The local paper for Downtown wn FINDING STARS IN THE SUBWAY
WEEK OF OCTOBER
< CITYARTS,P.12
1-7 2015
Nicole Miller at her spring fashion show last month at Skylight Clarkson Square. Photo ©Patrick McMullan
STREET VENDOR CAP COULD BE LIFTED Some in the business community, citing regulatory burdens on brickand-mortar stores, urge caution BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
More street vendors could be doing business on city streets. City Council Speaker Melissa MarkViverito has signaled her office is looking into raising or eliminating altogether the street vendor permit cap, news that has delighted some in the vending community and given pause to some in the wider business community. The city currently issues 3,000 yearround food and truck cart permits and 1,000 summer permits, as well as 853 general merchandise permits. Advocates for eliminating the cap say there are many more vendors who want to work and are obliged to do so illegally, risking fines, or shell out thousands of dollars for a permit on the black market. But some officials within the city’s business community are wary of the proposal, citing a lack of details about the number of vendors that could be added. The New York City Business Improvement District Association, an umbrella group made up of 72 BIDs, has called for a comprehensive and research-based study, as well as input from the business community, before any change to the permit cap is made. The association would also like a guarantee of regulatory parity between brick-and-mortar businesses
THE ENDURING STYLE OF TASTE BY ANGELA BARBUTI
ART OF FOOD The co-host of the Art of Food on fashion, food and conservative Manhattan styles
CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
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Nicole Miller started her career as an intern and opened her first store on Madison Avenue in 1986. The rest is New York City fashion history. The Tribeca resident’s interests extend well beyond fashion, and her passion for
DON’T MISS OUT! 27 Culinar y Titans
TUESDAY, OC TOBER 13 a t
A R T O F F O O D N Y.C O M
hosted by Chef Michael W hite & Designer Nicole Miller
What was it like when you opened your first store on Madison Avenue?
food has led her to co-host, with chef Michael White, Our Town’s Art of Food, happening at Sotheby’s on October 13. The event welcomes 25 Upper East Side chefs who will be preparing dishes inspired by art from one of Sotheby’s upcoming auctions.
Madison Avenue had a reputation for having very snooty stores, and it’s kind of comical because you would walk into another store and everybody would be aloof
and cold. And these stores would open up and close up and open up and close up. And there were so many times when half of Madison was empty, between the recession or being poorly run,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
Downtowner WEEK OF APRIL
SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12
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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 view,” of a lay point lawyer since 1961. Man, a practicing what’s at issue He first writes about post, renders and then, in a separatehow he arrived his decision, detailing blog the to Visitors 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 indiMan, Arbitration suc in 1985, settling vidual practice
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MANHATTAN'S APARTMENT BOOM, > PROPERTY, P.20
2015
In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS
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 small businesses within 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 taste of what’s wrong the city, an small businesses in towards important first step fixing the problem. of for deTo really make a difference, is a mere formality will have to the work process looking to complete their advocate are the chances course, velopers precinct, but rising rents, -- thanks to a 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 or the piercing of progress. For many have no respect.” p.m. and 7 a.m., can’t come of these that the hollow boom, issuance reverse. owners, in business moving The increased beeps of a truck has generto a correspond and you as after-hours. 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
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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
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OCTOBER 1-7,2015
WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD To try and combat the rising number of homeless families and individuals, the city plans to increase the amount of free legal representation in Housing Court. Photo: Sun Brockie, via Flickr
CITY TO INCREASE HOUSING COURT LAWYERS New York City plans will increase the amount of free legal representation in Housing Court to try and combat a rising tide of homeless families and individuals, the de Blasio administration announced Monday. Within about two years, the city will nearly double spending — to $60 million from a current $34 million — on additional lawyers and staff to keep people in their homes, the Wall Street Journal reported. About 57,000 people are considered homeless within the city. Families with children – more than 40,000 people – make up the largest proportion of the city’s homeless shelter occupants, with eviction a leading cause of homelessness for those families, a statement from the de Blasio administration said. “The economic recovery that so many New Yorkers are enjoying now hasn’t reached everyone. Too many families are becoming homeless for purely economic reasons — their wages are flat while their rent is steep,” de Blasio said in a statement. “With these programs, we are intervening early to keep families in their homes before shelter becomes their only option.”
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DECISION ON GARDEN THIS MONTH A decision will be made regarding the fate of the Elizabeth Street Garden in Little Italy later this month, according to The Villager. The paper reported that about 200 pro-garden supporters attended a Lower Manhattan Development Corporation meeting to protest the funding of affordable housing at the cost of the Garden. L.M.D.C. is hoping to fund the affordable housing at 21 Spring St. — where the garden is located — for $6 million. The housing project would support Mayor de Blasio’s affordable housing initiative, which looks to create 200,000 affordable units within 10 years.
LESLIE-LOHMAN MUSEUM WILL EXPAND The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art is set to expand from 3,300 square feet to 5,600 square feet, DNAinfo reported. The museum is largely recognized as the one and only that completely focused on LGBTQ art. The new space will be located on Broome Street near the museum’s current loft space on Wooster Street. The expansion is being paid for “through internal funding, including a couple of bequests, and from
donations made to the museum,” according to a museum spokesman quoted by DNA. Though the museum space will not receive its “absolute charter” until May 2016, officials are moving forward with plans. The space will be named after Marion Pinto, a SoHo artist who left her work to the museum following her death in 2010.
CONDO TOWER TO RISE AT SITE OF NIXED ISLAMIC CENTER A 15-floor condominium tower could rise on the site near ground zero of what a few years ago was slated to be an Islamic Cultural Center that drew ire and praise in equal measure. Manhattan developer Sharif El-Gamal Soho Properties wants to build a 667-foot glass structure at 45 Park Place that would include at least 15 units of at least 3,200 square feet, Crain’s New York Business reported. Average prices for the condos would climb higher than $3,000 a square foot, about 13 percent higher than the secondquarter average for Manhattan, the news site reported. “The tower is going to be a market-maker,” El-Gamal told Crain’s New York Business. “We’ve perfected a building that’s really going to share in a unique moment.”
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG
PHONE SCAMMERS TARGET SENIORS Callers say they represent the IRS BY MARIA PANSKAYA
City officials are reporting a rise in phone scams, which predominantly target senior citizens. Phone scammers, who identify themselves as Treasury Department clerks, falsely tell people they owe taxes to the IRS. “Scammers would tell residents if they don’t pay immediately, the IRS would call the local sheriff and get them arrested,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, Community Liaison for Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side. More than 100 residents have reported the scam, and the is-
sue is currently being investigated by the Attorney General’s office. The City Council has warned New Yorkers not to provide any private information over the phone to strangers. If any legal action were actually being brought against a person, then he/she would be notified by certified mail, not over the telephone. If scammers were unsuccessful in reaching residents on the phone, they left a voice mail and provided a phone number to call back. “Residents who called back were charged hefty fees,” said the statement provided by the council member. According to the report, some of the phone numbers to watch for are: 213-985-1928; 760-2843280; 202-864-1122. However, other phone numbers might be in use as well, according to the officials. “It’s really upsetting that scammers prey on the most vulnerable,” said Fitzpatrick. “But it’s an unfortunate fact.”
READE IT AND WEEP A parking garage wasn’t a secure place to park a Porsche. At 3:55 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, a 61-year-
old man parked his 2013 Panamera at the MPG Garage on Reade Street. When he returned at 4:30 p.m., a garage attendant told him the luxury sedan had been stolen by an unknown perpetrator using the keys that had been left in the car. The vehicle did not have LoJack or any other tracking device and was last seen at the exit to the Holland tunnel in New Jersey at 4:26 p.m. The Porsche is valued at $120,000.
SALON RIPOFF One woman paid an especially high price for getting her nails done. At 9:15 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, a 30-year-old woman laid her bag down in the Thompson Nail salon on Thompson Street and left her property unattended. When she returned 10 minutes later, her bag was gone. The store’s video surveillance showed another woman pick up the bag and walk out the door. Police said they have a lead, as the store manager knows the thief, who had paid for
her own manicure with a credit card. The items stolen were a tan Hermes leather laptop case valued at $3,000 and a silver MacBook Air priced at $1,000.
CHINA BLUES Coats may have been safe in a restaurant checkroom, but some professional camera equipment was not. At 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, a 33-year-old male employee of AbelCine Tech left equipment worth nearly $90,000 in the checkroom of the China Blue restaurant on Watts Street and sat down to eat lunch. While he was dining, a 21-year-old female witness saw a man come in to the checkroom, grab the man’s stuff and run out of the restaurant. Police searched the area but could not locate the thief or the stolen camera equipment. The items taken included an Arri Alexa Mini cinema camera, a Canon 17-120 mm lens, a Denecke Lockit Box, a Lectrosonics IFB-R1a receiver, a Teradek Bolt 2000 RFT transmitter, an ARRI LMB-25matte box; a Rota-
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st Precinct for Sept. 14 - 20 Week to Date
Year to Date
2015 2014
% Change
2015
2014
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
1
0
n/a
Rape
0
0
n/a
5
5
0.0
Robbery
4
1
300.0
47
37
27.0
Felony Assault
4
1
300.0
62
55
12.7
Burglary
1
1
0.0
92
116
-20.7
Grand Larceny
34
26
30.8
768
659
16.5
Grand Larceny Auto
2
3
-33.3
17
17
0.0
Pola circular polarizer filter, an Anton Bauer wooden battery plate, and a SanDisk 128 GB media card.
ROLLED High fashion had a very low price for one thief. At 4:14 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, a man entered the Herve Leger store at 409 West Broadway and removed a dress from a display rack, rolling up the garment and concealing it under his jacket before leaving the store without paying. The dress is valued at $4,390.
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LEAVE TAKEN On Friday, Sept. 4, a 30-year-old man parked his motorcycle on the southwest corner of Spring and Sullivan Streets before heading off on a 10-day vacation. When he returned on the morning of September 14, the black 2005 Yamaha R6 was gone. The stolen motorcycle bore New York plates 70SJ71 and is valued at $5,000. For more downtown crime news, go to otdowntown.com and click on News, then Crime Watch
4
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
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Pope Francis waving to crowds in Manhattan. Photo by Heather Stein
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FRANCIS’ VISIT BITTERSWEET TO PARISHIONERS OF CLOSED NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCHES NEWS As closed churches wait for appeals in Rome, a pontiff’s visit stirs up complicated emotions BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS AND RICHARD KHAVKINE
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About 20 blocks north from the United Nations, where Pope Francis gave a historic address to the General Assembly, sits Our Lady of Peace, a Catholic church shuttered in July by the Archdiocese of New York. The church was established soon after World War I, with peace a founding principle. Almost a century later, with a small but dedicated congregation and financial solvency, the archdiocese decided to merge Our Lady of Peace with the nearby Church of St. John the Evangelist on East 55th Street. The Catholic parish, established in 1919 by a growing population of Italian immigrants to the city and the neighborhood, was one of dozens closed by the Archdiocese of New York, which cited declining attendance, shifting demographics and a shortage of priests, among other factors, when it announced the merging of parishes from Staten Island to
Albany late last year. Closing Our Lady of Peace made little sense to congregants, who have an appeal pending in Rome, even as Pope Francis was being cheered by huge crowds in their own backyard. “Here we have people who really love their church and want to participate and they’re driving them away,” said Bruno Cappellini, who attended Our Lady of Peace since 1937. “It’s insane. I can’t reconcile them ... driving people away.” Cappellini, 80, said many in the congregation are elderly and even the short walk to St. John’s is taxing. He also said the congregation hasn’t given up on saving the church. Weeks before Francis’ arrival in New York, members of Our Lady of Peace held prayer vigils in front of the church, which they’re continuing now that the pontiff has left. “The pope was so close, he went to the U.N. We tried to get [him] possibly to come by and we were hoping that Rome would keep us open until a decision on our appeal,” Cappellini said. “But it’s a question of how do you reach someone like the pope? My brother’s idea was have the pope come by to our Lady of Peace to pray for world peace,” he added.
