Tapped In: Macy’s says no to East Side fireworks PAGE 2 April 5, 2012
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LAPPIN DEMANDS CLEAN AIR ACCOUNTABILITY
MACY’S SAYS NO TO THE EAST SIDE On Monday, not long after Brooklyn politicians rallied to bring the Fourth of July fireworks back to the East River, Macy’s said it would stay on the Hudson this year. “Macy’s Fireworks will take place on the Hudson River, with barges positioned between 18th and 48th streets providing two miles of public viewing space,” Macy’s spokesperson Orlando Veras wrote in an email. State Sen. Daniel Squadron, whose Downtown Manhattan/Brooklyn district straddles the East River, and Brooklyn Council Member Stephen Levin rallied April 2 in an effort to convince Macy’s to
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Isaac Rosenthal
In response to increased concerns about the air quality around the Second Avenue Subway construction, City Council Member Jessica Lappin has introduced a bill that would require the city’s Department of Environmental Protection to monitor construction sites monthly and release data on potential health hazards. Earlier this year, the MTA released a study that measured harmful pollutants and found that the subway construction was not creating hazardous conditions, but many residents have since complained that their respiratory problems tell a different story. Another spot check by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found elevated levels of silica, a carcinogen that targets the lungs, inside the tunnels. “The MTA says the air is safe, but we need to know for sure,” Lappin said in a statement. “Monthly testing by an outside agency would help us breathe a little easier.” The proposed legislation would require the DEP to post the monthly results of tests for irritants like particulate matter and sulfur dioxide, and if levels exceed safe benchmarks, the DEP commissioner would be legally required to take action to mitigate the problem.
move the riverside display back east after a three-year stint on the Hudson. They were joined in a press release by several Manhattan legislators, including Rep. Carolyn Maloney, East Side Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh and Council Member Margaret Chin, who represents Lower Manhattan’s West and East sides. Assembly Member Micah Kellner, of the Upper East Side, voiced his support on Twitter. In the release, the pols disparaged the merits of the Hudson because it shuts out Brooklyn and Queens and drives people to New Jersey, but in response to tweets posted by West Side Spirit and Our Town, Squadron clarified and said he wanted the display to be on both rivers. When asked if Macy’s would consider that, Veras did not respond, but he did hold out hope for East River fans in future years. The fireworks “will not be a permanent fixture in any one location,” Veras wrote. “Exclusively limiting the show to any particular area would greatly hinder the creative freedom that has made it the nation’s best and largest Independence Day display.” Here’s hoping, East Siders.
EASTER CELEBRATION
Whit Guidry and her mom, Sally Guidry, meet up with the Easter Bunny at Carl Shurz Park during the park’s eighth annual Egg Hunt April 1. become more informed and actively engaged.” The collaboration kicks off with a symposium called “The 2012 Presidential Election and the Latino Community,” Tuesday, April 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the Silberman School of Social Work, 2180 3rd Ave. Advanced registration required at http://bit.ly/H9sAa5.
NEW POLITICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM GOLDEN AGE MUSIC DEBUT The Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and the Latino Leadership Institute have jointly announced the creation of new program aimed at educating New Yorkers on how elections and political campaigns function in the city. The program will offer classes on campaign finance, ethics, field operations, petitions, electoral strategy, turn out the vote, messaging, fundraising, media relations, polling, public speaking and voter registration. It will be open to CUNY students as well as community members. “By launching this Academy in partnership with the community, we are creating a stronger and even more activist school for today’s emerging social work organizers and advocates,” said Jacqueline Mondros, dean of the Silberman School. Jaime Estades, president and founder of the Latino Leadership Institute, said that helping “all citizens learn the nuts and bolts of how to organize the vote in a nonpartisan fashion will broaden the debate, thus helping communities
Early music ensemble Sonnambula will present a program of previously unperformed works of 17th-century composer Simon Ives, an overlooked master of the Golden Age of English consort music. Ives adapted the musical idioms of his time—the legacy of English liturgical polyphony, the Italian madrigal and the dance-like Italian canzona—to his own particular vision. The concert will feature work for two to six viols by Ives, his teacher, John Ward, and their contemporaries Lawes, Rogers and Jenkins. Thursday, April 19 at 8 p.m. Park Avenue Christian Church, 1010 Park Ave. Tickets are $25, $15 for students.
CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY TALK The 92Y continues its series of talks with prominent business people with an evening with Stephen Schwarzman, the chairman, CEO and co-found-
er of investment firm Blackstone. Schwarzman started his career at Lehman Brothers before founding Blackstone, where he has been closely involved in every phase of its development and growth. Tuesday, April 10 at 8:15 p.m., Buttenwieser Hall, 1395 Lexington Ave. Tickets from $29. For more information, visit 92y.org.
THE BRITISH ARE COMING The London Candy Company, which bills itself as a “boutique British confectioner,” is hosting its first art exhibition at its Upper East Side flagship store at 1442 Lexington Ave. The large-scale paintings in the Sick Sweet series by London artist Emma-Louise depict classic British sweets and are described as “heavily dripped, chaotically whipped and sensationally splattered.” The store sells the subjects of the paintings, so if you’re craving some actual candy along with your eye candy, you can fill up on Flying Saucers, Cherry Lips, Smarties, Turkish Delight and the entire Cadbury lineup— all those weirdly delicious and hard-tofind U.K. delicacies. Correction: In the Debra Fechter OTTY article on page 38 of last week’s edition, we mistakenly identified the East Midtown Partnership as the East Midtown Realty Foundation. We apologize for the mistake. N EW S YO U LIV E B Y
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April 5, 2012
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By Sean Creamer
Cash Over Easy While most people who enter a bodega early in the morning are looking for an egg sandwich, two crooks were starving for the green, as opposed to eggs and ham. April 2 at 5 a.m., the thugs entered a store on the Upper East Side and while one stood guard, the other went around the counter, brandished a revolver at the clerk and demanded the cash in the register. After taking $500, the two men fled the scene. There have been no arrests so far in the case.
Brand Loyalty Can Only Take You So Far
Having passion for your job is always a plus, but when your enthusiasm entails trying to stop a criminal who robbed your store, employees may want to leave that to the police. Saturday, March 31 at 12:50 a.m., two males and a female entered a large convenience store on Lexington Avenue and began filling their pockets with gum and deodorant. One employee took notice of the theft and proceeded to follow the perps outside, where he was threatened with a screwdriver. The two men fled the scene and the police detained the woman who was with them. The boys in blue wish to remind citizens that confronting crooks is their job and the best way to help is to get a description and the direction in which the criminal fled.
Sidewalk Scuffle
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Letting in Fresh Air and Deft Crooks
One lucky cat burglar took advantage of unlocked windows and a fire escape to make off with quite the payday. Thursday, March 29, a thief made his way into four apartments and did not break a single lock or window in the process. The burglar ascended the fire escape of an apartment building on East 73rd Street in the middle of the day and made off with a multitude of electronics, jewelry, sunglasses, iPads and iPods and a slew of diamond necklaces. With the warm weather coming in fast, those with fire escapes outside their window may want to reconsider leaving their windows open to the cool outside air and cunning criminals.
Keep Your Bags Close and Valuables Closer
When going out to eat or heading to a pub, remember that you are not lounging at home, safe from theft. For the past three months, deft hands have been invading the sanctity of purses and other handbags left on chairs of restaurants and pubs on the Upper East Side. The NYPD at the 21st Precinct wants to remind residents that they should keep close tabs on their belongings, keep their valuables nearby or leave the expensive stuff at home.
A timeless quote from Bambi says: “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” The writers were not kidding. Saturday, March 31 at 2:55 p.m., two men got into an altercation on 1st Avenue. After a few minutes of quarrelling, one of the men decided to take the argument
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to the next level and brandished a knife at his nemesis. When the police arrived, there was no knife to be found. Both men were arrested.
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Lifelong Upper East Sider Aims For Lappin’s Seat By Megan Bungeroth Ben Kallos is nothing if not a go-getter, in the most extreme sense of the word. On any given weekday, he’s awake, has gone for a run or swim and had three breakfast meetings—and three breakfasts, which he swears has made him lose, not gain, weight—before many aspiring politicians have had their morning coffee. Oh, and he doesn’t drink coffee.
