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RENT REGS IN TROUBLE AGAIN NEWS If lawmakers don’t act, rents could rise for regulated tenants BY DAVID KLEPPER
Cynthia Chaffee’s Manhattan apartment would likely go for more than $5,000 a month if the landlord charged market price. But Chaffee pays thousands less thanks to the city’s longstanding rent stabilization rules — regulations that will expire this year if lawmakers don’t act. The 63-year-old paid $300 a month when she moved into the one-bedroom space
in 1978. To Chaffee, the rules governing how much she and more than 2 million other New York City residents pay in rent protect the city’s diversity and character. “The city is changing enough as it is, and these laws are so important to so many people,” said Chaffee, who won’t specify how much she pays now. “If you want to have neighborhoods, if you want to have families and artists and elderly living in New York City, we need these laws. Can you imagine what New York City would be like without them?” The laws governing the rent paid by Chaffee and more than 2 million other New
In Brief London Terrace, a massive rental complex in Chelsea. Tenants protected by current rent regulation and stabilization laws could see changes if the state legislature doesn’t act. York City residents are due to expire June 15, and state lawmakers are preparing for what could be a bruising debate over whether to renew, strengthen or weaken them. The complicated set of rules determines the size of rent increases for nearly 1 million apartments built before 1973. Supporters say they are
critical to ensuring that New York City — a city of 2.2 million apartments — remains affordable to working-class and middle-class residents. Landlords, however, chafe under rules that they say keep rent artificially low and force them to charge more for unregulated apartments and forgo improvements.
Brooklyn landlord Chris Athineos manages some rent-stabilized apartments that go for as little as $500 to $700 a month — units that would go for $1,500 or $2,000 if unregulated. He said the rules are unfair to landlords and tenants who are forced to subsidize the lower rents of
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
MARIO CUOMO AND THE POWER OF WORDS REMEMBRANCE The former governor was about so much more than great speech-making BY CHRISTOPHER MOORE
As a kid in Jersey with a passion for politics, I followed the news through city tabloids. I found vast entertainment in the Mario Cuomo-Ed Koch follies. Their competitions in the city in 1977 and statewide in 1982 stuck in my brain and heart. They still do. I’m sitting here now with a copy of “Diaries of Mario M. Cuomo,” which is subtitled “The Campaign for Governor.” It’s hard to beat that first race for governor, when Cuomo was the decided underdog, for sheer political
drama. Granted, when I finally grew up and, as the editor of this newspaper, interviewed Cuomo, I found him to be a little bit crazy. His passion about what he was talking about seemed almost scary – and I couldn’t get him to stop. But that’s the hazard of a real-life encounter with an idol. And when his son was a would-be gubernatorial candidate in 2002, I took his dad’s book to an editorial meeting with Andrew Cuomo. He thought I was the crazy one. He seemed to retreat when he knew I was a Mario Cuomo junkie. Now I’ve had enough therapy to realize I was, by bringing the book, putting the son in a weird position. Oops. Obviously I’ve been thinking and reading about the senior Cuomo, as the Upper East Sider was laid to rest this week. So much has been expressed about the former three-term governor, and some of it’s even true. Much has been said about what he said – and the powerful way in which he said it. There’s been criticism that the legislative and administrative record never matched his rhetoric, as if that were even possible. Evidently we remain wary and distrustful of eloquence, as if we’re being set up for failure when a leader is able to use language to
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
DE BLASIO AND BRATTON ANNOUNCE LOW CRIME RATES Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton announced 2014 saw the fewest murders last year in recorded city history. The mayor and commissioner also announced the city saw the lowest murder, robbery and burglary rates in the past 10 years. In 2014, Overall Index Crime was down 4.6 percent since the previous year, Overall Index Crime in transit was down 14.8 percent over the previous year, and housing crime was down 6 percent over the previous year. In 2014, marijuana arrests dropped 10.5 percent over the previous year. In 2014, complaints to the Civilian Complaint Review Board also dropped 11 percent compared to the previous year. “The City of New York is the safest big city in America, thanks to the hard work of the members of the NYPD. This relentless dedication to public safety has resulted in historically low crime levels and a safer city where millions of people live and work. The NYPD will endeavor to further reduce crime through community relationships and the integration of technology,” said Bratton. The announcement came as de Blasio and Bratton have been working to repair the fractured relationship between the police and protestors, as well as tensions between the mayor and the NYPD rank and file.
2 Our Town Downtown JANUARY 8-14 ,2015
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS CHECK HEDGE FUND FOUNDER ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY SON The New York Post reported that Thomas Gilbert Sr., the 70-year-old founder of Wainscott Capital hedge fund, was killed with a gunshot to the head on Sunday. His 30-yearold son, Thomas Gilbert, Jr. was arrested and charged with his father’s murder and is being held
without bail. Police sources told the Post that the younger Gilbert came to his parents’ home on Beekman Place around 3:30 p.m. carrying a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol. He asked his mother to go out and get him a sandwich before he allegedly executed his father with a single shot. Sources said that Gilbert Jr. was angry at his father over the threat to cut his monthly Thoma Gilbert Sr. was found shot to death at his Beekman Place home on Sunday; his son has been charged with his murder.
