The local paper for the Upper er East Side
WEEK OF FEBRUARY
45 YEARS AND COUNTING
18-24
A SPECIAL SECTION, P.11 >
WHERE YOU CAN LIVE ABOVE A STORE
2016
TAKING CARE OF THE SPIRIT Art installation at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center inspired by late young man’s poetry
STREET LEVEL
BY EMILY TOWNER
The wonderful neighborhood villages that we live in. Will they stay wonderful? BY BILL GUNLOCKE
Here’s how much I like to walk by storefronts. If I see up ahead of me that the block on my side of the street is a hospital or a big housing project or a big post office or a school, I’ll cross to the other side of the street to have shop windows alongside me. Even if I go blocks without really looking in one of them, I like the variety and the small size of the stores with stuff in the windows, off my shoulder, out the corner of my eye, as I walk along. Main Street in my small rural hometown in western New York was a block long. I liked being on it more than I liked being at home. I’d get depressed in my grade school years when 5:00 came and I had to turn the corner by the Bryant House, a long-ago hotel, then mostly a tavern, and head the two or three blocks to my house. “I regret profoundly that I was not an American and not born in Greenwich Village.” John Lennon said. Who wouldn’t want to have grown up there? The scale of things is wonderful. When my now-Brooklyn middle daughter lived in the West Village and once ran the marathon, the little dry cleaner/laundromat on Waverly Place taped a sign in the window wishing her and a couple other neighborhood runners good luck. On the corner of that street is a small bookstore. My daughter used to stop in it almost ev-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
Detail of “Wordfall,” a site-specific art installation inspired by Brendan Ogg’s poetry, conceived of by Francie Hester and Lisa Hill. It hangs in the lobby of the Josie Robertson Surgery Center at Sloan Memorial Kettering Cancer Center on York Avenue. Photo: Greg Staley
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When Brendan Ogg, an aspiring writer on the cusp of adulthood, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, he drew on his love of writing to deal with his hardship. Now his work, and his words, will inspire countless others facing serious illness. Brendan was just 20 years old when he died in February of 2010, but his words and spirit live on through a series of art installations created using a collection of his posthumously published poetry. Brendan grew up in a Maryland suburb and graduated from Albert Einstein High School in 2007 before going on to major in English at the University of Michigan. He was always a writer, writing both prose and poetry since he was 7. It was during his sophomore year in college, when he began to have headaches, that doctors found a tumor. After five brain surgeries early in his treatment, Brendan began rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore before moving to the Smith Center for Healing and The Arts in Washington, D.C. It was there that he attended a poetry workshop, where he wrote some of his most powerful poems. “What that did for him was remind him that he has this gift,” said his mother, Jackie Ogg. “He said ‘Who knows if I have a month, a year, or 10 years, this is what I want to be doing, getting back to
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
Our Take THE MET’S BANNER YEAR In this political climate, it’s easy to moan about the coarsening of our common culture. So let’s take a moment to consider the recent attendance news out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New numbers crunched by the museum show that the Met had an extraordinary year in 2015, cementing its role as the top tourist destination in the city. Three exhibitions last year -China: Through the Looking Glass, The Roof Garden Commission: Pierre Huyghe, and Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends — generated an estimated $946 million in spending in New York, according to the museum’s visitor survey. That is the highest number ever reported by the museum -- and worth celebrating at a time when so much else of what we see has taken on the feel of a reality TV show. What it shows, in our view, is that enduring quality, curated by experts and presented with intelligence, can still win out. Some other numbers: During the 2015 fiscal year, the museum welcomed a record 6.3 million visitors, 26% of them from NYC, and 74% from outside the five boroughs. All worth remembering, especially now. So turn off the TV, close out of Twitter, and head over to Fifth Avenue. Six million people can’t be wrong.
Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday February 19 – 5:17 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
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WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: POLICE OFTEN FAIL TO FOLLOW STOPAND-FRISK STIPULATIONS City police neglected to report the reason for stopping a person and questioning them more than one-fourth of the time, in violation of department policy, The New York Times reported after reviewing paperwork filed for
hundreds of the stops. Supervisors approved the paperwork for so-called “stop-and-frisk” encounters most of the time, even if the reason for the stop was missing, the newspaper reported. The report also noted that police seldom wrote up the stop, also a violation of policy. The Times’ report followed the release of audits that examined stop-and-frisk
activity in 2015, which were detailed in a report by a federal monitor. The report was made for a judge overseeing mandated changes to how the police conduct the stops. The Times said the audits suggest city police is still struggling to ensure standard interactions with people observe Constitutional rights. “It is apparent from focus group
sessions and discussions with individual officers throughout the ranks that many police officers, including supervisors, are not well informed as yet about the changes underway or the reasons for them and, therefore, have yet to internalize them,” the monitor, Peter Zimroth, wrote to Judge Analisa Torres in a letter accompanying his report, The Times said. “Many appear not to understand what is expected of them.”
UPPER EAST SIDE HOMES SELL BEST Far more homes were sold on the Upper East Side than anywhere else in Manhattan at the close of 2015, according to report cited by DNAinfo. Nearly 700 homes were sold in the neighborhood during 2015’s last quarter, about a third more than sold on the Upper West Side, where 520 residences changed hands, according to the report by the Real Estate Board of New York cited by DNAinfo. Midtown East had 254 sales and Midtown West had 239, the news site said. The report suggested that the Upper East Side’s more diverse selection of housing could be at play, DNAinfo reported Most of the homes — 503 — sold were co-ops, with the average price of those types of residences climbing to $1.6 million from $1.4 million during the last quarter
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of 2014. “The Upper East Side has the largest housing supply in all of the neighborhoods in Manhattan and, since a lot of it is rather exclusive co-ops that are hard to get into, when those places do open up, people get in line to try to get in,” Brian Klimas, a market researcher at the Real Estate Board, was quoted as saying.
DE BLASIO WILL TAKE PART IN ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE Mayor Bill de Blasio will walk in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade after years of declining to do so because of the exclusion of gay groups, IrishCentral reported last week. De Blasio will join an as-yet undetermined group while walking the parade’s Fifth Avenue route on March 17, the news site reported. City mayor’s traditionally walk along with a group representing the police department. IrishCentral said de Blasio will join with the Lavender and Green Alliance, a group of Irish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, after marching in the parade. This will be the first time members of the alliance will openly take part in the parade, IrishCentral reported. Members of the city council will also officially take part for the first time in three years, the news site said.
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG
TRUCK DRIVER ARRESTED IN PEDESTRIAN CRASH
were apprehended stealing merchandise from a Century 21 store at 1972 Broadway. The pair were subsequently arrested and charged with grand larceny.
A truck driver has been arrested after he struck and killed a pedestrian in front of the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. The New York Police Department says 51-year-old Carlos Torres on a charge of failing to yield to a pedestrian. Police said 48-year-old Elise Marie Lachowyn was crossing 11th Avenue near West 37th Street around 10 a.m. when she was struck by the dump truck that was turning left. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Witness Joe Irizarry told the New York Post that Lachowyn was wearing a hood when she stepped out into the street. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Torres had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
SAMSUNG STUNG
UNDONE AT 21 For some miscreants, there is nothing like shoplifting with a friend. At 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, two 33-year-old women
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th Precinct for Feb. 1 to Feb. 7
DUANE PAIN
Week to Date
Someone was apparently in a lot of pain. At 9 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 31, an unknown perpetrator entered the Duane Reade store at 380 Amsterdam Ave. and made off with $1,158 worth of Advil and Nexium.
2016 2015
% Change
2016
2015
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
0
1
-100.0
Rape
0
0
n/a
0
1
-100.0
Robbery
3
2
50.0
15
10
50.0
Felony Assault
1
0
n/a
11
10
10.0
Burglary
9
4
125.0
25
14
78.6
Grand Larceny
19
25
-24.0
125
131
-4.6
Grand Larceny Auto
0
0
n/a
2
4
-50.0
Cell phones continue to sing their siren song to thieves. At 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 31, a perpetrator entered the AT&T store at 2195 Broadway and stole a Samsung Note 5 and a Galaxy 6, together worth $1,500.
HUT HURT One shoplifter is apparently getting ready for the summer early. At noon on Saturday, Jan. 30, a man entered the Sunglass Hut at 2218 Broadway and made off with multiple pairs of Tiffany sunglasses worth a total of $1,545.
Year to Date
POURPETRATOR ARRESTED The allure of a wine boutique proved the downfall for a burglar. At 2 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 5, a 25-year-old man broke in to the Pour wine shop at 321 Amsterdam Ave. Police managed to apprehend the suspect, however, and arrested him on a charge of burglary.
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
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Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct
153 E. 67th St.
212-452-0600
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 FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13
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
East 67th Street, just west of First Avenue, where the Department of Transportation is proposing installing a crosstown bike lane. Photo: Susan Siskind
HOSPITALS Lenox Hill NY-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell
525 E. 68th St.
212-746-5454
Mount Sinai
E. 99th St. & Madison Ave.
212-241-6500
NYU Langone
550 First Ave.
212-263-7300
CON EDISON
4 Irving Place
212-460-4600
POST OFFICES US Post Office
1283 First Ave.
212-517-8361
US Post Office
1617 Third Ave.
212-369-2747
RESIDENTS DECRY CROSSTOWN BIKE LANE PLAN BY MICKEY KRAMER
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A proposal to install crosstown bike lanes on several Upper East Side streets has provoked an outcry from some residents who say the Department of Transportation plan neglected to account for already heavy traffic along the proposed routes. Pronounced opposition to the plan was heard at a meeting of Community Board 8’s transportation committee earlier this month, with several residents calling DOT’s plan misguided and for more accountability from both cyclists and police regarding traffic laws. Susan Siskind, who lives in the East 60s said the proposal — which would install painted lanes across 67th, 68th, 77th, 78th, 84th and 85th Streets from those thoroughfares’ near easternmost points to Fifth Avenue — “ignores reality.” Speaking last week, she noted that, among other things on 67th street specifically, the M66 bus, which runs along 67th and 68th Streets, “won” the Pokey award last year for
slowest bus, school buses park and drop-off at Julia Richmond between First and Second avenues, and Fox News trucks frequently double park between Second and Third Avenues. In addition, ambulances, and police and fire vehicles travel along several of those streets. Michele Birnbaum, who sits on the transportation committee, called the DOT plan shortsighted. “With the selection of these streets, it was evident that the DOT only took into consideration the needs of the cycling community, while completely disregarding the needs and opinions of the residents, institutions and businesses,” Birnbaum said last week. A DOT spokeswoman said the agency is “reviewing the community’s concerns” before its next presentation to the board. The spokeswoman, Bonny Tsang, noting that there is currently just one pair of crosstown routes, on 90th & 91st Streets, said DOT wants “to expand the bike network and close an existing gap in the network.”
“Implementing bike lanes calms traffic, makes it safer for cyclists and pedestrians to travel, and better organizes the roadway. The current proposal we presented would not remove any parking or any travel lanes,” she said. Joe Enoch, who calls himself an avid cyclist, commuting daily from the Upper East Side to the Upper West side, said he is disappointed the proposal doesn’t include protected bike lanes, but he nevertheless called the painted lanes an enhancement. “Painted bike lanes are an improvement: they legitimize bicyclists’ presence on the street, remind drivers to share the road and to be on the lookout and provide the NYPD greater authority to clear the lane so bicyclists can traverse safely without weaving between cars,” Enoch said. But Betty Cooper Wallerstein, the president of the East 79th Street Neighborhood Association, suggested that before more bike lanes are installed, application and enforcement of traffic laws need strength-
ening. “There should not be one more bike lane, dedicated or painted, until all cyclists, and drivers for that matter, are obeying all the rules of the road. The people who are not being considered are the pedestrians,” she said. Birnbaum, like Wallerstein, wants to see more enforcement of traffic laws when they are flouted by bicyclists, and has long advocated for their licensing. “If they are part of traffic, and we are getting more of them, then they need to be held accountable, responsible and liable just as any other road vehicle is,” Birnbaum said. “Any cyclist that wants to use a city street needs to be licensed and have a license plate on his bike. A licensed biker will more likely obey the rules of the road.” This latest skirmish for safe streets, and how they should happen, will continue March 2, when CB8’s transportation committee next takes up the matter.
FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
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Central Park
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE PARK Winter Fun in Central Park: Did you know that when more than 6 inches of snow falls in the park, many of the lawns and grassy banks that have been closed for the season re-open. Popular hills for summertime picnics and sunbathing turn into sledding hills. Fields that are used for softball games turn into cross-country skiing terrain. And of course, wherever there is snow in Central Park, there are snowman and snow angels. For more winter activities, check out centralpark.com/guide/ activities. Winter Workouts: There is a variety of options available to keep your mind and body active in Central Park. You can ice skate every day at Wollman and Lasker rinks. The Parks department does a great job of clearing away snow and ice so you can go running or walking along the drives or the Reservoir, and there are also a variety of workouts you can sign up for to stay fit. For more ideas, check out centralpark.com.
COMING UP THIS WEEK LITTLE RED’S HOOD Like many of today’s children, Little Red is a smart, young city slicker who is too focused on her smartphone to notice her surroundings. This is a new production, presented by the City Parks Foundation. When: Now through the end of June. Schedule varies, see website. Where: Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre, Central
Park West Drive at 81st Street. For more info visit: centralpark.com/events
Location: Lasker Rink, enter at Central Park North & Lenox Avenue 110th street. When: Every day. Times vary, please refer to the schedule For more info visit: centralpark.com/events
When you move to The Osborn, you’ll bask in a modern, light-filled apartment, beautifully situated on 56 acres with gardens and walking trails. The community is full of interesting, engaged people who enjoy life as much as you do. Make yourself at home! All entrance fees are 100% refundable. Visit TheOsborn.org to see floor plans, explore our photo gallery and learn more. 1-866-743-9224 | 101 Theall Road | Rye, NY 10580 The Osborn is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization accredited by CARF-CCAC.
ICE SKATE AT LASKER RINK: Public skating daily, as well as a full complement of lessons (ice skating & hockey) with certified instructors. Birthday parties can be done here as well.
Retire in style.
Event listings and Where in Central Park? brought to you by CentralPark.com.
WHERE IN ANSWER TO THE CENTRAL PARK? PREVIOUS QUIZ: The Naumburg Bandshell, built in 1923, replaced the original Mould Bandstand. Free Saturday afternoon concerts would draw upward of 45,000 people to the Mall. It became home to what was then a new festival in the 1980’s called
Do you know where in Central Park this photo was taken? To submit your answer, visit: centralpark.com/wherein-central-park. The answers and names of the people who guess right will appear in the paper and online in two weeks.
SummerStage. Currently, permits can be obtained for performances. It is also home each summer to a week of classical concerts, sponsored by the Naumburg family. Congratulations to Gregory Holman, Marisa Lohse and Henry Bottjer for answering correctly.
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OUR AMENITIES INCLUDE: , Spacious studios and one-bedroom apartments starting at $2,400.00 per month , Complimentary Lunch and Dinner served buffet style , Basic Cable TV , All utilities included , 24-Hour Security , Weekly linen service , Visitor parking , Pastoral services , A wealth of programs, activities and trips , Conveniently located near medical, physical therapy, occupational therapy and psychiatric services , On-site beauty salon, library, gift shop, laundry, checkcashing facilities and visitor parking , Moderately priced lodging for overnight guests
We’ve thought of everything to enrich and enhance your life. For more information and to schedule a private tour, please call: 212-342-9539 525 Audubon Ave. at 191st Street. New York, NY
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
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IN OUR HANDS RESCUE, K9 KASTLE, MUDDY PAWS R & NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA
Adopt A Pet
Barnes & Noble, 150 East 86th St. 7:00 p.m. Free Author Chris Offutt discusses his memoir My Father, the Pornographer with a signing to immediately follow the discussion. 212-369-2180. www.stores. barnesandnoble.com/store/227 8?subtype=detailCalendar
PROFESSOR AUDRE LORDE MEMORIAL BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
AARP volunteers will help prepare all returns. Check out the website or call for some very important information to know before arriving. 212-734-1717. www.nypl.org/ events/programs/2016/02/05/ aarp-tax-aide
JOSE LIMON DANCE COMPANY Hunter College, 695 Park Ave.
860 Broadway @ E. 17th St. 8 8
46 University Pl. 8 (btwn E. 9th & E. 10th Sts.)
6:30-10 p.m. Free Poetry by Sonia Sanchez, music by Yaniyah
Buttenwieser Hall, Lexington Avenue at 92nd St 8 p.m. from $25
Obatecumsela, ďŹ lm by Ada Griffin, speech by Elizabeth Lorde Rollins, and book party and signing for “The Wind Is Spirit,â€? an anthology of writings and photographs by friends and acquaintances of Audre Lorde. 212-995-0105. www.hunter. cuny.edu/calendar/#/?i=1
Artistic director Carla Maxwell and members of the Limon Dance Company will explore one of Jose Limon’s important list works. 212-415-5500. www.92y. org/Event/Jose-Limon-DanceCompany
games, and tips for hosting an awards events. 212-369-2180. stores. barnesandnoble.com/ event/9780061755573-0
QUIET STUDY ROOM â–˛ 67th Street Library, 328 East 67th St. 10 a.m. Free Perfect for quiet study time 212-734-1717. www.nypl.org/ events/programs/2016/02/06/ quiet-study-room
8
860 Broadway @ E. 17th St. 8 8
Home of the Mutt Mut utt tt-ii-gree gre reeÂŽ animalleague.org rg 8 516.883.7575 25 Davis Av Ave enue 8 Port rt Wa Washington, NY
OUTREACH PHYSICAL AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY AND SPEECH REHABILITATION, PLLC OUTREACH is a new rehabilitation clinic in your area that focuses on physical therapy, hand therapy along with speech and swallowing difficulties (speech and language pathology). Please call for more information about our services and how we can be of assistance.
Fri 19 AARP TAX AIDE
1110 2nd Avenue( between 58th and 59th street: Northeast corner on 58th) 1IPOF t FNBJM info@outreach-rehab.com website: www.outreach-rehab.com
67th Street Library, 328 East 67th St. 10-2 p.m. Free
Sat 20 AWARDS PARTY Barnes & Noble, 150 East 86th St, 3 p.m. Free Join B&N for movie trivia,
Sun 21 RUN THIS CITY â–˛ Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue 11-2 p.m. Free with museum admission Come learn about the history of the world’s largest footrace in the exhibition “The New York City Marathon: The Great Race.â€? 212-534-1672. www.mcny. org/event/run-city-1
FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
VERED AND THE BABES - FAMILY CONCERT
Retire in style.
Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave, at 92nd St. 11:30-12:30 p.m. Adults, $18; children, $13; members: adults, $15; children, $11 Vered and the Babes play catchy tunes from hit album Good Morning My Love. Enjoy lush melodies and playful harmonies. 212-423-3200. thejewishmuseum.org/calendar/ events/2016/02/21/vered-andthe-babes-2.21.16
MASTER BEDROOM 11'-11" x 12'-10"
BATH 7'-0" x 10'-2"
KITCHEN 9'-5" x 10'-2" W/D ENTRY
Choose a light-ďŹ lled, 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment — with balcony — located on 56 acres. The Osborn offers an array of programs to challenge your mind and promote wellness — in a community that’s just 35 minutes north of the city. Make yourself at home! All entrance fees are 100% refundable. Visit TheOsborn.org to see oor plans, explore our photo gallery and learn more.
7 p.m. Free French author Maylis de Kerangal and American writer WHAT TO LOOK FOR literary critic John Freeman WHEN LOOKING AT ART and will discuss their latest work, “A ce stade de la nuit� and “Tales of
1-866-743-9224 | 101 Theall Road | Rye, NY 10580
Wed
24
TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE/ BIKE NY STREET SKILLS CLASS
Albertine, 972 Fifth Ave.
CL.
MASTER BATH 10'-3" x 6'-8"
Fifth Avenue and 90th Street 10 a.m.-noon. From $35 (Tickets may be purchased online & pre-registration is required 24 hrs in advance) Come see unusual blossoms and variety of birds from woodpeckers, chickadees and sparrows. 212-415-5500. www.92y. org/Event/Central-Park-WinterWonderland
A CONVERSATION WITH MAYLIS DE KERANGAL AND JOHN FREEMAN
LIVING/DINING ROOM 13'-0" x 17'-11"
WALK-THRU CLOSET 7'-0" x 7'-5"
CENTRAL PARK: WINTER WONDERLAND
Tue 23
BEDROOM 10'-2" x 11'-7"
BALCONY 8'-5" x 6'-1"
CL.
Mon 22
92nd Street Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd St. 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. From $45 Learn how to read works of arts and explore the elements an origins of abstract art. 212-415-5500. www.92y. org/Event/What-to-look-forWhen-Looking
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two Cities.� 212-650-0070. www. albertine.com/events/aconversation-with-maylis-dekerangal-and-john-freeman/
CYRANO DE BERGERAC FIAF, Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th St. 4 & 7:30 p.m. Non-members, $14; members advance. $3, students, $7, plus fees A viewing of the recordbreaking 10-Cesar award ďŹ lm, about the tragic tale of a seless romantic with a larger-than-life personality — and a longer than average nose. 212-355-6100. www.ďŹ af. org/events/winter2016/201602-23-cs-Bergerac.shtml
Memorial Sloan-Kettering, 430 East 67th St., RRL Auditorium 7-8:30 p.m. Free (must register) Manhattan Community Board 8’s Transportation Committee and Bike New York will present skills for bicyclists to ride in the streets with conďŹ dence. Bike Rules and Laws will also be gone over. 212-870-2080. www.bike. nyc/education/classes/streetskills-class/
2016 GALA & AUCTION Tribeca Rooftop, 2 DesBrosses Street 6:00 p.m. Ticket prices vary More than 300 guests from the worlds of art, architecture, real estate, design, and the New York philanthropic community will join at Tribeca Rooftop to celebrate the Academy’s mission. 212-369-4880. www. nationalacademy.org/ support/2016-gala-auction/
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
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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.
Letter DON’T CLOSE OUR LADY OF PEACE To the Editor: Thank you Our Town for publishing the article about Our Lady of Peace Church. One can only admire the real faith and devotion of the parishioners who despite the callous behavior of the NYC Church hierarchy, persevere in their attempts to get this very special church reopened. Given the facts--financially and physically in tip-top shape -- it was a mistake to close OLOP. I sincerely hope that the appeal to the Vatican will reverse the decision. Susan Coleman E. 81st Street
Poem THANK GOD FOR NEW YORK CITY BY DAVE SWEENEY
When it snows hard it makes me witty I see there is no respite which is quite right Too much slush and we become like a lush Because order is gone and we are no longer strong Fortunately this is not prolonged Because our government is good Yes, even in the hood City streets are cleaned for our walking feet Our cars can drive; and not just the elite We are treated like stars and the response does not come from Mars by taking days putting us in a skeptical haze No, City Hall does not stall and let us fall Their reaction is action galore hitting every neighborhood door to door Seeing what is needed to restore life as we expect before the winter gives us more than a pain in the neck So, what the heck! We’re all in this train wreck together because of the adverse weather So much was done right to minimize our fright We didn’t lose power; that could have been torture hour to hour No one missed taking a hot shower; or else there would have been a collective holler So there’s no need for self pity Because Thank God for New York City
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PATROLLING THE MEAN STREETS OF LEXINGTON AVE. OP-ED BY CAROL RIAL
“Checking in?” the guard asks. “I just need the vest.” Eager to do my bit of patrolling the streets around my daughter Maya’s school and get to work, I leave my briefcase, pick up the almost-red mesh vest, and head out for the mean streets of the Upper East Side. Out on the sidewalk, I don the vest, velcroing the two halves of it together. It’s neon yellow reflector material reads: Campus Parent, School Control. It is when I get to Lex and 94th Street that I realize the vest looks a lot like the Department of Sanitation vest worn by a group of workers busting up frozen, black curbside snow. It is now 10:35 a.m. and my patrol partner is clearly not going to show on this half-day of school. That means I have one and a half hours to go. I will time my circuit so I am close to the school when the high schoolers are heading out while not being seen by one kid in particular, who would rather hide in a snowdrift than have her friends see her mother at school wearing The Vest. Patrolling Lexington Avenue, I gaze at the brownstones with teak doors, the glassy shop selling high-end tubs, and a furry woman tugging a leashed dog. I circle back toward school. A guy across 94th Street is zipping up his pants. I’m thinking, “What are you doing, chump?” He walks on. Stops. Walks again. Only four minutes into my patrol, and I am seeing people as if they are up to no good. But I take a mental note, keep him in mind. A guy who looks like he did a little time, a scar on his forehead shaded by hood, eyes me in my vest. Maybe my hyper-vigilance is
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because for the last two years I’ve been writing a murder mystery set in New York.I wonder as I wander how cops keeps themselves in check when they’re trained to look for trouble and start seeing signs of it everywhere. As a rookie you must have to go against instincts: when you think a guy’s on the brink of criminality, you have to question if you’re right. When you have an urge to rush toward trouble, you slow down unless you’re certain. I head over to the stretch of Park Avenue that students often walk to get to the 96th Street station. The NYPD patrol cop on duty on this cold sunny day says good morning. I say hello, feeling part of the club. Four middle schoolers come around the corner from the school. I have an urge to follow them, make sure they don’t get mugged. They head to the corner candy shop on 96th Street. The big danger there may be Kim Kardashian or Trump, separately or together, gracing the front of a tabloid. On Park Avenue where the sun is shining, an old woman wearing sneakers too much like mine and a long blue down coat hurries toward the meridian. I hurry after her. Will she make it all the way across before the light counting 5, 4, 3 reaches 0? “I’ll walk with you,” I say, my voice sounding authoritative. The high schoolers are still not out. And it’s only 11:15. By now I have given up on the security desk’s map that dictates parent patrollers do a specific figure-eight loop around the neighborhood. Instead, I am following my own street savvy by walking streets most traveled by high schoolers. I round the patrol cop again, send a casual wave. Same team.