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Ben Kallos. This all seems as obvious a lifestyle to Kallos as his decision to run for Jessica Lappin’s seat in the City Council in 2013. He’s positioning himself as a young voice, a progressive choice, someone who has worked tirelessly, frenetically even, on so many civic issues it makes the résumés of some sitting council members seem paltry by comparison. Kallos, a lifelong Upper East Sider, went to the Bronx High School of Science, where he distinguished himself by running a computer consulting firm at age 15. He went on to SUNY Albany, where he was heavily involved in student politics, and got his law degree from SUNY Buffalo Law School. He has practiced corporate litigation at several firms, worked as former State Assembly Member Jonathan Bing’s chief of staff and with then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and former public advocate Mark Green. He now works with Bill Samuels on the New Roosevelt Initiative, a campaign dedicated to promoting reformminded and ethics-driven candidates that successfully worked to oust disgraced State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. from the legislature. They also work on the Effective New York campaign that promotes
reforming Albany’s notorious dysfunction by amending the state constitution. Reform is the name of Kallos’ game, and he sees solutions in everything, especially in the input of his potential constituents. “The community is an amazing resource; everybody has such great ideas and government is so broken. We’ve been doing it the same way for same way for literally thousands of years,” he said during a recent interview. He’s a big fan of the participatory budgeting experiments going on in four of the city’s districts and is always looking for ways to get more community feedback and keep people informed about their government. He serves as a public member of Community Board 8 and has created several free websites that connect people directly to transparent voter and legislative information. On the ground level, Kallos works with many small businesses and he views his role helping them as part of a larger civic responsibility. “As an attorney, I love to help make people’s dreams come true,” he said. “It’s about helping people grow their business, grow their dreams, because I’m not there to make a quick buck off a starting business; I’m there to help somebody grow a business, grow jobs in Manhattan, grow talent.” Taking that long view is how Kallos sees the city fixing its education system as well as providing jobs. He supports public investment in educational alternatives for at-risk youth, such as providing grants for associate degree or vocational skills training for teens who aren’t succeeding on the traditional college-bound path. “All of a sudden, we’ve taken someone who is going to be a drain on their economy, and with a minimal investment, gotten them a certificate they need to practice a vocation and maybe that’s a lifelong career,” Kallos said. Kallos sees that kind of multi-tentacled, out-of-the-box approach to many problems, like addressing after-school programs for kids, childhood obesity and the affordability of healthy food for lowincome populations by extending afterschool hours in partnership with local food providers that also give kids food to take home to their families. “At the end of the day, the question is: Do you want to invest in our futures or in something else?” he said. “We can always do better. It’s about continual improvement.” N EW S YO U LIV E B Y
The Economic Engine that Roared that New York was the epicenter of the financial crisis and was the city virtually least affected by it. New York’s Great Recession was 1969 to 1977. This was the mildest downturn of the modern era for the city.
The bailout of the banks meant that fewer people were fired than expected and salaries and bonuses stayed high. Tourism has become the city’s second most important industry and continued to be surprisingly strong during the recession. Also, New York is a very different place these days. There are only 70,000 manufacturing jobs, not the million there were after the end of World War II.
How has New York managed to ride out the Great Recession?
To read our complete interview with Greg David, visit nypress.com.
Greg David examines the business of what makes New York work By Sean Creamer Knowledge of the art of business is a requirement for anyone who hopes to cover the fast-paced business world of New York. Beyond that, though, an understanding of the history and players who have made this city into what it was are also needed. Greg David, a CUNY professor, was the editor of Crain’s New York Business for 25 years. He has used his experience as a business journalist to pen his recent book Modern New York: The Life and Economics of a City, a book for anyone interested in how the economic engine of the financial capital of the world works. The author will discuss his book and the future of New York City April 9 at 7 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble on Broadway and 82nd Street. West Side Spirit: What makes New York’s economy unique? Greg David: Well, New York isn’t just any city, it is THE city. The story of New York is the story of how this city became the preeminent business and financial capital of America, if not the world. And it’s a fascinating story, because it’s about the triumph of Wall Street. It’s about the roles mayors have had in shaping this city for good and for ill. And it’s about all the efforts New York has made to diversify its economy. I think fundamentally, this book is about the intersection of business, the economy and politics. Is the book written purely for those in the business arena? The book is not just about business people, it’s about all kinds of New Yorkers. One of the most important reasons why New York is prosperous is because of immigrants. People say that Ed Koch’s housing plan was instrumental in saving the neighborhoods—it was a good plan, but it didn’t save the neighborhoods. The arrival of immigrants in rising numbers in the late 1970s and 1980s is what saved New York. In the ’70s, New York City’s population decreased by almost 1 million people. We were on our way to becoming some super-sized Boston or maybe Detroit. Then immigrants moved into the worst neighborhoods, because that is where they could afford to live, and they revitalized them. Immigrants have fueled the growth of tourism; immigrants have fueled the growth of many industries. Immigrants are more entrepreneurial, they have played a crucial role in making n y pr e s s. c o m
the city more prosperous—if we are going to have a bright future, we are going to continue to need hundreds of thousands of immigrants to come to the city. What do you think led to the recent economic collapse? As the book points out, the economy didn’t go under in 2008. It’s a great irony
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feature
City Looks to Close the Book More on Library Funding By Megan Bungeroth
A
andrew schwartz
nyone who thinks of libraries as repressively quiet zones filled with musty books need only walk into the Webster Library branch of the New York Public Library system to be instantly proven wrong. While the Upper East Side branch boasts its fair share of quiet spots as well as, of course, books, it is also a bustling community space where locals of all ages come to use computers, take classes and participate in group activities they simply can’t find anywhere else. Library usage in the city keeps going up—in the last fiscal year, Webster had over 250,000 visits, and the entire NYPL system had 15.1 million—but funding continues to drop precipitously. Now the NYPL system is facing severe budget cuts again; the 2013 proposed budget slashes $36 million, a 32 percent decrease that, if implemented in the executive budget, would surely mean reduced hours, staff and services all around Manhattan. “More patrons than ever are coming through our doors, checking out more materials, attending more programs and accessing more information,” said Dr. Anthony Marx, president of the NYPL, at a City Council hearing last week. “This cumulative cut means that [fiscal year] ’13 funding, excluding inflationary reimbursements, would be a full 44 percent lower than the FY ’08 adopted budget.”
to positions online. Last year, 440,500 donations, a number they say remains ability to get the information,” for things people attended job-related classes at the consistent. It’s the city money that fluc- like online employment resources. city libraries. tuates and that the system is constantly While job search resources are criti“When people don’t have any other negotiating. cal, local libraries also serve as cultural options, they know they can come to the “I call it, in the words of Yogi Berra, ‘Déjà and social havens for Upper East and library for help with dignity,” Comito said. vu all over again,’” said Council Member West Siders. On a recent bright weekday City Council Member Gale Brewer Vincent Gentile, chair of the Libraries morning at St. Agnes, seniors crowded said that while it’s still a little early in the Committee. “It seems like every 10 months around the computers, people of all ages process of fighting over the budget, she or so, we’re back to where we started. browsed the books and worked on lapexpects to receive a slew of constituent “Last year, we had to close a gap of $3 tops and dozens of children scampered feedback urging her to help preserve million [after larger cuts were restored to around the newly renovated first floor, local libraries—last year, she received the budget],” he said. “Now it’s come to designed to accommodate kids and their over 2,500 letters. the point to that we’re looking at a gap of caretakers. Three moms of young tod“We receive more letdlers met in a corner, where ters from people conthey regularly gather for their cerned about libraries group’s meet-ups. than any other item,” “I couldn’t imagine not havBrewer said. “I haping this available,” said Lissa pen to also be addicted Toole, who organizes the group. to [Upper West Side “The library is a huge help.” branch] St. Agnes. I go Samantha Berman, who in most weekends, I read used to come to St. Agnes as a the papers that I haven’t little girl and loves bringing her caught up on. There are child there now, said that if the no seats available in the library had to further reduce its computer spaces.” hours, it would be tough on her Brewer said she’s and other mothers. “We would concerned that even if like it to open at 10 a.m.,” she funding is restored in said. “If they decrease the the executive budget, hours, it would be like a waste local branches—which Patrons inside the Webster Branch of the New York Public Library. of that [new] construction.” include, on the Upper “Yes, 11 a.m. is late for a East Side, the 96th Street Library, the $96 million,” the total combined amount library,” Toole chimed in. Currently, St. Yorkville Library, the 67th Street Library for the NYPL, which covers Manhattan, Agnes is open 43 hours a week, opening and the Aguilar Library—will still suffer the Bronx and Staten Island as well as the at 11 a.m. Monday through Wednesday, without increased funding. research libraries, and cuts to the Queens noon on Thursday, and 10 a.m. Friday and “We need more librar- and Brooklyn library systems. Saturday. It closes at 5, 6 or 7 p.m. and ians, we need to be open Gentile said that the libraries should doesn’t open on Sundays. more hours, [have] more receive a baseline budget—something “As a parent, you want to encourbooks, more computers. they can count on every year—but that age reading from the earliest moment,” I don’t understand a lit- he doesn’t see that happening in this said Alena Morrissey, another mom who erate society not making administration. wants her toddler to be surrounded by that a priority,” Brewer “The fact that we haven’t baselined it books as much as possible. All three said. really leaves everybody with no ability to mothers said they would be at a loss for The steady decline in funding has plan and no ability to have some sense of a new location to meet if they didn’t have forced libraries to get by on shoestring security,” he said. St. Agnes, and noted how crowded all the budgets and operate with military-like Maureen Sullivan, president-elect of area libraries are. efficiency to avoid cutting services. the American Libraries Association, said As the budget back-and-forth begins “The cuts have definitely been tough,” that urban libraries around the country in the coming weeks, the City Council Angela Montefinise, director of public are suffering similar budget restraints and may restore some of the library budget, relations and marketing at the NYPL, that lawmakers need to be made aware but advocates are still worried that even wrote in an email. “We’re down 500 of the tremendous return on investment with minimal cuts, the system will be employees since [2008], and yet we still that libraries offer in terms of public ser- stretched too thin. manage to have an average of six-day ser- vices and community benefit. “They talk about basically cutting the vice around our system. We have worked “I think there’s really a need for the most vulnerable folks in this city who extremely hard…to ensure that public financial people, the policy makers to depend on us for access to ideas—the service is not impacted by these cuts, but understand what people who work in bedrock of democracy, the bedrock of an there’s only so far we can push to main- libraries do and how people in the com- economy,” Marx said in his Council testain that level of service as resources con- munity use libraries,” Sullivan said. “It’s timony. “That would demonstrate fewer tinue to decline.” critical to recognize that the public library items being circulated, libraries being According to the NYPL, about $100 is often the only resource available for closed, youngsters being deprived of million of their $259 million adopted those in our communities who are not access to books and programs. It really is budget for FY 2012 comes from private yet using the technology or don’t have the a horror show.”
