Our Town Downtown - November 17, 2016 by OurTown Downtown

The local paper for Downtown wn FINE LINES AT THE GUGGENHEIM < P. 12

WEEK OF NOVEMBER

17-23 2016

Councilwoman Margaret Chin, at the microphone, ﬂanked by Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, left, and Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer, right, displayed photos of a line out the door of a recently opened Nike store on Broadway. Photo: Madeleine Thompson

RESIDENTS PROTEST SOHO NIKETOWN Elected officials join in to say Buildings Department failed in its review of developer’s application BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

On Thursday afternoon last week, a line of about 50 people snaked out the door of the new Nike retail store and onto Broadway near Spring Street. Further down Broadway, in front of the Department of Buildings at Chambers Street, about 30 elected officials and SoHo residents gathered that same afternoon to protest the store’s opening earlier this month. The officials, among them Councilwoman Margaret Chin, state Senator Daniel Squadron, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and Community Board 2 Chairman Tobi Bergman, contend that only a legal loophole allowed the five-story, 55,000-square-foot store to be built — despite significant community opposition. The store, which features a mini soccer field and a half-size basketball court with a 23-foot ceiling, was built on the footprint of a demolished two-story building. But the so-called “party wall” standing be-

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Telly Leung Photo: Leon Le Photography

Pauline Frommer

THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS: WHAT WE’RE GRATEFUL FOR On the list: community, diversity, activists and a place to feel safe Gratitude has it own national holiday. Thanksgiving’s the traditional time to take stock of appreciated gifts, and so it’s exactly the right moment to ask a few New Yorkers deeply rooted in their communities — the kind of people we cover online and in our news pages each week — to reﬂect on what they’re thankful for. Chris Doeblin, owner, Book Culture Most of all, I’m thankful to be married to the person that I love and admire and desire, for my two wonderful and beautiful 11-yearold daughters, for our home on 110th Street that is so cluttered, and needs so much work, where we love each other and share our family meals. We are all well. I am thankful for our extended family — for all of their blessings and the profound love that we all share. I am also deeply thankful, especially now, to

be here in this community and to work in a bookshop that has been so challenging, but which is a bastion of civility, ideas and culture, especially now. Have a wonderful and loving thanksgiving, everyone. We are hoping for you. Pauline Frommer, editorial director, Frommer Guidebooks and Frommers.com I’m grateful to live in a city where one in every three is foreign-born. That means that travel—my passion as well as my career—is part of my daily life. In the morning, I have a long talk with the Senegalese mother of my daughter’s good friend about an upcoming sleepover…and the state of the world. Then I linger to chat with a Mexican porter in our building about his fears now that Trump is president-elect. At the grocery store, I trade pleasantries with the Jamaican-born cashier, and at work I huddle over layouts with an Italian-born photo editor. Each person brings the world to me and that means the world to me.

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Crime Watch Voices Out & About City Arts

3 8 10 12

Restaurant ratings Business Real Estate 15 Minutes

14 16 17 21

WEEK OF APRIL

SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12

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

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

9-16

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

2015

In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS

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

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

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

n OurTownDowntow

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Newscheck Crime Watch Voices

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

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

12 13 14 18

CONTINUED ON PAGE

Catherine Hughes, former Community Board 1 chairwoman On Thanksgiving Day, we remember an amazing act of kindness and humanity. A tribe of Native Americans came together to rescue a starving band of illegal immigrants who ﬂed religious persecution and washed up on these freezing shores. Those original Americans ignored enormous differences of race, faith and national origin, and ignored their own short-term interests, to recognize the common humanity of those starving, storm-tossed Puritans – refugees rejected by the country of their birth. That founding act of compassion inspires me not just on Thanksgiving Day but every day, and never more than in these fearful times. Telly Leung, actor, currently starring on Broadway in “In Transit.” There’s the family we are born into, and

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NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

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BITING INTO THE BIG APPLE’S CORE Museum of the City of New York will “groove” for 32 hours BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

This weekend, from Saturday at 9 a.m. to Sunday at 6 p.m., the Museum of the City of New York will stay open for a non-stop celebration of the new permanent exhibit “New York at its Core.” For ﬁve years the museum has been putting together the more than 450-piece collection of New York history, which will feature famous figures from Jane Jacobs to Jay-Z and items such as a ceremonial cup from the 1900 subway groundbreaking and Milton Glaser’s original sketch for the “I heart New York” campaign. The exhibit will center around four themes: money, density, diversity and creativity. In a press release, “New York at its Core” is described as showing “how a distinctive blend of these key themes has produced a powerfully creative environment that has made New York a center of innovation in the

arts, business, science, politics, and urban development.” At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning, museum administrators joined elected officials in opening the exhibit. “New York’s history shows us that it wasn’t a forgone conclusion that this tiny outpost ... was destined to be one of world history’s most significant places,” Sarah Henry, one of the exhibit’s curators, said. “A laboratory, as it’s turned out, for values like tolerance, opportunity, cross-fertilization between different cultures, innovation and dense urban life.” Henry especially thanked Local Projects, the studio that designed the exhibit’s “Future City Lab” gallery, for bringing interactive technology to the museum. “Future City Lab” invites visitors to consider five major challenges — such as transportation and housing — the city will face in the years to come by playing games and engaging with maps that envision New York City as far out as 2050. Tom Finkelpearl, commissioner of

Museum of the City of New York administrators and elected officials at a Tuesday morning ribbon cutting of a permanent exhibit, “New York at its Core,” that will be open for 32 hours straight beginning Saturday morning. Photo: Madeleine Thompson the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, zeroed in on the exhibit’s “money” theme and praised the diverse ﬁnancial efforts that collaborated to make “New York at its Core” a reality. “There’s not one controlling factor,” he said. “It’s good to have a really vibrant private sector and resources.”

He then read a proclamation from Mayor Bill de Blasio designating Friday, Nov. 18, 2016 as “MCNY New York at its Core Day.” Though it opens on Friday, admission will be free for the 32-hour weekend event, which the museum is calling “Gotham Groove,” with

the exception of some speciﬁc programs. Attendees can look forward to Broadway performances, a Walt Whitman impersonator and a trivia competition. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com

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

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

SAFETY OFFICER ADMITS BRIBING POLICE TO SPEED GUN PERMITS A volunteer safety patrol member once described as a community arms dealer who bribed police officers to speed along gun permits has pleaded guilty. Alex “Shaya” Lichtenstein entered the plea to bribery charges Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Lichtenstein also agreed not to appeal any sentence up to six years in prison. Sentencing was set for March 16. Prosecutors said they recorded the volunteer bragging about using bribes to get at least 150 licenses for people to carry guns. A federal prosecutor said at one court appearance that Lichtenstein was “no less than an arms dealer for the community.” The bribery scheme has also been cited in charges brought against two high-ranking NYPD commanders and two gun licensing division officers. The Associated Press

VERY IMPORTANT PURSE MISSING It seems that even VIPs have to keep an eye on their own stuff. At 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 6, a 31-year-old Staten Island woman seated at a VIP table at club Haus at 285 West Broadway asked a security guard to keep an eye on her bag while she stepped away for a few minutes. When she returned to the table at 4:15 a.m., however, her bag was gone. A search turned up nothing. The items stolen included a handbag valued at $9,000, a cell phone priced at $600, and $100 in cash.

BIKE STOLEN It’s apparently still open season on Ducatis. At 6 p.m. on Nov. 5, a man parked his motorcycle in front of 165 Duane St. and headed off to work. When he returned at 11:45 p.m., his red 2010 Ducati bike was missing. The motorcycle is valued at $5,000.

ROBBIN’ ROBIN’S How do you make a pair of jeans irresistible to shoplifters? Price it at $600. On Nov. 1, a 25-year-old man entered the Robin’s Jean Store at 60 Grand St. about 5 p.m., took four pairs

of Binets, worth a total of $2,400, off the shelf, and walked out of the shop, heading in an unknown direction. A search of the neighborhood proved fruitless.

BODY BOOTY The “agent provocateur” in a highend boutique recently was a shoplifter. At 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 4, an unknown perpetrator removed items from the Agent Provocateur store at 133 Mercer St. The items stolen included a Nala Body Nude bodysuit valued at $1,695, and a Gina Body bodysuit priced at $505.

STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st precinct Week to Date

Year to Date

2016 2015

% Change

2016

2015

% Change

Murder

n/a

-100.0

Rape

n/a

80.0

Robbery

-75.0

-16.1

Felony Assault

-80.0

-10.3

Burglary

-33.3

103

110

-6.4

Grand Larceny

9.1

911

929

-1.9

Grand Larceny Auto

n/a

120.0

KING DING A woman parked her car in front of 41 King St. on the early morning of Oct. 30. When she returned at 4 a.m., the driver’s-side window had been smashed and a purse she had left was gone. The missing items include a Samsung phone worth $850, a pair of $300 eyeglasses, a $300 Pandora charm bracelet, a $270 Coach bag and other items. Tony Webster, via ﬂickr

EXHIBITION OPENS NOVEMBER 18, 2016

ONLY IN NEW YORK WOULD A TIFFANY SHOVEL BE USED TO BREAK GROUND FOR THE SUBWAY.

