The local paper for Downtown wn ON THE HIGH LINE WITH NEW DIRECTOR Q&A, P. 18
WEEK OF MAY
22 2014
NYPRESS.COM
OurTownDowntown @OTDowntown
REMEMBERING THAT DAY
In Brief DE BLASIO NOMINATES LANDMARKS CHAIR Inside the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. To the left, the Last Column, a 58-ton, 36-foot-tall piece of welded plate steel, removed from the site in 2002 and covered with messages from recovery workers, first responders and victims’ relatives. Photo courtesy of National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Last week Mayor de Blasio announced his nomination of Meenakshi Srinivasan as the chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Srinivasan is a planner and urban designer, with more than two decades of experience working in various aspects of New York City’s land use process. Since 2004, she has served as the chair and commissioner of the Board of Standards and Appeals, which oversees zoning variance and special permit applications. An architect by training, Srinivasan was born in India and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India. She earned a Master of Architecture and a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. She is an honoree of the Society of Indo-American Engineers and Architects and the New York Society of Architects.
OUSTED NYT EDITOR SPEAKS OUT
9/11 Impressions from first responders seeing the 9/11 Memorial Museum for the first time BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
DOWNTOWN Retired NYPD detective Rose Colon hasn’t been back to Ground Zero since September 11, 2001. She was in Brooklyn when the first plane hit the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. She responded to the scene, and was injured after falling into a manhole while performing search and rescue operations with other first responders. Colon was evacuated before the first tower fell, and hasn’t felt the need to come back.
“We actually retired after Sept. 11,” said Colon, who finally returned last week to visit the newly opened 9/11 Memorial Museum with a friend, NYPD Sergeant Amy Loretoni, who also retired soon after the attacks. Before opening to the public, the museum was open for a week to first responders and relatives of those who lost their lives. Our Town
IF YOU GO
Downtown visited Ground Zero to speak with those who were granted advance access about their impressions of the museum and their recollections of that day. Colon and Loretoni said for them, the most emotional exhibit was the Wall of Faces, which features photographs of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that day and is
The 9/11 Museum opened to the public on May 21. Tickets are now available.
Admission to the museum is free for all visitors on Tuesday evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the last entry at 7 p.m.
On other days, ticket prices are as follows:
meant to convey the scale of human loss. An adjoining chamber shows photographs, biographical information and audio recordings of individual victims from the day of the attack. “It was very nice except that they didn’t have a lot of information on the police,” said Colon. “I mean we did
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
Adult $24.00 Senior (65+) $18.00 U.S. Veteran $18.00 U.S. College Student $18.00 Youth (7-17)* $15.00 9/11 Family Members Free
9/11 Rescue and Recovery Workers Free with registration
Jill Abramson, the former executive editor of The New York Times, spoke at a commencement address at Wake Forest University on Monday, making her first public comments since her firing. “I’m talking to anyone who has been dumped,” she said in an 11-minute speech. “Not gotten the job you really wanted or received those horrible rejection letters from grad school. You know, the sting of losing, or not getting something you badly want. When that happens, show what you are made of.” She earned laughs by saying she had no plans to remove the Times’ “T” she had tattoed on her back. “Not a chance,” she said. “What’s next for me? I don’t know. So I’m in exactly the same boat as many of you. Like you, I’m a little scared, but also excited.’’
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Our Town MAY 22, 2014
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS CHECK NEW FERRY FROM WEST SIDE TO DOWNTOWN
East 6th Street, throwing him against a wall and kicking him repeatedly in the head before walking away. Ruan, who was 68 and a retired garment worker who lived in Alphabet FAMILY OF CHINESE City with his wife, died from his injuries MURDER VICTIM WANTS last Saturday in the hospital. HATE CRIME CHARGE Shortly before Pugh’s arraignment on Wednesday, Ruan’s wife and two The Daily News reported that the daughters told the Daily News that they family of murder victim Wen Hui think Pugh should be charged with a Ruan wants the District Attorney to hate crime, which could bring a possible add a hate crime to the alleged killer’s life sentence, in addition to the charges charges. Police arrested 20-yearof second-degree murder, robbery and old Jamie Pugh for the savage and unprovoked beating of Ruan last week. assault. “Our whole family is in severe and Video shows Pugh approaching Ruan on week of operation will be free. After that, the roundtrip fare will be $8, with discounts for frequent riders. AP
A new commuter ferry will link two Manhattan piers on the Hudson River. The New York Water Taxi ferry service began on Monday. Ferryboats will sail between Hudson River Park at West 44th Street and the World Financial Center every 15 minutes during morning and evening rush. The New York Post says southbound service will begin at 7:40 a.m. Returning boats will start at 4:45 p.m. New York Water Taxi says the first
New York Water Taxi started a new route this week that runs between Hudson River Park at West 44th Street and the World Financial Center downtown during weekday mornings and evenings.
deep pain,” daughter Michelle Ruan said through a Cantonese translator. The family says that Pugh did not attempt to take any property from Ruan either before or after the vicious attack, and suggest that the crime was racially motivated. Pugh is African American. NY Daily News
Owners Bill Ahearn and Pete Galiano have been operating the bar on a month-to-month lease extension that they say will end June 1, despite their pleas with landlord Capital Properties to give them another few months. When word of their impending closure got around to their Wall Street clientele, however, several people contacted Aheard and Galiano to offer financial partnerships to help them relocate. The popular watering hole, which features an 80-foot-long mahogany bar, stained glass windows and antique fixtures, has been around for 26 years, and the owners assumed they would shutter for good until they got offers of support for a potential move. Tribeca Trib
SCULPTURE SWIPED FROM CITY HALL PARK An unknown thief snatched a portion of a $6,000 copper sculpture that was in the midst of being installed in City Hall Park, the Post reported. The sculpture, by Vietnamese artist Danh Vo, is on loan to the city from the Galerie Chantal Crousel in Paris, and was going to be unveiled Saturday. The missing piece was taken when workers were assembling the sculpture, which is titled “We The People.” The Public Art Fund confirmed to the Post that “a small part of the artwork disappeared from the park during installation” and that the police are looking into the matter. NY Post
DEAL FOR PIER 40 REHABILITATION The New York Times reported that officials with Hudson River Park have struck a tentative deal with the Cuomo administration to secure $100 million in funding to rehabilitate Pier 40, a 14.5-acre site badly in need of massive structural repair. The deal would transfer unused air rights from the pier to a site across the West Side Highway in exchange for the funding to demolish the four-story St. John’s Terminal Building on the pier and build new retail shops and residential buildings. The New York Times
SUSPENDERS BAR TO CLOSE, POSSIBLY RELOCATE The well-loved Financial District bar Suspenders NYC will be closing its doors at 111 Broadway at the end of this month, the Tribeca Trib reported.
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re-use
ways to your old newspaper
Use it as wrapping paper, or fold & glue pages into reusable gift bags.
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4
Add shredded newspaper to your compost pile when you need a carbon addition or to keep flies at bay.
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7
Use newspaper strips, water, and a bit of glue for newspaper mâché.
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Crumple newspaper to use as packaging material the next time you need to ship something fragile.
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Tightly roll up sheets of newspaper and tie with string to use as fire logs.
After your garden plants sprout, place newspaper sheets around them, then water & cover with grass clippings and leaves. This newspaper will keep weeds from growing.
Make origami creatures
Use shredded newspaper as animal bedding in lieu of sawdust or hay.
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Make your own cat litter by shredding newspaper, soaking it in dish detergent & baking soda, and letting it dry.
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Wrap pieces of fruit in newspaper to speed up the ripening process.
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Cut out letters & words to write anonymous letters to friends and family to let them know they are loved.
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Roll a twice-folded newspaper sheet around a jar, remove the jar, & you have a biodegradable seed-starting pot that can be planted directly into the soil.
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OPPORTUNITY Motivated and talented low-income public high school students are eager to go to college but can’t afford SAT prep.
Make newspaper airplanes and have a contest in the backyard.
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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.
Stuff newspapers in boots or handbags to help the items keep their shape. Dry out wet shoes by loosening laces & sticking balled newspaper pages inside.
a public service announcement brought to you by dirt magazine.
Volunteer or Donate at newyorkcares.org. New York Cares is New York City’s leading volunteer organization.
Photo credit: Lauren Farmer
MAY 22, 2014 Our Town
3
CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG ONE AND DONE
remember anything, nor had he felt anybody touch him. Police searched the area but were unable to locate his backpack or the thief. Items stolen were Someone stole a backpack from an intoxicated a MacBook Pro valued at $2,000, an iPhone 4 subway rider. At 3 AM on Friday, May 9, a 32-year-old man from Brooklyn was drinking with costing $400, and a black Swiss Army backpack coworkers at a bar on Ninth Avenue. At 3:45 AM he priced at $50, making a total of $2,450. got on the southbound 1 train at 40th Street and Seventh Avenue and fell asleep with his backpack TEEN ASSAULT ARREST between his legs. When he woke up, he found that his bag was missing. He told police that he did not Two young men were arrested and charged
1ST PRECINCT
with assaulting a third young man. At 4:45 PM on Friday, May 9, a young woman had a verbal altercation with a 17-year-old man. Her boyfriend, another 17-year-old, tried to intervene, when the first 17-year-old displayed a 4-inch knife. The knife wielder dropped his weapon on the ground and had a fistfight with the boyfriend. A friend of the knife wielder, a 16-year-old man, then picked up the knife off the ground and stabbed the boyfriend in his lower left back. The two attackers next fled the scene. The boyfriend, still conscious and alert, was taken to Bellevue Hospital. Later, police arrested the two attackers and charged them with assault.
