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DINING
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NYPRESS.COM
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COMMUNITY
NEWS
BELOW
14TH
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• JULY
4,
2013
P.9
Locals Cheer Death of DOMA After the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, granting federal recognition of same-sex marriages, people flocked to the historic Stonewall Inn to celebrate
By Megan Bungeroth
V
alerie Renee, 31, and Kim Morgan, 29, had good reason to be giddily drinking beer at a bar in the middle of the day last Wednesday. After watching the coverage of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA) on TV, the couple couldn’t contain their excitement and left their shared Hell’s Kitchen apartment to come down to the West Village. They, along with dozens of other happy revelers who were later joined by hundreds more, made a beeline for the Stonewall Inn, which has served as a gay haven and political bastion of the LGBT rights movement. Almost 44 years ago to the day,
Beneath Ground Zero, A Museum Takes Shape One of the two reflecting pools at the 9/11 Memorial Photo by Wally Gobetz
The 9/11 Museum is finally nearing completion By David B. Caruso
G
ray dust blankets everything in the subterranean halls of the unfinished National September 11 Memorial & Museum. But while the
powder may look ominously like the ash that covered Lower Manhattan after the terrorist attacks, this time it is a product of rebirth, not destruction. After a yearlong construction shutdown because of a funding dispute, and additional months of cleanup following a shocking flood caused by Superstorm Sandy, work has been racing ahead again at the museum, which sits in a cavernous space below the World Trade Center memorial plaza that opened in 2011. About 130 workers are at the site each day and there is much left to be done, but officials with the museum said the project is on track
to open to the public in the spring of 2014. Some of the museum’s most emotioninspiring artifacts already are anchored in place. Tears rolled down Anthoula Katsimatides’ cheeks last Thursday as she toured halls holding a mangled fire truck, strangely beautiful tangles of rebar and the pieces of intersecting steel known as the Ground Zero Cross. “It makes me sad,” said Katsimatides, whose brother John died at the trade center. Continued on page 6
the Stonewall Inn had been the site of riots started by gay activists tired of discriminatory laws and police harassment; those riots, in 1969, captured the attention of other activists nationwide and sparked the decades-long fight for LGBT equality, a fight which crept a little closer to the finish line this week. Continued on page 6
ALSO INSIDE TECH IN LIBRARIES P.4 ADRIAN GRENIER ON SELLING DRUGS P.13
NEIGHBORHOOD CHATTER
RESEARCH STUDY FOR MEN WITH SEXUAL PROBLEMS:
Loss for Seaport Museum The South Street Seaport Museum has lost its operator. The Museum of the City of New York is pulling out of operating the financiallystrapped Seaport museum, which continues to struggle in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The storm inundated the Seaport’s electrical and computer systems. City Museum President Susan Henshaw Jones tells The New York Times a huge amount of post-Sandy works in terms of dollars remains at the Seaport, and that it could take years. In 2011, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation gave the City Museum a $2 million grant and 18 months to put the Seaport museum on solid footing. That period was extended by nine months. The city Department of Cultural Affairs says it hopes to find another entity to take over the Seaport.
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Starbucks Baristas Ordered to Share Tips
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15 1 4 7
re-use
ways to old newspaper
your
Use it as wrapping paper, or fold & glue pages into reusable gift bags.
2
Add shredded newspaper to your compost pile when you need a carbon addition or to keep ies at bay.
5
Use newspaper strips, water, and a bit of glue for newspaper mâchÊ.
8
10
Crumple newspaper to use as packaging material the next time you need to ship something fragile.
13
Tightly roll up sheets of newspaper and tie with string to use as ďŹ re logs.
After your garden plants sprout, place newspaper sheets around them, then water & cover with grass clippings and leaves. This newspaper will keep weeds from growing.
Make origami creatures
Use shredded newspaper as animal bedding in lieu of sawdust or hay.
11
Make your own cat litter by shredding newspaper, soaking it in dish detergent & baking soda, and letting it dry.
14
Wrap pieces of fruit in newspaper to speed up the ripening process.
3
Cut out letters & words to write anonymous letters to friends and family to let them know they are loved.
6
Roll a twice-folded newspaper sheet around a jar, remove the jar, & you have a biodegradable seed-starting pot that can be planted directly into the soil.
9
Make newspaper airplanes and have a contest in the backyard.
12 15
Stuff newspapers in boots or handbags to help the items keep their shape. Dry out wet shoes by loosening laces & sticking balled newspaper pages inside.
a public service announcement brought to you by dirt magazine. PAGE 2
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hospitality employers seeking clarity on how to compensate employees.
Man Killed By Bus An 80-year-old man is dead after he was hit by a bus while trying to cross a downtown street. Police say Boris Kidreman was attempting to cross Third Avenue at East 20th Street at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday when he was hit by an MTA bus. He was taken to Beth Israel Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police say the bus had the green light and Kidreman was trying to cross against the signal. The bus driver remained at the scene of the accident and has not been charged.
New Walking Maps in Chinatown Pedestrians wondering which way to walk on some of the city’s more confusing street blocks are getting some help. The first signs in the city’s new pedestrian map system have been put into place in Chinatown. Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced Monday that four of the free-standing signs have been put into place. They have maps, and show major points of interest as well as bike lanes and subway stops. The system is called WalkNYC, and is expected to be installed elsewhere in Chinatown as well as in other neighborhoods over the summer. Those other areas include 34th Street in Manhattan, Prospect Heights and Crown Heights in Brooklyn and Long Island City in Queens. The eventual plan is to expand across the city.
Starbucks baristas must share their tips with shift supervisors but not with assistant managers, New York’s highest court said Wednesday in a ruling that could affect how employees are paid in tens of thousands of restaurants and coffee houses across the state. The Court of Appeals found that shift supervisors do much of the same work as the coffee servers and therefore get to share in the tips. It also ruled that the company, which is based in Seattle, can deny those tips to assistant managers. The ruling, responding to two lawsuits, backed Starbucks’ policy of divvying up the tips, saying it’s consistent with labor law. Hospitality industry groups say the court’s decision likely will affect policies at similar restaurants and coffee houses and will affect 42,000 businesses statewide and a quarter-million hospitality industry workers in New York City alone. The New York State Restaurant Association, which represents more than 56,000 restaurants, bars and clubs, called the decision a win Photo courtesy of Dept. of Transportation for all New York
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THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013
CRIME WATCH
Stolen Superbike
MINTY FRESH MAYHEM
At 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18, a 30-yearold man parked his motorcycle on the southwest corner of Front Street and Dover
Just after midnight on Saturday, June 22, three young men with an apparent need for minty mouths entered a chain drugstore on Broadway, grabbed items from shelves, put them inside their backpacks, and left the store. The trio stole gums and mints, including Trident, Orbit, Wrigley’s, TicTacs, Breath Savers, and Mentos, totaling $1,288. That buys a lot of fresh breath!
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WA L N U T S
Illustration by John S. Winkleman
By Jerry Danzig
Panty Raid Three young women were caught stealing over 100 pairs of panties from a lingerie shop last Saturday, June 22. A male employee of the chain store reported that he discovered the crime after viewing security footage. One girl had a bag, and the other two girls put the panties into the bag after they lifted them from a drawer. The theft was not observed until after the three girls had already left the store. The stolen panties were multicolored, sizes small and medium, with a total value of $1,050.
