Our Town Downtown February 20th, 2013

cityArts OP-ED P.5

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NYPRESS.COM

• COMMUNITY NEWS BELOW 14TH STREET • FEBRUARY 21, 2013

The End of Recess as We Know It?

Schools are squeezing out play time just as studies are showing how important it is for kids. P.4

ALSO INSIDE HUDSON SQUARE REZONING P.3

CUPID’S UNDIE RUN P.2

NEW VISION FOR PIER 40?

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NEIGHBORHOOD CHATTER

Cupid’s Undie Run: The Race for a Cure

Man Who Shot Three and Held Over Twelve Hostage in East Village is Convicted

This is better than Halloween.” For a 10-year-old boy, there are few things that rank above this beloved holiday. What could possibly motivate this young boy to utter such words? Cupid’s Undie Run; the world’s largest organized underwear run that works to raise funds for the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF).

“In 2010, founders Brendan Hanrahan, Chad Leathers, Bobby Gill and Tamara Forys set off on a mission to raise awareness and donations to the CTF after Chad’s brother’s diagnosis of Neurofibromatosis (NF), a genetic disorder that allows tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body” the CTF website states. “Hard to say, harder to live with” notes Lathers.

In just 30 days, they created and ran in that first Cupid’s Undie Run in Washington D.C. in the snow with an astonishing 650 participants. When asked how they pulled this off, Leathers replied “the grace of God, pure luck and youth”.

Since then, Cupid’s Undie Run has gone on to raise over $400,000, (this year they are on pace to raise over $1,000,000), and has expanded to 17 cities nationwide including Sydney, Australia and our very own NYC. This event is typically held on the Saturday before Valentines Day, (this year due to snow the run was held on Saturday February 16). The NYC run consists of a one mile run through the Chelsea/Meatpacking district sandwiched between pre-and post-run parties hosted at the Brass Monkey. As Leathers recalls, “It’s people meeting hundreds of their new best friends; celebrating their efforts for the fundraising, showing that whether they are bearing embarrassment or bearing the cold that these families are not alone.”

Why tie the run in with Valentines Day? Leathers says, “Valentines Day is an event that has a unique attitude around it; it’s great for some, terrible to others. This event is great for everyone. Passion is contagious.”

When asked where he hoped to see Cupid’s Undie Run in ten years Leathers laughingly replied “ a Cupid’s Undie runner running for office.”

For all information regarding next year’s run, go to: http://www.cupidsundierun.com/.

A final chapter in a chilling and violent ordeal that played out over a decade ago at the East Village’s Bar Veloce was closed last week when Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced the conviction of 45-year-old Steve Johnson. Johnson was convicted for taking bar patrons hostage, covering 15 people with kerosene and threatening to kill them, and shooting three people, including a police officer.

On June 16, 2002, at about 2 a.m., Johnson armed himself with “a loaded .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol, a .22 caliber semiautomatic pistol, a .22 caliber Derringer pistol, more than 100 rounds of ammunition, a sword, an expandable baton, a combustible accelerant, and two barbeque lighters,” according to the District Attorney’s office.

Johnson proceeded to approach a group of four people standing on the street near East 11th Street and 2nd Avenue and shoot one of them, a man, in the stomach.

He also grabbed a woman who was standing close to them and tried to drag her away at gunpoint, but she managed to escape.

The man who had been shot entered a nearby bar, soon followed by the shooter, and was shot again in the back.

Johnson forced fifteen patrons to the back of the room, where he forced one woman to tie them all up, and then doused them all with an accelerant. He then shouted racial slurs and threatened these victims with death.

Johnson went on to shoot a restaurant owner who came to investigate and NYPD officers who responded to reports that shots were fired. Forty-five minutes after entering the bar, two female captives tackled Johnson, and one of them was shot in the leg in the struggle, but it allowed NYPD Emergency Services Unit members to enter the bar and apprehend him.

According to the Associated Press, Johnson later told police that he was looking to avenge the mistreatment of black people by harming “happy” white people that night.

Johnson is expected to be sentenced on March 8th.

Downtown Community Calendar

Wednesday, February 27th

Saturday, February 23

Monday, February 25th

The Mary Help of Christians Church Flea Market

Community Board 3: SLA & DCA Licensing Committee Meeting

Community Board 3: Human Services, Health, Disability, Seniors, Youth and Education Committee Meeting

Avenue A and East 11th Street, 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

60s 70s 80s Party Annual Decade Dance 113 Baxter Street, 7 p.m.

DJ, food and dancing to fundraise for the Most Precious Blood Church

200 East 5th Street, 6:30-10:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 26th Community Board 1: Monthly Meeting BMCC Fiterman Hall, 30 W Broadway, 13th Fl., 6 p.m.

Buy tickets: http://decadedance2013.eventbrite.com/

Community Board 3: Transportation, Public Safety and Environment Committee Meeting 184 Eldridge St, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

133 Pitt St., 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 28th Community Board 2: Pier 40 Forum Location to be determined. 6:30 p.m.

Discussion of various concepts and proposals for the development and funding of Pier 40 in Hudson River Park.

Community Board 3: Parks, Recreation, Cultural Affairs, Landmarks and Waterfront Committee Meeting 30 Delancey St, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Revitalization vs.

Preservation in the Village

By Alissa Fleck

R

ichard Blodgett, president of the Charlton Street Block Association, stands in front of a gutted building on Sullivan Street in the Village.