Report covering the week 5/5/2014 through 5/11/2014
SALT AWAY
2014 2013
% Change
2014
2013
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
0
0
n/a
Rape
1
0
n/a
5
6
-16.7
Robbery
0
2
-100
15
23
-34.8
A valuable watercolor painting was stolen from a local gallery. At 7 PM on Saturday, April 19, an unknown person removed the painting from a gallery on Wooster Street without permission or authorization. A 56-year-old male employee of the gallery told police that the public, staff, and caterers all had access to the venue. There were no cameras on the premises or in the immediate area. The painting stolen was a John Salt framed watercolor, valued at $16,000.
SMOKE TAKE
Week to Date
Year to Date
Felony Assault
2
1
100
25
26
-3.8
Burglary
1
3
-66.7
54
78
-30.8
Grand Larceny
15
15
0
316
388
-18.6
Grand Larceny Auto
0
1
-100
2
11
-81.8
Someone took a man’s bag from a bar when he went out for a smoke. At 8:14 PM on Friday, May 9, a 34-year-old man left his bag hanging under the bar on John Street while he went outside for a smoke. When he returned, he discovered that his bag was gone. Video shows a man entering the bar and removing the bag from the hook before exiting
the location. There was no tracking software on the stolen phone. The items stolen were an HP laptop valued at $1,500, an iPhone 5 costing $600, and a Swiss Army bag valued at $70, making a total of $2,170.
STROLLER ROLLER A woman’s bag was removed from her baby stroller in a store. At 5:20 PM on Monday, May 12, a 31-year-old woman left her bag unattended inside her baby stroller for a few seconds in a store on Broadway. When she returned, she found that her bag was missing. A store employee soon found the bag on the floor in a different area of the store, with her wallet and other items missing. Items missing included the baby’s passport, the mother and baby’s German blue card and working/ residence permits, a European insurance card, a German press card, two Chinese and German credit cards, $200 in cash, 300 RMBs and 500 Swiss Francs, a Chinese ID card, the baby’s benefit card, and several ID photos.
UNCLOTHED Two men shoplifted clothing and a magazine from a boutique. At 2:30 PM on Wednesday, May 7, two men removed items of merchandise from a display in a Duane Street clothing boutique and exited the store. The items stolen were two items of Armani green denim apparel valued at $750 total, a large Frank Clegg tote priced at $680, a black Watch Fox umbrella costing $95, and a copy of The Rake Magazine, cover price $10. The total shoplifted amounted to $1,535.
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Our Town MAY 22, 2014
Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 20th Precinct
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Organizers say they want to increase safety awareness for both motorcyclists and other drivers.
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163 W. 125th St.
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322 Eighth Ave. #1700
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STATE LEGISLATORS State Senator Brad Hoylman
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212-873-6368
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212-866-3970
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SOHO FIGHTS BACK AGAINST BIKERS NEWS Residents are hoping to squash a motorcycle rally planned for their neighborhood BY JEFF STONE
SOHO Depending on who you talk to, New York City motorcycle riders are either daredevils living on the fringes of society or simple freedom-lovers who are only trying to put their community first. The two sides only became more ingrained when video of the gruesome road rage incident on the West Side Highway went viral last fall, and now tension is growing again over a proposed rally on the streets of Soho. The Brooklyn Alliance chapter of ABATE New York, a statewide organization that advocates for motorcycle
rights, has requested permits from the local community board for a “Bike Blessing and Community Awareness” event on July 22nd. The blessing is an annual tradition among bikers that aims to provide them with good luck through the riding season. The all-day event would feature children’s face painters, involvement from public officials, and members will be on hand to answer questions or provide motorcycle safety advice. According to organizers, much of the goal is to improve New Yorkers’ opinions of motorcyclists in the wake of the West Side Highway incident, in which dozens of bikers surrounded, harassed, and attempted to assault a young family. Cell phone images of the chase made international headlines and seemed to cement hobbyists into the outlaw stereotype celebrated by the Hells Angels. Soho residents – to put it mildly – are less enthused about the proposed bike blessing. Sean Sweeney, the executive director of the Soho Alliance and member of Community Board 2, warned that between 150 and 200 motorcycles are expected to rumble into Soho from Brooklyn and throughout the state, closing off streets and creating a headache in a community where even street fairs are few and far between. “No one wants it,” he said. “Who would want motorcycles revving up from 12:00 until 6:00 p.m. and maybe even later on a nice sunny Saturday afternoon? It shows no concern at all for the hundreds of people who live within earshot of this proposed event.” When questioned about details of the event and the expected turnout, multiple New York board members of ABATE said they have no intention of sending any motorcyclists to Manhattan, and that the issue has not come up during their regular meetings. Sweeney said he is a motorcycle owner himself and admitted that the event, which will be held at Soho Square near Broome and Sixth Avenue, probably won’t impact traffic much, if at all. How-
ever he stressed that the problem is the location, along with the vendors possibly selling food and souvenirs at what has been billed as a religious event. A major point of contention is that the rally is being sponsored by the Ducati Triumph motorcycle shop, leading to the perception that the true motivation for the ceremony is profit. Despite the focus on community-building, he equated the situation with a company debuting a new product. “Does that mean the Apple store could close the street off when the next iPhone comes out? Of course not,” he said. “This is a commercial event, a noisy event, from people who have zero roots to the community.” The proprietor of Ducati Triumph, Steve Rodt, said he was led to believe the event would have “minimal impact” and he made it clear that upsetting neighbors is not on the store’s summer to-do list. “Motorcycling is a nice leisure activity,” Rodt said. “I’m not looking to create any hardship at all.” Members of the Brooklyn Alliance chapter refused to speculate on how many people would show up, but ABATE New York State President Robert Porter estimated that sun and bright skies attract hundreds of people to a bike blessing. He said that unlike the “Sons of Anarchy” TV show, ABATE has actually raised thousands of dollars for the Ronald McDonald House and other charities. The group also lobbies lawmakers in Albany to allow for safer helmet laws and to update driver’s license tests so that young drivers know how to share the road with bikers. As for the location of the bike blessing, the Brooklyn Alliance said motorcycle events are held throughout the city and they chose Soho as a way to “just get the awareness out.” They said large numbers could show up, although they expect that visitors will come and go throughout the day. The community board will meet to discuss the matter next on Thursday, May 22nd.
MAY 22, 2014 Our Town
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REMEMBERING A SOLDIER AND SON MEMORIAL Neighbors and family members gathered in Chinatown to commemorate Private Danny Chen Way STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARY NEWMAN
CHINATOWN Last Saturday, a large crowd marched down Elizabeth Street holding green balloons in memory of Private Danny Chen; they were led by his parents Su Zhen and Yen Tao Chen. The corner of Canal Street and Elizabeth Street was renamed Private Danny Chen Way to honor the Chinatown solider who had committed suicide in 2011 due to hazing and racist remarks form his fellow soldiers. He was 19 years old. An entire community came out in support of Private Chen and his disheartened parents. “It is important that we remember what happened,” explained Chinese American veteran Fang Wong. “It was a tragic loss of life, so it’s important both the government and our community have an understanding of what Danny went through so it never happens again.” The crowd grew in anticipation of the sign unveiling, including former neighbors, advocacy groups, and several government officials there to help raise awareness. His mother spoke through a mega-phone, silencing the large crowd to say, “We will continue to remember Danny’s story,” through tears in Chinese. Major General William Wass of the U.S. Army was there to speak to the crowd in support of Chen’s family. “On behalf of the of the United States Army it is a privilege to be with you for this tribute dedicated to Private Danny Chen, a young man who chose to serve his country with honor, courage, and integrity,” he yelled to the crowd. “The foundation of our Army is rooted in dignity and respect for all of our soldiers regardless of race or ethnic background.” Elizabeth Ouyang, president of the Organization of Chinese Americans New York City chapter (OCA-NY), gave the final speech before the sign was unveiled. She asked the crowd to chant Danny Chen’s name as she highlighted his life. She passionately yelled to the crowd details of Chen’s childhood, growing up on Elizabeth
Street, playing in Columbus Park, and attending P.S. 130, Pace High School, and Baruch College. Once the sign was uncovered, the crowd was filled with many tears and hugs. Dozens of green balloons were released into the sky above Chinatown in honor of the struggle one of their neighbors had endured. The hope is that when people see the sign for “Private Danny Chen Way,” they will learn of the racism and hazing he suffered, raising awareness to prevent such a tragedy from happening in the future.
Above, Private Danny Chen’s mother at the ceremony to rename part of Elizabeth Street for her late son. Hundreds of people came out for the dedication and released green balloons in Chen’s memory.
MAY 22, 2014 Our Town
The ceremony to officially open the museum was held last week, with President Obama and families of 9/11 victims in attendance.