A manbunned man riding his bike on the sidewalk. A mom in yoga pants talking to a doorman, it seems flirtatious. A couple speaking Russian. Just when I’m thinking the best thing I could do to promote safety for these teens getting a “specialized” education would be to go into the local Starbucks and stop them from sugaring up on vanilla cremes and grando caramel macchiatos, I run into a mom-friend who tells me that last fall some kid “got punched in the face” on this block. I have a renewed sense of purpose. As I walk down Madison Avenue, however, I wonder what I could have done to prevent the attack. The last time I took a women’s self-defense class it was 1985, and I still weight 100 pounds. School’s out. I shadow my first prey of sorts--a short middle schooler--all the way from Park Avenue to the train. His is the vulnerable walk of the pigeontoed. Once I see that he’s descended the subway stairs, I head back towards school. “Hey, that’s Maya’s mom.” A trio of kids who’ve known me since they were five walk toward me. Clearly they’re about as impressed by me in uniform as the traffic cop on Madison Avenue who doesn’t even look up when we cross paths. In front of the school are four high schoolers throwing icy snowballs at each other. Finally! They see me and hesitate a little. I have an urge to tell them to take it to the park. I switch to something more rational and say: “Be careful if the elementary school kids come out, okay?” They cheerfully agree. It is now 11:30. This is interminable. I wind around the school building, which takes up an entire block and about four minutes.
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Can I leave early? High schoolers are now pouring out of the building and all around the streets. I notice which kids I’ve known since kindergarten are getting thinned out as they grow, which girls cluster with the ones who look like them, and the ninth grader I’ve seen around school protesting one injustice or another. When I return to the front of the building, I see that pedestrians are nervously darting around the snowball kids. I do my job: “Would you guys pause when there are others walking the block?” It is now 11:45. Since Maya should be coming out soon, I text her that I’m “still patrolling.” She texts, “LOL. Going to Shake Shack with friends.” I text, “Do you want to take a picture of me?” “You can take a selfie.” So I do, standing in front of a children’s French clothing shop, a dubious smile on my face, the vest I will soon have to return looking surprisingly misshapen and worn.
Block Mayors Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side
FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Retire in style.
Photo: Marcel Oosterwijk, via flickr
SOMETHING HAPPENED, SOMETHING CHANGED SENIOR LIVING BY MARCIA EPSTEIN
Just as my 12-year-old granddaughter will have to get used to the new body she will inhabit for the rest of her life, so I will have to get used to my new body (and brain; a wee tad of memory problems anyone?). Neither of us has acquired this body overnight, and its changes haven’t occurred in leaps and bounds. Rather, they are small and incremental, until one day both of us have realized that something has happened, something has changed. In my granddaughter’s case, it is puberty creeping up quickly. In my case, it’s old age and its much less exciting ramifications. I haven’t had a cataclysmic event like a fractured hip or a heart attack. I count myself lucky. The worst surgery I’ve had so far is the removal of two cataracts. But new things hurt every day, new areas are stiff and sore and thus bring again the realization of what I was once able to do and can’t anymore. I once liked to play tennis. That’s out! I can hardly run to catch a bus. My knees won’t cooperate. The doctor tells me I’ve shrunk almost 3 inches. Holy cow, three inches? I must sit down every 3 or 4 blocks to let my back unkink. I find I am taking afternoon naps. I used to laugh at my father when I found him snoring in the easy chair after dinner.
My children are middle-aged. Inside, I still feel middle-aged, or even younger. As someone once said, “I still feel like the young me, but no one else sees it.” So true. And yet, not true also. I’ve lived through enough to know that my life has been long and full, good and bad, full of events and decisions that my older self rues. Am I wiser? Perhaps. But some poor decisions led to what I have now, such as my two wonderful children and four delightful grandchildren. So who’s to say that being unwise when young is always bad? A friend of mine said she was searching for role models on how to grow old. We are the same age, and I fully understand what she means. What kind of old lady do we want to be? I think I’d like to be like Ruth Bader Ginsburg; wickedly smart and accomplished and not afraid to say what she thinks. I’ve never been a fashionista, never was one of the pretty, popular girls, so in a way old age may be easier for me. The words “elective surgery” don’t register in my brain. I don’t want to recreate what I had because I never really had it and I never really cared too much. In my brain I might see myself in a silky evening gown, but in my life I still wear jeans and sneakers. And I prefer it that way. My role models are strong women who speak their minds and have an individual look which is not one of youth but of intelligence, feistiness
and individuality. There is no such thing as “an old person.” We are each individually old, as we were individually children, teenagers and adults. We don’t experience old age identically. Germaine Greer said that “Nobody ages like anybody else.” What do we really have in common except an accumulation of years and ailments. Although we may (or may not) be wiser as we get older, I think we remain pretty much who we always were. Though invisible to youth, we don’t feel that much different from the people we once were. Our bodies might, but go to any high school reunion. Don’t we see the Bobby or Johnny we knew, rather than the balding guy with the nametag Bob or John? Oh, at first we’re shocked by the change, but it doesn’t take long to revert to who we once were. At my own reunion, I was still wary of the popular girl, though I told myself I was being ridiculous. Getting old is a process, unless one has a big event, such as a heart attack or stroke, which catapults one into old age all at once. I’ve heard it said that after 70 it’s patch, patch, patch. A new ache here, a new pain there. If you’re lucky, aging is gradual, with incremental physical, and perhaps mental, losses. There’s no getting around it; it’s going to happen. But what the hey, say I. Aren’t I just myself, who happens now to be old?
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Our Perspective Grocery Worker Retention Act Provides Security in Supermarket Industry By Stuart Appelbaum, President Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW
E
arlier this month, Mayor de Blasio signed the Grocery Worker Retention Act (GWRA) into law. The new law is a victory for the 50,000 people in New York City who work in supermarkets, and it is a victory for the city’s consumers. We applaud the mayor and the city council for bringing much-needed security for workers in the supermarket industry, and for passing common-sense legislation that protects all of us. The GWRA provides for a 90-day transition period to eligible employees following a change in ownership of a grocery store. And you don’t have to look very hard to find examples why we needed this law in this volatile industry. In December, 2013, workers at the Trade Fair Supermarket in Queens found out they’d be getting coal for the holidays. The 50 hardworking men and women at the store reported Law brings to work, only to find out that much- needed the store had suddenly been sold — and that they were security for now jobless and had to leave workers in a the property immediately. The new owner was under no volatile obligation to hire them back, industry. and longtime shoppers at the store now had unfamiliar faces handling their food and tasked with keeping the store clean. And last year, thousands of supermarket workers in New York were affected when the A&P chain declared bankruptcy. Stores including Pathmark, Waldbaum’s, Food Emporium, and Food Basics —52 in all — were affected. Many of those stores closed, and many others changed hands. Thousands of workers lost their jobs in an instant. In both cases, workers — through no fault of their own, and many of them members of the RWDSU — lost their jobs without any notice. They and their families suffered because of a sudden loss of pay and benefits. And, communities were put at risk by the loss of skilled and experienced supermarket workers who knew best how to serve stores’ customers, and most importantly, knew how to properly and safely handle the food that New Yorkers buy and eat every day. The transition period provided by the GWRA will give New York City grocery workers valuable time to prepare for their future. But, there are more than 175,000 grocery store workers throughout New York State. That’s why the RWDSU supports the passage of a statewide grocery store worker retention law. The state’s grocery store workers and millions of shoppers deserve the same protection as those in New York City.
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For more information, visit
www.rwdsu.org
TAKING CARE OF THE SPIRIT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 school, taking poetry classes.’” By the time the tumor grew back 14 months later, Brendan had impressed a number of people with his writing. Eventually, a collection of his poems, “Summer Becomes Absurd,” was published by Finishing Line Press. “In the ripple of people that he touched were two of our artist friends, Francie Hester and Lisa Hill,” said Jackie, a board member for the Smith Center and the cofounder and contributor for the project-based community Words as Legacy. “Lisa did an abstract rendering of Brendan’s chapbook and they both created a series of art installations inspired by Brendan’s work.” “Wordfall,” the initial exhibition in New York, was installed in the lobby of the Josie Robertson Surgery Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on York Avenue and unveiled in December. “Wordfall” is comprised of more than 80,000 paper clips, hand wrapped in paper on which Brendan’s poetry is printed. Each paper clip is linked to create hundreds of black and white, amber and gold strands that cascade from ceiling to floor. “We took six of his poems and we laced the words on top of each other,” Hester said. The work symbolizes the psychological ups and downs one might encounter during illness, she said, and also echo the tone of Brendan’s poetry, which moves from a sense of acknowledged mortality to an embrace of life. “The lacing goes from dark to light, from confusion to clarity,” Hester said. Jackie said that this transition “not only mirrors the writing process, but also speaks to Brendan’s recovery after his brain surgeries and his ability to find his voice again.” It also reflects Brendan’s sentiments shortly after receiving his diagnosis. “I want the doctors to take care of the medi-
BARRY LIEBMAN,
“Wordfall,” a site-specific art installation inspired by Brendan Ogg’s poetry, conceived of by Francie Hester and Lisa Hill. It hangs in the lobby of the Josie Robertson Surgery Center at Sloan Memorial Kettering Cancer Center on York Avenue. Photo: Greg Staley cine, and I’ll take care of the spirit,” Jackie said he told her. Friends, family and strangers alike got together to hand wrap all 80,000 pieces to complete the initial installation. “The wrapping circles began at [Brendan’s] high school, at local bookstores outside of D.C., and they kept growing,” Hester said, “They started to take on a greater spiritual significance. People were talking, healing, sharing their stories.” In March, a second installation, “Wordfall: Currents,” will be unveiled. It will coincide with the opening of the Teen and Young Adult Lounge at Memorial Sloan Kettering. The exhibit will spiral around the staircase, showcasing Brendan’s po-
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016 etry on iridescent toned links of blue and green paperclips. Nina Pickett, administrator of the Center’s Department of Pediatrics, called it a “match made in heaven by Brendan.” She orchestrated the installation of “Wordfall: Currents” after meeting Jackie Ogg. “It really resonated because we were creating this lounge,” Pickett said when told of the context of the original installation, a lounge that would cater to this isolated group of patients aged 15-30. “This poetry was so beautiful in its messaging, and there was such gravitas to it being written by a 19-year-old. I needed to connect this somehow.” Once again, “Wordfall: Currents” will draw on the therapeutic powers of art and community. “The teen and young adult lounge installation is going to be an interactive project,” said Susan Eley, who owns and runs a salon-style gallery on the Upper West Side and helped connect the dots between the artists, the installation and the hospital. “The patients in the cancer center will be wrapping the paper clips and creating the artwork, cultivating a shared goal. We want to promote healing through art.” Starting this week, patients will begin lacing the poems on paperclips. They will work with the artists to explore themes of movement and build on the concept of words and the fluidity of time. When the installations is finished, it will resemble a shimmering waterfall of words and wisdom. “When you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you have a stop and start, but the rest of your life gains this spirit of fluidity, like a waterfall,” Hester said. It is in this spirit, Jackie Ogg said, Brendan’s poetry can encourage and inspire others to persevere. “For me, in some ways [the installation] will be a portrait of Brendan,” she said. “It’s shattered, fragmented, and in pieces, but it transitions from him being here to keeping elements of him here, and that is really beautiful.”