The adjacent building in the complex was designed in 1853 by Calvert Vox, a codesigner of Central Park, explained Blodgett.

He knows the building in front of him will soon be transformed into a luxury highrise, but he hopes the Vox building, with its distinct architecture and rich historical significance, will at least be spared.

“Architecturally,” said Blodgett, “it’s one of the best.”

“A lot of the Village is gone,” he added. “A lot is left, but if it’s not preserved, a lot more will be gone.” At this he indicates a nearby hole in the scenery where a building was destroyed six years ago by developers who are still undecided on how to proceed.

Blodgett is but one of many community members who worries that the impending rezoning of Hudson Square, which has yet to be voted on by the City Council, will have negative fallout for surrounding areas, as well as the Hudson Square area itself, without the necessary safeguards. Blodgett fears further destruction for the nearby South Village. There’s no doubt the Hudson Square rezoning will happen, he says, but as far as the particular repercussions, everyone’s unsure and wary of what to expect.

The plan to rezone Hudson Square into a more “mixed use” area was discussed at the only City Council hearing on the issue last week, after passing the City Planning Commission in late January. A study issued by the Department of City Planning in 2002 recommended rezoning the area for optimal residential use, retention of current manufacturing zoning and in order to guide future growth and land use in the area.

The rezoning plan, which would impact City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s district, has seen backlash by groups like the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), which fears the subsequent impact on the South Village.

Some worry development in the area will be out of context with Hudson Square’s character, while developers meanwhile stress the importance of taller buildings for greater affordability and insist contextual appropriateness is still achievable. David Reck, the former chairperson of Community Board No. 2’s Land Use Committee told The Villager, however, residents of Hudson Square are overwhelmingly in favor of the rezoning.

Those in favor of rezoning say it brings

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

promise of more affordable housing and open, recreational areas. Trinity Real Estate, which owns 40 percent of property in the area according to the Wall Street Journal, says the rezoning efforts would transform the area from what is essentially a deserted ghost town at night into a more livable and popular social hub. On its official website, Trinity explains: “The neighborhood’s continued evolution is threatened by its antiquated zoning...Trinity and its neighbors can protect the neighborhood’s historic character while helping it evolve into a unique and vibrant community.”

Community members and advocates for the preservation of the South Village fear the rezoning of Hudson Square will bring spillover and ambitious developers to the Village, which has not been transformed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). They urge the Council not to approve

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Blodgett says Speaker Quinn, who did not make an appearance at the City Council hearing, has been all but unresponsive on the issue.

While the LPC has stalled on landmarking the area for years, advocates hope the rezoning plan will perhaps serve as a catalyst to keep the Village intact.

However, Blodgett describes a paradox.

Those who visit and live in the Village appreciate it for its character, but this popularity is what drives developers to the area, he explains.

“It’s sad to imagine,” he said, of an area he knows as a historic gem. “It could be destroyed.”

The City Council will cast its vote on the rezoning in March.

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FEATURE

Is Playtime Over?

Some NYC schools are cutting down on recess just as studies are showing how integral it is to students’ development

By Joanna Fantozzi

I

t turns out that taking a break from fractions to play football in the schoolyard has more than just physical health benefits. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a statement emphasizing the importance of recess, and touting its benefits for the “whole child,” including academic improvements and the opportunity for the child to grow and learn social skills that cannot be taught at the front of a classroom.

“We went into this study with the attitude that recess was good for preventing childhood obesity,” said Dr. Robert Murray, one of the authors of the study. “We discovered it had a lot more influence than we thought.”

But still, Dr. Murray says that in schools across the country, as many as 40 percent are

cutting down on recess, or doing away with it all together, partially because of pressure to perform well on standardized tests.

“Teachers assume that they can teach kids more if they cut recess, but their best bet is to use these recess breaks to allow the child to process,” said Dr. Murray. “Adults take breaks throughout the day, but we just don’t call it recess.”

In Manhattan, a child’s recess experience is as varied as the schools themselves. But of almost two-dozen recent graduates from The City College of New York’s teaching program, 14 out of 16 current New York City elementary school teachers have recess where they work, and most have recess every day.

At Ascension School on West 108th Street, a private Catholic School, recess is taken very seriously, and students rarely have to play inside. In fact, the street in front of

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the school is shut down every day just so kids can play outside. This has stirred up controversy in the community over the past couple of years from neighbors complaining about the noise. But, Principal Christopher McMahon said, they will continue fighting for their children.

“This struggle will not deter us because recess is too important to our program,” said Principal McMahon. “Recess is a time for kids to release energy. It needs to be unstructured because it gives kids a chance to express themselves.”

According to Dr. Murray, unstructured recess, like the program at Ascension, is actually the best way to go.

“Unstructured recess gives kids maximum control over their own time,” he said. “Some kids may want to read, some may want to play kickball or dodge ball. It forces the kid to be creative.”

At Yorkville Community School on East 91st Street between First and Second Avenues, recess is just as important. But with four coaches who come to the school every day during recess to organize sports games with the students, the recess experience is a lot more structured.

“It keeps every child directed and they have someone supervising them so no one’s straggling off or not keeping active,” said Principal Samantha Kaplan.

Principal Kaplan has also observed that recess has had a positive influence on Yorkville students’ social abilities. She once observed a new student who was shy to make friends bond with classmates through a game of basketball.

