The local paper for the Upper East Side
WEEK OF APRIL MIDWESTERN METAPHORS ◄ P.12
19-25 2018
HELP FOR THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY A forum on the UES focused on affordable housing, job placement and resources for independent living BY SHOSHY CIMENT
A 1919 photo of Sgt. Alvin C. York revisiting the hillside in the Forest of Argonne in France where his World War I heroics in 1918 won him a Medal of Honor. He is credited with killing 25 German soldiers, capturing 132 more and silencing 35 machine guns. Photo: New York Public Library / Digital Collections
REMEMBRANCE AND THE GREAT WAR HISTORY Or how a legendary warrior gave his name to an avenue — and how the East Side pays tribute to pluck, heroism and valor BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
It is the ultimate Upper East Side trivia question. But first, a warning: Most lifetime neighborhood residents get it wrong. How did York Avenue get its name? Did it come from A) The Duke of York? B) New York City itself? C) Yorkville, the community it traverses? D) The Continental Army’s triumph at the Battle of Yorktown? Or E) None of the above? If you answered “E,” give yourself a
free, 1.6-mile victory promenade up York from East 59th Street to East 92nd Street. The 33-block swath between the Queensboro Bridge and Asphalt Green is actually named for Sgt. Alvin C. York, the citizen-soldier-hero of the U.S. Expeditionary Forces in World War I whose exploits 100 years ago, under withering German machine gun fire, won him a Medal of Honor. In the last great push of what was then known as the Great War, in the Forest of Argonne in France, on October 8, 1918, York’s company was trapped behind enemy lines, and with most of his fellow soldiers killed or injured, he advanced, all-but alone, toward a machine-gun nest.
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For New Yorkers, the issue of homelessness is virtually impossible to ignore. Approximately 63,495 people are homeless in New York City, 22,293 of whom are children in the public school system and 17,085 are parents with children, according to the NYC Department of Homeless Services, in figures from April 12 cited by City Council Member Ben Kallos. These numbers only account for people in shelter system and do not represent the minority of homeless individuals — about 3,700 people — who sleep on the streets. City leaders and homelessness experts discussed the situation on April 12 at the Ramaz School during a forum that addressed avenues for alleviating the problem in New York City, specifically on the Upper East Side. “It really is more of a think tank,” said Barbara Rudder, a co-chair on the Health, Seniors, and Social Services Committee of Community Board 8. The forum, which was attended by over 60 people including Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, was meant to share information about the homeless problem with the public and discuss workable solutions to fix it. To the experts on the panel — who included representatives from the NYC Department of Homeless Services, the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, the Doe Fund and the Women’s Mental Health Shelter — affordable housing is the first step. In the years between 2005 and 2015, rents have increased by 18.4 percent while
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Panel members at the homelessness forum. Photo: Ben Kallos, via Twitter incomes have increased by just 4.8 percent. Kallos, whose district includes Yorkville, Lenox Hill and Carnegie Hill, discussed his efforts to increase the number of supportive housing facilities in the city. He mentioned his success during his re-election last year when he assisted in the acquisition of seventeen two-bedroom apartments for homeless women and their families. “We are a welcoming community,” remarked Kallos. “And whether it is women in need or others, we are going to work with you.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
“We are a welcoming community. And whether it is women in need or others, we are going to work with you.” City Council Member Ben Kallos Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, April 20 – 7:23 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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BUGGING OUT FOOD A U.N. report urged us all to “eat more insects� — and you can find them on the menu at NYC restaurants BY CAROL ANN RINZLER
Entomophagy (from the Greek word “entoma� meaning insect and “phagein� meaning to eat) has been around ever since humans first walked the earth, especially in places where bugs are way more available than, say, sirloin steaks. Right now, nearly 100 of the 2,000 insect species on earth are already on the menu for more than two billion humans in Africa, Asia and even parts of Europe. Modern bug-crunchers say the menu is both economical and environmentally sound. Raising or capturing insects takes less time and uses less land and food than raising cows, pigs or sheep, two good reasons why a 2013 report from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization urged us all to “Eat more insects.� Before you go yeccchhh, consider this: Who’s to say a large grasshopper
A serving of chapulines. Photo: amanda kelso, via ickr
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is less appetizing than a lobster? Both have long skinny bodies and plenty of legs, but USDA numbers show that, nutritionally speaking, the bug beats the lobster with more fat, carbs and iron per serving. The only category in which the lobster is a teensy little step ahead is protein: 22 grams per 3.5 ounce/100 grams serving of the shellďŹ sh vs. 20.6 grams for the creepy crawly. People who eat bugs say they actually taste good. Wasps are similar to pine-nuts; ants exude a vinegar-avor acid that adds zip as a simple seasoning or in “ant-saltâ€? around the rim of a cocktail glass. Chapulines — grasshoppers — have no distinct avor of their own. They pick up the taste of whatever they’re mixed with, making them probably the most common insect ingredient. You can try chapulines crunchy-fried as an appetizer at Toloache (166 East 82nd Street, 251 West 51st Street and 205 Thompson Street), atop guacamole at Dos Caminos (50th and Third, 675 Hudson Street and 475 West Broadway) or in tacos from the El Rey Del Sabor food cart (60th and Third and 43rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues). If you’re willing to travel
south on the Second Avenue bus, the Black Ant (60 Second Avenue) serves up a grasshopper and cheese stuffed tortilla, plus gusanos de mahguey, the worms usually found in Tequila bottles, with veggies, ower petals, more grasshoppers and yes, those vinegar-y ants. Prefer home cooking? The truly adventurous can DIY hunt-and-capture with Stefan Gates’ “Insects: An Edible Field Guideâ€? (Ebury Press, 2018). Those who like their ingredients neatly packaged can just type “edible bugs for humansâ€? into the search bar on Amazon to bring up 34 different yummies ranging from variously avored grasshoppers to cricket our and ready-made treats such as chocolate-dipped crickets and worms. Yes, Amazon’s also got recipes: “Eat Grub: The Ultimate Insect Cookbook,â€? by Shami Radia & Neil Whippey (Francis Lincoln, 2016) and “The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook, Revised: 40 Ways to Cook Crickets, Grasshoppers, Ants, Water Bugs, Spiders, Centipedes, and Their Kin,â€? by David George Gordon (Ten Speed Press, 2013). So go for it. Maybe once. After all, as those U.N. folks suggested, your bug a day helps save the planet.
