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NYPRESS.COM
•
COMMUNITY NEWS BELOW 14TH STREET
• JULY 18, 2013 P. 9
A Woman, Her Disability, A downtown woman faces challenges navigating the city - and the laws - with her service dog in tow By Daniel Fitzsimmons
W
argas rides the L towards 8th Avenue standing up, his tall frame compensating for the sway of the train. Other passengers stare and say to his owner, Cissy Stamm, “that’s a big horse.” Some snap photos with their cellphones while others want to pet him. Wargas is an enormous Anatolian Shepherd; white, tall and slender with a long tail. He’s a service dog for Stamm, 68, who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of sexual abuse she endured as a child. She was diagnosed with PTSD 23 years ago, and Wargas helps her manage her disability. “Having a disability and having to navigate the world is not easy,” says Stamm. She doesn’t
take stairs well and must wait for an elevator at Union Square - the station closest to where she lives - to get on and off the subway. Before retiring, Stamm was in advertising where she met her husband, Woody, who takes Wargas for walks where he gets to be a dog like any other, sniffing bushes and greeting other dogs with his great, white muzzle. Wargas is trained to mitigate disability, says Stamm. Her PTSD manifests itself as hypervigilance, flashbacks and panic attacks and usually surfaces by way of a trigger; tight spaces, crowds, physical contact. The attacks are called “dissociative states,” she says, where she doesn’t know where she is. Wargas acts as a reverse trigger to these states, bringing her back to the here and now with a swipe of the leg or a nuzzle. He also stands in front of her to give her space and serves as a buffer when moving through crowds. Boarding a train recently, Stamm asks a mother and her son if they’re okay being in proximity to Wargas. The mother says they’re fine. Exiting the train, Stamm waits for two groups of people to use the elevator before it’s her turn. At the turnstiles exiting the subway
and Her Dog
Cissy Stamm and her service dog Wargas on a city bus. Photo by Daniel Fitzsimmons
Redistributing Wealth for Downtown Parks Significant hurdles seen for Squadron’s bill seeking to equalize NYC park funding By Daniel Fitzsimmons
A
bill put forth by State Senator Daniel Squadron (D-26) that seeks to equalize funding for NYC parks was scrutinized at a Community Board 3 meeting last week. The bill would create a Neighborhood Parks Alliance under the city’s Parks Department that would distribute funds to parks throughout the five boroughs that have been rated as “unacceptable” by the city in
the previous two years. City park conservancies with an operating budget of over $5 million dollars would be required to become “contributing conservancies,” depositing twenty percent of their total operating budgets into a fund that would be administered by the NPA board. The mayor, city council speaker, public advocate, and the five borough presidents would each appoint one member to the eightmember board. According to the proposal, board membership would “to the extent possible, include active members of park advocacy organizations or those that have experience working on urban open space development.” Squadron’s policy director, Matthew Continued on page 6
ALSO INSIDE SOHO HOUSE MURDER VERDICT P.2 SCAMS HAUNT CHINATOWN P.5 STABBING ON THE 6 TRAIN P.6
NEIGHBORHOOD CHATTER Courts Weigh if Airlines Owe WTC Owners By Larry Neumeister A judge plans to decide whether the owners of the World Trade Center can try to make several airlines and other aviation defendants pay billions of dollars in damages from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan says he will announce his decision at the end of a nonjury trial that starts Monday. The trial will decide whether World Trade Center Properties and its affiliates can receive more than the $4.9 billion in insurance proceeds they have already gotten. If the judge rules the trade center owners are entitled to additional money, a liability trial might be scheduled. Hellerstein has already said the maximum the owners could recover from aviation defendants would be $3.5 billion. The owners say it has cost more than $8 billion to rebuild.
Kicked Out of the Club State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman successfully obtained a $950,000 settlement from Aldom James, the former president of the National Arts Club, to pay back the $1.5 million that he siphoned off from
the prestigious non-profit organization. Schneiderman accused James of using a “unique mixture of charm, intimidation, secrecy and deception” to tighten control over the club and more than a dozen apartments in the landmark building, located near Gramercy Park since 1903. Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt and Martin Scorcese are among the famous frequenters of the club, while James and his complicit brother will no longer be. They have been forbidden to return to the club or to serve as a head of any nonprofit in the state.
Conviction in Soho House Murder By Colleen Long The playboy boyfriend of a fashion designer was convicted last Thursday of strangling and drowning her in the bathtub of a swank hotel room after a tumultuous six-month relationship. Nicholas Brooks, whose father was an Oscar-winning composer who wrote “You Light Up My Life,” put his face in his hands silently as the murder verdict was read. His girlfriend, Sylvie Cachay, was found partially clothed in an overflowing tub on Dec. 9, 2010. “Today justice was done, but the pain is immense, and it will never go away,” Cachay’s
mother, Sylvia Cachay, said in Spanish. “But she had a precious spirit, and that will live on. She’s with me always. She was with me in the courtroom, and she is with me now.” Brooks, 27, faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Defense attorney Jeffrey Hoffman argued Cachay drowned accidentally, passing out from an overdose of prescription pills she took to treat migraines and fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes widespread pain in the body. He said investigators rushed to arrest Brooks because they needed a suspect in the highprofile killing. Prosecutors sought to show that Brooks strangled Cachay because she was breaking up with him. The medical examiner ruled that forcible drowning and strangulation caused her death, in part because of bruising on her neck and burst blood vessels in and around her eyes. Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said there was obvious tenderness between Brooks and Cachay but their relationship was made up of extreme highs and lows - and Brooks killed her in a low.
Chinatown on Thursday, sending six people to hospitals. At least three of them were in serious condition. The Fire Department got the call around 12:45 p.m. Thursday. The fire was under control shortly after 1:30 p.m. Authorities later discovered that the source of the explosion that set off the fire and building collapse was the improper use of bug bombs in a beauty parlor on the Pike Street building’s first floor. Fire investigators found almost two dozen canisters of insecticide at the scene.