Cross Charger Police arrested a man using a woman’s stolen debit card in an attempt to purchase a piece of jewelry. At 5:23 p.m. on Sunday, June 23, a 42-year-old man tried to buy a sterling silver neck chain in a department store on Prince Street. His attempt proved unsuccessful, however, as the store clerk noticed the debit card he used belonged to a woman. Before apprehending the man, the arresting officer called the bank issuing the debit card and determined that the card had indeed been reported lost or stolen.
Kitnapped in Caravan A van holding a woman’s three-legged pet cat was stolen last week from Thompson Street. At 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, June 20, a 37-year-old woman parked her van on the street, and when she returned fifteen minutes later, the van was gone, including her five-
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013
Street. When he returned on June 21 at 7:30 a.m., his bike was gone. It was not at the city tow pound, and police were unable to locate the bike after canvassing the area. No video of the theft was available. The missing motorcycle was a red 2007 Honda CBR1000RR with VT plates KB 172, valued at $7,000.
on Tuesday, May 21, she discovered that her bicycle was missing from a parking spot on Thompson Street. There was no video or any witnesses of the theft, but the bike lock had been cut and removed.
year-old black-and-white tuxedo cat with three legs. The van also contained a five-yearold Toshiba laptop, and assorted clothing. It was a green 1999 Dodge Caravan with New Jersey plates J91 DD J.
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No Fare Lady A cab driver got taken for a ride when he picked up a woman who fleeced him last week. At 11:32 a.m. on Wednesday, June 19, a 42-year-old male cabbie picked up a fare, a 50-year-old woman, at the corner of Pine Street and William Street. The passenger asked to sit in the front of the cab due to an alleged leg injury. During the taxi ride, the passenger touched the cabbie’s leg multiple times. Suddenly the passenger asked the cabbie to stop the vehicle claiming she had left her keys at the spot where he had picked her up. The cabbie halted the taxi at the on-ramp of the northbound FDR Drive. The passenger fled on foot, and the cabbie was unable to turn the car around on the ramp, so he continued north on FDR Drive until he could exit and return heading southbound. When he stopped on Vesey Street, he realized that his wallet and its contents were missing from his pants pocket. The cabbie notified his credit and debit card companies and discovered that one fraudulent purchase for $124 had shown up. Otherwise, he was out $25 for the cost of the wallet, plus $1,700 in cash.
Clipped Cannondale A local woman reported that her bike, a 10-year-old Cannondale CAAD5 valued at $1,700, was stolen at the end of May. At 1 p.m.
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PAGE 3
NEWS
Libraries Bridge Digital Divide The NYPL’s new Tech Connect program is bringing technology literacy and more to local residents By Alissa Fleck
A
ccording to Amy Geduldig of the New York Public Library, libraries aren’t typically the first thing people think of when it comes to digital education. It may be time for that mentality to change. NYPL has begun its Tech Connect program, a series of tech classes to educate users, “particularly those who have been left behind by the digital divide,” said Geduldig. These classes are especially essential as technology continues to grow and change. Brandy McNeill, the Tech Connect coordinator, said overall the program represents an effort to give a consistent feel to training regardless of which branch a patron frequents,
including incorporating the same materials across branches. The program also provides new computers for each branch, new software and equipment and new training facility labs that are more conducive to learning. “We’ve seen a double in our training numbers for how many people are coming to the new labs,” said McNeill. These are patrons of every age and skill level. McNeill said some patrons attend classes all day, treating it a bit like school. The “digital device kits” in the branches also incorporate every kind of tablet which people can come in and explore, particularly if they’re trying to decide which kind to purchase. People can also come in and learn about age-appropriate apps,
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ebooks, photo editing, reading websites and more. McNeill added interactive story time on ebooks has changed the way kids do story time. The classes range in difficulty level from “how to use a mouse” to “how to create a blog” and beyond. The libraries have also hired bilingual trainers so classes can be helpful for even more patrons. The NYPL has even launched a YouTube channel so people can watch short videos and learn about various technologies from their own homes. “We’re New York and [the library] has to be right there with people for the things they’re doing,” said McNeill. “We’re looking to launch a progress program that will help people go through a series of classes to get a certain skill.” These skills include gaining employment, writing resumes, finding jobs online, social media do’s and don’ts and Skype interviews. Edwin, who immigrated to the City from Fuzhou, China, uses the classes to improve his digital literacy, his professionalism and his English. Edwin lives in Chinatown and is a regular at the Tech Connect classes there. Edwin said he first heard about the Tech Connect program from a flyer at the library and the Mandarin translation classes have been especially helpful for him. “I have a better resume and I am able to find a job online,” said Edwin of where he is now versus when he first started. “I also learned how to use LinkedIn for job searches and Facebook. I couldn’t do these things before class, but now I am able to use these tools to find a job.” “The biggest surprise was the bilingual computer classes where the teacher spoke fluent English and Chinese Mandarin,” he added. “In my fifteen years in the USA, I have never had a class with a teacher that spoke dual languages.”
PRESIDENT Jeanne Straus ACTING EDITOR Megan Bungeroth • editor.otdt@strausnews.com CITYARTS EDITOR Armond White • editor.cityarts@strausnews.com STAFF REPORTER Joanna Fantozzi FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS Alan S. Chartock, Bette Dewing, Jeanne Martinet, Malachy McCourt, Angela Barbuti, Casey Ward PUBLISHER Gerry Gavin • advertising@strausnews.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth, Kate Walsh ADVERTISING MANAGERS Marty Strongin, Matt Dinerstein CLASSIFIED ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Stephanie Patsiner DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Joe Bendik OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN is published weekly Copyright © 2013 by Straus Media - Manhattan, LLC 212-868-0190 • 333 Seventh Ave, New York, NY. Straus Media - Manhattan publishes Our Town • The West Side Spirit • Our Town Downtown Chelsea Clinton News • The Westsider To subscribe for 1 year, please send $75 to OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN, c/o Straus News 20 West Ave., Chester, NY 10918 PREVIOUS OWNERS HAVE INCLUDED: Tom Allon, Isis Ventures, Ed Kayatt, Russ Smith, Bob Trentlion, Jerry Finkelstein
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The reading room at the 42nd Street branch Photo by Scott Beale
What’s Up With That? Why were some local high school students left hanging after taking their Regents exams? By Joanna Fantozzi
N
ew York City high schools were in an uproar last week with the delay of certain Regents exam scores. As a result, there were certain students who didn’t get to walk at their high school graduations. At Lower East Side Prep, where the Regents grading problems were rampant, one young man, said Social Studies teacher Adelaide Watson, sang the Star Spangled Banner at his graduation ceremony. But yet, he was not allowed to walk at graduation because he supposedly failed one of his Regents exams. A few days later, the young graduate was informed that he had passed. So, why the confusion? As of last week, the Department of Education informed us that 97 percent of the scoring had been completed by the June 24th deadline. Erin Hughes, a representative from the Department of Education said that, “we have a small amount of cleanup to do - for example appeals or documents that were damaged and need to be re-scanned.” The DOE sent a letter to all high school principals updating them o the situation, and said that the missing scores
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will become available on a “rolling basis.” But for students of Lower East Side Prep, that answer was too little, too late. They particularly had problems with the English Language Arts (ELA) Regents, where the school dropped from 80 percent passing grades, to 40 percent passing. In addition, said Principal Martha Polin, several students could not walk at graduation because of missing or incorrect test scores. Watson, the teacher, said that this might have something to do with the fact that McGraw Hill, who administered the grading under a $3.5 million contract, had a new system this year where instead of grading each test booklet by hand, the booklets were scanned, and teachers had to use a computer system to grade. “These tests were scanned incorrectly,” said Watson. “Then you have to follow these computer commands, and sometimes the essay appears not to be there. Is it because the kid chose not to write it? Or did he put it in a different part of the book and we can’t manually check?” Watson also said that sometimes the scanned tests would come up with error messages, or calculate grades incorrectly. For Lower East Side Prep, the test score results still hang in the balance, as well as their graduation rate. The Department of Education refused to comment on the contract with McGraw Hill or the reasoning behind the testing flub. McGraw Hill did not respond in time for this article. Do you have questions about what’s up in your neighborhood? Email us your queries to reporter@strausnews.com with “What’s Up With That” in the subject line.
