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WEEK OF JUNE WHAT IF? THE ‘CITY OF NEW MANHATTAN’ < P. 9
15-21 2017
Lee Ielpi, a retired firefighter and co-founder of the 9/11 Tribute Center, stands in front of a wall listing the name every victim, including his son Jonathan. The center reopened in a new location on June 7. Photo: Madeleine Thompson Gays Against Guns, a direct action group advocating stricter firearm laws, organized a Monday evening memorial rally in front of the Stonewall Inn to commemorate the first anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Photo: Claire Wang
HUNDREDS COMMEMORATE PULSE SHOOTING VICTIMS COMMEMORATION On the first anniversary of the nation’s deadliest mass shooting, they gathered at the Stonewall Inn to pay tribute BY CLAIRE WANG
A curtain of white cloaks flanked either side of the makeshift stage, sashaying gently with a breeze that cooled the sweltering evening. On Monday night, the first anniversary of the Orlando Pulse nightclub
massacre, the veiled volunteers, 49 in all, hoisted poster boards displaying pictures and accompanying tributes of the victims of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Proxies for the fallen, the collaborators appeared to be floating like fluorescent lamps above the cobblestone walkway outside the Stonewall Inn, the Jerusalem of the gay rights movement. Christopher Street, usually quaint and muted, rolled back the clock and transformed again into the crowded, exuberant place where a once-marginalized LGBTQ community underwent catharsis by celebrating love and life. The scene was made all the more
startling because Gays Against Guns, the direct action group that organized the memorial rally, had explicitly recommended that the public wear black to mourn those who died. Much of the two-hour commemoration, which drew at least 200 attendees, swung wildly from elation to heartbreak, soaring gospels to solemn name reading. The Orlando massacre has inspired activists and allies alike to better insulate the LGBTQ community from more gun violence by urging politicians to pass stricter laws regarding the purchase of firearms.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
9/11 TRIBUTE CENTER REOPENS EXHIBITIONS “By remembering yesterday we’re going to make tomorrow better,” says one of the co-founders BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
There is a digital screen towards the exit of the 9/11 Tribute Center that scrolls through the names of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. It takes five and a half hours to complete each cycle. In case that doesn’t sufficiently summarize the scope of the exhibit, the screen is located next to a long, somber wall on which every single name is printed. By the time visitors get there, after wandering through story after story of fear and destruction, the last section of the exhibit focuses on resilience and community service, a welcome way of being ushered out. The 9/11 Tribute Center reopened on Wednesday after moving to 92 Downtowner
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FOR HIM, SETTLING SMALL CLAIMS IS A BIG DEAL presided over Arbitration Man has three decades. for informal hearings about it He’s now blogging BY RICHARD KHAVKINE
is the common Arbitration Man their jurist. least folks’ hero. Or at Man has For 30 years, Arbitration court office of the civil few sat in a satellite Centre St. every building at 111 New Yorkers’ weeks and absorbed dry cleaning, burned lost accountings of fender benders, lousy paint jobs, and the like. And security deposits then he’s decided. Arbitration Man, About a year ago, so to not afwho requested anonymity started docuhe fect future proceedings, two dozen of what menting about compelling cases considers his most blog. in an eponymous about it because “I decided to write the stories but in a I was interested about it not from wanted to write from view but rather lawyer’s point of said Arbitration view,” of a lay point lawyer since 1961. Man, a practicing what’s at issue He first writes about post, renders and then, in a separatehow he arrived his decision, detailing blog the to Visitors at his conclusion. their opinions. often weigh in with get a rap going. I to “I really want whether they unreally want to know and why I did it,” I did derstood what don’t know how to he said. “Most people ... I’d like my cases the judge thinks. and also my trereflect my personalitythe law.” for mendous respect 80, went into indiMan, Arbitration suc in 1985, settling vidual practice
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
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Greenwich Street from its previous location on LIberty Street, which was only 6,000 square feet to the new space’s 18,000. Many of the same items moved with the center; a twisted steel beam, a menu from Windows on the World, the shredded firefighter jacket and melted helmet of Jonathan Lee Ielpi, who lost his life rescuing people. Mingling with visitors, a walkie-talkie on his belt, is Jonathan’s father Lee, a former firefighter and co-founder of the Tribute Center. “Here we have the ability to not only expand our size but to drive the mission home,” Ielpi said. “That by remembering yesterday we’re going to make tomorrow better.” The exhibit opens with a quote from the Dalai Lama that introduces a recurring theme: “Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.” Ielpi described the center’s
CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
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JUNE 15-21,2017
BROADWAY WORKERS DEMAND ‘FAIRNESS FOR CASTING’ LABOR Casting directors march for union representation on the eve of the Tony Awards BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
Just days before the Tony Awards, nearly 100 people marched in front of Radio City Music Hall last Thursday morning to support Broadway’s casting directors in their fight for union representation. The group carried signs and chanted “fairness for casting,” but their plea wasn’t limited to the corner of 51st Street and Sixth Avenue. Twitter users, including several Broadway stars, also sided with the casting directors in 140 characters. “Without casting directors, this wonderful job couldn’t exist,” wrote J. Quinton Johnson of “Hamilton.” “Let’s get them properly contracted.” Casting directors are the only group of Broadway workers who are not in a union. They work on individual contracts with studios, and receive no pensions or health insurance. To remedy that, casting directors have
Protesting in front of Radio City Music Hall. Photo: Madeleine Thompson banded together with the Teamsters Local 817 to attempt to negotiate with Broadway producers, who are represented by the Broadway League. Tom O’Donnell, president of Local 817, pointed out the irony of celebrating some of Broadway’s biggest successes at the Tony Awards without recognizing some of the people who made them happen. “The biggest snub of this Tony season, and every past Tony season, has been the casting directors,” he said. O’Donnell estimated
that the non-film entertainment industry is about 98 percent unionized and, especially since Broadway shows have made record-setting profits over the past few years, “it just seems unconscionable that a group of 40 people have to make a decision about ‘can I afford to go to the emergency room?’” Despite what Martine Sainvil, communications director for the Broadway League, called “great respect and deep admiration” for casting directors, the producers’ organiza-
tion has not been willing to negotiate with the Teamsters so far. “We have had a respectful dialogue in the past year with Teamsters Local 817 but do not believe it would be appropriate for the Broadway League or its producing members to recognize a union as the bargaining representative of professionals who are not employees of our productions,” Sainvil wrote in a statement. She added that the League has encouraged the group to appeal to the National Labor Relations Board.
But if the rally was anything to go by, support is growing for the casting directors. Tara Rubin, casting director for smash hit “Dear Evan Hansen,” which won six Tony Awards on Sunday night, said on Thursday that her profession is fairly young in terms of being fully recognized, but that it deserves the same benefits and guarantees as the others in the industry. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Rubin said. “I’m not going to enjoy many of the benefits when we get them, but I really hope that my colleagues in the field can enter into their careers knowing that they have basic American protections.” Cindy Tolan, casting director for “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” emphasized that Broadway studios should be able to cover such a small group. “We’re not talking about thousands of people,” she said. “The price of one Broadway premium ticket for one night is more money than [the cost of] one week for one casting director’s benefits.” Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG CUTTING EXCHANGE
OREGONE
BLUE BIKE BLUES
So much for the MTAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attempts to promote civil behavior on the subways. At 1:20 p.m. on Thursday, June 1, a 29-year-old man was getting off the northbound A train at the Fulton Street station when he had a verbal dispute with an unknown man. The latter then cut the 29-year-old on his left arm. The victim was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital for treatment.
A thief snatched a Portland womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bag faster than a New York minute. At noon on Saturday, June 3, a 32-yearold woman from Portland, OR was working at a table in front of the Nike store at the northwest corner of Spring Street and Broadway. She took her eyes off her belongings, and when she went to reach for her bag she discovered it was gone. The items stolen included an iPhone 7 Plus, a MacBook worth $2,300.
Ten minutes were too long for a man to leave his bike unattended downtown. At 10:50 p.m. on Friday, June 2, a 34-year-old man locked his bicycle to scaffolding in front of 126 Chambers Street. When he returned just ten minutes later he found his bike was gone and the cut bike lock was sitting on the ground. The stolen vehicle was a blue bike, the brand and model unspeciďŹ ed, valued at $1,500.
PIER PRESSURE A man made off with a long list of construction tools. At 11:05 a.m. on Monday, May 29, a man entered a construction site at 89 South Street through an open entryway leading from Pier 16, police said. Security personnel at the site were conducting hourly checks when they saw a broken pane of glass and went to investigate. On the second ďŹ&#x201A;oor of the site, they saw a man wearing construction gear leaving the site with several tools. They stopped the man, who then dropped the property and ďŹ&#x201A;ed southbound on South Street. When they came in the following morning, construction company personnel at the site discovered about $16,000 worth equipment missing.
ABERCROMBIE & FILCH A gang committed a ďŹ&#x201A;agrant abuse of the law snatching fragrances. At 2:35 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31, ďŹ ve men entered the Abercrombie & Fitch store at 199 Water Street and made off with 60 bottles of fragrance totaling $5,480. Police searched the neighborhood but couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sniff out the sweet-smelling shoplifters.
