Our Town Downtown August 8th, 2013 by OurTown Downtown

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COMMUNITY NEWS BELOW 14TH STREET

• AUGUST 8, 2013

LowLine Park Gets Real The plan to construct a massive public space underground has raised signiﬁcant capital and support By Megan Bungeroth

s Lower East Side residents continue to clamor for green space, one project on the horizon – or rather, under it – inches closer to the reality of bringing a brand new natural haven for the local population. The LowLine, as the project has come to be called Continued on page 6

(Above) A rendering of what the LowLine, a proposed underground park on the Lower East Side, could look like. (Left) The area under Delancey Street where the park would be constructed.

Putting a Local Face on the Nation’s Fast Food Debate The fast food strike has hit at least seven states; local employees and customers respond By Alissa Fleck

amien Davis works full time, but he knows he’s going to have to start looking for a second job any day now. He works at the West 4th Street McDonald’s and is one of the thousands of the city’s fast food workers who are facing the prospect of not making ends meet even after

putting in their 40 hours every week. Last week, fast food workers throughout New York City — and the country — were walking off the job to demand an end to abusive workplace practices as well as a $15 minimum wage and the right to unionize without retaliation. Workers at fast food restaurants including Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, KFC, Domino’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s have the support of national and local elected leaders, as well as organizations like Fast Food Forward, which have helped spur

Continued on page 4

ALSO INSIDE DOLLARS FOR DOGS P.2 RESCUE MISSION TO EXPAND P.4 WHAT’S UP WITH THE WHITNEY? P.6 ‘HOOD HAPPENINGS P.7 PITY THE CANDIDATES P.12

Damien Davis, 20, takes out the trash at the W 4th St. McDonald’s where he works full time.

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NEIGHBORHOOD CHATTER City Seeks Seaport Proposals Mayor Bloomberg’s sweepingly ambitious idea to build a Battery Park City-like extension of Manhattan on the East River has moved one step closer, in theory, to becoming reality. Last week, the city’s Economic Development Corporation issued a Request for Proposals for the first stages of the grandiose project, called Seaport City, beginning a process that will barely get off the ground before the next mayoral administration takes over in 2014, but giving legs to a legacy that Bloomberg hopes to leave in his wake. The request asks for “a consultant or consultant team to study the feasibility of developing a multi-purpose levee (MPL) along the eastern edge of Lower Manhattan. The levee would first seek to address coastal flooding and enhance resiliency in Lower Manhattan and also create economic development opportunities in the area that could fund resiliency measures citywide.” Proposals are due August 22, 2013.

Theater Prop Brings Bomb Squad A local playwright who directed a show called the “American Suicide Bomber

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Association” unwittingly sparked a bomb scare when he threw a prop from the production into the trash at his West Village home. Playwright Ethan Fishbane tells The New York Post he wasn’t thinking when he discarded the fake bomb while cleaning out his Bedford Street apartment Tuesday. A building superintendent saw the prop the next morning and called police. That brought out the bomb squad. It didn’t take long for investigators to figure out what happened. Fishbane said he was stunned when officers knocked on his door, but he praised the department for its quick response, saying it was “wholly appropriate.” The 23-year-old wrote the play while attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Local Serial Burglar Sentenced Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced the sentencing last week of Justin John, 20, to 6-to-12 years in state prison for burglarizing eight private commercial buildings in Chelsea and the West Village. On June 26, the defendant pleaded guilty to all eighteen counts in the indictment, including multiple counts of Burglary in the Third

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Dog Fundraiser in Tribeca By Helaina Hovitz Rock & Rawhide, a pet charity that collects toys, treats, and bedding to help reduce stress and noise in animal shelters, hosted a fur-filled fundraiser on at the end of July at the iHeartRadio Theater (32 Avenue of the Americas). The charity’s mission is to increase the adoptability levels of dogs and cats in shelters across New York City. The theory: if a dog is chewing on a toy, it’s not barking — less noise equals less stress, and less stress equals a

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higher chance of adoption. Elvis Duran of Z-100 hosted the nonprofit’s first annual Black, White & Red Celebrate, Wag a Tail Gala, where guests ate fare created by Top Chef Masters alum Chef Carmen Gonzalez. To drink: the Adoption Concoction by Bacardi Rum and The Paw Punch by Grey Goose Vodka. Outside of the venue, two of Rock & Rawhide’s shelter partners, Animal Care & Control of NYC and NOLA Furry Friends Safe Haven Shelter, presented several dogs who were up for adoption. Both organizations received applications from potential adopters. “I’ve never been to an event like this, where you have great artists performing and adorable dogs you can kiss. The best of both worlds,” said Ami Colon-Treyger, 36, who commuted in from Jackson Heights. To date, the 18-month-old nonprofit has donated over $500,000 worth of goodies to 83 animal shelters and rescues throughout New York City.

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Degree, Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, and Petit Larceny. As admitted in his guilty plea, John committed eight separate incidents of theft and larceny between May 9, 2012, and August 14, 2012, at the following locations: 10 West 37th Street, 118 West 22nd Street, 247 West 35th Street, 138 5th Avenue, 121 Varick Street, 128 Mott Street, and 26 Little West 12th Street. Two of the thefts occurred on August 14, 2012, on different floors of 121 Varick Street. In one burglary that occurred at approximately 7 p.m. on August 6, 2012, John entered a commercial building at 10 West 37th Street. He gained access into the locked building by waiting for an individual to leave before entering through the door. John rode the elevator to the 10th, 9th, 8th, and 7th floors before stepping off the elevator on the 6th floor and walking into an office of a record label, where he stole an employee’s laptop. On at least one instance, John entered an office under the pretense of soliciting charitable donations. While employees were distracted, John took laptops or other small electronics from empty offices. The electronics were later sold or exchanged for cash.

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

CRIME WATCH By Jerry Danzig

Ex Excess A young woman’s ex-boyfriend, against whom she had an order of protection, accosted her and stole her purse while she was riding the subway last Wednesday. The 18-year-old woman was riding the subway at 1 a.m. on July 24, returning home from Coney Island on the northbound 2 train, when her 24-year-old ex-boyfriend engaged her in conversation. When the train stopped at Park Place, her ex took her purse from the seat next to her and ran off the train. She followed him and chased him to the street, where he removed the wallet and dropped her purse. She pursued him through the turnstiles, but he fled up the staircase to exit on Broadway and Park Place. It turned out that he had an open warrant on a charge of domestic violence assault against the woman. Police conducted a canvass of the area but were unable to locate him. Items taken from the purse included a wallet, insurance card, debit card, and driver’s permit.

Tiny Tops Taken Last Friday, someone stole women’s tops from a clothing boutique on West Broadway.

At 1 p.m., July 19, a 27-year-old female store employee was doing inventory when she noticed that some items of clothing were missing. There were no cameras in the store, nor any witnesses to the theft. The missing items were five women’s “tiny tops” totaling $1,018.

Gang Grab A gang of thugs grabbed a man’s iPhone from his hand at the northwest corner of West Broadway and Prince Street. At 4:30 p.m. on Friday, July 26, a man between the ages of 15 and 17 took the iPhone from the hand of the 36-year-old man. The older man approached the thief to retrieve his phone and was punched in the face by the robber, aided by six additional accomplices, also 15 to 17 years of age. All the robbers fled eastbound on Prince Street. The victim sustained numerous lacerations and contusions to his face and head. The phone’s tracking software was offline at the time of the report. Police searched the area but could not locate the gang. Video may have caught the action in front of a club on West Broadway. The stolen cell was a white iPhone 4S.

