Our Town Downtown - July 4, 2019 by OurTown Downtown

The local paper for Downtown wn IMMERSED IN ART AND IDEAS ◄ P.12

WEEK OF JULY

4-11 2019

SUBWAYS: AN UNDERGROUND UPDATE GOVERNMENT We love it, we hate it, we can’t live without it. Here’s the latest about the system we all depend on BY STUART MARQUES

It’s raining hard and you race down the slippery sidewalk and into the subway — only to find it’s pouring down there, too, through cracks and gaping holes in the ceiling. It’s the dog days of summer and you head into the subway in search of an airconditioned car. Just your

Photo: Steven Strasser

luck, the temperature on the crowded platform is 100 degrees, and the AC isn’t working in the car you squeeze into.

You’re in a subway and the train is hurtling through a tunnel. It suddenly comes to a stop — often due to signal problems or congestion —

it’s much more complicated to ﬁx an old system than to build a new one.” Here’s a quick look at some of the issues that affect riders most: CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION: There’s no denying the need to upgrade tracks, signals, cars and crumbling stations. In the two years since Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a subway emergency, the MTA has gone into hurry-up mode to carry out its current $33 billion capital construction plan, about $15 billion which goes to the subways.

and you’re trapped for 10 or 15 minutes, which seems like an hour. Such is the state of our 115-year-old subway system, riddled with outdated equipment and notoriously underfunded, at least partly due to political gamesmanship. “Two years ago, the subway system was in crisis,” said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group that helped push for a congestion pricing plan that could generate up to $2 billion a year to help ﬁx the subways. “It’s slowly getting better. Unfortunately,

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Decision to replace Elizabeth Street Garden with affordable housing draws mixed response BY JADEN SATENSTEIN

Affordable housing activists celebrated a victory last week after City Council members voted unanimously, with one abstention, to green light the Haven Green project, a development of low-income, LGBTQ friendly senior housing in Little Italy.

“We’re very encouraged by the Council’s unanimous support of the project,” said Karen Haycox, CEO of Habitat for Humanity New York City, which has partnered with RiseBoro Community Partnership and Pennrose to develop the project. “It’s been a long and collaborative process to get us here.” The project features 123 units for extremely-low to low-income seniors, including 37 units dedicated to formerly homeless seniors. The building will also include retail stores and Habitat for Humanity offices on the

street level. Haycox stated that cash earned from retail rents will be used to subsidize the housing in the building and maintain affordability for residents. In addition, plans call for 8,000 square feet of open space, accessible to the public. “I’m very happy that decision was made, having lived here awhile and knowing just the level of need for housing and affordable housing, and neighbors we’ve lost because of the lack of it, and because of a lot of folks moving into the neighborhood,” said Kath-

NYC PRIDE MARCHES ON The 2019 Pride March drew more marchers and spectators than ever before, P. 9

BOOK CULTURE ON THE BRINK The end looms for the popular bookstores, P. 16

MUST-SEE TV FROM THE TIMES The Weekly is a great new show about the craft of journalism, P. 8

COUNCIL VOTE SPLITS NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT

INSIDE

The Elizabeth Street Garden is ﬁlled with sculptures. Photo: Jaden Satenstein

leen Webster, a Little Italy resident and president of the Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition.

A Little Piece of Sanctuary However, not everyone in the community views

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

GHOST STORY BRINGS GRAND CENTRAL TO LIFE Lisa Grunwald discusses the role of New York City, history and the supernatural in her new novel, P. 21

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WEEK OF APRIL

SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12

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

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

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

2015

In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS

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

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

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

n OurTownDowntow

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Newscheck Crime Watch Voices

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

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Ian Alterman Upper West Side UPDATE: Following a series of protests by students and parents, last week the Department of Education said that Principal Lisa Mars was leaving her position at LaGuardia High School to become a senior adviser to the DOE’s chief academic officer. Mars did not attend the school’s graduation on June 24.

A NEED FOR SPEED CAMERAS Bette Dewing’s article (“Not So Fast on the Safe Streets Advisers,” May 23-29) was excellent. Yes indeed, NYC needs speed cameras everywhere. I love her comment, “But please use the words ‘tragedies,’ governor. And consider that your mother wants speed cameras everywhere to also protect her adult son and adult granddaughters.” I’ve contacted the City 311 number — also the NYPD 17th Precinct to report speeding bicycles, electric

Do you know THESE MEN? John L. Abrams William Authenrieth Hugo Bedoya Edward Brennan Douglas Brown Joseph P. Byrns Francis Capellupo

James P. Collins Michael Conroy Harold Cox William Cummings John R. Dwyer Anthony Failla

If you have information regarding alleged abuse

Parents joined students at a protest at LaGuardia High School. Photo: Michael Garofalo

scooters running red lights, riding the wrong way and failing to give way to pedestrians in the crosswalk at the intersections of East 49th Street on First and Second Avenues, but enforcement is sorely lacking. I am going to write Governor Cuomo pertaining to this serious issue.

ligious experience. Forget the fancy tablecloths, waiters and sparkling bottled water in other restaurants. Go to the Manhattan Lower East Side of our ancestors to enjoy authentic New York food eaten by generations of Big Apple residents. Your bubbe would be proud. Take a day free from worrying about cholesterol and your weight to enjoy life! When out-of-town friends or family come to visit, they always insist we go to Katz’s for a great lunch. Don’t forget to stuff a dollar in the tip cup for the counterman who serves you. In front of your eyes he

Michael Zullo East Side A TRIBUTE TO KATZ’S DELICATESSEN Congratulations to Katz’s Delicatessen on your 131st Anniversary! Eating at Katz’s Delicatessen is a re-

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will build a sandwich requiring two hands to eat. The restaurant is a trip down memory lane, with photographs of celebrities from different eras. You can learn more history at Katz’s than visiting any local museum. The portions and quality continue to be one of the best buys in New York today. Let’s hope the continuing redevelopment of this neighborhood doesn’t also overrun Katz’s as well!

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As an alumnus of LaGuardia (Music & Art class of ‘76), I am outraged at what is going on at the school (“Protests Rock LaGuardia HS,” June 6-12). You report that a recent DOE survey showed that only “23 percent of ... teachers reported that they felt respected by [Principal Lisa] Mars” and only “12 percent said she is an effective manager.” All of this begs the question: why has Mars not been removed yet? There is clearly a problem here, and that problem is Mars and what seems to be her mission to “suck up” to the BOE rather than consider the students, or even the mission of a performing arts school — one that has done just ﬁne, thank you, for 80-plus years. Indeed, consider the following very short list of alumni: Al Pacino, Liza Minnelli, Edward Villela, Pinchas Zuckerman, Adrien Brody, Isaac Mizrahi, Omar Epps, Ben Vereen and hundreds of others. How many of them might have been rejected based on less-than-stellar grades if Dr. Mars had been the principal at the time? However, the choice is not, and should not be, binary: it is not “either” the arts or academics, nor have academics ever been given short shrift. But the primary and paramount focus for acceptance to the school must be the audition — irrespective of past grades. Parents send their kids to LaGuardia because

it is an arts school, and they believe their child to be talented. And that is what they want from the school; the rest is secondary. As far as I can see, the issue here is very clear: Mars must go, and a new principal brought in — one who understands the history and mission of LaGuardia, and will ﬁght for that mission.

have

THE MISSION OF LAGUARDIA HIGH SCHOOL

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th precinct for the week ending June 23 Week to Date

Year to Date

2019 2018

% Change

2019

2018

% Change

Murder

n/a

0.0

Rape

n/a

-53.8

Robbery

0.0

-8.6

Felony Assault

0.0

53.6

Burglary

n/a

100.0

Grand Larceny

5.0

440 478 -7.9

Grand Larceny Auto

n/a

BOX CUTTER ASSAULT Police said a 27-year-old man was assaulted by a stranger while walking down the steps of the Canal St. subway station at the corner of Varick and Canal St. during the evening of Monday, June 17. The suspect allegedly kicked the man in the back, knocking him down the steps. The victim ran up the stairs to confront the suspect, who then cut the victim on the left side of his face with a box cutter, causing a minor laceration. The victim reported pain and a laceration on the left side of his arm from the fall.

