th Ave.

212-254-1390

POST OFFICES

HOW TO REACH US:

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

212-868-0190 nyoffice@strausnews.com otdowntown.com

Include your full name, address and day and evening telephone numbers for veriﬁcation. Letters that cannot be veriﬁed will not be published. We reserve the right to edit or condense letters for libel, good taste, grammar and punctuation. Submit your letter at otdowntown.com and click submit at the bottom of the page or email it to nyoffice@strausnews.com.

TO SUBSCRIBE: Our Town Downtown is available for free below 23rd Street in select buildings, retail locations and news boxes. To get a copy of downtown neighborhood news mailed to you weekly, you may subscribe to Our Town - Downtowner for just $49 per year. Call 212-868-0190 or go online to StrausNews.com and click on the photo of the paper or mail a check to Straus Media, 20 West Ave., Chester, NY 10918

NEWS ITEMS: To report a news story, call 212-8680190. News releases of general interest must be emailed to our offices by 12noon the Thursday prior to publication to be considered for the following week. Send to news@strausnews.com.

BLOG COMMENTS: We invite comments on stories at otdowntown.com. We do not edit those comments. We urge people to keep the discussion civil and the tone reﬂective of the best we each have to offer.

PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD: Call 212-868-0190. Classiﬁed ads must be in our office by 12pm the Friday before publication, except on holidays. All classiﬁed ads are payable in advance.

PREVIOUS OWNERS: Tom Allon, Isis Ventures, Ed Kayatt, Russ Smith, Bob Trentlyon, Jerry Finkelstein

CALENDAR ITEMS:

ABOUT US

Information for inclusion in the Out and About section should be emailed to hoodhappenings@strausnews.com no later than two weeks before the event.

Our Town Downtown is published weekly by Straus Media-Manhattan, LLC. Please send inquiries to 20 West Ave., Chester, NY 10918.

WITH A HEAVY HEART BY PETER PEREIRA

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

JOHNSON’S ADDRESS TAKES NATIONAL TONE COMMUNITY At his annual summit, the council member warns about the city under Trump, and announces winners of the participatory budgeting vote BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

During his third annual West Side Summit at the Whitney Museum last Wednesday night, Council Member Corey Johnson addressed constituents of District 3 from Greenwich Village to the lower end of the Upper West Side. Based on the long list of his accomplishments and local improvements Johnson recited for the crowd, District 3 is thriving, but these positives were followed by dire warnings of what could happen to the city under President Donald Trump. “I believe that in the not-too-distant future, Americans of all stripes and people around the world are going to ask each other, ‘what did you do in 2017 when an authoritarian, auto-

During his third annual district-wide address, Council Member Corey Johnson touted his accomplishments and spoke out against President Donald Trump. Photo courtesy of Johnson’s office

Council Member Corey Johnson at his third annual district-wide address. Photo courtesy of Johnson’s office

cratic, demagogue, pathological liar rose to power?’” Johnson said. “When our children and grandchildren look back at the time we’re living in right now ... each of one us, I hope, will be able to say that we were part of the resistance.” The audience seemed to agree with their representative, cheering loudly for this declaration and for Johnson’s attempt to force the release of Trump’s tax returns through a bill requiring information about his golf club in the Bronx. Special guests including former state senator Tom Duane and Comptroller Scott Stringer made appear-

ances to praise Johnson’s work in the district and echo his call to action. “We are organizing in a way I haven’t seen since the 60s and 70s,” Stringer said. “I do fundamentally believe that Corey is right — we will be better for it.” Johnson also announced the winners of the participatory budgeting vote, where constituents get to play a hand in how $1 million of their district’s money is spent. The project with the most votes — 1,405 to be exact — is a new park for Hell’s Kitchen, on Tenth Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets. The awarded $200,000 will transform a city-owned empty lot into

Met Council is accepting applications for the waiting list of affordable housing rental apartments in our building located at 334 East 92nd Street, NY.

public green space. Second place went to a project that will use $125,000 to put up electric boards with real-time information at five key bus stops in the area. P.S. 111 will also get air conditioning for its library, which serves as a summer school site. A project that got the fourth-most votes, but the most money — $500,000 — will renovate the grounds of the Elliott-Chelsea Houses with new fencing, walkways and gardens. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com

For one person households, applicants must be 62 years old at the time of application; for two person households, the applicant must be 62 and the co-applicant 55 at the time of application.

Met Council is accepting applications for the waiting list of affordable housing rental apartments in our building located at 351 East 61st Street, NY. For one person households, applicants must be 62 years old at the time of application; for two person households, both applicants must be 62 at the time of application.

Current Rent Range studio: $848.47 - $1281 Income Range: $36,138.80 - $53,440 (1 person household)

Current Rent Range studio: $940.75 - $1281 Income Range: $39,830 - $53,440 (1 person household)

Current Range 1 bedroom: $950.41 - $1375 Income Range: $40,296.40 - $53,440 (1 person household) $40,296.40 - $61,120 (2 person household) Monthly rent includes heat, hot water and gas for cooking. Seniors will be required to meet income guidelines and additional selection criteria to qualify. Income guidelines are subject to change. One application per household. Applications may be downloaded from: www.metcouncil.org/housing or requested by mail from Met Council: East 92nd Street Residence 120 Broadway, 7th floor New York, NY 10271 Please include a self-addressed envelope. No broker or application fee.

Current Range 1 bedroom: $1052.10 - $1375 Income Range: $44,364 - $53,440 (1 person household) $44,364 - $61,120 (2 person household) Current Range 2 bedroom: $1300.53 - $1409 Income Range: $54,341.20 - $61,120 (2 person household) Monthly rent includes heat, hot water and gas for cooking. Seniors will be required to meet income guidelines and additional selection criteria to qualify. Income guidelines are subject to change. One application per household. Applications may be downloaded from: www.metcouncil.org/housing or requested by mail from Met Council: 351 East 61st Street Residence 120 Broadway, 7th floor New York, NY 10271 Please include a self-addressed envelope. No broker or application fee.

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Sunset at the Lawrence Hall of Science, in Berkeley, California, where kids can attend summer camp programs. Photo: David Abercrombie, via ﬂickr

COLLEGES OPEN DOORS FOR SUMMER PROGRAMS Kids can attend camp at Berklee School of Music, a DNA lab upstate or a science facility in the San Francisco Bay Area BY KATHERINE ROTH

After most college students have packed up and moved out of their dorms for the summer, many campuses and research centers across the country stay open, making their dorms and other facilities available to kids eager for academic summer adventure. Campuses are home to a wide range of summer camp programs, some run by private groups that lease the college facilities, and others run by the colleges or research centers themselves. “Summer is a great time for kids to learn about what we do, and spend 20 to 30 hours a week getting hands-on lab experience and doing experiments,” says Amanda McBrien, assistant director of DNA Learning Center in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. It’s a branch of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, famous for groundbreaking genetics research. “We now offer a suite of weeklong day camps,

starting the summer after ﬁfth grade and running through senior year in high school,” she says. “If a student is interested, they could come here for a week every summer starting in middle school and do something new and exciting each time, and by the end of high school they would have done more hands-on biology labs than they’ll probably do as undergraduates, if they’re even in a molecular biology program. It’s cool.” She said many of the kids who sign up for Cold Spring Harbor’s program do a variety of short, focused camps for the summer. “They’ll spend a week here getting deep into science, then they’ll leave here and do something completely different, like a week of robotics or space camp at NASA,” she says. For the musically inclined, the Berklee College of Music, in Boston, opens its doors in summer for intensive camps for kids as young as 12 who have a minimum of six months of musical training. Campers can spend their days doing a mix of small group lessons, music theory and ear training. Finding oneself part of a small group with a speciﬁc and shared passion can be transforma-

MAY 18-24,2017 tive for children and teenagers, parents say. “Our son thrived at the Berklee summer program, which helps students ﬁnd their musical and creative voice by enabling them to play with musicians from all over the world and varying degrees of experience and training,” said Carol Rose of Boston. “The investment paid off: He’s a successful professional bassist.” The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, meanwhile, offers day camps and residential programs at campuses across the country in a range of subjects for kids in grades two through 12. Students can explore everything from anatomy to zoology. Stephanie Stiker of Greenwich, Connecticut, said her 11-year-old enjoyed the CTY camp on the campus of Washington College, in Chestertown, Maryland, and the experience of staying in the dorms. “CTY gave our son the chance to do a deep dive into robotics, where they programmed actual robots to make decisions and try to outwit each other. He also did his own laundry and managed his free time, all while making friends with

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com whom he shared the same interests,” she said. This summer, her son is returning to the camp, this time to study forensics. For students 14 and up who are interested in English as a second language, Concordia College in Minnesota offers a chance to get a feel for American life; summer campers stay in the dorms, study English on campus and, off campus, visit farms, attend barbecues and baseball games, and more. On the West Coast, The Lawrence Hall of Science, part of the University of California, Berkeley campus, offers summer camps for kids age 4 through high school. For those who want to emphasize sports instead of academics, the campus of the State University of New York at Purchase might be just the thing. A private group called Future Stars runs day camps at Purchase and three college campuses on Long Island, focusing on everything from tennis and soccer to circus arts and even magic 101 for kids ranging from preschool to 12th grade.

AUG

14-25 2017

Summer Science Camp Sign up at www.nyas.org/STEMcamp2017 Is your 5th-8th grader really into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)? At Science Camp, kids will: Learn how to code video games 9LVLW D UHDO VFLHQWL½ F ODERUDWRU\ Test out engineering principles with fun experiments

Make their own science experiment video And more!

(DUO\ %LUG 'LVFRXQW RI IRU WKH ½ UVW SHRSOH WR VLJQ XS

*Daily lunch and snacks included in price

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! JUNE 3 & 4 | JAVITS JAV VITS CENTER C | NYC

THEBOOKCON.COM

SEE THESE AUTHORS AND MORE!

