The local paper for the Upper East Side • SPECIAL REPORT •
WEEK OF JANUARY
Healthy
MANHATTAN ◄ P.11
18-24 2018
MUSIC SCHOOL MIGRATES SOUTH EXCLUSIVE After 93 years in Turtle Bay, big change is afoot as institution hires a new executive director and prepares to sell its building, purchase a new space and launch an early-childhood school BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
A 2,400-year-old marble bull’s head and other artifacts stolen from a Lebanese archaeological site were recovered by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and repatriated to the Lebanese government in December. Photo: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office
RECOVERING STOLEN HISTORY LAW ENFORCEMENT Local prosecutors step up efforts to slow illicit antiquities trade BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
When one thinks of hotbeds of criminal activity in Manhattan, the tony stretches of the Upper East Side are not the locale that immediately comes to mind. But in recent years, the high-end storefronts, venerable museums and
multimillion-dollar homes of the city’s Silk Stocking District have become the frontlines of a law enforcement crackdown that has prompted coordination between local, federal and international agencies, and, last month, the formation of a specialized unit within the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The target of these efforts? Illegal trafficking — not of humans or drugs or stolen consumer goods, but of looted antiquities.
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The Turtle Bay Music School was founded in 1925 and has been offering high-quality music education to all ages, skill sets and incomes levels at its current home at 244 East 52nd Street off Second Avenue since 1935. Now, the community music school is finalizing plans to pull up stakes and move into another community: It will soon be making music and minting musicians 14 blocks to the south, Straus News has learned. TBMS has historically embraced what it calls the “transformative power of music” and its “integral role in daily life.” But rarely in its 93 years as a non-profit has the school itself faced such a dramatic transformation. Among the changes on tap, according to real estate sources, neighbors and a recruitment document posted online by the school’s executive search firm: • TBMS is in the process of selling its three-story, double townhouse, an 1865 building with a beige-stone base, red-brick top and Romanesque arches that originally housed the GermanAmerican School Society. • The school is also in the “final stages” of buying a new home near East 38th Street and First Avenue. It will then execute renovation plans “with a goal of occupying the new space by fall 2018 with limited downtime.” • Once the school’s relocation has taken place, it will launch a “musiccentric pre-school” for up to 64 chil-
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dren. The early-childhood initiative will provide a major new revenue stream for TBMS, which has a nineperson staff and $2 million-plus budget, and “create a feeder” for the school’s programs. • Meanwhile, British-born soprano and arts administrator Lorna Jane Norris, vice president of education at the South Shore Conservatory near Boston, was tapped as executive director of TBMS on January 12th.
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The longtime home of The Turtle Bay Music School at 244 East 52nd Street. The community music school plans to move later this year to a new space at 38th Street and First Avenue. Photo: Douglas Feiden Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, January 19 – 4:40 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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JANUARY 18-24,2018
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MR. MAYOR: THE TIME TO THIN TRAFFIC IS NOW VIEWPOINT An open letter advocating for congestion pricing BY JOHN H. STEINBERG
Dear Mayor de Blasio: A momentous vote by state legislators on whether to impose traffic congestion pricing for Manhattan below 60th Street is expected in March. The plan, developed by highly respected traffic engineers, is the sure way to prove that “greatest city in the worldâ€? stuff is more than bluster. There literally is no rational argument against it. So I was abbergasted to read that you of all people are the leading opponent. The Move NY Fair Plan stipulates no free rides where demand exceeds supply; everyone has to chip in. It is the only way to speed traffic by 20 percent (for bus riders too), cut pollution and calm an often chaotic street scene. It also solves your biggest headache by raising $15 billion for rebuilding the subway without raising taxes a penny. With respect, we need to cut the political bullshit and talk straight on
Photo: B K, via ickr how congestion actually hurts Upper East Siders on the ground. Upper East Siders (and Upper West Siders, too) suffer from congestion more than other folks in other neighborhoods because we are the (free) gateway to Midtown Manhattan. When the marine transfer station on East 91st and FDR Drive opens it will get worse. Take this example of a recent journey: We stewed on the M79 Select Service (“fastâ€?) bus through three signal changes to cross Lexington Avenue where we encountered three blockingthe-box violations, all unpunished. The bus driver scowled that he’s never
seen a cop issue a summons for similar violations. Then he volunteers he was just blocked for three more signal changes at Park Avenue too! That’s spells stress for 40 riders and the driver induced by GRIDLOCK, a term used around the world, It was conceived right here in Manhattan by the beloved “Gridlock Sam� Schwartz, the internationally renowned traffic engineer. Horrified by his bastard child, he created the Move NY Fair Plan with pioneering thinkers Charles Komanoff and Alex Matthiessen. Let’s face it, Mayor, you’ll never have enough traffic agents to enforce all these violations. There will always
be too many vehicles, not enough lanes, stretched red lights and injured pedestrians on the lawless streets of Manhattan when access is free. Like the psychologists say, you gotta pay to get better. It’s open season on Upper East Siders afoot when drivers HONK their frustrations. Then the trucks honk fortissimo three octaves lower if they’re not running red lights to game the gridlock. The city is depriving us of a New Yorker’s most precious commodity: Time. Hardly out the door, we are assaulted by fumes, of anger and combustion. Our disgust already rising and it’s only 8 a.m. Upper East Siders pay among the highest tax rates in the country. We don’t get why for all that money the traffic is so chaotic, the subway is deteriorating, commuting is eating up more of our precious time, and the quality of life is awful. Thank God the economy’s good but when it turns nasty we might just move where taxes are lower, the commute is shorter, and folks are friendly and not always honking at us. The people who suffer most from this scourge, the bus drivers in the Trans-
port Workers Union, are strong supporters. (And they support you.) The opponents? Mostly suburban Republicans (not exactly your crowd). Progress means to move forward. Gridlocked folks don’t move at all. The solution is simply to subordinate the privileges of a few for the welfare of many, a classic progressive reform strategy. Move NY charges drivers who can most afford it (a small group) for the beneďŹ t of everyone. Better than bragging about the “world’s greatest city,â€? plow $15 billion into mass transit and really make our subway among the world’s best. Mr. Mayor, of your policy accomplishments to date, is there one that would make such a revolutionary transformation ... overnight? This is a huge opportunity of national signiďŹ cance. Upper East Siders are holding a spot for you at the head of the Move NY campaign. P.S. Upper East Siders and New Yorkers with commuting stories they would like to share with the mayor can note them at www1.nyc.gov/office-ofthe-mayor/mayor-contact.page John Steinberg lives on East 79th Street.
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG TIGHT FLIGHT
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th district for
It would appear that one shoplifter won’t be lacking for tights anytime soon. At 3:30 p.m. on Monday, January 8, an unknown individual made off with no less than 38 pairs of tights from the Athleta store located at 216 Columbus Ave. The garments are valued at $3,300.
Week to Date
Year to Date
2017 2016
% Change
2017
2016
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
0
0
n/a
Rape
0
1
-100.0
0
1
-100.0
Robbery
2
0
n/a
2
0
n/a
SWEATER GETTER
Felony Assault
5
5
0.0
5
5
0.0
Another shoplifter responded to our recent cold spell as only shoplifters will do. At 5 p.m. on Monday, January 8, a man entered the Patagonia store at 426 Columbus Ave. and made off with eight sweaters priced at $1,272.
Burglary
4
3
33.3
4
3
33.3
Grand Larceny
27
24
12.5
27
24
12.5
Grand Larceny Auto
0
0
n/a
0
0
n/a
LOCKER BURGLARY Let this story be a reminder never to bring items of value to the gym. At 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, January 7, a 27-yearold man locked up his belongings in a locker inside the New York Sports Club at 23 West 73rd St. When he returned to his locker an hour and twenty-five minutes later, he saw that his jacket, along with a wallet containing cash, had been taken from the locker. In all he was out $1,600. Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr
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CATALYTIC CONVERTED
SHOPPER’S PURSE STOLEN
An area motorist made an “exhausting” discovery. At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 2, a 32-year-old man parked his black 2004 Honda CRV on the corner of West 83rd Street and Riverside Drive. When he returned four days later he found that somebody had removed the catalytic converter, valued at $2,000, from his vehicle.
A shopper learned the hard way that a shopping cart is not always a secure place to stow your purse. At 1 p.m. on Tuesday, January 2, a 63-year-old woman put her purse on a cart inside the Fairway store at 2131 Broadway while she did her shopping. When she next looked for her purse she discovered it was missing, along with credit cards and $80 in cash.
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Scene in New York
Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct
JANUARY 18-24,2018
PHOTO BY HOWARD CHUA-EOAN 153 E. 67th St.
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CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Daniel Garodnick
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
1365 First Ave.
212-288-4607
COMMUNITY BOARD 8
505 Park Ave. #620
212-758-4340
LIBRARIES Yorkville
222 E. 79th St.
212-744-5824
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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
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E. 99th St. & Madison Ave.
212-241-6500
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550 First Ave.
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In Central Park, reflection in a puddle on a path between Sheep Meadow and the skating rink, just south of the 65th Street transverse.
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▲ THE LIBRARY AFTER HOURS: COUNTERCULTURE NYPL, Fifth Ave. at 42nd St. 7 p.m. Free, advance registration suggested nypl.org. 917-275-6975 See what happens between the shelves at the NYPL’s last After Hours event, presented in connection with the exhibition “You Say You Want a Revolution.” Come out for an evening of food, drink and art where guests can meet the curator, watch avant-garde and experimental films, make their own album-cover art and dance the night away.
Thu 18 Fri 19 10 YEARS OF A RESTORED BOHEMIAN NATIONAL HALL
Czech Center, 321 East 73rd St. 7 p.m. Free This fully renovated architectural jewel and New York landmark, originally built in 1896, celebrates the 10 years of its renovation and re-opening with photographs by Marian Benes and a guided tour. Come and appreciate both traditional and contemporary design. Through Feb. 8. 646-422-3399. bohemiannationalhall.com
ARTISTS ON ARTWORKS: MICKALENE THOMAS ON DAVID HOCKNEY The Met, 1000 Fifth Ave. 6:30 p.m. Free with museum admission Join acclaimed artist Mickalene Thomas as she shares her reflections on the work of David Hockney, and insights into her own artistic practice, with Ian Alteveer, Met curator. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition on David Hockney and part of #MetFridays: New York's Night Out series. 800-662-3397. metmuseum.
org
Sat 20 THE WOMEN’S MARCH 72nd St. & Central Park West 11 a.m. Free The 2018 Women’s March echoes last year’s message: equality for all humans. The main entrance will be at 72nd Street and Central Park West; the rally will be held at Central Park West and 61st/62nd Streets. March as an individual or come with a group. Voiceraising encouraged. womensmarchalliance.org
JANUARY 18-24,2018
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Come meet me and my friends ! MUDDY PAWS RESCUE, K9 KASTLE & NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA
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▲ NEW YORK FLUTE CLUB PRESENTS MINDY KAUFMAN
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Photo by Andre Hengst
Mon 22 Tue 23 Wed24 THE TROJAN WOMEN: A NEW CHAMBER MUSICAL New York Society Library, 53 East 79th St. 6 p.m. $15 per person; advance registration required From Euripides' classic Greek tragedy comes playwright Ellen McLaughlin's lyrical adaptation, originally written in response to the Bosnian war of the early 1990s; today it speaks to the struggle of refugees worldwide. With music by composer Sarah Taylor Ellis, this new chamber musical is moving and highly relevant. 212-288-6900. nysoclib.org
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Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Ave. 5:30 p.m. $25 Small but mighty, the piccolo is the center of this performance by Mindy Kaufman. A soughtafter performer, pedagogue and commercial musician, Kaufman has performed with the New York Philharmonic since 1979, where she has appeared as a soloist under the direction of former music directors Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel. nyfluteclub.org
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THE BOLSHOI BALLET: ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’
The Beekman Theatre, 1271 Second Ave. 7 p.m. $20 Revisit Shakespeare’s starcrossed lovers in this screening of the Bolshoi’s classic production. Alexei Ratmansky, former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, stages the company's premiere of with dramatic urgency and a fresh re-telling, set to Prokofiev's romantic and cinematic score. 212-249-0807. citycinemas. com/beekman
▲ DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA
Asia Society, 725 Park Ave. 6:30 p.m. $20-$40 2018 marks the 150th anniversary of Japan's Meiji Restoration, an important period in Japanese that ushered in an era of major political and social change. This program will discuss political transitions in Indonesia, Myanmar and East Timor, each of which face crucial challenges in shaping the future of their democratic practices. 212-288-6900. asiasociety. org
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Voices
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AT LAST, A COMMUNITY’S SUCCESS STORY BY BETTE DEWING
Community service is one way to honor Martin Luther King Jr. But we believe Dr. King would now say “Now it’s the communities that must be saved — save and restore the small businesses which meet everyday needs — the neighborhood places so crucial to mental and physical health, those that bring people together and enable community!” And while King would rejoice that Coogan’s, the popular Washington Heights bar and restaurant, has been saved, he’d also be rueful how only its unique history and the outpouring of support kept it from closing.