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013
NEWS
Happiness for Hard Knock Drummer Local musician has a condition that makes it diďŹƒcult to drum - but that doesn’t stop him By Adam Janos
D
isposition is destiny. And Jesus Guadalupe, street musician, would certainly be excused if he had a foul one. Guadalupe, 20, was born with phocomelia, a rare cogential condition that has left his arms short and malformed. At the age of eighteen, Guadalupe left his home in Georgia on a wide-eyed quest to make it in New York City and become a star. A few weeks later, he found himself homeless and heartbroken in Oklahoma. Yet rather than wallow in gloom, Guadalupe is the personification of optimism. If you ask him, things are looking up. Now making his money entirely through music performance, the drummer commutes monthly between his family upstate and his work in the city. “My favorite part of performance is when I’m drumming, and I see all the faces,� Guadalupe said. “And they’re all ‘oh my god, look at him, he’s drumming!’ And the children are like ‘How can he drum if he has no arms?’ And the parents are like ‘Don’t say that, that’s bad!’ “But the way I see it, it’s a teachable moment,� said Guadalupe. “I’m the type of person, if you want to ask, go ahead and ask me. I don’t mind, it’s not being rude. It’s a
motivational moment. And everyone gets a kick out of seeing me drum.� Perhaps not for him. Playing music is natural to Guadalupe, something he’s been doing since he was a young child. When asked about the mechanics of drumming with his condition, or the decision to take up work in a highly competitive field where his handicap sets him at an inherent physical disadvantage, Guadalupe shrugs, saying only that he’s not hardwired to shrink away from challenges. Even the cause of his condition (prenatal drinking) he greets with patience. “One day, my mom told me in the car, ‘Jesus, you were born like these because I was drinking. I was young, crazy, stupid. Do you hate me for it?’ And I was like ‘No mom, I don’t hate you. I’m glad God gave me the best mother alive.’� Rather than focus on health, Guadalupe – like most twenty-year-old men - has devoted a lot of his energy to the pursuit of romantic love. After a series of high school romances, Guadalupe connected with a woman online out in Oklahoma. Traveling from Georgia to Oklahoma to meet her, their relationship fell through on the first day and he ended up in a group home. After finally making his way to New York, the drummer began playing in the streets. Through a friend, he was introduced to Charlene. After a whirlwind three-week courtship, the couple decided to have a child together. “My doctor told me I would never have kids, because
OP-ED
NYC Tenants Caught by Rising Rents The state needs stronger rent regulation By Senator Brad Hoylman
L
et’s be frank: Tenants in New York are getting a raw deal. Despite the continuing toll of the recent economic recession on average New Yorkers and clear evidence that landlord profits continue to surge, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted on June 20 to approve rent increases of 4 percent for one year lease renewals and 7.75 percent for two year lease renewals for rent stabilized apartments. These increases are not easy to absorb for most of our city’s 1.3 million rent regulated tenants. According to data in the RGB’s own “2013 Income and Affordability Study,� the median income of rent-controlled households was $28,000 and the median income of households in rent-stabilized units was $37,000. Moreover, housing costs constitute a huge percentage of these tenants’ income. Housing is considered “affordable� for a household when it constitutes no more than 30 percent of its total income. The same RGB study found that slightly more than one-third of renter households in the City paid 50 percent or more of their household income for gross rent in 2011, the highest ratio in the history of the study. This means a third of New York’s renters were already cutting back in other areas of their lives, like healthcare, food and other necessities, to
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013
meet the rent. More than 68 percent of New Yorkers rent their apartments, and we, as a city, are slowly slipping behind on our ability to afford our own homes. Rent increases are simply outpacing New Yorkers’ ability to pay them. With the citywide apartment vacancy rate at a meager 3.12 percent – under State law a vacancy rate of less than 5 percent constitutes a housing emergency – those looking for a decent, affordable apartment will find the only place for them to move is out. These increases force New York’s middle class further and further from our city’s core. Year after year the RGB’s own statistics do not support the landlords’ primary argument that increased rents are necessary to meet increased operating costs. An honest assessment of the numbers shows not only that landlords would have been able to afford – and would have still profited from – rents remaining constant, but also that most regulated tenants cannot afford any rent increases. Yet once again, the RGB ignored these facts. Ensuring the existence of viable housing options for all New Yorkers, including those with low and moderate incomes, is a proven way to keep our neighborhoods diverse, dynamic and vibrant. We’re not just talking about arcane statistics. We’re talking about how many of the city’s 1.1 million public school students have a permanent home in which do their homework, how many people with debilitating illnesses and disabilities have a stable home in proximity to their doctors, and how many residents can afford to stay in the communities they helped build.