-10.0

He refused medical attention at the scene. Police continue to investigate.

DEAL GONE AWRY In the early evening of Monday, June 17, a 30-year-old man met with three individuals in front of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal on South St. to purchase a phone from them, police said. As the buyer handed over his money, one of the men grabbed the phone back. The alleged assailant then punched the buyer and put him in a chokehold, causing swelling, pain and a minor laceration to his neck. A

Photo by Toni Webster via Flickr

17-year-old suspect was subsequently arrested and charged with robbery.

SUBWAY ASSAULT A middle-aged man was mugged while waiting for a subway, police said. On Saturday night, June 22, police said, a 55-year-old man was sitting on a bench on the northbound platform of the 14th St. and Seventh Ave. station when an individual cut him on the left side of his neck and then took his two cell phones. Police described the victim as not cooperating with their investigation, and no value was listed for the two phones.

SAFE AND UNSECURE One local businessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cash safe was clearly not safe from burglars. A female employee of Perros y Vainas at 10 South St. near Broad St. told police that an unknown perpetrator had entered the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unlocked trailer while it was closed for business and removed $4,800 in cash from a locked safe. There were no signs of forced entry or tampering. Police searched the neighborhood but did not locate the burglar or the stolen money.

PICKUP PICKED CLEAN Two men told police that $4,700 worth of property was stolen from the

The local paper for Downtown

NORTHERN MANHATTAN STUDY OF METABOLISM AND MIND

NOMEM

back of a pickup truck parked inside a parking garage during the afternoon Sunday, June 23. The two men said they left the truck at the garage on Greenwich St. near Rector St. and when they returned about an hour later, they discovered a number of items were missing, including a black Tumi backpack valued at $250, a black 30-inch check-in bag priced at $100, a Canada Goose jacket selling for $1,000, a teal Movado watch priced at $1,000, a pair of Prada sunglasses tagged at $650, clothes and toiletries worth $500, a passport, $300 in cash, an iPad Pro valued at $500 and a Hypervolt massage gun selling for $400.

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

The purpose of NOMEM is to learn more about how blood sugar and other factors relate to the brain and mental abilities of persons living in Northern Manhattan. We are seeking your help to conduct this study. You are eligible to participate if you: x Live in Manhattan or the Bronx x Are between 60 and 69 years of age x Are able to do an MRI and a PET scan of the brain Participation will include these activities: 1. Questionnaires 2. Blood tests 3. A brain MRI 4. A brain PET scan with contrast We will compensate your time for participating in these 4 activities with $350. We will also give you the results of important blood tests.

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POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct NYPD 6th Precinct NYPD 10th Precinct NYPD 13th Precinct NYPD 1st Precinct

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SPEED CAMERAS ARE

WORKING LONGER HOURS! To save lives, New York City is expanding its use of speed cameras.

On July 11th, the City will start issuing speed camera violations from 6 AM – 10 PM, Monday through Friday, year round. The City will operate speed cameras in 750 school speed zones. Expanding the speed camera law is one aspect of the City’s comprehensive plan to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. Learn more at nyc.gov/visionzero.

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SOLID WASTE IS AMAZING STUFF ENVIRONMENT It really is, but experts and elected officials say a lack of public awareness hinders city recycling programs BY DIANA DUCROZ

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new Green New Deal for New York City doubles down on the city’s goal of ‘zero waste’ by the year 2030. Even so, citywide expansion of curbside collection for residential organic waste, an essential element in reaching that goal, remains on hold. In 2017, New Yorkers produced 3.1 million tons of solid waste, of which 2.5 million tons ended up in landﬁlls. A third of that solid waste stream consists of food waste and yard cuttings — organic materials that could be converted to compost or clean renewable energy if diverted to appropriate recycling facilities. Instead, most of the city’s organic waste ends up in landﬁlls, where it becomes the main cause of methane gas emissions. Since it launched in 2013, the city’s residential organics curbside pickup program has grown to serve 3.5 million households. Participants place their food scraps and other organic waste in brown bins for weekly curbside pickup by the Department of Sanitation. While large sections of Brooklyn and Queens have been automatically enrolled in the program, in Manhattan, building managers must apply to receive the service. In 2017, even for households in the

curbside pickup program, 90 percent of organic waste was still going into the garbage. This low diversion rate makes recycling collection expensive and inefficient. Last year DSNY put the planned citywide expansion of the curbside program on hold, blaming the setback on a lack of public participation.

‘The Education Isn’t There’ A recent public forum on the Green New Deal, hosted by the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board, brought together a panel of city officials and industry experts for an assessment of the ‘infrastructure gaps’ in the city’s solid waste management. Council Member Antonio Reynoso maintained that the real problem is not a lack of interest, but a lack of public awareness, both of the program and of the fiscal and environmental benefits it provides. According to Reynoso, despite the need for a more aggressive marketing campaign for curbside organic recycling, the city’s budget is woefully short. “The budget for marketing at the Department of Sanitation is a joke,” Reynoso said. “Just the education, it isn’t there.” Aside from the environmental benefits, recycling organic waste makes good fiscal sense. Advocates say the cost of a public marketing campaign pales next to the dollar amounts required to send the city’s waste to out-of-state landfills. Reynoso and Ron Gonen, another panelist at the forum, pegged the cost of exporting the city’s organic waste at $200 million a year. Gonen,

Council Member Antonio Reynoso, center, Ron Goren, left, and Jennifer McDonnell, right, at the Solid Waste Advisory Board forum. Photo: Diana DuCroz

a former Deputy Commissioner of Sanitation who now heads a ‘green’ investment firm, put the numbers in perspective. “Over the next ten years, if we don’t do something different, we will spend $2 billion of our tax dollars to export food waste out to landﬁll,” he said. “That food waste could be used to generate clean energy in New York City. In fact, it can be turned into fuel for the sanitation vehicles.”

Energy from Food Waste

The Manhattan Plaza residential complex on West 42nd Street has an organic recycling program. Here, Anne Haas, president of the complex’s environmental committee, explains the use of “brown bins.” Photo: Ellen Cooper

Jennifer McDonnell, Resource Recovery Program manager for the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, works to increase conversion of the city’s organic waste into clean renewable energy. At the forum, McDonnell explained the complicated science in lay-person terms. The city has over 50 ‘anaerobic digesters’ at its 14 wastewater treatment facilities, including the photogenic ‘eight giant eggs’ at the Newtown Creek facility in Greenpoint, McDonnell said. “They are digesting everything that you ﬂush down the toilet and pour down the sink and some of the stuff that ends up in our storm drains.” The end product is biosolids that can be converted into clean energy and fuel. “Unfortunately, a large percentage of city’s biosolids are going to landﬁll right now,” McDonnell said.

“That’s what I spend most of my time trying to change.” The current rate of organics digestion at Newtown Creek is 130 tons a day, well below the facility’s daily capacity of 500 tons, according to McDonnell. “We have struggled to get the food waste so it’s really an unfortunate conundrum here, with the lack of funding, also lack of participation,” McDonnell said. “I talk a lot with people about ‘Do you know what a brown bin is for?’ and it’s still mysterious or misused or not used for a variety of reasons.” McDonnell acknowledged another possible reason for the public’s lack of participation. “Sometimes it can be gross and icky,” she said. But “your food waste is going to gross and icky whether it’s in your compost bin or whether it’s in your trash bag.” Council Member Reynoso has come to believe that, ultimately, mandatory recycling will be necessary for the program’s success. “But right now, it isn’t even voluntary citywide,” Reynoso said. “Regulating is the only way it’s going to get done.”

