Our Town - February 9, 2017 by Our Town

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9-15 2017

COUNTING THE HOMELESS Volunteers take to the streets to find out how many New Yorkers are without shelter. But how effective is the survey? The number of riders on the Second Avenue line has climbed every week since its Jan. 1 opening, but is still below projections. Photo: Madeleine Thompson BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

Despite the saying, New York City does sleep each night. But some residents, for reasons of poverty or mental illness, do so in subway stations or park benches because they lack a home to return to. On a cloudy Feb. 7 evening, thousands of volunteers — the exact number wasn’t available, but 2016 set a record with 3,800 — spread throughout the city to ﬁnd out exactly how many New Yorkers were without shelter that night. This year marked the 12th annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) count, a study mandated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to measure the number of the homeless. In the cafeteria of P.S. 199 on West 61st Street, long after students had gone home, roughly 90 people chatted amiably while awaiting further instruction. The city’s Department of Homeless Services had requested that volunteers for the HOPE count arrive around 10 p.m. on Monday night, though the training portion didn’t begin until 11 p.m. A table with donuts, coffee and granola bars sat in the corner, as did a group of NYPD officers who would later accompany volunteer teams whose survey areas included subway stations and parks. The volunteers were remarkably energetic in the face of a night

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

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NEW SUBWAY RIDERSHIP SHORT OF FORECASTS Daily riders on the Second Avenue line are roughly 25 percent shy of predicted numbers BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

The MTA dubbed the Second Avenue subway an “immediate success” in a Feb. 1 press release announcing initial ridership figures, but Our Town analysis of publicly available data shows that the number of passengers using the new line has yet to

Crime Watch Voices Out & About City Arts

3 8 10 12

meet projected ridership numbers long touted by the agency as justiﬁcation for the $4.5 billion project. For years, MTA officials forecast an average weekday ridership of 200,000 passengers upon completion of Phase One of the Second Avenue subway, which opened Jan. 1 and includes new stations at 72nd, 86th, and 96th Streets on Second Avenue and a new Q train stop at 63rd StreetLexington Avenue. As recently as

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Historically the ridership estimates are usually a little bit more rosy or optimistic than the numbers end up being, but sometimes they beat the estimates” Larry Penner, transportation expert

December, outgoing MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast said at an agency board meeting, “On day one, we will see it serve more than 200,000 people on that line.”

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FIGHTING FOR VETS Dozens rally against a proposed cut to the Veterans Services agency BY RAZI SYED

“Veterans matter!” chanted the demonstrators at the steps of City Hall. About 60 people, including three candidates for the 2017 mayoral race, rallied Feb. 1 to protest a funding decrease for the Department of Veterans Services in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year. “We are here unified today as New Yorkers,” said the Rev. Michel Faulkner, a mayoral candidate. “A gathering of citizens, clergy and elected officials to say we will not accept the proposed cuts to the budget for New York City veterans affairs.” “We gather here today on these steps to remind our city government that in a budget of $85 billion, surely — $3.6 million — we can do better than that,” said Faulkner. The mayor’s preliminary budget was released on Jan. 24 with $3.63 million allocated for the Department of Veterans Services, around $300,000 less than this year’s $3.95 million. Joe Bello, a member of the Veterans

Advisory Board, said the mayor’s decision to cut the department’s funding in its second year of existence was bad “optics.” “Going into the second year of the budget, and we’re already looking at a cut to veterans’ services,” he said. “We’ve come too far. We certainly want to see better and we want to see more — where was the forward thinking of this administration in the preliminary budget?” The de Blasio administration has defended the decrease as a number of one-time costs associated with the start of the new office. Raul Contreras, a spokesman for the mayor’s office, said those costs include desks, chairs, computers and the services of a consultant who advised the city on how to start the new department. “You wouldn’t spend money on those things again, because you don’t need two computers, you don’t need two desks,” Contreras said. “The core funding for the resources that we provide across the ﬁve boroughs — that remains intact.” But opponents of the proposed budget insist that the decrease shows the mayor’s administration doesn’t pri-

Mayoral candidate Michel Faulkner addresses veterans and the media at city hall on Feb. 1 at a rally to oppose the decreased funding in the proposed budget for the Department of Veterans Services. Photo: Razi Syed oritize the needs of the city’s roughly 210,000 veterans. Mayoral hopeful and former police officer Bo Dietl said the city needed to do more to help homeless veterans. “I’ll be damned if we don’t take care of our veterans,” Dietl said. “What they’ve done for us — that’s why America is America. “And I got something for Mayor de Blasio,” he added. “You want know where you can ﬁnd the money — how about the $12 million in public funds that you’re spending to protect yourself?” Dietl asked, referring to reports that the city may pay 11.65 million to several law ﬁrms defending the mayor and his aides in several corruption investigations.

Brooklyn resident and lifelong New Yorker Robert Liebowitz said he was at the rally for his father, two of his uncles and his father-in-law — all of whom are veterans. “When I see a veteran homeless on the subway, it really breaks my heart,” Liebowitz said. “This country, the city, the state does not take care of its veterans.” Contreras said the de Blasio administration has worked to end veteran homelessness and that 90 to 95 percent of homeless veterans are sheltered. Helene Van Clief, who served in the Army from 1977 to 1986, and showed up Wednesday afternoon clad in a camouﬂage jacket, said she was there

to advocate on behalf of women veterans. “Most of the women veterans have very bad psych issues,” Van Clief said. “Are you going tell me every women who came into the military had psych issues before they got in?” Businessman and mayoral candidate Paul Massey, state Sen. Joe Addabbo and Public Advocate Letitia James also voiced their support for Wednesday’s rally. “Any attempts to cut back on those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that I can speak freely, so that all of us can be free, should be fought back with resistance,” James said. “I stand here with all of these veterans.”

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th precinct Week to Date 2017 2016

% Change

2017

2016

% Change

Murder

n/a

Rape

n/a

Robbery

-100.0

-58.3

Felony Assault

-66.7

50.0

Burglary

-50.0

-20.0

Grand Larceny

26.1

104

100

4.0

Grand Larceny Auto

n/a

-100.0

SECOND HELPING DENIED

Tony Webster, via ﬂickr

FITTING ENDS Two Brooklyn women, a 21-year-old and a 29-year-old, were arrested on grand larceny and other charges Jan. 29 after being caught trying to take several items of clothing from Bloomingdale’s, police said. The two took items of clothing from a display in

Bloomingdale’s into fitting rooms but were no longer carrying the items when they left. The clothing was not in fitting rooms either. The pair were apprehended on East 60th Street and Lexington Avenue, and the missing merchandise, two jackets totaling $2,290, and four shirts valued at $319, recovered. The pair were also found to be in

possession of a variety of fake IDs, as well as aluminum foil used to block store lossprevention sensors. The two were arrested on charges of grand larceny, possession of forged instruments, possession of stolen property, and possession of burglar tools.

Year to Date

A shoplifter returned to the scene of her crime and was arrested. Just before 2 p.m. on Jan. 31, a 21-year-old woman from Queens and a 17-year-old from Brooklyn entered the Barneys store on Madison Avenue and, working in concert, took clothing from store shelves, which they put in a backpack before trying to leave the store. The pair were arrested, and one of the two was wanted for stealing goods from that same Barneys the day before, police said. The items of clothing stolen and recovered were one pair of jeans valued at $1,400 and

a sweatshirt priced at $800, making a total of $2,200.

THE PRICE OF VANITY A nail treatment proved unexpectedly expensive for one Upper East Side woman recently. At 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 2, a 60-yearold woman entered the Oliver Nail Spa at 1324 Lexington Ave. to have her nails done. Sometime during her session, someone removed her 18-karat-gold Cartier watch, valued at $5,300, from her handbag. She told police that her bag had been out of her sight for a very short time only.

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Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct

153 E. 67th St.

212-452-0600

FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13

159 E. 85th St.

311

FDNY Engine 39/Ladder 16

157 E. 67th St.

311

FDNY Engine 53/Ladder 43

1836 Third Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 44

221 E. 75th St.

311

FIRE

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

96th Street

112 E. 96th St.

212-289-0908

67th Street

328 E. 67th St.

212-734-1717

Webster Library

1465 York Ave.

212-288-5049

100 E. 77th St.

212-434-2000

HOSPITALS Lenox Hill NY-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell

525 E. 68th St.

212-746-5454

Mount Sinai

E. 99th St. & Madison Ave.

212-241-6500

NYU Langone

550 First Ave.

212-263-7300

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

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1283 First Ave.

212-517-8361

US Post Office

1617 Third Ave.

212-369-2747

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ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD BY PETER PEREIRA

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TRAVEL BAN CALLED UNJUST Yemenis in New York City complain of stigma tied to Trump’s executive order BY RICHARD KHAVKINE

On Thursday morning last week, Osama Khalid was doing what occupies most of his days at the West Side Stop One deli: making sandwiches, cooking quick breakfasts and sometimes working the register. But if Khalid’s hands were doing what’s become near rote work in the month he’s been employed at the Amsterdam Avenue store, his mind was elsewhere — roughly 7,000 miles east, to Sana’a, Yemen, where his two young daughters are waiting to join him and their mother in New York. A signiﬁcant obstacle to that reunion came on Jan. 24 when President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Yemen, to the U.S. “I was trying to get them here,” Khalid said a few hours before he was among hundreds of others at Borough Hall in Brooklyn to protest the edict. Hundreds of Yemeni-owned delis citywide closed their shops from noon to 8 p.m. on Feb. 2, also in protest. He would be among an estimated 2,000 people attending the rally, which was attended and addressed by numerous public officials, including the Manhattan Borough’s president, Gail Brewer. “We stand against racism. We have human rights,” he said. “It’s not only for my daughters.” Khalid, 28, is Yemeni, but has been a U.S. citizen since he was a year old. Which means his daughters, 6 and 10 years old, are eligible to also become American citizens. Securing the passports for the two girls, who are being looked after by Khalid’s sister-in-law, is further complicated by an ongoing civil war in Yemen, where the American embassy in Sana’a has been closed for two years. “It’s too hard,” Khalid said. A colleague at the deli, Basdeo Boodhan, called the ban — which has since been successfully challenged by a number of state attorneys general — capricious and tactless. “The ban is hurting everyone, whether it’s business or family,” Boodhan said. There are nearly 12,000 Yemeni-born people in New York City, according to American Community Survey data compiled by the city Comptroller’s Office. Afaf Nasher, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Yemenis are typically reticent, particularly since a large portion of them are immigrants. “So for them to be doing this you can imagine how hard the community has been hit,” he said. “Families have been

Ridership on the new Second Avenue subway has fallen short of projections. Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin

SUBWAY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Osama Khalid, who works at the West Side Stop One deli on Amsterdam Avenue, was ﬁnalizing U.S. passport applications for his two daughters, who are in Yemen, when President Trump earlier this month signed an executive order barring travel from that country and six others. Photo: Richard Khavkine torn apart because of this.” Hussein Ghabsha, who works and helps run the Golden Deli on Broadway near 137th Street, said Trump’s order runs counter to the very idea of America. “This country was built on immigrants,” he said. “It’s the greatest country in the world.” Ghabsha, a 33-year-old father of three born in Yemen and an American citizen since he was a child, suggested that the day’s strike had parallels in the Civil Rights Movement. “They fought for people to be equal,” he said of the movement’s black leaders. Trump is “doing something I would never have imagined,” he said two hours before the deli, which is staffed by mostly Yemenis as well as some Central Americans, would close until about 8 p.m. “He’s the president for everybody. He needs to respect that. He leads for all,” Ghabsha said. “What this country is going through is very sad. ... It’s a damn shame.” According to Alnamer, the loss of business is ultimately worth the message that the protest will hopefully send to the President. His advice to Trump, he says, is “Let them in.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which on Sunday denied a Justice Department request for a stay of the executive order’s suspension, was to hear oral further arguments on Tuesday from the administration. For now, the Department of Homeland

Security is not ﬂagging people travelling from the seven countries named in the executive order, which also include Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Sudan. Outside of AMH Deli on Amsterdam at 103rd Street Feb. 2, Frank Cruz, a customer there, suggested that Trump risked alienating and stigmatizing a wide swath of the immigrant population, which he said is patriotic by deﬁnition, rather than by default. “We have to think more critically,” particularly with regard to refugees said Cruz, 47. “We have to understand the nuances.” He then listed major terrorist attacks — the Sandy Hook and Columbine school shootings, the Oklahoma City bombing and the Orlando, Florida, nightclub massacre — all perpetrated by Americans, all of them Americanborn. Trump, he said, was “painting with too broad a brush.” Ghabsha, of the Golden Deli, said that Yemenis who have for years lived legally in the U.S. but who returned to Yemen for any number reasons were being unjustly stigmatizing for what he said arbitrary reasons. “A lot of people came legally who applied years ago,” he said two hours before the deli, which is staffed by mostly Yemenis as well as some Central Americans, would close until about 8 p.m. “It’s not American. It’s not constitutional.” Madeleine Thompson and Laura Hanrahan contributed to this report.

The week of Jan. 30 was the line’s busiest yet, but daily use hovered close to 150,000 riders per day, according to MTA turnstile data, which is published online weekly. Though ridership has grown in each successive week since New Year’s Day, the number of riders using the Phase One new stations has not approached the 200,000 rider estimate on any day. Our Town’s analysis is based on data released weekly by the MTA showing the number of customers entering and exiting turnstiles in each subway station. The turnstile data does not account for passengers exiting stations via emergency gates or for passengers transferring to the Q train from the F train at 63rd Street-Lexington Avenue, but provides an approximate picture of ridership numbers. The MTA’s announcement gave an official Second Avenue ridership count for just one day — 155,000 on Friday, Jan. 27 — and made no mention of the 200,000 riders per day estimate, which dates to a 2004 MTA environmental study and has been frequently cited in press reports and official statements. The agency explained in the press release that ridership tallies for the line are based on entries and exits from the four Phase One stations, as well as customers transferring from the F train to the Q train at 63rd Street. Larry Penner, a transportation historian and advocate who worked for 31 years in the Federal Transit Administration’s N.Y. office, said that meeting ridership projections will be important as the MTA seeks to secure federal funding for the continuation of the Second Avenue project, which is planned to eventually span from 125th Street to Hanover Square in the Financial District. “The federal government is going to look at Phase One: did the ridership meet the estimates?” he said. “It’s in the MTA’s interest to prove to Uncle Sam that the full beneﬁt is met that was promised in the initial document.” U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, whose

Congressional district includes much of Manhattan’s East Side, announced Jan. 26 that Phases Two and Three of the Second Avenue subway will be included in President Donald Trump’s list of priority infrastructure projects. On Feb. 4, Maloney told Our Town that the Second Avenue subway is “the newest, biggest and best subway in the country right now.” In Washington, the subway expansion will compete to secure federal funding with dozens of other projects across the country. Before it can receive federal funding, the MTA will need to complete several steps, such as finishing a lengthy environmental review process and demonstrating local ﬁnancial commitment to the project, possibly by including it in the 2020-2024 MTA Capital Plan. Phase Two would extend the Second Avenue line north to 125th Street and is projected to serve an additional 100,000 weekday riders on average, according to the 2004 environmental study. Phase Three would extend service south to Houston Street, serving a projected 150,000 additional weekday riders. Phase Four would extend the line to Hanover Square, completing the project. While ridership numbers on the Second Avenue line may be underperforming expectations, the project appears to be fulﬁlling one of its other goals — reducing overcrowding on the nearby Lexington Avenue line. According to the MTA, weekday ridership in four Upper East Side stations on the Lexington Avenue line decreased by an average of 27 percent from last year, as East Side riders adjusted their commutes with the opening of the new line. Penner said that early returns on Second Avenue ridership are “not too bad, but it could be better,” adding that it would take more time before a clear picture emerges. As weather improves, he said, “I would think it’s only going to grow.” “Historically the ridership estimates are usually a little bit more rosy or optimistic than the numbers end up being, but sometimes they beat the estimates,” he said.

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HOMELESS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 spent walking around in the cold. By a show of hands, about a third of the crowd at P.S. 199 had participated in HOPE before. The rest, including myself, were first-timers. When 11 p.m. finally rolled around, district leader Martha Kenton guided the volunteers through the rules. Teams were to tackle three geographical areas near each other, and fill out a one-page form for every person they came across. If someone identified themselves as homeless, there were eight questions about age, veteran status, and location. Volunteers were then supposed to ask the person if they would like to be taken to a shelter, though we were reminded that they had every right to stay where they were. For non-homeless people, the only question after “Do you have a place to go tonight?” was, “Has anyone already asked you these questions?” We left for our survey areas before the 12:15 a.m. start time. My team leader, Mike, a financial analyst who participated in last year’s HOPE count, brought a car which we gratefully piled into for the journey up to Morningside Park. Other teams took the subway or walked

to their locations. Our group — which included Mike’s brother Dave, visiting from St. Louis, and Sonia, a holistic healthcare provider from Hell’s Kitchen — found a decent parking spot and walked to the starting point. A little over two hours later, after canvassing a segment of Morningside Heights and one slightly north in Harlem in addition to the park, my team of four returned to P.S. 199 having encountered zero homeless people. We ran into a total of 13 people on the sidewalks of our routes, but they were all either on their way home or out walking their dogs. “Do I look homeless?” a woman asked worriedly at West 110th and Morningside Drive. The last people we surveyed, at about 2:15 a.m., were congregating outside El Puerto Seafood on 125th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Old Broadway. After Mike introduced himself and described what we were doing there, one man took offense. “Just because we don’t live in a condo, you think we’re homeless?” he said. There was a moment of tension as Mike explained that we were required to stop everyone we saw, and the man said he was just giving Mike a hard time. They exchanged a ﬁst bump, and we continued on after determining that everyone had a place they called home. “Go over to East Harlem,” one man suggested, though it was out of our range. “There’s

people everywhere over there.” Back at P.S. 199 at 2:30 a.m., a closing bit of paperwork awaited every team. A homeless services employee instructed us to ﬁle each sheet in a corresponding envelope — we only used the “non-homeless” one — and then gave us feedback forms to ﬁll out. Sonia left comments about the maps being confusing to follow, and Mike listed his favorite part of the experience as meeting new people. The effectiveness of the HOPE count is somewhat up for debate. Shelter program manager Delon Ali last year criticized the survey for being limited to visibly homeless people staying on the streets. “There’s people who live in abandoned buildings and on rooftops, who actually hide from society so they may have a place to stay,” Ali told CBS News last April. Craig Hughes, a policy analyst with the Coalition for Homeless Youth, wrote on the CityLimits news site last month that “though seen as a ‘gold standard’ by [the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HOPE] produces systematic undercounts.” Hughes suggested that the city follow its onenight HOPE count with surveys over several more days to gather more details about street homeless populations, especially homeless youth. The number of New Yorkers sleeping in shelters each night has risen steadily over the

A LONGSHOT BID FOR MAYOR A police-reform advocate is planning to challenge de Blasio on race and immigrants’ rights issues BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

Robert Gangi, a longtime criminal justice reform advocate now launching a longshot mayoral campaign, has had the words of the novelist Chester Himes on his mind recently. Himes, upon learning of the acquittal of the men tried in the lynching of Mississippi teenager Emmett Till in 1955, reflected on the nature of racial injustice in America. “The real horror comes when your dead brain must face the fact that we as a nation don’t want it to stop,” he wrote in a letter to the New York Post. “If we wanted to, we would.” According to Gangi, one only has to look as far as the New York City Police Department to find evidence that the country has yet to grapple with the legacy Himes wrote of more than 60 years ago. The Police Reform Organizing Project, the advocacy group that Gangi established in 2011, found in a recent analysis of NYPD arrest statistics that in 2016, more than 86 percent of misdemeanor arrests involved New Yorkers of color, and that certain arrest categories — marijuana possession, trespassing, and theft of service, which is the charge for fare-evasion — involved New Yorkers of color at a rate upwards of 90 percent. PROP’s analysis is based on data from the state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services. The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on PROP’s findings. “Broken-windows policing targets low-income people of color for engaging in minor infractions that have largely been decriminalized in white communities,” Gangi says. “I used to say that’s our view or our opinion. Now I just say, that’s it. It’s a fact.” Gangi’s bid for the mayor’s office will rest on

a platform of broad and radical police reform. Among other proposals, he says he will overhaul the handling of 911 calls involving the mentally ill to reduce the incidence of police violence in such cases and establish a “truly independent” agency to investigate every alleged case of physically abusive policing. “We’re making the case that although the immediate beneficiaries of the policy changes we’re promoting would be low-income people of color, these changes will benefit the entire city because they will effectively address the ‘tale of two cities’ narrative that de Blasio talked about during his first campaign but has failed to address in many significant ways,” Gangi says. In 2013, Bill de Blasio’s call for an end to stopand-frisk policing became a central plank of his mayoral campaign and helped propel him to victory. But as the mayor seeks reelection this fall, Gangi will attempt to demonstrate that de Blasio’s actions in office show that his popular position on stop-and-frisk was a “political calculation” rather than a genuine effort at fundamental reform. “Specifically, he did follow through on the pledge to reduce the use of stop-and-frisk,” Gangi says. “He has not followed through, I think, on the spirit of his promises, which was significant reform and change in police practices.” The mission of protecting New York’s most vulnerable residents has become more urgent in light of President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal officials to deport undocumented immigrants charged with crimes, Gangi says. According to Gangi, de Blasio’s stance on policing is fundamentally at odds with his opposition to Trump’s order. “He can’t credibly champion both immigrants’ rights and brokenwindows policing, which he is attempting to do,” Gangi says. “There’s an internal conflict between the two of them.” Gangi plans to run as a Democrat and challenge

