Our Town Downtown - July 19, 2018

Page 1

The local paper for Downtown wn

WEEK OF JULY THE ESSENTIAL GIACOMETTI ◄ P.12

19-25 2018

IN THE CITY, BIG PHARMA’S GOT COMPETITION COMMERCE Independently owned apothecaries cater to clientele

Leticia James, the city’s public advocate, is one of four candidates running for attorney general. Photo: Courtesy of Leticia James

BY MICHAEL DESANTIS

If you own an independent pharmacy in Manhattan, odds are you’ll be competing with a CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid no more than a block or two away. That competition has contributed to the downfall of independently-owned pharmacies such as the Battery Park Pharmacy and University Chemists in downtown Manhattan, both of which closed this spring. Surviving independent pharmacies in the city have leaned on a mix of innovation, individuality and customer service to maintain their presence and overcome challenges posed by corporate giants. Multiple pharmacists have said they’re forced to overcome contracts between chain stores and insurance companies where consumers have to get service from a chain pharmacy unless they want to pay the full price of medication. “Which is not right,” Abby Fazio, the owner of New London Pharmacy, said. “We are trying to fight in New York State. Bottom line, the patient should go where they want to go and where they feel more comfortable. Because chains

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

Leecia Eve, a former legal adviser to Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is also bidding to become the state’s top law enforcement official. Photo: Courtesy of Leecia Eve

Zephyr Teachout, a law school professor who ran against Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014, takes to the stump in a Murray Hill church last week seeking the Democratic clubhouse vote as she campaigns for state attorney general. Photo: Courtesy of Zephyr Teachout

POLITICKING FOR ‘PEOPLE’S LAWYER’ POST ney general – and they were tough to miss at the forum for candidates on July 11 at the New York New Church in Murray Hill. The scene was the old Swedenborgian church, at 114 East 35th St., where three of the contenders, all of them women, vied for support from roughly 125 members of 10 Democratic political clubhouses. Two of the hopefuls were African-Americans. A third was about six months pregnant. The only no-show was the only male aspirant in the contest. And he was lambasted for skipping the event. Largely aligned on the liberal-left-feminist spectrum, all three won rousing cheers from attendees, who hailed from the Eleanor Roo-

ENFRANCHISEMENT Three women court the clubhouse vote, showcase legal and people skills, usher the battle for attorney general into an East Side church BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN

Abby Fazio, the owner of New London Pharmacy, on Eighth Avenue and 23rd Street, has hired specialists for each of the pharmacy’s several departments. Photo: Michael DeSantis

The seismic political power of the #MeToo movement. The drive to fix, trash or replace a busted male-dominated system. A sea change in the political climate. A dramatic shift toward the empowerment of women. All those dynamics have transformed the Democratic primary race for state attor-

Downtowner

OurTownDowntown

O OTDOWNTOWN.COM @OTDowntown

Crime Watch Voices NYC Now City Arts

3 8 10 12

Restaurant Ratings Business Real Estate 15 Minutes

14 16 17 21

WEEK OF APRIL

SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12

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

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

9-16

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

2015

In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS

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

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

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

n OurTownDowntow

COM

Newscheck Crime Watch Voices

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

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

12 13 14 18

CONTINUED ON PAGE

25

sevelt Democratic Club, the chief sponsor, as well as the Lexington Democratic Club, Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democrats, Tilden Democrats, Ansonia Independent Democrats and Four Freedoms Democratic Club, among others. Galvanizing the gathering: A backlash to the perceived depredations of President Donald Trump, coupled with a vow from all three candidates to hold him accountable through the broad enforcement powers vested in the state’s chief legal officer. “He continues to lie, and a lie should not have life,” said Letitia (Tish) James, the public advocate who is the first

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

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

2

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

JULY 19-25,2018

WALLACE STEVENS MAKES HIS MARK, AGAIN COMMEMORATION Honoring the great poet outside of his Chelsea home, where he wrote some of his legendary works BY ALIZAH SALARIO

The poet Susan Howe discusses the legacy of Wallace Stevens. Photo: Alizah Salario

The world — or perhaps just a few squares of Chelsea sidewalk — arranged itself into a poem on July 11th in front of the former home of Wallace Stevens. Considered to be one of the greatest American modernist poets of the twentieth century, Stevens was recognized with a cultural medallion honoring his legacy and New York influence outside 441 West 21st Street, where he resided in the top floor apartment from 1910 to 1916. A handful of distinguished poets, Stevens aficionados and the occasional Chelsea dog walker withstood the afternoon heat to pay tribute to Stevens, who composed some of his greatest poems in his stately Chelsea home, including “Sunday Morning” and “Peter Quince at the Clavier.” Though Stevens never quit his day job and spent many years practicing

The cultural medallion dedicated to Wallace Stevens outside 441 West 21st St. Photo: Alizah Salario insurance law and living in Hartford, Conn., “New York remained his aesthetic point of reference,” said Glen MacLeod, vice president of the Wallace Stevens Society, which nominated the poet for the honor. MacLeod, a Stevens scholar, noted that the poet’s work was transformed after seeing an early show at the Armory consisting of modernist paintings. The influence on his work was profound; the analogous processes between poetry and painting began to inform his work. “His work matured in this house,” said MacLeod. The poet Deborah Garrison, now the poetry editor at Alfred A. Knopf and a

senior editor at Pantheon Books, read moving a moving letter from Stevens to his wife, Elsie, written upon his discovery of what would become their Chelsea home. “It has everything in its favor, and I know you will like it,” Stevens wrote. Lisa Goldfarb, president of the Wallace Stevens Society, spoke about the master stylist’s love for the landscape of New York. Stevens took pleasure in walking the length and breadth of the city, she said, and was known for walking from Chambers Street to Spuyten Duyvil in one day. “Somehow, the rhythm of my walking gets into the rhythm of my poems,” said Goldfarb, quoting Stevens.

The Stevens medallion is one of about 120 cultural medallions throughout the five boroughs. Started in 2000 by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, chair and founder of the Historic Landmarks Preservation Center, the cultural medallion program marks sites where individuals who made an impact on New York lived, worked and created. The program is patterned after London’s famed blue plaques program, both reminding passersby of living, breathing history and linking the past and present. At the ceremony, Diamonstein-Spielvogel encouraged New Yorkers to nominate individuals whose imprint on the city deserves to be remembered. Distinguished poets in attendance included Susan Howe, who spoke of how “extraordinarily moving” it was to remember Stevens. “I turn to Stevens these days almost as a form of prayer,” she said. Howe closed with a reading from the ending of “Sunday Morning,” which is considered one of the greatest poems in the English language. “At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make/Ambiguous undulations as they sink/Downward to darkness, on extended wings.”

“IF ONLY SOMEONE WOULD CLEAN UP THIS PARK.”

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

Cat New York Cares Volunteer

JULY 19-25,2018

3

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

Discover the world’s best walk-in bathtub from

STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st district for the week ending July 8 Week to Date

1,500

$

S AV I N G S

Year to Date

2018 2017

% Change

2018

2017

% Change

Murder

0

0

n/a

1

1

0.0

Rape

0

0

n/a

14

9

55.6

Robbery

1

3

-66.7

37

36

2.8

Felony Assault

2

4

-50.0

30

44

-31.8

Burglary

1

4

-75.0

33

36

-8.3

Grand Larceny

17

24

-29.2

508 501 1.4

Grand Larceny Auto

0

1

-100.0

11

9

22.2

5 Reasons American Standard Walk-In Tubs are Your Best Choice Backed by American Standard’s 140 years of experience Ultra low entry for easy entering and exiting Patented Quick Drain® fast water removal system Lifetime Warranty on the bath AND installation, INCLUDING labor backed by American Standard 5 44 Hydrotherapy jets for an invigorating massage

1 2 3 4 Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr

ARREST IN SUBWAY ASSAULT

TIP JAR SCUFFLE

A subway rider survived an assault on his person. At 11:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 7, a 59-year-old man was traveling southbound on the 2 train when he got engaged in a verbal dispute with another, younger man. Upon approaching the Chambers Street station the younger man, later identified by police as Geovannie Nieves, 25, struck the older man with a metal object that he pulled from his pushcart, cutting the man and damaging his victim’s right eye socket, according to the account the man gave police. Nieves then fled to parts unknown, but was later arrested and charged with assault, police said.

It’s hard enough earning tips in a fast food location without fighting off tip thieves as well. At 5:25 p.m. on Sunday, July 8, a 35-year-old man approached the counter of the Dunkin’ Donuts shop on the mezzanine level inside of the Fulton Street A station and grabbed a jar containing the staff’s tip money. A 22-year-old male employee managed to hold onto the jar, but the thief forcibly took its contents. In the ensuing scuffle the employee suffered scratch marks and pain on his right and left forearms but refused medical attention at the scene. The thief got away with all of $8.

CONSTRUCTION DESTRUCTION

AGGRESSIVE PANHANDLER

Police arrested a construction worker after he assaulted a colleague with a hammer, police said. At 12:20 p.m. on Saturday, July 7, a 56-yearold man working at a construction site at the northeast corner of Prince Street and West Broadway got in an argument with a 24-yearold male coworker. The argument turned violent, when the younger man, later identified by police as George Kouloritis, struck the older man twice in his right shoulder with a hammer, according to police. When police arrived the victim identified his assailant by pointing him out in front of the location. Kouloritis was arrested and charged with assault, police said.

A man might regret his kindness after a panhandler got greedy. At 8:27 p.m. on Sunday, July 1, a 20-year-old man asked a 21-year-old man for $1 inside the World Trade Center Path station. As the 21-year-old opened his wallet the panhandler grabbed $4 and pushed his benefactor out of the way before running from the scene. The man was not injured.

BARROOM BAWL Police remind the public always to be mindful of your belongings when you’re out and about. At 11:30 p.m. on Friday, July 6, a 47-year-old woman was sitting inside O’Hara’s Restaurant and Pub at 120 Cedar St. when she realized that some of her personal property was missing, namely a Schwab debit card worth $2,000, an iPhone 7 valued at $600 and an MTA card worth $30.

$

1,500 in Savings INCLUDES a FREE American Standard Toilet

Trusted Professional Installation with Best Lifetime Warranty! A+ RATED 44 Hydrotherapy jets for an invigorating massage ®

5

Includes FREE American Standard Right Height Toilet

Limited Time Offer! Call Today!

877-750-8848

FREE IN-HOME EVALUATION!

Receive a free American Standard Cadet toilet with full installation of a Liberation Walk-In Bath, Liberation Shower, or Deluxe Shower. Offer valid only while supplies last. Limit one per household. Must be first time purchaser. See www.walkintubs.americanstandard-us.com for other restrictions and for licensing, warranty, and company information. CSLB B982796; Suffolk NY:55431H; NYC:HIC#2022748-DCA. Safety Tubs Co. LLC does not sell in Nassau NY, Westchester NY, Putnam NY, Rockland NY.

4

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Useful Contacts

JULY 19-25,2018

DrawingBYBoard MARC BILGREY

POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct

19 ½ Pitt St.