But this longtime “Save Small Biz” crusader only wishes Coogan’s had been saved a week later, so this, what was a “Coogan’s Closing” column, didn’t have to be rewritten. Still, heaven and others know, this paper and this columnist have tried since the mid 1970’s to get a real “Save Small Biz Movement” going, but with little success. Zoning laws still don’t protect avenue low-rises that house small business. Long overdue is a commercial rent-control law. Coogan’s was saved because an incredible rent hike demand was modified, after, we suspect, the restaurant’s landlord, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospi-
tal, was a little embarrassed by the explosion of protest, including by some local politicians — something, by the way, too often lacking when small businesses in their own backyards are threatened. Of course, Coogan’s history also drew outrage over its announced closure because it was one of the few businesses to open in the neighborhood during a period, the mid 1980s, when Washington Heights had a high-crime rate. The owners knew they somehow had to make their restaurant at 169th and Broadway a hub, where residents, as well as politicos and civic leaders of all backgrounds including law enforcement,
could gather to then work to make the area livable — safe and just. “Where others saw a broken neighborhood and city,” wrote Jim Dwyer in his New York Times column lamenting the restaurant’s then-imminent closure, “they built a sprawling homey space that erased ethnic, class, racial and religious boundaries, fully embracing and embodying the promise of New York.” And while, now, of course, it’s a warm friendly place to break bread, often for those alone, it also hosts a weekly comedy club and so importantly, a monthly Memory Cafe for those with memory loss. Imagine. Ah, respite is so provided by these homey restaurants in general, and we cant afford to lose anymore — not one! Not only did Coogan’s announced
closure spark a media coverage explosion and petitions, but also a protest march headed by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Congressman Adriano Espaillat. Of course, it appropriately coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And as King was a preacher, I dare to say, “here’s praying” as well as marching, that not only Coogan’s will remain saved, but that an allout movement to save and restore all community-serving small business lifelines gets under way. Ah, and I know you will help, like contacting the pols — often! And shop local, shop brick and mortar to also counteract “the cardboard box tsunami.” Etcetera! Etcetera! Infinitely, much is at stake. dewingbetter@aol.com
MICHAEL WOLFF IS SMIRKING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK BY JON FRIEDMAN
Since the incendiary book “Fire and Fury” came out early this year, its author Michael Wolff became the world’s newest “It” journalist, celebrated for his uncanny ability to lift the veil on President Donald Trump’s often chaotic White House. As a fellow longtime media-industry journalist who has known Wolff for more than a decade, I have a theory about why he was able to capture Trump in such a revealing way — and how Wolff topped the vaunted hardworking White House press corps. Wolff understands Trump so well because he is so much like him. They are both creatures of Manhattan, not the Beltway. Making money is a prime motivation, if not the end-all and beall, for both of them. They want desperately to make it in New York, to confirm their self-worth. But despite the litany of their considerable successes, neither one has ever been fully embraced in this town. Many of Trump’s fellow billionaires here regard him as being boorish, to put it mildly — remember how former New York Mayor and business leader Michael Bloomberg excoriated Trump at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Likewise, the Manhattan
Photo: Shakespeare and Co. journalism intellegentsia has always distanced itself from Wolff. They see Wolff as an entertaining fellow, an opportunist who will say just about anything to attract attention to himself. Trump and Wolff act like people who believe there is no such thing as bad publicity, as long as people will remember to spell their names right. Regardless of your political beliefs, you may shake your head in grudging admiration for Trump’s improbable
2016 presidential victory. You may smile in wonderment that Michael Wolff, a diehard Manhattanite, wrote the most successful book about White House intrigue since “All the President’s Men,” which was published more than 40 years ago. And Wolff didn’t have to change cabs three times or hang out in a garage to get his information. In a #MeToo world, Trump’s personal hashtag might as well say #MeFirst.
During the presidential campaign, he appealed to a base that cheered on his rhetoric. What does Trump’s success suggest? And what does Wolff’s success suggest? I suspect that my journalism students will quiz me about whether Wolff is a great journalist. (He isn’t, but he sure is a terrific stylist and packager of information,) Trump has been accused of playing with facts on so many occasions. Wolff has also had to withstand numerous brushfires of criticism over his book’s veracity. Did the scenes that Wolff depicted actually happen — and did they happen as he wrote them? Did Wolff exploit the confidences of the president and Trump’s exiled chief advisor Steve Bannon? Bannon has since been dumped by Breitbart, the right-wing news organization that he headed and made famous. Now Bannon, instead of blowing up establishment politics, will go down in history as the first casualty of “Fire and Fury.” If you’ve watched Wolff alternately defend his reputation and hurl bombs back at the president, you’ve no doubt observed his most expressive and endearing quality: his world-class smirk. If I know Wolff — and I think I do — he is absolutely, positively loving every second of the media circus and
all-round foofaraw. He loves being the center of attention. He loves his new status as the breathless media’s Trump Whisperer. I met Wolff over a decade ago when he was The Big Kahuna on the media industry beat, from high above the fray at his perch at New York magazine. If memory serves, Wolff and I had lunch at his once-familiar hangout, Michael’s, the journalist’s paradise on West 55th Street. Wolff was such a regular, you’d have thought that the joint was named for him, not the founder. Since Michael has become a sensation, I’ve watched in wonder. There is so much I’d want to ask him. Is he amazed and amused, too, at this success? Will we see a “Son of Fire and Fury”? What’s he going to do with all of that money? Is he having as much fun as I expect that he is? On the evening of Jan. 10, I sent Michael a message on Facebook — we are friends — and stressed I was on deadline, in case he wanted to say anything for this piece. But he didn’t get back to me. Jon Friedman, who teaches journalism at universities in the New York area, wrote Jon Friedman’s Media Web column for MarketWatch.com from 1999 to 2013.
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THE PERFECT TURKEY SANDWICH Hundreds of protesters, many of them Haitian-Americans, gathered in Times Square on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for an anti-racism rally following reports of President Donald Trump’s disparaging comments about Haiti and other countries. Photo: Michael Garofalo
‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO LET HIM HURT US’ IMMIGRATION Trump’s insults loom large over MLK Day ‘Rally Against Racism’ BY MICHAEL GAROFALO AND DOUGLAS FEIDEN
When President Donald Trump uttered the vulgarity heard ‘round the world, he enraged the 55-nation African Union and outraged scores of other states from the Caribbean and Latin America to Europe and Asia. But his reference to Haiti, El Salvador and unspecified African nations as “shithole countries” had a painful resonance closer to home: roughly 7.5 percent of the city’s 3.32 million foreignborn residents hail from those lands. Hundreds of New Yorkers, natives and immigrants alike, took to the streets of Times Square on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to protest the president’s disparaging comments. A crowd filled two blocks along Broadway south of 42nd Street for the Jan. 15 “Rally Against Racism” organized in the aftermath of the president’s remarks, which he uttered during a Jan. 11 meeting on immigration policy with lawmakers and were widely reported the following day. Despite the anger and sadness felt by many in attendance, the demonstration took on an almost festive atmosphere at times. A band played from the stage between speeches from
politicians and activists, as protesters clad in the blue and red of the Haitian flag danced and sang along, as though to defy the spirit of Trump’s words. “We’re here to bring awareness to all the Haitians that have fought to be here to get a better opportunity for all of us,” said Haitian-American demonstrator Sarah Rene. “Trump is trying to bring us down, but we’re here. We’re here to be about something better.” The crowd’s size and diversity conveyed the broad swaths of New York’s immigrant population born in the nations Trump referenced as he questioned why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from “shithole countries.” The city’s Haitian-born population of 91,595 makes up 2.8 percent of its foreign-born tally, for instance, while the 31,624 Salvadoran-born immigrants living here comprise about 1 percent, a January 2017 report by city Comptroller Scott Stringer found. Meanwhile, around 4.6 percent of New Yorkers born abroad — some 145,000 people — come from at least 15 countries in Africa, according to the survey. “We’re not going to let him hurt us,” said demonstrator Nicole Vanible, who came from Harlem to attend to protest with her Haitian-born husband. “I cried for two days after I heard. I was so happy to come out here today.” Mayor Bill de Blasio implored
the crowd to consider their forebears experiences in coming to the United States. “Some came willingly, some did not. But we all came from a different place,” de Blasio said, adding, “Let’s live with the dignity of treating the new generation of immigrants just as we wish our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers were treated.” Newly elected City Council Speaker Corey Johnson had a simple reaction to Trump’s words. “He’s a racist,” Johnson said. “That’s it.” “The silver lining is that he has awoken a sleeping giant, and that is the people,” Johnson added. “That is immigrants and women and the undocumented and LGBT people and people of color and poor people and union members. We are in this struggle together.” During the rally, Trump took to Twitter to claim that Sen. Dick Durbin, who attended the meeting and subsequently criticized the president’s remarks as “vile and racist,” had “totally misrepresented what was said” at the meeting. The words and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. were invoked often by speakers at the Times Square protest, who included Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Nydia Velazquez, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, among others. “There comes a time when silence is betrayal,” read one King quote on a sign waved by a protester.
Keith Cohen, the culinary mastermind behind Orwashers, is bringing his personal touch back to the Art of Food again this year, where he and 30 other top chefs will each be serving up a unique dish based on a piece of artwork. His pairing last year was incredible-both in terms of taste and relation to the artwork. He was assigned Karen Kilimnik’s oil painting “Rich and Poor, Skid Row, the Messenger Boy by Childe Hassam.” As Art of Food ticketholders examined the artwork, they also got to taste Cohen’s unique rendering of the piece: a sourdough bagel (representing the poor) with cream cheese (rich in flavor) and lox (rich in price). He then added additional garnishes to the dish to pull more color from the painting. We still have a few weeks until this year’s Art of Food on February 10. To see and taste the masterpieces, visit www.artoffoodny. com to purchase tickets.
Our Town’s
ART OF FOOD at
Presented by
To hold us over until then, Keith is sharing the recipe for one of Orwashers most popular sandwiches.