The Berklee College of Music, in Boston, opens its doors in summer for intensive camps for kids as young as 12. Photo: By Daderot, via Wikimedia Commons

KEVIN HART I Can’t Make This Stuff Up

BILL NYE Jack and the Geniuses at the Bottom of the World

MAYIM BIALIK The Big Bang Theory

NICOLA YOON Everything, Everything

DAN BROWN The Da Vinci Code

VERONICA ROTH The Divergent Series

CONNOR FRANTA YouTuber

JEFF KINNEY Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series

KRYSTEN RITTER Marvel’s Jessica Jones

KWAME ALEXANDER The Crossover

MARC MARON WTF with Marc Maron Podcast

JEFFERY TAMBOR Are You Anybody?

DAV PILKEY Captain Underpants

MARGARET ATWOOD The Handmaid’s Tale

JASON REYNOLDS When I Was the Greatest

RAINBOW ROWELL Eleanor & Park

MAY 18-24,2017

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.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THE BIKE DEBATE Douglas Feiden opens his article with an interesting, but unsupported statement: “Bicycles ... are swiftly multiplying on the streets of Manhattan” (“The Age of the Bike Controversy,” May 11-17). How “swiftly?” And are they in fact multiplying at all? Even if we assume some level of increase, it is certainly not to the degree that the bike lobby has claimed for years that it would be. When the ﬁrst stretch of bike lane on Columbus Avenue was installed, and there was precious little increase in bicycle usage, the bike lob-

by claimed that it was because the bike lane was not complete. When the bike lane was completed, and the expected huge increase did not occur, the excuse was that it was ﬁnished during the fall/winter season. When the warm season came — and the expected increase still did not come — the bike lobby was suspiciously silent. Any increase that it has seen is not nearly what the bike lobby claimed would occur. I am not against bikes: I ride mine every day. But doing so has only proved to me that whatever “multiplying” has occurred has been

anything but “swift,” and is actually comparably negligible. Ian Alterman Upper West Side Beginning in 2007 I have been an advocate, writing published letters all to do with the bike situation. Since that time I have been a believer in licensing bikes and very vocal about it. When it hits you in the pocket perhaps there will be some of these selfish, arrogant bikers who will change their mindset; plus think of the extra funds for the city. I am not young and had many near hits, but the most frightening was walking out of my building one day and a man wearing a suit and a helmet rode directly in front of me — what a heart-stopper. He should have

known better. Our former DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and former Mayor Bloomberg were in love with bikes and bike lanes. How often did they attempt to step in a bike lane or cross a street to ﬁnd that bikers feel they own the road, going through red lights, against traffic and on the sidewalk? I notice that the Citi Bike riders are quick learners. They, too, are doing the same. Is there no one to help pedestrians of all ages? Bunny Abraham Upper West Side

TOWN HALL CROWD How can the direction of an important article (“UWS Residents Decry

Proposed Supertall Building,” May 11-17) be subverted in the ﬁrst three words [“Around 80 people ... “] of the article? This happened to be a very important neighborhood meeting with regard to the proposed skyscraper [at 200 Amsterdam Avenue]. The location was moved to accommodate the increased interest/attendance for the town hall meeting. Put another way, 80 does not do any kind of justice to the actual number of attendees, and seems to minimize neighborhood and civic interest. The larger venue held far more than the 80, and chairs were being added for most of the several presentations to accommodate arriving individuals. Manfred Fuchs Upper West Side

TRANSITIONING EAST SIDE OBSERVER BY ARLENE KAYATT

Where the bus doesn’t stop — Riders who take the uptown M101, M102, M103 on 14th Street and Third Ave may think they’ve hit pay dirt with a bus stop on the northeast AND the southeast corners. Odd for sure but maybe to accommodate the busy location. Not so fast. Yes, there are two stops, but buses stop only at the southeast corner. Good old MTA has a huge yellow sign pasted on the kiosk of the original bus stop on the northeast corner announcing that THIS IS THE STOP. Believe it at your peril — you’ll never get to where you’re going if you do. The bus stops ONLY at the southeast corner. So why the misinformation? You won’t find out from the driver (when you get on the bus at the southeast corner). When asked why the two stops and why the sign, his profound and helpful retort: “You’re on the bus now, right?” Wrong. It’s really simple to get this one right. Streets alive again — New businesses are back on the block and opening where once there was emptiness.

The block between 88th and 89th on the west side of Third Ave is coming alive again with the opening of Siena, an Italian restaurant wine bar where the Starlight Diner once was. And mid-block, where Vanilla beauty salon once was, Roma Pizza is opening a second location several stores down from its corner sit-down/takeout pizzeria. Between the old and new locations is an empty store and Wok 88. Don’t know if the corner store will close or if there will be two Roma pizzerias on the same block. My guess is that the new one will be a full service restaurant, and the other will remain a sit-down/take-out. Another Italian restaurant opening on Lexington Ave between 90th and 91st — Marinara — is in the space previously occupied by a kosher pizzeria. In Gramercy, hadn’t noticed that Sal Anthony’s had opened on the northwest corner of Third between 19th and 20th. There was this big splash of white that wasn’t there before — and then it was. It turned out to be the return of an old local favorite. The original Irving Place location lost its lease in a rent dispute years ago. Sal Anthony has other businesses in the Gramercy area — not only a restaurant. And it’s good to have the old

back as new. New game in town — At Third Ave, between 54th 55th Streets, the storefront once occupied by Sam Flax art store — which closed several years ago — will soon be home to Title Boxing Club. The fitness center, replete with punching bags and all things boxing, is opening its second location in Manhattan on the ground ﬂoor of the office building at 900 Third, opposite the FDR Post Office and boxed in by Chipotle on one corner and Bank of America on the other. The ﬁrst location is in the far West 30’s. Interesting commercial enterprises evolving in our town. No doubt that Equinox, with gyms all over Manhattan, will get into the ring and go for the title. Judge time — Upper East Siders who made the cut and came out of the New York Democratic Committee Screening Panel and who are hoping to be on the ballot in November (unless there’s a Primary) are Suzanne Adams, Ariel Chesler and James Clynes. They and the other candidates will learn later this month who gets the party’s nomination. Then the public judging begins.

There are stops for the uptown-bound M101, M102 and M103 buses on both the northeast and southeast corners of Third Avenue and 14th Street. Wait to board on the northeast one and you’ll miss your ride. Photo: Mtattrain, via Wikimedia Commons

President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com

STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source

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

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

Account Executive Fred Almonte Director of Partnership Development Barry Lewis

Director of Digital Pete Pinto

Editor-In-Chief, Alexis Gelber editor.ot@strausnews.com Deputy Editor Staff Reporters Richard Khavkine Madeleine Thompson editor.otdt@strausnews.com newsreporter@strausnews.com Michael Garofalo Senior Reporter reporter@strausnews.com Doug Feiden invreporter@strausnews.com

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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

February 9

April 20

RECORD NUMBER OF 311 CALLS MADE IN 2016 Floodwaters surged into the Manhattan entrance to the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Future storm events were frequent topics at the Waterfront Alliance’s Waterfront Conference last week. Photo: Jay Fine, via Wikimedia Commons.

KEEPING THE WATERS AT BAY PLANNING City’s waterfront being compromised by Trump administration’s environmental policies, conference attendees say BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

New York City has more than 500 miles of coastline, leading some to refer to the expansive network of waterways as the city’s sixth borough. Protecting and taking full advantage of this resource was the focus at the Waterfront Alliance’s annual Waterfront Conference Wednesday, May 10. The daylong gathering, aboard the Hornblower Infinity on the Hudson River, convened experts and stakeholders on panels that explored maritime job opportunities, climate change and the harvesting of offshore energy sources. While there was plenty of talk about specific steps that could be taken to mitigate the effects of rising sea level and to improve the city’s resilience, a broader tone of anxiety reigned, attributable, the panelists said, to the Trump administration’s approach to environmental policy. Marcia Bystryn, the president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, called President Donald Trump’s view about climate change “a real problem” but suggested that Congress could help thwart some of the administration’s more radical environmental policy changes. “You might not agree with [U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island] on many things, but he is passionate about cleaning up Long Island Sound ... because his constituents care

about cleaning up Long Island Sound,” she said, alluding to the second-term Suffolk County Republican. In her keynote address, U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, whose district includes Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods inundated during Hurricane Sandy, was more circumspect. She said any accomplishments that have been made to preserve and protect the city’s waterways are being undone by the Trump administration. “I am profoundly troubled that many of [Trump’s] environmental policies will turn back the clock on the progress we have made,” she said. “This president has proposed cutting the EPA budget by 30 percent, something that could impair projects like Superfund, which is helping clean up the Gowanus Canal.” Velazquez will soon reintroduce her Waterfront of Tomorrow Act, which would fund studies by the Army Corps of Engineers on protection the metropolitan region’s coast. Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka said there was a contradiction with regard to Trump’s promises to invest in infrastructure while at the same time he is asking for cuts to the budgets of two federal agencies that support infrastructure: the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who also addressed the conference, touted the recently launched citywide ferry service, reinforcing the water-focused message, but said more care and investment was needed. The city, he said, “became great because we were given this beautiful resource to cherish and then somehow it fell out of vogue.” The mayor’s recently pro-

posed budget includes $100 million to finish the greenway encircling Manhattan. “Each successive generation has to do more,” de Blasio said. “We have to get it right. We have to return to our roots.” Catherine Hughes, a former chair of downtown’s Community Board 1, who is deeply involved in resiliency efforts in Lower Manhattan, attended the conference for the first time. She was especially struck by an update on C40 — a coalition of 90 cities worldwide, including New York, whose leaderships have committed to addressing climate change — and wind power. “Right now there is a huge need to fill that gap as you’re replacing fossil fuels, as we’re going off of the carbon-intensive diet, with windmills,” she said following the conference. “It’s very exciting to hear about this offshore wind project moving ahead.” As a resident of downtown who weathered and helped clean up after Hurricane Sandy, Hughes is concerned for her neighborhood. She pointed out that it was featured in the upcoming documentary “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” which she took as a sign that New York City is at the forefront of the issue. “People said the 9/11 Memorial could never flood due to sealevel rise,” she said, recounting part of the documentary. “Fast forward. Then you see all of Lower Manhattan and the Battery Tunnel flooding.” Unless there is significant progress, several of the panelists suggested, it almost certainly won’t be the last time. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@ strausnews.com

BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

Last year saw the largest number of calls ever to city helpline 311, with noise complaints raking in the most of the 19,378,299 total calls. With a population of approximately 8.5 million, that amounts to about 4.2 calls per New Yorker. According to 311 spokesman Bill Reda, the steady increase over the past few years is likely due to the addition of the 311 website in 2009, followed The local paper for the Upper East Side

March 29

April 20

FIGHTING FOR POCKET PARKS They are hidden between blocks and tucked inside skyscrapers. You might walk through them, or past them, without ever knowing. But not all New Yorkers have forgotten that they are entitled to access the city’s more than 500 privately owned public spaces, or POPS. Last summer, the New York Times noticed that a marble bench in the atrium of Trump Tower, which is a POPS, had gone missing and their reporting resulted in its quiet return. The local paper for the Upper East Side

April 6

April 14

‘CITIZEN JANE’ DOCUMENTARY PROFILES URBAN ACTIVIST PLANNING A timely new film spotlights the groundbreaking author of ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

Jane Jacobs, with her signature oval glasses, began a lifelong dedication to fighting urban renewal when plans emerged to continue Fifth Avenue through Washington Square Park. Critics labeled her a “housewife” who couldn’t possibly be more than a ﬂy in the ointment of the project, but Jacobs had been writing and reporting about cities and architecture long before the park was threatened. Her story and the lessons of her groundbreaking book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” are the focus

on April 21 at select theaters. Matt Tyrnauer, the film’s director, and producer Robert Hammond, who is also the executive director of Friends of the High Line, got the idea for the documentary several years ago when they realized there had never been a film about Jacobs before. “We thought we’d be introducing this film about a very brilliant woman who was sort of a seer, a visionary in a lot of ways, and politically active, in an atmosphere when we had the first woman president,” Tyrnauer said at a screening last Thursday. “Much to our surprise, it went the other way. There’s some resonances in the film that maybe were unintended but it’s interesting to see how the public has received them.” Hammond described the film as “a playbook for resistance,” and hopes that viewers will be able to learn from Jacobs how best to fight their battles. “What’s interesting now is people getting out in the street — it’s not just

FI R S T I N YOU R N E I G H BO R H O O D

(212) 868-0190

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

"EWFSUJTF JO 4USBVT .FEJB T "OOVBM More Events. Add Your Own: Go to otdowntown.com

20 17

3FBDI NPSF UIBO MPZBM SFBEFST UIBU UVSO UP 0VS 5PXO 5IF 8FTU 4JEF 4QJSJU 5IF $IFMTFB /FXT BOE 0VS 5PXO %PXOUPXO T 4VNNFS (VJEF UP NBLF UIF NPTU PG UIFJS TVNNFS

5SBWFM r 'BJST BOE 'FTUJWBMT r "SU r &WFOUT r 'BNJMZ 'VO r %SJOLT BOE &BUT

*TTVF %BUF Thursday, June 8th "E %FBEMJOF Friday, June 2nd The local paper for the Upper East Side

The local paper for the Upper West Side

Eastsider Westsider

The local paper for Downtown

The local paper for Chelsea

Downtowner

Clinton

Call Vincent for more information! 212.868.0190 x407 or advertising@strausnews.com

Thu 18 Fri 19 BROAD COMEDYâ&#x2013;˛ SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam St. 8:30 p.m. $39 The internationally touring riotous, ridiculous, and in-yourface all-women troupe Broad Comedy stars Danielle Cohn, Molly Kelleher, Tana Sirois, Carlita Victoria and Katie Goodman. 212-691-1555. sohoplayhouse. com

DIRECTOR SERIES: HERO Magnet Theater, 254 West 29th St. 10 p.m. $10 Based on the suggestion of superpower. One hero played by eight actors, all out to answer big questions, including how would that translate on a job interview and/or Grindr proďŹ le? 212-244-8824. magnettheater.com

THE FALL OF SYRIA & RISE OF ISIS Village East Cinema, 181-189 Second Ave. 11:50 a.m. $8 Filmmaker and author Sebastian Junger chronicles Syriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s descent into the unbridled chaos that allowed the rise of the Islamic State in the ďŹ lm "Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS." 212-529-6998. citycinemas. com

'SNOTGIRL' | BOOK SIGNING Barnes & Noble Tribeca, 97 Warren St. 6 p.m. Bryan Lee Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Malley and Leslie Hung signing the ďŹ rst volume of their comic "Snotgirl." Must purchase "Snotgirl, Vol. 1" at B&N Tribeca the day of event. 212-587-5389. barnesandnoble.com

Sat 20 ESSEX ST. MARKET BLOCK PARTY Essex Street Market, 120 Essex St. Noon-5 p.m. Annual block party brings the best of Essex Street Market combined with LES favorites; "...rolling out the pushcarts and popping open the umbrellas, and truly tapping into our Marketâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s iconic history." 212-312-3603. essexstreetmarket.com

AJANA SPRING RECITAL PS 20, 166 Essex St. 3 p.m. $15 The Ajna students and Ensemble present their work from the spring term featuring Bollywood, semi-classical, Bharanthanatyam and Kathak dances by budding talents of all ages! 646-319-3054. ajnadance. com

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Tired of Hunting for Our Town Downtown? Subscribe today to Downtowner News of Your Neighborhood that you can’t get anywhere else

Sun 21 ADOPTAPALOOZA ▲ Union Square Park, North Plaza, Broadway & East 17th St. Noon-5 p.m. Free. Adoption fees apply. More than 300 homeless dogs, cats and rabbits available for adoption will be waiting to meet you at NYC’s original mega pet adoption event. 212-252-2350. animalalliancenyc.org

Mon 22 ‘GEEK GIRL RISING’ | TALK Barnes & Noble Tribeca, 97 Warren St. 6 p.m. Veteran journalists Samantha Walravens and Heather Cabot discuss their book, "Geek Girl RISING," the voice and point of view of the women who work in the tech world. 212-587-5389. barnesandnoble.com

the differences in milk type (cow, sheep, goat); and more. 212-981-8588. ledistrict.com

Tue 23 Wed 24 FOOD 4 THOT | LIVE 7-10 p.m. Ace Hotel, 20 West 29th St. Live episode of the show, launching co-host Tommy Pico’s second book, "Nature Poem." Featuring guest host Angel Naﬁs, the evening entails sexy stories, a ﬁrst glimpse inside the book, a few games. 646-214-5745 food4thotpodcast.com

ROARING TWENTIES NIGHT Gradisca, 126 West 13th St. 6-9 p.m. RSVP Dress as a gangster or silent screen star. Come as a ﬂapper or just as you are. Gradisca is going back in time for a night full of life music, cocktails, dining and fun. 212-691-4886. gradiscanyc. com

ECTASTIC DANCE

ANTI-NARCISSISTS BALL

Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Sq. South 6:30-11:30 $15-$29 Ecstatic Dance gathers for a transformative, electronic music journey, mixed with intention. Move however you wish, in an epic space. No booze, no shoes and no chit-chat on the dance ﬂoor "helps us keep it

Pulqueria, 11 Doyers St. 6:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. $100$1,000 Spring beneﬁt for non-proﬁt, experimental arts organization BOFFO; honoring Pia Camil, Raul de Nieves, Enrique Norten, and saluting Pablo Leon de la Barra. 212-227-3099. pulquerianyc. com

Dining Information, plus crime news, real estate prices - all about your part of town

Cultural Events in and around where you live (not Brooklyn, not Westchester)

Now get your personal copy delivered by US Mail for just

49/Year for 52 issues

To Subscribe :

FIRM & STINKY CHEESES ► Le District, 225 Liberty St. 6:30 p.m. $35 Class focuses on two cheese categories, firm cheese and washed rind cheese. Learn how to describe cheese flavors; briefly discuss how to create great pairings (wine, beer, etc.);

intentional." 212-477-0351. ecstaticdance.org

Call 212-868-0190 or go online to otdowntown.com and click on subscribe Photo by Jules Morgan via Flickr

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

BRAVE NEW FASHIONS Rei Kawakubo’s avant-garde outfits at The Costume Institute challenge our notions of style and beauty BY VAL CASTRONOVO

She doesn’t consider herself a fashion designer. She says she’s “just an artisan” who produces clothing. She likes the term “worker.” “For [the] more than forty years that I have been making clothes, I have never thought about fashion. In other words, I have almost no interest in it,” Rei Kawakubo, 74, said in 2014. “What I’ve only ever been interested in is clothes that one has never seen before, that are completely new, and how and in what way they can be expressed. Is that called fashion? I don’t know the answer.” Her garments for Comme des Garçons (“Like the Boys”), the label she founded in 1969, are not fashionable, either, in the traditional sense. More like sculptural objects than clothing, especially in recent years, they are bursting with imperfection — tears, frayed edges, exposed seams, wild asymmetries — and outlandish embellishments such as baby dresses and teddy bears.