212-477-7311

NYPD 6th Precinct

233 W. 10th St.

212-741-4811

NYPD 10th Precinct

230 W. 20th St.

212-741-8211

NYPD 13th Precinct

230 E. 21st St.

NYPD 1st Precinct

16 Ericsson Place

212-477-7411 212-334-0611

FIRE FDNY Engine 15

25 Pitt St.

311

FDNY Engine 24/Ladder 5

227 6th Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 28 Ladder 11

222 E. 2nd St.

311

FDNY Engine 4/Ladder 15

42 South St.

311

ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin

165 Park Row #11

Councilmember Rosie Mendez

237 1st Ave. #504

212-587-3159 212-677-1077

Councilmember Corey Johnson

224 W. 30th St.

212-564-7757

State Senator Daniel Squadron

250 Broadway #2011

212-298-5565

Community Board 1

1 Centre St., Room 2202

212-669-7970

Community Board 2

3 Washington Square Village

212-979-2272

Community Board 3

59 E. 4th St.

212-533-5300

Community Board 4

330 W. 42nd St.

212-736-4536

Hudson Park

66 Leroy St.

212-243-6876

Ottendorfer

135 2nd Ave.

212-674-0947

Elmer Holmes Bobst

70 Washington Square

212-998-2500

COMMUNITY BOARDS

LIBRARIES

HOSPITALS New York-Presbyterian

170 William St.

Mount Sinai-Beth Israel

10 Union Square East

212-844-8400

212-312-5110

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

TIME WARNER

46 East 23rd

813-964-3839

US Post Office

201 Varick St.

212-645-0327

US Post Office

128 East Broadway

212-267-1543

US Post Office

93 4th Ave.

212-254-1390

POST OFFICES

HOW TO REACH US:

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CALENDAR ITEMS:

ABOUT US

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

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

VISIT OUR WEBSITE! at OTDOWNTOWN.COM

JULY 19-25,2018

BIG PHARMA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 are so big and they have so much power versus a small independent pharmacy, it’s very hard and competitive.” Fazio isn’t afraid of the competition, however. She’s led New London Pharmacy, a Chelsea location on Eighth Avenue and 23rd Street, to hire experts to oversee each department the store offers: prescription, cosmetics, bath and body, surgical care, over-thecounter products, nutrition and website. Those specialists will then work together to ensure customers get what they need. Fazio used the relationship between her prescription and nutrition sections as an example. “The nutritionist helps the pharmacist in the sense that, ‘Yes, this patient has diabetes but let’s talk to him also about what he’s eating and his exercise and what to watch out for and how to inject himself and how to test himself,’” Fazio said. “This way, whoever comes in and has a question knows they can speak to that expert. That’s something I feel we offer that nobody else does.” C.O. Bigelow Chemists, a Greenwich Village apothecary in business since 1838, also boasts a large storefront to complement its pharmacy. Alec Ginsberg, son of owner Ian Ginsberg, said having a significant retail business is a necessity for independently-owned pharmacies. “That’s why in New York City you really don’t see that many independents anymore,” Ginsberg said. “It’s because you can’t really survive just on the dispensing.” The pharmacy, on Sixth Avenue and Ninth Street, sells products in skincare, makeup, bath and body, hair, fragrance and men’s grooming. Ginsberg feels the largest factor that separates C.O. Bigelow Chemists from a CVS or Rite Aid is that their pharmacies are in separate businesses. “We’re going the other direction, away from convenience like those guys are focusing,” Ginsberg said. “We’ll let them play the drive-thru game as long as they want to. We’re in customer care. We want to take our time with every patient, answer all their questions.” Ginsberg said the pharmacy tries to individually educate its customers in addition to serving them, pointing to the difficulties of understanding how the health care system in America works. Part of that education is honesty. “Our mantra is ‘Genuine, honest, trustworthy,’ Ginsberg said. “So, to put it plainly, we don’t bullshit any-

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com one. If you come in and ask a question, you’re going to get an honest answer, whether it’s one you like or you don’t like. We’re here to educate the people as much as we can.” As far as service goes, Cordette Pharmacy in Midtown has a policy of treating its customers well. Jay Patel, the pharmacist of the West 39th Street business, said he tries to go out of his way to treat any customer like a member of his own family. He said, if possible, he’ll leave the pharmacy desk to walk the aisles as many as 100 times a day to check in on customers and see if they have any questions for him. He expects his staff to do the same. “Every time there’s a person walking up and down the aisle and if one of my staff doesn’t see him and doesn’t address him, I get irritated,” Patel said. “I will walk out there and address [the customer].” The customer service and care that independently-owned pharmacies offer is likely the biggest advantage they hold over chain stores. Some pharmacists say that the lack of personal attention customers are given at a large chain have benefitted them. “They actually do us a favor,” Patel said. “Their customers who don’t get the service [from big chain stores] come here where they do get attended to.” Part of that is due to the amount of staff behind the pharmacy counter. C.O. Bigelow Chemists has four fulltime pharmacists working at one time, while New London Pharmacy has at least six. “I hear chain stores only have two people working to fill 400 prescriptions,” Fazio said. “You need at least six people minimum.” Ginsberg said he has four working at the same time in order to accomplish more tasks than one or two people can handle. “So when it’s just one of you, you have to focus on checking the prescriptions and getting them out all day long,” Ginsberg said. “With us, we can have one or two guys doing that while the other ones are working on immunizations, running through med-lists with people, doing medication therapy management.” Fazio, Ginsberg and Patel all value customer care above everything else while continuing to come up with methods to stay ahead of corporate pharmacies, be it multiple departments, free delivery, more efficient division of labor or familial values. Those are what got them this far, and it may be what keeps them successful in a corporate-dominated city.

5

New London Pharmacy, on Eighth Avenue and 23rd Street, differentiates itself from big-box retailers through its customer service, its owner says. Photo: Michael DeSantis

C.O. Bigelow Chemists on Sixth Avenue has been serving the Greenwich Village community since 1838. Photo: Michael DeSantis

VISIT OUR WEBSITE! at OTDOWNTOWN.COM

6

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

JULY 19-25,2018

ECLECTIC CREW PROPELLED OCASIO-CORTEZ POLITICS Energy healer, metal vocalist, former actor among the Congressional candidate’s campaign aides BY STEPHEN R. GROVES

A campaign manager who moonlights as an energy healer. A photographer who sings in a heavy metal band. A Muslim progressive activist who runs a cooking blog in her spare time. These are some of the political outsiders who helped propel 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to a massive Democratic primary upset and into the national spotlight. If it seems Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign crew is unconventional, that’s sort of the point. She said she intentionally built her team from the ranks of burgeoning progressive and social causes, not from the traditional Democratic Party machine. “The best way to build this campaign was to organize around the groups that were already working and organize around the issues that mattered to them,” said Ocasio-Cortez, explaining that she drew from such groups as Democratic Socialists of America, Muslims for Progress and Black Lives Matter. In the wake of Ocasio-Cortez’s stunning primary victory over 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in the Bronx and Queens, her campaign drew high marks for its consistent message of social justice, door-to-door outreach, aggressive social media, a slickly produced video that went viral and even a

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, right, a relatively unknown Congressional candidate a few weeks ago, was propelled to an upset primary victory with the help of a diverse campaign crew. She was endorsed by Zephyr Teachout, left, herself a candidate for attorney general, a few weeks ago. Photo: Courtesy of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bold campaign poster. “We didn’t dare to hope we had a chance, but in our hearts, we believed we would win,” said Daniel Bonthius, a 32-year-old former actor who started out as the campaign’s first spokesman and eventually became Ocasio-Cortez’s scheduler and “body man.” Like any millennial movement, the campaign had its roots on social me-

dia. Bonthius posted a Facebook message asking his friends to wake up to the political process, and they decided to meet up once a week. The friends soon joined Indivisible, a network of groups opposed to President Donald Trump’s policies. After hearing about Ocasio-Cortez’s primary bid on The Young Turks, a progressive commentary program on

YouTube, one of the group’s members invited her to their weekly meeting. Over the next months, she worked house parties and political rallies to recruit people who were passionate about social activism and ready to engage in an election campaign. For her campaign manager, she selected Virginia Ramos Rios, a 46-yearold who has a background in insurance marketing and energy healing. She’s studied past life regression therapy and periodically performs chakra healing. But after a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the frustrations of navigating health insurance, she turned to politics. Like Ocasio-Cortez, she was a campaign organizer for Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders. Her only previous experience running a campaign was for a far-left City Council candidate who lost last year but surprisingly garnered nearly 30 percent of the vote. When she joined Ocasio-Cortez, one of her first jobs was to bring order to the enthusiasm. “No one was going up against the party boss,” Ramos Rios said. “That was electrifying and exciting.” Naureen Akhter, a 30-year-old cofounder of a progressive Muslim group and part-time food blogger, said she joined as a neighborhood campaign captain after Ocasio-Cortez went out of her way to welcome her. “There was room for anyone willing to do the work,” she said. So the band of volunteers gathered in living rooms to pore over maps, stood on street corners to talk up voters, and coordinated phone-a-thons and fun-

draisers from a campaign office that shared a building with a tattoo parlor and a palm reading shop. Throughout the district, they also plastered walls with a sleek campaign poster that featured Ocasio-Cortez looking up over her shoulder with her name in striking, slanted graphics. It was produced entirely by friends, including Jesse Korman, a New Jersey-based photographer and heavy metal singer who met Ocasio-Cortez when she was working at a Manhattan restaurant. She came to his studio after a full day of campaigning, and although she was tired, Korman told her to just express her passion and confidence through the photos. “She naturally is that person,” Korman said. “She’s not putting on something.” As the campaign came together and the election date drew near, the volunteers felt they were gaining on the 56-year-old incumbent Crowley, whose $3.4 million in spending was 10 times that of Ocasio-Cortez. As they hit the streets one last time to find any registered Democrats who might give Ocasio-Cortez a vote, the smiles, honks, and encouragement bolstered their optimism. By the end of the night, Ocasio-Cortez would be the new star of the party — heavily favored to win the general election in November and become one of the youngest women ever in Congress. The next day, she tweeted a photo of the worn-out shoes she wore on the campaign trail. “Respect the hustle,” she wrote. “We won bc we out-worked the competition. Period.”

IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO INVEST IN A GOOD THING. Introducing Better FuturesTM —a whole new kind of investment with a greater return than money. When you invest, it helps kids go to college. Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste but a wonderful thing to invest in.TM Invest in Better Futures at UNCF.ORG/INVEST

©2013 UNCF

JULY 19-25,2018

POLITICKING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 woman of color ever elected to citywide office. The clear frontrunner in the race as the official designee of the state party convention, James dubbed Trump “Agent Orange,” and added, “He is an illegitimate president.” Only slightly more modulated was Leecia Eve, a lobbyist for Verizon, the first black woman to serve as Port Authority commissioner and a former legal adviser to Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has nevertheless endorsed James. “He is handing out pardons like manna, dangling potential pardons to people Bob Mueller is prosecuting, and I’d aggressively pursue anyone he’s pardoned,” she said. “Every tool imaginable to prosecute Trump and the Trump Organization” would be deployed, Eve added. If either James or Eve prevails in the primary, and then beats back a Republican opponent, it would be the first time an African-American woman was elected to statewide office in New York.

