The local paper for Downtown wn
WEEK OF NOVEMBER
12-18 2015
STELLA AT THE WHITNEY CITYARTS, P.12
CONCRETE BEAUTY Students at the Fashion Institute of Technology decorate the walls BY MADISON COLLINS
In a school all about art and design — colors and expression aren’t a surprise. And starting last week, the walls of the Fashion Institute of Technology turned colorful and expressive. “To innovate, you need to make a change,” said Elizabeth Surico, a senior at the Seventh Avenue school. She composed a red flower and multicolored butterfly springing from a blue human head that now decorates the school’s stone walls. This is the third year the Department of Illustration’s seniors are adorning the school’s outside walls. Chalk FIT, as it’s called, “revealed what FIT is about,” said Dan Shefelman a professor at FIT and a practiced illustrator. This year’s theme, or rather the first with any theme — innovation — was by students in the hopes of inspiring the community in the same way it inspired their chalk and pastel drawings. As it would along a busy avenue, the event is getting attention. One student, Raissa Oliveira, choose to recreate the Chloe meme bounding around social media. Chloe is a young girl who gained attention for her ability to produce the pop-culture ‘side eye.’ Her mother, Katie Clem, who runs Chloe’s and her sister Lily’s Instagram account took notice of the Chalk FIT project and shared Oliveira’s art with her 356k followers. Oliveira took the idea of innovation and put her own on the theme creating art inspired by, “How social media is taking over the world.” Though
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SOOTHING THE PAIN
Our Take A DEADLY NOVEMBER It was been a horrific month for pedestrian safety in the city. Since Halloween, a dozen people have died in car-related fatalities, including a 50-year-old man struck when a car ran into a sidewalk in Brooklyn, a 62-yearold in Queens who swerved into traffic to avoid an open car door, a trick-or-treater who died in the Bronx, and a grandmother on the Upper West Side killed by a taxi driver bleary-eyed after a 16-hour shift. They are all isolated, tragic stories. But they are also part of an ongoing policy quagmire in New York. Despite the high ideals, and quantifiable progress of Vision Zero, there still is not the sense of urgency, or public outrage, needed to stop the bloodshed. Groups like Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives have helped. But the broader public mandate, like the outrage mustered so effectively against drunk driving a couple of decades ago, isn’t yet there. Mayor Bill de Blasio, responding to this month’s awful numbers, insisted that “Vision Zero is working” and is “already yielding real results.” While his facts may be right, his tone is maddeningly sanguine. Years from now, we’ll look back at this time in our city, when too many of us seemed to accept death on our streets as a part of urban living, and be shocked at our passivity. We need to be outraged. We need to demand immediate change. We need to make sure a November like this doesn’t happen again.
FIFTH OF SIX PARTS BY HEATHER CLAYTON COLANGELO EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS DIRECTED BY DORIAN BLOCK
Jacquie Murdock, 84, was dealt a double whammy within weeks. First, she woke up with an intense pain by her right ear. (“It feels like someone had an icepick and was stabbing me,” she described.) A few weeks later there was a searing pain in her spine that traveled all the way down to her calf. She was diagnosed with shingles and sciatica. It’s been weeks since she was able to attend her bi-weekly dance class in Harlem, and weeks since she was able to attend her church in Chinatown. An active and spiritual person, this greatly bothers Jacquie. She hates being cooped up at home. But today is a special day at Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church. It’s Homecoming,
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GRAYING NEW YORK A series looking at growing older in the city 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
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