C Train Snatch A 15-year-old male youth pinched an iPhone from a woman on a subway train. At 8:25 in the morning of Tuesday, July 23, a 40-year-old woman from Brooklyn was sitting on a northbound C train when her white iPhone 5 was removed from her hand by the teenaged thief, who ran off the train at Chambers Street just as the doors were closing. olice searched the area and apprehended the youth, who was arrested and charged with grand larceny. The woman’s phone was recovered.

Perp Pair Two unknown perpetrators grabbed a cell phone from a woman last Thursday morning. At 11:10 a.m., on a 60-year-old woman from Wellesley Hills, MA was walking on the corner of West Houston and Avenue of the Americas when two unknown thieves grabbed her phone from her hand and fled westbound on Houston. Her phone was equipped with a tracking device, but it was off-line. Police searched the area but were unable to locate the thieves or the cell phone.

Vanishing Versace A 19-year-old man was arrested after stealing store property in a clothing boutique

Illustration by John S. Winkleman

on Mercer Street. At 3:06 p.m. on Tuesday, July 23, the man was observed removing items from the store. Two days later he was apprehended, arrested, and charged with grand larceny. The items he had taken were a Versace handbag priced at $1,495 and a Versace belt valued at $325. The total haul of his shoplifting amounted to $1,820.

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

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NYC Rescue Mission Expanding Three new ﬂoors will more than double capacity and increase services By Daniel Fitzsimmons

he NYC Rescue Mission has been serving the city’s homeless population for over a century, but an upcoming addition is set to expand its services in completely new ways, allowing it to provide an overnight shelter for women for the first time. The Mission’s addition of three new floors to its facility at White and Lafayette Streets in downtown Manhattan is set to wrap up in mid-2014. The addition will increase the mission’s bed capacity from 98 to 250, and will include 30 beds for women, who take meals but have never been able to stay at the shelter before. The expansion will also allow the Mission, which began in 1872, to double its Residential Recovery Program - a faith-based 12step program that focuses on improving participants’ lives in the long term - from 29 to 60 men.

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The remaining 160 beds will be used for nightly guests. The expansion will also enable the NYC Rescue Mission to enhance its learning center and medical services program. Officials at the NYC Rescue Mission first thought about expanding over a decade ago, but never had the financial means to do so. About four years ago, they were left $6 million in a will from a benefactor who passed away. “The bequest gave us the confidence that we would be in a position to actually increase the size of the mission,” said Tom Hall, director of development for the NYC Rescue Mission. “What gives you confidence other than the money is the fact that since the recession in 2008, we’ve not seen a decline in people coming to us.” The mission started an $11 million capital campaign fund in November 2010, anchored on the $6 million they were given in the bequest. The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York donated $2.7 million, and other funding came in from foundation grants and individual donors. The mission is now only $800,000 short of their $11 million goal. Hall said there hasn’t been an empty bed since 2008, regardless of the season. Construction at the mission also limited the amount of beds they could provide from 98 preconstruction to 43 while the expansion is underway. Hall said NYC Rescue Mission officials believe the temporary sacrifice is worth it. “In the short run, we’re restricted in how many people we can accommodate overnight, but in the not-too-distant future we’re going to have substantially more than we had before the construction started,” said Hall.

The construction has not affected the amount of meals the mission is able to provide. In June, the mission served 342 hot meals per day and gave the equivalent of 278 meals in supplementary groceries for a total of 620 meals per day. Demand for homeless services has greatly increased since the recession, said Hall. “There are a variety of reasons, the economy being probably one of the major ones,” he said. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, NYC’s homeless population is over 50,000 people, including 12,000 families and 21,000 children. While the mission’s main goal is to get people off the street, their Resident Recovery Program is focused on long-term improvement in the quality of life for participants. Only about 15 of every 100 participants ever finish the program, but with the expansion the mission is hoping to double that number to 30 graduates a year. “We’re principally directing our efforts at helping people off the street, getting them an overnight place to stay and getting them fed,” said Hall. “Out of that, some of those people are comfortable with us and knowing who’s on our staff and they’ve come to a point in their situation where they’d like to try to turn their lives around.” While the RRP is not open to women at the moment, the mission plans to start identifying women who may do well in a recovery program at a different shelter. “All our steel is up,” he said. “Now it’s a matter of filling in the floors and encasing what we have and then going on and doing the interiors, but it seems like April or May of next year is in the cards.”

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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Fast Food Continued from page 1

the movement and encouraged ongoing negotiations. According to Jonathan Westin, Campaign Director for Fast Food Forward, raising the minimum wage for these workers will be a winning situation for everyone. “If they have more money in their pockets, they’ll spend it right here,” explained Westin, “helping to boost the entire economy.” At the W. 4th St. McDonald’s, 20-yearold Davis was listening to music while taking out the trash. A slight man with a boyish grin, Davis said he was not allowed to talk on the job but paused to answer a few questions and greet a regular. Davis, a resident of Brooklyn, said he did not participate in the strike, though he works at McDonald’s full-time and does not make enough to support himself. When Our Town Downtown asked Davis if he has another job, he smiled and responded, “not yet.” Fatima Lucky works full-time at the Wendy’s at 650 Broadway and also lives in Brooklyn. Unlike Davis, Lucky participated in the strikes and said the

reception seemed positive. Lucky said she does not make enough at Wendy’s to survive and is currently looking for other jobs. Lucky is skeptical about the movement’s success though. “It’s sad because [the fast food companies] make billions a year and they cannot even give us a one dollar raise,” said Lucky. Carloes Vinales, 24, works full-time at Popeye’s on Delancey and, while Popeye’s is not one of the participating restaurants in the protests, Vinales said he does not believe the $7.25 he currently makes an hour will be enough to survive. Vinales lives in public housing off FDR Drive. While he just started at Popeye’s, Vinales continues to work a maintenance job in his off hours. Given the opportunity, Vinales said he “probably would strike.” At a Burger King on Delancey and Suffolk, employees refused to answer any questions about the strikes. Many news outlets have noted increasing the minimum wage for fast food workers could ultimately result in more expensive dining options at those restaurants. Would that make a difference for consumers? It’s difficult to say, but Sarah King,

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Fast food workers from Wendy’s and other establishments have been striking intermittently since last week. Jenny McGrath and Annite Forte, all 22, who were dining at the W. 4th St. McDonald’s said a price hike and its impact on their choices would ultimately depend on the restaurant. “It’s known to be cheap, that’s the advantage, that’s why we go to McDonalds,” said King. “I don’t think I’d eat there if it were more expensive.”

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

Healthy y Manhattan Control calories during grill season picnics

t's tough to control calories during grilling season. Nutritionists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have cooked up a few tips to keep calorie counts in control. "There are plenty of tricks and tips that offer alternatives to full-throttle calorie binging,” says Lona Sandon, a clinical nutritionist at UT Southwestern. Among the best tips for controlling the calorie count: ■ Eat a lower-calorie meal just before going or a salad prior to higher-calorie selections so you already feel full. ■ Drink water instead of other drinks to help you feel full during the party. Add a little flavor with a squeeze of lime, lemon, or orange. ■ Drink water instead of beer when eating salty foods. Remember moderation when it comes to alcohol: one drink for women, two drinks for men. One 12-ounce beer equals one drink. ■ Eat smaller portions of favorite foods Instead of depriving yourself. You’re less likely to binge eat if you don’t feel deprived. Wait 15 to 20 minutes before going back for seconds or dessert. Ask yourself if you are still hungry. ■ Think Tapas. Take a small sampling of the items you would like to taste. ■ Make your selections, then move away from the serving table rather than stand nearby and eat continuously without thinking. ■ Ask for a smaller plate, allow yourself one serving. Don’t pile on more food than fits on the smaller plate. If going back for seconds, pick the veggies: grape tomatoes, celery sticks, red pepper sticks, baby carrots.

