Our Town Downtown October 29th, 2015

The local paper for Downtown wn WHAT TO DO ON HALLOWEEN

WEEK OF OCTOBER-NOVEMBER

29-4

< TOP 5, P.13

2015

THE CITY’S SECRET BUDGETING WEAPON

Our Take THE PRICE OF GROWING OLDER

NEWS In Chelsea, the participatory budgeting process has been boosted by teens

BY RUI MIAO

Participatory budgeting, in which neighbors vote how to spend $1 million in discretionary money in each council district, has so far been a relatively low-profile grassroots effort in most parts of the city.

But in Chelsea, the process has been given an unexpected boost – from teenagers.

“We want the youth to be involved,” said Gonzalo Casals, vice president of programs and community engagement at Friends of the High Line, the group that raises nearly all of the elevated park’s operating budget. Last year, at the start of participatory budgeting, the organization convinced the city council to lower the minimum participating age from 16 to 14.

It then sent members from its teen program to get trained and get involved in last year’s participatory budgeting. The kids reached out to fellow teenagers, informed them of the project, and gathered them into a “youth assembly”--to brainstorm decisions on how to spend a million-dollar public fund in the neighborhood.

“It was amazing just to see how teens are highly engaged to get a say in our future,” said 19-year-old Will Natal, a member of the Teen Arts Council

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

A RUNNING TALLY OF DAILY LIFE GRAYING NEW YORK A series looking at growing older in the city

THIRD OF SIX PARTS

BY HEATHER CLAYTON COLANGELO EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS DIRECTED BY DORIAN BLOCK

It is a typical morning for Jacquie Murdock. She stands in her tiny Greenwich Village bathroom, bent over the mirror, rimming her eyes with the gray eyeliner she bought at the local drugstore. The smell of coffee wafts from the coffee maker.

“I wouldn’t go out without eye make up,” she says.

A born and bred Manhattanite, Jacquie has survived 84 years in

New York City—arguably the most expensive city in the nation—as a dancer, by being smart and resourceful.

Eyes complete, Jacquie picks up her curling iron and twirls the hot wand around small sections of her shoulder length mane.

“I dye my own hair. Revlon black dye.”

She used to get it dyed at her salon but decided to cut the expense. She keeps her strands soft and silky with her secret weapon—two buck, drugstore staple Dax.

Fact Number One: New York, like the rest of the country, is getting older. Demographers say that of the 8 million people who live in the city, more than 1 million are over the age of 60. Over the next two decades, that number will rise by 50 percent.

Fact Number Two: New York is getting much pricier. Housing prices in the city have never been more expensive, and the number of new affordable units being built isn’t nearly enough to house the number of people who need them.

The clash of those two facts is creating a crisis for seniors in our city.

For decades, New York was seen as a great place to grow older: public transit was good, free cultural events abounded, people lived close enough together to keep an eye on their neighbors.

While all of those things are still basically true, the soaring costs of living here, juxtaposed against the fixed income that most seniors must live on, is souring the city for its fastest-growing group of residents.

Our “Graying New York” series, published in cooperating with the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, has sought to put a face on the issues that senior New Yorkers deal with everyday. Their stories have inspired us.

Now, it’s your turn to weigh in.

Join us on Nov. 23 for a public forum on how to create a more livable community for all of us. The Town Hall, which we’re holding in cooperation with AARP, is from 2-4 p.m. and is free to everyone, and we hope you’ll come. RSVP at rsvp@strausnews.com

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Downtowner WEEK OF APRIL

SPRING ARTS PREVIEW < CITYARTS, P.12

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

BY RICHARD KHAVKINE

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

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

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

2015

In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS

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

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

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

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

BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS according to DOB of Informacement from trucks.

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

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

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

n OurTownDowntow

COM

Newscheck Crime Watch Voices

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

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

12 13 14 18

CONTINUED ON PAGE

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OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD CITY OFFICIALS STYMIED BY HIGH HOMELESS POPULATION Efforts to bring down the homeless population have frustrated city officials, not least Mayor Bill de Blasio, just months after he vowed to curb the number of people living on the street, The New York Times reports.

By nearly all accounts, the number of homeless has remained at near-record levels, with city shelters accommodating increasing numbers of individuals and families, the paper reported. And once in the shelter system, people remain there for longer periods. As of last week, 57,448 people were staying in shelters administered by the city’s Department of Homeless Services, according to The Times. More than 40 percent of those people are children, it reported.

And as colder weather settles in to the region, the number of homeless are of course expected to increase. Although de Blasio vowed to reduce the number of homeless as he entered office, his administration’s efforts – including rent subsidies, anti-eviction efforts and other initiatives — have failed to keep pace, the paper reported.

FINANCING FUTURE FASHIONISTAS?

Photo: Tina Leggio, via Flickr

Students, parents, and staff of PS 110, the Florence Nightingale school on Delancey Street, are calling out Fashion Week designer Riccardo Tisci in a new fashioninspired public-service announcement,

according to The Villager. PS 110 has a PTA goal of $40,000, money they hope to utilize for art enrichment programs. During Fashion Week last month, Givenchy and others hosted events at Pier 26 including an after-party in the parking lot next to school grounds. The point of these children and like-minded parents are trying to make is that though New York Fashion Week brought money into the city, none of the funds went to students and possible “future designers,” and they are hopping this video inspires a change.

LEASH RULES CHALLENGED Joseph Zaccaria appeared in front of Community Board 1’s Financial District Committee earlier this month with the support of Downtown Dog NYC - a neighborhood association that wants to change leash regulations at Battery Park, according to The Downtown Express.

Downtown Dog NYC plans to present their anti-leash argument to Bill Castro, the Manhattan borough commissioner for the Parks Department, on Nov. 4. The appeal on the current rules is not the only opposition that the group will be facing. Hope Cohen, The Battery Conservancy’s chief operating officer, has made it clear that there are certain areas that dogs just shouldn’t go, such as The Battery Oval, a three-acre lawn in the center of the park. Despite opposition and a previous attempt to change the leash rules in 2010, Zaccaria hopes to prevail this time.

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

GUN FOUND AS PART OF PROBE INTO OFFICER’S DEATH Divers searching the Harlem River recovered a gun “consistent” with the weapon used to kill a police officer during a foot chase in Manhattan, the New York Police Department said.

Chief of Manhattan detectives William Aubry said the weapon was found around 3 a.m. Sunday. The gun will be tested for fingerprints and DNA, as well as test fired, to determine whether it is the same gun that was used to shoot Officer Rudolph Holder in the head.

“That firearm is consistent with the firearm that we were looking for,” Aubry said.

The police also shut down part of a major roadway in the

area of the shooting for a few hours Sunday morning as they conducted a ground search.

Holder and his partner had responded to a report of shots fired near a public housing development in East Harlem on Tuesday night. When they arrived, a man said his bike had been stolen at gunpoint and the thief fled.

The officers caught up to a man with a bike on a pedestrian overpass that spans a highway and traded gunfire, police said.

After Holder was shot, the gunman ditched the bike and took off, police said. He was caught several blocks away with a gunshot wound to his leg, Bratton said.

Shell cases from the test firing would be compared with discharged cases police recovered on 120th Street next to Holder’s body -- in addition to the cases at 102nd Street where the first shots were fired, Aubry said.

The chief of detectives said the searches were a “24/7 operation” since the night of the shooting.

He said the scuba team’s work was “very difficult.” The gun was under 20 feet of water and “they’re on their belly

STATS FOR THE WEEK

items included eight V-neck sweaters valued at $1,305, and three other V-necks priced at $435.

Reported crimes from the 1st Precinct for Oct. 5 - 11 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

and they’re searching for it by hand.”

Tyrone Howard has been charged with murder and robbery in Holder’s death. His lawyer has said there are many missing details in the case.

included a Moncler down jacket valued at $1,600, a winter parka coat worth $1,200, an iPad model 2 tagged at $400 and an iPod Touch priced at $200.

UNPARKED PARKA

Lacoste probably wishes one of its famed alligators had been working security. At 7:20 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, a man entered the Lacoste store at 541 Broadway and took sweaters and other clothing worth more than $1,700 before fleeing in an unknown direction.

Police searched the area but could not locate the thief or the missing apparel. The stolen

At 11:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, a 47-year-old man parked his black 2006 Range Rover in front of 241 Water St. When he returned the following morning at 10:30 a.m., his front passenger’s-side window had been smashed and damaged, and personal items worth about $3,400 had been taken. They

V-NECK HECK

BAD BUYER An iPhone buyer took advantage of a seller from out-of-town. At 3 p.m. on Sat., October 17, a 27-year-old woman from Larchmont met a 23-year-old man in front of 1 State St. to sell him her phone.

She had invited him into her vehicle when he snatched her purse and the iPhone she had arranged to sell him. He then fled southbound into the park toward the Staten Island ferry.

