Our Town Downtown July 16th, 2015

The local paper for Downtown wn CHRONICLING A MANHATTAN BREAKUP < Q&A, P.21

WEEK OF JULY

16-22 2015

PARENTS BATTLE SCHOOL OVERCROWDING

THE LEGEND OF JOHN BLAIR

Parents fear that an ever-increasing waitlist at PS/IS 276, Battery Park City School, might keep their kids from getting into middle school.

Tammy Meltzer, who is active in parent and community organizations, says defining the problem is simple, but finding a solution isn’t. “The situation is a very simple mathematical equation,” she said. “There are far more families in zones than there are seats in schools.”

PS/IS 276 has waitlists of about 50 students each year, and according to parent Matt Schneider, who is also a school PTA member, the problem is getting worse. He said the zone the school is in is too big to handle the number of families seeking spots for their children.

“The people in charge of solving this issue don’t look at it as a schoolto-school basis,” he said. “They do it neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis, and at worse, district-by-district basis.”

During the last six years, several new schools have opened in the neighborhood, including PS/IS 276. So, while the other schools used to have long waiting lists in the past, there has been some relief. But lower Manhattan continues to grow more populous, causing even the new schools to expe-

you say yes.

I had just returned from a retreat.

The one where I sat in the water. I had managed to bring this magic back through a muggy airport, three connecting flights and now stood on a street filled with taxis and screaming drills. I glided across the street to get a slice of New York’s finest. Cheese with extra parmesan.

I started my way back across the street, toward my 71st St. hole in the wall I treasured.

“Hey miss, can you help me up the curb?”

His wheelchair was stuck on the lip of the sidewalk.

I responded automatically and grabbed the handles of his chair to push.

I was about to walk away, when his tone stopped me. “What are you?” he asked me.

“What’s your name kid?” he asked.

And that was the beginning.

John Ellington Blair was a homeless man who lived on the corner of 71st and Broadway and went by the name Master John. A wheelchair filled with musical instruments and knick knacks, he was a bit of a local character. A big black garbage bag wrapped around one of his legs. “Keeps the moisture off the cast when I sleep he explained.”

He swore he could make me a star.

After two minutes of knowing me he was utterly convinced.

“Wow, a homeless agent” I thought to myself. “I’m really moving up!”

But I gave him my cell phone number when I left. No, I don’t know why.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

As the waitlist for middle school slots at PS/IS 276 expands, frustration grows

BY ZEENA SAIFI

Fabulous upcoming New York State events and must-sees at ILoveNY.com/summer15 and inside!

PERSONAL STORY A chance encounter, a homeless man, the story of a life

BY BLOSSOM BENEDICT

There is a man I keep in my phone whom I can never call.

And while I know he will never pick up, I can’t erase his number.

It makes me smile to see his name.

And reminds me of the adventures awaiting only a breath away when

Our Take THE MAYOR AND THE HOUSING BUBBLE Mayor Bill de Blasio has had more than his share of hapless moments since he came into office, and we haven’t been shy about using this space to point them out. So it only seems fair to give him credit when it’s due, as in this week’s announcement that his administration has created or preserved more than 20,000 affordable housing units in the city.

The new housing is a first step towards de Blasio’s goal of 200,000 affordable units over a decade, among the more audacious -- and laudable -efforts of his administration.

There is, of course, lots to bicker with here. The web site Goathamist.com points out that even the 20,000 number is tiny; recently, 93,000 New Yorkers applied for housing slots in Queens alone.

In addition, there are very substantive questions about how “affordable” the new apartments really are. More than a third of New York households make under $35,000 a year, yet only a few thousand of the de Blasio total is going to those New Yorkers.

But the mayor is doing the right thing here. Housing affordability has become a defining crisis for the city, and doing nothing -- or, as Michael Bloomberg chose, letting developers do it themselves -- are not viable options. de Blasio’s efforts make the city accessbile to thousands of New Yorkers who previously had little hope. They certainly benefit from the mayor’s focus, as do we all.

Downtowner WEEK OF APRIL

SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12

9-16

MANHATTAN'S APARTMENT BOOM, > PROPERTY, P.20

2015

In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS

FOR HIM, SETTLING SMALL CLAIMS IS A BIG DEAL presided over Arbitration Man has three decades. for informal hearings about it He’s now blogging

BY RICHARD KHAVKINE

is the common Arbitration Man their jurist. least folks’ hero. Or at Man has For 30 years, Arbitration court office of the civil few sat in a satellite Centre St. every building at 111 New Yorkers’ weeks and absorbed dry cleaning, burned lost accountings of fender benders, lousy paint jobs, and the like. And security deposits then he’s decided. Arbitration Man, About a year ago, so to not afwho requested anonymity started docuhe fect future proceedings, two dozen of what menting about compelling cases considers his most blog. in an eponymous about it because “I decided to write the stories but in a I was interested about it not from wanted to write from view but rather lawyer’s point of said Arbitration a lay point of view,” lawyer since 1961.

Man, a practicing what’s at issue He first writes about post, renders and then, in a separatehow he arrived detailing his decision, Visitors to the blog at his conclusion. their opinions. often weigh in with get a rap going. I to “I really want whether they unreally want to know and why I did it,” I did derstood what don’t know how to he said. “Most people ... I’d like my cases the judge thinks. and also my trereflect my personalitythe law.” for mendous respect 80, went into indiArbitration Man, suc in 1985, settling vidual practice

The effort to help small seems to businesses in the city be gathering steam.

Two city councilmembers, Robert Margaret Chin and Cornegy, have introduced create legislation that wouldSmall a new “Office of the within Business Advocate” of Small the city’s Department Business Services.

Chin The new post, which have up told us she’d like to would and running this year, for serve as an ombudsman city within small businesses them clear government, helping to get through the bureaucracy things done.

Perhaps even more also importantly, the ombudsman and number will tally the type small business of complaints by taken in owners, the actions policy response, and somefor ways to recommendations If done well, begin to fix things. report would the ombudsman’s give us the first quantitative with wrong taste of what’s in the city, an small businesses towards important first step fixing the problem. of for dereally make a difference, To is a mere formality their to process have will to complete are the work course, the advocaterising rents, precinct, but chances-- thanks to a velopers looking find a way to tackle business’ is being done legally of after-hours projects quickly. their own hours,” which remain many While Chin “They pick out boom in the number throughout who lives on most vexing problem. said Mildred Angelo,of the Ruppert construction permits gauge what Buildings one said it’s too early tocould have the 19th floor in The Department of the city. number three years, the Houses on 92nd Street between role the advocate She Over the past on the is handing out a record work perThird avenues. permits, there, more information of Second and an ongoing all-hours number of after-hours bad thing. of after-hours work the city’s Dept. problem can’t be a said there’s with the mits granted by nearby where according to new data jumped 30 percent, This step, combinedBorough construction project noise Buildings has data provided in workers constantly make efforts by Manhattan to mediate

BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS according to DOB of Informacement from trucks.

President Gale Brewer offer response to a Freedom classifies transferring they want. They knows the the rent renewal process, request. The city They 6 “They do whatever signs Every New Yorker clang, tion Act go as they please. work between some early, tangible small any construction on the weekend, can come and sound: the metal-on-metal For many or the piercing progress. respect.” of a.m., no 7 boom, have and these p.m. can’t come the hollow issuance of business owners, that moving in reverse. as after-hours.

The increased beeps of a truck has generto a correspond and you soon enough. variances has led at the alarm clock The surge in permits

SLEEPS, THANKS TO THE CITY THAT NEVER UCTION A BOOM IN LATE-NIGHT CONSTR NEWS

A glance it: it’s the middle can hardly believe yet construction of the night, and carries on full-tilt. your local police or You can call 311

n OurTownDowntow

N COM

Newscheck Crime Watch Voices

for dollars in fees ated millions of and left some resithe city agency, that the application dents convinced

2 City Arts 3 Top 5 8 Real Estate 10 15 Minutes

12 13 14 18

CONTINUED ON PAGE

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JULY 16-22,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON TRACK, DE BLASIO SAYS More than 20,000 affordable housing units have been financed by the city during the last fiscal year, the most since 1989, the de Blasio administration said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the numbers prove that he is making good promises to develop or otherwise make available

about 200,000 homes for low- to middle-income city residents within a decade.

“It’s one thing to put together the financing, put together the plan, get the land,” de Blasio was quoted as saying

by Newsday. “What we like seeing is when the construction begins and we move toward the day when a family can move in.”

He was speaking July 13 in front of a

Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a news conference earlier this week at which he announced that a near-record of affordable housing units had been financed by the city. Photo: Office of the Mayor.

Bronx apartment building being built.

The 20,000-plus housing units were the result of a $618 million investment by the city, de Blasio said.

REPAIRS IN PUBLIC HOUSING LAG An audit by city Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office found that maintenance and repairs in public housing were lagging or not even being made at all, The New York Times reported.

The audit, released July 13, looked at the period from January 2013 to July 2014. Auditors from Stringer’s office found nearly 55,000 work orders pending, The Times reported. More than 2,500 had been on the books for more than a year. The audit also found that the New York City Housing Agency counted jobs as closed when workers showed up to make repairs but tenants were not home, the newspaper reported.

Stringer would like to see the agency to put into place technology, similar to that used by the police department, that would better keep track of work orders.

“We’ve got to move on repairs in a real way,” Stringer was quoted as saying by the paper. “That’s called accountability.”

Agency representatives responded by citing the need for improved

M ARB L E C O L L E GI AT E C H U RC H

performance but said aging infrastructure and reduced federal monies were also to blame, the newspaper said.

“Nycha has been very honest and transparent about our challenges with maintenance and repairs,” the agency said in a statement quoted

by The Times. “Work order data as a sole measure, no matter how the numbers are cut, is a poor measure of performance.”

POPULAR FRENCH RESTAURANT TO CLOSE La Lunchonette, a Chelsea mainstay for more than 25 years, will be closing, the blog Vanishing New York reported.

The owner of the 10th Avenue restaurant, Melva Max, told Vanishing New York that the building’s owner would be selling. She did not blame her landlord, saying he’s “not a bad guy” and that he could not be blamed for taking $30 million for the building, on the corner of 18th Street.

She did say the sale and restaurant’s end could be attributed to the nearby High Line’s popularity with developers, who have remade the Meatpacking District from a gritty neighborhood of blue-collar industry and assorted nighttime denizens into a district full of high-end boutiques and luxury buildings.

“The neighborhood is so gross now,” Max was quoted as saying by the blog. “It’s all tourists coming for the High Line. People

always say, ‘But wasn’t it great for you?’

The High Line has been the cause of my demise.”

SMART GARBAGE BINS There are 170 BigBelly solar-powered “smart” garbage cans in downtown Manhattan that notify New Yorkers when they’re almost full or too pungent, allowing trash collectors to come at the golden time, according to The Atlantic CityLab. However, many of these self-sustainable bins now provide free internet access due to BigBelly’s liason with New York’s Downtown Alliance. The internet hotspots have a bandwidth of 50 to 75 megabits per second.