ONLY IN NEW YORK WOULD THIS BE CONSIDERED A TRAVEL GUIDE.

A 1900 sterling silver Tiﬀany shovel—just one of the many objects whose story comes to life in the ﬁrst-ever exhibition on NYC’s past, present, and future.

A 1975 pamphlet for public safety in New York—just one of the many objects whose story comes to life in the ﬁrst-ever exhibition on NYC’s past, present, and future.

Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street | mcny.org | #onlyinny New York at Its Core Opening Presented by Shovel, Museum of the City of New York, gift of Mrs. William Van Wyck, 54.373.

Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street | mcny.org | #onlyinny New York at Its Core Opening Presented by 1975 pamphlet, courtesy The Jack Bigel Collection, Newman Library, Baruch College.

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NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

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Rao’s, at 114th Street and Pleasant Avenue, in East Harlem. Photo: H.L.I.T., via ﬂickr

THE IMPOSSIBLE TABLE Rao’s, in East Harlem, serves up classic meatballs, and intrigue BY JOCELYN NOVECK

So one night, the story goes, Justin Bieber was in town, and had a hankering for Italian food. Not just any Italian, but Rao’s, the tiny restaurant by a park in East Harlem that’s been around for 120 years — and is one of the hardest-to-get tables in the country, let alone the city. Some “serious society types” made inquiries for Bieber, according to an anecdote in the new cookbook, “Rao’s Classics.” But the place was booked with regulars, as always. Would heaven and earth be moved? The answer came crisply and succinctly: “No one gives a (blank) about Justin Bieber.” Many things are said to be impossible in Manhattan. A taxi at rush hour in the rain. A parking spot on a Saturday night. “Hamilton” tickets in the current century. But let’s be precise. Those things are difficult, but not impossible. You know what’s impossible? Getting a reservation at Rao’s. The first thing to know is that Rao’s has only 10 tables, serving 60-ish diners a night — one leisurely seating only (and no lunch.) The next is that these tables have been assigned for years. People have their regular nights. A table can be handed down in a family, or gifted to a friend for a night, or auctioned for charity at many (many!) thousands of dollars for an evening. As the Zagat guide says, it “practically takes an act of Congress” to score a table. And so, visiting Rao’s one day recently, some five hours before doors open, one of our first questions is whether there’s ever been a thought to shaking up the system — maybe getting a bunch of fresh blood into the doors.

That, says co-owner Frank Pellegrino Jr., is really missing the point. “I’ve known many of these guests since I was a kid,” says Pellegrino, 46, whose ﬁrst job at Rao’s was a summer gig in 6th grade. “There’s a bond. It’s about preservation of relationships.” If you really want a table at Rao’s, probably the best place to try is in Vegas, where the 10-year-old Rao’s at Caesar’s Palace occupies 10,000 square feet — “about ﬁve New York Rao’s in one,” quips Pellegrino — serving 400-600 people a night (and 800 large meatballs a day.) There’s also been an outpost in Hollywood since 2013. Pellegrino Jr. spends most of his time out west, while his father, Frank Sr., presides over the Manhattan locale, which opened in 1896. Coming back to New York feels like a reunion, he says. Still, “I only get to eat here when I’m working or when I cook myself” — which is what he’s doing at 1 p.m. when we arrive. The place is quiet, very quiet. Lights are still off in the dining room. But in the kitchen, a huge pot of marinara sauce is being tended by Paulie Sanchez, who’s been with the restaurant some 15 years. Pellegrino, meanwhile, is whipping up some fusilli with cabbage and sausage. The recipe appears in the new book, with about 140 other favorites. On a tiny shelf — there’s not much wall space — sits a jar of the famous Rao’s sauce sold in stores by the restaurant’s specialty food business. That business — and the handling of it — is currently the subject of a lawsuit in state court that has, according to tabloid reports, caused a bitter rift between Pellegrino Sr. and his cousin and co-owner, Ron Straci, and his wife Sharon. Pellegrino Jr. will only say that the lawsuit is ongoing but he’s hopeful it will be resolved soon.

But it’s hard to say the lawsuit is the most dramatic calamity to befall the restaurant — not with the murder and all. It happened, as the book recounts (authors are the two Pellegrinos and Joseph Riccobene), around Christmas 2003, when a young actress was serenading diners with “Don’t Rain On My Parade.” A man at the bar “uttered unkind words.” An older man, a mobster nicknamed “Louie Lump Lump,” admonished him, more insults were traded, and Louie ended up pulling a gun and killing the younger man. It didn’t hurt business. “I was here that evening,” says Pellegrino Jr. “It was a very unfortunate incident — we always viewed Rao’s more like Switzerland than anything else.” He adds that rumor has it there was an earlier shooting “back in 1911 or 1912. A woman sitting here at the bar, a stray bullet from outside. I can’t conﬁrm it.” But back to the food. Pellegrino’s favorite dishes include the pork chop with cherry peppers — a 450-year-old recipe — and the shells with ricotta. The seafood salad is very popular. But probably the one thing Rao’s is best known for is its meatball — about three times the size of a normal one. Initially, meatballs were served only on Wednesdays. But demand was too great to limit the dish. Rao’s walls are plastered with photos of the celebrities that have passed through — usually as guests of regulars. Hillary Clinton’s picture is there, from her Senate years; Donald Trump has also visited. Hollywood stars galore. And many cast members of “The Sopranos.” One regular was sportswriter Dick Schaap, who died in 2001. At his funeral, Billy Crystal noted in his eulogy that everyone was thinking the same thought. “Who’s going to get his table at Rao’s?”

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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Now our outpatient imaging center is open for business, utilizing the most advanced techniques and equipment available. And there’s much more to come. We will be introducing additional medical services in the facility and continuing to raise the standard of healthcare in your neighborhood.

Visit us on Seventh Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets. Emergency center (646) 665-6911 Imaging (646) 665-6700 Administration (646) 665-6000 Lenoxhealth.com

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Chris Doeblin

Betty Cooper Wallerstein

THANKSGIVING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 then there’s the family we make. I feel a great sense of gratitude every day, when I walk to my theater. I live in Midtown and walk to work. I walk along Ninth Avenue, and run into so many people from the Broadway community – my family of artists. Hell’s Kitchen is also a thriving, diverse “gay-borhood” – a place that I feel safe holding my partner’s hand. As a traveling actor, I don’t always feel that way when I’m in other parts of the country. I am thankful for this sense of community and family.

“

My IDNYC card helps us easily access city resources, from the library to the city hospital. I can get discounts on groceries, medicine, and movie tickets.

Sue Susman, Upper West Side activist I’m grateful for: Larry Wood, Director of Organizing at Goddard Riverside Community Center, who educates and advocates on tenant issues. Jean Dorsey, head of the Westgate Tenant Association at Stonehenge, who ﬁghts the good ﬁght, helping her neighbors and the neighborhood. Economist Winifred Armstrong strengthens our awareness of neighborhood history. Sharon Canns, a tenant activist and board member of the West Side Neighborhood Alliance, is an enormous moral support. Anna Gago, in Council

NIKETOWN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 tween what the Nike store and that of its neighboring building was left intact, which allowed representatives from developer Aurora Capital Associates to claim they were altering existing property. That in turn allowed Aurora to avoid a more onerous permit application process for stores exceeding 10,000 square feet. Skipping that permit process allowed the project to move forward with relatively little review, which angered community members. Residents of the neighboring building to the Nike store have sued Aurora Capital, alleging their building was damaged during construction. The protesters called on the department to properly enforce existing zoning laws. But a spokesperson for the DOB said the development was thoroughly reviewed “as well as audited in April 2015 “and it was determined that the plans submitted complied with the NYC Construction Codes and Zoning Resolution.” But the group chanting “enforce the law!” outside Department of Buildings offices last week were not satisfied with the response to their nearly two years of opposition. “This neighborhood has residents,” Brewer said. “It has local businesses, it has narrow sidewalks. [The Nike store] is not just misclassiﬁed, it is illegal, period.”

Catherine Hughes

Member Helen Rosenthal’s office, shares what she learns at every possible conference. Finally, my neighbors at Central Park Gardens, whose helping each other strengthens our tenant association. Betty Cooper Wallerstein, president, E. 79th Street Neighborhood Association Reading daily of tragic conﬂict and suffering the world over, I am thankful for living in a safe city and country offering much opportunity and aiming for good quality of life for all residents. I’m grateful for civic advocates in diverse neighborhoods. They volunteer countless hours toward improving living conditions and city services. Also, very grateful to our Upper East Side elected officials, who give needed attention and necessary support. I appreciate the freedom of the public to address any government agency or elected official for a response to an issue of concern. Thanks are due to our dedicated ﬁrst responders and struggling local merchants. Additional thanks to Our Town and Straus News’s other free local papers covering community news not reported elsewhere. And I am most thankful for family and friends who share my deepest gratitude to the Hereditary Disease Foundation for its relentless research in treating incurable brain diseases.