Public Advocate Letitia (Tish) James campaigns for state attorney general last week at a candidate’s forum in the New York New Church in Murray Hill. Photo: Douglas Feiden

WOOING THE CLUBHOUSE Rounding out the trio was Zephyr Teachout, the Fordham University Law School professor who mounted a from-the-left primary challenge to Cuomo in 2014 and shook him up by garnering 34 percent of the ballot. Her baby is due in October. “We are in a credibility, constitutional and democratic crisis the likes of which this country has never before seen,” she said. Teachout pledged to use the “law as a sword, not just a shield,” and to make fighting Trump her number one priority, adding, “We need to do three things – litigate, agitate and elect.” Her message won the day with at least one club: Minutes after the forum ended, the Four Freedoms Democratic Club, based on the Upper East Side, caucused at the front of the church, voted and delivered its endorsement. “Zephyr Teachout will have our support in mail, in literature and with volunteers on the ground when it counts,” said Kim Moscaritolo, former president of the club and a Democratic co-district

7

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Leecia Eve, a Port Authority commissioner and ex-legal adviser to Hillary Clinton and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, addresses members of 10 Democratic political clubs as she campaigns for state attorney general in an East Side church last week. Photo: Douglas Feiden

Zephyr Teachout, a law school professor who ran against Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014, takes to the stump in a Murray Hill church last week seeking the Democratic clubhouse vote as she campaigns for state attorney general. Photo: Douglas Feiden

leader on the East Side. The energy and engagement animating the race tracks to the implosion of ex-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who was forced to quit on May 8 amid horrifying allegations he’d beaten, choked, sexually abused and threatened to kill four women he had dated. State legislators filled the vacancy by appointing Barbara Underwood, the state’s solicitor general, who became the first woman to serve as New York’s top counsel, a position often referred to as the “People’s Lawyer.” But no woman has ever been elected as AG, going back to the creation of the job in 1777, and James, Eve and Teachout all jumped in when Underwood said she wouldn’t seek election in November. The fourth candidate is U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the three-term Hudson Valley incumbent and the first openly gay House member in the state. He’s running for AG even as he simultaneously runs for reelection to Congress, a move that faces potential legal challenges. Maloney irked organizers by staying in Washington on the night of the forum: “He cited the responsibilities of his current job – the one he appears to no longer want,” said Mike Corbett, the Democratic co-district leader from Kips Bay, Murray Hill and Tudor City who was the event’s moderator. And he called on the only male hopeful to “end this quixotic pursuit to be our next attorney general.” Corbett praised all three “incredible women” for their “progressive visions,” singling out Teachout for her “fiery passion about the issues” and Eve for her “impressive resume” and accomplishments at the state and federal level. While the state would be in “good hands” with any of them, he said his own club, the Eleanor Roosevelt Democrats, along with at least three others, had already endorsed James, and said her “two decades of government experience, combined with an incomparable knowledge of the law,” set her apart. “She will not back down from a fight,” Corbett added.

NEIGHBORHOOD’S BEST To place an ad in this directory, Call Douglas at 212-868-0190 ext. 352.

ART

HARDWARE ELEGANCE IN HARDWARE

This Summer, let us do the cooking!

A Luxury Hardware Experience 860 Lexington Avenue 646-922-8707 eleganceinhardware.com

MON-SAT 10:30AM-6PM | SUN 12PM-6PM

www.the-maac.com

Come visit the nation’s largest art & antiques center featuring 100 galleries and over 40 categories. Enjoy time on our 3 floors of antiques, fine art, and every category in-between Buy or sell, we welcome your visit 7 days a week.

Lock & Door Hardware Architectural Hardware Decorative Hardware Plumbing

1050 2nd Ave. bt. 55th & 56th Sts.

212.355.4400

LOCKSMITH

LIGHTING

SKY LOCKSMITH & HARDWARE Lighting

Restoration & Repairs Lampshades Custom Lighting For The World’s Finest Homes Bespoke

Mention This ad and Receive A FREE In Home Consult in NYC!

BhonBhon Lighting BHONBHON.COM | (212) 397-3710 Visit Our Lighting Showroom 43-01 21st. Long Island City

PERSONAL TRAINING soZo concept

NEW MUL-T-LOCK ClassicPRO Installed FOR JUST $135 PLUS TAX

24/7 EMERGENCY LOCKSMITH SERVICE 212-288-7773 Store Locations: 1574 1st Ave / 182 E. 73rd / 2212 Broadway

PSYCHOTHERAPY

Call us! 800-915-4266 www.iconnel.com

212-203-5634 KTA1@me.com

KARPOFF AFFILIATES KARPOFF AFFILIATES is your single stop for senior life transitions and real estate brokerage needs. We provide peace of mind and ensure that each project is handled with respect and integrity. mkarpoff@karpoffaffiliates.com 212.358.8044 290 Third Avenue, Ste 26C, NYC 10010

®

Senior Care Companions, Homemakers, Polish/English, Live-in or Hourly, Educated, Mature Experienced, Since 1992.

Kerry Aissa Founder

SENIOR CARE

SENIOR CARE ICONNEL

*O )PNF t *O 0GmDF Personal Training Bringing Fitness to the home & office for over 20 years! No Weights Free Needed! Consult TRX

www.KarpoffAffiliates.com

invreporter@strausnews.com

DINING

SPIRITUAL

WINDOW TREATMENTS

Upper West Manhattan Church of Christ 80 YEARS!

Meeting at 891 Amsterdam Ave. @ 103rd St. In Hosteling International For more information: Call 212-729-8356 www.uwmchurchofchrist.com

Draperies Shades Shutters Blinds Motorization Window Film Upholstery Fabric & Trim Flooring Paint

SEMI-ANNUAL CUSTOM DECORATING SALE GOING ON NOW! UPPER WEST SIDE 469 AMSTERDAM AVE. 212.501.8282 WINDOWFASHIONS.COM

8

JULY 19-25,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Voices

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

LESSONS LEARNED BY BETTE DEWING

If ever there was a blessing in disguise. It’s the 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped 3 miles down in a Thailand cave. That’s because it brought the whole world together for almost three weeks, overcame the perilous divisions doing us in, locally, nationally, internationally. And also personally. And, yes, it rather relates to last week’s op-ed

piece in this paper, “Why I’m Not Ashamed to Move Back in With My Parents,” which counters a societal no-no, even during a time we might call the affordable housing crisis. Now, don’t stop reading ... First, boundless thanks to Madison Avenue Presbyterian associate pastor, the Rev. Beverly Bartlett, for alerting me to the meditation Rx which kept these boys, age 12 to 16, relatively calm and hopeful dur-

ing this grueling ordeal and supermiraculous rescue. And how grateful is the world that their soccer coach, who unwittingly got them into this trap, was a former Hindu monk and a specialist in mediation techniques. And surely we must remember this, to, yes, save the world along with the heroic efforts of divers, especially Saman Gunan, a former Thai Navy Seal diver, who lost his life delivering oxygen tanks to the trapped boys and their coach. And the lesson we might act upon is to make meditation a part of our daily lives and beyond, way beyond.

And also to find lost boys everywhere, and to cultivate that village that will teach them those important life’s lessons. Governor Cuomo just dedicated megabucks for city and state sport activities as an alternative to joining youth gangs. Ah, but what’s also needed is exposure to meditation techniques and conflict resolution skills which also help the families they need to stay together. But grandparents must be part of this mission and why isn’t Matilda Cuomo’s tireless children’s education work ever mentioned by her son? She was once awarded by this

paper for her tireless work in that so needed endeavor and recently awarded by the Savoy Foundation for her work on behalf of “underserved youth. The American History Women’s Hall of Fame recently inducted Matilda Cuomo. And here’s to taking a lesson from Bartlett, the Madison Avenue Presbyterian associate pastor, who believes in meditation to calm and direct us. Let’s follow her example in doing a twice daily 10-minute meditation. Remind me! dewingbetter@aol.com

THE LAST STRAW BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL

Decades ago, my husband Neil and I had one of our first dates at The Mad Hatter which once reigned the UES restaurant scene on Second Avenue at 78th. When we were served our drinks, the first thing Neil did was remove the straw. He noticed me looking horrified, as though he had just pulled a pin out of a grenade, and responded simply, “I’m no longer nine.” It wasn’t a deal-breaker, but since I had always associated straws, especially the bendy kind, with fun, Neil would have to prove himself to be amusing company in other ways. (He did.) It’s only taken 30-plus years, but I’m finally going to follow Neil’s lead and forgo straws altogether. My decision was kicked off by what has now become a national anti-plastic straw movement (yes, movement) with advocacy groups out there like Give a Sip, Stop Sucking, and the Last Plastic Straw. But the reason to give straws up entirely was that I don’t like the alternative being offered by restaurants and cafes around NYC. The other day I had quite a delicious meal at The Penrose on Second and 83rd but drinking my Arnold Palmer through a paper straw altered its taste. I may as well have sipped my ice tea/lemonade combo through a rolledup page from this newspaper. Straws have been around since 3000 B.C. when they were made of gold. Eventually rye grass was used, and

Photo: Marco Verch, via flickr

then paper, which was to go-to until the early 1960s when plastic was found to be more durable. They were also a luxury — at least in my house. “We don’t need those,” my mother would say as we did our grocery shopping; our money better spent on actual food. Every now and then though I’d be able to sneak a package into the cart and she’d let it slide. Blowing bubbles with my straw was enough to turn basic chocolate milk into an experience. When I first heard about places in the UK like McDonald’s banning plastic straws, I thought, Why don’t they just get recycled? But it seems that unlike other forms of plastic, single-use straws made of that material cannot be. Today’s straws are made of polypropylene, in and of itself a highly recyclable plastic resin, commonly used in yogurt containers, bottle caps, toothbrushes and plastic utensils. But recyclers are usually cautious about the types of polypropylene they accept, and straws will rarely be taken. From what I’ve read, it’s been suggested that because they’re small, straws fall through the equipment and can’t be captured. According to Earth911.com, the bigger issue than how to recycle plastic straws is how to reduce their use. In the U.S., we use 500 million drinking straws each day, an average of 1.6 straws per person. Hence, the recent cause célèbre is Starbucks’ ban on plastic straws, claiming that by 2020 it will stock them no more. (They’re still in abundance at

the First and 85th location.) This could make the prime first world problem: How will one drink one’s Frappuccino? But we’ll cross that overpriced beverage when we come to it. For all the talk about the environmental impact of plastic straws, those in the plastics industry lay the blame for pollution and wildlife endangerment not necessarily on the drinking apparatus, but on littering in general. To those, unlike me, for whom, “Hold the straw,” refuses to roll off the tongue with the ease of, “Hold the mayo,” Earth911 suggests you bring a reusable one with you when you dine out. For less than twenty bucks on Amazon, you can get a set of half a dozen reusable straws made of everything from stainless steel to bamboo. The silicone versions present in a variety of colors, patterns, and the requisite glitter. Some sets come with their own mini cleaning brush. These of course will fit right in at UES eateries such as Wahlburgers, Pizza Beach or the Mansion Diner, and especially when dining al fresco in Central Park. But if you’re going to the likes of Sant Ambroeus, Daniel, or Majorelle, Tiffany & Co. has a sterling silver straw for $250. (The gold is $350 and there’s one with a butterfly charm attached for $425.) Hey, sip big or stay home. Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novels “Back to Work She Goes” and “Fat Chick,” for which a movie is in the works.

