The local paper for Downtown wn A PERFECT PAINTER AT THE FICK
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CITYARTS, P.12 >
2015
NEIGHBORS BRIEFED ON PIER 55
Our Take A BIG STEP FORWARD ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING
NEWS Community meeting follows complaints about a lack of transparency BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
Anybody who wants to make a mark on the New York City landscape always faces questions from those who live in it. Monday night it was Barry Diller — billionaire chairman of IAC/InterActive Corp — and his $130 million dollar plans for a park that would float on the Hudson River at West 13th Street that drew community members to the Clinton School for Writers and Artists. The meeting was, organizers stressed, the first of many open forums to come in a project that has drawn flack for being too secretive. The park, called Pier 55, will replace the deteriorating Pier 54 with 2.7-acres of greenspace and performance venues elevated by mushroomshaped supports and separated from the shore by a 186-foot walkway. Panelists at the meeting on Monday were part of the group in charge of arts programming for Pier 55: George C. Wolfe, former artistic director of the Public Theater, Stephen Daldry, British film and theater director and producer, and Kate Horton, British theater executive. “I live about two blocks from Pier 55,” Daldry said, addressing the crowd of at least 60 people. “It did seem that [Pier 55] was a fantastic opportunity to do perhaps something else rather than just being a place for presenting commercial, money-making artistic enterprises … To try to have a new idea
Photos by Heather Clayton Colangelo
STILL FEELING THE MUSIC
CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
GRAYING NEW YORK A series looking at growing older in the city
SECOND OF SIX PARTS BY HEATHER CLAYTON COLANGELO EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS DIRECTED BY DORIAN BLOCK
It is a balmy Friday evening. The crowd at Local 802 is restless for the night’s entertainment to begin. Jazz musicians and aficionados have gathered to celebrate pianist Reynold “Zeke” Mullins’ 90th birthday. Jacquie Murdock’s health has been
inconsistent and unpredictable lately, but she didn’t want to miss what she hopes will be a spectacular night of music. A crowd of about 100 pack into the austere club room decorated with red and black balloons. Local 802 American Federation of Musicians is the home base of one of the largest local unions of professional musicians in the world. Musicians throughout New York City
Finally, some welcome, undeniable good news on the housing front in our city. This week’s deal between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Blackstone Group, one of the city’s biggest landlords, guarantees that Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, the largest apartment complex in Manhattan, will remain a place for working-class families. The Lower East Side complex will be sold for more than $5.3 billion to Blackstone -- but only after the mayor exacted a pledge that nearly half the 11,232-units stay affordable.“We weren’t going to lose StuyTown on our watch,” de Blasio said in a statement this week. The mayor derserves the kudos, which have been a long time coming. While he has made affordable housing an important part of his progressive plank since taking office, many of us have been skeptical about the execution of his plan to roll out 200,000 affordable units. The “affordable” part of the plan had remained out of reach for many New York families, and an unintended consequence of his plan has been a building and development boom that has priced many New Yorkers out of the city. The StuyTown deal, though, is solid. The fact that the mayor was able to cut this deal with Blackstone, a savvy Wall Street player, is an encouraging sign for future deals with developers. Maybe, just maybe, we’re finally seeing real progress in once again making this city a liveable place for everyone.
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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
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OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD TOBACCO DEAL TO NET CITY $137 MILLION The city will receive about $137 million as part of an expected settlement with tobacco companies, according to the Wall Street Journal. The agreement with state authorities ends a decade-long dispute that arose in 2003 following what was then called a breakthrough deal with tobacco companies in 1998. Arbitration followed and concluded in 2013, but just $92 million was released, the Journal said. The latest agreement, which is to be announced by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, provides $550 million in settlement funds, with half going to the state, a quarter to New York City and a quarter to counties outside the city, the Journal reported. The 1998 deal was intended to funnel funds for states to pay for associated costs of smoking-related health care. Mayor Bill de Blasio commended the agreement, saying “big tobacco companies have abused the legal system to avoid giving New Yorkers the money they’re owed for the health costs resulting from
cigarette smoking,” according the Journal.
CANAL 1 TRAIN STOP AMONG WORST STATIONS The Canal Street station on the number 1 subway line is among the city’s worst, according to State Senator Daniel Squadron, who surveyed all of the stations in his district last week, the Downtown
Express reported. The station had six of the seven conditions that Squadron, whose district includes lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn waterfront, and his office sought to document. The station had leaking water, graffiti, broken stairs, deteriorating walls, rodents, trash and pooling water, the Express reported. Other stations with similar problems are the R Train stop at Rector Street, the J/Z stop at Broad Street,
the A,C and E, stop at Canal, the 1 stop at Franklin Street, as well as the popular 2/3 Station at Wall Street. Many of these stations are scheduled for facelifts now that a fiveyear, $26.1 billion capital plan hammered out by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
CHUMLEY’S CLEARS ONE HURDLE The owners of Chumley’s
bar cleared one more hurdle in their attempts to reopen the Bedford Street pub when Community Board 2’s liquor licensing committee gave its OK. Chumley’s, which opened in a former blacksmith’s shop in 1922 as Prohibition raged, has been closed since its façade tumbled to the street, DNAinfo reported. The tavern’s operator, Jim Miller, was among those appealing to the committee to give its approval. Miller, a retired firefighter, has agreed to keep cut the bar’s hours to 11 a.m. through midnight Sunday to Thursday, and until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, according to DNAinfo. The full board will now consider the application. If it’s approved, the State Liquor Authority will decide whether to grant the bar an operating license. A group of residents calling themselves “Bar-Free Bedford,” have sued to try to keep the tavern from reopening, the news site reported.
BOURDAIN’S MARKET UNDER FIRE Anthony Bourdain’s plan to open a 155,000-squarefoot food market on Pier 57
has come under fire in some quarters. The Villager reports that the project by Bourdain, the chef, restaurateur and author, and some partners has some members of Community Board 4 worried that the venture could attract late-night crowds to the area, according to a report on thevillager.com reported. They noted that Hudson River Park has a curfew of 1 a.m. and that Bourdain Market, as the project is being called, would have to observe that constraint, the site reported. A proposed “friendly amendment” to a resolution accepting a traffic study would have stipulated that the board did not want the market open 24/7. The site also quoted Assemblywoman Deborah Glick as saying that the pier’s planned development did not received adequate public scrutiny. For now the pier, built in 1952, is in the midst of a required environmental review process and will be followed by a renovation, according to the Hudson River Park Trust, the city-state organization that oversees the park.
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Nothing is more important than your safety. So if you smell a gas leak, or see a downed power line or steam from a Manhattan manhole, call 911 or 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633) immediately. You can even do it anonymously. For more information, visit conEd.com.
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG
YOUTH BASEBALL OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF STEALING $90K Prosecutors say the treasurer of a New York City youth baseball organization stole more than $90,000 that was supposed to be used for sports programs for teenagers. William Jacobvitz was indicted on a second-degree grand larceny charge. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. says Jacobvitz stole from New York Gothams Youth Baseball Inc. between November 2011 and April 2014. Prosecutors say Jacobvitz was the group’s treasurer during that period and made more than 50 unauthorized withdrawals from its bank ac-
counts. They say he used the organization’s debit card to pay for personal car repairs totaling thousands of dollars. The money came from players’ fees and donations. Vance says it has not been repaid. Jacobvitz’s attorney, Stephen McCarthy, said his client pleaded not guilty.
ALL PINTS BULLETIN A quintet of thieves helped themselves to dessert. At 4:49 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9, five unknown perpetrators took ice cream worth more than $1,300 from freezers in the Duane Reade store at 305 Broadway, concealed the stuff in their backpacks and left the store. Police searched the area, but could not find the confectionery criminals. The items stolen were six cartons of Delish ice cream valued at $24 and 226 cartons of Häagen-Dazs priced at $1,286.
ZIP SLIP A failure to signal led to a Zip Car thief’s arrest. At 1:50 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, a police officer pulled over the 48-year-
STATS FOR THE WEEK
BEAVER CLEAVER
Reported crimes from the 1st Precinct for Oct. 5 - 11
Yet another shoplifter took a pricey garment from a downtown boutique. At 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9, a 30-year-old man entered the Vera Wang store at 158 Mercer St. and took a vinyl-sleeved beaver collar wool jacket valued at $2,495 of the rack and fled the store.
