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WEEK OF OCTOBER
2 2014
OTDOWNTOWN.COM
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OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IN CRISIS
In Brief AFTER SUBWAY PLOT REPORT, CITY INCREASES POLICING
SPECIAL REPORT The plight of small businesses in our neighborhoods has reached a crisis point. Every month, an estimated 1,000 small businesses close their doors in New York, most of them because of rent increases that have simply made it impossible to stay afloat. Neighborhoods are being stripped of their character. Important ties to our civic history are disappearing. Colorful local mom-and-pop characters are fading away. For most of the past year, we have been chronicling this decline in these
Neighborhood groups say the city failed to enforce a residency agreement for the Trump Soho, which is now in foreclosure.
pages, through a series of stories under the banner “Saving Small Business.” This week, we are expanding that effort, with an extended editorial about the critical need for policymakers to take action now, as well as a report from a forum we organized last month at Baruch College. In that discussion, policymakers like Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin and Manhattan Borough President Gale President were joined by industry leaders and small business people to talk about what can be done to address the crisis now. The heart of this week’s section, though, is a multi-page tally of closed businesses, all of them in this neighborhood, called “What We’ve Lost.” Think of these as commercial obituaries, tributes mainly to business people finally forced to give in to a city that has changed so dramatically around them.
TRUMP SOHO: UP IN THE AIR DEVELOPMENT When the mega-project was built, Donald Trump agreed to residency requirements to placate neighbors. But those rules were ignored, and pressure is building again as the project seeks a buyer BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
SOHO With the Trump SoHo set to foreclose, and the prospect of new owners acquiring the property, members of a historical society in Greenwich Village want the city to enforce residency requirements that enabled the 46-story condohotel to be built in the first place -- stipulations that they say the city failed to enforce since it opened in
2010. The Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation criticized developers’ plans for the condohotel since news of it broke in 2006. Chief among their concerns was that the glass-tower high rise proposal was out of step with the surrounding neighborhood, which is characterized by five and six-story historic cast-iron and brick masonry buildings. Their biggest foothold, though, was that the area is zoned for manufacturing, which precludes the creation of permanent residences. To get around this, developers and other backers of the project, including the Sapir Organization, the Bayrock Group, and Donald Trump, negotiated with the city to limit the
number of nights an owner could stay at the Trump SoHo. Then-borough president Scott Stringer created a “restrictive declaration” on the project that said condo owners could not stay in their units for more than 120 days out of the year, or more than 29 days out of any 36-day period. The condos would be rented as hotel rooms when owners were not occupying their units. The stipulations were agreed to by all parties and, over the objections of GVSHP and other neighborhood groups, construction was completed and the Trump SoHo opened for business in 2010. As part of the agreement, the Trump SoHo agreed to conduct internal residency audits, which they would submit to the city, and would be subject to independent audits. In 2013, after months of requesting the information through traditional channels, the executive director of the GVSHP, Andrew Berman, filed a Freedom of Information request with the city to determine what those audits revealed. Turns out, he said, both the Trump SoHo and the city failed to conduct any audits on
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Police tightened protections after Iraq’s prime minister said captured Islamic State militants disclosed a plot to attack U.S. and Paris subways, but the mayor and governor said there was no specific, credible threat currently to the nation’s biggest subway system. Bag inspections were being set up at some subway stations, more bomb-sniffing dogs and surveillance teams were deployed, and officers were working overtime and doing extra checks of subway stations, Police Commissioner William Bratton said. But Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo both took trains themselves Thursday to send a message of watchful safety, and after years of reports of potential terror threats, many riders took the news in stride. While security throughout the city and its transit system already was heightened for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, more officers are being deployed while law enforcement assesses what Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi told journalists Thursday. French and American officials said they had no such information.
TAX BREAK FOR SOLAR PANELS IN N.Y.C. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a law to extend property tax breaks for installing electricitygenerating solar panels on New York City buildings. Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, an Upper West Side Democrat and sponsor, says the action extends the existing incentive program to 2017, doubles the possible tax break and helps promote a green economy. It’s also meant to offset the 25 percent higher cost of installing solar capacity in the city due to stringent regulations and the complexity of building sites.
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS CHECK SAKS TO OPEN IN LOWER MANHATTAN The New York Times reported that Saks Fifth Avenue is making a big commitment to maintaining a presence in Lower Manhattan and will be opening a new department store there. The major retailer will also be opening the first location of its outlet store Off 5th in Manhattan in a 55,000 square foot space at One Liberty Plaza, in the space currently occupied by Brooks Brothers, and moving its U.S. headquarters to the Financial District as well. The Saks Fifth Avenue department store will be in a four-floor, 85,000-square-foot retail space at Brookfield Place (formerly the World Financial Center) complex in Battery Park City. The parent company’s headquarters will also be located in Brookfield Place. The move comes along with city and state tax incentives for the company as part of the government’s efforts to revitalize downtown Manhattan. The move will relocate 1,850 existing jobs to the downtown location, and will also create an estimated 800 additional new jobs over the next five years. New York Times
G.M. TO MOVE CADILLAC BRAND H.Q. TO SOHO
Saks Fifth Avenue will open a new department store at Brookfield Place.
The Cadillac luxury brand will move its headquarters to New York next year to get closer to those living lives of luxury. The high-end brand, which has lost sales this year as German rivals gain, also will become a separate business unit, giving it more freedom to chase global growth. “There is no city in the world where the inhabitants are more immersed in
a premium lifestyle than in New York,” Johann de Nysschen, the brand’s new president, said in a statement issued Tuesday announcing the move. “It allows our team to share experiences with premium-brand consumers and develop attitudes in common with our audience.” In August, GM hired de Nysschen away from Nissan’s Infiniti luxury brand, where sales are up 7 percent in the U.S.
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so far this year. Cadillac, however, isn’t performing as well. Sales have slumped nearly 5 percent this year despite several new vehicles that have received strong reviews. The sales drop comes as luxury sales and the overall U.S. market are growing. Most of the luxury growth has gone to Cadillac’s German rivals. Autodata Corp. says Audi sales are up nearly 15 percent, BMW is up almost 12 percent and Mercedes-Benz up 9 percent. Toyota’s Lexus luxury brand also posted a 16 percent increase. Cadillac’s leaders and its marketing operations will move to loft offices in the SoHo section of Manhattan. But most of its employees will remain in Michigan, including technical product development teams. Manufacturing also will not change. The company is still evaluating which employees will make the move, but spokesman David Caldwell said that in the initial phase next year, it’s likely fewer than 100 people will make the move. AP
WHOOPI GOLDBERG TO LEAD VILLAGE HALLOWEEN PARADE The annual Halloween Parade will have a famous face leading the ghouls and goblins up Sixth Avenue this year. The parade’s organizers say Whoopi
Goldberg has been named as the event’s grand marshal. She’ll be on a float that represents the parade’s theme, “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” Goldberg says she’s “thrilled to be a part of such a time-honored tradition.” The parade is known for the throngs of people it brings out. Along with organized floats and groups, the event welcomes anyone in costume to join in the march. AP
HELP FOR SANDY-AFFECTED SMALL BUSINESSES The Lo Down reported that the Department of Small Business Services will be making staff members available to help small business owners apply for grants under the federally funded Hurricane Sandy Business Loan and Grant Program. The Small Business Services office is launching an outreach campaign to reach business owners affected by Hurricane Sandy. Staff members will be at Councilwoman Margaret Chin’s office on Wednesdays from 1 - 5 p.m. starting this week and continuing through the rest of the year. Chin’s office is at 165 Park Row, suite 11. Find more information about the grants available and criteria for applying at www.nyc.gov/nycbusiness or by calling 311 and asking for “NYC Business Solutions.” The Lo Down
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG HOG WILD The city’s motorcycle thieves are back to work after a quiet summer. At 11:10 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, a 22-year-old man parked his motorcycle at the southeast corner of Washington and Spring Streets. At 6 a.m. the following morning, he returned to discover that his ride was gone. Video may have recorded the theft. The stolen bike was a white 2009 Yamaha R6 valued at $7,500 and bearing New York plates 37RV87.
BREAK OF BAD FORTUNE Two Chinese tourists encountered the rotten side of the Big Apple. At 12 noon on Saturday, September 20, a 25-year-old man witnessed an unknown perpetrator break the front passenger-side door lock to gain entry and remove property from the rear of a car parked at the northwest corner of Maiden Lane and Water Street. The burglar was last seen heading southbound on Water Street, carrying three bags of loot. The civic-minded witness stayed on the scene until the car’s driver and passengers arrived. Police searched the area but could not find the thief, nor was there video of the break in. Items stolen from inside the car were 6,000 Chinese Yuan Renminbi (equivalent to $979.19 as of 9/26), an Apple MacBook Pro valued at $1,499, a Dell laptop priced at $1,000, $1,000 in US cash, an Apple
iPad Air tagged at $750, an iPad Mini worth $650, plus a variety of garments and the three bags. The total stolen exceeded $5,878.19.
YAMAHA BROUHAHA A man paid a high price for a night with his girlfriend. At 10 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17, a man parked his motorcycle in front of 39 John Street and went to spend the night at his girlfriend’s nearby. Next morning at 8 a.m., he found his bike was missing. He checked and found that it not been taken to the tow pound. Video is available of the theft. The stolen chopper was a gray 2008 Yamaha YZFR6 with New York plates 74SJ48, valued at $6,000.
CAR BREAK-IN A New Jersey man found out the hard way never to leave valuables unattended in a parked car. At 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 18, a 26-year-old man from Colts Neck, NJ parked his black 1997 Toyota Corolla on the northeast corner of South and Andover Streets. Before leaving his car, he made sure that all the car’s doors were locked, because he was leaving behind a number of valuables. When he returned at 11 a.m. the following morning, he found that the car’s doors were unlocked and his bags had been removed. There were no signs of forced
entry into the vehicle, and surveillance video may have captured the theft. The items stolen were a MacBook Pro valued at $2,000, an iPad worth $600, a brown leather Fossil briefcase valued at $250, a black leather Fossil bag tagged at $200, a pair of Burberry silver cufflinks priced at $200, a red iPod 16G valued at $200, plus miscellaneous device chargers and clothes. The total stolen amounted to $3,620.
JACKED JACKHAMMERS A construction company learned that an unlocked storage area is no place to keep valuable tools. During the period between 7:30 a.m. on Monday, September 1, and 12 noon on Saturday, September 13, unknown perpetrators removed a number of power tools and accessories from a construction site on the third floor at 28 North Moore Street. The stolen property had been kept for four months in an unlocked storage area with no elevator or job hoist nearby. Apparently, multiple people and companies had access to the jobsite, and the construction company and the building owner had been having a financial dispute. There were no signs of forced entry into the construction site, nor was there any video available of the theft. The items stolen included two Hilti lasers totaling $2,500, three Hilti demolition jackhammers totaling $2,400, a Stihl
and stole lottery tickets, cigarettes, candies, and cash inside. The bad guy then fled eastbound on Park Place toward Broadway. Police could not canvass the area because the theft was not reported for several hours. Video is available of the incident. Items stolen included $500 in cash, Bingo Doubler tickets valued at $300, Ruby 2’s tickets totaling $250, MillionDollar Scratch tickets priced at $250, Wild Cash tickets worth $150, Loose Change Tripler tickets valued at $150, Keno Bonus tickets totaling $150, Bejeweled tickets priced at $150, plus cigarettes, candy, and gum worth $200. The total stolen came to $2,100.
gas saw valued at $1,500, two Hilti hammer drills totaling $1,500, one Hilti gun priced at $800, three Hilti grinders totaling $500, miscellaneous hand tools valued at $500, and a toolbox priced at $400. The total stolen from the site came to $10,100.