Her colleagues echoed the sentiment, calling the DOB’s policies “broken,” with Bergman calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to “rescue this city” from the department he described as impenetrable. Martin Hason, who has lived on the same SoHo block as the Nike store for 40 years, lamented the loss of what decades ago was a much more residential area. “[It’s] basically hanging on by its fingernails right now,” he said, predicting that one or two more big-box retailers like Nike’s would be the neighborhood’s downfall. While Hason said SoHo used to be comfortable, he described it now as an “outdoor shopping mall.” “It seems really unfair that commercial interests have so much sway,” he said. “Sometimes if I’m getting out of my building I have to knock on the door in order to keep the crowds that are congregating away.” Glick acknowledged that zoning and special permits have contributed to SoHo’s economic success, and argued that this was all the more reason to continue enforcing those laws. “Why we want to undermine that, I don’t know,” she said. “It is [the building department’s] obligation to respond to the tax-paying public. If we homogenize ourselves so that we look like a mall anywhere else in the country, there’s no reason to be here.” Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@ strausnews.com

“

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Photo: Cait_Stewart, via ﬂickr

ELECTION’S AFTERMATH WRITTEN ON SUBWAY WALLS Post-it therapy goes underground BY VERENA DOBNIK

New Yorkers struggling with post-election stress have found an outlet for the blues — by pouring their political souls onto sticky notes that ﬁll walls of a Manhattan subway station. In the days after Republican Donald Trump won the White House, Democrat Hillary Clinton’s loss brought many of her New York supporters to tears — even in public. Enter 28-year-old Brooklyn artist Matthew Chavez, known as Levee. He set up a table in a

long tunnel of the Union Square station where he hands out the blank pastel notes on which straphangers scribble. He calls this “Subway Therapy.” It’s free. More than 1,500 people have shared their grief and anxiety since Wednesday, posting thoughts on the white subway tiles, according to Subway Therapy’s Instagram. One reads, “You will not divide us. Love is everything.” Another says, “It doesn’t end today.” One says “If they go low, we go high,” echoing ﬁrst lady Michelle Obama. The uplifting art installation

counterbalances what Clinton supporters say is Trump’s racism, bigotry and ignorance. Another sticky note offers soothing words, saying, “Everything will be alright.” But a few feet over, another person wasn’t so sure: “What do we do now?” There was an answer amid the sea of impromptu messages. “We’ve been through worse (meaning 9/11) and the city will unite,” the light pink sticky note said. “We will get through this together because love trumps hate.’’

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Fine and decorative art, jewelry and furniture for a fraction of retail cost! No reserves! Preview: November 7 – 20 8:30am – 5:30pm weekends & 10am – 6pm weekdays Absentee and phone bids accepted! Complimentary lunch after the auction! View the catalogue at www.nyshowplace.com! Showplace Antique + Design Center | 40 West 25th Street 212-633-6063 ext. 808 | auctions@nyshowplace.com

Outside Trump Tower on Nov. 9, thousands converged on Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue to voice their displeasure at election results. The demonstrators chanted slogans decrying Trump’s statements about abortion, minorities and women. Photo: Micah Danney

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TALKING TURKEY, AND OTHER IDIOMS BY PETER PEREIRA

REPUBLIC OF TRANSPORTATION EAST SIDE ENCOUNTERS BY ARLENE KAYATT

No judgment, just interest — Street vendor selling watches on busy Upper East Side corner. Woman passing by looks at watches and wants three. Vendor removes them from their cardboard stands. Woman goes to her purse. Sees she has nothing smaller than a hundred-dollar bill. Asks vendor if he has change. “Oh wait, I do,” came a voice from the woman holding a cardboard sign seeking donations as she sat on the sidewalk immediately opposite the vendor and his watches. She sounded like a talking ATM. Or the start of a start-up called “Partners in Change.” Could happen. MTA bus driver has a good union — Riders were absolutely flabbergasted when the bus driver on the M15 route going north on First Avenue announced to the passengers that he wouldn’t be leaving the bus stop for another ﬁve minutes because he was “ahead of schedule.” Ahead of schedule? Is he kidding? What schedule? The one posted at the bus stop where the bus is halted? If that’s the one, then he’s about 12 hours and 20 buses behind schedule. If he’s going according to an app, he’s at least 2 hours and who knows how many buses behind. Manhattan’s MTA bus service is a 24/7 nightmare. Unabated. Unabashed. Unbelievable. Without consequence. Or impunity. Deplorable. More MTA — I’m just marveling at the newly opened “headquarters” for the bus facilitator (bus “captains” stationed at designated bus stops with whom drivers check in and out, and conduct other transit business). It’s set up in the newly opened FIKA coffee shop at 42nd and Lex. The facilitator sits front and center at the FIKA window counter facing the bus stop. All paperwork paraphernalia at the ready as well as a phone and, of course, a cup of joe. When a bus arrives at the stop, the captain goes out to meet the driver. Too bad the MTA minions don’t use their ingenuity to

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NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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

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

get the buses running on time with regularity so that the public’s transportation needs are met and riders aren’t left waiting half-hours at a time, if not more, for buses, particularly during the workday when time matters. And on weekends when the ridership is going strong throughout the day. Re-framed — For several years a picture-framing shop occupied a commercial space on Third Avenue between 90/91st Streets. Within the last year, they moved out and the storefront was empty. In the last few weeks, another picture-framing tenant moved into the space. Don’t know if it’s the same owner. Doesn’t matter. Glad to see commercial occupancy picking up. A concern, however, is

and profess sympathy for them, they do nothing to lighten the burden. Instead, they undermine small businesses by encouraging the expansion of street vending. Today food carts; tomorrow who knows. The actions, advocacy and legislative intent of our representatives does not bode well for small business. Expansion of street vending is antithetical to the survival of small businesses, their owners, vendors, employees and the public. Electeds and public officials should take heed and reorder their priorities and serve the economic and public safety interests of all of their constituents. City sidewalks are now used and occupied by pedestrians, strollers, skateboards, outdoor cafes, fruit vendors, hotdog, and other food and coffee carts. Expanding use

Photo: Chris Eason, via ﬂickr that the city’s expansion of food cart permits will invite the expansion of not only food carts but other types of street vending. Luckily, picture framing doesn’t lend itself to selling from carts but other arts and crafts may. In this climate of overreach as far as street vending, small businesses will continue to pay high, if not exorbitant, rents while vendors will pay for the privilege of a street space for the price of a permit and other costs — NOTHING compared to the cost of rent and running a small business. Some small businesses on the UES pay monthly rents in the range of $10,000. While elected and public officials give lip service to the plight and loss of small businesses

President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Editor-In-Chief Account Executive Alexis Gelber Fred Almonte editor.ot@strausnews.com Director of Partnership Development Deputy Editor Barry Lewis Richard Khavkine editor.otdt@strausnews.com

of street space is not safe. And not in the public interest. And ﬁnally — She was there. Cindy Adams of New York Post fame was on the inside at the Hilton with President-elect Trump on election night. Both East Siders, they know each other for more than 40 years and live within blocks of each other. He on Fifth and 57th. She on Park Avenue a block north. Given the electorate’s penchant for New Yorkers and the audacity of Trump, could be that he creates a cabinet post for her — like Secretary of Gosspel — to serve the nosy needs of the spiritual, secular and religious communities? And to think she used to write for Our Town!

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

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Croton-on-Hudson. Photo: j4nbrajer