President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com

STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source nyoffice@strausnews.com 212-868-0190

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

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

Account Executives Fred Almonte, David Dallon Director of Partnership Development Barry Lewis

Editor-In-Chief, Alexis Gelber Deputy Editor Richard Khavkine

Senior Reporter Doug Feiden

Director of Digital Pete Pinto

Staff Reporter Michael Garofalo

Director, Arts & Entertainment/ NYCNow Alizah Salario

JULY 19-25,2018

9

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

KARPOFF AFFILIATES 4FOJPS .PWF .BOBHFS t 3FBM &TUBUF #SPLFS KARPOFF AFFILIATES is your single stop for senior life transitions and real estate brokerage needs. t If you or your family member needs to renovate their existing home to allow them to BHF JO QMBDF PS JT MPPLJOH UP EPXOTJ[F XF DBO IFMQ t *G ZPV XBOU UP NPWF XF DBO TFMM ZPVS IPNF BTTJTU XJUI QBDLJOH PWFSTFF QSPGFTTJPOBM NPWFST BOE QSPWJEF TVQQPSU UP SFEVDF TUSFTT 8F XJMM NPWF ZPV PVU PG TUBUF PS CBDL UP /FX :PSL *G ZPV BSF MPPLJOH GPS BO BTTJTUFE MJWJOH SFTJEFODF XF DBO IFMQ t *G ZPV IBWF MPTU TPNFPOF XF XJMM PSHBOJ[F BOE BTTFTT JUFNT MFGU JO UIF IPNF BOE mOE B buyer for the residence in order to lessen the hardship during this difďŹ cult time. t Karpoff AfďŹ liates created the signature service Moving On NYC to address these needs. 8F IFMQ NBOBHF FWFSZ EFUBJM DPOOFDUJOH XJUI BUUPSOFZT FTUBUF HVBSEJBOT TPDJBM XPSLers and caregivers. You will deal with one person from start to ďŹ nish. t 8F SVO UBH BOE FTUBUF TBMFT BOE QSPWJEF BQQSBJTBMT GPS KFXFMSZ FTUBUFT BOE mOF BOtiques. We also offer total auction services.

We provide peace of mind and ensure that each project is handled with respect and integrity. The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s performance of Leonard Bernstein’s “MASS� with Gustavo Dudamel conducting in February. Photo: Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging

BERNSTEIN’S ‘MASS’ ECHOES THROUGH THE DECADES HISTORY Messages of subversion and hope from his 1971 piece have a contemporary flavor BY MARK NIMAR

In 1971, President Nixon received a warning from the FBI: Leonard Bernstein, the famous composer of “West Side Story,� had written a piece of music that posed a threat to the country. The piece, called MASS, a work of musical theater for the stage commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, was having its U.S. premiere at the inaugural gala of the Kennedy Center. The Bureau believed MASS might have “anti-war messages� hidden in its Latin text, and “that Bernstein was mounting a plot ‘to embarrass the United States government,’� according to Bernstein’s official website. Although both critics and general audiences have had mixed reviews of the MASS over the years, the piece may finally be having its moment. This month, the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center is staging MASS in celebration of Bernstein’s centennial. MASS is a piece of music unlike any other. Instead of being a traditional musical setting of the Latin liturgy, Bernstein’s MASS is an eccentric mish-

mash of rock ‘n’ roll, gospel and folk music that questions authority, both religious and political. A cross between a religious service and a Broadway show, MASS puts religious texts, secular words, a boys’ choir, dancers and rock musicians all on one stage. The result is a daring, subversive piece, which reflects the turbulence of the Vietnam was era through its bold experimentation with genre and musical convention. For its staging at Lincoln Center, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, SF Opera Lab curator Elkanah Pulitzer and conductor Louis LangrĂŠe are all coming together to produce this eclectic piece of art. Stephen Schwartz, MASS’s original lyricist (and the famed composer of “Godspellâ€? and “Wickedâ€?), is coming to work on the show and give a pre-concert talk. Both performances are nearly sold out; many attribute its renewed popularity to the contemporary events, which, they say, have some parallels to the late 1960s. “Nowadays, it seems as though we are watching historical progress unravel and reverse before our eyes,â€? says Nicole Fragala, a mezzo-soprano currently in rehearsal for a production of MASS at the Ravinia Festival in Illinois. “It has left us with the ache of cynicism or hopelessness.â€?

Soprano Kristina Bachrach, a recent winner of the ZieringConlon art song competition, shares the same sentiment. Bachrach believes that “the piece, as timely today as ever, stands as a beautiful testament to what can happen when disparate members of a large community unite to achieve a common goal.� Bachrach also appreciates the wide-ranging nature of the piece, saying that “Bernstein was a hero and pioneer for his work blurring the line between what was considered ‘high brow’ and ‘low brow’ American art,� and that MASS is a testament to that legacy. Faye-Ellen Silverman, a composer and professor of music history at Juilliard and at New York University, is also grateful for the inclusive quality of Bernstein’s music. Silverman said she values how Bernstein, whom she remembers as “a larger-than-life figure,� incorporated “Latin and jazz rhythms ... from popular music� into MASS, and took “musical risks� with his works that other composers were not willing to take. His genre-breaking music and national television appearances made classical music accessible to millions of Americans, and this appreciation of activism and inclusion is evident in MASS perhaps more than in any other piece of his music.

Marilyn Karpoff Founder & CEO

212-358-8044 www.KarpoffAfďŹ liates.com NLBSQPGG!LBSQPGGBGmMJBUFT DPN Compassionate Senior Move Manager and Expert Real Estate Broker

290 Third Avenue, Suite 26C | NYC 10010 The local paper for Downtown

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

otdowntown.com

10

JULY 19-25,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Tired of Hunting for Our Town Downtown? Subscribe today to Downtowner

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

EDITOR’S PICK

Thu 19

News of Your Neighborhood

DELIRIOUS NIGHTS: ‘IF THERE WERE A MOON’

Dining Information, plus

Stare at la luna and watch a talented ensemble perform a dance of gesture and image designed to conjure moonlight. Featuring the choreography of dancer and Sufi teacher Felicia Norton Farley, dancers will slowly walk through the space between Dinana Al-Hadid’s sculptures (on display through September) to evoke the dreamy feeling of moonlight in the light of day.

that you can’t get anywhere else

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

Madison Square Park, East 23rd St. and Broadway 7 p.m. Free 212-520-7600. madisonsquarepark.org

Cultural Events

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

Now get your personal copy delivered by US Mail for just

$

49/Year for 52 issues

To Subscribe : Call 212-868-0190 or go online to otdowntown.com and click on subscribe

Photo: Postdlf, via WIkiMedia Commons

Thu 19 Fri 20

Sat 21

▲ TOUR: THE CURIOUS LIFE OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

WRITERS ON MUSIC: FROM MILES DAVIS TO PUBLIC ENEMY

WALL STREET MOVIE TOUR

South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton St. 6 p.m. $20, advance registration required The Brooklyn Bridge quietly rises above South Street, but beneath its great towers, it stands on nearly 150 years’ worth of secrets. Take a walk from the Seaport District to the bridge’s entrance as you listen to stories of the span’s grueling construction, the incredible lives of its builders, and long forgotten vaults hidden deep within. 212-748-8600 southstreetseaportmuseum.org

The Strand, 828 Broadway 7 p.m. $10 includes admission & store gift card The podcast host of “Talk Music Talk with boice” will present a panel featuring four authors from the series who will discuss the books they wrote on their favorite albums: George Grella (Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew”), Ryan Leas (LCD Soundsystem’s “Sound of Silver”), Amanda Petrusich (Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon”) and Christopher Weingarten (Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back”). 212-473-1452 strandbooks.com

Museum of American Finance, 48 Wall St. 11 a.m. $15 What do the movies “Wall Street,” “National Treasure,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Batman: The Dark Night Rises” have in common? They were all partially filmed on Wall Street. Take a 90-minute walking tour of the Financial District to learn more about the area’s cinematic street cred. 212-908-4110 moaf.org

JULY 19-25,2018

We think a company that’s been around for generations should offer a product that’s guaranteed for a lifetime.

Sun 22 STORIES OF SELF-DIAGNOSIS Caveat, 21 Clinton St. 7 p.m. $10 Hypochondriacs and victims of terrible insurance will relate to comedic stories of healthcare nightmares, ranging from homeopathic cures for yeast infections to at-home surgery, at this night of laughs and paranoia. 212-228-2100 caveat.nyc

Ee E R ur

Merchant’s House Museum 29 East Fourth St. Noon, $15/$10 seniors/ students This nuptials-focused exhibition explores the changes in wedding customs as the 19th century progressed, including the trousseau, printed invitations and gifts. Highlights include Eliza Tredwell’s 1820 empire-style embroidered cotton wedding dress and Sarah Ann Tredwell’s 1872 silk bridal dress made in Paris. On display through Aug. 30. 212-777-1089 nycgovparks.org

se

a rch

as r pu e m ou y ith

F

Mon 23 â–ź EXHIBITION: CHANGING WEDDING TRADITIONS IN THE 19TH CENTURY

11

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

w

Steven Skybell and Mary Iles sing “Do You Love Me� in Yiddish. Photo: Victor Nechay / ProperPix.com

Tue 24 Wed 25 CROSSCURRENTS IN TURKISH AND PERSIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

â–˛ TRANSFORMING ‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’ TO ‘FIDLER AFN DAKH’

Poets House 10 River Terrace 7 p.m. Free Join distinguished composer, teacher and vocalists Amir Vahab for an evening of SuďŹ poetry and song. Along with his ensemble, Vahab will perform classical Persian and Ottoman pieces, including works by Rumi, HaďŹ z, Baba Taher, Yunus Emre and others. 212-431-7920 poetshouse.org

Museum of Jewish Heritage 36 Battery Place 6:30 p.m. $5 Join a lively discussion about the journey to bring the Yiddish “Fiddler� to life. Featuring director Joel Grey, choreographer Stas Kmiec and Zalmen Mlotek, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s musical and artistic director. Moderated by journalist Budd Mishkin. 646-437-4202 mjhnyc.org

shown: SkylineÂŽ Gliding Panels & Designer Roller Shades

New Yorkers have put their trust in Janovic for 130 years. With some of the largest Hunter Douglas showrooms in NYC, we feature an extensive variety of options and fabrics.