Week to Date
Year to Date
2015 2014
% Change
2015
2014 % Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
1
0
n/a
Rape
1
0
n/a
6
5
20.0
Robbery
3
0
n/a
54
38
42.1
Felony Assault
2
1
100.0
67
57
17.5
Burglary
2
0
n/a
99
121
-18.2
Grand Larceny
24
13
84.6
828
712
16.3
Grand Larceny Auto
1
0
n/a
19
19
0.0
old driver of a 2015 BMW X3 for failing to signal. The driver, later identified as Andrew Jones, had taken the car from a lot at 15 William St. using fraudulent means, police said. Jones was also found carrying a forged credit card, a New York State benefit card with false information, and a New York State driver’s license used to
obtain the Zip Car. Jones, of an undisclosed address, was charged with grand larceny.
CRV=CRIMINALLY REMOVED VEHICLE At 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11, a 76-year-old Yonkers woman parked her 2011 Honda CRV on the northwest corner of Sullivan
and Spring Streets. When she returned at 3:30 p.m., her vehicle was gone. A search of the area turned up nothing, and there were no witnesses to the theft, police said. The car also lacked a tracking device. The stolen vehicle bears New York plates 146-GI and is valued at $17,000.
ROBBER CLOBBER Police caught up with a thief who got physical with a jewelry store employee who tried to intercept him. At 6:45 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, a 23-year-old man later identified by police as Rason Peterson grabbed a yellow-metal chain necklace valued at from the hand of a 40-year-old male employee in the LGS jewelry store at 316 Canal St. Peterson took off, with the employee in close pursuit. When the employee caught up with Peterson, the bad guy punched the employee in the face several times causing swelling, redness, and a bleeding lip, police said. Peterson, of an undisclosed address, faces robbery charges.
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The 34 StreetHudson Yards station platform shortly after its opening on Sept. 13. Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin
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BY RAANAN GEBERER
The new, elaborate 34th Street Hudson Yards station on the number 7 subway line, complete with mosaics, angled elevators and more, has now been open a few weeks. But the station didn’t get there overnight. It was the result of years of planning, arguing, budget-crunching and revisions. And as impressive as the station and the overall 7 line extension may be, the plan is even more intriguing because of all the “might-havebeens” that weren’t built — but still may be someday. For quite some time, expansion of the subway system to the Far West Side had been talked about. In 1993, the city’s Planning Commission released a report called “Shaping the City’s Future,” which considered extending the Number 7 line (also known as the Flushing Line) to the Hell’s Kitchen area. In January 1999, then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani called plans for the Second Avenue subway (now under construction) “something of a pipe dream,” and said the city should first extend the 7 line to the Far West Side, according to The New York Times. This was around the time Giuliani proposed a domed stadium for the football Jets above the railyards (after his plan to move the Yankees to the area proved unpopular).
The subway extension plan picked up steam as part of the city’s bid to house the 2012 Summer Olympics. The stadium, which would also have played a role in the Olympics, was rejected and the city lost its bid — but the subway extension was approved. At the urging of the Bloomberg Administration, the station was financed by bonds, not as part of the usual MTA budget. A contract was awarded in October 2007, and construction began that December with a ceremony at Times Square. By December 2013, a ceremonial train carrying Mayor Bloomberg was able to run to the almost-finished station. Then, the project ran into delays. Many of them stemmed from problems with the station’s unusual inclined elevators, “snags in testing the fire alarms,” and the need for real estate developer Related to dig structures above the subway station for construction work, according to WNYC and the New York Post. After being postponed several times in 2014 and 2015, the new terminal opened Sept. 13 of this year. Here are some of the major “might-have-beens” about the number 7 subway extension: •A planned second station at 42nd Street and 10th Avenue. It would serve nearby residents and office workers as well as the area’s thriving Off-Broadway theater district. Plans for the station were shelved in late 2007. According to Digiplanet, an option for a “shell” in which
a future station could be built was part of the October 2007 contract, and in February 2009, the MTA announced it would build the station if it received sufficient funds from the federal economic stimulus program. Developers and local residents petitioned the powers-that-be to construct the shell, but in the end, construction continued without it. In 2010, Mayor Bloomberg said the station could still be built in the future — but it would have to be a station with one street entrance for each direction and no crossovers or cross-unders. In other words, it would have to be like an old-fashioned local station. The “Second Avenue Sagas” subway blog quotes thenDeputy Mayor for Economic Development Dan Doctoroff as saying in 2010 that “A Tenth Avenue station would be nice, but it’s really a straight transportation project versus an economic development catalyst.” •An extension south into Chelsea. During construction, many local residents doubtless wondered why work was going on in the 20s, since the line terminates at 34th Street. The answer is that layup tracks – where trains park while waiting to be put back into service – were built into the line, extending as far south as 25th Street. While this isn’t uncommon in the subway system, it raises possibilities — especially for residents of West Chelsea, where high-rise development continues. At the 2012 summit of the Regional Plan Association, then-MTA Chief Joe Lhota said, “As far as big projects are concerned, I could see the extension of the number 7 train to other parts of New York City’s West Side. It’s something I
would like to see go all the way down to 23rd Street.” However, according to NYC’s “Transportation Nation” blog, Lhota said this was part of his “wish list,” that there were no active plans to extend the line south, and that he wasn’t sure how physically feasible it was. •An extension across the Hudson River to Secaucus, New Jersey. This idea has gotten quite a lot of publicity. A feasibility study was done during the Bloomberg Administration and released by the Economic Development Corp. At Secaucus, the line would link with New Jersey Transit lines as well as MetroNorth’s Port Jervis line. “Extending the No. 7 subway line to Secaucus could easily cost $10 billion or more,” commented Larry Penner in the Observer. “Despite its great value to the area’s commuters, it’s hard to picture it becoming a reality.” Indeed, Lhota, when he still headed the MTA, famously commented, “It’s not going to happen in anybody’s lifetime.” And unlike in other cities — Boston, for example — the New York City subway system has never gone outside the city’s borders. Still, according to a 2014 article in nj.com, influential voices in the real estate and development communities, such as the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce and Stephen Spinola of the Real Estate Board of New York, have continued to advocate for the idea. In the meantime, let’s be glad that the subway extension has finally reached 34th StreetHudson Yards, and that thousands are taking advantage of it every day.
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
AMAZING IS WAKING UP. “It was like a flashbulb went off in my eyes.” That’s the last thing Nancy Jarecki remembers before a blood vessel in her brain exploded. Forty percent of people who suffer brain aneurysms like Nancy’s don’t survive. And of those who do, many have severely impaired brain function. But the skilled neurosurgery team at NewYork-Presbyterian helped Nancy beat the odds. When she opened her eyes in the recovery room, she wasn’t just awake—she was, to her own amazement, very much herself.