Asked what the congregation would say to the pope if granted an audience, Cappellini said, “We’re just like he is, we’re descendants of immigrants and we founded that church because we were looking for a church that was more receptive to Italian immigrants.” Cappellini said a nearby Slovenian church refused to baptize Italians before Our Lady of Peace came on the scene. A decision from the Vatican was postponed several times and is said to be forthcoming Nov. 1. “We do expect to win by the way, our appeal is a very fine appeal,” Cappellini said. “There was no reason to close our church, it doesn’t make any sense at all.” Kalman Chany, a trustee at St. Elizabeth of Hungary, which also was shuttered in August, said Francis’ visit renewed some heartfelt and difficult emotions. “People thought that with time the hurt would subside,” he said. “I guess I’m in more pain that I was before.” As a whole, he said, congregants were left unbalanced by the visit. “There was a lot of support for the pope, but the same feelings aren’t shared for Cardinal (Timothy) Dolan,” he said
referring to the archbishop of New York. Chany, a congregant at St. Elizabeth’s for more than 30 years, is also seeking recourse from the Vatican about the church’s closure. He said that St. Elizabeth’s, which served the deaf community, was financially sound. Decisions on appeals by both Our Lady of Peace and St. Elizabeth of Hungary were due sometime after Sept. 1 but were postponed. Janice Lynch, also a parishioner at Our Lady of Peace, said her supposition for the delay was based on Francis’ visit. “I don’t think they wanted to hand out a decision either way while the pope was here or before” for fear of embarrassing either Dolan or angering the congregation,” she said. “There could be all kinds of hell breaking loose,” said Lynch, who was not attending any of Francis’ official functions but nevertheless twice caught sight of him on East 66th Street as his motorcade came off the FDR Drive. Lynch and other parishioners submitted five volumes of documentation, including financial records, to the Vatican in the hopes of overturning the Archdiocese’s decree. “I don’t know if he knows about the church closings,” she said. Lynch said was confident if was able to have a look inside Our Lady of Peace and be told of its history, Francis, whom she called “a very good man,” would endeavor to keep the parish open. “He talks about his love for immigrants,” she said. “We have a very diverse community. I think it’s the kind of church he would really like.”
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
THE ENDURING STYLE OF TASTE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 or whatever. We withstood the times. We were there for years and years and years.
I read that your company grew significantly after you designed a tie. When we opened the store on Madison Avenue, I decided to make some ties. I was making scarves and my own accessories at that point. My business partner said, “Make me some ties while you’re at it.” So, we took some of our old prints and had the fabric reprinted and made some ties. It just became a huge hit. It was great because when women were shopping with their husbands, the men would have something to shop for. Or if the women were shopping, they would buy one for their husbands. And it was back when conversational ties were a new thing. There wasn’t anything like that around. And anytime a guy wore one of these ties, they just got so much attention. And they would come back for more. So we really had a huge tie business for a while. Until people started copying us and making ugly versions of them. And then there were casual Fridays and then men got conservative and went back to grey ties again. We still make a few ties, but it doesn’t have that super excitement it did back in the ‘90s. We made a lot of ties with food and alcohol on them.
You’ve said that the fashion industry has changed as far as quality goes. Well, there used to be mostly domestic manufacturing, and not so much global. So I think the whole quality and level
5
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com of American design has gotten much more elevated. Back when we started, I was only making things in the United States and the factories were very limited. If I wanted to make a bias cut dress, they would go, “Oh no, but we can’t.” They didn’t let you do anything that was challenging. So gradually we started making things overseas a bit. In the meantime, American manufacturing has caught up and there are all these great factories in the United States now.
As far as New York City goes, you’ve called it ‘conservative’ clothing-wise. I’m talking about how when you go to events in New York, I find that a lot of times, everyone is kind of wearing your basic ball gown. Some of them are really great, but unless you go to a downtown event, then you see people being a little bit more adventurous.
How do you think New York fashion is different from anywhere else in the world? Well, at this point, it’s in a big comfort zone. I look around and everybody is always dressed for comfort, with sneakers. People will dress up to go out. Even offices have gotten so much more casual. I even noticed that when I went to the fabric shows in Paris, though. When I used to go, everyone was dripping in their leather jackets and cool, latest whatevers and now everyone’s in jeans and sneakers.
As far as this season goes, what are the trends you see? My runway show is very colorful this year. Even though I tend to wear a lot of black, I have a big feeling for color. I was actually kind of surprised that the United States’ shows seemed to have a lot of black
and white. The European shows seem to be very colorful this year. I’m not the kind of person that goes out wearing white outfits. I’ve just never been a believer in white outfits. [Laughs] I’m more of a believer in color.
How do you define your style and that of your brand? Well, I think I’m not into that goody-two-shoes way of dressing. My girl, she’s a little bit more edgy than that. I don’t go for that kind of sweet-looking, girly type of clothing.
What are your favorite restaurants in Manhattan? In my neighborhood, which is Tribeca, I’m very spoiled since I live across from Nobu. I go there all the time. But my two all-time favorite restaurants are Indochine and Da Silvano. And Waverly Inn, I like that, too. And in my neighborhood there’s a great place called KheYo, owned by Forgione. It’s Laotian food. The Butterfly is in my neighborhood; I like that a lot. too. I also like to go to Santina in Meatpacking.
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What are your future plans? We’re developing our handbag and shoe collection quite a bit and that seems to be taking hold, so I’m excited about that. And we’re already starting to think about summer of next year, which is terrifying. [Laughs] It’s funny, I spend the whole summer doing boardsports- wakeboarding, water skiing, kiteboarding- so now I’m like, “What am I going to do now?” since there’s a gap before snow season comes around. Next week: Art of Food Co-Host Michael White For Art of Food tickets or other information, go to artoffoodny.com
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Our Town’s The Art of Food www.ArtofFoodNY.com Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 When: 7:00 – 10:00 PM Location: Sotheby’s New York, 1334 York Ave. Ticket Prices: $200 VIP Ticket, $135 General Admission Ticket Our Town’s Art of Food presented by NewYorkPresbyterian Hospital is exciting new event for discriminating lovers of food and art. Mouth-watering dishes will be prepared by 27 culinary titans of the Upper East Side, each of whose creations will be inspired by art from Sotheby’s upcoming auctions. Café Boulud, Crave Fishbar, JoJo, August, Fred’s at Barneys, The Meatball Shop, The Cecil, The East Pole and others. Our Town interviewed some of the restaurant’s chefs below.
MAYA 1191 1st Ave.
THE MEATBALL SHOP
(212) 585-1818 www.richardsandoval.com
DAVID GONZALEZ What made you go into the restaurant business? Growing up, I’d watch my mother cook in kitchen and eventually, I started cooking with her. Those experiences with my mom are what eventually led me to become a chef What inspires you? When people enjoy my cooking! My mother was my original source of inspiration, but now it’s seeing those happy guests throughout the dining room. Is there a food or a dish you would eat every day if you could get away with it? Camarones a La Diabla. What’s your favorite food spot on the Upper East Side? Maya Restaurant of course! What’s the current dining trend or fad you wish would go away? Fast food. The amount of excess grease and salt it requires to make, really takes away from the art of preparing a dish from the beginning.
CANDLE 79
DANIEL HOLZMAN What made you go into the restaurant business? I started working in restaurants as a delivery boy when I was 13 years old. I’ve tried my hand at other things but the restaurant business is simply where I belong What inspires you? I’m inspired by the team I work with, when I see their constant passion, drive, care and creativity it stokes the fire inside of me to do more
What’s your favorite food spot on the Upper East Side? I really love going to Daniel, its such an excellent restaurant and the service at the bar is impeccable, no need to wait for a reservation, just have a bite and a drink at the bar What’s the current dining trend or fad you wish would go away? I’m not an angry chef, I’m happy to try to accommodate all people’s food fancies. That said, I’m about over Gluten free, let’s go ahead and move on to the next please.
fresh basil. Now that it’s turning to fall I’m using all the beautiful root vegetables that are coming in season.
154 E 79th St. (212) 537-7179 www.candle79.com
Is there a food or a dish you would eat every day if you could get away with it? Bread…in any form.
ANGEL RAMOS What made you go into the restaurant business? I started out as a busboy and quickly knew I wanted to move to the kitchen. I love my mom’s cooking and wanted to see what I could create myself after having watched her for years. I was also fascinated with what they did in a restaurant kitchen, from creating the dishes to executing service. When the opportunity came along to move up to line cook I took it and worked my up from there. It wasn’t something I really knew I wanted to do until I was doing it and fell in love with the process.
1462 2nd Ave. (212) 257-6121 www.themeatballshop. com
Is there a food or a dish you would eat every day if you could get away with it? I eat Meatballs almost every single day, I guess that’s the answer.....
What’s your favorite food spot on the Upper East Side? Candle 79 and Candle Cafe of course. What inspires you? Whatever produce is in season. One of my favorite things to do is go to the green market and talk to the farmers. I love to get whatever new seasonal vegetable they have and plan a dish around it. During the summer I’ve been using a lot of squash blossoms and
What’s the current dining trend or fad you wish would go away? To be honest I don’t pay a lot of attention to food trends. I just like to focus on using fresh organic ingredients and turning them into creative and elegant dishes.
FREDS AT BARNEYS NEW YORK 660 Madison Ave. (212) 833-2200 www.barneys.com/freds
could get away with it? Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncini. It’s a pasta dish with olive oil, garlic, tomato, and crushed red pepper. A simple four ingredients, but it’s delicious.
MARK STRAUSMAN
What’s your favorite food spot on the Upper East Side?
What made you go into the restaurant business? I’ve been asking myself that question for 35 years! But actually, I love people – I love working with people and love cooking for people.