spending money allowance from $600 to $400. Gilbert Sr. was also reportedly paying his son’s $2,400 monthly rent on his West 18th Street apartment. In 2011, the elder Gilbert founded Wainscott Capital Partners Fund, which has $200 million in assets. Industry publication Hedge Fund Alert said in an August 2013 article that the fund had a net return of nearly 25 percent in 2012. He was a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School. Gilbert Jr. also attended Princeton, graduating in 2009 with a degree in economics. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the son worked with the father, but he was not listed on the company’s website. Gilbert Sr. worked on Wall Street for more than 40 years, according to his proďŹ le on Wainscott’s website, and previously co-founded Syzygy Therapeutics, a biotech asset acquisition fund. He also was founder and CEO of an online teacher-education company called Knowledge Delivery Systems Inc. After allegedly shooting his father, Gilbert Jr. ed the East Side home and his mother discovered the body and called
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911. Gilbert Jr. was later arrested at his apartment in Chelsea at about 11 p.m. New York Post
CUOMO BEGINS 2ND TERM, SAYS N.Y. WILL BE LEADER
FUR-SELLERS CHARGED WITH TOSSING BLEACH AT PROTEST
Andrew Cuomo kicked off his second term as governor Thursday with a pep talk, urging New Yorkers to lead by example through some of the nation’s worst problems. Speaking from the symbolic heights of the newly completed One World Trade Center, Cuomo aimed high with his rhetoric, touching on national issues sure to trigger questions about his political ambitions while also hinting that he may ďŹ rmly insert himself into the imbroglio that has roiled the nation’s largest city. “We work harder and we earn less. Income inequality is at the highest point in over a century. While American capitalism never guaranteed success, it did guarantee opportunity,â€? Cuomo said. “For too many, the dream of economic of mobility has been replaced with a nightmare of economic stagnation.â€? Cuomo said these frequently troubled times are “a uniquely New York moment because when things are at their worst, New York is at its best.â€? The governor also reacted to the protests against police brutality
Prosecutors say three fur-sellers tossed bleach and ammonia from a roof onto animal rights activists below. Lawrence Andrews, Luis Justino and David Haber are charged with reckless endangerment, harassment and criminal mischief. According to a criminal complaint, the three men went to the top of a sixstory Soho building and dumped bleach at an anti-fur protest happening on the street. Prosecutors say the bleach struck at least one baby stroller and a few pedestrians. Police say two of the men were caught inside the building with garbage bags reeking of cleaning uid. The men were arrested Dec. 20. They were released and told to appear on Jan. 26. Gregory Gomez, an attorney for Justino, says his client denies any involvement in the incident and the allegations are unproven. AP
that have swept the nation since grand juries failed to indict police officers in the deaths of black men, including Eric Garner, whose last moments were captured on videotape as he was placed in a fatal chokehold by a white New York Police Department officer. “The world saw an AfricanAmerican man in Staten Island die and people are confused, disgruntled and angry,â€? Cuomo said. He argued that “today, sadly, too many people are questioning if the blindfold is still intact or does the justice system now see black and white or black and blue or rich and poor.â€? The resulting protests have driven a wedge between Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City police unions, which have claimed that the mayor has helped create an anti-NYPD atmosphere that led to the fatal shooting of two police officers on Dec. 20. “Law enforcement officials have been wrongfully targeted and even assassinated. It must stop,â€? Cuomo said, before calling the two sides to work harder to ďŹ nd common ground. “Everyone is talking but no one is listening.â€? AP
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JANUARY 8-14 ,2015 Our Town Downtown 3
CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG
NYPD SLOWDOWN REFLECTED DOWNTOWN BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
News outlets across the city are reporting that the NYPD has cut back significantly on enforcement since the assassnations of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu Dec. 20 in Brooklyn, a trend tracking with downtown precincts. The New York Times reported Monday that for the second straight week since the officers’ deaths, the NYPD as a whole has drastically reduced the number of arrests and summonses they issue. For the week ending Jan. 4 officers made 2,401 arrests citywide compared to 5,448 the same week last year, a 56 percent decrease. For criminal summons the drop is even more precipitous at 88 percent. For the week ending Jan. 4, the NYPD issued just 347 criminal summonses compared to 4,077 the same week last year. Parking and traffic tickets are also down more than 90 percent. Those trends hold at the micro level for the 1st Precinct in TriBeCa and the Financial Dis-
trict. According to the NYPD’s CompStat Unit, for the week ending Jan. 4 police in the 1st Precinct made 27 arrests compared to 96 last year. They also issued just one criminal summons compared to 15 made during the same period last year, and didn’t issue any parking or moving violations. Last year they issued 271 parking violations and 129 moving violations over the same period. The trend, which was dubbed a “work stoppage” by the New York Post, comes amid increasing tensions between the police department and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. Protests over police brutality and the non-indictment of the officer responsible for Eric Garner’s death on Staten Island have, in addition to contract negotiations between the NYPD and the administration, led to a climate of hostility between many officers and their union and the mayor.
PLUMBING PROBLEM Exchange Place was the place for a recent van robbery. At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 24, a 27-year-old employee of Advanced Plumbing Services Inc. parked his work van opposite 21 Exchange Place and went to work at 40 Exchange Place. Twenty minutes later,
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he returned to find that the van was missing. Cameras on the Williamsburg Bridge showed the van being driven past Market Street and South Street at 10:17 a.m., and then heading eastbound on the bridge at 10:25 a.m. The stolen van was a white 2004 Ford E250 Super Duty with New York plates 26023MB. It contained a full load of tools, including an impact drill and battery, pipe wrenches, screwdrivers, knot drivers, adjustable wrenches, a hammer, a torch head solder kit, a socket set, a level, hand snake, ladders, pipe cutters, air pump, and more. No dollar amount was specified for the items stolen.
BIKE OF MANY COLORS Hells Angels wouldn’t stand for this! At 4 a.m. on Friday, December 19, a 38-year-old man parked his motorcycle on the southwest corner of Albany Street and South End Avenue. When he returned to retrieve his chopper, the vehicle was missing. Police confirmed that the cycle had not been towed to the parking impound, nor were there any outstanding parking tickets. Police searched the area but could not find the man’s machine. The stolen bike was a multicolored 2013 Yamaha XT 250 with New York plates 92SK03, valued at $5,000.
Report covering the week 12/22/14 through 12/28/2014
A bad guy tried and failed to elude video cameras when robbing a store. At 9:09 p.m. on Tuesday, December 23, a perpetrator entered the Duane Reade store at 250 Broadway and placed stickers on the store’s video surveillance cameras to avoid detection. There were no employees downstairs where he stole a load of merchandise. Still, he must have failed to cover up at least one camera, because he can be seen on video with a backpack full of stolen goods. Items shoplifted included multiple containers of Visine, Blistex, Chapstick, Abreva, Carmex, NyQuil, NyQuil Severe, Zyrtec, and Tylenol, totaling $1,924.
GREENE MEANIES A gang of muggers teamed up on a pedestrian downtown. At 11:45 p.m. on Friday, December 26, a 33-year-old woman was walking northbound on the east side of Greene Street when she saw a man on the west side “charge toward her” from across the street. She backed up into a 15-year-old male youth behind her, who threw her down on the sidewalk and covered her
Week to Date
Year to Date
2014 2013
% Change
2014
2013
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
0
0
n/a
Rape
1
0
n/a
12
6
100
Robbery
4
1
300
90
104
-13.5
Felony Assault
2
2
0
102
96
6.2
Burglary
2
12
-83.3
212
247
-14.2
Grand Larceny
17
26
-34.6
1,386
1,535 -9.7
Grand Larceny Auto
2
1
100
82
55
mouth, using force to hold her down. The first man grabbed her purse and ran, making a left turn westbound onto Broome Street. The youth ran and did the same, and both entered a white SUV with New York plates, which sped off, driven by a third accomplice. There is no video of the incident, but fortunately, the victim sustained no injuries. The items stolen included an iPhone 5S valued at $530, a wallet priced at $250, Prada makeup worth $100, Sisley lip gloss tagged at $60, Chanel bronzer valued at $60, along with other makeup, an Illinois driver’s license, Citibank cards, and a keychain. The total stolen came to $1,136.
49.1
RECTOR ROBBER Early morning can be a dangerous time to ride the subway. At 5 a.m. on Monday, December 22, a 22-year-old man boarded the southbound N or R train at Rector Street. As the train was pulling out of the station, an unknown man with a ponytail approached him, displayed a knife, and said, “Give me everything you have.” The victim handed over his iPhone 5, and the suspect fled the station to parts unknown. Police searched the area but could not find the ponytailed phone snatcher. The stolen iPhone 5 was valued at $500.