nyp.org/amazingthings
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OCTOBER 22-28,2015
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
STILL FEELING THE MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 drop in weekly to improvise together at their popular jazz jam nights. Jacquie doesn’t know the birthday boy personally, but she knows many others in the audience, dressed in a mix of bright colors and suits and fedoras in honor of Zeke. Many are old-time musicians and dancers, their lives intertwining frequently at events such as this, giving them a dependable sense of community and camaraderie. Jacquie dresses up, as usual. Tonight she carefully applied her makeup, slipped on a long, lipstick red dress, and pinned her customary flower in her hair. She sits up front, right next to the stage as people mill about around her conversing. Jacquie invited her friend Arlene to come with her, hoping they could make the trip from Greenwich Village to Midtown together. Arlene couldn’t commit and said maybe she’d meet her there. Disappointed but resolute, Jacquie traveled from the Village via C train alone. Jacquie glances around, wondering if Arlene has made it yet and why the music hasn’t started. She has also brought a birthday card for Zeke but she doesn’t know how to get it to him. Because of tonight’s lighting and her vision, Jacquie can’t see. Finally, the sound of a saxophone being tuned fills the air. A piano gives a chord and the snare of a drum reverberates through the room. Jacquie gets lost in the music. *** Jacquie was born in Harlem during the Great Depression to Edward Templeton Campbell, the son of a Scottish plantation owner and a Jamaican mother, and Icilda DeCosta, the daughter of a Cuban school teacher and Jamaican mother. In 1920, they immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba. Jacquie was born in 1930, at the height of the Great Depression. Jacquie says her parents, whom she adored, shielded her from the harsh realities of the times. She has great memories of growing up in the city. “Girls jump roping and playing hide and seek. Boys hitting the ball,” she says. “It was more innocent before TV came. You only had a radio. I used to sit on the rocking chair and visualize and choreograph myself while listening to the music.” Like many New Yorkers, Jacquie dreamed of pursuing her ambition—dancing—despite
objections from her parents. “I told my dad I wanted to be a dancer. That was like telling him I wanted to stand on the street corner,” Jacquie said. “I was born with a dancer’s spirit.” One of Jacquie’s proudest moments was when she danced as a chorus girl with the Norma Miller Dancers at the Apollo Theater in Harlem at the age of 17, during the theater’s heyday. Jacquie’s boyfriends and later, her husband, were not supportive of her dancing. And eventually, Jacquie found herself newly divorced and newly pregnant. Even though she went on to work a full-time day job at New York University, she held on to her dream of being a performer for decades, traveling in social circles with musicians, dancers and other artists, meticulously picking out her clothing every day and attending dance classes regularly. Her preparedness and patience paid off most generously in the last few years. Jacquie was walking in Union Square a few years ago when she was approached by the photographer of the blog, Advanced Style, which highlights stylish elders. He asked to photograph her, and Jacquie agreed. He put her in his blog, and book. A documentary of the same name followed, along with an appearance for Jacquie on The Today Show. As a result of the attention, at the the age of 82, she was selected to model for French luxury fashion house Lanvin in an international campaign shot by fashion photographer Steven Meisel at a photo shoot in Chelsea. Dressed in an emerald green peplum dress and long dangling earrings, with her hair swept up in a tight french chignon, she portrayed an elegant lady inside a opulent apartment. From a young age she had wanted to go to Paris and model. “I was just a little girl with a dream. It came late but it came true.” Jacquie says she is frequently stopped on the street, sometimes because people recognize her from Advanced Style, sometimes because they want to compliment her on her outfit, and other times just to see if she needs help crossing the street. Despite the challenge of limited vision -- Jacquie has become legally blind in the last decade from glaucoma and cataracts -she leads an active life. She typically travels alone to several different neighborhoods each week to go to dance rehearsals, jazz concerts, events and to run errands. She relies on public
I don’t want to [give up]. Once I lose my spirit that’s when you give up the ghost. I’m a fighter, a survivor, no matter how hard it gets I want to keep going. -- Jacquie Murdock transit, the occasional taxi and the arms and eyes of her fellow New Yorkers to get her where she needs to go. Jacquie is fiercely independent and she is ambitious. She has a list of things she wants to accomplish before her sight deteriorates further or before more ailments strike. She wants to model again. She wants to finish writing her autobiography and give lectures at college campuses. She wants to travel to Paris, Cuba, and Africa. “I don’t want to [give up]. Once I lose my spirit that’s when you give up the ghost,” Jacquie says. “I’m a fighter, a survivor, no matter how hard it gets I want to keep going.” She credits dance and her busy life with giving her purpose. “I think it’s the exercise and doing what you love,” she says. “Some people just want to sit down. They’re not into anything and just watch TV, and say ‘I’m old’ and that’s it.” In addition to the blindness and some hearing loss, Jacquie also suffers from atrial fibrillation and emphysema. She fainted on the subway early this year and ended up in the hospital. She worries about overdoing it and wearing out her heart. Despite her vision impairment, Jacquie hasn’t been to her ophthalmologist in months because she’s been overwhelmed with medical appointments for her heart along with fatigue and weight loss from over exerting herself last year during the publicity period for the Advanced Style documentary. “It’s a lot that I’ve been dealing with. I just let it go,” she says. She still has a supply of eye drops that she used in both eyes and plans on making an appointment soon. *** The party for Zeke at Local 802 is in full swing and Arlene is still nowhere to be found. Jacquie doesn’t seem to notice. She seems transfixed by the Harlem Blue and Jazz Band composed of many older jazz musicians. They move through
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
7
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
A NOTE ABOUT THIS SERIES
“Take the A Train,” “When the Saints Go Marching In,” and “What a Wonderful World.” In the next number, a women in a bright pink shalwar kameez picks up her Veena, a stringed instrument originating in ancient India, and plucks the beginning chord of “Amazing Grace.” Jacquie closes her eyes, taking in the melody. It’s one of her favorite songs. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see. She sings quietly along, swaying her head as if in a trance. “Beautiful. Beautiful.” Jacquie says when the song comes to a close. “I’ve never heard it played that way.” Al Vollmer, founder of the Harlem Blue and Jazz Band, jumps on stage, breaking the moment, and reminds the crowd that there is much to get to. He calls Zeke up to the stage and presents him with a plaque and citation of merit from Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Zeke shyly accepts and exits the stage. Just below stage right, a younger man stacks two green school chairs on top of each other. He helps 100-year-old jazz saxophonist Fred Stanton onto the top chair
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 and hands him his tenor sax. Jazz vocalist Ruth Brisbane sings Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” from the stage as Fred plays the melody from the floor, right in sync. The crowd cheers enthusiastically. Jacquie is eager to get a photo with the legendary saxophonist during the party. She knows the circle of musicians and aficionados loosely – some, like her tablemate Burt, are good friends, while others are friends of friends. Jacquie has lost many friends over the years, including one of her closest friends last year. She purposely surrounds herself with regular acquaintances as a way to buffer daily challenges, stay mentally sharp through critiques and conversation and avoid isolation. “We are all social human beings. We need to connect with other
people,” she says. Having an active social life, surrounded by fellow dancers, musicians and aficionados, supports her passion, forces her to stay physically active and gives her a sense of community. Seeing other people of her generation live so actively gives her drive. “We have something in common. We all have a passion for that artistic thing—dance, music, art. You have something to talk about.” Jacquie chats briefly with the singer, Ruth, before the band plays another set. “The only thing I don’t like is I don’t have a guy to dance with. We could get up [right now] and do the Lindy,” says Jacquie. Deep into the band’s set, Arlene finally arrives. They barely chat before the band switches to a roaring rendition of “Happy Birthday” and a large candlefilled cake is presented to Zeke. After a few more songs, to Jacquie’s regret, the party draws to a close. “They were excellent. Any time you get an older musician, they will be better because they’ve worked with the best,” she says. Jacquie immediately switches gears and sets out to find Zeke, the birthday boy, and Fred, the saxophonist. Jacquie clutches the birthday
card she’s brought for Zeke and a tear sheet from her page in the “Advanced Style” book, the way she prefers to introduce herself. Today, Jacquie’s sight and the room’s lighting allows her to see the stage but not specific people. “Where is he?” she asks into the air, searching for Zeke. “Where is he?” With help from others, she eventually finds them both. She delivers her card to Zeke who is caught in a crowd of other well-wishers, and she poses for a photo with Fred. People begin leaving the party. Jacquie searches for Arlene, who she expects will help her get home, but Arlene seems to have rushed ahead. Jacquie has trouble navigating the mess of discarded chairs and tables. Jacquie finally finds Arlene in the lobby of the building and they exit. Still unable to see very well, Jacquie relies on and follows Arlene’s disappearing figure through the night, ahead of her. 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
8
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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.