3-MONTH OLD BABY DIES AFTER A FEW HOURS AT DAY CARE Karl Towndrow, a baby boy from Brooklyn Heights, died in Lenox Hill Hospital after going into cardiac arrest at an unlicensed day care in SoHo. According to DNAinfo, Towndrow’s mother left her son at SoHo Child Care with a bottle of breastmilk and planned to return around lunchtime to feed him. It was his first time at the day care. SoHo Child Care opened in 2001 and is operated by out of an apartment at 69 Greene St. The city examiner will determine the cause of death; however, there were no immediate signs of trauma to the child.

THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IF YOU THINK YOU SMELL A GAS LEAK IS NOTHING. Smell gas. Act fast. Don’t assume someone else will call 911 or 1-800-75-CONED (26633). Leave the area immediately and make the call yourself. You can report a gas-related emergency anonymously, and not even be there when help arrives. For more gas safety information, visit conEd.com and take safety into your own hands.

Church the way you always hoped it could be.

F i f t h A v e n u e a t 2 9 t h S t r e e t , N e w Yo r k , N Y 1 0 0 0 1 w w w. M a r b l e C h u r c h . o r g

JULY 16-22,2015

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

POLICE SEEK PORT AUTHORITY RAPIST Police are seeking a rapist who attacked a woman at New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal.

The NYPD says the attack happened at 1 a.m. Friday in the parking garage at the midtown Manhattan bus terminal.

They say the attacker raped a 21-year-old woman and beat her. She suffered lacerations to her face and body.

The woman was treated at a hospital and released.

The attacker was last seen entering an elevator on the sixth level of the parking garage.

The suspect is described as about 30 years old with brown eyes, short braided hair and a mustache.

He is described as about 5 feet 9 inches tall and 190 pounds. He was last seen wearing a red, white and blue striped shirt, denim shorts and white sneakers.

JERSEY SCORE A New Jersey man’s motorcycle was stolen from its parking place on the southeast corner of Pine and Pearl Streets late last month, police said.

The 40-year-old South Amboy man had parked his black 2011 Yamaha motorcycle about 9 p.m. on June 27 and found it gone when he returned three days later. A canvass of the vicinity and inquiries at the city tow pound and the city marshal did not turn up the motorcycle. The bike, bearing New Jersey plates 2NAL6, is valued at $8,000.

BALENCIAGA SAGA But why steal a large, heavy motorcycle when you can snatch a designer handbag valued at even more?

Just after 3 p.m. on July 3, a man in

his mid-20s entered the Balenciaga store at 148 Mercer St., grabbed two handbags off the shelf and ran out of the store. Police searched the area but could not locate the thief or the bags.

Video is available of the theft. The stolen bags included one Balenciaga model valued at $6,550, and another tagged at $5,750.

STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st Precinct for June 29 to July 5 Week to Date

Year to Date

2015 2014

% Change

2015

2014

% Change

Murder

0

0

n/a

0

0

n/a

Rape

0

0

n/a

3

5

-40.0

VARICK TRICK

Robbery

3

0

n/a

28

22

27.3

Even a sturdy chain and a speedy return did not protect one bicycle against thieves. At 1:23 p.m. June 30, a 37-year-old man chained his bike outside near the Marriott at 181 Varick St. and went inside for just 20 minutes.

When he came out to retrieve his silver-and-white Cannondale, he found that the chain had been clipped and his ride gone. Video surveillance showed an unknown man stealing the bike and

Felony Assault

2

3

-33.3

40

36

11.1

Burglary

1

1

0.0

64

82

-22.0

Grand Larceny

20

19

5.3

493

459

7.4

Grand Larceny Auto

2

0

n/a

10

2

400.0

fleeing along King Street. The stolen two-wheeler is valued at $2,100.

victim’s property was recovered, except for one Visa credit/debit card.

TO ER IS HUMAN; TO FORGIVE, DIVINE

BICYCLIST VS. BUS DRIVER

A 53-year-old man was arrested on petty larceny charges following the theft of a woman’s bag while she slept on a bench at New York Presbyterian downtown emergency room during the early morning on July 3, police said.

Hospital security video showed a man taking the bag. Michael Timberlake was arrested at the Whitehall Staten Island ferry terminal. All the 28-year-old

At 7:45 a.m. on July 4, a 41-yearold male MTA bus driver told a male passenger that he was not allowed on the bus with his bicycle. The bicyclist became irate and rammed his bike into the bus driver, leaving the driver with scratches and minor bruises. Before stepping off the bus, the bicyclist said, “[I] will get off, but I will kick your ass!” Video surveillance inside the bus captured the incident.

Big things are happening at Bright Horizons.

Bright Horizons is growing in NYC! The TriBeCa, West Chelsea and Chelsea locations are opening soon and will offer Infant - Kindergarten Prep programs.

As the leading provider of high-quality early education and preschool, Bright Horizons empowers children from infancy on to become confident, successful learners and secure caring people.

ENROLL TODAY For more information: www.brighthorizons.com/newnyc

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JULY 16-22,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Central Park’s Lasker Pool, where Sue Susman is a regular swimmer

Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct

19 ½ Pitt St.

212-477-7311

NYPD 6th Precinct

233 W. 10th St.

212-741-4811

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230 W. 20th St.

212-741-8211

NYPD 13th Precinct

230 E. 21st St.

NYPD 1st Precinct

16 Ericsson Place

212-477-7411 212-334-0611

FIRE FDNY Engine 15

25 Pitt St.

311

FDNY Engine 24/Ladder 5

227 6th Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 28 Ladder 11

222 E. 2nd St.

311

FDNY Engine 4/Ladder 15

42 South St.

311

ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin

165 Park Row #11

Councilmember Rosie Mendez

237 1st Ave. #504

212-587-3159 212-677-1077

Councilmember Corey Johnson

224 W. 30th St.

212-564-7757

State Senator Daniel Squadron

250 Broadway #2011

212-298-5565

Community Board 1

49 Chambers St.

212-442-5050

Community Board 2

3 Washington Square Village

212-979-2272

Community Board 3

59 E. 4th St.

212-533-5300

Community Board 4

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212-736-4536

Hudson Park

66 Leroy St.

212-243-6876

Ottendorfer

135 2nd Ave.

212-674-0947

Elmer Holmes Bobst

70 Washington Square

212-998-2500

COMMUNITY BOARDS

LIBRARIES

HOSPITALS New York-Presbyterian

170 William St.

Mount Sinai-Beth Israel

10 Union Square East

212-844-8400

212-312-5110

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

TIME WARNER

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A SOLUTION FOR DISABLED SWIMMERS NEWS In response to complaints, City parks willl replace battery-operated lifts at public pools with hydraulic ones

BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS

Sue Susman was done with her swim and ready to get out of the water on a recent trip to Lasker Pool on the Upper West Side. Susman suffers from multiple sclerosis, and uses a lift to exit the pool. The device has a submergible seat attached to an arm that swings out over and into the pool, lifting the user out of the water and depositing them onto the deck.

But because the lift is battery operated, and the batteries are not stored in the device itself, and because lifeguards aren’t allowed to assist disabled swimmers out of the pool, a Parks Dept. employee must be summoned to retrieve the batteries and assist disabled swimmers when they’re ready to exit the pool.

“This results in waits of some-

times 10 or 20 minutes in cold water while the lifeguards find someone to walk over and tell the [Parks Dept.] staff that a swimmer needs to use the lift,” said Susman, who was forced to swim an additional 15 minutes beyond her normal workout in order to keep warm while waiting for assistance.

“I ended up unable to function at all that evening or the next day,” said Susman.

Because of her MS, Susman has limited quantities of energy and can only move normally for short periods of time. If she overexerts herself, she said, exhaustion sets in. On the day of her ordeal she went to bed at 2 p.m. and stayed in bed most of the next day.

Susman, a lawyer and longtime affordable housing advocate, said she’s had similar experiences going back years.

“At the Lasker Pool in Central Park, it’s happened almost every time until I filed a complaint with the [Parks Dept.],” she said. “Then the city parks people tended to come out more quickly - but not every time.”

And it’s not just Lasker Pool.

At Gertrude Erdele pool, on 60th Street between West End Avenue and 10th Avenue, she’s had to wait around 10 minutes in the water for a lift operator on over a dozen occasions.

According to Chris Noel, accessibility coordinator for the Parks Dept., the agency has received complaints from disabled pool users about this very issue and are in the process of replacing their battery-operated lifts with hydraulic lifts from a different manufacturer.

“We’re moving away from the battery operated model to more of the hydraulic lifts,” said Noel, who noted the department hopes to have replaced battery-operated lifts in Manhattan pools with hydraulic lifts by next summer, which are actually cheaper and much easier to use.

Noel said federal disability law requires that public pools have two means of egress for swimmers with disabilities. At public pools in New York City, the primary means of egress are the battery-operated lifts, with the secondary being the use of a ramp and pool wheelchair. All 20 adult-sized pools in Manhattan are equipped with such measures, as well as every adult-sized pool in the outer boroughs. Batteryoperated lifts in some outerborough pools have even been replaced with hydraulic lifts, but so far, none in Manhattan.

As for the current system, Noel said if the lift batteries - which he characterized as “finicky” - are left on the lift they deplete quickly in the sun, which is why they’re typically left on chargers in a nearby office.

“It’s an inconvenience for our staff to have to go get the batteries every time a disabled

person wants to get out of the pool, and it inconveniencing a lot of our disabled swimmers,” said Noel.

He also confirmed it’s pool policy to not involve lifeguards with assisting disabled people out of pools and that lifeguards at NYC pools are tasked only with the safety of swimmers.

“They’re just there to provide safety for the swimmers and that’s their main call of duty, not necessarily to assist any swimmers,” said Noel. “Their job is to make sure our pools are safe and they’re very good at that. And we’re fine with that. Helping a disabled person out of the pool can be a distraction. [Lifeguards] can’t ever take their eyes off the pool just in case something happens.”

Noel said the department gets maybe two complaints a summer from disabled people who have had to wait for the battery-operated lift, and that he’s gotten similar feedback when out visiting public pools. The department, he said, is being proactive about the problem.

“We’re looking forward. Even if we have only one or two complaints this summer, we might have more next year,” he said.

In the meantime, Susman said she received an apology from the pool manager at Lasker Pool for her most recent ordeal, and that at her request, lifeguards at the pool will be equipped with radios to communicate with Parks Dept. staff on when disabled users want to exit the pool.

Noel said the battery operated lifts will be used for spare parts as the hydraulic lifts are phased in.

“The batteries are actually very finicky so it’ll be good to have spare parts,” he said.

JULY 16-22,2015

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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JOHN BLAIR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 He intrigued me? He was funny? Perhaps it wasn’t so smart. Beause boy did he call.