KENO BOGUS A thief thought he had the winning numbers when he looted a local newsstand. At 11:40 a.m. on Friday, September 19, a 44-year-old male employee of the Quick Shop Convenience newsstand outside 25 Park Place was stocking the shelves in the front of the newsstand when an unknown man entered the newsstand
1ST PRECINCT Report covering the week 9/15/2014 through 9/21/2014 Week to Date
Year to Date
2014 2013
% Change
2014
2013
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
0
0
n/a
Rape
0
1
-100
5
8
-37.5
Robbery
1
3
-66.7
35
52
-32.7
Felony Assault
0
1
-100
52
65
-20
Burglary
0
0
n/a
113
136
-16.9
Grand Larceny
21
27
-22.2
650
771
-15.7
Grand Larceny Auto
2
0
n/a
15
24
-37.5
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
Useful Contacts
Runners, walkers, cyclists, rollerbladers and stroller pushers all share the crowded paths of Central Park, which sometimes results in dangerous clashes. Photo by Hannah Griffin
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Pedestrians, cyclists and people using all manner of transportation must co-exist on Central Park roads, which sometimes creates unsafe conditions BY HANNAH GRIFFIN
CENTRAL PARK It is 10 a.m. on a sunny, cool Friday morning in late September, and the road leading to the intersection at West Side Drive near 63rd St. in Central Park is packed. Trees with leaves just on the cusp of turning cast long shadows over the intersection as cyclists, runners, walkers, cars, map
wielding tourists, pedi-cabs and dog-walkers rush past. A woman on a bright pink cruiser trails behind a man on a black bike dressed in a suit. In front of them are two lean, Lycra-clad road cyclists with clip in pedals. Connecticut resident Jill Tarlov, 58, was walking here on Thursday September 18th when she was hit by a cyclist and suffered head injuries, according to the New York Times. Tarlov was taken to New-York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She died of her injuries the following Sunday. Tarlov’s death has renewed conversations about the safety of New York’s roads, but the
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conversation is not new. Four thousand New Yorkers are seriously hurt in traffic accidents annually, and 250 die. The city’s Vision Zero Action Plan is a commitment to make roads throughout the ďŹ ve boroughs safer for everyone through strengthened enforcement of dangerous driving, safer street planning, and outreach programs. A recent accomplishment of Vision Zero is the reduction of the speed limit by 5 mph in designed Slow Zones throughout the city. The roads snaking through Central Park’s 843 acres are set up for many different users. A marked cycling lane runs through the middle of the street and is sandwiched by a slimmer one for those walking and running on one side, and one for cars, pedi-cabs and carriages on the other. Rollerbladers and skateboarders are often seen using both the bike and running lanes. Designer and nearby resident Anne Bowen, walking her two small dogs on Friday morning, feels that a combination of pedestrian awareness and safer practices by cyclists is crucial. Bowen thinks that there need to be measures to encourage cyclists to slow down in higher traffic areas of the park. “The bikers honestly they just whizz by you and go, ‘on your left’. By the time you hear that you could be wiped out,â€? she said. She always looks both ways, even on one ways. “If you step off the curb you have to treat it like you’re going on a highway.â€? The situation in Central Park is uniquely complicated as the atmosphere in the sprawling greenspace seems to lower people’s perception of road danger. A pedestrian or cyclist may not use the same caution
cruising down lush West Drive as they would on noisy, congested 5th avenue, just blocks away. It is a park, but a park with a crowded multi-use roadway weaving through it that brings together every kind of transportation in the city, but on one small roadway. Shahjahan Talukder, a vendor selling popsicles and drinks at the East side of the intersection, has worked in the park since last year. Talukder was present when Tarlov and Marshall collided, and while he saw her fall he says he does not know who is to blame. “The problem is not respecting the signs,� he said. There is a walk and stop signal and a traffic light, but in true New York City fashion, many pedestrians do a quick road check before jay-walking across. Several cyclists ignore the red light hanging above them and roll through if no pedestrians are in their direct path. Even a young mother quickly scuttles across pushing a stroller as the orange stop signal is lit. Bike usage in New York City has quadrupled in the last ten years, and the introduction of Citi Bike in 2013 encouraged many more people to commute on two wheels. A city proposal included in Vision Zero is to have instruction of driving in close proximity to cyclists and pedestrians be part of prelicensing courses for drivers. Andras Bokor, a cyclist who lives in the Bronx and rides his bike most days, is not optimistic that all road users will ever get along. “Because everybody always thinks the other person is at fault when accidents happen,� he said. Additional reporting by Nicole Del Mauro
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
WHEN BILLIONAIRE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS TAKE PUBLIC MONEY FOR PRIVATE PROFIT,
NEW YORKERS DESERVE SOMETHING IN RETURN:
REAL CAREERS & TRULY AFFORDABLE HOUSING WE’RE FIGHTING FOR YOU!
RD
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
Sixth Borough
Confessions of a meat-eater
BY BECCA TUCKER
W
e’ve been eating a lot of meat in my family. Dinner, recently, has included pork every which way, goat testicles (which you may have read about), chicken brains, chicken liver, chicken stomach, beef liver, beef heart, chicken broth made with the bones and the feet. Even our vegetarian-looking meals, like quinoia with veggies from the garden, are cooked in pork fat or chicken broth. Most of the rest of America (minus the paleo contingent) is eating less meat, I’m well aware. Considering the quality of the meat coming from big producers, and the torturous conditions the animals suffer, that’s a good thing. I nod supportively while people tell me how they’ve cut back, patting their diminished bellies, and conversation moves on. It feels unfriendly to bring up the fact that I’ve eaten a quar-
ter of a pig in the last month. It isn’t long since I, too, was virtuously ordering steamed vegetable dumplings, and trying not to be judgmental or jealous of my friend for getting beef dumplings (and failing on both counts). Now “meat grinder” is on the top of my Christmas wish list. What happened? Let’s rewind two years. I was pregnant, and had recently stopped eating factory-farmed meat, after reading “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer. I remember a friend, also pregnant (with twins) telling me with a laugh that she ate a big steak once a week, and wanting to cry, that sounded so good. Meanwhile, late in my pregnancy, my midwife informed me I was borderline anemic and if I didn’t get my iron levels up, I wouldn’t be allowed to have a home birth. So I took a horse pill daily that constipated me and tasted gross, and got my iron to a level sufficient to give birth at home, but still below average. I remember eating an endless amount of kale. When my baby, Kai, started eating solids, we didn’t feed her meat regularly – maybe a bite here or there at a party. A little while after her first birthday, she went through a testy period where she’d throw herself down and cry. Around then I noticed white patches on the top of her front teeth. I ordered a book about tooth decay, and later another about childhood nutrition. I hate those headlines: “What I learned shocked me!” But it did – and it didn’t. Kai’s teeth were decaying because, although we were
eating organic, unprocessed food, we weren’t eating well. My body had been telling me so all along, if only I’d thought of my cravings as a message: we needed to be eating meat, including organ meats and bone broth and all sorts of things you don’t find at ShopRite. (And less bread and dried fruit, which has lots of sugar). Glory, glory hallelujah. Bring on the bacon. And so, while our friends are observing Meatless Monday, my little family is gorging like the Roman aristocracy. At the moment we’re working our way through the half a pig in our freezer – our own pig, which we raised and husband Joe slaughtered with a friend. Kai enjoys munching on a slice of pig heart while I take her for a jog in the stroller. Joe has gotten leaner and leaner, until at 38, he’s down to college weight. Kai’s front four teeth are still not in good shape, but all the rest of them are coming in looking beautiful, and she’s a ball of energy. The only difference I’ve noticed in myself is that I’ve stopped craving meat. This morning, Joe asked whether I thought we should do two more pigs before the winter, expecting a “hell yeah.” I looked at him, thought about it, looked at him again, and shook my head. “I’m kind of porked out,” I said. He burst into giggles. “Can we do a cow?” Becca Tucker is a former Manhattanite now living on a farm upstate and writing about the rural life.
TRUMP SOHO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 how often owners were occupying their units. “We at least thought they would be following the basic premise, which is that these audits would be done, they would be filed with the city, and the city would check them,” said Berman. When the information request came back, “they said since the opening of the Trump SoHo in 2010, that no audits had ever been submitted, the DOB had never asked them to submit the audits, and that the DOB had never issued any violations or fines for the audits not having been filed.” Alex Schnell, deputy press secretary for the DOB, did not confirm whether his department was responsible for obtaining the audits. The restrictive declaration states the Trump SoHo has to submit an audit, certified by an independent public accountant, to the DOB every March. It’s unclear whether in the absence of such audits, the DOB was required to follow up with the Trump SoHo and obtain the records. The restrictive declaration does state that the Trump SoHo has to turn over the records within 10 business days of such a request from the DOB. Schnell did say that the residency restrictions still apply to the Trump SoHo going forward. “The restrictive declaration is still in place for any successive owners,” said Schnell. In response to GVSHP’s request that revealed no audits were ever submitted to the DOB, the department sent a “notice of deficiency” to the Trump SoHo asking for the residency audits since it opened. Throughout the time the GVSHP was trying to get access to the audits, the Trump SoHo, which is managed by Trump Luxury Real Estate, was having trouble selling its units. According to an
article in The Wall Street Journal, less than onethird of the hotel’s 391 units had been sold when the lender, CIM Group, announced recently it would foreclose on the property and put it up for sale. Berman would like the city to stick to its restrictive declaration once the property is acquired by new owners. “We wrote to the city saying, ‘Look, ownership is going to change hands and as a new administration we urge you to enforce the restrictive declaration in a way that your predecessors did not with the prior owner,’” said Berman. “We’re hoping that the new administration, with a new owner, will in fact enforce it.” According to Faith Hope Consolo, a principal at real estate giant Douglas Elliman, the Trump SoHo will have no trouble finding a new owner, despite the residency restrictions and declining prospects of the hotel-condo model. “Someone is going to invest in this. Real estate is all about location, location, location, and SoHo is a great location,” said Consolo. “And the hotel itself is reportedly successful, so I would expect that a hotel company would be interested.” Consolo agreed that the residency restriction is an issue, though, and said that the new owner might try to convert more of the units into hotel rooms or cut prices so the condos will sell. “SoHo isn’t a resort area, and the prices are high for a unit you can’t live in for more than a third of the year,” she said. “I’d look for a major hotel investor or developer to be interested.” Most condos at the Trump SoHo go for $1.2 million to $2 million, according to data on the website Street Easy. Brokers for the property, Adam Spies and Doug Harmon of Eastdil Secured, did not return a request for comment.