ORWASHERS TURKEY SANDWICH: 1. Start with an Orwashers Baguette 2. Cut the baguette open and schmear the inside with dill mayo 3. Add 6 slices of freshly cut organic turkey breast 4. Top with 3 slices of white cheddar cheese, 4 slices of cucumber, one quarter of an avocado and a small handful of alfalfa sprouts
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
JANUARY 18-24,2018
A CURATOR’S DECADE OF PASSION How Carmen Bambach brought the Michelangelo exhibit to the Met BY MICHELE WILLENS
We often hear of artistic projects that take years to create: a Robert Caro biography, for example. A Broadway musical such as “Dear Evan Hansen.” But a museum exhibit taking almost a decade from conception to presentation? Nevertheless, Carmen C. Bambach has achieved what The New York Times called a “curatorial coup” with “Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer” at The Met Fifth Avenue. “It was a dream come true for me,” Bambach says. And it took eight years to come to fruition. The array of 200 works has attracted more than 450,000 visitors since it opened in mid-November. It is on view until Feb. 12. If it were not for the three-month maximum length the drawings can sustain light exposure, it could have been extended forever. The exhibit has drawn raves from experts, and awed responses from regular folks: Could that really have been done when he was 13? Why did he leave so much unfinished? Is that re-
ally a doodle? But also of interest is one woman’s ardent desire to amass the pieces from some 50 collections and institutions: a laborious scheduling and logistical process — a “mountain of practicalities” she says. Most Michelangelo works have “resting periods” after which they can’t be moved for several years. So you do the math. But Bambach was determined to give the full story of the Renaissance man who many of us know primarily from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the iconic David in Florence. Although her field is Italian art, Bambach was born and lived in Chile until she was 14, when the 1973 coup d’etat that deposed President Salvador Allende drove her family to America. It was her mother who first exposed her to the world of art, and from her first exposure to Michelangelo, young Carmen was hooked. She spent 10 years at Yale collecting degrees and it was there, working on a senior thesis, that she made a discovery about one of Michelangelo’s drawings. She was convinced it had been published upside down. Some were skeptical, but two professors supported her idea, as did the director of the 10-year cleaning project of the Sistine ceiling. “We
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, Caprese 1475–1564 Rome). “Archers Shooting at a Herm.” 1530–33. Drawing, red chalk; 8 5/8 x 12 11/16 in. ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST/© HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 2017. www.royalcollection.org. uk”www.royalcollection.org.uk
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, Caprese 1475–1564 Rome). “Three Labours of Hercules.” 1530–33. Drawing, red chalk; 10 11/16 x 16 5/8 in. ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST/© HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 2017. www.royalcollection.org.uk”www. royalcollection.org.uk climbed those stairs together and he granted me a lot of access,” she recalls. The goal of this exhibit — the most extensive on the artist ever — was to take us on a journey of the man’s process, through the designs, the drawings, the letters, the poems. “I want them to feel they’ve walked in Michelangelo’s shoes,” she says, “to feel his connection of the hand, the eye and the mind. Michelangelo himself felt the actual way he drew would never be possible to reproduce.” Here she is subtly referencing artists, from Raphael to contemporary ones, who employ others to multiply the original works. “The beauty is in the artist’s hand, not the concept,” she notes. After eight years of planning, her passion paid off. Having her parents, now in their 80s, come to the opening, was immensely gratifying. What does she do for an encore? She points to an enormous stack of papers, research for the Leonardo da Vinci book she is writing for Yale University Press. Meanwhile, as she strolls the galleries, often alone, she says it feels more a religious experience than professional feat. “I am walking on sacred ground,” she says. “I only hope I have humanized a genius, a man who did not want to be misunderstood.” Michelangelo can rest in peace: at least one woman, many centuries later, totally got him.
Carmen Bambach, curator of “Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer.” Photo: Michele Willens
• SPECIAL REPORT •
Healthy
MANHATTAN OURTOWNNY.COM
What’s Inside • 2018 Health Calendar • Keeping City Kids Healthy • Teens and Smoking • A Picture of Health • 9 Tweaks to Improve Nutrition • City Calorie Counts • Downward Dog for Expecting Moms • Chair Yoga for Seniors • Where to Get Your Zen On
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JANUARY 18-24,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
The best way to guarantee a long and healthy life is to choose your parents carefully. Second best?
A HEALTH CALENDAR
12 SENSIBLE SUGGESTIONS to keep you humming month after month, right through 2018.
BY CAROL ANN RINZLER
JANUARY PICK A PERFECT DOCTOR. Okay, nobody’s perfect, but the New York State Department of Health thinks the person who oversees your health should come pretty close. To that end, DOH maintains a Physician Profile site listing the educational history, board certification, teaching responsibilities, publications, professional and community service activities, and any disciplinary actions for every doctor licensed to practice in New York. It’s at www.nydoctorprofile.com.
MARCH OPEN THE WINDOW. A Dutch study in which some volunteers went to bed with a window open and others didn’t concludes that open-window sleepers get a better night’s rest. It may be in our genes. Steven Feinsilver M.D., who runs the Center for Sleep Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, explains that “humans are designed to sleep in caves, so, cool, dark and quiet are all good for sleep.” Extra blankets optional.
JUNE EVALUATE BREAKFAST. Want to lose a few pounds before swimsuit season? How you start the day matters. For some, eating breakfast holds hunger at bay and can prevent random snacking later on. For others, a Cornell University study shows that passing on breakfast didn’t mean overeating later. In fact, a careful calorie count showed that the non-breakfast-ers consumed about 400 fewer a day than did the breakfast crowd. Conclusion? Every single body is different. Solution? Try it both ways and see what works for you.
APRIL CLEAN THE HOUSE. When Michael LaMonte, a research associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health at the University at Buffalo, surveyed more than 6,000 American women, ages 63 to 99, he found that “doing something is better than doing nothing.” In short, women doing 30 minutes of light physical activity a day, including such mundane tasks as folding clothes, sweeping or washing windows, had a 12 percent lower risk of death than inactive women. Feel free to assume the benefits apply to younger women and men, too.
FEBRUARY APPRECIATE AN ANIMAL. It’s Valentine’s Day and, alas! you’re alone this year: No cards, no candy, no romantic tryst. What to do? Consider adopting a dog. Scientists at Uppsala University (Sweden) report that singles who own a pup are 33 percent less likely than dog-less ones to die from cardiovascular complications. No surprise, says Yaron Schmid DVM, Director of Shelter Medicine at the Humane Society of New York. “Petting an animal lowers blood pressure and reduces production of stress related hormones while raising the level of relaxing ones.” (Yes, listening to a cat purr is also restorative and sitting in front of a fish tank can be conducive to pure bliss.)
MAY ENJOY YOUR JAVA. Coffee can make your heart beat faster; it may also help it beat longer. A 2017 British review of more than 200 previous studies confirms that moderate coffee consumption reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, gallstones, gout, cirrhosis of the liver, some forms of cancer and premature death from all causes. Robin Poole, Southhampton University (England) Specialty Registrar in Public Health, says the most protective “dose” appears to be three to four cups a day, adding that’s an observation, not a prescription, More does not increase the benefits. Caution: If even a half cup of coffee makes you jumpy, this study is not your cup of tea.
JULY BRUSH AND FLOSS. Never mind that piece of spinach stuck in your front teeth. Worry instead about resident oral bacteria. Tracking 122,000 Americans for 10 years, researchers at NYU Langone and Northwell Health identified some bugs whose presence may be linked to a more than 20 percent increases in your risk of an esophageal tumor. Cause and effect remains to be proven, but brushing and flossing to reduce the bacterial build-up in plaque may be beneficial — as long as you don’t go at it so enthusiastically that you make your gums bleed. Which is another story.
JANUARY 18-24,2018
AUGUST FOCUS ON FACTS.
NOVEMBER MODERATE YOUR
Enjoy light summer reading at the beach, perhaps a novel in which a super hero scientist saves all mankind from an horrific new disease snaking across the planet. But remember: Not even Wonder Woman M.D. can save you from a website offering magic medical advice. For reliable info, stick with the online experts at Medscape, Science Daily, The U.S. National Library of Medicine and WebMD.
WINE GLASS.
SEPTEMBER EXERCISE YOUR BRAIN. A University of Geneva analysis of the impact of action video games on your human brain says that players stay smarter longer. Leigh Charvet, Ph.D., director of MS research at the NYU Langone Multiple Sclerosis Comprehensive Care Center, agrees: “Games that adjust in real time to engage the user with increasingly challenging tasks build and expand basic skills like attention and information processing that then generalize to improved ability in other areas like memory.” While we need more research to show exactly what games should be played and for how long, she says, as with any learning process, consistent playing over time is more effective than binging.
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Photo: Steven Strasser
OCTOBER TAKE A HIKE. Thanks to the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, Manhattan is a walker’s paradise. Their 200-year old grid — 20 North/ South blocks or five East/West to a mile — makes it a cinch to count off steps as you go briskly by for the two hours twice a week reputed to lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes, keep you slim and trim, and even lift your spirits. “There are few exercises that offer so many benefits with only minimal stress to the ligaments and weight bearing joints,” says Metro Sports Physical Therapy’s Paul Kelly MSPT. “Add in some post-walk stretching and you have a good, well rounded workout.”
Surprised by the intoxicating effect of a single cabernet or chardonnay? Check the glass. Comparing 411 old and new wine glasses, English scientists saw a seven-fold increase in capacity from 66 ml (2.3 ounces) in 1700 to 449 ml (15 ounces) today. On this side of the Atlantic, the glasses may be even bigger. The National Institutes of Health says a “standard” wine serving is five ounces, but at your local Bed Bath & Beyond you can skip right past Riedel’s sensible eightounce stems to the Wine Enthusiast’s ginormous 22ounce goblet. Or not.
DECEMBER GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE. As the year ends, celebrate your own good health by helping others. Donate blood at the New York Blood Center (310 East 67th Street) or your local hospital. Then register as an organ donor so that once you pass into The Great Beyond the body parts you no longer need may give as many as eight others a second chance at life. The online form at https://donatelife.ny.gov/register/ lets you choose which organs you wish to donate and how your wish them to be used: Transplants and research, transplants only, research only. Happy Holidays. Carol Ann Rinzler is the author of more than 20 books on health, including “Nutrition for Dummies.”
Do you or someone you love have diabetes? Join us for a FREE seminar next month
Mini-Med School for Women
The Link Between Diabetes & Your Heart
Learn how to lower your risk for heart disease and live a healthy life.
Register at crf.org/whhi or call 646-434-4608.
February 7, 2018 5:30 PM-7:00 PM Pryor Cashman 7 Times Square • New York, NY 10036
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JANUARY 18-24,2018
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KEEPING CITY KIDS HEALTHY AND HAPPY A pediatrician on what Manhattan parents need to know about childhood asthma, cyberbullying and the “Three B’s”
What are a few things parents can do to promote good health in their children?
BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Dr. Alok Patel, a pediatrician with NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, spoke with Straus News about what Manhattan parents can do to foster healthy habits in their kids. The conversation that follows has been edited and condensed.
What is a health topic that is particularly important to keep in mind for Manhattan parents? Asthma has been on my mind lately. Thousands of New York children with asthma will have asthma attacks, visit ERs or get hospitalized, and this is all preventable. Asthmatic children are at risk here because it’s a crowded city and there are a lot of triggers. Parents need to be on top of their children’s medications, doctor visits, and have emergency plans ready. Also, it’s especially important to take note of your child’s triggers and to keep living areas clean. Cleaning up dust, pet dander, carpets and avoiding smoke — these small steps can all prevent an asthma attack.