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st precinct for Week to Date
Year to Date
2017 2016
% Change
2017
2016
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
1
0
n/a
Rape
0
0
n/a
8
5
60.0
Robbery
1
2
-50.0
26
26
0.0
Felony Assault
1
0
n/a
31
31
0.0
Burglary
5
3
66.7
28
58
-51.7
Grand Larceny
13
23
-43.5
376
456
-17.5
Grand Larceny Auto
0
2
-100.0
7
13
-46.2
De Blasio Affordable Housing Myth #3 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Keeping New Yorkers in their homes has been a top priorityâ&#x20AC;Ś and our rent freeze program is designed to do just that.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mayor Bill de Blasio (Source: City of New York Website)
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De Blasioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Housing Policies: Politics & Hypocrisy Next Week: De Blasio Myth #4
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JUNE 15-21,2017
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
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230 W. 20th St.
212-741-8211
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230 E. 21st St.
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16 Ericsson Place
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FIRE FDNY Engine 15
25 Pitt St.
311
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227 6th Ave.
311
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222 E. 2nd St.
311
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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.
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10 Union Square East
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JUNE 15-21,2017
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JUNE 15-21,2017
ST. VERONICA’S TO CLOSE RELIGION Historic Christopher Street church merged with nearby parish in 2006 has seen declining attendance BY ESTELLE PYPER
A large sign attached to the gates of St. Veronica’s Church on Christopher Street reads: “Help us keep St. Veronica Open.” Draped on the black iron gate at the front of the Greenwich Village church, the sign includes a plea for community involvement. “This is your church. Do not abandon it,” the sign reads in both English and Spanish. After serving as a place of worship and communal gathering for more than 120 years, plans to close the historic building are imminent, with a last Mass scheduled for June 25, according to parishioner and church advocate Terri Cook. Cook, though, said an “alumni” Mass would be celebrated July 23 at which the community will also be welcome. Churchgoers assume the closing is due to the dwindling attendance and decreasing membership. The Rev. Santiago Rubio, the church’s pastor since 2010, did not respond to an email seeking comment. But Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, suggested that St. Veronica’s 2006 merger with the nearby Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard’s, on West 14th Street, was a determining factor. “The parish was merged a decade ago with Our Lady of Guadalupe parish and the pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe has decided that the church is no longer needed for Mass and sacraments on a regular basis,” Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said. The merger essentially meant the parish had two churches, Zwilling said, adding that he was not sure whether declining attendance also had an effect on the decision to close St. Veronica’s. “It’s all one unit but two different sites — and so that pastor has just decided now to combine everything into one site,” he said. Cook said the dwindling of Masses and other church functions led to the loss of congregants. “The congregation of St. Veronica’s has been starved out little by little. It’s such a crime because it is such a wonderful church,” she said. “I’m so annoyed.” Just two Masses are held at the church, both of them on Sundays: one at 10 a.m. (which Cook suggested is too early for the Greenwich Village community), followed by a Spanish Mass at 11:30. Churchgoers and community mem-
The Montclair High School acapella group Passing Notes delivered an emotional rendition of “Hallelujah” during Monday evening’s commemoration in Greenwich Village for the Pulse nightclub massacre victims. They were flanked by veiled figures standing in for the 49 victims of the shooting. Photo: Claire Wang
PULSE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “We do this work because 93 people a day are killed by gun violence in this country,” said Gays Against Guns organizer Kathy Moreno. “We do this work because many of our elected officials are in bed with the NRA.” Facilitated by 20 prominent LGBTQ nightclubs, the tribute featured entertainers, activists, community leaders and Keinon Carter, a survivor of the shooting. “At the age of 15, I lost my older brother to a gun,” said Carter, who spoke to the audience from a wheelchair. “Recently, I almost lost my life to a gun. There is no other words for it — it needs to stop.” Carter had been pronounced dead at the club before his sister saw his body move. Though Carter admitted that he does not know how to end gun violence, he said that, nonetheless, “We need to come to the understanding that weapons are meant to protect, not to hurt.” Iconic musical performances scaled the emotional spectrum, as popular local vocalists and acapella groups took on haunting ballads like “Over the Rainbow” and “Hallelujah” as well as empowering dance tracks like Amy Winehouse’s
“Valerie” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” During the rally’s intervening solemn segments, Council Member Corey Johnson and Public Advocate Letitia James read out the slain victims’ names along with either testimonies to their character or heartrending accounts of their final hours at the club. Dubbed the “Gays Against Guns Human Beings,” the veiled all-white figures standing in for each of the 49 victims individually walked across the stage following each tribute. “I expected the rally to be a lot sadder,” said Lindsey, 26, “but I really appreciated this conscious effort to heal from this tragedy by challenging it with joy and optimism.” The short stories attached to the names of the victims, she said, were personal touches that “felt humanizing.” Lindsey and her friend, Shannon, 28, both have distinct memories of their initial reactions to the Orlando shooting. The two had been planning on going to the Brooklyn Pride the next day, Shannon said. “It was so scary — just knowing that our safe space was under attack when we’d felt so safe the night before. “Part of what makes this rally so great is that it shows us it’s okay to wait afraid, and to be afraid together.”
St. Veronica’s Church, on Christpher Street between Washington and Greenwich Streets, will close this summer. Photo: Martin Furtschegger, via Wikimedia Commons bers want to keep the space alive, regardless of whether services continue at St. Veronica’s. Cook and other congregants meet weekly to discuss possible futures for the church. While they recognize the church will close, they are still trying to attract more members, increase the number of services and ensure that the building remains a community space. “We know the church is going to close, but we’re fortunate that it won’t be torn down,” Cook said. “So we know we have time to keep working on this and to keep on making noise and putting pressure on the (Archdiocese of New York).” They write letters to church officials, collect signatures for
a petition (they now have over 300) and raise money for church upkeep restorations. Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation, lamented the church’s closure. “It would be very sad for it to no longer function as a house of worship or at the very least as some communal gathering place,” he said. Berman and others mainly fear the loss of the church’s extensive history. The burgundy Victorian Gothic building has been a presence within the community since the 1890s, originally built as a place of worship for the growing Catholic population, many of them Irish immigrants. During the
AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and ‘90s, the church opened its doors to those affected by the disease, and built a memorial for its victims. St. Veronica’s and much of the surrounding area were landmarked in 2006 as part of an extension of the Greenwich Village Historic District, as a result of efforts by Berman and GVSHP, preventing the demolition and alteration of the church’s exterior. “We did it because it’s architecturally significant and worthy of preservation,” Berman said. He added that although the church’s exterior is safe, the interior is could be subject to alterations. “What’s so wonderful and important about spaces like these is they are
places where people come together and have a shared experience,” he said. “We’d love to see it continue on as it has been. If that’s not the case, we’d ideally love to see it turned into some sort of use where it remained accessible to the public.” The congregation and GVSHP continue to reach out to the priest and the surrounding community in hopes of maintaining the church. Once St. Veronica’s closes, members are expected to move to St. Bernard’s for services. “None of us want to go there,” Cook said with a sigh. “The church has seen almost every phase of growth that New York City has. What’s in the church has never changed since 1903. That is why it is so important.”
JUNE 15-21,2017
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
BHARARA UNBOUND POLITICS The former U.S. attorney, effusive since being fired by Trump, is wooed by Democrats BY STEVE PEOPLES
As Manhattanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top federal prosecutor, Preet Bharara cultivated an image as a lawman above politics. No more. In the three months since he was ďŹ red by President Donald Trump, the former U.S. attorney has lashed out at the Republican administration in speeches and on Twitter. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also jabbed at the president of Turkey, called one GOP congressman a â&#x20AC;&#x153;fool,â&#x20AC;? and said if another were an immigrant, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d face deportation. With the constraints of a law enforcement job gone, Bharara has found a more political voice for himself, especially online. He has already been approached by Democrats who want him to run for elected office as soon as next year. People close to Bharara say heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eager to maintain an active voice in the political debate â&#x20AC;&#x201D; particularly anything to do with the president who forced him from the job he loved. It remains unclear, however, if the 48-yearold India-born attorney will continue to speak out as a private citizen or as a political candidate. Some friends want him to enjoy his new post as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;distinguished scholarâ&#x20AC;? at New York University, where he is contemplating writing a book or contributing to his brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s media site. Others want him to join a private law ďŹ rm, where his experience battling public corruption could be put to practical use. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of people want a lot of things from Preet. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure Preet wants any of that for himself,â&#x20AC;? said former Justice Department attorney Viet Dinh, a close friend of Bhararaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s since college. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Right now, what he wants to do is spend time with his family, enjoy a quasi-academic perch and take a breath.â&#x20AC;? Bharara declined to be interviewed for this story, but friends and colleagues paint the picture of a man who has no plans to dis-
appear from the spotlight after being forced out after seven years leading the U.S. attorneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office in Manhattan â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a region that covers Trump Tower. The conditions are already in place for a transition from federal prosecutor to political prospect. Already, a captivated New York media is quick to promote Bhararaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Twitter feed, which is packed with slaps at Trump and other Republicans. He tweeted Wednesday that â&#x20AC;&#x153;people â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including presidents â&#x20AC;&#x201D; reap what they sow.â&#x20AC;? Earlier this month, he went after California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher: â&#x20AC;&#x153;One beneďŹ t of being a private citizen is that I can now publicly say that Rep. Rohrabacher is a fool.â&#x20AC;? And in March, he threw shade at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose administration was plagued by the socalled Bridgegate controversy: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes, we all know that Chris Christie is great at spotting & screening out problematic staff,â&#x20AC;? he wrote. At the same time, Bharara wears his dismissal as a badge of honor, even if heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not quite over the hangover of losing the job Trump once told him he could keep. The president ďŹ red Bharara in March as part of a broader effort to replace U.S. attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I loved that place like people love their family,â&#x20AC;? Bharara said during an April speech at Manhattanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cooper Union. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was asked to resign. I refused. I insisted on being ďŹ red, so I was.â&#x20AC;? The dismissal may have helped Bhararaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political career, should he want
Preet Bharara, center, at a Washington, D.C., event in 2015. Photo Rod Lamkey Jr./Financial Times
one. A Siena College poll released after his March dismissal found that 37 percent of New Yorkers had a favorable opinion compared with 13 percent who view him unfavorably; 50 percent didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know enough about him to have an opinion. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Prior to being fired by Donald Trump, he was an incredible talent. Being fired by Donald Trump took him to another level,â&#x20AC;? said veteran Democratic strategist Steve Elmendorf. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The only thing blocking his future, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d say, is that he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t born in the United States so he canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t run for president. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as qualiďŹ ed as anyone.â&#x20AC;? Others have made similar leaps from federal prosecutor to high-profile elected office, including Rudy Giuliani, who held the same U.S. attorney post as Bharara in the 1980s and became New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mayor, and Christie, who went straight from being the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey to governor.