20,000 Manhattan Households Do It Manhattanites who live in buildings not yet served by the curbside pickup program can still recycle

their food waste at any one of over 100 food scrap drop-off locations around town. Despite the hassle, roughly 20,000 households are separating their household organics and bringing it to a drop-off site, according to Ron Gonen. “That’s 20,000 homes, New Yorkers who keep their food waste in their homes all week and then schlep it down to the greenmarket.” Gonen sees this as a sign that organics recycling will ultimately succeed in New York City despite the current setbacks. “You would be hard pressed to ﬁnd some other social initiative where 20,000 households voluntarily do something every day in their apartment, and then once a week leave their apartment and walk a few blocks to do something,” he said. “Ten years from now, 15 years from now, NYC sanitation vehicles will be running off of fuel generated by our food waste. That technology exists today to do it.” Jennifer McDonnell encouraged the audience members to spread awareness of organics recycling through their everyday interactions, both to educate others and to prove public interest in the program. “People should be talking about this as something that ‘We, the people want.’ We want organics, and we want education and we want this to be a part of our Green New Deal.”

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K-POP MEETS CLASSICAL MUSIC Lincoln Center concert aims to highlight the orchestral value of the Korean music phenomenon BY OSCAR KIM BAUMAN

A concert held at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on June 20 brought together two musical phrases commonly not thought of as being similar: classical orchestral and Korean pop. In “K-Factor: An Orchestral Exploration of K-pop,” a 50-piece orchestra played over a century’s worth of rearranged Korean songs to highlight the musical innovation and historic roots of a genre commonly understood primarily through its modern visual elements. In the last couple of years, K-pop has found massive success in the U.S., including in the New York area, where concerts, from individual group’s shows to the annual KCon music festival ﬁll huge venues including Madison Square Garden and Citi Field. Despite this, American media coverage of K-pop often reduces it to its visual elements: the elaborate dance routines, colorful music videos, and trendy outﬁts and hairstyles. According to conductor Yuga Cohler, K-pop also owes a large part of its popularity to its unique sonic elements. “It has so many influences from around the world that there’s something very compelling about it no matter where you’re from,” he said. The purpose of a concert like K-Factor, he added, is “to examine the factors that go into K-pop that make it so unique on a global scale.” Any individual K-pop song can include elements from numerous, often seemingly disparate sources. As just one example, take “Nan Arayo,” Korean for “I Know,” a 1992 song by Seo Taiji & Boys, which Cohler said “can be argued to be the first modern K-pop song.” The song begins with a synthesized string arrangement, kicks into a new jack swing beat, and continues into rapped verses con-

Conductor Yuga Cohler leads the orchestra at Alice Tully Hall. Photo: Ethan Covey. trasted with a passionately SM Entertainment and songsung chorus, interlaced with writer Yoo Young-jin. A quote heavy metal guitar riffs and featured in the program a hip-hop dance break. While notes reveals that Yoo, at the the song sparked a revolu- suggestion of SM Entertaintion in pop when it first came ment founder Lee Soo-man, out, Cohler said it also repre- began to compose with the sents “a perfect mish-mash philosophy of combining eleof genres that worked really ments originally intended for well for orchestra.” disparate tracks, in order to represent an album’s sound in Korean Lyrics for “Auld Lang just a single song. Syne” Two examples of SMP songs What the “K-Factor” pro- featured in the program, gram emphasized is that this TVXQ!’s 2005 song “Rising spirit of reinterpreting out- Sun” and Exo’s 2012 debut side musical influences has “Mama,” were both solely roots in Korea which predate written, composed, and areven Seo Taiji and modern K- ranged by Yoo. Both songs pop. The show’s first song, a combine traditional pop with 1910 “Aegukga,” or patriotic cinematic strings, operatic song, uses the tune of “Auld vocal runs, rock guitar and Lang Syne.” According to even metal-inspired “death the program notes, the song growl” vocals. was brought to Korea at the turn of the 20th century by “Kill This Love” Yun Chiho, who introduced One of the night’s most Western choral music to the eclectic songs, Girls’ Generaschools he operated, inspired tion’s 2013 “I Got A Boy,” feaby his time attending Ameri- tures multiple shifts in genre can colleges. This original and tempo, from hip-hop to “Aegukga,” Korean lyrics set bubblegum pop to EDM, and to “Auld Lang Syne,” was the ushering in a wave of experifirst Korean national anthem, mentation in K-pop. but was replaced by a new, According to Cohler, while original melody in the late this made the song “a little bit 1930s. This version, which more difficult to translate” to came second in the concert’s orchestra, he wanted to highprogram, remains the South light “songs that push these Korean anthem to this day. genres” and render style disThe orchestra also played tinctions “sort of meaning“Overtime,” a 1978 song by less.” singer Kim Min-gi. “OverThe program closed with time,” part of a musical writ- BlackPink’s thunderous ten by Kim called “Light of a “Kill This Love,” after which Factory,” combines 50s-style Cohler and the instrumentalrock and roll, as well as tra- ists took their bows. Rather ditional Korean bbongjjak than exit, however, guest piarhythms and gugak instru- nist JungJae Moon returned mentation, in a song which to the stage and launched the calls for union resistance to performers into a medley of the dictatorial Park Chung- three songs by the Red Velhee government’s usage of vet — “Bad Boy,” “Ice Cream sweatshop labor. Cake” and “Dumb Dumb.” Another sonic innovation This encore served as a rehighlighted in “K-Factor” is minder of two defining traits “SMP,” a musical style inno- of K-pop: surprise and fun. vated by powerhouse label

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SUPREME COURT GETS CENSUS QUESTION RIGHT BY KELLY PERCIVAL

This week, the Supreme Court issued a decision blocking the Trump administration’s controversial move to add an untested and unprecedented citizenship question to the 2020 census. The court rightly rejected the administration’s preposterous assertion that the question will help the federal government enforce the Voting Rights Act, a law designed to protect and enhance the rights of minority voters. The Justices called that claim a “distraction,” and for good reason. Experts predicted the citizenship question would cause almost 9 million people not to fill out their census forms, making it exponentially more likely that they would not be counted in the 2020 census. People from minority communities would have been hit the hardest, particularly in states with large immigrant populations like New York, which led the court ﬁght against adding the question. Last week’s decision removes that threat, but others still loom. It’s time for us to hold the administration accountable for putting the census back on track and repairing the damage it caused by supporting the citizenship question. The administration may be willing to sacriﬁce the census for naked political gain, but every person in the country should care about getting the 2020 census right.

An Accurate Count Matters There are many reasons to care. For one, census numbers determine how the federal government allocates around $900 billion every year for necessities like schools, health care, food, and roads. Businesses also rely on census data to ensure their economic viability. And states and local governments use census numbers to plan for things like natural disasters and public health emergencies. An inaccurate count can mean crumbling infrastructure, hits to the economy, and children going to bed hungry. Because the census only happens once a decade, if we don’t get the 2020 census right, we’ll be stuck with those dire consequences for at least the next ten years. What must be done now to ensure the 2020 census goes smoothly? For one, the administration needs to focus on minimizing the potential for a differential undercount. A differential undercount is the disproportionate undercounting

of one subgroup of the population compared to others. The citizenship question, for example, was estimated to lead to at least a 2% differential undercount of the Hispanic population. To reduce the risk of an undercount, the administration must strive to reduce the fears that the citizenship question exacerbated. It should double down on its commitment to following the laws that protect the confidentiality of census responses. It should engage in efforts to inform the public that it will not use census data to harm census respondents — including for any immigration or other lawenforcement purpose — and that, even if it wanted to, the law clearly prohibits it. To underscore that promise, the Census Bureau should provide the public with an easy-to-understand guide to its internal procedures for deterring, identifying, and responding to confidentiality breaches. And the Bureau should enact a zero-tolerance policy that mandates referring anyone who violates confidentiality laws for criminal prosecution.