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4 Our Town Downtown JANUARY 8-14 ,2015
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regulated units. “We all pay the same price for a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk at a particular market,” said Athineos, whose family business manages 140 apartments in nine properties. “Just because you’ve been going to that market longer doesn’t mean you get to pay less for the bread.” With one of the highest costs of living in the country, rent in New York has been a sensitive topic for more than a century, even giving rise to Jimmy McMillan’s bid for governor on “The Rent is Too Damn High” ballot line in 2010. Rent stabilization initiatives were created decades ago as a way to prevent longtime residents from being priced out of their neighbor-
One possible compromise involves tying rent restrictions to limits on property taxes to offer landlords some relief. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, a Democrat representing parts of Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen and Flatiron first elected 44 years ago, said rent laws and tenant issues have always been one of the top two or three concerns raised by constituents. He said he’s preparing for a “major fight” this year. “The rent laws, like the subway system, are a large part of what enables New York City to be what it is,” he said. “It wouldn’t be as economically integrated as it is. The rent laws are what enable a middle-class family or a working family to put down roots and remain in a rental apartment as their home.” On the other side are groups
like the Rent Stabilization Association, an organization representing landlords that believes the rules need to be relaxed. Frank Ricci, the group’s director of public affairs, said he hopes lawmakers build on reforms made in the last two decades, which made it easier for many apartments to become deregulated over time. Ricci said many of the landlords represented by his group are small family businesses that have to deal with property taxes and maintenance costs that increase faster than rents. “It’s 8th-grade algebra: If one side of the equation goes up, the other has to as well,” he said. “Something’s got to give, and the guy who has to figure out what gives is the guy who owns or manages the building.”
MARIO CUOMO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 describe a vision. The speeches were just speeches, the argument goes. Performance art, and not much more. We’re missing the point, or part of it. Cuomo gave good speech, indeed, and this week, thanks to CSPAN showing his 1984 Democratic keynote address at the gym, I wept on the treadmill. But for some of us, a speech like that – a misstatement, really, since there never was any other speech like that – is an action. It’s an achievement. It motivates some people, especially younger ones, to become far more interested in civic affairs. I know, cause that’s what happened to me. We’ve overstated the schism between words and actions. They’re related. There’s such a thing as cause-and-effect. Some of what Cuomo often said – like how we must think of our state as “the family of New York” – provided a framework for other action. And some of what he argued in his San Francisco keynote – “we would rather have laws written by … Saint Francis of Assisi than laws written by Darwin” – gave liberals in a conservative age a mental-health break from the me-me-money ethos of the Reagan era. Sometimes an address, especially when you’re the president or the governor and giving speeches is a key part of your job, is at least partly an end in itself. It’s no small thing to give voice to progressive thinking in America. The question of whether Mario Cuomo lived up to his words is left now to history. The question for us is whether we believe in his notion of a family of New York, and beyond, and whether and how we might live up to his words. Christopher Moore, a freelance editor and writer, is a former editor of Our Town and the West Side Spirit.
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hoods. Similar programs are in place in Westchester, Nassau and Rockland counties. The renewal of the city’s rent laws poses a perennial dilemma for state lawmakers and leaders like Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has made housing and income inequality key priorities, and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a former U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary who has taken millions in political contributions from real estate interests. The debate is likely to be one of the defining issues of the 2015 legislative session, which gets underway Wednesday. Democrats from New York City will try to protect and strengthen the rules; Republicans who lead the state Senate are expected to try to roll back the restrictions.
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YOU READ IT HERE FIRST The local paper for the Upper East Side
Out & About 9 THE STEPFATHERS Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, 307 W 26th St. 9 p.m., $10. Seven of New York’s most beloved players come together in this improvisation show. 212-366-9176. ucbtheatre. com
November 5, 2014
April 17, 2014
BENJAMIN FREDRICKSON Daniel Cooney Fine Art, 508 W 26th St. 11 a.m., Free. This series uses the artist’s candid polaroids to explore the male sex industry in the Midwestern United States. 212-255-8158. danielcooneyfineart.com
The local paper for the Upper West Side
LOST DOG TALE, WITH A TWIST LOCAL NEWS
A family hopes that Upper West Siders will help bring their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel back home Upper West Side For the past week, Eva Zaghari and her three children from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, have been papering the Upper West Side with over 1,300 flyers asking for information on their beloved dog Cooper. ?We are devastated, please return our dog,? the sign implores. The catch though, is that Cooper didn?t technically get lost, or even stolen. He was given away. When she explains the story, sitting at Irving Farm coffee shop on West 79th Street before heading out to post more flyers around the neighborhood, Eva and her kids are visibly distraught. About a month ago, on September 5th, her husband Ray had arranged to give the dog away, via a Craigslist ad. He mistakenly thought that removing a source of stress from his wife and kids ? walking and feeding and caring for a dog, tasks which had fallen mostly to Eva ? would make everyone happier
212-254-1109. theaterforthenewcity.net
THE MEMPHIS GROUP
October 2, 2014
Joe Sheftel Gallery, 24A Orchard St. 11 a.m., Free. This installment showcases pieces by Memphis, at Italian group whose furniture was inspired by the Pop Art movement. 212-226-4900. joesheftelgallery.com
October 8, 2014
The local paper for the Upper East Side
A CENTURY OF SEX TALK ON THE EAST SIDE
Photo: Bart Babinski
10
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
WINTER JAZZFEST 2015
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
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
Various Locations, Greenwich Village. 5 p.m., $35. This annual jazz festival in Greenwich Village features musical performances to raise money for various charities. 212-505-3474. winterjazzfest.squarespace. com
THE MEMPHIS GROUP Joe Sheftel Gallery, 24A Orchard St. 11 a.m., Free.
This installment showcases pieces by Memphis, at Italian group whose furniture was inspired by the Pop Art movement. 212-226-4900. joesheftelgallery.com
11
12 SAGEWORKS EMPLOYMENT BOOT CAMP
SAGE Center, 305 Seventh Ave. 9 a.m.-2 p.m., FREE. Two week program for AN AMERICAN job seekers ages 40 and up. Professionally developed it’s WORKER an intensive training course Theater for the New City, 155 designed to provide participants with essential skills to help them First Ave. in job hunting. 3 p.m., $15. This musical by Tom Attea and 212-741-2247, ext. 224. Arthur Abrams, directed by Mark www.sageusa.org/programs/ Marcante, explores the troubles sageworks.cfm faced by a small Pennsylvania town in a financial crisis.