Dr. Alok Patel, pediatrician, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Photo courtesy of Dr. Patel
How do you address parents who are concerned about vaccinating their children? I get a lot of vaccine questions from parents in New York City from all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. I generally avoid the term “anti-vaccine” and instead use “vaccine-hesitant.” While we do have a small portion of people who are truly anti-vaccine, because they come to us and say “absolutely not,” many are simply vaccine-hesitant, meaning they want to do what’s best for the child but they really want to have a dialogue. They’ve heard rumors on the internet and
they come in questioning vaccines. They raise questions about vaccines’ ingredients, safety and efficacy. Pediatricians know that vaccines save lives but we can’t fault a parent that’s been scared by an article and has a question or two. One of the most important things to get out is that it’s OK to have an open conversation with parents that are vaccine-hesitant. It’s not OK to label them or avoid the conversation. The minute we break down that providerpatient communication, we’re leaving people to their own information source. With vaccinations, we want to be that source. We want to be the ones that are getting the vaccine-hesitant parents, sitting them down, and saying, “What is your concern? Let me tell you what I know. Let’s do this together.” Because at the end of the day we’re all in it for the same reason, and that’s the child’s health.
We are still seeing an increase in overweight teens and adolescents and childhood obesity, and we don’t seem to be doing the best that we can to get on top of this issue. Right now, about one in three American kids or teens are overweight or obese. Eating healthy and getting kids more active is key. Doctors recommend that all kids get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a day. When I say that to an adult it sounds like a tough workout plan, but if you think about being a child it could be playing in a park, playing a sport or riding a bike with parents. Parents have to set a good example and create an environment in which your kid is excited to go out and play with you. Another topic that we have to bring up is sleep. Over the last decade, more and more scientific studies are proving the importance of sleep. Not getting enough sleep is more detrimental to childhood development than previously thought, and an alarming number of American teens — studies state as much as 90 percent — don’t get the recommended nine hours per night. There are a lot of culprits for this. An important thing to do would be to first, look at how much sleep your own children get. If they’re not getting enough sleep, take a step back and ask what the reason is. Are we keeping them up too late with schoolwork? Are they overloaded on activities? Are they using their smartphone in bed? Knowing your teen’s bedtime patterns, or “sleep hygiene,” is crucial when it comes to helping them get quality sleep. For young kids, keep it simple: brush, book, bed. The three B’s. Brush your teeth, read a book and then get to bed. Make sleep time a little more systematic, at the same time every day. Remember to be a positive role model for young ones — good habits start early!
Do you have any recommendations for helping kids deal with bullying? One large issue that we have is cyberbullying, which we see on such a large basis that it’s almost unavoidable, especially with some of our teenagers. The thing that’s tough about this is that, as far as I know, there’s not a great way to prevent it. So what I do is try to reiterate that cyberbullying is not a personal reflection and that these bullies
are insecure. It may be hard for a teenager to accept that, but listening to their concerns and giving them a safe place to speak can make feel empowered. It helps to remind patients to focus on their strengths and to avoid acknowledging cyberbullying — to just ignore it, it’s noise on the internet! If they feel unsafe from the bullying — meaning they’re being assaulted at school — that’s a completely separate issue that needs to be raised immediately with administrators to protect our children. Also, if a child is getting psychologically affected, we want to make sure we get them the right support.
JANUARY 18-24,2018
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TEENS AND SMOKING: LOOKING BEYOND THE CIGARETTE A Columbia University mental health researcher offers a new perspective for parents of adolescents
Phobia Relief Expert
BY ARDESHEER TALATI, PH.D.
If you are a parent who’s recently discovered that your adolescent has been smoking cigarettes, chances are you’re not thrilled. Will he get lung cancer? Has she been mixing with the wrong crowd? Will smoking be a gateway to something worse? But one thing you may not have thought about amid this mind-swirl is your teen’s mental health. That may be something to not overlook, and here’s why: we and others have shown that young smokers today are more likely to also have other mental health and substance use problems than smokers from their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. In fact, about 40 percent of all cigarettes consumed today are done so by individuals with an identifiable mental disorder. Some key points:
While the dropping numbers of American smokers is something to be celebrated, the percentage of smokers who have a mental health issue is on the rise. Why might this be? To understand the increasing mental health problems in today’s young smokers, one needs to look back at the history of smoking itself, which has changed strikingly over the last several decades. In the first half of the 20th century, before risks of the cigarette were widely recognized, smoking was socially acceptable — even glamorized. Things began to change in the mid-1960s, once reports began to firmly link smoking to lung cancer and a host of other diseases. Since then, not only did the number of smokers decrease, but the very reputation of smoking also shifted to that of being an undesirable and risky behavior. Where social cachet had once wooed new smokers, more negative forces such as vulnerability to risky behaviors or adverse peer pressure took over as the drivers of new smokers. If you need a visual illustration of this shift, just look at Hollywood: once a musthave accessory of starlets in every black-andwhite film, cigarettes are now largely relegated to a character in distress or one whose life needs turning around.
If you have an adolescent who has been smoking, what might this mean for you? First, try and look beyond the smoking itself to consider what else might be going on in their lives. Ask about problems or stresses they may be undergoing in school or with friends that might be contributing to their smoking. Ask how they picked up the habit, and what their first experiences were like. As a society, we’ve become increasingly punitive about smoking, and the knee-jerk response may be to clamp down. But sitting down and ingesting their view of their experience could be a first step to helping them. If your teen is open to the idea, suggest keeping a daily online mood chart or journal. Or keep one as an observer on their behalf. And remember, teenagers spend a large chunk of their day in school. Teacher reports can be extremely illuminating about behavior, because adolescents frequently behave differently at school than they do at home, and some problems
Do you have fears that hold you back? Greetings! In your wildest dreams you could not imagine the freedom that awaits you from just one session. By appointment only. www.Kalliope.NYC/Contact Ask@Kalliope.NYC (718) 751-5105
Photo: Amanjeev, via flickr that are related to their smoking (learning problems or disruptive behaviors, for example) show up more prominently in classroom settings. If you think that your child might be having emotional or behavioral problems, ask for a fuller evaluation by a mental health specialist.
Proudly featured in the 2018 Everybody Wins Oscars Bag.
Anti-smoking treatments may not work as well if there’s a mental disorder along for the ride. But never hesitate to be proactive. The advantage of identifying problems early is that any subsequent treatment plan can be tailored in a way that recognizes and addresses both the smoking and any associated mental health problems. For those with mental health issues, solutions that focus only on the smoking-cessation component (nicotine patches, Nicorette or Chantix) are likely to be less effective. Parents may also face a potential conundrum when the smoking appears to be serving a beneficial purpose. For teenagers with chronic anxiety or stress, for instance, the nicotine in cigarettes can actually help calm and reduce symptoms. Similarly, for those with attentional problems, smoking can aid focus. If smoking seems to help my child, one could ask, should I really be encouraging them to quit? But the answer is still a yes. And that’s because there are other treatments available (medications, evidence-based psychotherapies) that can help with related symptoms of anxiety, depression, and inattention that don’t have the addictive or carcinogenic properties of a cigarette.
The bottom line: If you have a teenager who is smoking, look beyond the smoke. Adolescent mental health problems aren’t always visible on the surface, and can be easily missed by a parent or by a clinician if not actively probed for. Smoking, on the other hand, is an external behavior, one that is easier to see (and smell too). If teenage smoking can serve as a flag that helps bring attention to other behavioral and mental health problems lying under the surface, the cigarette may be serving a useful purpose after all. Talati is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology and Sackler Investigator at Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and New York State Psychiatric Institute. For more information, contact Talati at adi.talati@nyspi. columbia.edu
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JANUARY 18-24,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
A PICTURE OF HEALTH
MONTHLY
Compiled statistics from NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene
ADULTS WITH HEALTH INSURANCE
BICYCLE USE
89.6% Manhattan
(AT LEAST ONCE PER MONTH IN THE LAST YEAR)
of adult residents have health insurance
87.3%
of adult Citywide residents have health insurance
SUGARY DRINKS CONSUMED 17.3% 23.7% of Manhattan residents consume 1 or more sugary drinks per day
of Citywide residents consume 1 or more sugary drinks per day
LIFE EXPECTANCY years
Downtown (CD1)
85.8 years
Upper West Side (CD7)
ADULTS REPORTING
Manhattan
Citywide
Downtown
22.7%
16.3%
16.3%
Chelsea/ Hell’s Kitchen
23.1%
25.5%
EXERCISE Manhattan
Citywide
22.7%
22.7%
New York City
81.2
UNINTENTIONAL DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS There were 1,374 unintentional drug overdose deaths in New York City in 2016, an average of nearly 4 per day. Of those overdose deaths, 82% involved an opioid. From 2010 to 2016, the overdose death rate increased by 143%.
Chelsea/ Hell’s Kitchen
22.7%
Upper West Side: Upper East Side/Gramercy: Chelsea/Hell’s Kitchen: Downtown:
Upper West Side
22.7%
years
23%
78.6
Upper East Side/Gramercy
22.7%
Citywide:
2.3 %
2.9 %
4.2 %
6.9 %
years
OVERDOSE DEATHS IN MANHATTAN 2013: 2014: 2015: 2016:
EXPERIENCED DEPRESSION IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS 22.7%
83.1
years
United States
(IN THE PAST 30 DAYS)
Downtown
84.7
years
Chelsea/Hell’s Kitchen (CD4)
Upper East Side/Gramercy
Upper West Side
85.9
Upper East Side (CD8)
191 184 187 332
ADULTS WITH ASTHMA
3.7% of adult Citywide residents have asthma (in the past twelve months)
4.2% of adult Manhattan residents have asthma (in the past twelve months)
8.9 % Graphics: Heather Roland-Blanco and Christina Scotti
JANUARY 18-24,2018
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CIGARETTE SMOKING AMONG ADULTS Downtown: 17.7 %
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Citywide: 14.4 % CChelsea/Hellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s helse Kitchen: 13.6 % Manhattan: 12.9 % Upper West Side: 12.3 %
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Uppper East Eas Side/Gramercy: 9.4 % Upper
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CIGARETTE SMOKING AMONG HIGH SCHOOLERS Citywide: 5.8 %
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Manhattan: 5.3 % Man
MENTAL HEALTH
8% of adult New Yorkers experience depression symptoms each year. 20% of adult New Yorkers are likely to experience a mental health disorder in a given year. 41 % of adult New Yorkers with a serious mental illness said they needed treatment at some point in the last year but did not receive or
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OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE ADULTS
Compassionate Senior Move Manager & Expert Real Estate Broker Marilyn Karpoff 33.8% 39.4% 43.8% Lower Manhattan
Chelsea/ Hellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kitchen
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44.5%
47.3%
57.3%
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XXX ,BSQPGG"Gm MJBUFT DPN ] NLBSQPGG!LBSQPGGBGm MJBUFT DPN ] 5IJSE "WFOVF 4UF $ /:$
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JANUARY 18-24,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
9 EASY TWEAKS TO IMPROVE YOUR NUTRITION A Manhattan nutritionist offers her top healthy food and drink tips for the city’s busy residents
4. FIND HEALTHY TAKEOUT OPTIONS FOR DINNER. NER. Most New Yorkers don’t spend pend a lot of time in the kitchen. So instead nstead of dialing for pizza, find a few ew healthy options in your neighborhood. Good choices include: Japanese (edemame, sushi, sashimi), Turkish (kabobs, chopped salads, grilled vegetables, and moderate portion of rice, brown if possible), Chinesee (steamed protein plus vegetables with brown rice, e, sauce on the side ... boring but healthy!), and rotisserie chicken with vegetables and baked potato.