“Once kids find common interests they become members of the community pretty quickly,” she said, referring to the atmosphere on the playground.

But despite good intentions, many schools simply do not have the budget for a regular recess program. The Lillian Weber School on West 92nd Street would not have a recess program if the PTA had not intervened.

With all of the DOE budgetary restrictions, PTA president Jeanne Moreland said the school could not pay for teacher aides to watch kids on the playground. So, the PTA had to scrape the money together to hire teacher aides on their own.

“There’s not enough money for anything right now. We have enough money for the teachers’ salaries basically,” said Moreland.

“I don’t think it’ll fix itself unless there’s a culture change on education and how things are funded.”

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Schools have certainly had to get creative to keep recess in their programs. At P.S. 76 on West 121st Street, interns from Americorp come every day to watch the kids during recess, as well as teach them games and sports. As a result, said Principal Charles De Berry, recess budgets are usually not a concern.

Dr. Robert Murray did mention that school budgets were a factor that contributed to quality and quantity of education. And poorer schools, he said, are most likely to cut recess in order to get test scores back up. Ironically though, he said, it’s the kids in troubled areas who need recess the most.

At P.S. 46, on 8th Avenue and Harlem River Drive, recess has always been an important part of the school day. Principal George Young said this is especially important because most of the students come from housing projects and many parents do not want their children playing outside.

“I work in a challenging area. Recess is the only time they get to actually play outside,” he said. “When you see the children getting along and playing with one another, it reinforces the fact that we’re all in this together.”

We surveyed recent City College of New York teaching program graduates to find out what teachers in NYC classrooms have to say about recess.

Despite nationwide problems of cutting back on recess, most of the graduates surveyed responded that they do have recess in their schools.

In fact, a majority - over 65 percent hold recess every day.

But there are other types of recess programs. One of the teachers surveyed explained that the school gives students three or more recess sessions per day for more than 20 minutes, much more time than the average recess program. But the teacher observed that his students become more focused because of recess.

According to Dr. Robert Murray, having several breaks per day actually makes sense. “In Japan, kids take a 10-minute break every hour,” he said. “Their best bet is intensive academic time, regular breaks, and then go back to studying.”

Another overlooked aspect of recess is the importance of breaks beyond elementary school, said Murray. Three out of the four middle school teachers surveyed said that their schools have recess.

“Recess gives students time to be active that, when it is not given, translates into the students being much more unsettled during the last period or two of the day,” wrote the teacher. “Also, I believe it is important for students’ physical well-being to have active time each day.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

OP-ED

Stop School Closures and Co-Locations for Third Term The public advocate calls on the administration to find alternate solutions for struggling schools

By Public Advocate Bill de Blasio

I

f something is broken – fix it. Sadly, Mayor Bloomberg adheres to a different philosophy where our city’s education system is concerned. The Administration’s default response to struggling schools has been to close them, without first investing enough time and resources into turning them around.

And instead of laying out a thoughtful plan for multiple schools to share facilities in the same building when they “colocate,” the Administration turns a cold shoulder to community input. Clearly, we need a new approach for our city’s one million students.

There is a time and place to close a troubled school. But that should not be treated as an end goal in itself, nor an accomplishment to boast about. When all other options are exhausted, it should be the last resort. In 2011, the Department of Education (DOE) proposed for Canarsie’s P.S. 114 to be phased out. Yet the unwavering voices of students, parents and teachers of P.S. 114 were eventually heard, and the DOE resolved to work on lifting the school back up. Collaborating with community members like this – and really listening – should serve as a prerequisite for potential school closings. Too many of the schools doomed for closure have not been given the tools to improve, or the time to apply them.

Students at low-performing schools need the most support. But the Administration constantly misses the opportunity to

pinpoint troubled schools, invest in them and turn them around. Too often, the Administration opts for the easier route, which is ultimately school closure. DOE’s policies have actually amplified the core problems that contribute to chronic poor performance. Adding more high-need students to poorly resourced and already underperforming schools is just one example. The end result? Performance results for our highest-need students have hardly budged, and educational disparity continues to besiege our city.

We see the same heavy-handedness in the way the City often shoehorns charter schools into existing public schools, without a wellconsidered strategy for both institutions to thrive. Colocation can be – and has been – successful in this city.

Students at four high schools in the Brandeis Educational Complex, on the Upper West Side, learned beautifully side-by-side – until the DOE squeezed a charter elementary school into the building, despite staunch resistance from the school community. Successful sharing of space and resources can only be carried out through meticulous planning and input from all key stakeholders – students, parents, teachers, administrators, community activists and education advocates. Instead, the DOE has alienated school communities by neglecting their input and depriving them of a venue for meaningful engagement on educational policy.

As a public school parent, I know the difference of being involved in your children’s education can make in their academic success and self-confidence.

That’s personal to me, and that priority is reflected in the recommendations my office put forth in 2010 to modify Educational Impact Statements and boost parental engagement. But the Administration

failed to take our recommendations on community involvement and use of physical space seriously, resulting in a co-location process that is consistently divisive and poorly attuned to the physical demands of mutually-sited school communities.