Robert Gangi believes that he can have an impact. Photo: Michael Garofalo de Blasio directly on these issues during the mayoral primary campaign. He has yet to formally launch his campaign and ﬁle with the Campaign Finance Board, but plans to do so in the coming weeks. Gangi, who will turn 73 by Election Day, grew up in Brooklyn, but has lived on Manhattan’s West Side ever since attending Columbia as an under-

past few years and now tops out at over 60,000, including 15,000 families. I wasn’t sure if I’d accomplished much of anything. The “frequently asked questions” section of the HOPE website assures me, however, that I was “vital” to the project: “Sometimes our volunteers see a high number of people, and other times no one at all. High density areas, which we expect have a relatively higher number of homeless people, and low density areas, which are expected to have few or none, help to give us the most accurate representation of New York City,” it reads. The results of last year’s survey were made available in late April. As Mike graciously drove us all home, Sonia offered that it was perhaps a good sign that we hadn’t seen any homeless people along our routes. Mike was more skeptical, guessing that there may be more of a homeless presence in places like Times Square, where people are “probably more sympathetic to panhandlers than Upper West Siders.” At the very least, according to my smartphone pedometer, we knocked out slightly more than six miles before going to bed. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com

graduate. Before founding PROP, he worked for 29 years with the Correctional Association of New York advocating for prison reform. He plans to run his campaign from the West 86th Street apartment where he has lived with his wife Barbara for 42 years. Though criminal justice reform is his life’s work, Gangi says he won’t be a single-issue candidate. He plans to advocate for an array of progressive policies, including reduced MTA fares for low-income residents and free college education in the CUNY system for New Yorkers. Gangi believes he can have an impact even if he doesn’t emerge victorious. He brings up Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid as an example of a campaign that shifted the mainstream of acceptable thought to include policy proposals that in years past were seen as politically perilous. Gangi says, “Maybe we can signiﬁcantly shift the political climate so that we could talk to the ghost of Chester Himes and say, ‘Things have changed to such a signiﬁcant degree in our society that the nation has shown that it is prepared to make the changes that will stop these kinds of things from happening.’”

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Voices

Write to us: To share your thoughts and comments go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a letter to the editor.

GET YER FISHWRAP! EAST SIDE OBSERVER BY ARLENE KAYATT

Paper values — Here’s the good news about The New York Times’s print editions — their subscriptions have increased at least tenfold since the November election. My only hesitation about cheering is that the news vendors who sell print media will be losing out and those of us who buy the newspapers will be too. Part of the ritual and fun of the print newspaper is going to the newsstand, reading all the tabloid and tabloid-y headlines and magazine covers — from the sedate Time and Atlantic magazines to the less-so People magazine to the unabashedly outrageous, lurid National Enquirer headlines — and going home with a handful of newspapers in a plastic bag (that may be ending, too, if the 5-cent charge for plastic goes into effect). Just hoping that the upswing in subscriptions won’t end newsstand life. Let’s talk tuna — One doesn’t necessarily think of tuna on a warm bagel when they think of Dunkin’ Donuts — but, truth to tell, it’s pretty

good. The bagel’s a little too big, but the tuna’s first-rate, and the price is right even though it may be higher than at another Dunkin’ Donuts location. Surprisingly — at least to me — prices of the tuna sammys varied from one Dunkin’ Donut store to another. In some locations they were $3.99. In others, $4.59. Calories were always 580 — and said so right alongside the item on the fluorescent-y menu over the counter. With rents soaring, food carts up and down the streets and in parking spaces opposite brick-and-mortar restaurants, take-outs, bodegas, what’s a business to do? Raise the prices, of course. What I couldn’t fig- Photo: Gerald Rich, via flickr ure out, though, was why a particuIn an elevator ride in my apartment lar location had a higher or a lower price. The Dunkin’ on Third Avenue building came the real-time realnear 55th, a commercial neighbor- ization that, at least for the next hood during the day, charges $3.99 four years, life on planet America for the tuna, and the one on Third is on a collision course. Four adults near 89th, a residential neighbor- were in an elevator going home on a hood, charges $4.59. Either price, weekday evening. A fifth was makit’s a good value, but why? Or maybe ing a take-out delivery to one of the apartments in the high-rise. He was why not? Deliverance — An ordinary en- wearing a helmet and an orange-y counter in a residential elevator flak-type top jacket, the uniform of foretold a tale that gave me pause. restaurant deliverers. Neither the I’d say it brought a tear to my eye, helmet nor the jacket had an ID. One but that leaves me open to ridicule. of the adult riders asked the young

SHARING MORE, LIVING BETTER BY JACQUELYN OTTMAN

Tucked into the corner of the laundry room in my co-op apartment building on the Upper East Side is a little free library created from a bookcase that was salvaged from a neighbor’s trash. Nearby sits a repurposed plastic hamper marked “Free Stuff.” For fifteen years the library has been providing residents with free reading material while the Free Stuff box has been serving as a convenient way to pass along gently-worn household goods for others to use. Representing just two good examples of what can be viewed as a hyperlocal form of the sharing economy,

these free, low-tech amenities also help our building’s residents prevent a lot of stuff from winding up in the trash, bringing a potential raft of beneﬁts to all New Yorkers. New York City has an ambitious zerowaste plan, but the recycling rate is only 17 percent, according to the Department of Sanitation. Meanwhile, a large portion of the City’s waste stream is composed of still usable items like furniture and clothing. So it makes sense for us to consider ways to keep such items circulating within our local economy, starting with our own buildings and neighborhoods. All around the world, communities

are exploring new ideas beyond the traditional white-elephant sales and thrift shops for stretching resources, cutting down on waste, and making social connections. We here in NYC can be inspired by some of these ideas to start the process of shifting our consumption culture to one that is less wasteful, and more regenerative for our society and economy. Here are five good ways for New Yorkers to start: 1. Take advantage of Stop ‘n’ Swaps, free public community reuse events run by GrowNYC at local greenmarkets, and support efforts to bring them to more communities. 2. If you don’t

man, “Where are you from?” Caught unawares, the young man fumbled and said in a quivering voice, “I’m legal, I’m legal. I go home and get papers.” Something tells me that, if there was a restaurant ID on the jacket, the question would not have been asked. And if it had been, the reaction would have been to give the name of the restaurant. However, in post-Trump America, some people are on high alert. No way to run a country. No way. Guilt by vet — A recent visit to the

already, give still usable items away on FreeCycle. Sign up for NextDoor.com, a new website that allows neighbors to borrow items from each other. Consult the DonateNYC page to ﬁnd folks who want your stuff. 3. Encourage more local library branches to lend items of interest to local residents, like Sacramento’s Library of Things, where residents can borrow sewing machines, musical instruments, and board games, or the four branches of the Queens Public Library that lend ties to job-seekers. Also, launch and support local places like the South Street Seaport Tool Library, where residents of lower Manhattan can now borrow power and hand tools. 4. Declare Sunday evening as “clear out the fridge night” and invite neighbors and friends to pool still edible leftovers. Get inspired by community

vet for my 5-year-old brown tiger tabby Mollie McGee and 15-yearolds Betty Boop and Gracie Allen was thumbs up. Betty’s diabetes is under control. So is Gracie’s renal problem. Betty gets her insulin twice a day. Gracie gets subcutaneous shots. Betty and Gracie get special medicinal food plus Fancy Feast Classic. Mollie gets only the Fancy Feast. Thank goodness. And then they all get some rotisserie chicken. After the vet conveyed the good news about their good health, she let me know about the new broths that Purina has added to their Fancy Feast by-product free offerings. I didn’t get to tell her that I wrote all about it several months ago when I described the seductive sounding gourmet selection packaged in glossy envelope packets with bluish or pinkish lettering describing the contents — from Wild Salmon & Vegetables to Chicken, Vegetables & Whiteﬁsh. Now Purina has added Purely Fancy Feast, a cardboard covered plastic container with Natural Tender Tongol Tuna Entree in a Delicate Broth Plus Vitamins and Minerals and similar sounding offerings. Price for the privilege of 2 oz - $1.49 to $1.59 at Petco. Betty, Gracie and Mollie leave their plates clean. Gracie and Mollie share a package. Betty gets one for herself. It’s a treat they get every so often. It costs. What can I say — they have a vet advocate.

refrigerators and little free pantries that are sprouting up all over the world to share food with neighbors and coworkers. 5. Repurpose an Amazon or other carton (which are certainly plentiful these days) into a “Free Stuff” box in your own building or workplace. It might seem strange that our waste can be a source of connection and a way to build in some economic resilience. But with the potential benefits we all can enjoy as a city and as individuals, it makes sense to try. All it takes is a neighbor or two willing to get the ball rolling in an apartment building, office break room, senior center, or other public space. Will it be you? Jacquelyn Ottman is an Upper East Side resident and the author of “The New Rules of Green Marketing.” More resources for sharing are at www.wehatetowaste.com/

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TO OUR READERS We are looking to add occasional commentary pieces to our Voices section. If you have a perspective on a newsworthy issue that affects your Manhattan neighborhood,

let us know. Please email a brief pitch (1 to 3 sentences) about your idea, with links to any recently published work to me, Alexis Gelber, at editor.ot@strausnews.com.

Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal hosted a “Fact vs. Fiction” panel at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun on West 88th Street. Photo: Madeleine Thompson

SEPARATING FACT FROM FAKE Media literacy forum draws a crown BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

“It’s amazing how many dystopian novels predicted this,” says a woman to her two companions. “‘1984.’ How about the ‘The Hunger Games?’” One of her friends says she hasn’t read “The Hunger Games,” and the others promise to lend her a copy. They are discussing news events from the last two weeks since President Donald Trump took office. Many at the relatively full house attending a “Fact vs. Fiction” panel hosted by Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal last week at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun seemed to share the women’s disbelief at current events, and hoped to learn from the event’s speakers how to cope with fake news and alternative facts. Some pointers the panelists gave out at the well-attended forum urged consumers of media to be skeptical of everything: look out for headlines that promise to reveal something “the media” doesn’t want them to know, make sure the article has a byline by an actual person, check the publication’s website’s “about” section to see if it is a parody or satirical. “The best fact-checker is between your ears,” Damaso Reyes, program coordinator at the News Literacy Project,” said. “We shouldn’t get too reliant on any one website ... any one technology to save us. The 21st century is about being engaged and critical of the information you are encountering.” Reyes was joined on the panel by Katherine Fry, a professor of media studies at Brooklyn College CUNY; DC Vito, executive director of the Learning about Multimedia Project; Darragh Worland, vice president of digital media at the News Literacy Project; and moderator Michelle Ciulla, executive director of the National Association

for Media Literacy Education. The group was assembled by Rosenthal in partnership with the National Association for Media Literacy Education. Its goal was to address widespread concern over unreliable media sources and how best to know what’s really going on in the world. A main focus of the panel was social media, which has radically changed the way information spreads and is spread. “Journalists are actively seeking new ways to do their job,” Fry said. “You are now part of that pool. If you are at all on social media, you are part of the new face of journalism.” She described the new digital environment we live in, reminding listeners that countless algorithms dictate what they see on the internet. When Ciulla Lipkin read out the numbers of people who have active Facebook and Twitter accounts — a billion on Facebook and 313 million on Twitter — there was an audibly shocked response from attendees. One attendee asked what concrete steps can be taken to separate sponsored content from genuine journalism, to which Vito suggested installing ad-blocking software. But even this method isn’t perfect, Worland pointed out, because blocking ads can deprive the news outlet of much-needed revenue. Closing out the forum, Rosenthal reminded the audience to try to avoid being overwhelmed by the breakneck pace of the endless news cycle. “Make sure you get enough sleep, make sure you’re eating right, take some showers,” she said, eliciting laughter. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m talking to myself. But do it because we’re in this for the long game. [Trump] will win if we tire ourselves out.” Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@ strausnews.com

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Fri 10 DROP-IN DRAWING

Hunter College High School, 71 East 94th St. 7 p.m. $15 Hunter College High School Theater presents Arthur Millerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s post-war play written in 1947. 212-860-1267. hunterschools.org/hs

The Met Breuer, 945 Madison Ave. 6:30-8:30 p.m. RSVP Draw inspiration from artists and original works of art. See The Breuerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collection through creative drawing challenges in the galleries. 212-650-2010. metmuseum. org

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POETRY NIGHT

The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave. 6:30-8 p.m. $15. Esther Da Costa Meyer, curator of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pierre Chareau: Modern Architecture and Design,â&#x20AC;? discusses the French architect/designer and his cultural Franco-Jewish milieu. 212-423-3200. jewishmuseum.org

Irving Farm Coffee Roasters, 1424 Third Ave. 7-9 p.m. In honor of Black History Month, poetry night with open mic. Read one (or more) poem(s) by a black poet before you read your own. 646-861-2949. irvingfarm. com

Sat 11 A CAPPELLA Congregation Or Zarua, 127 East 82nd St. 1:30 p.m. Free Magevet â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a group of Yale University students known for sweet blend of voices, unique arrangements and sense of humor, perform Jewish music and Israeli hits. 212-452-2310.

F. CHOPIN/I. DUNCAN The Kosciuszko Foundation, 15 East 65th St. 5-8 p.m. $30 Theater of Love presents masterpieces from Isadora Duncanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original dances and new works to Old Masters in solo, duet and small group performances. 212-734-2130. thekf.org

FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

Sun 12

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VIOLIN HOUR

Tue 14

Christ the Savior Orthodox Church, 340 East 71st St. 1-2 p.m. $20 Russian violinist Natasha Lipkina performs Johann Sebastian Bach, Gideon Klein and Alfred Schnittke. Tickets at the door. 212-744-8502. oca.org/ parishes/oca-ny-nyccsc

ART FOR KIDS Shakespeare & Co, 939 Lexington Ave. 3:30-5 p.m. Author/illustrator David Cundy leads workshop based on his book “Animals Spell Love.” Kids illustrate messages of love and friendship. 212-772-3400. shakespearenyc.com

Mon 13

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COMMUNITY RUN JackRabbit, 1255 Lexington Ave. 7-9:30 p.m. Free. RSVP. Meet at JackRabbit, 1255 Lexington Ave., at 7 p.m. for a free, 4-mile run through Central Park. Run ends at Shake Shack, 154 East 86th St. 646-604-7098. shakeshackcom.

ILLUSTRATORS TOUR▼ Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd St. 6:30-7:30 p.m. $20-$25. RSVP. Tour of one of the most comprehensive collections of this genre in the world, containing over 2,500 works by many greatest names in illustration.

212-838-2560. societyillustrators.org

Wed 15 ‘MYTHIC BOHEMIA’ | PHOTOS ▼ Church of the Resurrection, 321 East 73rd St. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Free Explore Antonin Dvorak’s beloved country house at Vysoka, the Czech Republic, its scenic surroundings in photographs by photographer Eva Heyd. 646-422-3300. bohemiannationalhall.com

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BOOK DISCUSSION Barnes & Noble, 150 East 86th St. 7 p.m. Free Reading Group selection for this night is “I Am Pilgrim,” a mystery-thriller, followed by discussion with its author, Terry Hayes. 212-369-2180. barnesandnoble.com

BAR/BAT MITZVAHS Y SWEET SIXTEENS Y WEDDINGS

AESTHETIC MOVEMENT ▲ The Grolier Club, 47 East 60th St. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free “The Aesthetic Movement in Print and Beyond,” a stark and shocking contrast to the crass materialism of Britain in the 19th century. Through March 11. 212-838-6690. grolierclub. org

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Detail of Victo Ngai's "Clover", via societyillustrators.org

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FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

INSTRUMENTS OF REVOLUTION Women, art and the avant-garde on view at MoMA BY MARY GREGORY

Before the rosy glow fades from the wave of pink hats, pink signs, pink frustration and pink power that washed New York and cities around the world, it seems a good time to consider how women artists have been represented in the art world. MoMA presents a great opportunity. While curators Roxana Marcoci, Sarah Suzuki and Hillary Reder were preparing the comprehensive, thoughtprovoking and visually delightful “A Revolutionary Impulse: The Rise Of The Russian Avant-Garde” (timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of 1917 Russian Revolution), they may have expressed a revolutionary impulse of their own. Women’s rights aren’t claimed to be a focus of the exhibition, but women sure do get center stage. In MoMA’s gentle uprising that presents some 250 works culled from its collection, the first piece in the show is Lyubov Popova’s black and

white wonder of positive/negative space, “Untitled,” and of the 11 artists highlighted on the exhibition’s website, ﬁve are women. Almost half. Not half bad. Besides the complex geometries, controlled colors and adamantly modern compositions that ﬁll the galleries, one of the most overwhelming impressions comes from reading the wall labels and encountering, over and over again, the names of women artists. It’s rare to have a women’s group show (look for a smattering in March, Women’s History Month). But it’s practically unheard of to have women hanging alongside male art stars and be given equal weight and equal consideration. It’s heartening to see. The Russian Revolution of 1917, which began on International Women’s Day with demands from women for bread and peace, led to a state that changed the rules for women. While Suffragettes marched in New York and Margaret Sanger was being tried and sentenced for disseminating information on birth control, Russian women such as Popova, Alexandra Exter and Natalia Goncharova, who’d already

Soft lines and colors delight in Vasily Kandinsky’s “Improvisation” (c. 1914). Photo: Adel Gorgy

gained significant rights, were busily redefining art. “We ourselves are creating our own hypotheses anew and only upon them ... can we build our new life and new world view,” Popova wrote. Cubist geometries in muted tones line up like orderly comrades in a series of her linoleum prints, while the same forms, vigorously brushed in primary colors and with deep shadows in “Subject from a Dyer’s Shop,” seem ready to jump into the viewer’s space. An exhibition this carefully crafted and with this many works tells lots of stories. Political and social history played a huge role in the art of Russia, as did links to European trends, and they’re all here. Loads of “isms” can be found as well. Cubism. Constructivism. Suprematism. Rayonism. NeoPrimitism. Cubo-Futurism. These guys loved a good manifesto and a fancy name to slap on it. MoMA’s trove of works from this hotbed of creativity is particularly rich. An early Picasso/Braque-derived Cubist exploration by Kazimir Malevich, “Samovar,” hangs in the first gallery, providing interesting insights into how one of the most avant-garde painters of all time started out following a groove others had dug. Adjacent to it is a lovely watercolor in pink, azure, yellow and green, “Improvisation,” by Vasily Kandinsky. Gaze upon a sun with jagged green rays, some things that look like trees, perhaps a shoreline dotted with pebbles. If you squint, you can make a case for it being pure, non-representational abstraction. Though it might be more Fauve than revolution-inspired, it’s too beautiful to leave out of the show. Enjoy it on its own merits. It would be hard to think of a more revolutionary painting than Malevich’s 1918 “Suprematist Composition: White on White.” While Cubists in France were chopping subjects into tiny little fragments and Italian Futurists left zippy trails behind things to suggest movement, Malevich basically asked: Who needs subjects? Calling his movement Suprematism, Malevich pronounced, by painting a white square on top of an off-white background, his belief in “the supremacy of pure feeling or perception in the pictorial arts.” The exhibition presents a rare whole wall full outstanding Malevich abstract paintings and drawings.

An early Kazimir Malevich, “Samovar,” explored Cubism before the artist rejected it. Photo: Adel Gorgy A group of Rayonist works by Natalia Goncharova and her husband, Mikhail Larionov, with slashes of intense tones bursting from unknown axis points, confirm the fervent dedication of Russian painters to finding and exploring newness. Photography and film, poetry and literature joined the avant-garde trends, and the exhibition includes a great selection of photographs by Aleksandr Rodchenko as well as stage and costume designs, and books, posters and leaflets with sophisticated, edgy works of art on the covers. Sculptural highlights are Rodchenko’s “Spatial Construction no. 12” and Naum Gabo’s beloved “Head of a Woman,” the ultimate pop-up book, an astonishing drawing come to life in three dimensions of cut and pasted celluloid and metal. But for me, many of the most delightful moments came through the work of female hands, highlighted and given pride of place by other female hands a century apart. Popova and Goncha-

rova start the exhibition. Alexandra Exter’s large, vibrant “Construction” balances color, poise and tension, and her “Cubist Nude/Theatrical Composition” sparkles on its own wall. Varvara Stepanova’s “Figure” presents charm and whimsy even under the auspices of a revolution, and Olga Rozanova’s “The Factory and the Bridge” would have been right at home at New York’s Armory Show in 1913. Thanks to Marcoci, Suzuki and Reder, and a centennial reconsideration, it only took a little over 100 years for the work of these great pioneering women artists’ voices and visions to shine once again. The curators write, “Made in response to changing social and political conditions, these works probe and suggest the myriad ways that a revolution can manifest itself in an object.” Leaving the exhibition, as I did, with a list of women artists to learn more about demonstrated how a revolution can also be manifested in an exhibition.

FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

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MUSIC MEETS MEDICINE Jam sessions with classmates and concerts at Julliard havve “healing” powers for med students and patients BY MICHELE WILLENS

You would not expect to ﬁnd such melodic happenings at a medical institution—but at the Weill Cornell Medical Center, the halls are alive with the sound of music. It began about ﬁve years ago, when Dr. David Shapiro noticed that a surprising number of students applying to Weill Cornell Medical College on the Upper East Side had serious musical talents. It dawned on Shapiro, a psychiatrist and professor, that students should not give up one passion for another, but rather combine them. Thus was born the Music and Medicine Initiative, which offers musical activities that encompass jazz, choral and orchestral ensembles. Some kind of musical happening springs from the Initiative at any time, even if it is just nurses, doctors, residents and professors jamming for locals to enjoy. On March 10th, the Music and Medicine Orchestra will play a concert at Julliard. The first person Shapiro called, when the idea occurred to him, was Dr. Richard Kogan, another psychiatrist and professor associated with Weill. Kogan himself had merged psychiatric expertise with piano mastery, performing solo concerts in venues large and small. “It began when the American Psychiatric Association asked me to do something on mental illness and creativity,” he recalls. He intersperses performing the works of famous composers with a narrative of their lives. “The more I read about the artists, the more they sounded like my patients,” Kogan says. At the end of January, he presented a talk on Chopin — who suffered from mood swings, depression and performance anxiety — to a full auditorium at Rockefeller University. He played several of the composer’s best-known pieces, including his “Revolutionary” Etude (also known as “The Bombardment of Warsaw”) about Chopin’s home country, which he yearned for but did not return to, and Piano Sonata No. 2, which includes what Kogan called the most famous funeral

Photo courtesy Richard Kogan

ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND march ever composed. The event was sponsored by Memorial Sloan Kettering, one of three facilities that are neighbors on York Avenue and share in the bounties of the Initiative. Kogan — who enjoys pointing out pieces that have been dedicated to composers’ psychiatrists, including Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto — immediately signed on as Artistic Director of the Music and Medicine Initiative. “For many years, I led parallel lives,” he says. “So I am proud to be part of a project that brings a more humanistic approach to medicine and has made our medical center the most music friendly in the country.” Weill Cornell collaborates with places like Julliard, where there is a nice synchronicity: Weill Cornell provides health care for Julliard as well as other performing arts entities. The medical school’s graduation is held at Carnegie Hall, where the new graduates perform as well as receive diplomas. The Steinway Company has given three of its classic pianos to the school; 20 percent of its sales have been to physicians. Who knew?

Kogan speaks of the “healing” powers of music and both he and Shapiro see benefits to the future physicians and their patients alike. “I really do believe that musicians make better doctors than non-musicians,” says Shapiro. As for the students, the lure of mixing music and medicine has an obvious impact. “The program was definitely a big draw for coming to Weill Cornell,” says one, Lisa Zhang. “Not only is it well funded and promoted with enthusiasm, but students are heavily encouraged to introduce new initiatives and shape the organization.” “I am a medical student ﬁrst,” adds Mark Sonnick, “but it is also important to have outlets when one is engaged in such a strenuous academic undertaking.” Another student, Peter Hung, goes a step further: “Actually, everything cool that I’ve done in med school seems to have to do with music. Putting on mini-recitals for patients, orchestra with Julliard, graduation at Carnegie Hall, jam sessions with classmates. On some days I practice more than I study!”

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

For the Love of Music and Space

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH, 6PM The Explorers Club | 6 E. 70th St. | 212-628-8383 | explorers.org If Baylor has a Center for Space Medicine, humanity must be ready to take exploring to another level. Hear from Baylor’s Dr. Dorit Donoviel as she’s joined by her uncle, a Met Opera violinist, to look at risk and creativity. A live performance will cap the evening. ($25)

City of Science Series: The Secrets of Animal Communication

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH, 6:30PM Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave. | 212-817-7000 | gc.cuny.edu Tap into your animal instincts at this scientiﬁc exploration on how the critter kingdom converses with each other—and with us. Experts in dogs, dolphins, and bird song will be on hand. (Free)

Just Announced | UN-BANNED: A Day of Philosophy, Poetry, Politics & the Arts

MONDAY, MARCH 27TH, ALL DAY Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave. | 212-817-7000 | gc.cuny.edu Fight fear and ignorance by hearing directly from New York philosophers, artists, students, and scholars who originate from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria. (Free)

For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,

FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS

18 Restaurant

240 East 81 Street

Grade Pending (23) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

The Penrose

1590 2 Avenue

Antonucci

168-170 East 81 Street

Grade Pending (17) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.

Ethyl’s

1629 2Nd Ave

Pizza Beach

1426 3Rd Ave

Grade Pending (19) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

JAN 20 - FEB 2, 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/restaurantinspection.shtml. Oslo Coffee Roasters

422 East 75 Street

Six Happiness

1413 2Nd Ave

Not Yet Graded (31) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.

Famous Famiglia Pizza 1248 Lexington Ave

Not Yet Graded (23) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Joe Coffee

1045 Lexington Avenue

Vivolo

138140 East 74 Street

By The Way Bakery

1236 Lexington Ave

Bagels & Co

500 E 76Th St

Ichie Japanese Restaurant

1215 Lexington Ave

Tanoshi Bento

1372 York Ave

Grade Pending (24) 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.

Not Yet Graded (7) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Flex Mussels

174 East 82 Street

Brasserie Magritte

1463 Third Avenue

Grade Pending (20) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

16 Handles

1569 2 Avenue

Subway

1205 Lexington Ave

Aki Sushi

1531 York Ave

Grade Pending (21) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Seamstress

339 East 75 Street

Piazza Pizza & Grill

1530 3 Avenue

Grade Pending (26) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

“IF ONLY SOMEONE WOULD CLEAN UP THIS PARK.”

BE THE SOMEONE. Every day, we think to ourselves that someone should really help make this city a better place. Visit newyorkcares.org to learn about the countless ways you can volunteer and make a difference in your community.

Cat New York Cares Volunteer

FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

Geoffrey Zakarian, Margaret Zakarian, Jeanne Straus, Publisher of Our Town

Margaret Zakarian, Geoffrey Zakarian, Cam Patterson of NewYork-Presbyterian

Our Town’s Editor-in-Chief Alexis Gelber, Mark Whitaker, Geoffrey Zakarian

New York State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, United States Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney

SOLD OUT ART OF FOOD EVENT A SUCCESS

More than 700 Upper East Siders flocked to Sotheby’s on Saturday night, Feb. 4 for Our Town’s second annual Art of Food event. Upon entry, ticketholders stopped for photos on the red carpet before wining and dining alongside the event’s hosts: Food Network star Geoffrey Zakarian and his wife, Margaret. The unique event, complete with live music from Metro Strings, challenged some of the best chefs in the neighborhood — from Maya’s Richard Sandoval to Vaucluse’s Michael White — to create a dish based on a piece of artwork curated by Sotheby’s. Hugh Mangum, of Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque, was paired with Hans Hoffman’s “Untitled Seascape.” He prepared Pastrami with spatzel and kraut, paying homage to Hoffman’s childhood in Germany, and his adopted home of New York City, where the artist immigrated in 1932. Flex Mussel’s Rebecca Richards served up South Pacific Mussels inspired by Sol LeWitt’s “Untitled.” “The deep blue undertones of ‘Untitled’ are reminiscent of the pearlescent gradation of a mussel shell,” noted Richards. “‘Untitled’ evokes feelings of comfort, but also solitude—as the mussels each live individually.” Foodies were drawn to the delicacies served by nearly 30 of the East Side’s finest eateries, while art enthusiasts marveled at some of the most sought-after contemporary pieces on the market, such as Koons’ “Dom Pérignon Balloon Venus,” Calder’s “Untitled,” and Ed Ruscha’s “Broken Pencil.” “We’re really thrilled that we were able to bring members of our community together while shining a spotlight on the neighborhood’s great restaurants,” said Jeanne Straus, publisher of Our Town. “We’re already looking forward to next year.”

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer

Laura DesMoine, Jennifer Roberts, and Randi Fisher of Engel and Voelkers

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

A ‘NIGHT’ MARATHON 66 readers in five hours: Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust book and the “lessons of yesterday” BY GENIA GOULD

On Sunday, Jan. 29, I made a move from Brooklyn to Manhattan with a truck, a crew of three, and lots of heavy boxes. Several hours later, at the Museum for Jewish Heritage for a live, ﬁve-hour reading of “Night,” Elie Wiesel’s book based on his experiences in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, I was reminded of how a brigade line, or a human chain, can make the job easier. I thought of the weight of the subject as one after the other, with no commentary, a varied group of readers “held” the words of the late writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor. The 66 readers who participated in the reading were wide-ranging, from Holocaust survivors to community leaders to Broadway and TV stars, to thought leaders and journalists. The readers were of many faiths and backgrounds, and each read two to three minutes of Wiesel’s work. Former Governor Eliot Spitzer, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, actress Jessica Hecht, critic Edward Rothstein, and

Muhammed Drammeh, a student, were among the individuals that I was present for. Some of the other readers included Rabbi Yits Greenberg, Itzhak Perlman, Andre Aciman, Ellen Burstyn and Bill T. Jones. I asked the director of the museum, Michael Glickman, who was installed in September 2016, to talk about the organizing structure for the reading. “We were looking to have the greatest possible impact,” said Glickman. “What struck us about creating a structure that would enable that many people to partake and read, was, how do we do it in a way that is not disruptive. The stream of readers from start to ﬁnish so eloquently were able to capture Elie’s words without distraction or fuss. There were no moments of speeches or remarks — it was designed to be an experience to take hold of while being physically in the space.” The selection and sequence of readers was intentionally random and diverse, “and, quintessentially New York,” said Glickman. “We wanted it to look and feel and sound like NYC.” The readers, even those who were not actors, read with the feeling of storytellers. Considering that there was no rehearsal, said Glickman, “ev-

Elisha Wiesel at the concludion of a ﬁve-hour reading of his father’s seminal “Night” at the Museum for Jewish Heritage Jan. 29. Photo: John Halpern eryone did a spectacular job, no one was not fully prepared to deliver their section.” I mentioned to Glickman that what stood out to me as an audience member was that in every section during the hours I was present, there was invariably a motif of soup. “The absolute removal of the basic components of life for those in the camps … soup, water, hot coffee … was a fundamental policy and fundamental effort of the

Nazis,” said Glickman. Those in concentration camps “had in some cases just enough to survive and in other cases not enough, and it was an important way to understand the torment and the detriment of the experience that the Jews of Europe were going through.” While the reading had been planned before the election of Donald Trump, Glickman said that in the current political climate it “morphed into some-

thing bigger, it felt more important after the election.” “Moments like this are important,” said Glickman. “I’m hopeful that the impact on the community at large by presenting this reading, by gathering this illustrious group of readers to our stage, will help shine a light out there for people to understand that ... the lessons of yesterday are not to be overlooked.”

THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BOOK CLUB? A new campaign invites New Yorkers to vote on a work for the whole city to read BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

Can a single book unite a city? A new campaign launched by the mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in partnership with BuzzFeed aims to do just that. “One Book, One New York” kicked off Feb. 1 with the nomination of five books for New Yorkers to vote on. Accompanying events and a talk by the winning author will follow over the next few months. The nominated books are “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz, “The Sellout” by Paul Beatty and “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith. The idea of a city-wide book club was first attempted about 15 years ago without success. “Members of a selection committee, self-appointed arbiters, found themselves unable to

settle on a suitable work,” the New York Times reported in 2002. “They had narrowed the search to two ﬁnalists. ... Then the wheels came off the wagon, for a quintessentially New York reason: fear of giving offense.” According to Julie Menin, commissioner of the Office of Media and Entertainment, the mistakes of last time helped guide the planning for the second attempt. “We certainly did not want to have [the same] issue,” said Menin, who spent Feb. 3 touring several independent bookstores. “So we had a really terrific committee of academics, a number of different cultural heads and representatives from the publishing industry, and we got a list of over 50 recommendations and then we whittled that list down to ﬁve.” The accompanying ad campaign promoting “One Book, One New York” includes two jumbotrons in Times Square, ads on bus shelters, subways and LinkNYC kiosks, as well as celebrity clout lent by Danielle Brooks, Larry Wilmore, Bebe Neuwirth, Giancarlo Esposito and Wil-

liam H. Macy. The actors appeared in promotional videos discussing the project and the books they chose to sponsor. “My pick is near and dear to my heart,” Brooks says in one video. “‘Between the World and Me’ is relevant now more than ever before.” The publishers of each of the five books have distributed 4,000 free copies of them throughout the city’s more than 200 libraries. According to Menin, the choice of these actors was a deliberate way of attracting fans of their TV shows — such as “Orange is the New Black” and “Madam Secretary” — to join the campaign. “We know that people will become obsessed with a series, and we wanted to encourage that same kind of attention and focus on reading,” she said. The themes of the ﬁve book choices were similarly intentional. “These books are all largely about immigration, the sense of sometimes being an outsider,” Menin said. “Many of the books deal with topics of race. Certainly in this political climate that we’re in, a person cannot think of a better time for New York City

Julie Menin, the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, with two of ﬁve books nominated for a city-wide book club. Photo: Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to say ‘these are books that we embrace, and we embrace the concept of inclusion.’” Menin added that she hopes that “One Book, One New York” will bring awareness to the importance of reading and having access to books. New Yorkers can vote online and at

interactive kiosks in some subway stations until the end of February. Menin said that, so far, “thousands and thousands” of people have voted. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com

FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

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FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

CHOOSING A CAMP: DON’T FORGET THE DATA! Dates, costs, location are all important, but quantifiable information can be of help too BY LAURIE BROWNE

Researching and scheduling summer camp seems to take the most time and effort. You might think that, as an American Camp Association employee, I have insider information or a detailed list of criteria for researching camps. Nope — selecting summer camps for my kids is largely about dates and cost. While there are lots of other criteria that we consider (ACA accreditation, for example), it quickly becomes too much information to juggle in my wobbly game of Memory. So, in the end, camp choice is far more about logistics than it is about rigorous criteria. But there is one criteria I am adding to my list, and I think you should too: data. By data, I do not necessarily mean piles of numbers, but rather the information a camp uses to improve their programs and understand their

Photo: Ben Sutherland

impact. For some camps, this information might be results from a survey that assesses camper outcomes while, for other camps, it might be observations of their staff in action that they use to make improvements. Whatever the form, the use of data says a lot about a camp, and could be a way for you to get the most bang for your buck from your child’s camp experience. Here’s why: 1. A camp that uses data is likely to have an overall culture of improvement, inquiry and creativity. Evaluating camp programs is really difficult. Not only does it require time and expertise, but it requires camp administrators to be open to what they might ﬁnd. An organization that supports this kind of openness is also one that is likely to engage its frontline staff — camp counselors and activity instructors — in decision-making in ways that other camps do not. And this translates directly into quality camp experiences because staff who feel more engaged are also more likely to implement program improvements as planned.

Photo: Home Church - Mountain View

2. A camp that uses data is likely to understand the relation between camp and school. Camps are up against tough competition for your child’s summertime hours, especially from academic-based “summer learning” opportunities. However, many colleges and employers are now recognizing the importance of 21st century skills, which include teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity. Camps who measure these outcomes know that what kids gain at camp trans-

lates directly into improved academic performance- and you can use these outcomes to help your child make connections between what they learned at camp and what they are doing at school. 3. A camp that uses data values camper and parent input, which means that you have a voice in your child’s experience. I hesitated a little when writing this because I do not want to suggest that when a camp gives you a survey they are also giving

you complete control over their program. But it does mean that you and your child have a voice, and that voice is powerful if you use it constructively. If a camp sends you a survey — take it! — and use this opportunity to provide useful feedback. Responding with all high number or all low numbers is not generally helpful; a variety of responses will help camps identify speciﬁc aspects of their program to focus on. Use open-ended questions to provide concise but usable feedback. Camps who survey parents and campers have lots of data to deal with, and lengthy or unhelpful feedback is likely to get ignored. Ensure your voice is heard by completing any survey the camp sendsyou right away and with careful thought. Choosing a camp is not easy, and too many criteria make it even harder. Of the criteria you use, you might consider looking into the camp’s use of data, or, more broadly, the ways they collect and use information to make their decisions. Adding this to your list of things to think about might make your game of Memory even more difﬁcult, or it might make the table less wobbly. In the meantime, check out our Research 360 blog to see all of the ways camps are thinking and talking about using evaluation to provide high quality camp experiences for your child. Reprinted by permission of the American Camp Association. ©2017, American Camping Association, Inc. Laurie Browne is an assistant professor of Recreation Management at California State University, Chico.

FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

RECORD NUMBER OF 311 CALLS MADE IN 2016

311 City-Wide Totals Calls to 311 19,378,299 311 Online Visits 15,259,879 311 Mobile App 1,135,045 311-692 Text 119,332 311 Chat 83,064 311 Twitter 6,895 Total 35,982,514

BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

Last year saw the largest number of calls ever to city helpline 311, with noise complaints raking in the most of the 19,378,299 total calls. With a population of approximately 8.5 million, that amounts to about 4.2 calls per New Yorker. According to 311 spokesman Bill Reda, the steady increase over the past few years is likely due to the addition of the 311 website in 2009, followed by a mobile app, social media accounts and text message availability. Forty-six percent of requests to 311 came through digitally in 2016 -- up from 38 percent in 2015 -- but the agency maintains a robust call center staff. In many ways, Reda said, 2016 was a fairly quiet year for 311, with the exception of the record-breaking snowstorm that took place about a year ago. Complaints often spike in the winter because of snow- and heat-related issues. “Whether they’re tweeting at 311 or using their smartphones to ﬁle complaints, New Yorkers are increasingly using digital means to contact the city or ﬁnd information,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. Data courtesy of NYC 311.

Top complaint types city-wide

Noise 370,645 Apartment Maintenance 366,047 No Heat/ Hot Water 227,959 Illegal Parking 122,479 Blocked Driveway 119,046

Total complaints in community boards our papers cover CB 1 2 4 7 8 Total

2015 19,800 33,654 39,958 42,372 42,311 180,110

2016 21,936 34,532 41,870 42,426 42,086 184,866

Top category of complaint in each community board, 2015 1: Noise 2: Lost property in taxi 4: Lost property in taxi 7: No heat or hot water 8: Noise - construction

Top category of complaint in each community board, 2016 1: Noise 2: Noise - construction, as in not residential 4: Noise - construction 7: No heat or hot water 8: Noise - construction

Honor & Recognize The Top Contributors to a Better Life on the West Side Hector Batista Big Brothers & Sisters of NYC

Tom Bernstein, Roland Betts David Tewksbury Chelsea Piers Rev. Robert Brashear West Park Presbyterian Church

Renee Edelman Children’s Museum of Manhattan

Olive Freud Committee for Environmentally Safe Development

Rabbi Joy Levitt JCC Manhattan

Robert and Judith Long Long’s Bedding

Capt. Ciro Napolitano FDNY

Scott Parker PS 452

Linda Rosenthal NY State Assemblymember

Kate Wood Landmark West

Sponsor the Spirit’s WESTY’S Issue February 23 Call Vincent Gardino for rates @ 212.868.0190 x407 or advertising@strausnews.com Sponsored in part by

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Summer Camps! Straus Media Manhattan Newspapers Reach 150,000+ loyal readers weekly in Doorman Buildings and Key Locations. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll help you drive summer camp registration.

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YOUR 15 MINUTES

SHE’S WITH THE BANJO Cynthia Sayer on re-popularizing the 4-string banjo and the jazz of the 1920s and ‘30s BY ANGELA BARBUTI

Cynthia Sayer made a career out of doing something she loves. Upon graduation from college, she began to play the banjo professionally, always thinking she would do that until she settled into a more mature occupation. “I had to give myself permission, really, to say I love playing music and there’s nothing wrong with earning your living at what you love,” she said. “I made a very good choice for myself. I feel very fortunate. And I still absolutely love what I do after all these years.” That choice opened many doors for the Upper West Side resident, at home and around the world. Although she loves playing at iconic venues – she is fairly certain she was the only banjoist ever to grace the stage at the Metro-

politan Opera House – her talents has brought her to play in Washington, D.C., for two presidents and in the Middle East to play for sheiks and kings. Other memorable parts of her resume include that she is a founding member of Woody Allen’s jazz band, was the official banjoist for the Yankees and had a Trivial Pursuit question crafted in her honor. On Feb. 9, she will be playing at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center for the ﬁrst time. She calls the program, titled “Highlights in Jazz,” “a swinging night of music and hot jazz.”

Why the banjo? I read your parents bribed you with it in place of the drums. Yes, that is a true story. And I showed them – I became a banjo player. I’m just kidding. I was planning to go to law school. I did very well in school and my parents encouraged that. I didn’t actually know if I wanted to be an attorney, but it seemed like a good suggestion just to get a degree and then take it from there. But I never did go.