The works are concrete manifestations of Zen “koans” or riddles, meant to defy description. The show’s subtitle, “Art of the In-Between,” refers to the esoteric concept of “in-betweenness,” where the koan “mu” (emptiness) and its kin, “ma” (space), coexist. Kawakubo’s designs live in the spaces between the show’s nine opposing themes: Absence/Presence; Design/ Not Design; Fashion/Antifashion; Model/Multiple; Clothes/Not Clothes; and so forth. These spaces “[offer] endless possibilities for creation, re-creation, and hybridity,” Andrew Bolton, curatorin-charge of The Met’s Costume Institute, said at a preview of the spring exhibit of some 140 garments by the avant-garde designer, dating from her Paris debut in 1981 to the present. Born and based in Tokyo, this disrupter doesn’t care about femininity or traditional notions of beauty. What she cares about is projecting strength and power in her designs — and going where no clothes-maker has ever gone before. She’s an innovator with a punk sensibility. A bomb-thrower. “Rei doesn’t like to explain her work. She prefers her clothes to speak for themselves,” Bolton said. She dis-

Gallery View, Clothes/Not Clothes: War/Peace. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rei Kawakubo (Japanese, born 1942) for Comme des Garçons (Japanese, founded 1969), 18th-Century Punk, autumn/winter 2016–17; Courtesy of Comme des Garçons. Photograph by © Paolo Roversi; Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art trusts words. So much so that there is virtually no text in the show, aside from some titles and numbers on the ﬂoor — and a booklet you can grab at the entrance for guidance. “We wanted people to engage with Rei’s fashions on a more personal and intimate level,” the curator said. Caroline Kennedy, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan, paid eloquent tribute to the designer, her friend, at the preview: “Rei’s work is beautiful. It transcends age and gender, it reconnects us with silence, it makes us look more carefully at the things we take for granted.” The design of the exhibition is as unconventional as the clothes. The walls are pure white, and the mannequins appear in geometric structures that, in an aerial view, look like a collection of stadium bowls, silos and boxy spaces — the architecture of a small community in a galaxy far, far away. “There is no prescribed route through the exhibition,” Bolton said, noting that the collections are not presented in chronological order. A walkthrough feels very free and liberating, if somewhat disorienting — like the outﬁts themselves. Kawakubo is only the second living designer to be given a solo show at the costume museum; Yves Saint Laurent was the first in 1983. Bolton praised her ability to think abstractly. She

Rei Kawakubo (Japanese, born 1942) for Comme des Garçons, (Japanese, founded 1969), Blue Witch, spring/summer 2016; Courtesy of Comme des Garçons. Photograph by © Paolo Roversi; Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

comes up with the idea for a piece, and the patternmakers on her staff have the job of translating the concept into an actual garment. As one patternmaker said in 1990, per the show’s catalog: “Once [Kawakubo] gave us a piece of crumpled paper and said she wanted a pattern for a garment that would have something of that quality.” The inspiration comes from within — not from other designers and typically not from history or a particular culture or place, she claims. “The concept could be anger, energy or an aspiration to make something strangely shaped,” she has said. Self-taught, she’s guided by intuition and instinct; her designs are distinctly non-political and convey no social messages. The fashions conceal rather than reveal the female form and, by implication, take issue with male designers who create sexy, flesh-baring looks. The clothes are over-the-top strange and weird, which is how Kawakubo likes it because she is constantly in search of “newness.” Fabric is wrapped around bodies — draped, knotted, bunched and padded. Her seminal 1997 collection, “Body Meets Dress — Dress Meets Body,” boasts down-ﬁlled bustles and other protrusions in gingham. A harbinger of future disruption, it was dubbed “lumps and bumps” by the critics.

In 2014, Kawakubo abandoned making clothes altogether, opting instead to create “objects for the body” that take on a life of their own. The results, labeled Clothes/Not Clothes, mark the fulfillment of her mission to create “forms that have never before existed in fashion.” Akin to sculpture and performance art, the pieces “exist as purely aesthetic and abstract expressions,” the booklet states. The collections “Blood and Roses” (2015), “Blue Witch” (2016) and “18th-Century Punk” (2016-17) typify the new direction. “Kawabuko confronts expectations of fashion and subverts them,” Bolton said. “She is one of the bravest designers out there.”

IF YOU GO WHAT: “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between” WHERE: The Costume Institute at The Met Fifth Avenue WHEN: Through Sept 4 www.metmuseum.org/

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com The local paper for Downtown

Advertise with Our Town Downtown today! Call Vincent Gardino at 212-868-0190

The interior of the Harvard Club on West 44th Street, a block known as Clubhouse Row where politicians have been raising funds for more than a century. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

POLITICS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and General Douglas MacArthur who were members of its “Pipe Club.” But even as Manhattan’s signature clubs, hotels and restaurants retain their monopoly as venues to host high-end fundraisers and attract bigbucks donors, there has also been a slow if steady democratization of the political watering hole in the post-Bloomberg era. Consider that in Manhattan alone, at least five Le Pain Quotidiens, four Sarabeth’s, four bagel shops, two Carmine’s, two Lebanese restaurants, two Mendy’s, roughly a dozen other kosher restaurants, a dozen-plus Greek diners and coffee shops and 10-plus pizzerias have been used to solicit funds, stage campaign events or hold political meetings, CFB filings show. “You can raise money just as easily at a humble diner as you can at a four-star restaurant,” said Maureen Eng, a software engineer who lives on the West Side, works near City Hall and says she often crosses paths with Comptroller Scott Stringer in diners and coffee shops both uptown and downtown. “It’s cheaper, and it’s probably a lot more fun, too,” she added over a $13.50 Greek omelet with feta and spinach at the Utopia Diner, 267 Amsterdam Avenue near 72nd Street. Indeed, the Stringer campaign, originally focused on a mayoral bid but now gearing up for a re-election race, held nine fundraising meetings and breakfasts at the Utopia over the past two years, tallying a modest $263.95 for meals, an average of just $29.32 per utopian dining. Why the Utopia? Was he keeping campaign costs down? Dining at a place he cherishes? Picking a spot convenient to his West Side home? Those questions, asked repeatedly by this reporter, remained shrouded in mystery because, oddly, the Stringer campaign would not address them. According to CFB filings, Stringer also racked up modest fundraising expenses at the Gee Whiz Diner (motto: “Always Delicious”) at 295 Greenwich Street, and the Good Stuff diner, at 109 West 14th Street. And a political meeting in March at Barney Greengrass, the “Sturgeon King,” 541 Amsterdam Avenue, set him back a mere $17.40. Like most politicians, however, the comptroller can also be susceptible to a sprinkling of stardust: A 2016 fete at Joanne Trattoria — a mecca for Lady Gaga fans at 70 West 68th Street owned by her father, Joe Germanotta — cost the campaign $4,148.41 in “fundraising, catering” costs. Republican Michael Faulkner, the former New York Jet-turned-Harlem minister who is vying to unseat Stringer, followed a similar pattern.

His campaign reported four payments to the City Diner, a 24-hour stalwart at 2441 Broadway at 90th Street that says it “specializes in the crafting of mouth-watering meals.” The average tab: $45. But Faulkner also dropped $10,479 at the Harvard Club, at 35 West 44th Street, a bastion of the Manhattan establishment since its founding in 1865. His campaign wrote six separate checks in 2015 and 2016 to pay for “fundraising meetings, hotel rooms ... events, beverage service,” filings show. That bifurcation of political fundraising venues — the grand and often stuffy on the one hand, the relatively modest or lumpen on the other — is a common thread in campaign finance documents. And surprisingly, the latter can sometimes cost more than the former. Take the twin campaign launches of Upper East Sider Rebecca Harary, who is running as a Republican for the City Council seat being vacated by Councilman Dan Garodnick, a Democrat first elected in 2005 and barred by term limits from seeking a fourth term. Her formal March 29 kick-off took place at the Metropolitan Republican Club, 122 East 83rd Street, which was founded in 1902 and numbered Mayor Seth Low and President Theodore Roosevelt among its members. The storied club’s venue fee: $300. For a second, less formal event at Saba’s Pizza, 1217 Lexington Avenue at 82nd Street, Harary shelled out $618 for kosher pizza. As for Garodnick, who has continued to raise money for an undeclared office, his campaign spent $2,009 in December 2014 for a fundraising event at the World Bar in Trump World Tower, 845 United Nations Plaza at 48th Street. Billed as the spot “Where Manhattan Meets the World,” the bar is famed in Turtle Bay for its Remy XO-based “World Cocktail,” which will set you back $50, as well as the comparatively cutrate “World Peace Cocktail,” which goes for $12. Garodnick also held another fundraiser in 2015 at the Brass Monkey, 55 Little West 12th Street, forking over $2,400 for the space, which brands itself an “unpretentious Meatpacking District pub with a roof deck.” And then there is Upper East Side City Councilman Ben Kallos and his penchant for Bagel Bob’s on York, where CFB filings show his campaign spent $239 in 2015, $468 in 2016 and $600 so far this year on the singular New York foodstuff. Kallos, who is running for re-election, says he uses his political funds to buy bagels for the scores of residents who show up every year for his State-of-the-District Speech: “I hope they come to hear me,” he said. “But it is very possible that many of them come for Bagel Bobs.”

otdowntown.com ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

The Feminist Storytelling Movement in True Crime

FRIDAY, MAY 19TH, 7PM The Strand | 828 Broadway | 212-473-1452 | strandbooks.com Get a different slant on the renaissance in true crime coverage at this Think Olio session. Examples of feminist takes on murder stories will be examined for their creativity and their grounding in “empathy and community.” ( $20, includes complimentary beer and wine)

Brooklyn Bridge: 8th Wonder of the World Walking Tour

SUNDAY, MAY 21ST, 1PM Thomas Paine Park | Worth & Lafayette Sts. | brooklynbrainery.com New York Local Tours leads a walk from lower Manhattan’s old Five Points neighborhood through the downtown Civic Center and across to Brooklyn, ﬁlling in details on the Roebling family and New York’s own “eighth wonder of the world.” ($25)

Just Announced | World Science Festival—Pondering the Imponderables: The Biggest Questions of Cosmology

SATURDAY, JUNE 3RD, 2PM John Jay College | 899 Tenth Ave. | 646-557-4430 | worldsciencefestival.com Catch a get-together of cosmologists, philosophers, and physicists, as they ask questions like what was here before the Big Bang, and is our universe a one-off, or one of many? ($37)

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

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS APR 28 - MAR 12, 2017 The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml.