“We receive more letters from people concerned about libraries than any other item.” —Council Member Gale Brewer It’s a particularly cruel irony that the same economic crisis that squeezes the library budget is the same force sending New Yorkers into those libraries in droves. Library advocates point out that the loss of hours and staff would mean fewer librarians to help people find and fill out job applications, fewer free activities for cash-strapped parents to bring their kids to and fewer English as a Second Language courses, one of the many types of free class the NYPL provides. “Especially in an economic downturn, libraries just become more necessary,” said Lauren Comito, a librarian who runs the organization Urban Librarians Unite. She said she has probably helped over 1,000 people in the past six months search for jobs, write résumés and apply n y pr e s s. c o m
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profile
From the Amazon to the Upper East Side managed to balance their popularity with a continued commitment to their artistic mission. The youngest member of an adventurous family of artists, Love spent much of his childhood in Europe, returning to the Northeast in his teens. But it was only in high school, after winning five Scholastic Gold Key Awards, that he ever considered a serious pursuit of art. Continuing to travel extensively, Love worked in Asia between semesters at the Rhode Island School of Design and eventually set his sights on more uncharted territory. It was his interest in the “ambiguous origins of our culture’s creative evolution” that inspired Love’s project to research the indigenous tribes of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. Under the tutelage of shamans, he trained in traditional artistic practices, simultaneously becoming familiar with the plight of the native people. Increasingly disenfranchised and actively uprooted by the South American oil trade, these tribes stand on the brink of destruction. Their struggle inspired Love to set upon a new artistic mission: to celebrate,
preserve and raise awareness about the region’s creative tradition and cultural heritage. Love’s current book project, Pahasqa Ñan (“The Hidden Way”), is the culmination of his creative research and a grateful homage to the tribes with whom he resided. Multiple methods of brightlyhued illustration relay tales inspired by native folklore, representing both the artist’s perspective that “no one style is relevant or applicable to all subjects” and his range of skill. Those who attend Love’s upcoming show, Compressing Culture, will witness the convergence of the diverse artistic techniques featured in his book. His research concerning the origin of creativity has led him to develop a style that calls upon the “universal balance of form, shape and line contained within all great paintings.” The result is a rhythmic and dynamic blend of tribal pattern and cubistically influenced abstraction, a style he sustains across mediums and diverse color palettes. To view Love’s most recent work, visit www.harrisonlove.com. Compressing
andrew schwartz
By Carly DeFilippo While the Upper East Side may not be the typical neighborhood for an upand-coming artist, 26-year-old Harrison Love makes the most of his unconventional stomping grounds. He describes the Metropolitan Museum as his “church, a place to seek spiritual guidance” and cites the Frick as one of his favorite collections in the city. Though he admires the grand masters, Love’s work tends toward abstraction, pulling from a range of influences and styles more similar to the contemporary collection of the Whitney Museum. Considering his background in illustration, it is surprising to learn that Love’s favorite artwork is not that of high-octane contemporary galleries. “Current trends in art lend themselves more to entertainment than concept or context,” Love said. “In a sense, artists are producing art that is all sugar, with little to no nutritional value.” He is most interested in the work of N ORDER - Email Art socially relevant artists, referencing rth Ai Wei Wei, or those who challenge Media the experience of the observer, such as James Turrell, noting that both have h St.
Harrison Love studied with shamans in the Amazon. Culture opens April 9 at the Greenpoint Gallery. For more information, visit www.thegreenpointgallery.com.
Y 10018 724 Fax: (212) 268-0502 uction@manhattanmedia.com th@manhattanmedia.com
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politics
Promising No More Drama, Garodnick Declares for Comptroller By Andy Hawkins All those suffering from John Liu scandal exhaustion, consider the alternative: Dan Garodnick, your “no drama” comptroller candidate. That is the message the Upper East Side councilman sent to his supporters on Tuesday as he announced his intentions to run for city comptroller in 2013. “You’re not going to get a lot of drama from me,” Garodnick says in the 1:47-long video announcing his run. “I will be a single-minded watchdog over our taxpayer dollars in a way that is both disciplined and responsible.” Garodnick’s interest in the comptroller’s office has been rumored for months. City & State first reported in November that he was eyeing a run,
troller’s office. And if Liu ends up running for re-election, it’s a message Garodnick could fall back on in a primary. “New Yorkers need an independent voice that they can trust in the comptroller’s office,” Garodnick said. “That means being totally focused on finding creative ways to make sure our government is working as effectively as it can, focusing on the essential elements of the job and restoring public trust in the office.” Garodnick has been turning his atten-
tion lately to issues that could loosely be described as comptroller-ish in substance. He helped draft the bill to give more prosecutorial powers to the Civilian Review Complaint Board. He also introduced a bill that would give city whistleblower privileges to employees of firms with large city contracts. And he penned an op-ed in favor of campaign finance reform for the Albany Times-Union, a paper not readily available in his Upper East Side district.
And with $1 million in his campaign account transferable to a citywide race, Garodnick would be a formidable candidate. At the end of the video, Garodnick urges supporters to visit his website and unveils his campaign logo: Dan Garodnick, Democrat for City Comptroller. This story was first published on the City & State website on April 3. For more city politics, visit cityandstateny.com.
andrew schwartz
Coucil Member Dan Garodnick. while the New York Times reported last week that Garodnick was all but assured to announce his candidacy. And with this week’s video message, the campaign is official. He made an announcement on the steps of City Hall at noon, April 3. “I wanted to share the news that I’ve decided to run for New York City comptroller next year,” Garodnick said in the video, while bikes and pedestrians stream past in the background. “A lot of New Yorkers don’t know what this job is. But if you’re a taxpayer and care about our public schools or hospitals, our police department or if you’re a member of one of our five pension systems, this is an important job for you. We have some very difficult budget challenges coming down the pike.” One potential snag for Garodnick is that the office’s current occupant, John Liu, has yet to formally declare his intentions for mayor, nor has he officially declined to run for re-election. Garodnick doesn’t mention Liu in the video, but his message seems designed to waylay concerns supporters may have about the current occupant of the compn y pr e s s. c o m
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More Bikes, Less Cars in Central Park
andrew schwartz
By Megan Bungeroth this.” A new shift is about to once again Currently, the drive accommodates change the battling dynamic between two lanes of vehicle traffic and one bike vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians travel- lane, with a fence between the bike lane ing through Central Park. In the coming and the pedestrian path on the south side. weeks, the Central Park Conservancy and Each vehicle lane is 11 feet wide, with a the Department of Transportation will be three-foot buffer between the cars and jointly presenting a plan to community the eight-foot-wide bike path. boards 7 (Upper West Side) and 8 (Upper The new plan will create wider bufEast Side) outlining their plans to per- fer zones, with the intent to allow more manently change the 72nd Street trans- bicycles and keep pedestrians safer, and verse, also known at Terrace Drive. The allow bikers to travel both east and west plan will reduce the number of cars on on 72nd Street. Two lanes of traffic will the road while allowing for an increased become one single 11-foot-wide lane, with number of bicycles. a four-foot shoulder on the north side and While the idea of more bikes on the a four-foot buffer on the other, separating park’s roadways might raise the ire of the cars from the double bike lanes. Each some local residents, the plan was actu- bike lane, divided by a dotted line, will be ally conceived as a way to encourage slightly narrower than the previous one, cyclists off the pedestrian and shared at seven feet wide each. paths and back onto the road. The DOT has already conducted a traf“The purpose of this plan—devel- fic study to determine the Loss of Service oped in conjunction with DOT and Parks (LOS) rate that will result in narrowing Department—is to encourage bicyclists the road for drivers. to use the drives instead of interior pedesRight now, an average of about 500 trian paths,” said Dena Libner, spokes- cars travel on Terrace Drive during the NEC Vertical QuarterPg2011_Layout 1 6/8/11 9:39 AM Page 1 person for the Central Park Conservancy. morning peak hours of 8–9:30 a.m., with “More bike access on the drives, we an average delay of 9.8 seconds. Using believe, should help in accomplishing this as a benchmark, the DOT estimates
Bikers ride through Central Park. that the LOS level will be a “B” on an A-F scale, with A being the current condition and F being the worst possible, meaning the changes will produce “reasonably unimpeded traffic with average travel speeds about 20 percent less” than current, with an average delay of 13 seconds for the same number of cars. In other words, if the projections hold,
cross-park car trips may only be held up by an additional 3.2 seconds, on average, as a result of this change. The Parks Department and the Conservancy have implemented several changes recently to address the increasing numbers of cyclists crossing the park on a daily basis as well as the safety concerns of pedestrians who don’t want to share paths with bicycles zooming past. Earlier this year, the park debuted a newly shared path for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross the park at 96th Street, in answer to bicyclists demanding safer cross-park routes. It faced some severe opposition from both East and West Side community board members, but so far has not caused major controversy in action. While the CPC will be presenting the plan to the community boards and listening to feedback, the new configuration is already slated to switch over in the coming months and is designed to stay. “This change will be permanent,” Libner confirmed. “We expect more cyclists to use the drive for cross-park commutes and travel, and pedestrians to be able to navigate interior paths with greater ease.”