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supposedly with my congenital condition, it would prevent me from it. So I just want to tell my doctor, that’s B.S.� That baby, Adon, is a healthy boy, and turned eight months old on the 25th of June. On facts alone, Guadalupe’s story has elements of tragedy: the physical malady, the homelessness, the child out of wedlock. But to the man living the experience, life is beautiful and clean. His narrative is centered less on the hardship, and more on the people around him, and to him, it’s obvious to him that these people are inherently good: the women he’s loved, the audiences he’s performed for, the mother who cared for him growing up. “I try to help people out,� Guadalupe said, when asked what his most admirable trait is. “I’m a good person.�
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PAGE 5
NEWS Doma Continued from page 1
9/11 Museum Continued from page 1
Renee and Morgan, who have been together for three years and hope to get married in the near future, said they were ecstatic at the news that their New York marriage would be recognized outside of their home state. “I’m from Florida, so if we move to Florida but get married here, it doesn’t matter,” said Morgan. Both said they’re in awe of the people who have been fighting for this type of victory for many years. “It’s an honor for me because we’re just going into this fight,” said Renee. “There have been women and men who’ve been fighting for decades, who have lost partners [before they could see this happen]. It’s exciting for us, but it’s like we cheated.” The woman who is ultimately responsible for the Supreme Court victory is a local named Edie Windsor, who also came to Stonewall later that night to celebrate the win. Windsor, 84, had sued to challenge a $363,000 federal estate tax bill after her partner for 44 years, Thea Clara Spyer, died in 2009. The government did not recognize their marriage, which had been performed in Canada, and so Windsor challenged the Defense of Marriage Act in the courts. The 5-4 decision Wednesday morning gave legally married same-sex couples the same federal recognition as any other married Americans. Some gathered at Stonewall to protest what they say are discriminatory laws that criminalize people with HIV, chanting “Killing DOMA’s fine; HIV is not a crime.” Members of the advocacy group Queerocracy stood outside the bar in matching pink shirts, holding signs and “kissing in” to draw attention to those laws. “Today, when the United States Supreme Court struck down DOMA, we are still living in a society where 34 states and 2 U.S. territories have laws and statutes that specifically criminalize people based on their HIV status,” said the group’s spokesperson Cassidy Gardner as dozens of media crews and onlookers snapped photos and recorded her. “We are kissing in to bring awareness to the injustice that lives and grows because these laws exist.” But by later in the day, the mood was overwhelmingly celebratory. About a thousand people, including Edie Windsor, gathered outside Stonewall, waving gay pride flags, dancing and cheering. “When generations from now people ask where you were today, you can say you were where it all started 44 years ago on a hot, summer day,” said Reverend Pat Bumgardner. “We’re here to celebrate everyone who crossed a line, broke a law or commandeered a space to make this possible.” When Windsor walked onto the stage, she was greeted by cheers and thunderous applause. “I am honored and humbled and overjoyed to be here,’’ she said, “to represent not only the thousands of Americans whose lives have been adversely affected by the Defense of Marriage Act
But it’s also inspiring, said Katsimatides, who sits on the museum’s board. “Seeing it come to fruition is pretty intense.” Work on the museum was halted for nearly a year, starting in the fall of 2011, because of a money fight between the memorial foundation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site. In retrospect, that slowdown was a blessing. Shortly after the two sides worked out their differences, Superstorm Sandy sent the Hudson River thundering through Lower Manhattan and filled the museum cavern with 7 1/2 feet of water. The flood destroyed interior walls and electrical circuits, but the construction delay meant that hundreds of artifacts and exhibits that might have been in the museum still hadn’t been fabricated or were sitting safely in storage. There was minor flash rusting to one of the fire trucks that had already been lowered into the space, but the damage was repaired by conservators and isn’t noticeable today, said National September 11 Memorial & Museum President Joseph Daniels. Today there is no sign that there was ever a flood. Daniels said there has been “almost indescribable” progress on construction since the storm. Structural work appears mostly complete on the glass pavilion and wide staircase and ramp visitors will use to descend into the museum, past two towering “tridents” that once helped form the distinctive base of the twin towers. Once silvery, the columns were stripped bare by the fires on 9/11 and are now the color of rusted, raw steel. From a mezzanine, patrons will be able to peer into a deep, nave-like hallway nicknamed the South Canyon. The hall’s high western wall will eventually be covered with artwork that people around the world made in tribute to the victims after the attacks. Another exhibit will feature supportive notes and letters. “They continue to send things. It’s amazing,” Katsimatides said. “That outpouring of support is one of the things that got the 9/11 families through.” Further down the ramp, visitors come to a platform overlooking an even more massive cavern bordered by the slurry wall, a 70-foot-tall, steel-studded concrete slab originally built to keep the Hudson River from flooding the trade center construction site. In the hall’s center stands the last steel column removed from ground zero during the cleanup operation. Recovery workers covered the pillar with their signatures before it was carried away, and visitors will get a chance to leave their own mark on another big piece of steel near the museum’s exit - though their autographs will be captured by a computerized touch screen and projected on the slurry wall, rather than left in ink on metal. Throughout the museum, curators have hung pieces of steel that were bent and twisted into striking shapes, including one sheet of metal that now appears to ripple like a flag and a huge girder bent by the impact of the aircraft hitting the towers. Many of them look like sculptures. “In a strange way, they are like pieces of art,” Katsimatides said. But Daniels added that they weren’t chosen for their beauty, but to explain what happened at the site on 9/11. A few design elements of the museum are still under discussion. When visitors descend to the very bottom of the museum - where, in some places, they will be able to view the very bedrock that the towers once rested upon - they will enter a hall with a large wall bearing an inscription from Virgil. “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” Behind that wall will sit a special mausoleum, off limits to the general public, containing the unidentified remains of hundreds of 9/11 victims. Most of the interior walls of the museum have the look of bare concrete, as a constant reminder of the site’s location within the old trade center foundation. But Daniels said the museum’s designers are talking about possibly cladding this wall in a different material, or a different color, to separate it from the rest. “It’s a special place. Do we need something to distinguish it?” he said. The bulk of the work remaining to be completed will revolve around installing the museum’s exhibits, which will include many artifacts, including a wall made up of portraits of all 2,983 victims and a room where visitors will be able to call up video presentations that tell a story about each of them. “The idea is to learn about the lives that they lived, not just the deaths that they died,” Daniels said.
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Valalerie Renee and Kim Morgan of Hell’s Kitchen have been together for 3 years and hope to marry one day. Photo by Megan Bungeroth
but the thousands whose hopes and dreams have been constricted by it.’’ “Let me just say the federal government picked the wrong New Yorker to screw with when they sent Edie that tax bill,’’ quipped City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is openly gay, when she took the stage. The speeches and celebrations continued long into the night, as the sounds of champagne bottles popping could be heard all over the neighborhood. Additional reporting by Alissa Fleck & Jake Pearson
Revelers dressed up to show their excitement after the DOMA ruling. Photo by Alissa Fleck
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THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013
DINING
Bubbly & Gold for Brunch The champagne brunch at Beauty & Essex is a light and delicious experience
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BEAUTY & ESSEX ■ 146 Essex Street, between Rivington and Stanton. ■ Saturday & Sunday 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. ■ (212) 614-0146
beautyandessex.com
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013
In Praise of Underdogs Sometimes they surprise us and win By Tom Allon
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York Pretzel,” salty toast topped with spicy peppercorn mustard and shaved NY strip (roast beef), is just plain delicious. If you’re looking for a post-Friday night lumberjack breakfast, this obviously isn’t the place to go, but if you’re particularly hungry on a Saturday, round out your pre-fix order with the Skillet Roasted Potatoes and Fried Chicken Biscuit Bites, which are filling. Mini one-bite cupcakes decorated with glistening balls and microscopic gold stars for desert were almost too pretty to eat. Almost. What I particularly love about this place (part of the larger Tao restaurant group) is that they recently joined the WHOLE WORLD Water Campaign, which encourages members of the hospitality and tourism industry to filter, bottle, and sell their own water in sustainable glass bottles. The initiative provides universal access to drinking water and basic sanitation to those who don’t have it, and helps to eliminate plastic waste. I also appreciated the fact that waiters leave a vase full of ice cold water at your table — every girl knows that one of the secrets to staying beautiful all summer is to be well hydrated. The space itself is gorgeous, as per its reputation — disguised as a pawn shop on the exterior, a second set of doors give way to a breathtaking, two-level restaurant, lounge, and bar. Everything glitters, from the chandeliers dripping with jewels to the shimmering gold paint on the walls and peacock feathers adorning side tables. Sounds like a recipe for garishness, but their artful use of the ingredients is instead quite glamorous. For an extra shot of beautification, try and snag a table under the glass rooftop — we all look stunning in natural sunlight. Indeed, “Beauty” is in no short supply at this Saturday brunch spot — and if “Essex” were a noun, I’m sure it’d live up to that, too.