Freds of course! But following that, Agata and Valentina would have to win best market in New York in my book.
What inspires you? Great food and a wonderful audience Is there a food or a dish you would eat every day if you
What’s the current dining trend or fad you wish would go away? I could do without plain steamed spinach. I personally love spinach, but something about preparing it without any oil or salt and pepper just doesn’t feel right to me.
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
WRITING ROOM
PARLOR STEAKHOUSE
1703 2nd Ave. (212) 335-0075 www.thewritingroomnyc. com
1600 3rd Ave. (212) 423-5888 www.parlorsteakhouse.com
CARLOS MANANSALA, CHEF DE CUISINE
LUCAS BILLHEIMER What made you go into the restaurant business? I got into the Hospitality industry very early on through the family business. My family owned restaurants for generations before me and I was started at an early age at my uncle’s restaurant.
What made you go into the restaurant business? I was a high school drop out and saw this as an easy way out, earning my GED then going to culinary school to get a degree was a no brainer decision then but quickly realized that being a Chef was way harder than I thought it would be. Long hours, 6-7 day shifts, 65-80 hour work week and crazy Chefs to deal with. But with all that being said I would not trade this craft that I have grown to love no matter what I go through on my daily duties because this is one learning experience that never ends.
What inspires you? I’m inspire by so much in NYC life. There are so many different ways to be inspired here but every day I draw a lot from the fact that in NYC ,cooking is a lifestyle not just a job. Other chef’s food, local ingredients and a very educated clientele are a big driving force behind what I do. Is there a food or a dish you would eat every day if you could get away with it? I would probably eat Pork every day if I could. Not the healthiest way to go, but definitely the tastiest.
What’s your favorite food spot on the Upper East Side? My fiancé and I love Pio Pio for take out and Two Lizards for Mexican food. For more high brow dinners we do Daniel and Restaurant Morini. What’s the current dining trend or fad you wish would go
away? I feel like the burger bar fad is played out. There’s so many different people doing burger joints on the UES IT’s really difficult to tell them apart. Not to mention that people are looking for more healthier options that most burger bars provide these days.
JOJO
Is there a food or a dish you would eat every day if you could get away with it? I am particularly big on high quality raw fish. Raw fish because the simplest of things can be the best things in my my opinion.
37 E 60th St. (212) 750-3270 www.ilmulino.com
RON GALLO, CHEF DE CUISINE
What inspires you? The farmers markets. I have gotten to know many of the different farmers from the TriState area over the years that come to the Markets in the city. I have the utmost respect for them. You really have to have passion to be able to do what they do. It is really a labor of love for most of them. From the fruit and vegetable farms to the cheese producers or the small Pig and poultry farms, you have to admire how much work goes into what they sell.
What inspires you? It was my late grandmother who introduced me to cooking. Waking up in the morning and going to the farmers market with her was a treat for me. Seeing fresh fruits, vegetables and livestock brings me so much inspiration which transpired to what I have become today. thru cooking I am able to express my artistic side and passion for making something edible that has no rules or boundaries because food can translate no matter what language you speak.
IL MULINO
160 E 64th St. (212) 223-5656 www.jojorestaurantnyc.com
What made you go into the restaurant business? I come from a big Italian family and I realized very early on that good food makes people happy. Some of my fondest childhood memories have happened around the dinner table. As I got older , I cooked for my family and realized that the kitchen is where I wanted to be.
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
MICHELE MAZZA What made you go into the restaurant business? “I was inspired by food at a young age while watching my mother and helping her in the
Seeing all of this incredible product motivates you to provide a vehicle to show case all of those wonderful flavors. And another source of inspiration for me is JeanGeorges. I have been working for him for over 25 years and even to this day, every time I have a meeting with him, I get up from the table wanting to be a better cook. Is there a food or a dish you would eat every day if you could get away with it? Fish tacos!!! I love them. When they are done right, they are all at once, crispy, crunchy, salty, creamy, spicy, lemony
and sweet! To me they are the perfect balance of all the taste sensations. What’s your favorite food spot on the Upper East Side? Besides JoJo???? Sushi Seki on first avenue. Best sushi I’ve ever had. What’s the current dining trend or fad you wish would go away? The Cronut!! Nothing against Chef Ansel, the idea was brilliant, but I’m just done hearing about it.
What’s your favorite food spot on the Upper East Side? With a busy restaurant, a 6th grader, 2 month old baby and living in Long island it’s pretty much work home routine but Parlor Steak and Fish never disappoints of course. Love your own!!! What’s the current dining trend or fad you wish would go away? For me as long as the food is prepared properly, looks and tastes good, I think trends will continue to push the boundaries of what food can be so I am not really against any of it.
kitchen. It was so important to her to make a simple meal for the family, at a time when everyone would sit down together as a family. This brought me joy to see her passion for cooking and the family’s appreciation for her hard work. I carried that feeling to the restaurant business, my love for cooking with his passion for making people feel good. There is no greater
feeling than walking through the dining room full of smiles.” What inspires you? “Mi Famiglia. There is nothing more fulfilling than cooking for those you care for.” Is there a food or a dish you would eat every day if you could get away with it? “Fresh fish. It is good for the body and tastes delicious. We get the freshest daily at our restaurant, the guests have come to expect nothing but the best and freshest from us. ” What’s your favorite food spot on the Upper East Side? Il Mulino New York What’s the current dining trend or fad you wish would go away? Fried food. Chef Mazza’s philosophy of cooking is simplicity. He likes to “let each ingredient shine” When it comes to taste, nothing can beat fresh ingredients. Whether it is succulent meat, fresh produce and florally herbs, when simply combined there is nothing better. All the components shine through. “When something is battered and fried, it loses its finesse”.
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OCTOBER 1-7,2015
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.
Senior Living
Who is Elderly, Anyway? BY MARCIA EPSTEIN
I was talking with my children about our lives on the Upper West Side in the 1970’s. Who remembers Uncle Wong’s and Hunan Balcony, tiny smoke shops, the Army Navy stores, small book shops? Also, Woolworth’s, Red Apple, Tip Toe Inn, Teachers, Teachers Too, and Marvin Gardens (the last four being restaurants with good American food). My daughters went to public schools, and both attended The High School for Performing Arts near Lincoln Center. While parents always worry, helicopter parenting hadn’t yet been born, and my children, after a certain age, took buses and subways to school, and around the City. My neighborhood wasn’t upscale, (pretty downscale actually), but now it has Michaels, Whole Foods and Ann Taylor Loft, plus a place called Bareburger. Oh, don’t get me started on Bareburger. According to Zagat (it’s a chain), they are “eco-conscious” and serve organic patties, exotic meats and super-customized toppings. Suffice it to say that the menu was indecipherable to me because of all the choices, the array of toppings and sides, and the way it was laid out. I think I’ll pass on the bison, wild boar, elk and ostrich burgers (isn’t an ostrich a bird)? “Build Your Own Meal” is what they say; too complicated, too many choices, too odd a layout to be comprehensible to my aging mind. I am going to stick with my neighborhood’s oldfashioned burgers where I
can understand what is being served, the prices aren’t astronomical, and the meats are recognizable. Let the young people have Bareburger (which they do, judging from the population I saw there). I have a pet peeve that has nagged at me for years. My blood boils when I read a newspaper article that refers to anyone over 55 or 60 as “an elderly person,” such as in the sentence, “an elderly man of 60 was robbed of his wallet on the Upper West Side.” Or, “An elderly grandma of 65 was run down by a bicycle near Columbia University.” The “run down by a bike” part is another story, but why mention that she is a grandmother at all? Or even worse, “Granny.” Even at 65, that makes her sound like a little old lady. Which she certainly isn’t, especially if she’s able to ride a bike. In fact, why do papers have to mention peoples’ ages at all? But since it seems to be a tradition, I send a plea to all the youngsters leading the world today that 55, 60, 65 isn’t elderly, and that in today’s world, even 80 or 85 doesn’t mean we’re crotchety and irrelevant old-
sters. I suggest anyone who thinks otherwise come to the JCC political discussion group on Wednesday mornings and listen to the vibrant, vital octogenarians and nonagenarians discuss the current world situation. One Stop at JASA is worth a mention. One Stop Senior Services was founded in 1981 and is now affiliated with JASA (Jewish Association of Services for the Aged). It provides legal, housing, elder abuse and general assistance services to older adults. One Stop has for many years assisted Upper West Side seniors with accessing benefits, resolving housing issues and providing legal help. There are no fees at One Stop. Just walk in and you’ll find professionals to lend a hand with many of the problems you are dealing with and to help you apply for all of your benefits and entitlements. One Stop at JASA receives support from the Department for the Aging and provides services in English, Spanish and French/Creole. One Stop is located at 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1846. The telephone number is 212864-7900.
A street in lower Manhattan, recently made to look like the 1970s, for an HBO film. Photo by Phil Roeder, via flickr
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A scene from the HBO miniseries “Show Me A Hero”
THE SEGREGATION AT SCHOOL EDITORIAL Just how segregated are we going to allow our city schools to get? The issue hit home after a recent viewing of HBO’s terrific miniseries “Show Me A Hero,” a true story about Yonkers’ efforts to desegregate its public housing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A federal judge ordered the city to build new public housing in white neighborhoods, and the residents in those areas responded with bitter protests. The case, and the city, became a touchstone for the issues surrounding court-mandated desegregation, then roiling the country. While HBO’s filmmakers faithfully kept to their time period, dressing their actors in sideburns and white suits and having them drive around in super-sized sedans, the question has to be asked: How much has really changed in the last quarter century when it comes to the blending of our own city? One side effect of New York’s
gentrification is a hardening of the racial lines between neighborhoods. Hot real estate markets tend to homogenize cities, drawing together people from similar economic and social backgrounds, and pushing everyone else out. And nowhere is the impact of that more apparent than in the racial makeup of our public schools. As our neighborhoods have become more segregated, our schools — particularly at the elementary level, which draw almost exclusively from kids who live in the surrounding neighborhood — have become much less diverse. On the Upper East Side, Upper West Side and Greenwich Village, particularly, there are public schools where the student body is 80 percent white, a fiveminute subway ride away from a neighboring school where the student body is 80 percent African-American. This in a city where the combined AfricanAmerican and Hispanic populations, as tracked by the Census, are bigger than the white population. As this newspaper
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
noted in a story last year, in some of our pricier neighborhoods, it’s the private schools that have become the diversity option, given what’s happening to the local public school. Last month, The Times chronicled rising tensions in Brooklyn over efforts to relocate students from a predominantly white elementary school in DUMBO to a nearby school that was not. Scenes from the complaining parents, in gentried Brooklyn circa 2015, would not have been out of place in the HBO miniseries set in 1987. School officials can rightly respond that the racial makeup of the neighborhoods they pull from is out of their control. They don’t set the price of real estate. Yet this a “Tale of Two Cities” at its most fundamental level. The federal judge in “Show Me a Hero” takes it upon himself to impose on Yonkers a solution it couldn’t come up with on its own. City leaders’ reluctance to comply nearly bankrupted the place. Our city is heading down a similarly dangerous path. It’s now our leaders’ obligation to frankly acknowledge the problem of segregation in our schools, and start to work towards a solution, before one is imposed on them from the outside.
