Our Town Downtown - September 15, 2016

Page 1

The local paper for Downtown wn

2016

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER

DOTTY AWA R D S

15-21

DOTTY: DOWNTOWN OUR TOWN THANKS YOU

2016

P. 9 FOR AWARD WINNERS

ON THE GO? CITI BIKE OFFERS VALET SERVICE If it proves popular enough, the pilot program at several locations will continue until Nov. 4 BY BIANCA FORTIS

Cyclists zipping in and out of the busy Citi Bike docking station at Chambers and West Streets will have an easier time picking up and leaving their bikes. Citi Bike will offer valet service at its station at the bustling intersection in Battery Park City, located under the Tribeca Bridge. Valet service helps with the rebalancing off bikes in high-volume areas

where there may not be enough bicycles available at the busiest times of the day, a spokeswoman from Motivate, Citi Bike’s operator, said. Valet attendants be on hand weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The location is one of more than a dozen high volume stations that offer valet service throughout Manhattan. The pilot program for the station began on Aug. 29 and will run through Oct. 7. If successful, it will continue until Nov. 4. “This location, right along the greenway and next to a neighborhood with such vibrant residential, commercial

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

A Citi Bike valet station downtown. Photo: Billie Grace Ward, via flickr

PIER 55 PROJECT GETS COURT’S OK The 2.7-acre park’s opponents, citing continued concern with environmental consequences, will appeal

BY MICAH DANNEY

Construction of the planned Hudson River Park cultural pier off West 13th Street can continue after a court last week dismissed objections over its environmental impact. “We are grateful for the court’s decision and are pleased to be back on our fall construction schedule, which will make Pier 55 a reality for all New YorkDowntowner

OurTownDowntown

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Crime Watch Out & About Voices City Arts

3 6 8 21

Business 15 Minutes

24 25

WEEK OF APRIL

SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12

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

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

9-16

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

2015

In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS

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

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

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

n OurTownDowntow

COM

Newscheck Crime Watch Voices

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

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

12 13 14 18

CONTINUED ON PAGE

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ers,” Sam Spokony, a spokesperson for the project, said in a statement. Opponents of the project, though, said they would appeal. Pier 55 is a planned tree-lined 2.7acre public park with three performance venues that will sit on piles in the Hudson River off West 13th Street. It is a project of the Hudson River Park Trust and media mogul Barry Diller, who is footing most of the $200 million bill. Nine piles of the planned 550 were installed last month, and the project is expected to be completed in 2019. The civic group City Club of New York

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

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CITI BIKE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and retail means the West and Chambers Citi Bike station sees high traffic throughout the day,� Citi Bike General Manager Jules Flynn said in a statement. “We’re delighted to bring Citi Bike valet service to this bustling area.� Residents as well as tourists use the West and Chambers Streets location, a spokesperson said. There are two valet attendants who work during rush hour and one during the middle of the day, according to information provided by New York City-based Motivate, which also operates bike-share programs throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia. Valet attendants are recruit-

ed in a variety of ways, including through Workforce1, community-based organizations, e-blasts to community boards and elected officials. There are 53 valets citywide. There are four other stations throughout the 92 acres of Battery Park City but the West and Chambers location is the second-busiest station in the entire city. During July, riders made more than 27,000 trips to or from the station. Pershing Square near Grand Central Terminal is the busiest. That location and several Citi Bike stations, including at Penn Station, Port Authority and the Hudson Ferry Terminal, also have valets. Citi Bike is the largest bike share program in the U.S. with riders breaking the ridership record twice earlier this month, hitting the 60,000 ride

threshold on Sept. 7, and then breaking it the next day, when there were 61,266 rides. “This bike valet service shows that commuting by bike is more popular than ever in New York City — and now it can be easier, too,� Caroline Samponaro, deputy director of Transportation Alternatives, said. “The West Side Greenway is a great place to ride, and we look forward to more people in Battery Park City and beyond giving Citi Bike a try.� When Citi Bike launched in May 2013, there were 6,000 bicycles and 332 stations. Today there are 8,000 bikes and 565 locations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and Jersey City. There are plans to expand to 12,000 bikes by the end of 2017. In just 2015, Citi Bike riders took more than 10 million trips.

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3

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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

Year to Date

2016 2015

% Change

2016

2015

% Change

Murder

0

0

n/a

0

1

-100.0

Rape

0

1

-100.0

9

5

80.0

Robbery

1

2

-50.0

44

40

10.0

Felony Assault

3

3

0.0

52

54

-3.7

Burglary

0

1

-100.0

87

92

-5.4

Grand Larceny

22

19

15.8

704

714

-1.4

Grand Larceny Auto

1

1

0.0

40

15

166.7

Tony Webster, via flickr

MADONE GROAN

RANE PAIN

CHARLTON RIPOFF

UNLUCKY 7

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

At least a bike thief left a woman the bike chain. At 1:49 p.m. on Sept. 5, a woman returned to the spot where she had parked her bike in front of 58 Macdougal St. to find her ride was gone. She had chained the vehicle to a sign pole, but all that was left there now was the chain. The stolen bike was a white-and-blue Trek Madone valued at $1,800.

A car thief wrecked the vibe for a DJ from Albany. At 1:33 a.m. on Sept. 4, an Albany resident parked his black 2004 Nissan Pathfinder Armada in front of 37 King St. When he returned at 4:30 a.m., the driver’s-side rear window had been smashed and a number of items taken from the vehicle. The items stolen included Yamaha speakers valued at $2,250, a Denon DJ controller priced at $1,000 and several other electronics. In total, he told police that about $4,500 worth of equipment was taken from the car.

Police suggest that owners of desirable motorcycles consider covering their parked vehicles to hide these tempting targets from thieves. At 9 a.m. on Aug. 30, a Queens man parked his 2016 BMW S1000RR opposite 108 Charlton St. When he returned at 5 p.m., his bike was gone. Police searched the area but could not find the stolen motorcycle or the thief. The stolen bike is worth about $15,000.

Beware of cell phone thieves zooming around on bicycles! At 9:20 p.m. on Sept. 2, a 29-year-old Grand Street resident was walking on the northeast corner of Grand and Thompson Streets when two 20-year-old men rode up on bikes and snatched his Samsung Edge S7 out of his hand. Police searched the area but could not locate the phone or the thieves. The phone had no tracking capability. The phone is valued at $700.

A Queens resident took a fall but kept her purse. At 4:10 p.m. on Sept. 2, a 52-year-old resident of the borough was walking with her daughter on Wooster Street when an unknown man pushed her to the ground. He tried to take her bag, causing pain and bruising to her left elbow and shoulder, but was unsuccessful. Police scanned the area but could not find the thug.

lower manhattan has many landmarks. but only one hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital. Just two blocks southeast of City Hall at 170 William Street.

nyp.org/lowermanhattan

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SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

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Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct

19 ½ Pitt St.

212-477-7311

NYPD 6th Precinct

233 W. 10th St.

212-741-4811

NYPD 10th Precinct

230 W. 20th St.

212-741-8211

NYPD 13th Precinct

230 E. 21st St.

NYPD 1st Precinct

16 Ericsson Place

212-477-7411 212-334-0611

FIRE FDNY Engine 15

25 Pitt St.

311

FDNY Engine 24/Ladder 5

227 6th Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 28 Ladder 11

222 E. 2nd St.

311

FDNY Engine 4/Ladder 15

42 South St.

311

ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin

165 Park Row #11

Councilmember Rosie Mendez

237 1st Ave. #504

212-587-3159 212-677-1077

Councilmember Corey Johnson

224 W. 30th St.

212-564-7757

State Senator Daniel Squadron

250 Broadway #2011

212-298-5565

Community Board 1

1 Centre St., Room 2202

212-669-7970

Community Board 2

3 Washington Square Village

212-979-2272

Community Board 3

59 E. 4th St.

212-533-5300

Community Board 4

330 W. 42nd St.

212-736-4536

Hudson Park

66 Leroy St.

212-243-6876

Ottendorfer

135 2nd Ave.

212-674-0947

Elmer Holmes Bobst

70 Washington Square

212-998-2500

COMMUNITY BOARDS

LIBRARIES

One of the flags flown at ground zero following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks has returned to the site following a roundabout, decade-long trip. Photo: Andrea Booher/ FEMA News Photo

HOSPITALS New York-Presbyterian

170 William St.

Mount Sinai-Beth Israel

10 Union Square East

212-844-8400

212-312-5110

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

TIME WARNER

46 East 23rd

813-964-3839

US Post Office

201 Varick St.

212-645-0327

US Post Office

128 East Broadway

212-267-1543

US Post Office

93 4th Ave.

212-254-1390

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FLAG RAISED AT GROUND ZERO RETURNS TO SITE AFTER JOURNEY The iconic Start and Stripes, raised by three firefighters following the September 2001 attacks, had a roundabout journey BY JENNIFER PELTZ

An American flag raised at ground zero on Sept. 11 in a defining moment of patriotic resolve took its place at the site last week after disappearing for over a decade. The 3-foot-by-5-foot flag took a symbolic and curious journey from a yacht moored in lower Manhattan to the smoking wreckage of the World Trade Center, then to a firehouse about 2,400 miles away in Everett, Washington — and now to a glass case at the National Sept. 11 Museum. A TV show, a mysterious man and two years of detective work helped reestablish its whereabouts. “In a museum that’s filled with such deeply powerful artifacts, this newest of artifacts is certainly one of the most emo-

tionally and historically powerful,” the museum’s president, Joe Daniels, said as the display was unveiled on Sept. 8, three days before the 15th anniversary of the terror attacks. The flag’s absence, he said, “just felt like a hole in the history of this site.” The flag is the centerpiece of one of the most resonant images of American fortitude on 9/11. After plucking the flag from a nearby boat, three firefighters hoisted it amid the ashen destruction as photographer Thomas E. Franklin of The Record of Hackensack, New Jersey, captured the scene. The photograph inspired a postage stamp, sculpture and other tributes. Meanwhile, the flag was signed by New York’s governor and two mayors and flown at Yankee Stadium, outside City Hall and on an aircraft carrier near Afghanistan _ except it wasn’t the right flag. It was bigger, and by 2004, the yacht’s owners had publicly broached the error.

By then, officials had no idea what had happened to the real flag. They were in the dark until November 2014, when a man turned up at an Everett fire station with what is now the museum’s flag, saying he’d seen a recent History channel piece about the mystery, according to Everett Police detective Mike Atwood and his former colleague Jim Massingale. The man, who gave firefighters only the name “Brian,” said he’d gotten it as a gift from an unnamed National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration worker who’d gotten it from an unidentified 9/11 widow. The detectives gathered surveillance video and circulated a police sketch, but they haven’t found the man or been able to confirm his explanation of the flag’s provenance. DNA tests of material found on electrical tape wrapped around the flag’s halyard didn’t match the firefighters or other people known to have handled the flag.