45 YE ARS & CO U N T I N G
YO U R N EI G H B O R H O O D N E WS S O U RCE
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
45 YEARS AND COUNTING CELEBRATING SOME NEIGHBORHOOD STALWARTS, AND OURSELVES In New York, some political debates -- like what to do about rising rents for small businesses -- can start to feel tedious in their repetition. We all know the problem. The solution seems remote. The outcome inevitable. So a year or so ago, we set out to put a more memorable face on the crisis facing mom and pops in our city. Every week for most of the year, we profiled a homegrown business on the Upper East Side, in a feature we called 45 Years and Counting. We met businesses that had survived for decades (many of them still with their founding families) and marveled as they adapted and thrived. A compilation of those stories, and of the sketches that accompanied them by John S. Winkleman, is in the pages that follow. We chose 45 years because that is the age of this newspaper -- itself an institution in the city it covers. We count ourselves lucky to be in such great company. -- Kyle Pope, Editor in Chief
A MILLION NEW YORK STORIES, ONE WEEKLY ISSUE AT A TIME A REMEMBRANCE BY ARLENE S. KAYATT
It was early 1973. Nelson Rockefeller was Governor. John Lindsay was Mayor. Ed Koch was Congressman for Manhattan’s Upper East Side. And Ed Kayatt, a transplant to Manhattan from Massapequa, was publishing Our Town, a community-oriented newspaper which he started in 1971 as a Pennysaver. After two years, he knew that a Pennysaver was a non-starter. The coupon clipping culture of Nassau County was anathema to Manhattan’s Upper East Siders. What was needed, he believed, was a grassroots newspaper giving voice to residents of the neighbor-
hoods of the East Side. My intro to Our Town was in early ‘73. An Upper East Sider, I was an assistant professor at a community college. I loved writing and newspapers. A friend told me to check out Our Town. There was an ad for volunteers. I showed up at the Our Town offices, down a ramp on East 82nd St between York and East End, and in short order, I think the same day, I was the Community Happenings Editor, going through local events that would be of interest to readers and preparing the copy. Then came covering community boards, police precinct meetings, political
campaigns, investigative reporting while editing and participating in the life of the paper and the community. In ‘75, Ed and I married. We divorced years later. Our wedding at Barney Googles on East 86th St was itself a community happening. Everyone was there: family, personal friends, Our Town staffers, community activists, community leaders. Ed Koch and Mario Biaggi, both Congressmen, Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, Cindy and Joey Adams. Alda’s Ristorante, the go-to place on East 86th, catered an Italian buffet and Abe Lebewohl’s 2nd Avenue Deli catered and
carved the pastrami and corned beef. (Alda’s and Abe are no more.) Our Town’s motto was “The newspaper that cares about you and your community.” The Our Town of the Ed Kayatt years that I remember best and cherish most was when locals, Our Town staffers and reporters and cats converged in the office while the paper was being put together. It was pasteboards in those days. Camera-ready copy. Writers bringing in their articles. Locals and businesses bringing in their classified ads, letters to the editor being delivered personally. And complaints and comments and phones
ringing off the hook. This community spirit was the foundation for the OTTY (Our Town Thanks You) awards to individuals and institutions that made New York a better place to live and work...that was the slogan that started it. Over the years, Our Town partnered with local businesses to provide luncheons and dinners for seniors, children and local based organizations. Bill McCauley’s Cronies was always civic minded and giving back to the community. His Thanksgiving, holiday and Toys for Tots events were everybody’s favorite. Cronies was one of the paper’s first ad-
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45 YEARS AND COUNTING vertisers and remained until it closed several years ago. The days when Kalev Pehme was editor were mercurial, mad and fun, and Our Town was a must-read. In his mid- to late20’s, Kalev was brilliant, canny, passionate and, single-minded. He would tackle, unravel and simplify the most complex, convoluted story - in three thousand words, not less. But if you read it, you knew the story, the back story, and anything else that could be known. The knock down, drag-outs between Ed and Kalev over copy, comments, politics and people were legendary. They usually ended up firing each other. Ownership prevailed. Ed stayed and Kalev went on to other things in a long career. (Unfortunately, Kalev left us too too soon. He passed three years ago. Kalev married while at Our Town and his son Morgan was an Our Towner from boyhood. At 10, he had an article published in the paper. In later years, he also wrote for the paper and has been a good friend and mentor.) In putting this retrospective in perspective and going through Our Towns from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s when I was editing and reporting, it’s interesting how
the issues haven’t changed all that much. They may be in different stages - like the 2nd Avenue Subway, traffic, crime - but they are still kicking around in one way or another. Take traffic. In a March/April 1983 issue, the headline cries out,�Traffic Anarchy Never Stops,� and reports about pedestrians being hit by errant motorists. The legendary 2nd Avenue subway saga has been reported on by Our Town since the ‘70’s. If the paper was around in the 1920’s, ‘30’s or ‘40’s, they would’ve/could’ve been writing about it. It’s gone on for so so long. Its progress and pitfalls continue to be experienced by generations of Upper East Siders. The Asphalt Green Youth Athletic complex on 91st and East End was vigorously advocated for by Dr. George Murphy. Today it exists thanks to his hard work and that of his wife Annette. He would be appalled and devastated to know that the Marine Transfer Station will be operational in its backyard. The battle for the youth facility was hard fought and reported in the paper. Today, a corner of 91st and East End bears the name of Dr. George Murphy and Annette
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Murphy, partners in the victory of Asphalt Green. The street naming is a ďŹ ne tribute to two exemplary East Siders. In its early years, Ed Koch and then State Senator Roy Goodman were regular contributors to Our Town. There were other public officials who contributed to the paper, but Koch was ďŹ rst. He didn’t get paid. He wrote as a public service - until he found out that another public servant (don’t know which one) was paid $6 for a column. Koch wanted to be paid. Kayatt declined. Koch quit. Or was ďŹ red. While I don’t know if Ed Koch was ďŹ red or quit, I do know that Cindy Adams, who was paid ďŹ ve dollars a week for her Cindy Says gossip column, was ďŹ red when she accepted an offer from the New York Post to write for them. Although she was willing to continue writing for Our Town, Ed Kayatt would have none of it. He gave her an ultimatum - either the Post or Our Town. You know the rest of the story. During the Kayatt years, the paper covered politics, the judiciary, the court system. There were articles and columns. There were endorsements. Battles raged in the paper’s pages. But Our Town was also
renowned for its civic-mindedness and promoting protections for seniors, disabled individuals, children, pets, animals. In its pages the paper did fundraising for various causes. Its publication of a series of articles by Henry Spira led to the defunding of cat experimentation at the Museum of Natural History. The paper organized protests at the museum. Paid for and created promotional materials - hats, buttons, tee shirts, posters - advocating against the experiments. On one weekend afternoon, the paper organized a “funeral cortege� with makeshift cardboard headstones bearing cat names like Tabitha, Lamb Chop, Moppett, Frisky. Our Town’s investigative reporting was legendary, At the end of the ‘70’s Dennis King did a series of articles on Lyndon LaRouche. References about the series, Dennis, Ed and Our Town are all over the internet. In large part, my investigative reporting for Our Town resulted in reforms at the ASPCA. The paper’s advocacy and its role in arguing that the ASPCA had a duty to the New York City animals in their care were game changers
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
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45 YEARS AND COUNTING
A REMEMBRANCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 for the organization. Although Our Town always worked with the organization to promote animal welfare, there was much to be dissatisfied about when it came to policy and practice at that time. My articles earned me and the paper recognition in the Congressional Record from Mayor Koch and Congressman Mario Biaggi. Assemblyman Pete Grannis also commended my reporting. Gas station tune ups were a source of contention in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Readers complained that tune ups were recommended that weren’t necessary. I was going to find out and got into my red Chevy Nova and took it around to several auto tune up shops on the East Side. My poor car, in a short period, was tuned up at least twice in one day and five times over a week. The article that appeared in Our Town led to the closing down of one local gas station. Many years later, at a gas station in Huntington, N.Y., a gas station attendant refused to fill my car with gas. Why, I asked. He told me he was the owner of the location that was shut down all those years ago. In the early days, Our Town was delivered to mail rooms, lobbies in high rises, banks, supermarkets. Around Primary time in one election year, readers reported to us that the papers were delivered to their building and then dumped in trash baskets along the Upper East Side. An Our Town photographer confirmed the deed. Now who was the culprit? A disgruntled candidate running for office whose opponent got the paper’s endorsement. A group of Our Town staffers and local community residents organized a protest in front of the offending candidate’s building on East End Ave. During my years at the paper, in addition to reporting and editing, I wrote restaurant reviews under the pseudonym Thea Sands. It was great fun dining out and having the paper pay for it. The restaurants didn’t know I was reviewing. In those years, Mimi Sheraton was restaurant critic for the New York Times and Seymour Britchkey, a highly regarded restaurant reviewer, had his own newsletter in which he critiqued restaurants. They both raved about the newly opened Lobel’s Steakhouse on 3rd/43rd. Lobel’s was and is the famed butcher on Madison Ave. But being a great butcher doesn’t mean you’re a great restaurateur. And I reviewed it that way. Mimi and Seymour disagreed. Letters to the Editor abounded as did threats of lawsuits. In the end Thea Sands had it right. Lobel’s the restaurant closed and Lobel’s the butcher lives on. I’ll close with my favorite Our Town expose. It was of Who’s Who in New York. Ed and I each got a solicitation to apply for inclusion in a Who’s Who in New York edition in the late ‘70’s. Cost, $47. Our names would appear along with our bios. No photo. Since our name began with “K” we would be among famous “K’s.” Ed smelled a story. We would submit the name of someone who had not been solicited by Who’s Who. We chose Edith Supthin Kayatt. She attended Bryn Mawr and had other impressive credentials. We did not include in her pedigree that Edie, as she was known, was really Edie Amin, a black mutt of a pup who was anything but a terrorist. We sent her name and bio along with a $47 check. The applicant’s name was Edith Sutphin Kayatt. Before it was published, Who’s Who sent us copy. There was our Edie listed on the same “K” page as Ed Koch and Henry Kissinger. Too good to resist, we photographed Edie in a graduation cap with a tassel, copied the page and pasted her photo on the page where it would appear (without photo) which included Henry Kissinger and Ed Koch. The press release and photo with Edie in her cap and tassel were picked up by media across the country. Our ruse revealed, Edie was interviewed and photographed and had her 15 minutes of fame. Why the story? Ed believed that Who’s Who was luring people to pay $47 to be included in what was considered to be a reputable, high end compilation of famous names. He sourced the story by confirming with Koch’s office that Koch didn’t have to pay. Only regular folks wanting in - or mutts - had to pay. A tale well told.
An Our Town from 1986, when rising commercial rents were already putting pressure on local businesses.
MEMORIES OF THE AISLE BY STORI MACPHEE
Thornton Wilder once said, “If you write to impress, it will always be bad, but if you write to express it will be good.” As a writer, I have always tried to follow this advice. My husband Charles MacPhee and I wrote for the Pennysaver when Ed Kayatt sat with us one night in a bar on Second Avenue and announced that he wanted to change the name of the paper to something that reflected the city of New York and more specifically the Upper East Side. That night when we returned home, my mother, who was babysitting, offered the name Our Town. We called Ed and voila, a newspaper was born. For seven years Charles and I wrote “Family on the Aisle,” a column of his and hers reviews of plays and movies. Later on, our daughter Samantha often joined us to review children’s productions and films. Since Charles and I rarely agreed on
most things, it wasn’t surprising that we had different takes on what we saw on and off Broadway. We never discussed our opinions until after the reviews were written but after a time, the signposts became clear; a sigh, a gesture of boredom, a smile would tell me what he was thinking. At the height of the season, we often wrote four or five reviews. As I think back on those years, I have wonderful memories of the people who made Our Town what it was and continues to be, from then mayor-to-be Ed Koch, who also contributed at that time, to Richard Kayatt who followed in his father’s footsteps, to Arlene who continues to be a good friend as is Judy Ross who wrote the restaurant reviews. I loved those days and treasure the memories and although it was never Grover’s Corners, it was and will always remain… Our Town. Stori MacPhee wrote for Our Town from 1972 to 1979 and from 1998 to 2000. She lives on the Upper East Side
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More Value for NY More than 90% of CUNY baccalaureate graduates are employed or pursuing advanced higher education three years after graduation.