Bug Bomb Gone Wrong Causes Building Collapse
Tuesday, July 23 Community Board 3, Full Board meeting, 6:30 p.m., Cooper Union Rose Auditorium, 41 Cooper Square
New York’s fire department says a building partly collapsed and caught fire in
Community Calendar Thursday, July 18 Community Board 1 Quality of Life Committee meeting, 6 p.m., Board Office, 4951 Chambers Street, Room 709 Community Board 2 Full Board meeting, 6 p.m., Scholastic Building, 557 Broadway (bet. Prince & Spring Sts.), Auditorium Monday, July 22 Community Board 2 meeting of 75 Morton Task Force, 6 p.m., Board Conference Room, 3 Washington Square Village, ground floor
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PAGE 2
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THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
CRIME WATCH By Jerry Danzig
Seaport Carjack
Traffic Trouble
July 26-29, 2013 Metropolitan Pavilion
Illustration by John S. Winkleman
Thong Theft Four women were seen shoplifting merchandise from shelves in a chain lingerie store on Broadway. Late in the afternoon of Tuesday, July 2, store video revealed the women communicating in a circle before lifting the lingerie. The merchandise stolen included 200 thongs, each selling for $14.50, and 20 garter belts, each selling for $28. The total haul amounted to $3,380.
A 26-year-old man was arrested after disobeying and almost striking an NYPD traffic agent with his vehicle. At 1:26 p.m. on Saturday, July 6, a police officer witnessed a man driving his vehicle northbound on West Street and attempting to make a right turn eastbound onto Canal Street, which was blocked by traffic cones. A traffic agent - a 61-year-old man - stopped the driver and told him he could not go that way. The driver attempted to proceed anyway, and the traffic agent told the driver to stop multiple times and even nodded his head toward a police officer nearby saying, “There is an officer right there!” In response, the driver accelerated briskly, nearly striking the traffic agent, who had to jump out of the way. The driver finally stopped at Canal and Washington Streets, immediately exited his vehicle, and headed toward a police officer. The officer displayed his weapon and ordered the driver back into the vehicle. The driver complied and was placed under arrest for attempted assault. He was also found with razors in his possession.
A woman narrowly escaped being killed in an armed robbery when she dared the gunman to shoot her. At 1:14 a.m. on Wednesday, July 3, a 54-year-old woman was smoking a cigarette outside a building on
Grand Street when she was approached by two unknown men. The first man pointed a firearm at her head and asked for her wallet, saying, “I’ll shoot you, bitch.” The woman replied that she had no wallet - and he didn’t “have the balls” to shoot her. The gunman then pointed his firearm at her chest while a male accomplice urged the first man to shoot her, saying, “Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!” The second man started grabbing stuff out of the woman’s car when a second woman came out of the nearby building and noticed the robbery-inprogress. The second woman and the second thug began fighting over the property. When the second robber kicked the second woman, a third woman came out and was confronted by the second thief and told to give up her purse. She replied she had no purse and then called 911, causing both of the robbers to flee northbound on Greene Street. The two men had a female accomplice, thought to be a lookout. Police arrived and searched the area but were unable to locate the three thieves. Items stolen included an Apple iPad Mini in a silver leather case valued at $375, $600 in cash, one pair of reading glasses and two pairs of sunglasses valued at $450, makeup worth $100, a Samsung Galaxy S2 cell phone, home keys, a green card, a Pennsylvania driver’s license, and debit cards.
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
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Loading Looting
Photos: David & Company and Yafa Signed Jewels
A 41-year-old man had his car stolen right as he was getting into it. At 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 7, the man was walking to his vehicle after spending the evening at South Street Seaport. As he was about to enter his car, he dropped his keys on the floor of the car, and suddenly an unknown man approached from behind and pulled the driver’s shirt over his head, blocking his view. He last saw his sedan driving away westbound on South Street, his cell phone inside the car, preventing him from immediately calling the cops. The stolen sedan was a blue 2003 Mercedes-Benz S Class with NY plates, valued at $12,000.
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PAGE 3
Subway Crime Part of City Life Riders unfazed by subway stabbing By Daniel Fitzsimmons
O
n July 8, a Manhattan woman’s regular morning subway commute was interrupted in the worst possible way. Without provocation or apparent motive, a fellow passenger on the uptown 6 train lunged at her with a steak knife and stabbed her, several times. According to reports of the incident in the NY Daily News, Heather Burke was heading to her job as an administrator in an Upper East Side medical office when Ashley Jacob, 31, stabbed her in the shoulder and abdomen, just as the train was pulling into the 59th Street station. Burke, 39, told the News, “She didn’t run, she didn’t jump or say anything. She just started stabbing me.� Jacob, who is homeless, was also reported to have punched another passenger in the ensuing struggle. When the train pulled into the station at 59th and Lexington, passengers streamed off in a panic, warning other travelers on the
.com STRAUS MEDIA  MANHATTAN PRESIDENT Jeanne Straus ACTING EDITOR Megan Bungeroth • editor.otdt@strausnews.com CITYARTS EDITOR Armond White • editor.cityarts@strausnews.com STAFF REPORTER Joanna Fantozzi
platform of the danger, according to the News. Jacob was restrained by a street cleaner passing through and later by guards from nearby Bloomingdales before being taken into custody by the NYPD. Burke was taken to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center where she underwent surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. The News reported that the same number of assaults on trains occurred in the first quarter of last year as in 2013, but such attacks can spark fear in the imaginations of subway riders. Our Town Downtown visited stops along the 4, 5, 6 including at 59th Street - to hear how riders were reacting to the news. Kat Hwang, who was waiting at the Astor Place stop and rides the 6 uptown every day, said she hadn’t heard about the stabbing. “It can happen to anyone,� said Hwang, “It’s New York.� Joel Russell, also waiting at the Astor Place stop, said he hopes the city would have an appropriate response and increase security. He noted, however, that random acts of violence are impossible to prevent. “You can’t ever predict the behavior of a deranged person,� said Buscher. Jennifer Beek was also waiting for the 6 at Astor Place and said she hadn’t heard about the stabbing but was alarmed somebody could be attacked for no reason. Beek, who rides the subway every day for her job as an interior designer, said there should be more security in the subways. “I think I’m just going to be more cautious,� said Beek. There is an explanation as to why urban dwellers may feel blase when confronted with news of a subway stabbing. “Paradoxically, we New Yorkers may receive more information about crime incidents via the news, but it is also very unlikely that crime will happen to us personally,� said Carla Shedd, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Columbia University. “Urban dwellers already have so much stimuli to digest - or ignore - that it actually
FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS Alan S. Chartock, Bette Dewing, Jeanne Martinet, Malachy McCourt, Angela Barbuti, Casey Ward
The uptown 6 train at the 23rd Street station. Photo by Daniel Fitzsimmons