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REMEMBERING THAT DAY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 lose a lot of cops and Port Authority police.” Twenty-three NYPD officers and 37 Port Authority officers lost their lives on Sept. 11. “If you were working that day and you were a cop, you can actually hear the cops dying. Everyone died equally, there was no color, there was no race, there was no religion in there,” said Loretoni. As a result of her injury, Colon now lives with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a disease causing chronic pain in the ankle she broke, as well as PTSD. Loretoni said she also suffers from PTSD as a result of being a first responder to the scene. “It’s not going to trigger in there,” said Loretoni, gesturing to the museum. “Sometimes things don’t trigger until later. You might be sitting at home and maybe they play one of those 9/11 songs they played during that period, and that will trigger the PTSD.”
Four brothers Bill Amaniera was an EMS technician and a first responder to Ground Zero on Sept. 11. He has three brothers in the NYPD, all of whom responded soon after him to the scene. “I was the first one here, and they got here right after me. I was here before the towers actually came down,” said Amaniera. The brothers all survived 9/11, though Amaniera’s parents, as well as his two sons, waited many tense hours to hear from them. “It brought back some rough times, but it also brought back some positive memories of buddies of mine that I lost,” he said of the museum. “I thought it was very respectful and tasteful.” In a notebook at the museum,
where first responders could jot down thoughts as they toured the exhibits, Amaniera wrote that he, like many others, will never forget. “You know, they say ‘Never forget,’” said Amaniera. “But the reality is, I will never forget.”
Confusion, and concern for the future Jim Larsen worked for the Port Authority on the 65th floor of the North Tower. “I compacted the whole day into confusion, from the time I left to the time I started walking down the stairs, until I got home. I just kept moving, no panic,” said Larsen, who lives an hour north of Manhattan. “Really the first time I noticed the smoke was at City Hall when we stopped, and that was when the second tower collapsed,” said Larsen. “Another moment of confusion, the dust cloud was coming up Broadway.” Was it hard walking around the museum? “It was, in a way, but I get the impression that you have to have had some direct connection to the objects that are in the museum, otherwise I don’t know if people would appreciate it as much.” Although Larsen was in the literal epicenter of the attacks, looking back he feels as though he was merely on the fringes. “For me, I would say maybe I always felt guilty after that. I got home and I didn’t have a spot of dust on me. I got wet, but that was from coming down the stairs when the sprinklers were on,” he said. “I didn’t see any blood, I didn’t see anybody like what I saw in the pictures, walking through all covered in dust. Like I said, in a way I felt guilty about it. I dodged the grim reaper.” Larsen said his career has taken him all over the world, putting him in contact with many different cultures and perspectives. “I was concerned with how
the United States would react,” he said. “I knew many Muslims, and they were good people. I was just concerned that a lot of good and innocent people would be hurt.”
Summer courses start June 23rd, 2014
RSVP for an Open House! May 29th 6:30-7:30pm June 16th 11:00am-1:00pm
Utter disorientation Pete Begley was a battalion commander in the FDNY and watched from home as the first plane slammed into the North Tower. He knew immediately that he had to get to Lower Manhattan. “I was off that day,” he said, “but then again everybody came to work.” Begley said the scene was so disorienting that he couldn’t even tell where the West Side Highway was located, or find the firehouse on Liberty Street. “I worked in that place. And when I showed up down here in the rubble, after the towers fell, I couldn’t get my bearings,” he said. “I didn’t know where I was because of the mounds, the steel, everything.” Begley toured the museum with his wife, Gloria, and said portions of it were hard to take . “The thing of it was, the TV didn’t do it justice. I saw the plane hit the tower at home, so I saw some devastation on TV, but by the time I got down here it was a whole different world. I couldn’t describe it. You’re like this small,” he said, pinching his pointer finger and thumb to within an inch of each other. “You experienced a lot more devastation right here in the area, and I wish everybody could see that, but [the museum] is good enough.” The Begleys walked over to the reflecting pool, where tourists were pushing strollers and taking smiling photos in front of the names of the dead, 2,753 of which ring both pools where the towers once stood. Nearby, first responders trickled out of the museum in twos and threes, occasionally greeting an old face but mostly walking in silence.
To RSVP, call 212.396.6653 or email parliamo@hunter.cuny.edu
www.hunter.cuny.edu/parliamo EDUCATION
695 Park Avenue, Rooms E1038 & 1039 New York, NY 10065
You Never Forget Who You Grew Up With. The rough touch of tree bark, the scent of freshly mowed grass, the gentle hum of pollinating bees as a flower blossoms — green spaces touch lives and all five senses. Green spaces are a vital part of growing up — they enhance lives, make memories and connect people with their neighborhoods and communities. Be a part of preserving and enhancing green spaces where we live, work and play. To volunteer, to learn how to help your community and to donate, visit ProjectEverGreen.org or call toll-free (877) 758-4835.
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Our Town MAY 22, 2014
Voices
< UNEQUAL BUT FAIR Just as were the rent controlled tenants at 845 West End Ave, I too was “rankled” by the story of “Unequal Access.” However what rankled me was how obtuse these tenants are to the simple basics of economics. The new fitness and play rooms were not paid for by their below market rents. They were paid for
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by the owners of the condo apartments and consequently those owners have the right to use their property as they see fit. One of the tenants was quoted as saying the new facilities should be free for all to use because the “rent is too high already.” Well those facilities didn’t just appear out of thin air. Someone paid for
them and guess what? It was the condo owner, not the renter. Those condo owners would be justifiably upset if they wanted to use the exercise room and found all the equipment being used by renters who didn’t contribute a dime to the facilities. It’s a matter of fairness. Bob F.,
West Sider since 1974
SAVING SMALL BUSINESS
BUSINESS ROOMMATES The idea I have, not to keep small business but to bring in new small business is this; although I am not sure if it is feasible. Why not have new owners share space, and therefore the cost of rent might be manageable? If there are two businesses, perhaps their products might complement each other, e.g. muffins, croissants, etc. and the other side might be variety of coffees and teas. Apartment rents are so high so there are roommates. Bunny Abraham, Upper East Side
ANOTHER GOODBYE TO A LOCAL MAINSTAY Lee’s Market had operated on the corner of First Avenue and E. 78th Street since the 1980s. When their lease was up, they couldn’t afford the increase.
A GOOD ARGUMENT AGAINST HORSE CARRIAGES As a long-time supporter of the movement to Ban Horse Carriages in NYC, I agree with Elizabeth Forel’s recent oped entitled, “The Argument for Banning Carriage Horses.” I am especially puzzled by the claim made by the carriage trade that they run a $15-$19M business - when as a cash only business, it must be rather difficult to prove such a worth, let alone use it to discourage a ban. I do not feel that having a horse-drawn carriage ban in NYC will cause horses to be sent to slaughter, nor do I believe that the movement is fueled by any kind of a land grab. This movement to ban horsedrawn carriages in NYC was begun and is supported by animal lovers (such as myself) because we feel that having horses pulling carriages in 21st Century NYC traffic is both inhumane to the horses and dangerous to both people and horses. Not so long ago, smoking in restaurants and public places was thought to be “traditional” and necessary to keep those places in business, but now that smoking is banned, those businesses are still thriving, and we are all better off health-wise as a result of the smoking ban. I believe the same will happen as a result of the horse-drawn carriage ban. Deborah Thomas, Upper West Side
A resident laments the loss of a neighborhood bodega BY LISA KLITSES
UPPER EAST SIDE Today Lee’s Market closed. Lee’s Market is a bodega, if you will, that has been on our corner of First Avenue and East 78th Street since, at least, the 1980s. Their lease was up and they could not afford the increase. Lee’s was a small business open 24/7, a rarity in these parts of town. On the 78th Street side of the building, there was an abundance of flowers and someone always cre-
STRAUS MEDIA-MANHATTAN
ating beautiful bouquets. Whatever flowers or trees were applicable for the holidays, they would have them lined up on the sidewalk to sell. During Christmas, there would be a row of trees that smelled amazing! If you needed anything from candles, batteries or milk for your coffee, they had it. During snow storms, black outs or your last minute needs, they always provided our neighborhood with supplies. They helped to keep our neighborhood safe, as their lights were always on. I will miss this mom-and-pop
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store, the owners and their employees. Not only have we lost them, but also, they lost their livelihoods. They served our neighborhood with their smiles, presence and ability to always be there when you really needed them. I feel sad! Not only because they are leaving, but also because they represent how our country does not support the needs of small business owners. In our neighborhood Duane Reade and Banks are more important than keeping the people of this country employed, prosper-
Editor In Chief, Kyle Pope editor.ot@strausnews.com Editor, Megan Bungeroth editor.otdt@strausnews.com
ous and proud. Please remember to support your local small businesses. They are people who care, are talented and want to make a living and provide for themselves and their families. It is the small things in life that make a difference. From the smiles you receive when getting your morning coffee, or the flowers you bought your loved one at the last minute, to the batteries that did not come with the toy you bought your child for his/her birthday. These and more were all the small things Lee’s Market provided our neighborhood.