But a forensic expert analyzed dust on the flag and halyard and found it consistent with ground zero debris. Meanwhile, the detectives scrutinized photos and videos of the flag-raising and consulted one of the yacht’s former crew members to compare the flag’s size, material, stitching, hardware and halyard. Taking all the evidence together, “we feel it’s very likely the one captured in the photo,” said Massingale, now with the Stillaguamish Police Department on the Stillaguamish Tribe’s reservation in Washington. The yacht’s owners, Shirley Dreifus and the late Spiros E. Kopelakis, were so surprised when first told the flag might have resurfaced that Kopelakis wondered whether the call was a prank, Dreifus said. She and Chubb insurance donated the flag to the museum. A documentary about the flag’s recovery aired Sunday on History.

SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

PIER 55 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 has opposed the project on the grounds that it could hurt the environment, and filed a lawsuit asking the court to halt work and order a more detailed environmental impact study. In dismissing the lawsuit, the state’s Appellate Division ruled that the trust took a “hard lookâ€? at possible adverse effects of the project. The court also ruled in favor of Pier 55’s design, which is outside the historical footprint of the decrepit Pier 54, which it will replace. The court cited the legislature’s authorization of “an entirely new, redesigned structureâ€? in its decision. Richard Emery, City Club’s attorney, said the ruling had “vast implicationsâ€? and could undermine environmental protections associated with future major projects. The group’s lawsuit cited the project’s impact on the view, ďŹ sh, crowding, traffic, noise and the cumulative effect of construction of Pier 55 and of the Pier 57 Google office complex nearby. Emery said he would ask the state Court of Appeals to hear the case. He is also preparing a federal challenge to the Army

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com Corps of Engineers’ permit. “A monster project like this just simply shouldn’t be allowed without full environmental protections which the public deserve before we hand over almost three acres of water, and in fact land, to private interests to use as an entertainment venue as they see ďŹ t, or pretty much totally under their control,â€? he said. Michael Gruen, president of the City Club of New York, said he was disappointed in the ruling but hopes to prevail. “The case remains a good one, as it always has been, and sometimes you just have to wait for the top court in the state to get the right decision,â€? he said. Rob Buchanan, another plaintiff in the case, is a rowing and sailing teacher who has boated in the area where Pier 55 is being built. He said that every embayment and cove is useful to boaters trying to get out of the current. He also said he was concerned about the precedent the park’s construction would set. “I wish that people would take the idea of building in the river a little more seriously,â€? Buchanan said. “The river is not real estate. Just because there’s an open space between

two piers doesn’t mean it’s okay to build in it.â€? Buchanan said he was disappointed that environmental groups have not made opposition to Pier 55 more of a priority. “We say collectively, as a city, that we’re planning collectively for the future, for resiliency and for smart growth, and that would seem to me to mean that you start to pull back from the edges and start to really respect the waterway instead of build on it — and I just think this is a backwards step,â€? he said. Michael Gerrard, an environmental lawyer who served as counsel to the Pier 55 project, praised the court for clearing an obstacle to “a terriďŹ c assetâ€? to the city. Gerrard described the environmental review as extensive, saying it went beyond what the law required, and said the projected impact was minimal. He said the proposed design would be better for marine life than the existing pier. “It’s elevated and would allow much more light to reach the water — the sub-surface — so compared to a standard pier that lies close above the water, it’s superior,â€? Gerrard said.

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Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or Dementia is relentless, exhausting work. And yet, in the absence of an effective therapy or cure, effective care remains the best therapy. That is why, for over thirty years, CaringKind, The Heart of Alzheimer’s Caregiving (formerly known as the Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter) has focused on developing and delivering programs and services that ease the burden of a dementia caregiver, which benefits the caregiver – either family or professional, the person with the disease and their family. CaringKind staff see people, not a disease. Education and training programs and social work services help ease the emotional, physical, psychological and financial burden of managing the disease, while treating each individual and family with dignity and compassion. CaringKind’s programs include social work services, education programs, caregiver workshops, caregiver support groups, culturally sensitive outreach initiatives, cultural arts programs, training programs for medical professionals and home health aides, specialized programs for individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and earlystage dementia and the MedicAlert NYC program provides resources to protect those who wander. CaringKind is a community of people, not just a network of resources. Over the past three decades, CaringKind has developed extraordinary long-term relationships with their community partners in the five boroughs including medical centers, researchers, long-term care facilities, home health services, the clergy, government officials, and the philanthropic community. Most important, CaringKind is creating a world where the stigma of an Alzheimer’s or dementia diagnosis no longer forces families to retreat, but helps them to reach out and ask for help. It’s never too early – or too late – to talk about Alzheimer’s support. Trained staff can help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 646-744-2900 and, like so many others, you will be glad you did. Visit www.caringkindnyc.org for additional information.

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Fri 16 AUSTRIAN CULTURAL FORUM TRAVEL DIARIES

Thu 15 ‘CHELSEA GIRLS’ — 50TH ANNIVERSARY 16MM SCREENING ▲ Jefferson Market Library, 425 Avenue of the Americas 8:30 p.m. Exactly 50 years after the film’s premiere “Chelsea Girls” will be shown as Andy Warhol originally intended — on two 16mm projectors running side by side! 212-243-4334

NY WORKING FAMILIES GALA Cooper Union Great Hall, 7 East Seventh St. 6-9 p.m. $10+ donation Visit the Cooper Union Great Hall to hear keynote speaker Bernie Sanders speak at the Working Families Party’s 18th Annual Gala 212-353-4185. www.facebook.com/ events/720888751383206/

6 p.m. $10 cover The Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St. Edith Lettner and Beate Reiermann bring an intersectional night of Austrian jazz by combining their inspiration through travel, study and performance 212-989-9319, www. corneliastreetcafe.com

MOON FESTIVAL COCKTAIL FEAST The Bowery Hotel, 335 Bowery 9 p.m. $50 general admission; $88 VIP Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival at the Bowery Hotel while sipping on Asian ingredient-inspired cocktails 212-505-9100. www. theboweryhotel.com

SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Tues 20

THIS WEEK AT THE RUBIN MUSEUM

LOWER MANHATTAN TOUR

Sat 17 ‘THE NICE GUYS’ Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street 2 p.m. Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is a down-on-his-luck private eye in 1977 Los Angeles in this 2016 feature by Shane Black. Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) is a hired enforcer who hurts people for a living. 212-243-6876

DICHTERLIEBE/DIVINE BITCHES The Kitchen, 512 West 19th St. Sept. 16 & 17, 8 p.m. $20 Featuring texts by Emily Sundblad and Juliana Huxtable, an erotic and elegiac collage operetta punctuated by original songs, lieder from Robert Schumann’s song cycle Dichterliebe, and current hits rearranged (by Pete Drungle) as classical choral compositions. Huxtable is only performing on Sept. 17. 212-255-5793. www. thekitchen.org/events

BĂ‚TARD TASTING AT THE WEEK â–˛ Bâtard, 239 West Broadway 12:30-3 p.m., 6:30-9 p.m. $125 lunch and cooking class; $150 dinner/curated tasting menu Meet and speak with Markus Glocker, the chef of Michelin Star restaurant Bâtard, while tasting a variety of his awardwinning recipes 212-219-2777. www. batardtribeca.com

Free Tours by Foot, 26 Wall St. 9:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Pay what you want Learn the history of the lower city by joining the tour that covers everywhere from the Trinity Chapel to the New York Stock Exchange. 646-450-6831. www. freetoursbyfoot.com

DAN SLATER IN CONVERSATION WITH DAVID SAMUELS The Half King, 505 West 23rd St. 7 p.m. Slater discusses his new book, “Wolf Boys: Two American Teenagers and Mexico’s Most Dangerous Drug Cartel,� with essayist Samuels. 212-462-4300. www. thehalfking.com/

Mon 19 Wed 21 ANDY PUDDICOMBE BOOK SIGNING

FARM FRESH FOOD PICK UP

Tribeca Barnes & Noble, 97 Warren St. 6-8 p.m. Free with Puddicombe book purchase Engage in a discussion with Andy Puddicombe about his third book, “The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness,� and stay afterwards to get your book signed. 212-587-5389. www. barnesandnoble.com

MRG.NYC, 125 Maiden Lane 3-5 p.m. Free Find and network with a community of food-minded people when you check out and buy fresh produce at the MRG. NYC Financial District office 646-844-4181. mrg.nyc

NIGHT OF LAUGHTER

Sun 18

Greenwich Village Comedy Club, 99 MacDougal St. 9:45 p.m. $22 Join James Mattern, Elsa FIRST OKTOBERFEST Waithe and many more for 2016 WEEKEND a night of laughter at the Greenwich Village Comedy Club Pier 15, South Street Seaport 212-777-5233. www. Noon. Free, general greenwichvillagecomedyclub. admission; $60, two-hour beer com tasting Celebrate the ďŹ rst of three consecutive weekends of OktoberFest at the Watermark Bar 212-742-8200. www. watermarkny.com

NEW EXHIBITION OPENING FRIDAY Monumental Lhasa: Fortress, Palace, Temple Experience Tibet’s most renowned architectural sites through historical and FRQWHPSRUDU\ H\HV ZLWK PRUH WKDQ ÀIW\ UDUH GUDZLQJV SDLQWLQJV DQG SKRWRJUDSKV WKDW VKRZ KRZ ODQGPDUNV KDYH VKDSHG WKH LGHQWLW\ RI /KDVD IRU FHQWXULHV Free Curator-Led Tour Friday, September 16 7:30–8:30 PM Curator Natasha Kimmet and special guest art historian Brid Arthur will OHDG DQ RSHQLQJ QLJKW WRXU RI WKH H[KLELWLRQ /HDUQ PRUH DERXW NH\ 7LEHWDQ monuments and the architectural ODQGPDUNV WKDW EHFDPH SRZHUIXO YLVXDO LFRQV RI /KDVD WKH KRO\ FDSLWDO RI 7LEHW

YOGA RETREAT Artful Practice: An Urban Yoga Retreat Saturday, September 17 11:00 AM–6:00 PM $ IXOO GD\ RI ZRUNVKRSV DQG FODVVHV with leading teachers and artists in the \RJD FRPPXQLW\

RUBIN MUSEUM CHALLENGE :KDW LV WKH QDPH RI WKLV structure, which is considered the most sacred temple in Tibet? Visit Monumental Lhasa and email the answer to marketingcommunications@ UXELQPXVHXP RUJ IRU D FKDQFH WR ZLQ IUHH DGPLVVLRQ

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FAMILY PROGRAMS Free Family Sunday Sunday, September 18 ² 30 )DPLOLHV FDQ GURS LQWR WKH 5XELQ IRU FDVXDO DUW PDNLQJ WRXUV DQG IUHH IDPLO\ IULHQGO\ DFWLYLWLHV GHVLJQHG IRU FKLOGUHQ DJHV DQG XS ZLWK DFFRPSDQ\LQJ DGXOWV I am Yoga with Susan Verde Sunday, September 18 ² 30 Come practice yoga poses and explore WKH EHQHĂ€WV RI NLGV¡ \RJD ZLWK DXWKRU and yoga instructor Susan Verde as VKH UHDGV IURP KHU ERRN I Am Yoga 9LHZ RI /KDVD GHWDLO SXEOLVKHG LQ :LOOLDP :RRGYLOOH Rockhill’s Tibet: A Geographical, Ethnographical, and Historical Sketch, Derived from Chinese Sources /RQGRQ 5R\DO $VLDWLF 6RFLHW\ LOOXVWUDWHG IROLR ERXQG LQ ERRN FRPSULVLQJ OLEUDU\ ELQGLQJ DQG SDSHU 7KRPDV - :DWVRQ /LEUDU\ 0HWURSROLWDQ 0XVHXP RI $UW 5 _ 3RVVLEO\ 6LU &KDUOHV %HOO %ULWLVK ² Jokhang with Gilded Roofs; /KDVD 7LEHW FD ² EODFN DQG ZKLWH SULQW IURP SRVWFDUG VL]H JODVV SODWH QHJDWLYH 7KH %ULWLVK /LEUDU\ %HOO &ROOHFWLRQ 3KRWRV RI 7LEHW DQG 6LNNLP 3 VHULHV 3KRWR