What Needs to Be Done The 2020 census is the ﬁrst that will give respondents the option of providing their census responses online. This means the administration must take steps to combat the digital divide between those with reliable access to the internet, and those with little-to-none. Outreach to communities that lack internet access will be of paramount importance. The administration should also push for adequate funding to ensure that the Census Bureau will be able to hire the employees it will need to go door-to-door to count people living in households that do not initially respond to the census online or through the mail. The decreased response rate now expected due to fears of the federal government means that the Bureau will need more employees to complete that colossal endeavor. Since the Bureau is currently not on track to hire enough workers, the administration needs to amplify its hiring efforts immediately. Ensuring that the census looks out for our marginalized communities by counting everyone is not just a moral imperative — it will beneﬁt us all. Kelly Percival is Counsel with the Democracy Program and census expert at The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.

Photo: Sam Chills via Flckr

THE WEEKLY: MUST-SEE TV FROM THE NY TIMES BY JON FRIEDMAN

It is not a stretch to call The Weekly, the new television series from The New York Times, the most important show about the craft of journalism since 60 Minutes came along in 1968. Since its debut on June 2, The Weekly has lifted the veil on how The Times’ investigative journalists pursue the truth. The 30-minute program centers on the ﬁne art of storytelling. A reporter serves as the narrator to describe in detail how she or he covered a major news event — while always looking at the big picture, to tell the audience a larger story. The key to The Weekly’s success is that each installment gloriﬁes journalism, not journalists, and focuses on the story, not the personalities of the reporters who are talking about their assignments, which actually do verge on life and death issues. There is no mugging for the camera, no preening and no hyping of the news. For anyone who is fed up with the personality-based coverage of MSNBC and CNN, this is a welcome primer on the craft of reporting. The Weekly is unflinching in presenting the stark nature of the stories. In one episode, ISIS specialist Rukmini Callimachi showed the ISIS terrorist who had killed innocent cyclists a photo of two American victims. She then listened as he reaffirmed his hatred for anyone who did not agree with his views. In another, immigrationbeat reporter Caitlin Dickerson brilliantly traces the strange odyssey of the four-month-old boy who was taken from his father at a U.S. border. Watch it, and just try not to wind up feeling brokenhearted.

Doing Good, and Doing Well The Weekly comes along at a crucial time for The New York Times Co. With such innovations as a terrific daily podcast in place, the parent company is making further progress in trying to capitalize on the Times’ global renown. Now, The Times can correctly stake a claim to being more than a mere broadsheet — and dude, that term sounds so hopelessly 20th century!

Of course, The Times wants The Weekly to do well, too, and not just do good. The company has made a shrewd business decision to partner with the Hulu streaming service, immediately giving The Times a passport to the modern methods of communications. (The Weekly can also be seen on Sunday nights on the FX cable channel.) The kinds of young, well-informed people that The Times is targeting like to stream. The company is adhering to the ﬁrst rule of marketing: Give the people what they want. Today, media companies are looking for every competitive edge. They’re searching for ways to turn a proﬁt and make a case for their relevance. The Weekly gives give the Times the opportunity to re-brand itself as a swinging, 21st-century media dynamo. The Times sees more growth potential in online subscribers than the straphangers who have loyally read the print newspaper every day. Any growth-obsessed entity would feel the same way. Then there is the subliminal benefit of this high-quality show, which has no partisan point of view. The Weekly serves as an antidote to all the times President Trump, hoping to rally his media-bashing base of voters, yelps (dishonestly) about “fake news” and proclaims that The Times is a treasonous enemy of the people.

Learn How to Be Great I hope that journalism schools incorporate The Weekly into their lessons. Professors can implore their students to understand and follow the precepts of these riveting episodes. By watching The Weekly, young people can learn about how to be great journalists by paying attention to such ideas as context and news analysis. For decades, people have waited for a program to come along that could rival CBS’ informative series, 60 Minutes, which each Sunday evening gives viewers a refresher course in the craft of storytelling. Now, thanks to The Weekly, we have one.

JULY 4-10,2019

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The GMHC ﬂoat. Photo: Jaden Satenstein

PRIDE MARCHES ON PRIDE 2019 The 2019 NYC Pride March celebrated the LGBTQ+ community on Sunday, drawing more marchers and spectators than ever before BY JADEN SATENSTEIN

The 2019 New York City Pride March, marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, lived up to expectations, drawing huge crowds to downtown Manhattan, securing its place as the biggest Pride event in the world. The march, first held in 1970, drew many newcomers, including Chicago native and New York City resident Kayla Miller, who said she decided to attend the event in order to be a strong ally for the LGBTQ+ community. “Half of my friends identify with the LGBTQ community, so it’s really important to me that I come out and show support,” Miller said. “My friend snuck his way into the parade. I think that was the best part.”

Brother and Sister Long Island resident Robert Converse also attended the march for the ﬁrst time, in order to show solidarity with his twin sister Jenn, a member of the LGBTQ+ community. “We’ve talked about it for a long time and about a month ago I told her that I wanted to come support her,” Converse said. Jenn Converse, who had been to the march before, expressed her excitement over getting to celebrate her identity and conﬁdence to be her full self. “I came out four years ago and just decided to start living my life without apology and really just be myself, and I think that has opened up a lot of peoples’ minds in my family,” she said. “I’m thankful to be the way that I am and be in a society now where it’s okay to be visible and it’s okay to be ourselves.” The Pride march was also very meaningful for her brother, as he has continuously worked

Out in STEM. Photo: Jaden Satenstein

to open his mind to all forms of love. “My favorite part of the experience is that I’ve essentially been hoping to expand my capacity for love and perception ... I was raised on a very Christian, Protestant mentality and I’m trying to open up because I truly believe that homosexuality and the LGBTQ community is simply people being themselves and expressing love to its truest extent.”

An Alternative March In addition to non-profit organizations such as the Trevor Project and the Transgender Resource Center of Long Island, large corporations including Macy’s, Deutsche Bank and United Airlines took to the streets with their own floats on Sunday. However, not all those celebrating Pride month see corporate participants as truly standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. That’s why the organization Reclaim Pride Coalition decided to host its own alternative to the NYC Pride March, a “Queer Liberation March,” which it deemed a “people’s political march” that would not include corporate floats or police, culminating in a rally on the Great Lawn in Central Park. “I’ve been going to Pride for years,” said Rebecca Harris, who drove from Boston to attend the event. “And it has over time become more and more of a corporate presentation, and in some ways that’s great, it shows that companies are being more inclusive, but for the most part it’s started tokenizing and it’s not actually an indication of change within systems.” Speakers at the Reclaim rally echoed Harris’ sentiment, including many LGBTQ+ activists and performers who reminded attendees that the fight for LGBTQ+ rights is far from over. Comedian and GLAAD award winner Marga Gomez opened the rally by calling out those who participate in Pride events without taking real action to advance the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. “You cannot take space in our community,” Gomez told the crowd. “Unless you have put yourselves on the line.”

The MAC cosmetics ﬂoat. Photo: Jaden Satenstein

The alternative Queer Liberation March, which ended in Central Park, drew an estimated 45,000 marchers. Photo: Jaden Satenstein

JULY 4-10,2019

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SATURDAY, JULY 6TH, 11AM Soho | Municipal Art Society of NY | 212-935-3960 | mas.org Walt Whitman (Greatest American Poet) meets P.T. Barnum (Greatest Showman) on this downtown walking tour. Check out the remnants of a colorful history of brothels, bars, and theaters, culminating near City Hall Park ($30).