River Coyote

121 Ludlow St

Not Yet Graded (13)

New Rong Hang Restaurant

38 Eldridge Street

Fei Teng Restaurant

68 East Broadway

Spreadhouse Coffee

116 Suffolk St

New Wing Wah Bakery

246 Grand Street

Not Yet Graded (25)

Empanada Mama

95 Allen St

Not Yet Graded (17)

Zheng Fuzhou Cuisine Inc.

13B Eldridge St

Liang Fan Dian

15 Division St

Beauty And Essex

146 Essex Street

La Gamelle

241 Bowery

Not Yet Graded (15)

Huertas

107 1St Ave

Chawlas2

216 3Rd Ave

The Hummus And Pita Co.

815 Broadway

Not Yet Graded (10)

Shu Han Ju Restaurant Ii

58 3Rd Ave

Chop’t

24 East 17 Street

Not Yet Graded (11)

The Bean

824 Broadway

Not Yet Graded (20)

Seraﬁna Ludlow

98 Rivington St

Not Yet Graded (10)

Piccolo Cafe

157 3 Avenue

Not Yet Graded (13)

Arlene’s Grocery

95 Stanton Street

Not Yet Graded (16)

Bagel Belly

114 3Rd Ave

Not Yet Graded (17)

The Delancey

168 Delancey Street

Not Yet Graded (14)

Happy Burrito

211 E 14Th St

Not Yet Graded (5)

Schiller’s Liquor Bar

131 Rivington Street

Not Yet Graded (13)

Vapiano

113 University Place

The Wu Room

93 Bowery

Barbounia

250 Park Avenue South

Not Yet Graded (16)

Pizza Shack

525 Grand St

Not Yet Graded (36)

Gohan

14A Orchard St

Not Yet Graded (24)

The Loop

173 3Rd Ave

Not Yet Graded (18)

Chillhouse

149 Essex St

Not Yet Graded (8)

Soho Tiffin Junction

42 E 8Th St

Drexler’s

9 Avenue A

Crif Dogs / Please Don’t Tell

113 St Marks’s Place

Caffe Bene

208 Avenue A

Barn Joo

35 Union Sq W

Not Yet Graded (101)

Root & Bone

200 E 3Rd St

Le Midi Bistro

11 East 13 Street

Good Night Sonny

134 1St Ave

Express Thali

82 2Nd Ave

Not Yet Graded (12)

Royale

157 Avenue C

Panera Bread

10 Union Square East

Not Yet Graded (12)

Carma

507 E 6Th St

Kingston Hall

149 2 Avenue

Not Yet Graded (22)

Death & Co

433 East 6 Street

Cucina Di Pesce

87 East 4 Street

Not Yet Graded (17)

Bua

126 St Marks Place

Craft

4347 East 19 Stree

Not Yet Graded (15)

Zadie’s Oyster Room

413 East 12 Street

Cafe Orlin

41 St Marks Place

Akina Sushi

424A E 14Th St

Modern Gourmet

793 Broadway

Tasty Tasty Chinese

534 E 14Th St

Not Yet Graded (16)

The Wing

45 E 20Th St

Not Yet Graded (0)

Gnocco

337 East 10 Street

Wayside

139 E 12Th St

Drop Off Service

211 Avenue A

Not Yet Graded (8)

Souen Noodle

326 East 6 Street

Flinders Lane

162 Avenue A

Not Yet Graded (21)

Mudspot

307 East 9 Street

Not Yet Graded (9)

Virginia’s

647 E 11Th St

Not Yet Graded (15)

Il Cantinori Restauraunt

32 East 10 Street

Not Yet Graded (7)

Alphabet Lounge

104 Avenue C

Not Yet Graded (12)

Ri Wong Handmade Noodle 144A E Broadway

Taberna

97 Saint Marks Pl

Not Yet Graded (17)

Normans Cay

74 Orchard Street

Westville

173 Avenue A

Not Yet Graded (7)

Claw Daddy’s

185 Orchard St

Tai Thai Thailand

78 East 1 Street

East Seafood Restaurant

17 Division St

Horus Kabab House

93 Avenue B

Not Yet Graded (8)

East Dumpling

46 Eldridge St

Not Yet Graded (20)

Baker’s Pizza

201 Avenue A

El Maguey Y La Tuna

321 East Houston Street

Not Yet Graded (17)

V Bar

132 1 Avenue

Not Yet Graded (39)

Vivi Bubble Tea

205 Allen St

Sticky Rice

85 Orchard Street

Not Yet Graded (0)

Bangkok B.A.R.

353 W 14Th St

Congee Village

100 Allen St

King

18 King St

L.E.S Fish & Chip

109 Madison St

Not Yet Graded (39)

Tue Thai Food

3 Greenwich Avenue

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

BOSTON BROTHERS BRING BURGERS RESTAURANTS Wahlbergs land in Yorkville BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL

You would’ve thought that Marky Mark was flipping patties, Donnie was waiting tables, and Jennie McCarthy was the hostess. There was an hour-long wait last Friday night to get into the new Wahlburgers restaurant on Second Avenue near 85th Street, which celebrated a soft opening on May 11. They don’t accept reservations, so it’s first-come, first-served. My 19-year-old daughter, Meg, whose idea it was to dine there, and I put our name on the list at 7:30 p.m. and were told they would text us when the table was ready. My husband, Neil, was meeting us in front. As he is not big on “waiting” in general, and less so for a seat at a burger joint, I hoped for major train delays — the later he arrived the better. When Neil caught up with us at 8, he retained his sense of humor to get us through what turned out to be the remaining 40 minutes of our anticipated seating. During that time, I observed UES behavior at its finest.

A Dorchester, Massachusetts, family has got a foothold on the Upper East Side. Photo: Lorraine Duffy Merkl There were the people who walked by wanting to know what everyone was standing around for, looking a bit perturbed that they were out of the loop about the invasion of the Bostonian brothers (Mark, Donnie and Paul, the chef, are the owners). Others would approach the young host to be added to his iPad seating list. Upon being told the length of the wait, each and every one would shake their heads and declare, “That’s ridiculous,” stomp away, confer with the rest of

their party, then return to give the young man their names. And what would a “velvet rope” (albeit an invisible one) situation be without the cajolers, pleaders and combatants. To his credit, the sentinel with the iPad was poised and polite, while he remained firm that no one would be cutting the line. Last but not least, there was the take-out contingency, who thought they would show up we “list people” by heading around the corner to 85th to put in their order.

That stay was no less daunting. When I tired of people-watching, I was entertained by the four, large monitors behind the bar (yes, they serve booze) that can easily be viewed from the street. One was tuned to the Mets game, with the other three running the same behind-the-sceneswith-the-Wahlbergs footage on a loop. I would be remiss not to stress that Wahlburgers is indeed a familyfriendly establishment. In fact, its ethos is on the wall at the entrance: Growing up in Dorchester, MA with 9 kids in a triple decker house, we didn’t have much, but we had each other, & that’s what mattered most. In the toughest of times we always made the best of times. And for us, no time was better than sitting at the table together, sharing good food, a few laughs, and lots of love! At Wahlburgers we hope to share a little bit of those times with you. When my family ﬁnally got the text, and got seated, it was a generally positive experience. The décor is sleek and

streamlined, with Kelly green as its signature pop-of-color. The newly trained staff is still ﬁnding its footing, but all were convivial and solicitous. The food is good, but not that much better than the other establishments in our area; in other words, I don’t think Shake Shack will shutter any time soon. Because of its cachet of celebrity, and open, inviting atmosphere, as well as prime location, Meg already has a date to return with her friends. Neil, (“When all is said and done, it’s still just a hamburger,”) and I are satisﬁed with our lone visit. If I am going to stand around hoping to be a guest, I’ll do my lingering on Fifth Avenue between 89th and 90th for a table under the limestone aches of Heavenly Rest Stop, the chapelcum-café next to The Church of the Heavenly Rest. The sidewalk seating reminds me of why I love living in NYC and the food is, dare I say, divine. Plus, if I drop dead from waiting an hour for my table, they can hustle me right next door for my funeral. Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novels “Back to Work She Goes” and “Fat Chick,” from which a movie version is in the works.

NEW BUSES TO SUPPLEMENT 5 UES ROUTES 79 vehicles will be deployed on the M15 line as well as on the M14, M101, M102 and M103 circuits BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

Until recently, the most crowded bus route in Manhattan also had the oldest buses in the ﬂeet. According to data analyzed by the Bus Turnaround Coalition, which advocates for better bus service citywide, the M15 carries more than 46,000 passengers every day, though ridership has decreased roughly 10 percent since 2010. Thanks to a combined community effort, 79 new buses have already begun to replace the vehicles on the M15 route, as well as on the M14, M101, M102 and M103 routes. “We spent an enormous amount of time demonstrating the need for the buses,” Council Member Ben Kallos said. “When residents complain about bus service we pass it on to MTA and MTA usually tells us the buses were there.” Kallos, who has a background in software development, partnered with Civic Hackers to collect and assess bus data in order to demonstrate that bus service on the Upper East Side was spotty and often bunched.