MOTOREXPO AT BROOKFIELD PLACE BrookďŹ eld Place, 230 Vesey St. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free Check out all the latest vehicles on display at the New York Motorexpo that spans the whole week 212-417-7000. www. motorexpo.com

Free K2 Friday Night Friday, September 16 6:00–10:00 PM Free museum admission every Friday QLJKW ZLWK KDSS\ KRXU IURP ² 7:00pm, a special pan-Asian tapas PHQX URWDWLQJ '-V DQG SURJUDPV

THE RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART 150 WEST 17TH STREET NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10011 RUBINMUSEUM.ORG

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SAT/SUN

11:00 AM–5:00 PM CLOSED 11:00 AM–9:00 PM 11:00 AM–5:00 PM 11:00 AM–10:00 PM 11:00 AM–6:00 PM

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SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Voices

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

STOPPING ALCOHOL-FUELED VIOLENCE BY BETTE DEWING

“Except for drunk driving, the alcohol factor is seldom indicted in violent disputes, assaults and other crimes of violence. Also suicide, But all that deserves another column or volume.� This from my recent “Olympian Lessons of the Very First Kind� column is now most tragically and immediately kept by the stabbing death late last month of Anthony Nazaire, the 19-year-old Ithaca College student from Brooklyn. It happened during a brawl at a fraternity party. Thankfully, another stabbing victim student will survive. Unlike Anthony’s loved ones, his family will be spared a heartbreaking and enduring loss. And the words of Anthony’s distraught family need to be stressed and public-

ly remembered and especially at Ithaca College: “the pain this person has caused this family is unbelievable.â€? Again, this enduring and unimaginable pain must get out and stay out there – to offer comfort and support, but above all, to help prevent such crimes — to stop the alcohol overuse which triggers these abominable – actions done “under-theinuence.â€? Recall also how Anthony was a second-year business administration student on a full scholarship to the university. So much to be remembered how a serious student and a caring person like Anthony can be a victim of all-too-commonplace campus drunkenness. It should not be given a pass — especially in “places of higher learning.â€? Indeed, required courses on

the myriad dangers of alcohol use and to physical health, as well as on how younger brains can be permanently damaged by early binge drinking, are all long overdue. Older brains can also lose debilitating volume by longtime, everyday and even relatively moderate drinking; even more so when it’s immoderate. Yes, there are studies that most unfortunately are rarely noted by neurologists. And I’m getting sidetracked again from the original promise to expose the too-little-acknowledged link between alcohol and antisocial and criminal actions, which again would likely not take place were the person sober. We all know about DWI — driving while intoxicated — but not about other lawless or anti-social actions commit-

Matt Baran, via ickr

ted while intoxicated — under the influence of a drug which disables the brain’s judgment/ conscience center. This is not to excuse such behavior but to help prevent it. The facts need to become common knowledge. Consider these few statistics from the National Institute of Alcohol and Drug Abuse regarding college students aged 18 to 24: • 1,825 died from alcohol related unintentional injuries, including vehicular crashes. • 696,000 students are assaulted by another student who has been drinking, • 97,006 students report alcohol-related sexual assaults or date rape As you know, mothers of victims organized the now-wellknown group Mothers Against

Drunk Driving group (MADD). A group against drunk violence is just as needed. Ah, but the overall need is an all-out movement against irresponsible drinking, which statistics show is a factor in so many homicides, physical assaults, including the sexual kind, domestic abuse and neglect and suicide – not to mention and just highly regrettable non-violent and risk-taking behavior. Another story which appeared in the same edition as the Anthony Nazaire news piece was titled, “Bloody Sunday 13 Shot, Two Dead.� No doubt, alcohol was involved in this street gang-related violence which should also be stopped – the alcohol trigger should be denounced along with gun and gang violence. Whatever happened to Harlem Mothers Against Violence? Again, Alcoholics Anonymous group’s number is 212647-1680. dewingbetter@aol.com

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS GRAYING NEW YORK BY MARCIA EPSTEIN

My apartment is now home to three senior citizens on medication; me, my partner John, and our cat Simone. Recently, Simone was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and takes

two pills a day. There are lots and lots of pills in our apartment, all taken at different times of the day. So now we not only have to remember when to take our own medication, we have to remember when to give Simone hers. Pills, pills everywhere. Such is senior life. Every summer John takes me to Eisenhower Park on Long Island to the batting range. I

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am the only granny there, and I try to go when the cages and benches are free. I don’t mind being an eccentric old lady, but I don’t particularly want an audience for this activity. I played softball when I was young, before it was “inâ€? for girls to be athletic. And even today, I ďŹ nd conventional exercise excruciatingly boring and avoid gyms like the plague, but love my weekly pingpong game and still enjoy my yearly test of my batting skills. So on Labor Day weekend, there I was swinging away, hitting nearly every one of the 20 balls I paid $6 for and feeling good about myself. As we walked away from the batting cages, a young man in his 20s approached me and said, “Good hitting.â€? I was mortified that he’d been watching and said, “I’m a bit embarrassed to be the only old lady out here.â€? He replied, “Don’t be embarrassed, be proud.â€? And suddenly I felt as though the

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

whole of Yankee Stadium had stood up and cheered for me. I thanked the young man and walked away feeling ‌ proud. A fan club! How about that. A good friend of mine was about to be scammed on a web dating site. I say about to be because after she talked to me and some other friends, the red flags were obvious. The man contacted her, started writing long and detailed emails about himself and his life, and indicated that he was interested in a deep and meaningful relationship. My own bells were ringing: Too soon, too much too soon.â€? They were emailing and speaking on the phone several times a day, and of course my friend was excited. But when I and others expressed skepticism (unwillingly, as I didn’t want to be wrong and I didn’t want to be a downer), my friend began to do research about these scammers, and the proďŹ le was just too perfect for

comfort. Too serious too soon; an accent that didn’t match his so-called place of upbringing; lots of unanswered questions, lots of lovely attery, and ďŹ nally, a trip to a foreign country for some business. My friend spoke to a Verizon representative who asked her questions that were right on target for scammers, and his phone turned out to be a throw-away ip top. The Verizon rep said that this was very common and that she should block her numbers. “Lizâ€? chose not to hang on and wait until he asked for money; she just listened to the rep and had her numbers blocked. I might have waited and chewed him out, but she wanted no part of that. “Lizâ€? is sadder but wiser. It turns out that dating websites do give out information about what to be careful about with on-line dating. Some of the other red ags are excuses not to meet in person, talking about traumas in their present life,

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

having no photos (though some scammers use phony pictures of very good looking people) and giving a bio full of extraordinary accomplishments. Both men and women can be scammers. There’s no shortness of evil in either sex. The key is to listen to your gut instinct. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. For those who have met wonderful men on dating websites, including myself, I just want to say that it’s possible and that the scammers ruin it for everyone. May the eas of a thousand camels be inflicted on these creeps. A new, age-friendly New York City website is coming soon from The New York Academy of Medicine with updated resources for New Yorkers to make New York a great place to grow older and inspire agefriendly practices in other cities around the world. Check out info@nyam.org.

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

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DOTTY AWA R D S Our Town Downtown is proud once again to present the “Our Town Downtown Thanks You” Awards (DOTTYs). The DOTTYs recognize some remarkable people who work tirelessly, selflessly and too often thanklessly to improve the neighborhood and our city. This year’s awardees and the profiles of them on the following pages highlight an extraordinary collection of men and women across a broad range of interests and accomplishments. Thanks to all who strive to make downtown a better place to live and work. The DOTTYs express our gratitude .

Jeanne Straus, President & Publisher

Jake Dell

Niall O’Shaugnessy

Lou DiPalo

Victor J. Papa

Tom Frambach

Lisa Ripperger

Brett Littman

Elissa Schein

Profiles by Genia Gould

Rev. Dr. William Lupfer

Debra Simon

Daniel Squadron

Pat Moore

Kathryn Wylde

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SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

IN THE CENTER OF IT ALL Daniel Squadron can go from ‘hyperlocal’ to global on issues

Jake Dell took over Katz’s at age 23. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva

AT KATZ’S DELI, MAINTAINING A TRADITION Jake Dell brings new energy to iconic eatery Jake Dell at 29 is the youngest owner of the famous Katz’s Delicatessen on the Lower East Side. But his business has been around since 1888. And it’s still serving the classic, piledhigh pastrami and corned beef sandwiches on rye, knishes and hot dogs, among a host of Jewish deli meats. In late 2009, at the tender age of 23, Dell happily took the reins of the business operations. He describes Katz’s as a specific snapshot of a tradition: “The same way that The Tenement Museum shows what living conditions were like, we get to show what eating conditions were like. I get to show what a food culture that was so important and so much a part of the everyday life here on the Lower East Side was like.” He knows many New Yorkers have an emotional attachment to Katz’s. “If you go into a place that looks, smells, sounds, the exact same as the first time you came to it,” Dell says, “you connect back to that original place and then you want to share that moment, share that experience with loved ones.”

During Hurricane Sandy, one of the first major crises that Dell had to respond to, the neighborhood had no electrical power and people were having trouble buying food. All the supermarket shelves were cleared out. Hamilton Fish Recreation Center on Avenue C, Dell remembers, became a sort of command center where food was being distributed. Dell brought 1,000 pounds of pre-packaged meat to the center, and started handing it out. “Sometimes it’s about taking care of the people who have taken care of you,” Dell says. “If you’re part of a community, if that community is in a tough situation or in trouble, then it’s an obligation to help out.” Alan Dell, his father, had the same impulse during 9/11, and had set up Katz’s Deli as a command center for police and firefighters. “I think it’s one of the reason why I think family businesses are one of the most amazing things in the world. Because there’s pride in ownership, but there’s also the ability of understanding that there’s more than just the dollars and cents sometimes,” Dell says. “And a big-box retailer doesn’t know

The same way that The Tenement Museum shows what living conditions were like, we get to show what eating conditions were like.”

about that, doesn’t care about that. But a family-owned business does, and they care about people around them.” Much remains faithfully the same at the restaurant, yet with a nod to the future, too, with the opening of a Katz’s in Brooklyn soon. Another modern-day move: instituting a free two-day shipping option. “It was a big hindrance, shipping costs were so high, sometimes $50 alone that went directly to UPS and Fed Ex, so we really did a lot on the back end to help with the costs,” Dell says. “So now we can offer free shipping, which is something I’m really proud of. And something that I think displaced New Yorkers all over the country are really happy about as well.” He likes the idea of reaching out into the rest of the country. “It’s the old classic food sent to Iowa, you know, or sent to Wisconsin, or sent to Montana, wherever that might be, that’s pretty cool,” he says. “Who would have thought you could accomplish that and accomplish that effectively? It’s the real Katz’s experience.”