THE HEART OF A HOME GRAYING NEW YORK BY MARCIA EPSTEIN

My partner John and I traveled last week to my hometown of Croton-on-Hudson to meet up with some high school classmates I haven’t seen in many years. In fact, the last time was at a class reunion 30 years ago and before that ... well ... high school graduation. Even though Croton is only an hour or so from Manhattan, it might as well be the Alps, because I don’t have any reason to go there. The one time we took a drive to see “my” house, I was so freaked out I promised myself never to do it again. And in fact, this time we didn’t. I had felt sad at all the changes, all the new houses on the block, even new numbering of the houses. The new playgrounds, trees, shrubbery ... I even got lost trying to ﬁnd my house. It got to me emotionally; I want my memories intact. I want the streets empty and us kids playing ball well into the evening. Maybe I just want to go back in time to when things were simpler and I was young, but this time I did not go near my childhood home. Six of us met in a diner; three of us were high school classmates and three were our partners. Who did I see? I saw my high school buddies but in a different form. And yet not different. Of course we talked about old times and old friends and it was a very

pleasant lunch. But as with visiting my house, it was also a bit disorienting. We are still Marcia, Erica and Joel. But we are the senior versions of Marcia, Erica and Joel. We are still us, but the us who have lived the greatest portion of our lives and now have the time to kick back and sit in a diner for two hours reminiscing. Wonderful, fun, nostalgic, scary. All the time that has passed! Is it possible? And passed in a snap. A quick snap of the fingers. It was fun, and we all looked great. Maybe another time I’ll even have the courage to go and look at my childhood home. Back in the city, our wonderful neighborhood NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community), Bloomingdale Aging in Place (BAiP), was honored by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer on October 30th. She dubbed it “BAiP Appreciation Day.” As I’ve written before, more neighborhoods should form NORCs as wonderful as BAiP. The heart of BAiP is its corps of volunteers who build up and aid its community, particularly supporting older adults. In addition to helping seniors who may need help going to doctors’ appointments, shopping and dealing with errands, BAiP has many activities, too many for me to list. I’ve mentioned my own ping pong group. My partner, John, walks with an early morning group, and sometimes with

another, faster group at 10:00 a.m. There are book, cooking, movie and wellness groups. And BAiP runs a Resource Exchange with recommendations for everything from handymen to hairdressers. So thanks go to Gale Brewer for recognizing BAiP, and the importance of neighborhood associations that help keep the older population at home, active and connected. If you live between 96th and 110th Street on the Upper West Side, just Google BAiP or Bloomingdale Aging in Place for more information For those who like to travel, the Freebird Club is a new short-term rental service solely for seniors. It was launched this past September as an international travel club for those 50 and older. Peter Mangan, the founder of The Freebird Club, did some research among friends, neighbors and focus groups. He found that many senior citizens are healthy and still want to travel. So he founded an online peer-to-peer network, a kind of AirBnB that lets elders host travelers and travelers stay at homes in other countries. Mangan sees this as a way to mobilize older people to travel and meet new people. Eventually he may add group trips. There is a lot of vetting of those wanting to share apartments while traveling and those wanting to invite travelers into their homes. Contact hello@thefreebirdclub.com for more information.

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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ART OF FOOD Our Town’s

AT SOTHEBY’S

Presented by

Saturday, February 4, 2017

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MEET THE CHEF Tell me a little bit about Bohemian Spirit. We do traditional Czech cuisine. We’ve been here since April. Some of our specialties include duck, dumplings, and schnitzel. We have weekly specials and use seasonal, local ingredients and try to help the local farmers.

Republic and studied in France. I also attended the Culinary Institute of America. I worked at a First Michelin Star restaurant in the Czech Republic with very seasonal menus. There were two menus—one that was strictly Czech, and one that was international. Each menu had sixteen courses and was changed every day. So, at this time, I tried a lot of techniques and worked with a lot of ingredients, which really taught me a lot.

Where are you originally from? A small, small town in the Czech Republic. Growing up there was LUKAS POHL Chef at Bohemian Spirit a little boring, but my grandma 321 East 73rd St., taught me to cook. She lived up New York, NY 10021 on a mountain, and everything I also worked Prague to work as a pastry was always homemade. We spent a lot chef. And after that, I moved to New York to of time together in the woods and ﬁelds picking herbs. We made our own tea, picked work here. mushrooms, got fresh eggs and milk on the What is one culinary tip you live by? farm. She showed me the way. Always try to use the ingredients that are How did you get started in the culinary world? I went to culinary school in the Czech

around you—what’s local is fresh, and what’s in season is least expensive.

Thu

17 Fri 18

WAYZGOOSE CELEBRATION Bowne Printers, 211 Water St. 6-9 p.m. Free Observe the changing seasons with drinks and fun by celebrating this century old letterpress printer holiday. 646-628-2707. www. southstreetseaportmuseum.org

THIRSTY THURSDAY The Hideaway, 185 Duane St. 6:30-9 p.m. Free Celebrate the end of the week with friends over some of The Hideaway’s special exceed cocktails. 212-334-5775. www. thehideawaynyc.com

Sat

MUSICAL HISTORY

SCAVENGER HUNT

BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers St. 8-9:30 p.m. $25 Immerse in the multicultural Lower East Side through the various music genres of its diverse inhabitants. 212-220-1460. www. tribecapac.org

Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place 10:30 a.m.-midnight. $5 Enjoy a tour of the “Ten and Taller” exhibit as well as a scavenger hunt afterwards 212-968-1961. www. skyscraper.org

LOW VOTER TURNOUT SYMPOSIUM Citizens Union Foundation, 42 Broadway 8:45 a.m.-2 p.m. Free A discussion on how to combat the phenomenon. 212-227-0342. www. citizensunion.org

▲ 2016 NYC BEERATHON Beerathon, Course to be determined Noon-11:59 p.m. $65 Explore Lower Manhattan with up to 26 six-ounce beer tastings at 13 of the best refreshment locations in New York City. 800-350-8850. www. nycbeerathon.com

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

THIS WEEK AT THE RUBIN MUSEUM

Photographs by Stephan Crasneanscki

EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW

Sun

regarding gratitude and develop how simple things can receive positive recognition and appreciation. 212-335-0613. www.jle.org

WORLD DAY OF REMEMBRANCE City Hall Park, 43 City Hall Noon-2 p.m. Free Join Transportation Alternatives to commemorate all the people who lost their lives from traffic violence. 212-360-1311. www.transalt. org

MUSIC UNDER CONSTRUCTION Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall, 55 West 13th St. 8 p.m. Free This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concert features the work of Thomas Addison, Wendy Griffiths, Carolyn Lord, Faye-Ellen Silverman and David Tcimpidis. 212-229-5600. events. newschool.edu/

Mon

RUN AND TROT â&#x2013;ş

Lole New York, 112 Mercer St. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Free Burn some extra calories before the big day of eating during this pre-Thanksgiving celebratory run. 212-226-6820. www. lolewomen.com

Tue

face while trying to access healthcare. 212-334-3324. www. housingworks.org

22 Wed23

AUTHOR TALK: SCOTT SAVITT China Institute, 100 Washington St. 6:30-8 p.m. Free Hear Savittâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experiences as a poet in post-Mao China by entering the country through his exchange program at Duke University. 212-744-8181. www. chinainstitute.org

HOUSING WORKS TROUPE Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby St. 7-9 p.m. Free Watch â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some Things $ Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Buy,â&#x20AC;? a play that addresses the difficulties transgender women

Monumental Lhasa: Fortress, Palace, Temple Experience Tibetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most renowned architectural sites through historical and FRQWHPSRUDU\ H\HV ZLWK PRUH WKDQ Ă&#x20AC;IW\ rare drawings, paintings, and photographs that show how landmarks have VKDSHG WKH LGHQWLW\ RI /KDVD IRU FHQWXULHV

MINDFULNESS AND MORE

COMEDY FROLIC â&#x2013;˛

The Village Lantern, 167 Bleecker St. 8-10 p.m. Free Enjoy a night of laughs and celebration as comedian Perry Strong celebrates his birthday with other iconic jokesters. 212-260-7993. www. perrystrong.com

FREE FAMILY SUNDAY LIVE BAND Blarney Stone, 11 Trinity Place 7 p.m.-1 a.m. $10 cover Spend Thanksgiving Eve by listening to The Big Apple Sunshine Band at one of the few surviving Blarney Stone locations in New York City. 212-269-4988. www. blarneystonedowntown.com

Sacred Spaces: Himalayan Wind Experience the high Himalayas through an immersive sound experience by 6RXQGZDON &ROOHFWLYH +HDU WKH ZKLVWOH RI VWURQJ ZLQGV WKH Ă DSSLQJ RI SUD\HU Ă DJV DQG WKH FKDQWLQJ RI EOHVVLQJV DW VRPH RI WKH KLJKHVW %XGGKLVW PRQDVWHULHV LQ WKH ZRUOG

Build a City November 20 Drop in, 1:00â&#x20AC;&#x201C;4:00 PM Ages 3 and older

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GRATITUDE SEMINAR

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

Jewish Learning Experience, 80 Broad St. 6-7:30 p.m. $18 Learn the Judaism ideology

RUBINMUSEUM.ORG

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SAT/SUN

11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;5:00 PM CLOSED 11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;9:00 PM 11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;5:00 PM 11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;10:00 PM 11:00 AMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;6:00 PM

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

FINE LINES Agnes Martin’s ethereal paintings fill the Guggenheim rotunda BY MARY GREGORY

Like a clear dawn where the sky lightens imperceptibly, yet, somehow both gradually and suddenly, unfolds into a new day, Agnes Martin’s paintings reveal themselves slowly. What they reveal says a great deal about the artist as well as the viewer. Humble, gentle, calming and restorative, they give you a moment’s pause, a bit of perspective, and the long view. Life isn’t as hectic as we tell ourselves it is. It’s possible to slow things down, at least for moments. One of those moments can be found in the Guggenheim’s Agnes Martin retrospective. “For more than 40 years, Agnes Martin created serene paintings composed of grids and stripes,” explained

