Our Town Downtown October 15th, 2015

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The local paper for Downtown wn SINATRA AT 100

WEEK OF OCTOBER

CITYARTS, P.12 >

15-21 2015

DO YOU DELIVER (CORRECTLY)?

NAVIGATING A ONCE-FAMILIAR CITY FIRST OF SIX PARTS STORY AND PHOTOS BY HEATHER CLAYTON COLANGELO/DIRECTED BY DORIAN BLOCK

Questions, and some answers, on commercial delivery rules in New York City

Jacquie Murdock has been looking forward to this day for months. Tonight is the annual benefit concert for the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Jacquie works with the education department and feels close to the museum’s mission, as a jazz aficionado and lifelong dancer who grew up in Harlem and once danced in the Apollo Theater during its heyday. Jacquie managed to get an invitation to the VIP pre-concert reception and is excited to hear jazz singer Dianne Reeves and saxophonist Joe Lovano (both Grammy-Award winners) perform. But today, the morning of the concert, Jacquie wakes up in her Greenwich Village apartment with intense anxiety. She is feeling vulnerable and uneasy. “I have good days and bad days and today is a bad day.” She has been under much stress recently. For the past 40 years, Jacquie has lived in NYU subsidized housing (a benefit from her past NYU career). For the past five years, she has lived packed in a one-room studio apartment in NYU’s Washington Square Village complex with her daughter and granddaughter. Her lease is almost up and her rent will

BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS

In what perhaps is an indication of the need for more information on the rules for delivering food via a bicycle in the city, a Department of Transportation-sponsored event last week on the particulars was packed with business owners and delivery bicyclists. Here are the facts according to the department: Business owners who employ commercial bicyclists must equip cyclists with a bell, white headlight and red taillight, reflectors for the bicycle’s wheels, and a 3 x 5-inch sign with the business’ name and unique three-digit bicycle ID number, printed in at least one-inch high lettering. The sign must be affixed to the rear or both sides of the bicycle. Businesses must also maintain an up-to-date roster of commercial bicyclists they employ with the name, address and, if applicable, date of discharge from employment of each cyclist, as well as their three digit ID number. Lastly, businesses must maintain confirmation of each cyclist’s completed review of a DOT commercial bike safety course. Commercial bicyclists must obey all traffic laws, including yielding to pedestrians, staying off the sidewalk and riding in the right direction. Commercial cyclists must also not wear more than one earphone while riding, and are required to wear a reflective vest with the business’ ID card and bicycle number. Cyclists must also wear a helmet

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GRAYING NEW YORK A series looking at growing older in the city be increasing to $1,300 a month. She is not sure how she will be able to afford the increase, the third in five years. She’s also unhappy about changes that are happening to her complex. The halfcentury-old Sasaki Garden, an oasis of trees, flowers and benches situated between two of the buildings that comprise Washington Square Village, is slated to be demolished in line with NYU’s expansion plan. A building will be erected in its place. Jacquie has spent hours in the garden listening to songbirds and finding refuge from the dense cityscape. NYU has also scheduled contractors to come in to replace windows in the building to make them stronger. Jacquie suspects it’s so they don’t break with the future construction. “It’s so heartbreaking,” she says. The state of her eyesight is also causing her stress. Jacquie is legally blind and

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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

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WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD CITY, STATE AGREE ON MTA FUNDING PLAN Following months of acrimonious disagreements, city and state officials forged a deal

to fund the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s proposed 5-year, $29 billion capital plan. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo both claimed victory when the deal was

announced to fund the MTA’s a capital plan for the nation’s biggest transit system, The New York Times reported. The city will contribute $2.5 billion, nearly four times the

A deal forged by city and state officials to pay for the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s proposed 5-year, $29 billion capital plan includes ďŹ nancing for a next phase of the Second Avenue subway line, a section of which is pictured. Photo: MTA.

OPEN HOUSE

Saturday, October 1ˇ—11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m For details, please call our Admissions Office 718.721.7200 ext 699 or visit us at stjohnsprepschool.org.

“ The bar was set high at St. John’s Prep. We were challenged to be our best, to make a difference, and to be lifelong learners.� — 2013 St. John’s Prep Graduate Attending Harvard University

$657 million it had original agreed to, and the state will supply $8.3 billion toward the capital plan, the authority’s most ambitious to date, the paper reported. The plan includes ďŹ nancing for a next phase of the Second Avenue subway line. “The riders are the big victor here, The Times quoted Gene Russianoff, the staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy group, as saying.

crossing guards,� Downtown Express quoted Detective Rick Lee as saying at a First Precinct Community Council meeting on Sept. 24. “We need new crossing guards but as far as budgetary reasons go, we have enough crossing guards. Until they allocate more money so that we can hire more crossing guards, there’s nothing we can do.� Parents of children attending schools downtown said the situation is critical.

Squadron to LMDC Chairman Joseph Chan cited by The Villager. The prospect of housing on the garden site has divided elected officials from the neighborhood. Councilwoman Margaret Chin has been among the housing project’s main backers. But those opposed gained a strong ally in Assemblywoman Deborah Glick’s recently stated hostility to the housing plan, The Village reported.

LACK OF CROSSING GUARDS WORRIES PARENTS

SQUADRON LOBBIES AGAINST HOUSING AT GARDEN SITE

GREEK RESTAURANT SLATED FOR CAFE BRAVO SPACE

Downtown communities are lacking crossing guards and the money to hire more, the Downtown Express reported. The news site says schools in lower Manhattan have not had access to a $1.14 million fund, although some parents said they have been told a lack of guards is due to few applicants for the part-time positions. A police spokesman said getting extra guards is entirely dependent on money. “The city gets X amount of dollars for crossing guards a year, so we have our full [number of]

State Senator Daniel Squadron has asked the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to deny a $6 million grant that would go towards affordable housing at the Elizabeth St. Garden site, The Villager news site reported. “I believe it is important to take into account the concerns of the local community board. Therefore, I believe L.M.D.C. must seriously consider this resolution and not approve funding applications to develop at Elizabeth St. Garden at this time,� according to a letter from

The classic Financial District deli, Cafe Bravo, closed last month after 19 years of service. But according to DNAinfo, this is not the last time that Hanover St. will see the Mihalatos’s family. In place of this downtown staple, Melina, a Greek-inspired restaurant will open in early January. Melina will be run by Ari Mihalatos and his cousins as an attempts to recreate and share the food they grew up with. “We love this area and hope people will really enjoy what we have to offer,� Mihalatos told DNAinfo.

Educating Tomorrow’s Leaders The marks of true leadership—knowledge, faith, virtue, service to others, a passion for learning, innovation, and creativity—are embedded in our school’s culture. St. John’s Prep is a foundation for success and fulďŹ llment, in college and life. t )JHI TUBOEBSET PG MFBSOJOH JODMVEJOH "1 )POPST BOE FOSJDINFOU DPVSTFT Faculty dedicated to the needs of each student t $MPTF LOJU WJCSBOU DPNNVOJUZ PG $BUIPMJD GBJUI t "DUJWF FOHBHFNFOU PVUTJEF UIF DMBTT JO BUIMFUJDT BSUT TFSWJDF DBNQVT ministry, and more t &YQFSJFOUJBM MFBSOJOH UISPVHI BQQSFOUJDFTIJQT HMPCBM USBWFM 45&. BOE partnership programs with St. John’s University 718.721.7200 | stjohnsprepschool.org 21-21 Crescent Street | Astoria, NY 11105

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

NBA PLAYER ACQUITTED IN NIGHTCLUB CASE Atlanta Hawks’ player Thabo Sefolosha was acquitted in a case stemming from a police fracas outside a Manhattan nightclub. A jury found Sefolosha not guilty of misdemeanor obstructing government administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The guard-forward, who suffered a fractured right leg in the April 8 struggle with police, was accused of repeatedly disobeying the orders of officers telling him to leave the area around the club where another NBA player, Chris Copeland, had been stabbed. He testified that he moved off the block at the behest of a vulgar and confrontational officer and was trying to give a beggar a $20 bill when he was grabbed by officers and taken to the ground. Before the confrontation turned physical, the 6-foot-6 Sefolosha said he challenged the tone of a particularly ag-

gressive officer who was ushering him, former teammate Pero Antic and others. He said he called the 5-foot-7 officer “a midget.” Charges against Antic later were dropped. But prosecutors presented a different theory, arguing Sefolosha, a Swiss citizen, acted entitled as he slowly departed the 1Oak nightclub. They said he eventually locked his arms in front of him to make it more difficult for arresting officers to put on handcuffs. “The police don’t get to tell the defendant how to play basketball,” an assistant district attorney, Francesca Bartolomey, said in her summation. “The defendant doesn’t get to say where the crime scene ends.” The case is the second one involving high-profile athletes accusing New York Police Department officers of wrongdoing this year. On Wednesday, the city agency charged with investigating police misconduct substantiated claims by former tennis pro James Blake that an officer used excessive force in taking him to the ground and wrongly arresting him last month after mistaking him for a fraud suspect. Spiro, the defense lawyer, has

STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 1st Precinct for Sept. 28 Oct. 4 Week to Date

Year to Date

2015 2014

% Change

Murder

0

0

n/a

1

0

n/a

Rape

0

0

n/a

5

5

0.0

Robbery

0

1

-100.0

51

38

34.2

Felony Assault

4

1

300.0

66

56

17.9

Burglary

4

3

33.3

99

121

-18.2

Grand Larceny

24

19

26.3

809

699

15.7

Grand Larceny Auto

0

0

n/a

18

19

-5.3

suggested Sefolosha, who is black, was targeted because of his race. He pointed to surveillance video showing the white officer passing Antic, who also is white, and others as he demanded Sefolosha to move up the block. Sefolosha had surgery on his leg and isn’t fully healed. He said he continues to undergo rehab and isn’t sure he’ll be ready to play when the NBA season starts Oct. 27.