Nutritional trade-oﬀs for grilling season feasts There are plenty of options for cutting calories as well as substitutes for some of the more high-calorie options. “Not everyone is going to be satisfied with the salad bowl," says Sandon. "If you’re not ready to replace your entire plate with healthy alternatives, you can still significantly cut down on calories and fats by blending your favorites with some lower-calorie options and alternatives." Be realistic, she added. Fat free does not necessarily equate to lower calorie intake and the lack of flavor of some substitutes might actually lead people to want to eat more. Offer taco salad bowls instead of burgers,

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

substitute lean ground turkey and beans for beef or cold cuts, offer subs with lots salad-style fixings and use less cold cuts, or grill some vegetables to help fill the plate. In addition, pay attention to how much and how many portions you’re taking. Below are some nutritional alternatives: ■ Dip: Try salsas, low-fat sour cream dips or yogurt instead of traditional chip and vegetable dips, or low-fat versions of dressing instead of traditional ranch dressing. Substitute fat-free or lower-calorie ingredients such as vegetarian-style refried beans or whole beans, sour creams, low-fat cheeses and ground turkey to reduce calories for 7-layer dip. ■ Pizza: If selecting more than one slice, substitute a slice of thin crust, veggie pizza for a slice of three-meat pizza. Or make homemade pizzas substituting lean ground turkey instead of hamburger or sausage and use low-fat cheese and wheat pizza doughs. ■ Wings: For chicken wings, take the skin off, bake or grill instead of deep frying. Consider grilling chicken pieces instead of traditional wings. Make your own hot sauce without the butter and use low-fat versions of cream cheese, sour cream, and blue cheese or substitute plain Greek yogurt. ■ Nachos: Cut calories with baked tortilla chips, vegetarian refried beans or mashed black beans, low-fat cheese, peppers and tomatoes, fat-free sour cream, and lean ground turkey or ground soy. ■ BBQ: Try vinegar-based sauces instead of those with high brown-sugar content. Mix chicken and beef on your plate to help lower overall calories. Offer kabobs mixed with vegetables instead of traditional steak. ■ Ribs: Try leaner beef ribs instead of pork ribs, which are usually fatter. Try baby back instead of normal ribs. Consider brisket instead because you’re likely to eat less.

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Lowline Continued from page 1

following the popularity of its distant cousin the High Line, is still just an idea. Still, it’s garnered widespread and official support over the past year, earning the accolades of every elected official who represents the turf it potentially sits under as well as the enthusiastic backing of residents of the Lower East Side and all over Manhattan. The project, originally called the Delancey Underground for its location underneath Delancey Street, was envisioned by James Ramsey, a designer and inventor, and Dan Barasch, who has previously worked for Google, PopTech and New York City government. Ramsey’s design practice RAAD has built projects across the city and country, but the conception for an underground park is, well, groundbreaking. The space that Ramsey and Barasch hope to transform is a 60,000 square foot empty cavern that was built in 1903 as a trolley terminal, housing the streetcars that traveled over the Williamsburg Bridge. The long-abandoned site is still owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) but has been sitting empty and forgotten since 1948. Last week, a coalition of elected officials

signed a letter urging the city’s Economic Development Corporation to seriously engage with the MTA in negotiating the transfer of the underground space over to the city in order to get the ball rolling on the park. Signers, including both New York senators, members of Congress, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Dan Squadron and Council Members Rosie Mendez and Margaret Chin, cited a study by HR&A Advisors and Arup, which showed that “the LowLine could generate at least $15-$30 million in economic benefit to the city by way of increased sales, hotel and real estate taxes and incremental land value, and would create 560 full time equivalent jobs during construction.” They also lauded the project’s

potential to bolster local businesses during the day by attracting tourists and residents to the area when the sun shines – a problem that plagues the nightlife-centric neighborhood. Barasch called the support from local leaders “an important milestone” for the project. “We’ve spent a ton of time talking with the MTA about the site, we’ve commissioned a formal feasibility study to assess the site, we have an estimated cost [$60 million] that is certified by an engineering team, we’ve built up an organization,” he said. “I think the MTA is now ready to sit down with the city and ask the basic legal questions of how it can be transferred. The MTA is not in the business of building public parks, but the city is.” If the city successfully negotiates the transfer for the site, the next step will be to issue a call for proposals from design and engineering teams to create something there. Barasch and Ramsey aren’t officially locked in until the city accepts their proposal, but as the team that spearheaded the project and has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and invaluable creative energy into it, they hope they’ll have an edge in the competitive process. For now, Barasch says that they’re focusing on securing capital from a variety of sources – public, private, institutional, individual – and

on continuing to engage the community to find out what kind of space they want. While the most intriguing aspects of the LowLine have to do with its logistics – it will use solar power to filter in natural sunlight and grow plants underground, for example – the most important element is that it will serve as a community space, Barasch said. “We want to be a new organization that doesn’t force design and concepts onto the public but really brings people into the process itself,” he said. They’ve recently worked with a group of local high school kids, teaching them about public space and its purposes and uses, and then challenging them to come up with their own design ideas for the LowLine. Their ideas range from “really impossible, like flying dogs, to the possibility of mechanical robotic animals in the space,” said Barasch. Last year, the LowLine concept was a new and perhaps crazy idea to most people; now, it’s seeming more and more feasible. Barasch hopes that by next year, he and his partners will have been given the green light to start preliminary construction on what he calls “a cultivated underground garden which will certainly change people’s perspective on what’s possible.”

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?

The Transformation of the Whitney The Whitney Museum is half way through the big move from its Upper East Side home to a new facility downtown By Katya Johns

he Whitney Museum has been house-hunting for years. After almost five decades in its current home, the Marcel Breuer-designed building on the Upper East Side’s Madison Avenue, the famed modern and contemporary art museum is preparing to pack up and move downtown. The move is an answer to some of the problems that have beset the current facility – difficulties expanding or renovating such a unique space combined with resistance from the quiet community and budgetary issues – and will give the Whitney a chance to spread its artistic wings and start a brand new life cycle. But what’s to become of the Breuer building uptown? And why is the Whitney fleeing its longtime home, in a neighborhood well known for arts patronage? One of the biggest reasons for the move is to get more space for the Whitney’s vast

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collections. As a spokesperson for the Museum said, “The decision to move was very simple…the building was built in 1966 for a 2,000-piece collection, which has since grown to 20,000.” After years of searching for other places uptown, the Whitney finally decided to go back to its roots in Greenwich Village, where Gertrude Whitney Vanderbilt founded her studio in 1930. The new building will be located in the Meatpacking District, situated right next to another modish construction, the High Line, overlooking a priceless view of the Hudson River. Well, not exactly priceless. In 2009, the museum signed a contract with the city’s Economic Development Corporation to buy the city-owned site at Washington and Gansevoort Streets for $18 million. Mayor Bloomberg agreed to cut a 50 percent discount to insure the establishment of “a major cultural anchor for the new park.” Designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano (of the Centre Pompidou in Paris), the downtown museum promises to be a sleek-and-sophisticated facility. As the artist explains on the Whitney’s website: “Here, all at once, you have the water, the park, the powerful industrial structures and the exciting mix of people, brought together and focused by this new building and the experience of art.”