Yet there are signiďŹ cant hurdles as point to the Cooper Union speech as Bharara considers a future in politics. a guide for how he plans to stay relEnamored Democratic strategists evant, at least in the short-term. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a private citizen, I am surrenhave encouraged him to run for office, but New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political landscape is dering neither my voice, nor my law degree, nor my citizenship,â&#x20AC;? Bharara crowded and hostile. Ambitious Democrats are already said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And I really do hope that those entrenched in the most logical land- remain potent tools to effect change ing spots for the coming years at least. in America, because God help us â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Gov. Andrew Cuomo is preparing for because God help us â&#x20AC;&#x201D; if we have to re-election in 2018 and may seek the count only on people in public office to presidency in 2020. Attorney General make a difference.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;And by the way, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any Eric Schneiderman is already eyeing the governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mansion in the coming plans to enter politics,â&#x20AC;? he added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just years. And New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mayoral like I have no plans to join the circus.â&#x20AC;? election is just five months WINNER away. ILLUMINATE And 2017 while his Twitter feed gets a lot of attention, his friends F i l m
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SHAKESPEARE IN THE DIGITAL AGE “Et tu, Brute?” Change has come to Shakespeare in the Park BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL
This summer event has been a ritual for me for the past 37 years. I have my routine down pat: at the crack of dawn, I (sometimes joined by my husband or daughter) hike over to Central Park with a blanket and good book, order breakfast from Andy’s Deli (“Bacon and egg on a roll and coffee with milk. I’m just past the big rock.”) Then I (we) sit on line for the next four hours to get free tickets to whatever Bard performance is offered. For the 2017 season at the Delacorte Theater, “Julius Caesar” is currently playing with the controversial Trump-a-like portrayal of the title role, and a female actor as Marc Antony. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” begins July 11. The process has always been simple enough: you wait, then everyone rises in unison and moves towards the theater where a staffer with tick-
ets asks how many in your party; each person’s allowed two tickets. This year though, when The Public Theater personnel made their way down the winding path shouting the usual instructions about no line cutting and bringing food/beverages into the show, they added a new twist: everyone had to register for tickets on their smartphones. Say what? According to a theater representative, the new digital system is meant to keep the shows as open to as many people as possible, by cutting down on how many times someone can see the play, as well as making scalping more prohibitive. We needed to type in shakespeareinthepark.org/register in order to get a Patron ID number. At noon, the line would move toward the box office where the employee at the desk would look up our ID and print out the tickets. For those without a smartphone or stymied by doing anything electronically, staff members would come around with iPads
Statue of Romeo and Juliet in Central Park. Photo: Ron Cogswell, via flickr and give an assist. After the momentary jolt of panic from having a new step added to the process, it turned out to be no big deal. Yet I found myself massaging my temples to thwart my oncoming headache. Make no mistake, I have always embraced technology, but I find it refreshing when transactions need not require my email address. New York City, with its population of 8.55 million packed together on an island, can still be a very isolating place, the age-old complaint that
many people don’t even know their neighbors. On a beautiful summer day, you can go in a crowded Carl Schurz Park and still feel alone. In many of our stores, efficiency is valued over friendliness, where both merchant and buyer want to get in and get out in a New York minute. There are many empty stores on East 86th Street as well as avenues like Madison, Lex, and Third due to, not only skyrocketing rents, but the fact that people just would rather do business online and have the goods come to them. I’m no stranger to this behavior myself — that’s why I appreciate the rare exchanges like going into the candy store/newsstand across from my house where I kibitz with the owner, who always wants to know why I’m not buying a lottery ticket for what is invariably “the biggest jackpot ever.” I like my interactions at the Mansion Diner — the Upper East Side’s answer to Cheers — where everybody knows your name and treats you like they’re glad you came. I take comfort in my relationships (as mundane as they are) with my neighborhood stores like Angel
Nails, Mekong Laundry, and Oxford Cleaners. I know them; they know me. Shakespeare in the Park, albeit seasonal, has always been a part of my lay of the land. I guess the modification to online registration, although slight and well intentioned, triggered that there might be bigger changes to come, like a virtual line. Perhaps that would be a relief for some, but not for me. Over the years, I have learned to welcome the camaraderie of waiting for tickets with other New Yorkers, fielding the proverbial question “What’s the queue for?” from passersby, and just the unbroken hours taking in the bikers/dog walkers/ musicians and general people watching that is Central Park. I don’t know if, in summers to come, the experience as I’ve known it will go on. I guess all that matters is that the show does. And like Caesar, I “shall go forth.” Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novels “Back to Work She Goes”and “Fat Chick,” for which a movie version is in the works.
A WHOLE NEW YORKVILLE EAST SIDE OBSERVER BY ARLENE KAYATT
No fair there — Say what you will, and like it or not, street fairs have become a part of NY summers and early fall. Kvetch about the sameness of what’s there, the street closings, the traffic diversions, whatever. For bigger or smaller, better or worse, I love them. What I don’t love is when streets where the fair begins and/or ends are misidentified. Most recently the fair scheduled for Lexington between 57th and 42nd started at 53rd Street. No vendors from 57th to 53rd. It’s one thing to walk the walk and look/see/ shop the stalls along the way. Quite another to walk the empty streets with no vendors in sight. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s the weekend and I don’t want to complain. Mayor NIMBY — Mayor de Blasio and his UES neighbors/constituents
just don’t like each other. Never have. The mayor doesn’t deny it. Nor do the voters in those districts. In the last mayoral election, Republican Joe Lhota beat de Blasio on the UES. (Citywide Lhota got only 24 percent of the vote.) And it’s not a love-hate relationship between de Blasio and two of three local Democrat clubs on the Upper East Side. It’s all hate. So much so that the mayor refuses to show up at club events of two local clubs — Four Freedoms and Lenox Hill Democratic Club — but will show up for the third UES club — Lexington Democratic Club. All three are progressive clubs. The mayor does show up at West Side Democratic club events. When asked at an UWS club event about the antipathy of his closest neighbors on the East Side, de Blasio candidly said that he wasn’t “comfortable on the Upper East Side,” and didn’t like living there. So it wasn’t surprising that Four Freedoms and LHDC voted “No Endorsement”
Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray at the inaugural ride of the Second Avenue subway. Photo: Edwin J Torres/ Mayoral Photo Office. in the upcoming mayoral primary race and the Lexington club voted to endorse the mayor. The other candidates seeking to run in the primary are Sal Albanese and Robert Gangi. Only when a candidate is endorsed by a club does his or her name appear on the club petitions seeking to get candidates on the ballot. So when you see those green colored petitions on the streets and de Blasio’s name does not appear, you’ll know it’s because he doesn’t like his UES neighbors.
Beauty, beans, and burgers — The 86th Street commercial district, including 2nd and 3rd Avenues and several streets north and south, will soon be home to the cosmetic industry with stores in varying sizes. Right now, there are the small and boutique-y Sabon and L’Occitane. There’s the medium-sized Bluemercury. The even bigger, maybe ginormous Sephora. And roll out the carpet for Ulta, the uber/ mega beauty emporium coming to the southwest corner of 86th and Third to
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the location last occupied by HSBC Bank. That’s the beauty part. Now comes the coffee beans. Already in residence are two Starbucks — one on Lexington, one on Third, both on 87th Street — and a FIKA on Lex and 88th. And the sit-down-and-be-served coffee at Maison Kayser. The newbies to be added to the brew are Very Truly, a sliver of a shop on Third between 88th and 89th, and Birch Upper East Side on 88th Street between 3rd and Lex. And let’s not forget that burgers are in the mix, too — from Shake Shack to Burger King to McDonald’s to the recently opened Wahlburgers on 2nd and 85th, and the not-so-old, not-so-new-in-thenabe Bareburger on 87th and 2nd. It’s a whole new Yorkville. It’s cracked — Is it okay, or is it a health-code violation, for a restaurant or coffee shop to serve coffee in a cracked cup? On two separate occasions, in two different establishments, hot coffee was served in a cup that had a crack. When told about it, one barista said, “Oh, it won’t spill. We use it all the time.” Another said, “Don’t worry, it won’t cut your lip or tongue.” Huh?