JANUARY 8-14 ,2015 Our Town Downtown 7
THE IMPROVISED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I’LL NEVER DO AGAIN
Theatre 80, 80 St. Marks Pl. 7 p.m., $33. An improvised show in which players speak in British accents and use Victorian language. This show is very popular in Chicago. 212-388-0388. theatre80.net
Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St. 7:30 p.m., $25. This piece is performed by actors doing unique things while acting out the recordings of scenes by American author, David Foster Wallace. 212-967-7555. publictheater.org
13 PEN PARENTIS - WINTER POETRY NIGHT Andaz Wall Street, 75 Wall St. 7-9:30 p.m., free. Pen Parentis Literary Salon: Winter Poetry Night, featuring Diana Whitney, Adam Penna, Sarah Gutowski, Jared Harel, and Jennifer Michael Hecht. Lively discussion about the balance of family vs. creative career. 212-501-2031. www.penparentis.org
THE MOTH STORYSLAM Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, 126 Crosby St. 7 p.m., $8. Based on the very popular podcast, this event allows community members to share stories based on speciific themes. Tonight’s theme is “Hair.”. 212-334-3324. themoth.org
14
Photo by: Brian Rogers
ALEXANDRA BACHZETSIS Swiss Institute, 18 Wooster St. 5 p.m., Free. This piece, by Swiss choreographer Backzetsis is meant to create discussion around the human need to create an identity that coexists with the identities of others. 212-868-0190. swissinstitute.net
15 TALA University Settlement, 184 Eldridge St. 8 p.m., $18. In this same-sex romance, the director uses aspects of his own life, as a gay Chilean-Korean man. 212-453-4532. kyoungspacificbeat. org
KARA WALKER, AFTERWORD Sikkema Jenkins & Co., 530 W. 22nd St. 10 a.m., Free. This new artist is showing her work for the first time since her exhibition at the Williamsburg sugar refinery. Her pieces are her interpretation of J.M.W. Turner’s The Slave Ship. 212-929-2262. sikkemajenkinsco.com
8 Our Town Downtown JANUARY 8-14 ,2015
Voices anism is flight and they don’t care if they’re pulling a carriage. The industry isn’t regulated like it should be. Enough is enough. Lisa Cronin
DEBATING OUR PICK FOR PEOPLE TO WATCH Our choice of Elizabeth Forel, the anti-carriage horse campaigner, as a Person to Watch this year prompted the kind of mail we’ve come to expect on the issue. A sampling, including comments online, follows:
who took the time to testify gave the history, the conditions of the stables, the hoof numbers switched to fake vet reports, etc. It is time, NYC! Barbara Hobens Feldt
Hooray for Elizabeth Forel. She has galvanized so many who witness these horses work day after day in freezing and scorching temperatures. I have seen the empty food and water buckets, their noses inches from exhaust pipes, down in the street after being hit and yes, being whipped. The time is now for a ban. I ask every Council member to walk down the line on Central Park South to listen, observe, and to look at each horse prior to the vote. If done, it will pass 100%. Hope that the Council is provided with past testimony since many
Indeed, Elizabeth Forel is definitely one to watch, in the same way one watches sneaks, cheats, liars, and bullies. The disinformation spread by her and her followers is outright cultish. She and her cult should have a defamation suit filed against them for the constant unprovable accusations that flow unhindered from their mouths. appyrdr The bottom line is horses and busy traffic do not mix. They spook. Their defense mech-
Horses and traffic mix just fine. Traffic statistics kept by the NYPD indicate that carriages account for less than 0.003% of all traffic collisions, and almost all of those collisions result in ZERO injuries to horse or human and little to no property damage. Horses CLEARLY mix better in traffic than pedestrians or bicycles do! You also appear to not really understand that acclimated horses like ours rarely spook, and that spooks, when they do happen, rarely result in disaster, thankfully. We’re really the safest form of transit in NYC, whether you feel it to be unsafe or not. Statistics, not feelings, tell the truth. thedrafthorse
The Sixth Borough
Living it up on the D.L.
BY BECCA TUCKER ranted, there was a quarter-sized hole in his hand, with blood just sitting there in a lagoon between his thumb and forefinger. It was lucky that he still had all his fingers and the use thereof. Leave it to my already Jesus-looking husband to present with stigmata four days before Christmas. But coming home to find that Joe had nearly drilled
G
through his hand was only part of the surprise. The other part was his reaction to his self-inflicted wound. Let me back up. I had taken our two-year-old, Kai, and cleared out of our new house for the day, with great hopes for what we could get accomplished via divide and conquer. Kai and I spent the day at our old house, boxing what remained of our stuff, scrounging a forgotten can of soup for lunch, and presumably, freeing Joe up to finish retrofitting the horse stable at our new place into a chicken coop-slash-goat barn. When we returned six hours later, it turned out that an hour after our departure, he’d power-drilled his left hand – a move that, having watched him wield his brand new drill the day before, did not come as a bolt from the blue. Joe is an Eagle Scout, well versed in the arts of survival; carpentry, though, is more his brother’s area of expertise. So the fact that he’d spent most of the five hours since his accident sitting in front of his laptop watching football, not even bothering to apply pressure,
seemed uncharacteristically pathetic. To be fair, he had managed to fold a load of laundry. But not even a Band Aid? “I was in shock,” he shrugged. I tied a strip of t-shirt around his hand and, feeling very Florence Nightingale, fashioned a sling out of a blanket to keep the hand elevated. Did he want to skip the Christmas party we were supposed to go to tonight? “No way!” he said. Didn’t sound much like shock, but this party was one of the best nights of the year. After this, Joe’s laptop started following us around the house. (We don’t have TV, but he finds football through some illegal gambling site.) Here we are having dinner with my in-laws, the laptop perched on the kitchen counter. Bath time, and the Cowboys and Lions are facing off on top of the toilet. Kai is delighted. “Daddy’s email!” she exclaims… as in, Daddy’s email is doing much more exciting things than usual! I know in some households, watching football is a normal thing to do in the evening, but we are weird, plus we
are mid-move, by which I mean we are at a moment in our lives where we work like indentured servants. We play hard, too – but rarely do we sit around watching TV. Especially when the wound started scabbing and it was clearly going to be fine, I had a field day making fun of my not-really-very-injured husband. I think I broke out my story about Joe’s dissipation at three out of our four family Christmas parties (both our parents are divorced; holidays are hell.) “I’m on the DL!” Joe protested. I started threatening to take up the drill myself, even though I’m the worst DIY-er since my mom, whose wallpapered walls in the house I grew up in looked like groundhogs had tunneled underneath the Laura Ashley. Then I got sick. It’s a Christmas tradition with me. All my mucous membranes took to weeping. I began carrying a handkerchief, dabbing my mouth like I’m dying of tuberculosis. “Get your rest,” Joe said, as he took care of all the chores. After cleaning up dinner, he worked on the chicken coop
by floodlight while Kai and I took a bath. Yes, it did occur to me that his reaction to my being laid up with a cold was different from my ridicule when he drilled a hole through his hand. Still, I took his invitation to heart. The next morning I woke up at 9:45 a.m., and lay in bed with Kai until an even more preposterous 11 a.m. We wallowed in twisted sheets, hearing the sounds of Joe tidying up downstairs, Kai taking advantage of my slothfulness to help herself to an all-you-can-drink breast milk buffet. I stifled my guffaws as I turned page after page of Tina Fey’s Bossypants; it seemed messed up to be having this good a time while Joe toiled away. Each time I snorted, Kai popped off the boob to point to Tina on the cover and say, “funny lady!” Then we both went back to our leisure pursuits. We finally rolled out of bed when the aroma of breakfast sausage wafting up to the bedroom became too much to resist. We bounced downstairs, rejuvenated by 12 hours’ rest. I stuck Kai in her seat in front of her bowl of hot home fries and gave
Joe’s rear end an affectionate smack. There were no words that seemed quite appropriate. “Thank you” didn’t cut it; “are you in fact the second coming?” was going too far. He doesn’t even eat pork, I should probably mention. He just feeds the pigs, helps slaughter them, and cooks it for us. I started to laugh, my scuffed up vocal chords producing a high-pitched cacklecough, cracky and insane. Joe looked at me, sausage pan in hand, questioning. “You’re so much better than me,” I squawked, and started laughing harder at the sound of Minnie Mouse with a chain smoking habit, which resulted in another bout of coughing. I pressed my cheek to his back and squeezed his ribs in a bear hug. This was the “in sickness” part. This was what we’d signed up for, not to harass each other for watching a little football. I’m getting it, this marriage thing, slowly, slowly. Becca Tucker is a former Manhattanite now living on a farm upstate and writing about the rural life.