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Lighting in Breuer Building By building six floors of cascading terraces, Piano will increase the Whitney’s gallery space by 60 percent and triple its current total space. The 200,000 square foot property includes 50,000 square feet of indoor galleries, 13,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition space, an additional 18,000 square-foot gallery for temporary exhibitions and a lobby gallery— not to mention a contemporary artists’ project space on the top floor and an entrance plaza doubling as a “public gathering space.” The new home doesn’t come without a price, of course. The building construction alone costs $422 million, while building its “capacity” (for artistic and educational programming) is another $113 million. It didn’t help that the economy crashed just

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after the contract was signed. Yet the project has already raised 77 percent of its total goal. More than 80 percent of that has come from fundraising, requiring the Whitney to sell off only $95 million in real estate assets. The rest has come from an unforeseen benefactor with great expectations for the Madison Avenue building. The Metropolitan of Museum Arts has agreed to ease the Whitney’s untenable financial burden of maintaining two museums by taking over the Breuer building in 2015 for a period of eight years, at which point the lease on the Piano building also comes up for renewal. The spokesperson from the Whitney says that it is unlikely that they would undo the swap, which presents a win-win situation for both museums. The added exhibition and event space will allow the Met to enlarge its presence in the modern art world, and the Whitney to ensconce itself in the world of local artists, students and tourists downtown. The Breuer building is here to stay for an “extended [if unspecified] period of time,” as Leonard A. Lauder, emeritus chairman of the museum, stipulated in his $131 million donation to the project. What happens next is future history, but the spokesman confirms that they are more than half-way finished and “everyone is looking forward to it.”

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

‘Hood Happenings Throughout August LMCC’s LentSpace program brings “in-themeantime” cultural activity to temporarily vacant spaces and provides opportunities for artists to create and present their work to local communities. Varick St. btw Canal & Grand Sts. Historic Walking Tour of Wall Street: Discover how the Financial District evolved into the economic powerhouse it is today. Starts and ends at the World Trade Center Memorial. Every day of the week except Tuesdays, at 11:00 PM and 1:00 PM. The tour is 90 min. $25

rhythms. Instruments provided or bring your own. Organized by Batter Park City Parks Conservancy. At Robert F. Wagner Junior Park Battery Place. Call 212-267-9700 or visit www. bpc.org for more details. 6:30-8:00 PM.

Saturday, Aug. 10 GrowNYC is starting a textile recycling at Abingdon Square Greenmarket. Every Saturday year-round residents can bring unwanted clothing and textile to be recycled or reused. Hudson St. and West 12th Street. 8 AM – 2PM.Please go to www.GrowNYC. org for more information about this recycling program.

The Mulberry Street library has many programs, classes and event that are offered to the public such as a monthly Book Discussion Group that meets on the last Monday of each month at 6:30 PM. Please visit www.nypl.org/ locations/mulberry-street.

Was last night’s 3 AM call the one that made you realize Dad needs more help than you can provide? If you’re suddenly uncomfortable leaving Dad home alone at night, Partners in Care can help. By asking just the right questions, we’ll determine which of our 11,000 certiﬁed home health aides Being operated by the Visiting Nurse best ﬁts his needs. Service of New York helps us deliver the care your loved one needs quickly.

From companionship and meal preparation to round-the-clock skilled care, we will develop a personalized plan of care supervised by a registered nurse. We can often deliver that care in as little as 24 hours. Put an end to those middle of the night wake-up calls. For private, professional home care, call Partners in Care at 1.888.9.GET.HELP. You can also visit us on Facebook or at partnersincareny.org

Thursday, Aug. 8 The weekly Lower East Side Youthmarket sells fresh fruits and vegetables grown by regional farmers. Also teaches small business skills, nutrition education, and more to neighborhood youth. Located between Grand St. and Columbia St. Open every Thursday until the end of November; 3 PM – 7 PM. www.grownyc.org The Bowling Green Greenmarket brings fresh offerings from local farms to Lower Manhattan s historic Bowling Green plaza. Every Thursday. Call 212-788-7476 for more details. On Whitehall Street.

Sunday, Aug. 11 On the first day of the 32nd Annual Downtown Dance Festival, the Battery Dance Company will perform at various downtown venues and hold a master class where you can learn and dance with professionals. At the Great Lawn in Battery Park. Batterydance.org. Aug. 1115. Starting 1 PM.

Friday, Aug. 9

Monday, Aug. 12

Opening Reception for visual artist Byron McCray’s solo exhibit of mixed media paintings at the Greenwich House Music School. 46 Barrow Street. 7-10 PM. RSVP to Byron@songpaint.com.

Eve Mosher will lead a 90-minute webinar (an online workshop) that covers all aspects of using social media to communicate about your work and ideas. To attend this webinar, you will need access to a computer with speakers and an Internet connection. There is no special software needed. 7:00-8:30 PM. Visit www.creative-capital.org/events to register. $25

Battery Dance Company is hosting a movement workshop in conjunction with the 32nd Annual Downtown Dance Festival. Using codes of non-verbal communication, participants will engage in play, improvisation, partner work, and movement experimentation in a three-day workshop. Sunset Jam on the Hudson will feature a drumming circle led by master drummers. Improvise on African, Latin, and Caribbean

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

Tuesday, Aug. 13 Every Tuesday, “Punch Up Your Life!” with a free night of comedy, hosted by Jessi Klein and Pete Holmes, with a rotating cast of comics, at the Housing Works bookstore. 126

/PartnersinCareNY

Crosby St. 212-334-3324

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THE 7-DAY PLAN FRIDAY

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 SATURDAY

SUNDAY

BEST PICK

New York International Fringe Festival

Performing in 20 different downtown venues. (Weekdays) 2 p.m. - 12 a.m. (Weekends) 12 p.m. – 12 a.m. www.FringeNYC.org. $15 in advance, $18 at the door. This year, the FringeNYC will offer over 1200 performances by 185 of the world’s best emerging theatre troupes and dance companies from 13 countries and 17 U.S. states. The festival presents works covering a wide range of disciplines including drama, comedy, dance, performance art, children’s theater, spoken word, puppetry, and multimedia. Attendance at last year’s festival topped 75,000 people – help them beat their record. Call 866-468-7619 to learn about special discount passes to multiple shows.

FREE: Kenny Chesney on GMA Rumsey Playfield, enter Central Park on 72nd St. and 5th Ave, centralparknyc.org, 7-9 a.m., free Start your day off with some casual celebrity spotting and concert-playing during this week’s filming of “Good Morning America.” Viewers interested in attending the live performance (and possible appearing on camera) are encouraged to arrive at 6 a.m. when the Park opens to the public.

.com Visit nypress.com for the latest updates on local events. Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@strausnews.com

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New Silent Series 235 Bowery, New Museum of Contemporary Art, newmuseum.org, $12 The series will include screenings and performances every second Friday of the month, as well as critical conversations that will bring together leading scholars, artists, and public figures to illuminate the complex interactions between technology, culture, and creative practice. Call 212-219-1222 for more information.

OneRepublic

Amazigh Film Festival

Pier 26, Hudson River Park. 25 North Moore Street, ticketmaster.com, 5:30 p.m., $39 in advance, $42 at the door OneRepublic will perform live on the starry banks of the Hudson River to present their third full-length album, Native, which took them to Paris, Greece, London, Seattle and Vancouver while it was still in the making. Described as a bold and boundary-pushing follow-up to 2009’s Waking Up, Native promises to deliver a surge of stadium-sized rock that fiercely beat-driven yet ethereal and intimate.