Staff Reporters, Gabrielle Alfiero, Daniel Fitzsimmons Block Mayors, Ann Morris, Upper W Side
Jennifer Peterson, Upper E Side Gail Dubov, Upper W Side Edith Marks, Upper W Side
MAY 22, 2014 Our Town
The Sixth Borough
Trying anything once
BY BECCA TUCKER pening the fridge, the black garbage bag was the first thing I saw. I’m all about slow food, but this garbage bag contained more than I was sure I could deal with. But dilly dallying was a decision in and of itself: maggots, or bacteria, or some more motivated life form would beat me to it. If I was going to turn what was in that bag into dinner, then it had to be done soon. Inside that ominous bag was all that remained of our goat, Latte, who had met his end on Friday night. Husband Joe and two other guys had slaughtered him, collecting pretty much everything – blood, innards – at the request of the family that had bought him. It was hard to say goodbye to Latte. He was among the first group of six goats on our farm. But we’re learning fast that there’s no room for sentimentality on a farm. Handsome though he was, he was pocket-sized, and now that we were getting more serious, he was not the one buck we’d choose to breed our does. He did, however, have an impressive pair of testicles: “pelotas grandes,” our Latino customers had noted, nodding appreciatively. But the family that bought the rest of Latte didn’t want the hide, to which those pelotas were still attached. So we put it in a bag and stuck it in the fridge. There it sat, slowly migrating toward the back of the shelf, where it wasn’t so obvious anymore. If we forgot about it for another day or two, the only thing left to do would be to dump the contents into the compost.
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But what a waste that would be. Testicles from a grassfed goat have to be about as nutrient-dense as food gets. I’ve been getting deep into nutritional literature lately, and organ meats, particularly from animals that grazed on grass – liver, brain, heart, kidney – are unmatched as super foods. You can buy these things online; but here we had fresh organs from a healthy, pastured goat in our fridge. They belonged to an animal we had worked hard in caring for, whose hooves we’d trimmed and whose hair we’d brushed of burrs, an animal we had fed every day through the winter, sometimes getting to the barn on snowshoe. To dump his organs in the compost and then go order other organs with my credit card was lazy at best. 5 a.m. Monday morning. I don’t know why I was up, but I knew it was now or never. I slipped out of bed, grabbed the garbage bag out of the fridge, a bowl and a knife, and headed outside. I hosed down the hide to get rid of the leaves and debris that were clinging to it and went to work. I will spare you too many details. Suffice to say that once I’d exchanged my smooth knife for a serrated one, the job – while it required focus and persistence – was neither particularly gruesome nor strenuous. I came back inside just as Joe and toddler Kai were waking up, carrying two smooth, slippery ovals in a bowl, along with a couple of other pieces I’d been able to salvage. When I got home from work that evening, he had the testicles marinating in garlic buttermilk to get rid of some of the gaminess, a trick he’d picked up from his dad,
a hunter. Joe cut each oval in half, then in half again, for a total of eight pieces, which he sautéed with green garlic and curry. I don’t know whether chopping up a pair of testicles is a disturbing thing for a man to do. I got the sense that, although good smells were wafting, the mood was not particularly jovial. Kai seemed to have that sense, too. It was one of those nights. She was overtired by the time we sat down, and at first, wouldn’t sit at the table, much less taste the entrée. Joe and I both nibbled between attempts to calm her. Some of the pieces were chewy like calamari, others were squishy like liver. At some point Joe went outside with the disgruntled Kai. There I was, sitting by myself eating goat testicles. Had I become a zealot, I wondered blackly? Maybe I should just stick a broom between my legs and gallop around the yard, muttering about duck hearts and rabbit giblets. “Well,” I said lamely, when they came back in, “it’s supposed to be super nutritious.” Eventually, Kai deigned to slurp some of the buttermilk broth. Feeding the baby was the whole point. I felt a little better. While I regret to report that goat testicles did not turn out to have the rumored aphrodisiac effect I’d read about, I do feel like we did right by Latte. And nutritional zealotry aside, I like testicles better than liver. They may not become the new family staple, but if a pair comes our way again, I’m thinking we’ll prepare them as a side dish or an appetizer. Less pressure. Becca Tucker is a former Manhattanite now living on an upstate farm and writing about the rural life.
IMPORTANT AND VERY SPECIAL MEMORIAL DAY/VETERANS DAY EFFORT BEHIND EVERY NAME IS A FACE AND A STORY
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation project “Faces Never Forgotten” needs help obtaining missing photos of Vietnam veterans from New York. These photos will help complete an electronic “Wall of Faces” in the new education center at the Vietnam Memorial Wall. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation is working to locate photos of all 58,286 soldiers listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. They are building a new Education Center at the Wall right near the existing memorial wall on the National Mall. Construction for the facility is planned to start in 2016 and be completed for a grand opening in 2019. The new building will include an electronic “Wall of Faces” corresponding to the names on the wall. So far, the VVMF has collected 34,000 of the photos and still needs to find approximately 24,000 photos of soldiers listed on the wall. More information about this project can be found at www.vvmf.org. The New York Press Association (NYPA) and this newspaper are partnering with other newspapers across the country in an effort to help the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation find photos of Vietnam Veterans from their readership area. We know that publicizing this effort in newspapers across the country is the most effective and efficient way to collect these photos. We are asking our readers to send photos of these soldiers to NYPA, and NYPA will in turn send the photos to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation. Please email photos to: Mdecann@nynewspapers.com You can view the gallery in progress at www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces. There are effective and moving tributes to fallen soldiers from your area.
Will you please help us locate a photo of each soldier? The local paper for Downtown own
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Our summer course begins July 28, 2014 and meets every Monday and Thursday evening until August 28. Fall courses begin either September 6th or 7th, 2014 Test taking techniques taught 6 complete practice exams Ten 3-hour classes 2014 will be our 34th year
Cost: $925 GRF TEST PREP CLASSES Call: (201) 592-1592 Visit our website: www.GRFTestPrep.com To request a brochure: e-mail us at: GRFTestPrep@aol.com
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Our Town MAY 22, 2014
“THE PERFECT FATHER’S DAY GIFT” DRAW YOUR DAD FOR FATHER’S DAY JUNE 15, 2014 Draw a picture of Dad, scan it (or send it to us)
and then order a mug or luggage tag with your child’s drawing on it. All kids drawings will appear on our website as they are received. Just go to otdowntown.com Click on Fun & Games
Then order Dad’s portrait on a mug, totebag etc. DO NOT USE PENCIL Use bold and bright colored pens, markers, crayons, etc. Light color and pencils will not reproduce on our website or newspapers.