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WHAT IF? THE ‘CITY OF NEW MANHATTAN’ NY SCHEMES A century-old plan to expand Manhattan by 50 square miles south of the Battery BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Governor Andrew Cuomo is fond of saying that the Second Avenue Subway, which opened earlier this year nearly a century after it was first proposed, is “proof that government can still get big things done.” The new subway line, Cuomo said, heralds “a new era in New York where there is no challenge too great, no project too grand.” Naturally, the governor’s critics have been quick to dismiss Cuomo’s claims as self-serving and hyperbolic. And whatever one’s thoughts on the governor or the Second Avenue line, the critics have a point — the chutzpah required to build three new subway stops (in a city with over 400 others) doesn’t quite measure up to the ambition of the great civic undertakings of Manhattan’s past. Projects like the Brooklyn Bridge, which was the longest span in the world and the first bridge or its kind; or the Holland Tunnel — cursed and unappreciated by modern commuters, but a true engineering marvel of its time (ventilating the tunnel was deemed an impossibility before construction by none other than Thomas Edison). Today, in an era in which even building a direct train line connecting Manhattan to LaGuardia Airport is a political impossibility, it seems reasonable to ask: do New Yorkers really think big anymore? T. Kennard Thomson was not shy about dreaming up big things. Thomson, a well-regarded civil engineer in the early twentieth century, contributed to the construction of the upstate
Thomson’s revised 1930 plan showing the City of New Manhattan. Image: New York Public Library canal system and more than twenty of New York’s early skyscrapers. He is perhaps best remembered today, however, for his improbable plan, proposed in 1911 but as yet unrealized, to extend the island of Manhattan several miles south into New York Harbor, creating the “City of New Manhattan.” Thomson detailed his plan in a 1916
Thomson’s 1916 plan reimagining Manhattan and the city’s waterways. Image: Popular Science
Popular Science article. He begins, “At first glance, a project to reclaim fifty square miles of land from New York Bay, to add one hundred miles of new waterfront for docks, to fill in the East River, and to prepare New York for a population of twenty million, seems somewhat stupendous, does it not?” Even a century later, stupendous seems to be an understatement. But despite the doubts of some contemporaries, Thomson was certain that the project was feasible, citing “the majority of engineers” and “hundreds of letters of encouragement.” Thomson called on the city to build a network of coffer dams south of the Battery, which would be filled in to create newly habitable land. Governor’s Island, subsumed into the new landmass, would cease to exist as an island. New Manhattan’s new Battery would extend to within a mile of Staten Island, and the Staten Island ferry would be replaced by a “set of tubes and tunnels.” Taxes on the new land, along with increased property tax revenue from increasingly valuable land on Staten Island, Thomson said, would help offset the immense expenses of the project, which he estimated would
Engineer T. Kennard Thomson, the man behind New Manhattan. Photo: Wikimedia Commons cost “a great deal more” than the thenrecently completed Panama Canal. He wrote, “[T]he returns would quickly pay off the debt incurred, and then would commence to swell the city’s money bags, until New York would be the richest city in the world.” Almost as a sidebar, the plan also calls for filling in the East River. “It would not be much harder to get to Brooklyn than to cross Broadway,” Thomson wrote. (Perhaps some of today’s L train commuters dreading the impending closure of the tunnel now wish they could walk from Williamsburg to Manhattan so easily.) Thomson makes no mention of what would have become of the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, and Queensboro Bridges, all of which were in operation by 1916, without a river to span. With the old East River paved over, you’d need a new one, of course. So Thomson planned to dig a canal, “forty feet deep and one thousand feet wide, from Jamaica to Flushing Bay.” Thomson presented his plan directly to Mayor William J. Gaynor in May 1911. The mayor’s response, if the current state of the Battery is any indication, was less than enthusiastic. Undeterred, Thomson continued his
efforts to build support over the next few decades. A map in the collection of the New York Public Library shows that by 1930 Thomson had significantly revised his plan. In the updated map, the plan to fill in the East River is abandoned, New Manhattan is bisected by a triple-decker boulevard (“Lower deck for railroads; middle for automobiles; top for Airplane Landings.”), and about half of the new land is labeled as part of New Jersey. In hindsight, selling New Yorkers on the idea that New Jersey would become part of Manhattan might have been the most politically impossible aspect of the entire scheme. Alas, Thomson’s vision never became reality, and it’s probably for the best. Some ideas are too big for their own good. But his plan, fanciful as it is, has familiar features, fitting into the long history of New Yorkers rearranging Manhattan to suit their own purposes, imposing their will upon the natural landscape (Battery Park City and the FDR Drive are examples of the many pieces of the city built upon artificial land reclaimed from the rivers). It’s a reminder of what thinking big once looked like.
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Opens June 16
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Thu 15 Fri 16 FILMS OF 1940S NEW YORK
Listen with your whole body 20 Contemporary Artists 10,000+ OMs 6LWH 6SHFLÀ F ,QVWDOODWLRQV %XGGKLVW 0DQWUDV 5LWXDOV
#TheWorldIsSound 150 WEST 17TH STREET BETWEEN 6TH AND 7TH AVES. RUBINMUSEUM.ORG
This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of HARMAN. Major support is provided by Rasika and Girish Reddy. The Rubin also thanks Preethi Krishna and Ram Sundaram and contributors to the 2017 Exhibitions Fund.
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. 6:30 p.m. $20 Join architect, author, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker James Sanders for an evening exploring key films from NYC in the 1940s — when the advent of on-location filming and a plethora of different genres showcased the city’s physical landscape and its contradictory cultural and social undercurrents. 212-534-1672. mcny.org
▲THE FART OF THE DEAL Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South 9:30 p.m. $25 “Faust 3: The Turd coming, or The Fart of the Deal.” portrays the ill-advised bargain between sewer rats and their chosen king, a deceptive clown figure. Although the clown is offensive, vulgar and evil, the people sign away their future on the gamble that the clown will improve their lives. 212-477-0351. faust3theturdcoming.com
Sat 17
‘UNCLE VANYA’ | THEATER
THE PEOPLE POWER PLANET PARTY
The Jefferson Market Library, 425 Sixth Ave. 7:30 p.m. Free “Can any of us honestly take the measure of our lives? Is life a farce, a tragedy — or neither? Anton Chekhov, in his late play “Uncle Vanya,” continues to challenge with provocative questions as urgent today as they were when first performed 120 years ago.” 212-243-4334. nypl.org
Community Garden East Sixth St. (betw. Avenues B & C) 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free An outdoor Eco Fest and Block Party co-hosted by Sane Energy Project and Sixth Street Community Center. Featuring conversations, workshops, demonstrations about living beyond the grid. peoplepowerplanetparty.com
‘SANCTUARY’ | DANCE Paul Taylor Dance Studio, 551 Grand St. 7:30 p.m. $20 Martita Goshen’s Earthworks presents the premiere of “Sanctuary,” her final work honoring the legacy, greatness and goodness of the magnificent racehorse Barbaro, who died tragically. 212-431-5562. ptamd.org
LIGHTSABER TRAINING | FAMILY Chelsea Recreation Center, 430 West 25th St. Chelsea Parks & Recreation Center along with Saber Guild: Empire Temple hosting a first-ever Force Family Fun Day, featuring games, adult and kids lightsaber training, live lightsaber show, photo ops and face painting. 212-255-3705. empiresaberguild.com
JUNE 15-21,2017
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N U F E R R E E H S M T R M A U T S S Sun 18 Mon 19 Tue 20 DARK SIDE OF HIGH LINE | TOUR
Jackson Square Park, West 13th Street & Eighth Avenue 7:30 p.m. Free The skeletal remains of the High Line’s elevated tracks sets the scene for a spooky evening. Join a journey to creepier side of NYC’s most unique park. Hear tales of the strange eccentric who lives below the tracks and saved them from demise, and much more. freetoursbyfoot.com
TASTE OF JEWISH CULTURE STREET FESTIVAL Sixth Ave. between West 48th & 49th Streets 11 a.m. Free The Fourth Annual Taste of Jewish Culture Street Festival features dozens of food purveyors “putting their individual ethnic spins on traditional Jewish foods.” Klezmer Brass All Stars and the Klezmer-rock band, Golem; activities for youngsters. circle.org
INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY▼
▲NATIONAL BALD EAGLE DAY
Castle Clinton, 1 Battery Park Plaza 5 p.m. Free The Consulate General of India presents a celebration of the third annual International Yoga Day 2017. First 500 participants to register online receives a free yoga mat. indiacgny.org/yoga_ registration.php
St. Peter’s Chelsea, 346 West 20th St. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Created by conservationist Rick Carrier in ‘76 and declared a national day by Reagan in ‘82. Learn about the bald eagle and conservation initiatives. 212-929-2390. stpeterschelsea.com
‘DOWN IN SHADOWLAND’ | FILM IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave. 7:30 p.m. Steve Buscemi joins director Tom DiCillo to present DiCillo’s latest film, “Down In Shadowland,” “a hauntingly beautiful hybrid of the documentary form made over the course of eight years and motivated by a fascination with the secret lives of people on the subway...” 212-924-7771. ifccenter.com
‘MADE YOU LOOK’ | FILM SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd St. 7-9:30 p.m. $3-$5 “‘Made You Look: Four Decades of Hip-Hop’s Impact in Cinema’ traces the 35-year rise of hip-hop culture in film and hip hop’s media presence from its independent roots to the global force it is today.” 212-592-2980. sva.edu
Wed 21 GREAT ACCORDION RENDEZVOUS Bryant Park, Sixth Avenue & 42nd Street 7-9 p.m. Free Make Music NY Mass Appeal and Celebration of the NYC Accordion Community in twopart evening featuring accordion “open mic” led by Brooklyn Accordion Club, and informal gathering of accordionists performing together.