Tracey Bashkoff, senior curator in the museum’s Collections and Exhibitions department. “Martin’s commitment to this spare style was informed by a belief in the transformative power of art, in its ability to conjure what she termed abstract emotions — happiness, love, and experiences of innocence, freedom, beauty and perfection. For Martin, these were the only true subjects of art, and she devoted herself to conveying them through her luminous paintings, drawings and prints.” Through Jan. 11, the Guggenheim is hosting the ﬁrst retrospective of Martin’s work since her death in 2004. Martin, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in late 20th century American art, could be seen, to paraphrase St. Paul, as being in the art world but not of it. After having achieved an astonishing level of

Spending time with Agnes Martin at the Guggenheim. Photo: Adel Gorgy

Agnes Martin’s spare, square canvases reward patient viewing as seen in “The Islands I–XII,” 1979, in acrylic and graphite on linen, 12 parts, each 6 square feet. Photo: Adel Gorgy gy success and recognition for a female artist in the late 1950s,, Martin left New York behind d to seek solitude and quiet and d found her voice. She traveled forr a few years across the U.S. and d Canada (where she was born),, ﬁnally settling in New Mexico,, and never leaving. There she e found what nurtured her soull and informed her work. The exhibition, co-curated d by Bashkoff and guest curatorr Tiffany Bell, includes some 115 5 works chronicling Martin’s en-tire career, and includes some e of her most famous works, ass well as drawings, sculpture e and little known early figurall abstractions. There are also o journals, notes and books off Martin’s writing on display. The show follows the course of her life, starting with early work and rising to the soaring skylight where her some of her most joyous paintings, with titles such as “Blessings,” “Gratitude,” and “Loving Love,” reside. Martin favored 6-foot square canvases and ﬁlled them with very little. Lines, washes of color, pencil markings, dots and bands seem to repeat across the surfaces and across her oeuvre — unless you take the time to look. As one stands in front of them, changes can be sensed. Hazy irregularities merge into soft horizons. Lines expand, but are contained. Is the sense of eternity an apparition born in the hand of the artist or the spirit of the viewer? Bashkoff said, “I think when you give yourself over to looking at the

Agnes Martin’s “Untitled,” from 1960, Oil on canvas. Photo: Adel Gorgy work, there’s a certain amount of acceptance when you really let it communicate with you. I think you do kind of access the way she made her work ... some of her thinking about it. The slowing down. The emptying of your mind.” Bell pointed out that while Martin may have led a spiritually driven life, she resisted associating her work with anything religious. Rather, Bell said, “Martin said that she’d like the experience to recall beauty that you might feel in a landscape ... that might trigger that kind of experience but it doesn’t represent it.” Martin’s work when encountered sporadically, one or two pieces here and there, always feel like a stopping

point, a repose. Seeing a po whole museum’s worth feels w like lik a glimpse of timelessness. ne They’re soft and gentle, yet ye powerful in their unyielding in adherence to the artist’s own ow stringent set of visual rules. ru “There was a time where “ I thought that the work was w about things that are the th same. The more time I’ve spent with them, I I’ understand that it’s more un about t h i n gs t hat a re ab different from each other,” di Bashkoff said, “the little Ba differences in syncopation di and an proportion and color that she’s sh used really take you to that th place of understanding and appreciation.” The best place to experience that is in a gallery filled with 12 enormous white canvases, each bearing lines drawn in pencil, one of the humblest of artist’s materials. The lines travel conﬁdently across the plane, yet bear evidence of the human touch. Some are strong, some are wobbly, yet ﬁnally all do what Martin intended. “I think that everyone is on his own line,” Martin, a poet as well as a painter, once said. “I think that after you’ve made one step, the next step reveals itself. I believe that you were born on this line. I don’t say that the actual footsteps were marked before you get to them, and I don’t say that change isn’t possible in your course. But I do believe we unfold out of ourselves, and we do what we are born to do sooner or later, anyway.”

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

PIPING UP: ORGANIST LOBBIES FOR ACCESS Gail Archer, an internationally recognized concert musician, wants to open up the field to more women BY HEATHER STEIN

Gail Archer, choral conductor, lecturer and concert organist, is advocating for women — as organists. Archer has traveled across the U.S. and abroad, and is steadfast in her belief that the profession remains a male bastion, despite the surfeit of female talent in the ﬁeld. “The more highly educated and skilled a women organist is, the more likely she is to have a disappointing professional response from an employer,” said Archer, who lives on the Upper West Side. Brilliant women organists are regularly passed over in the application or promotion process, treated unkindly in the workplace or dismissed from their jobs as organists, she said. Archer, an international recording artist, said she has experienced discrimination herself and endeavored to survey women organists in North America, the results of which she published in the Journal of the International Alliance of Women in Music. “There are no women leading a conservatory organ program in North America,” she said. “There are two women serving as cathedral musicians in a major U.S. city, Seattle and Phoenix. I know the statistics because I did the research myself and published the results.” She created a women organist advocacy group, Musforum, which profiles one member each month and publishes an online magazine three times a year. The site contains a database of women organists along with information about upcoming conferences. “The network allows us to stay in touch and to support each other,” she said. “I know that our network is meaningful to our members because our numbers are few and there are great distances between us. We affirm one another when we have an open channel to communicate regularly.”

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Gail Archer is director of the music program at Barnard College and college organist at Vassar College. Photo: Buck Ennis The group’s second-ever formal gathering, “Prairie Voices: A Musforum Conference,” will take place in Omaha, Nebraska, in June. Archer, 64, learned music by singing in church and in school choirs starting when she was 8. She also learned to play the piano. She was 13 when she discovered the organ and has pursued both ever since. “I am a practicing Roman Catholic and my faith has been an inspiration in my work,” she said. “My family attended the Union Avenue Baptist Church in Paterson, New Jersey. The organist there encouraged my interest in choir and organ from the beginning.” Archer, director of music at Barnard since 1994, earned a bachelor’s in music education from Montclair State University — “I am a ﬁrst generation college graduate!” she said — and a master’s in piano from the University of Hartford. She later earned a master’s in choral conducting from the Mannes School of Music and a doctorate in organ performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

Archer began her Barnard career in 1988 as the director of the Barnard Columbia Chorus. She is also the college organist at Vassar College where, she said, she has built a strong organ program. She performs about 50 concerts a year across the country and abroad. Her New York City recital series this fall will focus on the work of Max Reger, commemorating the centenary of his death. The third concert in Ms. Archer’s fall Reger series will take place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Nov. 27. “Having strong piano skills helped me to transition to organ easily,” she said. “Singing in choirs gave me the ability to sight read very well and to hear all the parts clearly. One needs the theory and ear training that conservatories provide to be a professional musician and the discipline to practice long hours.” That talent and dedication has propelled her to her profession’s heights. She’s now campaigning for allies. www.musforum.org.

ART OF FOOD Our Town’s

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MEET THE CHEF When did you start that I was going to try my cooking? hand at New York. They I am a product of a all said I was crazy single mother. She and that Mississippi commuted for work doesn’t make it there. for an hour and a half And it was tough to each day, both ways. get people to give me a So when I was a kid, shot. Culinarily speaking, she would call me and ask New Yorkers don’t think me what was for dinner. anyone but New Yorkers I started when I was REBECCA RICHARDS can cook, unless you’re Chef at Flex Mussels three years old making from France. Fortunately 174 E. 82nd St., New York, NY 10028 macaroni and cheese— for me, I got a job as things like that. She told a fry cook here at Flex me that I was always very angry Mussels, and after pestering them when I couldn’t get to the sink to for a year, they gave me a shot at the scrub it out. chef job. So I’ve always cooked for people and How does your art degree influence my family, and as I got older I just your culinary career? kept cooking more and more: I went With plating: colors, composition, from doing part of Thanksgiving to keeping things vibrant and looking cooking all of Thanksgiving. a certain way. I use the principals of balance and harmony in visual and Where are you from? three-dimensional art in everything. The West Coast. I was born in L.A., and went to high school in Eugene, What is your favorite kind of Oregon. I played college sports in artwork? Mississippi, and lasted about a year I was actually a potter, and I studied playing sports. I started waiting under Pablo Sierra who is a famous tables in arts school—so very potter from Spain. He moved to typical. Mississippi and lived in a little shack house. He and I would go dig clay I fell in love with restaurants and and make plates, pots, teacups, and quit sports. Used my art degree things like that. I learned to recognize for culinary purposes. There was the type of earth we were using, and nothing I wanted to do more than know what color it would turn when work in restaurants, whether it was doing dishes or scrubbing the floors, we applied fire to it. waiting tables—anything. So when I became a professional chef, my mom always said: “When What brought you to New York? I was a chef at a steak house way out you open your own restaurant you can make your own plates.” in the country in Mississippi. It was awesome: bring your own alcohol, Any cooking tips? thirteen items on the menu, people Most things are going to need would wait hours for a table. I had lemon, and salt reduces heat. Most hit the top. I was running the place. I people think that you would add had relationships with all of the local sugar to take the spice away, but it’s farmers. There was really no place really salt. else for me to go, so I told everyone

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS OCT 24 - NOV 09 2016 The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit http://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/services/restaurant-grades.page

Barleycorn

23 Park Pl

Chipotle Mexican Grill

281 Broadway

China Red Gourment

118 Chambers Street

Mbj Downtown

199 Chambers St

Devon & Blakely

185 Greenwich St

Hank’s Juicy Beef

86 Chambers St

Mudville Saloon

126 Chambers Street

Fonda Of Chelsea

189 9Th Ave

Caffe Bene

300 W 17Th St

Mi-Ne Sushi Totoya

496 6Th Ave

Spice Grill

199 8Th Ave

Not Yet Graded (2)

N.Y. Academy Of Science

250 Greenwich Street A

The Green Table(Chelsea Market)

428 West 16 Street

Galerie Decafe

49 Warren St

Fress Delicatessen

27 Park Pl

Sala One Nine

35 West 19 Street

Greenwich Treehouse

46 Greenwich Avenue

Golden Crepes

262A West 15 Street

Num Pang Sandwich Shop

75 9 Ave

Not Yet Graded (21) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours.