Letter
THE BEST ITEM ON THE MENU BY JAMES WHITE
WHAT WILL IT TAKE? To the Editor: Good letter from AJ Cross (“Harsh Justice for Bikes”). But why now? Where have you been Mr./Ms.Cross when these thoughtless bikers took over our roads? This has been going on for years and getting worse. I should know since I have advocated licensing bikes since 2006. You identify, fine them, and there may be a change in mind-set. No amount of letters to all who could read has changed anyone’s thoughts. I was at a two-hour meeting covering the community held at Club JASA, where the Commissioner of the D.O.T. rose to speak and her opening words were that there were no plans to license bikes. The meeting had another hour to go but I felt there was no reason for me to stay after she had heard from two women who were still suffering from being knocked down by a biker and, apparently, it meant nothing to her. When you have elected officials who love bike lanes and give away free helmets to bikers to be sure they are all protected and seem to be accepting of laws being broken, then it’s tough going. When does consideration of pedestrians, including the elderly, come into view? I did note, however, that the CitiBike riders are very quick learners. They, too, are emulating those breaking the laws with no one blinking while this situation is getting worse by the day. I often wonder what type of disaster it would take for those in power to see the light. Bunny Abraham Upper West Side
STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source
It’s happy hour, a little after 5 on a Thursday evening. There isn’t one free stool at the bar and only a couple empty seats at the tables. The sounds of laughter, conversation and sports talk fill the room above an undercurrent of classic rock ‘n’ roll. Most of the patrons have drifted in after another day at work. People walk through the doors and make their way down the bar, shaking hands, exchanging hugs and high-fives before finding their regular seats and stools. All around, the good cheer is palpable, much like the bright sunlight streaming in through the front windows. Sully, an accomplished joke-teller is at the taps while Ellie, a 20-something waitress, shuffles between the tables and bar with a smile on her face and a plate of chicken wings in her hand. On the surface, the scene appears typical — another snapshot of life inside of one of New York’s numerous taverns and bars but more observant viewers might recognize a difference. Indeed, this is no ordinary Irish bar — this is Tara Hill. There is a culture inside Tara Hill that is homogenous yet multicultural at the same time. Homogenous, because the vibe is uniformly welcoming, friendly and tight. Multicultural, because of the eclectic clientele who socialize there. Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, African-Americans, Irish, Italians, Eastern Europeans, South Americans and Asians are all present. Doctors, lawyers, college professors, retired police officers, firemen and Wall Street types rub elbows, joke and exchange opinions with doormen, porters, students, office workers, house painters and couriers. The spirit inside can only be described as “New York.” As highrise apartment buildings continue to spring up everywhere, blotting out both sun and sky and the influx of big money and new inhabitants shows no signs of a slowdown, New Yorkers are now being divided and sequestered by socioeconomic mechanisms in ways that have been unseen in this town for more than 100 years. In effect, these mechanisms have stunted the fire beneath the melting pot. If left
Vice President/CFO Otilia Bertolotti Vice President/CRO Vincent A. Gardino advertising@strausnews.com
unchecked, those same mechanisms are sure to snuff it out. Points of contact — places where people of every socioeconomic stripe meet, talk and share experiences are dwindling at an alarming rate. Tara Hill is one of the city’s few remaining gems, a vital and important point of contact on the Upper West Side that has managed to hang on despite the on-
Associate Publishers, Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth Sr. Account Executive, Tania Cade
slaught. On the northeast corner of 108 Street and Broadway, Tara Hill is more than just an Irish bar and restaurant — it is one of the few places in this town that still harbors the spirit and experience that made New York the greatest city on earth. Stop in sometime and see for yourself. New York is in great need of more places that foster contact between the city’s
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
varied groups. In the meantime, it is paramount to recognize and protect points of contact that still exist. They say there is strength in numbers, so come on down and join the conversation. Stop in for a burger or a beer, meet your neighbors and make new friends. There is a lot we can all learn from each other. That is a commodity no one can put a price on.
Staff Reporters, Gabrielle Alfiero, Daniel Fitzsimmons
Block Mayors, Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
9
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
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NEIGHBORS BRIEFED ON PIER 55 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 about what a park could be— a performance park could be.” Construction on Pier 55 is set to begin in 2016 with a projected opening in 2018. Wolfe in particular expressed his enthusiasm about the opportunity the park, and Diller’s financial commitment, would provide for artists to experiment without fear of consequences. “One of the things that I absolutely, completely and totally loved when I was running the Public was the idea that I had X amount of money that I could give to artists and that they could go into a room and play,” Wolfe said. “And that success wasn’t required, you know. Risk was required.” Though most attendees at the meeting were supportive -- if cautiously -- of the park’s proposed impact on the local arts community, the same concept of risk that excites Wolfe is one that worries others. Mel Stevens, who said he was with a group called Save Our River, had a simple question for the panel: “Why in the
river?” He went on to protest the new intrusion into the Hudson. “It’s a navigable waterway, it’s a natural resource. This can be done on land,” Stevens said. Other concerns brought up by attendees included noise control, environmental sustainability, LGBT outreach and accessibility to all kinds of art, from spoken word to playwriting. Most of the feedback, however, was positive. “The river will be loved and used if it is loved and used, and therefore the more we give to the river the more people will love the river,” said another community member who did not give her name. “I was here when there were dead bodies in the river, and the fact that we use the river with love and affection now, and we have so many things going on, has made the river cleaner and better.” Several parents asked about how Wolfe, Daldry and Horton planned to interact with local schools. In answer to one parent who asked about the funding of partnerships between schools and the park, Daldry responded that he is “not interested” in having parents bear any of the cost. “I mean, it seems to me that part of our function is to add resources
to the schools,” he said. Since the park is still in such early stages of planning — the lease agreement on the pier was only approved in February — the meeting’s purpose was mostly to get ideas from the community on what they’d like to see. One person suggested a community garden; many hoped for their kids to be able to work with the park’s artists on things their schools don’t allow time for. For Horton, the most exciting aspect of Pier 55 is the park’s flexibility as a public space that will be around for a long time. “One of the things I love about the amphitheater is that that can be ... completely self-sustaining,” she said, in comments after the meeting. “We’ve developed the design in a way where actually, in the mists of time that none of us can guess at, it doesn’t have venues that have to be filled. … In a hundred years’ time people could be doing something completely different with it, and that’s fine.” Though no further community meetings are scheduled at this time, the audience was assured many times that their voices would not be forgotten.
10
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Out & About More Events. Add Your Own: Go to otdowntown.com
FREE Electronics Recycling Safely and Properly Thu 22 Dispose Your eWaste Sunday, October 25th Lower East Side @L SN OL r 1@HM NQ 2GHMD Stop by with your old electronics for eco-friendly recycling. All participants will receive a coupon for up to $20 off a qualifying purchase at Tekserve.*
For more locations and details, visit tekserve.com/recycling *Coupon valid for $10 off any single purchase of $50 or more; $20 off any single purchase of $100 or more. Expires December 31, 2015.
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BIG OUTDOOR SITESPECIFIC STUFF â&#x2013;˛
Piers 62-66 7:15 p.m. and from 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Free 39 STEPS A site-speciďŹ c performance festival featuring new works by Union Square Theatre, 100 East some of New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most promising emerging theatre 17th St. artists. Presented by En Garde 8 p.m.$39. Arts, the company founded and A comedic spoof of the Hitchcock classic ďŹ lm 39 Steps. recently resurrected by Anne Hamburger. 1-800-840-9227. engardearts.org/bosss/ www.39stepsny.com
MUSIC WORKSHOP SERIES AT TRINITY CHURCH 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 Trinityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s music staff. All levels and ages welcome. 212-602-0800. www. trinitywallstreet.org
Fri 23 ROCK THE YACHT â&#x2013;ş Pier 15, South Street Seaport. 8 a.m. Starting at $25. A 3-hour harbor cruise, open bar and DJ. 21+. 212-732-8257. hornblowernewyork.com/cruises/ rock-the-yacht-cruise/
Sat 24 CABARET: BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD The Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd St. 4 p.m. $22.50. Tracey Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Farrell in her original solo cabaret show debut, produced in collaboration with legendary New York composer and director David Friedman. or by calling. 212-206-0440. www. metropolitanroom.com
CRAFT BEER TASTING SAIL ABOARD THE CLIPPER CITY The Battery, Slip 2, South End Ave. Noon-2 p.m. Starting at $25. 1,500 Brews available for testing as you sail through the h=Harbor with a view of Lower Manhattan. 212-619-6900. www. manhattanbysail.com/sails/viewsails/Clipper%20City/Craft%20
Beer%20Tasting%20Sail/36/
Sun 25 THE MARKETPLACE AT ST ANTHONYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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
NEW YORK SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH CRUISES Pier 40, 353 West Street. Noon-2:30 p.m.$74.95. Gather family and friends down at Pier 40 to enjoy brunch from a boat on the Hudson while listening to Jazz and enjoying the Manhattan skyline. 212-989-9536. https://www. hornblower.com/port/overview/ ny+jazz-cruise
Mon 26 â&#x20AC;&#x153;9-5â&#x20AC;? PERFORMANCE BrookďŹ eld Place, 200 Vesey St. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. Eleven performers dressed in white attire will spend eight hours a day silently watching and writing about the thousands of
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
commuters. 212-627-8098. brookfieldplaceny.com/
WHOO’s
FRENCH LITERATURE IN THE MAKING: FLORENCE AUBENAS ►
THE CUTEST?