Police were unable to locate him in the area. The items stolen included $730 in cash, an iPhone 6 valued at $400, a Gucci purse tagged at $400, plus various credit cards.

CHEEKY PAIR A shoplifting couple may have been preparing for a panty party. At 4:50 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, a man and woman entered the Victoria’s Secret store at 591 Broadway and removed items of merchandise from display shelves before

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concealing them in shopping bags and leaving the store. The items stolen were 40 pairs of Limited Brands lacy cheeky panties valued at $460, and a quantity of Limited Brands no-show panties tag is $750, making a total of $1,210.

GREEDY GUESTS Some guests left a hotel with more bags than they had when they checked in. According to police, on Sunday, Sept. 27, two men, ages 20 and 25, lied to the staff of the Club Quarters Hotel at 140 Washington St., gaining storage area access to three bags that belonged to three hotel guests. The two men had themselves been registered guests of the hotel but had checked out earlier. When the two thieves left the hotel with the stolen luggage, they entered a Starbucks in the Marriott Hotel at 85 West Street and used one of the pinched credit cards to make a purchase. The security director at the Marriott told police that the duplicitous duo were apparently casing out the Marriott front desk before leaving without incident. The total value of the stolen items in the three bags came to $7,005.

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OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 7th Precinct

19 ½ Pitt St.

212-477-7311

NYPD 6th Precinct

233 W. 10th St.

212-741-4811

NYPD 10th Precinct

230 W. 20th St.

212-741-8211

NYPD 13th Precinct

230 E. 21st St.

NYPD 1st Precinct

16 Ericsson Place

212-477-7411 212-334-0611

FIRE FDNY Engine 15

25 Pitt St.

311

FDNY Engine 24/Ladder 5

227 6th Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 28 Ladder 11

222 E. 2nd St.

311

FDNY Engine 4/Ladder 15

42 South St.

311

ELECTED OFFICIALS Councilmember Margaret Chin

165 Park Row #11

Councilmember Rosie Mendez

237 1st Ave. #504

212-587-3159 212-677-1077

Councilmember Corey Johnson

224 W. 30th St.

212-564-7757

State Senator Daniel Squadron

250 Broadway #2011

212-298-5565

Community Board 1

49 Chambers St.

212-442-5050

Community Board 2

3 Washington Square Village

212-979-2272

Community Board 3

59 E. 4th St.

212-533-5300

Community Board 4

330 W. 42nd St.

212-736-4536

Hudson Park

66 Leroy St.

212-243-6876

Ottendorfer

135 2nd Ave.

212-674-0947

Elmer Holmes Bobst

70 Washington Square

212-998-2500

COMMUNITY BOARDS

LIBRARIES

HOSPITALS New York-Presbyterian

170 William St.

Mount Sinai-Beth Israel

10 Union Square East

212-844-8400

212-312-5110

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

TIME WARNER

46 East 23rd

813-964-3839

US Post Office

201 Varick St.

212-645-0327

US Post Office

128 East Broadway

212-267-1543

US Post Office

93 4th Ave.

212-254-1390

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A DOG DAY AFTERNOON IN THE EAST VILLAGE NEWS The nation’s biggest Halloween dog parade in Tompkins Square Park

BY LARRY NEUMEISTER

Tompkins Square Park went to the dogs in a grand way on Saturday, hosting what was billed as the nation’s largest Halloween dog parade, with hundreds of canines submitting to their owners’ fanciful desires to see them in costumes as superheroes, dinosaurs and the pope.

Thousands of spectators lapped it up, mingling with nearly 300 four-legged contestants around a stage in M a n h at t a n ’s To m p k i n s Square Park. Every imagin-

able breed was paraded one by one to preen before judges in the hopes of a Best in Show award at the 25th annual outing, which raises money for the park’s dog run.

Manhattan resident Robert Krzywicki watched dozens of spectators sneak snapshots of his dachshund, Daisy Mae, dressed from head to tail in a Stegosaurus dinosaur suit.

“For the day, she’s like a movie star,” he said.

The prize was won by some Dallas contestants who tapped into the Halloween spirit with a Day of the Dead-themed presentation that included two Chihuahuas and a Yorkshire terrier. Last year, a doggy version of Rose and Jack from the movie “Titanic” captured the title.

This year, there were all types of dinosaurs, perhaps capitalizing on the excitement generated by the recent release of the “Jurassic World” film, and dogs posing as an alligator, a dragon, a fisherman and characters from “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Flintstones.” One dog, accompanied by a woman wearing a nun’s habit, was dressed as Pope Francis.

Some dogs’ costumes were outdone only by those of their owners.

Bronx resident Andrea Pagan was decked out as Wonder Woman, just like her Boston terrier guide dog, Imani, who is a bit of a hero in real life, protecting Pagan from potential accidents resulting from disabilities.

Spectator Danielle Williams,

who’s from Port Chester, walked excitedly by dozens of colorfully costumed dogs and said she wanted to pet them all.

“I want to scoop them and love them,” she said.

Not only were the more than 275 participating dogs not barking up the wrong tree in the park surrounded by dog lovers, they mostly weren’t barking at all, no surprise to Krzywicki, who watched Daisy Mae shy away from the affection of strangers. He suggested stage fright had set in.

“She’s pretending she doesn’t know me,” Krzywicki said.

“She’s saying, `Help! Somebody adopt me! Look what he made me do!’”

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Host a runner.

Meet the world.

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OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

6

Graying New York: Who Are They?

20% of NYC’s

workforce people

of

the

are

55 and older 8 million people 1 million over the age of 60 the

are

more

than

who live in NYC,

over next by rise

20 years, that number will grow 50% - the fastest

in history

RUNNING TALLY OF DAILY LIFE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “While my hair is wet, I put Dax in. When it’s dry, it’s smooth.”

A swipe of lipgloss follows, also a drugstore find. Meticulous with her appearance, Jacquie doesn’t believe that one needs to spend a lot to look good. Except for the foundation she swears by, from friend and cosmetic founder Arlene Hawkins, she isn’t picky about brands.

“You don’t have to pay a lot to look good,” she says. “I have the eye for something different and special and it may not cost a lot.”

Jacquie walks out of the bathroom and into the main room of her apartment. She opens the doors to her large wardrobe, which holds dozens of outfits and accessories and takes up a decent portion of the studio she shares with her daughter and granddaughter. She surveys her many options, most bought on sale and at thrift stores, some 40 years old: a robins egg blue tweed jacket she purchased at Courage b, a boutique on the Upper East Side; an orange tweed dress and matching jacket from Paris; a yellow, green and gold outfit that she had handmade in Harlem with fabric from Nigeria; a red handmade and heavily beaded jacket she picked up in Chinatown for about $20 years ago.

Jacquie lives a quintessential New York life, usually spending more time out of her apartment than in it. She typically attends multiple events and concerts around the city each week. Uptown she attends dance class twice weekly and sometimes works at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Downtown she runs errands in her neighborhood and travels to Chinatown to attend church.

She believes in dressing up both for events and daily life—“I’ll never be caught dead in jeans”—and cites her ample closet as a money saver.

“I can reach in my closet and find something,” she says. “I’m not going to run out and buy a dress [for an event].”

Like many New Yorkers, Jacquie also struggles with finding the balance of how to enjoy the city to the fullest while living within her means. She’s on a fixed income, even as costs around her increase. Recently her rent went up, the third increase in five years. She supports her daughter and granddaughter and is extremely worried.

She has a pension from her former job at New York University and receives social security but is unable to save. “I’m just keeping my head above water,” she says. *** Born in Harlem during the Great Depression, Jacquie wanted to be a dancer from an early age. Knowing how difficult a route that could be, her parents saved up money for her to go to college, but Jacquie couldn’t ignore her dreams.

By age 15 she had learned to dance and her career eventually took her to venues all over the city and the world, including the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem during its heyday.

As a young dancer Jacquie quickly noticed that dancers rarely received the fame and money that came with being a singer or movie star. They were often paid little.

Performers would throw benefits for each

You can walk the streets of New York and it’s so exciting.

There are so many things to do.

There are so many free things to do.

-- Jacquie Murdock

other when they fell ill because they had no other way to pay their hospital bills.

“I said, is this what this business is like?

That’s why I always took in-between jobs. I liked to always have money in my pocket.”

Over the years Jacquie took a variety of side jobs to supplement her creative ambitions. As a teen she worked in a factory packing dolls and later in one that made American Indian hats for kids.

“All day long it was zoom, zoom, zoom, sewing the feathers. Feathers would be flying everywhere.”

She worked as a waitress, which she hated, and later as a typist in the executive offices of the The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which she loved.

At the age of 40, she found herself newly pregnant and newly divorced without a reliable source of income.

“I was devastated,” she says. “I did not know what to do. I was four months pregnant and an agent sent my picture to Can-

ada to dance but because of my pregnancy I couldn’t do it.”