CHELSEA PIERS SUMMER CAMPS 15 Camps & 11 Weeks to Choose From For Tots to Teens (Ages 3-17) JUNE
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JUNE 15-21,2017
HELLFIRE AND HOMECOMINGS Paintings and more at NYHS mark the centennial of the nation’s engagement in World War I
BY VAL CASTRONOVO
The city’s commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I continues this spring with the opening of a somber show at the New-York Historical Society, “World War I Beyond the Trenches.” Featuring more than 55 works culled from a recent exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, plus posters and artifacts from the museum’s collection, the show examines American artists’ responses to the war “over there” and its ramifications at home. World War I was the first real hightech war, waged with tanks, airplanes, machine guns and poison gas. Artists bore witness to the appalling carnage — some first-hand, most from a distance — and recorded their impressions in a variety of styles, in the mo-
IF YOU GO WHAT: “World War I Beyond the Trenches” WHERE: New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, 170 Central Park West (at 77th Street) WHEN: through Sept 3 www.nyhistory.org ment and over time. American expat painter John Singer Sargent, who served briefly as a field artist in 1918, was commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee to create a work for a Hall of Remembrance. His monumental tableau “Gassed” (1919), on loan from the Imperial War Museums in London, makes its New York debut at the Historical Society and is the show’s grim emotional center. Recalling Bruegel’s “The Blind Leading the Blind” (1568) and the famous biblical proverb (Matthew 15:14), the
Claggett Wilson (1887–1952). “Flower of Death—The Bursting of a Heavy Shell — Not as It Looks, but as It Feels and Sounds and Smells,” c. 1919. Watercolor and pencil on paperboard, 16 ½ × 22 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alice H. Rossin, 1981. Photo: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, N.Y.
John Steuart Curry (1897–1946). “The Return of Private Davis from the Argonne,” 1928–40. Oil on canvas, 38 ¼ × 52 ¼ in. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, Museum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund. ©Estate of John Steuart Curry, courtesy of Kiechel Fine Art, Lincoln, NE. canvas depicts a line of British soldiers with bandaged eyes staggering toward a dressing station at Le Bac-deSud after a mustard gas attack. They trudge across wooden planking, flanked by piles of gassed comrades in the foreground, while life goes on in the background, where offduty troops play soccer. As art historian David Lubin writes in the catalog, “World War I and American Art,” the work “implicitly criticizes the war — that is, the handling of the war by ‘blind’ politicians and generals.” Generally speaking, Sargent’s presentation of the hostilities tends to be more sanguine — and indirect. Most of the watercolors on display emphasize the mundane aspects of a soldier’s life, with the ugliness of war suggested but not addressed head-on. Wounded men in a medical tent read newspapers and sleep; Scottish soldiers lounge outside a bombed building. Some of the most powerful works are the creations of servicemen who were wounded in the war and used art to document the experience but also to heal. Horace Pippin was an AfricanAmerican soldier who served in the Harlem Hellfighters (369th Infantry), a segregated unit. He was shot during the Meuse-Argonne offensive and suffered partial paralysis in his right arm. More than a decade later, he began “The End of War: Starting Home” (1930-33), a thickly painted narrative
work in which German soldiers in gray uniforms are seen surrendering to black troops in dark-brown uniforms that blend into the landscape. As Lubin writes: “Perhaps the relative ‘invisibility’ of the black soldiers ... had something to do, in the artist’s mind, with their relative invisibility in American culture at large ...” Pippin made the frame, which is dotted with the tools of war — miniature grenades, tanks and rifles. As guest curator Robin Jaffee Frank explained on a recent tour, “It’s similar to African-American storytelling quilts, which show the tools of everyday life. Here the tools tell the story of war.” Claggett Wilson was another wounded warrior who used art to tell war stories. A Marine who was gassed at the Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918, he created a series of graphic watercolors chronicling war wounds — men caught on barbed wire, falling from bullets and agonizing over lost limbs. His “Flower of Death — The Bursting of a Heavy Shell — Not as It Looks, but as It Feels and Sounds and Smells” (c. 1919) is an abstract rendering of an explosion, with fire and flying cinders engulfing the landscape as two traumatized soldiers are caught in the crossfire. But most artists experienced the war at a safe remove. Georgia O’Keeffe was inspired by her brother’s enlistment to paint “The Flag” (1918). A red-whiteand-blue watercolor with a red flag
partially subsumed by a wild blue sky, it suggests anxiety and ambivalence. Socialists and anarchists displayed red flags at meetings during the war, scholar Anne Classen Knutson notes in the catalog, and some states outlawed their display. As Knutson writes about O’Keeffe’s provocative image, “[T]here is a friction between the two primary colors: is the patriotic blue obliterating the potentially subversive red, or is the red holding strong?” George Bellows weighed in with a more definite view. Initially a pacifist, he was swayed by the 1915 Bryce Report detailing alleged German atrocities in occupied Belgium (most, but not all of it, true) to support American intervention. In “The Germans Arrive” (1918), German troops are shown savaging civilians. A townsman’s hands have been sliced off by a soldier’s long, bloody knife; another soldier has grabbed a woman by the neck. Bellows’ violent imagery is tempered by Childe Hassam’s Impressionistic flag paintings, Jane Peterson’s soothing watercolor of women rolling bandages for the Red Cross, John Steuart Curry’s mournful scene of the belated burial of a friend’s remains and George Benjamin Luks’ riotous depiction of an Armistice celebration on the night of November 11, 1918. Through Sept. 3.
JUNE 15-21,2017
A RADIO DEVOTEE REPORTS HIS OWN STORY to Cher, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sean Connery, the late Mary Tyler Moore, they were all such sweet people and lovely to talk to. I always tried to get a picture with them. That helped to do this book because I had pictures of many of the celebrities.
BOOKS Longtime correspondent Bill Diehl talks about writing his memoir and the celebrities he covered BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
Bill Diehl’s interest in and love for radio dates back to his childhood in Corning, New York, when he would listen to “The Lone Ranger” program on WCLI. One glimpse into the station’s control room on a visit with his father was all it took. Diehl bought a crystal set that served as his own personal radio, became an announcer at WCLI’s Youth Bureau Time radio show and went on to report for ABC News Radio for nearly 50 years. He partially retired in 2007, but remains a correspondent in entertainment. We spoke to Diehl about his recent memoir “Stay Tuned: My Life Behind the Mic,” which collects memories and highlights from a lifelong involvement in the profession.
What made you decide to write this book and what do you want readers to know about you? I’ve been a witness to and a participant in a changing world of entertainment. With the book, I tried to just reminisce out loud, if you will, and share some favorite remembrances with others through this book filled with photos and memorable interviews that go back to the early ‘80s when I first started covering the Academy Awards. That came out of the blue. I wound up ... in LA, and I’m standing on the red carpet next to all of these incredible people, up close and personal. I’ve got my microphone, I’m asking them questions. That was a real trip. Next year, they said, “You want to do it again?” I said, “Yeah, fine. I love it.” By the mid-‘80s they made me a permanent entertainment news correspondent, covering all of these venerated personalities who are included in the book.
So that experience changed the direction of your career. What appealed to you about covering entertainment and celebrities? I’m not sure what it is. My wife always has said to me, “You love
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How have you seen the radio industry change throughout your career? Do you see radio continuing to be a major way of spreading the news? people.” That’s an easy phrase to say, but I’m excited meeting celebrities. They’ve always had a special attraction to me. I’ve followed their lives, read celebrity books and magazines. I just think that they shine and they’re exciting to be with. It’s not that I want to be them, but I want to be a little part of their lives, a fly on the wall.
You elaborate in your book, but what were some of the most interesting celebrity interviews you did? Certainly Robin Williams has to be one of the biggest highlights. I heard that he was appearing at a comedy club called Catch A Rising Star, which was on the East Side, a couple of blocks from me on First Avenue. I think it was ‘82 I did the interview. I went down to the club, met his manager, and gave him my card. He said “Well, he might do an interview, but he’s awful busy. I really don’t know if you could do it, but I’ll give him your card.” I go back to the network, and I’m working in the studio, doing my newscasts and everything. All of a sudden the phone rings. “Hi, it’s Robin Williams. Do you still want to talk to me?” I said, “Of course, that’d be great.” He said, “I’ll be over in about 15 minutes.” He shows up, and we do this really funny interview. I interviewed him a couple of times. He was the kind of person that you could just give him the microphone and he would go off on anything. When Robin died suddenly, I went back to that audiotape that we had done and I played it as part of one of our magazine shows. A lot of these people could be divas and very into themselves, but some of these people were really, really nice. I didn’t try to be confrontational with people. Everybody from Dolly Parton,
The biggest thing obviously is that we’re no longer using audiotape, which is really old school now. It was probably right after the turn of the century at ABC [when] we decided to go to digital audio, digital editing. I thought, “This is it. I’m never going to figure this out.” My daughter, Suzanne, who is now 45 years old, said to me, “Dad, come on,” she says, “You can do it.” I figured it out, and I’m still doing it. We have even a new editing system now, which has given me even more headaches but somehow I’ve learned how to do that. You can hear a radio station anywhere in the world now, from Australia to China. That’s a new world ... [ABC has] moved with the times, and we’re still pumping out those newscasts every hour and giving our stations a lot to listen to. I’m very proud to be part of it.
