Our Town - January 10, 2019

The local paper for the Upper East Side

WEEK OF JANUARY

10-16 ◄ P.12

2018

THE GHOSTLY REMNANT REAL ESTATE Or how a 19th-century UES church popped up in all its majesty when a private school razed an old parking garage — and why its resurrection could prove fleeting

BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN

the East River to see if there was a way to fix flood damage from 2012’s Superstorm Sandy without doing as much demolition and disrupting so many lives. Turns out, there was.

“This was an outside-the-box, creative solution,” said Cuomo, a Democrat, at a news conference announcing the new plan. He was flanked by engineering experts from Columbia and Cornell universities who dreamed up the proposal. “You have to be willing to think outside the box or break the box.”

While many were relieved by the announcement, some wondered whether the last-minute change had been fully thought through.

The announcement came after years of planning for the upheaval expected to be caused by the tunnel’s closure, which was supposed to happen in April.

A monumental and long-forgotten Yorkville treasure has resurfaced from out of the past on a quiet crosstown block on East 90th Street — but it is quickly expected to disappear from sight.

Upper East Siders wishing to glory in its grandeur and other-worldliness must not tarry: At an unspecified date, later this year or in 2020, it is set to vanish — perhaps for generations, perhaps indefinitely.

If and when that happens, the last vestige of an historic superblock that once offered meals and housing and schooling and Catholic discipline to impoverished orphans of German origin will be gone forever.

This is a story about relics, religion and real estate. It’s about parking garages, preservation and a passion for lost causes.

Ultimately, it’s about the consequences of a property deal in 2011 between Hertz Rent-a-Car and the elite Spence School: At first, it fully restored a piece of the past to the Manhattan streetscape. But now, it is threatening to sever it for good.

The object in question is an architectural remnant, a surviving fragment from an imposing neo-Classical, brickand-stone church. Only a single element of the original superstructure still stands — its facade. But what a facade.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer (center) with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney and other elected officials in Brooklyn on Sunday, Jan. 6 to call for greater transparency in new L train plans. Photo courtesy of Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer

AVERTING THE ‘L-POCALYPSE’ TRANSPORTATION Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s surprise announcement will keep trains running. But is the new plan the best option?

BY DEEPTI HAJELA

Nearly a quarter-million New Yorkers who for years dreaded “L-mageddon,” a planned 15-month shutdown of a key subway tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn, got a lastminute reprieve from the governor Thursday with a new plan that will allow repairs to go on at nights and weekends and keep the trains running.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the surprise announcement just weeks after convening a panel of top engineering experts to take another look at the L train tunnel beneath

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It’s a fascinating piece of history. It’s curious and stunning that it survived.

And it should not be covered up.”

Father Boniface Ramsey, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church

A seven-story vestige of an old Yorkville chapel, embedded into a neighboring building, stands sentinel over an empty lot where the Spence School is constructing a new athletic complex.

When completed, the facade will no longer be visible. Photo: Sarah Greig Photography / FRIENDS of the Upper East Side Historic Districts Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset.

Friday, January 11th – 4:31 pm.

For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com

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A BIG YEAR FOR BROADWAY THEATER 2018 saw shows setting new box office records — despite sky-high ticket prices

BY MARK KENNEDY

The two-part “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” set a new Broadway record for weekly ticket sales for a play. Photo: Heidi Anne Ward, via flickr

Broadway producers had plenty of reasons to pop the bubbly as 2018 wound down, with many shows recording their most profitable weeks despite some eye-popping ticket prices.

Eight shows last week earned more than $2 million for the week ending Dec. 30, led by “Hamilton,” “The Lion King” and “Wicked,” according to the Broadway League, a national trade association for the industry. “Hamilton” crossed the $4 million mark for the week, with an average ticket costing $375.39.

The year ended with the best attended and highest grossing week on record. Grosses soared to $57.8 million for the week, attracting 378,910 patrons. By way of comparison, the year 2017 ended with grosses at $35.8 million and 244,973 patrons.

New weekly highs were reached by shows including “Mean Girls,” which earned $1.9 million over eight shows, and “The Ferryman,” which pulled in just over $1 million over eight performances. Even the musical “Chicago” got into the act at the mature age

of 22, earning $1.2 million.

There was dueling hype for two play properties: The two-part “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” set a new Broadway record for weekly ticket sales for a play, reporting a gross of over $2.5 million for eight shows. But not far away, “To Kill a Mockingbird” brought in $1.7 million over eight shows, making it the highest single-week grossing American play in Broadway history.

“King Kong” may have been dismissed by critics but the monster ape musical got to boast that Sunday’s matinee grossed $243,090 — the best-selling single performance in the history of the Broadway Theatre.

Those who boasted surpassing the $2 million mark included all three Disney offerings: “Aladdin” broke the New Amsterdam Theatre record by attracting $2.6 million on nine performances, “Frozen” set a new record at the St. James Theatre with $2.3 million over eight shows, and “The Lion King” shattered the Minskoff Theatre record with $3.7 million over nine shows.

Some shows worked very hard for their records. Magic show “The Illusionists — Magic of the Holidays” set a new all-time weekly box office record at the Marquis Theatre of $2.9 million but had to do it with 16 performances.

The time around Christmas and New Year’s is usually Broadway’s boom time, but this

Poster for “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which brought in $1.7 million over eight shows, making it the highest single-week grossing American play in Broadway history. Photo courtesy of DKC/O&M holiday season was particularly flush, pushed by premium pricing, relatively warm weather and several shows going from eight performances a week to nine.

Not every show was downing Champagne.

The reunion of “American Idol” alums Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken for a Christmas concert attracted a mere $163,429 over nine shows, just 11 percent of its potential gross.

The theater was 27 percent full for the week.

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG GRANDMOTHER SCAMMED FOR $80,000 Another senior citizen was victimized by the dreaded “relative in trouble” phone scam. At 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4, an 80-year-old woman living on East 62nd Street received a phone call from someone posing as her grandson.

The faux granson said he had been involved in a car accident and needed her to send money to post bail or he would be jailed. The woman told police that a second person posing as a lawyer then instructed her to send money to a third party named Carl Burns.The grandmother complied, and between December 4 and 19 sent payments totaling $80,850 to Burns, via FedEx.

THE WRONG PEOPLE A man sought help from the wrong people. At 1:55 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 30, a 30-year-old man approached three men and a woman in front of 1538 Third Avenue and asked if they had seen a check he dropped. When the man began to walk away, the group, who appeared to be in their late teens, followed him and two of them hit him with closed fists multiple times. They took his cell phone, keys and ID cards and fled north on foot. The victim sustained pain and swelling to his face and pain in his right arm. He was treated at the scene and released. A search of the neighborhood failed to turn up the attackers.

MOTORIST ARRESTED AFTER “ONE BEER” At 1:05 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 30, a police officer observed a man driving a black 2008 Chrysler sedan recklessly on the northbound East River Drive, near East 72nd St.. The officer pulled the driver over on East 135th St. between Madison and Fifth Avenues.

According to police, the driver admitted he had been at a party, where he had consumed “one beer.” The officer asked the driver to step out of his car and take a breathalyzer test. The driver fell out of his car into the arresting officer’s arms and blew an 0.22 on the breathalyzer, police say. The driver was taken to the 28th precinct station house for further testing. He was found to be unconscious and unable to stand without assistance, according to police. He was eventually taken to Harlem Hospital by an EMS team to have his blood drawn. The man, Angelo Rodriguez, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.

STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th precinct for the week ending Dec 30 Week to Date 2018 2017

% Change 2018

2017

% Change

Murder

0

0

n/a

1

0

n/a

Rape

0

0

n/a

14

16

-12.5

Robbery

2

3

-33.3

136

129

5.4

Felony Assault

1

0

n/a

148

128

15.6

Burglary

3

3

0.0

225

205

9.8

Grand Larceny

20

26

-23.1

1,460 1,442 1.2

Grand Larceny Auto

0

2

-100.0 71

jacket and exiting the store. The stolen items included a shirt priced at $800 and another shirt worth $315.

ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING: DO NOT HANG YOUR BAG ON LET’S GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE THE BACK OF A CHAIR! On Wednesday, Jan. 2, an employee at the Moncler store at 650 Madison Avenue reviewing security video footage saw a man in his 20s take store merchandise without permission or authority, concealing the items in his

Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr

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Year to Date

At 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 27, a 24-year-old woman hung her purse on the back of her chair inside Tony’s Di Napoli restaurant at 1081 Third Avenue. When she went to pay her check she discovered that her wallet

57

24.6

was missing from inside her purse.