Block Mayors, Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Our Perspective Papal Invite Validates Carwasherosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Struggle By Stuart Appelbaum, President Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW
N
A damaged stairway leading to a Riverside Park soccer ďŹ eld has been closed for months. The cost of repairs could be around $500,000. Photo: Richard Khavkine
PARK STAIRSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; REPAIR COULD COST $500,000 Steps leading to Riverside Park soccer field have been closed for months BY RICHARD KHAVKINE
A heavily damaged stairway leading to a Riverside Park soccer field could cost about $500,000 to refurbish and months to repair. Since capital projects are typically funded by the city council through speciďŹ c line items at budget time, John Herrold, the president of the Riverside Park Conservancy, acknowledged that it could be another nine months before renovation is under way. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re trying to see if thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s some other way to do it,â&#x20AC;? said Herrold, who also is the Park and Recreation Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s administrator for the park. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is time sensitive because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s such a key access point.â&#x20AC;? Several kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; leagues use the ďŹ eld, on the parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lower level at the level of about 101st Street, nearly year-around. During weekends, practices and games take place throughout the day. An entrance at the southwest
end of the park is now the only practicable entry to the ďŹ eld. A gate to the stairway was closed earlier this year after several long flagstone steps loosened and workers discovered a hole through one of the landings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was getting worse and worse,â&#x20AC;? Herrold said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was deteriorating very rapidly.â&#x20AC;? About half of the stairway has since been taken apart and Cyclone fencing was set up at the top and bottom of the stairs. Youngsters nevertheless scamper around the fencing, climb along a retaining wall about 15 feet high and around protruding anti-climbing iron spikes. A parks department spokeswoman said the $500,000 estimate, which she characterized as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;very general range,â&#x20AC;? is based on the cost of similar previous projects. A more exact price breakdown wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be known until the project goes out for bids, she and Herrold both said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No one knows what it will cost,â&#x20AC;? Herrold said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen until the money is
available.â&#x20AC;? Herrold said the heavy winter likely damaged and weakened the stone beds. A statement from the parks department said the agency is â&#x20AC;&#x153;actively seeking funding to reconstruct the staircase as soon as possible.â&#x20AC;? Herrold said the conservancy, which pays for smaller-scale projects and maintenance, with the parks department responsible for securing capital funding for large capital projects, is helping the department
locate funding for the repairs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all putting our heads together,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want it open.â&#x20AC;? A statement from Councilwoman Helen Rosenthalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office said she is aware of the stairwayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s poor condition. The statement said Rosenthal, who has helped funnel money toward several park projects, would advocate for additional funds for the park generally through both the participatory budget process and her officeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discretionary funds.
Family Fun at the Farm! U-Pick Apples - Ten Varieties 1VNQLJOT t 1JFT t %POVUT Enjoy our own Farm Fresh Cider Free Hay Rides & Corn Maze Experience a Working Dairy Farm
Hillcrest Farms 2 Davis Rd. Augusta, NJ
ew Yorkers of every faith have been inspired by Pope Francisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; visit to our city. The Pope is an extraordinary moral leader on economic justice for all people in this world. He inspires me, he inspires lowwage workers seeking dignity and justice, and he inspires humanity across the globe. Car wash workers in New York City have also been an inspiration to immigrants and working people in New York. Workers at the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s car washes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who call themselves â&#x20AC;&#x153;carwasherosâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; have been exploited by unscrupulous employers, and live in the shadows out of fear that their bosses may use their immigrant status against them. Car Wash operators have been forced to pay millions of dollars as a result The invitation for of charges brought by the New carwasheros to York Attorney General and New York Department of Labor for meet with the stolen wages, tips, and overtime Pope serves as a pay. message that every Carwasheros work long hours with no paid time off, health worker is entitled care, or other benefits. Workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to be treated schedules are unpredictable, with dignity and and bosses routinely keep them on premises for hours and send respect. them home without pay. Workers handle dangerous, caustic chemicals and arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t provided with the proper protective equipment. The industry operates in a culture of exploitation. But workers are fighting back. With the help of the RWDSU and community groups Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change, they are taking control of their lives. By winning union contracts and representation with the RWDSU they are proving that when workers join together, they can make a difference in their lives. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why it is so fitting that Pope Francis chose to include carwasheros Patricio Santiago, Refugio Denicia, and Jose Reynaldo Sanchez in his visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem. The invitation for these RWDSU members to meet with the Pope serves as a message to all people in this country that every worker, regardless of what they do or where they came from, is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. Pope Francis has called for an end to an economy he calls one of â&#x20AC;&#x153;exclusion and inequality.â&#x20AC;? The decision to include the carwasheros in his visit makes a strong statement that when workers stand together, they can win the voice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the dignity and respect â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that all workers deserve.
(near Sussex County Fairgrounds)
For more information, visit Open Sat & Sun 10am - 5pm
Â&#x2021;
www.rwdsu.org
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OCTOBER 1-7,2015
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Gallery-quality art for your home or office. The 43rd Gracie Square Outdoor
Art Show
Out & About More Events. Add Your Own: Go to otdowntown.com
Thu 1 FASHION CULTURE BOOK SIGNING: SUSTAINABLE FASHION Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, 227 West 27th St. 6 p.m. Free Join Jennifer Farley Gordon and Colleen Hill, The Museum at FIT’s associate curator of accessories, present. 212-217-7999. news. fitnyc.edu/2015/09/21/ fashion-culture-book-signingsustainable-fashion-pastpresent-and-future/
East End Avenue from 84th to 88th Streets
Saturday, October 3rd Free Admission Sunday, October 4th www.graciesquareartshow.info
keaway?...
212.459.4455 10:00am – 5:00pm Rain or Shine Free Admission
212.459.4455 www.graciesquareartshow.info
PUBLIC PRESENTATION: SEE THE LATEST SPUR DESIGNS
e Square Outdoor
The High Line, 820 Washington St. 7 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Free
West 27th St. 8 a.m. The auditorium adjacent to the exhibition hall, there will be programs featuring esteemed members of the design community. 212-217-7999. news.fitnyc. edu/2015/09/21/designersbooks-book-fair/
SAM FALLS WITH HART OF GOLD AND OLDD NEWS The Kitchen, 512 West 19th St. 8 a.m. Free September Spring, an installation by Sam Falls featuring daily performances through October 3rd by Hart of Gold. 212-255-5793. www. thekitchen.org/event/sam-fallswith-hart-of-gold-and-olddnews
Sat 3
SOHO ART GALLERY TOUR Meet at 560 Broadway, near near Prince Street 1 p.m. $25 Visit 7 modern art galleries in the city’s original world-renowned gallery center, including exhibits in painting, sculpture, electronic media & photography. Led by Rafael Risemberg. 212-946-1548. www. nygallerytours.com
Sun 4 BOSSS (BIG OUTDOOR SITE SPECIFIC STUFF) various locations in Hudson River Park, from Pier 62 to Pier 66 3:30-10 p.m. Free En Garde Arts, the company founded and recently resurrected by pioneering theater producer Anne Hamburger, launches a new sitespecific performance festival
tober 1st ber 2nd 5:00 p.m. on
On Thursday, October 1 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM, please join us for a presentation and public input session on the latest design concept for the Spur. 212-206-9922. www. thehighline.org/activities/publicpresentation-see-the-latestspur-designs
Presented by
Proceeds fund the restoration and maintenance of Carl Schurz Park
Fri 2 DESIGNERS AND BOOKS BOOK FAIR Katie Murphy Amphitheatre and John E. Reeves Great Hall, 227
▲ THE MARKETPLACE AT ST ANTHONY’S St Anthony Church, 154 Sullivan St. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sidewalk marketplace every Firday, Saturday and Sunday on the sidewalk of West Houston Street between Thompson Street and Macdougal Street in SoHo. 718-598-6604. www. themarketplaceatstanthonys.com
featuring new works by some of New York City’s most promising emerging theatre artists. engardearts.org/bosss/
ARCHIBALD MOTLEY: JAZZ AGE MODERNIST Whitney Museum, 99 Gansevoort St. 1 p.m. Free, with museum admission A tour of the Harlem Renaissance painter’s survey, the full-scale survey of his paintings in two decades. 212-570-3600. info@whitney. org
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
THE PORT AUTHORITY OF NY & NJ NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY FOR PUBLIC REVIEW OF THE TIER I FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE CROSS HARBOR FREIGHT PROGRAM The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) have prepared a Tier I Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to evaluate alternatives to improve the movement of goods in the region by enhancing the transportation of freight across New York Harbor. The Cross Harbor Freight Program (CHFP) would provide near-term and long-term improvements to the regional freight network by reducing truck traffic congestion, improving air quality, and providing economic benefits. The FEIS includes responses to comments on the Tier I Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and identifies Preferred Alternatives recommended for advancement. The FEIS was prepared in compliance with applicable federal environmental laws, rules, and regulations, including Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act (1966), and Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations,” among others, and identifies permits or approvals that may be required for the implementation of the Build Alternatives identified therein.
leaders-discuss-institutingequality/
Mon 5
Tue 6
▲ AMERICAN MASTERS EXHIBITION AND SALE
THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION AND RACE
Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Ave. 8 a.m. A fine art exhibition and sale held for the benefit of the Salmagundi Club. Enjoy the newly renovated Upper Gallery with works of art by nationally recognized artists. 212-255-7740. ww.salmagundi.org
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, 227 West 27th St. 1-2 p.m. Poet and playwright Claudia Rankine will give a talk, “The Creative Imagination and Race,” followed by a Q & A and book signing. 212-217-7999. www.fitnyc. edu/12077.asp#/?i=1
MEXICO@NYC: THE MURALISTS IN NEW YORK
ANNUAL FLATIRON POWER, PAY AND PARTNERSHIPS PARITY: WOMEN NETWORKING EVENT LEADERS DISCUSS ▼ INSTITUTING EQUALITY
Fashion Institute of Technology, Dubinsky Student Center, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street, room A802 5-6 p.m. As part of Hispanic Heritage Month in October, the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures brings Dr. Rocio Aranda Alvarado, curator of El Museo del Barrio, to discuss the Muralist Movement. news.fitnyc. edu/2015/09/22/lecturemexiconyc-the-muralists-innew-york/
CUNY, 219 W. 40th St. Female journalists discuss the social and professional challenges women still face, and how to change them. Panelists include Susan Goldberg, editor-in-chief, National Geographic; Aminda Marqués Gonzalez, executive editor, The Miami Herald; and Arwa Gunja, executive producer at Freakonomics Radio. Register online: www. journalism.cuny.edu/events/ power-pay-and-parity-women-
Wed 7 SLICE OUT HUNGER St. Anthony’s Church, 155 Sullivan St. 6 p.m. A pizza party bringing together more than 50 of the city’s best pizzerias, with slices for $1, with all proceeds going to Food Bank for NYC sliceouthunger.org/
The Penthouse and Rooftop Bar at 230 Fifth Ave. Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership hosts select open bar and hors d’oeuvres, celebrate the neighborhood, and support the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership at one of the most spectacular venues in the district. Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership to Host 6-9 p.m.