I became a musician, I thought, just for a few years after my undergrad. I thought one year, and then I thought two years, and then I kept going and never changed. It didn’t seem, at the time, like I was being a proper grownup. I guess I was trained to think differently about what being an adult was all about.

You’ve recorded nine CDs. How can you describe them? Banjo is, of course, more popularly associated with bluegrass and folk music. When people think of banjo, that’s their automatic association. But the 4-string jazz banjo is actually a different instrument. They’re both called banjos, but what I play is a different number of strings and it’s tuned differently and played completely different. It has a very important and venerable role in jazz history and, unfortunately, it’s semi-forgotten. And I have this sort of mission of repopularizing the jazz banjo because there is a wonderful resurgence of early jazz styles, music from the 1920s and ‘30s, but people still don’t quite connect to banjo as being a very important part of hot jazz sound. And so, I try to show the surprising diversity of the 4-string banjo.

How did it come about that you were in Woody Allen’s band, playing the piano? Yes, I actually was the pianist in the band for over 10 years. There was a certain band that played with him for years at Michael’s Pub and then the band changed. And the banjo player in the band invited me to play piano. And I said, “There are a million great piano players in this city, why would you ask me? I’m better on banjo.” And then I realized that the particular style that Woody likes to play in is paying tribute to a New Orleans musician named George Lewis. And the band is a sort of a Bunk Johnson- George Lewis-style band. And it’s a very particular kind of sound in music. And I realized that I actually was an OK ﬁt on piano because I understood this kind of music, whereas the New York players have this extraordinary technical skill and they didn’t really tend to connect to this style. I loved the band. It was really great. I did play banjo with them sometimes, whenever the regular banjo player, Eddy Davis, couldn’t make it. So I’ve actually played banjo with the band many times as well, but my regular chair was on piano.

You were the official banjoist of the Yankees which spawned your very own Trivial Pursuit question.

Photo: Gary Spector

[Laughs] Well, it’s so funny because I’m not a big sports fan, but no matter where that is on my resume, people always ﬁnd that. I’m actually a Trivial Pursuit question as well. [Laughs] I

Photo: Gary Spector didn’t even know about it. Somebody came up and told me, “Oh, I got the Trivial Pursuit question right about you.” And I said, “What are you talking about?” And then I learned that there’s a question, I don’t remember how it’s worded exactly … “Cynthia Sayer was the official banjoist for what baseball team.” It was a gig in town and I was part of the band and played a bunch of home games and special events and so on. And I met some of the ballplayers. It was interesting. I enjoyed the sport talent. I never bothered to pay attention to who was playing who, but I appreciated their athleticism. And I saw a couple World Series games. It was cool. The rest of the guys were all big ball fans, I was the only one who wasn’t.

Tell us about Highlights in Jazz. What can audiences expect from that? I’ll be sharing the bill with a Grammy-award-winning band, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks. They’re

a 1920s jazz band and they are absolutely fabulous. We’re going to be splitting the concert. He’s going to do the ﬁrst half and my band is going to do the second half. If visitors want a real swinging night of music, this is the event to come to. I’m really looking forward to it. Vince has a lot of my colleagues, who are top players, in his band. I love seeing them myself. And then we’ll go a little more banjofocused in the second half, but I’ll still have some fabulous musicians with me who will also be soloing a lot. And of course, my secret guest artist as well. www.cynthiasayer.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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Eastsider 1

CROSSWORD by Myles Mellor

22 24

40 42

Across 1. Strip 5. TBS rival 8. Junk pile 12. It may be guided 13. “Lucy in the ___ with diamonds” (Beatle song) 14. Compound 15. Voice level 16. Hasten 17. Mention 18. Fair 20. Winged 22. Mix breed dog 23. Thanksgiving spud 24. Renders unclear 27. Anticipate 31. Going on in years 32. Crowd disapproval sound 33. In shock 37. It might be cut by a politician 40. Another name intro 41. Street abbr. 42. Player on the links 45. Dictator, e.g. 49. Rephrase 50. Do-it-yourself ___

52. Still-life piece 53. Hubs 54. Roger Clemens’ statistic 55. “___ the Nation” 56. Remnant 57. Misty May obstacle 58. Kindergartener Down 1. Impale 2. Droop 3. Hatchback 4. Denver player 5. Bridal party members 6. Word with mask or doo 7. Nautical response, ____ captain (2 words) 8. Pack up your tent and leave 9. Division 10. Speck of dust 11. Implored

19. Turned over ground 21. Calif. airport 24. Slithery creature 25. Common street name 26. Federal health agency 28. Go back 29. Gentle sound 30. Large weight 34. Rubenesque 35. Live on the edge of existence 36. Shade 37. Short taps (2 words) 38. Brown, e.g. 39. Made desolate 42. Neuter 43. ___ Eaters 44. Human parasite 46. Traveling 47. Throat 48. Yard shader 51. Infuriate

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WORD SEARCH by Myles Mellor

SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan

15 dog breeds are listed by the puzzle. Words can go horizontally, vertically and diagonally in all eight directions.

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.

Y P E K I N G E S E D W W F T

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N R P I I L C G Z L C L I H I

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Alsatian

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Great dane

Pekingese

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1 4

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Shihtzu Terrier Weimaraner

Poodle Schnauzer

3 2

6 5

Jackrussell Labrador

Chow Dachshund

1 9

5 5

Level: Medium

FEBRUARY 9-15,2017

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SEE INSIDE FOR A HEARTWARMING GUIDE!

For exhilarating New York State skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and your next unique date, visit iloveny.com/winterlove

GORE MOUNTAIN

Find your next unique Valentine’s Day date right here in New York State

Saranac Lake Winter Carnival

Anybody can do dinner and a movie, but how about impressing that special someone with an out-of-the-ordinary date? Planning a special romantic outing--whether it’s an evening or a weekend-is a sure way to make you a hero, and New York State provides a breathtaking array of activities that will help you break the ice on a new romance, or warm up a lifelong partnership. SARANAC LAKE WINTER CARNIVAL SARANAC LAKE, NY

FEBRUARY 3-12, 2017 It’s a winter carnival to warm your loved one’s heart. An Adirondack historic event dating back even longer than you’ve been together: over 100 years. Treat your loved one like royalty when you visit the Ice Palace, which is illuminated by ﬁreworks at night. Find a little adventure and some healthy competition during the day by participating in the many winter sporting events: from snowshoe and inner tube races to torchlight skiing and more.

WINTER WALK AT SAM’S POINT PRESERVE CRAGSMOOR, NY

Take in the panoramic beauty of Sam’s Point together. Located less than an hour from Manhattan, rock ledges and cliffs overlook nearly 5,000 acres of parkland, hiking trails, ice caves, and waterfalls. At the foot of the stunning 187 foot waterfall Verkeerderkill Falls, you’ll ﬁnd a sign noting this park is one of the Earth’s “Last Great Places.” You can even bring along the real love of your life, your well-mannered pup.

LOVE ON ICE AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER

CERAMICS CLASS AT CATCH A SHOW AT WELLSVILLE CREATIVE SHEA’S PERFORMING ARTS CENTER ARTS CENTER

Who doesn’t love Rockefeller Center and dream about whisking your signiﬁcant other off his or her feet? Visualize effortlessly skating there with a loved one on a brisk winter night. Now in its 80th year, the thrill and excitement of the Rink at Rockerfeller Center are legendary. Skates, lessons, and season passes are available for a reasonable rate. Being right next to Times Square and the Theatre District, you can spend an evening enjoying the city and then cap it off with a special Twilight Skate.

It’s time to get your hands dirty: winter classes are now in session at Wellsville Creative Arts Center. Sign up for a ceramics class and create a masterpiece for one another. Afterwords take the time to stroll through the center’s latest art exhibit, the compelling “Endogenous” by Dylan Staniszewski. Before you leave, stop by the Arts Café to enjoy each other’s company over coffee and some sweets.

NEW YORK CITY, NY

NY ICE WINE & CULINARY FESTIVAL FAIRPORT, NY

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 11AM-6PM Celebrate the nectar of the winter gods at this unique happening. You and your loved one can taste Ice Wine samples from New York’s wineries, savor an Ice Wine infused menu, hop on a romantic horse drawn wagon through the vineyards, step inside the Luv Shack for an Ice Luge Cocktail and take the winery Ice Wine Tour. You can also mingle with the Warriors of Winter, the brave souls who harvest frozen grapes and make wine in the cold.

WELLSVILLE, NY

BUFFALO, NY

Get all dressed up for dinner and a night at the theater. Spend the day exploring quintessential Buffalo, taking in its historical sites, shops, and outstanding restaurants. At night, discover the great art scene this city has to offer at Shea’s Performing Arts Center, where you and your loved one can catch Tony Award-winning shows, such as A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

AN UNDERGROUND DATE AT HOWE CAVERNS HOWES CAVE, NY

Your dating game just reached a whole new level. Take the trip to Howe Caverns—New York State’s second most visited natural attraction—where you’ll walk, climb, and sail your way through this breathtaking underground phenomenon. Take advantage of the Sweetheart Package, which includes a one night stay at Howe Caverns Motel, two tickets to the lantern tour, wine, and welcome chocolates. If you and your loved one are looking to seal the deal, there’s even an underground chapel along the tour, where over 650 weddings have taken place over the years.

For exhilarating New York State skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and your next unique date visit iloveny.com/winterlove

HUDSON VALLEY

WESTERN NEW YORK

HILLSDALE NY Since opening in 1939, family-friendly Catamount Ski Area has served as a top recreation spot in the Berkshires. With 36 trails, 7 lifts, and 1,000 vertical feet, Catamount offers a variety of terrain for every skill level. Catamount boasts both the steepest and longest run in the Berkshires.

ELLICOTTVILLE, NY Holiday Valley is considered a top winter tourist attraction for Western New York. Families love the exciting Mountain Coaster, secret trails, Native American history lessons and the hospitality found at its Tamarack Club and the Inn at Holiday Valley. Visitors appreciate the $4 million of recent upgrades and renovations of snowboarding and tubing fun on its 58 slopes. Holiday Valley also offers some of the best ski in and out lodging in New York.

CATAMOUNT SKI AREA

MOUNT PETER SKI AREA

WARWICK, NY Known for its free beginner ski and snowboarding school, diverse terrain park, excellent snowmaking and grooming facilities and ﬁrst-class racing, Mount Peter, ﬁrst and foremost, is famous for its family-friendly atmosphere. Recent improvements include a designated tubing area, changes to the Snow Basin Learning Area and Sunk Kid, a Carpet Lift, as well as illuminated night skiing on 100 percent of its trails.

