Our Town Downtown - September 1, 2016

The local paper for Downtown wn FINDING FAITH IN FURNITURE,

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER

< P. 12

1-7 2016

BOLTBUS LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO GO CB 5 committee rejects application for pick-up, drop-off spots in Chelsea

zoning would increase development pressure upon the nearby historic, unlandmarked portion of the South Village, while the creation of the Special Hudson River Park District has the potential to unleash a million and a half square feet of air rights upon west side communities.”

Then, of course, there is the matter of the development itself. At 1.7 million square feet, it would consume the

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Jesse Laymon, vice chairman of Community Board 5’s transportation committee, joked last week that though it was his first time chairing a meeting, “this has already been the most public comments that I have seen in my almost three years, so thanks.”

The topic was an application by the travel provider BoltBus to establish a new pick-up location on the southeast corner of Eighth Avenue and 28th Street and a new drop-off site on the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue between 26th and 27th Streets, on the campus of the Fashion Institute of Technology. About 30 community members came to oppose the idea, and ultimately the committee voted in agreement with them, rejecting the application by a 10 to two vote.

BoltBus, a subsidiary of Greyhound, has a bus stop at 11th Avenue and 33rd

BoltBus would like establish a drop-off site on the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue between 26th and 27th Street, in front of the Fashion Institute of Technology, a location they would share with the Megabus company. Photo: Richard Khavkine

RESIDENTS CRITICIZE ST. JOHN’S DEVELOPMENT Public hearing on Pier 40/St. John’s airs opposition to megadevelopment

BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

Though not a record-breaker for most public comments, last Wednesday’s Department of City Planning hearing on a proposed redevelopment of the St. John’s Terminal at 550 Washington St. certainly came close. According to the DCP’s Twitter account, the hearing was adjourned around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday — roughly six

hours after it started — and at least 86 speakers had been heard.

The issue under discussion, however, was more complicated than a debate about a new building. In order to build their megadevelopment, Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital are asking to buy the air rights above nearby Pier 40 in the Hudson River for $100 million.

In exchange for the air rights, the Hudson River Park Trust, which runs Pier 40, will be able to renovate the pier’s crumbling pilings. The possible transfer has raised concerns among

preservationists and residents because they worry it will set a precedent that will lead to more development of the Hudson’s shoreline.

“Allowing the transfer of air rights from the Hudson River Park to this or any other site is fundamentally flawed policy, and ignores other, better options for funding the park we and dozens of other community groups have proposed,” Andrew Berman, president of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, said. “And the proposed development and re-

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LOCAL NEWS IN A WORLD CAPITAL “I thought nobody reads newspapers anymore,” an Upper West Sider told me last week.

Except you, reading this column.

You’re not alone, and you’re not a dinosaur.

Across the country, including here downtown, within the media capital of the world, local news — news about neighbors and the neighborhood — continues to flourish.

Deliver a newspaper full of really local news into peoples’ homes and it gets read. Yes, even here in Manhattan. That’s why we’re delivered to more than 3,000 apartment buildings each week. (The paper, by the way, is also available for mail delivery for a very reasonable $49 per year).

Local news in print gets read.

Of course we’re also on the web for those who prefer their news online, at otdowntown.com. But even local news sites that started as online-only entities have jumped on the bandwagon and recognized that they also need a printed product.

In June, the leading news trade publication Editor and Publisher wrote, “Community newspapers across the country are not just surviving, but — in many cases — actually thriving.”

Not convinced?

Warren Buffett, the oracle of Omaha, bought up dozens of local newspapers a few years ago and in his letter to shareholders explained that “Newspapers continue to reign supreme ... in the delivery of local news. If you want to know what’s going on in your town ... there is no substitute for a local newspaper that is doing its job. A reader’s eyes

BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

Our Take

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

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Newscheck Crime Watch Voices

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

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

12 13 14 18

CONTINUED ON PAGE

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SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

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FOR CABBIES, ENGLISH GOES THE WAY OF THE CHECKER Language test no longer required for city taxi drivers

BY DEEPTI HAJELA AND EZRA KAPLAN

People who hope to drive New York City’s famous yellow cabs must pass tests on such details as driving rules and where they can pick up passengers. But one test they no longer have to take? Whether they have a grasp of English.

A new law that streamlines licensing requirements for different kind of drivers has done away with the longstanding English proficiency test for taxi drivers, which supporters say will eliminate a barrier to the profession for immigrants, who make up 96 percent of the 144,000 cabbies in the city.

It’s also a recognition of how technology has transformed the business.

Many drivers now rely on computer navigation programs, rather than verbal directions, to reach a destination.

For-hire drivers for app-based services such as Uber, for example, never had to take an English test.

But critics, including some drivers, are giving a side-eye to the idea that a good command of English is no longer considered a basic requirement for a job that involves communicating with passengers and reading street signs.

“If you’re going to work in this country serving the population which is majority made up of American citizens that speak English, you probably should learn how to speak English,” said Tanya Crespo, who was visiting Manhattan from Newport, North Carolina.

New York City’s taxi and for-hire drivers are already an international bunch, hailing from 167 countries, according to the Taxi and Limousine

Photo: Dustin Gaffke, via flickr Commission, which currently offers its licensing tests in English, Spanish, Bengali and Urdu.

Hacks formerly went through one of two licensing processes, depending on what class of car they drove.

One was for the yellow cabs that passengers can hail on the street. Drivers of those vehicles, which mostly operate in Manhattan and at the airports, had to take an education course and an English proficiency test.

The other licensing process covered drivers of for-hire cars, the dominant form of taxi in the “outer boroughs” of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Those rides are dispatched by telephone, or, in recent years, by mobile phone app. For those drivers, an English test wasn’t required.

Drivers for the different types of cars not only took different types of tests, but they also tended to come from different countries.

Among yellow cab drivers, 24 percent were born in Bangladesh, 10 percent in Pakistan and 8 percent in India, according to city statistics. English is widely spoken as a second language in all three places, all formerly part of the British Empire.

But among the traditional for-hire livery car drivers, 50 percent were born in the Dominican Republic, where people speak Spanish.

Some foreign-born taxi drivers said

taking, and passing, the English test was once a successful rite of passage.

“You had to really learn to get it,” said Michael Osei-Antwi, a driver originally from Ghana, who took the English exam 17 years ago. “If somebody tells you they are going to Gansevoort Hotel and you don’t know English, how are you going to be able to get there?”

Back then, the city also required a geography test, which has also been dropped in recent years.

Cab driver Kwaku Atuahene was glad to see the English test go.

“A guy might not be able to speak English but he is still a good driver.

He could take you where you want to go,” he said. “There are a lot of ways to communicate.”

There’s now an education course that both yellow cab and livery drivers will take. Taxi regulators said they are working with other city departments to create an English-language component for that course.

New York City Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez, who sponsored the legislation, said the driving jobs are “a step into the middle class for many, and we should be removing barriers to entry, rather than keeping them in place.”

In certain ethnic neighborhoods in New York City, he pointed out, not speaking English isn’t a problem since the drivers and those using their services all speak the same language.

Melquisedc Abreu, a 45-year-old livery car and Uber driver born in the Dominican Republic, agreed, saying it wouldn’t matter to most of his passengers if he didn’t speak English.

“They never talk to me,” he said.

“They just get in the car, I got the destination, drop them off, thank you, have a good day, and that’s it.”

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CRIME WATCH BY MICKEY KRAMER STATS FOR THE WEEK

CITY MAN ADMITS TO DEFRAUDING INVESTORS OF $15 MILLION A New York City man has pleaded guilty to defrauding at least 100 investors of over $15 million after serving a decade in prison for another financial fraud. Edward Durante entered the plea to securities fraud and other charges in Manhattan federal court last week.

The 64-year-old man was extradited from Germany in December.

Sentencing guidelines called for a prison term of between 24 and 30 years.

Durante’s attorney, Jennifer Willis, did not immediately comment.

Prosecutors said Durante funneled over $9 million from investors to himself, his family and co-conspirators.

They said he recruited investors nationwide, including from California, the Midwest, New York and Boston.

Prosecutors said he was convicted of similar charges in 2001. He was released from prison in 2009.

MONSTER THEFT A Spring Street resident parked his 2013 Ducati Monster 696 at the corner of Thompson and Spring Streets on the evening of Aug. 12, only for him to have it go missing by the time he returned two days later. The bike is valued at $13,500.

Reported crimes from the 1st precinct Week to Date 2016 2015

% Change

2016

2015

% Change

Murder

0

1

-100.0

0

1

-100.0

Rape

0

0

n/a

9

4

125.0

Robbery

1

0

n/a

40

37

8.1

Felony Assault

1

2

-50.0

48

51

-5.9

Burglary

1

5

-80.0

85

88

-3.4

Grand Larceny

25

21

19.0

667 672 -0.7

Grand Larceny Auto

0

1

-100.0

39

the back of her chair. When she arrived back at her place of work in 60 Wall St., she her wallet was missing. She told police that she had not been bumped or jostled. The missing items included a Coach wallet valued at $250, a Long Island Railroad pass priced at $400, $190 in cash, a Marshall’s gift card worth $35, a New York State driver’s license, and various credit and debit cards.