All Hunter Douglas shades and blinds are

20% OFF EVERYDAY STORE LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT NYC

FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

Sat 21 BLEECKER ST. FESTIVAL 10 a.m. Free Bleecker Street from Christopher to Bank Streets

GRAMERCY PARK 292 3rd Avenue @ 23rd St ӣӇÇÇLJÎäĂŽä

YORKVILLE 1491 3rd Ave @ 84th St ӣӇÓnÂ™Â‡ĂˆĂŽää

1** , Ć‚-/ - nnn iĂ?ˆ˜}ĂŒÂœÂ˜ Ć‚Ă›i J ĂˆĂˆĂŒÂ… -ĂŒ ӣӇÇÇӇ£{ää

½- / Ă‡ĂˆĂˆ £äĂŒÂ… Ć‚Ă›i J xĂ“Â˜` -ĂŒ 212-245-3241

1** , 7 -/ - ÂŁx™ 7 Ă‡Ă“Â˜` -ĂŒ J ½Ăœ>Ăž ӣӇx™x‡Óxää

"7 , Ć‚-/ - nä {/ Ć‚Ă›iÂ˜Ă•i J £äĂŒÂ… -ĂŒ

-" " 55 Thompson St @ Broome Ă“ÂŁĂ“Â‡ĂˆĂ“Ă‡Â‡££ää

- Ć‚ 215 7th Avenue @ 23rd St Ă“ÂŁĂ“Â‡Ăˆ{x‡x{x{

UPTOWN WEST Ă“Ăˆnä Ă€Âœ>`Ăœ>Ăž J £äĂ“Â˜` -ĂŒ ӣӇxΣ‡ÓÎää

" - Ć‚ /9 ĂŽä‡Îx /Â…ÂœÂ“ĂƒÂœÂ˜ Ć‚Ă›i ĂŽ{LJ{ÂŁn‡Î{nä

12

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

JULY 19-25,2018

THE ESSENTIAL GIACOMETTI At the Guggenheim, the work of one of the 20th century’s greatest sculptors is on the ramps for the summer BY VAL CASTRONOVO

Not since 1974, eight years after his death, has the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum hosted a comprehensive show dedicated to Swiss-born artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), who painted, drew and sculpted obsessively in a tiny, unpretentious studio in Montparnasse, Paris, for 40 years. An exhibit of this magnitude was last staged in the city at the Mu-

Bronze “Walking Man” (1960; cast 1982), part of a trio of sculptures that Giacometti considered submitting for display on the plaza of the new downtown headquarters of Chase Manhattan Bank near Wall Street. Fondation Giacometti, Paris. © 2018 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York

IF YOU GO WHAT: “Giacometti” WHERE: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Ave, (between 88th and 89th Streets) WHEN: through Sept. 12 www.guggenheim.org seum of Modern Art, in celebration of the artist’s 100th birthday in 2001. Now, Giacometti is being celebrated both in a film — “The Final Portrait,” starring Geoffrey Rush — and in the Guggenheim’s Frank Lloyd Wrightdesigned rotunda, where nearly 200 paintings, drawings, sculptures and archival items line the ramps in a steady chronological climb to the top of the museum without a roof. Wear walking shoes. The majority of the works are on loan from the Fondation Giacometti in Paris, which just opened a re-creation of the artist’s studio near the famously cluttered original atelier in Montparnasse, which Giacometti once likened to the “inside of his skull,” the Fondation’s director, Catherine Grenier, recently told ARTNEWS. The setting here is stark, the art even more so. The cratered, elongated figures from Giacometti’s postwar period — reed-like walking/pointing men and ramrod-straight women — mix with dark, scratchy portraits of family and friends and smooth, trippy Surrealist sculptures from the early 1930s with none-too-subtle sexual references, humor and violent imagery (e.g., “Woman with Her Throat Cut,” 1932, an abstracted female figure splayed on the floor that looks more like a bug than a human; and “Disagreeable Object,” 1931, a spiky phallic objet). From 1928 to 1934, Giacometti embraced the Surrealists and let his unconscious be his guide. As an emerging artist, he also drew inspiration from African, Oceanic, Cycladic and Cubist art — and Brancusi. One of the first major works we encounter on the spiral is “Spoon Woman,” both the early plaster (1927) and the later bronze (1926-1927; cast 1954). The small abstracted head is dwarfed by an enormous concave form be-

Alberto Giacometti painting in his Paris studio, 1958. Photo: Ernst Scheidegger. © 2018 Stiftung Ernst Scheidegger– Archiv, Zürich low the bust — an inverted pregnant belly? — that playfully identifies the figure as female and fertile. The piece riffs ceremonial ladles, called “wakemia,” carved by the Dan peoples of West Africa. Giacometti ultimately resisted the pull of the Surrealists and gravitated to “the real” in 1935, with a particular emphasis in the last two decades of his career on the head, mobile men and tall immobile women, the latter a pose he adapted from ancient Egyptian statuary. He suffered a decade-long creative dry spell, however, until the end of World War II allowed him to return to Paris from Geneva, where he was forced to wait out the hostilities. He was blocked. Shortly before and during the war, “the uncertain and agitated artist whittled down medium-size figures to miniatures, and often into oblivion as the plaster crumbled into dust,” art historian Valerie Fletcher writes in the catalog. (See “Small Bust on a Double Base,” 1940-1941, and “Silvio Standing, Hands in Pockets,” 1943.) In Paris, a reunion with existentialist-friend Jean-Paul Sartre and brother Diego — the latter his studio assistant and frequent model — together with his marriage in 1949 to Annette Arm, another frequent model, reinvigorated his practice. But the horrors of war were acutely felt and left an indelible effect on the art.

The postwar figures loom larger, more expressive and skeletal. Per the wall text, “Giacometti was unflinching in his portrayal of humanity at its most vulnerable.” The plaster “Head on a Rod” (1947) has sunken cheeks and appears to be howling. He explored the themes of alienation, isolation and voyeurism in a series of multi-figure works, one in an urban setting, another in a forest, and yet another in a cage. In “City Square” (1948), for instance, the four walking men and

“Black Annette” (1962), an oil portrait of Giacometti’s wife, Annette, whom he married in 1949. Annette, and Giacometti’s brother, Diego, were frequent models. Photo: Val Castronovo

lone static woman are overwhelmed by the sculptural base, which may be a comment on man’s trifling place in the world, Fletcher notes. The men seem to be walking in the direction of the woman, who may be an object of desire or a symbol of an ideal, such as Beauty or Justice. But, as Fletcher writes: “Curiously, none of the men’s trajectories lead precisely to her, perhaps a metaphor for the futility of aiming for an optimum goal that is never quite reached — which was, in fact, Giacometti’s philosophy.” The exhibit, while organized chronologically (start at the bottom), immediately departs from the timeline in the High Gallery, off Ramp 1, with three large sculptural works that the artist created around 1960 for the plaza of the new downtown headquarters of Chase Manhattan Bank. Architect Gordon Bunshaft tapped him for the project (other artists were also invited to submit proposals), but he declined to proffer a plan in the end because he had never visited the site. In brainstorming for the competition, however, he returned to those three motifs that had consumed him for decades, producing “Monumental Head,” “Walking Man” and “Tall Woman.” And yes, in case you were wondering: an edition of the bronze sculpture “Man Pointing” (1947), which sold for $141.3 million at Christie’s in 2015, is here. Keep walking.

JULY 19-25,2018

13

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Your Neighborhood News Source

BEYOND BROADWAY - DOWNTOWN The #1 online community for NYC theater:

www.show-score.com

NOW PLAYING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD FROM $30

FROM $19

FROM $35

SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

GOD SAVE QUEEN PAM

FAIRVIEW

51 REVIEWS ENDS SEP 02

33 REVIEWS ENDS JUL 29

38 REVIEWS ENDS AUG 12

82

78

A revival of Basil Twist’s boundary-breaking surreal show set in a 1,000-gallon water tank.

The only heir to the British crown is an everyday American bartender in this new musical comedy.

The Frasier family is gearing up for Grandma’s birthday. The family birthday party goes awry.

HERE ARTS CENTER - 145 6TH AVE

PLAYERS THEATRE - 115 MACDOUGAL ST

SOHO REPERTORY THEATRE - 46 WALKER ST

WHAT’S TRENDING ACROSS NYC

77

COMING SOON FROM $20

FROM $64

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF 25 REVIEWS JUST OPENED

DICK PIX PREVIEWS START JUL 19

Ambitions collide in this art-world set satirical comedy about identity, harassment, and narcissism in the age of social media.

89

THEATERLAB - 357 W 36TH ST

Experience this classic in a new way – in Yiddish (with supertitles). Joel Grey directs a new translation.

FROM $39

COMFORT WOMEN PREVIEWS START JUL 20

EDMOND J SAFRA HALL AT MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE - 36 BATTERY PL

FROM $25

A new revival of the 2015 musical about Korean comfort women who were sold as sex slaves for the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII.

DESPERATE MEASURES 906 REVIEWS OPEN RUN

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS - 416 W 42ND ST

88 FROM $25

DON’T BOTHER ME I CAN’T COPE

A foot-stompin’, knee-slappin’ new musical set in the Old West based on ‘Measure for Measure.’

OPENS JUL 25

NEW WORLD STAGES - 340 W 50TH ST

Encores! Off-Center presents this celebration of African-American culture and community, directed and choreographed by Tony-winner Savion Glover.

FROM $72

NEW YORK CITY CENTER - 131 W 55TH ST

CARMEN JONES 170 REVIEWS ENDS AUG 19

FROM $20

THE BEYONCÉ

86

PREVIEWS START JUL 27

A deeply personal coming-of-age conundrum, nodding to Queen Bey but based on the Anton Chekhov story ‘The Fiancée.’

Oscar Hammerstein II’s adaptation of Bizet’s ‘Carmen,’ reset with an African-American cast.

A.R.T / NEW YORK THEATRES - 502 W 53RD STV

CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY - 136 E 13TH ST

Content provided by

KEY:

14

JULY 19-25,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS JUL 3 - 9, 2018 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. Via Della Pace

48 East 7 Street

Grade Pending (24) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Panna II Garden Indian Restaurant

93 1st Ave

A

Ono Bowls

33 E 8th St

Grade Pending (37) Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. 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 contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

Broken Coconut

15 E 4th St

Grade Pending (24) 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 contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Arte Restaurant

21 East 9 Street

A

Tu-Lu’s Gluten-Free Bakery 338 East 11 Street

A

Han Dynasty

90 3rd Ave

Grade Pending (20) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Bagel Belly

114 3rd Ave

Grade Pending (33) 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. 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.

Shu Han Ju Restaurant II

58 3rd Ave

Grade Pending (30) Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. 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.

Lucien Restauraunt

14 1 Avenue

A

I Tre Merli

10 Little West 12th St Not Yet Graded (58) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/ sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Oscar’s Place

466 Hudson St

A

2nd City

525 Hudson St

A

Joseph Leonard

170 Waverly Place

A

Mole

57 Jane Street

A

Brooklyneer

220 West Houston St A

Catch

21-27 9 Avenue

A

Wafels & Dinges / Landing

393 West St

A

Bluestone Lane

55 Greenwich Ave

A

St. Tropez Wine Bar

302 W 4th St

Grade Pending (47) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. 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. Live animals other than fish in tank or service animal 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.

Little Cupcake Bake Shop

30 Prince Street

A

Lahore Delicatessen

132 Crosby Street

Grade Pending (16) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.

Sakura Sushi And Thai

273 Mott Street

A

Gregorys Coffee

649 Broadway

A

Angelika Film Center

18 West Houston St

Grade Pending (23) 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.

Third Rail Coffee

240 Sullivan Street

A

Burger & Barrel

25 West Houston St

A

Cocoron

37 Kenmare Street

Grade Pending (21) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Rintintin

14 Spring Street

Grade Pending (27) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/ 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.