hen I ran for mayor last year, I was so often labeled an underdog by the media, that I jokingly told my friends I was thinking of changing my first name to “Longshot.” Such is the indignity faced by some very smart and decent people now toiling for long hours in the brow-beating summer sun in their seemingly quixotic attempts to become Mayor of New York City. Just a quick reminder for those with short-term memory loss: 12 years ago a political neophyte who was unknown outside of New York’s financial and philanthropic world catapulted to the mayoralty in 2001. In July 2001, no one — including insiders like me – thought Mike Bloomberg had a shot at becoming the next leader of New York. This year, however, the conventional “underdogs” lack Bloomberg’s game-changing wealth and it is hard to imagine a scenario where one emerges to win in November 2013. But here I would like to praise these underdogs for their talents and ideas, not write them off as so many have done erroneously in the past. On the Democratic side, you essentially have five career politicians who make up the top tier (Thompson, Quinn, Weiner, DeBlasio and Liu) and then two other “longshots” — Sal Albanese and Erick Salgado. Sal Albanese had a distinguished career as a council member from Brooklyn for more than a decade. In 1997, he ran a strong mayoral campaign for the Democratic nomination, finishing third behind Ruth Messinger and Al Sharpton. Albanese, a former school teacher, then spent more than a decade in the private sector before he decided to make another run for City Hall. He has some sound, centrist ideas on education, transportation and public safety but because he is trailing badly in the early polls he receives scant attention from the media and political insiders. I got to know Albanese up close during the race and I was impressed with his thoughtfulness, integrity, courage and
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By Helaina Hovitz as your inner child ever woken up on a Saturday morning and said, “Gee, I’d really love to have cupcakes for breakfast?” Now, as a responsible adult — and a fancy, trendy adult at that — you can get away with it, ‘cause they’re disguised as mini-waffles. At Beauty & Essex’s new Saturday Champagne Brunch for two, $75 gets you a bottle of champagne and a choice of one option each from a four-course prix fare menu, including Red Velvet Waffles. I’m convinced that this is definitely cupcake batter poured into a waffle maker, but I’m not complaining. Also on the menu is Homemade Yogurt the consistency of soft butter, served with flaky granola, blueberries and plump dried fruits. The Free Range Scrambled Eggs on toast are a delicate, more sophisticated (and prettier) version of a sloppy breakfast sandwich, drizzled with thin whisps of cheese and delivered in bite sized pieces. The “New
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
desire to help his city. Erick Salgado is a passionate, feisty candidate who also wants to help his city, but his right-leaning views on some issues will likely marginalize him in a Democratic primary where almost everyone runs to the left. I admire his gumption to run a real outsider campaign. On the GOP side, it looks like a twoperson horse race for the nomination — between billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis and former Giuliani deputy mayor Joe Lhota. On the fringes in the Republican primary is a man named George McDonald, who has had a successful run in helping alleviate New York’s homeless problem the past two decades. His Doe Fund gets formerly homeless people a job and helps restore their dignity. Although McDonald is considered a real longshot, hopefully his ideas on battling poverty will help the next Mayor combat the rising problem of homelessness and inequality. On the Independent line, there is former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, a thoughtful urban planner, who is banking on being the only minority in a three-way general election in November. As John Catsimatidis wisely pointed out a few months ago: “Adolfo Carrion could be the ‘Ross Perot’ of this campaign,” referring to the eccentric third-party candidate for president in 1992 who swung the election to Bill Clinton and allowed him to unseat incumbent George Bush, Sr. Carrion is a centrist, pro-charter school, pro-business and pro-real estate candidate, who has some impressive experience from his work in the Bronx and as an urban affairs policy person in the Obama administration. But what Carrion does not have is a major party line (Democratic or Republican) and thus is very likely, at best, to be a spoiler in November. But, you never know. Mark Green, in October of 2001, walked into my office and proudly told me and my editorial team: “When I wake up each morning and look in the mirror, I see the next Mayor of New York.” Two weeks later, he lost in a dramatic upset by Mike Bloomberg. Beware political top dogs. They often end up in the dustbin of history. Tom Allon, president of City and State Media, is a former Liberal Party-backed candidate for Mayor. Email tallon@ cityandstateny.com.
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THE 7-DAY PLAN FRIDAY
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 SATURDAY
SUNDAY
BEST PICK
Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival
Brookfield Place Plaza, 220 Vesey St., artsworldfinancialcenter. com, 6 p.m., July 10th. This is an event that you can’t miss if you consider yourself a lover and aficionado of blues. Topping the first night’s bill is none other than the king of blues himself, B.B. King. Watch in awe as this legend and one of the greatest guitarists of all time does what he does best. The 87-year-old still appears at 100 shows every year, and never fails to electrify a crowd.
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FREE: King Kong Komplex
New York Philharmonic Summertime Classics: The Planets
Andrea Rosen Gallery, 525 West 24th St., andrearosengallery.com, 10 a.m. Simon Fujiwara is the very model of a modern emerging art star. His multicultural backround- his mother being British and his father Japanese- along with the time he spent as a child in various parts of Japan, Africa, and England, have deeply influenced his art. His work revolves around the theme of identity, and each piece screams ambition.
Avery Fisher Hall, 132 West 65th St., nyphil.org, 8 p.m., $45-$65. Take a breathtaking journey through the cosmos with the New York Philharmonic as your soundtrack - come on, how often are you offered an opportunity to do this? This performance combines Holst’s popular symphonic suite The Planets with highdefinition, NASA-supplied video footage of actual interplanery odysseys. Buckle up, because you’re in for quite a ride.
◄Hudson River Park Greenway & Central Park Bike Tour
Midsummer Dance Party
Departs from Hudson River Park near Times Square, attractions.timeout. com, 2 p.m., $42. If you aren’t fond of biking alone, join your fellow bike-enthusiasts on this tour. Ride through the city at a leisurely pace while taking in spectacular views of the city skyline. Visit all of the famous sites of Central Park such as Belvedere Castle and Strawberry Fields, in a way you may have never seen them before.
Damrosch Park, West 62nd St., midsummernightswing.org, 6:30 p.m., $17. This annual outdoor dance party returns for its 25th-anniversary season. Each evening features a select dance style and corresponding live accompaniment. Do you feel like your moves are sub-par? Not to worry, because the night will begin with an hour-long lesson. Tonight, you will learn to salsa and boogaloo with help from the band La Sonora Carruseles. There is nothing better to help you let go of the stress of the previous week than dancing the night away!
Monkey: Journey to the West
The Iron Mule Short Comedy Film Festival
Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway, centercharge.com, 2 p.m., $25-$250. This vibrant musical is a retelling of the Chinese classic by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett- creators of the wildly popular musical collective Gorillaz. It tells the story of a monk who journeys from China to India to find the Buddha and is led by the Monkey King and his animal companion protectors. The cast includes a remarkable group of Chinese acrobats, singers, contortionists, and martial artists. It is directed by Chen Shi-Zheng and has been performed before sold-out audiences around the world.