She realized she needed full-time, stable employment and took a job as an administrative assistant in the computer science department at NYU. For 33 years she worked at NYU, dancing on the weekends and during vacations. She took advantage of NYU’s tuition program and earned three degrees while working full-time. As perks of her NYU career, she has a pension, lives in discounted NYU faculty housing and is on their healthcare plan. But living in Greenwich Village isn’t cheap and it’s growing increasingly difficult to make ends meet. She’s never been in debt and wants to keep it that way.

She often meets young creative types on the streets of New York and always encourages them to have a backup plan.

“I would advise them to get something else besides just dance. Take up something else where you can have a career you can count on,” she says. *** It’s a hot, bright summer day and Jacquie is in the middle of running her usual errands in the Village. The intensity of the sun is making it difficult for her to see. She passes by her bank, Citibank, where she stops in almost daily.

“I have to stay on top of what’s in my checking account.”

She is dressed for the weather in a breezy

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015 yet elegant pink dress with mauve polka dots that cinches at the waist. Gold bracelets and a few rings adorn her wrists and hands.

As she turns the corner, a 20-something women clad in yoga wear jogs up to her.

“I know you!” she says, recognizing Jacquie from Advanced Style, the documentary and blog she was featured in which celebrates stylish elders. “You look beautiful.”

Jacquie thanks her and they chat briefly about about her outfit, Jacquie’s dance career and the joys of New York.

“God bless. It was so nice running into you to tell you how much I enjoyed you,” she says as she dashes off.

Jacquie resumes her walk on La Guardia Place, but is soon interrupted by hunger. She hasn’t eaten all day and it’s past 2 p.m. She decides to stop into the Silver Spurs diner for a quick, rare bite out. Jacquie has always preferred cooking at home but has eaten out even less since her favorite restaurants raised their prices. She chooses a tuna fish sandwich—extra mayo—and a coffee.

Mid-meal, she reaches into her tote bag for the $20 she intends to pay the bill with. She can’t find it and grows increasingly worried that she has dropped it somewhere.

“I lose money all the time,” she says.

After a few panicked moments, her hand finds the bill at the bottom of her bag.

Relieved, Jacquie goes back outside to continue her errands. She’s en route to the local Morton Williams supermarket to pick up a few ingredients for dinner, an errand she shares with her daughter. Pedestrians, bicyclists and yellow cabs zoom by at varying speeds.

Despite the high cost and challenges of city life, Jacquie has never lived anywhere else.

“You can walk the streets of New York and it’s so exciting. There are so many things to do.

There are so many free things to do.”

Jacquie maintains a strong group of dancer and musician friends and often hears about events through them. She regularly searches the internet for free and cheap things to do in New York.

Recently she heard about a DanceBrazil performance that she wanted to attend at the Joyce Theater in Chelsea. She went to the box office to inquire.

“They said tickets were $35 and $55 and I said, ‘eh.’”

She was ready to walk out, but not wanting to lose a sale, they found an $11 ticket, discounted because of its front row location right next to the drum section. Jacquie pounced on the cheaper ticket. They even offered to throw in some earplugs.

“I said it won’t bother me because the drums are my favorite instrument,” she says. “The drum to me is the heartbeat.”

Jacquie uses the same sensibility when traveling. Despite the challenges of being legally blind, she typically chooses the subway over taxis, and if she has to take a cab somewhere, she’ll often take the train part of the way to cut down on the cost. Instead of shopping in pricey lower Manhattan, she’ll travel to cheaper neighborhoods to buy big-ticket items. Right now, she’s planning a trip to East Harlem to look for a new daybed.

Jacquie continues down La Guardia Place and stops when the bright aqua hue of a dress on a mannequin outside a shop catches her eye.

“I need clothes like a hole in my head,” she jokes as she stops to gingerly rub the fabric between her fingers. “That’s my thing. I like to look nice. I’m a fashionista.”

Jacquie hasn’t treated herself to anything in awhile, and the color is pretty—but she re-

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com leases the fabric, deciding against the impulse buy and resumes walking down the sidewalk.

Jacquie arrives at Morton Williams. She crosses the lot and walks toward the entrance.

The automatic doors spring open. She steps into the cool air conditioning, a welcome relief from the 85-degree outside air. Unfortunately the bright intense sun has just been replaced with bright florescent lights and Jacquie’s sight is still minimal. She reaches down to grab a bright red shopping basket off the top of the stack.

Jacquie moves down the aisle of brightly colored carrots, celery and corn searching for the row of cabbages. She is looking for a green cabbage but can’t make out the differences between the green and savoy. She choses one and places it in her basket.

She easily selects a bunch of bananas, its shape distinct, and places it in her basket.

She turns to the nearby potato section in search of a sweet potato.

She grabs a spud but unsure, calls out to a man nearby.

“Excuse me. Is this a sweet potato? I can’t see.”

He confirms that it is and she places two in her basket.

Jacquie navigates past the aisles named after local streets (Sullivan, Thompson, Greene) and ends up at the meat display.

She searches for a package of chicken wings but her hands find a pricier package of chicken breasts first. She feels the smooth shape of the flesh through the plastic wrap and knows it’s not right. Her hands quickly find the bumps that designate wings and she places them in her basket.

She looks for pork next but the generally smooth shape of the cuts are a challenge. She picks up a package of spare ribs and stares at it, struggling to make out the store printed label with small, thin font. She puts it down and picks up a few more before she finds the desired chops. She checks the price, the numbers fortunately bolded and larger, and decides it’s too much. She’s fine with the chicken.

A stop for milk and juice follow and Jacquie makes her way to the register to pay.

A jug of milk, cranberry juice, bananas, two sweet potatoes, a cabbage and the package of chicken wings go on the belt. Jacquie has stuck to her shopping list. A young cashier begins ringing. She almost overcharges Jacquie for a pricer savoy cabbage but Jacquie corrects her.

She waits in anticipation to hear the finally tally, and is pleased when it comes in under budget.

She swipes her credit card through the reader, collects her bags and makes her way out of the store, with thoughts of dinner already on her mind.

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.ny

FOR MORE IN THE SERIES Our Town Downtown will spend 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

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OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

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.

Letters BEWARE THE PHONE SCAMS

To the Editor: I am a senior and your article “Phone Scammers Target Seniors” applies to me. In less than two years I have received 587 scam calls from almost every state in the United States, including Lenox. Mass., Phoenix, Ariz., Los Angeles, Calif., Texas, Ohio, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, etc Because I have an answering machine and a caller ID showing the dialer phone number, I do not answer scam calls.

I received three scam calls recently from L.A., saying it is from the Treasury Dept. and I will be arrested for not paying taxes.

When I receive a scam call, I write down the phone number. Most of the time they hang up after my answering machine message.

Some leave a message telling me about lowering my credit card interest rates (received 100 calls to date), free medication, home security that the FBI says homes are broken into--want to put a sign in my yard--want my address, free food coupons, increase in electric bill rate, medical emergency alert system, customer service dept -- five days of free food and drink and a getaway -- too many for me to list. These calls all want private information and offer something in return. For calls that phone more than one time (and most do) each call has a different telephone number.

Seniors must protect their vital information, if possible do not answer these calls, do not call back. Do not get involved.

Name withheld upon request To the Editor: I meditate. I burn candles.

I drink green tea. And I still want to smack someone.

This is how I feel about the person calling me several times pretending to be from the Treasury Department telling me to respond to their commands or else I will be arrested. Yes, I would love to slap her silly! No sane person can tolerate this sort of invasion and harassment.

I am approaching 80 years old, and I certainly do not appreciate the emotional upset I have experienced.

The caller gives her name as Judy Smith and requests a call-back. I never have, in fact I have either not answered when I see the number on my caller ID or if I do while on another call, I will hang up immediately.

The first call I had some time ago a very young voice requested money and sounded like a 10-year-old boy. In the background I could hear an adult female voice asking “What is he saying?”

The boy-caller repeated to her what I said: “It sounds like a scam!” With that I hung up.

The person responsible -- or persons -- should be arrested.

Catherine

STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source

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

THE DOWNSIDE OF CLOTHES SHOPPING SENIOR LIVING

BY MARCIA EPSTEIN

As Bette Davis once said, “Aging is not for sissies.” We can’t be sissies to put up with the losses of old age, such as glowing health, work and careers, family, friends and the life we once took for granted.

Even we lucky oldsters who get around well and live full lives no longer have the capacities we once had. Many of us have diminished hearing and finally give in to hearing aids. We deal with less than perfect vision, and often cataracts. Falls are more common and lead to more complications. We don’t have the energy we once had. I know fatigue is a problem for me and if I’ve had a busy day, I’ll often need more rest the next day. I’d love to travel, but my bad back and knees and that aforementioned fatigue make me wonder if I still ought to. And then there’s the subject of memory impairment, which so many of my friends are dealing with and which causes the terrible fear of impending Alzheimer’s.