That’s why, following Mayor Bloomberg’s

latest announcement on school closures, I called on the Administration to freeze school closures and co-locations for the rest of the Mayor’s term. Until we can offer a comprehensive, community-driven plan for co-locations and school turnaround, I urge you to join me in pressuring the mayor to put a one-year moratorium on these divisive tactics. After years of disruption instead of progress, inequity instead of opportunity, haste instead of prudence. Enough is enough.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

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NEWS

Advocates Envision Brand New Pier 40 A local coalition is pushing their ideas about reconstructing the aging park structure

By Megan Bungeroth

E

veryone in the downtown community agrees that Pier 40 is in need of a major makeover.

The pier juts out from Hudson River Park and currently

holds several sports fields and a large shed building. While it functions as an important part of the park and the surrounding community, the 15-acre pier itself, needs a massive structural overhaul. That, coupled with the increasing demand for open space and sports fields for kids downtown, has prompted a banded together coalition of sporting groups to push for a new, revitalized vision of what Pier 40 could become.

The group, called the Pier 40 Champions, is comprised of the Downtown Giants Youth Football, Downtown Little League, Downtown Soccer League, Downtown United Soccer Club, Gotham Girls Football Club, Greenwich Village Little League and the Pier, Park and Playground Association (P3); together they serve about 5,000 local children.

“We know the pier’s in terrible shape, everybody does. We know that the status quo can’t continue,” said Tobi Bergman, a member of P3 and a self-described youth sports advocate. The pier has serious structural problems with its roof and with

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the underwater pilings that support it, and the Hudson River Park Trust has been actively seeking ways to fund those repairs while overhauling the pier and its uses.

People in the community have been concerned, however, that plans for a renovated pier might leave out important community uses.

“There’s this long term problem that every proposal that comes forward to the pier is really destructive to the park and the neighboring community because it brings either large scale retail or entertainment to the neighborhood, and it puts the parks on the roofs of large scale commercial developments,” Bergman said.

Bergman is referring to past proposals, now dead in the water, that re-imagined the pier as more commercial and less recreational. All of this was in order to ensure that the pier continues to bring in a high percentage of the operating revenue that the Hudson River Park needs. Due to a state law passed governing how the park is funded, the pier must be used to bring in a significant portion of the park’s budget.

Currently, according to the Hudson River Park Trust, whose offices sit on the pier, the commercial enterprises housed there accumulate $6 million a year.

Pier 40 Champions commissioned a study on how to best use the pier while at the same time maintaining a steady stream of revenue to fund the park.

“The results of the study were clear, that the lowest impact use is residential. That would take up the least space in the park and bring in the least traffic,” said Bergman.

“Some people reacted to that immediately in

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a negative way. We realized that people didn’t have a conception of what that would look like, and we didn’t either, so we decided to find out.”

The group hired design and planning firm WXY Architecture + Urban Design to create a plan for the pier that would include mixed income residential housing, while maximizing open space. The result is a plan that places two high-rise towers in front of the pier and uses the majority of the ground surface area for baseball and soccer fields, a running track, and an easily accessible esplanade, while still allowing for a parking structure and offices for the Trust.

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“We looked at lots of different options,” said Claire Weisz, a principal with WXY who lead the project and also lives in the neighborhood. “In the end, the numbers were showing that some amount of new development was necessary to not only rehabilitate the pier but to borrow against it to make the improvements.”

The firm also decided that by placing the residential buildings on West Street instead of on the bulkhead of the pier itself, that more space was freed up and it also eliminated some of the complications that would arise from building on top of a river.

The proposed plan would open up views of the river from the street and give local kids even more space for sports, something that Bergman said is a crucial part of an increasingly residential downtown Manhattan.

“A big part of the transformation of Manhattan as a place to live over the last quarter of a century has been the pretty incredible growth of youth sports,” Bergman said. He and the other members are excited about their plan, which they have presented to the Hudson River Park Trust. The next step will be lobbying the state legislature to amend the Hudson River Park Act to allow the Trust to alter the uses of the pier.

Bergman hopes that their proposal will convince lawmakers that there is a win-win way to accomplish that.

“We want it to have just enough commercial uses on it to pay for itself and help support the park,” Bergman said. “We want more ballfields, but we also want it to be a beautiful place.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

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By Kristine Keller

T

here’s an ineffable feeling to the air of the raw streets of downtown NYC at night.

Walking along the red and green sidewalks of Mulberry Street, I’m instantly smacked with a buzz as potent as electricity. I’ve stood next to strangers at cross-streets and felt these electrical charges course through me from top to bottom at the slightest accidental touch.

It was on one of these magical and intimate nights that I experienced firsthand what really happens when a bar approaches closing time. My friends and I had just had a Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist kind of night—the kind that can only happen downtown where there’s just you, some next-big-thing-singer behind a microphone, and a piano. Amid the smoke and mirrors, we met a group of charming men and a few Manhattans later, we found ourselves at another bar. At one point I surveyed my best friend with her tousled hair, kewpie eyes, and ultimate game face, chatting up a boy who was clearly in swoon mode. The clock was inching its way towards half past one and there was no mistaking this dude’s interest. The way his shoulders faced her squarely to follow her eyes when she made a joke, or how he was so engrossed that he failed to even notice Drake’s cameo on the ones and twos. So it was an unwelcomed surprise when this boy’s girlfriend interrupted their obvious connection and introduced herself. Turns out, she had been home, but heard the Drake rumor and headed out.