PLEASE DO NOT FOLD YOUR DRAWING
Out & About 23 19TH ANNUAL LOWER EAST SIDE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS Theater for the New City , 155 1st Avenue, between East 9th and 10th Streets 6 p.m. - 1.am.; Free The festival tips its hat and heart to the pantheon of greats who lived and created and performed their art on the Lower East Side and the East Village in the past, such as: George and Ira Gershwin, The Adlers, Molly Picon, Irving Berlin, Charlie Parker, Yip Harburg, Eugene O’Neill, Garcia Lorca, Mark Twain, James Cagney, Fanny Brice, George Raft, Eddie Cantor, and the list stretches on. As always, LES also rejoices in our present and future by throwing wide our stages to today’s established stars and those on the threshold and many just getting their talented toes in the door. theaterforthenewcity.net
VARIATIONS ON A THEME One Art Space., 23 Warren Street 6 p.m.; Free A solo exhibition of London based Canadian artist Andrew Salgado. UK Andrew Salgado has created a buzz for himself with bold, generally large scale figurative paintings that have situated him as one to watch in both the UK and North America. oneartspace.com
roll antics, and the mystical American Southwest. themadones.org
enjoy America’s pastime the way it used to be played! governorsislandalliance.org
OPENING DAY FAMILY FESTIVAL
PASSPORT TO TAIWAN
Governor’s Island, Colonels Row and Liggett Terrace 1-4 p.m.; Free Join the Governors Island Alliance in Nolan Park for arts and crafts, musical and theatrical performances, and harbor-education activities for kids. Sponsored by the Governors Island Alliance. governorsislandalliance.org
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Union Square North 12-5 p.m.; Free In celebration of Taiwanese American heritage week. Performance programs, food booths, raffle giveaways and art exhibitions. p2tw.org
26 WASHINGTON SQUARE OUTDOOR ART EXHIBIT
24 THE MAD ONES: THE ESSENTIAL STRAIGHT & NARROW WORLD PREMIERE
Dad’s Name: Your Name & Age:
Address:
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New Ohio Theatre, 154 Christopher Street 8 p.m.; $18 The Essential Straight & Narrow is an intimate anthem about regret and reinvention… featuring original country rock songs. A lo-fi ode to the Kodachrome 1970s, rock and
VINTAGE BASEBALL AT GOVERNOR’S ISLAND Governor’s Island, Parade Ground Visit the Parade Ground and
University Place from East 13th Street south along the side of Washington Square Park to NYU’s Schwartz Plaza 12-6 p.m.; Free In the midst of the Depression Era. Jackson Pollock,
MAY 22, 2014 Our Town
“DEAR ALBERT”
27 BOOK CLUB MEETING: THE CAT’S TABLE BY MICHAEL ONDAATJE New York Public Library, 9 Murray Street 6 p.m.;Free In the early 1950s, an elevenyear-old boy boards a huge liner bound for England – a ‘castle that was to cross the sea’. At mealtimes, he is placed at the lowly ‘Cat’s Table’ with an eccentric group of grown-ups and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys become involved in the worlds and stories of the adults around them, tumbling from one adventure and delicious discovery to another. nypl.org
CITY SPORTS RUN CLUB City Sports Downtown, 50 Broadway 6 p.m. - 12 a.m.; Free Meets Every Tuesday at 6:00pm at City Sports
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 Laguardia Pl 8-10 p.m.; $55-$85/$35/ students Dear Albert delves into the treasure trove of letters written by Einstein, tracing an intimate and unfamiliar line across his life and work. Unquestionably one of the greatest – if not the greatest – minds of the 20th century, Einstein was as celebrated for his wit as for his Theory of Relativity. The reading humanizes a giant in the pantheon of great scientists and sheds light upon his momentous scientific insights through first-hand accounts of groundbreaking discoveries worldsciencefestival.com
FIGURE AL FRESCO Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, Pier A, Battery Park 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Learn figure drawing outdoors with an artist/educator. Materials provided. bpcparks.org
29 EYE OF THE STORM: THE SCIENCE OF WEATHER Gould Plaza, NYU, 40 W. 4th
REACH
MANHATTAN + “THE BURBS”
Manhattan
PA
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TARGET JUST THE AUDIENCE YOU WANT
are now part of
SCIENCE AND STORY: THE WRITE ANGLE The Great Hall of the Cooper Union, 7 East Seventh Street Between 3rd and 4th Avenue 5:30-7:30 p.m.; $35/$15 students Doing science? Hard work. Explaining the results to an interested but scientifically untrained public? Just as difficult. And just as important. Join a conversation with Sean Carroll, Jo Marchant, Joyce Carol Oates, and Steven Pinker to discuss the responsibilities and challenges science writers face when leading the uninitiated into worlds filled with equations, data, minutiae, and long histories of incrementally compiled knowledge. What are the most effective and creative ways for making complex ideas compelling and accessible without compromising their intellectual integrity? worldsciencefestival.com
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Street 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Free See our home planet as you’ve never seen it before: projected and animated on a giant, suspended globe, Science on a Sphere® from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Watch dramatic weather unleash furious historic storms, see special spherical movies about space, tsunamis, and waterfalls, and meet the scientists who study our climate. worldsciencefestival.com
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Downtown NYC! City Sports provides a secure place to store your belongings during the run! Membership is free; all you need to do is sign a waiver upon arrival. citysportsblog.com/runclub/50-broadway-run-clubnyc
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desperately in need of funds to pay the rent on his Greenwich Village studio that also served as his home, took a few of his iconoclastic paintings down several flights of stairs and set them up on the sidewalk near Washington Square Park. His friend and fellow Village artist, Willem DeKooning, in equally desperate financial straits, soon joined him. They organized the art show that would evolve into the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit, a twice-a-year happening, every Memorial Day Weekend and the weekend that follows, and every Labor Day Weekend and the weekend that follows. wsoae.org
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Our Town MAY 22, 2014
Steel rods and wooden hooks keep this Little Free Library, designed by architect Chat Travieso, mounted on a fence near 82 Rutgers Slip on the Lower East Side. Photo by Philippe Theise
THE LITTLE LIBRARY THAT COULD LITERATURE A specially-designed bench houses a community treasure of free books BY PHILIPPE THEISE
LOWER EAST SIDE First, the children in Two Bridges Neighborhood Council’s afterschool program talked about the meaning of the library. Some drew it from memory, while others followed descriptions or outlined their own versions. On another day, they sanded it and wiped it clean. Finally, in late April, architect Chat Travieso and members of Two Bridges’ staff remounted the small library on the same
iron fence near 82 Rutgers Slip where it hung last summer and fall, and the exchange of free books and magazines resumed. One of ten libraries that PEN World Voices Festival and the Architectural League of New York partnered to create in 2013, the diminutive wooden bench and textual repository has proved popular with local residents. “It makes it exciting for them,” said Jessica Alvarado, whose six-year-old daughter, Bella, selected a copy of Beverly Cleary’s “Beezus and Ramona” to take home last Friday afternoon. “The content constantly changes.” Minus Cleary’s classic, that content included “Annie John,” by Jamaica Kincaid; “War
Comes to Willy Freeman,” Freeman ” by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier; “Journey to Jo’burg,” by Beverley Naidoo; and “The Great Gilly Hopkins,” by Katherine Paterson, among other titles. The structure isn’t just any library, but a Little Free Library, so named after the Wisconsin nonprofit that encourages the proliferation of small, publicly accessible collections of books in communities worldwide. In July 2012, Jakab Orsos, who directs the World Voices Festival, read a New York Times article about the first such library in New York City. He then contacted the Architectural League, which solicited applications to design ten libraries. A festival volunteer found sponsors to donate funds, and the League allocated $1,000 for each library. The New Museum helped find downtown organizations and institutions to host and manage them. “The bigger the city, the more profound the need for smaller communities,” Orsos said over the phone. “Communities gathering around a notion of literature, a book, is always important.”
A 59-year-old organization headquartered on Cherry Street on the Lower East Side, Two Bridges helped develop local affordable housing in the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. According to its website, it “was founded to resolve racial conflicts” among diverse groups of residents living side by side. About an hour after Bella Alvarado made her choice, Two Bridges’ Executive Director Victor Papa, 69, recalled learning about his Jewish neighbors in the late 1940’s and 50’s via books. “I understood who they were by reading the famous Jewish [Holocaust-era] survivor, who used to have coffee at the caférestaurant on East Broadway and Rutgers Street,” Papa said, later naming the writer as Isaac Bashevis Singer. Papa hopes that the library will give local children comparable opportunities to learn about different cultures, and said he would like to stock it with abridged versions of foundational Western and Chinese texts. “I think [reading them] builds a foundation for understanding
the world,” he said. Chat Travieso, the architect whom the Architectural League assigned to work with Two Bridges, said that the organization insisted that its library be recognizable to English, Chinese, and Spanish-speaking residents. Travieso responded with an act of optical ingenuity. Face the library straight on and you’ll read an English word; from the left, a Spanish one; and from the right, Chinese characters. They all spell “library” in thick, offwhite lines. The architect chose exteriorgrade plywood to build the structure, which includes two seats on either side of a steelhandled receptacle. The children in the afterschool program
helped trace the letters and characters, Travieso said, and paint the teal, orange and green sections between the slats. A rubber strip helps seal out water from the receptacle. Though it rained intermittently on Friday, the piles of books within the library felt dry. Sitting in Two Bridges’ classroom, Kaitlynn Leung, 9, recalled reading a book about earthquakes while “sitting on one of the benches,” and Merchindize Perry, 11, said that some of her family members, including an uncle, have used the library. And both Perry and Cesar Polonia, 9, noted the cost-free part of the little library: no fees for lost cards, or late returns.