State Senator Daniel Squadron says that if you do a Google map search for New York City, the little pin drops directly across the street from 250 Broadway, his district office building. On the 20th floor, towering over the Manhattan Municipal Building, Squadron says, “We’re at the center of the island in terms of its history, and at the center of the world in terms of its global financial importance.” But Squadron sees something else here, too. “It’s also a place where people live, where people are trying to raise their families; a place where people are trying to age in place,” he says. That the city is both a microcosm and a macrocosm is a common theme for the 36-yearold Senator, especially when he discusses protecting Lower Manhattan against storms like Hurricane Sandy and rising waters. “It’s a hyperlocal issue,” he says. “It’s about the safety of people’s homes and their blocks and schools and businesses, but it’s also an issue of major import to the city. Because we’re protecting one of the largest business districts in America, one of the most significant drivers of the economy in the city and the state.” When he’s on the Senate floor in Albany, he says, “I try to connect government to their experience of neighborhoods.” Squadron’s current district in Manhattan is river to river, from 6th Street at the East River to Christopher Street at the Hudson River. His district also includes Greenpoint in Brooklyn. The senator has served District 26 since 2009 and is in his fourth term. He currently is up for re-election in November, unopposed. He ran for public advocate in 2013 while he was still a State Senator, and lost to Letitia James. Squadron says that there isn’t enough media coverage about initiatives to protect Lower Manhattan in a future storm. “I think the ongoing work of figuring out how to get that done is of such importance and it’s hard to get the ongoing focus because it doesn’t lend itself to a short-term winner-loser kind of story,” he says. “It’s a kind of a long, non-controversial but

State Sen. Daniel Squadron wishes he could get more media attention for long-term storm planning. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva

vastly complicated and vastly important project. It involves at least three levels of government: city, state and federal, and associated entities and authorities.” Squadron handles other issues in Albany, too. He’s known for campaigning to reform Albany, strengthen affordable housing, and enhance regional transportation infrastructure. He’s emphasized the importance of bringing diverse parties together to find practical solutions. He grew up in the city, to parents who were both in public service. His father rose from poverty to become the Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. His mom, who was from the South, was involved in the Freedom Summer of 1964, the civil liberties union, and other milestone events. Politics, public service and civil rights in his family were “like casual dining-room-table conversation,” he says. When he was eight years old, he ran

It’s about the safety of people’s homes and their blocks and schools and businesses, but it’s also an issue of major import to the city. Because we’re protecting one of the largest business districts in America, one of the most significant drivers of the economy in the city and the state.” the 1989 David Dinkins for mayor chapter of his class. These days he’s engaged in representing Lower Manhattan. The senator says it’s a place where “there are the same issues as everywhere. They just happen to be on a much bigger scale.”

SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

EXCUSE US FOR BEING SO PROUD OF THE CLASS OF 2016. IT’S OUR FIRST. Four years after opening our doors as a new kind of N–12 school, we celebrated our first high school graduating class in June. They have just settled into dorms at Harvard and Middlebury and Stanford and Pomona and Yale and UPenn and forty more of the finest schools in the world. For the students who follow behind them, their success is inspiring. For the rest of us who have been at Avenues

since the beginning—parents, teachers, administrators, and staff—there’s the pride of having launched that first group of impressive young people into the world, ready to fulfill our mission statement by being “architects of lives that transcend the ordinary.” We know how excited they are about the new school year. So are we.

To learn more about Avenues, attend a parent information event. They’re scheduled on October 6 and October 29. Sign up at www.avenues.org/nyc.

WWW.AVENUES.ORG

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SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Principal Lisa Ripperger encourages students to be independent thinkers. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva

FINDING POWER IN PARTNERSHIP Partnership for NYC President helped downtown rebuild; now looks to new challenges

SOUNDS OF LEARNING The school’s principal on “incredibly hard” work of education You go into some schools and hear silence. You go to P.S. 234 Independence School and there are music lessons going on, students moving freely in the hallway and there’s some creative chaos going on. A student says, “Hi, Lisa” to the school principal, Lisa Ripperger. Parents and children are on a firstname basis here. “We encourage the children to feel a collective shared ownership of their school,” Ripperger says. “It’s based on the philosophy that we are all in this collaboratively together. It’s built on a democratic principle.” Ripperger explains how back in 1977 the late pioneering principal of the school, Blossom Gelernter, intentionally designed lots of spaces within the school. The building was constructed for collaborative work, to allow children to billow out into the hallways and work in small groups with other students. P.S. 234 is one of several public schools in New York City that are steeped in progressive teaching principles. The school has 700 students, and 40 classroom and out of classroom teachers, 26 classrooms (7 have 2 teachers) and 3 para- professionals who support children with special needs. “It’s not a crowded school,” Ripperger says, dispelling a myth. Especially now that there are three new schools in the Lower Manhattan area. Ripperger, 47, has been the principal at the school for 10 years. She’s fourth in a line of

progressive-minded principals with a commitment to inquirybased teaching. Social sciences abound here, but the school also covers traditional writing and math instructions – although the more familiar subjects are often a jumping-off point. “I think we’re doing something incredibly hard here, that other schools are not taking on,” she says. “Other schools are teaching reading, writing and math, and if they’re doing social studies or science, it’s kind of an add-on.” A student here might study snails, or an egg-to-chick study, or birds of New York study, learning how to pay very close attention to the birds. “They’ve gone through studying the process of an egg developing into a chick,” Ripperger says. And studying many different species of birds and seeing the generalities and what can they understand and the cross connection from their first grade study to second grade study as they become more sophisticated learners.” “A lot of our belief is teaching kids as early as Kindergarten to be independent of us,” she says. “So our teaching is very intentional about being sure that things that we’re doing are things they can do when they are at home, and beyond when they are with us.” The school does run up against problems with the Board of Education on the state and national level. Principal Ripperger believes these boards are overly obsessed with data collection. “You can’t quantify all of the engagement, put a number on all that personal engagement,

or on what passion and interest looks like when kids leave here,” she said. Ten years after students have left the school, she said, she hears from parents about young adults who are still obsessed with birds and go around the world on birdwatching trips. Ripperger recounts how she ran into a now fourth-grader who couldn’t stop telling her all the things she’d read on her own during the summer. “You can’t put a number on that,” the principal said. Ripperger, 47, started out as history major out of Boston University, with a strong interest in children’s advocacy. Marian Wright Edelman at the Children’s Defense Fund was an early mentor of hers through college. She was interested in policy work and would discover that she was also very good at teaching. She taught at several schools as early education teacher, and was assistant principal at P.S. 183 on the Upper East Side, before her current position as principal of P.S. 234. With all the changes in the neighborhood, she has strived to bridge the longstanding community with the new incoming families. When she first arrived she helped secure the funds from School Construction Authority to build a covered walkway in the school’s courtyard, something parents had long desired. She says she sees her job as a service job, like any politician or public servant. “It’s a gift to have this job, I mean it’s incredibly hard and challenging and you have to put a lot of hours into it, but I like all that,” she says. She thinks graduates from P.S. 234 tend to develop into people with strong opinions. And they’re ready for further study in life. “There’s an expectation when you talk to a child here,” she says, “that they’re going to have something to say. And that’s something worth listening to.”

With their ideas, they lit the road to recovery. Back in 2001, eight weeks after the attacks on the World Trade Center, The Partnership for New York City produced a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of the attack on Lower Manhattan. The group proposed a set of recommendations for what was required to recover and rebuild the downtown area. “Many of the recommendations we put forward, the dollar amount we had identified as being the gap became the basis for the federal government’s $22 billion commitment to the recovery and rebuilding effort,” says Kathryn Wylde, the partnership’s president and CEO. The way the recommendations were implemented, Wylde explains, was by getting six global consulting firms to collaborate (for the first time) on the analysis and recommendations, and throwing huge resources at implementation on a pro bono basis. “That’s an illustration of how we try and mobilize the resources of the business community to help the city deal with the challenges that are too daunting for government to handle alone,” Wylde says. Since it was founded by David Rockefeller in 1980, the partnership has been behind key collaborations. The organization was designed to bring together the city’s top business leaders, including CEOs of major corporations and entrepreneurial firms, to work with government to support the city’s economic growth and its role as a global capital of commerce. Partnership priorities include infrastructure investment, education and workforce development, identifying economic opportunities, and promoting quality of life. During the 1980s, the big goal was to bring economic recovery to city neighborhoods that deteriorated during the 1970s. It was Rockefeller’s mission to help bring the middle class

Kathryn Wylde mobilizes the business community to tackle citywide challenges. Photo credit: The Partnership for New York City

back, says Wylde, who joined the non-profit in 1982, at which time she ran the housing subsidiary. She took the helm in 2001. “Our job was to get private investment flowing into those neighborhoods to rebuild them,” she says. “The city was suffering, near bankruptcy, and didn’t have the resources.” From 1995 to 2000, Wylde became a founding president of the Partnership Fund, a fund that Henry Kravis and Jerry Speyer worked to launch under the auspices of the partnership, and ran that until she returned to become the CEO and president of the parent organization The Partnership for NYC. More recently, the partnership has been working in the areas of financial technology, Health IT and life sciences, identifying the economic opportunities that would make the city a center of these emerging industry sectors. Wylde’s work is about looking to the future. Just in June, the organization issued a report underscoring that the city must build a new industry cluster in life sciences. She says the notion is to take advantage of “great research and discoveries coming out of our universities, and seeking to translate that research into business development and jobs right here in the city.” Accord-

We try and mobilize the resources of the business community to help the city deal with the challenges that are too daunting for government to handle alone.”

ing to Wylde, New York City has the greatest concentration of medical research institutions in the country, and among the greatest in the world. “We have lagged behind both Silicon Valley and Boston in translating that research into local jobs and business development,” she says. But there’s hope. The partnership’s report suggests ways the city and state could work with the private sector, Wylde says, to “make sure scientists are building their businesses in NY rather than sending them off to other places.”