More than 80% of all CUNY graduates live or work in New York State 10 years after graduation. More Student Award Winners than ever: Since 2011, 86 student Fulbright Awards, 81 NSF Fellowships, 12 Goldwater, 5 Soros, 3 Truman Scholarships – and a Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
More Faculty Award Winners than ever: Since 2011, 51 faculty Fulbrights, Guggenheims,
National Book Awards and Pulitzer Prizes.
More than 8 out of 10 CUNY college students graduate free of federal loan debt. ith its high-quality academic programs, affordable tuition and student support, including financial aid and privately funded scholarships, The City University of New York plays a vital role in educating more than 500,000 degree-seeking and continuing-education students annually
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and in contributing to the state’s economic health. This is the CUNY Value. That value translates into respected, affordable academic and professional credentials for CUNY graduates, an overwhelming majority of whom remain in New York after college, contributing their knowledge, skills and increased earning power to the state, the city, their neighborhoods and society. To continue CUNY’s historic mission to provide the quality, affordability and access that are the hallmarks of the CUNY Value, it needs the support of the communities it serves. We look forward to working
with Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature to Support the CUNY Value. James B. Milliken CHANCELLOR
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CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK-1847 HUNTER COLLEGE-1870 BROOKLYN COLLEGE-1930 QUEENS COLLEGE-1937 NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY-1946 COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND-1956 BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1957 QUEENSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1959 CUNY GRADUATE CENTER-1961 BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1963 KINGSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1963 JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE-1964 YORK COLLEGE-1966 BARUCH COLLEGE-1968 LAGUARDIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1968 LEHMAN COLLEGE-1968 HOSTOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1970 MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE-1970 CUNY SCHOOL OF LAW-1983 MACAULAY HONORS COLLEGE AT CUNY-2001 CUNY SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES-2003 CUNY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM-2006 CUNY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH POLICY-2011 GUTTMAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE-2011 CUNY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE-FALL 2016
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45 YEARS AND COUNTING
INSIDE THE OUR TOWN GROTTO BY JEREMY GERARD
I lived in Carnegie Hill, on 87th Street west of Park Avenue, in a building so dank and crummy we didn’t even rate a stack of Our Towns on the radiator in the foyer each week. At the bank one
day, as I was reading through the latest multipart tirade against Lyndon LaRouche, my friend Henry Hewes came by and, pointing to the paper in my hands, said, “You ought to work for them.” Henry had just retired – this was around 1976 – but he had been the exemplary and influential drama critic for the Saturday Review weekly magazine, and I was his latest project. He encouraged my writing and thought I should have a job that supported it. And being cheap, he was a regular reader of the freebie that appeared each week in his building, which was posh enough to have a lobby, if not a doorman. I’m certain Henry never met Ed Kayatt. But I screwed up my courage and made my way east on 88th Street to the Our Town grotto offices, where Kalev Pehme was editor, but Ed ruled. I liked Kalev immediately. I told him I wanted to be the paper’s drama critic, a vacancy in the staffing that apparently no one had ever noticed. After reading some of my reviews and fire-breathing columns from the SUNY Purchase college newspaper, Kalev said I’d have to sell Ed on the idea and that I’d probably better keep the fire-breathing columns to myself. I doubt Ed Kayatt ever read a word of those reviews, and it’s likely he never read anything I wrote for Our Town. But he did give me a job. I could write all the reviews I wanted if I would be responsible for editing the Entertainment section, which included the restaurant reviews written by his wife Arlene, Cindy Adams’s chatty gossip column and whatever else came in over the transom. Oh, and of course the weekly wisdom of Bette Dewing, ever seeking out the good in New Yorkers and lamenting the bad, which she contin-
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Congratulations on 45 great years ...
... and here’s to 45 more!
www.EastMidtown.org
Congratulations Jeanne Straus, Straus Media 45th Anniversary Our Town CIVITAS Serene Green Logos Bookstore Pledge To Protect Joyce Matz Associates City and Suburban York Avenue Estate The Carter Burden Center For The Aging East 86th Street Merchants and Residents East 79th Street Neighborhood Association Committee for the East 81st St Pedestrian Bridge Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts
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45 YEARS AND COUNTING
THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY NEWS BY CONGRESSWOMAN CAROLYN B. MALONEY
For 45 years, Our Town has been an incredible neighborhood newspaper. It has often been the only source of news on issues that are important to East Siders. I can remember countless times in which Our Town’s good reporting and strong editorials helped bring out grassroots support. When East Siders were concerned that our neighborhood had no academically rigorous high school and I organized a task force to encourage the Board of Education to create a new school, Our Town provided outstanding coverage that helped build support – which became the much-celebrated Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Similarly, when the Department of Sanitation proposed building the Marine Transfer Station at 91st Street, Our Town provided some of the most accurate and comprehensive coverage of the issue. The coverage helped us push for critical changes to this facility,
I still have on my wall a copy of the Our Town story that ran when I was elected to Congress: “Ms. Maloney goes to Washington.” Our Town gave me a platform to talk about my election victory and my agenda.
although I continue to believe the city is wrong to build a garbage dump here and send hundreds of trucks rolling through our streets each day. I also appreciate Our Town’s story when we broke ground for the fourth time in 80 years for the Second Avenue Subway. Our Town’s headline was: “A New Day for an Old Idea: Breaking ground – yet again – for the Second Avenue Subway.” I am determined to ensure that Phase 1 of the subway, for which I secured $1.3 billion in federal funding, is completed in 2016 and I know that Our Town will be there to cover the opening. Our Town’s front page story last year on my bill to create a National Women’s History Museum really galvanized attention which helped pass the bill. People would come to see me with copies of the Our Town story in their hands and ask what they could do to help. The story helped generate a lot of energy in favor of the bill, and helped move it forward.
Our Town has always provided outstanding coverage of local political races. While most of the papers pay scant attention to local candidates, Our Town can be counted on to provide information to help voters make up their minds. I still have on my wall a copy of the Our Town story that ran when I was elected to Congress: “Ms. Maloney Goes to Washington.” Our Town gave me a platform to talk about my election victory and my agenda for Washington, which helped introduce me to my new constituents. Our Town is the quintessential community newspaper. It informs us about neighborhood businesses and local icons, and helps bring East Siders together. My constituents and I thank you for 45 years of outstanding reporting and look forward to many more. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney represents the 12th congressional district, including the Upper East Side
the 19th Pct Community Council
Yorkville congratulates Our Town and the many other neighborhood organizations that have served Upper East Side families for 45 years (or in our case, 48 - but who’s counting?)
THE 19th PRECINCT COMMUNITY COUNCIL CONGRATULATES OUR TOWN ON YOUR 45th ANNIVERSARY
Located at The 19th Precinct, 3rd FL - 153 East 67th St
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45 YEARS AND COUNTING SCHALLER AND WEBER
JOHN KRTIL FUNERAL HOME
1654 2nd Ave #1 (212) 879-3047 Ferdinand Schaller was a man that took the craft of meat seriously. So much that with only $10 in his pocket and an apprenticeship as a butcher and sausage maker in his native Germany, he immigrated to the U.S. In time, he opened what’s now the oldest German butcher shop, on Second Avenue near 86th Street, Schaller & Weber. Current owner Jeremy
1297 1st Ave (212) 744-3084 When a life comes to an end, people have tended to dial John Krtil Funeral Home on First Avenue, just south of 70th Street. Built with gray granite and standing four stories high, the funeral home has been in business since 1885. John Kr til’s great-grandfather, also named John, became an undertaker in one of the Upper
Schaller is the third-generation family member running the business. “My grandfather when I was a kid told me this is what you’re going to do in life,” he said. “So it was pretty much straightforward from the start.” The shop stands out by specializing in pork but also sells poultry and sweets.
MARY ARNOLD TOYS
East Side’s most diverse enclaves. The small staff, mostly family, emphasizes comfort and consolation. The Krtils’ funeral home has become “a bedrock of the community,” John said.
1010 Lexington Ave (212) 744-8510 Jack-in-the-boxes, pogo sticks and pretend costumes meet with a child’s dreams at Mary Arnold Toys. If you’re looking for both traditional and more contemporary toys, then this Lexington Avenue shop, near 72nd Street, is for you. The shop, one of the city’s oldest toy stores, has been in business since it was opened in 1931, either by partners named Mary and Arnold, or by a woman
OTTOMANELLI BROS.
LOBEL’S
1424 Lexington Ave (212) 426-6886 Judging from their collection of butcher shops, restaurants and mail-order condiments, the Ottomanelli brothers know as much about business as they do about meat. The Ottomanellis have been a household name to families on the Upper East side since 1900. Brothers Nick and Joe Ottomanelli currently run the business at York Avenue and 82nd Street, the family’s fourth generation to do so.The
1096 Madison Ave (212) 737-1372 Meat slabs, band saws, and a passion for quality are what ties the Lobel men to their Upper Eastside butcher shop. Lobel’s, at 84th Street and Madison Avenue, has been in the area for 65 years -- but has been in existence for much longer. The roots of the business go back to Austria, where Nathan Lobel made his living raising cattle. Today, the fifth generation of Lobel’s has taken over the
company has expanded beyond the East Side to Queens, and in the mid 1990’s, it began showcasing its products at Macy’s Herald Square, selling steak sauce, BBQ sauce, and spices to all of Manhattan.
WANKEL’S HARDWARE 1573 3rd Ave (212) 369-1200 In 1896, the New York City subway system was eight years from operation, Grover Cleveland was president, and Wankel’s Hardware opened for business
on Third Ave and 88th Street. One hundred and nineteen years later, Wankel’s is still family-owned and keeping locals supplied with tools, coffee makers, keys, and just about everything else.
named, of course, Mary Arnold. The store’s most precious resource are kids themselves. Mary Arnold’s tries to deliver on their wishes, Working closely with the community through the store’s occasional story- time or arts and crafts events is also what keeps people coming.
business, which is celebrating its 175th year. Tourists flock into Lobel’s to take pictures of the decor, which includes elk heads on wooden walls. In addition, the Lobel’s ship their products across the country, thanks to a thriving next-day delivery business.
Congratulations to Our Town and the many other businesses in operation 45 years and counting on the Upper East Side
We salute you Your friends at
Health System
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45 YEARS AND COUNTING DANGERFIELD’S 1118 1st Ave (212) 593-1650 Walk into Dangerfield’s on First Avenue and you enter into a 1960s time warp. The maroon curtains, sofas, table lanterns and lampshades stamped with customer-drawn graffiti are all from the club’s opening in September 1969. James Dulworth, 70, has worked at the club for 17 years and points out that owner Tony Bevacqua, who founded the club with Rodney Dangerfield, cultivates the
K & D WINES AND SPIRITS
look. Dangerfield was known for “getting no respect,” but his eponymous comedy club, just north of East 61st Street, has had the respect of New Yorkers and tourists alike for 46 years. Comedians, too, pay tribute.
1343 Madison Ave (212) 289-1818 It’s a kaleidoscope of colors and, nearly, a case of sensory overload walking into K & D Wines & Spirits: 1,500 different bottles, in all shapes and sizes, line shelves from floor to ceiling. K & D has been serving — and lifting — spirits on the Upper East Side since 1934. The current Madison Avenue location, just below 94th Street, is two blocks south from
ARGOSY
the original storefront. It’s been run by Richie Klein and Andy Klugerman since 1995. Their fathers, Artie Klein and Erwin Klugerman, ran the store from 1962 until the boys, childhood friends who had started work at the shop as delivery boys, took over.