45 Bleecker St. at Lafayette, The Culture Project Auditorium, azettausa.org, 2-7 p.m., $20 The festival celebrates the rich Amazigh culture of North Africa with film and music. The Amazigh Cultural Network in America is coming to the East Coast to present some of the newest and most interesting Amazigh documentaries and film available with English narration or sub-titles. Refreshments will be served during intermission. For more information, call 857-277-2681.

Two Gentlemen Of Verona: A Swashbuckling Comedy!

32nd Annual Downtown Dance Festival

CSV Flamboyan, C.A.G.E, ticketweb.com, 5:30-7:30 p.m., $15 As part of the 17th annual New York International Fringe Festival, C.A.G.E. Theatre Company presents “Two Gentlemen of Verona: A Swashbuckling Comedy!” an action-packed re-imagining of Shakespeare’s early play about two young men discovering both love and adventure for the first time. Starring Michael Rehse and Steve Walker as the two gentlemen. Adapted and directed by Michael Hagins, who also does the fight direction.

Battery Place and State and Whitehall streets, Battery Dance, 12 – 5 p.m. The Downtown Dance Festival (DDF), one of lower Manhattan’s most highly anticipated summer events, showcases great dance companies from around the world as well as the best New York City has to offer, all free-of-charge to the public. This year, BDC will expand the festival beyond lower Manhattan’s outdoor plazas and parks, to new locations in the Financial District, attracting a diverse audience composed of office workers, passersby, tourists and dance aficionados who come to watch the show during the lunchtime breaks.

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

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The Banana Monologues

First Documentary NYC Screening of “Defcon”

The Acorn Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, 8 p.m., $69.95 via TeleCharge 212-239-6200; tickets available at box office 30 minutes prior to showtime for $30 for those under 30 years old This Off-Broadway comedy is inspired by a true love story about a man, a woman, and his “banana,” Sergeant Johnson. When the layers of the relationship are peeled back, Gus tries to split from his girlfriend Alexis, but the Sergeant stands firm.

138 Sullivan Street, Soho Gallery for Digital Art, sohodigart.com, 6-10 p.m. Last year, Jason Scott and Rachel Lovinger shot a documentary about DEFCON, the hacker conference, in its 20th year. This year, they will be showing it at DEFCON, before screening it in their hometown at the Soho Gallery for Digital Art from August 12-13. The evening starts at 6:00, the movie will begin playing at 7 p.m. and a discussion will follow afterwards. Please note: this movie contains adult content. Check out the trailer on YouTube.

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Moth StorySLAM: Interference 126 Crosby Street, Bookstore Café. housingworks.org. 7 p.m., $8 at the door. Ten stories, three teams of judges, one winner. Sign up to tell a story, volunteer to be a judge, or just sit back and enjoy story-time, filled with well-constructed under 5-minute stories about a true interference, however contestants choose to interpret it. Arrive early as there is limited seating.

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Punk: Chaos to Couture: Last Day on View!

1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd Street. Metropolitan Museum of Art, metmuseum.org. The MET’s spring 2013 Costume Institute exhibition, PUNK: Chaos to Couture, examines punk’s impact on high fashion from the movement’s birth in the early 1970s through its continuing influence today. Featuring approximately one hundred designs for men and women, the exhibition includes original punk garments, period music videos and soundscaping audio techniques for an immersive multimedia, multisensory experience that spans seven galleries.

Broadway in Bryant Park 41 East 40th St, bryantpark.org, 12:30-1:30 p.m., free Last day to see and hear songs from some of Broadway’s most memorable shows performed in the great outdoors for free. Today’s selection includes clips from Motown the Musical, Once, Mamma Mia! and Forever Tango. This Thursday, enjoy your lunch with a healthy side of laughs and lyrics.

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Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra: Beethoven & Rossini Columbus Ave. & 65th Street, Avery Fisher Hall, mostlymozart.org, 8 p.m. The celebrated Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda makes his debut with the Festival Orchestra directing a five-member chorus in Beethoven’s buoyant Symphony No. 2, and Mostly Mozart’s first performance of Rossini’s dramatic, lyrical Stabat mater. This performance is approximately two hours and five minutes, with intermission.

50 Shades of Grey Musical Parody 339 W. 47th St., Actors Temple Theater, livingsocial.com, 8 p.m., $49 Created by improv masters the Pushers, Cuff Me plays on select dates through August and puts a new spin on the popular, steamy series of books. With musical numbers satirizing pop favorites like “...Baby One More Time” and “Like a Virgin,” this hysterical send-up will hit you with laugh after laugh as classic characters come to life on the stage.

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Summer Music & Wine Pairings: “The Music Of Woodstock” 155 Varick Street, City Winery, citywinery.com, 7:30 p.m., $35. Everyone loves music, especially with a good glass of wine. In this series, City Winery will be presenting every night a different pairing of 21 classic tunes and 9 different wines, accompanied by tasting notes explaining their expert choices.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

cityArts

Edited by Armond White

New York’s Review of Culture . CityArtsNYC.com

Faith, Hope and Cinema Makhmalbaf’s new masterpiece explores religious need By Armond White

he secular tendency that dominates today’s movies makes the spiritual inquiry in The Gardener even more remarkable. It is the bold new film by one of the great international moviemakers, Iran’s Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who typically, transcends genre; here mixing the religious feeling of Biblical epics like Frank Borzage’s The Big Fisherman into a rigorous documentary about the appeal of the Baha’i sect. Makhmalbaf ’s semi-historical tale fronts a very modern proposal: “Why not use the power of religion to promote peace?” he asks his adult son, Maysam, who appears with him on screen as they both--cameras in hand-track down contemporary religious devotion. Pere et fils contradict the mainstream media’s post-9/11 skepticism that blames religion as the cause of war. Makhmalbaf, once an Iranian radical imprisoned for his 1989 film The Peddler, here states “I am an agnostic filmmaker.” Yet, attempting impartiality, he cites the ironic contemporary distrust of Christianity and caution about Islam, then through interviews, historical clips and assorted pageants, grants the beatific evidence of Baha’i believers: “The Bahai faith is Hope actualized” says a devotee and Makhmalbaf presents people standing in tree poses. Awe takes the place of proselytizing. Bypassing Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Islam proves Makhmalbaf ’s sophistication about conflicting religious doctrine. Not bogged down in differences, he finds universal serenity in the metaphor of a garden (“We are all flowers of one garden, the leaves of one tree”) and the parable of a gardener (“He is not

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

only gardening, in a way he is praying. It is a kind of meditation, he is educating himself to be like a gardener to society.”). Through the example of teaching his own craft to his son, Makhmalbaf demonstrates a divine fatherly allegory and the idea to “Love people not for themselves but for God.” The Gardener is so visually rapturous (the various gardens the Makhmalbafs visit suggest color versions of that striking geometrical park in Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad and luminous versions of Bela Tarr’s bleak windswept roads) it leads to father-son contemplation about cinema (“If what is only important is perception, why make movies?”). Everything’s loosely structured yet ideas (philosophy and doctrines) develop and beauty and humanity are found. Thanks to Makhmalbaf ’s poetic perception of reality, this method is also fundamentally political-

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-highlighting that Baha’i started 170 years ago in Iran yet “it does not contradict any of today’s human rights principles.” Through humorous, whimsical style (like in his masterpieces The Silence, Gabbeh, Salaam Cinema, A Moment of Innocence), Makhmalbaf exposes how most documentaries are ruinously structured along Communist dialectic or godless propaganda. It’s a reminder of how Iranians first broke through Western strictures of cinematic structure. The Gardener’s profundity recalls what Maureen Mullarkey (a frequent CityArts contributor), wrote in a recent issue of First Things on the tradition of the Icon; she cited art historian Daniel Siedell: “Western viewers and critics tend to consider the religious or secular works of art to be a text, a visual illustration of a philosophical truth or a theological worldview that needs to be