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Debra Simon directs Arts Brookfield, the cultural extension of Brookfield Office Properties. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva

DRAWING THE FUTURE, WHILE RESPECTING SOHO’S PAST Rooted in neighborhood’s culture, Drawing Center’s executive director readies next generation Brett Littman sees the drama in doodling. “I’m interested in doodles, in sketches, in the kind of the detritus of the world, the things that are on the back of napkins,” says Littman, executive director of the Drawing Center in Soho. “All of that stuff is very interesting in relationship to understanding this medium that we call drawing.” The center, founded in 1977, moved once, but has always been a proponent of showing art that redefines the boundaries of what’s seen as art and drawing. Littman, 48, says, drawing has always been considered something on the way to something else. “Today there are many artists who draw and only draw, That is the only thing that they do. They’re not drawing to make a sculpture, they’re not drawing to make a painting, they’re not sketching to do something else. They’re sketching to explore their own thinking,” he explains. Littman says that he’s gone on upwards of 600 studio visits during his nine years as director. Less than 20 percent of the time, he estimates, do artists pull out works on paper and call them drawings. “They dance for me, they sing, they play music, they show me an archive,” he says. “They show me computer algorithms. So I think the way artists are defining drawing is changing quite rapidly.” The museum attracts people from all over the world, especially Europeans and South Americans. Among the many multi-disciplinary programs the Drawing Centers runs, they are in partnership with the city’s public schools. Fifteen hundred schoolkids each year are brought to the museum. And five selected schools participate in a program where the museum sends artists to

CORPORATE SPACES GET CULTURED At Arts Brookfield, filling spaces with world-class art

Brett Littman directs Drawing Center interns to local exhibitions to get an appreciation for work in the neighborhood. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva the classrooms to work with students, culminating in an exhibition of student work at the museum. Littman, 48, grew up in Brooklyn Heights, went to Stuyvesant High School and came up in an era he calls a golden age. Soho was a cultural center of contemporary art, when it was populated with artists, galleries, music clubs and music stores, when performance and art flourished. Littman remembers how he and his friends would roam the streets, go to concerts and openings, and absorb the culture. His path would lead him from the sciences to the arts, via philosophy, poetry and film. And then there was some grantwriting he did for a non-profit. He has served as the assistant director at UrbanGlass and co-executive director at Dieux Donne, and deputy director of MoMA PS1, before becoming executive director at The Drawing Center in 2007. Gentrification and over-development have meant the loss of what once seemed the center

of the art world. But Littman’s experience in Soho helps him stay connected to what the neighborhood was – and still sometimes is. When younger interns come to work at the center, he sends them, first thing, to see permanent local art installations. That’s meant, he says, “to ground them in the neighborhood.” Among those works are two of Walter de Maria’s works, “The Broken Kilometer” (1979) on West Broadway, and “The New York Earth Room” (1977) on Wooster Street. While the cultural corridor in NYC is the Lower East Side to Hudson Square, he says, “Soho is still the place that you have to walk through, that you have to go to. I really do believe in Soho as a neighborhood. I believe it’s an important place; there’s a lot of overlay of history.” He’s always thinking of ways to keep the neighborhood culturally alive. “I believe it needs support and care,” he says, “and we can’t forget about it.”

Skyscrapers can be cold and out of scale. But it turns out there’s a way to offset that — with fabulous art of all kinds in building plazas, lobbies, atriums and even escalators. That’s the work of Debra Simon, who presides over Arts Brookfield, the cultural wing of Brookfield Office Properties, a real estate company with several large office buildings in downtown New York, Denver, L.A. and Washington, D.C. She and her group orchestrate events for more than 20 buildings nationally and others beyond, engaging theater groups, dance companies, musicians and artists from around the country and international companies from all over the world. Some of the spaces they plan for are widely expansive, like the Winter Garden Atrium, a 45,000 square feet, glassdomed pavilion at Brookfield Place near the Freedom Tower in the Wall Street area. Home to dozens of high-end shops and restaurants, it was recently filled with a temporary exhibit of birds. Sometimes, though, the spaces are small. Like the lobby at One Liberty Street, which is better suited to just having a visual art show, as there’s not room for a large audience. “We see it very much as a cultural enhancement for our communities,” says Simon, 58,

We’re presenting world-class performance and exhibitions to people who may not have access by virtue of accessibility or cost.” who has been with the company for 15 years. “We’re presenting world-class performance and exhibitions to people who may not have access by virtue of accessibility or cost.” Simon also sees a dual value, since these initiatives help the artists who are usually from the communities in which they are working. They get to develop new audiences. Across their many locations, Arts Brookfield produces as many as 400 shows a year. Simon, a dance major in college, worked as an administrator for a dance company and later in marketing for a downtown improvement district. She had a real estate and arts programming background, experiences she took into her current job. The programming is completely funded by Brookfield Properties. “Arts Brookfield is really a part of the DNA of the company,” says Simon.

In July, Arts Brookfield staged a concert of The Roots, the house band for the “Tonight Show,” right in Brookfield Place. Simon calls it a career highlight, and one that drew 15,000 people. “It was a solid two and a half hours of music, of musical tributes to Prince and David Bowie,” she says. “It was a magical night at the waterfront with a very large and diverse audience.” Other annual programs include: a Chinese New Year’s production, a Halloween festival and a “Nutcracker” production that brings “wall to wall people.” The range is varied, from purely joyful entertainment to thought-provoking and challenging work. Raising consciousness can be part of the mission too. A recent visitor at Arts Brookfield was “Charity: Water,” a virtual reality tour of a village in Ethiopia. With each “tour,” $30 was released with a final donation totaling $300,000 to a nonprofit providing safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Coming soon, in October, Arts Brookfield will host a Canstruction event. It’s a charity art competition and exhibit held at different places around the world, the largest one being at the Brookfield Place in the Winter Garden. Architects and engineers team up to build wildly creative sculptures made entirely of cans of healthy food. After the event, the food is then donated to City Harvest. After 9/11, while most buildings were still casting people away, Brookfield Properties worked hard to re-open Brookfield Place, which was when Simon was hired. The Winter Garden was the first building damaged from 9/11 to be rebuilt and re-opened to the public. The re-construction and re-opening of the building was a symbol that things were changing, according to Simon. “It was a very important message that resiliency was everything,” she says.

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Thomas Frambach learned to love soccer at a young age, and now shares his passion for the game. Photo by Maria Boyadjieva

MUSEUM FLEXES ‘HEROIC MUSCLE’ Jewish Heritage’s deputy director on ‘a museum about stories’

GLOBAL GAME’S LOCAL APPEAL Manager of youth organization shares love of soccer with youth of today Like many of the young players in his club, Thomas Frambach was four years old when he was first introduced to soccer in his hometown of Washingtonville, in upstate New York. The game turned out to be central to his life. “I was fortunate to have good coaches and parent volunteers who had a love of the game as well,” he says. Frambach, now 38, is the general manager of Downtown United Soccer Club (DUSC) in New York City, the largest youth soccer organization in the city, with 2,000 active players, ages 4–18. DUSC employs 30 coaches (and in the summer 50 part-time staff for their soccer camps). They serve kids from all over the city, but mostly from Lower Manhattan. There are so many positive things that come out of the sport of soccer, Frambach says, such as friendships, confidence, maturity, learning how to work with teammates, understanding how to win and how to lose, and leadership skills. Soccer’s also an endurance sport. The kids play for 90 minutes with only one break at half time. So it requires strength, speed, agility, and quickness. “It ticks all the boxes from a physical perspective,” Fram-

bach says. As an international sport, it’s also inclusive. “We call soccer its own language, so people that may not necessarily be from New York or from the U.S. can come and play and participate.” Another reason soccer is considered, inclusive is that it requires so little equipment. “All one needs is a soccer ball,” Frambach says. Still, finding space to practice and play in Manhattan is sometimes challenging. “We’re always finding nooks and crannies to make sure we can offer places to play,” he says. It’s Pier 40, however, that the club calls home, and where members have the most permit time and hold most of their practices and competitive games. But they also use other parks, including James J. Walker Park, Chelsea Park, Riverside Park, and parks on Randall’s Island and Roosevelt Island. DUSC is one of 11 youth affiliates in the NYC Football Club (NYCFC), wherein groups share resources. “They give us professional development for our coaches and our players, and work with other clubs across the region to help promote and improve soccer in New York City,” he says. THE DUSC offerings include a recreation league, an academy, and camp programs. The recreation leagues are for less commit-

ted players who want to enjoy the game at an introductory level, once a week. The recreation leagues are localized and parent-volunteer driven, but managed by the club. The academy level is where the student athletes are training three days a week with professional coaches and traveling for games. The classes are mostly fee-based, but the club offers free programming on the Lower East Side, thanks to a grant from NYC Football Club. The more advanced players who travel and make a bigger commitment have slightly higher fees. The Club offers a scholarship program and does not turn anybody away based on their financial situation, Frambach says. Frambach (originally from upstate New York) played in college at SUNY at Cortland. He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at East Stroudsburg University, where he received his master’s degree, and worked his way up to assistant coach, and finally head coach at the college level at St. Andrews College in North Carolina (Division 2 School). He received a Non-profit Youth Services Diploma from Columbia Business School in 2008. He was also the Association Director of sports at Asphalt Green on the Upper East Side. For more than 10 years, he’s been involved in the nonprofit youth sector. Frambach says, “We want to work together to offer soccer and education to our youth, provide an outlet for them, and see them continue to go through our system.” He says a number of kids have been with the program for 10 to 15 years. We see our program as giving young people an opportunity to start early, at four or five years old. We’ve had a number of kids with our program for 10 to 15 years. “They’ve obviously learned a lot,” he says. “We’re hoping to be a part of their growth.”

“Times change and particulars change, but human nature never changes,” says Elissa Schein, deputy director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage. “We have to heighten our sensitivity and learn how to develop what I refer to as the ‘heroic muscle,’ to stand up to that inclination of ‘I don’t like that because I don’t understand that.’” And that’s why educating youth is a core mission of the museum, explains Schein, and why programming for schoolkids from all over the city is a major focus. “We teach them the responsibility of being an active citizen, of speaking up when they see that someone is being picked on or bullied or being targeted, and why everyone’s rights are of concern. And about the nature of propaganda and how ideologies grow.” The museum is also a major international cultural destination, featuring cultural events, including concerts and theater. Schein was director of public programs at the museum for nine years, during which time she opened an acclaimed theater and a new wing. She then went on to work for years as the national programming director at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Two years ago she returned to become deputy director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage. “Museums function now in a different way than they have in the past,” Schein says. “They’re not the rarified places with masterpieces, where one visits and stays very quiet. We’re a museum about stories, about people, about events that happened in people’s lives. These are the stories that are still happening, unfortunately, in the world today — refugee populations, displaced people, people who are stateless.” Pointing out the rare and beautiful location facing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, bookended with the Freedom Tower, she says. “I think that we are a very special place of memory and also of contemporary history and contemporary relevance. We really can’t

Elissa Schein knows firsthand that museums have changed how they operate. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva be a history museum alone, especially when we are teaching 15- and 16-year-olds. We have to meet them with the things that they are already thinking about, what they already care about.” Among the programs Schein is proud of is a six-week summer apprenticeship. Students from all over New York City work at the museum, rotating through all the departments. They work with staff in the curatorial department, the executive area, fundraising, communications, accounting and education. Some have gone on to be hired by the museum years later, after graduating from college. “The students are from diverse backgrounds, from Cambodia, Pakistan, Poland and from all neighborhoods, and these are wonderful young people who are representative of the fabulous diversity of the public school system in New York,” Schein says. There is a new exhibition that examines the roots of antiSemitism, which may be one of the oldest hatreds targeting an ethnic minority, Schein says.