STRAUS MEDIA-MANHATTAN President, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Vice President/CFO Otilia Bertolotti Vice President/CRO Vincent A. Gardino advertising@strausnews.com
Publisher, Gerry Gavin Associate Publishers, Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth
Sr. Account Executive, Tania Cade Account Executive Susan Wynn
Editor In Chief, Kyle Pope editor.ot@strausnews.com Editor, Megan Bungeroth editor.otdt@strausnews.com
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
JANUARY 8-14 ,2015 Our Town Downtown 9
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS DEC 29 - JAN 3, 2014
Bocca Di Bacco
191 7 Avenue
Grade Pending (21) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Chinese Fast Wok
230 7 Avenue
A
Montmartre
158 8 Avenue
Grade Pending (27) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml. La Colombe
75 Vandam Street
A
The Canal Park Playhouse, Inc
508 Canal Street
A
Kaffe 1668
401 Greenwich Street
Grade Pending (20) Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Mango Mango
63 Bayard Street
Grade Pending (15) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared.
Sushi 21
174 7 Avenue
A
Bar B
84 7 Avenue
A
Khe-Yo
157 Duane Street
A
Mokbar
75 9 Avenue
A
Beautiful Memory Dessert
69A Bayard Street
A
Rosa’s Pizza
2 West 14 Street
A
Salon De Lafayette
157 Lafayette Street
A
Blossom
187 9 Avenue
Acccord Asian Cuisine
1 East Broadway
Grade Pending (25) 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. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Grade Pending (24) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. 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.
Papa Kebab
361 West 17 Street
A
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10 Our Town Downtown JANUARY 8-14 ,2015
IRONY AND HUMOR IN POP ART SCULPTURE EXHIBITIONS In an intimate show at the Flag gallery, Roy Lichtenstein pays tribute BY MARY GREGORY
Pop art icon Roy Lichtenstein brings to most people’s minds large-scale canvases painted with comic book imagery and tongue-in-cheek text. But for those not already familiar with it, there’s a whole other realm of Lichtenstein’s works to be discovered. Throughout his career, but particularly in his final years, Lichtenstein created sculptures large and small, and always imaginative and inventive. The Flag Art Foundation Gallery on 25th Street in Chelsea is currently showing an exceptional selection of Lichtenstein’s three-dimensional works in Roy Lichtenstein: Intimate Sculptures, an exhibition of 14 sculptures, organized in collaboration with the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, through Jan. 31. The Pop Art movement started in the late 1950s and early 60s partly as a reaction to the Abstract Expressionism of the previous decades. Painters like Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell poured their expressions and their paint onto canvases that captured their gestures and their idiosyncratic signatures, both manual and conceptual. They made paintings about nothing so much as the idea of painting. Subject matter, perspective,
foreground and background all went out the window and pure painting was all that mattered. Enter the 60s, when artists like Lichtenstein and Warhol found inspiration in popular culture. Rather than highlighting the private and often inaccessible mind of the artist, they sought to bring everyday life into the spotlight, democratizing subject matter, style and technique. With Pop art, everything could be art – from soup cans to comic strips, and how a piece was made might not be as important as why. While Warhol riffed on advertising and celebrity, Lichtenstein turned to the humorous yet dramatic possibilities in comics. He used the Ben-Day dots found in newspaper print and created works of art that seemed far simpler than they turned out to be. The collection on display in the Flag Art Foundation’s 10thfloor gallery gives a perfect introduction to Lichtenstein’s sculptures. Smaller pieces can be seen up close, and the many artist’s models, or maquettes, for large-scale works give a sense of major pieces installed at museums and in public spaces from Long Island to Tokyo. In all of them, you’ll find Lichtenstein’s bold, simple forms, his use of bright primary colors highlighted in black and white, and a healthy dose of the artist’s characteristic wit and humor. Parody played a big role in Lichtenstein’s work. He played on the splattery, painterly style of the Abstract Expressionists in the series of Brushstroke
bition. sculptures in the exhibition. Lichtenstein depicts driphat are ping strokes of paint that neither dripping nor paint. ul, meInstead, they are careful, ons of ticulous representations paint. The liquid look of his es, like Brushstroke sculptures, stroke Maquette for Brushstroke (the actual work, at 32 feet adrid’s tall stands outside Madrid’s Museo Nacional Centro de Arte ct that Reina Sofía ) belie the fact they’re constructed of dense, he arthard metal, treated by the ere just ist to appear like they were left by a wet brush. “It’s a sym’t, and bol of something it isn’t, that is part of the irony I’m inn said. terested in,” Lichtenstein ptures Lichtenstein’s sculptures that look like pictures are full ons. In of playful contradictions. d questhem, the artist raised ntions tions by turning conventions re of a upside down. A picture ture of house is actually a sculpture ere’s a a picture of a house. There’s y thing mirror in which the only ction. missing is the reflection. There’s a stable mobile, a nod ander to fellow sculptor Alexander s. But Calder’s dancing forms. spect. always, it is a nod of respect. e said, In fact, Lichtenstein once rently “The things I have apparently mire.” parodied I actually admire.” Lichtenstein was an artist who made art about art. ion is The Flag Art Foundation a relaxed, welcoming place, hrman founded by Glenn Fuhrman eciato encourage the appreciation of contemporary art ce. among a diverse audience. he It’s free and open to the upublic, and through January 31st, offers visitors a et rare opportunity to get
to know the sculptures of one of the acknowledged masters of 20th century art. It’s an extraordinary, delightful exhibition in a beautiful, intimate venue that’s bound to bring a smile. Flag Art Foundation, 545 W 25th St, Wed. – Sat. 12-5 pm.