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
Voices
PEDESTRIANS NEED TO BE HEARD With the great increase in the number of bicyclists on the streets of New York, it is time to acknowledge the experience and feelings of pedestrians. While spending most of the day outdoors, it has been lawless bicyclists, and not speeding automobiles, that, on a daily ba-
Feedback OPPOSING VIEWS ON TOURISM OP-ED Comment from the web on an op-ed, “Is NYC Tourism Out of Control?” by John Elari, September 4, 2014: “This article presents a solution in search of a problem. Tourism brings in hundreds of millions of dollars that New York City residents benefit from. We are not an industrial based economy here. Hospitality from theater, hotels, restaurants, shopping, and museums are what we have to offer. When the tourists stop coming, that’s when we’ll have a real problem.” A Voice of Reason
TRAFFIC LIGHTS NEED UPDATES I totally agree with Pete Drexlers’ letter on traffic lights. They should use the three-cycle light system. Even if only in Manhattan. One green for north-south traffic, the next green for east-west traffic, the next green for pedestrians to cross in all directions. They have this in other cities & it works well; the only possible setback here in NYC would be the pedestrians and especially bicyclists feel empowered and of course would try to circumvent the system. The police would would have to enforce the laws regarding jaywalking, and bikes flying through red lights, and good luck to that ever happening. Anyway, I know this letter will probably not get published because it is not in your political persuasion regarding pedestrians and especially bikes. Richard Hecht, Brooklyn
sis, effect my life in a negative fashion. While not minimizing fatal accidents, there is much more to safety on the streets than the number of deaths caused by either bicyclist (very few), or automobile driver(also very few, when considering the number of pedestrians,
cyclists and automobiles). Honest and actual pedestrians acknowledge jaywalking (myself included), and understand that some accidents are our fault. Some (most!) bicyclists break laws with near-impunity, and are sometimes at fault. Yes, of course, driv-
THE MET AND THE BALANCE OF TERROR OP-ED BY CHARLES GROSS
Here’s an idea for an opera: How about the story of Ray Rice beating up his girlfriend but with a long sympathetic aria where Rice explains why he had to hit her. No good? How about an opera based on “Birth of A Nation,” a classic film that glorified the Ku Klux Klan? Still off base? Okay, how about the story of 9/11 where we give the terrorists who flew the plane an equally empathic portrayal with the victims who died in the twin towers? Poor taste? Inappropriate? Yes it is! Yet there are many who seem to have no problem in allowing “The Death of Klinghoffer,” an opera that tries to justify terrorism or at least empathize with the terrorists, to be produced at the Metropolitan Opero. I have been a drama critic for over 30 years and while I have often questioned why a show was produced, I have never stated that a show should not be produced… until I viewed a filmed version of “Klinghoffer.” “The Death of Klinghoffer” is the story of Palestinian terrorists who shot Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly, crippled, Jewish American. Klinghoffer and his wife were taking a pleasure cruise on a ship called the Achille Lauro. The boat was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and Klinghoffer was murdered by them. Klinghoffer’s murder and the cruelty of the terrorists are portrayed in the opera, but there are also scenes that try and draw sympathy to the them. In one scene, a terrorist sings gently about birds and seeing the dawn as his comrades fervently pray. In other scenes they sing lines such as “But wherever poor men are gathered they can find Jews getting fat.” Now, you would expect Palestinian terrorists to be anti-Semitic, but compile their numerous speeches with the sympathetic songs about birds and dawn and with other scenes of their squalor life and you
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have the real possibility of an empathetic audience who just might think there is some truth into lines such as “The Jews know how to cheat the simple, exploit the virgin.” The opera’s authors seem to have little interest in their title character. We see him on screen several times but we know nothing about him. Unlike his murderers, we are shown nothing of his background. He has only one short (although admittedly potent) aria, a retort to his murderers just before he is shot. The authors cannot even bring
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Editor In Chief, Kyle Pope editor.ot@strausnews.com Editor, Megan Bungeroth editor.otdt@strausnews.com
ers sometimes speed, or make a wrong turn, and are sometimes at fault. All accidents are not the fault of one particular entity and only a small group of small-minded people would promote that as such.
Mickey Kramer, East 75th Street
themselves to call Klinghoffer’s death a murder in the opera’s title. There is no question that the Met has the right to present this opera, but think about it. Would they present an opera sympathetic to gay bashers? Would they show one that presents the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazis in a sympathetic light? Would they even consider a piece that uses the N word? Somehow I doubt it. Of course, the opera’s creative team and their supporters are screaming artistic freedom, but such freedom must also come with responsibility and judgment. I would hope that the Met would have the good judgment not to produce an opera based on “Birth of a Nation.” I further hope that they will ultimately use the same judgment and not produce “The Death of Klinghoffer.” Charles Gross is the host of “Two On The Aisle,” a television program covering the New York theater. His reviews and articles have appeared in Am New York, The West Side Spirit, The Press Journal and Playbill on Line.
Staff Reporters, Gabrielle Alfiero, Daniel Fitzsimmons Block Mayors, Ann Morris, Upper West Side
Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
The 15th Annual
208 W. Harford St. Milford, PA 18337 570.296.2661
www.harringtonhousemilford.com
The Region’s Premier Gallery of Gifts and Fine Art The Work of Over 100 Artists Represented t (MBTT $SFBUJPOT t 1IPUPHSBQIZ t 'BCSJD $SFBUJPOT t 6OJRVF $PMMFDUJCMFT t 8PPE t +FXFMSZ t 1PUUFSZ t 1BJOUJOHT
October 17-19 - Milford, PA
219 Broad Street, Milford, PA www.TheArtisanExchange.com t -PPL GPS VT PO
is a celebration of independent film and filmmaking. Be sure to see some of the most thought provoking and innovative films from around the world shown at the Historic Milford Theatre in Milford, PA.
FUN FOOD SHOP
OPENING NIGHT Comedy Film: CHEF
HOMEMADE FRESH FUDGE
Jon Favieau, Sofia Vergara, Dustin Hoffman, Bobby Cannavale & John Leguizamo
THE DELMONICO ROOM
100’s of Locally Made Food and Gifts Fresh Made Amish Jams and Jellies Large Selection of Retro Candies Candles - Furniture - Home Decor
For full listing of movies and times visit
at the Hotel Fauchère
150 Water St. Milford, PA At The Upper Mill 570-409-4646
www.hotelfauchere.com
Purchase a Gold Pass or Gala Pass Film Ticket Today!
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Milford Craft Show Boutique Fashion Gifts & Home Decor 120 E Harford St. Historic Milford PA 0QFO EBJMZ GSPN BN t www.facebook.com/craftshowmilford
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into
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you You’d look Email us at news@strausnews.com
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
90
RS
OF GIVING
Out & About 3 4
YE
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What’s your charitable dream? When Harry met Sarah,
he was a taxi driver who “never had a nickel.” Sarah, a passenger in his cab, was a nurse who listened to patients’ stock tips and invested. They had a storybook marriage. Sarah set aside money to take care of Harry. After their deaths, the remaining money started the Sarah and Harry Rogers Fund in The New York Community Trust to maintain parks and protect the City’s air and water. We continue to make grants in their names.
$ $ Prospect Park photo by Michael Pick / Creative Commons
Rogers Fund, established in 1994 with
Grants given from the fund to nonprofits, to date
$861,000
POOF! LIFE IN A VACUUM
TAIL! SPIN! (UNTIL NOVEMBER 30TH)
Mulberry Street Library, 10 Jersey St. at Mulberry St. 4 p.m., Free Twelve to eighteen year-olds are invited to come learn about space conditions at Poof! Life in a Vacuum. Participants will get to see how the vacuum of space works as organizers demonstrate with a bell jar and a vacuum pump. Active participation means that teens will first guess what is going to happen to a variety of objects in the vacuum and then will get to see for themselves while expanding their understanding of the earth’s atmosphere. www.nypl.org
Showtimes vary, $25-75 Lynn Redgrave Theatre, 45 Bleecker St. at Lafayette St. The new play from Mario Correa focuses on the sex lives of disgraced politicians, featuring a packed cast that includes Rachel Dratch, Arnie Burton, Sean Dugan, Tom Galantich, and Nate Smith. The play’s script is taken from the actual words of politicians caught in sex scandals like Anthony Weiner and Mark Foley, including their emails and texts, and focuses on their downfalls and attempts to spin the media. www.tailspinshow.com
SUNSHINE AT MIDNIGHT: “EVIL DEAD 2”
$ Market value of the fund (as of March 2014)
$1,521,000
$712,000
Questions about your giving? We have answers.
Contact our counsel, Jane Wilton, at (212) 686-2563 or janewilton@nyct-cfi.org
Landmark Sunshine Cinemas, 143 East Houston St between Eldridge St. and Forsyth St. 12 a.m., $13.50 Landmark Sunshine Cinema’s Friday and Saturday midnight movie series presents “Evil Dead 2”, a 1987 comedy horror movie directed by Sam Raimi with a large cult following. Grab some popcorn and watch protagonist Ash and his girlfriend Linda from the original “Evil Dead” continue to battle demons and the supernatural in a remote cabin. www. Landmarktheatres. com
ARTISAN PRETZELS AND BELGIAN BEER Le Pain Quotidian, 65 Bleecker St between Lafayette St. and Broadway Br 11:30-1 p.m., $42.50 1 This class at Le Pain T Quotidian bright Bleecker St. Quo Bakery Bake will teach participants the fu fundamentals of creating their own artisanal pretzels. Experienced bakers will Expe demonstrate how to get the demo perfect perfe crust and the techniques behind pretzel shaping, and everyone gets to take some of the delicious treats home. www.coursehorse.com
5 TOPOGRAPHY The Wild Project, 195 East 3rd St. at Avenue B 3 p.m., $20 in advance, $25 at the door Topography features the Broken Box Mime Theatre (BKBX), a talented ensemble of performers who are mixing modern themes with traditional mime techniques. Throughout the 90 minute performance, the
ensemble weaves some of their classic work with new pieces, running the gamut from funny to dramatic, and each written and directed by members of BKBX. www.ovationtix.com
YOGA AT YOGA TO THE PEOPLE Yoga to the People, 125 St. Marks Pl. at 3rd Ave. 10 a.m., $10 suggested donation Begin your Sunday with a 60 minute Vinyasa yoga class at popular Yoga to the People. Classes at the studio are open to people of all levels, and encourage awareness and personal growth for each individual. All classes here at donation based and no registration is required. www. Yogatothepeople.com
6 OPEN LAB: INDIVIDUALIZED HELP WITH TECHNOLOGY Seward Park Library, 192 East Broadway at Clinton St. 4:30-5:30 p.m., Free At this workshop intended for those over the age of 50, participants can come and get help with some of their specific questions and goals related to technology. This could be anything from figuring out how to cut and paste to becoming proficient in hunting for jobs online. Computers are provided, but bringing your own devices is encouraged as well. www. nypl.org
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
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BEAR HANDS The Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. Between Bowery and Chrystie St. 8 p.m., $16 advance, $18 night of Brooklyn-based Bear Hands bring their experimental rock to the Bowery Ballroom. Their sophomore album, Distraction is experimental and heavy on the eighties synths, and was recorded both in guitarist Ted Feldman’s parents’ house and Doctor Wu’s, a Brooklyn studio. They share the bill with Ski Lodge. www.boweryballroom.com
7 TUESDAYS AT THE PAVILION: ARTS AND CRAFTS The Pavilion in Union Square Park, at East 17th St. and Union Square East 3-5 p.m., Free (registration required) Come meet with other parents and caregivers in bustling Union Square for a few hours of fun and arts and crafts. Each Tuesday until October 28th kids can explore through new topics and learn new hands-on art skills including coloring, making food bracelets and picture frames. www.nycgovparks.org
OPEN HOUSE Saturday, October 18—11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m For details, please call our Admissions Office 718.721.7200 ext 699 or visit us at stjohnsprepschool.org. 30 min. from Manhattan on the N train
BETTY WHO
Pizza. Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Plaza at www.sliceouthunger.org East 15th St. 7 p.m., $20 Betty Who takes the stage at Irving Plaza to deliver her combination of indie and pop. She has a long musical background, including learning to the play cello as a four year old and writing songs as a teenager. NEW YORK There has been GYPSY FESTIVAL: here lots of RAJASTHANI GYPSY R
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CARAVA CARAVAN
TUMBLR AND TATTLY PRESENT: A NIGHT OF PEN AND INK Housing Works Bookstore, 126 Crosby St. At East Houston 7 p.m., Free Pen and Ink co-authors Isaac Fitzgerald and Wendy MacNaughton will host a night of the stories behind tattoos, with Saeed Jones, Mona Eltahawy, Starlee Kine, Tao Lin, and Lori Petty. Fitzgerald and MacNaughton’s very wellreceived book gives readers a behind the tattoo look at the body work of a wide variety of people, from thrift store workers to administrators. Temporary tattoos provided by Tattly. www.housingworks.org
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buzz in the music world about this Sydney, Australia native, including her EP “The Movement” being called the “Best EP of 2013” by Billboard Magazine. www.venue.irvingplaza.com
Drom, 85 Avenue A between 5th St. and 6th St. 7:15 p.m., $15 advance, $20 at the door The fivemember Rajasthani Gypsy Caravan brings their live music and dance performance to the New York Gypsy Festival. Through music and dance the group aims to promote and share their culture, and their stage show includes a spinning snake charmer dance, devotional singing, and ancient love songs. www.nygypsyfest.com
MOCATALKS: WAVES OF IDENTITY CURATORS TALK
Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre St. between Howard & Grand 7-9 p.m., $12 adults, $7 Shrine Church of St. Anthony MOCA members, Students, and Seniors of Padua, 154 Sullivan St. at West Houston St. Herb Tam and Yue Ma, the 6 p.m., $1 per slice curators of Waves of Identity: 35 Years of Archiving, discuss Eat delicious pizza at this the large collection they worked annual event with proceeds on that includes letters, photos going directly to the Food Bank for New York City. Each $1 ticket and oral history of Chinese Americans. The two curators will bought at the door includes explain how they organized and a slice of pizza, a soda, and a conceptualized the exhibition, dessert item from Brewla Bars and also how these collections or a raffle ticket. 40 different help to shed light on community NYC pizzerias will be providing pies including John’s of Bleecker, history. Table 87, and Williamsburg www.mocanyc.org
SLICE OUT HUNGER NYC
Educating Tomorrow’s Leaders The marks of true leadership—knowledge, faith, virtue, service to others, a passion for learning, innovation, and creativity—are embedded in our school’s culture. St. John’s Prep is a foundation for success and fulfillment, in college and life. • High standards of learning including AP, Honors, and enrichment courses • Faculty dedicated to the needs of each student • Close-knit, vibrant community of Catholic faith • Active engagement outside the class in athletics, arts, service, campus ministry, and more • Experiential learning through apprenticeships, global travel, STEM, and partnership programs with St. John’s University 718.721.7200 | stjohnsprepschool.org 21-21 Crescent Street | Astoria, NY 11105
Fresh California Organic Walnuts
Perry Creek
WA L N U T S Now taking orders for Nov.