The students are from diverse backgrounds... all neighborhoods, and these are wonderful young people who are representative of the diversity of the public school system in New York.” Heading up that exhibition initiative is Abe Foxman, former head of the Anti-Defamation League. The museum will reach its 20th anniversary in another year and a half, and Schein says it’s embarking on a new phase. Schein and her colleagues will take a look at core exhibitions and re-envisioning and integrating more technology and interactive tools to engage younger audiences. “Even museums have life cycles,” she says.

SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

A HERO TO THE RESCUE, REPEATEDLY A firefighter’s impulse: ‘jump in and help her’ Niall O’Shaughnessy, a rescue paramedic assigned to Station 4 at Pier 36 on Manhattan’s South Street, has been widely and publicly praised for many heroic moments. Take, for instance, the time a woman fell into the dangerously turbulent waters of the Hudson River. A coordinated effort by the FDNY, Coast Guard and Parks Department was underway. But as one of the first responders at the scene, O’Shaughnessy decided to jump in as soon as he recognized signs of fatigue in the woman. “Just as we’re talking, deciding what to do, I could

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see she was drifting away,” O’Shaughnessy says, remembering the thought that came to him immediately—“I’m going to jump in and help her.” He calmed her and kept her from letting go. “I spoke to her, let her know that the cavalry was on the way, and to just hang on for a bit and we’d be fine,” he says. Another high-profile rescue for O’Shaughnessy had him crawling under several subway cars to reach a woman who had fallen onto the tracks in Times Square. He was able to provide emergency care and medication, and then pull her out crawling backwards along several subway cars. The special training he receives includes managing high-angle rescue, trench rescue and crush medi-

It definitely affects every EMT paramedic, it really takes a toll, changes all of us, but we do it because we love it, and that’s what we do.”

Niall O’Shaughnessy has been involved in several high-profile rescues. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva cine, among other high-risk environments. O’Shaughnessy’s ongoing specialized training makes

him and his fellow rescue paramedics uniquely capable of managing the care of injured victims of collapsed buildings

and other urban and natural disasters. There are 3,000 rescue paramedics and 11 ambulance rescue stations in the city. “When they put the Rescue Paramedic station by the World Trade Center, I knew that’s where I wanted to be,” he says. He’d known for a while. At 12, growing up in Ireland, he already knew that he wanted to be an emergency medical technician in America. By the time he was 16 he even filled out applications to fire departments in several U.S. cities, including Boston, L.A. and Washington. To his surprise, he received personal responses. They were encouraging, “They told me what the requirements were, including the need to be a citi-

zen, and to keep striving,” he says. When he was old enough, O’Shaughnessy came to New York and worked in construction until he was eligible for a green card and, finally, citizenship. He received EMT training and worked as an EMT and in HazMat units. Now a 10-year veteran, he says, “I’m doing exactly what I always wanted to do.” He was eager to explain to the public why ambulances appear in many places around the city, engines idling, appearing to be doing nothing. He said they are in fact deliberately distributed “for the fastest response time for any emergency calls that come in.” And the engines are running because they carry medications that require continued refrigeration. “Do we see everything?” he asks, before answering his own question. “In New York, you’ll never see everything.” The job clearly has pressures. “It definitely affects every EMT paramedic, it really takes a toll, changes all of us, but we do it because we love it, and that’s what we do,” he says. “It wears you down sometimes. You have to keep checking yourself: if this was my family, how would I want them feeling?”

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TWO BRIDGES STILL MAKING NEWS President of area council on air rights and group’s history Victor Papa’s organization, the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, has been around since 1955. The nonprofit has long been known for serving the residential, commercial and cultural life of the Lower East Side. But given the debate surrounding its decision to sell air rights, the council also clearly hasn’t stopped making news. Papa, 71, is the council’s president — and talks candidly about how the group recently sold its air rights to a developer for $51 million, which means a new tower on the waterfront that will be 1,000 feet high, or 77 stories. Coming with that: 150 affordable-housing units out of 750 planned overall, according to Papa. The new building would be atop existing senior housing, constructed where there’s currently a small community center. Papa knows the move is controversial. “It’s unknown for a non-for-profit housing organization to indulge in that kind of business, but the assets to the air rights were going nowhere,” he says. “So we felt obliged to use it in some way, while still maintaining our vision.” For the next two or three years, Papa says, as the project develops, he and other will work on keeping the apartments affordable — and bringing in a bank and a supermarket. For Papa, it’s just the latest issue to crop up on the Lower East Side, in an area bordered by the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and the East River. Papa says the mission’s all about aiding “the economically, culturally and ethnically diverse neighborhoods of Two Bridges, Chinatown, Little Italy, the East Village and the Bowery Corridor.” The neighborhood’s linked historically to a rich history of immigration. The group was originally started by church groups and settlement houses, along with civic-minded people. They came together to foster peace and mitigate tensions between newly arriving immigrant groups. “The influx of Puerto Ricans from Puerto Rico and blacks

Lou Di Palo talks passionately about both food and the immigrant experience. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva

Victor Papa has seen great changes over the years with the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva from the south into the neighborhood, moving to newly constructed public housing, was changing the ethnic southern European composition of the Lower East Side,” Papa recounts. One of the first things they did was start a Little League. “What they really were trying to do was to better the racial relationships,” Papa remembers. “We’re talking 1950s,” he says, “when there were gang wars and drugs.” In those days, he says, each church had a team, and these teams were promoted in the Two Bridges local newspaper. “It really bridged a gap where kids were perhaps unfriendly to each other prior. They were now on the same team,” he says. The scope of projects and partnerships increased considerably for the organization. Between 1972 and 1996, there were 1,500 units of low- and moderate- affordable housing into an area with real need for it. The council’s work still is about the life of the community, and it runs after-school programs and health initiatives. Eventually, the council came to own two residential towers, one of which is a senior residence. Other council efforts over the years include: designation of the Two Bridges Historic district, among others, and

For the next two or three years, Papa says, as the project develops, he and other will work on keeping the apartments affordable — and bringing in a bank and a supermarket.” championing access to the East River waterfront. In 2009, Papa kicked off the first annual Marco Polo Day, to mark the history and future of Chinatown and Little Italy. The annual event continues to increase in popularity. Less popular in some quarters: that air rights decision. But Papa says people who need it will get something from the deal. “It’s a complicated situation,” he says. “But there’s no other place on the Lower East Side that can build housing for 150 affordable units and it’s quite significant and it’s voluntary. The developer is not accepting city tax money – he’s also going to retrofit our senior building and give us a new community room and renovated public housing.”

FINE FOODS ... AND MEMORIES TOO Di Palo family turns shop into ‘shining jewel’ The shop’s siblings can see the old photo of grandparents Luigi and Concetta, and father Sam, hanging high on a wall in the Italian epicurean shop at Di Palo’s Fine Foods, on Grand Street in Little Italy. The picture pays homage to the history of the Di Palo family, which opened a cheese shop in the neighborhood in 1910. The photo says something about the family’s past, present and maybe even the future. Shoppers at Di Palo’s are still enveloped by family pride and authentic Italian food. It’s not just about making money, explains Lou Di Palo, it’s about service and the customers’ experience. He describes the foods displayed as art. When Lou Di Palo was literally handed the keys to the business in 1990 by his then-ailing father, he had to decide what to do. It was an epoch when Italians were leaving the area, he recounts, and new immigrant populations were moving in. He and his siblings decided to stay and make their shop a “shining jewel.” Since then, he, Marie and Sal have all devoted their lives to the business. Every generation has made its own contribution, says Di

Palo. His own parents started importing such products as olive oil and hard cheeses like pecorino and romano. An uncle introduced salumi, cured meats that include salami and prosciutto. The fifth generation, represented by Di Palo’s son, advised him that they needed to sell Italian wines and spirits to complete a true “gastronomia Italiana.” As a result, they opened a wine department next door. “The spirit of the Italians of Italy is very much a part of food, and that’s what we bring here to the American consumer,” says Di Palo. His own contribution was to broaden the offerings of specialty products that he imports from across Italy, traveling to far-off regions to meet the farmers and producers, people raising hogs or preparing raw goat’s milk. They continue the old methods from 100 years ago. He sits down and breaks bread with them, meets their families, learns their stories. He in turn imparts these rich and poignant stories to his customers through the offerings in the store. Today the trend in America is for greater understanding and appreciation of the origins of foods, says Di Palo. He has become a highly sought-after expert on Italian

food, teaching and giving lectures around the U.S. and Canada. He recently wrote a book about Italian food, “Di Palo’s Guide to the Essential Foods of Italy: 100 Years of Wisdom and Stories from Behind the Counter.” In the store, Lou loves to pass on information to his customers. About drinking a rosato as an aperitif, he says, “Most of the Italian rosatos tend to be on the dryer side. When you want a refreshing glass of wine, you don’t necessarily want it to be very sweet. I would go with a rosato with a little sparkling character to it: a rosato that’s blended with prosecco (the Glera grape), mixed with a little bit of the Pinot Nero.” The explanations and stories often mean a long wait, and some customers balk; he prefers that they come back when they have more time. Di Palo has a lot to say about community as well as food. He muses on how each incoming immigrant group suffered from prejudice. Each group came with a vision to make a better life for themselves and future generations. “Wait long enough,” he says. “They all eventually make equally valuable contributions to New York City, whether it’s in the infrastructure, arts, sciences, politics or food.”

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Pat Moore found her voice as a community activist after 9/11. Photo: Maria Boyadjieva

AT TRINITY CHURCH, AIMING TO BE ‘MORE PRESENT’ Lupfer, as leader, puts focus on involvement near and far The Rev. William Lupfer arrived as rector at Trinity Church on Wall Street last year. He’s been plenty busy ever since. The Episcopal parish is steeped in American history — Lupfer is the 18th rector since 1689 — and at Trinity parish there’s also a school, St. Paul’s Chapel nearby and there will soon be a new building. As rector, Lupfer oversees the diocese and many ministries around the world, including in Asia, Africa and South America. He has been traveling extensively, becoming acquainted with “stakeholders and friends of the church,” including the Archdiocese of Canterbury. A mandate from the church’s board: amp up Trinity’s ministry in New York, specifically downtown. Lupfer says, “We feel we need to be more present in the downtown community even more deeply than we already are.” Under Lupfer’s leadership, new projects include the construction that’s underway of a new building behind the church. It will consist of five floors of space shared between the parish and the neighboring community. The upper floors, a tower above, will consist of commercial renters. Working closely with community residents and architects, a design was finalized that he says is in perfect alignment with the community’s and church’s visions. One of the programs Lupfer also implemented upon taking his post is a family service at St. Paul’s on Sunday mornings; it’s drawing increasing numbers of people of all ages. Lupfer describes Sunday mornings as a time of worship, but also as a source of “nourishment and support” so that parionshers can participate in promoting healing in the world. “The point is that families can get involved. They don’t have to just read the news headlines.