He called and wanted to come over for dinner. I met him on the bench with some homemade veggie juice and soup with lentils and rice. He told me about his love affair with Roberta Flack, and how he’d played with all the jazz greats and invented this treasured instrument the Vitar.

He called and wanted to take a bath in my bathtub. I met him at the park with five gallons of hot water, some toe nail clippers, towels, lotion and soap. He told me how he’d come to live on the corner of my block only a few months ago when his girlfriend had thrown him out of the house for abuse of prescription drugs and abuse of her.

I washed his feet and I listened.

He called and desperately needed a singer for a Mother’s Day gig he had booked at the local senior center. I met him at Sunset Retirement and was mortified to find out we were crashing the gig of a sweet piano player named Norman. I insisted we leave, while John Blair insisted harder I sing with the piano player and see if I could work in some solos for him on his Vitar. An awkward hour later we had all the seniors on the floor dancing and I the pianist had booked me to sing at another gig with him the following week.

He called and wanted me to run away to Florida with him. He wanted a way off the streets before winter. “That’s never gonna happen,” I told him firmly, but I agreed to meet him at the Veteran’s Hospital to see if there was a way he could get a hospital bed.

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com The Vitar was a horror of a sound.

But it was the first time I had sung in New York City, and I was aglow. He was audacious and funny, and made me far braver than I had ever dared to be.

I couldn’t care less if his stories were made up. It had been a fabulous abulous day.

He called and wanted me to run away to Florida with h him.

He wanted a way off the streets treets before winter.

“That’s never gonna happen” ppen” I told him firmly, but I agreed reed to meet him at the Veteran’s an’s Hospital to see if there was as a way he could get a hospital ital bed. He needed surgery on his hip. His thinking was if he could time it with the he storms he could miss the he first half of winter while he came up with a plan.

They checked him in n and gave him a bed. He e showed me the hospital and introduced me to his friends. While filling out paperwork he asked if I’d be the executor of his will. He needed one to be admitted. “It’s a formality. I have to put someone.” I counted the days backwards an realized I had only known him for 2.5 weeks. “Surely there is someone better suited…” my sentence trailed off.

He gave me his PO box key and asked if I’d pick k up his mail when I visited him next.

Two nights later I was working a double shift and my phone wouldn’t stop ringing. I had told him I was at work. I would call in the morning. At midnight I walked past the park and listened to my messages.

“I think Roberta can come tomorrow. I need you to come tomorrow.”

Beep “You gotta call me. I need my mail.

You’ve gotta come bring me my mail.”

Beep.

“Call me kid. John Blair here. Please can you call?” call? Beep.

It was getting a bit in intense. I started to t wonder if I ha had crossed the th line with wit this man who wh

JULY 16-22,2015

lived on the streets with a known history of abuse. I had already told him I couldn’t make it on Sunday. I had a date with some girlfriends for brunch and then a mani/pedi in the after-

gmail once at the VA hospital. He was writing to someone. Was it family?

Was it spam? I walked to the computer and bumped on the keys. If I was his email, what would I be?

berta Flack and marched to the door of the Dakota.

noon. Maybe I could get down there after, but I was going to have to start setting some boundaries. Five messages in one shift was really not OK. I had just picked out my fuchsia nail polish and had it applied to my second finger when my phone rang.

“Is this Blossom Benedict?” the sterile male voice on the other end asked me. “You are John Blair’s executor. I’m calling to tell you John Blair died last night.”

I should have answered the phone.

He knew. And I didn’t answer the phone.

If the story ended there, it would have been a magical and melancholy and memorable chapter in my life.

But of course the story did not end there. He had entrusted me with his possession, with his funeral, with his PO box key and his violins, and with the myth that there was money somewhere and people who cared. I was his contact. I was in charge.

I picked up his possessions at the hospital and rummaged through the pockets. Nothing. I talked to a few vets in hopes they might know something.

Sorry. I went to the PO box and prayed there would be mail. Empty.

I wracked my brain. He’d had a girlfriend! I didn’t know where she lived.

He had violins at a synagogue? There were a thousand in the city. His possessions he had left with a lawyer. A nameless lawyer?!

I had seen him check his email on

User name: johnblair@gmail.com I typed, playing games with myself.

Password: v-i-t-a-r. And with a smack, I hit enter.

For with the stroke of a key and a random worthless guess… Gmail opened, and with it, opened up; the life of John Blair.

I honestly don’t know how to tell this next part of the story. Do I include all the dialogue and looks and surprise?

Do I tell you the conversation with the sobbing girlfriend I found after buzzing on door after door, or tell you only that I found her, and sat patiently for two hours while I told her she wasn’t wrong?

Do I show you the letter I wrote to Ro-

a man named John Blair. He says he knew you. I have no idea if this is true or if you even live in New York, but I wanted to let you know that John Blair died the other night and if you knew him I am very sorry.

If you have any questions you can call me at (949) 533-7170. And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sorry to have bothered you.

Yours truly, Blossom

Dear Roberta, You don’t know me. I am a friend of

I walked my letter to The Dakota and asked the doorman if Roberta Flack lived in the building. He wouldn’t say.

Well if she does live here, will you give her this letter? It’s urgent.” I

JULY 16-22,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ďŹ rst time ever I sawâ&#x20AC;Ś his faceâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;? Roberthrust the letter into his hands imploringly. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Will that be all maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;am?â&#x20AC;? The doorman asked taâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s voice was raw and open as tears streamed down her cheeks and the cheeks of the attendees me. paying respect to John that day as she sang. It She was real and she called.

Then I found a lawyer who was holding his CDs was the concert of a lifetime, only without the who knew the rabbi who was holing his violins. crowds or the cheer.

And that was it.

The rabbi knew that his girlfriendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name had I packed up his CDs, all except one, and sent been Geraldine, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how I found her by buzzing the all the initial Gâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the building the them home with his sister. I wished I hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. He would have wanted me to have them. But I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lawyer had pointed at.

Geraldine knew his sister Joyce who lived in want anyone to think I was taking anything that didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t belong to me. And Michigan and was a they were only CDs. wreck. With each perI kept a small vial of son, each email, each mandarin oil heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d used note, the story came toI packed up his CDs, all to soften the cracks on gether. except one, and sent them home his street wise hands.

His stories had been with his sister. I wished I hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t.

I hated the smell but real. And on and on and on and on they went.

He would have wanted me to have wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t throw it away.

I closed his gmail acThe funeral service them. count and PO box and was at the VA Hospital. turned in the key. We Roberta handled the details. They had been lovers back when they were never found his money.

And that was it. That was the story of John kids.

I sat in the last pew, surrounded by faces I had Blair.

In the end, all I really had was that number. The found and pulled together from a maze. The service was short; A story from his sister, a prayer number I could never call. followed by a hymn.

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PARENTS BATTLE SCHOOL OVERCROWDING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 rience overcrowding.

Schneider said waitlisted kids have been offered spots in nearby schools, but that didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t change the fact that they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t able to attend the school across the street.

An increase in condominium conversions and additional families moving in has meant little respite in overcrowding at the school, she said.

Allison SchiďŹ ni is the mother of a child who forms part of one of the biggest grades at PS/IS 276 so far. She said the school accepted more students than it could handle because of the waitlistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s length. Since class sizes are increasing with only a limited amount of shared resources, SchiďŹ ni said, she fears her sonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education could be hindered at such a young age.

She said that if the school continues to enroll students, she

is worried that once her son reaches middle school there will not be enough space for him since the school wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t designed to hold that many students. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Parents have been advocating to the DOE, and we thought they were receptive and put things in the capital plan,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But when it tipped over to (Mayor Bill) de Blasio, it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem like they had a long-term plan that would fall through.â&#x20AC;?

School officials declined to comment.

The community has spoken out loudly and often and parents say they are frustrated at an obvious and longtime problem that has yet to be rectiďŹ ed.

Meltzer said she feels middle school parents and children are at a further disadvantage since families with younger students typically garner the most attention when they face similar difficulties. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you think about it, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural progression,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a waitlist for kindergarten, it makes sense that people come and leave. But trying to

wait and guarantee that people will leave rather than stay is not a gamble that should be made with children.â&#x20AC;?

A new school has been approved and is included in the 5-year capital budget for New York State, but the DOE hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t found a site for it yet. Until they find one, they cannot rezone the neighborhood to balance out how many students each school can handle.

The DOE has partnered with an architecture program, where graduate students worked on a project to ďŹ nd viable sites to put potential new schools. Now, the department is assessing that list of sites alongside the work they are doing themselves to ďŹ nd an appropriate location. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Progress is a word that is deďŹ ned differently by the community than it is deďŹ ned by a bureaucratic organization like the DOE,â&#x20AC;? Meltzer said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Progress from my perspective as a parent would be to build a new school right now. Site it, build it and open it; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s simple.â&#x20AC;?

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JULY 16-22,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Voices

Write to us: To share your thoughts and comments go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a letter to the editor.

Poem

OP-ED

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - WHO ARE WE? New York, New York - Who are we?

Take a look and really see.

Exploration by foot, ship, taxi, train or bus, why not find out about us?

For those that like to ride a bike, Venture through the landscape, add a healthy long hike.

We are open day and night, 24/7 you can indulge in an authentic bite.

Every inch of the island, whether you go up or down, East or West you’ll find plenty to do all over this town.

Amazing architecture & culture, all the very best, there is so much to do, who can find time to rest?

Doesn’t matter which way you turn, there is always something new to learn.

We New Yorkers are known as being always on the go, whether we are happy or feeling low.

Looking on the outside in, we may appear as cold, it’s just our assertiveness for sometimes we can be known as bold.

Articulate and trendy, we know our style, just walk Madison Avenue for a short while.

Fifth Avenue, Central Park – oh what a sight, amongst the hi-risers you can even fly a kite!

In winter you can skate in the ice rink, or find other amusement in just a wink.

Central Park West, Amsterdam, the Broadway plays, oh there is so much to occupy one’s day.

But with all the plusses come minuses too, the reality can make us feel very blue.

As the price tag of living in this fabulous city escalates higher and higher - it is a real pity!

The homeless, they gather on the soup kitchen line, their faces tell a sad story that life is not fine.

We are known as the city that never sleeps, little advertised is the part of our population that weeps.

So many, sadly living on the street, rummaging through the garbage for something to eat.

They need our help, now is the time, more than just a quick fix, more than just a dime.

Are there solutions to solve these problems or just words collecting dust?

Affordable healthcare, housing; employment - it’s an absolute must!

Let’s face it, our infrastructure of humanity has been lacking, to fix these flaws; we need strategies with both social and financial backing.

We are New Yorkers; we have the power to make a change, to improve our city, even if it nudges us beyond our comfort range.

Cleaning out a closet or pantry can make us feel good, doing something positive, rather than just saying you wish you could.

We are New Yorkers; we do not take defeat, Let’s get into the groove to improve our city, let’s move to the beat!

Contact your political and religious leaders, have a word.

Visions for cure are never absurd!

One day at a time we can fix what ails, No matter the temperament of the gales.