Maquette for Brushstroke, Roy Lichtenstein. Photo by Mary Gregory
JANUARY 8-14 ,2015 Our Town Downtown 11 The local paper for the Upper East Side
The local paper for the Upper West Side
The local paper for Downtown
&
THE NEW YORK SOCIETY FOR ETHICAL CULTURE Invite You to a Town Hall Meeting
Pedestrians vs. Cars:
Manhattan’s Deadly Traffic Problem and What Can Be Done About It Wednesday, Januar y 21, 2015 6pm - 8pm The Society for Ethical Culture (Central Park West at 64th St.)
Moderated by Editor-in-Chief Kyle Pope Featured speakers will include:
Jill Abramson Former Executive Editor The New York Times
Helen Rosenthal City Council Member
Dana Lerner Families for Safe Streets
The Event is Free but Space is limited. Please respond by emailing to
rsvp@strausnews .com
Seating is first come first served
Ez^ ŝƐ Ă ŵĞŵďĞƌ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŵĞƌŝĐĂŶ ƚŚŝĐĂů hŶŝŽŶ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ /ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟ ŽŶĂů ,ƵŵĂŶŝƐƚ Θ ƚŚŝĐĂů hŶŝŽŶ͘ ŶƚƌLJ ƚŽ ŽƵƌ ϭϬϬͲLJĞĂƌͲŽůĚ ďƵŝůĚŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ŵĞĞƟ ŶŐ ƌŽŽŵƐ ŝƐ ĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞ ĨŽƌ ŵŽƐƚ ǁŚĞĞůĐŚĂŝƌ ƵƐĞƌƐ ǁŝƚŚ ƉƌŝŽƌ ĂƌƌĂŶŐĞŵĞŶƚƐ͘ WůĞĂƐĞ ĐĂůů ĂŚĞĂĚ ;ϮϭϮͲϴϳϰͲϱϮϭϬ dž ϭϬϳͿ ĨŽƌ ƐĞƚƵƉ ŽĨ ŽƵƌ ƉŽƌƚĂďůĞ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ ĂŶĚ ƉůĂŶ ƚŽ ĂƌƌŝǀĞ ŽŶĞ ŚŽƵƌ ďĞĨŽƌĞ ƐƚĂƌƚ Ɵ ŵĞ͘
12 Our Town Downtown JANUARY 8-14 ,2015
Food & Drink
< WHOLE FOODS EMPLOYEES CAUGHT ON CAMERA BEATING MAN Employees of the Union Square Whole Foods Market were captured on video beating a man in front of the grocery who attempted to enter the store after hours, Grub Street reported. A five-minute video shot on the evening of Dec. 30 shows an altercation between the store’s
In Brief BASEMENT BLAZE FORCES DOWNTOWN BAR TO CLOSE Lower East Side cocktail and oyster bar Black Crescent, on Clinton and Rivington Streets, will close for business after a basement electrical fire caused extensive damage to the one-year-old spot, Eater reported. Though firefighters were able to put out the Jan. 2 blaze quickly, much damage was caused to the property in the process, with firefighters breaking all the restaurant’s windows in order to fight the flames. The restaurant’s owners announced via Instagram that they will rebuild the space following the damage and hope to reopen “soon.”
FINANCIAL CONSULTANT ARRESTED FOR EMBEZZLING FROM CITY RESTAURANTS
the company is working on an internal investigation into the matter and that the staff members pictured in the video have been placed on leave during that process.
HEARTLAND BREWERY CLOSES ORIGINAL LOCATION RESTAURANTS As another restaurant prepares to leave the area, Union Square’s fate as a dining destination is in question BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
John McKee, a financial consultant for accounting firm Bambina Magra, was arrested last week for stealing $255,000 dollars from three area restaurants he was working for, the Daily News reported. McKee was hired as a financial consultant by Greenwich Street restaurant White Hall, West Village Mexican eatery Agave and Scottish gastropub Highlands on W. 10th Street and Waverly Place, allowing him to cut checks to the restaurant’s vendors, as well as to himself, a privilege he used to overcompensate his firm and embezzle additional funds for the last two years, the Daily News reported. McKee will face grand larceny and defrauding charges.
security staff and employees and a reportedly intoxicated man who repeatedly tried to enter the store and was forcefully thrown out by the staff, who proceeded to punch and kick him on the sidewalk in front of the store. In a statement to Grub Street, Whole Foods said
UNION SQUARE The original Heartland Brewery, a craft beer and pub food mainstay in Union Square, poured its last pint on New Year’s Eve. The restaurant, open since 1995, is the latest victim of dramatically rising rents in Union Square, joining Danny Meyer’s Union Square Cafe, which is scheduled to close at the
end of this year. Founder Jon Bloostein opened the bi-level, 275-seat bar and restaurant in 1995, abandoning his original beer and pizza concept for a more chef-oriented food menu in order to afford the $150,000 a year rent. His 19-year lease expired last October, and he’s been occupying the prime space to the west of Union Square Park on a month-by-month basis. The asking rent is going up to $2.5 million a year. “It’s very hard to justify,” Bloostein said. “You can’t. You’re out of business.” Bloostein remembers a “grittier” New York in the mid-1990s, before Whole Foods, Barnes
A VOCE G.M. TO HEAD NEW U.W.S. STEAKHOUSE The general manager for upscale Columbus Circle Italian eatery A Voce just jumped ship for a new, nearby restaurant, Eater reported. Louis Andia departed the restaurant, which lost its Michelin star this year, to run the soon-to-open Lincoln Square Steak, a new, classic steakhouse on W. 70th Street and Amsterdam Avenue that is scheduled to open on Jan. 14 following two nights of preview dinners benefiting City Meals on Wheels. The new spot about ten blocks northwest of A Voce, features a traditional steakhouse menu, with sliced tomato and onion salads, creamed spinach and hefty dry-aged meats. Eater reports that at least 10 front of house staff members from A Voce followed Andia to Lincoln Square Steak. Opening year of Heartland Brewery Union Square, 1995
& Noble and Nordstrom Rack opened around the park. He expects that, as long-term leases near Union Square Park expire, other businesses won’t be able to re-up. Eater reported in October that upscale seafood restaurant Blue Water Grill on Union Square West is hunting for a new location in anticipation of a massive rent spike this year. “Some of them can afford it,” Bloostein said. “And some will leave.” Bloostein said Union Square’s changing appearance, with more and more big-box chains, is symptomatic of the rental climate in Manhattan, in which fewer small bars and restaurants can keep up with rental costs unless they’re high-volume establishments, and even large, popular destinations aren’t safe. As a result, massive brew pubs and beer halls and high-end cocktail bars replaced the small neighborhood dives, said Bloostein, who also operates the cavernous Houston Hall on W. Houston Street and Flatiron Hall on W. 26th Street, as well as Bernheim & Schwartz Hall near Columbia University, and three midtown Heartland locations. With the closure of the Union Square spot, Bloostein will look to expand to other cities where costs are lower, like Washington, D.C. and Boston. If he were starting out today, he said, he’d never consider opening Heartland Brewery in Manhattan, where the financial risks are too great. “It’s a supply and demand for space,” he said. “We live in a free
Opening year of Heartland Brewery Union Square, 1995. market economy. Now Danny (Meyer) has Shake Shack. Now I’m in other places, and the landlord is entitled to make whatever they want.” At stake is Union Square’s already fading role in Manhattan’s dining culture. With Union Square Cafe on its way out, and the fate of Blue Water Grill uncertain, diners will have fewer reasons to visit the shopping and dining area now dominated by chains such as Petco and Staples. As outer boroughs continue to become both residential and dining havens, residents in Brooklyn and Queens may have little reason to come to Manhattan at all, Bloostein said. “As older places shut down, character is compromised,” said Bloostein, who laments the loss of the corner dives and delis. “[Union Square] becomes less of an interesting place to live and shop.”