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
O’Keeffe’s Contemporaries: Four (More) Modern Women
FRIDAY, JUNE 16TH, 7PM The Strand | 828 Broadway | 212-473-1452 | strandbooks.com Head up to the Rare Book Room for a look at four modern women artist contemporaries of Georgia O’Keeffe. To explore: Peggy Bacon, Isabel Whitney, Florine Stettheimer, and Abastenia St. Leger Eberle. ($20, includes complimentary beer and wine)
Night at the Museums
TUESDAY, JUNE 20TH, 4PM Various locations downtown | nightatthemuseums.org Fifteen dynamic museums, historic sites, and tours are offering up free culture for the annual Lower Manhattan “Night at the Museums.” Explore and enjoy special programming at key spots like the Museum of Jewish Heritage, China Institute, and the 9/11 Museum. (Free)
Just Announced | Drugs in Documentary Films: A Showcase
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21ST, 5:30PM Open Society Foundations–New York | 224 W. 57th St. | 212-548-0600 | opensocietyfoundations.org PBS POV co-hosts a dialogue and screening of excerpts from recent films that provide insight into the human toll of the international drug control regime. (Free)
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
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Advertise with Our Town Downtown today! Call Vincent Gardino at 212-868-0190
So much of the entertainment business happens in or revolves around L.A. Why have you stayed in New York all these years? The first time I went [to L.A.], the palm trees and the celebrity life out there, it was very, very attractive and so forth. At one point, there was talk that ABC might move its headquarters, or radio news headquarters, out to LA. My wife said, “That’s very nice. I’ll come out and join you occasionally.” My wife is a real New Yorker. She would never want to move away. I always wanted to be in New York. This was what I built my career on as a news guy. I always thought New York was the pinnacle. This interview has been edited and condensed. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@ strausnews.com
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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS
Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
48 1/2 East 7 Street
Grade Pending (20) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Bareburger
85 2 Avenue
A
Bequ Juice
350 E 9Th St
A
Bluestone Lane
770 Broadway
A
Kung Fu Tea
27 Waverly Pl
A
Roll It Up
63 E 7Th St
A
Luke’s Lobster
124 University Pl
Not Yet Graded (18) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Corkbuzz Wine Studio
13 East 13 Street
A
Adalya
55 Irving Pl
A
Sal Anthony’s Restaurant
226 3Rd Ave
Not Yet Graded (30) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Shoolbred’s
197 2 Avenue
Closed By Health Department (34) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Kati Thai Cuisine
347 East 14 Street
A
Fresh & Co
729 Broadway
A
Buvette
42 Grove Street
A
High Street On Hudson
637 Hudson St
Grade Pending (49) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Records and logs not maintained to demonstrate that HACCP plan has been properly implemented.
Barrow’s Pub
463 Hudson Street
A
Jack’s Coffee
138 West 10 Street
A
Ramen Thukpa
70 7 Avenue South
A
Papaya Dog
333 6Th Ave
A
Arbor Bistro
226 West Houston Street
Grade Pending (7) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Artichoke Basille’s Pizza & Bar
111 Macdougal Street
A
Nyu Gcasl Kitchen
238 Thompson Street A
Balthazar Bakery
80 Spring Street
A
Rice To Riches
37 Spring Street
A
Lucien Restauraunt
14 1 Avenue
A
Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin Robbins
100 1 Avenue
A
Café Medi
107 Rivington Street
Grade Pending (26) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
MAY 25 - JUN 7, 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. Pier 60
Pier 60 23Rd Street And West Side Highway
A
Umami Burger
432 Avenue Of The Americas
A
Gelato Giusto
164 9Th Ave
A
Google Water Tower Cafe
111 8 Avenue
A
Just Made Sushi (Dd Maru) 267 West 17 Street
A
Momoya Chelsea
185 7Th Ave
A
Lenwich
66 W 9Th St
A
Aleo
7 West 20 Street
A
Barcade
148 W 24Th St
A
Pastai
186 9Th Ave
A
Starbucks
378 6 Avenue
A
Sushi Tokyo
121 W 19Th St
A
E.A.K. Ramen
469 6Th Ave
Closed By Health Department (92) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Food contact surface improperly constructed or located. Unacceptable material used. No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
The 13Th Step
149 2 Avenue
A
Thai Terminal
349 E 12Th St
A
Il Cantinori Restauraunt
32 East 10 Street
A
Swift
34 East 4 Street
A
Bite
211 East 14 Street
Grade Pending (25) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Pauls Da Burger Joint
131 2 Avenue
Grade Pending (22) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
JUNE 15-21,2017
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CITY’S SCHOOL DIVERSITY PLAN GETS MIXED REVIEWS SCHOOLS The Department of Education issues remedy for changing the racial balance of students BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
Students, parents, educators and politicians were less than impressed with the Department of Education’s plan to diversify New York City schools, which was released last week in response to a 2014 study that found the city’s schools to be one of the most segregated in the country. “Despite the fact that the overall metro share of enrollment is 35 percent white and 22 percent black, the typical black student attended a school in 2010 with 12 percent white and 51 percent black classmates,” the study, conducted by UCLA’s Civil Rights Project, reported. The education department’s plan to remedy this starts with its goals to increase the number of children in a school with 50 to 90 percent black and Hispanic students by 50,000, lower the number of schools that are more than 10 percentage points above or below the city’s average on the Economic Need Index, and make more schools inclusive by serving English Language Learners and students with disabilities. Critics say these goals aren’t enough. “[This plan] doesn’t deal at all with K to eighth grade, which is where the inequities begin,” said New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole HannahJones on NY1 last week. “Ninety-percent black and Latino is considered intensely segregated school, and most black kids in the system are already attending schools that are 90 percent black and Latino. So this is basically a non-plan.” Others say the broad inclusion of issues detracts from race as the heart of the city’s problem. The education department announced in the plan several new steps it will take to accomplish its goals, including setting up a School Diversity Advisory Group to “tackle citywide policies and practices such as admissions and program planning,” eliminating “limited unscreened” high school admission policies that prioritize students who visit schools they’re interested in and improving school climates by reforming discipline methods. The city also expand preparation for and availability of the Specialized High School Admissions Test, but a report by Chalkbeat this past March found that there was “virtually no change in the number of black or Hispanic students offered admission to schools like Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech.” Despite the UCLA study’s blunt analysis of schools in terms of integration and segregation, the DOE plan avoids using either word. So has Mayor Bill de Blasio, when asked about the plan
Mayor Bill de Blasio with Chancellor Carmen Fariña at an event last Thursday announcing new Advanced Placement courses. Photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office at various points over the last week. “I know if I start to use certain terminologies, people will miss the forest for the trees,” he said on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” last Friday. “I’m not going down that rabbit hole. We have to get to the core of the problem. The core of the problem is we have to break down racism and other bias in our society. We have to increase economic opportunity. We have to increase diversity in housing.” In the segment, the mayor cites the rezoning of Upper West Side schools that revealed deep divisions in the community as an example of success. Kim Watkins, who led the rezoning process for the Upper West Side’s Community Education Council, credited the city with making a first step given the scope of the challenge facing the school system. “I would like to see a little bit more about how some of the finer points will be implemented,” she said. “I found it striking that though there was a working group that had some parents and advocates involved … I wish we could’ve seen a little more come forward to the community at large. I think we could do a lot better in terms of transparency.” She did not hesitate to describe the city’s school as segregated. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the term “diversity”
is used because it’s broader and enables administrators to speak to more than one type of diversity at once. The spokesperson said the plan is based on numerous conversations the agency had with schools, elected officials, parents and researchers over the past year, and encouraged those interested in improving schools to contribute their own feedback. Council Member Helen Rosenthal, who was heavily criticized for her support of plans to integrate schools on the Upper West Side, said she was glad to see an effort being made to address issues with the school system but emphasized that this is just the beginning. The rezoning conversations that took place in Rosenthal’s district were often heated and tearful, with parents who did not want to be moved for the sake of integration saying it wasn’t because of racism but because they wanted to keep their communities together. Even so, Rosenthal has hope that progress can be made. “Among the parents that had a vote, nine to one said [the rezoning] was great,” she said. “Yes it was hard, but it was nearly unanimous.” Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com
9/11 TRIBUTE CENTER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 docents as ripples because they all come from the community of people most affected by the 9/11 attacks, whether as family members, responders or survivors. The center has designated space for them to serve as living history. Gail Langsner, a pet sitter with a warm smile, lived on Liberty Street at the time, in the building where the Tribute Center used to be. “I had eight birds that I had to take care of that day,” she told a small group of visitors on Sunday afternoon, during the center’s soft opening. “I couldn’t figure out how we were going to get them out. [My husband] borrowed some sheets from my neighbors and stacked up the little travel cases and made these bundles that he hung over a broomstick. We walked out of the building like every picture of fleeing refugees you’ve ever seen, with parrots.” Whether in video form, in person or in writing, storytelling is central to the Tribute Center’s new layout. The winding path of the exhibit guides
visitors from the history of Lower Manhattan to post-9/11 recovery and community service efforts. Stories from immigrants and architects line the walls at the entrance, setting up a vision of the area as a global center of trade. Interactive screens allow people to choose from a plethora of video interviews with those affected by 9/11. And, above all, the barely recognizable objects discovered in the rubble speak for themselves. Educating visitors was a key goal for Ielpi, who feels people don’t know enough about the details and impact of that day. “This new center has the luxury of space to work through what happened, rebuilding and understanding,” he said. “Every day I realize how far we haven’t come.” He hopes that highlighting organizations like Beyond the 11th, a nonprofit founded by two women who were widowed on 9/11 to support widows in Afghanistan, will inspire people to channel what they learned and felt in the Tribute Center into their own communities. “We just have to figure out a way to try and understand what peace is in this world,” he said. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com
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Business
SMALL BUSINESSES STILL WAITING FOR TAX RELIEF REAL ESTATE Commercial rent tax reform not included in city budget BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
An effort to include commercial rent tax reform in the $85 million budget deal agreed upon by the mayor and city council earlier this month fell short, but legislators remain hopeful that a measure aimed at easing the tax’s impact on Manhattan small businesses will succeed in the months to come. “It’s unfair and antiquated and doing real harm to Manhattan businesses,” said City Council Member Dan Garodnick, one of the leaders of the latest effort to reduce the number of businesses that pay the commercial rent tax. Under the commercial rent tax as it currently stands, certain business tenants in Manhattan south of 96th Street are taxed at an effective rate of 3.9 percent of base rent. Businesses paying less than $250,000 in rent annually are exempt from the tax. A bill introduced by Garodnick and fellow Council Member Helen Rosenthal last year would raise the exemption threshold from the current $250,000 to $500,000 in annualized rent, thus unburdening approximately 30 percent of businesses that currently pay the tax. A separate proposal introduced this year and also co-sponsored by Garodnick and Rosenthal would exempt certain grocery stores from the tax as well. The commercial rent tax has long been a peculiar feature of the city’s tax code; Florida is the only state in which businesses are taxed similarly.