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‘read’…[The icon] is the artistic practice of the Church. The icon is not something to be ‘decoded,’ ‘read,’ or a symbol for something more important. It is an event that is to be contemplated, internalized and experienced. This recognition is not foreign to artists in the West, both religious and secular. Yet many theologians and philosophers often dismiss such experience as romantic self-indulgence and naïve mysticism. What these artists might have been bumping up against is an aesthetic that is, in fact, Nicene.” In Makhmalbaf ’s Iconography, cinema experience is what counts. The testimonies shown are guileless, articulate and can be felt: “Without religion would I have been able to overcome hatred?” “Religion releases the unleashed forces of the heart in the way that science cannot because science addresses the reason and yet the human needs the heart and the reason.” Each face blooms in close-ups that radiate humanity and this makes the powerful difference from hectoring films by desiccated propagandists who castigate religion like the atheist antagonism of Bill Maher, Sacha Baron Cohen, Larry Charles, Carlos Reygadas, even recent episodes of The Simpsons--all equally puerile and spiteful. Makhmalbaf understands that this hostility signifies ignorance about religion, faith, belief, diversity in the human realm. With The Gardener, Makhmalbaf also challenges new philosophies--as in his retort to his skeptic son, “You’re turning technology into a new religion. You are creating from Steve Jobs a Moses, a Jesus, a Mohammad. Was it not technology that led to Hiroshima?” Makhmalbaf is Iran’s greatest filmmaker because he is its poet/gardener and in The Gardener Makhmalbaf flaunts his article of faith at sunset, holding his video camera silhouetted against the sky like a tree, but also like an antenna sensing mankind’s deepest political-spiritual needs. Follow Armond White on Twitter at 3xchair

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CITYARTS MUSEUM

Rematch: The Mad Men of Art

OPPORTUNITY Motivated and talented low-income public high school students are eager to go to college but can’t afford SAT prep.

Remembering how Munch and Warhol matched wits at Scandinavia House By Melissa Stern

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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t first glance the pairing of Andy Warhol and Edvard Munch seems an unlikely coupling. However, as expertly explained by the curators at Scandinavia House, these two artists shared a startling number of common interests. The exhibition, “Munch and Warhol, and Multiple Image” is an important one in the scholarship of both artists. A lavish catalogue and a full schedule of public programming throughout accompany the show. The exhibition is centered around a commissioned but never released suite of 32 large Warhol silk screened prints entitled “After Munch.” Completing the work between 1982-84 Warhol, eventually bought back the rights to the work and it disappeared into the vast Warhol universe. The curators have mounted an elegant installation that begins with the original Munch prints on which Warhol based his suite, setting the stage for this fascinating journey into the nature of portraiture, reproduction, and the art marketplace. By all accounts Edvard Munch was an extremely savvy businessman. He developed a market for his prints, knowing that it is easier to sell an editioned print than a oneof-a-kind painting. He was also known to alter the prints, releasing different versions to satisfy the tastes of collectors. For example his controversial print Madonna is shown here in several states, some including a small fetus in the lower left corner, some without, some versions have a bit more of the “sperm” decorative motif than others. This allowed Munch to reach a wider group of collectors than he might have with a single version of the image.

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Mr. Warhol was also a savvy businessman particularly in his use of graphic media. Warhol created a massive business in the print market, portraying his collectors and media stars in flattering modes, often customizing the color to meet his client’s wishes. Both artists were fascinated with mortality and the loss of beauty, and one can clearly see Warhol’s kinship with Munch in his appropriation and reinterpretation of the four iconic Munch images in this show. Madonna, The Scream, Self-Portrait, The Brooch, and Eva Mudocci change radically in scale and color when placed in Warhol’s hands. But their underlying sense of desperation and loss are unchanged--if anything they’re heightened by Warhol’s application of hysterical color onto Munch’s imagery. The most successful and moving of this series is Warhol’s cobbling together of SelfPortrait and Madonna. There are six giant versions of this couple in the middle room, and they are simply stunning. For all of the hype about Warhol’s coolness towards his work and subject matter, we see here an example of real passion. Madonna and SelfPortrait are joined together into a single image that portrays true horror and beauty. The range of color changes in each one highlights differing parts of this shock show- a hit of neon blue in one, sickly green in another. This show is one of the most thoughtful and provocative--in the best sense of the word— of the summer.

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MUSEUM CITYARTS

Creative Capstone The monumental El Anatsui exhibition at the Brooklyn By Caroline Birenbaum

he fifth floor rotunda of the Brooklyn Museum is used to great effect as the entrance to “Gravity and Grace: The Monumental Works of El Anatsui,” a memorable exhibition of works by El Anatsui. The Ghanian-born artist has taught and worked in Nsukka, Nigeria since 1975, when he was about 30 years old, and in the past decade or so has gained international renown with his immense fabric-like constructions made from bottle caps. His breakthrough to contemporary art stardom came when he was featured in the 2007 Venice Biennale. Anatsui’s works are now in major museum collections; fine examples are on display at MOMA and the Met. This is his first solo show in a New York museum. Being in the presence of so many wondrous pieces at once is magical—a different order of magnitude than experiencing them individually. Excellent videos in which the artist discusses his life and his work provide information and context without intruding on direct engagement with the objects. They are excerpts from films by art historian Susan Mullin Vogel, whose informative book on the artist is available for consultation in the gallery and on sale in the museum shop. Throughout his career, Anatsui has used handicraft techniques and worked with local, found materials to make art from discarded objects that have outlived their original purpose. He likes materials that already embody a history, and his approach is in keeping with African traditions of spiritual transformation. Plentiful, inexpensive materials free him to experiment without size limitations. Anatsui had worked masterfully in a number of traditional media before he turned to metal detritus. While not a full-fledged retrospective, the exhibition includes various precursors to the bottle-cap series: free-standing wood sculptures; scrap wood wall reliefs; sculptures that resemble gigantic papier-maché grocery sacks, constructed of thin metal printers’ plates discarded by a local newspaper; and gleaming flexible sculptures made of lids from cans of powdered milk. Anatsui sends his work out into the world to be arranged and displayed to suit the occasion and the site. Since the metal pieces can be stretched, crimped and draped, they take on different appearances in each venue. How the bottle cap series began: There are several distilleries in Nsukka. While the liquor bottles are reused, the aluminum caps are melted down. One auspicious day, Anatsui came across a bag filled with colorful bottle caps, which he took to his studio, sensing they might find some way into his work. Fiddling around, he separated some circular tops bearing the brand logo from the tubular collars, which were printed in color on the outside and bare metallic silver or gold on the inside; cut open and flattened the tubes into strips, and began arranging the uniformly sized pieces into a pattern. He made holes near the edges and joined pieces with twists of copper wire. Voilà, he had created a segment of malleable metal fabric.