JANUARY 8-14 ,2015 Our Town Downtown 13
Real Estate Sales Neighborhd
Address
Price
Bed Bath Agent
Gramercy Park
205 3 Ave.
$475,000
0
1
Halstead Property
Battery Park City
70 LITTLE W St.
$1,205,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
Gramercy Park
300 E 23 St.
$1,775,000
2
2
Brown Harris Stevens
Battery Park City
70 LITTLE W St.
$1,150,000
1
1
Owner
Greenwich Village
2 5 Ave.
$1,061,389
Battery Park City
280 RECTOR PLACE
$493,000
1
1
Walker Malloy & Company Inc
Greenwich Village
39 E 10 St.
$1,700,000
4
1
Battery Park City
2 SOUTH END Ave.
$477,500
1
1
Sherwood Residential
Ungaro & Cifuni Attorneys at Law, LLP
Battery Park City
350 ALBANY St.
$705,000
Greenwich Village
30 5 Ave.
$1,865,500
Chelsea
151 W 21 St.
$809,508
Greenwich Village
250 MERCER St.
$975,000
1
1
Thomas Capobianco, LREB
Chelsea
210 W 19 St.
$835,000
1
1
Corcoran
Greenwich Village
77 BLEECKER St.
$730,000
1
1
Halstead Property
Chelsea
245 W 19 St.
$2,095,000
2
2
Stribling
Little Italy
240 CENTRE St.
$1,680,000
2
2
Elite Plus Realty
Chelsea
85 8 Ave.
$490,000
Little Italy
1 CENTRE MARKET PLACE
$5,500,000
5
3
Clickit Realty
Chelsea
201 W 16 St.
$475,000
0
1
Douglas Elliman
Lower E Side
417 GRAND St.
$612,500
1
1
LoHo Realty
Chelsea
310 W 18 St.
$268,000
0
1
Kirk Enterprises
Noho
48 Bond St.
$2,500,000
2
2
Douglas Elliman
Chelsea
77 7 Ave.
$880,000
1
1
Corcoran
Nolita
211 ELIZABETH St.
$3,000,000
1
1
Nestseekers
Douglas Elliman
Rosebank
4 Reynolds St.
$430,950
3
4
RE/MAX Metro
Soho
140 SULLIVAN St.
$1,460,027
Chelsea
319 W 18 St.
$315,000
0
1
Chinatown
7 ESSEX St.
$1,920,000
Civic Center
165 Park Row
$775,000
2
1
Charles Rutenberg
Soho
124 THOMPSON St.
$448,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
Civic Center
165 Park Row
$750,000
2
1
TM Realty & Management Corp
Soho
49 Howard St.
$1,850,000
0
1
Corcoran
E Village
333 E 14 St.
$495,000
0
1
Corcoran
Soho
149 SULLIVAN St.
$610,000
2
1
Bapple
E Village
204 E 7 St.
$35,000
Tribeca
101 LEONARD St.
$3,110,753
3
3
Douglas Elliman
E Village
204 E 7 St.
$35,000
Tribeca
101 LEONARD St.
$2,851,100
E Village
227 E 12 St.
$435,000
1
1
Weichert Realtors
Tribeca
101 LEONARD St.
$1,313,542
E Village
219 E 7 St.
$410,000
2
1
Coldwell Banker Bellmarc
Tribeca
142 DUANE St.
$2,312,500
2
2
Tabak is Tribeca
E Village
115 E 9 St.
$1,635,000
2
2
Corcoran
Tribeca
101 LEONARD St.
$1,451,006
1
1
Douglas Elliman
Tribeca
100 HUDSON St.
$1,700,000
1
1
Halstead Property
E Village
211 E 13TH St.
$3,256,759
E Village
186 E 2 St.
$335,000
0
1
Douglas Elliman
Tribeca
101 LEONARD St.
$1,308,417
E Village
32 E 2 St.
$530,000
1
1
CORE
Tribeca
101 LEONARD St.
$1,751,425
E Village
211 E 13TH St.
$1,075,000
0
1
Corcoran
Tribeca
101 LEONARD St.
$3,039,476
3
3
Douglas Elliman
E Village
415 E 12 St.
$170,000
W Chelsea
525 W 22 St.
$2,330,000
2
1
Douglas Elliman
E Village
70 E 10 St.
$1,500,000
2
2
CORE
W Chelsea
444 W 19 St.
$4,775,000
Financial District
88 Greenwich St.
$545,000
0
1
Coldwell Banker A.C. Lawrence
W Chelsea
426 W 23 St.
$2,150,000
2
2
Corcoran
Financial District
20 Pine St.
$1,090,000
0
1
NY NY Condo, Inc
W Chelsea
453 W 19 St.
$769,000
1
1
Town Residential
Financial District
15 WILLIAM St.
$1,151,000
1
1
Prodigy International
W Village
84 HORATIO St.
$515,000
1
1
Brown Harris Stevens
Financial District
123 Washington St.
$1,535,000
1
1
Corcoran
W Village
366 W 11 St.
$875,000
Financial District
15 Broad St.
$2,650,000
2
2
CORE
W Village
20 BETHUNE St.
$2,650,000
2
1
Douglas Elliman
Financial District
88 Greenwich St.
$965,000
1
1
Town Residential
W Village
61 JANE St.
$778,842
0
1
Coldwell Banker Bellmarc
85 BARROW St.
$770,000
6
8
Douglas Elliman
Financial District
80 John St.
$720,000
1
1
Town Residential
W Village
Financial District
40 Broad St.
$1,045,000
1
1
A & I Broadway
W Village
136 WAVERLY PLACE
$887,500
Flatiron
15 E 16 St.
$4,350,000
W Village
79 HORATIO St.
$21,000,000
Flatiron
650 6th Ave.