AVAILABILITY The FEIS is now available on the project’s website at www.crossharborstudy.com. This Tier I FEIS is available for public review until October 26, 2015, after which time a Record of Decision (ROD) will be issued. Comments on this FEIS can be submitted in multiple ways: • Mailed to: Cross Harbor Freight Program, c/o InGroup, Inc., P.O. Box 206, Midland Park, NJ 07432; • Submitted electronically through the crossharborstudy.com web site; and • Submitted via email to crossharborstudy@ingroupinc.com with “FEIS Comment” in the Subject line. The ROD will address any new or substantive comments made during the public review period. Printed or electronic copies are also available at the following viewing locations during normal business hours: MANHATTAN (NEW YORK, NY) Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10007 New York Metropolitan Transportation Council 25 Beaver Street, Suite 201, New York, NY 10004 New York Public Library - Mid-Manhattan Library 455 Fifth Avenue (at 40th Street), New York, NY 10016 New York Public Library - Science, Industry, and Business Library 188 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Port Authority of New York & New Jersey 4 World Trade Center, 150 Greenwich Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10006 BRONX, NY Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Borough Hall, 851 Grand Concourse, 2rd Floor, Room 206, Bronx, NY 10451 New York Public Library- Hunts Point 877 Southern Boulevard (at Tiffany Street), Bronx, NY 10459 New York Public Library - Mott Haven 321 East 140th Street (at Alexander Avenue), Bronx, NY 10454 New York Public Library - Soundview 660 Soundview Avenue (at Seward Avenue), Bronx, NY 10473 BROOKLYN, NY Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11238 Brooklyn Public Library - Bay Ridge 7223 Ridge Blvd (at 73rd Street), Brooklyn, NY 11209 Brooklyn Public Library - Borough Park 1265 43rd Street (at 13th Avenue), Brooklyn, NY 11219 Brooklyn Public Library - Flatlands 2065 Flatbush Avenue (at Avenue P), Brooklyn, NY 11234 Brooklyn Public Library - Kensington 4207 18th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11218 Brooklyn Public Library - Kings Highway 2115 Ocean Avenue (nr. Kings Highway), Brooklyn, NY 11229 Brooklyn Public Library - Leonard 81 Devoe Street (at Leonard Street), Brooklyn, NY 11211 Brooklyn Public Library - Mapleton 1702 60th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11204 Brooklyn Public Library - McKinley Park 6802 Fort Hamilton Pkwy (at 68th Street), Brooklyn, NY 11219 Brooklyn Public Library - Midwood 975 East 16th Street (at Avenue J), Brooklyn, NY 11230 Brooklyn Public Library - New Lots 665 New Lots Avenue (at Barbey Street), Brooklyn, NY 11207 Brooklyn Public Library - Paerdegat 850 E. 59th Street (at Paerdegat Avenue South), Brooklyn, NY 11234 Brooklyn Public Library - Ryder 5902 23rd Avenue (between 23rd Avenue at 59th Street), Brooklyn, NY 11204 Brooklyn Public Library - Sunset Park 5108 4th Avenue (at 51st Street), Brooklyn, NY 11220 QUEENS, NY Queens Borough President Melinda Katz Borough Hall, 120-55 Queens Boulevard, Kew Gardens, NY 11424
Queens Public Library - Central Library 89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11432 Queens Public Library - Astoria 14-01 Astoria Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11102 Queens Public Library - Court Square 25-01 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101 Queens Public Library – Glendale 78-60 73 Place, Glendale, NY 11385 Queens Public Library - Maspeth 69-70 Grand Avenue, Maspeth, NY 11378 Queens Public Library - Middle Village 72-31 Metropolitan Avenue, Middle Village, NY 11379 Queens Public Library - Ridgewood 20-12 Madison Street, Ridgewood, NY 11385 Queens Public Library - Sunnyside 43-06 Greenpoint Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11104 Queens Public Library - Woodside 54-22 Skillman Avenue, Woodside, NY 11377 STATEN ISLAND, NY Staten Island Borough President James S. Oddo Borough Hall, 10 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301 New York Public Library - St. George Library Center 5 Central Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10301 LONG ISLAND Nassau County Planning Commission 1194 Prospect Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590 Suffolk County Clerk 310 Center Drive, Riverhead, NY 11901 NEW JERSEY North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority One Newark Center, 17th Floor, Newark, NJ 07102 City of Bayonne City Clerk 630 Avenue C, Bayonne, NJ 07002 City of Jersey City City Clerk 280 Grove Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302 City of Newark City Clerk 920 Broad Street, Room 309, Newark, NJ 07102 City of Elizabeth City Clerk 50 Winfield Scott Plaza, Elizabeth, NJ 07201 Essex County Clerk Hall of Records, 465 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Room 247 Newark, NJ 07101 Union County Clerk Union County Courthouse, 2 Broad Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07207 Hudson County Economic Development Corporation 830 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306 Newark Public Library 5 Washington Street, Newark, NJ 07101 Jersey City Free Public Library - Main Library 472 Jersey Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07305 Jersey City Free Public Library - Greenville Branch 1841 Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07305 Jersey City Free Public Library - Five Corners 678 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306
For further details, please reference the CHFP Web site at: www.crossharborstudy.com
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
THE SUBWAY AS STUDIO MUSIC Two entrepreneurs hope to raise the profile of subway musicians BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
Harpist Emily Hopkins plays for commuters at Penn Station. Photo: Glynnis Jones
Kirill Valyas and Bens Hilaire, the founders of Subway Talents, launched their website in June. Photo: Gabrielle Alfiero
Bens Hilaire was new to the city learning the subway system when he heard a beautiful singing voice at an underground station. “At first, I thought the station itself had like a radio station underground,” said Hilaire, who moved here from Delray Beach, Fla., in 2014. But as he walked through the station, the sound of the female opera singer grew louder. Hilaire thought he was nearing the speakers until he found a woman singing live. When he returned home, he searched for the singer online, but he didn’t know her name. He couldn’t even remember the station he was in when he heard her voice. In a cultural mecca like New York, talent abounds, both above ground and below. Hilaire and his partner Kirill Valyas hope to bring more attention to artists like the opera singer with Subway Talents, a website for subway musicians and street performers that they launched in June. The concept is part talent database, part social media platform, where artists receive unique profiles that include performance videos, interviews, links to their own music pages and an option to book artists for gigs directly from the website. Hilaire also helps raise artist profiles. When woodwind quintet Washington Square Winds, which performs at Penn Station and Times Square, joined Subway Talents about a month ago, Hilaire promoted one of their performances on social media (the site has 5,200 Instagram followers) and traveled to Queens to record the group’s concert. Hilaire, 26, met co-founder Valyas, 24, on Craigslist, when both were looking to start a website to promote subway talent. Valyas hatched a similar idea around the same time; he wanted a site that gave fans a direct way to donate money to performers online. He had web building experience, but lacked video expertise and the necessary film equipment. Hilaire was a former film student who started a film company when he moved to New York. He was searching for musicians to include on his site when he
encountered Valyas’ ad. Valyas, who moved to New York from Kemerovo, Russia, five years ago, and Hilaire both possess entrepreneurial sensibilities, and initially started Subway Talents as a side project while working other jobs, each finding a skill set in the other that they lacked themselves. “The fact that randomly we, Russian and South Florida kids, somehow we come together on Craigslist to kind of build this thing to help out other people too, I feel like it was kind of meant to be,” said Hilaire as he sat next to Valyas on a narrow bench at Seven Grams Caffe in Chelsea. Hilaire possesses seemingly boundless energy, and does much of the talking. Valyas is more measured, with fewer words. “Destiny,” Valyas added. Subway Talents is a non-profit, designed to provide its artists with free promotional tools. But money is tight so far. Users can donate to the organization through the website. A recent Indiegogo campaign brought in a little more than $300. “It’s basically bootstrap,” Valyas said. The founders invested their own money into the project, and are focusing their energies on Subway Talents full time. With the crowdfunding campaign over, they’re looking for investors. They worked with clothing brand Boy Meets Girl during a New York Fashion Week event, which brought out celebrities such as Kendall Jenner and Randy Jackson. Subway Talents brought one of its artists, breakdance group Extreme Kingz, as the event’s entertainment. So far, Subway Talents has 17 musicians on its roster, from pop group 212Green to Theremin player Llamano and saw player Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz. Qualifying for a presence on the site is simple: have an act, and perform on the subway or street. “If you go to YouTube, there’s some garbage singers up there, but YouTube won’t say, ‘you know what, you suck, you can’t sign up,’” said Hilaire. Some of the artists are also part of audition-based Music Under New York, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority arts program that grants permits for artists to perform at designated spots in the transit system. Most of Subway Talents’ artists are based in New York, with one in Paris and another, a 15-year-old singer named Evan Cole, who busks in St. Louis, Missouri.
“I think he’s the next Justin Bieber,” said Hilaire. “I was about to say the same thing,” said Valyas. “He’s like mega-famous,” Hilaire added. When the site grows, the pair hopes to build regional sections for each city. Emily Hopkins, a harpist from Long Island who’s on the website, plays at Penn Station during the evening commute. She first saw a harp player at a Mexican restaurant when she was eight years old, and was hooked. “I hand out a lot of business cards when I play on the subway, and I talk to people, and some people have no idea what the harp is about,” she said. “Sometimes I’m the first harpist they’ve ever seen. So that’s really nice that I’m kind of representing the harp.” Subway Talents has brought in more email inquiries for weddings and cocktail hours, Hopkins said, as well as new Instagram followers. The organization is still in its earliest stage, and by the end of the year, Valyas and Hilaire will start rebuilding the website, adding filters and search functions. They also plan to launch a concert series next summer, and hope to spread to other locations, especially during the winter, when busking in New York becomes frigid. “I love thinking big,” said Hilaire. “I just like, think beyond.” Hilaire hopes that the site will become the singular source for promoting and discovering underground talent globally, which he thinks could make record labels unnecessary. The website will provide free promotion to a built-in audience, and fans can purchase music from the site. Brick-and-mortar studios are also part of the vision, which artists could book online to record music and shoot videos, interviews and photos, a free resource for typically pricey, but necessary, services. “The music market, there’s stars, Rihanna and Beyoncé, and there’s someone else who’s behind them,” said Valyas. “We basically want to put that lower layer at the same level as the stars.” Meanwhile, they’re growing, and hope to add around 10 new artists a month, they said, which could bring Hilaire back to the voice that first piqued his interest. “I never found the girl,” Hilaire said of the opera singer he heard when he first moved to the city. “Maybe I will.”