DENMARK MARK A thief took advantage of a tourist from Denmark. At 9:50 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, a 50-year-old Danish woman was

2015

2014

% Change

sitting in front of the Millennium Hotel at 55 Church St. waiting for a taxi. When the cab arrived, she realized she did not have her pocketbook, which she had placed on the bench where she had been sitting. She returned to the bench her bag was gone. The items stolen included an iPhone valued at $386, a Windows phone priced at $215, and $180 in cash, along with credit cards, passports, and the pocketbook. The total stolen came to $1,096.

CHEEKY THIEVES A gang of four took a panty raid to new heights. At 5:55 p.m. on Sunday, October 4, one

man and three women walked into the Victoria’s Secret store at 591 Broadway and, working as a team, stole apparel worth nearly $5,500. They took 30 pairs of Angels Air panties, valued at $1,625; 20 pairs of No-Show panties, tagged at $290; 50 Dream Angel cheekinis, priced at $625; 190 BBV panties, valued at $2,375’ and 50 T-shirts, valued at $575, for a total haul of $5,490.

SCARFED UP Nobody can resist Burberry scarves, especially shoplifters. At 2:06 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5, a 43-year-old male employee of the Burberry store at 131 Spring St. was viewing surveillance footage after being informed that five scarves were missing from the store’s second floor. On the video, he saw one 20-year-old woman removing items while another 20-yearold woman remained on the first floor staircase telling her upstairs accomplice to “Hurry up; come down!” The items stolen were five scarves valued at $475 apiece, making a total stolen of $2,375.

askinG A search engine to FIND AN

orthopedist is like asking an orthopedist

to fix your

computer. Visit nyp.org/lowermanhattan or call (855) 969-7564 instead. You’ll get top-ranked Weill Cornell specialists, just three blocks south of the Brooklyn Bridge.

CITI BIKE SNAFU A Citi Bike rider got docked by a faulty docking station. At 2:30 p.m. on Sat., October 3, a 33-year-old woman rented a Citi Bike from the rideshare location at 270 Greenwich St. When she came back to return the bike the following day at 2 p.m., the docking station apparently malfunctioned. She did not learn this until a day later, when she was informed by Citi Bike that her bike was missing and she would be charged $1,300. She told them that the docking station light had turned green, signifying a successful dock, which Citi Bike later acknowledged

JACOBS JACKED AGAIN Downtown shoplifters continue to show their illicit love for Marc Jacobs. At 11:05 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 5, three men entered the Jacobs store at 163 Mercer Street and took merchandise without paying. The stolen stuff amounted to $7,500. This is the second time in two weeks shoplifters have hit this location.

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Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct

19 ½ Pitt St.

212-477-7311

NYPD 6th Precinct

233 W. 10th St.

212-741-4811

NYPD 10th Precinct

230 W. 20th St.

212-741-8211

NYPD 13th Precinct

230 E. 21st St.

NYPD 1st Precinct

16 Ericsson Place

212-477-7411 212-334-0611

FIRE FDNY Engine 15

25 Pitt St.

311

FDNY Engine 24/Ladder 5

227 6th Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 28 Ladder 11

222 E. 2nd St.

311

FDNY Engine 4/Ladder 15

42 South St.

311

ELECTED OFFICIALS

OBITUARY Though he grew up in the Bronx, he loved walking the streets of lower Manhattan

Councilmember Margaret Chin

165 Park Row #11

Councilmember Rosie Mendez

237 1st Ave. #504

212-677-1077

Councilmember Corey Johnson

224 W. 30th St.

212-564-7757

BY MARIA PANSKAYA

250 Broadway #2011

212-298-5565

Community Board 1

49 Chambers St.

212-442-5050

Community Board 2

3 Washington Square Village

212-979-2272

Community Board 3

59 E. 4th St.

212-533-5300

Community Board 4

330 W. 42nd St.

212-736-4536

Hudson Park

66 Leroy St.

212-243-6876

Ottendorfer

135 2nd Ave.

212-674-0947

Elmer Holmes Bobst

70 Washington Square

212-998-2500

Bill Kushner, a Chelsea poet who also worked as a playwright, actor and the director at the New York Theater Ensemble and Theater Genesis in New York, died on August 10. He was 84. A memorial was held at Chelsea Community Church, Ninth Avenue and W. 20th Street, on October 2nd, where dozens of friends and family members gathered to say last goodbyes to the long-time Chelsea resident and acclaimed New York School poet. Kushner, a son of Russian immigrants, was born in 1931 in the Bronx. When Kushner was young, he spent a lot of time with his older sister, Rose, who introduced him to the world of literature. Rose would tell him, “Go and write me a poem.” And he would. Despite the fact that he wrote his first poems when he was five, it took him another 50 years to publish his first book, Night Fishing (1980). Among Kushner’s other publications are Head (1986), Love Uncut (1990), He Dreams of Waters (2000), That April (2000), In Sunsetland with You (2007), and his most recent Walking After Midnight (2011). Kushner drew inspiration from New York City, and his Chelsea neighborhood specifically. “Bill did a lot of his writing as he was walking,” recalled Don Yorty, Kushner’s close friend, who spent hours walking the streets of Manhattan alongside Kushner. “Bill would make wonderful observations and write them down instantly.” While Kushner was “a great walker” and enjoyed discovering the unknown corners and streets of his beloved city, he would have always come back to 23rd Street and explore lower Manhattan—his favorite part of the city. Kushner’s nephew, Richard Hacker, always thought of him as of “a very bohemian type of a guy, with a cup of coffee and a cigarette.” However, Kushner was also known as “a very private person.” Themes of loneliness and privacy are reflected in the majority of his poems. In one poem, Bad Boy, Kushner wrote: I was a bad boy. I left home at birth to explore the earth, and when I returned I was sad… “I always thought that he doesn’t have any friends,” said Hacker. “But once, when Bill was at the hospital and I came over to visit him, I was surprised to see a line of people who were also there to see my uncle.” Those who were close to Kushner remember him having a good sense of humor, a sharp mind and a pen with a notepad with him at all times. “I’m going to miss Bill a lot,” said Yorty. “I’m going to miss his friendship, our conversations about writing and life, and the time we spend walking. Oh, Bill could walk, he could walk.”