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, symphonyspace.org, 7:30 p.m., $10-$14. Enjoy being served a collection of the funniest short films from around the world, including animation, web series, and narratives. You will celebrate funny and inventive short cinema with hosts Jay Stern and Victor Veranda, along with a collective of filmmakers and film lovers. After the films, chat with visiting filmmakers, then mingle with them and fellow audience-members at the after party in Bar Thalia.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Frogs: A Chorus of Colors
FREE: The Book Report Reading
American Museum of Natural History, 79th St. & Central Park West, amnh.org, 10 a.m., suggested donation. Re-created habitats containing more than 200 live frogs make up the bulk of this exhibit. They are from diverse locales such as Bolivia, Vietnam, Mexico, and Russia. Amphibian fans can search for their favorite rarely-known species. If you don’t consider yourself an expert on frogs, this is the best excuse for you to learn more about their evolution and biology.
Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St., lepoissonrouge.com, 7 p.m. Hosts Leigh Stein and Sasha Fletcher bring assorted literate guests for an evening that will remind you of 3rd grade in the best possible way. In the past, guests have done feminist readings of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, a pop quiz on Go Ask Alice, and even a country song about David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. Expect the unexpected.
The Cyrus Cyliner and Ancient Persia: Charting a New Empire
FREE: Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and his Work
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, metmuseum.org, 10 a.m., suggests donation. This ancient treasure from the collection of the British Museum dates to the rise of Persian rule in the Middle East. Covered in cuneiform, this clay object is inscribed with the new masters’ rules for governing the defeated Babylonians. This subject may have made you snooze in High School history class, but seeing an actual object from 539 B.C in person may revitalize your interest.
Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd St., societyillustrators.org, 10 a.m. In conjunction with new book Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and His Work, the museum displays more than 200 previously unseen sketches, photographs and illustrations. The artist, who passed away last year, is well-known for Where the Wild Things Are, but his career featured much more work than that. This collection reflects the breadth of it, featuring commercial work and stage posters.
FREE: Madison Square Music: Oval Lawn Series
2nd Annual Spirits of New York
Madison Sq. Park, East 23rd St. and Fifth Avenue, madisonsquarepark.org, 7 p.m. Hosting a wide range of musical acts, this summer-long series will feature jazz singer Rene Marie tonight. The Fatty Crew- which consists of Fatty Crab, Fatty Cue, and Pig & Khao- will be dishing out some of their famous fare. What more could you ask for than great music and quality barbeque under the stars? Have an easy and inexpensive night out with family and friends all you need is a blanket and their company.
Astor Center, 399 Lafayette St., brownpapertickets.com/event/387363, 7 p.m., $40. This is your opportunity to taste some of the best spirits in the state and also meet their makers. Selected regionally produced beverages, such as vodka, gin, and bourbon, will be served up in season and place-inspired cocktails. To compliment these products, they will be joined by New York creators of bitters, syrups and mixers.
THURSDAY
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FREE: Accordions around the World ◄Bryant Park, 40th St. & Sixth Avenue, bryantpark.org, 5 p.m. Accordions may not seem like the coolest instrument in the world, but maybe this performance will change your mind. Half a dozen players infiltrate Bryant Park weekly, and will for the entire summer. They station themselves in various corners, each musician highlighting a different genre, such as jazz and indie pop. By the end of these performances, you could have an unexpected new love on your hands…you never know!
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FREE: Easy Rider Tompkins Square Park, 7th St. & Avenue A, nycgovparks.org, 8:30 p.m. Easy Rider is the quintessential movie of the 60’s. It stars Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as two bikers who travel through the South - but the story goes much deeper than a simple road trip. It explores the societal landscape, issues, and tensions in the U.S during this time, like the rise and fall of the hippie movements, drug use, and communal lifestyle.
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013
cityArts
Edited by Armond White
New York’s Review of Culture . CityArtsNYC.com
A Comedy with NO Errors! Shakespeare shines in the Park By Leslie (Hoban) Blake
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hakespeare presented outdoors — whether on a lawn, in a parking lot or at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater — is a sure sign that Summer has truly arrived in New York City. And, because the Bard still speaks to us, in forms tragical, comical, historical and/or pastoral, directors continue to return to his oeuvre, updating and/or adapting the plays to whatever period and/or message speaks to them in the present. Fortunately The Comedy of Errors is a comic romp pure and simple and although presented less often than say A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it contains one of theater’s most ubiquitous tropes — that of twins, separated and lost from their families and each other, only to be found and reunited by story’s end. Director Dan Sullivan, fresh off his recent Broadway revival of Orphans, returns with
Central Park’s Delacorte Theater.
THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013
yet another set of orphaned brothers, this pair freely adapted from both Shakespeare and Shakespeare’s own source material — Menaechmi by Plautus — which literally translates as ‘The Twin Brothers.’ That Shakespeare sure knew his funny since Plautus is the reputed father of all comedy as we know and understand it, he was also the source for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum — cue Stephen Sondheim and his “Comedy Tonight” theme song. But there’s nary a toga in sight in this revamped, fast-paced 90 minute Guys and Dolls - meets - The-Godfather version of the same source material that also spawned the Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse. These boys are from a non-specific 1940’s style Italian town, filled with gorgeous young dancers who can cut a rug and jitter a bug (thanks to choreographer Mimi Lieber) , and so they do for a full half hour pre-show. Try to get there early, there’s something divine about watching live jumping jive against a Central Park backdrop — cue “Stompin’ at the Savoy.” And they also perform all the clever set changes so you’ll have a chance to see them throughout the evening as well. The leads fall to two of Shakespeare in the Park’s younger veteran actors - Hamish Linklater (The Merchant of Venice) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) — who also appeared together in The Winter’s Tale. Their legions of TV fans will also have a grand time watching these two doing live double duty as the four brothers — yes four! In addition to the two master Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus played by Linklater and Ferguson’s two Stan Laurelish servant Dromios, there’s another spot of inspired double
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Hamish Linklater and Jesse Tyler Ferguson in Comedy of Errors. casting with Skipp Sudduth playing both the Duke (as a comic Don Corleone) and the overly endowed maid in love with one of the Dromios — what’s that line about no small parts? Other actors to be singled-out include Emily Bergl’s Lucille Ball-inspired, pratfalling Adriana (the wife of one of the Antipholi) and her luscious sister Luciana (Heidi Schreck), Jonathan Hadary’s puppet-toting father of the lost boys and Becky Ann Baker as their guntoting nun/mother. Plus a special shout-out ‘hey nonny’ to De’Adre Aziza as the courtesan who sings a down and dirty ditty (“Sigh No More” from “Much Ado About Nothing”) with music by Greg Pliska. In the sublime hands of Sullivan and his
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wife/choreographer, Lieber (the same team responsible for the luminous The Merchant of Venice two summers ago), lucky audience members who can grab a free ducat to this year’s Shakespeare in the Park are in for the most fun currently on the New York stage (and a shoo-in for a possible move to Broadway as The Merchant of Venice and Hair did in recent years). Still to come is the new musical version of Love’s Labor’s Lost, directed by Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher), starting on July 23rd.