doesn’t make much sense to worry about violence when its occurrence is actually quite rare, especially if you compare the rate of violent incidents now to the rates of the 1990s.� In a densely populated city, most people don’t have the luxury of ensuring their safety when in public. “What can you do?� said Shedd. “As a New Yorker, you likely won’t be able to avoid subways or avoid other people. So, disaffect may be the most protective stance you can take along with hoping that the low probability of becoming a crime victim continues to work in your favor.� Tracy Siska, Executive Director of the Chicago Justice Project, a non-profit organization that pushes evidence-based reform policy, said there’s a correlation between the summer months - when it is hot - and violent crime. Still, he cautioned against letting occasional random acts of violence have an influence on policy and individual attitudes towards living in an urban environment. “The reality is there’s violence everywhere, and if you let random acts of uncontrollable violence dictate your policies and your behavior, you’ll always be subject to it,� said Siska. Straphanger Audrey Blauner, waiting at the 23rd Street stop on the uptown 6 line, was in Florida when the stabbing occurred, but said she didn’t let the news bother her. “I don’t think about things like that a lot,� said Blauner. “Things can happen anywhere.�
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THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
‘Evil Spirit’ Scam Plagues Chinatown Residents Grifters prey on fellow Asian immigrants, steal valuables
RAYMOND W. KELLY
Police Commissioner
BEWARE:
THE SPIRITUAL BLESSING CON GAME
By Colleen Long
O
ne woman was told by a fortune teller that her son was possessed by demons. Another was approached on a Chinatown street by a stranger who eerily claimed her daughter would die in two days. A third was informed that her dead husband was communicating from the grave, telling her to hand over thousands in cash. “Your son will die in a car accident - he is cursed,” a 65-year-old was told. In each instance, the women bundled up cash and jewelry in a bag and gave it to strangers they’d just met - self-proclaimed spiritual healers. They were told the contents would be blessed in an effort to ward off evil spirits, bring good luck to the family or heal a sick child - they just have to wait a period of time to re-open it. When they do, they find water bottles, cough drops and beans. But no valuables. Detectives say there has been a rash in New York of what’s known as an evil spirit or blessing scam, where older immigrant women, mostly Chinese, are swindled out of their valuables by clever scammers arriving from China who prey on superstition and fear. In the past six months, two dozen victims have reported valuables stolen - in some cases more than $10,000 in cash and $13,000 in jewelry, according to police reports. A total of more than $1.8 million has been stolen. “They know the culture, they know how to talk to these victims to get them to listen,” chief NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said of the grifts. “One person’s spirituality is another’s superstition, and they prey on that distinction.” The scam itself has many permutations, but the basic principle is the same: A woman, usually in her 50s or older, is approached by a stranger, usually a younger woman, who asks the woman if she knows where to find a particular healer or fortune teller. Another seeming stranger joins the conversation, says she knows where the healer is located, and convinces the older woman to come along. The healer convinces the victim that in order to ward off some evil, she must hand over valuables in a bag to be blessed. And then they switch the bag. Similar scams occur in other places in the U.S. with large Asian communities. In San Francisco late last year, thieves stole about $2 million in nearly 60 cases. The district
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
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THE SCAM UNFOLDS LIKE THIS: The spiritual blessing con game is a scam that targets elderly women, primarily from the Chinese community. The perpetrators are typically Chinese women who approach potential victims on the street and engage them in conversation. The perpetrator will convince her victim that he or she is being followed by evil spirits and that bad luck or illness will befall the victim or members of his or her family. The con artist then tells her victim that she will help, but only if the victim brings all of her valuables (money and jewelry) to a meeting place where her belongings will be placed into a “good luck” bag for three days. Unfortunately, when the victim opens the bag she will discover that all of her money and jewelry have been removed and replaced with valueless items.
AVOID FALLING VICTIM TO THIS CRIME, PLEASE REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING TIPS: Don’t believe strangers who say they can remove bad luck or evil spirits. Don’t hand your valuables over to strangers. Perpetrators are Mandarin or Cantonese speaking females 30 - 40 years of age, working in groups of three (3). If you are approached by such a person, or people, call 911 immediately! If you have any information that may help the police regarding these incidents, please call Crime Stoppers @ 1-800577-TIPS
CRIME PREVENTION SECTION
attorney’s office, police and politicians waged a public safety awareness campaign, including community meetings and a video depicting a reenactment of a scam and how to spot one. The grift may be prevalent right now in Asian neighborhoods, but it’s also rampant in Haitian and Latino communities where there is also distrust of Western culture and banks, and plenty of cash and valuables kept at home, said Dr. Alan Hilfer, director of psychology at Maimonides Medical Center in New York. “It has to do with the idea of not necessarily adopting Western belief systems about magic and incantation systems, but staying with some of their traditional spiritual beliefs,” he said. “And, in many cases they’re so lost and desperate in a foreign culture they will turn to anyone who offers them something in a language they can understand.” A similar public awareness campaign has been underway in the city. Detectives in Chinatown have canvassed the streets warning of the scams and put up posters in Mandarin and English warning women. “The power of belief is serious,” Hilfer said. “And faced with an idea of a very expensive, absolutely incomprehensible, say, MRI machine versus someone putting grains or coins into a bag with incantations, it’s just less frightening and unfamiliar to them.” NYPD detectives say there is no larger criminal organization at work here, most scammers operate in groups of three or five and then disappear after, mostly fleeing back to China. Some arrests have been made, but recovery of the valuables is difficult.
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Downtown Parks Continued from page 1
Tompkins Square Park, which could benefit from the bill Sen. Squadron has proposed. Photo by Mike Evans
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OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN
Bethell, was at the CB3 meeting last week to answer questions about the bill. CB3 members were mostly concerned that donors would cease giving to park conservancies knowing that 20 percent of their donation would go to another park. The board members were also concerned with overlap between the proposed Neighborhood Parks Alliance and what CB3 has already laid out as capital priorities for 2014, much of which has to do with park maintenance and rehabilitation. Of the 44 public parks in CB3’s territory, 20 would receive funds under Squadron’s bill, according to Bethell. Board members did allow that a lack of funding for less popular and smaller parks is a problem, even on the Lower East Side. CB3 District Manager Susan Stetzer declined to comment on Squadron’s bill, as the board has yet to come down on either side of it, but said that she’s heard from constituents that well-maintained parks are a priority for them. Stetzer cited complaints about rats, cleanup and maintenance from community members and the lack of enough recreational
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fields. CB3 Chairwoman Gigi Li could not be reached for comment. CB3 recently endorsed a platform by New Yorkers for Parks that supports giving the Parks Department its own discretionary capital budget in an effort to shift focus away from the crown jewels like Central Park and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. The platform also seeks to increase the department’s maintenance fund and staffing levels. Central Park Conservancy spokesperson Dena Libner declined to comment on the bill. The CPC has one of the largest operating budgets of any city park conservancy at nearly $40 million and received a $100 million private donation last year. The 20 percent appropriation of all funds in the proposed bill - which would include private donations and fundraisers - is likely to rankle park conservancies and donors who don’t wish to have their budgets cut by a fifth. Parks Department spokesperson Phil Abramson did not return requests for comment. Sen. Squadron, who is running for public advocate, also did not return requests for comment.