Let us be the place deserving of our skyline’s lights, that shine with magnitude, oh so bright!

For this city is our home, for it’s a jewel, a crown!

Imagine Our New York, Our Home, Our Town!

Elizabeth Haller-Walsh

STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source

Vice President/CFO Otilia Bertolotti Vice President/CRO Vincent A. Gardino advertising@strausnews.com

THE DISGUST OF TIMES SQUARE Dear Mayor de Blasio, I am increasingly upset over the current conditions in Times Square. It is almost impossible to walk the streets in that area. As a New Yorker for over 50 years (and a taxpayer) I think I am entitled to be able to walk my streets and not feel claustrophobic and disgusted by what is around me in the Times Square area.

I hate going there as do many city dwellers because it is so unbearable, and yet, how does one go to the theater without going through that zone?

I think I preferred it in the old days when it was full of hookers and pimps and drug addicts. Yes, it was dangerous but at least it kept the tourists away. Now it is seedy in a different way. We should be more ashamed of what goes on there now. Then, at least, the hookers were clothed, which leads me to my recent observation. I passed across the square to get to the subway on 47th Street and was shocked to see two naked women posing with nothing on but g-strings and some body paint. How is that okay?

What happened to public nudity laws in this city? Isn’t it bad enough that we still have those “Disney” characters hanging around asking tourists for money? Is this really what we want tourists to take away from our “cultured” city?

In addition to this are the overwhelming crowds that make moving impossible.

Associate Publishers, Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth Sr. Account Executive, Tania Cade

Years ago I didn’t have to stand in line to get into a Broadway theater when I had a ticket. Now we must wait a good 20-30 minutes or so in the freezing cold, snow, rain or horrendous heat. This just creates more problems for those trying to get somewhere as the huge lines are blocking the sidewalks.

Maybe we could have a passing lane for pedestrians

who need to get somewhere as we do on the highways?

The tourists can gawk and amble on the right and the locals can then pass on the left.

I’m sure you have some smart city planners on staff who can figure this out? Something MUST be done.

Times Square and the Theater District belong to all of us and I am willing to share it with the tourists but I do

President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Account Executive Editor In Chief, Kyle Pope Fred Almonte, Susan Wynn editor.ot@strausnews.com Director of Partnership Development Deputy Editor, Richard Khavkine Barry Lewis editor.dt@strausnews.com

Staff Reporters, Gabrielle Alfiero, Daniel Fitzsimmons

not think they should have all of it. I can appreciate how the people of Venice, Italy feel when the huge cruise ships offload their passengers into the small city and inundate it. Please help to solve these problems and improve our quality of life on the streets of “Olde New York”!

Yours truly, Janet Nonamaker

Block Mayors, Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side

JULY 16-22,2015

9

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

6th Borough

BETWEEN PET AND FARM ANIMAL, A GRAY AREA ...

AND VET BILLS

BY BECCA TUCKER rofit margins in farming are slim. Until Charlie broke her leg, we were up ever so slightly over the course of our three years of goat ownership. On the expense side: the initial cost of the goats, goat feed and hay in the winter, and all the extras you don’t think about, like a hay rack and milking stand.

On the profit side: the income from selling a goat every now and then.

Vet visits, you’ll notice, are not listed above. They would make our goat operation very much a losing one. Goats can be very self-sufficient — feeding themselves three of four seasons, bearing their young while you’re not looking — although we have also had goats get sick and die very quickly. We let things take their course. Unless, that is, the goat in question is Charlie.

Charlie holds a special place on our homestead. We bought her at three days old this winter from a nearby goat cheese farm, and raised her and her twin brother, Don Fenucci, in our foyer. We bottle fed them, hem, cleaned up after them. It was like having infants: exhaustusting.

When it got warm enough, gh, we were overjoyed to get them out of the house and d into the corral with the bigger goats. Too early, it turned out. We found the Don on his back one day, ay, bleating. He’d clearly been n beat up. We brought him inside, but he didn’t make e it.

P

Maybe we’d doomed him by naming him Don Fenucci — the precursor to the Godfather, who meets his end at the hands of Don Corleone.

We quickly let Charlie out of the corral, and since then she’s had free rein of our property. She sleeps on our porch, which unfortunately is also where she poops. She is the first to greet visitors.

She’s a companion for Kai, until sometimes she gets “too rough!,” jumping and head-butting. She loves being scratched. We really would like to get her into the corral, but we’re not going to rush it again. In the meantime, she’s become our de facto dog.

Over Memorial Day weekend, husband Joe stayed home to man the farm while Kai and I headed to the beach.

On Friday night Joe found Charlie lying on the side of our mountain, with a badly broken leg. How it happened, we don’t know. Our best guess is that the other goats breached the fence and roughed Charlie up. Joe did his best to cast the leg. When Kai and I got home, he broke the news gingerly.

It looked ... OK. She was grazing and pooping normally, and getting around admirably; she was still hard to catch. I decided to take the wait-and-see approach.

A week and a half later, she seemed lethargic. She was lying on the porch when I got home from work, and she didn’t get up right away to try to eat my skirt. I felt her hoof: swollen and hot. I called the one vet practice I knew took goats. Bring her in, they said.

I dug out the neglected pet brush and tried to spiff Charlie up a bit before bundling her into the newspapered trunk and buckling Kai into the car seat.

It took the vet a long time to get Joe’s jerry-rigged cast off, and when she finally did, it wasn’t pretty underneath.

In an attempt to stabilize the broken bone, Joe had encircled the leg with two U-bolts, which he

then wrapped with electrical tape. He hadn’t put any lining or cushioning between the bolts and the skin, and the flesh had begun to grow into the bolts. Bad. We might have to amputate, the vet said.

Can a goat get along on three legs? I asked. The vet shrugged as if to say nothing this horrible has ever happened before, so who knows?

She sent us home with two baggies of injections — antibiotic and painkiller — and instructions to come back in a week. That’s when she would decide whether the leg had to go.

Bill: $255.

We dutifully injected Charlie every day. We enjoyed it about as much as Charlie did, but the infection quickly receded.

Charlie seemed to be putting more weight on the leg, too.

Let me say, I was not in a hurry to go back, if what awaited us was a hacksaw

and a hefty bill. A week came and went, and I guiltily made no appointment. Two weeks later, though, worry got the better of me. Was the pink skin around the wound unusually warm? Back we went.

She was actually doing great, said the vet. Much better than expected. The warmth was just healing in progress. She put her in a pink cast and told me to bring her back next week.

Bill: $87. At this point, Joe, the family bookkeeper, had begun muttering about goat stew.

A few mornings after the cast went on, we discovered Charlie with a mysteriously broken horn and a bloodsmeared forehead. I wearily flipped through our goat books and, finding nothing on this subject, fired up the computer. Yep, horns can get busted ... some people recommend pain killers and iodine; others, the do-nothing approach. We decidedly did not call the vet. Now we’ve got an asymmetrically-horned goat with a pink cast, who still manages to be really cute.

For Charlie’s sake, I was as firm as I could be at her third appointment. Yes, we’re hoping Charlie has a long future ahead of her, full of frolicking kids and goat milk. But she’s a farm animal, after all, and we’ve got a canister of jerk

spice in the cabinet, waiting to be used for a jerked goat recipe we got from a Jamaican friend.

We would really prefer not to come back again, I told the assistant, accentuating my point with the Barbie in my hand. She nodded as she lifted Charlie to her chest and whisked her to the back.

After Kai and I had made the acquaintance of the dog in the waiting room and counted the three fish in the fish tank a number of times, we were summoned to the back, where Charlie stood on a stainless steel exam table.

“To be honest,” the vet began (this was her standard opening, and it was nerve-wracking), “the leg has stabilized a lot in just the last week. I won’t need to cast her again.” The busted horn, she said, would grow back as a partial horn called a scur.

Bill: $37.

“A bargain!” said Joe, when we pulled into the driveway and delivered the news.

Kai put her arm around Charlie’s back. “Take a picture of us,” she said, and grinned while Charlie licked the salty car. For the moment, everything was alright in our little world.

Becca Tucker is a former Manhattanite now living on a farm upstate and writing about the rural life.

10

JULY 16-22,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

If you like Our Town Downtown, you’re gonna love getting a personal copy of Downtowner!

Everything you like about Our Town Downtown is now available delivered to your mailbox every week in Downtowner.

From the very local news of your neighborhood to information about upcoming events and activities, the new home delivered edition of Downtowner will keep you in-the-know.

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Out & About More Events. Add Your Own: Go to otdowntown.com

7

18

Fri 1

Sat

FRIDAY MOVIE: THE INCREDIBLES

INTERNATIONAL KEYBOARD INSTITUTE & FESTIVAL

Chatham Square Library, Community Room, 33 East Broadway 2-4 p.m. Free.

Follow a family of superheroes, each with a unique power, throughout their journey to save a city from a rogue robot.

(212) 964-6598. www.nypl.org/events/ calendar?location=15

BABY SODA JAZZ BAND: HUDSON RIVER PARK’S SUNSET ON THE HUDSON Pier 45 in Hudson River Park, Greenwich Village, off of Christopher Street 7 p.m. Free End your week by watching the sunset behind Lady Liberty every Friday night as local musicians perform at New York’s very own Hudson River Park.

212-561-7445. www. hudsonriverpark.org/events/ series/sunset-on-the-hudson

Sun

19

OPEN STUDIO

Hunter College, The Kaye Playhouse, 695 Park Avenue 8 p.m. All Concerts $20 Festival Concert Pass $200 Come enjoy music from students around the world, lectures presented by world-class pianists and masterclasses.

212-772-4448. www.hunter. cuny.edu/kayeplayhosue

Whitney Museum, at 99 Gansevoort St. 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Free with museum admission.

Families with children of all ages are invited to get inspired through the museum’s exhibition, American is Hard to See, and start crafting. Each week a different art making project is offered.

212-570-3600. www. whitney.org/Events/ OpenStudioJuly2015

FROM FREIGHT TO FLOWERS

▼ SUNDAY BRUNCH

High Line, Gansevoort Street City Winery, 155 Varick St. entrance.

10 a.m.–2 p.m. $10.

10 a.m. Free Enjoy your brunch while The story behind New York listening to live music by The City’s park in the sky told over a Klez Dispensers.

75-minute tours led by High Line 212-608-0555. info@ docents who offer an insider’s citywinery.com perspective on the park’s history, design, and landscape. Space is limited. Get there at least 15 minutes early to guarantee a spot. www.thehighline.org

JULY 16-22,2015

Mon

20 STOP MOTION PRODUCTIONS: FOUR WORKSHOPS, FOUR FILMS Seward Park Library, 192 East Broadway 2 p.m. Free.

All teens are welcome to join this hands-on tech-based workshop where they’ll work with iPads, clay and other materials to created slowmotion films.

212-477-6770. www.nypl.org/events/ calendar?location=67

KWESKIN & THE JUG BAND City Winery, 155 Varick St. 6-9:45 p.m. $30-45.