BY MARTHA MCKITTRICK
The hustle and bustle of living in NYC can take a toll on your health. We work long hours, eat on the run, are stressed to the max and live in the city that never sleeps. This can lead to poor energy levels in the short term and increased risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer in the long term. But with our hectic schedules, who has time to think about what we can do to change this? As a registered dietitian in NYC with over 20 years’ experience, I’ve listened to thousands of stories from my clients. While everyone is unique, there are commonalities in the lifestyles of many New Yorkers. I’ve put together my top 9 nutrition tips to help you improve your health in 2018. And don’t forget about adequate sleep, stress management and regular exercise!
Chicken stir-fry. Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture, via flickr
5. BOOZE CONTROL. Whether it’s meeting friends for drinks, having beers while watching the game or unwinding with a glass of wine, alcohol is a common denominator for many New Yorkers. While alcohol in moderation may have health benefits, too much of it will interfere with your sleep, and impact your weight and overall health.
1. EAT MORE VEGETABLES. Eighty-four percent of Americans don’t meet the recommendations of four servings or two cups per day. Vegetables provide essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients and fiber to aid in weight management and gut health, and to help fight chronic diseases, including cancer, stroke and perhaps other cardiovascular diseases. Try adding more veggies to salads, sandwiches and grain bowls and snacks. Take advantage of frozen or prewashed, chopped and spiralized veggies in supermarkets.
2. FIND HEALTHY LUNCH CHOICES NEAR YOUR WORKPLACE. Lunches on the run are often loaded with calories, carbs and/or sodium. The good news is that there are numerous healthy options including salads, sandwiches, sandwich/soup combos, and bowls. Take advantage of the online nutritional content listed for many of these lunch spots and plan about 5 healthy choices near your office or home.
3. PLAN HEALTHY SNACKS.
Steamed edamame with sea salt. Photo: Lou Stejskal, via flickr
6. EAT BREAKFAST AT HOME OR PACK IT TO BRING TO WORK.
Whether you raid the vending machine at work or the kitchen at night, planning healthy snacks is key in helping you stay on track. Some of my favorite snacks include: nuts, fruit, string cheese or Babybel cheese, healthy jerky, nut butter on an apple or whole grain cracker, hummus or guacamole with veggies. Keep tempting not-so-healthy foods out of your environment as much as possible.
Most breakfast on the run choices are loaded with carbs and calories. Studies have shown that a high protein breakfast can help control cravings later in the day. Some healthy choices include: eggs, nut butter on whole grain toast, plain Greek yogurt with chia seeds and berries.
7. EAT FOR GUT HEALTH. We all have about five pounds of bacteria living in and on us. Studies have shown the types and diversity of this bacteria have a profound effect on our health — including our immune system, body weight, mental health and risk of heart disease and diabetes. Our diet plays an important role in keeping our gut bacteria in balance. Foods good for the gut include a variety of plant foods, especially leafy greens, legumes (beans, peas, lentils), whole grains, onions, chicory, garlic, leeks, bananas, fruit, soy beans, burdock root, asparagus, eggplant and green tea — as well as foods rich in probiotics including fermented vegetables, kefir and yogurt. Limit red meat and other high-fat animal products and artificial sweeteners, which may have a negative effect on the gut.
8. TRY INTERMITTENT FASTING — OR TIMERESTRICTED EATING. Research is suggesting that limiting the number of hours you eat in a day may have numerous health benefits. While there are several types of intermittent fasting, I find the easiest one to start with is to try to eat within a 12 hour window. For example, breakfast at 8 a.m. and dinner (or last snack) by 8 p.m. Once you’ve mastered that, aim to eat within a 10- or 8-hour window.
9. WRITE A WEEKLY GOAL LIST. It’s not easy to make changes in your diet or lifestyle, but it can be done. Pick 1-3 goals to work on each week. The trick will be to analyze your current work/life/eating situation and come up with a plan. We problem-solve in many other areas in our lives — why not this one!
Martha McKittrick, RD, CDE, CHWC is a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator and certified health and wellness coach. Check out Martha’s website Martha McKittrick Nutrition as well as her nutrition blog, City Girl Bites.
JANUARY 18-24,2018
19
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Photo: Steven Strasser
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BY LIZ HARDAWAY
With the holidays long-gone, and that turkey and gravy still resting in everyone’s bellies, most people take advantage of the “new year, new me” mentality to try to shed some pounds. Some purchase expensive gym memberships that they rarely use come February, while others opt for rigorous but trendy spin classes. In New York, people find ways to exercise all around their neighborhoods (without busting the bank account). Here are a few ways New Yorkers can get their sweat on, just around the corner:
Contact us at (212) 838-2900 or office@nycsmilespa.com 30 East 60th Street w Suite 1201 w New York, NY 10022
NYCSmileSpa.com
JOG AROUND THE JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS RESERVOIR IN CENTRAL PARK Breathe in that fresh air with the abundance of beautiful trees in Central Park. At just over 1.5 miles at a 2-degree slope, the average person can burn 178 calories.
BIKE ALONG THE WEST SIDE HIGHWAY FROM THE BOAT BASIN TO THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE Take in the beautiful Hudson River! At 5.2 miles, this bike path lets the average person burn 249.6 calories.
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Bunk: Kevin Young with Rebecca Carroll | Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News
TACKLE THE CLIMBING WALL AT CHELSEA PIERS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 23RD, 6:30PM
Get the exercise of climbing a mountain with the modern luxury of air conditioning. Conquor the indoor rock walls at Chelsea Piers, where on average, a person can burn 374 calories per hour of climbing.
NYPL Schwarzman Building | 476 Fifth Ave. | 917-275-6975 | nypl.org
SWIM LAPS AT ASPHALT GREEN FOR HALF AN HOUR
The Rage: The Vicious Circle of Islamist and Far-Right Extremism
With a 25-yard pool at both locations (Battery Park and the Upper East Side), a person weighing between 150-180 pounds can burn 300-400 calories. The Upper East Side location even has an Olympic-sized pool if you want to channel your inner-Michael Phelps!
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24TH, 7PM
TAKE A HIP-HOP DANCE CLASS AT ALVIN AILEY EXTENSION DIVISION Every half hour of busting rigorous moves at the Alvin Ailey can burn up to 300 calories. Considering the classes are an hour and a half, they also include times for stretching and warming up in the beginning and cooling down at the end.
Believe what you hear at this lecture with poet and critic Kevin Young on the history of hoaxes as an American phenomenon, from P.T. Barnum to Rachel Dolezal (free).
92nd Street Y | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212-415-5500 | 92y.or Austrian journalist Julia Ebner identifies the ways far-right and Islamist extremist narratives “complement each other perfectly, making the two extremes rhetorical allies and building a spiraling torrent of hatred” ($29).
Just Announced | Muldoon’s Picnic with Maggie Gyllenhaal & More
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH, 7:30PM
WALK BRISKLY FROM COLUMBUS CIRCLE TO COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Irish Arts Center | 553 W. 51st St. | 212-757-3318 | irishartscenter.org
At 2.9 miles, you can go from shopping to studying while burning 231 calories.
Maggie Gyllenhaal headlines the opener of the eighth season of Muldoon’s Picnic. Pulitzer Prizewinning Irish poet Paul Muldoon will host the jamboree, with live music, Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole, and John Vanderslice, author of The Last Days of Oscar Wilde ($40).
WALK FROM THE APPLE STORE ON FIFTH AVE. TO THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK Get your cracked screen fixed, and then look at some art! This 2.3 mile walk will burn 183 calories. Sources: www.centralpark.com, www.playbook.chelseapiers.com, Asphalt Green, www.city-academy.com
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
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JANUARY 18-24,2018
DOWNWARD DOG FOR EXPECTING MOMS A West Village studio focuses on prenatal yoga and classes for new parents BY CARSON KESSLER
In a dimly lit room, six pregnant women folded themselves into a downward-facing dog pose. With hands and feet planted on the purple yoga mat, the women formed bridges with their bodies, hips rose upward and swollen bellies hung below. At the front of the pre-natal yoga class stood instructor Neelu Shruti, 33, a petite woman from Hyderabad, India. As her soft voice instructed the class to move into a reverse warrior pose, Shruti radiated equanimity. Shruti learned about maintaining her calm composure at an early age. A student at Rishi Valley, an alternative boarding school founded by philosopher J. Krishnamurti, Shruti recalls her exposure to yoga through a curriculum valuing “no-competition among children” and classes “among the trees.” From her small high school northeast of Bangalore, Shruti traveled to Texas to pursue a degree in architecture at the University of Texas at Austin in 2003. In 2007, she moved to New York City to work in the architecture field. Shruti continued to practice and teach yoga on the side as a prenatal
Love Child is a collective, supportive space for women on their reproductive journeys. Photo courtesy of Love Child yoga instructor, a certification which took her about 285 hours to complete. Among other titles and certifications, she is a fully trained doula, certified breast-feeding counselor and midwifery assistant. “I noticed that most of the time when you think about being pregnant, you think about sitting back and eating for two,” she explained, recounting the first prenatal yoga class she observed during her training. “But what motivated me was seeing pregnant women actually be active and sweat and how integrated that is to birth.” After realizing the disparity between prenatal yoga studios and convenient class times for women with jobs, Shruti mustered up the courage
to pursue her passion, leave her desk job, and create Love Child in the West Village in 2015. Tom O’Keefe, 32, watched his wife’s vision become a successful business. “She’s created both a physical and emotional space for people to experience birth differently,” he said. “She’s giving space, vocabulary and support so that people no longer feel ‘other’ or marginal.” A collective space, Love Child provides services for both expecting and new parents, hosting everything from the prenatal yoga classes to acupunc-
ture to new- parent circles. “I’d always think somehow, somebody, somewhere delivers your baby. We need to consider the fact that the woman is the person giving birth,” Shruti said. “She needs to be ready for that physical, emotional, and mental challenge.” Amy Konen, 40, a Love Child client, believes Shruti and her classes prepared her for the birth of her son, Dino. “I have no doubt that the work [Neelu] did at Love Child helped me stay strong and calm throughout a 34hour labor,” she said. “I knew exactly what muscles to engage for pushing because of Neelu’s guidance in class.” But it’s the friendly, open, and empowering space that continues to bring Shruti’s clients back ... often with a plus-one. “Neelu has created a wonderful community,” said Konen. “I have made friends, and so has Dino.” Mhyra Oneglia, the mother of a 16-month old, recalled a time during her pregnancy where she was shocked at how unhelpful and unsupportive her doctor was after she expressed some discomfort. “Neelu asked me questions and actually listened!” she ex-
claimed. “Neelu definitely fills a wonderful void for women that’s lacking in the medical world and helps turn what can be an overwhelming time into a time where women can feel empowered and positive.” Empowerment is exactly what Shruti hopes her clients will take away from her classes. “In the reproductive spectrum, women aren’t really being supported in their choices,” she said. “Birth is another one of those choices where a lot of women find they aren’t being supported in the choices they want, so this is another way of empowering them to do that.” As for Shruti’s own future, she remains unsure about becoming a mother. “It’s tough because I see exactly what it takes to have a kid,” she said. “There is not the support system that there should be for parents, in any way, shape, or form.” But for now, Shruti is content creating a support system for others, one downward-facing dog at a time.