$1,550,000
W Village
22 GROVE St.
$610,000
Flatiron
17 W 14 St.
$710,000
W Village
720 GREENWICH St.
$1,295,000
1
1
Corcoran
Flatiron
23 E 22 St.
$3,207,487
2
2
Douglas Elliman
W Village
45 CHRISTOPHER St.
$1,849,000
1
1
Corcoran
Flatiron
16 W 16 St.
$840,000
1
1
Real Direct
W Village
15 CHARLES St.
$992,793
0
1
Citi Habitats
Flatiron
222 PARK Ave. SOUTH
$30,000
W Village
84 HORATIO St.
$429,000
0
1
Houlihan Parnes Properties
Flatiron
7 E 14 St.
$675,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
W Village
79 PERRY St.
$832,000
1
1
Clickit Realty
Gramercy Park
237 E 17 St.
$649,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
W Village
71 BARROW St.
$865,000
1
1
Stribling
Gramercy Park
340 E 23rd St.
$2,190,000
2
2
New Star Realty
Gramercy Park
160 E 22ND St.
$3,156,564
3
2
Toll Brothers
Gramercy Park
160 E 22ND St.
$1,523,291
1
2
CORE
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14 Our Town Downtown JANUARY 8-14 ,2015
YOUR FIFTEEN MINUTES
AN ARTIST TAKES THE STAGE Q&A Artist and comedienne Eileen Hickey explains her artistic purpose BY ANGELA BARBUTI
By using lipstick, nail polish and eye shadow as painting mediums, Eileen Hickey speaks to women through her art. She also utilizes materials like fabric and thimbles, because she feels they are devalued because of their connection to women. The 68-yearold longtime Tribeca resident spends her days in her home studio and occasional nights on stage. The divorcee uses her marital situation as comedic material and recently made her on-stage debut at Broadway Comedy Club. Since then, she’s performed at open mics throughout Manhattan at
venues like the Village Lantern and The Stand. She spoke to us about her earliest art shows, studying at Hunter and what inspires her work.
You recently began to perform standup. How did that come about? I took a class at Gotham Writers’ Workshop for stand-up comedy. But I’d been dying to do it for a long time because I admired Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce so much. I saw that people were able to change the world by making people laugh. I worked at HBO in 1979 when it was starting out, and my boss put on this eight-track tape of Richard Pryor’s first stand. I was with Mickey Kelly who was married to Bill Murray at the time. She was an executive there too. And it changed my life and I saw the power of comedy.
What did it feel like to be on stage? It feels great. It feels energizing. Like when I’m having an art show, I remember that people want me to succeed. And it’s so great that people will let you in and take some time to listen to what you have to say.
How can you describe your comedy? I would say dark. But I would say that my interest is bringing out of the shadows the position that women are still in and talking it about in a way to great through to people, which is comedy. So, for example, when I say the marriage years are like dog years. I was 25 when I got married, and three years later, I was 65. Talking about my husband emptying out the bank accounts.
How long were you married? Where did you meet your ex-husband?
Eileen came to NYC when she was 18 years old with only $250. Thirty one years. I was working in an art gallery in Soho and he was the architect for the building next door, for the Leo Castelli Gallery. He saw me, and found out his best friend, who I had the world’s shortest date with, knew me.
When did you come to New York? I grew up in Buffalo, the Queen City of the Great Lakes. I arrived here with my aunt and uncle when I was 18 and pregnant. And I had $250 dollars. I came to New York to be Jackson Pollock. I wanted to take on abstract expressionism and gender discussion of art history and bring it into modern times.
You started painting at an early age. At 6 or 7. When other kids had lemonade stands, I had an art gallery on a card table on our front yard. I got my little friend to be my art dealer, and she would sit there and I would go paint some more. I got my first art scholarship when I was nine at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
You studied art at Hunter College. What was your experience like there? It was awesome. It was the best education I ever could have had. The year I graduated, in ‘76, was the last year of free admission and we wore black arm bands at our graduation. Hunter had open and free admission. I studied with Bob Swain and Ron Gorchov. And Leo Steinberg, one of the greatest art historians of all time. I was his librarian. I worked my way through college
by working at the Frick Art Reference Library and the Guggenheim Museum.
How do you describe your work? I use a lot of things that are devalued because they are connected with women, like fabrics and patterns. I did a whole series with nail polish. I paint with lipstick, eye shadow and nail polish.
Your art has been featured in movies. Yes because I lived in this building in Tribeca for 39 years. My upstairs neighbor for 17 years is a very famous art director in film, Patrizia von Brandenstein. She collected my work and puts me in films that she does, like Eat Pray Love. The most recent one was Phil Spector that was on HBO.
There was an article in the Daily News about an issue you had with your landlord, who accused you of making a profit by subletting your apartment on Airbnb. Was it ever resolved? No, because I’m a rent-stabilized tenant, he’s trying to get me out so he can charge market rent. That’s the deal. So everything that was in the article, except for the fact that I’m a mini-skirt wearing motorcycle- riding painter, isn’t true. My landlord has broken into my loft, and he also knows that I’m impoverished because of my divorce proceedings, so I think he feels that I’m vulnerable now. www.eileenhickey-hulme.com
JANUARY 8-14 ,2015 Our Town Downtown 15
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LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL Anthony Pomponio, Allstate 212-769-2899 apomponio@allstate.com
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ANTIQUES WANTED Top Prices Paid. Chinese Objects, Paintings, Jewelry, Silver, Furniture, Etc. Entire Estates Purchased. 800-530-0006. WE BUY-TOP DOLLAR PAID Fine & Costume Jewelry Gems-Silver-Gold-Jade Antiques-Art-Rugs Call Gregory@718 608 5854 Certified GIA Gemologist
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TOP PRICES PAID
Chinese Objects Paintings, Jewelry Silver, Furniture, Etc. Entire Estates Purchased
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800.530.0006 SOHO LT MFG
462 Broadway MFG No Retail/Food +/- 9,000 sf Ground Floor - $400 psf +/- 16,000 sf Cellar - $100 psf Call Mark @ Meringoff Properties 646.262.3900
16 Our Town Downtown JANUARY 8-14 ,2015
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Hunter Mountain is just one of the fabulous places to visit in New York State.
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Hunter Mountain is located just south of the village of Hunter, in Greene County,
NY. At approximately 4,040 feet in elevation, it is the highest peak in the county and the second-highest peak in the Catskill Mountains. The actual summit, some distance from the ski area, is graced with a fire lookout tower, the highest in the state.