Between gathering the data and convincing the MTA, Kallos said the project “ended up soaking up about two years of my life.” Betty Cooper-Wallerstein, the president of the East 79th Street Neighborhood Association and a former Council member, began collecting her own data many years ago by compiling results from survey cards she would hand out at community meetings. She would ask bus riders to note the route they took and their driver’s punctuality, both to monitor service standards and to give awards to the highest ranking bus drivers. “We have very many seniors,” Cooper-Wallerstein said, emphasizing the need for more reliable service so older riders aren’t waiting as longer or having to walk far away to a better line. Cooper-Wallerstein said she expects the new buses will be “a big help.” Kallos credited state Senator Liz Krueger with helping set up the meeting last fall with Darryl Irick, the president of the MTA Bus Company, who conﬁrmed that the M15’s vehicles were the oldest in the ﬂeet and agreed to provide the new ones. “The MTA has advised me that the 79 buses is enough for a full replacement on

A ﬂeet of 79 new buses equipped with Wi-Fi and USB charging have begun supplementing several lines that traverse the Upper East Side. Photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor the M15,” said Kallos, who takes that route to work. The remaining new buses will be distributed across the M14, M101, M102 and M103 routes, he added, “where we will continue advocating for more buses.” The Bus Turnaround Coalition shows that the M101, M102 and M103 have the fourth, 15th and 22nd high-

est ridership in Manhattan. On the M101 route, one of every six buses arrives bunched. The 79 new buses will have Wi-Fi, USB charging ports and digital displays displaying upcoming stops. They are also equipped with a pedestrian warning system to prevent collisions. “It can be tough to balance

trying to keep people getting to work on time with pedestrians in the intersection who may or may not be obeying the law,” Kallos said. “This technology will really help drivers avoid any mishaps.” Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MAY 18-24,2017

Business

REIGNING CATS AND DOGS Avanti Press pushes the greetingcard envelope BY GAIL EISENBERG

One company has been in the business of cranky cats and anthropomorphized dogs long before they started breaking the internet. Colleagues dismissed Rick Ruffner when he employed photography as the primary medium for greeting cards to launch Avanti Press in Detroit in 1980. Years later, those same naysayers also balked when he began using dog and cat images. As it turns out, the joke is on them. “Rick takes great pride in not listening to the general consensus and successfully striking out into new frontiers. Avanti is now published in 30 countries and 12 languages, and we all know animals rule,” says Dave Laubach, Avanti’s Director of Design since 1998, based in New York. After nearly two decades at Lever Brothers, a Fortune 100 company

that inhabited an entire building, it was a bit of culture shock for Laubach to transition to the small, privatelyowned business to run the West 18th Street office of nine. But he quickly acclimated, and by all accounts loves his gig. “Having daily discussions about alpacas, chickens, and prairie dogs is so unlike corporate America. It’s a dream job. Just being able to come up with funny ideas every week is gift from the universe,” says Laubach. Ruffner’s passion to support his hometown has been a critical factor in maintaining Avanti headquarters in downtown Detroit for thirty-seven years. However, during the pre-internet days, when all of Avanti’s images were licensed from New York City stock photo agencies, it was advantageous to have a satellite office. Today, the New York location also affords them access to a wide variety of photographers and other creative resources. “I confess; I attended a lot of photo

Avanti Press, 2017 LOUIE Award-nominated cards: Exercise Cat, and The Pug in the Afro Wig. Photo: Ryan Segedi

shoots early on,” says Laubach. “We generally want as many of the litter as we can get. As you can imagine, herding kittens is a lot more challenging than working with a trained dog — but it’s so fun.” Women continue to buy the lion’s share — about 80 percent — of all greetings, though much has changed during Laubach’s tenure in the industry. Price points have increased substantially with consumers paying over $10.00 for some cards, and digital greetings have dipped into market share. “We assume a certain amount of business may have moved to digital, but the industry’s retail sales remain steady at $7 to $8 billion a year,” says Laubach. “It’s more likely to be techsavvy younger consumers purchasing digital greetings. Still, there are certain occasions like wedding, sympathy, and bridal shower, where digital cards don’t cut it.” The internet and its numerous social media outlets have also opened up avenues for the global humor brand to ﬁnd inspiration. “Nothing is off limits. We scout everywhere — Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Flicker, you name it,” says Laubach. “If there’s an image we like, we try to license it. In fact, we have an advertising image from a pharmaceutical company that was licensed before I started working here, and it’s still in our line today.” The Avanti line skews more unisex, with images and captions that also work well for kids. A*Press, the company’s graphics-based card offerings often employ glitter and deliver a sassier and more sophisticated level of humor. The group will unveil their

Dave Laubach, Avanti Press Director of Design, with this year’s LOUIE Award nominations, The Pug in the Afro Wig and Exercise Cat. Photo: Ryan Segedi new America collection at the National Stationery Show held at the Javits Center on Sunday, May 21. The line contains images and stories from the ‘20s through the ‘60s that capture America’s heart, humor, and history. Later on Sunday, it’s on to the Edison Ballroom for the LOUIE awards ceremony — the Oscars of the greeting card industry — where two Avanti entries will vie for top honors: The Pug in the Afro Wig, a get well card in the under $4.00 category, and Exercise Cat, a lenticular, or 3-D, card in the over $4.00 birthday category. The cat’s leg moves up and down in sync with the woman on the TV set behind her while the effort shows on her face. Inside, the verse reads: “The price we pay for having our cake and eating it too. Happy Birthday.” “It’s our first card ever nominated in the Birthday over $4.00 category, the toughest to compete in,” says Laubach. Team Avanti has garnered over forty of the prestigious awards since the Greeting Card Association launched

ON THE SIDE STREETS OF NEW YORK BLACK DERBY — 310 WEST 4TH STREET Seth Leifer and his partners were eager to open a “NYC bistro for the locals.” They wanted it to feature a cross between French and American food. “Our chef uses my mom’s chicken soup recipe, but we also offer a terriﬁc steak frites.” Opening in early 2017, the restaurant is managing to attract both older

and younger crowds. “They are mixing seamlessly with one another,” according to Seth. “Everyone who comes in is interesting, with an engaging story to share. People seem to have a genuine understanding of what it takes to live in Manhattan, no matter their age.” To read more, visit Manhattan Sideways (sideways.nyc), created by Betsy Bober Polivy.

Photo: Alex Nuñez Caba, Manhattan Sideways

the annual event in 1988. As for whether more Avanti card buyers are cat people or dog people on the whole, well, the pussies have been outperforming their archenemies in recent years. “Cat people seem to love all cats, while dog people tend to be more breed-speciﬁc in their passion,” says Laubach. “We usually have a general idea of how well cards will perform, but it’s really fun when we’re surprised by what appeals to the consumer at retail. Currently, the best-selling cards are two chickens, a prairie dog, and a gorilla. Who knew?” For more information about Avanti Press go to www.avantipress.com Follow Avanti on social media: Instagram @ avantipress and Facebook @avantihumor The National Stationery Show takes place May 21 — May 24 at The Javits Convention Center. www.nationalstationeryshow.com

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MAY 18-24,2017

UNFRIENDING MEGA-DEVELOPMENT ON THE EAST SIDE REAL ESTATE Community advocates organize in opposition to super-tall projects BY RAZI SYED

With an expected spike of construction following the opening of the Second Avenue subway line, opponents of large developments are mobilizing. On Saturday, May 13, around 25 people attended a three-hour workshop on how to advocate for what organizers called the preservation of the Upper East Side. The workshop, titled “Attack of the Killer Megatowers,” was organized by Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts and the Municipal Art Society. “A couple years ago, Friends started to think seriously about potential upcoming changes that were going to affect the character of our neighborhood,” said Rachel Levy, executive director of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts. “We were witnessing with alarm the rise of as-ofright supertowers in midtown to our south. And we wondered what if this accidental skyline would start creeping its way up our avenues and what

INTERSECTIONS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 at a number of prominent crossings during his tenure. The Dance fell out of favor with transportation planners in the decades after Barnes’ death in 1968, but in recent years the scramble has been reintroduced in several cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Rosenthal and other supporters feel that Barnes Dance crossings could mitigate the risk posed to pedestrians by turning vehicles — particularly those turning left — at dangerous intersections. According to the DOT, vehicles making left turns account for more than twice as many pedestrian and cyclist fatalities as those turning right. Advocates say that the Barnes Dance ensures better outcomes by eliminating this conﬂict between vehicles and pedes-

If you go uptown, if you to east Harlem, central Harlem — the zoning map is simple. It’s like one district cover vast areas of central and east Harlem. The reason why is this community has advocated a generation to effect changes”

Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts and the Municipal Art Society are organizing against super-tall towers. Illustration courtesy of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts

that would mean for our neighborhood.” The Second Avenue subway, and the development that is expected to follow, as well as Mayor Bill de Blasio’s goal of dramatically expanding

affordable housing concerned the Friends group. Levy said that although the proposed zoning changes are a worthy priority, they also threaten to lift in one fell swoop many of the protective zoning measures that had been in place for decades. Franny Eberhart, president of Friends’ board of directors, said the Upper East Side’s livability, sense of place and quality of life were threatened if development were to continue unchecked. Urban planner George Janes, who was recently hired to help challenge the construction of a building on the Upper West Side, said he became in-

terested in the rising heights of towers while watching the construction of 432 Park Ave. Completed in 2015, 432 Park Ave. is the tallest residential building in the world. “I was just like you when I saw this going up,” Janes said. “It just kept going up — I was like, ‘Oh, it must be done by now’ — no, it just kept going up. I was astounded at how tall it got. It became one of these things where I thought, ‘I’ve got to ﬁgure out how this happened.’” Janes said the fruits of community advocates’ labor to reign in development can be seen in changes to the Upper East Side zoning map over the

trians, so that neither share the right of way concurrently. DOT has focused on several strategies to make dangerous intersections safer, including the installation of left turn signals, physical cues like rubber curbs intended to slow vehicle turning speeds, and “leading pedestrian interval” signals, which give pedestrians a head start crossing intersections before vehicles proceed. But the department has not moved towards reintroducing the Barnes Dance on a wide scale at high-traffic crossings. “We tend to shy away from it more now than we used to,” Sean Quinn, senior director of the DOT’s Office of Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs, said at a November 2016 hearing on the legislation. As of November, the Barnes Dance was employed at 89 intersections in the city, often in the outer boroughs at intersections with lower pedestrian and vehicle volumes, Quinn

said. At high-traffic intersections of the type that the DOT will study in response to the new law, the DOT has instead usually opted to implement alternative measures, due in part to certain drawbacks associated with the Barnes Dance. In areas with high pedestrian volume, Quinn noted, the Barnes Dance’s additional signal phase can cause increased sidewalk congestion at corners because pedestrians must wait longer to cross. Additionally, he said, the Barnes Dance requires increased signal time during the pedestrian phase to accommodate walkers covering longer distances by crossing diagonally. Combined, these signal timing factors can have broader implications for the movement of vehicle traffic on the surrounding grid. “It’s not out of our toolkit,” Quinn said. “It’s just not one of our newer tools that we’re really applying to these more congested locations.”