Often it’s not Alzheimer’s at all but something that happens over the years; we’ll go into a room and forget why we’re there. We’ll lose our keys and find them in a coat pocket.

We’ll lift up the phone and forget who we were going to call.

All normal, all scary. What’s going on with me?, we ask.

We’re getting older is what’s going on. There’s no winning that battle. There’s no use

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

pretending that things are the same as they once were. The only way to deal with it is to accept what is true today and to try to make the best of it. This sounds Pollyanish, and I am no Pollyanna, believe me, but I can’t turn back the calendar. I think I’ll go hug my grandson.

That always works!

Sometimes it’s the smaller challenges that can ruin that beautiful sunny day. Clothes shopping used to be an exciting excursion to department stores or small shops, but for women of a certain age, it’s no longer fun. Most of us don’t want sleeveless garments that end at our belly buttons, or

skirts and dresses that expose our tender parts. We also don’t want pants that end at the hips and have to be constantly hiked up. I want my pants to button at the waist, and in fact, I sometimes want stylish pants with elastic waists if I’m wearing long tops. So shopping for clothes has become a hassle.

Luckily, my partner and I have a car and can get to Kohl’s on Long Island, which has classic, comfortable clothing for adults. Also, the department stores ouside of Manhattan tend to carry more merchandise for older people, but for Manhattanites without cars, it’s become a challenge.

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

Staff Reporters, Gabrielle Alfiero, Daniel Fitzsimmons

Liberty House on Broadway and 112th has some good sales, and Eileen Fisher and Oska, both on Columbus Avenue, also have looser clothing that still has some style. There’s also Chico’s, which caters to the more mature woman. Basics can be found at the Gap and Ann Taylor Loft. One problem I have is that I’ve shrunk! I can no longer wear even petite pants but must find the very few short petites, or else spend $20 to have pants shortened, which I often must resort to if I want any clothes at all.

This is a good opportunity to tell you about the Service Program for Older Adults (SPOP), an organization dedicated to enhancing the life of adults 55 and older. SPOP offers mental health treatment for those 55 and older; bereavement support for adults of all ages, free of charge. They have substance abuse counseling for adults with a primary diagnoses of mental illness. They also have services for adults with severe mental illness, home visits for homebound clients an appointments at designated senior centers in Manhattan. SPOP can be reached by calling 212787-7120, ext 514.

HAVE AN IDEA FOR OUR SENIOR LIVING COLUMNIST? We want to hear what you think about living in New York as a senior. Write us at news@strausnews.com

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

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

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Neighborhood Scrapbook AN EAGLE AND A PANDA ON WEST 28TH STREET

Oct. 25 was “Fall Fun Day” at North Sky Kung Fu on West 28th Street. After starting the day with a martial arts class, kids and their families joined instructors in an afternoon of play, crafts, music, food and a movie — “Kung Fu Panda,” of course. Parents joined in too, trying their hands at “fighting” with foam swords.

Tucked among plant and flower shops, the school, which opened earlier this year, teaches traditional “Ying Jow Pai” — Eagle Claw — kung fu, one of the richest Northern Shaolin martial arts styles.

Above, kids working on “power fist form” with Sifu Dario Acosta.

Share your news and what’s going on in your life.

Go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

ASPHALT GREEN SOCCER TEAM IN FIRST PLACE

The Asphalt Green Soccer Club GU11 Surge is finding success in their first season of premier competition in the New York Premier League. The squad is currently in 1st place among eight teams from Westchester County, Long Island, and the five boroughs. In five games, the Surgettes scored 18 goals and conceded only 5.

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Our Perspective A Disgraceful Attack on Workers

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

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

By Stuart Appelbaum, President Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW

N

ew York City’s new Car Wash Accountability Act, designed to regulate an industry that has long operated without any oversight and which has a disgraceful history of worker exploitation, is under attack.

The would-be destroyers are members of the Car Wash Association who want to maintain the status quo, and the high-priced lawyers they have hired to gut the new law with a bogus suit that will keep the immigrant ‘carwasheros’ trapped inpoverty and working in unsafe conditions.

Members of the association are being hypocritical: This is an industry with an appalling track record and they have done nothing to change that. In fact, the association was formed for the sole purpose of trying to stop passage of the law and to protect their ability to operate in the shadows.

In recent years, car wash owners have agreed to settlements worth millions of dollars. These settlements are restitution for money taken from workers – workers who are struggling to get by in a difficult and demanding industry. This is an industry that desperately needs to change.

This new law for the first time gives the city regulatory power over the industry and requires them to be licensed, to obey environmental guidelines, and obtain a bond to protect workers and consumers.

The owners have made much of the bond issue, but they have been disingenuous about it. The law states that owners must post a $150,000 surety bond to ensure that money is available to pay any claims workers or consumers may have. If the owner has a proven system of monitoring the workplace to ensure that wage theft will not occur, they would have to post just a $30,000 bond. One way recognized by the law to achieve that is through the presence of union representation for workers. But it is certainly not the only way. Owners who have consented to a government-ordered monitoring system also qualify. The point is that when a union is present or when there is other workplace monitoring, issues of wage theft can be quickly remedied.

The owners also say that they don’t have the money to pay for the bond, but the fact is they are not putting up those amounts; they are simply buying insurance at a small percentage of that cost. And at the same time that they complain about the cost, they are spending tens of thousands of dollars – or more – on lawyers to kill this historic legislation.

It is plain to see that the bond issue is a red herring. The owners don’t want to open their books and don’t want their workers to join a union because a union provides monitoring and a grievance procedure that empowers and protects workers. Ten shops have voted to join the RWDSU and nine have won union contracts.

The City Council, led by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, stood up for workers in enacting the legislation, which Mayor de Blasio courageously signed it into law. And you can be sure that we at the Car Wash Campaign will fight back against this suit and do everything possible to reform this industry and improve the lives of thousands of workers.

For more information, visit

www.rwdsu.org

Thu 29 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 Trinity’s music staff. All levels and ages welcome.

212-602-0800. www. trinitywallstreet.org

FOR A NEW WORLD TO COME: EXPERIMENTS IN JAPANESE ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY, 1968– 1979 New York University, Grey Art Gallery, 100 Washington Square East

Through Jan. 10. $3 suggested admission. Free with NYU ID. The exhibit, comprising about 250 objects by 29 photographers and other artists, looks at photography’s crucial role in the rise of conceptualism, 212-998-6780. www.nyu. edu/greyart

Fri 30 5TH ANNUAL ASPHALT SCREAMS ▲ Asphalt Green, 212 North End Ave. 4–6 p.m. Free Spooky fun and Halloweenthemed fitness fun, games, treats and more for costumed New Yorkers of all ages 212-298-2900. www. asphaltgreen.org/mission/ special-events/asphaltscreams

BRAZILIAN SAMBA AND BOSSA NOVA ▼ Elebash Recital Hall. The Graduate Center at CUNY, 365 Fifth Ave. 7 p.m. $25; $20, members Márcio Faraco, brings his warm

and unique take on Brazilian popular music, sprinkled with a few discreet nods to jazz.

212-817-7000. www.liveat365. org/concert02.php

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

Sat 31 HALLOWEEN KIDZ KARNIVAL Pier 26 Noon-5 p.m. Free, with some activities $2.

Pier 26 gets transformed into “Halloween Central” with funfilled attractions for the family, including a magic show by Kid Ace. Geared to kids aged 2–8 years.

212-627-2020. www. hudsonriverpark.org/events/ halloween-kidz-karnival

SENIOR DAY WRITING WORKSHOP The Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th St. 2-3 p.m.

Make connections with the art on view in the galleries through lively group discussion and creative writing. Program meets at the base of the spiral staircase in the Museum’s main lobby. Program is facilitated by

Center, 2 West 13th St. 7 p.m.

Join Marvin Sackner and Ruth Sackner for a celebration of the publication of their new book, The Art of Typewriting (Thames and Hudson). events.newschool.edu/ event/ny_comics_picturestory_symposium_marvin_a_ sackner#.Vi6d3X6rTIU

SEATING: $75/$100/$150/$250 PREMIUM SEATING: $500 Includes premium seating, post-show reception (by phone only) 212.221.7300 ext. 133.

Sun 1

ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT

www.actorsfund.org/jamie

THE BLUE NOTE/NYU JAZZ SUNDAY BRUNCH: DAVE PIETRO’S NYU ENSEMBLE ►

BLOOD MIRROR: ART EXHIBITION ORGANIZED BY JORDAN EAGLES Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street.

6-9 p.m.Free.

Trinity Wall Street’s Visual Arts Committee presents the New York City premiere of Blood Mirror: organized by Jordan Eagles.