Discover the world around the corner. Find community events, gallery openings, book launches and much more: Go to nycnow.com

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The Economics of Making a Public Building

TUESDAY, JULY 9TH, 6PM Center for Architecture | 536 LaGuardia Pl. | 212-683-0023 | cfa.aiany.org Find out the back story of how public buildings like schools, ﬁrehouses, and libraries are placed in city communities. A panel explains how a city as complex as New York manages capital ﬁnances, in conjunction with the exhibition Mapping Community: Public Investment in NYC ($10).

Just Announced | Deepak Chopra Launch | Metahuman: Unleashing Your Inﬁnite Potential

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2ND, 8PM United Palace | 4140 Broadway | 212-568-6700 | unitedpalace.org

July 4 - Oct 14 THE POWER OF INTENTION The Rubin Museum 150 West 17th St 11:00 a.m. $19 This exhibit brings together select examples of traditional and contemporary art to illuminate the relationship between our intentions, commitments, and actions. rubinmuseum.org 212-620-5000

Join bestselling author Deepak Chopra as he launches his new book, which includes a practical, 31-day guide to transformation. Discussion followed by a signing ($49, includes book).

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Subculture 45 Bleecker St 8:30 p.m $14 Two of New York’s wildest comedians present a characterdriven variety show unlike any you’ve ever seen! Hosted by Anthony Atamanuik. subculturenewyork.com 212-533-5470

DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? Email us at NEWS@STRAUSNEWS.COM

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Emma Amos’ “Baby” from 1966 is a recent acquisition making its debut appearance in the Whitney’s “Spilling Over: Painting Color in the 1960s.” Photo: Adel Gorgy

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The Whitney 99 Gansevoort Street Noon Free with museum admission Join for a free, guided tour of “Spilling Over: Painting Color in the 1960s,” led by a Whitney docent. whitney.org 212-570-3600

The Magnet Theater 254 West 29th St 11:00 p.m. $7 Sequel: The Musical takes the audience’s suggestion of a Broadway musical and improvises a musical of what happens next in the sequel. magnettheater.com 212-244-8824

INFINITY OF NATIONS EXHIBITION TOUR National Museum of the American Indian 1 Bowling Green 1:00 p.m. Free Join a Museum Ambassador for a 45-minute tour of Inﬁnity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian. americanindian.si.edu 202-633-6644

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IMMERSED IN ART AND IDEAS The Met’s “Epic Abstraction” exhibit has many stories to tell, all of them worth the telling BY MARY GREGORY

Artists have many ways to communicate. They can use imagery, emotion, color and line, form, shape and movement. Metaphor, allusion, language — the list is as limitless as the imagination. Curators also tell stories, but they have fewer tools. They select pieces, write texts to elucidate them, and then arrange works within a given space. It’s a lot harder than it seems, and the stories come through in different degrees and a variety of ways. Curator Randall Griffey’s presentation “Epic Abstraction” illustrates how. The exhibition highlights more than 50 works from the Met’s permanent collection, starting from the 1940s and continuing to the present. It’s an epic tale that includes enormous changes to art, society, and life as we know it. Two world wars changed the psyche of humankind. They also changed the map of the art world. Images shifted to the

IF YOU GO WHAT:”Epic Abstraction” WHERE: The Met 1000 Fifth Avenue WHEN: Ongoing surreal with dreamlike scenes offering a break from harsh realities, even as they expressed the spirit’s unsettled response. Then, beyond that, art morphed into ﬁelds without any recognizable pictorial elements. Abstraction stormed the art world, and New York became its epicenter as artists from all over Europe immigrated to the world’s welcoming new cultural capital.

Powerful and Mesmerizing Artists of the time spoke of an expansiveness, a collective sigh of relief at the end of the wars. Paintings became dynamic, intellectually rooted, and super-sized. Lots of them are on view and they give a sense of the historical underpinnings of Abstract Expressionism, an American invention as authentic and unique as jazz. “The Met’s great holdings of post-

Works by Thornton Dial and Joan Mitchell in “Epic Abstraction” at the Met. Photo: Adel Gorgy

Elizabeth Murray’s “Terrifying Terrain”, 1989–90, Oil on shaped canvases. Photo: Adel Gorgy

war art include some of the most celebrated examples of Abstract Expressionism.” said Max Hollein, Director of the Museum. “These monumental works also offer a powerful — even mesmerizing — experience.” That’s one story that runs through the exhibition. But another narrative kept whispering to me as I walked through the galleries. Major massive works by Jackson Pollock (“Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)”), Clyfford Still (“1950-E” and “1950W”), Ellsworth Kelly (“Blue Panel II”), and a whole suite of stunning paintings by Mark Rothko filled

the rooms. By the third gallery, the question in my mind had fully formed. Hey, wait a minute, where are all the women who painted in the 1950s,’60s and beyond? At the far corner I spotted Hedda Sterne’s 1953 cool grey, black, and white linear abstraction “New York #2.” Then, turning a corner, a surprise was waiting. Chakaia Booker’s powerful sculpture, “Raw Attraction,” from 2001 exerted its presence in a room of largely monochromatic paintings. She uses industrial materials — here cut up sections of tire treads — to create her biomorphic shapes. Another turn led to a gallery ﬁlled with exuberant, commanding paintings and sculptures, almost all of them by women artists.

An Arc of Women’s Art History They were there all along. They had carved a place out for themselves. And it wasn’t their fault if it took so many so long to notice, their placement seemed to say. Louise Nevelson’s “Mrs. N’s Palace” is a major opus that expresses all that may be familiar about Nevelson’s work in an unfamiliar way. It’s the largest work she ever made, and took thirteen years to complete. The size of a small building, it needs to be walked around, peered into, and stepped back from to take it all in.

JULY 4-10,2019

Nearby is Carmen Herrera’s minimalist exploration of positive and negative space, “Equilibrio” from 2012. Ebullient stripes of rainbow hues ﬁll two canvases by Op artist, Bridget Riley. Joan Snyder’s “Smashed Strokes Hope” with its virtuosity of technique (drips, stains, varyingly delicate and impasto brushwork!) gave me a new artist to admire, investigate and watch for. The exhibition text tells us that Snyder said, “I wanted a beginning, middle, and end, many different parts, happy, sad, tragic parts, many things happening at once, different instruments, different sounds, rhythms.” The final gallery and Elizabeth Murray’s shaped canvas “Terrifying Terrain” offered a perfect ending. The jagged edges and stacked sculptural shapes were meant to evoke a mountain climbing trip the artist once took. Dizzying angles, a vertiginous ascent, yet, ﬁnally, she made it to the top. No matter how it communicates, once the artist puts down her brush — or chisel, or scissors, or hammer, or camera — art is left to the eye of the beholder. I sensed the arc of women’s art history in the exhibition. Others may find ideas of popular culture, mass media, globalization, or any other echo these works ping in their minds. That’s the whole reason to go.

“Mrs. N’s Palace” a massive construction by Louise Nevelson that took the artist 13 years to complete. Photo: Adel Gorgy

JULY 4-10,2019

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Irish Rep’s solo show offers a theatrical journey into the mind and heart of James Joyce’s most sensual hero, the indomitable Molly Bloom.

Get to know the life and times of one of the 20th century’s most dynamic creative icons – Noël Coward – through this intimate performance.

IRISH REPERTORY THEATRE - 132 W 22ND ST

IRISH REPERTORY THEATRE - 132 W 22ND ST KEY:

JULY 4-10,2019

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS

Dallas BBQ

132 Second Avenue

Grade Pending (21) Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment. 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.