Advocates say reforming the commercial rent tax will make life easier for rentstrapped Manhattan retailers. Photo: David Wilson, via flickr When the tax was first imposed in 1963, it applied to commercial spaces citywide. But over the years, revisions to the code have gradually carved out exemptions for large swaths of the city. Since 1996, businesses located in the outer boroughs and Manhattan above 96th Street have not paid the tax. Since 2001, tenants with annualized rents below $250,000 have been exempt from the tax. In 2005, certain tenants in Lower Manhattan were exempted to provide relief to the area’s businesses in the aftermath of 9/11. The legislators supporting the proposal say that the bill will benefit
large numbers of Manhattan businesses without having a significant negative impact on the city’s coffers. According to the city’s Department of Finance, raising the exemption threshold to $500,000 would exempt about 3,300 commercial tenants — about 30 percent of the businesses that currently pay the tax — and would decrease revenue by $52 million in the next fiscal year, just six percent of the projected $848 million the tax will generate. According to the city’s Independent Budget Office, newly exempted businesses would save, on average, $13,250 annually.
Because the commercial rent tax is imposed as a percentage of overall rent, a small number of businesses with high rents contribute an outsized share of the total revenue brought in each year by the tax. In the 2016 tax year, 368 taxpayers, less than five percent of all businesses taxed, accounted for over half of the total revenue generated. Garodnick said he would like to see the commercial rent tax repealed in full eventually, but that raising the exemption threshold is more practical way to address the matter in the immediate term, given the more significant budgetary impact a full repeal would entail. A common complaint among small business owners is that the commercial rent tax is unfair because it layers one tax upon another. Because landlords consider their own property taxes in charging rents, they say, and annual tax increases are often passed on to tenants in the form of rent hikes, the commercial rent tax is at least in part a tax on the property tax. “Such pyramiding is considered undesirable from a best practice perspective,” the Independent Budget Office stated in its analysis of the tax presented to the city council earlier this year. Robert S. Schwartz, the owner of Eneslow Pedorthic Enterprises, operates two retail shoe stores in Manhattan. Schwartz, who sits on the board of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, which supports the bill, said that rising costs have eroded profitability for small businesses. “Look at all the vacancies on Second Avenue and Park Avenue and Madison Avenue,” he said. “There’s a reason: it’s because the rents are out of control. The real estate tax and commercial
rent tax make it ridiculous.” The bill to increase the threshold enjoys broad support in the city council, with 39 of the legislators in the body having signed on as co-sponsors since it was first introduced in May 2015. The lone potential stumbling block to passage is Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has not publicly taken a position on the bill. On May 22, a coalition of 27 local, state and federal elected officials sent a letter to the mayor urging him to support reform efforts. Among the officials who signed the letter were Garodnick, Council Members Helen Rosenthal, Ben Kallos, Mark Levine, and Margaret Chin, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, and U.S. House representatives Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler. In an email statement in response to a request to explain the mayor’s position on the council’s commercial rent tax reform proposal, mayoral spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein instead pointed to alternative measures taken up by city hall to aid small businesses, which haven’t included adjustments to the commercial rent tax. “We’re committed to helping small businesses thrive and continue to look for ways that we can help,” Goldstein said. “This administration has a strong track record of helping small business, including the reduction of fees and fines, expanding free legal consultation programs, and providing marketing support through our new initiative, ‘Love Your Local.’” Garodnick said he anticipates that the city council will vote on the bill at some point this year. “We have a lot of support in the council, and we hope to have the support of the mayor in this process,” he said.
ON THE SIDE STREETS OF NEW YORK DOYLE & DOYLE — 412 WEST 13TH STREET Owned by two sisters, Pamela and Elizabeth Doyle, with an affinity for jewelry, this treasure trove of a shop boasts a collection selected with extreme attention to detail. The women’s love for history and antiques undoubtedly stemmed from their childhood exposure to the beauti-
ful pieces their grandmother brought to America from China, but both Elizabeth and Pamela have extensive academic backgrounds in jewelry as well. Elizabeth holds a degree from the Gemological Institute of America, and Pamela worked for years as a New York City diamond dealer before opening their storefront. To read more, visit Manhattan Sideways (sideways.nyc), created by Betsy Bober Polivy.
Photo: Alex Nuñez Caba, Manhattan Sideways
JUNE 15-21,2017
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EAST 93RD WAS ONCE MARXIST STRONGHOLD HISTORY Band of brothers that would find fame in vaudeville and film grew up amid Yorkville’s tenements and breweries BY RAANAN GEBERER
The small, older apartment building at 179 East 93rd Street is a stone’s throw from the fashionable Carnegie Hill neighborhood. But at the turn of the 20th century, it was in the midst of a crowded immigrant tenement and brewery district. And from 1895 through 1909, the building housed the family that gave rise to the world-famous Marx Brothers. A group of local seventh graders from the East Side Middle School recently discovered the house and the Marx Brothers themselves, and have started a campaign to mark the house with a commemorative plaque. More about that later. The brothers’ life in their small apartment is chronicled in Groucho’s autobiography, “Groucho and Me,” and Harpo’s, “Harpo Speaks.” Their parents, Sam (‘Frenchie”) and Minnie, were German-Jewish immigrants. Groucho called his father, who had an in-house tailor shop, “the most inept
tailor that Yorkville ever produced — the idea that Pop was a tailor was an opinion held only by him.” Also living with the family were Minnie’s elderly parents. Minnie’s father was a former magician, and her mother played the harp. One of the brothers, Adolph, started exploring grandma’s harp and later mastered it, earning him the name Harpo. The oldest boy, Leonard (later Chico), was a problem child. He didn’t take school seriously and he was an incorrigible gambler his entire life. You could always find him at a pool hall or a card or dice game. Yorkville was full of warring youth gangs, most of them the children of immigrants, who jealously guarded their “turfs.” To avoid getting beat up when wandering onto the wrong block, Chico became an expert mimic of several accents — German, Yiddish, Irish and Italian. It was the Italian one that later defined his stage and screen character. Harpo, too, didn’t have much schooling. In his autobiography, he tells how, in second grade, two tough Irish kids would grab him and drop him out of the first-floor window whenever the teacher left the room. When he would climb back in, the teacher would blame him. Harpo soon left school and did odd jobs around the neighborhood, but he loved performing even then. He liked
The Marx Brothers in 1931. Top to bottom: Chico, Harpo, Groucho and Zeppo. Photo: Library of Congress. to imitate a local cigar maker, Mr. Gehrke, nicknamed “Gookie,” who would sit in the window of his store rolling cigars. Engrossed in his cigar-rolling, the man would make a grotesque face, crossing his eyes, puffing his cheeks and sticking his tongue out. Years later, Harpo’s “Gookie” face became a well-loved part of his comic persona. Julius, or Groucho, was the quiet, bookish one and originally wanted to be a doctor. His love of language would be reflected by his comic wordplay and
punning in the Marx Brothers films. Groucho could also be a mischief-maker: In his autobiography, he recalled walking over to the Ruppert mansion on 93rd and Fifth, climbing over the fence and stealing apples and pears that grew on the premises. Starting around 1907, Minnie started organizing her boys into a vaudeville act. The “Marxology” website says its first version, “The Three Nightingales,” included Groucho, Milton (Gummo) and a young lady, Mabel O’Donnell. Mabel was soon replaced by Lou Levy, a childhood friend of the Marxes. When Harpo joined the act, they became the Four Nightingales. The name reflected the fact that theirs was originally was a musical act — they all played instruments and/or sang. Some readers might not recognize Gummo. That’s because he left the act in 1918 when he was drafted into the Army. He was succeeded by youngest brother Herbert (Zeppo), who quit in 1934 after becoming fed up with his role as the straight man for three great comics. Don’t feel sorry for Gummo and Zeppo — both became successful Hollywood agents. Minnie moved the family to Chicago, the hub of several vaudeville circuits, in late 1909. Lou Levy’s place was taken by another short-lived replacement, and then Chico, already a seasoned comic actor and pianist, joined
READING AND WRITING, RIVERSIDE FESTIVALS Authors, readers come together at AmpLit Fest BY ELISSA SANCI
AmpLit Fest, a day-long literary festival, returned to Riverside Park’s Pier I for a second year on Saturday, June 10. Hosted by a partnership of the park’s annual Summer on the Hudson series and Lamprophonic, an Upper West Side writers group, the free festival featured an afternoon of writing workshops, panel s with local authors and readings. Moosiki Kids, a music program for children led by Laura Nupponen, opened the event, and families who arrived at noon filed into seats, strollers packing the audience. A few toddlers bounced to the tune of the acoustic guitar as a breeze cut through the late spring heat. Afterwards, in the Emerging Writers Showcase, six new writers were in-