212-602-0800. www. trinitywallstreet.org/events/ blood-mirror-organized-jordaneagles?date=2015-11-02

WITH

JOY BEHAR ROBERT CUCCIOLI LARRY GATLIN JAY JOHNSON DAISY JOPLING MICHELE LEE LUBA MASON Monday, November 9th, 7:30 pm The Gerald W. Lynch Theatre

17th Street Playground at Fulton Houses, between 9th and 10th Avenues 2-6 p.m.

Fulton Tenants Association, Young Life, Gallery Church, Trinity Grace Chelsea host pumpkin painting, carnival games, a kids’ costume contest (at 5 p.m.) and more.

212-255-5005

Mon 2

The 25th Anniversary of Jamie deRoy & friends and Jamie’s 40th Annual 30th Birthday

AND MORE!

HARVEST FESTIVAL

Blue Note, 131 West Third St. 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., $35 for music and brunch The saxophonist Pietro with NYU Jazz Studies artist faculty and students.

212-475-8592. bluenotejazz. com eagles?date=2015-11-02

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

Nina Goss, who teaches creative writing at Fordham University.

212-620-5000. rubinmuseum.org/events/ event/senior-day-writingworkshop-11-02-2015

Tue 3 PETER N. CARROLLFROM GUERNICA TO HUMAN RIGHTS New York University, Tamiment Library, 10th floor, 70 Washington Square South 6-8 p.m.

Peter N. Carroll will discuss his latest book, “From Guernica to Human Rights: Essays on the Spanish Civil War.” RSVP at RSVP.Bobst@nyu.edu events.nyu.edu/#event_ id/78952/view/event

NY COMICS & PICTURE-STORY SYMPOSIUM: MARVIN A SACKNER The New School, the Bark Room, Sheila C. Johnson Design

Wed 4 COMMUNITY BOARD 4 Hotel trades Union, 305 West 44th Street, second floor 6:30 p.m.

Full board meeting 212-736-4536. www. nyc.gov/html/mancb4/html/ calendar/calendarnew.shtml

A DOUBLE FEATURE OF SCI-FI CHAMBER OPERA FILMS Opera America, 330 Seventh Ave. (at 29th Street), 7 p.m. $10 Aviva Players present “Villa Diodati” by Mira J. Spektor, an opera about the origins of the Frankenstein story, and “Libertaria” by Sabrina Pena Young, a futuristic animated comic book opera.

212-362-2277. www. theavivaplayers.org/

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

THE AWESOMENESS OF THE MET REVIEW BY A SEVENTH GRADER A self-taught Egyptologist on the appeal of the Met’s collection

BY ASHER HUROWITZ

Photo by Daniel Fitzsimmons

Ancient Egypt, the land of the pharaohs. This early empire achieved a lot of firsts – the first board game, the first paper making. Four thousand years ago, with no cranes of any kind, the Egyptians built the pyramids, stone structures taller than any other.

What isn’t amazing about that?

Egypt is, to me, magical. The mind-boggling part about studying ancient Egypt is that there are 3,000 years to choose from and that doesn’t count the 10,000 years of the Pre-Dynastic period before the pharaohs. There is always something new to learn, no matter how obscure.

You may ask me where I get this information. It comes from two main places. One is my library. I have been collecting books on ancient Egypt since I was three years old. Some are even in foreign languages! But my biggest source of information is the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection, one of the greatest in the world.

The Met is a really fun place.

The Met’s Egyptian wing is organized as a “time loop.”

When you enter room 100, the under-rated Tomb of Perneb in front of you offers the opportunity to walk inside.

Most people will then head left, through the Roman Period and backwards in time because it is the fastest way to the spectacular Temple

of Dendur. But the true way through Egyptian history is to take a right past the granite lion. This will take you first to the Pre-Dynastic Period, then onto my favorite, the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom.

Only then do you arrive at the Temple of Dendur, one of the most amazing rooms in New York.

I like to concentrate on the Old Kingdom. My favorite piece of Egyptian art at the Met is the stele of Raneb, the 2nd pharaoh of the 2nd dynasty who lived around 4,800 years ago. The stele is a granite stone that shows the boundary of a place and which some people think is the oldest of its kind to be written on. It’s easy to find, right in the first room of the Egyptian collection. I like it because it’s the only object from the time of my favorite (and obscure) pharaoh that I can see in person.

I also love the Meketre Miniatures. Commissioned by a rich nobleman, the models are of little wooden people doing various activities of everyday life. They are often mistaken for toys and kids love to see them. What are they? The ancient Egyptians believed that any object of effigy with a spell inscribed on it would come to life and serve you in the afterlife. So these figures would turn into Meketre’s servants. There are even small luxury boats that show him enjoying himself on the water! Some of the models are currently on display in a fantastic special exhibition at the Met on the Middle Kingdom that I highly recommend.

Another object I enjoy is often missed. If you look care-

fully at a hole in a false door in the Old Kingdom collection, you can see a small wooden figure peeping out. It is amazing that a wooden statue survived for as it is such a fragile and corrosive material. It lacks a face, but still has the ability to make you laugh if you peek in with its sudden surprise quirkiness. I think that’s a great quality for an artifact.

When and how did I get into this? It’s not your usual “I saw the art in the museum and fell in love” story. I was actually watching “Little Einsteins,” an educational TV show that aired 10 years ago with a red plane inexplicably called “Rocket.” There was a special episode on Egypt entitled “Secret of the Sphinx” and something triggered my mind and my passion began. I immediately read every book I could get my hands on and my parents brought me to the Met. I loved it! Since then, I have continued to learn and have become friends with many famous archeologists.

I love Egypt. I think you should, too. You can read about what they thought (since they actually wrote stuff down), see the art they made, and even play the board games they played! And for me it all started at the Met. I hope you swing by the Met sometime soon and visit the Egyptian collection. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get as obsessed as me!

Asher Hurowitz is a seventh grader in Manhattan. His Q&A with a Met curator, about the mummification process, is part of #MetKids, a new online feature from the Met made for, with, and by kids. For more information, go to www.metmuseum.org/metkids

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OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

TOP THEATER

FOR

HALLOWEEN

BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO OUR ARTS EDITOR

HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA AT CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE A haunted evening awaits at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. F.W. Murnau’s silent 1922 creeper “Nosferatu” screens, with accompaniment by organist Timothy Brumfield, along with the annual theatrical march of demons, witches and ghosts from Mettawee River Theatre Company that creeps and winds down the church’s nave.

Halloween Extravaganza at Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine Friday, Oct. 30 Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine 1047 Amsterdam Ave., at 112th Street 7 p.m., with second film screening at 10 p.m.

Tickets $20 To purchase tickets, visit http://www. stjohndivine.org/ or call 212-316-7540 for more information

FILM SCARY MOVIES The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s ninth annual horror series features new, chilling films and suspenseful classics, including a free showing of the 1931 James Whale film “Frankenstein.”

Also slated to screen is Bernard Rose’s modern update of “Frankenstein,” set in current-day Los Angeles, along with a rare showing of the director’s 1988 film “Paperhouse,” about a young girl who escapes into her increasingly terrifying drawings, and filmmaker David Keating’s “Cherry Tree,” about a 15-year-old girl who comes under the spell of the new field hockey coach—and witch— who claims she can restore the girl’s ailing father to health, but at a price.

Scary Movies Through Nov. 5 Film Society of Lincoln Center Walter Reade Theater 165 W. 65th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam

ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

3-D Halloween

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31ST, 12:30PM Film Forum | 209 W. Houston St. | 212-727-8110 | filmforum.org Enter a third dimension of Halloween thrills with special 3-D screenings all day long: Dial M For Murder, House of Wax (Vincent Price!) and Creature From the Black Lagoon hightlight the roster. ($13)

“FATTY FATTY NO FRIENDS” In this dark musical, overweight and friendless school boy Tommy endures excruciating bullying and teasing from his classmates until he turns his tormentors into snacks. Based on a book by Serrana Gay, “Fatty Fatty No Friends” features an original score by director Christian De Gré and lyrics by Joseph Reese Anderson.

“Fatty Fatty No Friends” Through Nov. 22 Celebration of Whimsy 21 Clinton St., between E. Houston and Stanton Street

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

ISIS Online

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH, 7PM National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum | 180 Greenwich St. | 212-312-8800 | 911memorial.org The Islamic State has made itself notorious in part through its strategic use of social media. A scholar and a writer discuss jihadi internet prowess and appropriate means of response. (Free)

Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.

Tickets $30 To purchase, visit mindtheartentertainment.com Assorted show times All access pass $99; 3+ film package, $10 per film; $14 individual tickets For more information, visit http://www. filmlinc.org/festivals/scary-movies-9/ or call 212-875-5232

Just Announced | Idris Elba, Cary Fukunaga and Abraham Attah

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH, 6:30PM The TimesCenter | 242 W. 41st St. | 888-698-1870 | timestalks.com Go behind the scenes of the buzz-driving new film Beasts of No Nation, the first theatrical release from Netflix. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective), actor Idris Elba (The Wire) and newcomer Abraham Attah will discuss telling the story of a child-soldier in Ghana. ($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.

“NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD” As part of its ongoing free Friday night music series, the Rubin Museum of Art screens the 1968 black and white zombie classic “Night of the Living Dead” in its downstairs theater, while garnishing themed beverages like “The Wrathful Deity” and “The Thirsty Ghost” with plastic severed fingers.

Museum entry is free from 6-10 p .m.

Friday, Oct. 30 Rubin Museum of Art 150 W. 17th St., near Seventh Avenue 9:30 p.m. screening; free entry to museum at 6 p.m.

Tickets $10 For more information, visit rubinmuseum.org or call 212-620-5000

KIDS ASPHALT SCREAMS Halloween comes to Asphalt Green, where families can don costumes for trick-or-treating and sports. The event is free, though donations benefit Asphalt Green’s community programs. The first 500 trick-or-treaters get a free goodie bag.

Friday, Oct. 30 Asphalt Green 212 North End Ave., between Murray and Warren Streets 4-6 p.m.

Free, donations accepted For more information and to rsvp, visit asphaltgreen.org or call 212-298-2900 To be included in the Top 5 go to otdowntown.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

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In Brief DOGS NOW ALLOWED TO DINE

On Oct. 26, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill allowing dog owners to dine with their pets in outdoor sections of eateries, the New York Post reported, which goes into effect immediately.

Still, restaurant operators cannot be forced to allow dogs in outdoor dining areas and are free to set the rules at their restaurants. Mayor Bill de Blasio and his administration opposed the bill, with the Department of Health citing health and safety concerns for diners and restaurant employees, and some opposed to the policy suggested that large dogs are apt to eat food from patrons’ tables. Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal sponsored the bill, telling the Post that “…No longer will our beloved companion animals be relegated to staying at home while we enjoy outdoor dining.”

RESTAURANT GROUP CHALLENGING $15 MINIMUM WAGE Lobbying group the National Restaurant Association is set to battle New York’s minimum wage increase for fast food workers, Eater reported. The wage increase, which was approved in September by the state’s Department of Labor, will incrementally grow the minimum wage, currently set at $8.75 an hour, until it reaches $15 an hour in July 2021. The restaurant group filed a 26-page petition last week to the state’s Industrial Board of Appeals, the Gannet Albany Bureau reported. The documentation suggests that the policy is an attempt by Governor Andrew Cuomo to skirt state Legislature. In May, Cuomo asked the labor commissioner to form a Fast Food Wage Board, which suggested an increase in pay to $15 an hour pay for fast food employees. The National Restaurant Association argues that the wage board did not include a member of the restaurant industry.

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

Food & Drink NOURISHING THE HOMELESS DEFIES EASY SOLUTIONS As population of people living on the street continues to increase, funding challenges are just one obstacle

BY LIZ NEUMARK

Our focus on the city’s homeless population is part of an ongoing conversation engaging politicians and citizens alike. We discuss the count, cause, interventions and solutions, while griping or sympathizing or just feeling numb about the acute suffering at our doorstep. For the most part, we watch from the sidelines as a multitude of professionals and volunteers work daily to house, feed, heal and address our roughly 60,000 neighbors without homes.

A month ago, I wrote about the ad hoc network of soup kitchens and feeding programs, which provide thousands of meals daily in a multitude of formats and locations. But what of the meals within the system of 271 shelters themselves?

It has been frustrating — the attempt to find out what the men, women and children in the shelter system of New York City are fed is obscured to the point of evoking my intense curiosity and borderline suspicion. On the surface, one might imagine that the struggle to find shelter, a bed, a safe haven for a family or mentally ill individual to spend the night eclipses the mundane conversation of “What’s for dinner.” That is until you realize that for any of us, skipping one or two meals is cause for alarm.

My search yielded limited information that requires further exploration. While I ate a meal served in a shelter, I wanted to experience several — a goal I will pursue.

What I didn’t expect was how deeply I fell into trying to understand more about homelessness as well as the theories of causation, the history of the city’s responses, the contentious political landscape over funding solutions and the array of strategies to alleviate, or more accurately, solve the problem for individuals and for families.

I spent several hours with Muzzy

Rosenblatt, executive director of the Bowery Residents’ Committee, a remarkable professional who has led the 43-year old organization with the most sensitive and respectful ideology. Touring the West 25th Street facility in Chelsea brought people and problems into clear view, which no one would associate with this trendy neighborhood. BRC has outreach teams in the city’s transit system offering the persistently homeless an opportunity to get off the street when they are ready to come in. The operating philosophy was completely unexpected: “What matters more than what we do is how we do it. We don’t see problems or illnesses — we see people and opportunities. We don’t simply repair ... we help each individual to understand and overcome the challenges they’ve faced.”

The kitchen at BRC was as unexpected as its mission. A lot of scratch cooking of simple dishes by a staff engaged in their daily tasks of chopping, slicing and watching simmering pots or rotating pans in the oven. Some cooks had worked their way up, off the streets to stability and a culinary job. The inventory included frozen and canned items in the walk-ins and pantry as well as fresh ingredients; meals served at other BRC sites were prepared here.

Lunch was satisfying and simple.

This population has serious health challenges and meals that are easily digestible, with low sodium and sugar and not expensive to produce is critical. Over 75 percent of individuals in BRC programs have addiction and/or mental illness issues.

Eating lunch was the easy part.

Walking through the dormitories was not. The sights and smells will stay with me. What’s more, this is a good shelter.

For 10 years, Karen Cotugno of The Salvation Army worked with homeless families including at one of the city’s largest family shelters, Carlton House (a former Best Western Hotel near JFK Airport) and eight years with the Department of Homeless Services as a program analyst.

In 2013, she returned to The Salva-

tion Army, at the Franklin Avenue Armory Women’s shelter, an intake and assessment shelter. She’s now deputy director of Social Services Administration with the organization. She shared her perspective, derived from an obvious dedication to helping people along with an informed view of the political, economic and social threads of the current crisis. The hardcore homeless population with mental illness and substance abuse travels the route between jail, hospitals, streets and, at times, shelters. The surge in homelessness has been met with increased oversight and guidelines despite insufficient resources to address the growing needs. I learned about performance targets at shelters and the work done to move families out of the system. A good staff actively involves residents in programs, has relationships with brokers to assist in finding suitable apartments, and push clients to get services and support.

Asking her about food made me feel silly, but then again, eating is an essential human function, never mind the intangible significance of meals. The Salvation Army contracts with Whitson’s Culinary Group, a Long Island based food service company, which counts schools, healthcare, corporations and emergency dining among its clients. While it doesn’t list shelters on its website, their menus follow Health Department guidelines regarding analysis of calories, fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, fiber and protein (as were the menus at BRC).

If given a magic wand, Karen would make supportive housing available and affordable (read, subsidized).

Here is where the economics of the situation started to overwhelm me: the cost of renting rooms/property for shelter at premium pricing; the cost of emergency services and the cost of the overall exorbitant and unaffordable system. What are the different scenarios that might mitigate homelessness, what are those costs? The city shoulders 73 percent of the cost for single adults while the

federal government foots 58 percent of the cost for sheltering families.

The Coalition for the Homeless is an incredible resource for information; advocacy; direct support to the homeless while providing a measure of transparency on the subject we wish would go away. Their website reports the monthly count of the homeless population, broken down by families and single adults.

They championed the landmark Legal Aid case that established the right to shelter for homeless adult men (Callahan v. Carey, settled in 1981), which is unique to New York City. The coalition’s program director, Tim Campbell, talked easily about food in the shelter system.

“It is important for everyone,” he said, to highlight its connection to the ability to respond to immense challenges when you are homeless.

“How much sleep, how much food.

Diet makes you feel. Tastier food feels good.” He outlined the hierarchy of needs starting with shelter and stability but connected the general outlook directly to what you eat. This population has enormous health issues – from diet-related disease to obesity and chronic physical illness. Processed and carb heavy food is poison — and there is great variation in what shelters serve despite DOH guidelines.

Not all shelters provide food and the expanded (and growing) use of hotels means no on-site meals.

These residents need to access food stamp allowances to shop, which sounds OK but for the fact that families in crisis are not shoppers or cooks like you and me.

We talked for a long time and I am deeply grateful for the education and insight. Tim would use his magic wand exactly like Karen — to provide affordable housing with support services.

In the end, this story does not have a conclusion. Homelessness is not new and is perhaps unavoidable.

But how we address it and what role each of us plays in finding solutions is a test of who we are. And — what is on a plate is in a very small way a measurement of our humanity.

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS SEP 18 - OCT 22, 2015 The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml.