J East Chinese Restaurant

175 3 Avenue

Grade Pending (32) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food prepared from ingredients at ambient temperature not cooled to 41º F or below within 4 hours. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Wattle Cafe

152 2nd Ave

Grade Pending (7) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.

No 32

32 East 2 Street

Grade Pending (19) 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 not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Lillie’s Restaurant

13 East 17 Street

Grade Pending(23) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food Protection Certiﬁcate not held by supervisor of food operations.

Sao Mai Vietnamese Cuisine

203 1 Avenue

An Choi

85 Orchard Street

Cafe Katja

79 Orchard Street

Karvouna Mezze

241 Bowery

Grade Pending (27) Food Protection Certiﬁcate not held by supervisor of food operations. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

ABC Ice

1 Pike St

Allen Hotel

88 Allen St

King Dumplings

74 Hester St

Not Yet Graded (24) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

JUNE 19 - 25, 2019 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. Corner Cafe & Bakery

1246 Madison Avenue A

Third Rail Coffee

159 2nd Avenue

Lui’s Thai Food

Monomono

Spicy Moon

Sharaku Japanese Restaurant

128 E 4th St

116 E 4th St

328 E 6th St

14 Stuyvesant Street

Grade Pending (20) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Grade Pending (19) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Not Yet Graded (30) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Grade Pending (20) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/ sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Grade Pending (57) 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. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Anyway Cafe

34 East 2 Street

Lanzhou Ramen 107

107 E Broadway

Bar None

98 3 Avenue

Grade Pending (23) Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/ sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

Pizza

51 Columbia St

Not Yet Graded (18) Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Yi Zhang Fishball

9 Eldridge Street

Grade Pending (22) Live roaches 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. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Mudspot

307 East 9 Street

Patacon Pisao

139 Essex St

Boticarios

58 E 1st St

Closed

The Bowery Ballroom

6 Delancey Street

W New York Union Square

201 Park Ave S

Not Yet Graded (19) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. 2) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or nonfood areas.

Kings County Imperial Les

168 1/2 Delancey St

Not Yet Graded (20) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. 2) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

JULY 4-10,2019

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SUBWAYS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The MTA has launched new programs and time lines for rebuilding the system, but it depends on the size of its 2020-2024 capital plan, which is due out in the fall. SERVICE: The MTA recently reported that ontime performance was 79.8 percent in May of 2019 compared to 66.3 percent in May 2018. The number of major incidents that delay 50 or more trains was down to 45 in May 2019 compared to 85 in May 2018. HEAT: Last August, Regional Planning Association staffers surveyed some of the busiest subway stations across the city. The temperature on the street was 86 degrees, but the average platform temperature was 94.6 degrees. The hottest was the 14th St./Union Square station at 104 degrees, followed by 59th St./Columbus Circle, at 101. The MTA says the air conditioning system fails in just 2 percent of its 5,356 subway cars.

Financing and Other Challenges So, are the subways ﬁxable to any great degree? Or are we doomed to a one-band

aid-at-a-time approach? And what are the biggest challenges facing the system? We took those questions to some rider advocate groups, a subway expert and selfdescribed “transit nerd,” the transit workers’ union and the MTA. Nicole Gelinas, the “transit nerd” and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said the biggest obstacles are ﬁnancing and MTA priorities. “The suburbs have always gotten more than their fair share of money for the commuter lines, like the LIRR,” Gelinas said, noting that about half of all capital spending goes to the suburban rail lines even though 93 percent of all commuters use the subways. She also said government funding is always an issue; the state pledged $8.6 billion for the current capital plan, but has delivered just $979 million. Still, she added, the MTA must invest “more wisely” and prioritize projects better. Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the Straphanger Campaign, said the system tends to improve for a while and then regress, a pattern he attributes to management issues. “It oscillates,” he said. Another problem, in Russianoff’s view — fund-

ing earmarked for the subways sometimes ends up elsewhere. “The bottom line is that state politicians tie up money for their own projects,” he said. Tony Utano, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, said the biggest challenges are funding and the MTA’s dismal record when completing projects on time. “They never finish a lot of (capital and maintenance) projects on time and they need to get better at that,” said Utano. “It’s an old system. Trains and systems tend to break down if they are not maintained properly. They need to come up with good, workable plans and keep to the time frames ... You can’t just patch things up and move on.” NYC Transit President Andy Byford has said, that with the proper funding, the first five years of his $40 billion Fast Forward program would result in new signal systems on five lines, 650 new subway cars, and station repairs, among other things. Asked if he thinks the MTA can complete that five-year plan on time, Utano said: “It might take 10.”

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Business

BOOK CULTURE ON THE BRINK “The small business storefront community generates a ton of value to New York.”

Book Culture owner Chris Doeblin

The contributions of small businesses like Book Culture to city life are too often overlooked, Chris Doeblin said. Photo: Courtesy of Book Culture

As the end looms for the popular bookstores, their owner says government should offer small businesses the same kind of support it provides to corporate giants like Amazon BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM

Book Culture owner Chris Doeblin thought his business had adapted to a market place dominated by Amazon. In fact, Doeblin has been dealing with the corporate giant since his store’s inception: both companies began at about the same time, Amazon in 1994, Book Culture in 1995, and both initially focused on academic textbooks. For a while, with the support of Columbia University students and faculty, Book Culture was a success. Around 2000, though, Amazon started having a serious and damaging effect on Doeblin’s business. Revenue declined — and has continued on that trajectory ever since. But Book Culture adapted, and even expanded. It offered more new releases, literature, poetry and travel books as well as

non-book goods. It created cozy spaces for children and parents to gather and read, and hosted events and readings. “We’ve had some time to adapt to (Amazon) and I think to a certain extent we’ve caught that boulder,” Doeblin said. “It’s very unpleasant to have it around us, the boulder being Amazon, squashing us. To some extent, we almost say that we’ve weathered that.” In fact, though, they haven’t. Book Culture’s four locations (three on the West Side and one in Long Island City) are on the brink of closing.

Minimum Wage Impact Amazon is not totally to blame, Doeblin said. Rather, he points to the increase in the city’s minimum wage (up from $10.50 to $15 in three years) and the rapid pace with which those increases have taken effect. Still, Doeblin is invoking Amazon in his plea for the government to step in with a ﬁnancial solution for his business, and small businesses throughout the city. “This combination of talent and in-

dustry, so common in smaller businesses, is too often overlooked and not given the support and nurture that it deserves,” Doeblin wrote last week in an open letter to the community, which he penned with hopes of drawing attention to Book Culture’s dire situation. “The capital pools that allow projects like Amazon’s near entree into New York or building projects like Hudson Yards aren’t available for small businesses like ours. But they ought to be.” Doeblin argues that the kind of government incentives offered to Amazon to open its second headquarters in Long Island City (a venture that ultimately collapsed) — including over $1 billion in refundable tax credits in exchange for job creation along with millions in state grants — should be offered to small businesses for the tax revenue they create and their contributions to the city’s economy. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer agrees that small businesses deserve more government support. And she has personal reasons for her position as well. “My husband and I are regulars at our local Book Culture, and to see it close would be devastating for the communities they serve,” Brewer said in a statement. “Book Culture’s stores generate over $650,000 in sales tax revenue each year for the city and state,” Doeblin wrote. “We employ over 75 people at peak season and had a payroll over $1.7M last year. All of that payroll along with the $700,000 a year that we pay in rent goes right back into the New York economy.”