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OCTOBER 1-7,2015
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org
FOR THE WEEK BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO OUR ARTS EDITOR
NEW YORK CITY
Center for the Study of Transformative Lives Fall Lecture and Conversation: Demystifying JFK
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6TH, 6PM
MUSEUMS
King Juan Carlos Center | 53 Washington Sq. So. | 212-998-1212 | transformativelives.org
ARCHIBALD MOTLEY: “JAZZ AGE MODERNIST”
A presidential scholar looks at the pragmatic JFK obscured by the Camelot legend. (Free)
Vigilance: NYPD Before and After 9/11
On Sunday, the Whitney Museum of American Art closed its inaugural show at its new building, a museumwide survey of its collection, opening up the airy galleries for a new set of fall exhibitions, including a retrospective of painter Archibald Motley. The artist’s vivid portrayals of city life as it played out in the streets, night clubs and parks of his hometown of Chicago and Jazz Age Paris made him one of the most significant artists of the Harlem Renaissance.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7TH, 7PM National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum | 180 Greenwich St. | 212-312-8800 | 911memorial.org Archibald J. Motley Jr., Blues, 1929. Oil on canvas, 36 x 42 inches (91.4 x 106.7 cm). Collection of Mara Motley, MD, and Valerie Gerrard Browne. Image courtesy of the Chicago History Museum, Chicago, Illinois. © Valerie Gerrard Browne.
Archibald Motley: “Jazz Age Modernist” Oct. 2-Jan. 17 The Whitney Museum of American Art 99 Gansevoort Street, between Washington Street and Tenth Avenue Museum hours: Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; closed Tuesday Admission $22 For more information, visit whitney.org or call 212-570-3600
The longest-serving police commissioner in city history, Ray Kelly, discusses the evolution of the NYPD in the aftermath of 9/11, as part of the museum’s New York: Then and Now series. (Free)
Just Announced: John Cleese
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH, 6:30PM NYU Skirball Center | 566 LaGuardia Pl. | 212-998-4941 | nyuskirball.org The co-founder of Monty Python will generate some laughs as he talks up his films and his life, as related in his 2014 autobiography So, Anyway. ($65.75)
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
THEATER
MUSIC
“ECLIPSED”
“TENOR MADNESS”: THE GEORGE COLEMAN QUINTET WITH ERIC ALEXANDER
Playwright Danai Gurira, perhaps best known for her role as Michonne on “The Walking Dead,” debuts her new show “Eclipsed” to a New York audience at the Public Theater. Directed by Liesl Tommy, the play follows the wives of a rebel officer, held captive during the Liberian Civil War, and stars Academy Award-winner Lupita Nyong’o as a woman whose arrival shakes the small female community. Free tickets to the Sept. 29 preview are available through mobile app TodayTix. Sept. 29-Nov. 29 Public Theater 425 Lafayette St., between E. 8th and E. 4th Streets Assorted show times Tickets $90-$110 To purchase tickets, visit publictheater.org or call 212967-7555
Named a “jazz master” by the National Endowment for the Arts earlier this year, saxophonist George Coleman came up in Memphis, then went on to perform and record with other luminaries, including Miles Davis. Oct. 1-4 Jazz Standard 116 E. 27th St., between Lexington and Park Avenues Show times nightly at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets $35 To purchase tickets, visit ticketweb.com or call 212576-2232
DANCE
“WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA”
“AN EVENING WITH BALLET INC., VOL. IV”
“Welcome to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” a new musical comedy written and directed by Luke Landric Leonard, with lyrics by Obie winner Katie Pearl, charts the experiences of American expats as they navigate culture and gender divides in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
The 17-member company Ballet Inc. premieres new work by artistic director Aaron Atkins and executive director Edgar Peterson, who often infuses aerial silk and hoop performances into his pieces.
“Welcome to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” Oct. 8-Oct. 25 59E59 Theaters 59 E. 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues Assorted show times Tickets $18 To purchase tickets, visit 59e59.org or call 212-2794200
Saturday, Oct. 3 Ailey Citigroup Theater 405 W. 55 St., at Ninth Avenue 8 p.m. Tickets $25-$35
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OCTOBER 1-7,2015
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
ANCESTRAL GOLD ON THE UPPER EAST SIDE EXHIBITIONSS Asia Society hosts osts a glittering lonial artifacts show of pre-colonial ingdoms from ancient kingdoms BY Y VAL CASTRONOVO
It’s the purestt and most malleable materiall on the planet. The Philippines, nes, an archipelago of 7,000-plus 0-plus islands situated between een the Pacific and Indian Oceans, ans, boasts the world’s second-largest -largest deposit of the precious metal. What is less known iss that the island country’s pre-colonial culture harnessed arnessed the resource and produced extremely mely sophisticated objects ects for adornment, ritualistic ualistic purposes and trade, centuries before ore the Spanish arrived, ed, settled and converted rted the native population on in the 1500s. With a focus on creativity in the 10th to the 13th centuries uries in “lost” kingdoms ms located in the Luzon, uzon, Visayas and Mindanao island groups, oups, “Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms” oms” (through January ary 3) showcases some me 120 dazzling artifacts, cts, the majority on loan an from the Ayala Museum eum in Metro Manila a and the Central Bank ank of the Philippines. nes. Most have never ver traveled outside de the country. Much of thiss spectacular cache was only ly discovered in the he last half century. The most celebrated find, and a highlightt of the current exhibit, was an n accidental one in a hamlet in the Surigao del
Sur province in northeastern Mindanao. On April 27, 1981, Berto Morales was operating a motorized scraper as part of a government irrigation project when a worker alerted him to a metal helmet obstructing his path. Closer inspection revealed that the glistening helmet was
Set of two wais waist cord weights. Surigao Treasure, Surigao del Sur province, ca. 10th–13th century. Gold. Each: H. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm). Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, G7P-1981-0003. Photography by Wig Tysmans; Imag Image courtesy of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines).
Kinnari. Surigao, ca. 10th–13th century. Gold. H. 4 ¾ x W. 2 15/16 in. (12 x 7.5 cm). Ayala Museum Collection, Cat. No. 81.5189. Photography by Neal Oshima; Image courtesy of Ayala Museum.
crafted ffrom gold. Morales spent the rest of the d day in recovunearthing ery mode, u gold 22 pounds of ancient a items retrieved jewelry. The item on that day, along with subsequent finds in tthe vicinity by treasure hunters, hunte became Surigao Treaknown as the Su The fruits of sure. T American-led Am excavations ex earlier that e year around y present-day pr Butua n Cit y But Mindanao are in Min here. also featured fea short film narAs a sho the entrance rates at th to the show, the islands’ pre-colonial, indigenous belonged to a peoples belo stratified society. highly stratifie necklaces, earThe lustrous neck sashes, diarings, bangles, sa ceremonial weapons, dems, ceremonia chastity belts and pectorals, chastit were tiny tweezer on display di the accoutrements of an elite, were ruling class. The objects o denoting an status markers, d power and owner’s wealth, p prestige. by the end of And as we learn b pre-Hispanic the exhibit, these p only prized inhabitants not o gold in life but also prized it in buried with death: they were b ensure a cordial their gold—“to ensu welcome” to the afterlife—and aft even crafted items to protect journey, such as them on their journ “orifice covers” face masks and “ori and lips. The for the eyes, nose a latter were crafted in situ, as rites. part of funerary rit Written records documenting this culturally rich, eco-
nomically prosperous period in Philippine history are scarce. But as co-curator Florina Capistrano-Baker writes in the catalog, the lack of a strong historical record “endows the objects with even greater significance as signposts to mapping forgotten cultures.” A study of the treasures points to the influence of Chinese export ceramics and Indonesian arts, tangible evidence of trading activity with China and Southeast Asia. Case in point: “Openwork vessel,” ca. 10th -13th century, a delicate cutwork container from the Surigao Treasure trove, with a phoenix on one side and a kilin (a hooved animal) on the other, two Chinese mythical creatures that appear frequently on trade pottery. But as the curators note in the catalog, “the forms and styles of the majority of these works developed locally,” a testament to the native culture’s highly developed metalworking and goldsmithing traditions. Advanced techniques such as filigree, granulation and repoussé (hammering on the reverse side to create a raised design on the front) are showcased in item after item—from the smallest cord weight (used to weigh down and decorate cord waistbands) to the mammoth, 10-pound ceremonial sash (or caste cord) with pronged finial that looks like a golden serpent and once was embellished with a ruby. “We’re actually still looking for the ruby cabochon that used to be there,” co-curator Capistrano-Baker said to laughs from the audience at a recent lecture.
IF YOU GO What: “Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms” Where: Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street) When: Through January 3 asiasociety.org “[It] might be in someone’s necklace, somewhere.” Magnifying glasses are available for close-ups of the precious objects, which notably include necklaces fashioned from “gear beads”—beads that neatly interlock. The largest known example is presented here, Capistrano-Baker said, adding that “gold chains [were] among the most valued forms of wealth. The number and quality of neck chains signified one’s wealth and status.” Another eye-catcher is a gleaming vessel in the form of a kinnari, a creature from Indian mythology that is part “celestial female,” part bird. It’s the show’s signature image and boasts exquisite detail, including a hair bun and hair part, though its precise function remains unclear. The object is paired with a bronze kinnari vessel-lamp from Java, suggesting cross-pollination and illustrating the spread of Hindu and Buddhist religions to Southeast Asia—though until now scholars have typically thought the Philippines were bypassed, the curator said. “It is like our King Tut,” a cochair of the Philippine Gold Benefit Committee recently enthused about the collection. Get ready.
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
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h z d / < d ^ E K t Ν Z d K & & K K E z͘ K D KZ >> ;ϮϭϮͿ ϴϲϴ Ͳ Ϭϭϵ Ϭ ϳ Ͳ V I P ĚŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ $20 0 | ϳ͗ϯϬ Ͳ 'ĞŶĞƌĂů ĚŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ $135 d> Ed/ 'Z/>> Roman Ortega | h'h^d Josh Eden | >> >h | < Z ^d hZ Ed Eric Miller | & Kh>h Aaron Bludorn E > ϳϵ Angel Ramos | d, /> Θ D/EdKE͛^ JJ Johnson | Z s &/^, Z Todd Mitgang | d, ^d WK> </d , E Θ Z Joseph Capozzi &> y Dh^^ >^ Michael Sullivan | &Z ^ d ZE z^ E t zKZ< Mark Strausman | /> Dh>/EK Michele Mazza JOJO Jean-Georges Vongerichten & Ron Gallo | > /ZYh Matteo Boglione | D 'EK>/ < Zz Bobbie Lloyd | D z David Gonzalez d, D d >> ^,KW Daniel Holzman | W Z>KZ ^d < Θ &/^, Carlos Manansala | d, W EZK^ Shaun VanAlphen | W,/>/WW Philippe Chow W/ , Eric Kleinman | d, Z ' E z Z Θ 'Z/>> Brian Kevorkian | ^, < ^, < Mark Rosati dͳ Z ^d < Benjamin Zwicker | s h >h^ Michael White | d, tZ/d/E' ZKKD Lucas Billheimer | E tzKZ<ͳWZ ^ zd Z/ E ,K^W/d > Ross Posmentier
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
OCTOBER 1-7,2015
17
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
STREET VENDOR CAP
Tired of Hunting for Our Town Downtown?