Potbelly

280 Broadway

A

J R Sushi

86A W Broadway

A

New Sun Cafe

67 Reade St

B

Akimoto Sushi

187 Church Street

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

Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

WHOO’s THE CUTEST?

costume

showcase

It’s that time of year to break out those pirate, witch,

Cafe 101 16Th Floor Cafeteria

101 Barclay Street

A

princess, and superhero

Juice Press

83 Murray St

A

MBJ Downtown

199 Chambers St

A

costumes for your kids!

Mudville Saloon

126 Chambers Street

A

N.Y. Academy Of Science

250 Greenwich Street A

Majestic Pizza

8 Cortlandt St

Grade Pending (21) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.

Hamachi Sushi & Okami

63A Reade St

Not Graded Yet (28) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. 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.

Arome Cafe II

7 Dey Street

Grade Pending (22) Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment.

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.

Sheezan Restaurant

183 Church Street

Grade Pending (21) 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.

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.

Mcdonalds

317 Broadway

Not Graded Yet (24) 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.

Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

275 Greenwich Street

A

Agoda Asian Cuisine

8 Murray St

Grade Pending (25) Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

The Doughnut Project

10 Morton St

Not Graded Yet (2)

Show us your kid’s best costume and vote for your favorites!

Go to otdowntown.com to upload your photos & then vote!

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OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

Business

In Brief

Amy’s Bread, with locations throughout the city, was among the finalists.

EDC: $11.6 MILLION BENEFIT PER GAME AT CITI FIELD The New York City Economic Development Corporation said that the New York Mets 2015 postseason games generate an economic impact of $11.6 million per home game.

The analysis accounts for ticket sales, spending from nearly 30,000 visitors from outside of New York City, and additional earnings for seasonal employees at Citi Field, as well as other factors. The agency said such an impact stimulates growth in the local economy, creating opportunities and jobs for New Yorkers, and spending that is reinvested in the City of New York.

According to Major League Baseball’s postseason structure, at least two games of the 2015 World Series will be played at Citi Field.

The EDC also said the city set an all-time record of 56.4 million visitors last year, generating a record $61 billion in overall economic impact, supporting 362,000 jobs and $21 billion in wages. The city’s hotel inventory includes more than 105,000 hotel rooms, while selling a record 32.5 million total hotel room nights, an all-time high.

“Big events like the World Series attract visitors who may book rooms, eat out, explore neighborhoods and go shopping,” said Fred Dixon, President and CEO of NYC & Company. “But the value of hosting big events goes far beyond immediate economic impact.”

THIRTY PERECENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING ANNOUNCED FOR PIER 40 Administration officials announced a new proposal, negotiated with Councilmember Corey Johnson, to save Hudson River Park’s Pier 40 and deliver nearly 500 affordable apartments to the community, especially for seniors. The transaction, which will undergo a full public review process, would generate approximately $100 million to repair Pier 40 by transferring development rights to the nearby St. John’s site, located across the West Side Highway from Pier 40.

The funds, subject to approval by the Hudson River Park Trust’s Board of Directors after an independent appraisal process, will be used to make long-overdue repairs to the severely damaged and dilapidated Pier 40, which is the park’s largest pier. Portions of the aging pier have been closed in recent months out of concerns for public safety.

As part of the new proposal, the St. John’s Center Partners – Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital Group, LLC – have committed to ensuring that 30 percent of apartments built on their nearby site receiving the pier’s development rights will be permanently affordable to low income and moderate income families, including an entire building of affordable homes for seniors. The plan also includes removing much of the existing overpass structure above Houston Street, creating an elevated publicly accessible open space as well as improving the access to Hudson River Park.

INSTAGRAM FALL PHOTOS THIS WEEKEND The de Blasio administration said the city’s official Instagram channel will host another online contest encouraging New Yorkers to submit photos of the city with an autumn theme. Following in the tradition of the first #SignsOfSpringNYC contest this past spring, winners of #AutumnInNYC will serve as Instagram ambassadors on @nycgov, the official Instagram account of New York City government.

In a press release, City Hall said the #AutumnInNYC contest will once engage New Yorkers from across the five boroughs, giving voice to a diverse range of perspectives and photographic styles on the city’s official Instagram account.

Submissions will be accepted via a web form hosted on nyc.gov, and one ambassador from each borough will be selected by a panel of judges.

In order to be eligible, photos will need to be submitted in a square format by end of the day on November 1. The judging and vetting period will take place from November 2 to November 7.

Winners will be announced on Nov. 14 and the winning photos will be showcased on the @nycgov Instagram and Medium channels, as well as other city social media accounts. Ambassadors will serve through Spring 2015, and will also have special access to InstaMeets coordinated by the city.

AGE-SMART FINALISTS NAMED NEWS Awards recognize businesses that hire and retain four generations of employees Thirteen New York City businesses and nonprofits were recognized as finalists for the 2015 Age Smart Awards.

The award, in its second year, recognizes New York City businesses and nonprofit organizations that use policies and practices that help to hire, retain, and engage four generations of workers. The finalists include: Large Businesses (100+ employees) •Amy’s Breads—a bread and pastry bakery, featuring three retail cafes and distribution to over 250 wholesale customers daily throughout New York City •Brooks Brothers, LIC Factory—the facility that manufactures the neckties and bowties—1.5 million ties a year—for this world-renown oldest clothing retailer in the U.S. •CBRE—the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment company •North Bronx Healthcare Network—serves the Bronx Community by providing high-quality healthcare, regardless of ability to pay, through the Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx Hospital •NYU Langone Medical Center—one

of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, with a trifold mission to serve, teach and discover •Sunnyside Community Services— a community-based organization in western Queens that provides a continuum of care to over 14,000 individuals of all ages annually Small Businesses (less than 100 employees) •ADSPACEink & Magicink Interactive—agencies providing a range of print, digital and cutting-edge design services as well as developing unique branding opportunities •Ben’s Best Kosher Delicatessen—a restaurant and catering business in Rego Park, Queens •Eneslow Pedorthic Enterprises—a footwear store specializing in readymade and custom-made footwear and related products to reduce foot pain and improve balance and gait •Indiana Market & Catering—a high– end special events catering company •Metro Optics Eyewear—an ophthalmic services company with four stores in the Bronx •The Queens Tribune—a local newspaper for 44 years that also runs the South East Queens Press, an AfricanAmerican focused publication •VISION/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired—promotes independence of people of all ages who are blind through skill training, congregate programs and support for caregivers

“Workers of all ages are good for business and these finalists are proof positive that creating a work environment that values older workers pays off big time,” says Ruth Finkelstein, director of the Age Smart Employer Awards program and associate director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at the Mailman School of Public Health. “What this diverse set of employers have in common is a focus on creating a great place to work—for workers of all ages. They do this in different ways—through flexible work arrangements, training and cross-training, staff development and promotion from within or great benefits. ” The 13 finalists were chosen from an original group of 52 applicants by a selection committee of nine experts in the field of employment and aging.

The applicants submitted extensive applications addressing their respective approaches to engaging older workers. Each finalist is now participating in an employees’ survey about those practices. The selection committee will evaluate the employee surveys and after further deliberation will identify three to four winning organizations in the large and small business/nonprofit categories.

The winners of the 2015 Age Employer Awards will be announced at a ceremony on December 9, 2015.

For more information, go to http:// www.agesmartemployer.org

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

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Liam Buckley (second to the left) and Will Natal (third to the left) at this year’s budgeting kick-off party

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 at Friends of the High Line; he was one of five teenagers who got trained and helped attract more teens into the project.

“It’s a fun opportunity,” said Natal. He used to walk around the neighborhood, seeing things that should be fixed, but didn’t know how to go about it. He loves that participatory budgeting gives him a shot at a solution. “PB gets the idea out,” he said. “The improvements that are made by these proposals--ultimately it’s us who are going to inherit them.

And not just proposing, the

something

have

Do

for the community to find out about our projects,” Buckley recalled at a kickoff party for this year’s participatory budgeting, in September. “We really showed that we weren’t kidding about this project, it is something that is really a necessity for our school.”

Natal and Buckley has become good friends through the youth assembly. “Liam is a nice, humble kid,” said Natal.

“You can really tell he cares about his school.”

Natal’s own proposal didn’t go through last year, and that’s part of the reason he decided to come back again this year. “I’m still working on resurfacing the basketball court at Fulton House,” he said. “This time we are going to make it.”

us to

This year, Natal and his peers are reaching out to not only teens, but also to adults, and encouraging people of all ages to take part in the program.

“This inter-generational outreach is sending an important message,” said Maritza Carmona, government and community relations manager at Friend of the High Line. “If I’m approached by a teen and I feel like, they are doing it, and I should be doing it as well.”

Natal said the process left him, and his friends, feeling like they were an important part of the process. “We weren’t treated as we were the youngest,” he said. “We were treated as if we were the same age.”