Manousheh

193 Bleecker St

A

Mocha Burger

496 Laguardia Pl

Grade Pending (19) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Jupioca

123 W 3rd St

A

The Meatball Shop

84 Stanton Street

A

Delight Wong Restaurant

300 Grand St

Grade Pending (23) 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.

Jajaja Plantas Mexicana

162 E Broadway

Grade Pending (26) 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. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Butcher Bar

146 Orchard St

Grade Pending (22) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. 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.

JULY 19-25,2018

15

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

SLEEPOVERS AND SCIENCE: FOR ADULTS ONLY EXPERIENCES Moon rocks, the blue whale and sea stars at slumber parties for grownups at the American Museum of Natural History BY EMILIANO RODRIGUEZ MEGA

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, nocturnal creatures are allowed to roam the halls of New York’s American Museum of Natural History, free from shouting and swarming children. They are adult humans, known to sometimes quietly contemplate science with a cocktail. “If you go to a natural history museum during the day, it’s definitely a space for people who are under 4 feet tall. And that’s clear in every way — from the soup they serve at the cafeteria to the height of the label,” said Victoria Cain, a museum historian at Northeastern University in Boston. “It’s kind of fun to reclaim that space for adults.” On a recent June evening, 175 grown-ups signed up for a slumber party at the New York museum, which has capitalized on the hype created by Ben Stiller’s “Night at the Museum” franchise. The museum’s first sleepovers were aimed at kids. Then in 2014, people 21 and up were invited to explore its darkened exhibit halls. The experiment was so popular that other science centers followed suit. Aquariums and museums in Atlanta, Milwau-

IF YOU GO WHERE: American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street WHEN: Adult sleepovers are offered several times a year. The next one is Sept. 21 COST: $350 per person

kee, Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere have hosted pajama parties for grown-ups. And they’ve become a hot ticket, according to Cain. “When I saw that we could do it and that there was also alcohol, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh. Someone read our diary,’” said Janine Agarwal, 29, who attended the sleepover at the American Museum of Natural History to celebrate her husband’s birthday.

THE EXPERIENCE During the night, guests have dinner in a room full of moon rocks and a 15-ton meteorite, and can wander around the 45 permanent exhibition halls. They can also join guided tours, visit the planetarium, meet with curators and chat with museum scientists about their research — all while the city rests. “I don’t think there’s any way you’d be able to experience this place in such a special way as doing this kind of overnight,” said Giancarlo Bruni, of Toronto, as he played with the control panel of a full-size submarine.

Water buffalo at the AMNH. Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim, via flickr

“It’s phenomenal.” While only adults are allowed, there is still childish fun to be had. Monica Seebohm and her friend Renee Brown came in hooded T. rex onesies. “We’re always looking for some adventure, and we thought bringing a dinosaur costume was appropriate,” Seebohm said. “We like to dress for the occasion.” Lights go out at 2 a.m. People can sleep in their own sleeping bags or the museum’s cots, aligned right below the belly of a 94-foot-long blue whale that hangs from the ceiling of the Hall of Ocean Life. Those who feel restless can get cookies and coffee at the Hall of Planet Earth. Michael Nedell, 53, recalled being afraid of the whale as a child. “When I was younger, that blue whale freaked me out. I’d been scared of [it] until I grew into a teenager,” he said. “Now I get to sleep under her.”

A few floors above, tour guide Arlene Katz taught visitors about animals that glow. She approached a tank with an eel snuggled in the rocks. Its camouflaged body was hard to pick out from the sandy bottom. But an ultraviolet film made it glow greenish-blue. It’s not making its own light, like a firefly does. Instead, it absorbs light and releases it as a different color that’s invisible to predators but obvious to other eels. “It’s a hidden language,” she explained. “Sometimes you gotta hide and sometimes you gotta show off. They’re doing it simultaneously. It’s a brilliant solution.” Katz said the sleepover is an opportunity for guests to be surprised by nature. “We want people to have so much fun that they almost forget they’re learning,” she said. “But this is not an amusement park. We are sneaking in a lot of information.”

THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT Silence greets those who venture into remote exhibits. That stillness makes a difference for visitors hoping to learn something, said biologist John Karavias. “During the day, you’re fighting crowds. You feel like you’re being rushed and all you’re doing is getting an ‘Ooh!’ and an ‘Ah!’ but you’re not learning,” said Karavias, who studies the effects of climate change on marine life. “When you go to these at night, all the background noise is quieted down and you’re able to digest the science behind everything that you’re looking at.” He was recently invited to show off acrylic bowls filled with weird-looking sea stars and sea urchins. Bright red spikes covered the body of one big star. Another one had arms so thin that they looked like noodles. Some visitors were awed; others recoiled when they touched the marine creatures. Starfish like these depend on a healthy ocean to survive, Karavias explained. But carbon dioxide from the burning of coal and natural gas is making the ocean more acidic. That means sea urchins, mussels, corals and other organisms have a hard time creating their shells or skeletons, which affects their development.

At the AMNH. Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim, via flickr

ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

Writers on Music: From Miles Davis to Public Enemy

FRIDAY, JULY 20TH, 7PM The Strand | 828 Broadway | 212-473-1452 | strandbooks.com The 33 1/3 book series brings in four authors to discuss their titles, which cover a diverse range: Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver, Nick Drake’s Pink Moon, and Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back ($10 gift card purchase required).

Immoral Art?

SUNDAY, JULY 22ND, 3PM Mathew Gallery | 46 Canal St. | thinkolio.org Philosophy educator Jeanne Proust looks at the late 19th-century shift in art, as it began to develop more autonomy outside of religious and political frameworks. Questions of art, ethics, and the social roles of artists will be considered ($15).

Just Announced | The Fortune Academy and Castle Gardens

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2ND, 3:30PM Open House New York | 630 Riverside Dr. | ohny.org As part of the Spaces of Justice series, catch a tour of two buildings that help with reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals. A converted West Harlem convent and a new, LEED-gold, environmentally sustainable building next door, will be the focus (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.

16

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

HELPING DISABLED ADULTS FIND WORK The JCC’s “Just One Job” program assists those in their 20s and 30s in developing skills for employment BY MICHAEL ROCK

Finding a job is hard. If you have a disability, it’s even harder. Despite anti-discrimination laws, the vast majority of Americans with disabilities are unemployed, underemployed or struggle to hold down their jobs. The inequity isn’t due to incompetence on the part of the disabled, but the result of stigma and a traditional understanding of work culture that conflicts with many of their deficits. Fortunately, there are programs designed to help close the gap. The Jack and Shirley Silver Center

JULY 19-25,2018

Business

for Special Needs at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan offers the ”Just One Job” program for participants of its Adaptations support group. The community center’s website describes Adaptations as “a community of adults in their 20s and 30s with developmental and/or learning disabilities and a high level of independence.” “There was a shortage of job services and a great demand for opportunities for bright young adults to contribute to the workforce,” said Allison Kleinman, director of the Center for Special Needs. “Through training and a partnership for many years with JobPath [an organization devoted to people with developmental disabilities] and a grant from UJA-Federation of New York and ACCES-VR [New York State education and work program for dis-

Just One Job participant Emily Mann selling merchandise to a customer of the JCC’s Shabbat Shop. Photo: Michael Rock

Deborah Lechner working at her desk at Park East. Photo: Michael Rock

The program not only helps its par- got hired at similar jobs that were not abled adults], JCC Manhattan estabticipants find work, but keep positions interested in hiring me,” she told The lished the ... program.” To join, participants must be Adap- as well by offering them job coaches Spirit. “I stayed two extra years in a job tations members for at least several who act as liaisons between them where I was not treated well knowing months. Next, they must “work with us and their supervisors. “Success in job how difficult it would be to attain anon assessing their skills and on devel- placement is measured in job satisfac- other job.” She now understands that her sooping social skills necessary to be suc- tion and in job retention,” said Goodcessful in the workplace,” said Andrea man. “For most of our participants, cial deficits undermined her efforts to Goodman, the director of Just One Job. this is their first job and/or their first thrive in the workplace. In addition, her sensory issues have made Upon being accepted into many work environments unJust One Job, members reguappealing to her. larly attend group sessions disWith the help of the Just One cussing such varied topics as Job program, Lechner now writing cover letters and manworks full-time in the adminisaging deficits and and anxiety. I am especially proud of all of our trative office of Park East SynaThey also occasionally atparticipants who place their trust in gogue. A higher-level colleague tend networking events at answers any questions about companies and organizations us to help them be their professional work she may have while on the throughout the city, assist ‘best selves.’ I am also very proud of job. When loud office machinpart-time in projects around the relationships we have formed with is in use, she wears headthe JCC, learn how to promote employers and with community partners ery phones to prevent the noise themselves and their profeswho help advance our program.” from overwhelming her. sional accomplishments and Andrea Goodman, director of Just One Job Despite the efforts of Just prepare for interviews. One Job’s work, stigma still Particularly successful memmakes it harder for employers bers may also take part in the Community Work Experience pro- supported job placement. Keeping the to hire disabled candidates. It may also challenge those with disabiligram, a six-month internship at one of job is a great accomplishment.” According to Kleinman, Just One Job ties to actively seek out the help they several companies and organizations with whom the Center for Special has successfully employed over 50 Ad- need. “I am especially proud of all of aptations participants. Deborah Lech- our participants who place their trust Needs has partnered. Those who complete the internship ner, one of them, joined Adaptations in us to help them be their professioncan put it on their resume and utilize eight years ago at the recommenda- al ‘best selves’,” Goodman said. “I am also very proud of the relationships their new colleagues as references. tion of an ex-boyfriend. Lechner first realized that she would we have formed with employers and Sometimes, the companies may even offer community interns full-time em- need extra help in finding work “when with community partners who help less qualified and dedicated friends advance our program.” ployment.

JULY 19-25,2018

17

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

!"# $ !" %$$

#&

'!(!)#(***

! &$

+,

-

#."/ 0

!

!1 2 % 3 %$$

!1

3

',4*(***

,,

-

+.1/ 0

!** $ !" %$$

"

! &$

',##(***

)*

-

,."/ 0

!1+ $%56 5 -$

+

78 &$ '!*(#**(*** !#+

- 9

".4/ : 0 "

,! 2 % 3 %$$

7-

! &$

'))"(***

"4

-

7.4/ : 0

7"7 $ !! %$$

#%

" &$

')+#(***

"4

-

".+/ 0

44 ; 9$ %$$

"2

78 &$ ',("**(***

!)

- 9

7.!/ 0

,7 939 %$$

"-

" &$

'"(1+#(***

,1

- 9 *.)/ 0 7

! % 9 < %$

# " &$

'"(7**(***

#+

- 9 +.)/ 0

!"# & %% %$$

7

'!(*"#(***

#7

-

" &$

!

"

".#/ : 0

7

9

1

,* $ ) %$$

")&

" &$

'"(*#*(***

#"

- 9

,.,/ 0

,1 - 5 %$$

!)

! &$

',,4(***

1"

-

".7/ 0

" =39 %$$

#$

! &$

')"+(***

!!*

-

+.,/ 0

!17 553 9 %$$

+

3

'1)*(***

41

-

+.+/ 0

!7! 2 9 %$$

7-

" &$

'4!#(***

"*+

-

+.!/ 0 1

!"1 2 9 %$$

!7

! &$

'4**(***

7#

-

".+/ 0

!# %$9 3-= %$$

27

78 &$

'1(44#(!,)

1"!