State Senator Daniel Squadron

212-587-3159

BILL KUSHNER, CHELSEA POET AND PLAYWRIGHT

COMMUNITY BOARDS

LIBRARIES

HOSPITALS New York-Presbyterian

170 William St.

Mount Sinai-Beth Israel

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AMAZING IS making half a heart whole. At a 20-week ultrasound, Jack Foley’s parents were told their unborn baby had a very rare condition—the left side of his heart would never develop, leaving him with half a heart. But they refused their own doctors’ advice to give up on the pregnancy and instead, came to NewYork-Presbyterian/ Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. Here, Jack had the first of three very complex operations when he was just four days old. His parents got to watch their son beat all the odds as he grew into a very healthy little boy through each successive surgery. In the end, Jack wasn’t the only one who left the hospital with a full heart.

nyp.org/kids

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NAVIGATING A ONCEFAMILIAR CITY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 lost all sight in her left eye 15 years ago from glaucoma and cataracts. Changes to the environment - from the unpredictable daily weather conditions of New York City to florescent lighting in an office building - make the state of her sight a constantly changing unknown. A dismal cloudy day to some is a gift to Jacquie. The shade allows her to see well out of her good eye. A sunny gorgeous day literally blinds her. “It’s just white. I see the shadows of people but I don’t see their features. They could be my family and I wouldn’t know. It’s like a shadow, a negative,” she says. She noticed recently that her bad eye has mysteriously turned from hazel to blue. She has put off going to the eye doctor since last fall. “He’s going to be very mad at me. I got sick with my heart and just couldn’t deal with any other doctors.” In addition to her vision loss, Jacquie, 84, has also been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, emphysema and some hearing loss. She is determined not to let her health issues dictate her life and she does not want to miss the concert. Getting out of her apartment everyday gives her purpose and keeps her going - whether it is to run to the bank or to attend a dance rehearsal in Harlem or to go to her church in Chinatown. With great anticipation, Jacquie picked out the outfit she is going to wear days ago. It’s a floor-length cream, orange and brown wild-patterned dress with gold threads woven throughout, a large crystal necklace, four-inch long dangly earrings, and a leopard fake-fur coat. She finishes the outfit with black flat sandals. No high heels for her. “I never wear them anymore. They’re not good for you anyway. When you get to my age you don’t give a damn.” It’s 5 p.m. and Jacquie is dressed and ready to head uptown. The concert is being held at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College at E. 68th Street, and the reception will be across the street beforehand. Jacquie generally feels confident navigating the familiar sidewalks. Her decades of dance are evident in the fluidity of her movement and in her posture, the extension of her long limbs and neck. What she dreads is crossing the busy city streets. Using her cane to feel the clear street in

I ask people ‘Are you crossing? Can I cross with you?’ Usually they’ll say ‘Sure, take my arm’ and that’s the only thing I do if I don’t think I can cross by myself. -- Jacquie Murdock front of her, she makes her way off the curb and onto the street, praying all the way and hustling across as fast as she can. “I just hope I never get hit by a car. That’s my number one fear,” she says. She wishes the city would lengthen the traffic lights. “The lights change too fast,” she says. “I have gotten caught in the middle. That’s why I don’t follow people.” Jacquie uses the abundance of people in the city to her advantage, often relying on the kindness of strangers to help her get around. “I ask people ‘Are you crossing? Can I cross with you?’ Usually they’ll say ‘Sure, take my arm’ and that’s the only thing I do if I don’t think I can cross by myself.” A nine-block walk later, Jacquie is at the Astor Place subway station on the 6 line. The Bleecker Street station is significantly closer to her apartment, but Jacquie never takes it. She finds comfort and safety in the familiar and the Astor Place stop was what she would take when she lived in her prior apartment. Besides, she considers the Bleecker Street stop to be dangerous. “Not too long ago a 20-yearold was pushed off the platform by a homeless man. Imagine me without sight standing on that platform. It’s dark. Astor place is well lit, the lady in the window knows me. I love familiar places.” Recently, she was on the subway headed to a Duke Ellington Society meeting at Woodlawn Cemetery, the final resting place for the musician. She exited the train, at an unfamiliar stop, and realized she was on an elevated platform. She couldn’t see very well and was terrified of falling off. “I was petrified,” she says. “I said, ‘Oh my god, oh my god, I’m up here!’ When it’s [open on] two sides and you can’t see, that’s when you’re really scared. Fortunately a man noticed her distress and offered to walk her to the staircase. Jacquie says she is often approached

OCTOBER 15-21,2015 by strangers who either recognize her from “Advanced Style,” a documentary she was featured in, or want to comment on her distinctive outfits. She loves these conversations and it’s one of the many ways she fulfills her need for social connection. The man walked her down the staircase and she made it safely to her destination. “God sends me guardian angels wherever I go.” She says she is reluctantly considering filling out an application for Access-A-Ride. She takes pride in her ability to navigate the subway system as a native New Yorker and her independence is extremely important to her. But it’s becoming a struggle to navigate the streets of New York alone as she ages. “It’s getting harder for me to come out,” Jacquie admits. Jacquie makes her way down the steps at Astor Place, using the banister as a guide. She walks to the turnstile and swipes her reduced-fare Metrocard. She waits at the platform for the 6 train, and it comes quickly. Once on the train a young man in a gray suit pops up from his seat and offers it to her. Jacquie says this happens often. She graciously accepts and settles in. The train halts at Hunter College, a stop Jacquie uses frequently. She exists the train and the turnstile, but somehow ends up at the steps of an unfamiliar exit. The sunlight is filtering in making it impossible for her to see. Confused, she accidentally grabs a nearby 20-something’s arm. The girl swirls around and instantly recognizes her. “You’re from that movie! It was a great documentary.” Rattled, Jacquie doesn’t seem to hear her. She turns around frantically, searching for the exit. She finds her way above ground and after a few beats regains her composure. “This is my usual stop. I don’t know why I was so confused,” she says. She waits at a traffic light as she tries to figure out what buildings the reception and concert will be in, when a volunteer at the Jazz Museum, Robin, recognizes her, takes her arm and walks her across the street. Robin is not going to the reception but points out where the events will be held. Jacquie enters the lobby where the party is already in full swing. Servers, clad in black, are weaving in and out of the packed crowd, carrying trays of champagne and hors d’oeuvres. The line for the buffet table dripping with cheese and crackers, crudités and a multitude of rich desserts is 30 people deep and wrapping around the edge of the room. The young jazz trio up front can barely be heard over the buzz of the room. “This why I don’t like crowds,”

7

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

A NOTE ABOUT THIS SERIES

FOR MORE IN THE SERIES Our Town Downtown will spend the next six weeks chronicling Jacquie Murdock as she makes her way through the city. For more on Jacquie -- and for the stories of New Yorkers followed by our sister publications in other parts of Manhattan -- go to www.otdowntown.com says Jacquie of the challenge of navigating the room without being able to see well. “I feel like getting my wine and going in the corner.” She scans the crowd for people she knows from the Jazz Museum but with her limited sight can’t see very well. She kisses some acquaintances hello, and has a hearty conversation with the night’s honoree, jazz bassist Reggie Workman. Pleasantries done, she finds an empty seat at the perimeter of the room and sits with

a glass of red wine until it’s time to go. On her way out a photographer stops her and asks to take some photos. Ever the show biz professional, Jacquie instantly switches on and smiles and poses for the camera. After a few minutes, she makes her way across the street to the concert venue, following the crowd. She is displeased to see that she’s seated in the balcony. There is no elevator upstairs. She’s concerned about climbing the dozens of steps needed to reach her assigned seat and the stress it might cause her heart. Without any other choice she climbs the steps, one by one until she’s at the balcony entrance, only to realize she now has to climb down a dozen more to get to her seat. Jacquie sits down, fatigued. She recognizes another museum volunteer, Marlene, sitting next to her, and they chat. When Marlene starts coughing Jacquie kindly offers her a cracker, and says she

wishes she had water to give her. Marlene thanks her and the music begins. During the concert a blonde women of about 40 says “excuse me” several times as she tries to exit Jacquie’s row not seeming to consider or care that the older women seated in front of her might not be able to see or hear her. As Jacquie fails to hear her, she grows visibly impatient and aggressively huffs past when Jacquie finally responds. Jacquie has no time to reflect on the women’s negative demeanor. Jazz singer Dianne Reeves is announced to the stage and Jacquie settles in as the sound of the soulful singer fills the air. This series is a production of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. It is led by Dorian Block and Ruth Finkelstein. It is funded by the New York Community Trust. To find all of the interviews and more, go to www. exceedingexpectations.nyc

For the past 10 months, a team of reporters and photographers has been following 20 New Yorkers as they navigate their 80s. The project -- spearheaded by the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center -- is not a research project; we did not draw a sample of people to stand for the population of all New Yorkers. Instead, we searched for – and found -- an abundance of people who are passionately engaged in living interesting lives, in neighborhoods throughout New York, from many countries and backgrounds, in a variety of living situations and family structures, of different religions and colors. And we are sharing a year in their complicated, multi-faceted lives – to demonstrate that aging is living. For the next six weeks, we’ll tell one of their stories here. The rest can be found at www.exceedingexpectations.nyc. Though the reporting will continue through January, and even into next year, some conclusions already are apparent. First, we have learned that there are as many ways to be old as there are to be young. Many people are engaged in the work or activities – or similar kinds of activities - that occupied them when they were younger. Some help in the businesses of family members. A few have found new passions. Some are struggling with retirement -- unsure how to spend their time and energy. All have dreams they want to fulfill. Second, people’s social networks are very different, but are crucial to their lives. Some are embedded in extended families; others in groups of friends, with some friendships spanning most of their lives. A few have social networks of their neighborhoods. All have lost many they have loved. Several are actively dating. Almost everyone takes care of someone else –a spouse, children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren. Many are, in turn, sometimes cared for by others. Some are alone. Several are separated from previous partners. Several are grieving recent loss. Health problems add up over the years, and most of the people live with multiple health issues – the chronic conditions that accumulate with age: heart issues, lung issues, diabetes, loss of hearing or sight, arthritis and other pains and problems with joints and bones, and cognitive changes and dementia. Several people had bad falls in the time we have known them. Nevertheless, we see that later life is not a steady decline. Life has gone up and down for all since we met them – with victories and joy and weeks of good health and days when going outside is too much. Those with the most severe health conditions, were often the most active on their good days. And when many seemed like they would get worse, they got better. It has been a journey. Come along with us. Ruth Finkelstein Associate Director Robert N Butler Columbia Aging Center Dorian Block Director and Editor, Exceeding Expectations Robert N Butler Columbia Aging Center