?

into

ideas are out to be adopted.

Liam Buckley, a secondary school student who lives on west 39th street, volunteered to be a participatory delegate last year.

His proposal for a bathroom renovation at the Lab School became a winning idea after a public vote that took place last April. The project was granted $560,000 in funding; but later, the NYC School Construction Authority agreed to provide funding to implement this project—proof of participatory budgeting’s ability to raise awareness for community improvements, beyond the program’s own resources.

“We created posters that were displayed in the library …

That was really a great chance

like

SECRET BUDGETING WEAPON

you You’d look

Email us at news@strausnews.com

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

AMAZING IS NEVER GIVING UP THE FIGHT. Daniel Jacobs was a rising star in boxing when his legs started to go numb. An MRI revealed the cause: a large tumor wrapped around Danielâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spine. The surgical team at NewYork-Presbyterian used precise three-dimensional imaging to navigate the path to Danielâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spine.

They removed the tumor and rebuilt the damaged area of the spinal column. How well did the surgery work? Three years later, Daniel became the WBA Middleweight Champion of the World.

nyp.org/amazingthings

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OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

TOW N H A LL

M AKING OUR NEIGHBORHOODS MORE LIVABLE ARE THERE NEIGHBORHOODS IN NEW YORK CITY THAT ARE GETTING IT RIGHT? Join Editor-in-Chief Kyle Pope, A ARP and leading policy makers, including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, and concerned citizens for a discussion about the factors that go into making New York City a more livable place.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll hear from top local officials on the problems faced by New Yorkers in an increasingly unaffordable city, and will explore exclusive new AARP data on neighborhoods that are getting it right.

Monday, November 23 2-4pm The Society for Ethical Culture 2 West 64th St.

The event is FREE but space is limited RSVP today at rsvp@strausnews.com or call Molly Colgan at 212-868-0190 The local paper for the Upper East Side

The local paper for Downtown

OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com

YOUR 15 MINUTES

To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to otdowntown.com/15 minutes

MAKING POLITICS LAUGHABLE Comedian Katie Halper riffs on Zabar’s and socialist summer camp

BY ANGELA BARBUTI

Katie Halper refers to herself as a stereotype of the Upper West Side. “My dad’s a psychiatrist. My mom’s an English professor and a novelist,” she explained. She identifies as Jewish, but in the secular sense, and uses that in her comedy. “I’ll do stuff about anything from Zabar’s to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The 34-year-old is making a name for herself in the political comedy world of New York City. Describing herself as “liberal, progressive, left,” she is very much aware of the fact that she’s not alone in her thinking here in the city.

“It’s funny, people are always like, ‘You’re preaching to the choir,’ but the choir deserves to be entertained,” she said.

This year, she was given her own weekly radio show on WBAI, “The Katie Halper Show,” where she brings on guests such as historians, journalists, organizers and of course, fellow comedians, and they give their takes on the news, the arts, politics and pop culture.

On November 18th, she will host Laughing Liberally, an offshoot of Living Liberally, the troupe, of which she is a member, that creates social events around progressive politics. Her documentary “Commie Camp” about Jewish activist-founded Camp Kinderland, which she attended as a youngster, will play at Anthology Film Archives on December 14.

How did you get started in comedy?

I’ve always been very political. I went to Wesleyan University in Connecticut and when I was in college, I thought that I would go to law school. I remember one day at Wesleyan, people were like, “Katie, you should be in the standup show.” And I said, “I don’t do standup. I’m not funny on command.”

Because they thought I was funny. So I did the show. I just basically told stories about my family, and my grandmother, in particular. There was a really nice and funny woman who was the headliner named Susan Prekel and she was really encouraging. But I was reluctant to perform. There was something I always thought was kind of obnoxious about actors and performers. I was also more political, so it took me a while to admit that I liked performing.

What was it like growing up on the Upper West Side?

Well, I’m the product of a mixed marriage, my mom is Bronxian and my dad

is Queensian. But I’m a walking stereotype of the Upper West Side. It’s very Woody Allen. Actually, there’s a part in the film “Annie Hall” where Allen meets a character named Allison Portchnik, who is played by Carol Kane, and tries to size her up and says, “You’re like New York, Jewish, left-wing, liberal, intellectual, Central Park West, Brandeis University, the socialist summer camps and ... father with the Ben Shahn drawings, right, and ... strikeoriented kind of, red diaper ...” But I grew up on Riverside Drive, not Central Park West, and went to Wesleyan, not Brandeis. I even went to the socialist summer camp, Camp Kinderland, which was founded by secular Jewish workers in the 1920s. My mom, uncle and grandmother worked there and I made a documentary about it called “Commie Camp.” It’s funny because I didn’t use to identify as Jewish because I’m not at all religious. But now I realize that there is a secular Jewish identity and tradition, which I very much have.

New York Magazine called you “Stephen Colbert crossed with Sarah Silverman.”

How do you describe your comedic style?

Like Colbert. I am ironic or satirical and sometimes pseudo self-congratulating, but I break character all the time. My normal character is just me.

Actually someone just gave me a blurb today and she’s like, “You’re quirky and incisive, but never mean.” I like to get people to tell me stories. I really like listening to people and asking them questions. Often I’ll have people talk, not just about the current events, but also about their lives. I like to get them able to relax. And when I do standup, it varies between short, cerebral jokes or storytelling. Sometimes it’s sarcastic. It’s about politics. It’s about dating.

More and more it’s about dating, actually. Thank God for small favors, like terrible dates, which make great art.

It’s all going in the book that I want to write one day.

You started a weekly radio show in July.

How did that come about?

Someone at the station had seen me perform, and saw me on “Morning Jew,” a YouTube show I did with Heather Gold, who’s a comedian from Canada, and they invited me to join “The WBAI Morning Show.” I was a cohost with this great engineer, but also host named Michael G. Haskins.

That was early, 6 to 8, and I’m not really a morning person, especially because I do standup. And it just evolved into my getting an evening show, which is

really fun. And I have this comedian named Gabe Pacheco who’s a good friend of mine. Originally I was just going to have a different guest every week who’s a comedian, but Gabe and I had such good comedic chemistry that I kept him. He’s my co-host. The Robin to my Howard.

Explain how Laughing Liberally started and the event that’s coming up at Beauty Bar. Living Liberally is this empire that my friend Justin Krebs started. It started with Drinking Liberally and actually, our first show had Baratunde Thurston in it, who is the digital director at the “Daily Show” and Aziz Ansari. It was fortuitous; we had programming that fell through at this place called The Tank, a performing arts space. We needed to do a show and Baratunde was in town, at this point he was living in Boston and the chair of the Drinking Liberally chapter there.

We decided to do a comedy show and said, ‘Let’s just call it Laughing Liberally,’ and it kind of just stuck. After 9/11 especially, it was hard to be political for some people and the managers of the venues would discourage you from it.

And Laughing Liberally was always a place where people could try out and perform political material. We’re having one at Beauty Bar in November. It’s going to be political standup.

Do you incorporate the presidential candidates into your routines?

I’ll do stuff about Trump. In terms of comedy, he provides as much comedy as Bush used to. In fact, Julie Goldman who was on my show a couple of months ago who’s hysterical, she and I were talking about Trump. He’s like the gift that keeps on giving for comedians. It’s just like a dream come true.

I talk about Bernie, just because his accent is so great. I love that a guy lives in Vermont and is a senator there, and has the thickest Brooklyn accent I ever heard.

For more about Katie, visit www.katiehalper. com and follow her on Twitter @kthalps You can listen to The Katie Halper Show on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/thekatie-halper-show/id1020563127?mt=2 or SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/katiehalper/sets/the-katie-halper-show

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

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OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

“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 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015

CLASSIFIEDS NEED TO RUN A LEGAL NOTICE? Quick | Easy | Economical

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POLICY NOTICE: We make every eďŹ&#x20AC;ort to avoid mistakes in your classiďŹ ed ads. Check your ad the ďŹ rst week it runs. The publication will only accept responsibility for the ďŹ rst incorrect insertion. The publication assumes no ďŹ nancial responsibility for errors or omissions. We reserve the right to edit, reject, or re-classify any ad. Contact your sales rep directly for any copy changes. All classiďŹ ed ads are pre-paid.

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REAL ESTATE - SALE

ENTERTAINMENT WANTED TO BUY

MASSAGE ANTIQUES/COLLECTIBLES

CAMPS/SCHOOLS HEALTH SERVICES SERVICES OFFERED MERCHANDISE FOR SALE

SOHO LT MFG Your Homeownership Partner

- Over 600 vacation homes in all price ranges!

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462 Broadway MFG No Retail/Food +/- 9,000 sf Ground Floor - $90 psf +/- 16,000 sf Cellar - $75 psf Call Farrell @ Meringoff Properties 646.306.0299

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1-800-382-HOME(4663)

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OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4,2015