I did what any friend in that situation would do: a spit take with my Blue Moon and an instant dial to the late-night pizza parlor. I was ready to turn in and turn on the man bashing. That was, until she suggested that perhaps the previous man with the Drake lovin’ girlfriend wasn’t the one for her.

Perhaps another guy, the slightly quiet though

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seemingly-thoughtful friend cornered away in a booth alone was this night’s guy. The one she hadn’t noticed until the exact second I was spelling out the word “pepperoni” and repeating “extra hot sauce” into the receiver.

After chatting up corner-booth-boy for the

“Being the last few people at a bar at the end of the night is tantamount to being the last few people on earth, and it’s a race against the clock to pin down a match.” remainder of the night, something clicked.

They went home that night and every night since.

I can’t help but think that the hands of time played a part in my friend’s mateand-switch. Psychologists have coined this phenomenon the “Closing Time Effect.” As the time whittles away and our hours for securing a companion diminishes, a sea of suitors once ignored, suddenly become desirable. Studies performed at various bars throughout the U.S. have studied ratings by bar patrons on members of the opposite sex and have consistently found that as the night wore on, participants’ appraisal of opposite sex attractiveness increased. And while the closing-time effect exacerbates with alcohol consumption, leaving beauty in the eye of the beer-holder, this effect has even taken place in the absence of alcohol.

Being the last few people at a bar at the end of the night is tantamount to being the last few people on earth, and it’s a race against the clock to pin down a match. Some may say this reevaluating belies a desperate mentality or a “throw shit at the wall and see what sticks” attitude. I, however, see the bright phosphorescence of the exit sign in a more romantic light. My friend would never have met her main squeeze if she wasn’t afforded more time and more opportunity to give him the well deserved chance. The more opportunities to meet “the” person the better, I say. Take this theory to the daylight and to the streets. Hey tall, dark, handsome, muscley arm grazing, cross-street stranger, can you slide a little to your left? I think I spot a shy bearded man beside you who just may have something to offer.

Kristine received her master’s in psychology from NYU. She currently works at Vanity Fair.

E-mail her at StreetShrinkNYC@gmail.com for questions.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

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THE 7-DAY PLAN FRIDAY

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BEST PICK

Take the Gamble

Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St., ypcbignightout.com, February 23rd, 8 p.m., $185, 21+.

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Who doesn’t love the occasional “big night out” in NYC? Big Brothers Big Sisters is inviting you to join them for a one night only music-playing, gourmet food-eating, silent auction-bidding evening at the “casino.”

Visit nypress.com for the latest updates on local events.

Submissions can be sent to editor.ot@strausnews.com

FREE: Priceless Creativity

The Prince & Michael Jackson Experience

New York University, 58 West 10th St., nyu.edu, 7 p.m.

The prestigious NYU Creative Writing Program will be hosting a reading series for anyone who would like to attend.

It’s the perfect meeting ground for established writers and local patrons.

Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th St., highlineballroom.com, 10:30 p.m., $12, 18+.

Highline Ballroom is luring all Prince and Michael Jackson fans for a night of legendary music. DJ Dave Paul will be playing the songs of these pop cultural icons all night long while fans dance off, drink off and dance off again. This is an event that will surely knock you off of your feet in the best way!

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FREE: Stop ‘N’ Swap

ShakesBEER Beckett’s Bar, 81 Pearl St., shakespeareexchange.org, 3 p.m., $40, 21+ “Two Beers, or not Two Beers.” Why not four beers? ShakesBEER is an NYC original Shakespearean pub crawl that combines day drinking with the theater. Stone Street will be filled with theater-loving day drinkers whose ticket guarantees them four drinks and four scenes of Shakespeare. Buy tickets anon!

The Salvation Army Harlem Temple Corps, 540 Lenox Ave, grownyc.org, 212-788-7964, 12 p.m.

Are you in need of an early spring cleaning? If you are looking to rid your home of clutter, and such clutter happens to be reusable, clean and portable, bring it down to the Salvation Army Harlem Temple Corps. If you are looking to add to your home, you should head on down as well! Things to remember: everything is free, do not bring furniture or large items.

FREE: How Many Hamantaschen’s Can You Eat? ◄ Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun Synagogue, 114 East 85th St., facebook.com/

James Beard Foundation Family Chef Series Children’s Museum of Manhattan, 212 West 83rd St., cmom.org, 212-721-1223, 2 p.m., free-$11.

Waldy Malouf is a chef, restaurant/bar owner, cookbook author, and food consultant. Needless to say, the man knows his food. Head on up to the Children’s Musuem of Manhattan to watch and learn his creative ways to cook simple, seasonal, affordable and delicious meals for the family. Even better, you get to taste what he makes!

ELALIsraelAirlinesUSA, 1 p.m., 18+.

To celebrate Purim, Israel’s national airline EL AL is hosting its second annual National Hamantaschen Eating Championship. For those who don’t know, Hamantaschen is a triangular shaped pastry with fillings ranging from fruits to chocolate. If this appeals to you, and you are 18 years of age or older, sign up today using the email address above. There could be a free flight to Israel in it for you if you win!

FREE: Health and Nutrition New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th St., nysec.org, 6:30 p.m.

Certified Holistic Health Coach Elizabeth Collier will be conducting a free introductory session for her new health and nutrition class scheduled to begin March 11. This session is a great opportunity to see what this class is all about and to see Elizabeth’s particular approach before definitely committing.