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MAY 22, 2014 Our Town
FOR THE WEEK
Weill Music Institute
BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
Free
THE NEWS
NEW YORK YOUTH SYMPHONY
In celebration of Lower East Side History Month, outdoor theater wanders from parks to the downtown streets in “The News.” Audience members take a walking tour of the neighborhood as they listen to the show’s score on headsets, while Downtown Art’s ensemble performs original song and dance numbers based on 10 actual news articles from 1914. Starts at northeast corner of Sara Roosevelt Park E Houston and Chrystie Streets Saturday, May 24 2:00 p.m. Tickets $10
For the final concert of its spring season, the New York Youth Symphony performs compositions by American composers, including Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. Guest violinist Benjamin Beilman, who won the 2012 Avery Fisher Career Grant, will perform Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, and composer Conrad Winslow will premiere his original composition, “All Decays.” Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium 881 Seventh Ave. Sunday, May 25 2:00 p.m. Tickets $20-$55
MUSIC
DANCE
GRACE WEBER
MADART CREATIVE PRESENTS “ONDINE”
Growing up, indie-soul singer and Milwaukee native Grace Weber developed her rich, emotive voice singing with her local youth gospel choir, and appeared on Showtime’s “Live at the Apollo” at age 16. Now a Brooklyn resident, Weber will test material from her upcoming album “The Refinery” with a series of shows at Rockwood Music Hall. Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1 196 Allen St. Friday, May 23 8:00 p.m. FREE
Performing arts company MADArt Creative presents its new, mixed-media performance piece “ONDINE,” a conceptual piece about conquering over-stimulation to find tranquility. Featuring multiple components, the collaborative “ONDINE” includes original dance, musical compositions and video productions, live piano and percussion, and video projections that respond to dancer’s movements. Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Education Center Flamboyan Theater 107 Suffolk St. Friday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 24 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets $23
Sunday, June 1 at 5 PM An exciting collective of young professional musicians, Ensemble ACJW has been called “fun, fearless, and effing great” by Time Out New York. Program includes chamber music by Bartók and Brahms. Music at Our Saviour’s Atonement (MOSA) Our Saviour’s Atonement Lutheran Church 178 Bennett Avenue (at 189th Street) | Manhattan mosaconcerts.org | 212-923-5757 1A
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Carnegie Hall’s Neighborhood Concerts are sponsored by
Free concerts in all five boroughs! carnegiehall.org/NeighborhoodConcerts
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you You’d
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Local collaborative theater ensemble the Mad Ones debut their new play, “The Essential Straight and Narrow,” a nostalgic contemplation about regret, reinvention and the
The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education
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THE MAD ONES PREMIERES “THE ESSENTIAL STRAIGHT AND NARROW”
1970s southwest, set to original country-rock tunes. The Drama Desk-nominated ensemble earned critical praise for its last effort, “Samuel and Alasdair,” and remains devoted to exploring cultural nostalgia and memory. New Ohio Theatre 154 Christopher St. May 22-June 14 8:00 p.m. Tickets $18
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Our Town MAY 22, 2014
Food & Drink
< NEW YORK TIMES VISITS CHELSEA TAPAS SPOT For his May 13 review of Chelsea tapas bar El Quinto Pino, New York Times food writer Pete Wells found much to praise in the Spanish eatery’s small plates. “Some of the seafood is so appealing and out of the ordinary that dividing it can test your ability to play well with others,” Wells wrote about some
In Brief SONNY’S SODA SHOPPE OPENS IN MONDRIAN HOTEL Cocktail bar Sonny’s Soda Shoppe opened May 15 on the roof of the Mondrian hotel in Soho, offering what Grub Street called the city’s “most expansive” view. The 3,000 square foot space, with both indoor and outdoor bars, was designed by DeVinn Bruce (who is also redesigning the restaurant and bar at the Hotel on Rivington) and features pastel stripes on the straws, napkins and walls, crisp white and tan furniture and green turf as nods to Italian beach club Forte Dei Marmi. The cocktails range from the classic Negroni and Bellini to the inventive, such as a tequila-based drink with olive oil, honey dew melon, arugula and tarragon. An outdoor gelato stand features rotating flavors from Laboratorio Gelato, and the kitchen serves up signature pizzas. Sonny’s Soda Shoppe is located at the Mondrian Soho, (entrance at 150 Lafayette St.), and is open Wednesday and Thursday from 6:00 p.m. until midnight, and Friday through Sunday from 4:00 p.m. until midnight.
of the standout tapas, including the ortiguillas, fried sea anemone with soft scrambled eggs, and a salad of raw salt cod, tomato, romesco, anchovy and chicory, which Wells said “seemed to get more lively with each bite.” In his recent review of Telepan Local, a new small-plates restaurant in Tribeca, Wells
found the haphazard speed at which dishes came from the kitchen to the table problematic, but at El Quinto Pino, which recently expanded to include a full dining room, he appreciated the mindfulness of the servers, who didn’t overcrowd his table with too many dishes at once.
LITTLE ITALY FAVORITE PARM TO OPEN IN BROOKFIELD PLACE RESTAURANTS The trio behind the classic Italian spot is bringing their red sauce fare to the Hudson Eats food plaza at the World Financial Center BY LAUREN ROTHMAN
DANNY MEYER DEFENDS SHAKE SHACK AGAINST FOOD POISONING ALLEGATIONS When Lucas Duda, the New York Mets’ outfielder and first baseman, and Philadelphia Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg bo both developed severe stomach illnesses over the weekend weeken of May 10, they blamed the burge burgers they ate from fro Citi Field’s Shake Shack food stand. Duda was hospitalized with the illness, which kept him out of the lineup for f the first meeting of the three-game series against the Phillie Phillies on Friday, 9, according to ESPN.com, Friday May 9 ESPN com and Sandberg said he lost six pounds in two days. However, restaurateur and the chain’s founder Danny Meyer disputed the claim, telling the New York Post that “It’s highly unlikely” that a Shake Shack burger caused the illness, since there were no other reports of food poisoning by Citi Field customers. On Wednesday, May 14, the Wall Street Journal reported that fans weren’t concerned about potential contamination, as long lines still grew at Citi Field’s Shake Shack stand.
FINANCIAL DISTRICT Parm, an Italian-American “soul food” hotspot beloved by diners and critics alike, is slated to open next year in Brookfield Place, the luxury shopping and dining complex located in Battery Park City. The original restaurant, helmed by Rich Torrisi, Jeff Zalaznick and Mario Carbone of the Major Food Group, opened on Mulberry Street in 2011 and quickly attracted attention for its casual but sophisticated menu, which focuses on small plates and huge, messy sandwiches such as— of course—chicken parmesan and sausage and peppers heroes. New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells awarded the restaurant two stars in 2012. The restaurant group runs a Parm outpost at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and is currently working to open a second outpost on the Upper West Side. At the Brookfield Place location, diners can expect more of the redsauce Italian-American fare that Parm is famous for, like tender, long-braised veal, beef and sausage meatballs piled on a seeded roll, baked clams and pizza knots. It’s this kind of food that has endeared the restaurant to both customers and critics—comforting and immediately recognizable to most New
Yorkers, Parm’s dishes are also prepared with the attention to detail that is a hallmark of Torrisi’s and Carbone’s time spent behind the stove at white-tablecloth restaurants such as Mario Batali’s Babbo and Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50. “We work very hard, we are very passionate about what we do and we have a lot of fun doing it,” Zalaznick said of the team’s success. “I think that comes through in the places we create.” Though Parm won’t open until next year, New Yorkers will have the chance to sample some of the restaurant’s signature dishes at this year’s New Taste of the Upper West Side, the Columbus Avenue BID’s seventh-annual fundraising event that runs from May 27 to 31. On Friday, May 30, chefs Carbone and Torrisi will participate in “Comfort Classics,” a night of tastings hosted by the Travel Channel’s Adam Richman and celebrity chef and “Chopped” judge Alex Guar-
naschelli. The Parm chefs will keep company with restaurants including Luke’s Lobster, Momofuku Milk Bar and the Meatball Shop. “I think that it’s a phenomenal event,” Zalaznick said.
Diners at the counter of the Mulberry Street location. Below; A favorite at Parm, the chicken parmesan sandwich.
MAY 22, 2014 Our Town
15
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS MAY 7 - 13, 2014
10Th Avenue Cookshop
156 10 Avenue
Grade Pending (45) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food worker does not wash hands thoroughly after using the toilet, coughing, sneezing, smoking, eating, preparing raw foods or otherwise contaminating hands. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Sakebar Decibel
240 East 9 Street
A
Noodle Cafe Zen
31 Saint Mark’s Place
Grade Pending (31) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/ or non-food areas. No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment.
Apple Restaurant & Bom Bar
17 Waverly Place
A
Souen Restaurant
28 East 13 Street
Grade Pending (9) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml. Washington Square Cafe
103 Waverly Place
A
Kin Shop
469 Avenue Of The Americas
A
Omar’s
21 West 9 Street
A
Num Pang Sandwich Shop
75 9 Avenue
A
Empire Diner
210 Tenth Avenue
Grade Pending (18) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Ciao For Now
107 West 10 Street
A
Tuck Shop
75 9 Avenue
A
Google 5Bb
76 9 Avenue
A
Chikalicious Dessert Bar
203 East 10 Street
A
Bourbon Coffee
43 West 14 Street
A
Village East Cinemas
181 2 Avenue
A
Arts And Crafts Beer Parlor 26 West 8 Street
A
Confessional
308 East 6 Street
The Rail Line Diner
400 West 23 Street
A
Pier 60
Pier 60
A
Original Sandwiches
58 Greenwich Avenue
A
Not Graded Yet (20) Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Le Midi Bistro
9 East 13 Street
A
Red Mango
66 2 Avenue
A
16
Our Town MAY 22, 2014
Property
< STUYTOWN LIKELY HEADED TO MARKET The largest apartment complex in New York – Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village – is likely to go back on the market soon after foreclosure proceedings conclude with its new owner, CW Capital, the New York Times reported. The complex, on the East Side of Manhattan
Ask a Broker
Are Townhouses the Best Value? Although many buyers in the past have shied away from townhouse living in favor of full-service condos and co-ops, a variety of factors have converged that many believe is creating a major shift in buyer interest. In fact, it has already occurred in the very active multi-family category. Investors see these proper ties as attractive investments, but they also appeal BY DEANNA KORY to buyers who are looking to use rental income to offset mortgage and tax bills. The on-going low level of inventory has created a third category of buyer interested in multi-family homes that can be converted to single-family status. Another group of buyers who would normally gravitate to condominiums are turning away from them to protect their privacy. More condos are requiring a level of financial disclosure that many buyers find objectionable. Many condos also have rules restricting short-term rentals, live/work arrangements, and sometimes use by friends and family members. Townhouses on the other hand offer total privacy and are without restrictions on personal use. For all types of buyers, value is a major factor that now favors single and multi-family townhouses. With new development condos reaching an average of $2,178 per square foot, and for re-sale condos $1,382 per square foot, townhouses look to be bargains with a market-wide average price per square foot of $1,162. Condos’ monthly common charges can also be a consideration—some part-time residents would prefer not to pay hefty monthly common charges that include the expense of high-end amenities that they seldom, if ever, use. One of the main drawbacks of townhouse ownership has been the regular upkeep associated with these buildings. This aspect of ownership is becoming easier thanks to management companies that are springing up to keep an eye on townhouses and condominiums for absentee owners. Deanna Kory is a broker at the Corcoran Group. Reach her at dek@corcoran.com, (212) 937-7011, www.deannakory.com.
between 14th Street and 23rd Street, has over 11,000 apartments in 56 buildings. CW Capital announced last Tuesday that it planned to foreclose on a secondary loan for the complex that, if successful, would signify its official ownership of the property. Real estate analysts told the Times they believe the foreclo-
sure will be the first step in selling the property, valued at around $4 billon. Housing advocates, as well as City Council member Dan Garodnick, a lifelong resident of the complex who works closely with its tenants association, warned that any potential real estate deal must include the tenants.