costume
La Maison Française NYU, 16 Washington Mews (at University Place) 7 p.m. Free Aubenas, an author and journalist with Le Monde, in conversation with Olivier Barrot 212-998-8750. maison. francaise@nyu.edu
showcase
It’s that time of year to break
Tue 27
out those pirate, witch,
ORGAN CONCERT FT. KEN COWAN, ONE OF NORTH AMERICA’S GREATEST ORGANISTS ►
355 Seventh Ave. 6:30 p.m. $28. Try and escape this locked room with friends and strangers as a zombie tries to get you, you have one hour. 470-236-2699. roomescapeadventures.com
Marble Collegiate Church, Fifth Avenue at 29th Street. 7:30 p.m. $20 ($15 for students and seniors). Ken Cowan will provide a concert to celebrate the installation in the church’s sanctuary of a spectacular new pipe organ. 212-576-2700. www. marblechurch.org/
Matthew Sontheimer will discuss his drawings, the role text and images play in his works, and his continued exploration of “conversational drawings.” events.newschool.edu/ event/ny_comics_picturestory_symposium_matthew_ NY COMICS & PICTURE- sontheimer#.ViUhGn5JbIU
STORY SYMPOSIUM: MATTHEW SONTHEIMER The Bark Room (Orientation Room), Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th St., Room M101 7 p.m. Free
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Wed 28 TRAPPED IN A ROOM WITH A ZOMBIE
THE ARCHITECTURE OF PROXIMITY Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th St. 8 p.m., Oct. 28-31; 3 p.m., Nov. 1, 10003, NYC. $30; $25/ students & seniors. an immersive dance work combining elements of postmodern dance, voguing, gestural and impulse generated movement. 646-395-4310. onlineedge.14streety.org/ OnlineEdge/showdetail. html?descrip=The%20 Architecture%20of%20 Proximity
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!
ROOM ESCAPE ADVENTURES,
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
A PERFECT PAINTER AT THE FRICK The museum celebrates the art of a tailor’s son BY VAL CASTRONOVO
Andrea d’Agnolo (1486-1530), better known as Andrea del Sarto because he was the son of a tailor (sarto), ran the largest and most productive workshop in Florence in the early 1500s. In his lifetime, he was a star, patronized by the Medicis and ranked with the likes of Michelangelo. But that changed after he died of plague at 43 and became the subject of a poisonous account in former pupil Giorgio Vasari’s famous “Lives of the Artists,” published in 1550. Vasari conceded in his long biographical sketch that del Sarto painted perfectly, “senza errori” — without errors. But he dubbed him “timid” and suggested he lacked ambition and an innovative style. And he criticized his excessive devotion to his wife, Lucrezia, the model for almost all his Madonnas. As Aimee Ng, associate curator at the Frick, summarized Vasari’s written portrait of the artist at a recent preview of the show: “He could have been a better artist if not for his wife. He used her face too often.” The zingers stuck and del Sarto’s reputation faded for centuries until recent scholarship showed that Vasari’s account was not true, the curator said. Now the Frick, in collaboration with The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, is staging a gorgeous exhibit of his drawings and paintings in an attempt to give the master his due. “He deserves more recognition,” Ian Wardropper, the Frick’s director, remarked at the preview.
The exhibit is being billed as the first major monographic exhibit of this eclipsed artist’s works in the U.S. Fresh from a summer run at the Getty, the three paintings and 45 drawings (all loans) are presented in the Oval Room and lower-level galleries, with the latter the starting point. Descend the winding staircase and what follows is a dizzying succession of figure studies, head studies and rare compositional studies, more than half in red chalk, a favored medium for its tonal range. The drawings, some highly finished but many rough sketches, are walkups to the paintings and a window on the creative process. “The road to Andrea’s faultless paintings was paved with drawings,” Ng said during a lively tour of the works on paper, virtually all executed with an eye to fulfilling his workshop’s numerous commissions for portrait paintings, frescoes and altarpieces. Del Sarto drew from life, using his wife and studio assistants in abundance, but he also drew from art — marble sculptures were a key source of inspiration. But regardless of the source, the works come alive and convey a sense of drama, emotion and psychological intensity. Because practice makes perfect, this faultless painter was constantly revising and reworking the drawings. As Ng said standing before a wall with six chalk studies for the altarpiece “Madonna of the Steps”: “He draws and re-draws to get the parts perfect.” And because it was expedient, he reused drawings, too. The Getty’s Julian Brooks, the exhibit’s chief curator, later told a packed au-
ditorium at the museum that del Sarto “was absolutely as famous as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, [but] none of those masters drew like this,” a reference to his shorthand strokes and abstracted way of rendering the human figure in a drawing of Evangelists. He produced sculptural effects via his “emphasis on outline as he sort of carves the figures from the paper.” This tailor’s son was raised in a tailor’s shop and was “looking at fabrics constantly,” Brooks said, hence the preoccupation with the colors of garments and “the observation of how they fall.” Pieces like the head of Julius Caesar have the look of “a finished painting,” Ng observed, noting its extreme refinement. The same could be said for “Study for the Head of Saint John the Baptist” (ca. 1523), a black chalk portrait of an adolescent boy that graces the Oval Room and accompanies the show’s painting of Florence’s patron saint. Another standout: “Study of the Head of a Young Woman” (ca. 1523), a delicate, red chalk drawing of Mary Magdalene, the repentant prostitute who dried Jesus’ feet with her hair after bathing them with her tears. Her head is bowed, and strands of hair frame her face in an allusion to this act of devotion. But “Portrait of a Young Man” (ca. 1517-18), a dark, secular painting in the Oval Room, is surely the show’s most enigmatic piece. The work may or may not be a self-portrait, with the object the subject holds, a key to his identity, in dispute (a marble block, a brick, a book?). What is certain is the identity of the painter—see the monogram, two interlocking “A”s on the upper left, for Andrea d’Agnolo—and the brilliant play of light. Our tour guide giddily acknowledged the “Andrea del Sarto mania” gripping the city this fall: The Metropolitan Museum is hosting a complementary exhibit focused on two related paintings—“Borgherini Holy Family” (ca. 1528) and “Charity” (before 1530). Catch the spirit.
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
Andrea del Sarto (1486–1530), Portrait of a Young Man, ca. 1517–18 Oil on canvas, 28 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches National Gallery, London © The National Gallery, London
IF YOU GO WHAT: “Andrea del Sarto: The Renaissance Workshop in Action” WHERE: The Frick Collection, 1 East 70th St. WHEN: Through Jan. 10. www.frick.org
Andrea del Sarto (Italian, 1486 - 1530), Study of the Head of a Young Woman, about 1523 Red chalk, 21.7 x 17 cm (8 9/16 x 6 11/16 in.) Framed: 52.5 x 39.5 x 3 cm (20 11/16 x 15 9/16 x 1 3/16 in.) Istituti museale della Soprintendenza Speciale per Il Polo Museale Fiorentino
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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TOP MUSEUMS
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
FOR THE WEEK BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO OUR ARTS EDITOR
ALBERTO BURRI: THE TRAUMA OF PAINTING Alberto Burri’s unconventional approach to his materials, most famously seen in a series of ripped and stitched burlap sacks that appear wounded, recurs throughout this retrospective of more than 100 pieces. The exhibition features many works never seen beyond the artist’s native Italy, and includes a newly-commissioned film by Petra Noordkamp that chronicles the creation of Burri’s “Grande Cretto,” a 20-acre cement memorial in a town in Sicily that was hit by an earthquake in 1968. Alberto Burri: The Trauma of Painting Through Jan. 6 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 1071 Fifth Ave., between E. 88th and E. 89th Streets Museum hours: Sunday-Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-7:45 p.m.; closed Thursday Admission $25 For more information, visit guggenheim.org or call 212-423-3500
DANCE
MUSIC
BALLETNEXT AT NEW YORK LIVE ARTS
MOON HOOCH Brooklyn jazz trio Moon Hooch busked in subway stations, earning audiences for its rhythmic and energetic approach. The percussion and dual saxophone group also aspires to smart eating: the band maintains a food blog that explores healthy eating while on tour. Ahead of the performance, drummer James Muschler leads a cooking lesson. Friday, Oct. 23 Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine 1047 Amsterdam Ave., at 112th Street 7:30 p.m. cooking demonstration, followed by performance Tickets $20 To purchase, visit stjohndivine.org or purchase at the venue
American Ballet Theatre alum Michele Wiles premieres “Apogee in 3” with her company BalletNext during its two-week stint at New York Live Arts. Danced by six dancers to live music performed by jazz outfit the Tom Harrell Quintet, the three-part piece includes a section where Wiles improvises to trumpeter Harrell’s instrumental improvisation. Wiles also performs “Don’t Blink,” a duet with flex dancer Jay Donn. BalletNext at New York Live Arts Oct. 27-Nov. 7 New York Live Arts 219 W. 19th St., between Seventh and Eighth Avenues Assorted show times Tickets $15-$40 For tickets, visit balletnext.com or call 212924-0077
THEATER
COYOTE DANCERS
“SONGBIRD”
Choreographer Maher Benham premieres her new work “A Song for Dudley” with her company Coyote Dancers. A tribute to Benham’s mentor, Dudley Williams, a dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater who performed with the company for 40 years and passed away earlier this year, the piece features live accompaniment, including spirituals sung by Henry Holmes. The program also includes repertory pieces, including Benham’s tribute to Martha Graham. Coyote Dancers Oct. 23-25 Martha Graham Studio Theatre 55 Bethune St., 11th floor, at Washington Street 8 p.m. Tickets $25 To purchase, visit managearts.com/coyote
A country singer who’s seen her popularity wane returns home to Nashville where she hopes to help the child she left behind start his own music career. Written by Michael Kimmel and based on Anton Chekov’s “The Seagull,” “Songbird” includes music and lyrics by Lauren Pritchard, who was inspired by her own time in Tennessee. Oct. 24-Nov. 29 59E59 Street Theaters 59 E. 59th St., between Park and Madison Avenues Tickets $70 To purchase tickets, visit 59e59.org or call 212-279-4200 To be included in the Top 5 go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Building the 9/11 Memorial Museum
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27TH, 7PM National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum | 180 Greenwich St. | 212-312-8800 | 911memorial.org The architects of the 9/11 museum discuss their design principles and the many challenges that accompanied rebuilding at Ground Zero. (Free)
Billion Year Bronx
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28TH, 6PM Seaport Culture District | 181 Front St. | 212-748-8600 | cfa.aiany.org As part of the Sea Level: Five Boroughs at Water’s Edge exhibtion, learn more about the deeper history of New York City’s foundation in a talk on ancient bedrock and geology. (Free)
Just Announced | House of SpeakEasy: Happy Now?