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
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OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our
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Saving Small Business
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
EDITORIAL
IT’S TIME FOR ACTION ON SMALL BUSINESS What is it going to take to finally get people to pay attention to the small business crisis in New York City? It began as a drip of closings a few years ago, as rents for mom and pop companies came up for renewal. Dozens of them were forced to close their doors because they couldn’t afford the exorbitant rent increases demanded by their landlords. Neighbors bemoaned the loss of beloved local institutions, the culture of our neighborhoods began to change. As rents in the city have continued to soar, that drip has since become a torrent. As many as 1,000 small businesses a month now close their doors in New York, according to an estimate by the Small Business Congress. And in some neighborhoods, the affect has been profound. A sense of history of the area has been lost. Quintessential New York characters are gone. The richness and variety that brought many of us to New York in the first place have been gutted. In their place, more often than not: chain stories and luxury retailers, among the few prospects that can afford the rents as they now stand. There are two ways to look at this crisis: The first is to say that New York has always been thus, that ours is a constantly molting, ever-evolving place, and that the only thing constant is the blinding pace of change. That may be true, but it doesn’t account for the number of businesses opened 20, 30, 40 years ago that finally are being forced to surrender now, in 2014. The second response is to put what’s happening in the context of a broader narrative about the city, which has in the past decade become one of the most expensive places on earth to work and live – a gathering place for international investors and those few souls on the lucky side of our great income divide. That may be true, too, but that doesn’t make it something we have to accept without protest. For most of the past year, this newspaper has been working to highlight the problem. We began by devoting increasing space and energy to stories about the issue, all running under the banner “Saving Small Business.” Many of those individual stories are catalogued in the pages that follow, in our tally of closed businesses called “What We’ve Lost.” In addition, in late September, we convened business people, elected officials, and other concerned New Yorkers to talk about where we are and what can be done about. (A report on that forum, at CUNY’s Baruch School of Public Affairs, follows this editorial.) We wish we could say that a single answer for solving the crisis emerged from those discussions. If only it were that easy. A few important insights, though, did become clear: First, Albany is not going to help us. Raising the flag for some ailing businesses in Manhattan does not attract much sympathy in our state capital. Whatever solutions we come up with will have to be our own. Second, this is not solely a Manhattan prob-
lem. Gale Brewer, the tireless Manhattan Borough President, who has probably devoted more time to these issues than anyone else, said there still is a sense on the City Council that these are problems limited to a few wealthy zip codes in Manhattan. As a result, political consensus has been difficult. Those outer-borough political leaders are fooling themselves; what’s happening in Manhattan is headed their way, and fast. Third, our populist mayor desperately needs to engage this issue, just as he has addressed, quite effectively, the shortage of affordable housing in the city. One proposal that has been floated is to require developers to set aside a percentage of their new development for affordable local retail, just as they now set aside 20 percent of their residential units for affordable housing. Bill de Blasio needs to join this discussion. Finally, we need to stop tip-toeing around the fact that the real estate industry is going to have to participate in the debate. Of course, landlords are entitled to earn a decent return, even a great one, on their investment in Manhattan real estate. But they have to be willing to see the issue in a broader context: if Manhattan’s neighbors are stripped of their magic and character, ultimately fewer people are going to want to live in them. What happens to rents then? An important test case of this entire issue will be unfolding in coming months on the Upper East Side. For years now, many businesses along Second Avenue have suffered through the construction of the subway there, a messy and loud public-works project that has severely hurt their business. Landlords have been unable to raise rents because no tenants would take on the headache of moving in. Now, with part of the construction finally ending, many of those businesses are facing lease renewals, and many of them expect to be priced out. Having held out this long, they could be forced to close just as business is finally bouncing back. Brewer, unable to rally support on the Council for an initiative to help the Second Avenue businesses, plans to take it upon herself to try and help these businesses, hoping to mediate decent leases between business and landlord. It’s a heroic effort, and it needs the backing of her colleagues on the council. London, for one, has experimented with a citybacked mediation service to help tenants and landlords come to a solution that works for both. Maybe that could work here, as well. We’ve got to start somewhere. The current, and only bill, addressing this crisis is currently sitting before the City Council -- back again five years after it was first proposed. Few people are optimistic it’s going to go anywhere. Enough dithering. Again, we ask: What is it going to take to finally get people to pay attention to the small business crisis in New York City? Email us your thoughts at news@strausnews. com. -- The Editors
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
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Editor-in-chief Kyle Pope, far left, talks with Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Andrew Rigie of the NYC Hospitality Alliance and restaurant owner Nancy Lee at a forum held at Baruch College.
PUTTING HEADS TOGETHER TO SAVE SMALL BUSINESS SAVING SMALL BUSINESS Policy makers came together to discuss ways to stem the tide of small business loss BY MEGAN BUNGEROTH
The question of how to keep small, independently owned businesses alive in Manhattan is one that plagues everyone from the owner of an Upper East Side restaurant to the president of the borough, and there are no easy answers. Last week, Our Town convened a panel at CUNY’s Baruch College to discuss that question and attempt to address it in all its intricacies. Editorin-chief Kyle Pope moderated a discussion with Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin, herself a former small business owner, along with Andrew Rigie, Executive Director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, an organization that represents restaurants, bars and hotels in the city, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who worked on this issue as an Upper West Side city council member, and Nancy Lee, owner of the beloved Chinese restaurant Pig Heaven, which was recently forced to leave its longtime location on Second Avenue when her lease was not renewed. The panel participants, as well as the audience - many of them small business owners looking for answers too - were interested in ways that the city can help independent owners stay afloat
in an environment of rising costs and landlords who can turn around and demand a 300 percent rent increase for a shop or restaurant with razor thin margins. Commissioner Menin said that her agency is working to give small business owners some relief by reducing the number of fines levied against them for small infractions, and making it easier to understand the rules and avoid fines in the first place. “We don’t believe that city revenue should be made on the backs of small businesses,” Menin said. “All ships ride on a rising tide.” She said that by reducing or eliminating fines on small, nitpicky details like incorrect signage, the Department will cut fines for the city by about $5 million across the board. Andrew Rigie also brought up the issue of fines, noting that in 2012, the Department of Health charged over $50 million in fines to restaurants. He said that aside from rent concerns, that’s the number one issue he heres about from his members. “Not much can be done to adjust rent, so you have to adjust elsewhere,” Rigie said. But the rent issue is the one looming largest for many small business owners, and the one that’s most intractable, especially at the city level. (The Real Estate Board of New York was invited to participate in the panel, but declined.) “This is the hardest issue to solve,” Borough President Brewer said. In her time in the city
council, she said, they tried giving tax breaks to landlords who rent to owner-operated or “momand-pop” shops, but that measure has to be approved in Albany, which proved impossible. Brewer also acknowledged a recent change in co-op regulations that allow co-op boards to bring in 100 percent of their maintenance revenue from a commercial tenant, which makes it more appealing for boards to rent their ground floors to a chain like CVS or a bank branch. On the Upper West Side, Brewer was able to pass new zoning regulations limiting banks and store frontage on Amsterdam and Columbus avenues in 2012. She hopes that similar measures could be taken elsewhere, but warned that it’s difficult to even get attention to the matter from outer borough council members. “It’s mainly a Manhattan issue,” Brewer said. “It’s hard to get others to care.” Rigie, while cautious not to villainize chain stores or landlords, also acknowledged that na-
Nancy Lee’s Pig Heave restaurant on its last day in business last month. It will reopen nearby soon.
tional retailers bump up the rents for everyone else on the block, once building owners see how much they can get in rent. Nancy Lee, who was visibly emotional about the recent struggles of her restaurant, said that she feels the situation for most small business owners is hopeless unless they buy the building they’re in. Pig Heaven was successful and popular, but that fact alone couldn’t save it. When her lease expired this year, she said, the landlord refused to renew it; she thinks they plan to knock down the building and build a high rise, or sell it empty. “I’m not kidding, I cried every day because I knew that I was going to have to close my restaurant,” Lee said. Luckily for Lee, she’s found a new space nearby in the neighborhood, on Second Avenue between 80th and 81st Street, but said that between the rent and the constant hassle from city agencies with regulations to follow, it was not an easy decision to re-open. “I think I’m crazy, otherwise I’d give up already,” Lee said with a laugh. When it came time for the Q&A portion from the audience, several pointed questions were raised about how the city would combat inflated rents. A woman who owns a small music shop on the Upper East Side near Second Avenue wanted to know what would stop her landlord from raising her rent once the Second Avenue Subway was completed. Brewer said that’s a problem she’s trying to figure out, and one she’s acutely aware of. Legally, there is nothing to stop a landlord from letting a small business suffer through years of construction woes, only to oust them when the subway starts running and the area suddenly becomes much more desirable and accessible. The takeaway from the discussion seemed to be that the city needs to pay attention to small businesses before they all die off, but it’s not solely a city problem. Any changes to the tax code - one of the best incentives for businesses and landlords must be approved by the state legislature. Brewer agreed that there are more problems then there are solutions, and that one of the best options - buying a building - is simply out of reach for most small business owners. “There’s no magic wand,” she said.