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
DINING
Celebrate the Cone Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve hand-picked the best ice cream spots downtown Sunday, July 21 is National Ice Cream Day - but really, you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need a special holiday to nudge you into indulging in summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best dessert. We taste-tested a slew of frosty treat purveyors throughout Manhattan, focusing on little-known shops that may have escaped your radar in the heat-induced haze of summer. Here are some of our top picks.
unbelievably creamy, slightly tropical escape. Build it into a sundae, flurry or banana split with sauces to choose from like gluten-free marshmallow and peanut butter, and tell yourself itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all for your health.
DBGB Kitchen & Bar
65 Bayard St. (betw. Mott St. & Bowery), 212-608-4170, chinatownicecreamfactory.com The Chinatown Ice Cream Factoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mascot is a dragon laughing gleefully over a dish of ice cream. He may be laughing at the number of tourists who come in there and stand, agape, trying to build up their courage to get the durian or taro ice creamâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or maybe heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just on a sugar high. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;exoticâ&#x20AC;? flavors are the draw for a reasonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;if you want mint chip you can have it, but you really ought to go for the black sesame or the almond cookie. This summer, check out their Game of Thrones Sundae - rainbow mochi clouds sandwiched between Khaleesi Lychee and Castle Black Sesame with a throne of whipped cream, topped with chocolate crunch.
299 Bowery (betw. Houston & E. 1st Sts.), 212-933-5300, danielnyc.com DGBG Kitchen & Bar is maybe not the place you would expect to go for ice cream, as their menu boasts 14 varieties of sausage, jazzed-up burgers and other fancy, meaty French fare. Nonetheless, their ice cream did not disappoint. We ordered the ApricotHoney Sundae (two scoops ice cream, cookie crumble, candied pine nuts, honey-roasted apricot, thyme sauce, whipped cream; $9), but because they accidentally brought out a miniature size, they brought us a sampler including miniature versions of all three of their sundaes. The Chocolate-Hazelnut was a favorite (praline gelato, chocolate truffles, hazelnut cookies, chocolate fudge, whipped cream), but only held a narrow margin over the Raspberry-Mascarpone (anise meringues, ladyfingers, raspberry compote, whipped cream). These sundaes scored a solid 10 for creativity, and the wait staff didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even seem to mind that we were mostly there for a sugary fix.
Lulaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sweet Apothecary
Grom Gelato
516 E. 6th St. (betw. Aves. A & B), 646-4815852, lulassweetapothecary.com Remember when a soda fountain was basically a pharmacy â&#x20AC;&#x201D; those glory days when Coca-Cola was a wonder cure and ice cream was health food? OK, neither do we. But Lulaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sweet Apothecary does, and this tiny blink-and-youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll-miss-it shop in the East Village is kitted out with all the glass jars and tiny-drawered cabinets of an old-fashioned drugstore. And while we know now that ice cream isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exactly a superfood, the offerings at Lulaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s come as close as you can get â&#x20AC;&#x201D; everything there is vegan. The ice creams, which rotate often, are made with soy, nut or coconut milks, as flavor dictates; anything with coconut is your best bet for an
233 Bleecker St. (betw. Leroy & Carmine Sts.), 212-974-3444, grom.it/eng One reader recommended we try nocciola and tiramisu, which is what we ended up getting. We werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to eat the whole thing, but then we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help ourselves. Gromâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gelato is understated and delicious, and the flavors blended well, though we wish they would have been a bit more distinct. The nocciola boasts Italian hazelnuts, while the tiramisu blends espresso, wheat biscuits and Colombian chocolate chips. A sign on the wall at Grom advertises â&#x20AC;&#x153;no preservatives, no colorants, no flavorings,â&#x20AC;? which comes across in the subtle flavor. We have nothing but praise for Gromâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gelato, even at $7.25 for two scoops.
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
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BEST PICK
New York Musical Theater Festival
(July 8-July 28) Last week to experience the largest annual musical theater event in the world! Presenting over 30 productions, the Festival attracts nearly 40,000 directors, scouts, music lovers and thespians to New York’s dazzling Theater District each summer. Scheduled for this week are four remaining full-length productions including Standby, Marry Harry, Legacy Falls, and Mother, Wife, and the Complicated Life, as well as a dozen limited-run concerts, lectures, readings, and master classes. Don’t miss out!
Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@strausnews.com
Dancing on the Hudson
1 East 70th St, Frick Museum, frick.org, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m., free Experience the Frick Museum in its original conception – as a home – by wandering after hours through the sumptuous mansion for free. In addition to viewing the permanent and special exhibitions, you can meet curators, hear gallery talks, sketch in the garden, and enjoy live performances. Just because it’s after hours doesn’t mean there won’t be crowds, so arrive early.
West Harlem Piers Park, 125th St, ecfs.org, free. Enjoy original works by the talented teens of the Young Dancemakers Company, a unique free summer ensemble of dancers chosen from public high schools around the city. Now entering its 17th season, YDC’s July program is dedicated to choreography developed by the kids in rehearsals that explore meaningful personal and social issues. Before the month is out, the complete concert will travel throughout the city to entertain thousands of children and adults, of which you could be one.
New York Water Day
Build-a-Bulk Epaulettes
City of Water Day is a harbor-wide event presented by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance to celebrate the beauty and benefits of our waterfront – from recreation and education to environmentalism and economic development. While much of the day’s activities are on Governors Island and Liberty State Park, you don’t have to be by the water to observe the tradition. Take this opportunity to visit the Aquarium in Coney Island and the Waterfront Museum in Brooklyn —really, when else will you get to do it?
2 Columbus Circle, Museum of Art and Design, madmuseum.org, 1 p.m., $55 (members) $65 (general) Feel like your blazers don’t have enough height or pizzazz? Pad them with personalized epaulettes that you can make at this daylong handcraft workshop while learning all about the 18th century status symbol. All materials, including fabrics, feathers and fringes, will be provided so you can get as crazy and creative as you want. Purchase tickets online or call 1-800-838-3006.
National Ice Cream Day Every hot day screams for ice cream but this Sunday indulge guilt-free in your favorite creamy cold treat in honor of National Ice Cream Day, declared by Ronald Reagan—the same president who said the government couldn’t alleviate our problems! Check out bit.ly/BestIceCream for last summer’s list of the best ice cream shops in the city.