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www.CityMD.net N Y P r e s s. c o m
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event
Council Member Daniel Garodnick presents an OTTY Award.
Council Member Jessica Lappin presents the East Sider of the Year OTTY to Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
OTTYs Celebrate the Best of the Best More than 150 residents of the Upper East Side came to Mount Sinai March 29 to attend the OTTY Awards (Our Town Thanks You), hosted by Manhattan Media. The annual celebration honors those who are working to make our neighborhood a better place live. This year, 20 residents were profiled, including Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who was named East Sider of the Year. To read the winners’ stories, visit nypress.com. photos by andrew schwartz
Andy Fechter with his wife, Real Estate OTTY winner Debra Fechter.
Health OTTY Award winner Constance Peterson with Dr Steven J. Corwin, CEO of New York Presbyterian Hospital.
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Real Estate OTTY Award winners Scott L. DeMatteis and Joseph M. Mattone Sr.
Block Association OTTY Award winner Elaine Walsh with her partner Brenda McGowan.
Past OTTY winner Loretta Ponticello and Mary Ford.
Madison Avenue BID President Matthew Bauer accepts his Community Builder OTTY Award. N EW S YO U LIV E B Y
event
Health OTTY Award winner Mary Cahill with her mother and sisters.
Just Bulbs owner David Brooks accepts his Entrepreneur OTTY Award.
Manhattan Chamber of Commerce President Nancy Ploeger accepts her Community Builder OTTY Award.
John Winkleman with Diane and Daryl Wilkerson, Health OTTY Award winner.
Bravest and Finest OTTY Award winner FDNY Lt. Jason Rigoli with his family.
Community Builder OTTY Award winner Oscar Fernandez with his family.
Educator OTTY Award winner Merryl Tisch, master of ceremonies Harold Holzer and East Sider of the Year Rep. Carolyn Maloney. n y pr e s s. c o m
Bravest and Finest OTTY Award winner police officer Chris Helms with 19th Precinct Cap. Perry Natale.
Our Town Thanks You
EAST SIDERS OF THE YEAR
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FIlm
The Bully Pulpit Congratulations New doc beats up viewers
FRIENDS!
The Yorkville/Kleindeutschland Historical Society www.ykhs.org Kathy Jolowicz, Yorkville Historian German Language Learning Club
The 19th Precinct Community Council congratulates Community Affairs Officer
Chris Helms
on his OTTY Award President:
Nick Viest Vice President:
Kathy Jolowicz
Treasurer:
Diane Klages Recording Secretary:
Phillida Viest
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Corresponding Secretary:
Geraldine Corbett Assistant Secretary:
Mary Ford
Sergeant-at-Arms:
David Gillespie
By Armond White 2001 Brad Renfro movie Bully. Director Just as the contrived “Kids Killing Clark’s prurience is a tonic compared to Kids” hype for The Hunger Games was Hirsch’s approach. He never interviews a getting started, a new “Kids Killing bully, refuses to detail the psychology of Kids” documentary asserts its claim on social behavior. He seems uninterested in public attention: Bully, directed by Lee how bullies learn their malice or how our Hirsch, could be one of the challenges institutions promote antagonism through in The Hunger Games. It makes a show the culture of winning. of how schoolkids torment each other, There’s no insight into cliques and using real-life circumstances where conformity, just sob stories—and victimization goes unheeded. Hirsch starts with two suicides (Tyler, 17, Ty, 11), another boy’s daily misery (Alex, 14), a taunted teenaged lesbian (Kelby, 16) and the incarceration of a girl (Ja‘Meya, 14) who threatened her oppressors. These terrible incidents are meant to rep- A scene from Bully. resent an epidemic of hatefulness–Hillary Swank could play some are difficult to shake off, frageach of these kids–but Hirsch showcas- ile Ja’Meya‘s homecoming ecstasy es too many instead of simply concen- and Alex’s awkward age romanticism trating on one story to reveal the basic (“Girls are like candy, sometimes you cultural breakdown when kids killing want a Hershey bar, sometimes you kids becomes an everyday social occur- want a Snickers bar. You can’t tell which rence and not just a tag line to promote one you want.”) that confirms he’s like a blockbuster. every kid. It’s the blockbuster-doc mentality While filming scenes of Alex’s school that undercuts Bully. Hirsch’s do-gooder bus brutalization or an assistant princiimpulse recalls Waiting for Superman, pal’s feckless attempts at crowd manwhere the filmmaker’s sanctimony con- agement, Hirsch bears witness to crufuses special pleading with the work of elty without stepping in. It may make journalistic investigation. An additional for alarming footage, but it also fails problem arises from the film’s test-group an adult’s responsibility. The hands-off subjects: its red state/blue state preju- approach only works when Hirsch capdice implies that bullying only occurs in tures tension between Alex’s judgmental the South or Midwest. father and weeping mother. Hirsch exploits these kids and their The Motion Picture Association of communities, though with the best America is right to recommend restrictof intentions. But Bully’s feel-good- ed viewing for such scenes as a boy about-feeling-bad approach is offensive threatening “I will end you! I’m bringbecause it’s also the “That’s not me” ing a knife tomorrow, I’m gonna f**k approach, allowing viewers to think you up!” It is self-righteous for filmthey would react differently or more makers to ignore that such voyeuristic effectively than the helpless parents, scenes glorify menacing bravado, especlueless school officials and young, ter- cially in a film and video culture dedirified “All-American” prey. Hirsch goes cated to crime and violence. Arguing for sorrow when there is no sorrow for a non-restricted rating once again in our Hunger Games culture, just an ignores the need for responsible film atmosphere of relentless competition, viewing. despite our inflammatory media’s pious Bully’s promoters seem ignorant of lip service to anti-bullying. the fact that kids don‘t want to see docs As a documentary, Bully fails to exam- like this anyway. They already know what ine the warped adolescent habits that bullying is—and most movies congratupornographer Larry Clark enjoyed in his late them for it. N EW S YO U LIV E B Y
This Easter, discover the power of the empty tomb. Renew God’s gift of life in you through Jesus Christ.
Journey with us through the Three Days. HOLY THURSDAY, APRIL 5
HOLY SATURDAY, APRIL 7
Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper 7:30 p.m. Adoration at the Altar of Reposition 9:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
Tenebrae 9:00 a.m. Easter Vigil and Mass of the Resurrection 7:30 p.m.
GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 6
EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 8
Stations of the Cross 12:00 p.m. Seven Last Words of Christ 1:00–2:45 p.m. Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion and Death 3:00 p.m. Tenebrae 7:30 p.m.
Easter Masses 9:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m. 12:00 p.m. Solemn 5:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
SAINT JEAN BAPTISTE CATHOLIC CHURCH Lexington Avenue at 76th Street, New York Served by the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
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arts
Atget’s Documents
Eugène Atget photographed reality and surreality By Marsha McCreadie The title says it all: Documents pour artistes is the name of the show but was also the name of Eugène Atget’s shop in Paris. The French photographer (18571927) insisted his photographs—all 8,500 of them—were merely documents for sale to craftspeople and, as he grew in popularity, avant-garde artists. He was not above—in fact, he clearly enjoyed— making pictures of doorknobs, gargoyles, prostitutes and gypsies, not necessarily in that order. He was superb, at the end of his life, in photographing the ruins at the Sceaux gardens outside of the city. He was so modest he rejected the idea of signing his “Pendant L’Eclipse” (of Parisians staring upward at an eclipse, a bizarre moment in time) for the journal La Revolution Surrealist, which featured the work of Man Ray. However, he still came to be associated with the surrealists in a residential twist of fate: Ray was his neighbor, and Ray’s assistant was Berenice Abbott, the New York photographer who eventually obtained Atget’s estate for MoMA’s collection.
You can see why the surrealists were attracted to the segment of his work that concentrates on Parisian storefronts—headless mannequins, stuffed animals (in a natural history shop), other bizarre-seeming found objects. But the truth is that the surrealist connection was an art historical afterthought: Atget photographed what he wanted and kept at it, never cropping his photographs, always using the same process of glass plates and gelatin- or albumen-silver paper (as this dilettante understands it). Comrades called him “strong”; shall we say obsessive? Nevertheless, he made a living, and yes, he did get a “vision” of sorts. There are six thematic mini-shows in the exhibit; I liked the disarray of the abandoned Sceaux park which has its share of lopped-off figures, but others will be drawn to the vibrant street life or the more formal arrangements of the Luxembourg Gardens. No clichés though—there’s nary an Eiffel tower or a kid with a baguette. The presentation is fitting: a taupe
Eugène Atget. Avenue des Gobelins, 1925. Gelatin silver printing-out-paper print. 8 1/4 x 6 1/2” (21 x 16.7 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Abbott-Levy Collection. Partial gift of Shirley C. Burden entrance wall with plain black lettering, the photo groupings on light blue. It’s not hidden away. You just have to look. Point. Eugène Atget: “Documents pour artistes” Through April 9, The Museum of
Acting Young.