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OCTOBER 15-21,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Voices KEEPING THE BLAHS AT BAY

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

Editorial DEMOCRACY FOR DUMMIES Something is afoot when two very different community meetings, one on the Upper East Side and the other on the Upper West Side, both end in acrimony -- reflecting deep frustration that people are being shut out of decisions that profoundly affect their neighborhoods. The most recent of last week’s meetings, in Yorkville on the Upper East Side, ended in a walkout by residents of the Holmes Towers housing development. The New York City Housing Authority has proposed selling off a playground at Holmes so developers can build new housing there — very little of which will be affordable to current Holmes residents. The neighborhood sought a meeting with NYCHA to hear about its plans. But the meeting ended shortly after it began when it became clear to the residents that the meeting was a sham: NYCHA officials there seemed to them more intent on talking than listening, and the locals felt condescended to. They chose to walk out rather than participate in a bogus listening tour. The previous night on the Upper West Side, the issue was very different, but the frustration was the same. People who live near the Museum of Natural History got together to voice their concerns about an expansion of the museum that will swallow Theodore Roosebelt Park, which many of them love. While the Upper West Siders didn’t walk out — it was, after all, their meeting — they did boo at and shout down their councilmember Helen Rosenthal. Noting that Rosenthal came out in favor of the museum expansion before any of the neighbors had a chance to voice their concerns, they felt that a deal had already been cut without their approval, and that their meeting to voice concerns was an empty exercise. (That view was reinforced when it emerged that Rosenthal had helped shepherd millions of dollars in city money for the museum’s expansion, a finding that enraged neighbors affected by the plan.) At some point, there will be enough information out there to say for sure whether the Holmes deal and the museum expansion are good ideas. We’re not there yet. But what is clear is that the institutions -- and the elected officials -- behind both projects aren’t doing nearly enough to include their communities in the decision-making process. Calling neighbors together to tell them what’s going to happen to them is not transparency. Claiming open-mindedness while already directing public money to a controversial expansion is disingenuous. There’s a bigger context here that the people behind these projects are ignoring: the fabric of our city is being fundamentally transformed, and many, many people are feeling they have no voice in its transformation. Shadows are extending into Central Park, megatowers are going up in residential neighborhoods, lifers are being forced out of where they live. No surprise people are frustrated. Cynical shows of neighborhood involvement, so evident last week, only add to that frustration.

STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source

SENIOR LIVING BY MARCIA EPSTEIN

I know I wrote a long screed about being computer and technology averse. However, many seniors don’t feel the same way, so I feel obligated to mention The Senior Planet Exploration Center at 127 W. 25th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues. It’s the first technology-themed center for people 60 and up and offers seniors a place to explore how to thrive in the new digital world. There are digital technology courses, workshops and social and cultural events, all free. Seniors can not only sign up for classes and workshops but can drop in just to use the computers and talk with experts about problems they’re having or new things they wish to learn. There are always new gadgets on hand to learn about. It’s open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The phone number is 646-590-0615 and the e-mail is rsvp@seniorplanet.org. I’ve been wanting to mention volunteering as a way to stay active and involved and feel better by helping others. I’ve been a volunteer at the Riverside Language School for over 10 years. I talk to student immigrants as a lunchtime conversation volunteer. The students choose to participate; it’s not part of their curriculum. It gives them a chance to speak English with the volunteer and with other students in the group. It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm with which these (mostly) young people want to learn the language and integrate into American society. They come from all over the world, and I’m sure I’ve learned as much as they have during my years at Riverside. We talk about anything and everything; family, food, interests, hobbies, problems adjusting, hopes and future

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dreams. It’s been and continues to be a major source of satisfaction for me. When I retired from the workforce, I told myself I was only going to do what I loved, and I’ve kept to that promise. I love working with these new Americans and hope to do so for many more years. In order to fully enjoy our retirement years, it’s absolutely necessary to make an assessment of what will be fulfilling and satisfying and do it. It’s often rewarding to try something different from the jobs we once had

and concentrate on what brings a different kind of pleasure. I’ve put together a life of friends, my women’s group, my ping pong group and my volunteering, among other things. I’m always looking for ways to expand, and writing this column is one of them. For others, it’s theater, ballet and opera. And for others, travel is very important. We all have different personalities, and much of the time I am content to stay home and read. But I have to be careful; I can get too content. Or I can get the

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

blahs and not want to do anything. So I try get out there, take a walk, get some coffee, watch the birds take a bath in the lovely little pocket park in my neighborhood. There’s no magic elixir to making retirement fun if you’re healthy and able to participate in life. We no longer have to set an alarm clock, answer to an office supervisor, or meet others’ deadlines. And even if we enjoyed our careers, this is the time to try new things. As I saw on a young man’s Tshirt recently, ‘GO FOR IT.’

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

OCTOBER 15-21,2015

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Neighborhood Scrapbook LMHQ PARTNERS WITH CON-ED

A look at LMHQ, a new work space from Downtown Alliance. Photo: LMHQ Š Gensler

Lower Manhattan HQ (LMHQ) and Con Edison announced a partnership that will provide New York City non-proďŹ ts with free event and meeting space to further their missions. The $20,000 Con Edison Bright Ideas grant will allow non-proďŹ ts to request access to free meeting and event space at LMHQ, a ďŹ rst-of-its-kind collaboration space in Lower Manhattan aimed at fostering the growth and success of the neighborhood’s tech and creative communities. The one-year grant ďŹ lls a growing need among non-proďŹ ts for additional space for any number of activities including board meetings, staff retreats, workshops and trainings, as well as providing opportunities to collaborate with peers in their ďŹ elds. Under this program, any non-proďŹ t organization can apply to access space at LMHQ. Each month, organizations will be selected from the applicants, and will be provided access to free meeting space on two Monday evenings and to LMHQ’s 140-seat event space once per month, as available.

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OCTOBER 15-21,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

WHOO’s Out & About THE CUTEST?

More Events. Add Your Own: Go to otdowntown.com

costume

showcase

It’s that time of year to break out those pirate, witch, princess, and superhero costumes for your kids! Show us your kid’s best costume and vote for your favorites! Go to otdowntown.com to upload your photos & then vote!

Thu 15 SONIC BOOM CULTIVATE PRESENTED BY Q2 MUSIC The Greene Space at WQXR, 44 Charlton St. 7-9 p.m. $20. ACO’s SONiC Festival launches with “SONiC Boom Cultivate,” featuring music by composers of Copland House’s Cultivate 1 institute. 6465367864. sonicfestival. org/performance/sonic-boomcultivate

and ages welcome. 212-602-0800. www. trinitywallstreet.org

Fri 16 ACO: NEW YORK STORIES PRESENTED BY ARTS BROOKFIELD AND WNYC’S NEW SOUNDS Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, 230 Vesey St. 8-10 p.m. Free aco gives its all-worldpremiere, season-opening concert, featuring music

212-431-7920. www. poetshouse.org

Sat 17 OPEN HOUSE NY – 1820 RANDEL MAP DISPLAY ▲ Municipal Building - Mezzanine, 1 Centre St. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. As part of Open House NY weekend, the Borough President’s Office will display the complete John Randel map, including the first map to plot Manhattan’s numbered street

Tag & Follow us on Twitter:

@OTDowntown ▲ MUSIC WORKSHOP SERIES AT TRINITY CHURCH

by Angelica Negron, Andy Akiho, Alex Mincek, and Judd Greenstein. 212-417-2445.

grid. 917-960-1187. www.ohny.org/ site-programs/weekend/sites/ manhattan-borough-presidentsmap-display

Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street. 6-7:30 p.m. Free. Enrich and expand your musical skillset (vocal skills, sight-reading, musicology, hymnology) at this workshop series led by Julian Wachner and Trinity’s music staff. All levels

OMNIDAWN POETRY READING

DRAWING IN THE PARK

10 River Terrace 6 p.m. Free. Meet with Omnidawn publishers for a night of reading of Omnidawn authors and translators.

Battery Park, 50 Battery Pl. 10 a.m.-noon.Free. Art supplies will be provided to artists of all skill levels for a morning of expression. 212-267-9700. bpcparks.