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
BACK FENCE BAR
CANAL ROOM
155 Bleecker St at Thompson St •Bar/music venue •68 years in business •Failed its health inspection Although the popular Bleecker Street bar and music venue already had plans to close shop--and to exit with one final concert--their plans were ruined when the city Health Department forced the bar to close, citing evidence of mice, filthy flies, and improper sanitation practices. With its kitschy checkered tablecloths and small stage, the bar hosted countless musicians in its day, and was a favorite among a mix of tourists, locals, and NYU students.
285 W. Broadway at Canal St. •Live music venue •10 years in business •To be replaced by a new bar called Haus. Tribeca’s longtime live music venue closed to make room for highend “mixology” bar and lounge, Haus. Canal Room was known for its regular ‘80s and ‘90s cover band nights.
MAGIC SHOE REPAIR
PARADISE CAFE
30 Carmine St b/t Bleecker St and Bedford St •Cobbler •20 years in business •Building was sold, and the cobbler and his neighbor were put out so that the landlord could combine the two storefronts into one. Magic Shoe’s cobbler, Misha, hailed from Odessa, Russia, repairing shoes as well as timepieces. The New York Times reports that a “stream of émigrés from the former Soviet Union have passed through Magic Shoe Repair, shining shoes, working their way into America with a rag, polish and hungry energy.”
139 Eighth Ave b/t 16th and 17th sts. • Restaurant • 20 years in business • Owner Michael Turowsky could not afford the doubled increase in rent. An institution in Chelsea, Paradise Cafe was a frequent stop for muffins, smoothies, coffee, and sandwiches, as well as conversation and a welcoming atmosphere. Serving organic food, the cafe was also a favorite among such celebs as Ethan Hawke and Ben Stiller. Turowsky laments the gradual change in Chelsea’s overall vibe--from that of funky to more serious.
ALAN’S ALLEY VIDEO STORE
CAMOUFLAGE CLOTHING
207 Ninth Ave. between 23rd & 24th •Independent video store •25 years in business •The building’s landlord found a tenant who could pay higher rent, driving out owner Alan Sklar. Alan’s Alley Video Store, one of the last of its kind, closed down after 25 years of catering to Chelsea locals. A neighborhood institution, the store provided a treasure trove of movies, and attracted regular customers over time. Sklar has said that although he could hypothetically move his business anywhere in the city, he would like to stay in Chelsea so that he won’t be forced to rebuild a customer base.
139 Eighth Ave. between 16th & 17th •Clothing store •38 years in business •The store’s landlord more than tripled its rent from $7,000 to $24,000 per month. The owner of trendy men’s clothing store Camouflage, Norm Usiak, has lamented the current state of New York shopping options, saying that the city has turned into a “minimall.” Camouflage Clothing was a hot spot for fashionable locals to buy high-quality, namebrand clothing, and was a true, old New York-style clothing store.
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
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MANATUS RESTAURANT
RAINBOWS AND TRIANGLES
340 Bleecker St, between Christopher & W. 10th •Restaurant •Had been in business since the mid-1980s •The new asking rent was too high--$50,000. A 24-hour restaurant that was cleaner and more refined than the average New York diner or coffee shop, Manatus was considered a more affordable, but still delicious, option in the hyper-gentrified West Village. With a fullystocked bar, a killer bacon cheeseburger, and a friendly atmosphere that attracted older locals, Manatus was a go-to destination--now, to be replaced by a Calvin Klein outlet.
192 Eighth Ave at 20th St •Gay gift shop •20 years in business •The store’s owner did not want to renew the lease after a rent increase. The unique “gay gift shop” served as a kind of community hub for Chelsea’s gay community, offering up gift cards and scented candles alongside lube and sex toys, along with friendly conversation and socializing.
SUEÑOS 311 W. 17th St. near Eighth Ave. •Restaurant •11 years in business •Owner Sue Torres said in the statement announcing the restaurant’s closing, “We could go on for hours about the plight of small businesses in these economic times, but we are sure you have heard enough of that in the news. This is a decision that we, ultimately, had to make for ourselves.” Torres’s restaurant received consistently rave reviews, and counted April Bloomfield, Frank Bruni, and New York critic Adam Platt among its loyal fans. Sueños was known for its excellent margarita list, its pork tamales, and, as Platt referred to them, the “superior” chorizo quesadillas.
BLARNEY COVE 510 E. 14th St between Avenue A & Avenue B • Dive bar • 40 years in business • The bar was leased to another company Having become a staple of the Lower East Side, Blarney Cove gained a legendary status, often full of regulars who not only knew the staff but all knew each other. Many described it as one of the last, great dive bars of the city.
JACK BISTRO 80 University Place between 12th & 11th • Restaurant • Eight years in business • Closed due to an aggressive landlord who wanted to increase the rent by $20,000 Jack Bistro was popular for being low-key and affordable for a quick lunch, and often packed with university students on a budget.
VERCESI HARDWARE 152 E. 23rd St between Lexington Ave. & 3rd Ave. •Hardware Store • 101 Years • The building’s landlord sold the location to another tenant who will replace the store with an 18-story condominium Vercesi was one of the last familyowned hardware stores and was known for knowing many customers on a first-name basis.
A-1 MUSIC COMPANY 186 1st Avenue between 11th & 12th • Musical instrument store • 26 years in business • Closed due to a dip in sales and rent being too high Among the vanishing music stores of the area, A-1 customers would find instruments that were cheaper than at a mega-store.
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
ODESSA CAFÉ AND BAR
PULINO’S BAR & PIZZERIA
119 Avenue A (b/t E. 7th St and St. Mark’s Place) • 48 years in business • Closed after new owners demanded a 50 percent increase in the restaurant’s monthly rent. Odessa became a staple of the Lower East Side. Customers loved the incredibly inexpensive prices for a Manhattan establishment and during its run gained many regulars. Many described the café as an “oldschool late night diner” with classics such as perogies and burgers.
282 Bowery Street at E. Houston St. • Pizzeria •Three years in business • Owner is looking to transform the place into a French restaurant. Pulino’s was unique for being one of the few pizzerias to serve breakfast, especially their classic “breakfast pizza”. Regulars noted how often packed the place would be for the pizzeria’s many original creations and its vibe.
JILL ANDERSON BOUTIQUE 331 E. 9th Street between 1st & 2nd • Clothing store • 18 years in business • Anderson said a combination of bad luck, high rent and the day-to-day difficulties of running a business forced her decision to close the shop. Anderson’s boutique was among the few whose owner handmade the clothing sold there. .
DEWEY’S FLATIRON 210 Fifth Ave. between 25th & 26th • Bar • 18 years in business • Dewey’s is closed after the landlord refused to renew the bar’s lease This downtown mainstay was filled with workers looking to relax after a long day on weekdays and sports fans on weekends. Dewey’s also lent to many New Yorkers a vintage feel with its World War I era brass cash register and upstairs lounge filled with old photographs of the city.
FIRST AVE PIEROGI & DELI 130 1st Ave between 7th St. & St Marks Pl. • 30 years in business • The deli is closed due to the owner retiring As one of the last Polish delis in the area, many locals say their pierogies were the best they’d ever had.
CAFÉ CNN 315 Park Ave S. between 23rd & 24th • Café • The café is closed due to being hit with a lawsuit for nearly $350,000 in back rent and then filing for bankruptcy last summer. Café CNN will be missed for reasonable prices and a vast selection favored by office workers in lower Manhattan
OLYMPIC RESTAURANT 115 Delancey St. between Norfolk & Essex • Restaurant • 35 years in business Olympic is closed after the city sent the owner an eviction notice saying he had to leave so that the diner’s building can be demolished to make way for the massive Essex Crossing development
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
MANZANILLA 45 Park Ave. S. between 25th & 26th • Restaurant • One year in business This restaurant was like a version of another restaurant that owner Dani García operates in Malaga, Spain. It was among the few modern Spanish brasseries in New York, serving traditional dishes such as roasted suckling pig and rice and shrimp with black squid ink.
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STROMBOLI PIZZA & PASTA 112 University Pl. between 12th & 13th • Pizzeria • 47 years in business • Closed in order to make way for a new residential complex at 110 University Place Stromboli’s low prices made it a favorite of NYU students.
BOB AND KENN’S BROOME STREET BAR 363 W. Broadway between Grand & Leonard • Bar • 42 years in business • Longtime owner Kenn Reisdorff passed away and, although the lease would renew in January 2015, Residorff’s daughter does not want to maintain the bar The bar was part of a landmarked 1825 building whose stained glass windows date back to the 1880s, when it was a German beer hall.
JOEDOUGH 135 1st Ave (b/t St Marks Pl & 9th St) • Sandwich Shop • Two years in business
PLANTWORKS 28 E. 4th St. between Bowery & Lafayette • Plant shop • 20 years in business • The rent has gone up from $15,000 to $34,000 a month. A traditional momand-pop nursery, the owners had years of horticulture experience which gained the trust of residents along with their wide range of plants.
BIOMED DRUGS & SURGICAL SUPPLY CO. 50 Third Ave. between 10th & 11th • Pharmacy • 20 year in business • Rent was too high for the owner Biomed was one of a dying breed of surgical supply shops that was pushed out by the expansion of chain pharmacies.
DEROBERTIS PASTICCERIA AND CAFFE 176 1st Ave. between 10th & 11th • Bakery • 110 years in business • Family retired After so many years, DeRobertis had gained legendary status. Customers raved about how being in the shop was like stepping back in time to a traditional pastry shop. Additionally, many locals claimed that DeRobertis’ traditional Italian ice cream was the best ice cream they ever had.
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
ARCHANGEL ANTIQUES
BEREKET TURKISH KEBAB HOUSE
334 E. 9th St. between 1st & 2nd • Antique store • 21 years in business • Family decided to retire after the lease expired and they could not keep up with the increased rent The store was a family-run business whose owners knew many of their customers on a first-name basis. Customers raved about the wide selection of vintage items and moderate prices.
187 E. Houston St. between Houston & 2nd Ave. • Restaurant • 19 years in business • Landlord sold the building to Ben Shaoul, who plans to turn it into a high rise The longtime Lower East Side resident was one of the few 24-hour restaurants left in the area.
MÓLE
ZOË
205 Allen St. between Stanton & E. Houston • Restaurant • Seven years in business Mole was known for their margaritafueled happy hours.
245 Eldridge St. between Stanton & E. Houston • Restaurant • Three years in business Even though around for only a short while, Zoë had become a neighborhood establishment known for its comfort American cuisine.
MIN’S MARKET
ROCKET JOE’S PIZZA
2-4 Clinton S. at Houston • Bodega • Significant rent increase forced this mainstay to sell Min’s Market has been at its location for many years and was dependable for residents who needed to pick up a few necessities.
245 Eldridge St. between Stanton & E. Houston • Pizzeria • 23 years in business Regulars called it the perfect place for a late-night fix.
BOUKIÉ’S
SAN MARZANO
29 E. 2nd St. between Second & Bowery • Restaurant • Two years in business Although only open for a short time, customers raved about brunch at Boukié’s
71 Clinton St. between Rivington & Stanton • Pizzeria • Five years in business • After a water pipe burst and flooded the restaurant, rendering the space useless, owners decided it would be best to sell San Marzano was known for its deluxe wood-burning Valoriani Verace oven.
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
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ZULU’S COFFEE SHOP
ZUCCO’S LE FRENCH DINER
77 Delancey St. between Orchard & Allen • Café • Three months in business • Owners signed a threemonth lease and decided against renewal when the time came The shop was unique as it was modeled after a 1920s confectionary shop.