It May Be Too Late Since sending his letter, Doeblin has heard from several elected officials. He’s set up meetings with Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, who represents parts of Queens, including Long Island City, Council Speaker Co-

Chris Doeblin started Book Culture in 1995, not long after Amazon was launched. Photo: Courtesy of Book Culture

Book Culture owner Chris Doeblin. Photo: Emily Higginbotham

rey Johnson and the Small Business Association out of the mayor’s office. But a legislative or municipal answer isn’t likely to help Book Culture, Doeblin said. He thinks it’s too late for his business. The only way to save the West Side institutions is through the private sector, and he hopes that help will come soon. The stores won’t last through the end of the year without a significant cash infusion, he said. There is hope for other small businesses, which is why Doeblin is speaking out now. He thinks he, as well as the government, have a responsibility to do what is necessary to keep these storefronts afloat. “Our government has to own up and find some way of legislating and providing the resources and creating an environment that is more holisti-

cally supportive of the kind of city we want to be,” Doeblin said. “That includes lots of small businesses, authentic stores doing different things, and a large group of people who have a real vested interest in New York. That means a lot of people owning stuff, not just a group of people working for a handful of companies.” If his business closes, and as other small businesses deal with the same problems without government solutions, the city will lose its vibrancy. “The small business storefront community generates ton of value to New York,” he said. “Obviously if all of those stores close up there’s going to be a real lack of interest in living in New York City. That’s not what anybody wants.”

JULY 4-10,2019

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Real Estate Sales

JULY 4-10,2019

hung around the garden. “I thought it was like, ‘Oh, there’s some rich new condominium.’ But once I found out it was affordable housing I was like, ‘Oh, that’s probably more important than people enjoying their lunch and the park,’” Dempsey said while eating lunch in the garden on Thursday. Unlike Dempsey, many garden supporters want the housing project go elsewhere, specifically, to a vacant, city-owned lot at 388 Hudson Street. “They’ve chosen to ignore a more viable solution that achieves more affordable housing and saves the garden entirely,” Reiver wrote. “If the city had actually considered the 388 Hudson site, we could’ve already had up to [ﬁve times] the housing built for those in need.” Supporters of the project claim that the space currently occupied by the Elizabeth Street Garden is the only possible location at this time. They note that, while 388 Hudson is owned by the city, it’s currently under the control of the Department of

The Elizabeth Street Garden was created in 1991. Photo: Jaden Satenstein

COUNCIL VOTE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 t he Cou nci l’s decision as a triumph. The Haven Green project is set to replace the Elizabeth Street Garden, a one-acre sculpture garden that is open to the public during set hours each season. The garden also hosts year-round public programming. The space was created in 1991 when the city leased the land to Allan Reiver, owner of Elizabeth Street Gallery. “Unfortunately, this vote was expected,” Joseph Reiver, son of Allan Reiver and executive director of the Elizabeth Street Garden, wrote in a statement to

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Our Town Downtown. “The council members lived up to their reputation of deference.” Many visitors to the garden shared Reiver’s disappointment on Thursday, June 27, the day after the Council made its decision. “This is kind of the only little piece of sanctuary you get in such a busy city where you can pop out for a phone call or have lunch in a nice patch of grass,” said Madeleine Winter, who works in the area and was eating lunch in the garden. “I feel like it’s really limited in Manhattan, so for this to no longer be that space feels really sad and like a missed opportunity for the community.”

Environmental Protection (DEP), not the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Haycox hopes that the 388 Hudson site can also be developed into affordable housing in the future. Still, garden supporters feel that the Council ignored the opinions of many community members. In January, Community Board 2 voted in favor of keeping the Elizabeth Street Garden and ﬁnding an alternative site for Haven Green. In its resolution, the board said that the garden is “a heavily used and unique public green open space in a neighborhood the city deﬁnes as ‘underserved’ by open space.” “It’s egregious also to pit affordable housing against green space, especially when we have alternatives that could work much better in regard to the amount of people it could house and not taking down green space,” said Patricia Squillari, volunteer coordinator for the garden. Former professional landscaper Chris Goode, who has lived in the neighborhood

“People can’t sleep in a garden, unfortunately.” Local resident Chris Goode Although most of the visitors that day were at least somewhat aware of the garden being at risk of closing, many were surprised to learn that the space would be used for affordable housing.

Much Needed Housing Evan Dempsey researched the situation online after seeing flyers about it

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since 1977, suggested that garden activists put their efforts into supporting an improvement of green space at nearby Sara D. Roosevelt Park, or the opening of new gardens. One idea he has is to close Elizabeth Street to cars and turn it into a garden. “It’s lovely to have green space in the city, but the garden needs to be refurbished anyway, and I think it would be much better to have housing and put the garden somewhere else,” Goode said. “So there’s this argument from them that the city is somehow pitting housing against gardens, which I think is just factually untrue ... I really love gardens, it’s a passion of mine. But people can’t sleep in a garden, unfortunately.” Visitors to the garden made clear that it has been an important part of their community and will be sorely missed. Garden supporters have not lost hope, however. The Elizabeth Street Garden and the non-proﬁt Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden ﬁled lawsuits against the city to block the Haven Green project in March.

JULY 4-10,2019

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

STOKED! UPGRADE FOR UWS SKATE PARK RECREATION The $2.6 million renovation, to be completed by next spring, will add new life to the dream of late NYC skater legend Andy Kessler BY JASON COHEN

An Upper West Side skate park that opened more than two decades ago is getting a much-needed face-lift. On June 8, the Parks Department and elected officials broke ground on a project to renovate and modernize the Riverside Skate Park at 108th Street. The park was created in 1996 by iconic New York City skater Andy Kessler. Kessler helped design other skate parks in the city, including Pier 62 Skatepark in Chelsea. He died of an allergic reaction to an insect sting in 2009, at age 48, According to Ian Clarke, the founder of the NYC Skateboard Coalition, the UWS facility was considered the ﬁrst “serious skate park” in the city. “It was getting old,” Clarke said. “It was a wooden park with metal ramps. The most important thing was, it was built by Andy Kessler.” The new design includes an 11foot deep bowl, the most dramatic feature of the new park, which was speciﬁcally requested by the serious shredders. The existing footprint of the skate park will be increased, and the perimeter landscape will be enhanced. New benches and fencing will be added.

A New Generation of Skate Park The $2.6 million project was funded by Borough President Gale Brewer, Council Members Mark Levine and Helen Rosenthal and State Senator Robert Jackson. The

park is expected to be ﬁnished by next spring. “Providing diverse amenities in our parks is vitally important. And the reason is simple, we serve a diverse universe of visitors — those looking for a place to connect with friends, relax or be active,” said Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. “More than 20 years ago we introduced skating as a feature in Riverside Park, thanks to Andy Kessler, and because it remains very popular we are giving it the upgrade it deserves.” Clarke said the renovation is long overdue. The park had fallen into disrepair — the wood was rotting, the half-pipe was dangerous with sharp edges. It was simply not safe. “It’s a new generation of the skate park,” he said. “New York has historically had poor skate parks. This new Riverside design will help us catch up with the rest of the country.” He expressed gratitude to Community Board 7, especially Parks and Environment Committee Chair Klari Neuwelt, for their help in making the renovation happen.

A skater gets some air in Riverside Park. Photo: Tony West

Affoumado said. “It will be insane. We wanted to keep skating alive in New York.” For Ala, 49, talking about the park was a bit emotional. He lives on the UWS, was a skater and was close friends with Kessler, who he said helped him through some rough times in his life. “I’ve been clean and sober as a result of his friendship,” he said. “He was a good dude. It was just a tremendous blow when he died.” Ala suffered a skating accident in 2013 that cost him his leg, but his son, Levi, 10, is a skater now, just like his dad. Kessler’s vision shaped the skating community in the city, said Ala. He has no doubt that if his friend were alive he’d be teaching Levi how to skate. “He (Kessler) would be really stoked that there’s an 11-foot deep bowl,” he said. “I’m pretty stoked about my son being able to drop into an 11-foot bowl one day.”