Come enjoy some blues, country, ragtime, jazz and rock music by the Kweskin & The Jug Band.

212-608-0555. info@ citywinery.com

Tues

21

BOOK DISCUSSION ► Hunter College, Roosevelt House, 47-49 East 65th St. 6-8 p.m. Free.

Steve Fraser discusses his book The Age of Acquiescence: The Life and Death of American Resistance to Organized Wealth and Power. The book examines how and why Americans resisting powerful public figures has diminished.

212-396-7919. www. roosevelthouse.hunter.cuny.edu/ events/steve-fraser-the-age-ofacquiescence/

HOW TO ASK FOR MONEY: SKILLS FOR FREELANCERS AND STARTUPS WITH JENNY ODEGARD South Plaza, 23rd Street,

11

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Broadway and Fifth Avenue 6:30. Free but space is limited.

RSVP requested Hosted by the Flatiron Partnership, with General Assembly, this is one of series of free tech education classes.

RSVP at www.FlatironDistrict.

NYC/summerseries

Wed

22

with Writopia Lab instructors all of whom are published writers or produced playwrights.

212-477-6770. www.nypl. org/events

Reach Manhattan’s Foodies

Thurs

23 CREATIVE DREAM ENTERTAINMENT Union Square Park, Children’s

Activities Pavilion SHOOTING FROM THE HIP: MOBILE VIDEO FOR 1-4 p.m. Free.

Kids ages 1-10 are invited to PRODUCERS spend their afternoon making The New School, Theresa Lang Auditorium, 55 West 13th St. at 6th Ave. 7-9 p.m. Free but RSVP requested.

Listen to five panelists involved in the media industry discuss the importance of mobile video production.

Register at www. producersguild.org/events/ event_details.asp?id=658200#

WRITING WORKSHOP Seward Park Library, at 192 E. Broadway 3-4:30 p.m. Free.

Encourage the development of your childrens’ writing skills in this summer workshop. Children ages 6 to 12 will write their own stories, plays or poetry while working

various arts and crafts. Experts from Creative Dream will help your children get creative this summer. summerinthesquare.com/ event-calendar-1/2015/7/23/ creative-dream

96%

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS Pier 84 in Hudson River Park, Maritime Entertainment District, 555 12th Ave. 6-9 p.m. Free Hudson River Rocks continues its 17th season of free outdoor summer concerts with a performance by We Were Promised Jetpacks.

212-561-7445. www. hudsonriverpark.org/events/wewere-promised-jetpacks

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24

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E FOOD & WYOINUR FEST IN ORHOOD NEIGHB FES TIVALS

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Call Vincent Gardino at 212-868-0190 The local paper for Downtown

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12

Lewis Carroll (1832–18 (1832–1898), John 898 9 ), ) Joh o n Tenniel (1820–1914), (1820–19 1 14 1 ),, illustrator, illusstrattor “Alice’s “A Aliice’’ Adventures in London: in Wonderland,” W Macmillan and Co., 1865, First printing (first suppressed edition). Gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr.,The Morgan Library & Museum. Photography by Graham S. Haber, 2015.

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

THE BIOGRAPHY OF A BOOK: ALICE AT THE MORGAN On the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s classic, the museum’s exhibit begins at the beginning

BY VAL CASTRONOVO

Lewis Carroll (1832–1898), illustrated manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, completed 13 September 1864. © The British Library Board.

John Tenniel (1820–1914), “Nothing but a pack of cards!” 1885. Hand-colored proof. Gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., The Morgan Library & Museum. Photography

by Steven H. Crossot, 2014.

JULY 16-22,2015

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll’s beloved tale of a 7-year-old girl who famously falls down a rabbit hole and mixes with a mad cast of characters before awakening from her dream.

Alice-mania is slowly gaining steam in the city, with upcoming shows at The Grolier Club, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and Columbia University, where real-life Alice — Alice Liddell Hargreaves — received an honorary doctorate in 1932, the centenary year of Carroll’s birth.

For its part, The Morgan Library & Museum has pulled off a curatorial coup and secured the original manuscript from the British Library in London, building a wonderland of an exhibit around it, now through October 11. It’s “a biography of the book ... the story of the story,” curator Carolyn Vega said during a crowded tour of the show on a recent Friday night.

Not seen on this side of the pond for more than 30 years, the manuscript is enclosed in a glass case at the center of the gallery and opened to pages 10 and 11, the latter boasting a drawing of a long-necked Alice by Carroll, an amateur artist. The document forms the heart and soul of the exhibit, a reference point to which we keep returning as we survey walls and display cases filled with vintage books, original drawings, hand-colored proofs, letters, photos and Alice Liddell’s leather purse and prayer book. There is even a touchscreen with a digitized manuscript that you can tap for a page-bypage view of Carroll’s neat handwriting and illustrations, the inspiration for some of John Tenniel’s later drawings for the published book.

One of the greatest works of children’s literature can be sourced to a summer outing on “a perfect English afternoon” on July 4, 1862, Vega said about ’s backstory. Christ Church, Oxford, math lecturer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (who years earlier had assumed the pen name Lewis Carroll) took the dean’s three daughters — Lorina, Alice and Edith Liddell — on a boat trip up the River Thames to Godstow for an afternoon picnic. To entertain the group, Carroll spun a tale of a little girl who follows a white rabbit in a waistcoat down a hole and enters a curious, netherworld of anthropomorphized creatures and madcap characters spewing “logical nonsense.”

Carroll was extemporizing — literally making it up as he went along. Alice later begged him to write the story down and give it to her. He started writing the next day, spending two and a half years on the text and on 37 pen-and-ink drawings before presenting the completed work to the young-

John Tenniel (1820–1914), “Off with her head!” 1885. Hand-colored proof. Gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., The Morgan Library & Museum. Photography by Steven H. Crossot, 2014.

Alice Liddell in wreath as “Queen of May.” 1860. Albumen print of a photograph by Lewis Carroll (1832– 1898). Gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., The Morgan Library & Museum. Photography by Graham S. Haber, 2015. ster as a Christmas present in 1864.

He called it “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground.”

But he wasn’t satisfied with the title, which he considered “too didactic,” Vega said, so he sought the advice of a friend — weighing the merits of “Alice Among the Elves” against “Alice’s Doings in Elf-Land,” among others — before swapping out “Under Ground” for “In Wonderland,” which was his idea. “I want something sensational,” he wrote in a letter to his friend that is on display.

Meanwhile, Carroll had been sending drafts of the manuscript to friends, who encouraged him to expand the spontaneous tale and publish it. After adding a wealth of new material — including the chapter “A Mad Tea-Party” — he entered into an agreement with Macmillan and Co. to produce the book, which was now twice the length of the original manuscript.

Carroll arranged to finance the work’s publication himself “so he could be very involved,” Vega said.

“He was involved at every stage of the design and production of the book. ...

He was [especially] interested in how

illustrations and text interact.” Longtime Punch cartoonist John Tenniel was commissioned to re-illustrate the story, collaborating closely with Carroll, who had definite opinions about the size and placement of the pictures.

The book was finally published in the summer of 1865, the third anniversary of the story’s first telling. But Tenniel was not satisfied with the way the illustrations looked — only some 20 of the 2,000 copies from this first print run survive, two of which are thrillingly here — because he found the “printing inferior,” Vega said.

Ever the perfectionist, Carroll decided to recall the entire edition and, at great personal expense, start over.

The second printing of 2,000 books in November 1865 cost Carroll more than 250 pounds; he now needed to sell two full editions — 4,000 copies—just to break even. But the book was “an immediate success,” Vega said, and, within a year, sold 4,000 copies, allowing the author to recoup his investment. It has been in print ever since.

Carroll’s story is a tale for the ages, much like Shakespeare’s plays. “We’ll still be reading Alice in another 150 years,” Vega concluded with a smile.

5 TOP

JULY 16-22,2015

AC T I V I T I E S F O R T H E F E R T I L E M I N D

FOR THE WEEK

BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO OUR ARTS EDITOR

MUSEUMS

N E W YO R K C I T Y

Storytelling to Celebrate The Next Next Level by Leon Neyfakh

THURSDAY, JULY 16TH, 7PM McNally Jackson | 52 Prince St. | 212-274-1160 | mcnallyjackson. com

MUSIC

BALASOLE DANCE COMPANY’S “SALMAGUNDI”

JORGE DREXLER, DIEGO GARCIA AND DANAY SUÁREZ

Dance company Balasole presents a range of dance styles, and celebrates artists from varying backgrounds whom don’t always conform to dance’s traditional body shapes and sizes. With “Salmagundi,” the company showcases the solo work of 10 dancers, including Frederick Davis, a current company member of Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Balasole Dance Company’s “Salmagundi” July 17-18 Ailey Citigroup Theater 405 W. 55 St., at Columbus Avenue 8 p.m.

Tickets $25-$35 To purchase tickets, visit 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com

Uruguayan singer and composer Jorge Drexler has gained notoriety for his film scores and soundtracks: he won an Academy Award for “Al Otro Lado del Rio” from the 2004 film “The Motorcycle Diaries,” marking the first time an artist won the award for a song with Spanish lyrics. Drexler is joined by pop singer Diego Garcia and genre-bending, Cuban-born rapper and singer Danay Suarez.

Jorge Drexler, Diego Garcia and Danay Suárez Sunday, July 19 Central Park SummerStage Rumsey Playfield Entrance at Fifth Avenue and E. 72nd Street 6 p.m.

FREE For more information, visit http://www. cityparksfoundation.org/events/category/ summerstage/

ANNETTE AGUILAR & STRINGBEANS New York’s own Annette Aguilar & Stringbeans fuse Afro-Cuban sounds with salsa and Latin jazz, and bring a bright and percussive live performance to the High Line for an energetic, sunset dance party.

Annette Aguilar & Stringbeans Wednesday, July 22 High Line 14th Street, near Tenth Avenue 7-9 p.m.

FREE To RSVP or for more information, visit http:// www.thehighline.org/activities/

To be included in the Top 5 go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22ND, 9:30PM Museum at Eldridge St. | 12 Eldridge St. | 212-219-0888 | eldridgestreet.org Tour the L.E.S., enjoy vintage cocktails and get an insider’s look at a landmarked sanctuary on a special evening co-hosted by Untapped Cities. ($40)

Just Announced: Preview Screening of “Learning to Drive” with Actors Patricia Clarkson and Sir Ben Kingsley

TUESDAY, AUGUST 18TH, 7:30PM 92nd Street Y | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212-415-5500 | 92y.org Krishna Pandit Bhanji (aka Sir Ben Kingsley) comes to Reel Pieces to discuss his stint playing a Sikh driving instructor, along with co-star Patricia Clarkson. ($32)

For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,

sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.