Tony Webster, via flickr

PRADA PREDATOR

BACKACHE

A shoplifter can make out by bagging just one pricey bag. At 4:19 p.m. on Saturday, August 15, an unknown person entered the Prada store at 575 Broadway, removed a Prada bag tagged at $2,880 from a display shelf, and left without paying. A search of the neighborhood turned up neither the thief nor the stolen goods.

The back of a chair may support your back, but it most definitely does not secure your belongings! At 1 p.m. on Aug. 19, a woman from Rockville Centre, N.Y. secured her wallet inside her purse after buying lunch at the Zeytuna grocery store and restaurant on Maiden Lane. She then sat down to eat her lunch, leaving her purse on

UNDERWHELMED Leaving property under a chair is as risky as leaving it on the back of the chair. At 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 11, a 22-year-old woman was enjoying drinks with friends at the Iron Horse bar located on Cliff Street when she left briefly to use the restroom. When she returned, her bag was no longer where

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she had placed it. The items stolen included a Prada wallet valued at $441, $100 in cash, a Chinese passport and ID, and a blue, white, and black Celine handbag valued at $1,700.

HATIN’ IT One McDonald’s customer got NO breaks on a recent visit to the establishment. At 3 p.m. on Aug. 14, a 42-year-old woman was sitting at a table in the Mickey D’s at 160 Broadway when an unknown man took her wallet and walked out of the restaurant. A search of the neighborhood failed to disclose his whereabouts. The items stolen included $200 in cash, a Pantech cell phone valued at $650, a wallet worth $100, and a mobile hotspot device priced at $250.

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Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct

19 ½ Pitt St.

212-477-7311

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233 W. 10th St.

212-741-4811

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FIRE FDNY Engine 15

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311

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311

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EMPIRE STATE BUILDING NETS QATAR INVESTMENT $622 million investment comes amid oil-price woes in Arabian peninsula

BY JON GAMBRELL

ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin

165 Park Row #11

212-587-3159

Councilmember Rosie Mendez

237 1st Ave. #504

212-677-1077

Councilmember Corey Johnson

224 W. 30th St.

212-564-7757

State Senator Daniel Squadron

250 Broadway #2011

212-298-5565

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

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813-964-3839

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US Post Office

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US Post Office

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SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has made an iconic purchase in America — a stake in the Empire State Building.

The $622-million purchase by the Qatar Investment Authority comes as the fund increases its U.S. investments and the small country on the Arabian Peninsula copes with low global oil and gas prices.

The Empire State Realty Trust Inc., which manages the 102-story, 1,454-foot (443-meter) -tall building, announced the Qatari purchase late week, saying the fund would gain a 9.9-percent stake in the company. The trust owns a total of 14 office properties and six retail properties in the New York area.

Photo: Matias Garabedian, via Wikimedia

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The Qatar Investment Authority did not respond to a request for comment.

The Art Deco-style Empire State Building remains a major tourist attraction and has been the centerpiece of major American films, from “King Kong” to “Sleepless in Seattle.”

Tiny Qatar is an OPEC member, a strong regional ally for the U.S. and hosts American bombers and the headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command at its vast al-Udeid air base. Aircraft and personnel there are involved in the ongoing U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Qatar has been on a building boom, mirroring on a smaller scale the one that gripped the United Arab Emirates’ citystate of Dubai. However, Qatar’s government coffers have been hard hit by the drop of global oil prices, which have fallen from over $100 a barrel in the summer of 2014 to around $50 now.

The nation’s investment authority, estimated to be worth some $335 billion by the Las Vegas-based Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, has been increasingly eyeing American opportunities. Last September, the fund announced plans to open an office in New York and committed to investing $35 billion in the U.S. over the next five years.

The fund’s existing American holdings include a more than 10-percent stake in New Yorkbased luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. It sold its share of the American film studio Miramax to a Qatar-based media group in March for an undisclosed sum.

Government-backed Qatar Airways, meanwhile, has been rapidly expanding its operations in the U.S., provoking a backlash from American carriers.

Also among the Qatari fund’s interests in America: a 44-percent stake in the $8.6 billion redevelopment project known as Manhattan West, which includes remodeling the building that’s now home to the global headquarters of The Associated Press. The AP announced in August 2015 it planned to move from that building to another near the World Trade Center.

SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

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PLAYERS TRY THEIR HAND AT HANDBALL Chelsea courts renovated for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;quintessentialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; city game

BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

The thwacking of the ball provided the perfect soundtrack to a summer day.

And for David Rojas, who grew up here, it was a handball homecoming.

A coach who has won three world championships, Rojas was part of a group gathered Tuesday morning to celebrate the renovation of the courts in Chelsea Park on West 27th Street. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I grew up in this neighborhood,â&#x20AC;? Rojas said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So seeing these courts come to an optimal level right now is great.â&#x20AC;?

Rojas recently became enshrined in the Handball Hall of Fame. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I played organized sports as a kid,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So when you came out here, it was like a whole new world. Everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s such a close-knit family.â&#x20AC;?

The morning was marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new handball courts, which were renovated by the Fairway Community Foundation at a cost of $77,500.

According to Council Member Corey Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office, the renovations included â&#x20AC;&#x153;stripping, patching, and painting of six walls, restriping of the walls in accordance with Parks Department standards, the relining of court

State Senator Brad Hoylman, white shirt, and Parks Department Commissioner Michael Silver, blue shirt, have a go on new handball courts in Chelsea Park. Photo: Madeleine Thompson pavement and repairs to the mesh on the eastern side of the courts.â&#x20AC;? The Fairway foundation also renovated a handball court in Brooklyn.

Parks Department Commissioner Michael Silver expressed his delight to the small gathering of community members and kids. After the ceremony,

youngsters participated in a clinic with the St. Albans Handball Association.

Alissa Silverstein, director of the Fairway Community Foundation, said

The local paper for Downtown

the market was connecting with the community. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Here we are, celebrating the completion of a project that has allowed us to give back in a tangible way,â&#x20AC;? Silverstein said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is just the beginning.â&#x20AC;?

She also announced that next spring the foundation will host a citywide handball tournament in collaboration with St. Albans.

State Senator Brad Hoylman touted the ease of the sport and its health benefits as reasons the new courts would surely see a lot of action. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Talk about a pickup game,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I mean, you can go anywhere. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sport that I think is often neglected, but it really is the backdrop for so much activity in New York City life.â&#x20AC;?

Silver, the parks commissioner, joked at first that he was just there to observe. But he and Hoylman later tried their hands at handball.

For a more experienced star of the game, the occasion mixed memories with excitement for the future. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I did play handball at P.S. 92 when I was a kid,â&#x20AC;? Rojas said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These courts look amazing ... Fairway was looking to refurbish a part of a park that is quintessential to the New York City experience. And what ďŹ ts better than handball?â&#x20AC;?

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OUR TAKE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 may glaze over after they take in a couple of paragraphs about Canadian tariffs or political developments in Pakistan; a story about the reader himself or his neighbors will be read to the end. Wherever there is a pervasive sense of community, a paper that serves the special informational needs of that community will remain indispensable to a significant portion of its residents.”

That’s what this paper is all about: nurturing the sense of community that exists, even thrives, within Manhattan’s distinct neighborhoods.

To do local news in a way that resonates takes hard work, talent and people who are willing to get out of their chairs and go walk around a neighborhood. It’s not something that can be assigned to people rewriting copy in the Philippines or India. Here at Straus News, we’re fortunate to have a sensational team of dedicated New Yorkers putting the paper together for you each week. In the

three and a half years since we acquired the papers, we’re proud to have broken a number of important stories, including a piece about how drivers that kill pedestrians are rarely prosecuted, an in-depth analysis which found that Manhattan private schools are more ethnically and economically diverse than public schools, a rundown of locally owned neighborhood establishments shuttering (which The New York Times reprised just last Saturday), and a yearlong look at independently owned businesses that have thrived for 50 years.

Some of our stories were later picked up by The Times and other media outlets, others were simply too local to interest people outside the neighborhood.

We turn to you to help us continue to report what’s happening in the neighborhood and nurture our reviving sense of community. Call or write us with your neighborhood story ideas, or simply to ask, “What’s up with that?” We can be reached at nyoffice@strausnews.com or 212-868-0190.

Jeanne Straus

ST. JOHN’S CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 same two city blocks currently taken up by the hulking, unused St. John’s Center, which was once a railroad terminal. But the existing St. John’s Center is relatively squat by comparison.

With four tapering residential towers, the new development would stand out considerably.

Designed by COOKFOX architects, the lower floors would be rented out to various retailers and the superblock now traversable only through a dark tunnel would be broken up to allow more light. A pedestrian walkway would connect the two groups of towers above a reopened section of West Houston Street.

As with most proposals that undergo the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, aesthetics are not the only concern. Neighbors both near and far of the St. John’s Center spoke about how the massive project would change the neighborhood.

Traffic flow, pedestrian safety, school overcrowding, “big box” stores, parking and affordable housing were all repeatedly brought up in residents’ testimony.