- 9

,, % 9 %$$

#

" &$

'"(,+#(***

!!"

-

# , + )

!#.7/ 0 # 4

1.7/ 0

!*

& -

!!

! 6 %= %$$

,

" &$

'"(+#*(***

!4"

- 9

!,.#/ 0 ,

+4 5 3 2 %$$

,

78 &$

'#(+**(***

7+7

- 9

"1/ 0

"# 9 % 2 %$ %$$

"

" &$

'1(,7#(***

7!

- 9

".1/ 0 ".7/ : 0

!" !7

!#, >% 9=539 %$$

"

" &$

'"("#*(***

7!

-

+7 % 2 %$$

1

" &$

'"(4"*(***

"1#

- 9

!!.#/ 0 )

)* -2 &$% %$$

!*

" &$

'"(1**(**#

"+

- 9

".)/ 0 4

" %= 5 -$

1+&

! &$

'1(),"(!17

+*

- 9

!.)/ : 0 !*

+

>

! %3 $% $%% -$

"*$

" &$

'7(!**(***

!4,

- 9

!*.!/ 0

!+, &% 6

4

78 &$

'!(+1#(***

++

-

!!.,/ 0 !!

44 ; 29 %$$

#!"

9

'+!*(#**

")

- 9

!.)/ : 0

4* 3553 %$$

!1-

! &$

'!(",#(***

,,

- 9

!.,/ 0

"* 39$ %$$

)*+

9

'+##(***

!)

- 9

"** %$- % 5 -$

71;

! &$

')17(,"*

!#+

- 9

*.+/ : 0 !" *."/ 0

7)* %$- % 5 -$

"

" &$

'!(7**(***

#*

- 9

+/ 0

+* 53 5$ $ %$$

,-

! &$

'!(!,*(***

#"7

- 9

!*.1/ 0 !7

? @ . A. @ B B ? A . > A A ( @ ?? C .

18

JULY 19-25,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

UES TOWER DISPUTE HEADS TO APPEAL LAND USE Hearings begin in zoning battle over East 88th Street luxury condo building BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

Silverstein Properties has reached a $1.15 billion deal to purchase ABC’s West 66th Street headquarters. Photo: Michael Garofalo

SILVERSTEIN PURCHASES ABC’S UWS HQ DEVELOPMENT Network to move downtown; major new development on West 66th Street likely BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

The Walt Disney Company has agreed to sell the longtime Upper West Side headquarters of the American Broadcasting Company, a Disney subsidiary, to the development company Silverstein Properties for $1.15 billion. ABC, which has called West 66th Street home for decades, will relocate to a new facility Disney plans to build at 4 Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan. Disney will lease back the Upper West Side buildings from Silverstein for as long as five years while its new downtown campus is built. Silverstein will acquire several ABC buildings on the block of West 66th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West, along with properties a few blocks away on West End Avenue. The sale does not include the Armory on West 66th Street opposite ABC’s headquarters, which was recently renovated and will be retained by Disney. Silverstein’s plans for West 66th Street remain unclear, but the significant size and development potential of the former ABC lots make the block the likely site of a large-scale project in the years to come. Some of the former ABC properties on the block between

Columbus Avenue and Central Park West fall within the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District, but other buildings on the block — including 47 West 66th St., also known as the Barbara Walters Building, and 77 West 66th St., the 22-story clay-red building that serves as the broadcaster’s corporate headquarters — could potentially be demolished to make way for new development. Sean Khorsandi, the executive director of the land use and preservation nonprofit Landmark West!, said preliminary analysis of the West 66th Street site suggests that the lot size and zoning could potentially support two sizeable towers on the block. Silverstein’s acquisition and potential redevelopment of the ABC campus takes place against the backdrop of ongoing efforts by local groups and elected officials to block two planned condominium towers nearby, one at 50 West 66th St., directly opposite the ABC campus, and another at 200 Amsterdam Avenue, near 69th Street. As planned, each of the developments would be taller than any existing tower north of midtown. Landmark West! has already received calls from neighbors concerned about what will be built at the ABC site, Khorsandi said. “This block is contiguous to a very activated and motivated set of neighbors who know their rights and are eager to speak up,” he said. “They’ve been watching these outsized developments nearby on 66th

Street and 69th Street and they’re not afraid to engage.” “This is a famous block,” Khorsandi added. “We’re hoping for architecture that respects the landscape of the block and that’s cohesive with the historic district and its context.” “We expect something to be built there,” he said. “We’re not anti-development. We expect responsible development.” In an emailed statement, Silverstein CEO Marty Burger said his company is “committed to balancing sustainable building and preserving what we love about New York.” Burger continued, “We look forward to working collaboratively with all our stakeholders, as we have always done, as we assume responsibility for Disney’s properties in the heart of Manhattan’s Upper West Side.” A Disney press release on the sale stated that Silverstein “was chosen not only because of its extensive track record of successful development in Manhattan, but also because of the company’s explicit, stated commitment to respectfully engage with the city and the local community.” Disney acquired the rights to develop 4 Hudson Square from Trinity Church through a 99-year lease valued at $605 million. The site includes a full block bounded by Hudson, Varick, Van Dam and Spring Streets. Disney plans to build a state-of-the-art facility with new studios for WABC-TV, ABC News and other programs and content currently produced on the Upper West Side.

Opponents of a controversial Upper East Side condominium development rallied this week in advance of a key appeal hearing in their fight against the project. Critics claim that the development at 180 East 88th Street, if affirmed by the city, would create a roadmap for other builders to skirt the intent of the city’s zoning resolution. Construction is in progress on the building in question, a planned 32-story, 523-foottall condominium tower near the southwest corner of Third Avenue and East 88th Street. Local land use groups Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts and Carnegie Hill Neighbors, with the support of local elected officials, have appealed the Department of Buildings’ decision to approve of the project. The Board of Standards and Appeals, the agency responsible for reviewing the matter, was scheduled to hold its first hearing on the appeal July 17. The dispute centers on the building’s L-shaped zoning lot, which fronts on Third Avenue and is set back from East 88th Street by a ten-foot-wide gap. This 10-foot by 22-foot area fronting on East 88th Street, which according to the plans of developer DDG

A rendering shows the 10-foot by 22-foot lot fronting on East 88th Street that lies at the core of the zoning dispute over a 523-foot condominium tower under construction on the block.

Council Member Ben Kallos and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer joined local activists for a rally in advance of a July 17 appeal hearing on the Department of Buildings’ approval of a condo development at 180 East 88th Street. Photo: Michael Garofalo Partners’ will one day be used to access the building’s main entrance, is in fact a separate zoning lot. This lot, which is too small to build upon, was initially part of the larger lot on which the building is being constructed. The developer later subdivided the original lot to create the tiny new one fronting on East 88th Street and transferred ownership of the carve-out to a different corporate entity also controlled by DDG. The carve-out’s sole purpose, opponents say, is to allow the developer to build higher and avoid zoning restrictions that would normally apply to buildings fronting on East 88th Street. According to the project’s opponents, the development would be unbuildable in its present form without the carve-out. “If the Board of Standards and Appeals upholds these tactics, it has the potential to radically alter the character New York’s residential neighborhoods, absent any public input,” Rachel Levy, the executive director of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, said at a press conference at City Hall July 16. Initially, the carve-out was just four feet wide, prompting the DOB stop work on the project in 2016 on the ground that the lot could not be “subdivided into a 4’ lot for the sole purpose of avoiding a zoning lot requirement.” The subdivision was subsequently widened to its current 10-foot depth, after which the DOB lifted the stop work order. Lo van der Valk, the president of Carnegie Hill Neighbors, said that the project’s approval reinforces the perception that the Department of Buildings is too permissive in its interpretations of

the zoning resolution. “We shouldn’t really be here,” he said. “It costs tens of thousands of dollars to fight these developers, and this is really the job of the Department of Buildings.” In an emailed statement, Department of Buildings spokesperson Andrew Rudansky wrote, “We closely reviewed this project and required the developer to make changes before we issued our final approval. We stand by our decision.” Ben Kallos, who represents the neighborhood in the City Council, has joined a pending lawsuit against the developer and the city alleging that the developer’s tactics represent “a deliberate attempt to circumvent and nullify” city zoning provisions. Kallos and others said the project speaks to a broader issue of developers finding and exploiting zoning loopholes to build ever-taller towers without regard for neighborhood context. “It’s kind of like playing a game of whack-a-mole, with an industry that has billions to devote to coming up with new ways to circumvent the rules,” Kallos said. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said that a ruling in favor of the DDG Partners by the Board of Standards and Appeals’ would signal to other developers that the carve-out tactic is acceptable, opening the door to future tower projects fronting on numbered streets. “Once you set a precedent, then that precedent is always utilized in other instances by developers,” she said. “These developers should be held to task by the City of New York,” Brewer said. “Their plans do not follow the law.”

JULY 19-25,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

IWantToBeRecycled.org

19

20

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

“I WISH SOMEONE WOULD HELP THAT HOMELESS MAN.”

BE THE SOMEONE. Sam New York Cares Volunteer

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

JULY 19-25,2018

JULY 19-25,2018

21

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

YOUR 15 MINUTES

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

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Kathleen Butler, a former textbook editor, on acting, directing and Ezra Pound

is we went out to Indiana. They were filming in Evansville. We got hair and makeup because Penny [Marshall] wanted to make sure we looked like the people. I think we were there almost a week, with the meter running, so that was good. And she finally got to us. She was so busy, she never got to see us. And we were sitting in the outfield and meeting Tom Hanks. We had the best time and the best group of older women. And then we got to meet most of the younger women and they were just terrific. So we watched it being filmed. The last day that they were allowed in that stadium, Penny finally comes over, and we’re all lined up, shaking in our boots, thinking, “Oh please God, just pick me.”

BY ANGELA BARBUTI

When Kathleen Butler first came to New York, she studied at Circle in the Square, and her day job was editing textbooks at Random House. She got her first acting gig at 23 with Bob Moss who founded Playwrights Horizons. The Peter Cooper Village resident has been acting ever since. Her most wellknown role is her portrayal of the Older Kit, the younger version played by Lori Petty, in “A League of Their Own,” which she called a “charming and delightful thing,” one she is so proud to be part of, because its message about the power of women is timeless. About five years ago, Butler made her foray into directing. As one of the founders of Triumvirate Artists’, whose mission is to give work to those over 55, Butler’s upcoming project is “Pound,” by Sean O’Leary, about the life of the poet Ezra Pound, who will be played by Christopher Lloyd. It will debut on Oct. 4 at The Lion on Theatre Row.

How did you start in directing? About five years ago I got a call from a theater artist studio in Phoenix, Arizona. They asked me if I would come out and direct “Marriage Play.” So I went out and it was amazing because as soon as I walked into the rehearsal hall after the casting, I never even thought of my readings or anything else that I had done in that play. So I started directing and I loved it. So I stayed on there and did “An Evening with Edward Albee,” and that was all different excerpts from his plays. I had to call him and get special permission to do that. I thought, “This seems like a natural progression to me.” I had been on the other side of the table so long, I kept thinking, “Will I know what not to do with actors?” So that’s how I started. So for the past five years, I have been directing on and off, staged readings and “Delirium’s Daughters,” which started as a showcase on Theatre Row and moved into off Broadway.