OCTOBER 15-21,2015

org/event/drawing-in-thepark-2/2015-08-15/

Sun 18 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. 7185986604. www. themarketplaceatstanthonys. com

FOR CONDUCT AND INNOCENTS: A MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street. 2-3 p.m. Free “For Conduct and Innocents,” a multimedia performance commemorating the martyrdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German cleric and staunch opponent of the Third Reich. 212-575-4545. www. trinitywallstreet.org/ events/conduct-andinnocents?date=2015-10-18

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

a fun and relaxed setting. 2123366400. www. chelseapiers.com/gc/ specials/2015/girls-night-out/

THE NEW YORK CITY OKTOBERFEST 265 Bowery. Noon-10 p.m. The Crawl starts at noon at Paulaner — 8 Bars throughout the East Village, and always a 12-ounce beer. 212-780-0300. newyorkcityoktoberfest. com/#tickets

Tue 20 CHEMISTRY UCB East Village, 153 East Third St. 11 p.m.Free. Matteo Lane hosts the funniest comics in the area in a free show. 212-366-9176. https:// east.ucbtheatre.com/ performance/41954

KRONOS QUARTET PERFORMS GEORGE CRUMB’S BLACK ANGELS AT THE INTREPID MUSEUM Intrepid Sea, Air & Space

Museum, Pier 86 W 46th St and 12th Ave. 7:30 p.m.$23-$25. The Intrepid Museum hosts Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet as they perform George Crumb’s Black Angels. The performance will be followed by a discussion. 646-381-5282. www. intrepidmuseum.org

Wed 21 DEVIN BING AND THE SECRET SERVICE “MIXOLOGY” Drom NYC, 85 Avenue A. 6:30-8:30 p.m. $15. Indulge in “Mixology,” a unique live performance where you, the audience, helps curate the show. 786-512-4887. www.dromnyc. com/

“ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT: SCENES OF EVERYDAY QUEER LIFE” ▼ Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, 26 Wooster St. 12 p.m.Free. Over 70 works of art from varying media displaying the portrayal of the lgbt community. 212-431-2609.

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Mon 19 GIRLS NIGHT OUT AT THE GOLF CLUB ▼ The Golf Club at Chelsea Piers, Pier 59 - 18th Street and Hudson River Park. 6:30-8:30 p.m. $40. Unwind after work, network and socialize with other women while learning the game of golf in

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

BEYOND NEW YORK, NEW YORK Celebrating Frank Sinatra’s centennial with 100 songs BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO

Honoring the 100th birthday of an iconic performer whose career spanned five decades can take a while. “Frank Sinatra at 100,” a celebration of the crooner’s life and oeuvre, marks his 100th birthday with a performance of 100 songs he performed throughout his 82 years. Held at Symphony Space’s 756-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 17, the nine-hour event features some of the city’s brightest stars and Sinatra’s iconic music. Produced and curated by Joel Fram and Annette Jolles, the hefty program is a format the longtime collaborators and Symphony Space regulars have worked with before. The pair also produced some of the organization’s signature “Wall to Wall” events, including an all-day Stephen Sondheim event and a cabaret program. “Nothing’s better than a nine-hour marathon project,” said Fram. Jolles was not a Sinatra expert when work began on the program, but early in her research she recognized the vastness and diversity of his catalogue. “You think, okay are you really going to come up with 100 great songs?” she said. “When you actually start listing Frank Sinatra songs, without too much effort you hit 1,000 easily.” The pair also sifted through many facets of the legendary entertainer’s career and persona, from his World War II-era swing songs to his turns in musical productions like “Pal Joey,” and dramatic roles, such as Major Bennett Marco in the 1962 film “The Manchurian Candidate.” “Sinatra was a performer…he was a brilliant interpreter of songs,” said Jolles. “We set out to look for artists who are in their own right incredible interpreters of songs.

The program, broken into three, three-hour segments, features a diverse group of artists, including cabaret singers, dancers, and jazz musicians. The results aren’t imitations, the producers said, but themselves interpretations of songs that Sinatra made his own. Cabaret artist Todd Londagin, who plays the trombone, sings and tap dances, performs the ballad “I Concentrate on You,” along with “The Coffee Song”, a novelty number that Sinatra performed in live shows, Fram said. “When you look at photos of him, he so often has that smoky look or the hat tilted down, that dashing guy, but he was really funny, too,” said Jolles. “He has a sense of humor, and he has this wit to him.” One of Fram’s favorite songs in the program is the melancholy Sondheim number “Send in the Clowns,” which Sinatra recorded in 1973. Perhaps surprisingly, jazz guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli and Ed Laub will perform the song. Dancer Noah Racey and body percussionist Max Pollak fuse dance, vocals and percussion with “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” “We want the audience to be able to experience things that they know and love but be surprised by the context of them,” said Fram. “It’s like seeing an old friend in great new clothes.” But more familiar contexts for Sinatra’s songs aren’t absent, with celebrated cabaret singer Marilyn Maye performing “I’ve Got the World on a String” and Broadway actor Rebecca Luker’s medley of “I Won’t Dance” and “Can’t We Be Friends.” But perhaps the greatest surprise of the evening is in what’s missing: “Theme from New York, New York” is not in the program. “What we are trying to do is take this generic image of a man and by these distinct performers create an awareness of the incredibly distinct variety that Frank embodied,” said Jolles.

OCTOBER 15-21,2015

OCTOBER 15-21,2015

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com Dian Dong, left, instructing her dance students.

ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

For Conduct and Innocents: A Multimedia Performance | Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Third Reich

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18TH, 2PM Trinity Church | 74 Trinity Pl. | 212-602-0800 | trinitywallstreet.org Film, theater, music and dance come together to dramatize the martyrdom of German cleric Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Trinity Movement Choir will serve as a Greek chorus. (Free)

A LITTLE-KNOWN PART OF CHINESE HISTORY, IN DANCE PERFORMANCE South of Gold Mountain focus on Chinese immigrants in the American south BY RUI MIAO

It took one couple three years on multiple trips to five states-to finish creating an hour-long dance. South of Golden Mountain, Chen Dance Center’s newsiest opus, is set to premiere Oct. 14 at New York Live Arts, bringing to the stage a nutshell of an epic of Chinese immigrants in the southern part of the U.S. “This is an important piece to celebrate our heritage,” said Dian Dong, the associate director of Chen Dance Center. She co-choreographed the dance with her husband, H.T. Chen, the founder of the center and a recipient of the 2012 Martha Hill Dance Fund’s Mid-Career Award. Dong is a native New Yorker whose great-great grandfather relocated to the United States in 1864; Chen was born in Shanghai, China and was raised in Taiwan. He came to the city in the 1970’s to study modern dance in the Julliard School, where he met Dong. “I have a cross training of western dance technique and eastern Chinese dance background,” said Chen. “So I combined them together to come out with my own movement vocabulary.” A resident of Manhattan for 45 years, he has created numerous pieces about Asian Americans, including “Mott Street” in 1984 and the 2013 piece “Needle and Thread” about Chinatown’s sweatshop sewing factories.

“Once he became a naturalized citizen,” Dong explained. “Chen said this is my country, and this is my history, too.” South of Golden Mountain is an attempt by the couple to revisit the oftentimes unspoken history of Chinese immigrants in the south. The hardships of struggling through discrimination and segregation, generation by generation, rendered the community largely silent, until today. “When I asked my grandparents what was it like, why did you move from town to town-they didn’t want to talk,” said Dong. “They would say ‘Don’t ask these kind of questions’.” However, the couple knew too well the power of dance. “It speaks a universal language,” said Dong. “If you don’t want to talk about it, fine; let’s dance it out.” “Gold Mountain” refers to America, when the gold rush of 1849 lured many Chinese people out of the crippling late Qing Dynasty China, by the promise of a better life. They signed contracts to work for cotton plantations and hopped onto western-bound ships. Workers on the cotton field became the first scene of the dance. Titled “Fresh Sprout”, the scene shows Chinese laborers planting seeds on the plantation. “Chinese people did not come here to pick cotton, they came here to plant seeds for themselves,” Dian explained. Once the seeds were planted in the country, the settled immigrants opened up grocery stores, restaurants and laundry shops, thriving in the region. Chen and his wife translated those daily scenarios into dance, accompanied by old

photographs on the screen behind the dancers. The photos were collected during their research trips to Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona and Texas over the course of three years. They have interviewed hundreds of immigrants and their descendants, many in their 80’s and 90’s, including some veterans of World War II. The oral histories make up a vital part of the project. “They are vanishing populations,” said Dong. “We are proud to tell the story--if we don’t tell, soon it will all be gone.” Dong will be playing a prototype of the Chinese immigrant mother who reoccurs as different characters throughout the dance—farmer, laundry lady, restaurateur, etc. She pairs up with her long-time partner, Renouard Gee, who plays the father. Dong choreographed this part of the piece, which is far less abstract than the rest, which borrowed Chen’s Avant Garde modern art imagination. “The piece needs some Yin and Yang in order to be presented back to where this history belonged,” said Dong. As a fifth generation in America, Dong understands how the old immigrants feel. “They are like my uncles and aunts. In order for them to connect deeper, we’d have to do something that could hang on to it.” Dong doesn’t really care if someone criticizes the dance’s swing between literal and abstract; or at least, less than how she cares what a 90-year-old Mississippian thinks. “If they see the piece and say that’s bullshit, that’s not our history, we will stop performing the piece.”