“I believe government should find creative ways to fund the

A rendering looking north above a reopened section of West Houston Street from the proposed St. John’s redevelopment. Image courtesy of COOKFOX architects operation and maintenance of its own property assets,” wrote Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer in a letter to the DCP, which she reinforced in person at the meeting last week.

“All too often though, it appears that the default financing mechanism is to cede that responsibility to a private developer.”

Styra Eisinger, a GVSHP member and South Village resident since 1962, felt compelled to attend the meeting and speak in opposition to the project because, she said, “this is not your normal development.”

“As someone put it very well, the proposal is ‘uptown,’ and

this is downtown,” she said.

“These are incredibly ugly buildings. … They have nothing to do with life down here.”

Eisinger’s main problems with the development concern traffic, the nature of the retailers that will move in and the kind of tenants attracted to the apartments that will be for sale. “This was highlighted by the request for [772] parking spaces,” she said. “The developer said the people who are going to be buying these condos, that’s what they’ll want. Well, too damn bad. This is not what the neighborhood needs.”

Eisinger clarified that she was

not opposed to the development because it would attract wealthy buyers, but because those people might be less considerate and protective of the neighborhood’s “character and historical place in the city.”

The DCP is expected to vote on the proposal by Oct. 6, at which point it will be reviewed and voted on by the City Council. The developers have said they hope to have approval in time to begin construction in 2017.

Reporter Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@ strausnews.com

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BOLTBUS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Street, but is requesting to move because construction at Hudson Yards will soon close that section of the street. “We knew it was going to be a temporary site,” BoltBus’ director of operations, Bill Revere, said at the meeting. “Also there’s going to be luxury apartments across the street from our site right now ... so we don’t want to be right directly in front of residents.”

Revere proposed four dropoff and nine pick-up locations to the Department of Transportation, which then determined that the area around FIT was most feasible.

According to Revere, the buses at these sites would be coming from and going to Philadelphia and Baltimore with an average load of 35 passengers — 15 short of a full bus — and would take up about 10 percent of the sidewalk. BoltBus offers trips from 7 a.m. to midnight every day. BoltBus would share the Seventh Avenue drop-off location with Megabus, which already has a stop there, but Revere said he had begun collaborating with Megabus about how best to avoid congestion.

Community members were not convinced. The majority of those who spoke in opposition are residents living directly across the street from each proposed stop, and many are neighbors at Penn South, a naturally occurring retirement community of about

7

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com 5,000 people. Noise, traffic, lack of public toilets, pollution and sidewalk congestion were the main reasons they cited as to why the midtown/Penn Station area was unsuitable for additional activity. “I’m caregiver for my 90-year-old mother and we live on the first floor facing Eighth and 28th, and we’re already overburdened,” Sylvia Syracuse, a resident of Penn South, said. “Particulate covers our apartment ... and the sirens idling in traffic are going to send me ‘round the bend soon. To think that you’re going to add constantly running motors and people talking nonstop across the street is almost more than we can bear.”

Representatives from the offices of Borough President Gale Brewer, State Senator Brad Hoylman, Councilman Corey Johnson and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried’s also testified against the project.

Lisa Wager, director of government and community relations at FIT, showed the committee photos of a large air intake vent on the same corner of the proposed pick-up site that she said would be “full of idling bus fumes” if BoltBus were to pick up customers right in front of it. “And then there’s our main dock, which takes all the loading for our cafeteria,” she said.

“The space between the end of the 15-foot yellow line for the hydrant and the edge of our curb cut is 43 feet and 7 inches. A BoltBus ... is 45 feet. Even if they were the best parker in the free world they could not slot that bus in this space.”

Laymon, the committee vice chairman, explained to attendees that because the Port Authority Bus Terminal is already overcrowded, New York City lets bus lines operate on city streets. The committee therefore did not have the option of recommending that BoltBus not be allowed to do so.

The best option, then, is to find a suitable location, he said. The stops proposed by BoltBus and the DOT did not pass muster.

Still more concerns arose from residents of the area about the ability of emergency vehicles to get through traffic, and about the fact that BoltBus didn’t want to operate in front of luxury apartments at their current location but seemed nonplussed about disrupting neighbors at the new site. “[That] sort of turns around and says to me that we don’t really matter because we don’t pay as much for our apartments,” Marilyn Callister said.

Ron Parker, a Penn South resident, implored the committee not to let BoltBus “send us into an early grave” by disturbing seniors in fragile conditions with added noise and stress.

The committee, which did not seem to get a satisfactory answer on why BoltBus needs to move in the first place, sided with the majority of residents.

CB 5 will make an official recommendation at the full board meeting on Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. at Xavier High School.

Everything you like about Our Town Downtown is now available to be delivered to your mailbox every week in the Downtowner From the very local news of your neighborhood to information about upcoming events and activities, the new home delivered edition of the Downtowner will keep you in-the-know.

And best of all you won’t have to go outside to grab a copy from the street box every week.

It’s your neighborhood.

It’s your news.

Reporter Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@ strausnews.com

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

FRIENDSHIP CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE GRAYING NEW YORK

from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop health problems as they aged. It’s an effort to keep on meeting new people, staying open to new friendships, being vulnerable to rejection, but it’s worth it.

It’s so easy to get stuck, to stay at

home and to become depressed and ill.

Some studies show that friendships are linked to good health in the elderly even more than family ties. All of this is the reason I went to the DOROT social and also a Lunch in the Neighborhood through BAiP (Bloomingdale Aging in Place), a neighborhood naturally occuring retirement community, or NORC. Both events were pleasant, fun ways to meet new people and perhaps create friendships.

The JCC on 76th and Amsterdam has many excellent programs for seniors, including discussion groups, support groups, bereavement groups and caregiver support groups. It also continues to run a “Walking on Eggshells” group for parents of estranged adult children, which is a more pervasive problem than most people know. The JCC has excellent exercise programs and a large indoor pool. For those who don’t know the JCC, e-mail info@jccmanhattan.org or call 646-505-5716.

You can also simply walk in and pick up a catalogue.

The UJA-Federation of New York Resource Line supplies information and referrals to the health and human service agencies in the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies network. They provide assistance to older adults and caregivers; financial and employment services; mental health services; end

of life care and other programs.

Here’s to friendship and new beginnings.

But even with flourishing friendships, life has its annoyances. Here’s one of mine: Amazon, which has a real nerve. The lesson here is never to let a monopoly get too full of itself. Instead, create more competition.

Lately, almost everything of interest on Amazon has become Prime, which means that you have to pay extra each year to be a Prime member.

Without that, you are shut out of most new books, as well as many items on their site. Prime really used to be optional (and it still is ... sort of). It used to mean that orders would be shipped more quickly, but you could still order everything from the site. Now, no way.

If you’re not a Prime member, you’re not even able to order most of the good stuff.

As a senior citizen on a budget, I don’t appreciate being bulldozed into this new policy. If people would protest, maybe they’d open eyes to the unfairness of this. But here’s the kicker. I joined Prime. I gave in to reality. I order a lot of books and other things from Amazon. What am I supposed to do, cut off my nose to spite my face? I’m angry at myself for giving in, but I stretched my budget and joined.

Phooey!

Can you ever really forgive if you can’t forget? Do we need distance to get close? Is a relationship a relationship without the zsa zsa zsu?

In its heyday, “Sex And The City” just made Manhattan seem more alive.

People became more observant about what was going on and how they could relate it to the antics of Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda.

Young women started looking for their own Mr. Big (and believing they would find him). The fact that all four women were never wanting for dates also seemed to send a mixed message, since most single women I knew were always saying there were no men out there.

And the city rose to the status of “fifth friend.” More than any other TV

drama/comedy before or even after it, SATC really did showcase our borough as where the action is.

Because of the out-and-about BFFs, the same ol’ neighborhood haunts didn’t seem enough anymore. Those women were all over the place, giving the rest of us the impetus to get in a cab and go across or downtown “... to eat at that place, then go shopping at that store.”

The show had such an effect that New York women’s self-esteem rose and fell with what was going on in Carrie’s life; watching her retch on the beach after seeing Big with Natasha in the Hamptons was truly a downer for days; but when Carrie introduced Berger to her friends and brought his male perspective to their dating tales of woe,

the very next morning everyone was shrugging off the guy who got away with the phrase, He’s just not that into you.

So much a part of us did Carrie become, that The Harvard Crimson ran an article that coined the phrase Carrie Bradshaw Syndrome: When you act like you’re in this movie about your perfect life.

To which I say, isn’t being the leading lady in your own life what living in New York City is supposed to be like? I think we need a third movie so Manhattan can get back its own zsa zsa zsu.

BY MARCIA EPSTEIN

Last week I attended an ice cream social at DOROT, a social services organization headquartered on the Upper West Side. My aim was maybe to meet some new people and possibly join one of the organization’s groups.

No, it’s not that I don’t have friends.

But I know that friendship, new and old, is vital for senior citizens. Indeed it’s been shown that loneliness is linked to reduced life-span and health issues. Most of us have friends who are specific to our life stage. Friends from our youth (if we’re lucky), friends from college, from our children’s childhoods, and friends we made as adults. But as we get older, friends get sick, move or die. So it’s important to keep on trying to meet new people and make fresh connections.