CHAIR YOGA FOR SENIORS How instructor Marci Rubin stumbled into teaching older adults BY CARSON KESSLER
The newest population of yogis on the Upper West Side? 70- and 80-year olds. With the help of a chair and yoga instructor Marci Rubin, around 30 seniors stretch, bend, and twist at the West Side Y every Monday and Friday during the hour-long chair yoga sessions. Rubin, 36, stumbled into teaching chair yoga after the West Side Y needed a quick replacement instructor. “I knew nothing about it,” Rubin said of her initial hesitance about shifting from teaching alignment-based vinyasa to chair yoga. “Vinyasa requires a lot of up and down and for older people, that’s just not feasible. I had to get creative with how to adapt a yoga practice for older adults using a chair for stability.” Chair yoga is a practice that modifies yoga poses for older adults. Aside from
seated work in the chair, much of the session consists of utilizing the chair for support as students complete a sequence of side and shoulder stretches, standing twists, and resistance training with therabands. “It’s all about how I can help this population move their spines and bodies in all of the ways [they are] capable of moving,” Rubin said. “The chair is simply a tool to do that.” After noticing the high numbers of older women attending her classes, Rubin began researching osteoporosis, a bone condition that primarily affects post-menopausal women. Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and brittle, increasing susceptibility to fracture. Rubin emphasizes spinal health in her sessions to eliminate pressures on the spine, which often increase fracture risks. “On a physical level, it’s a lot about strength and balance, combined with maintaining a healthy range of motion,” Rubin explained of her osteoporosis-tailored sessions. “But the completely natural piece that comes along
with yoga and keeps people coming back is the mindfulness. dfulness. You feel more calm, relaxed and nd clear.” In addition to o her bi-weekly group classes at the West Side Y, Rubin teaches one-on-one n-one sessions. Rubin describes these e at-home sessions as “individualized” d” and “specialized.” Each private class ss is tailored to the client to maximize e the benefits of specific yoga posturess for that individual’s condition.
“It’s fun for me to work with older people because I have to be so creative and problem-solve in my sequencing and thinking, which really lends itself to growing more in my work life,” Rubin said. For more information on Rubin and her classes, visit www.marcirubinyoga.com
Rubin wants to “help this population move their spines and bodies in all the ways [they are] capable of moving.” Photo courtesy of Marci Rubin
JANUARY 18-24,2018
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WHERE TO GET YOUR ZEN ON A guide to the city’s free and inexpensive meditation centers BY LIZ RICHARDS
For most of us, January is spent focused on new healthy eating plans and exercise regimes. But we often are so worried about healthier bodies that we forget how important it is to practice mindfulness. Meditation and working the muscle of the mind are just as fruitful and important as exercising our physical selves. Luckily, the city is full of free and inexpensive meditation centers that make it easy to focus on calming our minds. Here are a few accessible meditation centers that are good for pros and beginners alike:
Still Mind Zendo
37 West 17th St. #6W New York, NY 10011 Still Mind Zendo is a Zen meditation center that has been around since 1994. The establishment was formed by Roshi Janet Jiryu Abels in the lineage of Zen Master Taizan Maezumi Roshi and the White Plum Asanga and offers a wide range of daily activities and programs. For beginners looking to dip their toes into guided meditation, Meetup.com hosts a group called Wake Up New York — Meditation and Mindfulness that hosts a weekly guided meditation at Still Mind Zendo on Friday nights called Arrive in the Present Moment. This is a donation-based class with a structured schedule — 20 minute seated meditation, 10 minute walking or deep relaxation meditation, 30 minute sharing circle — that helps beginners ease into traditional meditation and reflect on their thoughts. After the session, visitors are invited to stay and get to know one another. This is a social and relaxed approach to meditation.
day, invented thousands of years ago. Reinvented in 2011.” Their whole mission statement and information can be found at their website www.imeditateny.org/about-us/. I Meditate NY offers free guided mediation classes every Monday and Friday night from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and are open to everyone.
Three Jewels
5 East 3rd St. New York, NY 10003
Everything you like about Our Town is now available to be delivered to your mailbox every week in the Eastsider From the very local news of your neighborhood to information about upcoming events and activities, the new home delivered edition of the Eastsiderwill keep you in-the-know. And best of all you won’t have to go outside to grab a copy from the street box every week.
Shambhala Meditation Center of New York
Three Jewels is a great space. It’s actually a yoga studio that offers free meditation classes, which makes it a great resource for mind and body. The studio offers courses in yoga, meditation and dharma. Among their meditation programming are seven different guided meditation courses, each with a different focus. Membership is available for $50 per month. All meditation classes are included in membership, but you don’t have to be a member to join in. Three Jewels’ website suggests a $15 donation for non-members participating in guided meditation classes, and all are welcome to join.
Name
118 West 22nd St. New York, NY 10011
Inscape
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45 West 21st St. New York, NY 10010
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The Shambhala Meditation Center is an inviting space near Flatiron. The monthly calendar is full of programs that include introductory meditation, stress-reduction courses, classes about meditation and sessions about daily life and beyond. Think of it as a one-stop shop for everything related to meditation. They even have a book club! The Shambhala Meditation Center functions primarily based on dues and donations from their memberships. Members support the center, but the Center does offer free and donation-based classes.
I Meditate NY
286 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10001 I Meditate NY identifies itself as “a movement empowering New Yorkers to do more of the things they love by recharging through meditation, a practical way to refresh every
Inscape is the perfect place for the modern meditator. It offers cool lighting and edgy designs. Although the space is definitely modern and fun, it’s also a relaxing environment. At Inscape, each session starts with a specific intention: productivity, calm, creativity, radiance, happiness and strength. Relaxation Meditation Sessions are also available in the categories of deep sound, deep rest, and deep breath. Inscape is not free or donationbased, but their set prices are decent. Prices for a single session range from $22 to $29 depending on the length of the session — 35 to 70 minutes — and both packages and unlimited memberships are available to lessen the cost. For those looking to set an intention and receive guided meditation in a beautiful modern space, Inscape is a really nice treat.
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Start 2018 off right! Get on track for your ďŹ ttest year yet. JOIN TODAY, get the rest of the month FREE with $0 initiation. Plus, work out six times in February, and get March FREE too!
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Your Neighborhood News Source
BEYOND BROADWAY - EAST SIDE The #1 online community for NYC theater:
www.show-score.com
NOW PLAYING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD FROM $15
FROM $25
FROM $15
VALOR, AGRAVIO Y MUJER
BALLS
A RAISIN IN THE SUN
4 REVIEWS PREVIEWS JAN 16
97 REVIEWS ENDS JUL 14
14 REVIEWS ENDS MAY 10
82
82
88
A parody of the erotic myth of Don Juan. [In Spanish with English subtitles]
A high-intensity retelling of the unforgettable ‘Battle of the Sexes’ tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973.
Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play about a working-class African-American family in Chicago’s South Side.
REPERTORIO ESPANOL - 138 E 27TH ST
59E59 THEATERS - 59 E 59TH ST
TATO LAVIERA THEATER - 240 E 123RD ST
WHAT’S TRENDING ACROSS NYC
COMING SOON
FROM $55
FROM $85
HINDLE WAKES
JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA
35 REVIEWS ENDS FEB 17
PREVIEWS START JAN 23
A gleefully profane musical about the infamous talk show. An outrageous celebration of our national ritual of humiliation and redemption.
85
PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER - 480 W 42ND ST.
Stanley Houghton’s slyly comic effervescent 1910 morality tale returns to NYC for the first time in 95 years. FROM $39 THEATER ROW / CLURMAN THEATER - 410 W 42ND ST
[PORTO] PREVIEWS START JAN 28
FROM $39
A surreal play about the patrons of a local bar in a gentrifying neighborhood where a regular’s routine is disrupted by a handsome stranger.
CRUEL INTENTIONS 85 REVIEWS ENDS FEB 19
MCGINN/CAZALE THEATER, 4TH FLR - 2162 BROADWAY
80 FROM $30
EDWARD ALBEE’S AT HOME AT THE ZOO
A jukebox musical based on the classic ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses,’ and the sexy 90s teen drama.
PREVIEWS START JAN 30
LE POISSON ROUGE - 158 BLEECKER STREET
A revision of Albee’s two-act drama ‘The Zoo Story,’ from 1959. Starring Tony Award-winners Katie Finneran and Robert Sean Leonard.
FROM $51
PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER - 480 W 42ND ST.
FRIENDS! THE MUSICAL PARODY 50 REVIEWS ENDS MAR 31
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AMY AND THE ORPHANS
77
PREVIEWS START FEB 1
Three siblings reunite for a road trip after their father’s death. Why is Amy, who has Down syndrome, the only one of them who knows her own mind?
A new unauthorized musical parody of the beloved sitcom about the antics of six young New Yorkers.
LAURA PELS THEATER - 111 W 46TH ST ST LUKE’S THEATER - 308 W 46TH ST
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JANUARY 18-24,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS JAN 2 - 9, 2017 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. Iggy’s
1452 2 Avenue
A
Bistro Le Steak
1309 3 Avenue
A
The Georgian Suite Kitchen .1-A East 77 St
A
Starbucks
1449 2 Avenue
A
Tang’s Garden
1328 3rd Ave
A
Oita Sushi
1317A 2nd Ave
A
Brb Cafe
413 E 69th St
A
Joe & The Juice Lexington
993 Lexington Ave
Grade Pending (28) Toxic chemical improperly labeled, stored or used such that food contamination may occur. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Nespresso
935 Madison Ave
A
Metropolitan Museum Of Art
1000 5 Avenue
Grade Pending
Just Salad
1471 Third Ave
A
Lexington Candy Shop
1226 Lexington Avenue
A
Ramen Meijin
1574 2nd Ave
A
Jack And Fanny’s
1591 2nd Ave
A
Mumtaz
1582 York Avenue
A
Mcdonald’s
1499 3rd Ave
A
Cafe Jax
318 E 84th St
A
Bonjour Crepes & Wine
1585 2 Avenue
A
Munchery
435 E 86th St
A
Flip Sigi
1752 2nd Ave
Not Yet Graded (16) 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.
El Chevere Cuchifritos
2000 3 Avenue
A
Empire Corner Ii
1415 5 Avenue
A
Le Pain Quotidien
1399 Madison Ave
A
Jiang China King
1759 Lexington Ave
A
The King’s Singers mid-song, getting ready for their 50th anniversary tour. Photo: Marco Borggreve
AN A CAPPELLA LOVE LETTER TO NYC MUSIC The King’s Singers from England will celebrate their 50th anniversary with a concert at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola BY MARC B. BOUCAI
In the middle of a worldwide tour celebrating their 50th anniversary, The King’s Singers, England’s original a cappella superstars, will arrive on the UES on Sunday, February, 21st for a very special one-timeonly concert at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola. Part of the church’s “Sacred Music in a Sacred Space” series, the King’s Singers will perform a program that reflects the group’s Christian roots and how these sacred values manifest today. The concert will honor St. Ignatius Church and is a also a love letter to the city of New York. Established in 1968 by a group of six graduates from King’s College Cambridge, the King’s Singers gained attention not only for the clarity of their sound and the complexity of their vocal arrangements, but also for the diversity of their repertoire. The Singers record and arrange everything from religious music from the Middle Ages to Renaissance-era madrigals to contemporary classical and pop music. This diversity of material has kept the group relevant for five decades. Though not always credited, the consistent popularity of the King’s Singers was one of the factors that kept
a cappella so popular across American college campuses and helped give birth to the current a cappella boom. From “Glee” to the Pentatonix to the nearly $100 million gross of “Pitch Perfect 3,” a cappella is truly having a moment in popular culture. One could even think of the King’s Singers as the original boy-band, pairing dashing good looks with perfect harmonies and a deep sense of musical history. Our Town got the chance to chat about the ensemble with the King’s Singers only bass, Johnny Howard. In 2009, Howard was a recent graduate of New College at Oxford with a degree in classics, living in London and working in advertising when he was approached by his predecessor in the group to audition. Since then, Howard says, his life has gone in unexpected directions, bringing him to New York over a dozen times, and allowing him to learn a ton of music, both sacred and secular. Epitomizing this bridging of the modern with the classical, of England with America, is “To Stand in This House,” an original piece commissioned for the King’s Singers by the New York-based contemporary classical composer Nico Muhly, whose opera “Two Boys” premiered at the Met Opera in 2013. The new piece fuses classical texts from medieval England with contemporary texts about modern life by famous alumni of King’s College, including Salman Rushdie and Zadie Smith. Howard even quoted Smith, from her essay “On Optimism and Despair,”
describing the overarching question of the concert as, “how do we as a society strive to be better and make the world a better place?” Howard calls Muhly’s piece “a marriage of optimism from the past and reality in the present” and says that it “marries our sacred beginnings and our reality of the present.” When asked about the process of working with a living composer on an original work, Howard said that the Singers were interested in knowing how their group of six voices could help a composer to bring his ideas to life. Howard’s journeys around the world have shown him that people of any country or culture want to sing together w ithout accompaniment, because they “love singing regardless of religion — irrespective of personal faith.” The magic of the King’s Singers lies in their ability to transcend the sacred and the secular, the classical and the new. Despite a touring schedule that brings them to all corners of the globe, Howard insists that NYC holds a special place in the group’s hearts. This will be reflected in their concert at St. Ignatius Loyola, where the Singers will highlight the best of New York’s composers, including works by Michael Richie Benner, Howard Arlen and Paul Simon, among others. Howard ended our chat with a shoutout to New York audiences for being filled with people who “really think and engage and say what they feel” and who “want to be challenged.”