The acting classes are in addition to Isabella House’s Tai-Chi, Chair Yoga, Posture Exercise, poetry and painting classes. For more leisure-oriented activities they offer Game Nights and Movie Nights. Residency at Isabella House also comes with lunch and dinner served restaurant style in our elegant dining room. Getting out and about is easy – whether you choose our weekly transportation to local stores – or decide on local buses, subway or taxi to nearby midtown Manhattan. Isabella House offers the best of life, whether you want a dynamic schedule of activities – or the freedom to relax in the quiet of your home. For more information or to arrange a visit, please call (212) 342-9539. Isabella House is located at 525 Audubon Avenue, New York, NY 10040. Visit their website at www.isabella.org
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This story first appeared on the CityArts website on March 28. For more, visit New York’s review of culture at cityartsnyc.com.
Isabella House
There’s one thing to feel young but another to act young. The residents at Isabella House have found an entirely different way of acting young. During performance days you might be walking by and hear a dramatic rendition of Macbeth or a famous line from King Lear may capture your attention. But these are not professional actors being brought in to put on a show for the residents. Nope, these are the residents of Isabella. Partnering with the People’s Theatre Project of Northern Manhattan, Isabella began to offer acting classes for their residents. The classes provide the opportunity for our residents to live someone else’s life for a few hours each day. Classics such as Macbeth and King Lear are performed live in front of their fellow residents—who can be the harshest critics. The classes’ help our residents feel lively and vibrant and more importantly, it keeps them fresh.
Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St., 212-7089400, www.moma.org.
Independent Living for Older Adults Join us at our
Open House
Saturday, April 21st, 11:00am-3:00pm 525 Audubon Avenue at 191st New York, NY 10040 For additional information, please call:
212-342-9539
OUR AMENITIES INCLUDE: • Spacious studio and one-bedroom apartments starting at $2,000 • Spectacular views • Lunch and Dinner served daily in our dining room • Basic Cable TV and all utilities included • 24-Hour Security • Education and art programs, exercise classes, computer training and much, much more • On-site visitor parking
We’ve thought of everything to enrich and enhance your life. Call us and come visit, we have special Spring pricing.
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N EW S YO U LIV E B Y
Holy Week at Immanuel Fresco, Debre Birhan Selassia, Gondar, Ethiopia. Photo © Photononstop/SuperStock. Used by permission.
Maundy Thursday
7 p.m. Thursday, April 5 Saint-Saens, Panis Angelicus Mozart, Ave Verum
Good Friday
7 p.m. Friday, April 6 Schubert, Wer wird Zähren A. Mendelssohn, Passionsgesang Pfleger, Sieben Worte Jesu Christi with choir, soloists, and members of ARTEK
Easter Vigil
7 p.m. Saturday, April 7 Palestrina, Sicut Cervus Tchesnokov, Salvation is Created Scheidt, Surrexit Christus
Easter Sunday
11 am Sunday Eucharist, April 8 Music: Handel, Hallelujah Chorus Vulpius, Erstanden ist der Heilig Christ Billings, Easter Anthem with choir, brass, and children’s choir
Good Friday – Candlelight Concert
8:30 p.m. Friday, April 6 Lassus: Lagrime di San Pietro (Tears of St. Peter) Immanuel Choir, soloists and ARTEK
Immanuel Lutheran Church
122 East 88th Street (at Lexington Avenue) The Rev. Gregory P. Fryer, Pastor • Dr. Gwendolyn Toth, Director of Music Church office: (212) 289-8128 • www.immanuelnyc.org
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arts
A Sea of Sound Tallying New York’s philharmonic excess By Joseph Smith Is it just me or is it too loud in here? Often, when I attend symphonic concerts, I find myself disconcerted by the noisiness of the programming. It seems to me that concerts now tend to be too unrelievedly composed of works from periods that favor dense, complicated textures. I decided to examine the 2011–2012 subscription repertoire of the New York Philharmonic in this respect, ignoring special concerts, chamber music, etc. I soon recognized, however, the impossibility of a meaningful comprehensive tabulation of works by period or style. Some works are short, others long. One great composer might appear less often than another simply because he composed fewer symphonic works. And then there’s the problem of categorizing per se: the most obvious examples, Beethoven and Schubert, are they “classical” or “romantic”? This season, the entire baroque period is represented by only four works from two composers: Bach and Handel, of course. But notice that Handel’s contribution is,
guess what, The Messiah—guess when, in December! In other words, it serves as a holiday tradition rather than as a piece of music per se. Bach’s double violin concerto features the presence of music director Alan Gilbert as one of the soloists, presumably a factor in its selection. What about the classical era? Mozart appears nine times, Haydn twice. This disparity seems extreme. I suspect that the reason, at least in part, is as follows: Mozart’s concertos are among his greatest works, whereas Haydn’s concertos are a minor part of his oeuvre. Ten works by Beethoven are programmed, but six of these are segregated to David Zinman’s festival, “The Modern Beethoven.” This means that such symphonies as Numbers 1 and 4—comparatively light in texture and mood—cannot be programmed elsewhere in this Philharmonic season. The subscription season includes Schubert’s two most famous symphonies, as well as a few orchestrated songs. Now for the earlier romantics, for instance, Mendelssohn and Schumann.
But where are they? One overture by Schumann, nothing by Mendelssohn? I wondered if perhaps Schumann had been overrepresented in 2010–2011, since 2010 was his anniversary year. Let’s move on to the late romantics and see how their presence compares with the earlier composers cited. I use “late romantic” in its most limited sense, that is, German and Austrian composers who took Wagner’s bigness and grandeur as a starting point. This season, works by Richard Strauss, Mahler, Bruckner and Korngold total 12! Numerically, Strauss beats Mahler by one, but all of Mahler’s works are exceptionally long symphonies. Am I deploring Mahler’s popularity? Hardly! I rejoice that such a challenging, boldly original voice has won a large, enthusiastic public. Within living memory, it was once common wisdom that Mahler was too complicated and idiosyncratic for American audiences. As we see, in orchestral music, the taste for late romantic music is indeed marked. Interestingly, though, the lieder of Wolf and the masses of Bruckner are seldom performed in the United States, despite their undisputed importance. The relative dearth of 18-century music is easily explained, of course. Symphony orchestras, it seems, have largely surrendered baroque and classical music to
chamber orchestras and original instrument groups. Arguably, this division of the repertoire may serve earlier music well. New York offers an enviable cornucopia of musical venues and series, and one can certainly enjoy such music apart from the Philharmonic. But a problem remains. When symphony orchestras relinquish this period, markedly favoring the later romantics over the earlier ones, and offer a generous amount of composers from the 20th and 21st centuries, it inevitably skews repertoire toward dense, plethoric and saturated textures. Of course, being engulfed in a sea of sound is one of the great pleasures of orchestral music. But it would be sad if audiences become conditioned to hold this value paramount. Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto and Mahler’s First Symphony (April 12-17)? Three noisy blockbusters by Richard Strauss—Alpine Symphony, Horn Concerto No. 1, Till Eulenspiegel—one after another (Oct. 20-22)? By all means, let us have excess, but…in moderation! This article first appeared in the March 7 edition of CityArts. For more, visit New York’s review of Culture at cityartsnyc.com.