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH, 8PM City Winery | 155 Varick St. | 212-608-0555 | citywinery.com Catch a night of literary cabaret with a novelist, a physicist, a humorist, a poet and more, as the House of SpeakEasy returns to question what it means to be happy. ($10-$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.
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OCTOBER 22-28,2015
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS OCT 7 - 16, 2015
Black Iron Burger
333 7Th Ave
Grade Pending (19) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Cafe Nadery
16 West 8 Street
Grade Pending (36) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. Evidence of 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.
Pinche Taquiera
103 W 14Th St
Grade Pending (29) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Jack & Henry Popcorn(Bowtie Cinemas)
260 W 23Rd St
A
Ushiwakamaru
362 W 23Rd St
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.
Famous Champion Pizza
123 Essex Street
A
Mia Romi Pizzeria
85 Pitt St
Grade Pending (40) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Remedy Diner
245 East Houston Street
A
La Isla Cafe Restaurant
212 Delancey Street
Grade Pending (75) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food 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. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
Hair Of The Dog
168 Orchard Street
A
Zeng Bao Lunch Box
15 Division St
Grade Pending (19) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml. Gammeeok
9 W 32Nd St
Grade Pending (45) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
K Town
34 West 32 Street
A
Gigi Cafe
307 7 Avenue
A
Think Coffee
500 W 30Th St
Not Graded Yet (32) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
Corso Coffee
537 W 27Th St
Grade Pending (59) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. 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. No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment.
TGI Fridays
211 W 34Th St
A
Dunkin Donuts
391 8Th Ave
A
Hoa Cafe
370 8Th Ave
Grade Pending (30) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Till & Sprocket
140 W 30Th St
A
Best Bagel & Coffee
225 West 35 Street
A
Bar Goto
245 Eldridge St
Salt And Pepper Diner
139 West 33 Street
Grade Pending (27) Food worker does not wash hands thoroughly after using the toilet, coughing, sneezing, smoking, eating, preparing raw foods or otherwise contaminating hands. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Not Graded Yet (21) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Adventure Cafe
85 Delancey St
Not Graded Yet (29) 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.
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
Reach Manhattan’s Foodies
Sports FLAG FOOTBALL PEP RALLY
96% Asphalt Green held its 2nd Annual Flag Football Pep Rally on October 17, sponsored by Pepsi Co. Thirteen flag football teams and their families showed up to celebrate the hard work of the Community Sports Leagues. Spectators were given noise makers, pompoms, and signs to cheer on their teams. More than 150 attendees received free refreshments.
of readers report eating out more than once a week
39% of readers report eating out
more than four times a week
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E FOOD & WYOINUR FEST IN ORHOOD NEIGHB FES TIVALS
Advertise with Our Town Downtown! Central Park’s East 72nd Street Playground reopened Oct. 15, with a brief ceremony to mark the completion of a comprehensive renovation. The Central Park Conservancy removed the steel panel fence and replaced it with a low seat wall around the edge of the play zone; installed a lightweight mesh fence that meanders through landscape plantings to ensure the play environment is contained while improving its relationship to the surrounding landscape; reconstructed water and sand play to make them more fun and more accessible to all children, including those who use wheelchairs; and built a new climber connecting to the pyramid climber, and added new slides as well as tire and strap swings. The East 72nd Street Playground reconstruction was made possible by The LeRoy Schecter Foundation.
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Call Vincent Gardino at 212-868-0190 The local paper for Downtown
YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS SOURCE
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OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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Business
In Brief AN OMBUDSMAN FOR HPD? The city council recently introduced legislation that seeks to increase transparency and accountability in the city’s Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development. If passed, this legislation will create an “ombudsman” position within HPD that is responsible for tracking issues with contractors related to wage theft, labor violations, or shoddy construction, according to Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, a sponsor. “The bill would also refine the language used to describe a responsible contractor to ensure the city does not continue to work with contractors that do not have respect for the law or workers’ rights,” said Rosenthal in a press release. New York City labor unions and housing advocates praised the Rosenthal and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, also a sponsor, for their efforts to reform HPD. “Today Speaker Mark-Viverito has once again shown that she, as well as Councilmember Rosenthal, are among the staunchest advocates for the working men and women of New York City,” said Mike Prohaska, Business Manager, Construction & General Building Laborer’s Local 79.
JAIL POPULATION TRANSPARENCY BILL TO BE SIGNED INTO LAW Mayor Bill de Blasio recently signed into law Councilmember Helen Rosenthal’s bill requiring the city to post comprehensive, quarterly reports online on all individuals held in city jails, including bail amounts and length of stay. The bill belongs to a package of eight bills on Department of Corrections reforms, all of which were recently signed into law. Nearly 40 percent of the NYC jail population is in jail because they cannot afford bail, according to Rosenthal’s office. Most are accused of nonviolent crimes, such as possession of marijuana or jumping a subway turnstile, and 20 percent of non-felony defendants will ultimately not be convicted. “[This law] allows all of us to get answers to crucial questions that we cannot answer today: of the over 10,000 inmates in city jails right now, what charges are they facing, how long have they been locked up, and for what bail amounts?” said Rosenthal. “In other words, we’re spending over $2.2 billion on this system, and this bill tries to answer the question, ‘Why?’”
DISABILITY ADVOCATES COME OUT AGAINST UBER In a letter today to the city council’s Manhattan delegation chairs Margaret Chin and Corey Johnson, United Spinal Association President and CEO James Weisman called for legislative action to address Uber’s “failure to support the expansion of wheelchair-accessible transportation in New York City.” United Spinal claims Uber’s business model takes more than $80,000 per day away from transit and wheelchairaccessibility funding efforts. Unlike yellow and green cabs, Uber does not pay a 50-cent surcharge to support the MTA, and it also does not pay a 30-cent improvement surcharge to reimburse purchasers of wheelchair accessible taxis for capital and operating expenses associated with accessibility equipment. Weisman claims Uber has expanded 15 percent in New York City over the past four months, at a cost of millions in potential funding, further stifling the effort to put more wheelchair-accessible cars on the road. Drivers of wheelchair accessible cabs are required to respond to calls for service if they’re the closest accessible cab.