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th district for the week ending Apr. 8 Week to Date
Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr
WOMAN MUGGED ON WEST 88TH A woman walking on West 88th Street near Broadway early on April 2 was stopped by a man claiming to have a gun and who then commanded her to give up her debit card and pin number, police reported. The woman complied and the man fled east on 88th Street. The mugger subsequently withdrew $100 from the woman’s account, police said.
MAN SOUGHT FOLLOWING BEATING Police asked for the public’s help locating a suspect in a violent assault. The man, Ricardo Soto, apparently punched his 28-year-old girlfriend in the mouth and throat following an
argument late on April 1 inside her West 94th Street apartment, police said. Police said Soto took the woman’s cellphone. She told officers Soto is known to carry guns.
ROBBER’S REMORSE A robber apparently had a change of heart after stealing a hotel guest’s laptop, returning it to front desk clerk about 10 minutes after taking it from an occupied room. The man had knocked on the door of a 23-year-old woman staying at the Royal Park Hotel at 258 West 97th Street and pushed through when she opened the door shortly after midnight. The man, later identified as Scott Carey, 24, grabbed a laptop out of her suitcase and ran, according to the police account. The woman chased him down the hall to a dead-end but
he was able to scamper down a fire escape and into to the basement. He then apparently had a change of mind and returned. Police were also on hand and Carey, charging him with robbery, burglary, grand larceny, assault and other charges. Carey was found to be in possession of two fake $100 bills and a fake $50 bill, along with a box cutter, police said.
HUSBAND ARRESTED ON ASSAULT CHARGES A man pressed charges against his husband after a verbal argument turned violent. At 8:40 a.m. on Monday, April 2, a 36-year-old man was inside his residence at 2612 Broadway when he got into a verbal argument with his 34-year-old husband, police said. The 34-year-old then hit his spouse
Year to Date
2018 2017
% Change
2018
2017
% Change
Murder
1
0
n/a
1
0
n/a
Rape
0
0
n/a
4
3
33.3
Robbery
2
5
-60.0
36
26
38.5
Felony Assault
2
2
0.0
33
38
-13.2
Burglary
5
2
150.0
57
57
0.0
Grand Larceny
23
27
-14.8
374
371
0.8
Grand Larceny Auto
0
0
n/a
7
7
0.0
in the face with a frying pan, cutting the man’s lip. The victim was taken to Mount Sinai West, and Eugene Smith was arrested and charged with felony assault, criminal mischief, trespass and other charges, police said.
EVIL EX At 2:50 a.m. on Sunday, April 8, a 36-year-old woman and her exgirlfriend were drinking in the former’s apartment inside 308 West 93rd
Camp Ockanickon
street when an argument became physical. The ex-girlfriend choked the victim, causing bruising around her neck area, according to police. The ex also punched and bit the victim, causing swelling and a black eye as well as injuries to the victim’s right arm and leg, as well as the area behind her left ear. Despite the injuries the victim chose not to press charges or provide officers with information about her attacker, police said.
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Mirielle Clifford’s great-great grandparents on the porch of their house in Carencro, Louisiana. Photo courtesy of Mirielle Clifford
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I hope to speak the language de ma grand-mère, not the language du colonialisme but words spoken when stranded on a bayou. Not the discreet murmur of Parisian women who eat but never get fat, but la langue des femmes who eat butter, cornmeal sautéed in butter, the occasional fried alligator, and boudain, a sausage of mysterious interiors. I want to two-step with each sentence mais, but it’s hot yes! and drawl the nasally tones of women who grow grosses but who shrink once more to their farm-day girlish figures when dementia takes their appetites away.