We have friends that we feel close to and friends with whom we do things of mutual interest. Recent research found that older people with a large network of friends outlived those with fewer friends by more than 20 percent. Senior Planet asked some experts to share tips for making new friends later in life. They recommended getting involved in activities you

Photo: Julie Elliot, via flickr enjoy and staying open to making new friends as you participate.

You may not feel close to every new person you meet, but all you need is one or two really close friends — and others with whom to stay active and involved in the world. Loneliness is a health risk. The Nurses’ Health Study

DESIRING MORE ZSA ZSA ZSU

BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL

Eighteen years ago this summer, we were introduced to Carrie Bradshaw — the Upper East side writer of the column “Sex And The City,” which appeared in the paper none of us read because it was made up. (In fact, by this time in 1998, the HBO series had already reached cult status.)

I must confess, I miss the show if only because, for six seasons, the program really energized New York. The two movies rejuvenated us, of course, and the internet keeps SATC alive as well.

STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source

On any given female-directed website, you will now and again find an article referencing the telecast or one its characters, because even though it stopped airing in 2004, “the girls” are still part of the zeitgeist. But, the weekly booster shot of Cosmopolitanfueled wisdom was what really kept us going.

Carrie & Co. brought into polite conversation topics that can’t be mentioned in a family newspaper, and the questions that she posed at the beginning of each column (and episode) had many of us going in search of answers:

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

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

President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Account Executive Deputy Editors Richard Khavkine Fred Almonte editor.dt@strausnews.com Director of Partnership Development Christopher Moore Barry Lewis editor.ot@strausnews.com

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novels “Fat Chick” and “Back To Work She Goes.”

Staff Reporter Madeleine Thompson newsreporter@strausnews.com Director of Digital Pete Pinto

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

SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

LETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S REDUCE GARBAGE TRUCK TRAFFIC OP-ED

BY COUNCILMAN MARK LEVINE

I hear all the time from constituents about garbage truck traffic in our community. So I was unsurprised when a new study last month conďŹ rmed what many of us have experienced: Upper Manhattan has one of the highest levels of private sanitation traffic in the city.

A simple change could make a world of difference.

The study, commissioned by the Department of Sanitation, ďŹ nds that the private sanitation industry is needlessly adding millions of miles of truck traffic to our streets and diesel exhaust to our air. The de Blasio administration announced plans to reduce this traffic by two-thirds â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and even more in Manhattan â&#x20AC;&#x201D; through a new waste zone system that will ensure only one private sanitation company is operating in each neighborhood, rather than dozens.

Rationalizing this industry has been a long time coming. Unlike residential trash, which is picked up by one Department of Sanitation truck stopping at every building on the block, small business owners have to

Photo: Peter Burka, via ďŹ&#x201A;ickr ďŹ nd their own private trash company.

Each company brings its own truck to pick up trash from one business, and our community is left to deal with increased traffic and pollution.

The cat was fed ten times today

The new system will also protect small businesses by requiring sanitation companies to bid for the right to collect in each zone. Currently, small businesses pay a whopping 38 percent

more than big business to get their trash picked up. When other cities have moved to this â&#x20AC;&#x153;waste zone system,â&#x20AC;? they have seen prices go down for most customers. The new system has also empowered these other cities to achieve commercial recycling rates three times higher than New York.

Workers would fare better as well.

Not only is sanitation one of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most dangerous jobs, but the Sanitation Department report found that companies pay many of these workers off the books, so they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the protection of workers compensation when they get hurt. The mayorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan would set wage and safety standards to protect commercial sanitation workers.

The waste zone plan has already garnered a lot of support. I have joined with other council members from across the city to endorse the new system. It also has the backing of a diverse coalition of labor unions, environmental justice organizations, small businesses, and community groups.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not easy cleaning up after eight million people and our city has long struggled with sanitation issues.

Many thought we had ďŹ xed the problem when we closed Fresh Kills LandďŹ ll, but the truth is we just moved the

problem to the South Bronx, North Brooklyn, and other low-income communities where private waste transfer stations set up shop.

Under Mayor Bloomberg, the Sanitation Department began construction of new, state-of-the-art waste transfer stations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens to more fairly share the trash burden around the city. Mayor de Blasio is continuing that work, and taking the next step by addressing commercial trash too. I hope that these reforms can ensure that commercial trash, just like residential trash, will no longer be dumped on just a few communities.

This is not a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not In My Backyardâ&#x20AC;? issue. We will always have trash, but if we dedicate ourselves to expanding recycling, supporting the workers who work in sanitation, and distributing the trucks and facilities in a smart and fair way, we can have a sanitation system that we are proud of. It will be complicated to remake this system, but I know my community is ready to get to work.

Mark D. Levine is a New York City councilman representing Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights, Morningside Heights, Manhattan Valley, and the Upper West Side

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SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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

Your Guide to Spiritual Happiness We are Happy Science!

A Global Movement and Happiness Revolution working to make YOU a happier person and THE WORLD a happier place. We have the motto, EXPLORING THE RIGHT MIND. This means to explore and activate our divine nature by putting into practice the Four Principles of Happiness, which are LOVE - to give love to others, instead of taking, WISDOM - to study spiritual Truth to gain higher perspective in life and live in the Truth, SELF-REFLECTION - to examine our thoughts and purify our minds by removing the ego, and PROGRESS - to share happiness and keep improving ourselves while improving the world. Creating a HAPPIER family, HAPPIER society and HAPPIER world starts from each one of us.

Watch us on TV!

Invitation to Happiness on FOX 5, Sundays at 8:30 am! ryuho-okawa.com

Thu 1 ‘THE JAMB’ The Kraine Theater, 85 East Fourth St. September 1-17, Thursdays through Saturdays, 7 p.m. $25 Directed by Obie-winner David Drake, J.Stephen Brantley’s punk rock rom-com on crystal meth examines how addiction, politics and pop culture have impacted the lives of gay American men who grew up post-Stonewall, preWill & Grace. Mature audiences only. www.horsetrade.info/thekraine-theater

‘9/11 TABLE OF SILENCE PROJECT’

We are located in TriBeCa! 79 Franklin Street (Bet Church & Broadway) Contact us: 1-800-710-7777 / happyscience-ny.org

Join Us for Weekly Sunday Workshops at 1 pm Weeknight (Tues-Thurs) Meditation Sessions 6:30 - 7:30 pm

Rehearsals 9.1 at 5 p.m. and 9.2 at 3 p.m. at Gibney Studio, 890 Broadway Performance at Lincoln Center on 9/11.

A “movement for peace” created and choreographed by Jacqulyn Buglisi, with more than 100 dancers.

212-719-3301. www. tableofsilence.org/

Fri 2 WHO’S THE KING? ▲ New Amsterdam Library, 9 Murray St. 2 p.m.

Adults and teens, beginners and masters, come to the New Amsterdam Library to play chess, checkers and scrabble and see who we crown The King. Join us every Friday from 2-4pm!

212-732-8186

‘IN AN ECHO’ New School, Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 66 Fifth Ave. Noon-6 p.m., through Sept. 7.

Free An exhibition of thesis work from Parsons’ MFA Photography program’s class of 2016. events.newschool.edu/

Sat 3 WILDLIFE TOUR: HIGH LINE AS HABITAT Tour location provided via email following RSVP 8-9 a.m. First Saturdays, May through October, Tour the High Line with horticulturist and resident wildlife expert, Maryanne Stubbs. Learn how wildlife use the habitat provided by the High Line’s gardens. www.thehighline.org/ activities/

VERBAL DESCRIPTION AND SENSORY TOUR Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th St. Noon-1 p.m. Free For visitors who are blind or partially sighted.

Reservations required: 212620-5000, x319

SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

Sun 4

MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH Sunday Worship at 11:00am

HUDSON RIVER NATURE WALK

Sunday Worship, led by Dr. Michael Brown, is the heart of the Marble Church community. It is where we all gather to sing, pray, and be changed by an encounter with God. Marble is known throughout the world for the practical, powerful, life-changing messages and where one can hear world class music from our choirs that make every heart sing.

Christopher Street Fountain — Pier 45 at Hudson River Park, 353 West St. 9-10 a.m. Free Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Learn about Hudson River Park’s wildlife by joining knowledgeable naturalists on guided nature walks along the Park’s esplanade every Sunday at 9am.

212-627-2020. www. hudsonriverpark.eventbrite.com

Busy? Live stream Sunday Worship with us at 11:00am at MarbleChurch.org.

EXHIBITIONISM / SELFFASHIONING: SHORT FILM PROGRAM Anthology Film Archives 32 Second Ave. 8:30 p.m. $7-$11 This screening is part of “VOYEURISM, SURVEILLANCE, AND IDENTITY IN THE CINEMA.” Featuring two artists from ICP’s exhibition, Wilke and Benglis, forms of performance for the camera by artists interested in the visual and conceptual presentation of the self and the body.

212-505-5181. anthologyfilmarchives.org/

Mon 5 HEART OF THE PARK TOUR ▲ Central Park, 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue 11 a.m. Free Walking tour through the heart of Central Park. Enjoy a great variety of its scenic, sculptural and architectural elements. Register in advance for easiest check-in. Meet:

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

WeWo: Wednesday Worship at 6:15pm Samuel F. B. Morse statue.