188 Orchard St. between Stanton & E. Houston • Restaurant • After a few tough years, the restaurant is being pushed out by the consistent development of high-rises surrounding the restaurant. Zucco’s was a popular spot on the Lower East Side, known for serving authentic French cuisine. Although on the small side, patrons often spoke of the intimate, romantic ambiance making them feel as if in Paris.
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We’re here for them. www.EastMidtown.org
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
More male performers are participating in burlesque festivals, givng them a chance to figure out what defines a “classic” male burlesque act.
THE BOYS BEHIND BOYLESQUE PERFORMING ARTS The New York Burlesque Festival showcased the growing number of male performers taking on the art form BY OLIVER MORRISON
CHELSEA The burlesque performer Little Brooklyn had just received a standing ovation for taking off her clothes, virtually, with an iPad slowly revealing her skin underneath her gown, even though on stage she still had her dress on. The virtual stripping managed to get the crowd going more than any of the actual bared breasts had so far. And then the crowd erupted again, for a performer who sashayed to a Latin rhythm, undulated a series of hulahoops around the body and ripped off ruffled sleeves while lying prostrate.
“It was our first man meat of the night,” growled the emcee into the microphone after Ben Franklin IV, a former theater actor from a conservative family in Virginia, finished his first ever performance at the New York Burlesque Festival. There were lots of long lashes, busty bras and silk stockings at the 12th annual burlesque festival, which ended on Sunday night at the Highline Ballroom in Chelsea. But each of the four nights also featured its share of chiseled chests, thick thighs and balding brows. The presence of male burlesque performers, like Franklin, is unremarkable these days and yet still novel enough to get the crowd thumping. The top 50 burlesque performers in the country included just three male performers back in 2009, but that number doubled by 2013, according to 21st Century Burlesque Magazine. It has spawned sub genres, such as nerd-
lesque and circ-esque, for science fiction and circus themed acts. They even have their exclusive “boylesque” festival in the spring, which has increased from 30 to 40 performers in just two years. “Back when I started there was one really long-running weekly in New York called Star Shine,” said Jonny Porkpie, one of the only male performers in 2004, who performed on Friday. “Now any night that you wanted you could find a show, probably three.” This has meant more work and attention for performers. Mr. Gorgeous, who had just won the top title of Mr. Exotic World in Las Vegas at the Burlesque Hall of Fame, said that a few years ago he was doing 75 percent circus work and 25 percent burlesque. Now those numbers are reversed, and he rotates between 10 different performance spaces, including the Slipper Room on the Lower East Side and Galapagos Art Space in Dumbo. Now, instead of paying his own way, burlesque festivals fly him around the country to different venues. Some say its popularity is just part of the general rise of burlesque since the late 1990s. Other performers say that men make the shows more dynamic, by giving straight women and gay men in the audience more to hoot for. “Couples want to come and not feel guilty. They want to celebrate and get excited together,” said Nicole Rizzo,
director of the Gypsy Lane Cabaret in New Hampshire, which has four male performers and six female performers, and will be attending the festival for the first time this year. “We’re animalistic. It’s in our nature.” Producers tend to prefer that women perform classic acts that mimic the performances of female icons from the past, such as Gypsy Rose Lee and Dixie Evans, according to Darlinda Just Darlinda. She creates edgy neo-burlesque in Bushwick, but performs and teaches classic burlesque in Manhattan to make money. But male performers say they have more freedom to experiment. “As a man we don’t have as many archetypes or legends to pull from so there isn’t really a set away in how we do a classic male burlesque act,” said Matt Knife who dressed in steam-punk clothing for his performance Thursday night. “We’re defining what a classic male burlesque act is.” Burlesque regained prominence around 15 years ago in part by embracing all kinds of female body types: the same has been true for the more recent rise of boylesque. Performers use burlesque to feel in control of their bodies. “You’re taking off your clothes in a room full of people who are either going to love or hate you,” Knife said. “Even if the audience isn’t liking what you are doing, you can turn it around, you can maybe make them laugh, freak
them out a bit, turn them on, then scare them. It’s a vulnerable power.” Mr. Gorgeous, who won the Beefcake award at last year’s festival for his sixfoot five, muscular stature, said burlesque is less about body physique than artistic form. “When I view another act, I’m really not judging or thinking about the way their body looks,” Mr. Gorgeous said. “If I wanted to see a ripped body and a huge dick I would just go to a strip club. I’m more interested in the concept.” The boylesque performers usually come from avant garde theater and circus acts that overlap with burlesque, and frequently identify as gay. They say that taking off their clothes has added a different dimension to their previous performances and brought them more attention. “The thing I love about burlesque is it’s a performer-driven art form,” said Jonny Porkpie, who just turned 40. “The person doing the act is the same person who choreographed it, conceived it and made the costumes.” Porkpie doesn’t think boylesque is fundamentally different than the comedy and theater work he used to do. “I got an email from a high school friend who said ‘You know, of all the careers I’ve seen yours is the most unexpected.’” Porkpie said. “Actually it’s the same thing I always did, I just take off my clothes now.”
5 TOP
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
FOR THE WEEK BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
MUSEUMS
THOMAS HART BENTON: AMERICA TODAY
Best Doorman
American muralist Thomas Hart Benton painted his sweeping, ten-panel mural in the early 1930s for mounting in the boardroom at New York’s New School for Social Research on West 12th Street. Depicting scenes from across the country during the 1920s, the mural is on display in a recreated boardroom, and the exhibition includes Benton’s pencil sketches and character drawings done in preparation for the mural. Through April 19 Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Ave., at East 82nd Street Museum hours: Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Admission: $25
ƥ ƥ Best Super Best Porter Best Maintenance Person
KIDS THE BUTTERFLY GIRL Based on children’s book Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison, The Butterfly Girl debuts at Vital Theatre Company this fall. The play, for ages 2 through 7, follows precocious first grader Velma, who looks for a way to stand out in school when she discovers her older sisters cast large shadows. Through Nov. 16th Vital Theatre Company 2162 Broadway, second floor, near West 76th Street Show times Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tickets $30-$40
MUSIC LENNON: THROUGH A GLASS ONION Australian musicians John R. Waters and Stewart D’Arrietta bring their ode to legendary Beatle John Lennon, originally staged in Sydney in 1992, off-Broadway this fall. Waters performs 31 songs from Lennon’s solo records as well hits written with fellow Beatle Paul McCartney, including Strawberry Fields Forever, Revolution and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, interspersing the music with bits of spoken-word about Lennon’s life, career and legacy. Oct. 3-Feb. 22 Union Square Theatre 100 East 17th St., at Park Avenue Assorted show times Tickets $87-$127
NOMINATE
IN CONVERSATION MARLON JAMES AND LAILA LALAMI Jamaican-born writer Marlon James joins Moroccan novelist Laila Lalami to discuss his latest work, A Brief History of Seven Killings, about the foiled assassination attempt made on Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley. Lalami’s new historical work of fiction, The Moor’s Account, tells the story of a Moroccan slave who became the first black explorer in America. Monday, Oct. 6 92nd Street Y Buttenwieser Hall Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street 8:15 p.m. Tickets $15-$28
CHANGING LIVES, MAKING HISTORY: 40 YEARS OF LGBTQ LIFE IN NYC Bravo television personality Andy Cohen talks with Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen to discuss her new book, Changing Lives, Making History: Congregation Beit Simchat Torah. The book examines the history of the progressive, LGBTQfriendly institution, which has operated from a loft on Bethune Street in the West Village for 37 years, and its role in the city’s gay rights movements. Tuesday, Oct. 7 JCC Manhattan 334 Amsterdam Ave., at West 76th Street 7 p.m. Tickets $18
Do you know a great doorman, porter or handyman where you live? Is ƥ ǡ ƥ ǫ ǡ ǡ ǫ Join n Our Town, The West Side Spirit, Our Town Downtown and 32BJ SEIU,, the property workers union, in honoring the people who keep our Ǥ ǯ Ǥ ǡ ǯ ǯǡ ǯ ǯ ǫ
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
Food & Drink
< CLAUDETTE PLANS TO ADD SIDEWALK SEATING; NEIGHBORS UNHAPPY Claudette, the Provencal restaurant near Washington Square Park, has received initial approval to add sidewalk seating. Apparently, however, this is exactly what restaurant owner Carlos Suarez promised the community board he wouldn’t do. In a statement sent to Eater, Claudette claimed the
restaurant originally said they would not seek to add sidewalk seating because they were unaware of their ability to apply for it. According to Eater, the Department of Consumer Affairs signed off on the café permit July 2nd and went to a City Council vote on Sept. 23. Community Board 2 wrote to the State Liquor Author-
ity protesting the idea, saying “the applicant agreed to... not use any backyard garden space or sidewalk café.” If Claudette is granted final approval, neighbors on Fifth Avenue are considering legal action, Eater reports.
Haven’s Kitchen will host an “east meets west” dinner as part of the Food Network’s New York City Wine and Food Festival.
FOOD & WINE FEST IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD FESTIVALS The Food Network’s citywide festival will be bringing food and wine events to downtown DOWNTOWN From October 16th-19th New York City, a metropolis already filled with amazing eats, is going to get even more delicious as The Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival kicks off. Presented by Food & Wine, the festival includes 100 events, hands on food experiences and educational seminars, and offers something for everyone from the casual foodie to food industry veterans. All
Danzer of Uncle Boons, Andy Ricker of Pok Pok Ny, Tadashi Ono of Ganso Restaurant Group, and Ivan Orkin of Ivan’s Slurp Shop will all be participating. As all of the collaborating chefs run restaurants that are consistently tough to get into, this is a rare opportunity to try some of the best pan-Asian food the city has to offer.
Sausage Making 101
Saturday, October 18th Macelleria, 48 Gansevoort St. at Ninth Ave. 12-1:30 p.m., $95 The basics of sausage making will be taught by Violetta Bitci, the President of the Meatpacking District’s Macelleria . Bitci and her restaurant chef will teach participants how to choose the right cuts of meat, how to properly grind the filling, and stuff casings, and will give instruction of curing at home. The class will be capped off with a tasting of Macelleria’s events are 21+, and be sure to check the website sausages and wine. for tickets and updates. Here are some downtown highlights this Analon Cookware Presents Biscuit Making 101 Saturday, October 18th year. Home Studios, 873 Broadway #005 at 18th St. East Meets West Dinner hosted by Ann Redding 11 a.m.-12 p.m., $95 and Matt Danzer, Andy Ricker, Ivan Orkin and Sarah Sanneh of Williamsburg’s ode to Tadashi Ono southern cooking, Pie’s n’ Thighs, will teach Friday, October 17th an hour long class on the fundamentals of Haven’s Kitchen, 109 West 17th St. between biscuit baking. Sinneh has worked in many Sixth Ave. and Seventh Ave. notable New York eateries including Marlow 7-10 p.m., $250 & Sons, Momofuku Milk Bar, Biltmore Room, An array of skilled New York City chefs will and Magnolia Bakery, and studied pastry at create a dinner combining Thai street foods, The International Culinary Center. ramen and izakaya. Ann Redding and Matt
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2014 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. Hong Kong Station
45 Division Street
A
New White Swan Bakery 88
88 East Broadway
Grade Pending (15) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Rosella Coffee Shop
23 Clinton Street
A
Lee Chung Cafe
82 Madison Street
Grade Pending (24) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Contra
138 Orchard Street
A
Hua Xia Seafood Restaurant
49 Division Street
Not Graded Yet (3)
Macao Restuarant And Bar 311 Church Street
Grade Pending (27) Food not cooked to required minimum temperature. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Mooncake Foods
28 Watts Street
A
Golden King Bakery
9092 Bowery
Not Graded Yet - Establishment authorized to reopen after inspection conducted on 09/17/2014.