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Thus began more than ten years of creative ferment. Once he realized that this mode of work was more than a brief experiment, Anatsui arranged to purchase his bottle cap supplies, and organized studio assistants to assemble blocks of metal fabric that can be laid out on the floor and manipulated into complex designs under his direction, likening his method of pushing color around to the way that painters compose. He then photographs the initial design, uploads the images to a computer, and employs cutting-edge technology to refine the composition and archive his studies. It takes 20 or more people three or more months to assemble a large hanging. The color palette is determined by the decoration of the caps. Mostly red, black, yellow and white, they are printed with decorative patterns and logos that add variety. (I counted some 50 different brands represented in just one gallery of the exhibit.) He has invented more than a dozen different shapes and configurations of flattened, folded, crushed, and twisted tops and collars, and lately fashioned incredible mesh-like curtains from the rings that remain on the neck of the bottle after the cap has been twisted open. The exhibition opens in a large, bright space segmented by immense examples of those mesh curtains suspended from the very high ceiling at varying angles. You cannot help but engage with them both imaginatively and physically. Are you on a stage set, in a foreign country, or perhaps in a waking

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dream? The installation invites you to move around among the hangings, and approaching one for a close-up view, you discover that the entire piece is constructed of coin-size rings of colored metal joined together with bits of twisted copper wire. What beckons you as soft and pliable is actually sharp and dangerous, just one of many dichotomies inherent in Anatsui’s work. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a baronial hall where stupendous, vari-colored, mostly opaque hangings are arrayed on the walls. Of course, association with African kente cloth is inevitable. Many other possibilities also come to mind. Are these tapestries in a medieval court; an homage to Italo-Byzantine mosaics; princely robes; opulent fabrics for turn-of-the-century Viennese fashionistas; theater curtains; or contemporary paintings? You can have a wonderful time playing make-believe in their presence. At the same time, the centuries-long cross-cultural exchange among Africa, Europe and the Americas is a powerful underlying theme of the liquor bottle-cap series, counterbalancing their surface glamour. The exhibition invites return visits and has remained on view long enough to accommodate them. If you haven’t been yet, go now before it’s too late! “Gravity and Grace: The Monumental Works of El Anatsui” at the Brooklyn Museum through August 18.

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DINING

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Brunching in Packs

Pity the 2013 Political Candidates

Some of the best local brunches for going out in groups By Helaina Hovitz

unday brunch in New York City is like a religion. If you take your weekend services seriously, you’ll want to hit up these three downtown locales — these eats will have you picking off of each other’s plates in no time.

Sugar Factory (46 Gansevoort Street): It doesn’t get much sweeter than this. Round up the girls and get ready to unleash your inner ten-year-old for a meal so indulgent you’ll worry that you’re gonna get caught. The Banana Split Waffle is exactly what it sounds like, as are the S’mores and Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Crepes. The list goes on, much of the same variety, mountains of sugary, chocolatey, fruity goodness. If you opt for eggs or chicken fingers, there’s an impressive variety of sundaes, chocolate fondues, and milkshakes like the Cookie Jar and Make A Wish (based on birthday cake) awaiting your arrival at dessert. Numerous candy and dessert inspired cocktails include Orange Chocolate Truffle and Red Velvet Martinis, and 60oz “Goblets” feature floating gummy worms and lollipops. I definitely don’t condone the consumption of 60oz Cosmopolitans, but, honestly, if you’re here, you’ve already tossed moderation and inhibition to the wayside, so you might as well go nuts.

Todd’s Mill (162 Orchard Street): Get ready to take a pretend day-trip to the country. The rustic-chic restaurant features artfully distressed woodwork, creamcolored exposedbrick walls, an open kitchen, a big, fancy patio, and linen napkins that add an extra touch of warmth. A casual neighborhood joint serving deceptively complex food, their menu changes seasonally. The focus: local foods prepared simply. Crowd-pleasing dishes include the

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Breakfast Sandwich served on a buttermilk biscuit and stuffed with fried eggs and spicy cheddar sausage, a very manageable and neat — but filling — Chorizo & Egg Burrito, and Crispy Sweetbreads (Swedish waffle) with Tabasco maple butter that are almost too pretty to eat. The Brioche French Toast is a strawberry-covered, crème frais-topped dream. Co-Owner Michael Dempsey made me a special “mocktail,” a spicy, alcohol-free watermelon lemonade, and I was in heaven. Everyone claims to do great cocktails, but it looks like these guys have got it down pat.

East 12th Osteria (137 First Avenue):

This new upscale Italian eatery is the first of its kind to land in the immediate neighborhood, and is also the first solo venture of executive chef Roberto Deiaco, formerly of Armani Ristorante on 5th Avenue. He’s brought all of his elite clientele with him, so keep your eyes peeled for Justin Long, and get ready to feel fabulous. “My husband is out to prove a point, that you can have fine dining in the East Village,” says manager and co-owner (and wife) Giselle Deiaco. I’d recommend the Insalata de Polla, a fresh, neat take on chicken salad, combining sliced grapes and walnuts with curried shredded chicken, the Strapazzato alle Ciliegie, puffy pancake pieces tossed with caramelized cherries and served with glazed Macedonia fruit salad, the fresh Gazpacho with yellow tomatoes and Burrata, or the Spaghetti Chitarra Carbonara, made with bresaola, bacon, eggs, and Parmigiano. Their signature drink, the Sgroppino, is a neater take on the popsicle-in-martini, combining Prosecco with watermelon, green apple, or orange sorbet. All of their breads, pasta, and sorbetti are prepared daily, from scratch, on the premises. The space feels like a trendy hotel bar, the glass and steel façade windows are perfect for people watching, and tiny details, like straws that look like sticks of bamboo, are irresistible. It’s easily worth the few extra bucks.

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or future elections, become mayor, although unless Bill DeBlasio wins in November, no public advocate has yet moved up the ladder in city government. In the Manhattan borough president’s race there is a fascinating mix of geographically By Tom Allon diverse candidates: Upper Manhattan Councilmember Robert Jackson, Lower t’s hard enough braving the wilting Manhattan’s former Community Board Chair summer heat and standing at subway Julie Menin, West Side Councilmember Gale stations each morning shaking hands Brewer and East Side Councilmember Jessica and passing out flyers. Lappin. Then there’s the endless public Each has represented a different slice of events and candidate forums that occupy Manhattan and each has particular strengths every waking moment - when you’re not on that would make them worthy successors to the phone with potential donors pleading for current Manhattan Borough President Scott money. Stringer. But perhaps the greatest ignominy Here, too, the media and the heaped on the good citizens of New public don’t seem to be paying York running for public office in 2013 enough attention yet to an is that they are all being virtually important race. The Manhattan ignored while the traveling Anthony borough president has Weiner circus - and the occasional important land-use powers, as Eliot Spitzer caravan - sucks all the recently exhibited by Stringer’s oxygen out of the political season. conditional endorsement There are two other pretty of Mayor Bloomberg’s bold important - and very competitive rezoning of the midtown - races going on citywide and in commercial district. Tom Allon Manhattan: for public advocate and I have met, and in some cases for Manhattan borough president. worked closely with, these eight fine public The public advocate is technically the servants and they deserve our attention and second highest office in the city and akin our respect during this important election to the Vice President’s role in the federal season. They care about the important issues government - if the mayor dies or is facing us in the years ahead - how we fix our incapacitated, the public advocate ascends to public school system, how we save our city be mayor. hospital system, how we balance the need to As the first Vice President John Adams build and develop residential and commercial famously said: “Today, I am nothing. space while improving our infrastructure in Tomorrow, I may be everything.” Same is true a growing city, how we improve mass transit, of public advocate, an otherwise toothless job and other pressing issues. with very few staff. These two races - unlike the mayoral and Some people, however, like Mark Green comptroller races - have been free of personal and Bill DeBlasio, have used the office in the drama and I find that refreshing. No one past to be a thorn in the mayor’s side and as a is speaking about sexual pecadilos, failing jumping off point to launch a later campaign marriages or other largely irrelevant topics for mayor. when judging our leaders. This year, four relatively unknown Perhaps this is because six of the eight people are vying for this office: Brookyln candidates in thes two races are women? Councilmember Tish James, State Senator I hope over the next month my colleagues Daniel Squadron and two non-elected in the media give these two races the ink, candidates, Reshma Saujani and Cathy airtime and digital space they richly deserve. Guerriero. Issues and vision and management skills Their debates and public policy ideas have should trump personal issues and selflargely been ignored by the mainstream destruction when we decide who to vote for in media; all four are thoughtful and intelligent September. people who want to be one of the three top Tom Allon, the president of City and citywide officials in 2014 and it behooves us to State, NY, is the former Liberal Party-backed start paying close attention. candidate for Mayor. One of them could, through succession

The public and the media have neglected to cover two interesting and important races

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

CELEBRITY PROFILE

Dancing with the Star on Broadway is the only thing that’s important, nothing else.