Andy Kessler Would Be Stoked New York City skaters Jaime Affoumado and Nelson Ala knew Kessler well. Affoumado, now 53, started skating when he was 7 and met Kessler in 1977. Though Kessler is gone, he said, he continues to have an impact on the NYC skating community. “[Riverside Skate Park] gave a chance for New Yorkers to skate,” he said. With a modernized park set to open on the UWS in less than a year, the hope is that more people will be able to live Kessler’s dream of skating in the city, since they won’t have to travel downtwon. “That park’s going to be famous,”

Legendary NYC skater Andy Kessler in action. Photo: Courtesy NYC Skateboard Coalition Riverside Skate Park Final Design. Site Plan: NYC Parks

JULY 4-10,2019

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YOUR 15 MINUTES

A GHOST STORY BRINGS GRAND CENTRAL TO LIFE Author Lisa Grunwald discusses the role of New York City, history and the supernatural in her new novel

ments to this novel: the influence of history and the time period, the setting in Grand Central Station, the supernatural aspects and, of BY JADEN SATENSTEIN course, the epic love story. What was the first spark of inspiration Grand Central Station takes cen- for you, and how did all those othter stage in Lisa Grunwald’s latest er elements come out of that? novel, “Time After Time.” The book, The first spark of inspiration was released on June 11, tells of a young a book that I found in Butler Library woman named Nora and a railroad at Columbia. I was doing some reworker named Joe who meet in the search for my previous novel and I station on December 5, 1937. After was trying to figure out what New Nora mysteriously disappears later York would have looked like in the that day, Joel discovers that Nora ‘40s or ‘50s if you arrived by train, a is a ghost who appears in the sta- very small detail. tion on December 5 of almost every And I found a book called “Grand year since her death, as long as the Central” that was written by David weather is good and New York City’s Marshall and published in 1946. famous Manhattanhenge sunrise And I was just leafing through it and can shine through the terminal’s I just happened upon this one paralarge windows unobstructed. graph about a ghost story of this “Time After Time” is Grunwald’s woman who had arrived, shown up sixth novel. She has also published at dawn in Grand Central Terminal, multiple anthologies and served as a and a gateman who worked there contributing editor to Life and a fea- had walked her home and on the tures editor at Esquire. Straus News way home she disappeared. And he recently had the chance to sit down went to the address where she had with Grunwald, a New Yorker, to dis- said she lived and an old woman ancuss the novel and the influence the swered the door and said, ‘Yes, that city and its landmarks have had on was my niece and she died in an exher work. plosion at Grand Central Terminal There are so many different ele- and this happens every year. And it’s been 33 years.’ So that kind of grabbed my attention. A nd I never forgot it and I thought about it and I read through more of t he bo ok . And I was telling my friend, an architect and historian named James Sanders, about this and he remembered the book and he remembered something else that I had noticed, which was a description of what Grand Central looked like at dawn, especially “Time After Time” is Grunwald’s sixth novel. Photo: Jonathan G. Adler

back in the ‘40s, before a lot of the city buildings went up around it. And this special light that would come through the window and illuminate the ceiling in a beautiful way. So James described Manhattanhenge to me, which you now know about if you’ve read the book, and I started thinking about how these two things might ﬁt together — the ghost story and Manhattanhenge. The idea of this special light in this one special place at this one special moment really appealed to me. So that was the very beginning. Then I started thinking about how the light might have some supernatural power to it and it went from there. The novel takes place between the 1920s and 1940s. What drew you to the time period? Two things. One was that this fabulous book was written in ‘46, and so it was describing the terminal the way it had been. And I just found that incredibly intriguing and appealing. The other thing was that what my friend James had told me was so cool and memorable, [which] was that once the United Nations Secretariat was built, it brought down the light of Manhattanhenge sunrise. So I ﬁgured if I was going to use that light as a plot element in the novel it was going to have to take place before the UN went up. The other aspect of it is that the war, World War II, brought so many changes to the terminal. So many things happened in the terminal because of the war, that I found that intriguing as well and I wanted to set it during and around the war. Did you know much about the historical events you include in the novel before writing it or did your research of the time period help shape the plot? I knew almost nothing of what ended up in the novel. I mean, I knew something about the World’s Fair, dimly. I knew about, I had seen images of the Perisphere and the Trylon, the pointy needle and the globe, which were the symbols of the fair. And I guess I had seen them either on stamps or in old photographs. And, obviously, I knew about Pearl Harbor and I knew about World War

Photo: Courtesy of Random House

II, but I didn’t know about how those things were received or went over stateside and certainly not in New York and certainly not in Grand Central. How does living in the city inﬂuence your writing? I don’t know, honestly. I don’t know. I mean, I grew up here. I went to college away from here. I moved back here and I’ve lived here ever since. So maybe just a sense of the bustle and the crowds being something that’s familiar to me. And maybe that has something to do with it, but I don’t know. I’ve written about places I haven’t lived in. In my previous novel, I wrote about London in the ‘60s, and I wrote about Los Angeles in the ‘60s. And I’ve never lived in either place. I think you have to, as a novelist, try in every way to transport yourself to a place and imagine that based on whatever research is at hand. I think probably the only thing in the book that is absolutely true because I know what New York is like in the summer is what New York smells

like. That’s not something you’d probably know if you hadn’t spent a lot of summers here. Being astonished by just how raunchy it can be when things get kind of summer New York ripe. But otherwise I don’t think my living here has much to do with what I’ve written. Congratulations on selling the ﬁlm rights to “Time After Time.” What about it excites you most? To be completely honest, the thing I am most excited about if a movie gets made is that it will sell more books. I mean, truly, at the end of the day, that’s the most I can hope for. If a movie gets made, I mean, obviously it would be, it’ll be cool, incredibly cool to see these characters come to life and be portrayed by actors. But, you know, my number one hope is that people will read this book.

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Downtowner 8

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6 8

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28. Two-masted sailing vessels 29. Fraction of a newton 31. Tennyson lady 32. Wired 33. Nothing 37. Pep 38. Hangout 40. Old 42. Fido command 43. Inﬁnitesimal amount 44. Fly in the ointment 46. Inclination 48. Distress 49. Cousin of ante51. Islet 52. __ and outs 53. Thai people 54. Dark and feminine (Chinese)

P W N E N T H U S I A S M A M

H E L I I Q K N C W O N D E R

50. Coldly 55. LAX posting 56. Indignation 57. Island west of Maui 58. Not be up-to-date 59. Showed the way 60. Boxer, Mike Down 1. Maroon 5 song “The Way I ___” 2. Stout relative 3. Evergreen tree 4. Sink 5. Simple computer 6. ____ mount type 7. Chemistry term 8. Place to relax 9. End piece 10. Don’t __ on his parade 11. Three spot card 19. George Washington’s dream 20. Blanks 21. Coin opening 22. Alcoholic drink from a Polynesian shrub 23. Prayer leader 25. Item talked about 26. Purple shade

A D D L F Y R J S H Y N E S S

H E L I I Q K N C W O N D E R

WORD SEARCH by Myles Mellor

4 41

Across 1. Cracker 6. Familial comrade 9. Vacuum tube 12. Evidence of being elsewhere 13. One with a beat 14. Propel, in a way 15. Some Bosnians 16. Double stranded material 17. Game piece 18. Stage signal 20. Off the wall 21. Descend quickly 24. Filch 27. Sorority letter 30. Soup holder 34. Organ 35. House alternative 36. Domesticating 38. Scheme 39. Hollow crystal lined stone 41. Golf course builder Pete ___ 42. Unwarm welcome 45. Organized insect 47. Quite a while 48. Well-chosen

38 40

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

SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan

by Myles Mellor

CROSSWORD

JULY 4-10,2019

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JULY 4-10,2019

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