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The Heath Brothers at Lincoln Center Jazz Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, jalc.org, 7:30 p.m. or 9:30 p.m., $40 (Adult) $20 (Students) Living legend and star saxophonist Jimmy Heath, who has played with the likes of Miles Davis and Wynston Marsalis, will be joined by his brother, drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath, and the rest of their band for a packed evening program of bebop, hard bop and straight-up jazz. Both jazz aficionadas and beginners alike will be able to learn from and enjoy this not-to-be-missed performance, thanks to two back-to-back shows on Sunday night.
Old Hollywood Comes to Bryant Park
Belgian Restaurant Week Starts
◄ Get through Monday mo(u)rning faster knowing you have
41 East 40th St, bryantpark.org, 8 p.m., free Rediscover the romance of the movies with an outdoor screening of the 1951 classic, The African Queen, the only movie for which Humphrey Bogart won an Oscar and costarred with Katharine Hepburn. In keeping with its annual summer tradition of Monday movie screenings, Bryant Park will open the lawn at 5 p.m. for picnics and blankets and start rolling the film at sundown, usually around 8 p.m.
something to look forward: the start of Belgian Restaurant Week, which means seven days of feasting on all the Belgian waffles, mussels, fries, chocolate and beer your stomach can handle. Choose from tempting specials and prix-fixe menus at eleven participating Belgian restaurants in the city, listed at belgianrestaurantweeknyc.com.
Pieles by Paula Quintana 195 East 3rd St, Wild Project, spainculturenewyork.org, 9 p.m., $20 (General) $15 (Student/Senior) In Spain, flamenco is recognized as the most sensual of dance forms, which professional choreographer Paula Quintana illustrates in her first full-length work, entitled Pieles (“Skin”). Born in Spain, Quintana has trained and toured across Europe, where she developed a language of motion and emotion all her own. More than a dance performance, Pieles is a breathtaking lesson in humanity, physicality, passion and instinct. Register online for two free raffle tickets. Mancini, Mandel & Movies at 92Y Jazz Lexington Ave & 92nd St, 92y.org, 8 p.m., $57 What do The Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and M*A*S*H have in common? They are only some of the movies and TV shows that were enhanced by the brilliant scores of composers Henry Mancini and Johnny Mandel. They are also some of the title songs that will be played at 92Y’s Jazz in July Festival, featuring Bill Charlap, Sandy Stewart, Houston Person, Jeremy Pelt and other talented musicians, who will bring to life those iconic melodies that have been stuck in your head for decades.
THURSDAY
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Free Night at the Museum
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
.com
A Hopper “Movie Binge” 335 E. 75th St, Whitney Museum, whitney.org, 7 p.m., free As part of its year-long tribute to Edward Hopper, the Whitney Museum airs every Tuesday a movie that influenced the artist’s painting in one way or another. Since Hopper went on “regular movie binges,” there are many classics to choose from. This week’s pick is Brother Rat (1938), starring Wayne Morris, Priscilla Lane, and Johnnie Davis in a comedy about bringing about a family at a military academy.
NewOp Week: Jane Eyre the Unsung Opera 338 West 23th St, Cell Theatre, centerforcontemporaryopera.org, 8 p.m., $20 For the Center of Contemporary Opera’s NewOp Week, lay audiences will have the chance to observe and critique readings of three works in progress by esteemed composers such as Louis Karchin, the creator of Jane Eyre.
Graham Dance Company at Summerstage ◄ Martha Central Park, 69th St. & 5th Ave, citparksfoundation.org/summerstage, 8 p.m., free Every year, Summerstage, a two-month festival of free daily performances funded by Central Park, attracts bigger stars and crowds to its stage at the Rumsey Playfield. A fan-favorite, the Martha Graham Dance Company has annually introduced a special guest to lead its compilation of American contemporary dances. Though the mystery guest is yet to be revealed, the Company has announced that choreographers Bulareyaung Pagarlava, Larry Keigwin, and Richard Move are on the program.
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Free Fashion Center Neighborhood Walking Tours 39th St. & 7th Ave, fashioncenter.com, 2 p.m., free Get a privileged glimpse of New York City’s famed Fashion District with this two-hour walking tour, led by Mike Kaback, a member of the garment trade since 1965. He might take you to private showrooms, fabric stores and sample sales, while feeding you endless trivia from the neighborhood’s storied history. The tour is free, but reservations are required; email mikesnyctours@yahoo.com.
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
cityArts
Edited by Armond White
New York’s Review of Culture . CityArtsNYC.com
Swaghili: Learn It. Know It. Live It Why Kanye West’s New Slaves matters By Armond White
P
erformance art is dead. At least it felt that way until Kanye West’s New Slaves--an in situ projection that played in 66 cities around the world. Kanye’s single-take recitation of the song “New Slaves” stared back at its spectators, a rare, unexpected video reminder cinema’s power when writ large. It marks the 80th anniversary of the drive-in movie theater, a forgotten cultural habit that West revived to promote his brilliantly aggravating (as opposed to that tired old word “transgressive”) and wonderfully titled album Yeezus. Kanye’s use of cinema demolishes the concept of transgression by going BIG. Elevated by power, excess and isolation, he means to be heard and seen. New Slaves successfully maneuvers mainstream status quo media (garnering Arts & Leisure acceptance) as no Black pop recording artist has ever done: Prince, West’s most comparable egotist, almost achieved this cultural prominance when Warner Bros. Records added the Prince symbol to media language (by distributing fonts to nearly every media outlet in the 1992 world) and Kanye’s hero Michael Jackson continues to be crucified on the altar of mainstream media. To those legends, New Slaves adds hip-hop’s self-conscious idiosyncratic bravado, shrewdly using what Ben Kessler identifies as “defiance” to simultaneously corroborate and interrogate the mainstream’s commercial methods--which includes deceptive front-page praise. Due to the triteness of celebrity journalism, art such as Kanye’s gets subsumed by celebritizing rather than critical, cultural appreciation. With New Slaves, Kanye talks back at the Black monster myth by evoking the 1933 King Kong as you might see it at a drive-in (West’s skin made darker by the contrast of his bright eyes and teeth in tight nighttime close-up). Kong only growled but Kanye is hyperarticulate--and profane. This rap monologue is the largest piece of graffiti ever dared in an urban locale--and it moves. Few pieces of museumsanctioned performance art command space in our daily environment and imaginations. New Slaves sends an alarm about new millennium acquisitiveness-the delusion of progress in a world still crippled by envy, hatred, bigotry, mendacity and facts of difference. Knowing this brings personal dissatisfaction to West’s artistic accomplishment. New Slaves’s unforgettable frown visualizes this heartache, though less extravagantly than the very moving Runaway short-film that West himself directed (collaborating with Hype