GOOGLE CLEARED TO DIGITIZE BOOKS NEWS Manhattan court OKs the move despite complaints from authors BY LARRY NEUMEISTER
Google is not violating copyright laws by digitizing millions of books so it can provide small portions of them to the public, a federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled in a decadelong dispute by authors worried that the project would spoil the market for their work. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan agreed with a judge who concluded that the snippets Google showed customers from its database was a transformative use of the information and thus did not violate copyright laws. Judge Denny Chin ruled in November 2013 that Google’s digitization of over 20 million
books, mostly out-of-print titles, did not violate copyrights because the Mountain View, California-based company only showed short sections of the books in its database. Chin had said it would be difficult for anyone to read any of the works in their entirety by repeatedly entering different search requests. In an opinion written by Judge Pierre N. Leval, the appeals court agreed, saying the snippet feature “substantially protects against its serving as an effectively competing substitute for plaintiffs’ books.” It added: “Snippet view, at best and after a large commitment of manpower, produces discontinuous, tiny fragments, amounting in the aggregate to no more than 16% of a book. This does not threaten the rights holders with any significant harm to the value of their copyrights or diminish their harvest of copyright revenue.”
The three-judge appeals panel did acknowledge, though, that some book sales would likely be lost if someone were merely searching for a portion of text to ascertain a fact. The Authors Guild and various authors had challenged Google in 2005, contending that the digital book project violated their rights. Writers included Jim Bouton, author of the best-seller “Ball Four,” Betty Miles, author of “The Trouble with Thirteen,” and Joseph Goulden, author of “The Superlawyers: The Small and Powerful World of Great Washington Law Firms.” Google Inc. has made digital copies of tens of millions of books from major research libraries and established a publicly available search function. It planned ultimately to scan over 100 million books, including material from the New York Public Library, Library of Congress and several major universities.
The appeals court said Google’s profit motivation does not justify denial of something that overall enhances public knowledge. “Many of the most universally accepted forms of fair use, such as news reporting and commentary, quotation in historical or analytic books, reviews of books, and performances, as well as parody, are all normally done commercially for profit,” the court noted. The appeals panel said it recognized that libraries that had negotiated with Google to receive digital copies from the company might use them in an infringing manner. It said that could expose the libraries and Google to liability but called it “sheer speculation” to raise the issue now. Lawyers did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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Sports
Neighborhood Scrapbook
FLAG FOOTBALL PEP RALLY
ALEXANDER ROBERTSON’S TIES TO MALAWI
Asphalt Green held its 2nd Annual Flag Football Pep Rally on October 17, sponsored by Pepsi Co. Thirteen flag football teams and their families showed up to celebrate the hard work of the Community Sports Leagues. Spectators were given noise makers, pompoms, and signs to cheer on their teams. More than 150 attendees received free refreshments.
Artwork: SOGNO D’AMORE (LOVE DREAM), signed J. Dazzi / P. Barzantu & Gallery / Florence Gallery: F & P Associated, Gallery 39, phone: (212) 644-5885
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
The Alexander Robertson School had a skype conversation with the students of the Jacaranda School for Orphans in Malawi on Oct. 16. Marie Da Silva, founder of the orphanage, was at the school to help facilitate the conversation. The Alexander Robertson School regularly contributes goods and funds to the Malawian school, including raising more than $1,000 following mud slides in Blantyre, where the orphanage is located. Pictured are, from left, Rev. Leslie Merlin, Marie DaSilva, Irwin Shlachter, head of the Alexander Robertson School, and Elsie Juwayeyi, a fifth grade teacher who is also from Malawi.
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OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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RAT SIGHTINGS ON THE RISE NEWS Comptroller is critical of city’s response BY MICHAEL BALSAMO
To many in New York City, the rats are winning. The city’s complaint hotline is on pace for a record year of rat calls, exceeding the more than 24,000 over each of the last two years. Blistering audits have faulted efforts to fight what one official called a “rat crisis.” And even jaded New Yorkers were both disgusted and a little impressed by “Pizza Rat,” the plucky rodent in a recent viral YouTube clip seen dragging a large cheese slice down a subway stairwell. Nora Prentice, who lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, has repeatedly complained to the city about a colony of about 200 rats in a neighborhood park. “It’s like the Burning Man of rats,” she said. “They’re just sitting there in a lawn chair waiting for you. I don’t know
what the city can do about this rat condominium. It’s really gross.” Prentice said that she avoids the area because of the rats and that complaints she filed with the city were closed after officials told her they were “working on the problem.” “It means you can’t lay down and relax in that park,” she said. “What kind of an answer is this?” Such gripes have found an advocate in Comptroller Scott Stringer, the city’s top financial officer, who has taken on the self-appointed role of rat czar. In separate audits over the past two years, he has criticized the city’s health department for not responding quickly enough to rat complaints, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the subways, for not cleaning stations more regularly. Such breakdowns, he says, have allowed rats to thrive. “I’ve seen rats walking upright, saying, `Good morning, Mr. Comptroller,’” he said. “It’s unsightly to see rats running
through neighborhoods like they actually bought a co-op somewhere.” New York officials who have been fighting the battle for decades say rising complaint numbers don’t mean there are more rats, and they argue the rat population has actually been holding steady the past few years. A Columbia University doctoral student using statistical analysis last year estimated the number of rats in the city at 2 million, claiming to debunk a popular theory that there is one rat for each of the city’s 8.4 million people. But scientists and city officials say it’s impossible to accurately estimate the number. “There’s no way to do that,” said Caroline Bragdon, a city’s health department scientist and resident rat expert. Scientists can estimate the number of rats in a fixed area, like a park, by counting burrows and multiplying it by 10, but larger estimates are just not accurate, she said. The spike in complaints of
rat sightings and conditions attracting rodents is probably because garbage was left festering on sidewalks during last winter’s large snowfalls, and registering complaints is easier now with the city’s 311 complaint line smartphone app, Bragdon said. Bragdon’s team responds to such complaints, compiles a citywide “rat index” and inspects dozens of buildings each month. What started as a team of less than a dozen has now expanded to nearly 50 people, working with a nearly $3 million annual budget to implement the latest push to control rodents. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new “rat reservoir” plan targets communities with the highest number of rat complaints and seeks to dismantle habitats and food sources. That effort includes setting traps, installing rodent-resistant trash cans and working on legislation that would require restaurants to hose away sludge from dripping garbage. Every little bit helps, Bragdon
said. Unlike the voracious Pizza Rat, she says, most rats need only an about an ounce of food and water daily to survive. “It’s an apple core, it’s a piece of a hotdog, a couple of chips. It’s the crumbs,” she said. “You’d much rather prevent rats from being here than treat them with poison after they’re here.” But not all new techniques have worked out. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit finding little tangible success from a pilot program by the MTA to rid the subways of rats by removing trash cans from some stations, forcing riders to go above ground to throw away their garbage. The audit said the MTA had mostly selected stations with low rodent sightings to begin with, so it was hard to gauge any reduction. “There are a lot of rats, especially at night,” subway rider
The marine transfer station under construction. Photo by Daniel Fitzsimmons.