The victim alerted restaurant staff and soon received a text and email from American Express regarding an attempted charge for $5,662 at Bloomingdale’s. Review of the restaurant security video showed a man sitting next to the victim and removing property from her purse, working in concert with a female accomplice. The items stolen included a Louis Vuitton wallet valued at $200, various debit and credit cards and a Georgia driver’s permit.

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Useful Contacts

Word on the Street

POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct

153 E. 67th St.

212-452-0600

159 E. 85th St.

311

FIRE FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13 FDNY Engine 39/Ladder 16

157 E. 67th St.

311

FDNY Engine 53/Ladder 43

1836 Third Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 44

221 E. 75th St.

311

CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Keith Powers

211 E. 43rd St. #1205

212-818-0580

Councilmember Ben Kallos

244 E. 93rd St.

212-860-1950

STATE LEGISLATORS State Sen. Jose M. Serrano

1916 Park Ave. #202

212-828-5829

State Senator Liz Krueger

1850 Second Ave.

212-490-9535

Assembly Member Dan Quart

360 E. 57th St.

212-605-0937

Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright

1485 York Ave.

212-288-4607

COMMUNITY BOARD 8

505 Park Ave. #620

212-758-4340

LIBRARIES Yorkville

222 E. 79th St.

212-744-5824

96th Street

112 E. 96th St.

212-289-0908

67th Street

328 E. 67th St.

212-734-1717

Webster Library

1465 York Ave.

212-288-5049

100 E. 77th St.

212-434-2000

HOSPITALS Lenox Hill NY-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell

525 E. 68th St.

212-746-5454

Mount Sinai

E. 99th St. & Madison Ave.

212-241-6500

NYU Langone

550 First Ave.

212-263-7300

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

POST OFFICES US Post Office

1283 First Ave.

212-517-8361

US Post Office

1617 Third Ave.

212-369-2747

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I, too, have mistaken “Bi Bim Bap” for an Ella Fitzgerald standard my racism neither historical nor purely psychological but some admixture of self upon self-same duplicity like this found, hand-made sign adorning the ATM shelter: PLEASE PARDON OUR APPEARNCE WE ARE UNDERGOING IMPROVMENTS TO IMPROVE OUR APPEARNCE thus melting breasts of adamant in the sweetness of love I withdraw enough cash for the bill and the tip.

A.W. Strouse teaches medieval literature at the New School. He is the author of “Transfer Queen,” a collection of poetry about his love of the subway.

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COMMUNITY Debate erupts over KIPP NYC’s application for a middle school in District 3

Get help with your long term services and supports needs.

BY JASON COHEN

The ongoing controversy over charter schools is brewing again in the city. A nationwide organization that has more than 200 charter schools is hoping to open a new middle school on the Upper West Side.

KIPP NYC, a public charter school program that began in New York City in 1995, has 13 schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem and Washington Heights. It recently applied to open a middle school in District 3, which spans 59th Street to 122nd Street on the West Side.

This would be KIPP’s ďŹ rst integrated school, as the majority of its schools serve black and Hispanic students. The deadline to apply was Jan. 9, but KIPP spokesperson Vicki Zubovic explained it won’t easily be accepted because there is a cap on charter schools in New York, with only seven spots remaining.

In addition, KIPP faces serious opposition from Community Education Council 3 (CEC3).

If approved, the school would open in open in 2020 and enroll about 355 students. “We’re choosing that area because it’s a place where there is diversity,� Zubovic said.

Joe Negron, who is the managing director of middle schools for KIPP and founded KIPP Star Harlem Middle School in 2005, has been leading the outreach for the proposed school.

An educator for 18 years, Negron joined KIPP in 2004.

He has served as teacher and principal and is also a parent in District 3.

He told the West Side Spirit that he has spent the past seven months attending CEC3 meetings, talking with families and soliciting input about their wants and needs.

From these meetings Negron says he learned three major things: families are looking for unscreened middle school options (examples of screening include testing, behavior

NY Connects can help you:

Students at a KIPP School. Photo courtesy of KIPP

We have sufficient seats for the children that are in fifth grade that are in District 3.

There is no need for another school.�

Kim Watkins, president of Community Education Council 3 and attendance); a school that reflects the diversity of the neighborhood; and a school with a rigorous academic environment. “What we’re trying to create is something that’s open for all,� Negron said. “[Screening] creates very stressful situations for families and very stressful situations for kids.�

According to Negron, there are 18 public district middle schools, 15 of which have some type of screening for enrollment.

Having a school that reects the diversity of the district is important, he stressed. In District 3, 32 percent of students are Hispanic, 32 percent are white, 22 percent are black and 8 percent are Asian. “There are very few middle schools that actually reflect that racial diversity,â€? Negron commented. “There is no middle school in District 3 that has the racial socio-economic diversity of the district unless there is some level of screening involved.â€?

Though Negron feels he has good interactions with CEC

members and residents, the CEC is not in favor of charter schools. “I’ve really tried to engage them, even though there are charter schools that open without their support,� he said.

CEC 3 President Kim Watkins said that the CEC is strongly against a new charter school and wants a moratorium on charter schools in the district. “We have sufficient seats for the children that are in fifth grade that are in District 3,� she said. “There is no need for another school.�

Watkins added that Negron attended the meetings as a parent in District 3 and many people did not know he was there representing KIPP as well.

Watkins said that KIPP had many listings in places throughout the country and has deep pockets to achieve what it wants. “Charter schools are pitting communities against each other,� she said.

There are 10 charter schools in District 3, most in the northern part of the district, which is the southern part of Harlem.

Watkins said that District 3 is not missing a charter school, it really just needs to change the way admissions work for specialized high schools.

On Dec. 17, the CEC held an emergency meeting where parents and members expressed their anger about the proposed school. “The tenor of the meeting was that we want to see more information,� Watkins said. “We will continue to raise our call for a moratorium on charter schools in the district.�

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A WHOLE BUNCH OF CANDIDATES EAST SIDE OBSERVER

BY ARLENE KAYATT

Skin in the game — The Public Advocate race is on the fast track, with all manner of candidates vying for the prize. Each has to come up with a name for the line on which they’ll run, but they can’t use Democrat, Republican, Liberal or any of the standard party names. And they must file 3,750 petition signatures with the NYC Board of Elections by January 13, 2019. The order of names on the ballot will be determined by who files first. Of course, there’s always the possibility that there will be challenges and names will be removed from the ballot. At least that’s the general procedure. Last I heard,

there were at least 31 candidates in the race, mostly Democrats. Must be why only Democratic clubs, at least in Manhattan, have been having forum after forum so the public can find out what the candidates advocate. The only Republicans running that I can identify are Eric Ulrich from Staten Island and Mike Zumbluskas from Manhattan. None of the Republicans or other affiliated or non-affiliated candidates appeared at these forums.

Were they invited? Apparently, NYC Republicans don’t think they have a chance, so they aren’t out there supporting or promoting Republican candidates or holding forums. True, New York’s a tough place for Republican candidates, but they have to be in it to win ... have skin in the game ... that kind of thing. While there aren’t

any citywide Republican officeholders, the Public Advocate is in line of succession to the mayoralty. History reminds us that death isn’t the only route in the line of succession — think Eric Schneiderman, who resigned his office, and Tish James, who was elected to fill his seat.

Midblock high — Start looking up when you’re midblock on the north side of East 79th Street between First and Second Avenues. The fourstory apartment building between an open space plaza and an identicallooking apartment building will be demolished and replaced with a 17-story residential development with 15 apartments. On the street level of the next-door building is the popular French restaurant Quartoze

Bis. Hope developers won’t set their sights on that site. S’il vous plait.

Lost in translation — Let’s Meat is a new AYCE (all-you-can-eat) Korean barbecue restaurant on Fifth Avenue between East 31st and 32nd Streets. For $40 you get to eat all the meat you can eat in 100 minutes, grilled by your table’s personal griller. Korean and American BBQs are different when it comes to the types of meat used and the manner of barbecuing. So are the sides that come with it, or so I thought. In my experience, side dishes are included in the price of the Korean bbq meal (as it is at Let’s Meat). Not so in the American bbq where you pay extra for the sides - like corn, baked beans, cornbread, maybe some greens, and, of course, cole slaw. The Korean sides are unending - radish/ daikon salads, cabbage, cucumber scallion salads, bean sprouts, kimchi, sesame broccoli. All very Asian.

So why, I asked the griller, was cole slaw among the sides at Let’s Meat.

She smiled sheepishly and didn’t answer. “Oh, because it’s American?,” I asked. She nodded, and we both smiled. Aside: skip the cole slaw and stick with the Korean standards.