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN
Kanye West Williams). Kanye’s message in New Slaves reminded me of legendary jazz drummer Max Roach’s advice to an audience of hip-hop adepts that Money and Success are also means of controlling an artist. They circumscribe an artist’s ambition and limits his daring and curtails his principles. That’s what “new slaves” means. This Faustian surprise (“I know that pussy ain‘t free!”) inspires both the pleading and the ranting on Yeezus. The entire album is Kanye’s stare-down; it forces us to realize the need for faith (“I just spoke to Jesus/ He said ‘What’s up, Yeezus’--a lovely expression of Christian discipleship) and the healthiness of righteous displeasure (“Anger is an energy!” John Lydon memorably stated.) Don’t confuse Kanye’s tease about being “New Wave” to mean this isn’t rhythm & blues (or a hard version of Max Roach’s jazz). Yeezus succeeds at modernizing hip-hop’s energy through sheer, driven creativity. The more sonically inventive he is, the more important the lyrics become for communicating his meanings and intentions. When Kanye is on it, he raps the way blues singers do: like he’s got an itch. Scratch the widely-misinterpreted “Blood on the Leaves” (an update of Billie Holiday‘s “Strange Fruit”). Kanye confesses: “All I want is what I can’t buy.” History weighs on his love life and his terms would be understood by Holiday and others: “It came out of her body/It came out of my body.” (It’s his “Billie Jean.”) There’s no showstopper like “Monster” or “Runaway” on the great My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but one of the most ornery, witty and energetic passages on Yeezus asserts: “I be speakin‘ Swaghili!” It marvelously compresses old-fashioned Afrocentricity into the new audacity of shot-caller triumph and skepticism--an unbounded language Kanye dares us all to recognize. Despite the vast, unquestioned, normalized compliance of this materialist media era, where conformity and dishonesty are well-paid, Kanye personalizes art as performance. His unfiltered anguish flouts the all the conventions of success (“I throw them Maybach keys”) and creates an example to follow. That’s how you liberate today’s slaves.
Follow Armond White on Twitter at 3xchair
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PAGE 9
CITYARTS MUSEUMS
Le Corbusier’s People and Places OPPORTUNITY
Exposing the soul of a thinker at MoMA
Motivated and talented low-income public high school students are eager to go to college but can’t afford SAT prep.
By Kate Prengel
T
IMPACT Every year, New York Cares brings its Kaplan SAT Prep program to public schools throughout the city. In 2012, volunteers worked in 40 schools and helped 1,000 students get into the colleges of their choice, including several admissions to Cornell and New York University.
Volunteer or Donate at newyorkcares.org.
New York Cares is New York City’s leading volunteer organization.
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Photo credit: Lauren Farmer
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he MOMA’s exhibit of Le Corbusier opens on a defensive note. Jean-Louis Cohen, the show’s curator, wants to “re-skew Le Corbusier from his bad reputation of constructing generic buildings.” Cohen aims to prove that the Swiss architect, often blamed for the brutal, “towers in the park” style of public housing, was actually a sensitive soul in InstallaƟon view of the exhibiƟon Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modperfect tune with the ern Landscapes. June 15–September 23, 2013. © 2013 The Mulandscape. Whether seum of Modern Art, New York. Photograph: Jonathan Muzikar you accept Cohen’s and Chandigarh, India. And in many cases, conclusion may depend his buildings curve with the surrounding hills, on what you expect from an urban planner. or rise in neat perpendicular lines against flat Regardless, this is a dense and rich show, plains. This is beauty on a large, conceptual an entertaining look at the mind of a major scale. thinker. But Cohen never manages to show that Le We start out with the architect as a young Corbusier thought much about the needs of man, sketching landscapes in his native Swiss the people who would live in his buildings. mountain village and on his first trips abroad Some of his ideas are irreproachable: clearly, to Germany and the Near East. These are skyscrapers with small apartments make sense extraordinarily precise pictures, all straight for crowded cities. But the hulking structures lines and tidy notations. There’s little sign of Corbusier proposed are frankly frightening. youthful daydreaming here, and it comes as Take the great uniform towers of his Plan no surprise that Le Corbusier’s first building, Voisin for Paris, which called for razing the a home for his parents in their village, is city center. The tower’s residents are far from an immensely practical, minimalist house the street, far from any greenery, and the with plenty of light and little furniture. It’s narrow stairwells suggest rabbit warrens in an appealing little house, built for mountain the sky. There’s a certain callousness here, views and clean living, and it speaks clearly of considering how much thought Corbusier put the architect’s love for his parents. into designing terraces and roof gardens to As Corbusier got older his buildings got make life sweeter for his wealthier clients. If bigger. Cohen argues that the architect was only the great man had thought so carefully always sensitive to his surroundings. He about the rest of us. built airy courtyards for private houses; he designed broad buildings along beaches Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern and tall towers in crowded cities. Corbusier traveled the world, producing what he thought Landscapes runs through September 23 at the were ideal urban plans for Buenos Aires, Paris, Museum of Modern Art.
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THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
Service Dog Continued from page 1
she moves through, then turns around and loops the leash around the spindles so it doesn’t get caught, and waits for Wargas to move through (he has to duck). Stamm said that public access for service animals - subways, buses, restaurants - is getting better but a lot of work still needs to be done. “I rarely have problems,” says Stamm, of using the subway. Restaurants are a different matter. It’s tense in a mostly empty Chinese buffet near 8th Avenue and 14th Street, where the workers are clearly not comfortable with a dog on the premises, let alone one of Wargas’s size. An employee approaches Stamm with uncertainty, and in halting English, says that dogs are not allowed. Stamm informs her that Wargas is a service dog and is allowed, and the employee repeats her earlier claim that dogs are not allowed. Stamm puts food on her plate anyway and moves to the cash register. A different employee tells her that she cannot eat here with a dog, and that she doesn’t want to get in trouble with her boss. “Some people say even service dogs are allowed now, I don’t know exactly, but usually no,” the cashier tells Stamm and the other employee. “I don’t think you can stay,” she says to Stamm.