JANUARY 18-24,2018
HISTORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The East Side’s concentration of galleries, dealers, auction houses, museums and ultra-wealthy collectors has long made the neighborhood a nexus of the international antiquities trade, a lucrative category of ancient artwork that despite tight regulation has proven susceptible to illegal activity. In the last year, authorities conducted high-profile seizures of a number of illicit antiquities that made their way from far-flung lands to the Upper East Side, sometimes after spending decades on the black market and moving illegally across continents through international smuggling networks. Objects targeted by prosecutors have included an ancient Persian limestone relief recovered during an art fair at the Park Avenue Armory, a remnant of mosaic tile that once adorned a ship owned by the Roman emperor Caligula and was found in an antique dealer’s Park Avenue apartment, and, in early January, a number of Greek and Roman artifacts seized from the Fifth Avenue residence of hedge fund billionaire Michael Steinhardt. Looted artworks have even turned up in the city’s most prestigious cultural institutions. In July 2017, the Metropolitan Museum of Art surrendered a marble bull’s head dated to 360 B.C. that was on loan to the museum from Steinhardt’s personal collection. According to prosecutors, the bull’s head was excavated from the Temple of Eshmun in Sidon, Lebanon, in 1967, but was subsequently stolen in 1981 by a paramilitary group
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com during the Lebanese Civil War. The artifact was illegally exported from Lebanon at an unknown date and eventually ended up in the hands of private collectors in Colorado who prosecutors say had scant documentation regarding the piece’s prior ownership. Steinhardt, a prominent patron of the Met for whom an ancient Greek gallery in the museum is named, purchased the piece from the Coloradobased collectors in 2010 for $700,000 and loaned it to the museum. Soon after, Met officials alerted the Lebanese government that they had come to believe that the bull’s head was looted from the Temple of Eshmun site, starting a process that culminated in a ceremony last month marking the repatriation to Lebanon of the bull’s head and two other statues from the same site valued at over $5 million total. “These pieces followed the same path that many pieces follow,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos said at the ceremony. “They leave a war-torn area or an area that is undergoing civil war or civil strife, they get in the hands of dealers who are less than scrupulous in determining its origin, and then they make their way through auction houses and other dealers to New York.” Bogdanos, a classics expert who is a key figure in the office’s antiquities enforcement efforts, gained first-hand knowledge of the opportunities conflicts present to traffickers as a colonel in the Marine Corps during the Iraq War, when he worked to recover artifacts looted from the country’s national museum in Baghdad during the 2003 U.S. invasion. Though there have been no criminal charges filed against
Steinhardt, and Bogdanos noted that no one suggests the Met acted improperly, prosecutors have criticized behavior on the part of collectors that amounts to willful ignorance of some objects’ hazy provenance. “No longer may those who deal in antiquities — whether they are dealers, collectors, museums, or auction houses — turn a blind eye to the rampant looting of the world’s cultural heritage,” Bogdanos wrote in one recent court filing. “In New York, at least, they are legally required to engage in a reasonable inquiry into the true ownership history and provenance of antiquities.” The Manhattan District Attorney’s office says it has recovered thousands of illicit antiquities with a market value exceeding $150 million since 2012, many of which have since been returned to the countries in which they were unearthed. In December, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced the formation of a dedicated antiquities trafficking unit that will work with federal prosecutors and specialized teams within the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to recover illicit antiquities. “The volume and pace of our work in this area has increased to the point where we actually need a unit fully staffed with investigators, analysts and lawyers to make sure that when we understand that trafficked, looted and stolen items are in our jurisdiction we can bring all of the resources of this office to bear to make sure that they can be returned,” Vance said. Michael Garofalo: reporter@ strausnews.com
CHEF MINA NEWMAN’S NIKKEI CEVICHE
Japanese-Peruvian restaurant Sen Sakana will be serving up one-of-a-kind dishes at this year’s Art of Food event at Sotheby’s Saturday, February 10. There, chef Mina Newman will be challenged to create a dish to pair with a piece of artwork curated by Sotheby’s. While we wait to see what Sen Sakana serves up at The Art of Food, their head chef is giving readers a challenge of their own: the recipe to Mina Newman’s Nikkei Ceviche.
ART OF FOOD at
Presented by
YUZU LECHE D’TIGRE SAUCE:
DIRECTIONS:
5 oz of Yuzu juice pinch of salt 1 oz soy sauce 1 oz yuzu kosho 1 oz sugar 1 clove of garlic 1 oz ginger
1. Make crispy sweet potato threads: julienne 1 sweet potato, coat with olive oil, and bake for approximately 25 minutes, until crispy.
CEVICHE INGREDIENTS: 4 oz salmon 2 pc shiso leaves 2 tbsp Peruvian choclo 2 tbsp Peruvian cancha 1 tbsp shio knobu 1 tsp Peruvian aji limo 1 tsp cilantro 1 oz crispy sweet potato 1 oz red onion, thinly sliced
2. Combine all ingredients for the leche d’tigre in a blender until becomes pureed. 3. Cut salmon into large chunks, then top with clinatro and aji limo. 4. In a mixing bowl, pour half of leche d’tigre over the salmon and allow to marinate for five minutes. 5. Lay shiso leaves on the plate. Remove salmon from the mixing bowl and place on top of leaves on plate. Place onions in the same mixing bowl and mix in remaining leche d’tigre sauce. Place seasoned onions over the top of salmon. 6. Garnish with choclo, cancha and shio konbu. Top with crispy sweet potato threads.
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JANUARY 18-24,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Real Estate Ask a Broker BY ANDREW KRAMER
My friends tell me that broker commissions are negotiable and I shouldn’t have to pay the full 6 percent. Is there any truth to this? Funny, in almost 15 years in this business I’ve never been asked this question. Believe that and I have a bridge to sell you! The short answer is yes there is some truth to this. However, like everything in life, there is a price. Keep in mind that one of the top reasons you’re hiring a broker in the first place is to get the maximum exposure for your property. To achieve that goal, it takes a lot of resources — daily inclusion on the most highly trafficked real estate websites, print advertising, polished printed and digital marketing and collateral materials along and the willingness to share your listing with the greater brokerage community. Add to that, professional photography, floorplan renderings, virtual staging, etc. There are many firms that pride themselves on offering discounted commission. However what services are they eliminating to do this? It’s one thing to pay a 5 percent commission and work with a seasoned professional from a top tier firm whose going to take advantage of their powerful infrastructure to get the word out and it’s another to pay the same 5 percent to a firm that either doesn’t share/co-broke their listings and/or does limited, if any, marketing. Additionally, a reduced commission can easily discourage brokers from showing your property to their buyers. Marketing conditions and the specifics of your home also pay a big role in this equation. If there’s an abundance of cookie-cutter apartments like yours on the market at the same time you’re selling or your home has “an issue” (high maintenance, new building rising next door that will affect your views, etc.), you don’t have the same leverage with commission as someone selling a truly unique one-of-a-kind property with little or no competition. If you’re set on paying a reduced fee, inquire to see if your broker would be willing to collect a lower commission if they are able to sell your home to a direct buyer, who is not working with another agent. The best of all worlds is to align yourself with a broker from a leading firm that’s willing to shave only their portion of the commission (taking 2 percent vs. 3 percent on the selling side) and pay the full 3 percent to the broker who brings the buyer. Now that’s having your cake, with fewer calories, and eating it too! Andrew Kramer is a licensed associate real estate broker with Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales
Photo: Steven Strasser
LEADERSHIP RESOLUTIONS Accomplishing more, alone and together BY FREDERICK W. PETERS
It’s 2018! How will this year differ from 2017, and all the years which preceded it? What will each of us do differently and, hopefully, better? Here’s my list of ways I hope to be a better leader and example, along with one resolution for our residential industry as a whole: I will be more responsive. I will respond to every meaningful email and text within 24 hours, hopefully far faster if I receive the communication during business hours. There are solicitation emails to which I never plan to respond, although I am increasingly attempting to respond with a simple “No, thanks.” I try to clean up my email every evening before I leave the office to make sure I haven’t missed anything; my goal is to have an inbox with no more than
25 items in it (and those are usually left there to remind me about something.) If however I receive an email or text AFTER business hours, I reserve the right not to respond until the next day. I will be less responsive. Yes, I know I am contradicting myself. But I am increasingly aware of how compulsively attuned to my mobile device I am. So now I try to take some time off both evenings and weekends. I leave my phone in the other room, or I turn off the ringer. It’s amazing how much personal interacting, reading, music listening and thinking I can get done when I am not checking my phone every 30 seconds. Nothing, it turns out, is SO important that it cannot wait a while during off hours. I will finish what I start. A challenge of my job (and probably everyone’s job) is chronic interruption. Emails appear in the corner of my computer screen. The phone rings. People come to my door. Distraction
is the enemy of efficiency. So in 2018 I will finish what I start before I turn to something else. The email, the phone call, the person at the door: they can almost always wait until I finish. Then I can turn to them with a clear head. I will encourage a real exchange of ideas. I don’t much like having people disagree with me. But it’s the only way to craft a better organization. I need to hear from my people when they think we are not making the best choice. Much as I hate to acknowledge it, I don’t know everything. Having smart people around me only helps the company if I listen to what they say, maybe especially when it suggests that we have not yet come up with the best solution. And this one applies to the whole residential industry here in New York: We may be competitors, but we accomplish more by working together. Our residential industry has undergone radical change during the past
five years. Technology has both accelerated the pace of interaction and created the perception (often false) of greater efficiency. Aggressive recruiting calls pepper the days of every good agent at every company. In this environment, it has become easier and easier to regard the competitor companies as enemies. But we wield real power as a collective. Whether it relates to sharing listings, pushing back against outside forces attempting to undermine or monetize our business model, or seeking the best business technology, we are stronger together. Every new year begins filled with possibility. 2018 will have its own triumphs and disappointments, but each of those represents an opportunity to do my job as both a leader and a colleague better. I will try to rise to each of those occasions. And you? Frederick W. Peters is chief executive officer of Warburg Realty Partnership
JANUARY 18-24,2018
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
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MUSIC SCHOOL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 She’ll start in mid-March, and her charge is to lead the school into the new facility, while honoring its traditional programming, which reaches more than 5,000 New Yorkers a year through classes, lessons, concerts and grassroots engagement with public schools and senior centers. The TBMS community is “deeply committed to ensuring that the transformative power of music is accessible to everyone,” Norris said in a statement. “We need it now more than ever.” Helene Blieberg, the school’s interim executive director, declined to comment on any prospective move. “The Turtle Bay Music School is a vibrant institution that is always looking for ways to best serve our community,” she said. Blieberg has been serving in an interim capacity since last October, after Julie Rulyak Steinberg, the previous executive director and self-described “head turtle,” left to take the helm of the Community Music Center in San Francisco. The details of the school’s real estate play, and the rationale for it, were spelled out in recruitment materials prepared by PBR Executive Search, the firm tasked with helping the school land a new executive director, a hunt that just concluded with the hiring of Norris. “As it approaches its 100th anniversary, TBMS finds itself at an inflection point,” PBR wrote. “Having outlived its current space, the organization is in the final stages of acquiring a brand-new home.” The new location, “in a dense residential community” near the NYU Langone medical center, “will give
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com TBMS a vibrant on-street presence, spacious new offices, bright classrooms, a state-of-the art auditorium, and room to launch the pre-school,” the PBR posting said. “The move is a project well underway ...” A responsibility of the “ideal” executive director, PBR said, will be to help guide the sale of the current location and the purchase and timely renovation of the new space for a projected fall move-in. The status of the planned sale wasn’t immediately clear. Nor was the identity of a would-be purchaser. A closing on the 52nd Street property doesn’t appear to have taken place yet, though there is often a delay in filing real estate transfer records. And there is another uncertainty on the block: What happens to the site when TBMS moves out? The school occupies 50 feet of street frontage, its footprint is 100-feet deep, and if a developer is able to create an assemblage with two or three of the adjoining low-lying properties to the east, a residential tower stretching toward Second Avenue could possibly be constructed. “Our biggest concern is what it might do to our neighborhood,” said Sylvain Michaelis, a graphic designer who lives around the corner at 251 East 51st Street with his wife Irene, giving them a northern view of the rear of the building from his sixth-floor apartment windows. “The school was always a great anchor for the neighborhood, and that charming old building added a certain hominess and neighborliness to the area,” he said. Most of all, he will miss the sound of music. “When I open my windows in the summer, I can hear the playing of the piano and the practicing of the violin, and it adds some real ambiance to the neighborhood,” Michaelis said.