THUNDER RIDGE SKI AREA

PATTERSON, NY Located just 60 minutes from New York City, Thunder Ridge is a haven for fun-loving families who hate long car rides. For those new to the slopes, Thunder Ridge’s Snowsport School is top notch. The high intensity terrain park has a variety of rails that pose challenges for even the gnarliest of riders. Their advanced snow making system can cover over 100 acres with snow, guaranteeing fresh powder or new memories no matter the weather. Metro North trains service Thunder Ridge with free shuttle service from the Paterson NY station to the slopes less then one mile away.

HOLIDAY VALLEY

KISSING BRIDGE

GLENWOOD, NY Pack your ski gear and get ready to experience Kissing Bridge, Western New York’s premiere skiing destination. Spend your days on the slopes and evenings hitting the local eateries, shops, and lodging. With different themes and events scheduled each weekend, Kissing Bridge is sure to provide days of fun for the whole family.

PEEK ‘N PEAK RESORT

CLYMER, NY Created more than 50 years ago, this resort now attracts skiers and snowboarders of all ages to its 27 lighted ski slopes and trails, terrain parks and optimum conditions enhanced by its state-of-the-art snow making pipes. It also features magic carpet lifts for kids. Lessons with professional instructors are also available at the Snow Sports School where you can learn the key skills to skiing or snowboarding.

SNOWMOBILING

Adirondacks

Winter’s hottest destinations for skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and your next unique date are all in New York State!

SKIING & SNOWBOARDING

Here are only some of over 50 mountains in New York State that offer a range of advanced, intermediate and beginner slopes to give every member of your family a thrilling “run” for their money throughout the winter! ADIRONDACKS GORE MOUNTAIN

NORTH CREEK, NY Home to “the most skiable acreage in New York State,” Gore Mountain features 2,537 vertical feet with 109 trails, the impressive 8-passenger Northwoods Gondola and two highspeed quads. Feast your appetite at six picturesque, dining spots. Plus enjoy the new cross country center and Village Slopes lit for fun well into the night.

WEST MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT

QUEENSBURY, NY Recently voted one of the top nine resorts to visit on the east coast by “Ski the East” Magazine, this haven for skiers and snow-boarders is less than an hour from Albany. Dramatic views of the Hudson add to the enjoyment of 30 trails over 126 acres, as does its impressive snowmaking abilities and the “West Express,” an incredibly fast new triple chairlift. The newly refurbished Main Lodge, the East Slope Bar & Eatery, and West Mountain Cafeteria offer both formal and casual dining. New for 2017 is the updated retail and rental shop with a state-of-the-art ski tuning machine.

WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN

WILMINGTON, NY This legendary mountain, twice host to the Winter Olympic Games and myriad of World Cup events, boasts “the greatest vertical drop east of the Rockies.” With 87 trails, 11 lifts (including the “Cloudspitter Gondola”), terrain parks and the Olympic Mountain, skiers of all ages and skill levels will be thrilled. In nearby Lake Placid, visitors can tour the Olympic Sports Complex, the Olympic Jumping Complex and enjoy the many shops, eateries and entertainment.

CATSKILLS

HUNTER MOUNTAIN

HUNTER, NY Almost synonymous with the word “skiing” for devotees of the sport, this world-famous destination now also lures avid snowboarders with its legendary terrain, award-winning snowmaking and luxurious mountainside lodging. Whether treating yourself to a romantic weekend or a family getaway, Hunter offers something for everyone including ski and snowboarding instruction, delicious dining, great shopping, and the largest snow tubing park in New York State!

BELLEAYRE MOUNTAIN

HIGHMOUNT, NY Schuss over new snow on Belleayre Mountain’s many new trails. Belleayre offers a huge variety from beginner to expert slopes. Check out the conditions on the lodge’s livestreaming cam or online. If fast and steep aren’t what you’re after, then trek along the many cross-country trails. Bring the little ones over to the Tiger’s Den for an afternoon of crafts. Belleayre even offers an Adaptive Program with specialized equipment for those with challenges. Wrap up the day at the Sunset Grill or Overlook Lodge.

WINDHAM MOUNTAIN RESORT

WINDHAM, NY A mere two hours from Manhattan, this family-friendly mountain offers “small town Catskills charm with 21st century ambiance” and compares itself favorably with Vermont and the Berkshires when it comes to accessibility and vertical slopes. It has invested more than $15 million in recent improvements, including 98% snowmaking on its trails, an inn, alpine spa, six terrain parks, and 12 lifts.

CENTRAL NEW YORK LABRADOR MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT

Nothing can equal the thrill of riding a powerful snowmobile through acres of pristine white winter landscapes. Below are just some of the locations where visitors can enjoy over 10,000 miles of snowmobile trails throughout New York State.

CATSKILLS

BEAR CREEK LANDING RESTAURANT & RECREATIONAL PARK

TRUXTON, NY Just a half hour’s drive from Syracuse, this resort has achieved a #1 rating among its many fans for several years in a row. It offers a variety of 22 slopes and trails along with instructions for skiers and snowboarders of every skill set. “Lab” boasts one of New York’s largest terrain parks.

HUNTER, NY This unique recreational park and tempting eatery offers a truly unique outdoor winter experience. Its expert drivers can lead you on an exciting snowmobile tour through acres of private, wooded, snow covered terrain or instruct you in how to operate your own rented vehicle. Adventurous types can also take a few breathtaking laps around its “Need for Speed” track.

WOODS VALLEY SKI RESORT

RIP VAN WINKLE RANCH

WESTERNVILLE, NY This resort has been teaching the basics of skiing for 48 years. With a range of difﬁculty and features in each park, there is something for everyone in the family here. Recent improvements include a new Sun Kid wonder carpet to get youngsters safely uphill, low-energy snow making equipment, a new Carousel, new rental equipment, and even an exciting new tubing park.

For exhilarating New York State skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and your next unique date visit - iloveny.com/winterlove

HAINES FALLS, NY Established as one of the oldest snowmobile rental outﬁts on the mountain, this family-friendly center offers a half hour guided tour through its beautiful back mountain country trails led by local drivers who really know the area. They also offer an entertaining “happy hour” tour for adults that provides an after dark snowmobile ride to town for dinner and a cocktail.

LAKE GEORGE

BOLTON LANDING SNOWMOBILE TOURS BOLTON LANDING, NY This family-friendly service will welcome you on a twohour guided tour along well-groomed trails through the wilderness zone, where you’ll ride snowmobiles and enjoy breathtaking mountain scenery on your way to the picturesque Adirondack ponds. Everything you need, from helmet and safety equipment, is supplied.

C&C ADIRONDACK SNOWMOBILE TOURS

CHESTERTOWN, NY A combined 40+ years of experience guiding visitors distinguishes the expert staff at this brand new venue, which offers customized tours. Riders of all ages will be entertained by the variety of tours, including trips to Loon Lake, the Adirondack Park, the Northern Trailblazers trail system and even a daylong “Create Your Own Tour” for larger groups. There’s even a romantic dinner tour in the evening.

CENTRAL NEW YORK WHITE LAKE SNOW TOURS

WOODGATE, NY Take the trip to Woodgate, NY to discover the “concierge of New York snowmobiling”, White Lake Snow Tours. Go it alone, or join a tour led by one of their guides, who are known for their exceptional knowledge of the surrounding Adirondack Park. Either way, you’ll be raving about the adventures you ﬁnd along the hundreds of miles these trails have to offer.

For exhilarating New York State skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and your next unique date visit - iloveny.com/winterlove

Long Lake and the Adirondack High Peaks

FINGER LAKES

BRISTOL MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT

GREEK PEAK MOUNTAIN RESORT

CANANDAIGUA, NY Every skier and snowboarder will be thrilled by this premier resort’s 1200 foot vertical rise, the highest between the eastern Adirondack/Laurentian Mountains and the western Rocky Mountains. Within 138 acres of skiable terrain, visitors ﬁnd 35 slopes and trails, 97% of which are illuminated for shushing under the stars. State-of-the-art snowmaking facilities ensure you’ll ﬁnd optimum conditions for a winter adventure that’s as memorable as it is exciting. Bristol also offers top of the mountain cross country skiing and a new ropes course.

CORTLAND, NY This popular resort, located within New York State’s famous snow belt, has incomparable grooming and snowmaking capabilities and features 33 eclectic trails. Their Children’s Care Center and Progression Park for beginners are convenient. You’ll also ﬁnd terrain parks and quarter pipe for more adventurous types, as well as gorgeous landscaped areas for cross country skiers, snow shoe hikers and even a nine-lane tubing center that’s safe, thrilling and fun for all ages. Greek Peak has family friendly lodging at the Hope Lake Lodge offering full amenities and a large indoor waterpark. There is a spa for mom as well.

ADIRONDACKS

TUG HILL PLATEAU

LAKE PLACID, NY Here rentals on snowmobiles are geared to ﬁt the rider’s ability with single and group tours ranging from slow scenic rides through the picturesque woods to a more spirited pace over well-groomed trails. You can choose from rides lasting from one to six hours, with night tours and refreshments available for longer trips.

BOONVILLE, NY During the winter, this family owned and family-friendly recreational center maintains a ﬂeet of quality rental snowmobiles and rental accommodations, making “play and stay” options very attractive to those seeking to spend more than one day exploring the well-groomed trails.

ADIRONDACK SNOW TOURS

LAKE VANARE SNOWMOBILE TOURS

LAKE LUZERNE, NY Take a guided snowmobile tour up Prospect Mountain to view the awe-inspiring scenery of the Adirondacks. Just a few minutes from Lake George, evening entertainment, restaurants and lodging are just a hop, skip and jump away.

ADIRONDACK SPORT CENTER

FLAT ROCK INN

LOWVILLE, NY This location beneﬁts from a climate that receives 250 to 300+ inches of snowfall each winter and more than 800 miles of well-groomed trails. Flat Rock Inn boasts a ﬂeet of one and two- person snowmobiles, including Polaris models. Visit the tavern where you can toast all your adventures and a comfortable lodge in which to bed down.

VILLAGE RENTALS, SALES & SERVICE

SPECULATOR, NY Blast through the ice and snow with a little help from Village Rentals in Speculator, NY. Village Rentals’ exceptional staff is there to provide orientation lessons and maps, and at the end of the day’s adventure, can get you settled in with one of their partner lodges.

WESTERN NEW YORK CHAUTAUQUA LAKE SNOWMOBILE SERVICES

BEMUS POINT, NY Whether you choose to rent a Polaris snowmobile or just sit back and let an experienced driver show you the gorgeous natural sights during a two hour jaunt or an all day adventure, exploring the county’s well-groomed trails or secret backwoods areas will be fun, exciting and memorable.

Old Forge