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
Stamm asks for a business card and the cashier says she doesn’t have one and asks her what the law is. Stamm tells her that Wargas is a service dog and under the law, is allowed to be in the restaurant. After some haggling the employees relent. Stamm and Wargas sit down to eat. “That was relatively normal,” says Stamm, of the experience. “It makes you feel very unwelcome, you’re treated differently than other customers are treated and...you have to argue for your right to be served.” Situations in which Stamm is denied service exacerbate her potential to suffer flashbacks and panic attacks, a circumstance that many who have service animals for PTSD have to deal with. She says a friend of hers who was suffering a panic attack had to leave a store and lay down on a sidewalk with her dog on top of her to recover. Another friend was denied service at a welfare office and suffered a heart attack, which he survived. “It’s not just some minor inconvenience,” says Stamm. “It can be life threatening.” The encounter illustrates a point Stamm made earlier in the day, that those who work in restaurants don’t always receive compliance training for the Americans with Disabilities Act, especially those who don’t speak English well. Under the ADA, service animals are defined as dogs “that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with
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Cissy Stamm and Wargas navigate a subway turnstile. Photo by Daniel Fitzsimmons
disabilities.” This can include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications or calming a person with PTSD during an anxiety attack. The guiding benchmark of the law is that a service animal’s work must be directly related to the user’s disability. The law also says that “state and local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that serve the public generally must allow service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go.” Stamm has fought public access battles like the relatively mild one at the Chinese buffet - since 1997, when she first began using a service dog. She has successfully sued the transit police and has a lawsuit currently pending against the city and the bus authority, based on 55 access violations she’s dealt with. She believes even though the latest suit hasn’t yet come to a resolution, its existence may have changed the city’s public transit access policies for people with disabilities. “Public access has a long way to go,” says Stamm, with the biggest areas in need of improvement being restaurants and public transit. She does say that public access has gotten better over the years, and predicts it will improve further with new technologies and the increase in military veterans returning home with disabilities. She fights back in other ways too, cofounding NY Area Service Dogs, an organization that provides education for people who need service dogs and businesses looking for information on service animal guidelines. The organization also advocates on behalf of people with disabilities or who need emotional support dogs. Stamm says that when she’s denied service by a business she lodges a complaint with
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the authority whose jurisdiction the business is in. Action is not usually taken unless the authority levies a fine against that business. When she’s denied service on a bus or subway, she lodges a complaint with the city’s Human Rights Commission. Another obstacle for those who use service dogs are the particulars of the Americans with Disabilities Act itself. For instance, a 2011 update to the ADA clarifies that emotional support dogs are not classified as service animals because they don’t have the same level of specialized training that a service dog must have. This graduated proficiency training acclimates service dogs to crowds and teaches them to abstain from typical dog behaviors; sniffing food, barking, hyperactivity and socialization. These differences, along with other laws like the Fair Housing Act and the Air Carrier Access Act that can come into play, are cause for confusion for everyone involved in matters of public access. The differing perceptions that business owners, their employees and public transit workers have of these laws all combine to create a public access game of roulette for people with disabilities, especially in urban centers like New York City. “The public needs to be educated on what an emotional support dog is, what a service dog is, what a therapy dog is, and what the public’s protections are with regards to having an animal that’s out of control or is a nuisance in any way,” says Stamm. As an example, Stamm says an owner whose service dog is barking or being disruptive or threatening can be asked to leave under the law. Some people assume service dogs must be tolerated no matter what, Stamm says, but that’s not the case. People with disabilities who use service dogs are “still not in a place where we can expect the same kind of treatment as people who do not have disabilities and are not equipped with service dogs,” says Stamm. “It really is humiliating.” Later in the day, on a NYC bus, Stamm is holding onto a pole and Wargas is doing his improbable balancing act. People board the bus like they would any other, and then pause when they see the two standing in the aisle. Most are delighted and intrigued to be traveling with a big dog, much like the passengers in the subway before lunch. One passenger offers Stamm some water for Wargas and another strikes up a conversation with her about therapy dogs. It’s an everyday encounter on NYC public transit, where New Yorkers spend so much of their time in close proximity to one another. However, it only takes one of these encounters to go wrong for Stamm to know that her disability still poses a problem for some, 23 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act became law. “We’re a forgotten minority,” says Stamm. “People with disabilities live invisible lives.”
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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
The Bloomberg Report Card The outgoing mayor gets graded on his efforts By Tom Allon
O
k, class. It’s near the end of 12 years of school (in this case, City Hall High), and now it’s time you finally graduate and receive your final grades. The Bloomberg era in New York is about to sunset in less than six months and a Report Card on different subjects will help define what worked, what worked less well and what we want our next mayor to continue and build upon. It is indisputable that Mike Bloomberg and his administration have changed New York in many ways - largely for the good - and his will be a very tough act to follow. It is very hard to imagine that any of his potential successors will wield as much power and influence on such wide-ranging policies as curbing obesity to gun control in quite the grandiose way he has. We’re going to give Bloomberg his grades now, however, knowing full well that this hard-working mayor and his team at City Hall will not slow down for a victory lap in the next six months and still has time to come up with even more game-changing ideas. PUBLIC SAFETY - A+ When Rudy Giuliani left office in 2001, could anyone have imagined that his successor would continue to bring down crime so precipitously that New York is now the safest city in America? While metropolises like Philly and Chicago and L.A. backslid during the last decade, Mike
Bloomberg and Ray Kelly kept New Yorkers safe from crime and terrorism. They deserve more than the highest grade: they deserve our eternal gratitude. Yes, police “quotas” on “Stop and Frisk” probably got out of hand in 2011 and 2012, but it’s very hard to find fault with a mayor who has reduced the murder rate to less than one a day in 2013 (it was more than six a day in the early 1990s). We will sorely miss the Mayor’s backbone in fighting crime and guns. PUBLIC EDUCATION - B Even Mike Bloomberg, not generally a self critic, admitted that “we didn’t move the needle enough” in education in an interview with The Atlantic magazine earlier this year. He did some very bold things: he won mayoral control of education, created hundreds of small high schools by breaking up big ones, expanded charter schools dramatically and won a hard-earned and bloody fight over teacher evaluations. But there was little progress on teacher training and recruitment of the “best and brightest” to our teacher corps. Testing became too heavily emphasized at the expense of true learning. Job readiness and vocational education, while expanding, has not been accelerated enough to help the 40 percent of high school dropouts who need job skills training. PUBLIC HEALTH - A+ This may be Mayor Bloomberg’s best subject. He has been visionary with his smoking ban, which now even the originally opposed restaurant owners hail as a good move. Calorie counts on menus, expanding park space around the