116 E 59th St (212) 753-4455 Tucked between commercial chain stores and big apartment buildings on East 59th Street lies an old and rare bookstore, an outlier in a city once known as “book country.” Argosy’s Book Store began as the vision of Louis Cohen, who started by buying cheap books while in his 20s, eventually acquiring enough to open his own store. For 90 years, the bookstore has collected and sold various
PJ CLARKE’S
SUTTON PIZZA
FELLAN FLORISTS
44 W 63rd St (212) 957-9700 When you walk down the street at 55th Street and 3rd Avenue, it’s easy to pick out which building doesn’t fit in with the rest. Among the neighboring highrises, the stout red brick building known as PJ Clarke’s still stands tall in the changing neighborhood. This old-school time capsule has been in existence since 1884, and its three owners have taken on the
1140 1st Ave (212) 838-5080 Hanging in the front window of Sutton Pizza is a framed paper menu from 1969. A large cheese pizza cost $2. Eggplant a la Parmigiana set you back $1.80. The prices, but little else, have changed for the neighborhood pizza joint established in 1967 on First Avenue between 62nd and 63rd streets. The eatery was opened by Nick God (full Greek name kept a family secret), and is now
1243 2nd Ave (800) 335-5267 As you approach the corner of 65th Street and Second Avenue, the distinctive scent of flowers overrides some of the city’s more typical odors. Attribute this phenomenon to Fellan Florists, an Upper East Side flower shop in the fragrant business since 1927. It’s run by John Laskaris, whose father, Antonio Laskaris, bought it from the founder in 1950. The store has sprouted in different locations since, but has
challenge of preserving history. Patrick Joseph Clarke started off as a bartender, then took over and made it his own in 1912.
run by his three sons, Pete, Greg, and Jim.
old and rare books, maps and prints. The family business has continued through three generations, and it’s now handled by Cohen’s daughters and nephew. It’s another world,” said Naomi Hample, one of the Cohen sisters, of the traditional bookselling industry.
long ties to the Upper East Side, Laskaris said recently. “The original location being on 71st and Lexington,” he said. “We moved from 71st and Lex, to 72nd and Third,” he said. “It was a huge corner store and Third Avenue was not the avenue it is today.”
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney Joins Our Town in celebrating its 45 years of community service: Keeping our community informed, investigating the issues, celebrating neighborhood achievements and helping to create the Eleanor Roosevelt High School.
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45 YEARS AND COUNTING GLASER’S BAKE SHOP
THE HEIDELBERG
LIVI’S
1670 First Avenue, at 87th Street (212) 289-2562 John and Justine Glaser brought the gift of sweets and baked goods when they opened their bakery 112 years ago on the Upper East Side when that slice of the city was predominantly German. Although First Avenue just north of 87th Street and the rest of Yorkville has changed since 1902, Black and White cookies and Butter Wafers are still being churned out by the
1648 2nd Ave (212) 628-2332 Walking down Second Avenue near 86th Street, one building will invariably catch your eye. With a quaint, medievalstyle facade, it almost looks like something out of a Grimm’s fairy tale. Though it isn’t quite as old as it lets on, the business does date back to 1939, having set up shop before most others in Yorkville. The Heidelberg, a Bavarian restaurant, is a throwback to the
1456 3rd Ave (212) 879-2050 So many changes have taken place in the neighborhood, but the owner of Livi’s Lingerie, Susan Ornstein, says what keeps her business, on Third Avenue in the 80s, going is her loyal customers. “Being around for 45 years is in itself enough to bring in loyal customers,” she says. “There are so many people that live here, like doctors and tourists, that are loyal to us and even people that just
third generation of Glasers, brothers Herb and John. The store’s antique wooden cabinets and mosaic tiles are leftovers from that opening day, at the turn of the last century. Longevity has translated into a loyal following.
era when the neighborhood was almost entirely German. Luise Edler, the mother of current owner Eva Matischak, first bought the property in 1964. The place has changed very little since its founding, noted manager Kurt Krautheim. “I’m really proud of the way it
ORWASHER’S BAKERY
REIF’S TAVERN
JIM’S SHOE REPAIRING
308 E 78th St #1 (212) 288-6569 Talk ab o u t a successful rise. Orwasher’s Bakery has been supplying sustenance to hungry New Yorkers in the form of rye, sourdough, and wheat for over 99 years. Orwasher’s was family-owned and operated from 1916 until 2007, when Keith Cohen took the helm. Cohen, 44, has helped lead a great expansion. Besides the storefront on E. 78th Street, off of 2nd Avenue, Orwasher’s supplies bread to Gourmet Garage, Citarella, and Zabar’s, along with Gramercy Tavern, Untitled (the restaurant at the Whitney Museum), and others.
302 E 92nd St (212) 426-0519 Reif’s Tavern opened for business on East 92nd St. in 1942. Rosie Yurasits first ventured inside, under-age, in 1946, for a couple of rum and cokes. She’s now 82 years old and you can find her tending bar every Tuesday from noon to 7 p.m. Yurasits has a devoted following of customers and says Reif’s has changed much over the decades. “I call it ‘the neighborhood family bar’ because everyone meets here,” she said.
50 E 59th St (212) 355-8259 In our walking city, every New Yorker feels the pain when something goes wrong with his or her shoes. For 83 years, Jim’s Shoe Repair, on 59th Street between Madison and Park, has come to the rescue. The business was started by Italian native Vito Rocco when he immigrated to America and opened a store to provide shoe shines. At the time, people in the area knew him as Jim, a name that’s stuck.
LITTLE WOLF CABINETS 1583 1st Ave (212) 734-2120 Little Wolf Cabinet Shop is an institution on First Avenue, specializing in fine wood work since 1956. But the craftsmanship started way before then, in a town near Munich, Germany. John Wolf Sr. immigrated from there to America, where he would pass on the family trade that had begun in the early 1800s. His grandson, John Wolf Jr., has
JEROME FLORISTS
now taken up the mantle, and tools. Wolf recalls being a child and stepping over the wood pieces in the shop his father ran. “I always knew since the day I was born that I would be here,” said Wolf.
1379 Madison Ave (212) 289-1677 Jerome Florist has been doing business on the corner of Madison Avenue and 96th street since 1929. But how the shop got its name harkens back to even before then, to its founding by William Stamos, the father of its current owners and operators, brothers Peter and Constantine. “My dad first had a flower shop in the Bronx, so when he moved to Manhattan, he named
S. FELDMAN HOUSEWARES
FINNEGAN’S WAKE
1304 Madison Ave (212) 289-7367 On Madison Avenue, near 92nd Street, tucked into what is now a mostly residential neighborhood, is an Upper East Side fixture. Founded in 1929, at the start Great Depression, S. Feldman Housewares is a one-stop shop for pretty much anything you could need in your home, from hardware tools to pots and pans. Sam Feldman, a Russian immigrant, started the business as five-and-dime and 25-cent store for people struggling during the economic collapse. More than 85 years later, the shop remains in the family.
1361 1st Ave (212) 737-3664 Finnegan’s Wake Pub, located on First Avenue, near 73rd Street, is an oasis from the Upper East Side’s bustle. It’s a niche spot, and the self-proclaimed Upper East Side’s oldest and most authentic Irish pub. Anthony King, the bar’s owner, remembers walking into the same spot 43 years ago, when it served up a different European flavor. It was, at the time, John’s, a Czechoslovakian drinking establishment. John and his wife, Nanny, ran a bar and cafe next door to each other where locals came for company and a taste of Eastern Europe.
pass by have turned into loyal customers.” Susan’s mother, Livia Finger, opened Livi’s in 1970, which explains where the name of the store came from.
PAUL MOLE 1034 Lexington Ave (212) 535-8461 The interior of the Paul Mole barber shop is a scene cropped from a silent movie; it takes you back to the good old days. The decorations are simple yet elegant— everything inside the shop, at Lexington Ave. and 74th Street, seems to be wooden: the counter, the dividers, the wall full of framed black-and-white photos. “I don’t like to change, that’s why I like that everything’s always the same here, it makes me feel very comfortable,” said 71-year-old Abe Jacob, who has been a customer of Paul Mole for more than 20 years.
GOLDBERGER’S PHARMACY
it for the street where his career began — Jerome Avenue,” Peter Stamos, 59, said. “For fiveplus decades, he was known as ‘Mr. Jerome’ to most of the customers.”
1200 1st Ave (212) 734-6998 The retro signage spells an invitation to old-school, personalized service. It’s also a neon-lit reminder that drugstore chains didn’t always rule just about every city block. But you’ll find the same s taple s at Goldberger’s Pharmacy, on the southeast corner of First Avenue and 65th Street since 1898, as you would at the Duane Reades,
Rite Aids and CVS’s. Sunscreen, mouthwash, baby powder, shampoo, razors, Q-tips and, yes, condoms fill the pharmacy’s storefront window displays. T hr e e g e n e r a tio n s o f Goldbergers owned and ran the pharmacy until the family sold it 101 years after it put down roots in the neighborhood.
BRADY’S
3 DECKER
1583 2nd Ave (212) 861-6070 S i n c e 19 6 1 , Brady’s on the corner of 82nd Street and Second Avenue, has been the place to quench one’s thirst, hang out with neighbors, and root hard for a favorite sports team. Rooting for a sports team took on epic proportions in February 2008 and 2012, when, at the behest of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, Brady’s changed its name to “Manning’s” for each of those Super Bowl weeks. “I couldn’t believe when they (the mayor’s office) called, but said ‘sure!’” the bar’s owner, Dan Brady, said.
1746 2nd Ave (212) 2899936 On Second Avenue, near 91st Street, hidden amidst a scene of restaurants, cafes and diners, the 3 Decker Restaurant has been doing business since 1932. From its origin as a neighborhood joint in Great Depressionera Yorkville to, now, its incarnation within a gentrifying cultural hub, the restaurant’s echoed its locale. Reflecting the neighborhood’s growing diversity, the 3 Decker’s propositions include Greek and Mexican cuisine and American barbecue alongside traditional diner food.
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45 YEARS AND COUNTING THE LEXINGTON CANDY SHOP LUNCHEONETTE
ITALIAN VILLAGE PIZZA AND RESTAURANT
1226 Lexington Ave (212) 288-0057 New Yorkers and people of all kinds venture to the Lexington Candy Shop Luncheonette. Most are looking to indulge their sweet tooths and to treat themselves to other goodies this throwback venue has to offer. Located on 83rd Street and Lexington Avenue, the luncheonette has been serving its neighbors ever since Soterios
1526 1st Avenue #1 (212) 535-5950 Call it a tale of two restaurants. At first glance, Italian Village Pizzeria looks like a typical pizza joint with Formica booths and, near the counter, glass cases filled with pizza pies, but since 2007, has also featured an elegant dining room in back. The shop opened on First Avenue just south of 80th
Philis opened its doors in 1925. The business moved beyond sweet treats in 1948 and started serving American style favorites such as cheeseburgers, tuna melts and freshly squeezed lemonade.
ROYAL SUTTON CLEANERS
THE MANSION RESTAURANT
PAN AMERICAN PHOENIX
1634 York Ave (212) 535-8888 Everything you need to know about the importance of tradition for the Philips family can be learned from the names of the people who run their restaurant. The Mansion, an Upper East Side anchor at York Ave. and 86th Street, was founded by John Philips, a Depression-era immigrant from Cyprus. In the 1970s, John was joined by his
857 Lexington Ave (212) 570-0300 Step into Pan American Phoenix on Lexington Avenue and it’s as if you were walking in off the streets of Mexico City. The colorful shop is filled with artifacts oozing Mexico and neighboring countries. Everything is imported from Latin America. Its racks and shelves are full of indigenous crafts, sterling silver jewelry, embroidered clothing, colorful
son, Philip (yes, Philip Philips), who was born and raised on 86th. Nearly a decade ago, Philip was joined by his son, John, who was raised a block away and has a young son named ... Philip. For 70 years, this restaurant has been run the entire time by someone named either Philip or John.
Street, in 1970. The monthly rent back then was $300; there were only three tables. A plain slice cost 25 cents and the eggplant parmigiana hero set you back $1.15.
1138 1st Avenue #2 (212) 838-0910 On any given day, a dozen washing machines whir and eight dryers whirl at Royal Sutton Cleaners on First Avenue. Since 1959, three generations of Giaimo men have kept Upper Eastsiders in clean duds. First, Anthony, who was followed by his son Joseph, and lastly, Anthony, the younger, joined the family business in 1982. “To be
honest, I needed a job ... I was getting married,” the younger Giaimo said.
BEACH CAFE
textiles, Day of the Dead figurines and blown glassware. It is the oldest such shop in the city, its owner, Mary Bartos, said. “I enjoyed teaching very much, but I love Mexico and the culture and the things they produce,” she said.