Bus bunching — The starting point for the Q32 bus is across from Penn Station. The next stop is 32nd Street between Fifth and Madison. But don’t count on boarding there. That stop is also the starting point for the M4, and at any given time, day or night, there are at least three M4 buses lined up, all dark, with no passenegers. That’s bad enough if you want an M4. But anyone waiting for the Q32 will find themselves forced to navigate out from the curb to the waiting Q32 (if it even stops with all the curb traffic). If it does stop, there’s danger in trying to find a space between the M4’s to get to the waiting bus. Maybe riders should think about starting a union.

BECOME A VOLUNTEER, YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID WEST SIDE STORIES

BY MEREDITH KURZ

“We always need children’s underwear,” said my hospital guide. “We just can’t have enough.” The packages with colorful images of Disney characters or other pop stars of the under-four group were tucked in a small cabinet.

I was touring Children of Bellevue, a nonprofit now in its 70th year. Many children admitted at Bellevue Hospital are victims of abuse, admitted without any underwear, or worse, underwear that must be thrown away. This truth has stuck in my throat for three years.

Our city can be both terribly violent and selflessly philanthropic. In the spirit of Martin Luther King Day, a national day of service celebrated every January, here are snapshots highlighting four of the many nonprofit organizations that serve Manhattan.

Children of Bellevue is the hospital’s extra support arm for children.

Its programs help ease pain, loneliness and other difficult hospital ex-

periences that kids go through. They help abused or neglected youngsters to cope, recover and heal; advance language development among children at risk of delay; and nurture children and adolescents hospitalized for psychiatric reasons. The group’s Child Life and Development staff may advise concerned parents on how to help a child struggling in school, and there are classrooms located in Bellevue for long-term children patients.

Child Development specialists help children express feelings about their illness and prepare them for procedures. They also train medical students in child development and therapeutic play, offer parent support and counseling, and perform child developmental assessments. In their outpatient clinic, they provide adolescent parenting programs, early learning groups, and a variety of clinics addressing diabetes, asthma, and more.

There are several volunteer opportunities at Children of Bellevue, one being ‘Reach Out and Read’ a Literacy program, where volunteers read to children in the waiting room. Once

parents see these volunteers reading to their children, there is a modeling effect, which takes the volunteer experience from the hospital into the home.

Goddard Riverside Community Center, a fixture on the Upper West Side since 1959, has 25 outreach services, spanning early childhood to older adulthood. It offers mental health, education, housing, homelessness, employment, and childcare services.

There are many entry points for volunteers. You can tutor at their learning center, which provides one-to-one tutoring for low-income students in grades 2-12; the annual Book Fair always needs helpers; corporate group volunteers can help for a few hours or an entire day; and your family can participate by delivering or serving food.

There are also the annual holiday meal and ongoing meal delivery programs, not to mention any talents you can share with older adults.

Animal Haven, located at 200 Centre Street, is in its 50th year. Animal Haven wants ‘forever homes’ for their adopted pets, so they offer adult training lessons, and therapy dog prep courses.

These are great tools to ensure success for adoptions. There are a wide variety of volunteer opportunities including dog walking, feeding, and handling; cat socializing, feeding and handling; cleaning animal areas, bathing pets, greeting guests, assisting potential adopters, and speaking to the public about Animal Haven’s mission. If you’ve never volunteered for a shelter before, here’s what I’ve learned — employees and volunteers are in an “all hands on deck” situation, with little time to answer phones or emails. Visiting the shelter in person is often the best way to begin your relationship.

When my husband was approaching 60, he decided to run his first marathon. I sat in the bleachers sixand-a-half hours later, waiting for him to come around the bend. It was rainy and cold, but I didn’t care, because this was a milestone. Finishing just before my spouse were several people in wheelchairs, or in one case, crutches. Run-walking alongside these marathoners were volunteers assisting them, cheering them on, wearing shirts that read Achilles In-

ternational. There wasn’t a dry eye in the rain folks.

“I came to volunteer here, and never left,” said Selvie Mulaj, now an employee at Achilles International.

She’s done the marathon twice, in her wheelchair. “I did the marathon in honor of my Albanian Dad. I got on that course and it was amazing: the love was crazy. I didn’t have time to focus much on the pain, you know, because I was getting beloved.”

Running alongside and helping someone conquer the marathon as a Marathon Guide is an opportunity of a lifetime, but if you’re not a marathoner, there are other ways to help out. You can teach disabled runners to become comfortable with special equipment, or participate in workouts, or help out with race-day logistics.

Volunteer and charity opportunities are as rich and varied as our city.

I imagine I’ll be getting quite a few, “but you forgot to mention ...”, so I’m hoping people will tell me about the nonprofit volunteer groups that they value, either by mail or by commenting online.

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JANUARY 10-16,2019

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NEIGHBORHOOD’S BEST

LCONTINUED TRAIN FROM PAGE 1 Brooklynites had already begun rearranging their lives for the expected “L-pocalypse,� with some changing jobs or apartments to avoid the looming commuting snarls.

The original plan, adopted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority after lengthy public debate, had called for a complete shutdown of a portion of the L line for 15 months while workers repaired damage from Sandy, when salty, corrosive water ooded 7 miles (11 kilometers) of the tube.

The plan called for replacing old electrical equipment by removing a damaged concrete benchwall that lines the tunnel and encases power cables. The cables would then have been replaced and the wall rebuilt, in a labor-intensive process.

The new plan calls for installing cables on racks along the inside of the tunnels, and leaving the old cables where they are. The old concrete benchwall would stay too, encased in a protective ďŹ ber-reinforced polymer, where necessary, or patched.

Not having to take out and replace the old wall cuts down on cost and time, officials said.

And the new plan could be accomplished with night and weekend work instead of a shutdown.

Asked about the plan at an unrelated news conference with police, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said his administration had only gotten initial information, but “anything that avoids disruption I favor obviously and a lot of people in Brooklyn, a lot of people in Manhattan have been really worried about the L train shutdown.� “So, if there is a plan that can be better for the people of our neighborhoods, that’s great,

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Those who would have been hardest hit were overjoyed with the news. “I think we averted a disaster,� said Robert Stone, 69, who was riding an L train to his home near the Third Avenue stop in Manhattan. “This line is full, it’s one of the most ontime lines of all the subways and I believe this is the right solution, not to shut it down. I think it’s a great thing.�

Shanice Brown, who manages the Goorin Bros. hat store in Williamsburg that depends on the L train to bring in customers and employees, said the change in plans is a big relief.

Brown said she had been worried about what the shutdown would mean for business, and whether the alternatives the MTA had proposed in terms of buses, ferries and other subway lines would have worked. “It didn’t feel very secure at all,� she said. “It was going to be very trial-and-error.�

Some are questioning, however, if the new plan is truly the best option. “The governor’s plan may or may not work, but you’ll pardon transit riders for being skeptical that a last-minute Hail Mary idea cooked up over Christmas is better than what the MTA came up with over three years of extensive public input,� said John Raskin, executive direc-

tor of the Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group. “We need a full public release of the details of Governor Cuomo’s idea, as well as the mitigation plans that will allow hundreds of thousands of L train riders to get around during the inevitable shutdowns and slowdowns in service.�

The L line is one of the city’s most crowded, r u n n i n g through neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Bushwick that have become major draws for young people and the businesses that cater to them, like restaurants and bars. Since 1990, ridership has vastly increased, with about 400,000 rides on an average day. Of those, more than half go through the tunnel.

The agency could have gone with a three-year partial shutdown, but the MTA decided in mid-2016 that it would be better to close the Canarsie Tube completely starting in the spring of 2019. That called for L train service at ďŹ ve stops in Manhattan to be halted, as well as trains through the tunnel. The line would continue to operate among Brooklyn neighborhoods.

MTA Acting Chairman Fernando Ferrer called the new plan “an innovative and more efficient approach� and said the agency, which operates in the city and its suburbs but is controlled by the governor, would adopt it in full.

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JANUARY 10-16,2019

OUTSIDE COMES IN AT OUTSIDER ART FAIR

BY MARY GREGORY

In 2014, art critic Walter Robinson made a wave (that swelled to a tsunami) in art world circles when he identified a trend in contemporary art he called “Zombie Formalism,” where countless young MFA-wielding painters cranked out innumerable eerily similar works. But you won’t encounter those types of paintings at the 27th annual Outsider Art Fair.

What you will find instead are deeply personal, idiosyncratic glimpses into unique personalities with singular visual voices.

Art is the soul’s language, and our polyglot culture is richly reflected in the breadth, depth and emotional impact of art that is at times quirky, elegant, boisterous, whimsical, mysterious, touching, unsettling and elevating. Many of the works, presented by some 65 international galleries, stand squarely outside the mainstream. Others, like Morton Bartlett’s photographs of meticulously sculpted, dressed and posed figures (from Julie Saul Gallery), might spark thoughts of James Casebere or Cindy Sherman, though they were created decades earlier. This year’s Outsider Art Fair proves there’s a fine line between the art world’s insiders and outsiders.