Crave Espresso Bar
386 Canal Street
A
Congee Chinese Restaurant
98 Bowery
Closed by Health Department (65) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. 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. Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Hop Lee Restarant
16 Mott Street
Grade Pending (21) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
My Little Secret
149 Mulberry Street
A
Cha Chan Tang
45 Mott Street
Grade Pending (25) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed.
The Ship
158 Lafayette Street
A
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
Property
< MAYOR WILL CONSIDER PIED-A-TERRE TAX Mayor Bill de Blasio is saying he’ll “take a look” at a proposal to tax luxury pieds-a-terre in New York City. The Fiscal Policy Institute released a report Monday urging de Blasio to seek Albany’s approval to tax people who keep a second home in New York worth more than $5 million.
The institute said there were more than 1,500 of those apartments which could raise $665 million every year. De Blasio said Tuesday his administration will “assess” the proposal. Many who keep second homes in New York claim their permanent residency in nearby
states. Others are wealthy foreigners who keep a Manhattan apartment as a status symbol or investment. The mayor’s plan to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund pre-kindergarten died in Albany earlier this year.
Ask A Broker
What does days on market mean? I religiously analyze the market statistics to understand the residential real estate business and to spot trends. A thorough understanding of what’s happening in the market as a whole, as well as Manhattan’s neighborhood micromarkets, is critical for me to successfully advise my clients. By thoroughly understanding the stats and how they affect my buyers and sellers, I can effectively explain their options and empower them to comfortably make smart, informed decisions. BY MICHAEL SHAPOT Simple, right? Hardly…. This month, the most glaring statistic is average days-on-market. Shorter days-on-market reflects strong buyer demand; longer days-on-market reflects weaker demand. Currently, days-on-market is 78 for the Upper West Side, 84 for the Upper East Side, and 75 for the Downtown market. What does this tell us? Looking at these numbers in a vacuum, they don’t explain very much. Where were days-on-market 30 days ago? They were 51 for the Upper West Side, representing a 52% increase. They were 74 for the Upper East Side, representing a 12% increase. They were 69 for Downtown, representing a 17% increase. Sixty days ago, the days-on-market were 46, 69 and 51 for the Upper West, Upper East and Downtown, respectively. (Thank you Urban Digs for providing these critical statistics.) Is anyone able to spot a trend? Is this a cause for alarm? Average days-on-market is most definitely trending up, and up significantly. Okay, relax Henny Penny, the sky is not falling. If we examine days-on-market from a historical point of view, we know that they increase significantly every year at this time. This is a seasonal fluctuation in the market, reflecting the typically slow summer months. Check out this column next month; unless there is a significant market shift, I expect to see a leveling of average days-onmarket. In last month’s column, I described an open house that had five visitors and no offers. That property now has an accepted offer. Another listing that had been on for a couple of months with no serious activity had a price adjustment and now has multiple offers. And two of my buyers who had been looking for a while now have accepted offers. Happy Autumn! Is it the market or is it the marketing? It is always the marketing. When a property is priced well and appeals to the proper demographic, it generates interest. Buyers are out there, looking for value; when they like what they see, they buy it. More inventory is coming on the market. This is a very healthy situation, good for serious buyers, good for serious sellers, and good for brokers. Michael Shapot is a broker with Keller Williams in Manhattan.
BILL HIGHLIGHTS ISSUES FOR HARASSED TENANTS HOUSING Lawmakers hope increased penalties for tenant harassment will deter unscrupulous landlords BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
A recently passed measure in the city council that toughens penalties for landlords found guilty of tenant harassment is receiving mixed reviews from affordable housing advocates, who say increasing penalties against unscrupulous landlords is a worthy cause, but more must be done. The legislation, sponsored by council
members Margaret Chin and Jumaane Williams, actually amends a pre-existing bill that levied a $5,000 fine to landlords found guilty of harassment. The amendment doubles that fine to $10,000 and will also result in the guilty landlord’s name being posted to a public list on the city’s Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development’s website. Sue Susman, president of the Central Park Gardens Tenants’ Association, who also runs a popular mailing list on affordable housing issues and is considered a communication hub in the affordable housing community, said the amendment is an important step in the right direction but that the definition of what constitutes harassment must be
broadened. “Right now, landlords have their agents call rent regulated tenants offering money to move, with an implied or spoken ‘or else we’ll see you in court,’ and that’s perfectly legal,” said Susman, who has a law degree from NYU and is currently involved with the Real Rent Reform Campaign. There’s also the matter of landlords taking tenants to court in frivolous lawsuits that are eventually tossed out but nonetheless cause financial and emotional damage, she said, which is a currently legal and effective form of harassment. Susman praised the amendment but said she’d like the public shaming aspect
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
to have deeper consequences for landlords. “I like that HPD will post information about violations,” she said. “But who would be affected by those postings? I’d be thrilled if there were a consequence that protected tenants directly, such as the requirement that all apartments in the affected building must remain rent regulated for the duration of their current occupants’ tenancies.” Sam Himmelstein, a wellknown housing lawyer who exclusively represents tenants in these matters, praised the amendment but said he’d like to see the fine go to the tenants who are harassed, not into the city’s coffers. “After all, they’re the ones that are being adversely affected,” he said. Katie Goldstein is the executive director of Tenants and Neighbors, a grassroots organization that seeks to empower affordable housing tenants through organizing, educating and legislative advocacy. She said the city council amendment is “great,” but that there are deeper issues in play at the state level. “The real issue is that loopholes in the rent laws economically incentivize harassment as owners try to get to the decontrol threshold of $2,500 to deregulate the unit,” said Goldstein. Goldstein is talking about vacancy decontrol, a mechanism whereby if an owner of a building can get the monthly rent of a particular unit up over a certain threshold – currently $2,500 – that unit becomes deregulated and can be rented at market rate. Landlords work towards that threshold in a variety of ways: Rent Guidelines Board increases, major capital improvements, and something called a “vacancy allowance,” which allows a landlord to charge an additional 20 percent of the original rent to a new tenant of a rent stabilized unit that was previously vacated. On paper, an MCI is a costly but necessary infrastructure upgrade to a building that’s spread out over a number of years in the form of additional fees on a tenant’s monthly rent bill. But some tenant leaders have accused landlords of abusing the system by foisting on them the cost of unnecessary upgrades. The 20 percent vacancy allowance can be further increased by anywhere from 1/40th to 1/60th of the original rent if the landlord makes improvements to the apartment
while it’s vacant. Goldstein gave an example of the path to vacancy decontrol with a hypothetical rent stabilized apartment that goes for $1,000/month. If the tenant moves out, the 20 percent vacancy bonus is added onto the rent, and the rent is $1,200. The owner then does $10,000 of improvements in the apartment, and 1/40th is added onto the rent, which is $250. “So in one turnover, the rent has gone from $1,000 to $1,450,” said Goldstein. “As you can see, there is then enormous incentive to get rent-stabilized tenants out to collect these increases and get them higher to the decontrol threshold.” There are currently around one million rent stabilized apartments in New York, and Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced an ambitious plan to build or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing over the next 10 years. Many affordable housing advocates regard the repealing of vacancy decontrol as key to protecting the city’s affordable housing stock. But Goldstein believes the Chin/Williams amendment will have a deterring effect on abusive landlords, even though it doesn’t get to the heart of the matter. “This law will be a helpful tool for many of our members who are regularly experiencing tenant harassment,” she said. Longtime tenant advocate John Fisher, however, believes the amendment, and the original 2008 bill, which was passed by then-city council speaker Christine Quinn, is actually detrimental. “It’s a joke, it’s not going to change anything,” said Fisher, pointing out that according to HPD’s own testimony from April in support of the amendment, only 44 cases out of 3,206 brought against landlords resulted in those landlords being found guilty of tenant harassment and having to pay a fine. An HPD spokesperson provided that testimony, which concluded that of the 3,206 cases brought against landlords between 2008 and 2013, 2,195 were discontinued, dismissed or withdrawn, 680 were settled, and, “only 44 cases have a disposition in [the HPD] database that indicates that there may be a finding by the judge about harassment.” “When you pass legislation that is weak, it maintains the illusion that tenants have the ability to gain redress in some meaningful way, and they don’t,” said Fisher, who has run an online repository for af-
LANDLORD HARASSMENT CASES IN NEW YORK HOUSING COURT • 3,206 cases of landlord harassment were brought between 2008-2013 • 2,195 cases were discontinued, dismissed or withdrawn • 680 cases were settled out of court • 44 cases ruled in favor of tenants • Other cases were resolved in a variety of ways, according to the testimony Source: HPD testimony to the city council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings and Committee on Aging, April 30, 2014
fordable housing information since 1994 called Tenants Net. “It actually does more damage. In a lot of ways I think this is snookering people. I think it’s a disservice by the city council.” But Sam Spokony, a spokesperson for Chin, said the bill will put aggrieved tenants in a stronger position when the talk turns to a settlement. He pointed to the evolution of measures enacted at the city and state level to help tenants who face harassment, like the state’s creation of the Tenant Protection Unit in 2012 and the amendment that was just passed in the city council, as a continued effort to bolster these protections to the point where tenants have considerable resources in their corner. “This bill is about taking what we can do and taking a positive step forward to react to landlords,” said Spokony. “It makes a tangible difference in these cases and it also sends a message.” Spokony said the Tenant Harassment Unit typically gets involved only when there’s a discernable pattern of illegal harassment, and the public shaming aspect of Chin and Williams’ amendment has the added potential of helping to identify that pattern. “The legislation as it was passed isn’t being presented as the end of the story here,” said Spokony. “This is part of a sustained effort by progressive council members and people at the state level who support this kind of action, to do something about this, and everybody can make their own contribution based on what they’re able to do.”
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
KEEP YOUR PET SMILING BRIGHT PETS Regular dental care is a crucial component to your animal’s health Tell the truth: When was the last time you gave any thought to your pet’s dental health? If it’s been a while—or maybe never—you’re not alone. Studies reveal that about two-thirds of pet owners do not provide the dental care recommended by their veterinarians. That’s a big mistake. Even though pets don’t often get cavities, they are susceptible to periodontal or gum disease, which is the number one illness found in both dogs and cats. That’s why it’s so important that pet lovers include dental hygiene in their animals’ health and wellness routine. “Just like with people, dental disease can lead to all sorts of major health issues for animals,” explains Dr. Mark Verdino, VP and Chief of Veterinary Services at North Shore Animal League America. Dental hygiene is as important to your pets’ overall health as nutrition and exercise, he adds. “Gum inflammation and tooth loss can be very painful to your animals and costly to treat, but they also can lead to more serious conditions, including damage to the heart, lungs and kidneys.” Estimates suggest that, by the time they are three years old, 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats have oral disease. Some of the most common symptoms in both dogs and cats include yellow and brown build-up of tartar along
the gum line; inflamed gums; and persistent bad breath. A change in eating habits or pawing at the mouth can also indicate dental disease. But since dental problems often develop gradually, it’s easy to miss the signs until there is a bad infection. That’s why it’s critical to schedule a regular annual dental check-up with your pet’s veterinarian. Below is more information you need to know help you prevent your beloved dog or cat from getting dental disease and add years to their life. • It’s important to brush your pet’s teeth as early as possible. The best time to start a tooth-brushing regimen is when their adult teeth are in, at about 6-9 months old. But getting puppies and kittens used to the process earlier is important. • Avoid dental products containing Xylitol, as it is highly toxic to dogs and questionable to cats. NEVER use human toothpaste to clean pets’ teeth and gums. • Poor dental hygiene can lead to dental disease. Dental disease is caused by bacteria in the mouth and can result in oral pain, halitosis, tooth loss and periodontal disease, and it can even affect the heart, kidneys, intestinal tract and joints. Also, a pet in dental pain is not a happy pet, and the pain can affect his/her ability to eat. During a dental exam at your local Pet Health Center, veterinarians will determine the status of your pet’s dental needs. If your pet needs more advanced dental care, your veterinarian will recommend the treatments needed and the approximate costs involved.