NOT-SO-AFFORDABLE HOUSING “
One tenant who lives in a one-bedroom apartment and makes $9,000 a year in Social Security is paying over $400 a month, over half her yearly income, in rent.”
REAL ESTATE Tenants say a city agency is unfairly allowing landlords to overcharge Section 8 tenants in Hell’s Kitchen BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
HELL’S KITCHEN Residents of affordable housing usually are charged a set portion of their income for rent; it’s what ensures that the units retain their affordability, regardless of inflation. Section 8 tenants in Hell’s Kitchen told the West Side Spirit that they’ve been paying well above 30 percent of their yearly income for housing since 2003, in an apparent contradiction of what they were told when their building was bought that year by a private com-
pany called Empire State Management. “In 2003, we were told that our rent would be 30 percent of our annual income by both a [NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development] representative and the landlord,” said Kelly Ann Junior, a Section 8 enhanced voucher tenant of Hudsonview Terrace, a 400-unit tower at 747 10th Avenue. Junior and four others were Section 8 tenants when their Mitchell-Lama building changed hands and Empire began filling it with market-rate tenants. Section 8 tenants were given a choice to retain their regular Section 8 status and find a different subsidized apartment elsewhere in the city, or stay in their apartments under Section 8’s enhanced voucher program.
Enhanced vouchers, also known as sticky vouchers, are specifically designed to protect tenants of rent-regulated apartments when their buildings end a subsidized program like Mitchell-Lama. Enhanced voucher holders are still subject to rent increases under a formula determined by the federal Dept. of Housing and Urban Development that calculates a tenant’s share of the rent and the share paid by the government as part of the subsidy. Junior and other tenants of Hudsonview Terrace chose to participate in the enhanced voucher program, and as a result, they said, have been paying steadily increasing rents after a series of “re-certifications” by their landlords, which were subsequently approved by HPD. Now those tenants have filed a lawsuit to address what they see is an unfair discrepancy. According to the suit, one tenant who lives in a one-bedroom apartment and makes $9,000 a year in Social Security is paying over $400 a month, over half her yearly income, in rent. Another tenant in a two-bedroom apartment is paying 53 percent of her annual income on rent. The fourth tenant, who makes about $14,500 a year from Social Security and a pension, pays $550 a month in rent for a one-bedroom apartment.
In the legal complaint, the tenants’ attorney Robert Katz alleges that his clients’ right to due process was violated because they were not granted evidentiary hearings as their rents were being raised. The suit also says that Junior and the other tenants were not adequately made aware by HPD that their rents could increase under the enhanced voucher program. Katz has also accused HPD of violating a regulation that says they can’t collect more rent from the subsidized units than market rate ones of the same size in the same building. In 2011, the suit says, a two-bedroom market-rate apartment at Hudsonview Terrace was rented for about $75 less than the Section 8 subsidized apartment of one of Katz’s clients. The lawsuit may not go anywhere; an earlier version that named the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development as a defendant was dismissed in 2011 by a federal judge. In that ruling, Judge Paul Crotty said Katz’s argument was not sufficient to demonstrate his clients’ right to due process was violated. But the suit does raise the question of whether the guidelines under the enhanced voucher program are vulnerable to exploitation. It also asks if HPD could do a better job letting Section 8 tenants know about their options and the possible rent increases they could face. “My position is that [the rent increases] are a constitutional violation, and if the regulation allows the increases, then there’s something wrong with the regulation,” said Katz. Empire State Management could not be reached for comment. An HPD spokesperson referred the matter to the NYC Law Department, who did not return a request for comment.
MAY 22, 2014 Our Town
17
Real Estate Sales Neighborhd
Address
Price
Bed Bath Agent
Battery Park City70 Little W St.
$950,000
Battery Park City1 River Terrace
$1,050,000 1
1
Corcoran
Flatiron
7 E 14 St.
$930,000
Flatiron
650 6Th Ave.
$2,200,000 2
Flatiron
5 E 22 St.
$1,700,000
2
Tribeca
93 Worth St.
$1,975,405 2
2
Town Residential
W Chelsea
520 W 23 St.
$800,000
1
Mp Walsh Realty
W Chelsea
520 W 19 St.
$2,830,000
Douglas Elliman
W Chelsea
453 W 19 St.
$690,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
422 W 20 St.
$1,650,000 2
1
Stribling
Corcoran
1
Battery Park City21 South End Ave.
$650,000
Battery Park City200 Rector Place
$530,000
1
1
Ccg Real Estate
Gramercy Park 32 Gramercy Park South $1,400,000 2
2
Brown Harris Stevens
W Chelsea
Battery Park City30 W St.
$3,180,000 3
3
Douglas Elliman
Gramercy Park 235 E 22 St.
$680,000
1
Douglas Elliman
W Village
33 Greenwich Ave.
$940,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
$3,550,000
W Village
105 Morton St.
$702,800
1
1
Corcoran
1
Citi Habitats
2
Douglas Elliman
Fulton/Seaport 59 John St.
$1,455,000 2
1
2
Chelsea
133 W 22 St.
$1,450,000 1
1
Douglas Elliman
Gramercy Park 208 E 18 St.
Chelsea
77 7 Ave.
$628,000
1
Douglas Elliman
Greenwich Vill 1 5 Ave.
$3,750,000 3
2
Corcoran
W Village
15 Charles St.
$1,578,287 1
Chelsea
140 7 Ave.
$715,000
Lower E Side
105 Norfolk St.
$1,045,000 1
1
Corcoran
W Village
2 Horatio St.
$1,640,000
E Village
219 E 7 St.
$500,000
Lower E Side
417 Grand St.
$500,000
1
1
Coldwell Banker Bellmarc
W Village
204 W Houston St.
$2,150,000 2
E Village
290 E 2 St.
$499,000
2
1
Corcoran
Lower E Side
199 Bowery
$1,450,000 2
2
Corcoran
W Village
204 W Houston St.
$1,075,000
E Village
504 E 6 St.
$600,000
2
1
Bid On The City
Lower E Side
199 Bowery
$825,000
1
1
Jesse Evans, Lreb
W Village
61 Jane St.
$527,500
E Village
333 E 14 St.
$490,000
0
1
Corcoran
Lower E Side
530 Grand St.
$400,000
1
1
Loho Realty
W Village
1 Morton Square
$4,000,000 3
3
Corcoran
$4,500,000 3
1
Leslie J. Garfield
W Village
130 Barrow St.
$1,785,000 2
1
Halstead Property
0
Financial District55 Wall St.
$746,900
0
1
Mas International, Llc
Noho
35 Bond St.
Financial District20 W St.
$595,000
0
1
Charles Rutenberg
Noho
445 Lafayette St.
$3,700,000 3
3
Halstead Property
W Village
281 W 11 St.
$645,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
Financial District88 Greenwich St.
$595,000
0
1
Sotheby’s
Soho
330 Spring St.
$3,100,000 2
2
Brown Harris Stevens
W Village
323 W 11 St.
$916,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
Financial District123 Washington St.
$1,384,820 1
1
The Marketing Directors
Soho
2 Charlton St.
$961,000
1
Brown Harris Stevens
W Village
306 W 4 St.
$901,550
1
1
Corcoran
Financial District123 Washington St.
$2,350,000 2
2
Douglas Elliman
Soho
112 Prince St.
$4,100,000
W Village
354 W 12 St.
$420,000
0
1
Sotheby’s
Financial District88 Greenwich St.
$760,000
0
1
Town Residential
Soho
114 Spring St.
$3,450,000
Financial District67 Liberty St.
$957,155
1
1
The Marketing Directors
Soho
118 Wooster St.
$1,750,000 1
Financial District120 Greenwich St.
$715,000
Financial District15 Broad St.
$1,185,000 1.5 1
Anchor Associates
Tribeca
Flatiron
11 W 18 St.
$1,627,500 1
1
Corcoran
Tribeca
200 Chambers St.
$2,675,000 2
2
Douglas Elliman
Flatiron
22 W 15 St.
$925,000
1
Halstead Property
Tribeca
27 Leonard St.
$2,800,000 1
2
Sotheby’s
Staten Island
1
1
1
Douglas Elliman
2
Stribling
$430,000 143 Reade St.