Nat Geo Live: Pristine Seas

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20TH, 7:30PM NYU Skirball Center | 566 LaGuardia Pl. | 212-998-4941 | nyuskirball.org A National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence discusses his search for underwater Edens and his efforts to protect them, from the the Salas y Gómez Islands near Easter Island to the Pitcairn Archipelago, once home of the HMS Bounty mutineers. ($35)

Just Announced: TimesTalks | Mark Strong and Ivo van Hove

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23RD, 6:30PM The TimesCenter | 242 W. 41st St. | 888-698-1870 | timestalks.com Catch an Olivier Award-winning actor and director as they discuss the Broadway opening of their “A View from the Bridge,” which won this year’s Olivier for Best Revival. The play coincides with the centenary of Arthur Miller’s birth. ($40)

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

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

14

OCTOBER 15-21,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS SEP 28 - OCT 9, 2015

Millenium Hilton

55 Church Street

A

The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml.

Aroma Espresso Bar

100 Church Street

A

Chipotle Mexican Grill

281 Broadway

A

Potbelly

280 Broadway

A

J R Sushi

86A W Broadway

A

New Sun Cafe

67 Reade Street

Grade Pending (18) 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.

Akimoto Sushi

187 Church Street

Grade Pending (23) Food worker does not wash hands thoroughly after using the toilet, coughing, sneezing, smoking, eating, preparing raw foods or otherwise contaminating hands. 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.

Cafe 101 16Th Floor Cafeteria

101 Barclay Street

A

Juice Press

83 Murray St

A

Mbj Downtown

199 Chambers St

A

Sheezan Restaurant

183 Church Street

Grade Pending (3)

Majestic Pizza

8 Cortlandt St

Not Graded Yet (48) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. 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.

Les Ensants De Boheme

173 Henry St

A

Barrio Chino

253 Broome Street

A

Cheeky Sandwiches

35 Orchard Street

A

Flaming Kitchen

97 Bowery

A

Round K

99 Allen St

A

Subway

229 Chrystie Street

A

Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream

215 Bowery

A

Best Fuzhou Restaurant

71A Eldridge St

A

Bite Of Hong Kong

81 Chrystie St

A

Hill And Dale

115 Allen Street

Grade Pending (17) 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.

Hester Street Cafe

235 Bowery

A

Chilis Indian Cuisine

123 Allen St

Not Graded Yet (8) Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.

Il Corallo

176 Prince Street

A

Laduree Soho

398 W Broadway

A

Villa Mosconi Restaurant

69 Macdougal Street

A

Marumi

546 La Guardia Place

A

Mercer Kitchen

99 Prince Street

A

Pluck U

230 Thompson Street A

Subway

550 Laguardia Place

A

Emmetts

50 Macdougal St

A

Kopi Kopi

68 West 3 Street

A

Mimi

185 Sullivan St

Not Graded Yet (12) Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.

Georgetown Cupcake Soho 111 Mercer Street

A

Tomoe Sushi

Grade Pending (17) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.

172 Thompson Street

100 Montaditos

176 Bleecker St

A

Jg Mellon

89 Macdougal St

Not Graded Yet (16) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

Domodomo

138 W Houston St

Not Graded Yet (15) Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.

Lite Delights

51 East Houston Street

Grade Pending (7)

Dunkin’ Donuts

395 Hudson Street

A

Roasting Plant

7577 Greenwich Avenue

A

Baoguette Pho Sure

120 Christopher Street

A

Onegin

391 Avenue Of The Americas

A

Minerva

302-304 W 4Th St

A

Aire Ancient Baths

88 Franklin St

A

Sun Sai Gai Restaurant

220 Canal Street

A

Bouley Botanical

35 White St

A

Domino’s Pizza

181 Church Street

A

Subway

51 Murray Street

A

The Cricketers Arms

57 Murray Street

Grade Pending (22) Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Yorganic

275 Greenwich Street

A

OCTOBER 15-21,2015

15

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

IT ONLY TAKES A DAY TO PREPARE FOR THE ENTIRE STORM SEASON.

Photo: Bo Nielsen, via Flickr

DO YOU DELIVER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and carry their own individual commercial bicyclist ID card that has their name and personal three-digit ID number, as well as the business name, address and phone number. The commercial bicyclist ID card is the only form of ID a commercial cyclist is required to show members of law enforcement if they’re stopped and/or ticketed. Businesses are also required to display a sign with all of the above information inside their business, which can be downloaded from the city DOT’s website, as are the rest of the material mentioned above. According to Victor Green, a member of the DOT’s commercial bicycle enforcement team, businesses are most often cited for not hanging up the informational sign or maintaining a delivery cyclist roster. “It’s the number one ticket we write,” said Green. DOT officials said the agency also has helmet giveaway days and at last week’s event distributed information packets with the required commercial cyclist signs, rosters and ID cards, as well as reflective vests. During the question-and-answer session one commercial cyclist asked if he’s required to tell the business owner or a supervisor when he’s ticketed.

Green said the business owner is on the hook for paying the ticket, so yes, a cyclist must turn an infraction over to their boss. Green also noted that the DOT’s enforcement team only enforces compliance regulations inside a business. The police department is responsible for enforcing traffic law and writing tickets on the street. One business owner asked who would be responsible for paying a ticket that’s given to a commercial cyclist employed by a third-party delivery service. Green said that while the individual business owner, and not the third-party business, is responsible for such tickets, that provision is being currently looked at by DOT’s legal department. “At this point we’re still dealing with that issue because we know it’s on the rise,” he said of third-party delivery services. Eric Yu, with the DOT’s outreach and education team, said businesses should train cyclists in the DOT’s commercial cyclist requirements, even if cyclists say they already know the law, and hold regular meetings with their delivery staff to insure they’re following the law. “It will make your business and your life easier,” said Yu, who also advised owners to give accurate delivery times for customers. “If you give unrealistic delivery times it will pressure your cyclists to [break the law].”

Henry Rinehart of Henry’s Restaurant, on Broadway and 105th Street, said he regularly sees some deliverymen flouting the law to gain an unfair advantage by riding the wrong way and on the sidewalk, particularly those from Domino’s Pizza. “I’ve asked my team to help police other businesses, and I’d ask for your support in this effort,” said Rinehart to his fellow business owners. “If people are not complying, like Domino’s pizza chain, I want all of us, in the interest of fair play, to participate ... to help complain to that business to get them to comply. Because my guys often complain that they’re following the laws but lots of other people are not.” And it’s not just a matter of unfair advantage. Lawrence Diaz of Freddy and Pepper’s, on Amsterdam and 74th Street, sees the DOT’s focus on commercial bicycle enforcement as an unfair crackdown targeting the wrong cyclists. “For every delivery guy I see going the wrong way I see five regular people going the wrong way,” said Diaz, who noted it’s hard via 311 to report and punish regular bicyclists who break the law. “This program started four years ago, before that we never had to have posters or rosters. Our delivery boys obey the law, but we pay the fines.”

It’s storm season. To be prepared, update your contact information and get helpful tips on what supplies to stock up on to weather the weather at conEd.com.

Now Get Real Time Bus, Subway & Alternate Side Parking Information Here

otdowntown.com Your Neighborhood News The local paper for Downtown

16

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Briefs TISHMAN PAYS $25 MILLION TO VACATE TENANTS Real estate investment firm Tishman Speyer paid out $25 million to convince a pair or tenants to vacate a small apartment building on the Hudson Yards site, according to a report in Crain’s. According to the publication, the payment is the one of the biggest payouts ever to tenants who refused to give up their apartments. Their attorney, David Rozenholc, walked away with a third of the sum, Crain’s said, showing how lawyers are able to use the state’s court system to extract multimilliondollar paydays for tenants who block development. Crain’s called Rozenholc, who has spent the past 40 years defending renters and negotiating huge settlements for them, the king of this area of law.