That fact will resonate with museum-goers who’ve seen the Metropoli-

tan Museum’s recent exhibit “History Refused to Die,” featuring Gee’s Bend quilts and major works by Thornton Dial, or the Smithsonian’s current “Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor,” the first major museum exhibition for an artist born into slavery.

The Outsider Art Fair includes works

by Dial and Traylor.

So inside has outside become that even Hollywood stars are gathering at this year’s fair. Actor and comedian Jim Carrey will be exhibiting political drawings, and photographs by Mark Hogancamp, whose life and work are the subject of “Welcome to Marwen,” a film starring Steve Carell, will be presented by 1 Mile Gallery.

What brings it all together is the inclusive vision of Wide Open Arts, organizers of the fair. “For outsider art, the fair utilizes the definition of self-taught or non-academic work. We try to be very broad so we can be open to all work that comes our way,” said Becca Hoffman, Outsider Art Fair director. “We start with self-taught, and from there we explore.”

Some of art’s most groundbreaking greats, like Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Joseph Cornell, were selftaught. So was William Edmondson, who made sculptures so powerful that, in 1937, they earned him the spot as the first African American artist to be given a solo exhibition at MoMA.

Mary F. Whitfield’s “4 Swans in Alabama,” June 2003. Phyllis Stigliano Art Projects.

Photo courtesy of Jeanette May.

Jayne County, “See Me in No Special Light,” 2004, mixed media on paper. James Barron Art. Photo courtesy Outsider Art Fair.

His work can be seen at the Ricco/ Maresca booth.

There are plenty of contemporary artists to discover, as well. Jana Paleckova, represented by Fred Giampietro Gallery, starts with vintage late 19th or early 20th century photographs. She obscures some parts, paints others in, and creates astonishing, complex, surreal imagery that’s at once haunting and elegant. Mary F. Whitfield’s watercolors convey themes of poverty, slavery, survival, love and triumph. Her work, on view at the Phyllis Stigliano Art Projects booth, has been called visionary.

And then there is Jayne County.

“Jayne County was Punk Rock’s first openly transgender performer, inspired Andy Warhol, David Bowie and participated in the Stonewall uprising,” said Hoffman. “She’s someone that people should know, but might not.” Her technicolor dreamscapes, peopled by mythic figures, are presented by James Barron Gallery Also a highlight for Hoffman are the assemblages of Staten Island artist, John Foxell, whose life and art spilled into one another. “Foxell was an administrative assistant in the Manhattan family courts for a long time. He was also a poet and a preservationist,”

explained Hoffman. His small, saltbox house became so transformed by his art that it’s now a landmark. His eccentric, often humorous tabletop assemblages will be on view at the Norman Brosterman booth.

The Outsider Art Fair will also present off-site exhibits at Ace Hotel, including a pop-up Troll Museum, a presentation of Boro textiles from Japan, and a group of short films. A talk titled “Unusual Brains: Neurodiversity and Artistic Creation” will be held at the New Museum, and two curated spaces, one featuring underground comics from China and another dedicated to gallerist Phyllis Kind, will also be part the fair. God’s Love We Deliver will be the beneficiary of a silent auction and part of the opening night’s proceeds.

Some things can be taught in art schools, like theory, history, materials and techniques. But art, itself, comes from a deeper place – from the heart, from life lived. “This work speaks from a place of warmth and authenticity,” Hoffman said. “It’s exciting for me to watch people come into the fair and discover something they love. The art dealer will tell them about the story of the artist, and suddenly the visitor will be talking about themselves. It’s a really connected experience.”

IF YOU GO What: Outsider Art Fair Where:Metropolitan Pavilion 125 West 18th Street When: Jan. 17-20 www.outsiderartfair.com

Bill Traylor’s “Man and Cat on Organic Form,” Poster paint and graphite on cardboard, c.1939-42. From California’s Just Folk. Photo courtesy Outsider Art Fair.

JANUARY 10-16,2019

9

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Sun 13 STYLE, MYTH AND MODERNITY IN GREEK REVIVAL NEW YORK Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden 421 East 61st St 11:00 a.m. Free From furniture, to architecture and print, this exhibit presents some of the designs, artifacts and literature which inspired New Yorkers to embrace this ancient civilization and examines the treasured 19th-century Greek Revival furnishings and objects in the Museum. mvhm.org 212-838-6878

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JANUARY 10-16,2019

PICKING THE RIGHT SCHOOL: 6 KEY QUESTIONS search shows that good preschool teachers take obvious pleasure in their young scholars.

DECISIONS

BY PEG TYRE

How should I evaluate test scores?

Choosing a school by test scores is like buying a car based on the color of its paint. There are better measures. A school that serves mixedincome children that has high tests scores may be doing a fantastic job, or cheating those students out of a good education. On your tour, ask this question: What has the school done to raise test scores for a subcategory of students in the last five years (say, English language learners, or children who are designated special education)? If the answer is “adding more test prep,” be wary.

Questions on standardized test are pulled from the lower third of course material. Schools that align their course material with the tests are really dumbing it down.

You have been checking the websites and talking to friends. Maybe you have even been on a conga line of parents snaking through a classroom on an overcrowded school tour. This much you know: choosing the right school for your child is an important decision. But in your quiet moments, you recognize that you have almost no objective criteria for making this decision.Here are six research-based tips for identifying what makes a “good” school.

What makes a good preschool?

Good preschools do not look like scaled-down versions of fourth grade. Worksheets? Not a good sign. All learning should be embedded in play. That said, there should be plenty of emphasis on letters and their corresponding sounds (B makes the buh sound) and ample opportunities to speak and listen, as well as rhyme and sing. Crabby preschool teachers? Beware. Re-

What does a good reading program look like?

There is controversy about the use of technology in the classroom. Photo: Brad Flickinger, via flickr

There is a significant disconnect between how scientists know children learn to read and how children

JANUARY 10-16,2019

are taught to read in school.

Word to the wise: Make sure your ďŹ rst-grade child gets a solid dose of that old Eisenhower badboy phonics.How fast you learn to read has nothing to do with how smart you are, but by the time children are in ďŹ rst grade, they should be making steady progress toward mastery. Ask this: What does the school do when a child is not reading at grade level? Correct answer: There should a rapid comprehensive intervention that helps them build basic decoding skills.

Giving them another year of the same ďŹ&#x201A;awed instruction is not a strategy to create a class of good readers. After grade three, make sure there is plenty of reading going on in science, history, social studies and nonfiction, as well as ďŹ ction reading in English class.

What does a good math program look like?

Math ability builds on math experiences. From the ďŹ rst day of preschool, children should be exposed to numbers and simple math concepts (greater than or less than, bigger or smaller) and algorithms (add and take away).A good elemen-

13

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

tary school math program (yes, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m talking about you, Singapore math) helps children harness their innate sense of number, their mental math, to understand math concepts. Being able to compute quickly and accurately is a must, too.

A lot of schools boast about their educational technology. Is ed tech in preschool a good idea?

And in general, how much screen time is too much in school?

Technology has no place in the preschool classroom. Got it? Good. Preschool is about face to face contact and lots and lots of human interaction â&#x20AC;&#x201D; speaking, listening, singing, playing. After third grade, there are some interesting math-based games that teachers might use so kids can practice arithmetic and math factsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re talking like 15 minutes out of the entire school day. Despite all the relentless hype, research shows that technology in schools in the later years should be sparing at best â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and is never a substitute or replacement for good classroom instruction.

Thinking about signing your kid up to one of those tech

driven high schools? Outcomes at those schools are unimpressive (at best.)

How much free play should I expect to see?

The data is clear: All children need at least 20 minutes of recess a day to keep their focus and behavior in check.

But more recess would be better. Rat studies show that rats that run on treadmills do better on rat-appropriate intelligence tests than the ones who lie around on cedar chips all day. Human studies show that physically ďŹ t children â&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially ones with a high aerobic capacity â&#x20AC;&#x201D; do better in school and in life.

A version of this story originally appeared on wnyc.org Peg Tyre, a longtime education journalist and the recipient of the Spencer Fellowship for Education Journalism at Columbia University, is the author of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserveâ&#x20AC;?

(Henry Holt) and â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Trouble With Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must doâ&#x20AC;? (Crown).