Umami Shoppu

513 Avenue Of The Americas

Grade Pending (27) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Cut By Wolfgang Puck

99 Church St

Pho King

111 Church St

Lasagna Restaurant

196 8 Avenue

City Cakes

251 West 18 Street

Not Yet Graded (26) Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Casa Apicii

62 W 9Th St

Not Yet Graded (32) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

Four Seasons Hotel Ny Downtown Main Kitchen

27 Barclay St

A A

75 9 Avenue

Grade Pending (2)

Four Seasons Hotel Employee Cafeteria

27 Barclay St

Eleni’s New York Fika

155 7Th Ave

Lenwich

25 Park Pl

Le Pain Quotidien

52 9 Avenue

Pizza Italia

307 W 17Th St

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

Grade Pending (9) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

Babaghanoush

165 Church Street

East Of Eighth

254 West 23 Street

Ecco Restaurant

124 Chambers Street

Petite Abeille

44 West 17 Street

Muscle Maker Grill

10 Murray St

Sticky’s Finger Joint #1

31 West 8 Street

Guckenheimer @ Twitter Nyc Coffee Bar

245 W 17Th St

Wilmer Hale

7 World Trade Center

Not Yet Graded (30) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Maxwell’s

59 Reade Street

Millenium Hilton

55 Church Street

Gunbae

67 Murray St

Aahar

10 Murray St

Sheezan Restaurant

183 Church Street

Cafe 101 16Th Floor Cafeteria

101 Barclay Street

New York Dolls

59 Murray Street

Subway

51 Murray Street

Juice Press @ Equinox

54 Murray St

Grade Pending (15) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewageassociated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

Sole Di Capri

165 Church Street

Burger King

325 Broadway

Dunkin’ Donuts

130 Church Street

La Bellezza Pizzeria

315 Broadway

Grade Pending (9) Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or nonfood areas.

Dunkin Donuts

100 Chambers St

Takahachi Bakery

25 Murray Street

Schnippers

120 Church St

Benares

45 Murray Street

Grade Pending (20) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Central Park

The local paper for the Upper East Side

The local paper for the Upper West Side

The local paper for Downtown

The local paper for Chelsea

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE PARK FALL FOLIAGE The leaves are turning nicely in Central Park right now, and there are plenty of stunning photo opportunities to be had this time of year. Take a photography walking tour with citifari and brush up on your skills with a beautiful backdrop: www.centralpark.com/ guide/tours

Boathouse or the dock on the Turtle Pond, and end at the Boathouse where you can get a snack. Have a look at Bob’s weekly narrative report to predict what birds you might possibly see on this week’s walks. More info at www.birdingbob.com.

ICE SKATING SEASON IS HERE Wollman Rink is open for public session, but note that Lasker Rink is closed for repairs until further notice.

BIRDING BOB A guided bird walks each week begins at the

COMING UP THIS WEEK ICE SKATING AT WOLLMAN RINK

HOLIDAY SIGHTS WALKING TOUR

www.centralpark.com/ guide/tours

Mon/Tue: 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Wed/Thu: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri/Sat: 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. More information at www. centralpark.com/events

Daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Nov. 15 to Jan. 5 Get your cameras ready and get in the holiday spirit on this fun and festive walking tour covering Central Park, Rockefeller Center and more.

Event listings and Where in Central Park? brought to you by CentralPark.com.

ANSWER TO THE PREVIOUS QUIZ Answer from two weeks ago: The monument is part of the Engineers’ Gate to Central Park, at the 90th Street entrance. John Purroy Mitchel was the 95th mayor of New York. He was the second youngest elected mayor. After his failed reelection bid, Mitchel enlisted in World War I to serve in the Army aviation corps in 1918. He was killed months later when he fell 500 feet from his plane during training. Congratulations to Joe Ornstein and Gregory Holman for answering correctly! Thank you to those who have followed our Central Park column and answered the Where in Central Park quizzes. This will be our ﬁnal edition of the column. Please be sure to visit our website, www.centralpark.com, for more information and happenings in Central Park!

Tell us what you’re thankful for this holiday season and be automatically entered for the chance to win tickets to see NPR’s PAULA POUNDSTONE live! at the Schimmel Center

email contests@strausnews.com or submit your answers by tweeting at us at: @OurTownNYC @OTdowntown @WestsideSpirit @Chelsea_News_NY

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

BUS TERMINAL PLAN STILL LACKS DETAILS Port Authority’s proposed budget contains no toll or fare hikes but no clarity on construction BY DAVID PORTER

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s proposed budget for 2017 contains no toll or fare increases but also no clarity on when construction on a new Manhattan bus terminal might begin, or how it will ﬁt into the agency’s 10-year capital plan. The proposed budget released last week also anticipates higher revenue from tolls at the agency’s bridges and tunnels in 2017, despite the absence of toll hikes. Port Authority Chairman John Degnan said in May the agency was completely redoing the 10-year, $28 billion capital plan it unveiled in 2014 to include a new bus terminal as well as signiﬁcant improvements at LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports. The Port Authority had been criticized for not initially including money in the capital plan to replace its six-decade-old bus terminal, which has been a source of mounting criticism over frequent delays and crumbling infrastructure. In May, Degnan said he hoped to have a new 10-year plan ready for a vote as early as September.

CITY ON THE HILL New York’s real estate market slows, but economy, employment continue stable rise BY FREDERICK PETERS

We aren’t scared! New Yorkers have been through it all. We aren’t scared of immigration; our city has been a glorious mix of multi-ethnic neighbors and neighborhoods for over a century. We remain an open city, delighting in the to and fro of goods, people and services from all over the world; we ARE globalization. We embrace women as equal to or superior to men in life, in

Degnan couldn’t immediately be reached for comment following the meeting. The 2017 budget dedicates about $47 million for planning for a new terminal and $21 million for a continuing program to make interior repairs and improve bus traffic flow. Last month, Port Authority board members heard five proposals for a new bus terminal as part of an international design competition begun earlier this year. The designs would cost anywhere from roughly $4 billion to more than $15 billion. New Jersey lawmakers have pushed for a new facility on or near the current location at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue on Manhattan’s west side. Some New York officials have said they’ll fight any plan that locates it a block west, saying it would displace small businesses and rent-regulated apartments in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. More than 200,000 people use the terminal each weekday. For those who commute by car, the absence of toll increases at Port Authority bridges and tunnels was welcome news after five straight years of scheduled hikes, the last coming in December 2015. A report last year by Moody’s Investors Service concluded that bridge and

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Business

Photo: Rob Young, via Wikimedia Commons tunnel traffic had been in a slow decline over several years and, at the same time, the Port Authority was relying more heavily on toll revenue to fund its

operations. That trend appears to have been reversed. According to statistics compiled by the Port Authority, nearly 40,000

more vehicles per month used its four bridges and two tunnels in the first eight months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015.

the workplace as well as the home. We don’t fear the LGBT community, the presence of whom has enriched and broadened all of our lives here since long before Stonewall. We aren’t scared of crime, which is so much better than it was 20 years ago that street smart New Yorkers can walk almost everywhere at any time of the day or night without fear. And we aren’t particularly fearful about terrorism, having had the worst of it, apparently unlike many Americans who have never been within a hundred miles of a terrorist attack but fear it mightily. They don’t understand that we are all more likely (literally) to die by falling out of bed. So there’s not much use TRYING to scare us about these things. We also know that we are very lucky, here on what one of my friends today referred to as “our little island off the coast of America.” The sense of economic and social disenfranchisement which seems to afflict the majority of America’s rural and exurban populations doesn’t affect our affluent client

base, for whom a studio apartment costs considerably more than the average price of a house elsewhere in the country. Nor does it affect most of us or our friends and families. That doesn’t mean that we don’t feel great compassion for the fear and anger so many of our countrymen and women feel, brought on by diminished earning power and expectations. We just don’t all agree about how best to address those issues. Our real estate marketplace, which has been slowing for months, seems likely to continue to pull back through the end of the year. Uncertainty about the future roils stock markets and property markets equally; nervous people tend not to be the most enthusiastic long term investors. Any election year creates uncertainty, and when the president-elect is a completely unknown quantity, that uncertainty counts double. But our economy feels stable, employment continues its slow upward climb, and regardless of the ascendancy of our new president in

January, the residential markets will most likely stabilize and recapture their value during the ﬁrst quarter of 2017. New Yorkers possess only a limited capacity for delayed gratiﬁcation. And life goes on. In the years ahead our beautiful city will only become more of a world center with some of the most desirable real estate anywhere. We will continue to embrace both current residents and new arrivals from all over the country and the world, from every religious and ethnic background, contributing to our vibrant culture in the arts, in business, in sports, in technology. We thrive on debate and the full, sometimes aggressive, exchange of ideas. In short, we don’t need to be made great again. We represent the best of American idealism, entrepreneurship, inclusivity and opportunity in all its messy glory. Nothing can take that away. Frederick Peters is a licensed real estate broker and president of Warburg Realty.