SLEEPLESS IN YORKVILLE City says noisy MTS work should wrap up later this month BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
Residents near the East 91st Street marine transfer station say they’re losing sleep due to all-night construction of the trash facility and have started a petition to revoke the contractor’s all-night work permit. “Many of the residents on the Upper East Side, particularly those of us who live in the five buildings on York Avenue, have been experiencing deafening jack-hammering starting at midnight — or earlier — and continuing through until 4 a.m.,” said Linda Garvin, who lives in the Hamilton at 1735 York Ave., which is owned by Glenwood Management. Other affected buildings, said Garvin, include The Brittany and The Barclay, which are nearby on York and also owned by Glenwood, and several residential buildings on East 90th Street. “I spoke to all the doormen, they all have the same issues,” said Garvin, who is spearheading the petition drive and has so far collected over 70 signatures from area residents. “There’s definitely a lot of interest, people are going crazy about this.” And, she said, calling 311 leads to
dead end after dead end. “There have been many complaints to 311 but they get shuffled around from department to department, winding back at 311 to no avail,” Garvin said. “They tell you to call 311 who tells you to call Department of Buildings, who tells you to call 311. So basically you get nowhere.” Recent 311 data shows a sharp increase in construction noise complaints in the area near the construction site. From May 1 to the end of August, there were 123 complaints to 311 on York Avenue from 88th Street to 92nd Street. From Sept. 1 to Oct. 15, there were 185 complaints. According to the 311 map, the complaints were either sent onto the Department of Environmental Protection for review or were found by the DEP to not warrant an inspection or investigation. The city’s contractor, Skanska USA, has an after-hours work variance that allows them to start work at midnight. Garvin questioned whether the company violates the terms of the permit as jack-hammering often begins around 11 p.m. Skanska referred comment to the city’s Department of Design and Construction. Shavone Williams, a spokesperson for the DDC, told Our Town that Skanska’s permit allows work around the
Yessenia Alvarez said as she waited on a platform in Harlem. “When they come out, it’s like they’re everywhere.” City health inspectors regularly scour the city, poking into sewer grates and crawling under park foliage, searching for the signs many would never notice: tiny mounds of dirt that lead to an underground rat burrow, streaks in walls about an inch off the ground left by greasy fur, or tiny holes the critters can crawl through. “Here’s a big burrow, and it’s fresh,” Bragdon said during a recent inspection of a small park in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood, notorious for its rat problem. As she pointed to the hole, a furry little head popped out, revealing one of the newest generation of New York City rats. Bragdon greeted it: “Hi, mister.”
clock. “The permit allows the project to work from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on the days listed,” Williams said. “Work prior to midnight is not a violation of our permit since the afterhours permit covers a full 24-hour period.” Williams said the night work is being done over FDR Drive, and must be performed at that time due to restrictions on when the city can close lanes on the thoroughfare. “We expect to complete the current part of this noise generating work this month, though other night work will occur in the future,” she said. The DDC, she said, strives to be a good neighbor to the residents and businesses near their construction projects.
“While performing night work, our contractor has lower noise limitations than during daytime operations,” Williams said. “We are continuously monitoring noise throughout the work period and have stayed within our contractual limits during the night hours.” But those lower noise limitations aren’t helping Garvin or her neighbors. “It’s been horrible because you can’t sleep at night it’s so loud,” said Garvin. “It echoes up because the [Asphalt Green athletic] field is right next to it and they’re jack-hammering and cement scraping. All you hear all night is the beeping of the trucks backing up.” Garvin said if she’d known about how loud the construction would be when
she moved into the Hamilton in June she probably would’ve looked elsewhere for an apartment. “I knew there was a project there but I didn’t really pay attention,” she said, noting that construction wasn’t going on when she moved in. “It’s a quality of life issue if you can’t get to bed until 5 a.m. and you have to work at 9 a.m. I’m a native New Yorker from way, way back and this is more than I can bear.” Williams said her department is working as fast as it can. “I can assure you that we will continue to vigorously monitor the noise our project generates and attempt to work as efficiently as possible to complete our night operations as expeditiously as possible,” she said.
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
YOUR 15 MINUTES
BURLESQUE — ON POINTE Dancer Aurora Black combines ballet with pastiche BY ANGELA BARBUTI
Aurora Black calls the burlesque world in New York “a small, but powerful community.” After moving here in 2007, she was quickly recognized for her talents and started performing at iconic venues throughout the city. She began her training as a ballerina in her native Chicago and continued honing her craft in college. As her career blossomed, she felt compelled to share the art of classical ballet in nightlife and cabaret settings. It was when she took a class at the New York School of Burlesque and was discovered at one of their student showcases that her dream became a reality. Named the “Prima Ballerina of Burlesque” by Art Review, Black combines classical ballet with burlesque moves to create a truly unique experience for the audience. Her entire solo acts are done on pointe and inspired by choreography from ballets like “Firebird” and “Giselle.” “Informing bur-
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lesque and variety audiences about classical ballet is really special for me because it’s something they’re not expecting to see, and in a lot of cases, they may not even go to the ballet,” she said. “It’s really fun to be able to expose them to that.”
Did you always know you wanted to be a professional dancer? I grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago and definitely always knew that I wanted to be an entertainer. I really loved performing live and tried my hand at a lot of different areas of live performance, but always come back to dance as my first love. I trained at the Ruth Page Conservatory and the Lou Conte Dance Studio, which is part of Hubbard Street in downtown Chicago, all through high school. I went to Smith College, so studied at the Five College Dance consortium there, which means that all the five colleges in that area share their dance department. I always loved ballet, but, in high school, was a little bit discouraged from focusing on it because I started training sort of late. In college, I actually focused a little bit
more on modern techniques. I did a lot of choreography. My choreography was in a lot of the student shows. I performed in a lot of the faculty and MFA student shows, so I really grew as an artist there. Right after I graduated from Smith, I moved to New York to start auditioning full time.
How did you get started in burlesque? I was really interested in performing classical ballet in a nightlife setting, and I had already choreographed a few group ballet pieces to pop music that got some attention. I was very intrigued by burlesque as an art form as well after seeing a few shows, and thought it was something I wanted to try. So I enrolled in a class at the New York School of Burlesque. I took spellbinding burlesque with Veronica Varlow, and then performed in a few student showcases at the Parkside Lounge and the Bowery Poetry Club. My first act was a burlesque version of “Arabian Coffee” from “The Nutcracker.” A few producers approached me about being
in their shows after seeing me in the school showcases, and eventually I started getting my name out there as a new performer and picking up more bookings. The first producers to book me were Calamity Chang and Runaround Sue, both super amazing women and performers. After doing a few shows with them, everything just grew from there.
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dancers in the world – I am the only one that does exclusively all her acts on pointe. I do try to blend or do a nod to classical ballet while still incorporating some classic burlesque moves. I’ve learned a lot from other burlesque performers because as a dancer, you sometimes feel that to be entertaining, you have to be constantly moving. From burlesque I really learned the power of stillness when you’re on stage and how an audience can react to that. And different ways that you can draw people’s attention to what you’re doing. It’s really an art form that’s about physical acting and physical communicating with the audience.
Did the blend of ballet and burlesque already exist or did you create that?
How do you describe your style of dance?
I definitely don’t think I’m the first person to blend ballet and burlesque. There are a lot of burlesque performers who are really amazing dancers. One of the things I really love about burlesque is the fact that all the performers do come from such varied backgrounds. There are amazing contortionists, aerialists and jugglers, you name it, that manage to work their special skill into their burlesque act. I’ve definitely seen performers that do burlesque on pointe and ballet-inspired burlesque, but I think that currently – I could be wrong because there are a lot of burlesque
My particular style of burlesque is inspired by a lot of classical ballet roles and performances. For instance, I have an act where I perform the entire “Firebird” variation. I always try and incorporate classical ballet routines or roles that people might recognize along with traditional burlesque moves. And sometimes I do try and take classical ballet choreography and turn it on its head and make it funny and entertaining. Like for instance, for Halloween I have a zombie act where I perform a lot of the choreography from “Giselle,” but as a zombie.
What is the New York Burlesque Festival? Explain the Golden Pastie Award you won there. It’s an annual festival that happens every September. It’s over four days and they book performers from New York, the entire US and around the world. So it’s really an opportunity to see acts that you wouldn’t normally see in New York. The Golden Pastie Awards are fun and silly awards that are given out every year at the festival. And the festival participants actually come up with the categories. For instance, this year, one of the awards was Claw Queen, for the performer with the best nails. There was the Smooth Criminal award for the performer you’d most likely commit a crime with. I won the Flash Dancer award last year for the dancer with the fanciest footwork. The awards are lighthearted, but it’s really nice to be recognized by the community for my work. To learn more about Aurora, visit www.aurora-black.com
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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.
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
OCTOBER 22-28,2015
WHY SECOND LANGUAGE IS OUR FIRST PRIORITY. There are two reasons. First, Avenues’ mission statement charges us to create truly global citizens—nothing can be more critical to that goal than proficiency in at least one additional language. Second, research demonstrates that second language acquisition accelerates development of brain function and cognitive skills in general. As a result, Avenues has created a language immersion
program in which students from nursery through grade four spend 50% of their time learning in English and 50% in either Spanish or Chinese. Students in grades 5–12 receive intensive instruction according to their levels. Visit our video library site, and you’ll see second graders chatting away in Chinese. If you’re choosing a school for your child, these are important conversations to hear.
www.avenues.org/watch
To register for a parent information event on November 12 or December 3, please visit avenues.org/watch or call 646.664.0800.