212-310-6600 centralparknyc.org

THE GREAT MIGUELINO Pier 62 Carousel 2 p.m. Free Miguelino’s tricks will leave some guests in awe while making other guests laugh.

Volunteers from the audience will be chosen to help him with his spectacular magic tricks. www.hudsonriverpark.org/ events/

Tue 6 BAROQUE MUSIC FESTIVAL Trinity Wall Street Church, 79 Broadway 7 p.m. Free An exploration of 17th century German music that influenced Johann Sebastian Bach.

212-602-0800

9/11 MEMORIAL AND BROOKLYN BRIDGE NIGHT TOUR

Marble's weekly Wednesday Worship, lovingly nicknamed WeWo, is a service that blends traditional and contemporary worship styles, taking the best of both, creating a mixture that is informal and reverent, often humorous and always Spirit-filled.

Zuccotti Park, Broadway, Liberty Street and Cedar Street 7:30 p.m. Free From twilight into the night is the right time to pay a visit to this part of NYC. Make reservation at www. freetoursbyfoot.com

Wed 7 ‘A SQUARE MEAL’ Tenement Museum, 103 Orchard St. 6:30 p.m. Free Subtitled “A Culinary History of the Great Depression,” this event looks at how the Great Depression transformed America’s culinary culture.

646-518-3032

DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN 3-HOUR TOUR ◄ Federal Hall, 26 Wall St. at Broad Street 10 a.m. Free Three-hour walking and subway tour covers the Financial District including Wall Street and the World Trade Center, SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown. There will be one or two opportunities to sample tasty treats.

Make reservations info at www.freetoursbyfoot.com▲

The Open Center presents:

Elizabeth Gilbert Thursday, September 29 at 7:00pm Join us for a lecture and Q&A at Marble Collegiate Church with the immensely popular author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love), who will draw from her newest book, Big Magic: Creative Living Without Fear. Her fiction and non-fiction have inspired and empowered countless readers of all ages and walks of life.

Register at OpenCenter.org

Event listings brought to you by Marble Collegiate Church.

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

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SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

FINDING FAITH IN FURNITURE At the Met Fifth Avenue, Shaker designs of simple lines, clean form are aspects of the divine, and of some lovely objects too

BY MARY GREGORY

Art has the power to communicate.

Meaningful works can cross centuries and cultures to do so. The chairs, boxes, chests, samplers and clothing in “Simple Gifts: Shaker at the Met” give voice to the practices and beliefs of those who made them, while also imparting a simple yet profound message to a future society that needs to hear it.

Every culture finds ways to feed, shelter, inform, heal and entertain its people. Shakers made all of those part of something bigger. These works carry the message that life and all its myriad facets can be prayer — not lead to prayer or reflect prayer, but be prayer.

When visitors to upstate New York came upon the communities of The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing in the late 1700s, many commented that it felt as if they had entered a gathering of angels.

The congregants sang and danced — in fact they shook with fervor. They became known as the Shakers. Shakers were committed to a short list of principles including self-sufficiency, communal life, pacifism, the equality of genders and races, and strict celibacy. Celibacy was their downfall. But equality and self-sufficiency never go out of style, and are part of what has drawn modern minds to them and their works.

Simple lines, clean forms, respect for materials and effortless functionality could be the playbook for any contemporary designer. For the Shakers, they were much more. An elder of Mount Lebanon, Frederick Evans, once said, “The divine man has no right to waste money upon what you call beauty in his house or his daily life, while there are people living in misery.” And yet, the objects in the exhibition are beau-

tiful. Their classical lines, elegant proportions, and unadorned material probably furnished the dreams of designers like Charles and Ray Eames and Frank Lloyd Wright. They influenced the Bauhaus, modern Scandinavian design and Isamu Noguchi, whose set designs are present in a film of “Appalachian Spring” that’s included in the exhibition.

Simplicity is part of what makes these works special. But it’s not what makes them extraordinary. There were plenty of pine tables, ladder back chairs and wooden boxes in Colonial America. It was the desire to imbue a table with the ability to speak of God’s grace that made Shaker craftsmen and women strive and struggle to find just the right tapering for a table leg, or the cleanest, most esthetically elegant way to fasten a piece of wood.

Ingenuity joined with earnestness.

Reverence is reflected in every element — primarily for the Creator, but also for the material, the user, the crafter and the process. The journey is the aim. It’s an approach not unlike the Zen tea ceremony.

A full sense of Shaker style is found in the “North Family Retiring Room,” a reconstructed space down the hall from the exhibition. Hopefully, when you go it will be empty. The stillness of the room transports you to some sun-baked afternoon in farmland. You can almost smell the cut grass, hear the screech of a blue jay, and taste the baking bread. There’s so little in the room — a scrubbed pine floor, a mat, a bed, a basin, a chair, a stove — and yet, it’s enough. In fact, it’s perfect.

There are endless marvels to be found in the New York art world, and that’s wonderful. “Simple Gifts” is a kind of antidote to the blockbuster, and it’s wonderful too. With a few dozen objects spread through a few rooms in the American Wing, it’s a small, quiet, humble show — sort of like the Shakers, themselves. And like them, it invites us to consider the beauty in the ordinary, in appreciation, in contentment, in the simplicity and profundity of every moment.

Shakers made, used and sold oval bentwood boxes. Their ingenious swallowtail bindings allowed wood to swell and shrink without danger of splitting. Photo: Adel Gorgy

“Beauty rests on utility,” a Shaker aphorism, is embodied in a pine cupboard from 1800-1850. Photo: Adel Gorgy

Shaker pieces designed to express simplicity, humility and grace. Photo: Adel Gorgy

“Simple Gifts: Shaker at the Met” includes paintings by Charles Sheeler, whose uncomplicated compositions echoed Shaker tenets and designs. Photo: Adel Gorgy

SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

13

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

WOLFE, CHOMSKY HAVE WORDS ABOUT LANGUAGE New Journalist pens work that mines MIT linguist

BY HILLEL ITALIE

After satirizing everything from â&#x20AC;&#x153;radical chicâ&#x20AC;? to 20th century architecture, Tom Wolfe is now mining the mystery of language and the reputation of the most inďŹ&#x201A;uential linguist of our time, Noam Chomsky.

Chomsky, in turn, has some thoughts about Wolfe, the celebrated New Journalist and author of such classics as â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Bonfire of the Vanitiesâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Right Stuff.â&#x20AC;?

In his new book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Kingdom of Speech,â&#x20AC;? Wolfe examines how scholars have attempted to discern the roots of verbal communication. He reviews the debates between Charles Darwin, who likened speech to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;sounds uttered by birds,â&#x20AC;? and other 19th century evolutionists. He notes how modern understanding centers on Chomskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s revolutionary theory that humans have an innate knowledge of language.

Wolfe duly acknowledges Chomskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s breakthrough, but sees a man so used to dominance in his ďŹ eld that he scorns or evades those who challenge his research. He also suggests his stature as a linguist is tied to his years as an activist and left-wing thinker. He cites Chomskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1967 publication â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Responsibility of Intellectuals,â&#x20AC;? a landmark essay in The New York Review of Books that assailed the Vietnam War and accused intellectuals of failing â&#x20AC;&#x153;to speak the truth and to expose lies.â&#x20AC;?

The timing was absolutely perfect, according to Wolfe. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chomskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s audacity and his Old World, Eastern European slant on life were things most intellectuals found charming, since by then, 1967, opposition to the war in Vietnam had become something stronger than a passion ... namely, a fashion, a certiďŹ cation that one had risen above the herd,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? he writes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chomskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s politics enhanced his reputation as a great linguist, and his reputation as a great linguist enhanced his reputation as a political solon, and his reputation as a political solon inflated his reputation from great linguist to an all-

Noam Chomsky. Photo: jeanbaptisteparis, via ďŹ&#x201A;ickr around genius, and the genius inďŹ&#x201A;ated the solon into a veritable Voltaire, and the veritable Voltaire inďŹ&#x201A;ated the genius of geniuses into a philosophical giant ... Noam Chomsky.â&#x20AC;?

Chomsky, a professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says that that he read an excerpt of the book in Harperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magazine and found â&#x20AC;&#x153;egregious errors.â&#x20AC;?

He dismissed Wolfeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s portrait of himself and other MIT faculty members as captives of air-conditioned campus buildings, uninterested in ďŹ eld work or new ideas. He strongly questioned Wolfeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grasp of linguistics. And he objected to Wolfeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suggestion that he was an activist who â&#x20AC;&#x153;arranges to get arrested in the morning so that he can get out in time to make it to New York nightspots to show off his bravery,â&#x20AC;? Chomsky told the AP. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure Wolfe would very much enjoy a few days in the Washington cell block or facing a likely long prison sentence, not to speak of constant demonstrations, half a dozen or more talks a day to all sorts of groups, meetings to plan serious resistance activities, extensive travel for talks and demonstrations, enjoying the pleasures of tear-gassing and

mace, organizing national tax resistance, and a lot more that constitutes real activism,â&#x20AC;?

Chomsky said.