Do

something

you You’d

like us to

look

?

into

DANCE

After Hours Tour at Eldridge Street Synagogue

have

The Frick Collection’s special exhibitions, including a showing of the museum’s collection of landscape drawings and Henry Clay Frick’s acquisitions of 18th-century French porcelain, stay open for after-hours museum access. This free evening at the museum also includes live music performances inspired by the exhibits, as well as brief gallery talks and free sketching.

Nights at the Frick Friday, July 17 Frick Collection 1 E. 70th St., near Fifth Avenue 6-9 p.m.

FREE, first-come, first-served For more information, call 212-288-0700 or email edevents@frick.org

Heidi Latsky Dance, a company that features artists with disabilities, performs its 2013 work “Somewhere” in connection with the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which passed 25 years ago. Latsky’s short film “Soliloquy” will also screen, followed by a Q&A. Heidi Latsky Dance: A Celebration of ADA at 25 Friday, July 17 Whitney Museum of American Art 99 Gansevoort St., near Washington Street 8 p.m.

FREE with museum admission (registration required) To register, visit http://whitney.org/Events/ HeidiLatskyDance

thoughtgallery.org Creative journalists and one bona fide rocker (Craig Finn of The Hold Steady) come together for a storytelling night and book launch. (Free)

NIGHTS AT THE FRICK

HEIDI LATSKY DANCE: A CELEBRATION OF ADA AT 25

13

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Email us at news@strausnews.com

14

JULY 16-22,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS JUL 2 - 10, 2015

Cha Chan Tang

45 Mott Street

A

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.

Excellent Dumpling House

111 Lafayette St

Grade Pending (25) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. 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.

Jasmine

11 Mott St

Not Graded Yet (14) Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Golden Manna Bakery

16 Bowery St

A

La Colombe Torrefaction

319 Church Street

A

Amazing 66 Restaurant

66 Mott Street

A

Caffe Bene

106 Mott Street

A

Sing Huang Restaurant

111 Lafayette St

Grade Pending (21) 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.

Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Bar Goto

245 Eldridge St

Not Graded Yet (22) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.

Mcdonald’s

213 Madison Street

A

Comfort Restaurant & Bar

399 Grand St

Grade Pending (70) 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.

Evidence of mice or live mice 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/sewageassociated 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.

Lena

Highline Pizzeria

34 West 35 Street

503 West 28 Street

Grade Pending (23) 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.

Grade Pending (22) 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.

Patiala

371 West 34 Street

A

The Juice Shop

7 Penn Plz

A

Five Guys Burgers And Fries

316 West 34 Street

A

Cambria Hotels & Suites New York-Chelsea

123 W 28th St

A

Juban

207 10Th Ave

A

Starbucks Coffee

122 Greenwich Avenue

A

Pounds & Ounces

160 8 Ave

Grade Pending (26) 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.

Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.

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/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

504 6Th Ave

A

Naka Naka

458 West 17 Street

A

Happy Garden Palace

54 East Broadway

A

Del Posto Ristorante

85 10 Avenue

A

El Cantinero

86 University Place

Le Pain Quotidien

124 7 Avenue

A

Slice & Co. Brick Oven Pizza

527 6 Avenue

Grade Pending (24) 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.

Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Liquiteria

267 West 15 Street

A

Tribeca Grill

375 Greenwich Street

Grade Pending (19) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

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/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

Grade Pending (41) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment.

Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.

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/sewageassociated 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.

Little Poland Restaurant

200 2 Avenue

Grade Pending (16) 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.

Bocca

39 East 19 Street

A

The Loop

173 3 Avenue

A

Sakebar Decibel

240 East 9 Street

A

Max Restaurant

181 Duane Street

A

Grand Bo Ky Restaurant

214216 Grand Street

Grade Pending (23) 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.

Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared.

JULY 16-22,2015

15

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

MOURNING THE NEW YORK THAT WAS INTERVIEW The comic Colin Quinn has teamed up with Seinfeld for a one-man show about the death of New York

BY MARK KENNEDY

Comedian Colin Quinn has some sad news about his hometown: New York is dead.

The Brooklyn-born IrishAmerican comedian returns to the stage this month eulogizing the loss of loudmouth, opinionated New Yorkers in his one-man show “The New York Story” at The Cherry Lane Theatre, opening July 23.

Quinn’s show, directed by Jerry Seinfeld, mourns what he considers a homogenized, cautious city. He’s a guy who likes the needy bluntness of

former Mayor Ed Koch, pizza slices and listening to cab drivers swear.

The former announcer of MTV’s late-1980s game show “Remote Control” and who played morose Lenny the Lion on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” uses some of his observations in his new book “The Coloring Book.” It’s his third one-man show.

In your previous shows, you’ve tackled the history of civilization and the Constitution. Why New York this time?

It’s a good time for it because New York is gone. The New York that I knew is now finished. The New York personality is gone.

So it’s a good time to look back on it. It’s a sad goodbye.

What was the nail in the coffin? Hipsters selling artisanal

pickles? Insane rents pushing out blue-collar workers? Donald Trump?

It’s nothing anyone’s done. I would say this: If you go on the subway right now, all the guys sit down and all the women have to stand. In the old days, that would never have happened.

So is it just the loss of civility?

No. It’s the difference between Mayor Bill de Blasio’s personality and Ed Koch’s personality.

Not their intelligence, not their governing style -- their personality. With Koch, whether he was great or not, you just knew he was wearing his heart on his sleeve. There were no speechwriters, everybody just spoke more authentically. That’s really what the show is about -the loss of authentic emotion and personality and language.

Has technology had any role?

Yes. It’s very glib and surface to blame technology, so let me do it: I feel like people have developed this kind of texting personality. That’s fine. But not for New York.

And this end of in-your-face New Yorkers is a sad thing?

If it was working, and everybody said, `Wow, things are getting better! Everything’s improving societally!’ I’d shut up. But it’s not. Don’t pretend it is.

Is New York the last city in America to be homogenized or the first?

That’s the sad thing -- we’re the last one. All this non-judgmental positivity, all that stuff, that’s how the rest of the country was supposed to be. New York was not supposed to be like that. But we follow them now.

You’ve teamed up again with a classic New Yorker -- Seinfeld.

I love it. I don’t know why the hell he does it. He’s just an artistic guy who, I guess, likes the way I think. He was born to direct stage things, in my opinion. It’s something he’s just great at. He just really understands movement and he understands editing. He understands cutting language down and just makes everything about behavior.

When was New York at its best?

I would say Brooklyn from 1648 to 1760 was probably good. I would say the Bronx was at its best during the Dutch phase, probably. Brooklyn in the 1970s. Manhattan in the `40s and `50s. Staten Island from probably 1905 to 1923.

Not to be argumentative, but New York of the past was violent and filthy. These days, the main bus station is so clean you can eat off the floor and people can walk safely anywhere.

You’re 100 percent right. It’s definitely better, but the thing that got lost was some part of the human character that I miss. Now, everybody speaks in this qualifying way. There’s something about it that’s very strange.

You’re also looking at race. This is an interesting time to bring up racial differences.

It’s one of those things where I’m watching these conversations that never have changed since I was a little kid. Everybody’s coming to the conversation with their ideas already formed. So I feel like if I can add my two cents in before I die, that would be nice, too.

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JULY 16-22,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Real Estate Sales Neighborhd

Address

Price

Bed Bath Agent

Battery Park City

30 West Street

$2,500,000

Battery Park City

70 Little West Street

$1,220,000

Battery Park City

2 South End Avenue

$835,000

Battery Park City

2 South End Avenue

$539,000

Battery Park City

300 Albany Street

$510,000

1

1

Halstead Property

Battery Park City

99 Battery Place

$1,170,000

2

2

Sotheby’s International Realty

Battery Park City

350 Albany Street

Battery Park City

Downtown Sales Snapshot Number of contracts signed so far in the second quarter $0 - $600k

$600x - $1M

$1M-$2M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$10M+

STUDIOS

40

35

7

3

1

-

1 BED

31

86

84

17

-

-

2 BEDS

-

31

65

94

15

-

$615,000

3+ BEDS

1

2

6

37

33

11

380 Rector Place

$845,000

TOWNHOUSE

-

-

-

-

3

1

Chelsea

181 7 Avenue

$732,500

Median Sales Price

Chelsea

221 West 21 Street

$313,326

STUDIOS

600,000

Chelsea

223-231 West 21 Street

$1,150,000

1 BED

999,000

2 BEDS

1,850,000

3 BEDS

4,100,000

Chelsea

143 West 22 Street

$1,691,000

Chelsea

360 West 21 Street

$590,500

Chelsea

231 West 22 Street

$9,500,000

7

7

Douglas Elliman

Civic Center

180 Park Row

$1,350,000

3

2

Ll Location One, Llc

East Village

250 East 7 Street

East Village East Village

Source: UrbanDigs LLC

Gramercy Park

201 East 15 Street

$831,000

$775,000

Gramercy Park

145 East 15 Street

$700,000

1 Avenue B

$6,365,000

Gramercy Park

26 Gramercy Park South

$585,000

223 East 3 Street

$500,000

Gramercy Park

34 Gramercy Park

$2,250,000

205 East 22 Street

$2,100,000

East Village

172 East 4 Street

$800,000

Gramercy Park

East Village

70 East 10 Street

$1,800,000

Gramercy Park

205 East 16 Street

$990,000

East Village

110 3 Avenue

$2,520,000

Gramercy Park

201 East 21 Street

$615,000

Financial District

20 Pine Street

$850,000

Greenwich Village

60 East 8 Street

$1,350,000

Greenwich Village

15 West 12 Street

$675,000

Greenwich Village

25 5 Avenue

$1,460,000

Greenwich Village

200 Mercer Street

$2,950,000

Greenwich Village

60 East 9 Street

$875,000

2

2

Town Residential

Financial District

1 Wall Street Court

$525,000

Financial District

90 William Street

$845,000

Financial District

1 Wall Street Court

$550,000

Financial District

15 William Street

$1,038,665

Financial District

20 Pine Street

$1,150,000

Greenwich Village

30 East 9 Street

$1,275,000

Greenwich Village

59 West 12 Street

$1,755,000

0

1

2

1

1

Douglas Elliman

Financial District

15 William Street

$1,725,933

Financial District

55 Liberty Street

$2,622,500

Greenwich Village

55 East 9 Street

$805,000

Financial District

1 Wall Street Court

$615,000

Greenwich Village

2 5 Avenue

$1,650,000

Financial District

20 West Street

$575,000

Greenwich Village

40 East 9 Street

$1,132,500

Greenwich Village

67 East 11 Street

$786,089

1

2

Halstead Property

Financial District

15 William Street

$1,295,000

Financial District

55 Liberty Street

$1,450,000

Lower East Side

530 Grand Street

$435,000

Financial District

176 Broadway

$1,450,000

Lower East Side

210 East Broadway

$960,000

Flatiron

35 West 15 Street

$1,682,512

Lower East Side

530 Grand Street

$500,000

Flatiron

35 West 15 Street

$2,777,131

Noho

21 Astor Place

$3,850,000

Nolita

14 Prince Street

$1,100,000

0

1

Douglas Elliman

1

Novo

Flatiron

254 Park Avenue South

$941,881

Douglas Elliman

Flatiron

5 East 22 Street

$1,375,000

Soho

129 Crosby Street

$3,115,000

Flatiron

35 West 15 Street

$1,682,512

Soho

76 Crosby St

$9,100,000

Flatiron

35 West 15 Street

$6,770,000

Tribeca

101 Leonard Street

$1,323,725

Tribeca

73 Worth Street

$4,250,000

Tribeca

1 York Street

$4,200,000

Flatiron

16 West 16 Street

$1,895,000

Flatiron

16 West 21 Street

$7,500,000

Flatiron

16 West 16 Street

$1,470,000

Tribeca

200 Chambers Street

$5,600,000

Flatiron

260 Park Avenue South

$2,559,375

Tribeca

311 Greenwich Street

$750,000

Fulton/Seaport

99 John Street

$690,000

West Chelsea

456 West 19Th Street

$4,800,000

Fulton/Seaport

99 John Street

$661,862

Gramercy Park

205 3 Avenue

$557,500

Gramercy Park

7 Gramercy Park West

$900,000

3

0

3

1

Compass

1

1

Mp Walsh Realty

1

1

Halstead Property

2

1

Corcoran

1

1

Corcoran

1

1

City Connections Realty

0

1

Douglas Elliman

4

3

Meisel Real Estate

4

2

Douglas Elliman

Nestseekers St.Easy.com is New York’s most accurate and comprehensive real estate website, providing consumers detailed sales and rental information and the tools to manage that information to make educated decisions.