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and street vendors. “In recent years, the city has placed sole responsibility for sidewalk and curb-front maintenance and cleanliness on property owners, and the law restricts the use of public space by storefront businesses,” the BID association said in a position statement released in June. “Equity demands that those making commercial use of public space be held to the same legal standards.” The association would like street vendors to have to comply with the same licensing, odor, trash, insurance and signage rules that brick-andmortar imposed on businesses. Not much is known about how many vendors would be added if the cap were lifted, or how an influx of street vendors would affect the multitude of city agencies — including the police department, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Consumer Affairs — that are charged with regulating vendors. There’s also the question of how much congestion adding hundreds of street vendors to the rolls would have on city streets, said Michael Lambert, the co-chair of the association. “There should probably be a bit more study of this issue because there aren’t a lot of concrete numbers out there,” he said. “We just want to make sure that any decision that’s made is done with the best interests of everyone in mind.” Sean Basinski, director of the Street Vendor Project, an advocacy organization, thinks he has a way to get those concrete numbers. “You know how we solve that problem?” he said. “Let them come down and sign up and then we’ll know how many there are.” Basinski argues that legitimizing more vendors will normalize the system and allow for increased regulation and safety as the new permit-holders will have to comply with current health and sanitation standards. “If they want to control vendors, let them get licenses,” said Basinski, who noted the city will also benefit from increased tax revenue on new permits. “Bring people into the system, don’t keep them out.” Basinski estimates there is one illegal vendor for every permitted vendor. And, he said, slinging hot dogs and T-shirts is no walk in the park for those who think pushing a cart is simply a way to avoid the hassle
Subscribe today to Downtowner Merchandise vendors at Columbus Circle. Photo by Daniel Fitzsimmons. of operating a storefront. “When it rains and snows you get wet, you don’t have a bathroom to go to, you don’t get to roll down the gate at night and push your cart into a garage, which, by the way, you do pay rent on,” he said. And, he added, many small businesses in the city got their start on the street. “The streets have been an incubator for small business,” he said. “Small businesses include street vendors.” On Central Park South recently, vendors mostly agreed that lifting the cap would be a good idea. “I think there should be more permits,” said Mohamed Haroon, who has been selling Tshirts and New York-themed memorabilia near Columbus Circle for about four months. “There’s not enough permits out there for people who want to work,” said a hotdog vendor named Ibrahim. He said he’s unconcerned about the potential for increased competition, claiming the city’s too big to worry about things like that, and that he knows “a lot of people” who want a vendor permit but cannot get one. Kevin Reilly, who has employees operating a hot dog cart and T-shirt stand on Central Park South, is of two minds about the issue. If he had a say in the matter he said he would probably vote to keep the cap where it is. But, he added, people should be allowed to work if they’re willing and able. “More power to them if they have the opportunity to work,” said Reilly, who as an Army veteran obtained his permits through a program guaranteeing vendor permits to honorably discharged veterans. “But on the other hand it’s imposed on me that this cap is beneficial to me to reduce my competition.”
As for vendors competing with local stores, Basinksi said the research shows this to be a non-issue, and that a customer who wants to sit down and eat somewhere isn’t going to opt for a halal cart, much like a day worker looking for a quick bite isn’t going to have time to look at a menu in a dining room. “Every research study that’s been done shows that vendors do not compete with brick and mortars,” he said. Lambert stressed his association isn’t against vendors. Association members would, however, like to see a slow-andsteady approach as opposed to blindly lifting the cap. “We’re not anti-vendor — vending is part of the fabric of New York City,” said Lambert. “We recognize this is part of New York culture.” A spokesperson for Melissa Mark-Viverito’s office said the speaker sees the issue as a way to expand opportunities for vendors who want to work but can’t due to the current cap, or are forced to operate illegally and risk fines. The spokesperson also said all options are on the table, including lifting the cap entirely. So far, however, a date has not been set for a proposal to be revealed. Lambert said the BID association looks forward to being part of that discussion. “We look forward to coming up with a solution that works for everyone,” said Lambert. Street vendors held a rally at City Hall on Sept. 22 to pressure lawmakers into lifting the cap, and Lambert said his group won’t be easing up anytime soon with a proposal on the way from Viverito’s office. “We’re definitely not going to let up,” Basinski said. “We have other tactics, there’s a lot of things a group can do to keep this at the forefront of people’s minds.”
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Food & Drink
< FORMER SUTTON HOTEL EATERY MOVING TO NEW LOCATION Il Valentino, a longtime fixture in the Sutton Hotel, is reopening at a new location on the Upper East Side. Renamed Il Valentino Osteria, the new outpost is located at 1078 First Ave., at 59th Street. Restaurateur Mirso Lekic worked with C3D Architecture to renovate the space,
In Brief BASTIANICH PREPARED POPE FRANCIS’ MEALS Lidia Bastianich, the celebrity chef and television personality behind some of Manhattan’s finest Italian eateries, Felidia on E. 58th Street and Becco on W. 46th Street, found herself cooking for the city’s most high-profile visitor last week. Bastianich, along with chefs from the Felidia and Becco kitchens, and Angelo Vivolo of E. 74th Street restaurant Vivolo, prepared meals for Pope Francis during his New York stay, Eater reported, with menus that included house-made burrata, truffle and porcini mushroom risotto, pear and pecorinostuffed ravioli and whole roasted bass. Bastianich, who is Catholic, also prepared meals for Pope Benedict XVI when he visited New York in 2008.
LOCAL PIZZERIAS HELP COMBAT HUNGER Annual charity event Slice Out Hunger kicks off on Oct. 7, with some of the city’s notable pizzerias donating pies. Difara, Lombardi’s, Keste, and Arturo’s are among the more than 50 restaurants slinging slices, many of which only sell whole pies to diners. Each slice sells for a dollar, and every dollar made will be matched by sponsors, including Tumblr and Fog Creek Software, and all proceeds benefit the Food Bank for New York City. Located at St. Anthony’s Church at 155 Sullivan St. at Houston Street and starting at 6 p.m., guests can purchase $1 slices and beverages until the pies run out. For more information, visit sliceouthunger.org.
and LMF Group designed the mango wood tabletops and chairs, gold-threaded leather banquettes and long bar and metal barstools. Erminio Conte, former executive chef at Serafina, built the menu as the restaurant’s executive consulting chef, along with sous chef Lauro
HOW THE HOMELESS EAT A vast patchwork of agencies and donors provides meals, but hunger persists BY LIZ NEUMARK
On the eve of Pope Francis’ visit to New York, I waited on the corner of Fifth Avenue — a mere 50 yards from where he would soon be sleeping. It was the start of Yom Kippur. The corner of 72nd Street is the second to last stop on the uptown route of the Coalition for the Homeless mobile food van, dispensing free meals to anyone who shows up. It was almost 9 p.m., a quiet time in this toney neighborhood and I didn’t see a soul waiting. The van pulled up and out of the shadows came a dozen men – gradually and silently. The exchange was a familiar greeting and description of the meal; turkey stew, an orange and milk. Meal in hand, the men slipped back into the darkness. In recent weeks there has been much discussion about the homeless population, mostly speculation about how once again, they seem to be everywhere. As the headlines turned to shelters and policy, I began to wonder what and where this itinerant population ate. What I have subsequently learned about homelessness, hunger, soup kitchens, shelters and many of the NFP organizations tasked with providing services, could fill pages. Embedded in the controversy is both a tribute to and condemnation of our social and political
system and a deep a complex problem that defies any quick or simple solution. The homeless, though a most visible manifestation of the hungry, are a fraction of the demographic lacking access or ability to feed themselves on a daily basis. (Food insecure is the term.) Joel Berg, the tireless advocate for the hungry, shared statistics: In New York, the average current shelter population is about 57,000; chronic street homeless, a few thousand; and food insecure at 1.4 million. Thus the realization that our attention is focused on the tip, while we remain ignorant or oblivious to the iceberg below it. Where do the homeless find shelter and food? To begin with, there are subsets: Families with young children or with adult children, singles, victims of domestic violence, mentally ill, physically disabled, and veterans. The majority are sheltered in a range of sites; most managed by private/non-profit agencies and few by the city. Some sites are simply beds and varying levels of social services, while many offer longer stays and focus on helping individuals recover their lives. Families with young children are most often housed in temporary apartment units with kitchen access. Within the patchwork of bed-only shelters, most homeless are expected to arrive at night having eaten, and are offered simple fare like peanut butter sandwiches or
items dropped off by congregants. A pediatrician at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital who does community outreach to East Harlem and South Bronx families, described food in shelter housing kitchens as a can of spaghetti, convenience food or reheated frozen meals. Homeless families are eligible for SNAP (food stamp) benefits, which means they can shop but the environment is not conducive to home cooked nutritious meal. Over 80 percent of homeless children go to schools with access to free lunch and sometimes breakfast. These families, the doctor said, are stressed and though sheltered, in extreme poverty, with few prospects. Soup kitchens are a major source of meals. I visited Mike Ottley, director of operations for Holy Apostles on 28th Street and Ninth Avenue where 1,200 lunchtime meals have been served daily for more than 33 years. Mike is a Culinary Institute of America graduate, overseeing meals at Holy Apostles since 2009 after a traditional culinary career in hospitality. That passion stays with him. The kale salad on the lunch tray is part of his commitment to serve fresh vegetables and comes from the local farmer’s market around the corner at end-of-day, greatly reduced prices. There were local peaches for dessert. Five hundred pounds of bread is served daily, although most keep it with them for later. His food budget comes from the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program administered by the state) and block grants but over 80 percent comes from donors. He receives food from City Harvest as well as purchasing from wholesalers. “I’m a shopper,” he says, looking at bid sheets from vendors very critically.
Sucuz, which includes fresh baked breads and pizzas made in the kitchen’s brick oven. Other menu items include homemade cavatelli pasta with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, grilled salmon, and duck with sweet potato puree and apple gremolata. Il Valentino Osteria is open from 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Sunday. For reservations, call 212-784-0800.