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AN EARLY START ON COLLEGE STRESS HIGH SCHOOL Is the application process healthy or hindering? How students and counselors at one NYC independent school view the impact on the learning experience

BY ALICE TECOTZKY

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High school is often heralded as an opportunity for students to expand to their minds, hone their interests and develop into the people they hope to become. While certainly a trying period in the lives of adolescents, those four years are meant to be dominated by growth rather than pressure.

But in recent years, the balance between appropriate and overwhelming stress has become an increasingly challenging one to strike, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s due to the looming expectation of one thing: the college process.

Within the past decade, the experience of applying to college has undergone many changes: schools have become more selective, the outcomes more unpredictable and the process itself has been starting earlier with each passing year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There used to be a much greater ability to predict what the outcome would be,â&#x20AC;? said Lisa Shambaugh, a college counselor who has worked for over 15 years at the Packer Collegiate Institute, an independent school in Brooklyn Heights, where I am currently a junior. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There would be schools where we would have been very comfortable saying what a decision would be, whereas now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much harder to do that.â&#x20AC;?

Claudia Mendez, another college counselor at Packer with 12 years of practice, added that â&#x20AC;&#x153;overall the process is just starting earlier and earlier.â&#x20AC;?

As a result, the perpetual unease that the college process induces is dominating a greater percentage of a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high school career, making it difficult to learn simply for the sake of learning, rather than for the sake of moving on to the next stage of life.

Daisy Zuckerman, a junior at Packer, named sophomore year as the time when she began to consistently think about college, meaning that over half of

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyone talks about the SAT and ACT which ... kind of leaves a sense of stress in the group,â&#x20AC;? said one junior. her high school trajectory has been influenced by the prospect of what will happen next.

Though Zuckerman had one year of high school where college was not of concern to her, she worries that her younger sister will not be granted that same luxury. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I went to San Francisco recently with my family and we walked around Stanford,â&#x20AC;?

Zuckerman said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My thirteenyear-old sister decided that it was where she wanted to go.

She was literally planning out her high school so that she could get in. You shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to worry about that as an eighth grader.â&#x20AC;?

Nila Fortune, a third college counselor at Packer who, like Shambaugh, has held the position for 15 years, echoed a similar sentiment about the PSAT, a practice SAT taken by sophomores and juniors. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When we hear that someone has been working with a tutor to prepare for the PSAT, that just seems totally inappropriate. To me, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a practice test, so you shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t start stressing about it,â&#x20AC;? said Fortune.

While Shambaugh, Mendez and Fortune all think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entirely healthy for students to consider college when selecting their classes, they all agree that the heightened level of stress associated with the process is not always helpful. They also emphasized that not all students have the resources to help them cope with their worries as do those at Packer.

The college-related stress present in many high schools is perpetuated by families, friends, or internal pressure. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyone talks about the SAT and ACT which ... kind of leaves a sense of stress in the group,â&#x20AC;? Zuckerman said.

While many parents have admirable intentions when asking about college plans, the probing can leave the student feeling more on edge. Shambaugh urges parents to trust their childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s judgment, maturity and ability to ask for help when it is wanted or needed.

Zuckerman commended her parents for making it clear that they will be happy with wherever she ends up, which has alleviated much of the pressure which some other students face, but underscored that parents are not the only family members who can inadvertently encourage anxiety. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whenever we have holidays my relatives come and are like, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Where do you think youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to college? What are you interested in?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? said Zuckerman.

With a slight laugh, she added that â&#x20AC;&#x153;they even ask me what I want to major in.â&#x20AC;?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Zuckerman said social media was one of the largest enforcers of application anxiety. Students posting about their own acceptances or their friendsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; furthers the comparison inherent in the application process.

Though the years of applying to college are inevitably tainted by a degree of stress, it is imperative that both students and their parents remember how many different ways there are to deďŹ ne success. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I feel like every article I ever read in a newspaper makes people afraid, and I get why that is, but there are so many great schools,â&#x20AC;? said Fortune. â&#x20AC;&#x153;How successful youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to be depends far more on how youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to use those years than the name on the diploma.

I know some people will disagree with that, but I actually think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s true.â&#x20AC;?

JANUARY 10-16,2019

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New York City Department of Education Notice of Disclosure of Directory Information Dear Parent/Guardian, Current or Former Student: The New York City Department of Education (DOE) is helping the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (Health Department) begin a research study. The research study is about health and education- al impacts of the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster on students. The study will include students in school during and after 9/11. DOE will give information about parents, guardians, former students and current student to the Health Department.

7KH )DPLO\ (GXFDWLRQDO 5LJKWV DQG 3ULYDF\ $FW LV D IHGHUDO ODZ WKDW SURWHFWV WKH SULYDF\ DQG FRQÂżGHQWLDOLW\ RI VWXGHQWV 7KH ODZ DOORZV '2( to share student directory information, which includes the information listed below. You have a chance to say you do not want DOE to share your directory information.

Whose information will DOE be sharing? DOE will share information about students in certain areas that were enrolled in school at the WLPH RI 6HSWHPEHU RU WKRVH ÂżUVW HQUROOHG E\ 7KH DUHDV DUH Â&#x2021; Northwest Brooklyn Â&#x2021; Flushing, Queens Â&#x2021; Lower Manhattan Â&#x2021; Sunset Park, Brooklyn Â&#x2021; Upper West Side, Manhattan What directory information will be shared? DOE will share: Â&#x2021; Whether student was born inside NYC or NY State Â&#x2021; Student, parent and guardian names Â&#x2021; Spoken and written language(s) Â&#x2021; Parent/guardian relationship to student Â&#x2021; Any schools/educational institutions of enrollment Â&#x2021; Phone number, email & home address history Â&#x2021; Enrollment time periods Â&#x2021; Studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sex and date of birth Who will receive the directory information and how will it be used? The Health Department will receive the information. Contractors will be hired to help the Health Department conduct the research study, and the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) may receive the information. No one else will have access to the information. Contractors will help get updated contact information by searching various records available to them. NSC may help get updated school information on students after high school. The Health Department will use the information to reach out to individuals to learn if they want to be a part of the research study.

How will your information be protected? DOE and the Health Department will have written agreements to re- quire those who get the information to protect and secure it. Individuals will not be allowed to sell, use, or share the information for any advertising, marketing, commercial purposes, or for any purpose besides for the research study.

What do you need to do?

1. Do nothing: you or your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s directory information will be shared with the Health Department.

2. Fill out this form if you do not want your directory information or your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s directory information to be shared with the Health Department, and return it by February 15, 2019 to: Attn: 9/11 Opt Outs Room 310 1HZ <RUN &LW\ 'HSDUWPHQW RI (GXFDWLRQ &KDPEHUV 6W 1HZ <RUN 1< I DO NOT WANT Directory Information to be shared with the Health Department.

Studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First Name: Studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Last Name: School (current or last school attended): Parent/Guardian Printed Name:

Student Date of Birth & Student ID Number (if known)

Signatureâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;students age 18 and over must sign for themselves:

Date: â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Return by February 15, 2019 if you do not want to share your or your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s directory informationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;

15

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JANUARY 10-16,2019

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WILL THE REAL MONTESSORI PLEASE STAND UP? TEACHING

3ULQFHWRQ 3K ' $YDLODEOH IRU +LJK 6FKRRO 7XWRULQJ Â&#x2021; +LVWRU\ Â&#x2021; (QJOLVK Â&#x2021; :ULWLQJ Â&#x2021; &ROOHJH $SSOLFDWLRQ (VVD\V Â&#x2021; *HQHUDO 2UJDQL]DWLRQDO 6NLOOV

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Not all schools that use the famous name are authentic

BY JACKIE MADER

At a time when many critics of public schools say young children are pushed into academics too quickly and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get much time to play, the Montessori approach appeals to parents â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and schools are quick to take advantage of that interest.

But many critics have pointed out that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Montessori-inspiredâ&#x20AC;? does not guarantee authentic Montessori.

Montessori is not a trademarked name, which means it is a label often given to thousands of daycares and preschools across the country â&#x20AC;&#x201D; whether or not they follow the Montessori method. This can mislead parents who are not aware that all Montessori schools are not created equal.

A Google search of preschools in any major city will return dozens of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Montessoriâ&#x20AC;? schools, but that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean the schools follow the teachings of the methodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founder, Maria Montessori, or feature some of the key classroom tenets of Montessori â&#x20AC;&#x201D; like an uninterrupted three-hour â&#x20AC;&#x153;work timeâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or have teachers trained by an accredited Montessori teacher-training program.

And even fewer schools are af-

ďŹ liated with an accrediting organization, like the American Montessori Society or the Association Montessori International, which some experts say is the only way to guarantee the highest level of authenticity. Out of more than 4,000 so-called Montessori schools across the country, only 1,250 are affiliated with the American Montessori Society (and only 204 are AMSaccredited) and about 220 are recognized by AMI. For parents, the free use of the Montessori name could mean the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Montessoriâ&#x20AC;? program in which their child is enrolled will not provide the type of education they want or expect.