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Mind Body Symposium 2012 Pain Management & You Healing Through Creative Arts Therapy Thursday April 12, 1pm - 5pm
122 EAST 42ND ST., 18TH FLOOR Albert W. Grokoest / Muriel C. Hoyt In Partnership with Hospital for Special Surgery
iculum amic Curr n y D • n io struct • Expert In s ie it il c a ss F World-Cla
Bone Health Seminar Thursday May 10, 11am - 3pm at Hospital for Special Surgery 535 East 70th Street, 2nd Floor
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Dining
Outward Bound
Heading out of town this weekend? Eat here first stream out to sea. The transit hubs, never sleepy, are sheer madness from the first train out Friday morning to the last train back Sunday night. Unfortunately, they’re both in no-man’s-lands for food, a mishmash of traveler-targeting grab-and-gos and sit-down expense account magnets (Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse, anyone?). Hopefully, Aunt Susan’s cooking is so good you’re already pining for her worldfamous brisket. But if not, and you’re already planning where to hide the leftovers, sneak a pre-Seder snack or a postdinner dinner at one of these surprising station-adjacent spots. Breakfast: a new addition to Grand Central’s downstairs food court, Tri Tip Grill’s menu is limited to its eponymous sliced steak in various iterations; sandwiches, salads, platters. So far, so good. But for breakfast, they’ll put that steak on an English muffin with an egg, American cheese and grilled onions and give it to you with a side of tater tots. It’s everything you never thought an egg-and-cheese could be, down to the egg being fried
rather than scrambled, so the yolk runs throughout and creates a glorious sauce with the melted cheese. Plus, they’ll sell you whole steaks to take away and finish in the oven, a good last-minute backup in
dean ayres
By Regan Hofmann This weekend, the twin holidays of Easter and Passover will have familial obligations bearing down heavy on most of the city. But while the big-ticket holidays might pull New Yorkers farther afield to moms in Michigan or in-laws in Idaho, the limited shelf lives of the two spring celebrations by necessity limit their reach. Passover, thanks to that pesky lunar calendar, can land any day it pleases. And except for the extremely religious, who take part in all the Maundy Thursdays and Lazarus Saturdays beforehand, Easter is a Mass, a meal and some chocolate bunnies for the ride home. Because of this, we scramble to find the most geographically convenient relative with whom we can manage to spend a few hours and consider our filial duties done. Aunts in Connecticut we never speak to; cousins up in Albany we’ve only made peace with in our adult years—if they’re within train’s reach, they’re family. Grand Central and Penn stations become the cliffs from which we lemmings
The Grand Central food court. case Uncle Morty forgets to pick up the pot roast that morning. Lunch: If you’re heading out at noon for a dinner you know won’t be ready until 8:30, build your stores at Fuji Bakery and Restaurant (224 W. 35th St., betw. 7th & 8th Aves., 212-629-7588), just a block from Penn Station. The no-frills
combination Chinese bakery/restaurant is one of the few in the area where the BBQ pork buns are as good as the braised bean curd. Don’t be fooled by its crummy linoleum and the generic-looking steam table up front—even white-guy standards like beef with broccoli are better than the rest. To win extra points, bring along a dozen egg tarts or coconut buns for the folks; at 75 cents apiece, you can be a dessert hero for less than a 10-spot. Dinner: So you’ve made it through the evening and are safely back home in the city. But Cousin Becky’s decision to “try something new” for the main course was a bust, and you’re starving after pushing that ham casserole around your plate all night. Before you give in and go home to some stale chips and salsa, stop in at Pera (303 Madison Ave., betw. 41st & 42nd Sts., peranyc.com) a Turkish spot around the corner from Grand Central. There, come back to your senses with mezes like carrot and eggplant croquettes or hummus topped with pastirma, a kind of Middle Eastern cured beef that’s like the lovechild of pastrami and prosciutto. Their wine list is extensive, too, so you can start working on blotting out the memory of the whole night and be ready to go again next year.
Holy Week at St. Thomas More Church 65 East 89th Street (betw. Madison & Park) (212) 876-7718 Website: http://www.thomasmorechurch.org St. Thomas More Church welcomes
The Rev. Patrick J. Ryan, S.J., Ph.D. (Harvard) Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society Fordham University Author of The Coming of Our God (Paulist Press, 1999) and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Paulist Press, 2004) Holy Thursday, April 5th at 6:00 p.m. Concelebrated Mass of the Lord’s Supper Good Friday, April 6th Service of “The Seven Last Words” at 1:00 p.m. Solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion and Death at 3:00 p.m. Holy Saturday, April 7th, at 7:30p.m. Solemn Liturgy of the Easter Vigil Father Ryan will deliver the homily at each of the above services. Also at St. Thomas More: Good Friday at 6:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross and Veneration of the Cross (Choral music with the St. Thomas More Choir at each service) Easter Sunday Masses Easter Vigil Mass, Holy Saturday, April 7th, 7:30 p.m. Sunday Masses 8:30, 9:45, 11:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. No Evening Mass on Easter Sunday
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The Middle Child of French Wines
Constantly overlooked, the Rhone Valley makes some of the best wines Being a wine from France is a lot like being a sibling in a large family. You have the oldest, who gets the attention for being the oldest. You’ve got the perfect sibling, who’s always getting straight As. There’s the youngest, who gets attention by being rebellious. Then you’ve got the middle child. The kid in the middle never gets the respect he or she deserves. They could be the most successful professional in whatever field they pursue, but no matter how hard they try, how much they make or how good they are, they always seem to be overlooked. If France’s wine areas had a middle child, it would be the Rhone Valley. Burgundy is clearly the oldest, stuck in his ways. Bordeaux is the perfect older sister, always getting high marks (if sometimes undeservedly). The south of France, particularly the Languedoc-Roussillon area, is constantly bucking history and getting
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attention for it. It’s that sliver of land in between them all that makes arguably some of the world’s best wines that is constantly being overlooked. If you really think about it, the Rhone is actually two areas. The southern Rhone tends to get a bit more attention for its long and elegant-sounding namesake wines, especially Châteauneuf-du-Pape. All of the great wines from this part of the Rhone are more of a testament to mixoloBy Josh Perilo gy than anything else, though. These wines are all made from a cocktail of 16 different grape varietals. The amount of each varietal can change slightly from year to year, depending on which grapes grew well and which didn’t quite mature. They don’t have that luxury in the north, however. In the northern Rhone, only one grape is made into red wine: Syrah. The same grape that makes the juicy, berry fruit-flavored wines that made Australia famous was planted here
hundreds of years earlier—and the wines couldn’t be more different. There’s fruit on these wines, to be sure, but the complexity in them runs deep. While many of Australia’s Shirazes are built to taste like what you expect them to taste like—that is to say fruity above all else—the northern Rhone’s Syrahs are like the Lost Boys of Neverland: gentle at heart but rugged from being left alone to their own devices in the wild. The world famous Hermitage is one of the subregions of this area, situated on a tiny plot of land on the northern side of a foothill. The wines are transcendent, but so are the prices. There are many other amazing Syrahs from the surrounding areas that are comparable in taste but a mite bit easier on the pocketbook. The subregion of St. Joseph is a thin strip of land that runs almost the entire length of the northern Rhone, north to south. There are many wines from this area that are affordable, and there are many that are amazing. Every once in a while, there are some that are both.
Dining The Ferraton Peres et Fils St.Joseph La Source 2009 ($29.99 at Beacon Wines and Spirits, 2120 Broadway, at 74th St., 212-877-0028) is as good as most wines that cost three times as much. The nose gives heady scents of violet and rose petals with a hint of spice. On the palate, there is a ton of fruit up front with ripe blackberry and baked raspberry flavors, but the finish becomes spicy with a wet minerality that reminds the drinker this is not Yellowtail. If, however, you wanted to spend a bit more, there are many Syrahs that deliver in the slightly higher price range. The St.Joseph Cuvée des Anges 2007 ($60 at Yorkshire Wines and Spirits, 1646 1st Ave., at 85th St, 212-717-5100) gives you everything you’d expect from a first-rate northern Rhone wine and more. Pipe tobacco and charred pig flesh are the carnal smells right out of the bottle. The fruit up front on the palate is plum compote and fig honey. The finish gets black again, with tarry pepper and star anise notes. So the next time you visit the French family of wines, make sure you don’t forget about the middle child. They’ll rarely disappoint you! Follow Josh on Twitter: @joshperilo.
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Easter Sunday | April 8th Celebrate this rich tradition at L’Absinthe with your family and friends amidst our authentic turn of the century Parisian décor with an exquisite menu prepared by Chef Jean Michel Bergougnoux. Easter Brunch Menu from 11:30 am - 3:30 pm 3 Course Prix Fixe $41.00 per person Each table will receive a chocolate centerpiece designed especially for L’Absinthe by famous chocolatier Jacques Torres Easter Dinner from 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm Our a la carte menu will be available
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new york family
An American Mom in Paris In her new book ‘Bringing Up Bébé,’ journalist and mother of three Pamela Druckerman argues that French parents do it better By Meghan Gearino
T
Your book was recently released stateside. Would you say the reception in the United States has been good, critical or both? It’s interesting! I feel like the reaction in the media has been, at times, critical. But the reaction I’m getting from readers has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m struck by how there’s a larger conversation going on right now, and my book is just a small part of that. These conversations are about the intensive style of parenting that has developed in the United States over the past 20 years or so, and there’s a real hunger for alternatives. Was there an exact moment of inspiration that made you decide to write this book? I think my “aha” moment was [what]
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n y pr e s s. c o m
In the book, French women are perceived as more confident both in themselves and their parenting skills. They definitely don’t worry that they’ve chosen the right parenting philosophy, because there aren’t lots of different parenting philosophies to choose from. But also, I think they are really pragmatic—they stick with what works. That is one thing that struck me regarding French approaches. The French are not reinventing the wheel. They hone in on and stick with [a] few key things that really do work. You also talk about American women holding a lot of guilt with regard to parenthood. Guilt is very much in the room for French mothers—it’s not that they banish guilt or don’t talk about it, but they treat it differently. I think American mothers, in some way, embrace guilt. We feel it’s a tax we pay for being able to do the things we want. For instance, if we say, “I’m a bad mother,” that allows us to take time for ourselves. We don’t think it’s OK to be selfish. French mothers say, “Guilt is a trap. The perfect mother doesn’t exist.” They don’t want to contaminate their scarce free time by feeling guilty. I loved your example of how French women don’t feel guilty for spending time alone with their husbands or going on dates. They think every human being, even a baby, needs time to themselves! That’s non-negotiable. You just have to be able to find that free time. French women often work full-time and they have just as many babies as we do in America, but they prioritize this time to themselves. As far as “American experiences” go, is there anything you feel your children (or you!) have missed out on? Socially, it’s harder to make friends in
going to resume your relationship!