TUESDAY

◄

New York Rangers vs. Winnipeg ◄ FREE: Jets Manny’s on Second, 1770 2nd Avenue, mannysonsecond.com, 7 p.m.

24 Beers on Tap, 40 HDTVs, great wings burgers and wraps! Head on up to Manny’s on Second to watch the New York Rangers take on the Winnipeg Jets. It’s the coolest place to watch the NHL.

St., thenationalunderground.com, 7 p.m.

Indie Rocker Mark Wynegar is sending out a call for hopeful singers to join him for an open mic at The National Underground NYC. No better time to start on your music career, or just sing for fun, than now!

Scientists ◄ Little Children’s Museum of Manhattan, 212 West 83rd St., cmom.org, 212-721-1223, 10 a.m., free-$11.

Children love to experiment, and in many instances this is not a bad thing. At the Children’s Museum of Manhattan children will get the chance to experiment with texture by painting bubble wrap. Now that’s educational and fun!

Shuffle Concert ◄ The Kosciuszko Foundation, 15 East 65th St., eventbrite.com, 7 p.m., $50-$120.

Darkness to Light…

Maslow 6, 211 West Broadway, eventbrite.com, 7 p.m., $65.

A music and wine tasting event. Discover your five senses through wine, cheese, chocolate, music and the light and darkness of day. You will leave this event having a heightened and inspired sense of each sense.

American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra cordially invites you to their Shuffle Concert. Their modern twist on chamber music calls from audience members to choose from over 40 selections and 19 different styles, thus allowing the orchestra to create a musical fusion that’s highly unique and entertaining. With purchase of a ticket you get admission, drinks, light fare and the chance to win two tickets to Nice Work if You Can Get It!

Pregnant New Yorker ◄ The Maclaren, 150 Wooster St., thepregnantnewyorker.com, 6:30

FREE: Overdressed Reading Eileen Fisher SoHo, 395 West Broadway, eileenfisher.com, 6 p.m.

How much do you spend on clothes? If the answer is “too much” Elizabeth Cline has a book for you. Head on down to Eileen Fisher in SoHo to hear her read excerpts from her new book Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion. There will also be two workshops offered on how to keep your wardrobe alive for years to come!

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Mic Night ◄ Open The National Underground NYC, 159 East Houston

p.m., $20-$25.

Calling all new mothers and mothers to be! The Pregnant New Yorker is hosting an event that will highlight many questions these mothers could potentially have. Car seat importance, attachment theory, children and animal safety, and massage benefits are a few of the many issues that will be addressed. Bonus: those who enter could win amazing raffles!

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

cityArts

Edited by y Armond White

New York’s Review of Culture . CityArtsNYC.com

Dramatic Personae The Taviani’s Illuminate Reality through Theater

By Armond White

ompartive Literature classes were never as exhilarating as the best parts of Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Caesar Must Die. This ingenious adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, combines documentary and drama as the Tavianis follow theater director Fabio Cavalli guiding a couple dozen convicts through a production of the play staged in Italy’s Rebibbia Prison.

As always, the Taviani’s, (best known for the modernist neo-realism films Padre Padrone and Night of the Shooting Stars), combine artifice and naturalism. This prismatic approach illuminates Shakespeare, cinema and life. The concept shows convicts utilizing the amount of existential acting that comprises their street and prison yard lives, their behavior as men, sons, pals and citizens. The Taviani’s interpret Julius Caesar’s political conflict, (a tyrannical leader assassinated by fellow politicians), for more than facile contemporary allegory; they reveal its insight into basic human interaction and masculine aggression.

This thesis is made endlessly fascinating by the prisoners’ real-life spectacle. Brutus’s recitation hesitates at reality’s contrast; its vulgarity and absurdity trouble him freshly—as it does a viewer. The Tavianis’ moral clarity provides fleet, astonishingly reflection. Two convicts, Gianni and Juan, get so caught up in their personal rivalries while acting that we respond to their conflict as to HBO’s prison series Oz, (especially those memorable episodes about putting a play). These faces suggest hardened versions of actorly visages. There’s a tough Derek Jacobi, a corpulent Louis Calhern, while others suggest the same Italo

C

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

ethnic types made cartoonishness by The Sopranos and GoodFellas. It’s abstract yet it gives soulfulness to a political and social perspective that transcends being Brechtian.

Sometimes the humor resembles the prison scenes in Big Deal on Madonna Street, that authentic Italian comedy about petty crooks.

Because the Taviani brothers use dialectical methods, their visual and conceptual ideas alternate, (color/b&w, theater/reality), without always merging comprehensively. Yet, their ambiguous whole

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avoids the banality predictability of some of the Dardennes brothers films. This is an intellectual modernization of Shakespeare that West Side Story sold out in favor of popular appeal. The men’s discovery of theater is moving. As the movie slips past the obvious strictures of incarceration and gets caught up in the emotional space of rehearsal and the individual inmates’ personal transformations, a sense of illusion comes from temporary suspension of disbelief—very much like Louis Malle achieved in Vanya on 42nd Street, but richer.

Many of the actors are surprisingly good— passionate and credible. Cavelli encourages their naturalism: “It’s not a vulgar dialect, it’s a dialect in the mouth of noble characters.”