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST The local paper for the Upper West Side
A CENTURY OF SEX TALK ON THE EAST SIDE MILESTONES Shirley Zussman, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday, worked with Masters and Johnson, and still sees patients as a sex therapist BY KYLE POPE
UPPER EAST SIDE Some people’s life stories write themselves, and Shirley Zussman, the 100-year-old sex therapist of the Upper East Side, is one of those people. She was born in 1914 at the start of World War I (less than a month after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand), lived in Berlin at the height of the Cabaret era, became a protege of the original Masters and Johnson, and, now into her second century, continues to see patients in an office in the ground floor of her apartment building on E. 79th Street. Last month, more than 50 people crowded Yefsi restaurant, a Greek place
August 7, 2014
August 20, 2014
The local paper for the Upper West Side
SOUP BURG CLOSED AFTER RENT INCREASE SAVING SMALL BUSINESS Venerable Upper East Side restaurant to be replaced by a TD Bank branch BY CATHERINE ELLSBERG
Soup Burg has served up its last bowl. The restaurant, which had called its Lexington Ave. and 77th Street location home for the past 10 years, was finally forced to call it quits June 29 after the building’s landlord tried to raise the rent exponentially. Unable to pay the higher rent, Soup Burg’s owner, Jimmy Gouvakis, had to make the difficult decision to close the restaurant—a family-owned business since 1963—to make way for the building’s new tenant, TD Bank. Gouvakis has had the difficult news hanging over him since April; since then, his customers have showered him with support -- as well as a healthy dose of outrage. Many neighborhood fans and long-time customers see the closing of Soup Burg as part of a sad and larger epi “How far can we go with this? Are we just been equal parts levelheaded and nostal
July 3, 2014
July 6, 2014
The local paper for the Upper West Side
U.P.S.’S SECRET MANHATTAN PROBLEM One of the Hagan brothers’ 11 Manhattan UPS stores, now closed.
“
Employees in virtually every Manhattan (UPS Store) location were so comfortable with the practice of … lying about expected delivery dates, withholding accurate price quotes and over
BUSINESS A former franchisee accuses the shipping giant of routinely gouging customers throughout the city BY KYLE POPE
UPS, and their right to operate a UPS store was revoked. But, in an effort to clear their name, the Hagans have filed an extraordinary claim against UPS in Federal Court that lays out, over 200 detailed pages, what they say is a systemic effort by UPS to rip off its Manhattan customers. The Hagans, UPS f hi i 2008 h b i
In Brief CITY FINDS SPACE FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS City officials say they have found space in closed Catholic schools for three charter schools that were denied the space they thought was theirs. City officials said Saturday that the three Success Academy charter schools will move into buildings that formerly housed two Roman Catholic schools in Manhattan and one in Queens. The Success Academy schools had been promised space in public schools during the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in February that he was reversing some of the so-called co-locations approved under Bloomberg last fall. Those included the three Success Academy schools. Under the agreement announced Saturday, the city will renovate the closed Catholic schools. Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz said she was grateful to the mayor for his support.
NYU LANGONE OPENS E.R. FOR 1ST TIME SINCE SANDY NYU Langone Medical Center has re-opened its Sandy damaged emergency room. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio were on h d Th d f th i
May 1, 2014
UPS tells employees to lie, overcharge customers: suit What can Brown screw from you? Two former UPS franchisees accuse the worldwide delivery service of telling employees to lie about the size and weight of packages in order to jack up prices on unsuspecting customers. Brothers Robert and Thomas Hagan, who owned and operated 11 UPS stores in Manhattan, claim in a federal lawsuit that a typical scam was to “add inches to the sides of measured boxes,” as well as an “enhanced declared value,” which allowed clerks to charge customers more. For example, a package with a length, width and depth totaling 26 inches would cost $106.85 to overnight from New York to Pittsburgh, but a 29-inch package would cost $117.19. In some cases, customers were overcharged as much as 400 percent,
May 11, 2014
FI R S T I N YOU R N E I G H BO R H O O D
(212) 868-0190 The local paper for the Upper East Side
The local paper for the Upper West Side
The local paper for Downtown
OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
YOUR FIFTEEN MINUTES
Rosie’s Kids is aimed at students from public schools with little in the way of arts programs.
Q&A
Rosie do?” That’s how I try to run it. I try to make people feel welcome.
Co-founder Lori Klinger shares her love of the arts with New York City public school students
The training is held after school at the Maravel Arts Center.
BY ANGELA BARBUTI
The first class of Rosie’s Theater Kids is graduating from college. This is a huge milestone for Lori Klinger, co-founder of the Manhattan-based arts education program. Along with Rosie O’Donnell, she started the nonprofit in 2003 and together they have transformed the lives of thousands of students who, without the program, would not be where they are today. Each year, New York City public schools with the highest free lunch rates are chosen to participate. Over fifteen-thousand fifth graders are introduced to the arts and are even taken to their first Broadway show. Out of those kids, the ones who show the most interest are selected for the program’s conservatory-style training, which lasts until they complete high school. A former dancer with the Eglevsky Ballet, Klinger gets just as much out of the program as her students do. “The kids, they’re the light of all of it. I barely get through a day without crying, mostly tears of joy. They are just so delightful,” she said.
The first year they come twice a week, one day after school and Saturday morning. They learn a technique-based curriculum, proper ballet, tap, vocal, and drama. In the schools, we teach the kids the basics. But this is a real conservatory-style training. If they wanted to become a dancer, singer, or actor, they have the proper technique.
You focuses on preparing students for college. Would they have gone on to higher education if it wasn’t for the program? They might have gone to a community college, but definitely not the colleges they are in, without our program. I know they feel certain about it too. It’s not so interesting for us to have child actors. Our first group of kids is graduating from college this year. It’s very exciting. We’re very clear that they can major in anything they want. We have five graduating and only one is in musical theater. The other’s in pre-med, another is in a business program, another is in a community college doing some music. The fifth girl is in and out of school, because of her life situation.
What are their situations like at home? How did your partnership with Rosie come about? How much involvement does she still have? It started because her ex-partner, Kelly Carpenter, was a ballet dancer. And I knew her for a long time. So through Kelly, I met Rosie. Kelly was having a baby and we were having a baby shower. I think that day we just started talking about it around the kitchen table, this idea that I would teach a class, and it blossomed into this beautiful thing. While I might say that Rosie is minimally involved, I would say her influence is huge. And I do try to run it in the spirit of Rosie. So when someone comes by, I think, “What would
There are kids whose parents kind of have deserted them. So we work with whoever we have to work with to make sure they’re secure with relatives or family friends. We also have kids from middle class families whose parents work as porters in buildings or for the police department. A lot of my time is absorbed with a few kids who really need extra help.
You bring the fifth graders to their first Broadway show. What are their reactions like? That’s part of our mission; every fifth grader goes to see a Broadway show with their teachers. Their reactions are just astounding. I always tell
them, “Don’t just look at the show, look around, look up at that beautiful chandelier, the orchestra.” They write me letters that are just fabulous afterwards. I remember one time I was with a group of kids, and we had taken the subway. After the show, we were walking back to the subway and this ade!” And girl said, “Look, there’s a parade!” ey, that’s the teacher said, “No, honey, just rush hour.” It’s almostt like she quare behad never been in Times Square fore. And mostly, they don’t go there. borhood. They stay in their own neighborhood.
Do Broadway actors come to talk alk to the kids? As part of the fifth grade series, eries, we nal come have a Broadway professional ance and and do a private performance talk to them about life in the theater. Within our building at Maravel, ople who we have so many great people y Quinto come in all the time. Zachary xth gradwas there coaching our sixth ologues. ers on their audition monologues.
Rosie’s Kids just had a gala honoring noring Cyndi Lauper and Jordan Roth.. What is their influence? Cyndi has been a funder since the beginning. We honored herr for her commitment to Rosie’s Kids and g people also her devotion to helping with her True Colors Fund. Our kids el a little identify with that. They feel bit different. And any time someone can celebrate that, it really helps our sident of kids. Jordan Roth is the president ujamcyn Jujamcyn Theaters. And Jujamcyn ik, which has a program called Givenik, is a group ticket-buying office. So we buy all our tickets through Givenik, e back to and they give a percentage our charity.
Do you accept volunteers? Yes, of course. We have a mentoring program. People do help us out all the be they’ll time in different ways. Maybe h the kids volunteer at an event to watch ay operabackstage. In the day-to-day ofessions tions, we really try to keep professions ave a full working with the kids. We have w volunacademic program and a few he tutors teers who help with that. The
29
ROSIE’S THEATER KIDS BRIGHTEN UP MANHATTAN are teachers or come recommended through nonprofits.
Can you tell us a success story? I can talk about Daniel who was in our very first year. We knew right away we wanted to have an afterschool program and picked about 30 kids and he was one of those. He just identified so beautifully with the arts and really worked hard to transform himself emotionally and physically into becoming quite a young actor. He decided to go to the University of Michigan, certainly one of the top schools for musical theater. I just think he’s going to do it. And I remember at one point when he had high started his school, he went to PPAS, Professional Performing Arts School, he was kind of on the down side. And I called his mother and she said, “I just think he’s
going to quit.” And I said, “Let’s make a plan to ease up on him a little bit.” She said, “Lori, he’s my oldest kid. I had him when I was very young. If you tell me he needs to be in this program, II’m m just going to trust to you.” you. And she did and he’s so totally happy. And his two younger brothers are now in our program. Visit www.rosiestheaterkids.org.
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
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OCTOBER 2, 2014 Our Town
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CLASSIFIEDS Classified Advertising Department Information Telephone: 212-868-0190 | Fax: 212-2868-0190 Email: classified2@strausnews.com Hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm | Deadline: 2pm the Friday before publication ACCOUNTING/FINANCIAL SERVICES ALLSTATE INSURANCE Anthony Pomponio 212-769-2899 125 West 72nd St. 5R, NYC apomponio@allstate.com ANIMALS & PETS
BIDEAWEE - Animal People for People Who Love Animals! -Manhattan-Westhampton866-262-8133 www.Bideawee.org North Shore Animal League AnimalLeague.org 1-877-4-SAVE-PET Facebook.com/TheAnimalLeague ANNOUNCEMENTS
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COUNSELING
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POLICY NOTICE: We make every effort to avoid mistakes in your classified ads. Check your ad the first week it runs. We will only accept responsibility for the first incorrect insertion. Manhattan Media Classifieds assumes no financial responsibility for errors or omissions. We reserve the right to edit, reject, or re-classify any ad. Contact your sales rep directly for copy changes. All classified ads are pre-paid. LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL
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ways to re-use
your
old
newspaper # Crumple newspaper to use as packaging material the next time you need to ship something fragile.
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Our Town OCTOBER 2, 2014
Wednesday, October 8, 2014 10 A.M. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Noon | Rain or shine Bowling Green Park 1HHG D OLWWOH FRORU LQ \RXU KRPH RU RIÃ&#x20AC;FH" &RPH DGRSW D JHUDQLXP The Downtown Alliance LV JLYLQJ DZD\ JHUDQLXPV DV SDUW RI LWV *UHHQ $URXQG /RZHU 0DQKDWWDQ SURJUDP
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