ARSON CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST HOTEL MANAGER Prosecutors dismissed charges against a former security manager accused of setting alight fires at two Manhattan hotels where he worked. Mariano Barbosa faced arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief charges after authorities accused him of creating eight fires at Yotel New York in Hell’s Kitchen and the Soho Grand Hotel between 2009 and 2013, the Real Deal reported. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Barbosa, 32, on Oct. 7 because they could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, according to the New York Daily News.

PROTESTS PLANNED FOR GANSEVOORT PROJECT A plan to redevelop Gansevoort Street is expected to draw crowds at an upcoming Community Board 2 meeting, DNAinfo.com reports. Aurora Capital Associates is redeveloping the entire south side of Gansevoort Street from Ninth Avenue to Washington Street. BKSK Architects presented renderings of their designs for five buildings of varying heights at a small, informal neighborhood meeting in August. Because the block lies just inside the protected Gansevoort Market Historic District, the project’s design must get the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Locals have organized against the project, disseminating a petition urging the LPC to reject it, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation sent an email blast to their supporters encouraging them to write in or show up to the Oct. 15 CB 2 landmarks committee meeting to oppose the project.

OCTOBER 15-21,2015

Property TAKING (SOME OF) THE STRESS OUT OF HOME BUYING NEWS New rules from the consumer protection bureau took effect Oct. 3 BY ALEX VEIGA

Closing on a home can be exciting but also stressful for buyers, particularly those who are relying on financing. New rules aim to make sure buyers at least have a better understanding of the financial obligations they are signing up for when they take on a home loan. New “Know Before You Owe” rules, which took effect Oct. 3, require lenders to provide borrowers with clearly laid out details on their loan and what it will cost them in an initial estimate and, closer to closing, a final summary. Borrowers also will have a minimum of three business days to review their final loan terms and fees before the transaction closes. “It’s going to be easier to compare loan offers, and when you close it’s going to be easier to check to see if you’re getting the loan that you were promised,” said Holden Lewis, a mortgage analyst at Bankrate. com. The new rules, put in place by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, also open the door to potential delays should factors such as a borrower’s credit score change near the closing date, forcing lenders to restart the loan disclosure process. These tips will help you steer clear of problems:

UNDERSTAND THE CHANGES Instead of the “Truth In Lending” document and the “Good Faith Disclosure” previously required, borrowers will now receive a “Loan Estimate” and ”Closing Disclosure.” Lenders must give the Loan Estimate to consumers within three business days after they apply. The form lays out the details such as interest rate, loan term and other

features. The Closing Disclosure, which lenders must provide to borrowers at least three days before the transaction closes, includes closing costs, monthly payment and other details. Lenders also must give borrowers at least seven business days to review their loan documents between the time they receive their loan estimate and the closing. And no changes can be made to the loan within the three-day period before the loan closes. “The reason for that is to make sure the consumer isn’t hit with surprise last-minute changes they didn’t expect and suddenly be caught at the closing table with information they weren’t prepared for,” said David Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

AVOID CAUSING DELAYS Making changes to loan terms after the closing countdown has be-

gun could require lenders to draw up new disclosure documents and reset the loan review periods before closing. That could cause delays of from 10 days to two weeks, depending on how quickly the lender can process the new loan estimate, estimates Stevens. What kind of loan changes would require new disclosures? Switching from a fixed-rate to an adjustable-rate mortgage or an interestonly loan, for one. Or, a significant rise in interest rates -- more than one-eighth of a percent for a fixedrate loan or one-quarter of a percent for adjustable-rate loans. Reduce the likelihood of delays further by avoiding these actions: applying for credit, closing out a credit card or going on a creditspending spree before sealing the deal on a home. Those moves could change the homebuyer’s credit score from what it was at the time of the initial mortgage application, potentially knocking them into a

higher interest rate.

ASK FOR A LONGER RATE LOCK Lenders will typically freeze your interest rate for 30 or 60 days, if not longer. Borrowers should consider asking their lender to lock in their rate a week or two beyond their expected closing date. That can provide a time cushion in the event there’s a delay.

RETHINK THE `FINAL WALKTHROUGH’ Given that the new disclosure rules prohibit changes to the loan terms three days before closing, homebuyers should consider doing their final walkthrough of the property several days before they receive their closing disclosure. Walkthroughs typically took place on the day before or the actual day of closing. But scheduling the walkthrough earlier will give borrowers time to address potential repairs or problems that haven’t been completed by the seller.

OCTOBER 15-21,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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OCTOBER 15-21,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

AS A MUSEUM EXPANDS, NEIGHBORS GROPE FOR ANSWERS Community groups complain of scarce information, despite city funding BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO

As development efforts continue on the American Museum of Natural History’s new education and research center, slated to take over a parcel of Theodore Roosevelt Park, frustration is building among some community members who remain in the dark about the project. At a crowded Town Hall meeting on Oct. 6, residents sounded off about the loss of parkland and community meeting areas in a bustling section of the park at W. 79th Street and Columbus Avenue, the proposed site of the addition. Underlying these tangible concerns is a mounting distrust of the museum, which hasn’t shared architectural plans for the building. Adding to the anxiety is Councilmember Helen Rosenthal’s endorsement of the project -- underlined by her role in allocating more than $16 million in City Council funding for the new building. “We have heard nothing,” said Jan Nierenberg, a longtime resident of W. 77th Street, following last week’s meeting. She pointed out that this summer, the museum called a lastminute meeting with residents just before the July 4th weekend, a move that didn’t inspire confidence in the institution’s communication efforts. “People are suspicious that it’s a done deal.”

Since the museum is a landmark located on a public park, the project is subject to approvals from city agencies, including the New York City Parks Department and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Non-profit group Friends of Roosevelt Park manages the parkland along with the museum and the Parks Department, and has yet to take a formal stance on the addition. Peter Wright, who heads the group, thinks that by sharing details about the building, the museum could help ease tensions with neighborhood residents. “Because you have a park here, you need to open up the black box and just share a little more of why you came up with this footprint,” said Wright, a resident of W. 77th Street. “The museum should consider engaging a little more detail with us and with the community [about] how it came up with that total square footage and expanse. It’s not clear how much it will expand out. That’s the question.” Wright said the museum has historically been responsive to the neighborhood and believes the museum will engage with community members whom it is has unwittingly alienated. But it already has an uphill climb: among other things, residents seem irked that the museum has used a piece of 1876 legislation as evidence of its ability to expand into the park. “The idea that this is just undeveloped real estate to

SOHO LT MFG

462 Broadway

The crowd filing in for the community meeting on the American Museum of Natural History’s expansion plans. Photo by Gabrielle Alfiero

them, that’s the image they’ve projected. They didn’t mean to, but they did,” Wright said. The crowd at Fourth Universalist Society on Central Park West and W. 76th Street last week was critical of Rosenthal, whose fiscal support some see as a betrayal of her constitu-

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ents. In a telephone interview after the meeting, Rosenthal explained that the museum first approached the city administration and the council before she took office in January 2014, resulting in a $15 million commitment for the new building. In the current fiscal year budget, the city council allocated an additional $16.75 million for the museum addition, an item that received support from the city council’s Manhattan Delegation. Rosenthal also allocated $50,000 for the new building from her 2016 discretionary fund capital budget of $5 million. So far, the museum has raised more than $100 million for the project, which includes $44.3 million from the city, museum officials said. “There’s a statement from the city that we believe that New

Yorkers should continue to be fluent in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and to in fact enhance the education for our city’s school kids so that people who attend the museum can be current and learn as much as possible,” said Rosenthal. “And with that pride and desire to continue to be a leader, the city has agreed to the funding.” Rosenthal sat in the front row at the Oct. 6 meeting. When a resident asked about her support for the project, which she noted in a July newsletter to her followers, Rosenthal assured the crowd that the museum was listening to their concerns and that the review process, which includes a presentation to Community Board 7, was in its earliest phase. The crowd interrupted with a chorus of boos.

Despite the fervent outcry at the meeting, Rosenthal remains optimistic that the museum will present a responsible plan for a building that works with its surroundings and is considerate of community needs, with the potential to even improve upon some of the gated-off sections of the park. She expects that the project design will change as it goes through public reviews. “If we end up with people’s worst fears, for example double the number of buses, and they’ll have nowhere to park and they’re just going to be jamming up our streets with exhaust spewing everywhere, I’m not going to approve that project,” she said. “That’s horrendous. I think the museum is smarter than that, and won’t be coming back with that project.”