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

A PASSION FOR PIT BULLS An Upper East Side author dedicates her time to championing and saving the lives of shelter dogs BY GAIL EISENBERG

In an area populated with purebred dogs — including the most Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in the city, according to one 2015 survey — Rebecca Ascher-Walsh is passionate about pit bulls. The author and Upper East Side native has opened her home and dedicated her time to championing and saving the lives of the often unloved and controversial animals. She didn’t feel one way or another about pit bulls until she met a young man at an adoption event who couldn’t keep his dog after his mother had died. Desperate to help, she took home Dino, who turned out to be one of the funniest and most delightful dogs of her life. Nearly a decade later, she’s three more pit bull adoptions in, an avid volunteer, and co-founder of a “scholarship” fund to help make it easier to rescue shelter dogs. As a longtime volunteer at Animal Care and Control, the city’s shelter, her work includes helping to socialize new arrivals, writing dogs’ bios to be posted for adoption, and taking dogs on the “euth list” for what might be their last walks.

“I just try to go there with an open heart and give everything I have, whether that’s special time and treats and tucking them in the night before not knowing what will happen, or extra time with me in the morning. I want to make their lives as comfortable as possible while they are there.” As rewarding as the work at ACC is, the city shelter is required to take in every dog surrendered — most by owners — and there can be as many as fifteen dogs between the boroughs on the euth list daily. She and some other volunteers felt like they were constantly losing ground, so, in 2012, they started Deja Foundation, a 501c3, named after Ascher-Walsh’s third adopted pit bull, a former bait dog — in essence a punching bag for aggressive dogs training to fight. Deja offers “scholarships” to help cover costs like vet bills and training costs, encouraging rescue groups or adopters to pull dogs off the euth list by alleviating some of the financial strain. “Instead of being focused on the high cost of adopting the dog, they can focus on bonding. We want to make the transition of a potentially traumatized dog into its forever home go smoothly,” says Ascher-Walsh. “The reward is getting the “after” pictures of these dogs, many of whom I’ve known from ACC and loved, but not

FUNDS AND FIXES FOR A NEIGHBORHOOD ‘TREASURE’ The Upper West Side’s Church of the Blessed Sacrament is raising money to repair its facade and roof BY SARAH NELSON

A landmark building faces a milestone birthday: Church of the Blessed Sacrament on the Upper West Side is one year away from turning a century old. The exterior of the Catholic church, built on 71st Street east of Broadway in 1917, has shown some wear and tear. Recently, a piece of the cast stone façade crumbled to the sidewalk, though no one was injured.

The parish is now campaigning to raise the money needed to repair the slate roof and façade. According to the Rev. John P. Duffell, who has served as pastor for twoand-a-half years, the community has so far raised $2.3 million of their total overall goal of about $6 million. Façade and roof repairs and asbestos removal alone require $2.3 million. Other repairs, categorized as urgent, include façade repointing and recasting ($835,000), and the installation of a new slate roof ($525,000), replacing the current 100-year-old roof.

Rebecca Ascher-Walsh with Desi, Ascher-Walsh’s second adopted pit bull, left, and Buddy. Photo: Ellen Watson known whether the dog would make it out or not.” She says her affinity for pit bulls is something hard to pin down since as with people and animals and things we love, it’s something that’s largely unconscious. “Maybe it’s the way they lumber in such a goofy way,” she says. “They are the laziest dogs I’ve ever met, who want nothing more than to be on the couch with their human. And I love how they’re big dogs with the tem-

perament of a lap dog.” Ascher-Walsh’s affection and advocacy for pit bulls and rescues runs in the family. Her eight-year-old twin girls lecture people not to “shop” for a dog when so many in shelters need homes, and are mystiﬁed at guarded reactions to Buddy, the family’s 11-year-old rescue pit that they’ve been inseparable from since they were brought home as preemies.

The rest of the work includes sta ined-glass tracer y repa ir ($150,000), elevation repointing ($450,000), and other overhead costs. The New York Landmarks Conservancy awarded a Challenge Grant of $40,000 for Church of the Blessed Sacrament in May as part of the organization’s Sacred Sites grants. “We are honored to help these amazing institutions and determined to maintain our ability to do so,” Peg Breen, President of the New York Landmarks Conservancy said in a press release. The Neo-Gothic church hosts a weekly soup kitchen, a Community Supported Agriculture program, senior outreach, women’s groups and more. The church also runs the School of the Blessed Sacrament, a parishbased pre-K through eighth grade Catholic school, home to 380 students.

The first parish of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament was founded in 1887. Father Matthew A. Taylor, the church’s original pastor, held the first Mass on Easter of that year at an altar within a stable on West 72nd Street. The church’s red brick building was constructed in July 1887 on 71st St. The parochial school opened in 1903. As the Upper West Side became increasingly more residential, the congregation of 800 people needed a larger church. Upon Father Taylor’s death in 1916 (he had become a monsignor in 1914), ground-breaking for the new building began. Columbia graduate and architect Gustave Steinback completed the church’s new design in 1921, modeling the building after the French Gothic church of Saint Chapelle in Paris. Designer Clement Heaton of West Nyack, New York created the church’s rose window, a stained glass depiction of

One of their favorite make-believe games is “shelter dog,” says AscherWalsh. “One poses as the adopter and the other acts as dogs seeing if they can charm their way into the adopter’s heart and home.” “Loyal,” the second installment of Rebecca Ascher-Walsh’s dog book trilogy, will be published in March 2017. The ﬁrst volume, “Devoted,” came out in 2013. To help rescue dogs on the euth list, go to Urgent 2 on Facebook.

twelve angels playing musical instruments. Heaton also designed six of the clerestory windows and seven of the lower windows. Thirty-two years after the original church opened, the parish celebrated its first Mass in the current building. Now Church of the Blessed Sacrament has an average of 1500 attendees for Sunday Worship, according to Daniel Champoli, the church business manager. “Blessed Sacrament is a great and lively parish—very diverse and welcoming,” Champoli said. With the 100 year anniversary approaching, the Rev. Duffell also praised his parish for their high levels of involvement in the fundraising campaign, referring to them as people of God. Said the pastor: “The church building is a treasure.”

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Nothing beats newspapers as the most reliable source of local news in print and online Recent studies show:

‘‘

Newspapers led online consumption for local news” Coda Ventures Survey August 18, 2016

‘‘

Local media users named newspapers as their “most relied on” source for deals across a range of goods and services.” Coda Ventures Survey August 18, 2016

‘‘

What accounts for print’s superiority? Print - particularly the newspaper - is an amazingly sophisticated technology for showing you a lot of it.”