Rev. William Lupfer outside St. Paul’s Chapel on May 2, 2015, marking his installation. Photo: Leah Reddy/Trinity Church Wall Street

CREATING COMMUNITY, A MEETING AT A TIME Pat Moore faces host of local issues in her community service

Next year we’re having a big conference on water, and free access to clean water. We’re looking at Flint, Michigan. So we do use our position at the head of Wall Street to push towards social justice and full inclusion and compassion toward all — the values that drive us.” They can learn about what the issues and problems are, come together at Trinity with others, and start to build solutions, rather than just being afraid,” Lupfer says. Trinity served as a refuge during 9/11, and continues to offer services and programs honoring those victims. Those programs include prison ministry, supporting women whose husbands or partners are in prison, as well as their children. In addition to the many religious programs and services held there, Trinity Church and St. Paul’s chapel are

popular sites visited by tourists from around the world. Their graveyards hold the remains of many famous Americans, including Alexander Hamilton. And George Washington is known to have prayed at St. Paul’s after his inauguration as President. There are also many concerts and events for the public. Lupfer says Trinity’s location on Wall Street is also important. “We’ve been at the same site for 320 years. We’ve seen a lot, and we talk privately with people with influence in the Wall Street community about our values, about the values of full inclusion. We had a big conference in the last two years about income inequality and about race and racism,” he says. And he’s looking to the future. “Next year we’re having a big conference on water, and free access to clean water. We’re looking at Flint, Michigan. So we do use our position at the head of Wall Street to push towards social justice and full inclusion and compassion toward all — the values that drive us,” Lupfer says. “But the heart of our community is the deep conversation about God’s call about healing in this world.”

Pat Moore goes from meeting to meeting to meeting. As a member of Manhattan Community Board 1 for 12 years, and the chair of its Quaility of Life Committee for the past 6 years, she’s worked on a host of local issues. They include sanitation, rodent control and noise from construction and road work — and each one means she’s off to another meeting. She’s advised local public officials how to identify locations where tour buses can lay over, without idling, while passengers visit the 9/11 Memorial. She’s worked with the Port Authority in an advisory capacity, discussing the plans and designs for the new Liberty Park. Early in her tenure as a board member, she worked with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office regarding city emergency notifications, (including Amber, senior alerts) something that grew out of 9/11. “Some of us said we needed the ability to notify early, for the city’s notifications system,” Moore says. The neighborhood has seen unprecedented growth. According to community board stats, the number of people in the downtown area has tripled since 9/11. “We’re dealing with the success of the neighborhood,” Moore says. That means 90 active construction projects, and all the accompanying sanitation issues, unannounced street clo-

sures, and excessive variances that allow work to continue when residents are trying to sleep, live, and work. It’s hard to imagine that Moore wasn’t always a community activist. A professional sweater and jewelry designer, Moore and her husband, the late artist Andy Jurinko, originally moved downtown as young artists, in 1977. They found a large space to live and work. Many creatives were settling in Tribeca, but the more pioneering among them headed further downtown. Moore even recalls the marshes, docks, and piers when the West Side elevated highway was still up. Now it’s Battery Park City. It was 9/11 that propelled Moore into awareness of how city government works, or often doesn’t work, and how to make it do a better job. She and her husband, along with their neighbors, were faced with losing their 25 loft apartments in the 150-year-old building that was once commercial but that had sat vacant for 5 years before they had all moved in. On 9/11, Moore and her husband and a close-knit community of neighbors were among thousands who ran for their lives as the towers came down around them. They lost two cats and years of their lives (accumulated equipment and personal work), including irreplaceable knitting machines and jewelry-making equipment. Images of the aftermath show the apartment filled with mountainous piles of debris, and even computers that blew in from the WTC through their windows. It takes years to develop a com-

“I enjoy being of service,” she says, “being able to recognize a problem, and then seeing that I and members of the board can effect changes and make our community a better place to live.” munity. They weren’t about to let that go. After the two-month rescue and recovery period was over, they realized that the city had other ideas for their building. Because their building was in the “hot zone,” when it came time to reclaim their home and belongings, government agencies didn’t make it easy to gain access. They tussled with police, and even the National Guard. It was finally then-Speaker Sheldon Silver who got them access. At that time Councilman Alan Gerson recognized Moore’s abilities as a community activist, and put her name forward for Community Board 1. Her work there continues to be a major part of her life. “I enjoy being of service,” she says, “being able to recognize a problem, and then seeing that I and members of the board can effect changes and make our community a better place to live.” Then she adds: “That’s why so many people want to live here.”

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NAN GOLDIN’S NEW YORK MoMA offers a gasp-inducing ‘Ballad’ BY MARY GREGORY

It seems strange that art audiences that appreciatively linger over a Lautrec print or a Degas pastel might be taken aback by Nan Goldin’s powerful chronicle of downtown life in New York around 1980, “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency.” How different are Goldin’s subjects from Lautrec’s denizens of the demimonde or Degas’ absinthe drinkers? Yet, when Goldin’s ground-breaking work first came out, curators had to fight to have it shown. It still elicits gasps and involuntary shaking of heads. “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” on view at MoMA through Feb. 12, takes its title from a song in Bertolt Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera,” its plot from Puccini’s bohemian opera, its soundtrack, setting and characters

It’s hard to tell if Goldin

was influenced by artists like Lautrec and Degas, or even Mary Cassatt. But it’s hard to imagine, looking at her thoughtfully composed albeit shot-in-a-moment pictures, that she wasn’t. It’s harder to imagine that she didn’t deeply affect generations of later artists.

Nan Goldin’s “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” comprised of close to 700 slides, on view at MoMA through Feb. 12. Photo: Adel Gorgy

Nan Goldin’s girls break the mold of depictions of women in art. Photo: Adel Gorgy from any of the many chronicles of the dizzying mix of music, art and life that swirled around lower Manhattan 35 years ago. But the story Goldin tells with her camera is timeless. Don’t think, if you’ve seen individual images, that you’ve seen “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency.” For that you have to step behind the curtain and let nearly 700 slides play out across 40 minutes in all their poignancy and passion, laughter and strife. The blunt reality Goldin presents as she endlessly snapped her friends, family, lovers, neighbors – her tribe – is so honest and specific that it transcends time and place and becomes universal. Anyone who remembers the world below 23rd Street in the late 1970s and early ’80s will recognize much of what they encounter. But so would Beat poets in San Francisco in the ’50s or the artists of Montmartre around 1900. It’s a picture of youthful indiscretion played out in fast motion. Goldin’s paean to punk – “La Bohème” through a CBGB filter – shows young people finding themselves, daring themselves, pushing themselves to the edge, and sometimes destroying themselves in the process. They’re rites of passage that have been going on since the beginning of time, but few have por-

trayed them more immediately, immersively and intensely than Goldin. The photographs show the grit of pre-gentrification New York during the AIDS crisis at its most unrelenting and tragic. It’s a slice of life with plenty of gristle, a short story with a predictable ending: live fast, die young. Before reality TV, selfies, Snapchat, Facebook, or Instagram, Goldin brought her vision of the East Village, LGBT, rock and roll party scene to the art world through compassionate, if blurry, eyes. Larger-than-life images fill a darkened room. They’re accompanied by music ranging from Maria Callas to the Velvet Underground. Mostly they’re tracks about relationships and refer back to the “Threepenny Opera” song, which suggests even the worst man can be brought down by women. Rather than some angry attempt at revenge, what unfolds is a tremendously moving portrait of humanity, told by a woman, through pictures of mainly women. It’s a chronicle of love, longing, passion and loss. There are images of burnt-out, bored businessmen in bars. Guys in their best clothes with their arms around girls. But it’s mostly girls. We see them putting on make-

up, waiting by the phone, crying their eyes out, passing through romances either supporting and loving, or dysfunctional to the point of abuse. We move to women getting sad, then mad. There’s a fierce girl lounging in a hammock, a butcher knife in hand. Goldin’s girls build muscles, hold guns, and get Pit Bulls. And then, they move on. Life can be hard, ridiculous, maddening, but it’s still life, so they try anyway. There are hipster weddings, painful looking pregnancies, angelic children. And because the AIDS crisis was raging and these kids practically defined at-risk behavior, there is sickness and death. The show ends with two graffiti skeletons locked in an embrace, a memento mori for the late 20th century. It was meant to pack a wallop, and it does. It’s hard to tell if Goldin was influenced by artists like Lautrec and Degas, or even Mary Cassatt. But it’s hard to imagine, looking at her thoughtfully composed albeit shot-in-a-moment pictures, that she wasn’t. It’s harder to imagine that she didn’t deeply affect generations of later artists. Part confession, part proclamation, Nan Goldin’s “Ballad” is profoundly moving. Is it heartbreaking? Hopeful? That depends on your outlook. It’s life.

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WTC ARTS COMPLEX DESIGN UNVEILED IF YOU’RE CARING FOR A FAMILY MEMBER WITH MEMORY LOSS, WHO’S CARING FOR YOU?

INTRODUCING THE ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND RELATED DEMENTIAS FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAM. Caring for a family member who has trouble with thinking and memory can be extremely challenging. So challenging, in fact, that caregivers may feel overwhelmed, struggling to maintain their own health and well-being. NYU Langone’s Family Support Program provides convenient, personalized, and ongoing support to people caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or other thinking and memory disorders. The program is provided free of charge to individuals living within the five boroughs. You will receive access to counseling; connections to doctors and support groups; and compassionate guidance by being paired with a caregiver who has had a similar experience. Join a community dedicated to providing the support and guidance you need, for as long as you need it.

For more information or to enroll, call us at 646.754.2277 or visit nyulangone.org/memorydisordersupport. The Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Family Support Program is supported by a grant from the New York State Department of Health.

Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center will produce new works and be home to the Tribeca Film Festival BY RACHELLE BLIDNER

A design of translucent marble and glass was unveiled last week for a long-stalled performing arts center at the World Trade Center complex. Officials also announced that Barbra Streisand will serve as board chair of the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center that will be dedicated to producing new works and serving as a public space. Located between One World Trade Center and the memorial plaza, the cube-shaped center will aim to both commemorate the Sept. 11 tragedy and reflect the vitality of New York City, board members said. Made out of translucent, veined marble and glass, the building will look like a “mystery box,” architect Joshua Prince-Ramus said. During the day, it will have a dull sheen. But at night, the three-level building will illuminate like a paper lantern.

A rendering of the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, which will premiere works of theater, dance, music, film, and opera. Courtesy of Silverstein Properties The 90,000-square foot building will include three auditoriums and a rehearsal room. Because artistic directors need flexibility with new productions, the rooms and halls will feature moveable walls to create up to 11 configurations, Prince-Ramus said. The largest will hold up to 1,200 people for events like rock concerts. Maggie Boepple, president and director of the center, said the space will be both a “birthplace” for new shows and a community center with amenities like a cafe and yoga classes. The center also will be home to the Tribeca Film Festival. Estimated to cost $250 mil-

lion, the center still requires $75 million in donations before it opens in early 2020, Boepple said. Namesake Ronald Perelman, a billionaire businessman, donated $75 million. The federal Housing and Urban Development Authority has contributed $99 million. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., a city and state government entity, gave the project the green light. It’s not yet determined which productions will be staged. “Anyone who works here will have a huge responsibility to do their very best to commemorate those whose lives were lost,” Boepple said.