They discover the cultural heritage that they had squandered—and you can feel it. The Tavianis’ spartan, mostly black and white visual style contrasts “performance” with reality, a complex move in the era of Reality TV where all notions of truth, fiction and cinema verite have been corrupted if not destroyed.

The Taviani’s are admirably minimalist, but sometimes cinema calls for theater, some all around phenomenological fascination with the reality of prison as a place of confinement. The most conventional cinematic excitement comes when the

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Taviani’s zoom in and begin introducing information about the men’s crimes and sentences. The amount of Taviani’s control is perplexing but it beats Reality TV fakery by admitting the harsh truth beneath the overall artifice—and the potential beauty. When the men ponder, “How many centuries to come will see actors play this great scene of ours?” Or muse about “Kingdoms and languages yet to be invented,” the terms may not exactly express the thoughts of convicts but it’s poetry nonetheless and nothing in Dustin Hoffman’s self-satisfied opera diva film Quartet or Malle’s Chekhov caprice can touch it.

Do-gooder programs that bring hip hop into prisons cannot possibly be this effective. Marc Antony delivering his famous speech in a concrete basketball court tells us the classical arts are not dead but can elevate contemporary self-esteem. This helps illuminate the most mundane aspects of taken-for-granted life. When Cassius (Cosimo Rega) walks back into his quarters, he admits “Since I got to know art, this cell has become a prison.” Rehabilitation? The Taviani’s turn insight into a powerful act of compassion.

Follow Armond White on Twitter at 2xchair

PAGE 11

FILM CITYARTS

MUSEUM CITYARTS

Show Biz Kids Coppola and Sheen promote Hollywood solidarity

By Armond White

I

t can’t be easy for children of famous filmmakers to escape their parents’ shadows. That’s the problem facing Francis Ford Coppola’s offspring, daughter Sofia and son Roman, the most talented of the two. Neither can seem to get out from under their father’s eminence but at least Roman gazes beyond his own “Watching the Mind” by Jayoung Yoon navel as in the new film A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. Charles Swan III looks at a Hollywood brat, (a free-wheeling advertising wiz and exhibition that is vibrant and dynamic in The gallery at Tibet House is hosting immature bachelor), who has hit crisis point. its larger than usual dimensions, such as “Sacred Vision, Separate Views: Since it stars Charlie Japanese artist Shigeru Oyatani’s fiery red Sheen, director-writer Contemporary Buddhist Perspectives Party Line and the blizzard white No, each Roman Coppola places In Art,” which is an exhibition of works a 72-inch square, right- angled to each by six artists whose study and practice his personal concern other in one corner of the gallery. of Buddhism have informed their work at pixilated, fantasy

By Renfreu Neff remove. This works in distinctly different ways not readily identifiable as “Buddhist art”. Here is an nicely because both Sheen and Coppola are yoked under the same privileged-Hollywoodscion onus without burdening the audience with too much enviable and undeserved Antiques, Fine Art and Mid Century Modern Wanted celebrity identification. for Consignment or Purchase Whatever one’s initial reaction to the film’s conceit, it is always complicated by realization that the film’s subject is broader and more humane than Monthly Multi-Estate Auctions judgmental gossip.

Next Auction: Sunday, February 24th at 12 Noon Sheen’s recent public behavior, the hardpartying stuff of tabloid fodder, (and tabloid View 400 lots at www.ClarkeNY.com income), is shown in a cooler light—a light made resplendent by videographer Nick Beal who also knows to lend surrealist exaggeration to Swan‘s paranoid extremes.

This story of privilege run amok, (Swan can’t understand why his girlfriend deserts him, why business associates are dissatisfied with his selfish preoccupation), is also a tale of fond sensitivity that Roman Coppola understands and vouchsafes to the world.

(Roman co-wrote Wes Anderson’s most profoundly emotional and deeply charming Tommi Parzinger Antique Rose Harry Raymond Henry, Mid Century Console Table film, The Darling Limited.)

Medallion Palace Urns Oil on Canvas “Grand Canyon” Perhaps the only reason Charles Swan III wasn’t greeted with the rapturous reviews Sofia Coppola always receives is that it doesn’t rely on the poor-little-rich-girl Clarke Auction · 2372 Boston Post Road · Larchmont, NY 10538 petulance that our celebrity-worshipping Ph: (914) 833-8336 · Fax: (914) 833-8357 · Email: info@clarkeny.com mainstream media adores. Candidly www.ClarkeNY.com masculine, it risks the tyrannically p.c.

The Accidental Buddhists

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media elite’s hypocritical disapproval. Yet Roman Coppola empathizes with the more complicated bad boy tradition exemplified

by Sheen, (a childhood friend since the filming of Apocalypse Now which was directed by Coppola’s father and starred Sheen’s dad).

Unlike the cosseted worlds on view in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette and Somewhere, Charles Swan III offers a satirical view of narcissistic privilege as a young man’s dubious choice, not as social entitlement. Swan’s custom-designed bacon-and-eggs car, the fancy-dressed cowboy-and-squaw fantasy, the erotic vision of an out-of-reach love object poignantly, hilariously mock self-indulgence.

This rare feat of satirical candor recalls the Steely Dan song “Show Biz Kids” that predicted “Show biz kids/Making movies of themselves/You know they don’t give a fuck about/ Anybody else.”