The recently passed legislation does not specify the crossings to be studied by DOT (the department will be responsible for identifying locations that might benefit from the Barnes Dance), but Rosenthal believes one intersection in her Upper West Side district — where West End Avenue meets 96th Street — is an ideal candidate. “Coming south on West End and then turning on 96th seems to be one of the places that’s jammed up, and it’s a place where pedestrians and cars are really fighting,” she said. “The cars want to turn and the pedestrians are crossing. And that’s exactly where you would want something like a Barnes Dance so traffic would be stopped in every direction.” “We approach intersection design with an open mind and design to the context,” a DOT spokesperson said after the legislation was passed last week. “We implement several types

George Janes

years. “If you look at a zoning map, it looks really complicated,” Janes said. “If you go uptown, if you to east Harlem, central Harlem — the zoning map is simple. It’s like one district cover vast areas of central and east Harlem. The reason why is this community has advocated a generation to effect changes.” These changes wouldn’t have happened without advocacy at the local level, Janes said. “That kind of advocacy just doesn’t happen Uptown,” Janes said. “It’s people like you that effect these changes.”

of exclusive pedestrian phasing and protected pedestrian movements on a regular basis. For new changes and enhancements at our priority locations, we think that tools such as ‘split’ leading pedestrian interval phases [which give crossing pedestrians a head start while allowing non-turning vehicles to proceed through intersections] may often be the best choice for protecting pedestrians with conﬂict-free crossing time.” The law directs the DOT to submit a feasibility report to the mayor and City Council by August 1. It requires the DOT to study the potential use of the Barnes Dance at high-crash intersections, but does not bind the department to ultimately implement the crossing method. Michael Garofalo can be reached at reporter@strausnews.co

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Scene in New York PHOTOS BY DANIELLE KRULIK

AT THE FREEDOM TOWER Danielle Krulik is a senior photography student at the Fashion Institute of Technology. In her work, she aims to capture authentic emotional and psychological experiences by exposing memories and hidden aspects of life. In her series â&#x20AC;&#x153;From the Freedom Tower,â&#x20AC;? Krulik documents people from all over Manhattan and the world

who come to the former site of the Twin Towers every day. Nearly all sightseers photograph what the area has become, while Krulik chose to photograph their expressions as they gaze up and recall what happened on that clear Septmember morning nearly 16 years ago.

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MAY 18-24,2017

Nothing beats newspapers as the most reliable source of local news in print and online Recent studies show:

‘‘

Newspapers led online consumption for local news” Coda Ventures Survey August 18, 2016

‘‘

Local media users named newspapers as their “most relied on” source for deals across a range of goods and services.” Coda Ventures Survey August 18, 2016

‘‘

What accounts for print’s superiority? Print - particularly the newspaper - is an amazingly sophisticated technology for showing you a lot of it.”

‘‘

Local newspapers are still the top source of news about readers’ communities, including their branded Web sites and social media channels.” Publisher’s Daily - August 30, 2016

‘‘

Residents are eager for news about their own communities, which, increasingly, only local news organizations can provide” Editor & Publisher - June 1, 2016

Politico - September 10, 2016

STRAUSMEDIA your neighborhood news source 212-868-0190 | nypress.com

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

YOUR 15 MINUTES

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

TONY ROBERTS’ NEW YORK We sat down with the iconic actor and discussed his bromance with Woody Allen, growing up in the city and his new movie role BY ANGELA BARBUTI

When Tony Roberts walks around Manhattan, he often gets stopped with questions like, “Where do I know you from?” or “What have I seen you in?” This proves difficult to answer since the actor has enjoyed a five-decade career on stage and screen and is still working. Those encounters were the inspiration behind the title of his memoir “Do You Know Me?” which chronicles his lifelong acting journey with varied roles ranging from leads on Broadway to soap opera stardom to six Woody Allen films. It quickly becomes apparent that he could not tell his story without New York City being a significant backdrop. Not only at the start of his career-attending PS 6 on the Upper East Side and taking an acting class at the 92nd Street Young Men’s Hebrew Association – but later on for moments such as when Allen introduced himself backstage during Roberts’ run in “Barefoot in the Park,” or having a recent conversation about fame with a woman while sitting in Central Park. And at 77, he is still sought after in the industry. He added audiobooks to his prolific resume, lending his voice to the novels of Stuart Woods. And he was offered a role in the “Dirty Dancing” remake, which will air on ABC on May 24.

How did being raised in Manhattan shape your career? I had a tremendous advantage growing up here, not just because it’s New York, which is such a great place compared to any place else, in my opinion. But my father was in the broadcasting business, so I was able to see actors rehearse and perform when I was young. And that was an amazing revelation to see them pretending to be other people in an imaginary story. They played cowboys, gangsters, politicians, anything you can think of. They used different accents. And yet, they were these people who said hello and gave me a hug when I came in and then turned themselves into these other things. For kids with imagination, this was like an open door to pretend. So I was blessed to be exposed to all that at an early age.

Your father started as an actor and then became a successful radio announcer. He gave you a lot of advice when you were starting out, including encouraging you to hit the streets to give out your resume. Explain how actors looked for jobs in those days. Well, there was actually a little publication that came out every month called “Ross Reports,” which listed all the casting agencies in the city. There were no computers or iPhones, so you had the advantage of going yourself and opening a door and having somebody say, “Get out, we’re not taking any resumes today.” But that secretary who told you to get out would be the agent a year from then. She would have moved up inside that company. Well, they need their own clients; they don’t want somebody else’s clients. So the door is open for you to become the new client. But to do it, you have to prove that you’re ambitious and responsible, and that doesn’t mean showing up once or 20 times either, because then you become a stalker. But it becomes knowing when you have something to offer. So if you’re in a play or get a job, then you go back to all of them … . People who think you walk in and it happens, it doesn’t. But if you put your foot in 10 doors, there’s a chance one or two will open.

You explained that people liked your rapport with Woody Allen on camera, which is also your relationship in real life. Why do you think that is? There was a nice article in the New Yorker by Richard Brody about the relationship between Woody and the movies and he referred to it as a “bromance.” And he tried to explain what it was. Nobody knows what it is. It resonates. Most people want to

Shane Harper, Colt Prattes and Tony Roberts in “Dirty Dancing,” airing May 24 on ABC. Photo: © 2016 American Broadcasting Companies. know why we call each other Max and there’s a story behind that, which is in the book. But it was his genius to know that everybody who’s really friendly talks to each other with nicknames that are true only to those two people. And that gave it an authenticity right away. It was also because we are the same, but different. We’re both from New York City, but he’s from Brooklyn. He grew up in a crazy household of relatives and noise and not a lot of money. And I grew up in Manhattan with a very sophisticated, enlightened crowd of performers and actors. But there was something that connected us about being maybe Jews. Maybe neither one of us was particularly athletically gifted. He would hate for me to say that because he’s more athletically gifted than I am, but he doesn’t look like it. But mostly it was the way he wrote us. He was as surprised by it as anybody. Because when “Annie Hall” came out, he said, “You know, I hear a lot from people who say they like our schmoozing.”

After “Annie Hall,” people started recognizing you more in Manhattan, which still continues to this day. You talk about some of those encounters in the book. Tell us one of those stories. The ﬁrst one that comes to mind is Joe Biden. He poked his head out of a

hotel lobby as I went by on Park Avenue and couldn’t wait to shake my hand and thank me for everything I’d done. And I thought, “What did I do that Joe Biden thinks I’m important?” But every time it happens it’s so startling. If you go out of the house in the morning thinking you’re going to be recognized, you’re going to be very disappointed. So you learn, if you live by the sword, you’ll die by the sword. So you don’t expect to be recognized to protect yourself from the ego of thinking, “Why don’t they know who I am?” So instead, you think, “Nobody’s going to know who I am, nor should they.” And then every time it happens, whether it’s an anonymous person from around the corner, or whether it’s Joe Biden, it’s a lovely surprise.

How did your role come about in “Dirty Dancing?” What was that like? They offered me the part. I wish I knew how I got the part because it’s rare you get an offer out of the blue, usually they want you to audition. And I don’t even know to this day where this came from, but I’m very glad it did. It took me about four or ﬁve weeks to ﬁlm in North Carolina. I can’t say much about the new one because I haven’t seen it. It took about seven weeks, I guess, to make the whole thing. And I was there for my scenes

and then I left. And I haven’t seen the rough cut of it and don’t even know what parts are in and out of my own performance. There are more plot lines than there were in the original, if they’re kept in and there’s new music. Some of the music is the same, because some of those were iconic numbers, but there are new ones by new performers. And it’s more ethnically diverse and intentionally. The original one, you can say, is about Jews in the Catskills in 1963. I think that their intention, ABC and Lionsgate, was to make it more universal, with less Jewish identity. My part was originally played by Jack Weston, and we were in a television series together which failed, called “The Four Seasons,” based on the movie of the same name by Alan Alda. Jack and I became pals and he is no longer with us. And Jack played it very Jewish, very broad, almost comical. He was wonderful. It wasn’t written that way for me and I didn’t want to impose a value on it that wasn’t there.

Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

L P W S K P X L C A R U W S R

C E Y Z P F M S G X M U E T Q

H T P L P C O R N P Z T M C E

E P E T S A K O K H U C W S A

E S I O Q D R I T R S I Y J X

R A U T U M N A K B I E J X U

I L N Y A U I E D Y A C Y F M

N P A A E N Y Q A E A L X V H

G V X Q Z V R M E P I P L H J

The puzzle contains 15 words relating to Thanksgiving. They may be diagonal, across, or up and down in the grid in any direction.

O D Z D H F S U R V I V A L C

Apples Autumn Cheering Corn Drums Football Harvest Leaves Meals Parade Pumpkin Ripe Survival Turkey Yams

ANSWERS L

Y O

D O

E M

31 26

11 1

S A

L A T 4

D O 22

Y O

G O

H O

12 5

O M

H O W

I L

N O

L A

O W N

A W S 3

W A

G A 21

R 28

T T

R O

Y O

C O

M R 9

Y K S

1 2 5 9 3 6 8

6 1 3 7 9 4 2

3 8 6 4 1 7 5

3 6 4 5 1 8 2 9 7

1 8 5 9 7 2 6 3 4

2 7 9 6 4 3 8 5 1

5 9 7 3 8 1 4 2 6

4 3 8 7 2 6 5 1 9

6 1 2 4 9 5 7 8 3

27 Felt sorry about 28 Thus in Latin 29 Night bird 33 Fresh, in terms of paint 35 __ , the people 37 River in Bavaria 38 Elusive 40 Limit 41 Collect on a surface 43 Country guy 46 Number of Supreme Court judges 48 Cream additive 49 A Simpson 50 Water barrier 51 Evaluating quality 52 Shake a ___! 53 Hang 55 Leaves in a bag

9 2

51 “What ___ can I say?” 54 Outﬁt 56 Hodgepodge 57 Four quarters 58 Direction 59 Civil Rights heroine, Parks 60 Oval shaped item 61 Shepherd’s locale 62 Lick Down 1 Instants 2 Female servant in India 3 Knowing 4 Prison camp in Russia 5 Dance, when doubled 6 Unidentiﬁed aircraft 7 Animal trail 8 Farm noise 9 Governed 10 “Vanilla ___” movie 13 “Party Down” star, Adam 18 Govt. agency 20 Agreement word 22 Kim follower? 24 European coal area 25 Stench 26 Joan __ Arcadia

K V Q B J S A A J D C E P E O

8 5

Across 1 Wood cutters 5 “60 Minutes” network 8 “__ Robinson” Simon song 11 Glow, in a way 12 Quaint dance 13 Saturate 14 Spanish for house 15 Earlier 16 Small rabbit 17 Book keeper 19 Stringed toy 21 Big fuss 23 60’s fashions, for example 26 Mint family member 30 Good looker 31 It’s a wrap 32 BYOB part 34 __ now brown cow! 36 Auspices 39 Spy novelist, John (2 words) 42 Wheeled transporter 44 Roll of dough 45 Rhone river city 47 Sacred song

E U W D D Y V E X G Q F B V V

7 4

P W P N F D R M D Z L X C R I

O D Z D H F S U R V I V A L C

I P F K S K S N Z S D A M A V

G V X Q Z V R M E P I P L H J

R K F M C B V L E A V E S H W

N P A A E N Y Q A E A L X V H

I L N Y A U I E D Y A C Y F M

5 9

WORD SEARCH by Myles Mellor

R A U T U M N A K B I E J X U

1 8

E S I O Q D R I T R S I Y J X

E P E T S A K O K H U C W S A

H T P L P C O R N P Z T M C E

C E Y Z P F M S G X M U E T Q

Level: Medium

L P W S K P X L C A R U W S R

K V Q B J S A A J D C E P E O

E U W D D Y V E X G Q F B V V

P W P N F D R M D Z L X C R I

I P F K S K S N Z S D A M A V

R K F M C B V L E A V E S H W

R O

6 3

1 7

Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9X9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3X3 squares. To solve the puzzle each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult.

G G

SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan

by Myles Mellor

CROSSWORD

Downtowner 1

MAY 18-24,2017

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MAY 18-24,2017

CLASSIFIEDS HELP WANTED

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

MASSAGE

MERCHANDISE FOR SALE

SITUATION WANTED

:H DUH D SURXG PHPEHU RI WKH $VVRFLDWHG 3UHVV DQG WKH 1DWLRQDO 1HZVSDSHU $VVRFLDWLRQ

SOHO LT MFG

462 Broadway

POLICY NOTICE: We make every eďŹ&#x20AC;ort to avoid mistakes in your classiďŹ ed ads. Check your ad the ďŹ rst week it runs. The publication will only accept responsibility for the ďŹ rst incorrect insertion. The publication assumes no ďŹ nancial responsibility for errors or omissions. We reserve the right to edit, reject, or re-classify any ad. Contact your sales rep directly for any copy changes. All classiďŹ ed ads are pre-paid.

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC AUCTION NOTICE OF SALE OF COOPERATIVE APARTMENT SECURITY PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: By Virtue of a Default under Loan Security Agreement, and other Security Documents, Karen Loiacano, Auctioneer, License #DCA1435601 or Jessica L Prince-Clateman, Auctioneer, License #1097640 or Vincent DeAngelis Auctioneer, License #1127571 will sell at public auction, with reserve, on June 7, 2017, in the Rotunda at the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007, commencing at 1:00pm for the following account: Amanda R. Edmonds, as borrower, 808 shares of capital stock of 502 West 141 Residence Corp. and all right, title and interest in the Proprietary Lease to 502 W. 141st Street, Unit 4B, New York, NY 10031 Sale held to enforce rights of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. s/b/m Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc., who reserves the right to bid. Ten percent (10%) Bank/ CertiďŹ ed check required at sale, balance due at closing within thirty (30) days. The Cooperative Apartment will be sold â&#x20AC;&#x153;AS ISâ&#x20AC;? and possession is to be obtained by the purchaser. Pursuant to Section 201 of the Lien Law you must answer within 10 days from receipt of this notice in which redemption of the above captioned premises can occur. There is presently an outstanding debt owed to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. s/b/m Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc. (lender) as of the date of this notice in the amount of $72,985.57. This ďŹ gure is for the outstanding balance due under UCC1, which was secured by Financing Statement in favor of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. s/b/m Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc. recorded on August 6, 2002 under UCC No. 02PN20053. Please note this is not a payoff amount as ad-

ditional interest/fees/penalties may be incurred. You must contact the undersigned to obtain a ďŹ nal payoff quote or if you dispute any information presented herein. The estimated value of the above captioned premises is $270,000.00 Pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code Article 9-623, the above captioned premises may be redeemed at any time prior to the foreclosure sale. You may contact the undersigned and either pay the principal balance due along with all accrued interest, late charges, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses incurred by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. s/b/m Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc. and the undersigned, or pay the outstanding loan arrears along with all accrued interest, late charges, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses incurred by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. s/b/m Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc., and the undersigned, with respect to the foreclosure proceedings. Failure to cure the default prior to the sale will result in the termination of the proprietary lease. If you have received a discharge from the Bankruptcy Court, you are not personally liable for the payment of the loan and this notice is for compliance and information purposes only. However, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. s/b/m Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc., still has the right under the loan security agreement and other collateral documents to foreclosure on the shares of stock and rights under the proprietary lease allocated to the cooperative apartment. Dated: May 3, 2017 Frenkel, Lambert, Weiss, Weisman & Gordon, LLP Attorneys for Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. s/b/m Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc. 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 631-969-3100 File #01-083394-F00 #91707

BE THE SOMEONE

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

MFG No Retail/Food +/- 9,000 SF Ground Floor - $90 psf +/- 16,000 SF Cellar - $75 psf Divisible Call David @ Meringoff Properties 212-645-7575

Telephone: 212-868-0190 Fax: 212-868-0198 Email: classified2@strausnews.com

Directory of Business & Services To advertise in this directory Call #BSSZ (212)-868-0190 ext.4 CBSSZ MFXJT@strausnews.com

Antiques Wanted TOP PRICES PAID t 1SFDJPVT $PTUVNF +FXFMSZ (PME t 4JMWFS 1BJOUJOHT t .PEFSO t &UD Entire Estates Purchased

212.751.0009

OFFICE SPACE

AVAILABLE IN MANHATTAN

300 to 20,000 square feet

Elliot Forest, Licensed RE. Broker

212 -447-5400 abfebf@aol.com

NEED TO RUN A LEGAL NOTICE? Quick | Easy | Economical

Call Barry Lewis today at:

212-868-0190

Antique, Flea & Farmers Market SINCE 1979

East 67th Street Market (between First & York Avenues)

Open EVERY Saturday 6am-5pm Rain or Shine Indoor & Outdoor FREE Admission Questions? Bob 718.897.5992 Proceeds BeneďŹ t PS 183

Katherine J. Brewster, CSYT The ATMA Center of Yoga and Healing

Find Inner Peace, Quiet & Harmony SvaroopaÂŽ Yoga Classes Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, EmbodymentÂŽ, Reiki Stress Reduction Courses & Empowerment Workshops XXX BUNBDFOUFSOZD DPN t

I CAN SELL YOUR HOME OR APARTMENT QUICKLY!

N e s t S e e ke r s I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Real Estate Sales, 10+ Years Experience

newyorkcares.org

587 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017 0Gm DF t 0UIFS Email: DavidL@NestSeekers.com Social Media davelopeznynj

CALL ME NOW AND GET RESULTS!

DAVID - 917.510.6457

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MAY 18-24,2017

Got an EVENT? FESTIVAL CONCERT GALLERY OPENING PLAY Get The Word Out!

Add Your Event for FREE

nycnow.com