The site has become the reference site for consumers, real estate professionals and the media and has been widely credited with bringing transparency to one of the world’s most important real estate markets.

JULY 16-22,2015

17

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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Photo by Joseph M. Calisi

Despite the rain, locals turned out July 8 for the second of four Game On! Downtown block parties organized by the Downtown Alliance. Revelers partied at an area between 55 Water Street and Wall Street and took in a screening of the film “White Men Can’t Jump” on the 55 Water Street ‘Elevated Acre.’ Local businesses sponsored events that included foosball, a custom street game by Playmatics, shuffleboard and others. For future Alliance events, go to www.DowntownNY. com

ASPHALT GREEN KICKS OFF CAMPERS CAMPAIGN

Asphalt Green kicked off its annual Coins for Campers fundraiser on July 13. The weeklong fundraiser challenges campers to bring in coins to support the organization’s Summer Day Camp Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships to kids whose families cannot afford summer camp.

Anyone can donate to the cause by dropping loose change – or dollars and checks – in donation boxes located in the AquaCenter of Asphalt Green’s Upper East Side campus, and the lobby of the Battery Park City campus. Additionally, a portion of purchases made on July 15 at Insomnia Cookies’ Upper East Side and Battery Park City locations goes to Coins for Campers.

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JULY 16-22,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

COUNCIL BILL WOULD GROUND CHOPPER TOURS Forthcoming bill would permanently ban helicopter tourism

BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS

As a proposed ban on horse carriages appears to have stalled in the city council, another effort targeting a different sector of the tourism industry is working up a head of steam. A forthcoming bill from Councilman Carlos Menchaca, who represents the Sunset Park and Red Hook neighborhoods of Brooklyn, would permanently ban helicopter tours around New York City.

“The negative contribution of tourist helicopters to air quality and noise is well documented, and has — for many years — been a real problem for New Yorkers,” Menchaca said in an announcement. “On the ground, we are hearing from residents about the real need for allies in government — in the City Council, we are ready to be that ally.”

While the legislation is still being drafted and has yet to be introduced, advocates on both sides of the issue are marshaling resources for the fight ahead. Helicopter Matters, a pro-helicopter industry group, told this newspaper they’re gearing up for a fight and will seek to protect the 200 jobs that are at stake.

“The coalition has engaged with City Hall in good faith, and we’ve engaged a lobbyist,” a company spokesperson said. “We’re having meetings and we’re working on a compromise.”

On the other side, the forthcoming bill already has a certain amount of support in the city council. Council members Mark Levine, Helen Rosenthal and Margaret Chin have all voiced support for a bill banning helicopter tours, citing a sustained stream of complaints from constituents.

“One of the main routes for tourist helicopters is up and down the Hudson River. People want to see the George

Washington Bridge and the Empire State Building from the air,” said Levine. “Anyone who lives within a few blocks of the river knows exactly what I’m talking about ... seven days a week, 365 days a year. On days when it’s clear there can be a helicopter every few minutes.”

Levine said since taking office last January, noise complaints from constituents regarding helicopters have been one of the most consistent and frequent complaints. The industry estimates that it conducts over 40,000 tourism flights a year.

“It really is a constant disruption to people’s lives,” said Levine. “I know a couple places where people have left their apartments due to helicopters, they couldn’t take the noise. It’s seriously diminished quality of life here.”

But the Helicopter Matters spokesperson said the industry has been very good corporate citizens, and has agreed to concessions in the past like eliminating flights over land and flying above 1,500 feet.

“The industry understands that a compromise must be reached and we’re willing to work towards that compromise,” said the spokesperson.

According to Helicopter Matters, a 2010 study found that the helicopter tourism industry contributes $33 million in economic output to the city. The company also cite statistics that show in 2014 the city’s 311 system registered just 1,290 complaints regarding helicopter noise, far below other noise polluters like loud parties, emergency vehicles and traffic.

The spokesperson also said that the Federal Aviation Administration has sole regulatory power over airspace, so the bill wouldn’t prevent helicopter tours from flying their usual route around Manhattan if they took off from somewhere else, such as New Jersey.

“They’re still going to go up and down the Hudson River and the Brooklyn waterfront,” said the spokesperson.

An FAA representative said the agency does not comment on pending legislation.

Delia von Neuschatz, founder of the anti-helicopter tourism group Stop the Chop, said it was “total and complete nonsense” that if banned in New York, the helicopter tourism industry would simple relocate across the Hudson and maintain their routes.

Even if helicopter tour operators took off from New Jersey, von Neuschatz said, tourists aren’t going to commute to the state for a 10-minute joy ride then come back into the city. What’s more, she said, is that helicopter tours have already been banned from taking off from the heliport in Jersey City, and have previously been “kicked out” of two other heliports in Manhattan and banned from flying over the East River.

“Their last refuge is the city-owned, taxpayer-funded Downtown Manhattan Heliport, and the Hudson River,” she said.

Stop the Chop currently has around 2,000 members, according to Von Neuschatz, and was formed two years ago.

“A huge swath of Manhattan is affected by this. Our members come from everywhere; Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island,” said Von Neuschatz, who said Stop the Chop gets complaints as far north as Fort Tryon Park and the Cloisters. “It’s probably borne out of the thousands of complaints that have gone out from our site about the sightseeing tours.

We started doing that because calling 311 is just an exercise in futility.”

While Stop the Chop wasn’t consulted on Menchaca’s forthcoming legislation, von Neuschatz said her

group’s practice of aggregating and forwarding complaints about helicopter noise to elected officials “probably had something to do with it.“ Menchaca’s office declined to comment further on the legislation itself, including on when it might be introduced, but said next steps include holding public hearings and engaging with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, community stakeholders and industry representatives.

The Helicopter Matters spokesperson characterized the legislation as feeding into a recent “war on tourism.”

“They’re going after Uber, they’re going after horse carriages, they’re going after helicopters,” the spokesperson said. “It’s been decades since the tourism industry was under attack like this.”

Brian Tolbert, who manages the Downtown Manhattan Heliport and is the public face of Helicopter Matters, said the industry is prepared to fight for its survival.

“If this outrageous bill passes, I’ll be out of a job, along with hundreds of other working-class New Yorkers,” Tolbert said. “Our business is a vital component of New York City’s tourism industry, putting millions of dollars into the local economy each and every year — critical dollars that fund schools, hospitals, and other essential services. People’s livelihoods are on the line and we will fight to protect our jobs.”

Both Levine and von Neuschatz cast doubt on the economic impact of the industry on New York, and the notion that the forthcoming legislation is the latest salvo in a war on tourism.

“The tourists who come here are still going to come to New York with or without the ability to take a helicopter ride. The money is still going to be circulated locally,” he said. “I feel pretty

confident that this won’t be a net loss for the economy and I don’t think it’s reasonable to say people won’t come to New York City if they can’t take these rides.”

But Von Neuschatz said tourism in New York will be “alive and well, with or without these tours,” and said these tours don’t exist in any other major city like Washington, D.C., Boston, London, Paris or Hong Kong. Citing 311 statistics, she also said, was pointless because anyone that complains to the service about helicopter noise are automatically told the tourist flights are operating within legal parameters, so people have stopped registering their complaints with the hotline.

Upper West Sider Thomas Lewis said he enthusiastically supports the ban legislation, and that the industry’s touting of low 311 statistics is absurd, and that if he reported every noisy flight he’d be on the phone for 12 hours a day.

“We hear the tourist flights twice as they come north and loop around in the area of the West 70s and 80s to return south,” said Lewis. “The noise increases as the helicopters turn because, as the helicopters tilt in order to turn, the blades wash the noise down toward the park and the streets. The noise echoes off the buildings.”

Lewis said he spent 10 years in the Army and worked as a civilian for the Army in the Pentagon, and is familiar with the noise generated by helicopters.

“I’m used to helicopters,” said Lewis.

“But I feel like I’m now living on a military base at 86th Street and Riverside and it’s not what my wife and I, and our thousands of neighbors, signed up for.”

3 CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR KILLING SHOPKEEPER Bubacarr Camara, a recent arrival from Gambia, was killed during what a police source called a “botched robbery” of BNC General Merchandise in June

BY RICHARD KHAVKINE

Three men have been arrested on murder charges in connection with the killing of an Amsterdam Avenue shopkeeper during a robbery attempt on June 18, authorities said.

Stephen Adams, 27, of no known address; his brother Michael Adams, 29, of Anderson Avenue in the Bronx; and Zubearu Bettis, 44, of no known ad-

dress were arrested on federal charges on July 9 for the shooting death of Bubacarr Camara, police said.

Camara, a recent arrival from Gambia, was killed during what a police source called a “botched robbery” of BNC General Merchandise, on Amsterdam between 104th and 105th Streets, in the late morning that Thursday.

All three face single conspiracy, robbery and murder counts, according to a five-count indictment handed up in United States District Court in Manhattan. Stephen Adams and Bettis also face additional robbery and

weapons counts in connection with the armed robbery of a similar T-shirt store on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem late June 15 or early June 16.

Police had suspected the two incidents were connected soon after Camara’s killing, which happened in broad daylight on a mostly residential stretch of Amsterdam that abounds with commercial activity.

Camara, of Gerard Avenue in the Bronx, was working at his father’s store that morning, the first day of Ramadan. According to a friend, he had been reciting prayers from the Koran

inside the store earlier in the day.