IllustratIon by Margaux MotIn, DesIgn by Darren Haggar
he French may be onto something—and this time it’s not fashion or food. When American journalist Pamela Druckerman moved to Paris in 2003 and subsequently started a family, she took notice (and copious notes) on how differently the French parented compared to Americans. She has compiled her observations in a hilarious, relatable and smart new memoir, Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting (The Penguin Press, 2012), which covers everything from schooling to snack time to sleeping habits. And while American critics seem quick to consider the book an antidote to the Tiger Mom’s ferocious style of ultracompetitive parenting, a balanced temperament is what’s helping Druckerman make waves in the parenting world.
I describe at the beginning of the book; I was at a restaurant with my 16-monthold daughter when I was on vacation and I noticed that the French families all around us were not having a horrible experience. From there, along with the things I had seen over that year and a half, everything just sort of clicked and I thought, I want some of that!
France…There are no mommy groups and you’re probably not going to make friends for life with the mommy whose kid is playing with your kid in the sandbox. I’m also concerned about French schools later on; I think [they] get really tough. You talk briefly about French fathers. How do they differ from American dads? If you look at the statistics of how much childcare and housework French fathers do, they do less than American fathers, on average. I would say there’s less of a battle of the sexes in households. In general, I think French mothers don’t expect things to be 50/50 as much as Americans do, so when they don’t get it, they are less disappointed! What about French marriages? When my American mom-friends and I get together, we do a lot of complaining about husbands and what they don’t do, whereas with my French girlfriends, that conversation doesn’t go on as much. They might be just as unhappy as we are, but they don’t blame their unhappiness on their husbands. There’s definitely still divorce there, but couples in France have more of an assumption that after the first few tumultuous, all-consuming months after the baby is born, you have to “find your couple” again, find each other again. Everyone in France expects that you are
So what role does sex play in a couple’s post-baby life? The French state pays for perineal reeducation, which is the reeducation of the birth canal [including muscle exercises]. Part of that is for health reasons, but part of that is so you can have a normal sex life again. Once you become a mom, it doesn’t mean you are no longer a woman. There’s a part in my book where I told my French friends about the term MILF and they thought it was hilarious, because they think there is no reason why a woman shouldn’t be sexy just because she’s a mom! What is the most important lesson we can take away from French parents? Definitely the lessons around food. There are no “kids’ foods” in France. You can find a chicken nugget if you look really hard for it, but it’s not like French kids are offered it everywhere they turn. In America, the fact that kids can eat everything and they snack all the time is so different from the French way. French kids snack once a day, in the afternoon. That makes it more likely that they will actually be hungry when they sit down to eat. Can you tell us about the practice of autonomy that the French teach their children? You said it was hard at first to get used to. I think autonomy begins with reading kids’ cues and being in touch with their rhythms; not interrupting when they are absorbed in something. It’s not about turning them loose when they are babies. It’s about giving them freedom to entertain themselves and having them learn how to cope with frustration and being alone. It’s important for them to be comfortable in their own skin and to enjoy their own company—and not need to be stimulated all the time. The reason I felt like I could write about French families is because I feel like I have a lot in common with them. They believe in reading to children, talking to them and stimulating them—just not all the time! For more of our interview with Pamela Druckerman, visit newyorkfamily.com. A p r il 5 , 2 0 1 2 •
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camps
Ten Questions to Ask a Camp Director A priorities list for your camp search By Jess Michaels When researching a summer camp for your child, there are certain pieces of information you should know in order to make an informed decision. Whether you speak to the camp director in person or by phone, the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey (ACA, NY and NJ) recommends asking these 10 questions to help you get started. 1. What is the camp’s mission and philosophy? Each camp is unique in its programming and approaches, so it’s important that the director can easily explain what they’re all about. Ask the director about the type of child that is typically successful. Renee Flax, director of camper placement for ACA, NY and NJ, said, “Knowing your child’s personality and learning style, along with carefully considering whether or not the camp’s philosophy matches your own philosophy, are valuable in selecting the right camp.” 2. What does the camp’s programming involve? Think about if you are looking for a well-rounded camp experience or a specialty program, like martial arts or theater. What activities are musthaves for your child? How long is each activity? How many electives do the campers get and what kind of guidance do they receive in choosing them?
Fun at Woodmont Day Camp.
4. What are the enrollment options? What is the length of the program offered? Is there flexibility? You should also inquire about available transportation.
er-to-staff ratio and cabin supervision. “Parents should not only ask the camp about how many hours or types of training the staff has, but more importantly, the overarching philosophy and message being delivered to the staff,” said Paul Isserles, director of Buckley Country Day Camp in Roslyn, N.Y. At a minimum, camp staff should be trained in safety regulations, emergency procedures and communication, behavior management techniques, child abuse prevention, appropriate staff and camper behavior and specific procedures for supervision.
5. What is the staff like? It’s important to know who will be caring for your child.Ask about the age make-up, pre-season and on-going staff trainings, the camp-
6. What percentage of the campers return each year? A large number of returning campers usually indicates a high level of satisfaction with the
3. What type of training and education does the director have? The ACA recommends that directors possess a bachelor’s degree, have completed in-service training within the past three years and have at least 16 weeks of camp administrative experience.
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camp’s programming and operation. 7. What are the safety procedures? Ask about the safety measures that are in place. These can include medical personnel on property, emergency plans, staff screening procedures and instructor qualifications. 8. Is the camp accredited? Find out if the program follows a nationally known accreditation process and if it’s inspected each summer by the Department of Health. The ACA is the only national organization that establishes uniform standards for reviewing camps. 9. Can the camp accommodate special needs? If your child has special
requirements, such as food allergies, religious obligations or a learning disability, ask how the camp proceeds. 10. Can the camp provide references? This is generally one of the best ways to check a camp’s reputation and service record. Ask other parents about the experiences of their children at the camp and whether their child is returning or attending for the first time. “Parents can provide you with an ‘inside’ perspective on how camp impacted their children directly,” said Sam Borek, owner/director of Woodmont Day Camp in New City, N.Y. Still have questions? Come ask them in person at a free camp fair hosted by New York Family and the ACA, NY and NJ. Visit newyorkfamilycamps.com for more info. N EW S YO U LIV E B Y
June 24th – August 11th
• Traditional Program, an Active, Outdoorsy Camp! • Good, Safe, Fun In-Camp Activities, Sports & Trips • Child-Centered, Low-stress, Non-denominational • All-Inclusive, Mid-Range Tuition, Budgetable • All Staff are Background Checked Yearly Check us out! Lots to see at
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Discover June 25 – August 3 • For PreK – Grade 12 • Academic and arts enrichment • Adventures in sports and healthy living • Leadership development and international explorations
Summer Connections
at Dwight-Englewood School 315 E. Palisade Avenue • Englewood, NJ 201-569-9500, ext. 3501 www.d-e.org/summer
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An Unlikely Hero
DiNapoli is facing down some powerful enemies By Alan S. Chartock ads, but DiNapoli is walking the high road I am a huge Tom DiNapoli fan. Unlike and risking political extermination. That’s others in politics, the New York State where Andrew Cuomo comes in. Comptroller is not a self-seeking, preenFor some reason, Cuomo doesn’t ing politician who is always trying to like DiNapoli. We all know take political prisoners to get ahead. He that even though they ran on doesn’t want to be president or governor the same Democratic ticket, He just wants to do a good job as comp- Cuomo refused to endorse troller. His job is to watch the people’s DiNapoli. DiNapoli kept his money, and that is what he is doing. head down and won, despite This has obviously made some others the not-so-subtle support by top in the political pecking order very uncom- Democrats and Republicans fortable. Among the comptroller’s duties for his Republican opponent. is watching how the many billions of Some people ascribe Cuomo’s antipathy dollars in the various pension funds are toward DiNapoli as nothing more than a invested. That particular power has led power play on Cuomo’s part. Said one persome of DiNapoli’s son close to the whole predecessors to, thing, “Andrew wants as my mother to control all that As a result, while other senior pension money and used to say, take politicians are making potential he wants someone in advantage. conflict of interest work for DiNapoli had to that office who will do come in and clean themselves in the fundraising what Andrew tells him up the mess after department, DiNapoli will not. to do.” the fall of Alan According to this Hevesi. Hevesi, scenario, if Cuomo you will recall, did some very conflictive, can get a vassal elected comptroller, he bad things. DiNapoli, on the other hand, would have the comptroller set up a comeschews many of the political conflict of mission to determine what investments interest-ridden benefits of the office that to make. Cuomo would control most of got Hevesi into so much trouble. As a those appointments and hence not have result, while other senior politicians are to worry about someone else having making potential conflict of interest work some of the decision-making power in a for themselves in the fundraising depart- balanced government. Put another way, ment, DiNapoli will not. Cuomo wants all the power. In a political system where money DiNapoli does have some powerful talks and all others walk, that’s like cut- allies. The labor unions are immensely ting your own throat. It costs a lot of grateful to him for standing up to Cuomo. money to buy TV time and take out print These days, nobody wants to take on
Bike Damage
To the Editor: Construction of protected bike lanes is scheduled to start April 2, and Upper East Side and Harlem small business owners are pretty worried about the negative impact they will have on their bottom line. Our West Side neighbors said, “Goodbye, Columbus Avenue” to their mom-and-pop stores and hello to the chain drugstores and banks, thanks to the bike lanes. Since the Great Recession, two to eight stores have closed on the blocks along First and Second avenues from 57th to 96th Street and with overtime charges for limited delivery accessibility and reduced
the governor, but DiNapoli has done just that. When New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Cuomo went after the unions, DiNapoli stood by the gate and courageously said, “You shall not pass.” The members of the Legislature stood up behind DiNapoli, and the unions will never forget their debt to the courageous comptroller. You had better believe that those unions will be foursquare in the “Re-elect DiNapoli” camp. DiNapoli will also have a lot of individual support from members of the Legislature. In the recent battle of the budget, the members supported DiNapoli’s position. The best thing about DiNapoli is his character. He is a gentle soul. Like the legendary Ferdinand the Bull, he does not want to fight. But like great heroes of the past and present, when forced to fight, DiNapoli will. We saw that when he confronted the governor over the rape of the civil service and the governor’s attempts to take away some of DiNapoli’s pre-audit functions. Depriving DiNapoli of any of his power represents a dilution of the comptroller’s watchdog function—that’s the last thing this state should be doing. Tom DiNapoli is looking more and more like a hero all the time. Alan S. Chartock is president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and an executive publisher at The Legislative Gazette.