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CITYARTS FILMS
The New McCarthyism Heat proves girls can be gross too By Armond White
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ity Sandra Bullock rehashing her straight-laced shtick from many years and one Oscar ago as FBI agent Ashburn in The Heat. Instead of graduating to mature, sophisticated comic fare, the likable Bullock falls victim to Hollywood’s box-office sexism, the New McCarthyism. Bullock’s desperate, unfunny routines in The Heat (as an G-Woman no one likes) seem designed just to keep up with Melissa McCarthy who plays Mullins, a slovenly, irascible Boston cop who becomes Ashburn‘s partner. McCarthy has displaced Bullock as Hollywood’s comedienne du jour, representing unladylike wackiness. Among today’s immature/ frat-boy comedies, McCarthy rolls and tumbles like one of the douche-bags. Her cultural advance (and Oscar nomination) proves that girls can be gross, too. So, in The Heat’s buddycomedy formula, Bullock must also humiliate herself. But in comedy performers need to be funny — or charming, as Bullock was when she first won over audiences in those 90s films that help popularize the rom-com. McCarthy’s humor deliberately lacks charm; laughing at her vulgar, belligerent roles becomes a self-defense reflex. Director Paul Feig, responsible for the distasteful Bridesmaids, perpetrates another crude version of Sisterhood by pairing Bullock with McCarthy as female opposites (one a former foster child, the other from a low-class Southie brood) on a drugs and serial killer case. They develop implausible camaraderie despite their different temperaments. Like Superbad, The Heat is another spin-off from that “Freaks and Geeks” TV series where Feig got his start; it combines adolescent girl’s locker room personality
Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in The Heat. clash with sitcom-level characters and action-movie brutality (shootings, stabbings, even castration). If film culture retains anything like what used to be called “women’s pictures,” Feig is not its new George Cukor. His Freaks-and-Geekiness turns rom-com into slob-com. (Ashburn’s flirtation with a fellow agent played by Marlon Wayans was left on the Avid hard drive.) Hollywood has freed actresses (or “actors” as they say at the SAG Awards) from conventional femininity. All sensitivity is reduced to fatuous
gags and fat jokes — such as exposing the trim Bullock wearing Spanx. Feig has recently pretended to be McCarthy’s public champion yet here is how he presents his plus-size female paragon in The Heat’s New McCarthysim: 1.) McCarthy squeezes through police car windows after a tight fit in a parking lot. 2.) McCarthy climbs a cyclone fence while chasing a suspect, then falls like a sack of crap. 3.) When McCarthy pulls a gun on her, Bullock screams “What are you an animal!” 4.) An exasperated merchant shouts at McCarthy in brokenEnglish: “Get out bull-in-china-shop!” 5.) A crook tells McCarthy “You look like one of the Campbell Soup kids who grew up and became an alcoholic.” 6.) When dressed in bulletproof gear, McCarthy is told “You look like a Ninja Turtle.” Pity Melissa McCarthy whose career is now based on these typically unpleasant bits. They evoke last Spring’s flap over Rex Reed’s review of the wretched Identity Thief. Nothing Reed wrote about McCarthy is as offensive as Feig’s fake feminist McCarthyism in The Heat. During the crime investigation, she’s twice mistaken for male drunks and Bullock does a “mental instability” monologue to “defend” her. McCarthy is a gifted actress who went unknown prior to the vulgarity of Bridesmaids (I first noted her talent in the little-seen film The Nines). Yet, her clown antics offer herself up to ridicule because that’s all Hollywood sees. Reed was not wrong or cruel. Being an overweight buffoon is how McCarthy presents herself (and a critic who suffers through her shtick should be allowed the right to say so without being thought cruel.) Feig doesn’t have the compassion or wit to provide McCarthy with her own Shallow Hal. Always casting McCarthy as slatternly or a lunatic exposes Hollywood’s real body issues. Follow Armond White on Twitter at 3xchair
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CITYARTS FILMS
Mid-Year Reckoning Tallying the year’s best films — so far By Armond White
T
hat Kanye West’s outdoors projection New Slaves was the most exciting cinematic event of the first half of 2013 sets a high standard. But it’s been an exceptionally fine movie year so far which makes the mid-year reckoning full of excellence, an interconnected story of good cinema. Marco Bellocchio’s Dormant Beauty began a series of performances first at “Film Comment Presents” then at the “Open Roads” festival (both through the Film Society of Lincoln Center). As much a look at the new social paradigm as West’s projection, Bellocchio’s masterpiece will return this fall at Lincoln Plaza Cinema’s “8 Decades of Italian Cinema” program. It should ensure top prize eligibility for this extraordinary, compassionate view of national/personal politics. Michael Bay’s funny, penetrating true-crime saga Pain & Gain is an instantclassic satire of domestic morality. Both comedy and confessional, Michel Gondry’s The Me and the We perceives the universal and the eternal in youth Sabine Azéma and Pierre Arditi in You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet. experience, maybe the best example of New York surrealism ever. Robinson and Branch Rickey revolutionizing American culture. More than a sequel, Eytan Fox’s Yossi probed an established character’s (Ohad Knoller) Cinematic high art is rarely as luxurious and challenging as Alain Resnais’ You Ain’t Seen spiritual life in a Death in Venice tribute that chooses life. Zack Snyder’s visionary Man of Steel Nothin Yet, an unbounded exploration of art, myth and mortality. Neil Jordan’s Byzantium also similarly chooses life and epic grandeur, giving the superhero genre unexpected emotional dealt with myth, finding adult seriousness and sensuality in the vampire movie. Outre feminism depth. Brian Helgeland’s 42 found men of courage in the twin story of baseball legends Jackie reappears in P.J. Hogan’s Mental, a musical starring Toni Collette as the impish spirit of women’s liberation. In Hors Satan, Bruno Dumont dealt with emotional apocalypse in the French countryside through the mystery of alienated folk contemplating morality. That view was seconded by Ginger and Rosa where Sally Potter recalls the confusion of morality and politics for two youths at the birth of late 20th century radicalism. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani examine the ageless conflicts of politics and morality with Caesar Must Die, the bold experiment of staging Shakespeare in prison — basically asking the question: How Does Art Matter? Some minor films answered that question to varying degrees of excellence and satisfaction: Almodovar’s I’m So Excited, Malick’s To the Wonder, Kon Tiki, The Pirogue, Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies, Francois Ozon’s In the House, Vehicle 19, Roman Coppola’s A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Hannah Arendt, Fast & Furious 6, Museum Hours, Sophia Coppola’s The Bling Ring, Something in the Air, London: The Modern Babylon and Upstream: Color. That’s practically a roll-call of lively movie practice. Give this mid-year checklist to anyone who asks if there are any good movies.
Follow Armond White on Twitter at 3xchair
Isabelle Hupper in Dormant Beauty.
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7 Ways to See Lady Liberty This Independence Day weekend, gaze upon the glory of the city’s iconic monument to freedom By Beth J. Harpaz
T
he Statue of Liberty is scheduled to reopen to visitors on July Fourth for the first time since Superstorm Sandy. But for those who just want a photo op with the statue, there are many other vantage points downtown.