And some Montessori advocates say this indiscriminate use of the word is damaging to the Montessori reputation and approach, which has been proven to lead to academic beneďŹ ts for young kids.

When done right, Montessori programs are led by specially trained teachers who preside over multi-age classrooms in which self-discipline is encouraged and which feature unique materials that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seen in other preschools. Many parents think a Montessori education encourages creativity and benefits children by providing unique teaching methods aimed at respecting young children and giving kids more control of their learning.

Supporters say the Montessori approach gives children

the materials and time to learn independently and at their own pace. It strives to teach peace education, help children develop concentration and to learn without the promise of extrinsic rewards or grades.

Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator, created the approach in 1907 when she opened the Casa dei Bambini, or Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s House, in a lowincome Roman neighborhood.

The school, designed around Montessoriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s understanding of child development, was meant to provide a unique education to poor children. Montessori believed children needed selfdirected activities, special environments and a teacher as a guide rather than a lecturer.

The method spread to America in the early 1900s, but its popularity waned during the 1920s. It was revitalized during the 1960s and grew quickly after one of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Montessori schools was featured in a Time magazine article titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Joy of Learning.â&#x20AC;? Parents were intrigued by the schools, which seemed to offer an alternative to traditional public schools. Recently, Montessori has received another revival as public Montessori schools have become increasingly common.

While many parents are drawn to the creative nature of Montessori, the method is steeped in order and consistency, which Maria Montessori found essential for helping children learn. There

JANUARY 10-16,2019 are specific procedures for everything: how to roll up your rug, how to pour liquid from one pitcher to another, how to draw lines on a paper. Materials are arranged on shelves in order of difficulty and students are not allowed to move from one activity to another until they have received instruction.

“Everything has a correct name, everything has a place where it lives on the shelves, everything has an exact way to carry it from the shelf,” said Tim Seldin, president of The Montessori Foundation, who added that this sense of order and focus is what Montessori educators are trying to develop in children. “All of this can feel very, very rigid to a parent who thinks creative chaos is a way for kids to learn. We would argue that’s exactly the way you do not want kids to learn. That does not lead to executive functioning skills.”

Research shows a Montessori education can affect a student’s achievement. One study found students who attend Montessori have higher achievement levels on math and literacy tests than their peers in nonMontessori programs, including private preschools and Head Start programs. Another study, of older students, found that children who attended Montessori schools showed significant differences in story writing and social skills compared to their peers who were not enrolled in Montessori. That study also found 5-year-olds in a Montessori program performed better on academic skills like letterword identification and math skills compared to their nonMontessori peers.

But authenticity matters.

One study compared student

17

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5 THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN YOUR CHILD’S MONTESSORI SCHOOL 1. Trained teachers: Teachers should be trained in the age group they teach by a teacher-preparation program accredited by the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education.

2. Multi-age classrooms: Montessori classrooms traditionally feature age groupings of three years, meaning one classroom will serve ages 3 to 6, another will serve first through third grade, etc.

3. Montessori materials: Montessori materials are extensive and grouped into different areas of learning, including sensorial and practical life. Usually made out of a range of materials including fabric and wood, the materials include real objects like pitchers and are meant to be used in multiple ways and at several stages of child development and learning.

4. Three-hour uninterrupted work time: During this time, students direct their learning as they work at their own pace either alone or with peers, while teachers provide individual and small-group instruction.

5. For the most “high-fidelity” schools, look for membership in or recognition by an association like the American Montessori Society or the Association Montessori International. gains in classic Montessori programs, “lower fidelity Montessori,” and other preschool programs. It found children in classic Montessori programs had “significantly greater school-year gains” in executive function, reading, math, vocabulary and social problem-solving than their peers in Montessori schools that were not as authentic or schools without any Montessori affiliation.

Many parents may struggle to identify an authentic Montessori school. One of the first signs is association with or accreditation by a group like the American Montessori Society, Association Montessori International or the International Montessori Council, all of which may differ in their requirements for schools, leading to slight variations in accredited Montessori programs.

Teachers should be trained in

the age group they are teaching through one of the 137 teacher-training programs accredited by the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) so they are versed in theory and know how to use the materials correctly.

That training time is also when teachers work on their “albums,” or lesson plans.

“You can’t really call yourself a Montessori school unless you have trained teachers,” said Rebecca Pelton, president of MACTE. “They have to practice with the materials; they have to be able to set up the shelves; they have to be able to know how to use the materials in teaching.”

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

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BACK TO SCHOOL, AFTER 40 GAP YEARS ADULT LEARNING Why a freelance writer decided to return to college when many of her peers were considering retirement

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Carrying a bag full of books, I would often run into people in the early morning, and they’d ask where I was going. When I said “Columbia,” the response would inevitably be, “What are you teaching?”

In fact, I was learning.

Entering my 60s, I enjoyed a fairly successful career as a freelance writer, had raised two children and led a busy social life. But when the second child went off to college, an old gnawing regret — that I had not finished college myself — rose to the surface. With an empty nest looming — a time when many peers were considering retirement — I wondered if this might be the time to go back to school.

When I had attended the University of California, I was, at best, a lax student, focused on everything but my classes.

Then I got involved volunteering with Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign and was so devastated by his death that my parents suggested I take a gap year. Who knew it would turn out to be 40 of them?

My return began gently: taking a single class at a time at Marymount Manhattan. After three of those, I received, unsolicited, an email from Columbia University, asking if I was familiar with its General Studies Program. I went to a meeting, applied, aced my entrance exam and was accepted.

For about five years, I dove into it, generally taking two classes at a time. These courses were always interesting, if stress-inducing. Not the least for technical reasons: figuring out the school’s internet system was a killer. Happily, several of my professors were also constantly seeking tech help from students. One day, I walked into a class and the prof said, “Michele, do you have a memory chip?” I said, “Are you kidding? I don’t even have a memory.”

In fact, my self-esteem was

Michele Willens outside of the American Academy in Rome, where she will be a “visiting artist-scholar.” Photo courtesy of Michele Willens. enhanced, and my aging anxieties relieved, by my school experience. I am still amazed that I was able to memorize historical names and dates, recognize countless paintings and classical musical compositions. I now not only know how to spell mnemonics, I am a devoted master. Cramming was in no way fun, though my husband took great joy in telling friends, “Michele can’t make it because she’s studying for finals.”

Ultimately, I left Columbia for two reasons: First, it does not have online classes for undergraduates, and suddenly, my life was filled with travel opportunities. Second, it has a core curriculum, which means you don’t move on without science and math classes. I was hopeless at those in high school, so why would I be better now? The only C that I received in all my Columbia classes was in a science-based psychology class. Trust me, I was relieved and gratified.

On the other hand, one of the happiest days of my life was when I took an “Incomplete” for a ridiculously comprehensive science class (after flunking the midterm), and tossed out all my study papers in a wastebasket.

I would never again need to identify all the parts of the eyes and ears, the millions of neurotransmitters and whatever the hell the hippocampus does.

(Not enough for me, obviously.)

So I moved on to The New School, which has online classes and no core demands. I have suddenly become much busier in my professional life, so for

now, I am taking yet another gap. Do I miss the classes?

Sometimes, though writing 10-page papers and weekly reports does not necessarily get easier. But every class has proved beneficial. For my last one, entitled simply “Elena Ferrante,” I read all the books, wrote four papers, and now I am watching the HBO version with accumulated expertise.

Similarly, I was recently at the Medici Palace in Florence, when I came upon a particular painting of Raphael’s. I found myself explaining to my husband when and why it was painted in that style.

Which is ultimately what going back to school has done for me. Not only have I expanded my knowledge, but my written journalism and radio reports have improved, with more depth and critical thinking.

Even the harrowing psychology class informed my articles dealing with women and aging.

As for being the oldest person in the classroom (including most of the professors), that has its ups and downs. Most students at Columbia showed little interest in me, even rolling their eyes when I was put in their study groups. (They tended to get over it when they saw I could edit our projects, and had a car to drive us to field trips.)

Will I go back and get the damn degree? I can’t promise.

In the meantime, I have earned a new hyphenate: I was just accepted as a “visiting artistscholar” for a month at the American Academy in Rome. I like the sound of that!

JANUARY 10-16,2019

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

Who Says You Can’t Remain Informed, Engaged, and Inspired?

The NYU School of Professional Studies offers a wide array of nondegree courses that many older adults will find of interest in their desire to continue the lifelong learning process. From remaining current on world politics; to exploring art, great literature, theatre, and history; to gaining the skills to write a short story or your memoir, you will find a wealth of options from which to choose.