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city, and even his seeming overreach on limiting big gulp sugary drinks will insure our citizens will be healthier and live longer and with a better quality of life. A revolutionary paradigm shift from a man criticized by some as “Nanny Bloomberg.” CITY BUDGET - C Yes, the mayor was able to balance the city budget each year without major cuts, but property taxes have spiked, pensions have Tom Allon ballooned and we likely have a structural problem with a $70 billion annual budget, which has skyrocketed from $42 billion in 2002 when Bloomberg took over. Property taxes were mishandled and need to be re-calculated so they are charged more equitably. This is one of the hidden stories which will plague the next administration. TRANSPORTATION - B The only two really big ideas here were the recent Bike Share program and the hard-fought expansion of cabs to other boroughs. No significant capital improvements (although this is more MTA responsibility than mayoral) and the city needs to rapidly expand Bus Rapid Transit and try monorail or light rail to get eight million people around more efficiently. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - B+ The mayor and his first-term deputy, Dan Doctorof, did some very bold and creative things to unlock waterfront development and rezone parts of the city that are now thriving. He had a steady hand through the recession and New York suffered less than the rest of the country. But, inequality and poverty and homelessness increased during the past decade, so the mayor’s good works were
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OUR TOWN DOWNTOWN
certainly not felt by all and the next mayor has to figure out how to lift the bottom quartile of New Yorkers, while incentivizing the job creators and entrepreneurs who keep this city great. All in all, a very impressive report card. Many say public safety is a mayor’s prime job, and here, despite the politicized naysayers, the mayor is at the top of his class. This is a good enough report card to earn the Mayor a gold star. But will his successor be as good a student as the Johns Hopkins and Harvard graduate who has left his stamp on New York? Class begins in January. This year’s crop of wannabe mayors should study what Bloomberg did right (as well as his predecessors, Giuliani, Dinkins and Koch) and then work hard to get to the head of the class. Demerits go to those who think personal drama or identity politics trump good public policy for all. Tom Allon, the president of City and State media, was the Liberal Party-backed candidate for mayor. Questions or comments? Email tallon@cityandstateny.com
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To learn more about Success Academy’s proposed new schools, please visit: SuccessAcademies.org/NewSchools We encourage your input: NewSchoolsD2@SuccessAcademies.org
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
CELEBRITY PROFILE
The Power of Petunia Off-Broadway actor Michael Urie discusses his latest movie, Petunia, which filmed entirely in NYC
some wonderful sidewalk scenes for some outside stuff — like a phone call I got to make on 34th street!
By Rachel Sokol
What do you love the most about New York, and where do you go in New York to clear your head and get away from it all?
I
I love New York most for the theatre. I’m a creature of it and can’t stay away from the place for too long. In fact, while shooting Petunia, I was racing to the theatre to open in Angels in America Off-Broadway. The parks system in New York is also the greatest. And my new favorite thing? Citi Bikes! They’re incredible and bringing people together in a whole new way.
love a good indie movie, but love even more when that movie is filmed — and set — in my home city. Thankfully, Petunia, a dramedy directed by Ash Christian and written by Christian and Theresa Bennett, fueled my overdue need for a good old-fashioned NY-based indie flick and gets bonus points for being about a dysfunctional family composed of likeable individuals. The movie recently premiered at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street). In the film, Julliard graduate and Texas native Michael Urie plays George, a married man who is in a polyamorous relationship with Robin, played by Pitch Perfect’s Brittany Snow. Urie’s co-stars in the film also include Thora Birch, Christine Lahti, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and Tobias Segal. Known nationally for his roles in the TV series “Ugly Betty” and “Partners,” Urie is residing in Manhattan for the summer, where he’s starring in the off-Broadway play Buyer & Cellar. Urie candidly spoke about his involvement with Petunia, his current theatre gig, and how much he loves Citi Bike.
What was it like filming Petunia in your backyard of New York? I noticed some scenes were shot in DUMBO. It’s always a pleasure to shoot something in NYC, the greatest place in the world! I think [director] Ash [Christian] and his team did a fabulous job of showing the city off. Funny enough, there were scenes that took place so far away from Manhattan that I had to be reminded we were still in New York — but those areas were great interior locations, and they saved
What attracted you to the role of George McDougal in Petunia and what message do you want readers to walk away with after they see the film? I was thrilled to be offered a role like George, a person who’s mysterious and seductive. I often get cast (happily) in the silly, colorful types, and I’m thrilled that they gave me a chance to slow down and play subtleties. I love the relationships in Petunia, and George certainly has a complex one (or two). I hope that the audience is happy with what happens to George.
You’ve successfully tackled film — you co-wrote and directed the film He’s Way More Famous Than You — TV and theatre. Which creative outlet is most near and dear to your heart? I’ve had much joy getting to bounce around the mediums. Theatre is certainly where I thrive the most artistically as an actor. Directing is something I’m also extremely excited to tackle again, after directing a comedy feature, a short, and a full length documentary, I feel very much at home behind the camera—and feel its kinship to stage acting, in a funny way. They’re both an opportunity to fully ‘own’ something, whether it’s being the final word amongst collaborators (i.e.
directing) or truly being the master of your own performance — which one is once the curtain goes up on a play.
“Ugly Betty” was such a hit and your character, the eccentric Marc (a snarky magazine assistant), was hilarious. Do you miss the cast, crew, and filming that show in NYC? I miss “Ugly Betty” every day. Luckily, I still get to see my cast members often, Judith (Light) and Vanessa (Williams) are trotting the boards now too, so we get a lot of face time, and I just shot a movie with Ana Ortiz. Mark Indelicato came to my show Buyer & Cellar opening night along with Vanessa. They’re all so dear to me, still, and I could’ve played that role forever.
I am so sorry your series “Partners” was cancelled. What have you learned from that whole experience — working on a TV show that just didn’t take off as successfully as “Ugly Betty?” Well, “Partners” was certainly a bummer! It was, creatively, incredible. I loved the actors, the writers and Jimmy Burrows, the king of sitcoms, so much — and even with a staggering 6.5 million average viewers, we sadly couldn’t compete with the mega hit climate they’ve got over at CBS. Though “Ugly Betty” was a big hit, and certainly spawned fans all over the world, that show, too, was cut short, so the whole “canceled show” feeling was not new to me…It’s always a bummer, as an actor, to make a family and then have to leave them — “Partners” was no exception.
What’s next for you career-wise? Summer plans? I’ll be appearing Off-Broadway in Buyer & Cellar through the summer at least — and will continue promoting our comedy, He’s Way More Famous Than You, along with Petunia — and actively trying to get the next directing gig up and running. (I wouldn’t mind another TV series either...) Buyer & Cellar is currently playing at the Barrow Street Theatre; 27 Barrow Street. For tickets, visit buyerandcellar.com.
Michael Urie, right, with co-star Tobias Segal in Petunia.
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