$3,875,000 3
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18
Our Town MAY 22, 2014
YOUR FIFTEEN MINUTES
A WALK ON THE PARK Q&A The new executive director of Friends of the High Line talks teen horticulture, the intersection of theater and parks, and pie in the sky ideas BY MEGAN BUNGEROTH
CHELSEA Jenny Gersten has perfected the walk-and-talk meeting. As the recentlyinstalled executive director of Friends of the High Line, the non-profit conservancy group that runs the 1.45-mile long elevated park on Manhattan’s West Side, Gersten is often conducting business while traversing the park she oversees, checking on the progress of gardening and art projects, chatting with staff members and greeting visitors like they’re old friends. A lifelong New Yorker, Gersten previously worked in theater, serving as the associate producer for The Public Theater, and most recently as the artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Now she’s turned her focus and ability to create art from the stage to the High Line’s revitalized railroad tracks. You come from a professional background in theater. Were you looking for a change? Not at all. I’d been the artistic director of the Williamstown Theater Festival for about three and a half years. I got a call from a family friend, saying, are you thinking about leaving? And I said, no I think I’m good to stay here a little bit longer. And he said well if you’re interested, the High Line
is looking for an executive director. And I said, well I would definitely talk to the High Line, and that’s how I got this job.
What kinds of things are you doing now that are different from what you previously did? The similarities are that they both traffic in live experience. In theater, it’s a little more contained. This is obviously a more open, democratic platform for live experience, but that’s essentially where they have commonalities. But I think that when we open the third section, which is the last major section of the High Line to open, the focus of the organization is going to shift. It will be much less about protecting, which was the first mission of the organization – ‘don’t let anyone tear down the High Line’ – and then, ‘let’s build the High Line, let’s make this incredible place,’ and it’s going to shift to, ‘what happens on the High Line, and what are the programmatic priorities for the organization.’ We have our horticulture program, we have this amazing food program, we have this incredible public art program. We’re just going to keep layering onto that and seeing how else we can be a resource both to the city writ large and to the local community in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen and the Meatpacking District.
What are some ways you engage with the community? Right now we have this teen program that was developed back in 2011 after the High Line did a survey of the two NYCHA complexes that are in our neighborhood, Chelsea Elliot and Fulton Housing. We asked them what they wanted from the High Line, and they said programming for teens [and] jobs for teens. So we created a couple of teen programs that are in their third year, and we have one teen program around horticulture, it’s a job training program, so they get on pay roll, they’re part time jobs, and they work with our horticulture and gardening staff to learn about green skills. We have a teen arts council, their area focus is on cultural programming and production, so they do a lot of peer-to-peer networking. They meet with other teen arts councils around the city, like at the Met or the Brooklyn Museum. They create two teen nights on the High Line. They’ve done concerts, they’ve done carnivals. Last year we had over 700 teens attend.
How do you balance the day-to-day work with the long term planning for the High Line? A lot of my theater producing experience was what I call swinging at pitches, which is like ‘I gotta deal with this thing right now and get it out of the way,’ but as I become really familiar with this territory and how the public interacts with it, I can start to think about the future. But I didn’t show up on the door step being like, I have this fantastic huge idea that I want to fulfill! I just want to spend time talking to the staff, I want to be on the High Line, I want to experience it, I want to understand it better before I set up what the future looks like.
What’s your job’s biggest challenge so far? I think it’s been learning the language of parks. I was talking earlier about the similarities between theater and the High Line,
but the language of open space in New York City is very different, and I’ve been spending a lot of time talking to colleagues who run other parks or conservancy groups to get a better understanding of the significance. Even talking to one of our board members, Amanda Burden, about how important open space is to urban life. I think that’s particularly interesting as we hear a lot of conversation now in the de Blasio administration about park equity.
You’ve lived around here your whole life. I grew up on 14th Street and 7th Avenue. I spent 27 years in the Village. I was always in New York, I would move up to Williamstown for the summers. I currently reside on the Upper West Side. I left the Village kicking and screaming, [but] I really adopted the Upper West Side. I live on 82nd Street.
What do you like to do in the neighborhood?
VISIT THE HIGH LINE Hours The High Line is open daily from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Access Access the High Line is possible via any of the points listed below. The High Line is fully wheelchair accessible. • Gansevoort Street (elevator access) • 14th Street (elevator access) • West 16th Street (elevator access) • West 18th Street • West 20th Street • 23rd Street • West 26th Street • West 28th Street • West 30th Street (elevator access)
I work out, I do a bootcamp kind of thing in Riverside Park, I go to the Greenmarket on 77th and Columbus religiously on Sunday, where I compost and buy my produce. I have two children, so I mother them, in my spare time, and I bike ride.
What are you looking forward to on the High Line this summer? We are celebrating our fifth anniversary of the opening of section one on June 9th, and we’re going to have an event called Pie in the Sky, where we’re going to give everyone some pie! We linked it to the anniversary because the idea of actually opening the High Line 10 years ago, when Josh [David] and Robert [Hammond] first started it, probably was a “pie in the sky” idea, so it’s kind of great that it’s been achieved.
Above, Jenny Gersten, the executive director of Friends of the High Line, on a recent day in the park. Below, looking north from the High Line at a mural by artist Faith Ringgold, titled “Groovin High,” commissioned by the park. Photos by Mary Newman
MAY 22, 2014 Our Town
19
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REVERSE MORTGAGES -Draw all eligible cash out of your home & eliminate mortgage payments. Seniors 62+! Government insured. Free 26 page catalog. FHA/VA loans also available. 1-888-660-3033 All Island Mortgage. NMLS#3740.
Rick Bryan, Attorney & Counselor at Law. Wills, Living Trusts, Probate, Elder Law, Guardianships, Legal Advice. Home Visits Available. We honor all AARP and Legal Service Plan Discounts, 237 1st Ave, 2nd Fl, S.W. Corner of 14th St and 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003, 212-979-2868.
Sebastian, Florida Beautiful 55+ manufactured home community. 4.4 miles to the beach, 2 miles to the riverfront district. Homes starting at $39,000. 772-581-0080, www.beach-cove.com. SERVICES OFFERED
Known for Service Excellence Frank E. Campbell The Funeral Chapel, 1076 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10028, 212-2883500, www.frankecampbell.com
2013 FIAT 500 Abarth $18,912 9,237 miles Stock #S696 MSRP $21,912 Nielson Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram, 175 Route 10, East Hanover, NJ 877-3932686 www.nielsendodge.com
MASSAGE
Mortgages Ready to buy a home? We are ready to help. The State of NY Mortgage agency offers up to $15,000 down payment assistance. www.sonyma.org. 1-800-382HOME(4663).
Massage by Melissa (917)620-2787
Shari Melisa, Salon Hair Stylist 347.243.3170 instagram.com/sharimelisa
Donate your car to Wheels For Wishes, benefiting Make-AWish. We offer free towing and your donation is 100% tax deductible. Call (855) 376-9474
SENSUAL BODYWORK young, handsome, smooth, athletic Asian. InCall/OutCall. Phillip. 212-787-9116
HEALTH SERVICES
Having Trouble Hearing? Call Park76 Audiology today at (212) 288-5038 for an expert evaluation of your hearing. Serving the Upper East Side for over 25 years. Visit us at w w w. n ewyo r kc i t y h e a r i n gaids.com. Preston Robert Tisch Center for Men’s Health 6 4 6 - 7 5 4 - 2 0 0 0 www.nyulmc.org/menshealth HOME IMPROVEMENTS
Furniture Stripping, Refinishing, Repairs, French Polishing. Chairs: Reglued, recanted, rerushed, reupholstered. Kitchen cabinets, front doors, moldings. 37 years in Business. Nouveau Furniture Restoration 917-335-1927 INSTRUCTION
Huntington Learning Center 212-362-0100 www.huntingtonhelps.com
LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL Anthony Pomponio, Allstate 212-769-2899 apomponio@allstate.com
WANTED TO BUY
ANTIQUES WANTED Top Prices Paid. Chinese Objects, Paintings, Jewelry, Silver, Etc. Entire Estates Purchased. 800530-0006.
MERCHANDISE FOR SALE
Broadway Panhandler Stock Reduction In Store Now 212-966-3434 www.broadwaypanhandler.com PAINT & WALLPAPER
SABBY PAINTING (917) 292-9595 Interior/Exterior Painting Wallpaper Removal Free Estimates, Affordable Prices, Neat & Clean Work Licensed & Insured REAL ESTATE - RENT
OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND. Best selection of affordable rentals. Full/ partial weeks. Call for FREE brochure. Open daily. Holiday Real Estate. 1800-638-2102. Online reservations: www.holidayoc.com REAL ESTATE - SALE
COUNTRY FARMHOUSE 6 acres -$89,900. Beautiful So. Tier location! 5 BR, 2 Baths, 2 levels of decks, mother in law cottage! Ideal family retreat! Owner terms! Call 888-9058847 NOW. Newyorklandandlakes.com
CASH for Coins! Buying ALL Gold & Silver. Also Stamps & Paper Money, Entire Collections, Estates. Travel to your home. Call Marc in NY 1-800959-3419 WE BUY ANYTHING OLD. Costume Jewelry, fountain pens, old watches, world fair and military items. Zippo Cigarette lighters, anything gold. Call Mike 718-204-1402.
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Our Town MAY 22, 2014
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