While that remains an insufferable truth about Sofia’s movies, it is exactly what distinguishes this film as a charming display of camaraderie. (Note the lovely, reckless revenge Swan III exacts in defense of his stressedout sister, played with sweet complexity by Patricia Arquette.)

Above all, Roman helps Sheen achieve succor and Sheen returns the favor with a forceful performance—as in an ambidextrous telephone scene that shows impressive actorly skill far beyond his coasting as the oblivious roue in that TV filth Two and a Half Men. It’s been over a decade since Roman Coppola’s last directorial effort (CQ). This new film isn’t any more major but it’s of equal esoteric charm. Charles Swan III’s missteps appeal to our humanity in an era of rabid celebrity envy. No less a misanthrope than Paul Schrader recently complained to Deadline.com “It’s that Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Chris Grown thing.

The [media] can’t stop themselves from unloading and judging. It’s a terrible fish bowl existence.” Roman Coppola’s fishbowl satire makes an uncommon objet d’art.

Asking for sympathy is more complex than a disingenuous apology.

Follow Armond White on Twitter at 3xchair

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

CELEBRITY PROFILE

Peter Yarrow and Frog Love march, it’s more likely to be “Blowin’ in the The singer of Peter, Paul Wind” or “Day is Done.” If it’s for a children’s and Mary fame speaks gathering, it’ll be “Puff the Magic Dragon.” about Blowin’ in the Wind, What kind of music do you Greenwich Village in the listen to?

‘60s, and his message to I’m a fan of hearing music in person.

I’ll go to the Metropolitan Opera; I love children that kind of music. I’ll attend the Kerrville

By Angela Barbuti

P

eter Yarrow has lent his voice to multiple generations. The seventy-four-year-old has had a long career singing at monumental moments in history — from the March on Washington to Occupy Wall Street. Although time has passed, to Yarrow, the importance of respect remains constant. He continues to spread this message, which is now reincarnated in his children’s books. The newest, I’m in Love with a Big Blue Frog, released this month, includes Peter Paul and Mary’s recording of the song.

How do you think the music industry has changed since you started?

It used to be that the people who ran the record companies were in love with the music. They respected artistry and wanted to encourage the new Bob Dylans, Peter, Paul and Marys, and Beatles. Now, the dedication is to selling the maximum number of albums. And that really is a pity because when you have that kind of number one priority, you’re not going to be reaching for quality, but for whatever sells the most. And at best that is going to be mediocrity. I’m not saying they’re not valid and wonderful artists who are emerging all the time, but just that the field is not focused on speaking to the hopes and dreams of America. The last group of people highly respected in this way was Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and Bono. Who today is writing the song that everybody knows? Who’s written the “Blowin’ in the Wind” of the last 20 years?

The reason you don’t know the answer to that is because there is not that kind of focus in the music business.

What is your favorite song to perform?

It depends on where I’m singing and in what circumstance. If I’m singing at a peace

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Folk Festival. Something about hearing music being created at that moment has a great power for me. On the other hand, I have people in my life who play music that familiarizes me with what’s going on in the field and there is much that is quite wonderful. I like Lucy Kaplansky, Dar Williams, and David Wilcox. They’re not stars in the firmament that are known by everybody, but they are powerfully moving in their work. I think that Lady Gaga is terrific and her intention is terrific. This is a bright girl. She breaks the mold in certain ways.

Do you think your music played a role in changing people’s mindsets?

I have no doubt that that’s the case, but we were accompanied by many others. Folk music was the soundtrack of the nation.

What do you hope your new book, I’m in Love with a Big Blue Frog, says to children?

It’s a very powerful message. When it was written, by Les Braunstein, a friend of Peter, Paul and Mary’s, the issue was prejudice of African Americans. But now, you could apply it to gays, lesbians, and Muslims. I believe that this is not just something that entertains. This is something that educates.

When kids look at it, and they begin to have it explained to them by their mothers, fathers, and grandparents, they’ll say, “Why is it that these people are saying they don’t approve of this relationship?” This leads to a discussion of civil rights and acceptance.

Explain your work with Operation Respect.

It’s about giving kids the tools to be kind, accepting, and understanding of one another, and to resolve conflict nonviolently. It’s very much the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. It is all about the absence or presence of respect or disrespect.

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What was your role in the civil rights movement?

Peter, Paul and Mary sang at the March on Washington in 1963. We sang at the Selma to Montgomery March, the March on Frankfort. When it segued into the antiwar movement, there we were, involved in that as well. We had our lives threatened, but we were young and fearless in those days.

What was New York City like in the ‘60s?

In Greenwich Village, it was a time of extraordinary change and excitement. Every day we got together in the coffee houses and we’d sing and they’d pass the hat. We had little more than the clothes on our backs, but we were in love with life and sensed that great things were happening and we were a part of it. And we were right - great things did happen. And now we need to recapture some of what was shared in that period.

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You live on the Upper West Side. Do people stop you in the city to say hello?

They do. But they say hello to me as if they’re my friend. They just say, “Hi Peter, love your music.”

You occupied Wall Street.

I sang at occupy Wall Street several times. I did it with my son, daughter, and granddaughter. She had signs with her classmate saying, “We want fairness. We want kindness. We want a bright future.”

That was long before the police came, before pepper spray out in California. It was a loving place - and then the police came, and people became fearful and angry.

To learn about Peter’s music, visit www. peterpaulandmary.com

PAGE 13

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