The celebrity dancer on diversifying his resume, being an older brother, and the tango

Were you surprised your Broadway run was extended? They asked me right away for a five-week run and we agreed to three because I didn’t know how we were going to work with Karina. It wasn’t like I was testing her out or anything, but there’s always a little bit of like, “Well, it might be a miserable experience.” I knew it was not going to be. Literally first day of rehearsal, the producers called and asked if I wanted to extend it and I said, “Absolutely.” It was a done deal then.

By Angela Barbuti

hen Maksim Chmerkovskiy walked into the Starbucks on Broadway, he was momentarily unrecognizable from his usual tanned, costumed, and sometimes shirtless self on Dancing with the Stars. Wearing sunglasses, a tank top, and carrying a duffel bag, he made his way to a table for our interview. Then it was back to the Walter Kerr Theatre for the matinee of Forever Tango, where he is the leading man. The Ukrainian-born thirty-three-year-old worked tirelessly for the fame he now enjoys. There was a time when he would spend 365 days a year in his family-owned New Jersey dance studio. Now, he co-owns Dance with Me studio in Soho, and even with his busy schedule, still plays a creative role there. Although he lives in Fort Lee, New Jersey, he calls New York home, and acknowledges that the audience here expects a certain caliber of dancing from his Broadway performance. “It’s a little bit of pressure.” he says of having to perform the Argentine tango at “the highest level.” Although those of us who have seen Chmerkovskiy on stage find that hard to believe. He always seems to be dancing at the highest level.

You said you’ve danced the tango many times before, but are really only learning it now. What does that mean? Because we never studied tango or Argentine tango. It’s very specific. It’s like a trained ballet dancer all of the sudden doing a number in tap. You can dance, move, and be coordinated, but the set of rules and little nuances are completely different. What makes the dance are those nuances. We’re very good at faking it for all these years.

Faking it on Dancing with the Stars you mean? Yeah. The first time the producer said we’re going to do Lindy Hop, Bollywood style, and all of that, we all looked him like, “What in our resume told you we know how to Bollywood dance?”

Well you fool the audience because we just think it comes naturally to you. Yeah I know, they fool us too. Listen, YouTube goes a long way. Some of our pros actually have production send them an

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

Do you miss Dancing with the Stars? expert because they don’t know what to do themselves.

Who do you see when you look out into the audience? I see little kids and adults. Little kids bring flowers to the stage. My grandma’s coming for the third time today.

You have said that your audience on Broadway is more critical than those who watch Dancing with the Stars. Dancing with the Stars’ audience is reasonable in a sense that they’re just fans. They like whatever they see - for the most part. No disrespect; I’m just saying people tune in season after season because they get attached to either the dancers, or come with the fan base of the celebrities. When you’re a fan of someone, that person can do no wrong by you. On Broadway, people come - the nonfans- because they see the name of the show and the description. If the description says it’s Argentine tango and I’m a fan of it, when I get there, I’d better see some Argentine tango on the highest level, worthy of Broadway.

What was the rehearsal schedule like for Forever Tango? We just had two weeks before. We work with the couple in the Playbill, Juan and Victoria. Juan has been with the show for nine years; he’s sort of our dance captain. And Luis Bravo came in and was working with us too. He’s not a dancer; he just gives his creative vision.

Your partner is Dancing with the Star’s Karina Smirnoﬀ. Why is one’s partner so important in the tango? Because it’s not a dance, it’s a storytelling and it’s only in relation to a relationship. Tango has nothing to do with anything else. You don’t dance tango, you don’t move around - you have to have a connection. The partner

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No.

Why not? Because I think I’ve done it long enough. I think there’s nothing there for me to prove. I’m at the point where I need to set up my future. And if I don’t do it now by cutting the cord and trying to reinvent myself, I may never be able to after this comes to an end, which at one point it will. Or I’ll get old and won’t be able to dance. And at that time I want to be able to fall back on something that I’ve built. I want an extended career in this industry just because I can, unless someone tells me that I can’t. That’s why we’re trying my hand in acting. I’m curious to see how that’s going to work. It’s fascinating to study and learn a new skill.

coming home; I just wanted a brother, and he was staying a pupil. So we had a bit of a transitional period maybe four or five years ago, and since then, we’re just best friends.

You co-own Dance with Me, which besides being in Soho, has locations on Long Island, in New Jersey, and Connecticut. How often are you in your studios? I try to be there as much as I can, but I’ve been a studio owner since I was 17, so I kind of paid my dues. We worked 365 days. No exaggeration. During New Year’s Eve, I stayed at the studio. Whoever came in, I taught. Then at 10 p.m., when the studio closed, I locked it and then went to celebrate. We did that for seven years. Now we created a company, a system. My job is no longer in day-to-day operations. I’m more of a creative, where-Iwant-the-company-to-go type of person. My dad’s more hands-on every day, but he’s not a dancer. Between myself, Val, and sometimes Tony [Dovolani], we allow ourselves to venture out. Our growth and the studio’s growth go hand in hand, so it’s a win-win situation for us.

What are you favorite places in New York?

I hope you didn’t. But the point is that I’m not missing Dancing with the Stars because I think it’s unnatural for me to miss it. I’ve been there for 13 seasons. It’s been eight years. How long can I do this thing and miss it? If I did it once and never again, I’d miss it.

I live in Fort Lee, New Jersey, but I call New York home. I just love New York. New York has an energy about it. We have a lot of friends who own clubs and restaurants. Mostly it’s Soho, Meatpacking District, maybe the Lower East Side. I don’t really do the Midtown part; it’s a little crazy. My life is always around people, so I don’t want to be around people on my night off. I want to be around my people we have a crowd - but it’s people I miss seeing and love hanging out with, whether it’s at a restaurant or just chilling at their house.

So will you go back to DWTS one day?

What are your future plans?

If they guarantee me a winner and the trophy’s mine, I’m going to look at it and go, “I don’t know if I have it in me to stay with somebody for three months and be into it the way I’m supposed to be.” And I don’t want to be unfair and jeopardize someone else’s chances.

Just to be happy and successful. Our dad is very big on phrases. There’s one we grew up with, “It’s all about the end result.” I may change my profession drastically and become a venture capitalist. Broadway’s not going to buy me a jet, but it’s definitely a stepping stone. This show is not for money. This if for, “I did that.” We live in an era where everything is well documented. I have a responsibility for my kids to look and say, when they Google me 20 years from now, “That’s my dad.” I’m not going to be telling them stories. I’ll show them the video.

I saw you on All My Children.

Your brother Val also dances on the show. What’s it like being an older brother? It’s a lot of responsibility, but I went from him being my student first. He was my best pupil. And it’s not like I have to say it. He was never a teacher’s pet. He was in his familyowned studio and never jumped out and was always part of the class. The problem was

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Maksim will be in Forever Tango until August 11th, www.forevertangobroadway.com Follow him on Twitter: @MaksimC

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