Courses are taught by experts in their respective fields, who guide you through the content, while encouraging lively classroom discussion.

You’ll meet and mingle with classmates who share your interests in a supportive and stimulating learning environment.

List of Courses GLOBAL AFFAIRS Daytime Courses A Holistic Look at Iran: Economics, Religion, Politics, and More Critical Issues Cuba After Fidel: Economic Reform, Political Liberalization, and Foreign Relations Fighting Fake News Global Corporate Social Responsibility The Americas During the Age of Trump The Foreign Policy Dynamic: The New Congress, the President, and the 2020 Election The United States Policy in the Middle East World Politics: The Coming Rise and Fall of Great Powers taught by Ralph Buultjens

Reduced Rates for Older Adults The NYU School of Professional Studies offers many courses to older adults at reduced rates. If you are 65 years of age or older, you can receive a 25 percent discount on most non-degree courses, except where otherwise indicated.

To Register: Online: If you have previously taken a course at NYUSPS, visit our website sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways, locate the course in which you are interested, click on it, and follow the prompts for registration. If you have NEVER taken a course at NYUSPS, visit sps.nyu.edu/login.htm and create a noncredit portal account. Then, register for the course following the directions above. You will need to provide your proof of age at a future time.

By Phone: Call 212-998-7150, register and ask for the older adult discount.

Mon.–Thurs., 9 a.m.–7 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 9 a.m.–5 p.m; and Sun., Closed You will need to provide your proof of age at a future time.

In Person: Visit the Office of Noncredit Student Services at 7 East 12th Street.

Mon.–Thurs., 9 a.m.–7 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 9 a.m.–5 p.m; and Sun., Closed You can provide your proof of age onsite.

Weekend Courses 1914: The History of the Descent into World War I Asymmetry and International Relationships: Theory and Cases China’s Emergence as a Global Power Food and Water Security: Tools for Sustainable Solutions HUMANITIES Daytime Courses American Musicals of the “Golden Age”: From Oklahoma! to Fiorello!

Art in the Public Domain Brilliant Minds Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo: Icons of Modern Mexican Art England’s Cathedral Cities: From Exeter to York Fashion in Museums Inside “Outsider Art”: New Collectors, New Exhibits Introduction to the Hebrew Bible: War and Prophecy Islamic Art History: A Focus on Cairo Maternity, Motherhood, and Childcare in Art and History Memoirs with a Social Conscience Reading the World: Selections From Today’s Newsstand Seeing Things Our Way: Art as Propaganda The Art Scene The Bauhaus: Modernism in Art, Architecture, and Design What is American in American Art: 1875-1925 Women of the Mystery: From Agatha Christie to J.K. Rowling Weekend Courses England: Five Centuries of Royal Fashion* Photographing New York City from Remarkable Locations The Six-Hour Art Major* *Not eligible for discount

New York University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution. ©2019 NYU School of Professional Studies.

19

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JANUARY 10-16,2019

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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS DEC 26 - JAN 1, 2018 The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml.

Bombay Chowk

1378 1st Ave

Not Yet Graded (33) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Le Pain Quotidien

1131 Madison Avenue

A

Cascabel Taqueria

1556 2nd Ave

Grade Pending (21) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Subway

1613 2nd Ave

A

The London Irish Pub

355 East 116 Street

A

Wendy’s

2121 3rd Ave

A

Superior Cafe

1490 Madison Ave

A

New Level Juice

2244 1st Ave

A

Domino’s Pizza

153 E 116th St

A

Pabade Bakery & Cafe

135 E 110th St

Not Yet Graded (24) Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.

neighborhood news? neighborhood celebrations? neighborhood opinions? neighborhood ideas? neighborhood feedback? neighborhood concerns?

FOR JETS FANS, A PRECIOUS (AND PAINFUL) MEMORY PUBLIC EYE 50 years later, the team’s lone Super Bowl win inspires mixed feelings

BY JON FRIEDMAN

For frustrated, pessimistic, self-loathing New York Jets fans, January 12 marks a bittersweet 50th anniversary.

It was on that day in 1969 that the Jets metaphorically bowled a 300 and hit a hole in one – at the same time. In other words, the franchise did something monumental that is the stuff of dreams. But they haven’t done it since and so their fans have only a beautiful memory to hang on to.

That was the Sunday afternoon when the “J-E-T-S JetsJets-Jets” won Super Bowl III in Miami by defeating the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts, 16-7. In sports annals, this event has been remembered as a championship game of historic proportions. And the team, as its miserable fans know all too well, have not won a title since.

The Jets were an 18-point underdog because the team was unheralded and the Green Bay Packers, of the all-powerful National Football League, had trounced the American Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders in the first two Super Bowls. The NFL was regarded as unbeatable in this game.

The Jets had quarterback Joe Namath and, apparently, not much else. But the Jets played a flawless game, while the supremely overconfident Colts made mistake after mistake.

Not even legendary Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas could save them.

Namath also made sports history by publicly guaranteeing a Jets victory a few days before the kickoff. He promptly changed the way that the press

Vince Lombardi Super Bowl trophy. Photo: Erik Drost, via flickr and fans would look at professional athletes forever. No sports figure had ever before had the chutzpah to guarantee a victory, especially when his team was given virtually no chance to win the game. Now, athletes are expected to do their fair share of “trash talking.”

Amazingly, the Jets took control early and built a 16-0 lead.

Namath was voted the Most Valuable Player, though he had an unremarkable day, statistically, and fullback Matt Snell had a big game.

Since that epic day, Namath has remained a god among Jets fans. He is still mobbed in the city and Jet fans constantly thank him for enriching their lives, if only once. Perhaps only fellow quarterbacks Tom Brady, Joe Montana and John Elway are as completely identified with their franchises as Namath is with the Jets.

On the flip side, Baltimore sports fans can only shake their heads at this karmic catastrophe. It was as if the sports gods

had unleashed a New York curse on them. A few months after the Super Bowl debacle, the upstart New York Knicks swept the Baltimore Bullets in four games in the National Basketball Association playoffs.

Then, that October, the Miracle Mets upset the powerful Baltimore Orioles in five games in the World Series. You couldn’t blame Baltimore sports fan for lamenting a New York jinx.

The Jets finished the 2018 season with a 4-12 record, one of the worst in the NFL. The team’s rookie quarterback Sam Darnold showed promise.

The franchise has one of the top picks in the college draft.

The fans believe in the team’s potential and, you bet, the faithful will come to the home games next season chanting their trademark call of “J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets!”

But nothing can top the memory of that historic time when Joe Namath guaranteed a victory and the Jets upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

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JANUARY 10-16,2019

REMNANT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 It boasts exquisite ornamentation, detailed pediments, a circular rose window, decorative keystones that crown arched window openings and large Romanesque arches that once provided entry for prayer services.

Hauntingly beautiful, those architectural remains are all that’s left of St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum, which was founded in 1857, ministered to thousands of abandoned children and owned and occupied the entire city block bounded by 89th and 90th Streets and First and York Avenues.

It was on that sprawling campus that the orphanage in 1898 built a hall, or gathering place, for its young charges, an elaborate facility located at 402 East 90th St. that was apparently converted in 1907 to serve both orphans and local parishioners as St. Joseph’s main chapel.

As a sacred site, its reign would be brief. By 1918 — with the end of World War I in sight, and UES land values soaring in anticipation of waves of returning doughboys — the orphanage began to sell off its multiple institutional buildings to developers.

Before long, one of Yorkville’s earliest munificent organizations had moved to Peekskill in Westchester County. But even though its chapel went out of business, it never left the block.

“It would have been deconsecrated,” said Father Boniface Ramsey, the pastor of St. Joseph’s Church on East 87th Street, which was built in 1894 for a German-speaking parish founded in 1873 and still holds Civil War-era baptismal records from its affiliated orphanage.

The purchaser would have been chosen with great care, the priest said.

“The Archdiocese wouldn’t sell it to someone who would turn it into a bordello,” he added.

Indeed, the buyer, and then a second buyer 65 years after that, turned out to be deeply respectful of the structure’s ecclesiastical legacy.

THE AUTO AND THE CONDO ENTER THE CHAPEL The first Model-T had rolled off Henry Ford’s assembly line in 1908, and a decade later, as the auto played an increasingly outsized role on city streets, plans were drawn up to remodel the church as a parking garage for 250 cars, a 1918 New York Times story reported.

Opting to retain its facades, the new owner essentially inserted a twostory garage within the church’s nave and clerestory. Meanwhile, over the next 10-plus years, three other twofloor parking garages popped up on 90th Street between First and York.