Wolfe, who interviewed Chomsky by phone for his book, declined to respond. He did say that Chomskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opposition to the war was â&#x20AC;&#x153;very sincere.â&#x20AC;?

Winner of the National Book Award and numerous other honors, Wolfe has angered his subjects before. His mockery of avant-garde art in â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Painted Wordâ&#x20AC;? hit the â&#x20AC;&#x153;the art world like a really bad, MSGheadache-producing, Chinese lunch,â&#x20AC;? Critic Rosalind E. Krauss wrote at the time. His book on architecture, â&#x20AC;&#x153;From Bauhaus to Our House,â&#x20AC;? led Time reviewer Robert Hughes to conclude that Wolfe held â&#x20AC;&#x153;a kind of supercilious rancor and a free-ďŹ&#x201A;oating hostility toward the intelligentsia.â&#x20AC;?

During a recent interview in his spacious apartment on Manhattanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Upper East Side, where he wore his customary white suit, the 85-year-old Wolfe said he wrote â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kingdom of Speechâ&#x20AC;? out of â&#x20AC;&#x153;real curiosityâ&#x20AC;? because no one â&#x20AC;&#x153;has ever been able to explain (human) language.â&#x20AC;? Wolfe himself doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the answer, but calls speech the greatest gift of civilization. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bango!â&#x20AC;? he writes in his book. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is a cardinal distinction between man and animal, a sheerly dividing line as abrupt and immovable as a cliff: namely, speech.â&#x20AC;?

Speech is the bookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary subject, but status has been the running theme of Wolfeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work from the astronauts in â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Right Stuffâ&#x20AC;? to campus life in â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Am Charlotte Simmons,â&#x20AC;? and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a subplot for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kingdom of Speech.â&#x20AC;? He doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t only take on Chomsky, but portrays Darwin as a competitive, would-be aristocrat striving for â&#x20AC;&#x153;honor as a Gentleman and a scholar.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kingdom of Speechâ&#x20AC;? is a short work, under 200 pages, more on par with â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Painted Wordâ&#x20AC;? than the 19th century scale of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Bonfire of the Vanitiesâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Man in Full.â&#x20AC;?

His books have sold millions of copies, but Wolfe reasons that â&#x20AC;&#x153;if you write more than 150 pages about anything that says â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;evolutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in for it. Nobodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to stick with you.â&#x20AC;?

standup2cancer.org #reasons2standup #su2c

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ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

Global Town Hall: Foreign Policy and the Next President

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 12PM The Greene Space | 44 Charlton St. | 646-829-4000 | thegreenespace.org A panel of experts gathers at to ask â&#x20AC;&#x153;What would the world like to hear from the next American president?â&#x20AC;? Joined by live audiences in Berlin and Cairo. (Free, reservations required)

Never Mind the Bollocks!: The Truth Behind Punk Style

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 7:30PM Chandelier Creative | 611 Broadway | 212-620-5252 | thinkolio.org Hear the real story of a fashion insurgency, which was in truth as manufactured as anything by J.Crew or Lilly Pulitzer. ($20)

Just Announced | LIVE From the NYPL: Tim Wu/Douglas Rushkoff

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17TH, 7PM Stephen A. Schwarzman Building | 476 Fifth Ave. | 917-275-6975 | nypl.org Join the new LIVE From the NYPL season for a conversation between digital media expert Douglas Rushkoff and Tim Wu, who coined the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;net neutrality.â&#x20AC;? Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll look at attention, and how scarce and precious a commodity it is. ($25)

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

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

14

SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS AUG 17 - 24, 2016

El Quinto Pino

401 West 24 Street

A

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 http://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/services/restaurant-grades.page

Studio Cafe 59

59 Chelsea Piers

A

Subway

221 7 Avenue

Grade Pending (17) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

El Quijote

226 W 23Rd St

Grade Pending (22) Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Il Bastardo

191 7 Avenue

Grade Pending (24)

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

252 8Th Ave

Not Yet Graded (3)

Domino’s

170 West 23 Street

A

Mcdonald’s

541 6Th Ave

A

Tia Pol

205 10 Avenue

A

Blossom

187 9 Avenue

A

Del Posto Ristorante

85 10 Avenue

A

Jake’s Saloon

202 9 Avenue

A

Adp Innovations Lab

135 W 18Th St

A

Auntie Guan’s Kitchen 108 108 W 14Th St

A

Milk Bar Chelsea

220 8Th Ave

A

People’s Pops

425 W 15Th St

A

Bec

148 8Th Ave

A

Haven’s Kitchen

109 West 17 Street

A

Very Fresh Noodles

425 W 15Th St

Grade Pending

Tapestry

60 Greenwich Ave

Not Yet Graded (21) 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. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Norwood

241 West 14 Street

A

Jupioca

200 W 14Th St

A

Gradisca Restaurant

126 West 13 Street

Grade Pending (20) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

The Crooked Knife

232 West 14 Street

A

Eolo

190 7 Avenue

A

Dallas Bbq

261 8 Avenue

A

Juice Press

100 10Th Ave

Not Yet Graded (33) Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. 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. 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.

New York Burger Co.

470 W 23Rd St

A

The House In Gramercy Park

121 E. 17Th St.

A

00+Co

65 2Nd Ave

A

Goloka Juice Bar

325 E 5Th St

A

Juice Generation

28 E 18Th St

A

Mamak

174 2Nd Ave

Grade Pending (49) 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.

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

Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

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

Stromboli Pizza

83 St Marks Place

A

Cafe Orlin

41 St Marks Place

A

Asiam Thai Cuisine

259 First Avenue

A

The Organic Grill

123 1 Avenue

A

The Fourth

132 4Th Ave

A

Checkers

225 1St Ave

A

Bingbox Snow Cream

125 2Nd Ave

A

Klong

7 Saint Marks Pl

A

The Bao

13 Saint Marks Pl

A

Pure Green

60 E 8Th St

A

Follia

179 3Rd Ave

Not Yet Graded (6) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Mcdonald’s

724 Broadway

Grade Pending (20) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/ or non-food areas. 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.

La Contrada

84 E 4Th St

Grade Pending (21) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/ sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

Fraiche Maxx

213 Park Ave S

Grade Pending (5) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Blossom Du Jour

15 E 13Th St

A

Paradis To Go

114 4 Avenue

A

San Marzano

117 2 Avenue

A

Gym Sports Bar

167 8 Avenue

A

SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

15

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MEMORIES ARE NOT A CLOSED CHAPTER Coliseum Books anchored the West Side’s once thriving bookshop culture

BY RAANAN GEBERER

The West Side was once known for its independent bookstores. There were quite a few — the New Yorker, Shakespeare & Co., Endicott Booksellers and Murder Ink. Today, we’ll focus on one — Coliseum Books, on Columbus Avenue at Columbus Circle.

Coliseum Books at 1775 Broadway at 57th Street was a huge store — with about 110,000 books spread over two floors. Not only were there books on every conceivable subject, but the staffers were also known for their literary knowledge. At least for this writer, no trip to the Columbus Circle area, or even to Lincoln Center, was complete without a visit to Coliseum Books.

The store was opened in 1974 by George Leibson (a former manager at Bookmaster’s), Sy Rubin and Irwin Hersch. Eventually, Rubin died, leaving Leibson and Hersch as co-owners.

Coliseum Books’ West 42nd Street location. Photo: Barry Solow Since the West Side was known for its intellectuals, it had a ready-made audience.

According to a 2006 article in the “New York Sun,” (also since shuttered)

by Gary Shapiro, among the famous people who shopped in the store were Philip Roth and Liza Minelli. Shapiro also wrote, “Playwright Tony Kush-

ner was once quoted in The New York Times saying that when the [original] store closed, he and his partner ‘practically wore black armbands.’ Pete Hamill listed the store as one of the reasons worth living in New York.”

Leibson, interviews point to, was very pleased with his enterprise — except for the fact that some customers

tended to ”walk off with” the books without paying, and others spilled coffee or got peanut butter on the books. He once bragged that he “stuck to basics” — he didn’t need to install a café like Barnes & Noble to get people to buy books.

However, around that time, the store began to have financial trouble. The

problem wasn’t the Internet — at that time, buying and selling on the web was still in its infancy. The problem was the constant expansion of chains like the aforementioned Barnes & Noble and Borders. In the ‘90s, new branches seemed to be opening everywhere in the city. Rising rents in Manhattan didn’t help the financial situation of independent bookstores, either.

The original bookstore closed in 2002. The following year, Coliseum opened in a new location at 11 West 42nd Street — and this store had a cafe. Here, too, Coliseum continued to have its admirers. Still, by then, the Internet, particularly Amazon, was a serious competitor.

In September 2006, the store filed for bankruptcy. Book-lovers rushed to buy books discounted at 20 percent or 40 percent off. In the end, a slogan that was printed on Coliseum T-shirts might serve as an epitaph: So Many Books, So Little Time.

KEEPING YOUR DOG HAPPY

BY NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA

Separation Anxiety Is your dog anxious? The answer is virtually any dog will at some time show some anxiety. However, some dogs have extreme anxiety that is triggered when the guardian leaves, this is called “separation anxiety.” Whether your dog has severe anxiety or not, it is important to try to make your dog as happy as possible.