JANUARY 18-24,2018
A practice piano in the basement of the The Turtle Bay Music School at 244 East 52nd Street. After 83 years of making music and training young musicians in the three-story, double townhouse, the community music school plans to move later this year to a new space at 38th Street and First Avenue. Photo: Douglas Feiden
Met Council is accepting applications for the waiting list of affordable housing rental apartments in our building located at 332 East 22nd Street, NY. For one person households, applicants must be 62 years old at the time of application; for two person households, the applicant must be 62 and the co-applicant 55 at the time of application.
Met Council is accepting applications for the waiting list of affordable housing rental apartments in our building located at 334 East 92nd Street, NY. For one person households, applicants must be 62 years old at the time of application; for two person households, the applicant must be 62 and the co-applicant 55 at the time of application.
Current Rent Range studio: $1023.81 - $1281 Income Range: $43,152.80 - $53,440 (1 person household)
Current Rent Range studio: $848.47 - $1281 Income Range: $36,138.80- $53,440 (1 person household)
Current Range 1 bedroom: $1073.17 - $1375 Income Range: $45,206.80 - $53,440 (1 person household) $45,206.80 - $61,120 (2 person household)
Current Range 1 bedroom: $962.29 - $1375 Income Range: $40,771.60 - $53,440 (1 person household) $40,771.60 - $61,120 (2 person household)
Monthly rent includes heat, hot water and gas for cooking. Seniors will be required to meet income guidelines and additional selection criteria to qualify. Income guidelines are subject to change. One application per household.
Monthly rent includes heat, hot water and gas for cooking. Seniors will be required to meet income guidelines and additional selection criteria to qualify. Income guidelines are subject to change. One application per household.
Applications may be downloaded from: www.metcouncil.org/housing or requested by mail from Met Council: East 22nd Street Residence 77 Water Street, 7th floor New York, NY 10005
Applications may be downloaded from: www.metcouncil.org/housing or requested by mail from Met Council: East 92nd Street Residence 77 Water Street, 7th floor New York, NY 10005.
Please include a self-addressed envelope. No broker or application fee.
Please include a self-addressed envelope. No broker or application fee.
JANUARY 18-24,2018
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
YOUR 15 MINUTES
To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to ourtownny.com/15 minutes
A THEATRICAL LEGACY Tom Oppenheim on his role as artistic director of his grandmother Stella Adler’s Studio of Acting BY ANGELA BARBUTI
When Tom Oppenheim took over as artistic director of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in 1995, he asked himself, “What does it mean to be the Stella Adler Studio of Acting today?” Part of honoring his grandmother’s legacy meant ensuring that the studio is rooted in her belief that growth as an actor and a human being are synonymous. Since then, Oppenheim, 58, has worked to create an environment that nurtures theater artists — they train 500 at a time — so that they value themselves as well as others. His initiatives have included launching the Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company, which is named after Adler’s second husband, and starting an outreach component that gives free actor training to low-income New York City public school students as well as at Rikers Island. The Manhattan native, who studied at the National Shakespeare Conservatory and with his grandmother, lives in Washington Heights with his wife, Nina Capelli, the studio’s director of cultural programming, and their two children.
Tell us about your grandmother and what legacy you hope to continue with the studio now. She was a grand woman. But we called her Stella; we didn’t call her grandma. She was a unique grandmother in that way, but a great woman, teacher of acting and theater person. Central to her legacy, I’ve built on and hope to continue to build on her technique of growth as an actor and human being. All of her techniques and everything she wrote and said, that was the energy underneath it.
How do you try to retain its original mission? I was primarily committed to making sure the studio didn’t degenerate into a wax museum devoted to Stella’s memory, but a living, breathing expression of her spirit. So I was focusing on examining the past and the tradition that preceded Stella. It began with her father, Jacob Adler, who was a great actor and producer. He came from Odessa [in what is now Ukraine], and was born in 1853. The tsar outlawed Jewish theater in 1883 and he left first to London and then seven years later, in 1889, came to New York City and built the theater [Union Theatre, a Yiddish-language theater]. So it was the matching of that history to the future and making the studio remain as relevant and impactful today and tomorrow as it did with Stella.
Tom Oppenheim with his his grandmother, Stella Adler. Photo: Stella Adler Studio
What aspects did you change? Part of it was relinquishing dogma, so we weren’t tied to engaging faculty that had studied with Stella, but finding teachers who harmonized with the insight that growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous. That freed us and there was curricular restructuring that we did. And really, continue to do, because it’s always a kind of a work-in-progress. In addition to that, the environmental aspect of the mission was to create
artistic and cultural events beyond the theater. We did these in honor of Harold Clurman who was Stella’s second husband and created the Group Theatre [a 1930s theater collective that produced plays relevant to that era]. It began with a lecture but then evolved to include a poetry reading series and a concert series, which was renamed after my father, David, who was an important New York figure. He was a great classical clarinetist. He played with Igor Stravinsky and the Budapest String Quartet, but then made films and worked in television. Then became the dean of the School of the Arts at NYU and it was under him that that school became Tisch School of the Arts.
Tell us about your outreach program. It includes a free afterschool program for high school students. They all live under the poverty level. The mission is to bring free actor training to people who can’t afford tuition. We plugged into middle schools and high schools in the South Bronx, all low income schools that don’t have access to the arts. And then we have a very developed program on Rikers Island; we’re there every day of the week training all the populationsadult women, adult men, teens, young adults, transgender. All those are aspects that come from Stella that we’ve taken and evolved.
Explain your current show, “One Drop of Love,” and what your mission is with that project. It came out of another show we presented through our playwright division. Part of the division is identifying a playwright in residence, so a few years ago we reached out to playwrights that identified as play-
Tom Oppenheim, artistic director of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Photo: Stella Adler Studio
wrights of color. We read 150 to 200 plays and lowered that down to five. One of the five plays was written by Beto O’Byrne, who is half Mexican and half Irish. And he wrote a play called “Loving and Loving,” about the Lovings [an interracial couple whose marriage was deemed illegal in Virginia in the ‘60s and became a Supreme Court case], written before the movie. In relation to that play, we wanted to engage in a conversation about being mixed race, and racially diverse couples and families. Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni, who wrote and performs “One Drop of Love,” was one of the people who engaged in that conversation. She was so interesting and compelling that wanted to continue that conversation, and are bringing her show to the studio later this month.
What are your future plans? My dream is to formalize the transformation of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting into the Stella Adler Center for the Arts. We would still use the nomenclature of the Stella Adler Studio backstage in relation to young people who want to study, but create a bigger title that better describes who we are. And to one day find a real estate opportunity that facilitates it. And to raise money to be able to build each of those centers. To have someone in charge of the music, poetry, and so on. stellaadler.com
Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.
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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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57
1
JANUARY 18-24,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
JANUARY 18-24,2018
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PUBLIC AUCTION NOTICE OF SALE OF COOPERATIVE APARTMENT SECURITY PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: By Virtue of a Default under Loan Security Agreement, and other Security Documents, Karen Loiacano, Auctioneer, License #DCA1435601 or Jessica L Prince-Clateman, Auctioneer, License #1097640 or Vincent DeAngelis Auctioneer, License #1127571 will sell at public auction, with reserve, on January 24, 2018, in the Rotunda of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007, commencing at 1:15pm for the following account: Michael Wawrzonek, as borrower, 127 shares of capital stock of 310 East 70th Street Apartment Corp. and all right, title and interest in the Proprietary Lease to 310 E 70th St., Apt 11S, New York, NY 10021-8609 Sale held to enforce rights of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., who reserves the right to bid. Ten percent (10%) Bank/CertiďŹ ed check required at sale, balance due at closing within thirty (30) days. The Cooperative Apartment will be sold â&#x20AC;&#x153;AS ISâ&#x20AC;? and possession is to be obtained by the purchaser. Pursuant to Section 201 of the Lien Law you must answer within 10 days from receipt of this notice in which redemption of the above captioned premises can occur. There is presently an outstanding debt owed to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (lender) as of the date of this notice in the amount of $528,227.41. This ďŹ gure is for the outstanding balance due under UCC1, which was secured by Financing Statement in favor of DE Capital Mortgage LLC which was ďŹ led on February 2, 2011 under CRFN 2011000038704. The lien was assigned to Wells
Fargo Bank, NA by a UCC3 recorded on March 31, 2011 under CRFN 2011000114998. Please note this is not a payoff amount as additional interest/ fees/penalties may be incurred. You must contact the undersigned to obtain a ďŹ nal payoff quote or if you dispute any information presented herein. The estimated value of the above captioned premises is $675,000.00 Pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code Article 9-623, the above captioned premises may be redeemed at any time prior to the foreclosure sale. You may contact the undersigned and either pay the principal balance due along with all accrued interest, late charges, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses incurred by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and the undersigned, or pay the outstanding loan arrears along with all accrued interest, late charges, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses incurred by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and the undersigned, with respect to the foreclosure proceedings. Failure to cure the default prior to the sale will result in the termination of the proprietary lease. If you have received a discharge from the Bankruptcy Court, you are not personally liable for the payment of the loan and this notice is for compliance and information purposes only. However, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., still has the right under the loan security agreement and other collateral documents to foreclosure on the shares of stock and rights under the proprietary lease allocated to the cooperative apartment. Dated: November 7, 2017 Frenkel, Lambert, Weiss, Weisman & Gordon, LLP Attorneys for Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 631-9693100 File #01-071771- #93488
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