Flash forward to 1983: A new owner buys the chapel-cum-garage, adds several stories, converts it into a 12-story condominium. Once again, the entry facade survives and is embedded into the newly constructed

A rendering of a new athletic-and-educational facility that the Spence School is building on East 90th Street. A remnant of a 1898 church that is part of the adjoining wall of the building at right (not visible here) will vanish from sight when the project is completed. Rendering courtesy of the Spence School building.

“A curious decision was made to retain the east facade and incorporate it into the larger residential building, creating a flattened, almost trompe l’oeil effect when viewed from the street,” said Rachel Levy, the executive director of the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, which is researching and documenting the site.

Several church arches along 90th Street that once contained leaded windows became structural elements of the “boxy, simple 1980s facade of the building, creating a postmodern combination of old and new,” she said.

For years, the view of the church’s primary facade, which rises about 65 to 70 feet in height, was truncated. Directly to its east, at 412 East 90th St., a neighboring garage, eventually purchased by Hertz, stood roughly 35- or 40-feet high, effectively masking the structure’s bottom half.

Enter the prestigious Spence School.

An all-girls, K-12, college-prep school with 751 students and tuition pegged at $52,050, its own history in the neighborhood runs deep: Founded in 1892, it moved to 91st Street in 1929.

In Sept. 2011, Spence trustees paid $26 million to purchase the garage adjoining the church from Hertz Corp., property records show. Then last year, it demolished the structure — and lo and behold, for the first time in nearly a century, the full majesty of the church came into view.

Not for long. Spence late last year began excavation and foundation work for a 54,000-square-foot athletic complex on the site that will include

a regulation-sized basketball court, nine squash courts, study centers, performing arts space and a greenhouse.

The problem is that the six-story building will rise 85 feet and totally obscure the remnant wall of the old St. Joseph’s chapel.

“The new Spence building at 412 East 90th St. will abut the brick-andstone wall, but all primary structure is set back from the protruding elements

of the remnant wall,” Spence said in a statement.

“When the new building is finished, the masonry wall will not be visible,” the school confirmed.

Father Ramsey thinks it should be saved, maintained and remain on view. “It’s a fascinating piece of history,” he said. “It’s curious and stunning that it survived. And it should not be covered up.”

Community leaders are hoping for a

A 1908 photo of the neo-Classical chapel of St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum that stood on East 90th Street. Its flattened facade survives to this day and can still be seen on the block. Photo: Architect and Builders Magazine Vol. X, 1908-1909

creative solution: “I’m not one to force my interest in preservation on others,” said East Side City Council Member Ben Kallos, who represents the block and once lived in the condo building.

“But I think it would be really cool if Spence chooses to put up a glass curtain wall so that students and others who use the facility can actually see this architectural feature on the side of the building,” he added.

It’s a beautiful artifact of the past that can and should be saved, said Joan Geismar, an urban archeologist who once dug up a 92-foot, 18th-century merchant ship in lower Manhattan.

“An institution of learning should have the sensitivity to preserve something that’s irreplaceable,” she added.

Indeed, the object that will be “effectively erased” is “perhaps the last extant piece of this particular strain of Yorkville’s history,” Levy said.

“The neighborhood is changing left and right, and if the façade remnant could be retained in some way, it could be a great opportunity to illuminate some of our collective history,” she added.

That history, encapsulated in the facade, speaks to all the children who survived the orphanage, said Kathy Jolowicz, who runs the YorkvilleKleindeutschland Historical Society.

“Their mothers tearfully gave them up as babies, and they became the ancestors of so many of the GermanAmericans who lived in the neighborhood,” she said. invreporter@strausnews.com

JANUARY 10-16,2019

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Rachel Brosnahan as Midge Maisel choosing bathing suits for a summer in the Catskills. Photo: Nicole Rivelli

Tony Shalhoub (left) and Marin Hinkle as Midge Maisel’s parents in Paris. Photo: Nicole Rivelli

BEYOND THE FABULOUS FASHION OF ‘MRS. MAISEL’ ENTERTAINMENT The costumes in the hit show set in 1950s New York are more than just attire

BY BROOKE LEFFERTS

Fans of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” know that the show’s clothes deliver eye-popping color and to-die-for style, but they might not know the costumes represent more than 1950s couture.

They also meticulously reflect each character’s mood and development.

Costume designer Donna Zakowska said she thought about how each character changed from season one of the hit show to season two, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video earlier this month. Zakowska started out studying painting at Ecole des BeauxArts in Paris, which instilled a “very strong response to color,” she said in a recent interview, and that influenced her approach in costume design. One of her first decisions was putting lead character Midge Maisel, played by Rachel Brosnahan, in a baby pink coat in the first season when she is married and seemingly happy.

“I do feel that color signals things to people and you know I don’t take it for granted,” Zakowska said. “I love doing it and I put a lot of effort into really working with the palette and working with the colors. It started with that pink coat, but that became sort of a characteristic of who Midge was when I first started.”

But when Midge’s husband leaves her, her character puts on different, darker colors.

“I basically did this with most of the characters and it’s a little bit natural in a way because I do think that there is

this emotional response that is inherent in color,” Zakowska said.

Brosnahan said while the second season is full of “exceptional clothes,” the outfits aren’t just eye candy. Zakowska helps shape the narrative with her designs.

“She’s a storyteller. And she dives just as deeply, if not more deeply in some ways, than we do into these characters, into their arcs, into the stories, into the settings, into everything that came before and is yet to come.”

“She is a mad scientist,” “Maisel” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino said in a recent interview. “She doesn’t believe a hat is a hat. You know, a hat is character.

It’s a person. That hat needs to reflect where the person is internally. She started it last year with ... the pink coat and the pink coat represented something and when Joel (Mr. Maisel) left, the pink coat left, because the pink coat represented who she was with Joel.

And then pink went away for a while, and when pink started to come back, it was a different kind of pink because she was a different kind of woman. She’s [Zakowska] just a very fascinating, brilliant person.”

Zakowska said she leads a crew of at least 25 people on set to dress the principal players and the extras in hundreds of costume changes. She pays strict attention to detail, even for day players, who often wear 1950’s outfits found in vintage stores or on the internet. But most of the clothes worn by the principal characters are designed

by Zakowska.

Not all the clothes are fun to wear.

Zakowska said one of the most important accessories on the show is the underwear — which had to be tight and supportive, even for the extras.

“It’s like really the end of the era of

Rachel Brosnahan as Midge Maisel in Season 2 of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”

Photo: Nicole Rivelli

the corset ... that’s something you really can’t avoid. We can’t all have period bras but we worked with Playtex and they had a certain bra they created for us that we used. And so you do to a degree have to sort of pull women in, you know, bring the bust up ... there’s no way around it, otherwise we couldn’t get people into those dresses.”

The second season provides much deeper insight into the characters, like Midge’s mother, Rose, who leaves her uptight life in Manhattan and takes off to Paris, which Zakowska relays in color and style.

“In season one, I talked about the idea of her being like in a little Chanel suit or being the perfect mother on the Upper West Side. Now her power has really taken on ... these deep purple and deep red tones, sort of very intense romantic palette. And so what she’s really doing is revisiting that bohemian student life when she begins season two. And so it was really important to heighten her palette and to work with those colors and I think they’re very Parisian,” Zakowska said.

Marin Hinkle, who plays Rose, said wearing the costumes helped her get into character.

“The first season Rose had a kind of muted quality,” Hinkle said. “And then by the second season they dressed me in these more vibrant colors and more youthful styles. And that dictates a kind of way you can be as a performer where you literally are putting something on and sort of 90 percent of the work is done.”

Tony Shalhoub, who plays Rose’s husband, said of Zakowska’s designs, “It’s almost like the clothes are a character themselves and ... it’s like the clothes are speaking to us through us.

“I’m always sort of jazzed and energized by that,” he said.

U F C K U C D E W B C Z E L I

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S L D W N Y S G O K C U R V E

The puzzle contains the following words. They may be diagonal, across, or up and down in the grid in any direction.

B Q M M Q Z I N S E T D R U H

Baseboard Carpet Ceiling Circle Countertops Curve Darken Desk Dresser Finish Granite Inset Lamps Veneer Window

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G I T B N A R U S I H R C T A

C C K S R F N E H V R T B S W

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D A R K E N R V F I N I S H C

D A R K E N R V F I N I S H C

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11 Scandinavian rug 16 Veteran 19 Stork kin 20 Upset 21 Deli offerings 22 Medical remedy, in earlier days

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Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9X9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3X3 squares. To solve the puzzle each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult.

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SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan

by Myles Mellor

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CROSSWORD

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