Signs of Separation Anxiety: • Does your dog whine, cry or pace when you go to leave the house or when you come home?

• Can your dog let you out of his sight when you are home or does he follow you around and become anxious if he cannot see you?

• Does your dog constantly whine and bark when you are not home?

• Does your dog scratch at the door when you are not home or only become destructive when you are not around?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your dog will benefit from these suggestions. If your dog has not shown any of these signs, they can still benefit. • First, you do not want to do anything that will reinforce anxiety. If you act calmly in situations, your dog will be more likely to act calmly.

• When entering or leaving the house, do not make a big deal. Totally ignore the dog. You need to act like nothing happened. Your dog will take the cue from you not to get over-excited. Dogs learn by association.

• Simulate situations that would

iors, they will know how to get attention in a calm manner. For example, the “sit” and the “down” commands help dogs relax. The stay command builds up the duration they can learn to focus when you leave a room, for example. You will then be able to praise

your dog more often and both you and your dog will be happier. Remember: if your dog is anxious there is a lot you can do to help your dog.

To learn more about keeping your pets safe and healthy at all times, visit animalleague. org.

In accordance with Section 1-13 of the Concession Rules of the City of New York, the Department of Parks and Recreation (“Parks”) has issued a Request for Proposals (”RFP”) for the renovation, operation and maintenance of a parking lot, snack bar, beach shop and three (3) mobile food units at Manhattan Beach Park, Brooklyn.

There will be a recommended on-site proposer meeting and site tour on Friday, September 16, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. We will be meeting in front of the parking lot of the proposed concession site, which is located at Oriental Boulevard and Irwin Street. If you are considering responding to this RFP, please make every effort to attend this recommended meeting and site tour. All proposals submitted in response to this RFP must be submitted by no later than Friday, September 30, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.

Hard copies of the RFP can be obtained, at no cost, commencing Thursday, August 25, 2016 through Friday, September 30, 2016, during the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., excluding weekends and holidays, at the Revenue Division of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, which is located at The Arsenal, 830 Fifth Avenue, Room 407, New York, NY 10065.

Photo: Lisa Risager, via flickr make your dog think you are leaving.

For example: put on your coat, grab the car keys, etc. Be nonchalant about it.

• When your dog does not react to these cues, go out the door and come back quickly. Repeat this over and over. Think about your individual dog and what he can handle. All dogs learn at different paces. Be creative! Think of what gets your dog anxious and work on steps to get them through it.

Remember: the key is to have successful interactions with your dog.

Be patient and do not expect them to change right away. Do not go too fast to more difficult steps unless your dog is totally comfortable.

These are suggestions that can help with any dog. Basic obedience training is very important to give dogs with anxiety structure and confidence. If they are taught appropriate behav-

The RFP is also available for download commencing Thursday, August 25, 2016 through Friday, September 30, 2016 on Parks’ website. To download the RFP, visit www.nyc.gov/parks/businessopportunities, click on the link for “Concessions Opportunities at Parks” and, after logging in, click on the “download” link that appears adjacent to the RFP’s description.

For more information, contact Glenn Kaalund, Revenue Project Manager, at (212) 360-1397. You can also email him at Glenn.Kaalund@parks.nyc.gov.

TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICE FOR THE DEAF (TDD) 212-504-4115

16

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

In Brief TRUMP CAMPAIGN PAYING MORE RENT — TO TRUMP TOWER CORP. Donald Trump’s campaign is taking up more space inside Trump Tower in New York — and paying a lot more in rent.

The Republican presidential nominee’s campaign paid $35,457 per month for rent and utilities to Trump Tower Commercial LLC between last August and this April, Federal Election Commission reports show. The payment began increasing in May and hit $169,758 last month.

The rent hike at the Manhattan skyscraper came as the Trump team expanded from using only the fifth floor to add two additional levels, according to a statement from the campaign.

“We calculated the rent based on the average rent per square foot in the area,” the statement says. It also notes that Trump made a $2 million personal donation in July, which more than covers the rent.

The Huffington Post first noted the bigger payments.

The Trump campaign tripled its rented space even though it has maintained only about 70 people on payroll, as well as a few dozen consultants, for the past several months.

“The expansion is in anticipation of more staff,” said Steven Cheung, director of Trump’s rapid response. Cheung himself is a recent hire whose salary wasn’t noted in the July reports.

Trump paid for most of his primary campaign out of his own pocket, and only began soliciting contributions in late May. Some, including Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine, noted that Trump’s switch to using donor money coincided with the campaign’s increased rental payments.

“Once donors were writing checks to the campaign, Trump said, ‘Wow, I can get more money personally out of this,’” Kaine said at a campaign stop in Denver.

He said Trump has a “what-can-the-campaign-do-for-me” ethos.

Julie Bykowicz

HASIDIC REAL ESTATE INVESTORS DOMINATE IN BROOKLYN A study by real estate news website The Real Deal has found that Hasidic investors have spent more than $2.5 billion in acquisitions in the Brooklyn area in the last decade. Despite their cultural dissimilarities with the so-called “hipster” aesthetic, Hasidic real estate moguls have had a significant hand in turning Brooklyn into the booming millennial destination it is now.

“From the second quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2016, the average apartment sales price in Williamsburg doubled — from $668,956 to $1.3 million,” the publication reported. “The Hasidic community helped create the frenzy [in Brooklyn] we have today,” Pinnacle Realty’s David Junik told The Real Deal. “They let the market explode after that.”

Mark Mauer, an editor at The Real Deal, told WNYC that he looked at buildings purchased in Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, Greenpoint and Borough Park, between January 2006 and January 2016 and discovered that most of the purchases were associated with one of 10 addresses leading back to Hasidic real estate companies. 199 Lee Avenue topped the charts at 423 deals for an estimated $583.5 million. A certain air of mystery surrounds these Hasidic investors because many do not have websites and are linked to complicated webs of LLCs. 199 Lee Avenue is associated with a stunning 1,400 of them.

ARTISTS ORGANIZE TO SAVE LANGSTON HUGHES’ HOME Writer Langston Hughes’ home on 127th Street in Harlem has sat empty for many years and is in a state of disrepair, but some artists are trying to change that. Hughes occupied the Harlem brownstone during the 1950s and ‘60s until he died in 1967. Its owner put the house on the market a few years ago for $1 million, but it didn’t sell. Real estate experts told CNN it is worth around $3 million.

Renee Watson, a writer who lives nearby, told CNN that she has started on online campaign to raise $150,000 to rent the home and convert it into a cultural center. “The more Harlem changes, the more I’m motivated to do something,” she said. “I feel a sense of urgency.” So far the campaign has raised half of its funding goal.

Though the current, unidentified owner would not comment, they have said they will wait to see how Watson’s efforts play out. According to CNN, Watson wants to host readings, events and classes in the home in order to preserve an important symbol of African-American cultural history. She hopes to be able to raise enough for a three-year lease on the building.

SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

Business

REAL ESTATE’S BUSY SUMMER Sales of very high-end condos in the city increased, as did some cheaper properties

BY FREDERICK PETERS

It has been a season of recalibration, in every way; Brexit, the two political conventions — no one quite knows what to expect. In this environment, our real estate market in New York continues to experience its complex and uneven price contraction.

In the ultra high-end condominium market, the willingness on the part of many sponsors and sellers to negotiate has brought about a resurgence in sales. While the days of buyers paying full price PLUS lawyers’ fees and transfer taxes are definitely behind us, properties with strong design and good bones trade now between 5 percent and 10 percent below their asking prices, with negotiated fees on transfer or flip taxes. These units continue to appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers because they are move-in ready; many of these purchasers, owning two or three homes or more, lack the appetite to renovate a property they may occupy for only a month or two during the year. We continue to see very high-end neutral finishes as those which sell the best. Once the color palette veers away from white or beige stone and cabinetry, and light floors, the sale becomes more challenging.

The summer has also been busy for properties under $2 million, in every borough. This segment of the market, which appeals to firsttime buyers, young professional couples and investors, still experiences more demand than supply.

Good properties all over town sell quickly, and have exhibited little to no reduction in value during the past six months. There is no summer slowdown for these units, since the buyer pool either flies in to purchase regardless of the time of year (the investors) or remains at work in the city during the summers. These mostly younger buyers are accommodated by weekday evening Open Houses, rather than just the traditional Sunday. Otherwise, this market slows not at all as the dog days of August set in.

The greatest challenges for sellers and agents alike remain in the

The Blue condominum building on the Lower East Side. Photo: Jules Antonio, via flickr mid-market and upper mid-market.

Properties between $3 million and $8 million, particularly co-ops, often linger for months and sometimes years. Sellers play broker roulette, replacing one for another when, more often than not, the broker is not the problem. The primary issue here reflects seller expectations: unlike sponsors, who must make price adjustments to facilitate sales for business reasons, individual sellers easily become emotionally attached to a price which represents validation of their choices and their taste. And not all agents give good advice. I have viewed several properties recently which, during their first six months on the market, were both unrealistically priced and not staged: a lose/lose situation.