1326 2nd Ave (212) 988-7299 Tucked on the corner of Second Avenue and 70th Street, the Beach Café is some distance away from the seashore. But it’s been serving oysters, clams, shrimp and other oceanworthy fare for long enough that the name’s come to stand for something entirely its own — a welcoming neighborhood restaurant and bar that, though in business since 1968, still dishes out novelty, on a plate,
in a glass or otherwise within its cozy, low-lit dining room. “Everyday is like opening up a present — you never know what you’re going to get around here,” Dave Goodside, the restaurant’s owner, said.
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is pleased to congratulate
Our Town on its anniversary and to salute its fellow neighborhood businesses operating 45 years and longer.
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
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Primary and Multispecialty Care on the Upper East Side
An Our Town awards ceremony featuring, from left, Ed Kayatt, Howard Rubenstein, and Joey Adams Taken by Stephanie Ranou
INSIDE THE OUR TOWN GROTTO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 ues doing to this day, bless her. The pay was $25 per week, but I didn’t care. It meant, among other things, that I would never again have to stand in line for free Shakespeare In Central Park. And it got me lunch with the great English actor John Wood, then appearing on Broadway in “Deathtrap” and Burgess Meredith and the cast of Mummenschanz. It also meant spending a couple of evenings each week at
the office inputting copy, which then would be spit out in long strips of column inches backed by wax, that we would cut with an Xacto knife and set on the white and blue template pages, cutting and trimming and cutting and trimming until we got it right. Those were hours often spent in the company of George Spitz, for whom the term “gadfly” was coined. At first I thought of George as merely an eccentric. As an admirer of Cervantes, I regarded him as a modern day Don Quixote, ever tilting at the windmills of political chicanery, civic turpitude and general blockheadedness. George
always was good company, provocative and soulfully angry. Henry Hewes remained my devoted reader and mentor. Ed, Kalev and George are all gone now. I produce words that go out into the ether. I’m lucky to have had the apprenticeship I had, because such work is harder than ever to come by, and without it, fresh journalism dies. I never hesitate to brag that I got my start at Our Town, and I never see it – in other folks’ lobbies, of course – without feeling a twinge of affection. Jeremy Gerard is executive editor and chief drama critic of Deadline.com.
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
FALL UNDER THE POWER OF PRINTS AT THE MET Religious scenes, baseball cards, Moulin Rouge ads, some rarely seen, among the museum’s now centuryold collection BY MARY GREGORY
“The Death of the Virgin” is part of a wall full of Rembrandt’s etchings at the Met. Photo: Adel Gorgy
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s “The Photographer Sescau.” Photo: Adel Gorgy
The Metropolitan started collecting works on paper 100 years ago. To commemorate the anniversary, the museum has put together a collection of their highlights, “The Power of Prints: The Legacy of William M. Ivins and A. Hyatt Mayor.” Boasting hundreds of thousands of works, from medieval manuscripts to subway posters, no other collection has the depth, breadth and unique flavor as the one begun by two early, avid and idiosyncratic curators who are paid homage in the exhibition. Three large galleries are filled with the profoundly beautiful, the oddly curious, and the occasionally funny. William Mills Ivins, the founding curator of the department of prints, and Alpheus Hyatt Mayor, his successor, collected certain works for their importance, others for their beauty, some for their historical relevance, and many for the sense of American culture they were able to convey. The show, organized by associate curator Freyda Spira, covers works from the Medieval and Renaissance through Impressionism, up to the mid-20th century, with pieces as diverse as religious scenes and baseball cards. Some of the earliest pieces fill an extraordinary bookshelf. Manuscripts from the 1400s and 1500s open onto pages adorned with images from early texts on medicine, botany, mathematics, astronomy, travel and artistic techniques. A book on military strategy suggests disguising your battering ram as a dragon to terrify your enemy. A medical volume from 1493 even offers a how-to picture. It’s more than a display of books; it’s a glimpse into the history of human knowledge and ingenuity. Throughout, this is a show made up
Mary Cassatt’s “The Letter,” from 189091. Drypoint and aquatint is both delicate and powerful. Photo: Adel Gorgy of show-stoppers. Three versions of Rembrandt’s 1653 powerful crucifixion scene hang side-by-side, allowing us to follow the changes he made in details, highlights and shadows and see how his vision and the work evolved. Take a look at “The Death of the Virgin” to witness Rembrandt’s ability to employ composition to express deep meaning. The picture is roughly built of two triangles — a dark one on the bottom, filled with people, pointing upwards, and a light filled triangle above, pointing downwards, populated by heavenly beings. The plane on which they meet is where Mary, who belongs fully to neither world and to both, lies. It’s not hard to find images of Albrecht Durer’s “Adam and Eve” (1504) on the web. It’s not easy to find a chance to stand in front of it. Full sized, placed at eye-level, it draws the eye into a paradise of imagery. There are delightful creatures — a mouse and cat, a snaily looking snake with four antennae, a lushly plumed parrot — and the most gorgeous apples imaginable. Mary Cassatt’s “The Letter” looks lovely despite how radical it was when she made it. Next to it, a piece by her good friend, Edgar Degas, shows Cassatt as the subject. In a nighttime scene in Venice, with just a few
scratches of line and washes of shadow, James McNeill Whistler builds a sense of fog and damp so palpable you might look down to see if your feet are wet. An Edward Hopper street scene and a lone figure in an empty bedroom hint of 20th century realities, through that artist’s eyes. The third gallery bursts into color, as though we’ve landed with Dorothy in Oz. Toulouse-Lautrec’s bold pinks and Moulin Rouge advertisements bring us to Belle Époque Paris, while in the States, a posters craze was raging. Magazine and chapbook covers and calendars designed with eye-catching graphics and intense colors passed modernist visions to the masses. One of the points the exhibition tries to bring across is that even these early printed works influenced our current information age. Precursors of the never-ending stream of images coming at us from unexpected sources can be found in two delightful cases filled with carefully preserved objects that were never meant to last. Many were given away to reward or tempt customers. Trading cards, paper toys and memorabilia from events like the 1934 World’s Fair are bright, fun and appealing even today. Pitchers and catchers poised against glowing orange Maxfield Parrish-style skies give baseball a gorgeous allure. What kid wouldn’t have loved finding beautiful pictures of Snow White tucked into a loaf of Donald Duck bread or lithographs of snazzy cars hidden in a cookie box? There’s even a series of cards of movies stars distributed by the Koester Baking Company. Could a young Andy Warhol have been collecting them? It’s interesting to imagine. Seeing 550 years of collective thought expressed in glorious line and brilliant colors reminds us that art is indeed long. But the exhibition, and the chance to see this many masterpieces that, due to their fragility, spend much of their lives out of sight, only runs through May 22nd. Catch it.
FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
5
TOP MUSIC
M A R BL E C OL L E GI AT E C H U R C H presents
Th e Ma r bl e C h o i r
FOR THE WEEK
THEATER ST. JEAN’S PLAYERS WINTER ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL Neighborhood theater group St. Jean’s Players presents five one-act plays, including Anton Chekhov’s “The Brute” and other classics, along with two original plays. Playwright Pamela Robbins’ “The Running” follows two couples as the husbands vie for the same job. In Eugene Lefkowitz’s “Two Fifths,” a retiree applies for a vacant room in a Williamsburg apartment. Feb. 19-21 St. Jean Baptiste High School Auditorium 167 E. 75th St., between Third and Lexington Avenues Feb. 19-20 at 8 p.m.; Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. Tickets $20 Tickets at the box office 30 minutes prior
THE R OA D HO ME Tuessday, February 23 at 8:00pm
OUR ARTS EDITOR
Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center
Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 8,” dubbed “The Symphony of a Thousand” for its use of more than 1,000 musicians during its debut, incorporates both medieval hymns and parts of Goethe’s “Faust.” This performance of the 1910 work, which the composer considered his most outstanding feat, features a large orchestra and three choirs, including a children’s choir, along with eight soloists. “The Symphony of A Thousand” Feb. 24-25 The Cathedral of St. John the Divine 1047 Amsterdam Ave., at 112th Street 7:30 p.m. Tickets $25-$65 To purchase tickets, visit https://www.stjohndivine.org or call 212-316-7540 for more information
Conductor and composer Iván Fischer presents his new work music “Präludium und Fuge,” a cocommission from Netherlands’ Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and New York’s Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Feb. 24 and 26 The Morgan Library and Members of St. Luke’s Museum Chamber Ensemble Photo: 225 Madison Orchestra of St. Luke’s Ave., at 36th Street 7:30 p.m. Tickets $10-$48 To purchase tickets, call 212-594-6100 or visit oslmusic.org
Ke n n e t h D a ke , d i re c t o r
BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
“THE SYMPHONY OF A THOUSAND”
NEW MUSIC FROM IVÁN FISCHER
25
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
129 West 67th Street New York, NY 10023 Tickets: $25 General Admission, $20 Student/Seniors KaufmanMusicCenter.org/MCH | (212) 501-3330
FILM AKIRA KUROSAWA’S “RAN” Director Akira Kurosawa conceptualized his 1985 film “Ran,” an adaptation of “King Lear” set in Japan, using his original watercolor paintings as storyboards. The film, newly restored and screening for a week at Film Forum, stars Tatsuya Nakadai, who starred in other films by Kurosawa and director Masaki Kobayashi, as Lord Hidetora. Chris Marker’s documentary about the making of the film also screens, from Feb. 19-25. Feb. 26-March 3 Film Forum 209 W. Houston St., near Varick Street Assorted show times Tickets $14 To purchase tickets, visit filmforum.org or call the box office at 212-727-8110
MUSEUMS OPEN PLAN: ANDREA FRASER’S “DOWN THE RIVER” In her installation “Down the River,” artist Andrea Fraser contrasts the growth of museums with that of prisons using sound recordings from Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York. The installation is the first in the museum’s new series “Open Plan,” in which artists take over the museum’s 18,200-square-foot gallery. Feb. 26-March 13 Whitney Museum of American Art 99 Gansevoort St., near Washington Street Museum hours: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; closed Tuesday Admission $22 For more information visit whitney.org To be included in the Top 5 go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.
1 West 29th Street / New York, New York 10001 / 212 686 2770 / MarbleChurch.org
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Senator Cory Booker and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on Working Together for Change
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST, 3PM 92nd Street Y | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212-415-5500 | 92y.org The New Hampshire primary confirmed an electorate disenchanted with the country’s political establishment: two insiders provide insight and maybe a little inspiration. ($32)
Where Will the Next Pandemic Come From?
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD, 6PM The NY Academy of Medicine | 1216 Fifth Ave. | 212-822-7200 | nyam.org The age of globalization has seen infectious diseases emerge in places they’ve never been seen before. Science writer Sonia Shah will speak on a panel dedicated to the history and future of these diseases, and the forces that help turn pathogens into pandemics. (Free)
Just Announced | Race for the White House: 1960–Kennedy vs. Nixon
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29TH, 6:30PM N-Y Historical Society | 170 Central Park West | 212-873-3400 | nyhistory.org Catch a celebration of a new CNN series, complete with ’60s music, CNN anchor John Berman in conversation with Professor Timothy Naftali, and a screening of episode one, which tells the story of one of the most memorable of campaign seasons. (Free)
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS FEB 1 - 12, 2016 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 www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/services/restaurant-grades.page.
The store my daughter used to go in almost every day. It’s the kind of place that makes a neighborhood rich.