‘‘

Local newspapers are still the top source of news about readers’ communities, including their branded Web sites and social media channels.” Publisher’s Daily - August 30, 2016

‘‘

Residents are eager for news about their own communities, which, increasingly, only local news organizations can provide” Editor & Publisher - June 1, 2016

Politico - September 10, 2016

STRAUSMEDIA your neighborhood news source 212-868-0190 | nypress.com

NOVEMBER 17-23,2016

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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First, obvious: let’s start wit condition h the city’s hom s inside thi disgrace. eless shelte rs are as A ser one mo ies of terrible (includinre horrible tha crimes, month g the killing n the last of ear lier this daugh a woman has higters in Statenand her two hlighted Island), living con the the ma ditions for shameful cities inrgins of one ofpeople at Blasio, the world. Ma the richest wh yor o has bee Bill de his app from theroach to homn halting in has ﬁnal beginning elessness proble ly begun to of his term, from thim, but years ofaddress the others, s administra neglect, tion and will take But years to correct. recent none of that exc office grandstanding uses the appareof Gov. Andrew by the Cuomo, he can’tntly sees no iss who In the try to belittl ue on which attempt governor’s late the mayor. officials at a hit job, est sta compla then pro ined te Post, abomptly to the to the city, homele ut a gang New York alleged ss shelter, purape at a city VOL. 77 had tim event before blicizing the , ISSUE pol e 04 As it turto investigate ice even ned out, it. never hap the officials pened, infuriaincident media hitwho called it ting city a ” “po aim the mayor ed at em litical . More cha barrassin counter-c rges and g THfolElow the me harges Dicken antimeA , of cou ed. In Tditrse men, wosian livingR OionF, the con in New men D kidsIM s for Yor andEN Here’s k goe s on. in shelters CITY ARTS, leadershi hoping tha t som P.2any eday our as intere p in Alb 0 as it is in sted in helpinwill become back fro agains scoring pol g them t sit itical poi 17 fee m FDR Drour ive byting mayor. nts t 16 to out of and raise

IN CEN KIDS AGTARIAL PARK, WEIGHI NST DOCNAl NG LiDnTtRo UMnP WEEK OF JA NUARY-FEBR UARY 28-3 MOVING FO R A GUIDE TO CAMP

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YOUR 15 MINUTES

A COMMUNITY’S BEACON Stephan Russo, Goddard Riverside’s executive director, is leaving after four decades with the Upper West Side institution BY ANGELA BARBUTI

When asked about his role as executive director of Goddard Community Center, Stephan Russo said, “It requires a lot of different skills and relationship building with everybody from a senior in the senior program to somebody who used to live on the streets, to dealing with the board members who live on Central Park West.” The New York native landed a job at Goddard, an Upper West Side resource that serves 17,000 people each year through 26 programs, in 1976. He was 25 years old. He has spent 40 years there working on outreach in the form of such initiatives as daycare centers, housing for the homeless and programs for seniors. Nearly 20 of those years were spent as its executive director, a role that allows him to “walk into a program and see what impact it has and the joy on people’s faces.”

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With the holidays approaching, Goddard is preparing for the organization’s holiday meals program, which serves 1,000 people each on Thanksgiving and Christmas days. Volunteers assist with everything from carving turkeys to baking pies to delivering meals to the homebound.

You started at Goddard after serving in the Peace Corps in Colombia. I worked in a youth program down there in Colombia, so I came back to the city looking to do community and youth work. And somebody, somewhat serendipitously, told me that Goddard Riverside Community Center was hiring because they had gotten a grant to run, what was called in that era, a delinquency prevention program. When I tell people the story, I always say, “No way are they going to hire this white middle class kid who came into the West Side of Manhattan to work.” By lo and behold, I got hired and that’s how I got started. Those ﬁrst years we had developed a youth project where we did outreach and went out to the streets to get to know young people who were everywhere from 87th Street up to 93rd, in parks and play-

grounds, a lot of kids who lived in the housing projects here on the West Side ... talking to young people and trying to get them involved in activities and programs. Some of the kids had dropped out of school and gotten into trouble. We targeted those kids who had gotten into trouble and we developed relationships and in many ways changed their lives.

What does your job as executive director entail? One of the absolute challenges as well as joys of being executive director is the diversity of what I have to do. One day I will go to a foundation to raise money for a fund. Often, I will go out and visit programs and meet with staff. I tend to go to meetings with city government officials around contracts. I do a lot of work with the board of directors. One of the interesting things about it, and people don’t realize this, is that I have the opportunity to lead and have a vision, but as executive director you’re not as powerful as sometimes people make you out to be. You’re really interdependent and I like that. And I really enjoy the challenges of how one builds change, particularly

One of the absolute challenges as well as joys of being executive director is the diversity of what I have to do. One day I will go to a foundation to raise money for a fund. Often, I will go out and visit programs and meet with staff. I tend to go to meetings with city government officials around contracts. I do a lot of work with the board of directors. One of the interesting things about it, and people don’t realize this, is that I have the opportunity to lead and have a vision, but as executive director you’re not as powerful as sometimes people make you out to be.” Stephan Russo

across staff, program participants, board members and community members.

Tell us about some of your program offerings and who takes advantage of them. What I like to say is that Goddard Riverside is a venerable settlement house with the merger of Goddard Neighborhood Center and Riverside Community Center back in 1959. Settlement houses are places in neighborhoods that are multiservice, meaning they work across generations. So at Goddard, we have programs from cradle to grave, active afterschool program for children; we work with teens out of a beacon program on 93rd Street. We have a nationally recognized college access program called Options, for ﬁrst-generation kids, many of whom have to overcome a number of different obstacles, some academic, some ﬁnancial. We help them get into college and make sure they’re successful because we follow up and see the kids through to graduation. We have a very active senior center. We feed a lot of seniors. We deliver 500 home-delivered meals in this Community Board 7.

Goddard has become recognized nationally for its work with homelessness. We do a lot of work with folks on the street. We’re the lead agency in a program called Manhattan Outreach Consortium, which has outreach workers that go out to where homeless people are out in the streets and we get people into housing. We have a consortium of three agencies that covers the entire borough of Manhattan. We develop a lot of permanent housing — ﬁve residences with close to 600 units. One building is primarily for low-income seniors and our other residences, called Supportive Housing, are for people are on the streets. We know, from our own experience, the answer to homelessness is permanent housing. People can live indoors with services and help, and become part of the community.

What’s an initiative you’ve put into place that you’re most proud of? I tend not to prioritize because I

Photo: Sharon Schuur

don’t want to necessarily answer the question, “What’s more important?” Creating quality early childhood education for a working family so their three-year-old can be in a safe place so they can work, or getting somebody off the street into permanent housing, or providing meals for seniors. I’m proud of the whole entity; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But if you really press me…One of the things that I am very proud of is Goddard Riverside Community Center has taken over and merged with two smaller community centers over my two decades as director.

Tell us about the community agencies you merged with over the years. In 2006, there was a very small community agency that ran out of the church St. Matthew and St. Timothy’s Neighborhood Center, which is on 84th Street. Some of these smaller agencies have real problems in raising money and keeping their programs going. So 10 years ago their board came to us and we actually merged with them, which really meant we were able to save daycare and afterschool programs and a really wonderful educational program called the Star Learning Center. And also that was the agency that did the home-delivered meals, so we were able to save that as well. More recently, there’s a community center down on 65th called Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center and it has a daycare program, a senior center, a teen center. ... It’s a very longstanding community center and very important to that neighborhood. And they were also having some problems and came to us and are now part of Goddard Community Center as well. For more information about Goddard and its programs, visit www.goddard.org

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VIP $185 - 1st 100 receive a copy of Geoffrey Zakarianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s celebrated cookbook My Perfect Pantry and exclusive book signing with Geoffrey

GA $105 - 1st 100 receive Geoffrey Zakarianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Pro For Home 15-piece storage container system Join Food Network host and celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian and his wife Margaret Zakarian at Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s art headquarters, to celebrate the very best of the Upper East Sideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fine cuisine and outstanding art. Top chefs from New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most storied establishments will each create picturesque dishes inspired by art curated by Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. SAVOR UNIQUE DISHES. ADMIRE EXQUISITE ARTWORK. RELISH IN THE AMBIANCE OF A QUINTESSENTIAL NEW YORK EVENING. 1633 Dionisis Liakopoulos r AMERICAN CUT Daniel Eardley r ATLANTIC GRILL Joyce Rivera BOHEMIAN SPIRIT RESTAURANT Lukas Pohl r CAFE Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ALSACE Philippe Roussel r CANDLE 79 Angel Ramos CRAVE FISHBAR Todd Mitgang r EAST POLE Joseph CapozzI r EASTFIELDS KITCHEN & BAR Joseph Capozzi FREDS AT BARNEYS NEW YORK Mark Strausman r FLEX MUSSELS Rebecca Richards JONES WOOD FOUNDRY Jason Hicks r LUSARDIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S Claudio Meneghini r MAGNOLIA BAKERY Bobbie Lloyd MAYA Richard Sandoval r MIGHTY QUINNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BARBEQUE Hugh Mangum r ORWASHERS BAKERY Keith Cohen PAOLAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S Stefano Marracino r SANT AMBROEUS MADISON AVENUE Andrea Bucciarelli SEAMSTRESS Jordy Lavenderos r SHAKE SHACK Mark Rosati r T-BAR STEAK Benjamin Zwicker THE MEATBALL SHOP Daniel Holzman r THE PENROSE Nick Testa r VAUCLUSE Michael White

A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO

Geoffrey Zakarian Star of Food Networkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chopped, The Kitchen, Cooks vs. Cons, author of â&#x20AC;&#x153;My Perfect Pantry,â&#x20AC;? restaurateur behind The Lambs Club, The National in NYC, The National in Greenwich, The Water Club at Borgata in Atlantic City, Georgie and The Garden Bar at Montage Beverly Hills and, coming soon, Point Royal at The Diplomat Beach Resort and co-creator of Pro For Home food storage container system, Margaret Zakarian President of Zakarian Hospitality, co-author of â&#x20AC;&#x153;My Perfect Pantryâ&#x20AC;? and co-creator of Pro For Home food storage container system.