I have read a number of articles recently lambasting the bland conformity of staged units, and I have only one response: it works! A wellstaged, well-priced property WILL sell — maybe not in a week, or even a month, but within a reasonable period of time. Remove either the

staging or proper pricing from the equation and all bets are off.

I don’t anticipate a dramatically different market in the fall. More inventory will arrive on the market, although not too much. No one lists their property speculatively in a market like this one. Real sellers, acknowledging market realities and pricing accordingly, will sell their properties, although rarely any more with multiple bids or aggressive competition. Some buyers will try to time the market, holding off for maximum purchasing power (and thereby missing the market!)

Transaction volume will continue lower than at the same time last year. The election will come and go; more certainty will raise buyer spirits, and January of 2017 should bring a busy, balanced market environment to the city.

Frederick Peters is CEO of Warburg Realty.

SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

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SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

CREATING CITY SPACES FOR ARTISTS Legislation would allow performers to rent municipal buildings afterhours

BY JENNIFER GOODNOW

Perhaps more than ever, artists trying to make it in New York City are up against the financial wall. Besides having to pay ever-increasing residential rents, they must also dole out for rehearsal, performance and exhibition spaces — and are often getting priced out.

“I know lots of artists, actors and singers who are frustrated about how hard it is to create anything due to cost of space,” said Michael Rider, a musician who lives in northern Manhattan.

Rider said securing rehearsal space can quickly sap a performer’s budget.

“Unfortunately, affordable spaces are getting harder and harder to find. Rehearsal spaces can cost as much $75100 an hour, often making it impossible for artists to hone their craft and share their talents in the city,” he said.

City officials are trying to address at least one aspect of the problem. Councilman Ben Kallos, along with several colleagues, including Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal, have introduced legislation that would permit artists or art groups to rent, at a reduced rate, city-owned or city-run spaces for after-hours rehearsals or performances.

The venues could include Beaux-Arts spaces such as Manhattan’s Surro-

The Louis J. Lefkowitz State Office Building on Centre Street could be rented out after-hours for rehearsals, performances or concerts, according to legislation now in a City Council committee. Photo: Beyond My Ken, via Wikimedia

If the City Council adopts legislation, now in committee, that would allow artists or art groups to rent city-owned or city-run spaces for rehearsals and performances, concerts could take place in the Tweed Courthouse’s rotunda and inside several other stately buildings. Photo: Walter Snalling Jr., via Wikimedia

gate’s Court lobby, which rises three stories and whose marble staircase and other features recall Paris’ Palais Garnier Opera House. The Tweed Courthouse on Chambers Street and the Marriage Bureau in the Louis Lefkowitz Building on Centre Street could also become available.

The idea is to keep artists in the city, said Kallos, who is chairman of the Committee on Governmental Operations, which has oversight over the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

“We can better serve our New Yorkers if we make government property open to them for community meeting and performance spaces to invest in our communities and the arts,” Kallos said in a statement, “Performance and meeting spaces are in high demand as the few that remain get displaced with new development, eliminating opportunities for artists and communities to congregate.”

A few decades ago, artists could find and flock to low-rent neighborhoods, whether in SoHo, the Lower East Side and even, for a time, Greenwich Village in Manhattan. There was also Brooklyn.

The irony, though, was that their presence would then help turn unde-

We can better serve our New Yorkers if we make government property open to them for community meeting and performance spaces to invest in our communities and the arts...” sirable and even derelict neighborhoods into acceptable and, in time, cool, trendy — and expensive — destinations.

Now, as with the rest of the city, outer borough neighborhoods that were once affordable are swiftly pricing out of the marketplace for struggling artists. The city used to be a thriving arts mecca, but high rents are driving away the creative class. Some artists are leaving the city for upstate towns such as Woodstock and Kingston. Others leave the state and even the coun-

try in search of places amenable to artists both culturally and financially.

Edson Scheid, a Juilliard graduate and classical violinist, is hopeful the legislation could make it easier for performers to live, and make a living, in New York.

“What a great way to make use of city spaces during after-hours! As artists, we always look for opportunities to perform and share the music that we love with audiences,” he said.

“This initiative would be a wonderful resource for us, and would offer audience members additional opportunities to attend cultural events.”

Kallos conferred with the League of Independent Theaters of New York to help come up with the legislation, which has been introduced to the Committee on Governmental Operations. Should it be enacted, the Citywide Administrative Services Department would then be tasked with coming up with a pricing scheme.

Other considerations, such as security, would also be reviewed.

“New York City is home to a vibrant community of artists and performers,” Rosenthal said in a statement.

“By giving them access to City spaces at an affordable rate, we can help the creative community thrive.”

SEPTEMBER 1-7,2016

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KIDS’ PEACEFUL SUMMER ON THE UPPER WEST SIDE Executive director of Kids Creative on his arts programming

animal. He became an animal and then realized he really just wanted to go back to his family, so he went back to his family. The older kids created an entire land called Sumria where there were mermaid people who got sucked into a portal and got to meet this underground world where they were free. But there was a corporate interest that wanted to sell the animals at the aquarium. So they had to go back and forth where they convinced the corporate interest that they should have the right to be free.

Adam Jacobs fosters an atmosphere of peace at his summer camps. “We have a rule that if you’re on the playground and somebody is sitting out, you have to go ask them if they want to join you and play,” he explained.

His nonprofit, Kids Creative, came about in 2000, when he and his brother Stephen started a camp in a studio apartment in Murray Hill. Because of popular demand from parents, they expanded to a theater on the Upper West Side and also introduced an afterschool program and free monthly workshops.

The summer camp runs in two-week sessions where children brainstorm to create an original musical and perform it on stage. With a master’s degree in Peace Education from Teachers’ College, Jacobs said his goal is to use the arts as a vehicle to establish a peaceful community without fighting and bullying. As for his future plans, he hopes to launch a Kids Creative school centered on peace.

How do you encourage the children to act peacefully?

We encourage them to use language where if someone is teasing them, they say, ‘Hey, I didn’t like that.’ Or even what we call fake teasing, when somebody says, ‘I’m just kidding.’

That’s not allowed at Kids Creative.

We do see kids use that language and our teachers use it with each other.

We have one kid who started the camp when he was 5 and is now in seventh grade. He comes to our Creative Saturday workshops and does an amazing job when somebody new comes in.

He goes up and says, “Hey, welcome.

What’s your name?’

How did Kids Creative start?

When he came to New York many years ago, my brother Stephen got a job in P.S. 116 in Murray Hill and was doing afterschool. He is a musician so would play with kids. He called me up and said, ‘Hey, would you want to start a summer camp?’ And he found a friend’s vacant studio apartment at the time. So we had 12 kids in a studio apartment around Murray Hill. And over the course of two weeks, wrote an original musical. One of the parents was a recording engineer, so to get the kids to remember their words, he recorded the music. And then all his friends who are musicians joined in too and gave them CDs so they could remember them. It became really popular and parents were like, ‘We love the music and the kids keep playing the CDs over and over even after the shows are done. We want more.’ So we started having afterschool programs and then we realized that running a camp out of a studio apartment is absolutely insane, so we moved to a theater the next year and eventually moved the whole summer program to the Upper West Side and then it expanded from there.

There are a lot of projects that have come out of that.

Kids Creative runs summer camps, afterschool programs and free monthly workshops throughout the year. We’re a nonprofit organization.

We also started a rock band for kids called the Dirty Sock Funtime Band.

We played all over the world. We were on Nick Jr. for a while and that was pretty awesome. And a couple

You run free workshops on Saturdays.

Why is it important for you to provide those?

It’s important because it’s a preview to the summer camp if they want to know more about what they’re getting into. It’s a chance for somebody to check it out. There are not that many free offerings, especially on the Upper West Side, for kids. There are a lot of classes, but we think this is a great opportunity to see what we do regardless of price.

You also helped found a public school in the Bronx. How did you get involved with that?

We helped start P.S. 536. Somebody I met at P.S. 191 said she wanted to start a school and got a principal’s license. The process is really interesting and quite intense. I came in as an advisor for afterschool. We looked at everything from what the curriculum would be, to what the daily schedule would be. And now we run a 550-kid program there now, 350 in the afterschool program and 200 during the summer.

Stephen Jacobs, left, and Adam Jacobs. Photo: Hank Jacobs of years ago, Stephen used a similar philosophy of education and started an instrumental program in Midtown called Come Join the Band. And that is now our summer camp instrumental music program.

What does a day look like at your summer camp?

There are two-week sessions. Every two weeks, we write an original musical and perform it. They’re broken into different age groups. On day one we

ask, ‘What do you want to do a story about?’ We brainstorm using our motto that all ideas are good. And each day they build on that until they’ve gotten a show. So they add music, theater, art, staging and we put the shows on stage. They spend mornings creating their play and then run around in the park and sprinklers in the afternoon.

Once a week, they go on a field trip to see theater, a concert, to the zoo or the Museum of Natural History.

Give us examples of the plays they’ve created.

Each show day has five shows per day since each age group creates their own show. There was one the little kids did where all the stories were either in or around an aquarium. They had a kid who went to an aquarium. He got really interested and excited about the animals and ended up meeting them and having a conversation with them and decided he wanted to become an

To learn more, visit www.kidscreative.

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