Officers found Camara, 26, with “severe head trauma” inside the shop, police said. He was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Stephen Adams, Michael Adams and Bettis are being charged under the Hobbs Act, a federal statute directed at racketeering and organized crime activities. Convictions under the statute usually result in harsher penalties than those doled out following local prosecutions. It has been successfully used by federal prosecutors against armed robbers targeting businesses.

Camara’s killing is the year’s only homicide within the 24th Precinct’s confines, according to police data.

Convictions on the conspiracy and robbery charges each carry a maximum 20-year sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Conviction on the weapons count would bring a mandatory minimum 10-year term and a possible life term, as would the murder charge, which could also result in the death penalty.

JULY 16-22,2015

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MEATP PACKS IANCHKING MECCA ISTORY

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PAGE 4

photo-shathe-desk tex that. Look ting ring, sta rting this and week.

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The High Line

PLANT OF THE WEEK: SWAMP-ROSE MALLOW Aloft on stems up to seven feet tall, the bubblegum-pink blooms of the swamp-rose mallow are impossible to miss when woven as they are on the High Line between the tall, narrow cattails. Hibiscus moscheutos has lush, smooth green foliage and saucer-sized flowers that are a welcome sight in the heat of summer. While each bloom lasts only one day, flowering time extends throughout the season. Up close, you’ll find up to 13 light-yellow stamens and a delicate petal venation that gives the blooms an almost ruffled look. Even the buds are striking, coming to velvety, seagreen points. About one month after flowering, seed capsules mature and turn brown. As they dehisce, seeds scatter and take easily in good conditions, and stems maintain beautiful upright structure and dramatic seed heads that provide atmospheric winter interest.

An attractive habitat element for pollinators, the swamp-rose mallow has its very own specialized bee species, the rose mallow bee.

The large, bell-like flowers act as a backdrop for many of the bees’ behaviors, including the romantic and competitive aspects of mating.

Male bees fly from flower to flower looking for females, and spar with each other inside the blooms when challenged. The swamp-rose mallow is a protected species in many regions

because of its historicity as an American species and its importance to the rose mallow bee, which pollinates no other plant. Taking this into account, it’s best to check USDA resources before digging it up or gathering its seeds.

Because the flowers are borne apically, as opposed to other varieties of hibiscus that carry buds along the stem, the swamp-rose mallow can be a bit top-heavy. It works well when grown among, for example, the structurally supportive cattails and reeds of its natural habitat. Staking may be necessary if the plant is grown alone.

You can see this plant at the Diller von Furstenburg Sundeck & Water Feature

THIS WEEK ON THE HIGH LINE LAWN TIME FOR LITTLE ONES Every Thursday, July through August, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

23rd Street Lawn, on the High Line at West 23rd Street Every Thursday in July and August, stop by the 23rd Street Lawn to enjoy a delightful morning of storytelling, and sing-alongs, bubbles, and blocks with your little ones from local partners and stick around to build with blocks, explore art materials, and chase bubbles across the grass.

Lawn Time for Little Ones features storytellers or musicians from some of the High Line’s favorite local cultural organizations, including the New York Public Library, and Housing Works Bookstore.

Lawn Time for Little Ones is a drop-in program (no RSVP required), and is open to kids ages 0-5 accompanied by caregivers.

In the event of rain or lawn

closure, Arty Hours and Lawn Time for Little Ones will take place in the 14th Street Passage.

HIGH LINE ART PERFORMANCE: AKI SASAMOTO, “FOOD RENTAL” Tuesday, July 21, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

On the High Line at West 30th Street and 11th Avenue Aki Sasamoto stages her meandering performances against sparsely sketched sets scattered with miscellaneous collections of altered furniture and other household objects. Basing much of her choreography on physical training routines, the artist uses her body as an instrument of communication—perching on, pouncing

through, and crawling out of the obstacles she has assembled, treating objects alternately as sets, props, and costumes.

For the High Line, Sasamoto presents Food Rental, a new performance for which she will bring a custom-built food cart to the High Line at the Rail Yards. From her perch inside the cart, the artist will offer visitors an à la carte selection of micro performances and playful narrative demonstrations. Like an offkilter life hacking workshop, Food Rental will continue Sasamoto’s history of performances that engage visitors with sneakily shifting stage sets and unruly props.

Free admission.

Text and photos from thehighline.org

JULY 16-22,2015

21

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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YOUR 15 MINUTES

LIFE AFTER LOVE IN NEW YORK Journalist and teacher Kate Walter on her debut memoir

readers. I have to say, I haven’t heard any feedback from straight men yet. Although my brother bought it; I’ll see what he thinks. Of course, he’s in the book so he can’t be objective. And my old boyfriend from high school bought it; he’s in the book too.

BY ANGELA BARBUTI

Looking for a Kiss: A Chronicle of Downtown Heartbreak and Healing is not just a lesbian breakup story. Although the memoir by longtime New Yorker Kate Walter chronicles the rebuilding of her life after her domestic partner of 26 years decided to leave, it transcends sexual orientation.

“The universal message of my book is that you can survive a bad breakup. You can heal your life and land up in a better place,” she said.

Readers are brought into her microcosm of Manhattan, which includes browsing at St. Mark’s Bookshop, teaching at Manhattan Community College and attending services at Middle Collegiate Church.

Walter moved to the city in 1975, and lived in both the East and West Villages, so we get a glimpse into what those neighborhoods were like before gentrification. And as she begins to date again, she shows us just how small the community of lesbians is here, where it was common that she’d run into her ex or a woman who had dated her ex.

You had some of this book already published in essay form.

What were the challenges to writing a memoir?

A lot of it was published in essay form and then it was a matter of putting it together.

This is the third draft. The first draft I knew wasn’t salable.

After the second draft, I got feedback from agents that was very helpful. It also made me realize was what wrong. On the

Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to otdowntown. com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

You became domestic partners with your ex in 1993. After you broke up, you realized that legalizing gay marriage was very important.

second draft, which I was shopping around, someone said to me, “The reader knows what’s going to happen before the narrator.” You want the reader to be surprised. As you’re reading the book, you’ll see it begins with the breakup and then it traces my life afterwards, which I think is interesting because it shows how I deal with the heartache. The other book, the one I couldn’t sell, ended with the breakup.

So the format was wrong. I think a big challenge is finding the right container for your story. Where does it begin?

Where does it end? Because when you write a memoir, it’s really not your whole life. It’s a specific portion of your life, so it was a question of what portion did I want to write about.

What feedback have you been getting from readers?

One thing that’s made me really happy is that a lot of straight women have read it and said, “Wow, I can really relate to this.” I read at this club in the Village, The Duplex, it was a benefit reading. There were a lot of gay men in the audience and they came up to me afterwards and said, “The piece you read about the bad date; that sounded so familiar.” So I really like to feel it has a wide appeal to a number of

Well, I mean, you’re not entitled to anything when you’re a domestic partner in New York City. The only thing would be that you can visit your partner in the hospital or you could inherit the apartment if you weren’t on the lease. But as I mentioned in the book, my ex had a lot of money saved up for our retirement, and I wasn’t entitled to any of that. So yeah, it’s crap domestic partnership, and it really made me realize that had we been married, it would have been a whole different ballgame, financially, specifically. And I think that makes the book also more timely with the recent Supreme Court ruling.

Was writing this a form of therapy for you?

Absolutely, it was totally cathartic. As I was going on these dates, I was writing these pieces and bringing them in to my workshop and everyone was saying, “This is funny. This really rocks.” And then I realized that I could really write about this aftermath. A lot of crazy things were happening as you see in the book. Like I’d run into my ex and she would touch me and then run away and not say hello. And I’m like, “Why are you doing this?” I couldn’t understand it; I still don’t to this day.

Has your ex reached out to you since the book has been published?

No, not at all. I would think she’s read it, but, no, she hasn’t reached out to me. She knew the book was coming out, yeah.

She probably read it and who knows what her reaction was.

Throughout the book, you talk about gay groups such as the Gay Teachers Association and Out Professionals. How did socializing through these organizations help you after the breakup?

It was good to know that I could get out there and socialize. I mean, I’m a pretty outgoing person. I’m not shy. It was good to know that I could date because I hadn’t dated in about 30 years. And it’s hard to date when you’re older. It was just good to know that these groups were there, so if you wanted to socialize you could go out and meet gay women. And what was also interesting, as I mentioned in the book, is that it’s still a very y small world. You’d meet et the same people and ones who o had gone out with your ex. It’s very small, even in New York k City, the world of lesbian dating. ng.

of people selling stuff all over the street and a lot of it was hot, a lot of it was stolen. It was a known thing that there was this thieves’ market on Second Avenue by where Gem Spa is located on the corner of St. Mark’s. And at night, it would just become this place where you could hardly walk on the sidewalk. There were all these stolen goods. And it was so brazen; if someone’s apartment was robbed, you’d go look on the sidewalk to see if you could get your stuff back.

The St. Marks’s Bookshop- I’m friends with the owners to this day — this was before they had the things you walk through — people would rob the books and sell them in front of the store!

The Middle Collegiate Church is a big part of your spiritual life.

What makes it so special to you?

That’s a big part of my story.

It’s a very y welcoming, g open place. The theme is you’re welcome

Where ere you live is so interesting, resting, the artists’ community Westbeth. stbeth.

It opened in 1970 0 and it’s a big, old building thatt was a factory.

It used sed to be Bell Laboratories. ories. It has a very cool history; ory; the building is overr 100 years old. And a lot of things ngs were invented there, so itt went from this place where ere these creative scientistss invented a lot of things and now all these creative artists ists live. I moved there in 1997 997 and have been doing workshops kshops at Westbeth. I kind of put ut them on hold while the book k was going on, but would like to resume them.

What at was St. Mark’s like in the ‘80s? s? You lived there and started a block association because it was out of control.

There here were all kinds

Journalist and author Kate Walter.

the way you come in the door no matter what your religious background is. Gay people are welcome. Transgender people are welcome. Everybody is welcome in God’s house. That’s its motto. A lot of gay people have felt, myself included, pushed out or not welcome in say, the Catholic Church. I mean, there are gay Catholics. As I said in the book, I consider myself an expanded Catholic. I can’t ditch my heritage. I can’t ditch my upbringing. Bu this church speaks to me today and I think it’s a wonderful place.

On July 12, you can find Kate at Middle Collegiate Church, doing a reading after Sunday service. She will also be interviewed by Reverend Dr. Jacqui Lewis, a national faith leader and religion blogger for the Huffington Post.

On July 14, she will be at Bluestockings Bookstore for a reading.

To learn more, visit www.katewalter. com

22

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Kids will spend 11 minutes dressing Spike up like a princess.

How about two minutes to brush their teeth?

Brushing for two minutes now can save your child from severe tooth pain later. Two minutes, twice a day. They have the time. For fun, 2-minute videos to watch while brushing, go to 2min2x.org.

Š2013 Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives

JULY 16-22,2015

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