OCTOBER 15-21,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

WALKOUT DURING HOLMES HOUSING MEETING NYCHA’s plan to generate revenue for budget deficit causes backlash on Upper East Side BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS

Over 100 angry public housing residents on the Upper East Side walked out of a meeting with NYCHA officials in protest of a new plan to address the agency’s massive operating deficit by selling or leasing to private developers public land on which will be built a mixture of affordable and market rate housing. The program, called NextGen NYCHA, is being billed by the agency as a 10-year strategic plan to address a chronic operating deficit and $17 billion in unmet capital needs. At Holmes, that means partnering with a private developer to build 350-400 apartments on playground space between the two towers, 175-200 of which will be affordable. The remainder of the apartments will be offered at market rate. After the announcement last month - which shocked public housing residents and elected officials, who said they had no advance warning or input on the plan – NYCHA released a statement to Our Town that said the program provides both needed affordable units and revenue generating market rate units. The agency predicts the program will generate $300 million to $600 million over the next 10 years, revenue that will be split between existing infrastructure needs at NextGen sites like Holmes and NYCHA’s larger capital needs. The agency announced a similar program at Wyckoff Gardens in Brooklyn last month. As part of an outreach effort to its tenants after announcing the proposal, NYCHA called a meeting Oct. 7 to explain aspects of the plan and answer any questions. Agency officials said they want to form different committees made up of residents at each NextGen site who will decide how their share of the program’s money will be spent. But many residents feel the agency is making a disingenuous attempt to include them after key decisions regarding development at Holmes Towers have already been made. Ten minutes after the meeting began, a Holmes resident named Sandrea Coleman asked how NYCHA planned to increase residents’ quality of life

Residents walk out of a meeting with NYCHA officials at the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center on the Upper East Side Wednesday, Oct. 7. Photo by Daniel Fitzsimmons by adding more buildings and more residents to an already overcrowded development, while simultaneously taking away their only open space. NYCHA’s Senior Director for Real Estate Development Nicole Ferreira thanked Coleman for her question but did not answer it, prompting outbursts from a half-dozen Holmes residents and, eventually, a walkout. “They dehumanized me when they came and spoke to me, like I was nothing and to be quiet,” said Coleman in an interview during the walkout. NYCHA officials distributed cards at the beginning of the meeting for residents to write their questions on, but many felt that format was an effort by the agency to control dissent. “Cards is not my voice, I am a grown woman and a resident,” said Coleman. “I’ve become an activist because of this.” Residents gathered at a nearby Holmes Towers playground between 93rd Street and 92nd Street, which appears to be the most likely site for development, and held a rally. Members of Community Voices Heard, a citywide coalition of NYCHA residents that advocates for low-income tenants, said the walkout was prearranged and would occur if Holmes residents felt slighted by NYCHA officials. “These are false pretense meetings where [NYCHA] asks for our input but really the decisions are all decided as far as we’re concerned. We believe this whole process is a façade and we should have a moratorium [on NextGen NYCHA] to allow tenants to become better educated on the processes involved and that no land should be surrendered. The city just seems to be moving too quickly without true participation of the residents,” said Javier Sepulveda, an organizer with Community Voices Heard who lives in the Clinton Houses. “It’s a front, they already have their NextGeneration plans laid out.” Holmes resident Coleman

Brown, who identified himself as a “floor captain” for Community Voices Heard, led the crowd in a call and response session. “As you can see, Holmes Towers is united against private development on NYCHA land. This development would take away our land, light and playground,” Brown shouted into a megaphone, as the crowd repeated each line. “This is not affordable housing, its gentrification and privatization.” Community Voices Heard called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to increase funding for NYCHA out of the city budget and to cease private development on NYCHA land. Councilmember Ben Kallos offered words of support and vowed to stand with Holmes residents. Brown, in a later interview, said despite NYCHA’s assurances that the plan would ultimately benefit Holmes Towers residents, there’s virtually no upside for him and his neighbors. The plan will mean years of construction and more people in less space, all in exchange for repairs that NYCHA is obligated to make anyway. “My son plays in this park. My window faces this way. And they want to build a building in front of my window? My son loves to look out his window, and now he’s going to look at a building,” said Brown. “Going deeper into it, there’s years and years of mismanagement of money. They do stuff like wash the bricks when they should be fixing peoples’ apartments. Fix the hot water heater, fix the elevators that get stuck. They’re mismanaging money for beautification.” Brown believes the only reason NYCHA called the meeting with residents was to quell dissent about their plan. “Now that this is happening they’re going to have to go back to the drawing board,” he said. Before the walkout, Ferreira and other officials sought to dispel myths that NextGen NYCHA would displace or raise rents on residents.

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Garba in the City 2014 at Chelsea Piers. Photo: Garba in the City

SWIRLING IN THE CITY Garba in the City, a South Asian folk dance event in its fifth year, grows along with the city’s IndianAmerican population BY MAYA DANGERFIELD

A high-octane Indian dance is now a subway ride away. Once a year in October, dancers swirling in concentric circles transform the basketball courts at Chelsea Piers into one of Manhattan’s largest South Asian dance festivals. Decked out in traditional kurtas and saris, nearly 500 dancers whirl, kick and clap in tune to popular Indian folk and Bollywood songs during the annual Garba in the City event. For four hours, participants dance garba and raas — two Indian folk dances traditionally performed during Navaratri, a ninenight Hindu festival celebrating the goddess Durga. While Navaratri dates back thousands of years, Garba in the City is celebrating its fifth anniversary

this week. When festival founders Sneha Chandrasekaran, 31, and her husband, Vikram, 34, started looking for local Garba-Raas events, their search led to long commutes and crowded New Jersey venues. Although MetLife Stadium hosts an annual Garba-Raas that attracts thousands of dancers, the lack of Garba-Rass events on this side of the Hudson prompted the couple to create Garba in the City in 2011. “I wanted people to go to a GarbaRass in their own backyard,” Sneha Chandrasekaran said. Garba is a folk dance characterized by synchronous steps and quick twirls, while Raas involves participants clapping sticks together as dancers circle one another. Dancing can be tricky at larger events, Chandrasekaran said. “You can’t really dance or do the moves because people are running into each other and circles are hitting

one another because of space,” she said. The Asian American Federation notes that Manhattan’s Indian-American population has increased nearly 70 percent since 2010, with the borough now boasting about 27,000 Indian Americans, or roughly 1.6 percent of Manhattan’s residents. The rise of young Indian- and SouthAsian-American professionals who call Manhattan home corresponds with the increase of events like Garba in the City, according to Sahasra Sambamoorthi, 29, director of Navatman, an Indian classical music and dance organization. “If you look at the number of South Asian events in August alone you have the South Asian Film Lab and the South Asian International Performing Arts Festival and five years ago none of that was there,” Sambamoorthi said. While it’s still one of the few GarbaRaas celebrations in Manhattan, Gar-

ba in the City isn’t the city’s only dance event held during Navaratri. “In the Queens and the Richmond Hills area there are almost 50 to 75 Garba-Rass events,” said Pandit Vishal Maraj, 36, of the Hindu Learning Foundation, a community nonprofit in Ozone Park, Queens. Outer-borough Navaratri events are often held in Hindu temples and community centers that are supported by the borough’s Trinidadian, Guyanese, Indian and Bangladeshi populations. But for Manhattanites with no connection to the outer boroughs, Garba in the City offers an alternative celebration. “The attractiveness of events like Garba in the City is in part because I think the Queens and suburban ones tend to be more community-oriented,” Sambamoorthi said. “I’ve been to Garba in the City a couple of times and it’s very diverse.” The event, advertised widely on social media and spread via wordof-mouth through the city’s dance community, features a live band and typically attracts young professionals primarily between 18 and 35 years old. “I think it’s evolved. What’s great is that it’s not only South Asians but other dance enthusiasts who are unfamiliar with it [Garba-Raas],” Chan-

drasekaran said. According to Minila Shah, 34, director of Ajna Dance, a contemporary and classical Indian dance studio, the popularity of events such as Garba in the City and the increase of studios teaching South Asian dance corresponds to the nation’s increasing cultural recognition of South Asian Americans. A number of South Asian actors like Hannah Simone, of Fox’s “New Girl,” and Mindy Kaling, of Hulu’s “The Mindy Project,” now star in popular television shows. “There’s more South Asian culture and characters on TV shows, in standup comedians, in food — it’s definitely becoming more a part of American culture,” Shah said. At Chelsea Piers on Saturday, dancers will spin in time to the music and into the early morning. “People are there to dance and have a good time,” Shah said. “That’s why you’re there — it’s not a club environment, it’s not a wedding. It’s just someplace for people who love to dance to go to dance.” Garba in the City takes place Oct. 17 from 9:30 pm to 1:30 at the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers. More information can be found online at garbainthecity.com/

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