STATUE CRUISES TO LIBERTY ISLAND Statue Cruises - www.statuecruises.com - is the sole operator for boats that take visitors to Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty is located. Boats are scheduled to resume departing from the Battery in Lower Manhattan on July 4, when Liberty Island reopens to the public for the first time since Superstorm Sandy last October. The statue itself was not damaged by the storm, but landing docks and infrastructure, including electrical, phone and sewage systems, required months of repair work by the National Park Service, which operates the statue. You can buy Statue Cruises tickets in person at the Battery, but the cruises do sell out, so advance online purchase is strongly recommended. There are three types of tickets: Access to the statue’s crown, $20 ($17 for seniors, $12 for ages 4-12); or access to the pedestal of the monument or the grounds of Liberty Island, $17 ($14 for seniors, $9 ages 4-12).
OTHER CRUISES Many vessels offer sightseeing cruises of New York Harbor and Manhattan that sail
right past the Statue of Liberty. They include the Circle Line, Manhattan by Sail’s schooners, Hornblower Cruises, Spirit Cruises, New York Water Taxi and Bateaux New York. Some offer live music or fancy lunch or dinner cruises that can top $100.
BATTERY AND LOWER MANHATTAN To see the Statue of Liberty without getting on a boat, just head to the southern tip of Lower Manhattan (subway to South Ferry or Bowling Green). While you’re there, consider keeping the patriotic theme with a visit to the 9/11 Memorial or visiting one of the pubs that’s been around since the country’s early days, like Fraunces Tavern at 54 Pearl Street, which has been open since 1719.
BROOKLYN BRIDGE A walk across the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the classic New York experiences. In addition to giving you a close look at the bridge’s Gothic arches and delicate filigree of cables, it offers a magical view of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. To get the full impact of the skyscraper canyon coming into view, take the subway to the Brooklyn side (A or C to High Street) and walk back across the bridge.
GOVERNORS ISLAND Governors Island, a former Coast Guard facility now used for public recreation, offers inviting lawns, old forts, concerts, art exhibits and food vendors, along with great views of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Get there by ferry, weekends through Sept. 29 from Manhattan or Brooklyn, then walk or bike around the island, www.govisland.com/html/ visit/directions.shtml .
MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust at 36 Battery Place has tall picture windows that look directly out onto the Statue of Liberty. While you look, you can listen to the museum’s “Voices of Liberty” sound installation, in which Holocaust survivors, refugees and others discuss why they chose to make the U.S. their home, www. mjhnyc.org.
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The majority of guest rooms at the RitzCarlton’s Battery Park hotel offer views of the Statue of Liberty, and they even come equipped with telescopes for an up-close look. For July Fourth weekend, prices for a room with a king or two double beds start at $420, going up to $7,500 for a 2,100-square-foot (195-squaremeter) suite; www.ritzcarlton.com/en/ Properties/NewYorkBatteryPark/Default.htm.
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PAGE 12
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CELEBRITY PROFILE
An Entourage in Manhattan to La Guardia High School. Do you Adrian Grenier talks about drugs, visiting his alma mater (La ever go back to speak to the students there? Guardia High School), and the Yeah, I do, actually. I was there two weeks environment ago. My good friend took a teaching position By Angela Barbuti
H
ow to Make Money Selling Drugs may seem like an unlikely title for a documentary. Producer Adrian Grenier took on the challenge of making a movie on a topic that is “taboo” in our society. The film, which screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, opened in theaters in Manhattan last week. Filled with personal stories about why people turn to selling and using drugs, it features interviews with celebrities like 50 Cent, Russell Simmons, and Eminem. The documentary, which Grenier produced with Bert Marcus, gives faces to the seemingly faceless world of drugs. It educates viewers on the misinformation we are given about the 400-billion dollar industry and exposes the stark realities that people who are involved with drugs must encounter. Besides working to promote this film, the 36-year-old NYC resident is waiting for the script of the Entourage movie, maintaining his sustainable lifestyle website, and welcoming indie bands into his basement.
You were raised in the city and went
back at La Guardia so I went with a couple of our friends who all went there. We went back and talked to the kids.
I read that your involvement with How to Make Money Selling Drugs came about because you were at the director’s house and saw something he had written down. Yeah. I’m friends with Matthew [Cooke] for a long time. I saw this card tacked up to his wall. It said, “How to Make Money Selling Drugs.” And of course that spiked my interest. [Laughs]
You explain that documentaries don’t get the attention they deserve because people think they’re a chore to watch. I think that’s the general perception. Although that perception is changing and we’re helping with this film, for sure. Documentaries are often dismissed as being boring or tedious and we’ve certainly disproved that with How to Make Money Selling Drugs. This is a fun summer blockbuster - I’d say even more cinematic than most films out there right now. Big, sweeping helicopter shots. It’s very visual, very exciting.
Celebrities like 50 Cent, Russell Simmons, and Emimen are in the film. How did you choose them to participate? We reached out to people who we thought had an interesting story and a unique point of view, who would be qualified to speak on a certain topic. Certainly 50 Cent has quite a history and experience and the same with all of our subjects.
I don’t think people would expect Susan Sarandon to be in your film. Well she’s been very outspoken, particularly against the Rockefeller Drugs Laws, which are so damaging to communities in New York. She does live in New York, so it’s close to her heart and affects her. She’s not alone. There’s a growing collation of people who are outraged about these backwards laws that don’t make our community safer, but, in
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fact, do the opposite.
What were the challenges you faced producing a movie about drugs? Drugs are a taboo subject. That’s because we’ve had a 40-year drug war that has used violence and intimidation to make people afraid of reasonable and real communication about drugs. It’s not an intelligent approach to put all drugs in the same category as being bad. It’s just not the truth. And especially when you couple that with militarized tactics - it’s just a recipe for disaster.
You believe strongly in giving back to society. Explain your website, SHFT. com. It’s a sustainable lifestyle company. We tell stories of people, businesses, and communities that are doing what they can to become more sustainable. We provide a store of options with products that have a sustainable story.
I see you have wine on your website.
record-label deal or can grow independently and take charge of their own careers.
Many people know you as the lead in Entourage. Did you start working on the movie adaptation yet? Not yet, but I hear there’s a script that’s coming my way.
Do people stop you on the street to talk about the show?
Our wine is all sourced from organic and biodynamic grapes, including the packing, which has been sourced to be as sustainable as possible.
I just always get a lot of, “What’s up Vince?” A lot of hellos.
Were you always interested in the environment?
Yeah, I mean, as much as possible. Although I do live in New York, and they’re all in LA. I was just texting with Jerry [Ferrera] about 20 minutes ago.
I’m a city guy. I like concrete. [Laughs] But I think it’s important to have a connection to the cycle of nature and make sure that we respect it because we want to have it for our own self-preservation. I’m more interested in making sure that the environment is nonpolluted and thriving for me and my kids and my kids’ kids.
You wrote in the Huffington Post about the recording studio you started in your basement. How can you explain it? Wreckroom is a music incubator. We support upcoming, independent bands by giving them an opportunity to record in a professional studio and make a video. We support them as best we can until they find a
www.nypress.com
Do you still hangout with your Entourage costars?
What are your future plans? Future? The future’s now. The future’s here. [Laughs] I’m doing it right now. How to Make Money Selling Drugs has gotten a lot of steam, a lot of momentum. I’m going to be supporting the film, making sure as many people come out and see it. How To Make Money Selling Drugs opened last week at IFC Center and MIST Cinema. To learn more about the film, visit http:// tribecafilm.com/tribecafilm/filmguide/howto-make-money-selling Follow Adrian on Twitter @adriangrenier
PAGE 13
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