At Holy Apostles on on 28th Street and Ninth Avenue, about 1,200 lunches have been served daily for more than 33 years. Yet the menu, which changes daily, will surprise you. Voted best free meal on Yelp was a distinction he succeeded in squelching. By the way, most of the kale salad wasn’t touched. Rice and beans, cooked collards, potatoes do much better, but Mike isn’t discouraged. St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters serves 1.5 million meals annually in their 40 pantry locations. Joe Sano, executive director, sees both the homeless and the working poor daily. On his grocery list are cases of ravioli, beef stew, chili beans, tuna, corned beef, cereal, mac-n-cheese, oatmeal, spaghetti, rice and fresh produce. The fruits and vegetables comes as a donation from Gristedes. No cookies, no candy, no sugary drinks. He sees more working poor as well as an increase in Asian faces and the elderly, all a result of gentrification pressures. The Salvation Army services 2.5 million meals to the city’s homeless and working poor each year in 32 locations where the ratios of home-
less to working poor vary. With increased emphasis on healthier meals, many guests resist the fresh vegetables, whole fruit or grains, said Joe Phillips, director of emergency programs. On the list of banned foods: Sausage, whole milk, bottled water, high sodium items, fruit roll ups, pudding, doughnuts, chips and obvious junk food. Overall, he said, an increase in demand for meals had been matched by a decrease in funding. Delving into this topic was fed by my curiosity but also a sense of the connection between social justice and food. We think of ‘the homeless’ as an anonymous monolith and very apart from mainstream life, but when we look at mealtime and the necessity of eating, suddenly, they are just like us. I’ll address The other half of the story, meals in shelters, in my next column. Liz Neumark is the CEO of Great Performances catering and the author of the cookbook “Sylvia’s Table.”
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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS SEP 3 - 25, 2015 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. Cornerstone Cafe
17 Avenue B
Closed by Health Department (45) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. 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.
Deluxe Green Bo
66 Bayard St
Grade Pending (4)
Great N.Y. Noodletown
28 Bowery
A
Burger Joint
33 W. 8Th St
Grade Pending (27) Evidence of mice or live mice 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. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Subway
220 8Th Ave
A
Chartwells
65 West 11 Street
A
Super Taco Express
225 7Th Avenue
A
Domino’s Pizza
16A W 8Th St
A
Amorino
162 8Th Ave
A
Sticky’s Finger Joint #1
31 West 8 Street
A
Fika
555 6 Avenue
A
Red Spoon
201 W 14Th St
Grade Pending (19) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. 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.
Chelsea Square Restaurant 368 West 23 Street
A
Flight 151
151 8 Avenue
Grade Pending (19) Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment. Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Cafe Loup
105 West 13 Street
Grade Pending (24) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. 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. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
The Diner
44 9 Avenue
Grade Pending (22) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Cho Cho San Japanese Restaurant
15 West 8 Street
A
SEPARATION ANXIETY IN YOUR PET PETS Is your dog anxious? The answer is virtually any dog will at some time show some anxiety. However, some dogs have extreme anxiety that is triggered when the guardian leaves; this is separation anxiety. Whether your dog has severe anxiety or not, it is important to try to make your dog as happy as possible. Signs of separation anxiety: • Does your dog whine, cry or pace when you go to leave the house or when you come home? • Can your dog let you out of his sight when you are home or does he follow you around and become anxious if he cannot see you? • Does your dog constantly whine and bark when you are not home? • Does your dog scratch at the door when you are not home or only become destructive when you are not around? If you answered yes to any of these questions, your dog will
benefit from these suggestions. If your dog has not shown any of these signs, they can still benefit. • First, you do not want to do anything that will reinforce anxiety. If you act calmly in situations, your dog will be more likely to act calmly. • When entering or leaving the house, do not make a big deal. Totally ignore the dog. You need to act like nothing happened. Your dog will take the cue from you not to get over-excited. Dogs learn by association. • Simulate situations that would make your dog think you are leaving. For example: put on your coat, grab the car keys, etc. Be nonchalant about it. • When your dog does not react to these cues, go out the door and come back quickly. Repeat this over and over. Think about your individual dog and what he can handle. All dogs learn at different paces. Be creative! Think of what gets your dog anxious and work on steps to get them through it.
Remember: the key is to have successful interactions with your dog. Be patient and do not expect them to change right away. Do not go too fast to more difficult steps unless your dog is totally comfortable. These are suggestions that can help with any dog. Basic obedience training is very important to give dogs with anxiety structure and confidence. If they are taught appropriate behaviors, they will know how to get attention in a calm manner. For example, the “sit” and the “down” commands help dogs relax. The stay command builds up the duration they can learn to focus when you leave a room, for example. You will then be able to praise your dog more often and both you and your dog will be happier. Remember: if your dog is anxious there is a lot you can do to help your dog. Submitted by North Shore Animal League America To learn more about caring for your pet, visit animalleague.org
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Neighborhood Scrapbook JOHNSON KICKS OF PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING
HOSPITAL OFFERS HEALTH TESTS FOR DRIVERS
Lower Manhattan Councilmember Corey Johnson kicked off this year’s participatory budgeting process with an event on Sept. 28 at the High Line. Johnson introduced previous recipients of participatory budgeting funds and urged residents to submit ideas. Under the participatory budgeting process, councilmembers can distribute up to $1 million in their communities, on projects voted on by neighbors. Johnson will be holding a number of assemblies on the process. To RSVP or for more information, contact Matt Green at mgreen@council.nyc.gov
NewYork-Presbyterian held its 10th annual health fair, screening 300 livery taxi drivers for cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, vision, HIV and prostate cancer. This year, the number of participants with abnormal screening results dropped from 62 to 50, compared to 2014. The fair was hosted in collaboration with the Department of Urology at NewYork-Presbyterian/ Columbia Community Partners. Forty-nine participants were screened for prostate and oral cancer, with no abnormal results. Whereas last year, 53 participants were screened and 11 percent had abnormal results. “We see positive changes,” said said Deborah Acevedo, community outreach nurse coordinator. “Now the majority of participants see their primary care physicians on a regular basis.”
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YOUR 15 MINUTES
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LIFE’S A CABARET AT BIRDLAND The host of ‘Cast Party’ turns on the charm
BY ANGELA BARBUTI
“I saw a t-shirt the other day that said, “I hate Mondays,” and thought, “Mondays are my favorite day of the week and it’s because of ‘Cast Party,’” Jim Caruso said. As the host of the cabaret show he created 13 years ago, he’s introduced everyone from Martin Short and Ariana Grande, to hula dancers and jugglers on stilts. The one-of-a-kind event at the iconic Birdland celebrates every talent imaginable, and Caruso never knows who will be there. Before it begins every Monday night — at 9:30 because that’s when Broadway is dark — hopefuls give their names and what they’ll perform, and he jots everyone down in a notebook which serves as the evening’s lineup. To accompany the performers is a trio of musicians, including Caruso’s best friend Billy Stritch on piano, who all seem as though they’ve already rehearsed, but what we see are actually first runthroughs. Once on stage, everyone is made to feel like a star — at least for one night — because of Caruso’s quick wit coupled with his warm personality. The atmosphere he’s created is truly welcoming and the audience follows his gracious lead. “One time, right after Liza Minnelli, I introduced a lady from Commack who sang an original song about her feet,” he explained. “She got just as much applause. People were just as kind to her.”
How did “Cast Party” come about? I read you were doing PR for a nightclub and that’s how it started. Yeah, it just kind of happened. I certainly never thought I would host an open mic as a job. I didn’t know that was a job, actually. What do you major in for that? The community around me has always been Broadway, jazz and cabaret performers, so at that party, everybody showed up and sang ‘til the wee hours of the morning. And the next day, the club owner called and said, “Would you do that every Monday?” And I said, “No. Why would I do that? That’s insanity.”
So we did, and 13 years later, we’re still doing it. A different club, obviously, but I’m so lucky to be at Birdland. I can’t say enough about our venue here and across the country- we do “Cast Party” all over the country now. We’re lucky to be in all these fantastic spaces.
You moved to New York in 1990. What was it like for you when you first got here? Well I moved here with a vocal trio called Wiseguys. We were working the club scene. We were at The Algonquin at the time and were an opening act for Joan Rivers, Chita Rivera, people like that. So I came here with a job, which is very odd for a performer. [Laughs] I knew who I was. I was also older, I wasn’t 19, which is when I really wanted to move here, but didn’t. I felt very established. I had a coterie of friends around me. So it was kind of like my second home. So by the time I moved here, I knew the town, there were not a lot of surprises. I knew when I was a little kid I wanted to move here. There was a TV show called “Family Affair” about these two orphans who lived with their fancy uncle in Manhattan. I pointed to his highrise apartment and said to my mother, “I want to live there.”
You said in an interview that you asked for an agent at 6 years old. Oh, that’s totally true! Wow, you really did read some stuff. Yes, I just knew I wanted this life. Maybe I’m an old soul and lived here some other time, but I just knew I wanted to live in New York and be around show business. And have fancy, beautiful, talented friends and laugh and be in nightclubs. It’s so ironic, really, that, in a roundabout way, that’s exactly how my life has ended up. It took forever, by the way. [Laughs] You met Liza Minnelli in 1991 and said that it changed your life. It certainly did. She came to see this vocal group that I was in and took me to dinner a couple of nights later. We were at Joe Allen, I’ll never forget it. And she said, “Would you guys be interested in opening for me?” Literally, she said it like, “You probably
wouldn’t.” I fell under the table and couldn’t believe it. And I said, “Yeah, I think we can find our way free to perhaps open for Liza Minnelli.” She was at Radio City at the time. So that started, we opened for her and she would always show up for our gigs. And it really gave us, because she was really at the height of her powers at that point, a shove into a world we had never been in. Hanging with celebs in major rooms. We were doing what we’d always done; nothing changed about us. But when somebody like that puts their stamp of approval on you, all the sudden people looked at us differently and we were a little bit more interesting. She threw us into a whole other stratosphere.
Give us some examples of “Cast Party” nights. I walked in one night and Martin Short was there and I went over and said, “What are you doing here?” And he said, “Oh, there’s an open mic here on Mondays.” And I said, “Yeah, I know, I’m the host.” And he said, “Paul Shaffer and I want to try out some material we’re gonna do on Letterman tomorrow night.” Of course they killed. One of the thrills of my life was when Donny Osmond came and sang and told me I was the new Osmond brother that they had been looking for. And that made my whole life because that’s my era. He’s the ultimate showman for me. People like Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett. [Michael] Feinstein has been very supportive. Hugh Jackman, Bon Jovi. Ariana Grande, when she was 13 and 14 years old. We definitely watched her become a star. I’m not saying we had anything to do with that, but we have certainly watched many people grow their communities. Visit www.CastPartyNYC.com and www.BirdlandJazz.com for more information.
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“I WISH SOMEONE WOULD HELP THAT HOMELESS MAN.”
BE THE SOMEONE. Sam New York Cares Volunteer
Every day, we think to ourselves that someone should really help make this city a better place. Visit newyorkcares.org to learn about the countless ways you can volunteer and make a difference in your community.
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