WHERE YOU CAN LIVE ABOVE A STORE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ery day. There’s no small bookstore in my neighborhood. And as of a month or two ago, five small shops have closed, all in a row, right across the street from my building. A very popular Italian sandwich place, a quirky vintage dress shop, a pizza place, a wonderfully welcoming Chinese laundry, and an Irish bar they said was a cop bar. They’re all dark now. They’re being dismantled. There’s scaffolding up. The three and four stories of great, old brick apartments are being gutted. I’ll miss looking at, or sensing at least, the different shades of brick on them and the zigzag fire escapes. There’s no look better than that to my eyes. What’s planned for the half block that’s being razed is a 20-story apartment building. That means 300-400 more people on the block with five fewer stores. I wonder what will go on the ground floor. Or will it just be another colorless monolith like I’d normally cross the street to avoid if I were on one of my walks? ‘You swallow hard when you discover that the old coffee shop is now a chain pharmacy, that the place where you first kissed so-and-so is now a discount electronics retailer, that where you bought this very jacket is now rubble behind a blue plywood fence and a future office
building. Damage has been done to your city. You say, ‘’It happened overnight.’’ But of course it didn’t. Your pizza parlor, his shoeshine stand, her hat store: when they were here, we neglected them. For all you know, the place closed down moments after the last time you walked out the door. (Ten months ago? Six years? Fifteen? You can’t remember, can you?) And there have been five stores in that spot before the travel agency. Five different neighborhoods coming and going between then and now, other people’s other cities. Or 15, 25, 100 neighborhoods. Thousands of people pass that storefront every day, each one haunting the streets of his or her own New York, not one of them seeing the same thing.’ Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York Kurt Vonnegut once called New York ‘ Skyscraper National Park.’ He should see it now. You wonder who wants to live in one of those Cape Canaveral buildings. Is their vanity so driving them that they’ll wait for the elevators to the 50th floor just so they can live in a building that’s advertised in the Sunday Times magazine? What if they forget the letter they meant to mail? Will they go back up to get it? I live on the second floor of my normal-size building. You can’t beat it. They might think it’ll all be worth it for the view. A friend of mine lived outside Denver where he said when he’d go to the kitchen sink for a glass of water he could often see moose out the window. After awhile, he said,
There’s no small bookstore in my neighborhood. And as of a month or two ago, five small shops have closed, all in a row, right across the street from my building” you’d just get your water and not think to look. Same thing will happen in those tall buildings. But then the only view those residents really want is the one of themselves living there. Like people in an expensive watch ad. When my friends from Cleveland, where I lived after college before moving here almost 20 years ago, ask what it’s like living here, I tell them it’s like living in my small hometown. It is. More than Cleveland was, with its mall-oriented, car-driven way of life. Here it’s neighborhoods that are like little towns. Alistair Cooke once said, ‘New York is the biggest collection of villages in the world’. I, like you, want them, knowing we’re impossibly wishing, to stay busy and small-scale and familiar, like that life-giving Main Street of mine. Bill Gunlocke is the editor of the blog acityreader@blogspot. com. His Street Level column will appear here bi-weekly
Tasti D-Lite
1380 1 Avenue
A
E.J Luncheonette
1271 Third Avenue
A
Good Health Natural Cafe
1435 1 Avenue
A
A La Turka
1417 2 Avenue
A
Cafe Evergreen
1367 1 Avenue
A
Mimo Blend
987 Lexington Ave
A
Mile 17
1446 1St Ave
Not Yet Graded (32) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment. 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.
Mariella Pizza
965 Lexington Avenue A
Numero 28
1431 1 Avenue
Grade Pending (24) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food prepared from ingredients at ambient temperature not cooled to 41º F or below within 4 hours. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Alex Cafe & Deli
1018 Lexington Avenue
A
Brasserie Cognac East
963 Lexington Ave
A
Latin Bites
419 E 70Th St
Not Yet Graded (23) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours.
Texas Rotisserie
1315 1St Ave
A
Chicken Festival
1584 1 Avenue
A
Kobeyaki
215 E 86Th St
A
Maison Kayser
1535 3Rd Ave
A
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf 1469 3 Avenue
A
The Burger Bistro
1663 1 Avenue
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.
Just Salad
1471 Third Ave
A
Hot & Crusty Bagels Cafe
1276 Lexington Avenue
A
Felice
1593 1 Avenue
A
Dunkin’ Donuts
1571 York Avenue
A
Elio’s
1621 Second Avenue
A
Grunauer
1578 1St Ave
Not Yet Graded (13) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
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85th Street Candy 212.288.7690 Asphalt Green UniďŹ ed Aquatics swimmers took the pool this past holiday weekend competing at the qualifying meet for the 2016 Eastern Zone Championship. Eight swimmers made the Zone Team, giving AGUA one of the largest single-team contingencies of the Metropolitan Swimming federation. Congratulations to the swimmers who made the Zone Team: Justice Carrenard, Taiyo Dejong, Beth Embrahimpour, Abdelraham Ibrahim, Lara Jones, Alexander MacLennan, Abdel Sabovic, Delilah Skaistis, and Kai Yamamoto.
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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
YOUR 15 MINUTES
To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to ourtownny.com/15 minutes
TAKING THE STAGE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE Artistic director and co-founder of Girl Be Heard on her theatrical mission
BY ANGELA BARBUTI
Gun violence, sex trafficking, rape in war zones, domestic violence and bullying are some of the topics Ashley Marinaccio mentioned when asked to outline the subjects Girl Be Heard has tackled in its ever-growing repertoire. What makes the nonprofit theater troupe, co-founded by Marinaccio, stand out is that its all-female cast tell their own stories or those of women they’ve interviewed. This brand of theater aspires to evoke a real sense of truth, and audiences respond favorably. Its honesty regarding issues of social justice has even taken the company to the White House and the United Nations. Their newest show, “Embodi(ED),” which runs until Feb. 21 at HERE Arts Center in SoHo, is based on the realities behind eating disorders. “There’s a lot of personal shame around body
issues, eating disorders and relationships with food,” Marinaccio explained. “I think something the show really touches upon is that we’re part of a system that makes a lot of money on keeping women down and making us feel bad about our bodies … and sometimes there’s no way of avoiding it, but this really puts the blame on looking at a much larger system as opposed to an individual.”
strung those together into a show and that was the very first “GirlPower” show. And it evolved from there. We create new “GirlPower” shows each year through our weekly Sunday workshop programming where girls, ages 12 to 21, meet to write, perform and discuss social justice issues. We help them weave their work into a cohesive theatrical piece at the end of the season in May.
Explain how the idea for Girl Be Heard came about.
What’s the audition process like?
Girl Be Heard came about through the EstroGenius festival which is a festival of women’s voices done at the Manhattan Theatre Source each year. I was hired to direct and write a show for teen girls and once I got the girls in the room, it was clear that they should be empowered to write their own stories. They were all super capable, smart and really great writers and actors. So I put it into their hands to write their own stories about the issues that they cared about and we
Auditions are held annually. We get about 1,000 submissions and we’ll see about 50 girls. And we always say that they pick us more than we pick them. It’s very clear if somebody’s a good fit and they want it and they would do well in this kind of atmosphere. It’s not for everyone. We’re helping girls realize that they are artists and don’t need to rely on anybody to give them work because they have stories to tell and they can have a stage and a platform for themselves.
Ashley Marinaccio. Photo: Dirty Sugar
Explain your role at the United Nations. We’re an NGO [non-governmental organization]. Our work at the UN has included presenting and performing at conferences and events in addition to advocating for issues pertaining to women and girls across the world. Other NGOs enjoy working with us because they find theater and art put names and faces on statistics of the issues that the UN is dealing with every day. Additionally, we teach our company members how to be advocates for correcting human rights and social justice issues. Michelle Obama invited you to perform at the White House. We were invited to perform our show “Girl Be Heard: Congo” which was made in collaboration with Congolese activists about the race epidemic in the DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo]. And it coincided with Michelle Obama’s trip to South Africa to work around access to education. She asked us to come and perform that piece to raise awareness of what’s going on in other countries.
Tell us about some of the stories told in “Embodi(ED).”
The cast of Girl Be Heard’s “Embodi(ed).” Left to right, back to front, are Jordan Fleming, Nina Tandilashvili, Annalise Wedemeyer, Dinae Anderson-Guano and Veronica Lowry. Photo: Ashley Marinaccio
Some are the stories of the women performers, some are stories based on people in their communities and some are stories based on interviews. There’s a story where one of the women speaks about her life acting and getting parts and feeling like she needs to be skinny and struggling to land roles. And there’s another story about a girl who, growing up, felt that the Cover Girl campaign framed her view of herself and how she thought that that’s what she needed to be.
There’s a lot on how family has an impact on how we view ourselves.
I’m sure it’s hard to choose, but what’s one play you did that really affected you? They all do that in a way because they’re all different. One of the shows that really had an impact on me was when we did a tour of our show “Traffic,” which is on sex trafficking and sexual exploitation of children, and we brought it to Dallas. Following the show, we had people lined up, men and women of all ages, saying things like, “I was incested when I was young. I’m a survivor of sexual abuse and I’ve never told anyone and this really inspired me to tell my story and go back into my community and see how I can make a difference for people there who’ve been through this.”
What feedback do you get from male audiences? Men love it. They identify with it. These stories might be coming from young women, but they’re universal in that people identity with them. People come forward and say, “Hey, me too. I’ve struggled with that. That’s been something that’s in my life.” We haven’t had bad feedback from men at all. We’ve haven’t had anything but positive feedback from men of all ages. To learn more, visit www.girlbeheard.org
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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FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
“I WISH SOMEONE WOULD HELP THAT HOMELESS MAN.”
BE THE SOMEONE. Sam New York Cares Volunteer
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.
FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
CLASSIFIEDS CARS & TRUCKS & RV’S
REAL ESTATE - SALE
SERVICES OFFERED
Telephone: 212-868-0190 Fax: 212-868-0198 Email: classified2@strausnews.com
POLICY NOTICE: We make every eort to avoid mistakes in your classiďŹ ed ads. Check your ad the ďŹ rst week it runs. The publication will only accept responsibility for the ďŹ rst incorrect insertion. The publication assumes no ďŹ nancial responsibility for errors or omissions. We reserve the right to edit, reject, or re-classify any ad. Contact your sales rep directly for any copy changes. All classiďŹ ed ads are pre-paid.
of NEED TO RUN A Directory Business & Services LEGAL NOTICE? To advertise in this directory Call #BSSZ (212)-868-0190 ext.4 CBSSZ MFXJT@strausnews.com
EMPLOYMENT
TUTOR HELP WANTED
MASSAGE
31
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
VACATIONS
REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE
Quick | Easy | Economical
Antique, Flea & Farmers Market
Call Barry Lewis today at:
(between First & York Avenues) Open EVERY Saturday 6am-5pm Rain or Shine
212-868-0190
Control Your Own Future borne
s E. O
MERCHANDISE FOR SALE
h Smit
Opportunity to BUY Established Real Estate Brokerage Firm with a rich history in serving Greater New York Area since 1887!
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No all
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212-986-7644 www.eosbornesmith.com to take the next step into your future!
Your Homeownership Partner
SINCE 1979
East 67th Street Market
Indoor & Outdoor FREE Admission Questions? Bob 718.897.5992 Proceeds BeneďŹ t PS 183
ANTIQUES WANTED
TOP PRICES PAID
Chinese Objects Paintings, Jewelry Silver, Furniture, Etc. Entire Estates Purchased
800.530.0006
ACUPUNCTURE
Neck
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Elbow
Free Consultation 212-355-2988
Hand Knee
www.acupunctureon.com 30 E. 60th St, New York, NY (bet Park & Madison Ave)
Ankle
Pain Relief
Singles, Families including LGBT Thinking of moving to New Jersey? Call Barbara Silber, RealtorÂŽ Direct: 973-280-6086 www.barbarasilber.com Office: 973-251-0100
SUBURBAN 4245 Town Center Way, Livingston NJ 07039
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SOHO LT MFG
462 Broadway
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+/- 9,000 sf Ground Floor - $90 psf
1-800-382-HOME(4663)
+/- 16,000 sf Cellar - $75 psf
www.sonyma.org
MFG No Retail/Food
Call Farrell @ Meringoff Properties 646.306.0299
32
FEBRUARY 18-24,2016
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
COME HOME TO GLENWOOD
MANHATTAN’S FINEST LUXURY RENTALS
453*,*/(-: *.13&44*7& ".&/*5*&4 "/% 4&37*$&4
INCLUDING FULL SIZE WASHER/DRYER IN SOME RESIDENCES UPPER EAST SIDE 1 BR FROM $2,895, 2 BRS FROM $4,695, 3 BRS FROM $6,995
MIDTOWN & UPPER WEST SIDE #3 '30. t #34 #"5)4 X 8"4)&3 %3:&3 '30. t $0/7&35*#-& #34 #"5)4 '30.
TRIBECA & FINANCIAL DISTRICT #3 '30. t #34 X 8"4)&3 %3:&3 '30. t #34 #"5)4 X 8"4)&3 %3:&3 '30. '3&& 1"3,*/( 8)*-& 7*&8*/( "1"35.&/54 01&/ %":4 ". 1. t /0 '&& 61508/ -&"4*/( 0''*$& %08/508/ -&"4*/( 0''*$&
GLENWOODNYC.COM
Builder | Owner | Manager
Equal Housing Opportunity.