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WHEN DOWNTOWN COMES UPTOWN At e’s BAR, Upper West Siders created the bar they wanted to visit BY MONICA DINATALE

Things have been getting busier between West 84th and 85th Streets on Amsterdam Avenue recently. That’s because e’s BAR, the brainchild of Erin Bellard and Ethan Hunt, set up shop in 2014 and has been growing steadily ever since, developing a loyal following of rabid fans. The new neighborhood favorite is a place that marches to the beat of its own playlist, evoking the vibe of a downtown destination in a distinctly uptown location. Bellard and Hunt first met as neighbors in an elevator at 72nd Street and Riverside Drive. They longed for a neighborhood place that felt like home, a place to connect with friends and unwindh. The two decided to create their own spot. Longtime Upper West Siders, they searched for their perfect location, and settled on the site mid-block on Amsterdam, for-

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merly the Neptune Room and, most recently, Slightly Oliver. e’s BAR was launched, from idea to execution, within a year. Bellard and Hunt’s cool spot was influenced by CBGB’s for the musical inspiration, and the East Village’s former beloved Mars Bar, for a certain atmosphere. You’ll only hear music specifically from 1960 to 1999, and the walls are covered with musical memorabilia. “We wanted a place to get a burger and a beer (on the Upper West Side) and hang out at... something other than a wine bar,” explained Bellard. “We wanted a dive bar, for adults, but the bathrooms are clean,” she said with a laugh. With more than 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, Bellard spent six years with the New-YorkCity based B.R. Guest Inc., and had a hand in many top New York City restaurants, including Ocean Grill, Rouge Tomate and Tom Colicchio’s Riverpark and Witchcraft restaurants. Hunt is a principal in the New York City branch of Lucky Strike Lanes on West 42nd

Street. He is also one of the founders of Amsterdam Billiards & Bar, located on a small stretch of 4th Avenue in lower Manhattan. “We are the real McCoy,” said Hunt, who grew up on West 87th Street. His father owned a laundromat and his mother was a teacher at P.S. 156. “We offer the Upper West Side authenticity that people gravitate to. We’re not transplants,” he said. Bellard is the president of her son’s PTA at the Mandell School, but she thinks of the bar as an escape for parents. Underscoring how the business is committed to the community, the bar recently hosted a charity event for Ready for Rescue, a group dedicated to saving New York City’s cats and dogs. Before technology, people actually went to a bar to talk and meet other people. “It’s about conversation,” said Hunt, who wanted e’s to feel like old-school New York. “We wanted people to engage with each other,” Bellard proudly admitted.

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ART’S ON THE MENU Sips, eats available in museum settings

BY VIRGINIA RANDALL

Let’s drink in some culture. Some neighborhood cultural institutions offer drinks – and eats too – without visitors needing to pay an entry fee. It’s part of a long tradition connecting art with imbibing. After all, painters from ToulouseLautrec to Willem De Kooning held a cocktail as often as a paintbrush. Here are a few good spots for mixing art and cusine. The Asia Society and Museum: the Garden Court Cafe. 725 Park Avenue. Reservations: 212-570-5202. From Tuesday through Sunday (11.a.m. – 5 pm.), the Asia Society and its Garden Court Café reveal the culture and art of regions from Central Asia to the Pacific Islands. Expect menus to match, with sake as well as wine and beer. Besides standards like chicken curry salad and glazed salmon, Chef Litesh Hosabettu of Great Performances aligns menus with current exhibits and a PanAsian flair ($7 for starters and $10 – $25 for small plates and entrees) and many vegetarian options. The adventurous could try the Daily Special Bento Box, based on supplies from an upstate organic farm,

or sample the dim sum served from 11 a.m. to 2 pm. There’s no kids’ menu, but the chef can whip up an omelet or French toast. The cold-brewed teas here are the standouts. They vary daily and are combined with pureed fruits (or your own combinations). The cocktail scene revives on Sept. 16 when the Leo Bar – a networking party – resumes on Friday evenings, with signature cocktails weekly. This café is an oasis of calm: a spare, airy environment, no music, Buddhist pines and a “scholar’s rock” in one corner. Table seating for 80 doesn’t seem crowded. The wait staff is equally Zen. Society of Illustrators: Museum Café 128 East 63 Street, reservations at 212-838-2560. Tucked in a brownstone on E. 63rd Street, the Museum Café lets you literally drink in some culture. The warm, charming space doubles as the Hall of Fame Gallery with art from curated exhibits (currently a retrospective of Gonzo illustrator Ralph Steadman). More traditional art hangs over the compact and nicely carved bar – a 1939 original Norman Rockwell. There’s also an outdoor patio. Contemplate it while bartender Ramon whips up one of the cocktails ($12) he helped design—the East 63rd St. Sidecar, the F train, the Red Door,

The Park Avenue and more. Or enjoy wine by the glass ($10) or beer ($6). The casual American menu offers salads, burgers, mac & cheese, omelets, pasta and sweets ($12 - $16). One Saturday each month (11:00 a.m. – 3 p.m.), there’s a $30 per person buffet brunch of savory or sweet treats plus coffee, tea and a drink. The café, open Tuesdays through Fridays (12-5) and Saturdays (1p.m. - 4p.m.), also hosts a Sketch Night until 9:30 on Tuesdays and most Thursdays. For $20 admission ($10 for students or seniors), visitors can sketch models – nude with an occasional accessory – while enjoying a small-plates buffet and a cash bar. The bar seats six for cocktails, with more seating at nearby high-tops. It’s an elegant, cozy spot for a drink and a bite, worth walking up three flights of stairs, past artwork-lined walls. The New York Historical Society: Caffé Storico 170 Central Park West at 77th St. Reservations preferred. (212) 485-9211. Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m, Caffé Storico has a cheerful design. The bright yellow banquettes, crisp white walls and gingerbread trim make an impression. Some shelves on view display five sets of 18th- and 19th-century plates from the

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Society’s collection. Local history pervades General Manager Gabriel Solano’s signature cocktails ($14 - $16), too. The “1804” marks when the historical society was founded, and the “New Amsterdam” honors its roots. The signature cocktail, “An Englishman in New York” (bourbon, lemon juice, and exotics) represents Chef Tim Kensett, who’s from London. Enjoy these drinks or the Italian wines or local or

imported beers at one of the 12 seats at the bar. Or at the tables or the bright yellow banquette. “Storico” means “historic” in Italian, and Mediterranean flavor abounds in antipasti, pasta, panini and salads at lunch ($13 -$21). Dinner ($16-$34) features heartier pastas, seafood, chicken or steak. Besides half portions on weekdays, kids will love the weekend brunch – lobster mac and cheese, eggs, salads, sandwiches, sweet breads

or Nutella crepes ($12 - $19) You don’t need to buy a ticket for the museum to go to the restaurants…but wouldn’t you want to see the culture, art and history that inspired those plates and all those cocktails? Virginia Randall’s blog about New York City life, “Don’t Get Me Started,” is at www.newyorknatives.com

SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

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YOUR 15 MINUTES

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

LITTLE ITALY WITH A BIG HEART

get notified that it liquefied, we announce it throughout the feast with our PA system. To people who have faith, you don’t have to explain it. To people who don’t have faith, you could never explain it.

Figli di San Gennaro member and native Little Italy resident John Fratta explains the history and present-day significance of the neighborhood and its iconic feast BY ANGELA BARBUTI

In a city where everything is constantly changing, it proves difficult to maintain the traditions on which New York was built. But Italian-Americans of Little Italy continue to celebrate their culture through the Feast of San Gennaro and it has become the largest and longest running one in the city. Its rich history dates back to 1926, when Italian immigrants who settled in the area wanted to venerate their patron saint in the same way they did back home in Naples. What started as a one-day event now runs from Sept. 15 to Sept. 25 and this year will celebrating its 90th anniversary. John Fratta is part of that history as his great-grandfather, Luigi Vitale, was one of the feast’s founders. As a fourth-generation Italian, born, raised and still living in Little Italy, Fratta’s pride for the neighborhood has never wavered since he began serving in area politics at just 16 years old.

As a member of Figli di San Gennaro, the nonprofit that runs the feast, he gave us a glimpse into what makes it special this year. For the first time, it will be webcast in Italy, which is a milestone in the celebration’s ongoing narrative. And as for its charitable component, some of the money raised will be sent to central Italy to aid with earthquake relief. This year also marks the first ever Meatball Eating Contest in honor of actor John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia, Little Italy’s unofficial mayor, who passed away last year.

Your great grandfather was the first president of the San Gennaro Society. What can you tell us about how the feast first came about? It came about as a celebration. When the Italian immigrants came over, especially from Naples, they came to Mulberry Street and brought with them their custom of honoring their patron saint, who, of course, is San Gennaro. And they brought that over to New York, like they do in Italy. In Italy, it’s always sunny, so they celebrate the feast outdoors. So it started here more or less as a block party honoring San Gennaro. And then it grew and it grew and it is what it is today. The most important aspect of

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Where does the money that’s raised go?

the feast is the religious significance. People make money during the feast and that’s all great. But without San Gennaro, you don’t have a feast.

How do you keep it religious? It’s difficult, but we do it. We make sure that we have our solemn high mass on its feast day on the 19th of September. That’s where we carry the San Gennaro statue out of the church and march through Little Italy. We have a mass every day at Most Precious Blood Church during the feast. The first day of the feast is the blessing of the stands by the priests. They don’t bless the food; they bless the stands, wishing them luck during the feast. We try very hard to keep the religious aspect of it. Years ago, we used to have fortune tellers in there, then we removed them all. That was ridiculous; you got a religious festival and you got fortune tellers. And we really try to clean up our act with vendors. We have food and game vendors, but we still want the celebration to be about San Gennaro more than everything else.

Tell us about the miracle that San Gennaro is known for in Italy. San Gennaro was killed in 305. When they chopped his head off, a woman in

John Fratta, a member of the nonprofit that runs Little Italy’s San Gennaro Festival. Photo courtesy of the Figli di San Gennaro the town soaked up his blood and put it in vials. The vials are kept at the Cathedral of Naples. And on the 19th of September and on the first Sunday of May every year, the blood liquefies. It goes from a powder form to a liquid. Scientists have been trying to figure out how it’s happening. It’s the miracle of San Gennaro. My mother saw it when she was in Naples for the 19th a few years ago and said it was the most unbelievable thing she’s ever seen. This year, it liquefied another time, when Pope Francis went to the Cathedral and lifted up the vials. When we

As we tell everybody, Figli di San Gennaro is not a foundation, we’re a not-for-profit, charitable, religious organization. So whether we make $5 out of this or we make a million dollars, it doesn’t matter to us, because we give that to charity after our expenses are paid. So it’s really about honoring San Gennaro first and then whatever profits we have left, we give out to charity. We give about 80 percent of our leftover money to charities. Originally, when Figli di San Gennaro was formed, we focused on Catholic education. But a lot of our Catholic schools are closed now, so we changed it over. While we do give it to schools in the area, now we also expanded to give to places like Bowery Mission, Cooley’s Anemia Foundation. And, of course, this year, we’re going to try and make a real nice donation to Italy to the earthquake victims.

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Jacob Sanchez Diagnosed with autism

Lack of speech is a sign of autism. Learn the others at autismspeaks.org/signs.

SEPTEMBER 15-21,2016

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