vited to the stage to share their work. The showcase featured writers of all ages, and high schooler Dylan Manning’s father jumped in to share her short story when an obligatory class trip kept her from attending. Author Katie Kitamura then read several passages from “A Separation,” her latest novel, which explores one woman’s journey to find her missing husband. Clare Smith Marash, Lamprophonic’s founder, then engaged Kitamura in conversation. The women discussed the literary elements at play in Kitamura’s novel as well as her life as an author. Marash founded Lamprophonic as a reading series for emerging writers in 2012 while pursuing an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. “There seemed to be a need on the Upper West Side at that time for a series, so over time, I formalized it, got more people involved and curated the series,” Marash said. “We intended to create a space for emerging writers with no kind of hierarchy in the
The Uni Project’s pop-up library at the AmpLit festival in Riverside Park. Photo: Elissa Sanci lineup and reach beyond the MFA community.” As Lamprophonic’s readings grew in popularity, Marash came in contact with Zhen Heinemann, the director of public programs for Summer on the Hudson. The series is the city Parks Department’s annual outdoor arts and culture festival. Heinemann asked Marash if Lamprophonic would be interested in holding readings in the park. Lamprophonic, in 2015, initially hosted monthly readings and discussions with local authors in the park through this collaboration with Heinemann and Summer on the
Hudson. Marash said she and Heinemann decided to invest more deeply by hosting a full-fledged festival that still incorporated readings while introducing workshops and panel discussions. “It was far more successful than I would have dreamed,” Marash said. “It was a very inviting space. Riverside Park is full of families and people wandering about, so we got to bring in a lot of people who maybe had no intention of going to a literary festival, which was kind of our hope.” In the day’s last panel, Summer Reads, authors shared excerpts of their recently published and soon-to-
the act. The Marx Brothers as we know them were born. Even after the Marx Brothers rocketed to stardom, they never forgot where they came from. Toward the end of his life, according to “Untapped Cities,” Groucho came back to the house on East 93rd Street and paid for new tiles in the common areas. Today, visitors from all over the world come to see the house — including the above-mentioned group of seventh graders. As part of a class project, the kids, who started out as the “Mapping Committee,” sought to make a map showing places where famous people had lived on the Upper East Side. When they got to the Marx Brothers’ childhood home, they felt a strong connection, although they didn’t know why. But they soon discovered the brothers, researched their history and saw their films. “We came to know the Marx Brothers as unique, hilarious and subversive entertainers who had a great sense of humor,” the students, who now call themselves the Marx Brothers Historic Committee, said in a statement. They sent the owner a letter requesting a historic plaque on the building, but they haven’t heard from him yet. The East 93rd Street Association has offered to fund the plaque. We’re sure that Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo would approve.
be released works. Among the readers was poet Nathan McClain, who recited from his debut poetry collection “Scale”; writer Jeannie Vanasco with an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, “Glass Eye”; and author Emily Holleman, who closed out AmpLit Fest with a reading from her novel “The Drowning King.” Those who took a break from what was happening on the main stage could explore other pop-ups, which included a portable reading room courtesy of The Uni Project. Founded by Sam Davol and his wife, Leslie, The Uni Project provides a place for learning outside a classroom or library by popping up in public spaces and providing books that attract readers of different levels across multiple generations. Both Summer on the Hudson and Lamprophonic funded the small literary festival that drew humble crowds to Pier I on that sweltering Saturday. “All the best art, allegedly, is in New York, but none of the artists can go see it,” Marash added. Lamprophonic and Summer on the Hudson aim to change that.
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A FILM THAT CARRIES ITS WEIGHT Writer-producer-director Rob Margolies on his comedy chronicling a young man’s struggle
It was Rob Margolies’ 60-pound weight loss that inspired his new film, “Weight,” which is centered around that very struggle. “I guess what made me want to tell the story is just the uniqueness of the situation. There’s never really been a movie about some guy who is struggling to lose weight,” the Upper West Side resident explained. When looking for the perfect protagonist, Margolies consulted another Upper West Sider, casting director Judy Henderson, whom he always looks to when he has complex, or difficult, roles to fill. “In this case, finding a guy who is 300 pounds is definitely a challenge. There weren’t many people who submitted for the role. But she ended up getting me a bunch of excellent actors.” The one who stood out was Zackery Byrd, who makes his film debut in this role. Part of his contract includes an obligatory weight loss, and with the help of a company sponsor called Sun Basket, who is supplying him with a year’s worth of food, and exercising with a trainer multiple times a week, he is approaching that goal.
Ten percent of the project’s proceeds will go to diabetes research, one of the factors that Margolies says attracted his cast, Jason Mewes, Randy Quaid, Ashley Johnson, Kathy Najimy and Peter Scolari, who all took pay cuts to star in the film.
The tone and the style of the movie is like that. There was a friend of mine who’s obese and was diagnosed with diabetes about a year ago. I guess his struggle and own mental capacities are what made me put two and two together and start writing the script. .
How did you get your start in the industry?
What was the atmosphere like on set?
I basically had a love for it since I was 6 years old. Just growing up, my mom used movies and TV as like a pacifier for me. At about 12 years old, I was in sixth grade, I realized that you can actually have a living working on movies. So I started writing screenplays when I was that age. From there, I nurtured my creativity. My junior year of high school, I was 17 years old, I ended up making my first feature film with a bunch of my friends in high school. I would never show anybody, obviously. It was pretty bad. Then that summer, I spent at the New York Film Academy and then when I graduated high school, I went to Chapman University to study film.
How did you lose weight and what made you want to tell this story? Just eating right and exercising. The old-fashioned way is how I lost the weight. I like to call the film a modernday John Candy movie had he decided to get healthy and lose weight.
I handpicked the entire cast and crew, so there were no fights. Everyone got along. It was really smooth. But I think a lot of the crew members weren’t used to my style of work. The way that I work, there really are no breaks. I just go go go go. It’s sort of my mentality. I’m shooting this movie, 95 pages in 17 days is a feat in itself. Plus there are 22 locations on top of that. So there are a lot of company moves. I wouldn’t call it stressful, per se. But it was like nonstop, a lot of work. When this movie wrapped, I literally slept for 16 hours straight and was still exhausted.
What are some of the locations in the film? Some of the signature locations are a bowling alley, a doctor’s office, a lot of Central Park. We had a diner in Brooklyn. The Dogpound (a Tribeca gym) Another sponsor of ours, Tribeca. A mansion out in Jersey for one of the scenes. Of course, the main location was the main character’s apartment
which ch was actually in Jersey City, but it can definitely pass for a Brooklyn apartment.
What at were the challenges to filming ing in New York City? Parking rking is obviously a hard d one. You can pay for a parking lot, but getting ting the equipment nt up to each location n was sort of the one thing my team was struggling with. The other thing is, of course, the size of certain locations. Obviously viously in New York City, y, a doctor’s office and apartments rtments and all that kind d of stuff are way smaller than n they are elsewhere. And d then of course, a lot of outdoor-type utdoor-type stuff, like weather ather conditions. Forty percent cent of the film is outside..
Whoo are some filmmakers you look up to? The he people I look up to aren’t n’t necessarily the kind d of people that this film m is sort of in the vein of. Some of my favorite filmmakers mmakers are pretty clichéd héd answers, Quentin Tarantino, antino, Stanley Kubrick, k, Paul Thomas Anderson. son. David Fincher is probably robably my favorite director ector right now. So they’re y’re all very different than my personal style, e, but comedy is my wheelhouse and I just embrace that.
Thiss is your sixth film. Whoo are some actors you’ve ve kept in touch with? h? Oh, h, so many of them. m. Charlie Sheen, en, Hilary Duff ff,, are some of the he bigger ones. s. And then Jane e Adams, Adams Joe Morton, Alexa Vega. Spencer Grammer is a really good friend of mine; we have children around the same age. Pretty much all of them except for maybe one or two, who I’ll leave nameless. www.weightthemovie.com www.robmargoliesfilmmaker.com
Rob Margolies with “Weight” co-star Randy Quaid, co-producers Nick Young and Carly Sadolf, and Zackery Byrd, who is making his film debut. Photo: Evi Quaid
Filmmaker Rob Margolies. Photo: Brandon McClover
Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.
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WORD SEARCH by Myles Mellor F Z O L C H A R A C T E R X F
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