?

The poet Ezra Pound’s mugshot following his arrest in Italy on charges of treason in May 1945.

What are you working on now? I’m working on a project now called “Seeing Stars” with Ellen Gould. She’s written a wonderful one-woman show with music. But she has juvenile macular degeneration; she’s had it all her life. A lot of people don’t know; they think it’s something you get when you’re old, but it isn’t. So she’s done this marvelous piece; she’s done interviews with all sorts of people and she plays all the characters and she’s written the music. We just did our first public performance for about 150 people at Visions on 14th Street. A lot of the audience was handicapped, either blind or partially blind. And it was extraordinary. So we’ve been working on that for about a year. I’ve been acting as a dramaturge. I’m getting more and more into directing, although I continue to act all the time.

Tell us about “A League of Their Own.” What was that experience like? Oh, I loved it. It was just terrific. I had never done a huge movie like that. And I thought, “Well, I’d better learn how to do that.” I went and got an acting on tape about movies, so I sat and watched that and thought, “Oh I can do that.” So the first thing that happened

Then you went to the Baseball Hall of Fame to film. We were up there for almost 10 days. She’s very careful and gets a lot of shots. They just kept saying to us, “Just don’t touch the Babe.” [Laughs] Babe Ruth. If you notice, I was taller than Lori Petty, so at the very end, when I come in, they do a group picture, and it’s just a little thing; I’m standing there and all of the sudden I kind of shrink because Penny said, “You’re the only person I ever saw that got taller as they got older!” It was a wonderful experience. We just had a ball. My granddaughters just saw it two years and they said, “Was that you, Kate?” I think it’s wonderful because it speaks to so many things about women’s lives.

Tell us about casting Pound and Triumvirate Artists’ mission. First of all, the good news is, Christopher Lloyd, and I think you’re the first one in the press that knows this, is going to play Ezra Pound. So we’re very excited. He did the reading at the vineyard in the fall and he was wonderful. He was just perfect for the part, so we’re very happy about that. Our company, Triumvirate Artists, goal and mission is to give work to theater professionals over 55. We look for plays that obviously have actors over 55, but also our stage manager and director are certainly over 55. We have all these submissions; we put feelers

The actor and director Kathleen Butler, who will direct a play about the seminal, but controversial, poet Ezra Pound. Photo: David Rodgers out to a lot of the graduate schools, the Dramatist Guild.... This play popped up, I think about, seven years ago.

What can you tell us about Pound? Pound was one of the great poets of the 20th century, if not the greatest. He wrote beautiful, if sometimes impenetrable, poetry. What Pound wrote and what he said, has terrific effects on people’s lives, but a lot of people don’t realize the terrible stuff he did. He was a fascist and worked for Mussolini and lived in Italy and did these awful broadcasts for Mussolini, all about hatred and everything you could imagine. They are terrible tapes when you hear them. After Mussolini fell, Pound was arrested for treason in Italy and also accused of treason in this country. They kept him in a public cage in Italy for three months and because of who he was, people like Archibald MacLeish, who is a character in our play and T.S. Elliot and Heming-

way, all sorts of literary figures, got him out and back to the United States. He was also accused of treason here. They wanted to put him on trial and of course, he would have been hung. To avoid that, they managed to put him in St. Elizabeths Hospital for the criminally insane in D.C. The head of the hospital doubted that he was too crazy to stand trial. Our play starts at the end of his 13th year at St. Elizabeths, where it looks like he is going to be released. www.triumvirateartists.com

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

DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? EMAIL US AT NEWS@STRAUSNEWS.COM

22

JULY 19-25,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Downtowner

COLOR GREENWICH VILLAGE by Jake Rose

Washington Mews Greenwich Village would not be what it is without Washington Mews. The gated strip of land is lined on each side with two-story carriage houses wedged between Fifth Avenue, and Washington Square Park. Scan or take a picture of your work and send it to molly.colgan@strausnews.com. We’ll publish some of them. To purchase a coloring book of Greenwich Village venues, go to colorourtown.com/gv

CROSSWORD by Myles Mellor

O

F

A W

L

A

L

E

Y M A

A

C

R

T

39 32 30 23

24

N

D

33

R O A

S

12 1

2

3

G

E

40

E

P

35

E

T

36

R

P

D

E X 4

E

P

26

E

O

22

N

19

I

E

E

A

I

50

C

T

A S

37

R

45

D 46

I

16

I

I

T

A R

S

N

13 5

S

6

A

Y 7

H

E C

47

T A

L

38

M S

W A

25

P

15

U

34

P

31 21

18

E L

44

A

P

E

A

27

Y

28

S A

29

R

L

A

20

N

C O

17

S

E

14 8

E

9

A

D U T S

10

S P A Y

11

56

E

55

R

54

49

53

F

52

R O

51

A

50

O

49

D

48

R

45

43

44

Y

43

U

47

40

42

42

38

H

39

37

A

36

41

35

48

34

T

33

N

32

L

46

31

Down 1 Blueprint 2 Operatic solo 3 Involving much bloodshed 4 Release 5 Fell, in a way 6 Opposed party 7 Aromatic herb 8 Steep slope 9 Ages and ages 10 Good looking guy 11 Shrill barks 19 “We ___ the World” 20 Greensward 23 2003 Newhart film 24 A northern Thai people

E

29

C M O

30

41

28

K

26

53

25

56

24

22

E

21 23

27

20

R

19

E

18

R

17

25 Barley beard 27 Punch 28 Orange tuber 29 Long-eared beast 33 Swordfish constellation 34 Alien flier 35 Always, to Keats 36 Eye 37 Roo’s pocket 38 Criticize 41 Witches 42 Christmas season 43 Use a trawl 44 Malicious look 45 “The ___ of the Ancient Mariner” 46 Billy, of Rock and Roll 47 Small price to pay E

16

49 Capitol V.I.P. 50 Flunky 51 Tickled pink 52 Maiden name indicator 53 “Time’s a-wastin’!” 54 Utah’s ___ Canyon 55 Snarl up 56 Czech beer

N

15

Across 1 Stuffing spice 5 Encouragement 8 “Piece of cake!” 12 Of the next month 13 Even a bit 14 ___ good example (2 words) 15 The Irish name for Ireland 16 Possessive form 17 Government take over 18 Caribbean banking center (2 words) 21 In advance 22 The Who song “Love, Reign __ Me” 23 Tickled pink 26 Yellow fruit 30 Bar topic 31 Personified 32 Melted cheese 36 Bible songs 39 Many times 40 Bolt down 41 Type of power from a dam 48 Halo, e.g.

52

14

11

55

13

10

D

12

9

A

8

G O

7

L

6

E

5

S

4

G

3

51

2

54

1

JULY 19-25,2018

23

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

CLASSIFIEDS MASSAGE

PUBLIC NOTICES

MERCHANDISE FOR SALE

SITUATION WANTED

Saving a Life EVERY 11 MINUTES

alone I’m never ®

Life Alert is always here for me. One touch of a button sends help fast, 24/7.

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

POLICY NOTICE: We make every effort to avoid mistakes in your classified ads. Check your ad the first week it runs. The publication will only accept responsibility for the first incorrect insertion. The publication assumes no financial responsibility for errors or omissions. We reserve the right to edit, reject, or re-classify any ad. Contact your sales rep directly for any copy changes. All classified ads are pre-paid.

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC NOTICES

PUBLIC AUCTION NOTICE OF SALE OF COOPERATIVE APARMENT SECURITY PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: By Virtue of a Default under Loan Security Agreement, and other Security Documents, Karen Loiacano, Auctioneer, License #DCA1435601 or Jessica L Prince-Clateman, Auctioneer, License #1097640 or Vincent DeAngelis Auctioneer, License #1127571 will sell at public auction, with reserve, on August 1, 2018, in the Rotunda of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007, commencing at 1:30pm for the following account: Edith N. Gonzalez, as borrower, 32.50 shares of capital stock of Seward Park Housing Corp. and all right, title and interest in the Proprietary Lease to 387 Grand Street Apt K1004, New York, NY 10002 Sale held to enforce rights of Citibank NA, who reserves the right to bid. Ten percent (10%) Bank/Certified check required at sale, balance due at closing within thirty (30) days. The Cooperative Apartment will be sold “AS IS” and possession is to be obtained by the purchaser. Pursuant to Section 201 of the Lien Law you must answer within 10 days from receipt of this notice in which redemption of the above captioned premises can occur. There is presently an outstanding debt owed to Citibank NA (lender) as of the date of this notice in the amount of $190,864.83. This figure is for the outstanding balance due under UCC1, which was secured by Financing Statement in favor of Citibank NA recorded on May 11, 2004 in CRFN 2004000293519.

Please note this is not a payoff amount as additional interest/ fees/penalties may be incurred. You must contact the undersigned to obtain a final payoff quote or if you dispute any information presented herein. The estimated value of the above captioned premises is $719,000.00. Pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code Article 9-623, the above captioned premises may be redeemed at any time prior to the foreclosure sale. You may contact the undersigned and either pay the principal balance due along with all accrued interest, late charges, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses incurred by Citibank NA. and the undersigned, or pay the outstanding loan arrears along with all accrued interest, late charges, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses incurred by Citibank NA, and the undersigned, with respect to the foreclosure proceedings. Failure to cure the default prior to the sale will result in the termination of the proprietary lease. If you have received a discharge from the Bankruptcy Court, you are not personally liable for the payment of the loan and this notice is for compliance and information purposes only. However, Citibank NA, still has the right under the loan security agreement and other collateral documents to foreclosure on the shares of stock and rights under the proprietary lease allocated to the cooperative apartment. Dated: June 7, 2018 Frenkel, Lambert, Weiss, Weisman & Gordon, LLP Attorneys for Citibank NA 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 631-969-3100 File #01-088514-F00 #95152

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

Call Barry Lewis Today: 212-868-0190

DENTAL Insurance

with

GPS !

Physicians Mutual Insurance Company

A less expensive way to help get the dental care you deserve!

+HOS DW +RPH +HOS 2Q WKH *R ®

:Yll]ja]k F]n]j F]]\ ;`Yj_af_&

For a FREE brochure call:

1-800-404-9776

CALL NOW!

FREE Information Kit

6$9( $ /,)( '21·7 '5,9( +20( %8==('

1-855-225-1434

%8==(' '5,9,1* ,6 '581. '5,9,1*

Get help paying dental bills and keep more money in your pocket This is real dental insurance — NOT just a discount plan You can get coverage before your next checkup

Don’t wait! Call now and we’ll rush you a FREE Information Kit with all the details. Insurance Policy P150NY 6129

1-855-225-1434 Visit us online at

www.dental50plus.com/nypress MB17-NM003Ec

24

JULY 19-25,2018

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Got an EVENT? FESTIVAL CONCERT GALLERY OPENING PLAY

Get The Word Out! Add Your Event for FREE Just $10 per day to be featured

nycnow.com

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.