LET T ER S
parking spots, there’s little hope for new businesses to open and pay high rents. In addition to damage to businesses, getting picked up or dropped off will be particularly difficult for our residents, especially the elderly and handicapped, with protected bike lanes on one side and Select Bus lanes on the other. Far more THE 2012 people need to take taxis or be transported by car and buses than need bike lanes— for no more than 22,000 WE RECOGNIZE THE BEST OF THE UPPER EAST SIDE INCLUDING MERRYL TISCH, cycling commuters, accordMATTHEW GOLDSTEIN, JENNIFER RAAB, LOUISE SUNSHINE AND MORE P. 19 ing to the DOT. Despite complaints to City Councilwoman Jessica Lappin’s office about law-
OTTY
less cyclists and lack of enforcement from 72 percent of her constituents, Transportation Commissioner Jannette Sadik-Khan is adding 10,000 uninsured rental bikes and installing 40-foot-wide bike stations in our neighborhood in July. If you can’t run, be sure to look in every direction when walking on our sidewalks and before crossing our streets.
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Letters have been edited for clarity, style and brevity. N EW S YO U LIV E B Y
MOORe tHOuGHtS
Talking About Gracie Mansion, Gracelessly Mayor’s got it all wrong about where the next mayor should live By Christopher Moore Generally, billionaires should be careful about giving real estate tips to other people. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg appeared eager last week to address the question of whether the next mayor, elected in 2013, should live in Gracie Mansion, the lovely, official residence of many mayors not named Bloomberg. The incumbent was not just wrong when he said his successor should not use the Upper East Side landmark the way it was utilized for generations, he was tacky, too. The New York Times, in the person of “About New York” columnist Jim Dwyer, kindly pointed out that Bloomberg has mansions “to spare,” given his homes in various spots around the world. No, Bloomberg, with a net worth of “north of $20 million,” as the Times said, does not need Gracie Mansion. But New
Yorkers may have a need to think of their mayor in such a space. The mansion deserves more than municipal gatherings and tour groups; it deserves a mayor who will add to the long history of those who have lived there. Tradition has its merits. The Yanks belong in the Bronx; Lincoln Center fits nicely on the Upper West Side; mayors should sleep at Gracie. The mayor’s remarks about the mansion might best be ignored, if only they did not underscore the ways in which he never understood his ceremonial or public role. Sometimes, having leaders live in a “people’s house,” like the White House or Gracie Mansion, feeds a need for ritual and historical order. In a larger sense, humans have a hunger to look up to, and down on, their official leaders. Look at the royal family in Britain or at the Kardashians here in the United States. Ironically, the need for a
peek into the semi-personal can be more valuable to the political culture in tough times than in good ones. Don’t get me wrong. Bloomberg has been a good mayor—at least until we hit the requisite third-term blues. The party is pretty well over. At this point, the only people not tired of Bloomberg are those reporting directly to him. Still, this mayor has pursued forward-thinking policies, hired professional, thoughtful, innovative department heads, been more honest than most mayors about budget numbers and bravely become a national advocate for gun control, which is more than you can say about the president of the United States. Last week, though, Bloomberg sounded whiny when he suggested having a future mayor use Gracie Mansion as a home would be a financially unsound move. Maybe the real problem is that Bloomberg gets grouchy when he thinks about even the notion of a next mayor. The last time he considered a successor,
he overturned term limits. Officially, though, he said Gracie should be used for city events, not public housing of the first order. But in a town of five boroughs, there’s something appropriate about offering a stunning spot (in the best borough) for the chief executive and family. Not everyone has a spare bed right near the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bloomberg may not get Gracie’s meaning, but he personally paid for a substantial part of its $7 million renovation in 2002. Those of us lucky enough to see the renovations in person could appreciate, yes, the notion of having public events at a mansion beautifully decorated by Jamie Drake, Bloomberg’s own decorator. Still, seeing those classic spaces, complete with bold and appropriate colors, sadly underscored that no actual mayor was on the scene, day in and day out. A Gracie Mansion is not a home without a mayor inside. The next mayor should feel free to live there, unapologetically. Christopher Moore is a writer living in Manhattan. He can be reached by email at ccmnj@aol.com and on Twitter (@cmoorenyc).
citiquette
Front Row Phobia The etiquette of self-seating By Jeanne Martinet I arrived at the Jefferson Market Library event late and out of breath. As quietly as I could, I slipped out of my coat and turned off my phone, scanning the packed reading room from where I stood in the doorway. There were no seats left that I could see; in fact, there were several people standing at the back. Just then, a library employee whispered commandingly in my ear, “Take a seat up front.” I looked and there they were: the ubiquitous, empty front row seats. The author had already started reading and I was loath to disturb the proceedings by walking in front of everyone. Why didn’t the early comers fill up the first row? I thought, annoyed. Why are these seats always the last ones to go? Obviously, there are many events for which first-row seats are scarfed up instantly, like a fashion show or a celebrity concert. But at smaller venues—church events, school events, readings, lectures and other casual presentations—no one ever seems to want to sit in the front. And just as there are reasons n y pr e s s. c o m
for certain traffic patterns on highways, there are deep-seated (pun intended) psychological causes for this behavior. For one, there is a general sense that the front-row seats are reserved for special guests—the mother of the bride, the publisher of the book, close family members or other honored guests. People often feel presumptuous or grabby about taking the “best seats” in the house. The front row is also conspicuous. To get there, unless you are early, you have to pass in front of everyone else in the audience. Then there is the worry that once you get all the way up there—with all eyes on you—you will discover that the seat’s already taken; you had not been able to see the head of the small child sitting there or the coat that someone has put down, indicating it is saved. Now you have to turn around, rejected, and make your way to the back again. If you are seated in the front row, you’re more exposed to everyone else in the room. The rest of the audience can
see you but you can not see them. You have nothing to look at but the stage or the podium, while people further back can amuse themselves before the show by surveying the other audience members. Worse than that, you are also potentially vulnerable, or noticeable, to the person who is speaking or performing. One of the biggest audience phobias of all is the fear of being engaged by the presenter. (This might stem from memories of being in the classroom as a child and being afraid to be called upon.) While usually this is a groundless fear, if you are attending a stand-up comic’s performance, sitting in the front row is akin to being on the front lines in a war—you are open to attack, on the front lines, with no protective barrier between you and whatever jibes may be lobbed your way. But perhaps the most common reason for front row phobia is the fear of getting stuck. New Yorkers attend more performances and presentations per capita than anywhere else in the country—as a result, we are jaded enough to know that many of them are going to be things we will want to get out of before they are over. It’s not easy to escape from the front row (though it is actually not that different
from being in the second or third row), both because of its geographical location in the room as well as its higher level of visibility. You can’t exactly sneak out without being seen. Even if we love the event, as public transit users, we are used to situating ourselves near the exit in the subway or bus or anywhere we are in a crowd. We don’t want to be trapped one minute longer than necessary; we are always impatient to be able to get on to our next thing. This strategic positioning practice is not restricted to people who don’t like to sit in the front row. There are also people who insist on sitting on the aisles, making it necessary for latecomers to climb over them to get to the vacant middle seats. I call these people “Edge Hogs” and find their behavior even more annoying than the front row avoiders. There should always be some seats left empty at the back and on the aisles for people who come in late. Of course, I thought as I blushingly made my way up the center aisle to the front row, none of this behavior is nearly as bad as coming in late! Jeanne Martinet, aka Miss Mingle, is the author of seven books on social interaction. Read her blog at MissMingle.com. A p r il 5 , 2 0 1 2
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