For now mamma and I head to the music store after yet another funeral, and I seek the intersection of zydeco and hip hop. She stiffens when I tell her a Redemption Song-singing Harlemite Haitian in leather pants has offered to teach me his Kreyòl. I know what she’s thinking: Why not learn our Creole first? and the internet agrees with her. Cajun French is not to be confused with créole louisianais or créole haïtien, both spiced with les mots d’afrique. But my mother is appeased when I tell her I could pray with my neighbors in Haitian Kreyòl and that after mass, I’d stream Radio Acadie from Lafayette.
I don’t say I already struggle to keep up with Dimanche Après-Midi each Sunday afternoon distracted by the task of sautéing kale in coconut oil with gandules. As I try and fail to form une phrase complète, I ask Mary to priez pour moi, a poor sinner with a blocked stomach chakra, according to a Nepali chef and reiki practitioner. Sainte Marie, help me to better digest this world without end, and intercede on my behalf to Nietzsche, who proclaimed the futility of translating a people’s metabolism from their tongue.
Mirielle Clifford is originally from Texas, but she now lives and writes in Crown Heights. She is a co-founder of the poetry collective Sweet Action and has been poet-in-residence at Gemini Hill. Her work can be found in “The Dime Show Review,” “Everyone is Asleep But Me: a Collaborative Project Considering Night,” and elsewhere. She is working on a chapbook, entitled “All the Ways I am Saved.”
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More than one-third of of day campers are racial/ethnic minorities; camp leadership, though, is overwhelmingly white. Pictured, North Charleston Summer Camp. Photo: Ryan Johnson, via flickr
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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AT CAMP Tapping into the diversity of campers is one way to build a leadership pipeline for the profession BY ROBERTO GIL JR.
Diversity and inclusion: two words thrown around in polite, and not-so-polite, conversations in the workplace, schools and halls of govern-
ment. But what do they mean? Are they more than just buzz words to be championed? In this blog post, I would like to share a couple of facts with you and a couple of opportunities to address as we continue the tireless work of changing lives through camp. FACT: The United States is more racially and ethnically diverse than in the past, and
is projected to become even more diverse in the coming decades. According to a 2015 Pew Research Report, the United States will not have a single racial or ethnic majority by 2055. With Asians and Hispanics leading the growth, the face of America is changing. FACT: According to ACA, in 2013, 27 percent of residential campers were racial/ethnic mi-
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Asian-American and PacificIslander, older Americans and Jewish-American in May, LGBTQ pride in June, HispanicLatino in September (Sept 15 – Oct 15), disability employment awareness and Italian-American in October, and AmericanIndian in November. While most of these celebrations do not fall during peak summer camp times, there are a number of ways to bring them to your campers and staff, including creating social media posts during the monthly celebrations or hosting themed potluck celebrations for camp alumni. The opportunities are limited only by your imagination. Whatever you do, be prepared to find comfort in the uncomfortable.
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By using leadership opportunities already in place, the camp profession could better reect the nation’s diversity, at camp and otherwise. Pictured, Seattle’s School Age Care Program. Photo: Seattle Parks, via ickr I was not introduced to camp until I was 18 years old and worked as a counselor at the Fresh Air Fund’s Camp Tommy. That summer, I found a job I loved and was good at, but I still did not know it could be a profession. Growing up, I always thought I would go to medical school. When that dream ended, I chose law school because those were the two professions I saw on television. Today, I believe one of my responsibilities as a camp director is to help grow the next generation. Helping our staff understand not only how the skills they learn at camp can help them grow professionally in all ďŹ elds, but speciďŹ cally the joys of growing in the camp profession. Another opportunity is utilizing the various heritage month celebrations as a tool to inform, educate, and reach out to our campers and staff. Currently, the United States recognizes 11 heritage months: African-American history in February, Women’s history and Irish-American in March,
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norities with black and Latino making up the vast majority of these campers. Thirty-four percent of day campers were racial/ethnic minorities, again with black and Latino making up the majority. Despite the camper demographics that mirror the changes in the country, Caucasians make up 92 percent and 91 percent of residential and day camp directors, respectively. As a Latino camp director, serving young people from a broad range of backgrounds, these facts motivate me daily. In the simplest of terms, I think of diversity as the crayons in the box and inclusion as the works of art they can create together. One opportunity camp professionals have is to tap into the diversity of our own campers and build pipelines of future staff. By championing our profession and using leadership opportunities like LIT and junior counselor programs, we can change the face of the camp profession.
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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.
ON THE BLOCK EAST SIDE OBSERVER BY ARLENE KAYATT
What’s missing — When a local business goes out, my thoughts are generally about the loss to the neighborhood and the business that is no more. And then I got to talking to Simon, whose eponymous jewelry store, Forever Simon, on Third Avenue between 91st and 92nd
Streets, was originally located on the opposite side of the street, between 94th and 95th Streets. When the businesses along that block were demolished to be replaced by an avenue-long high-rise (which is still under construction), Simon found space nearby where he has been for several years. His jewelry store shares the block with a convenience newspaper store, a beautytype salon, a UPS store, a Korean restaurant, and other businesses that survive on foot traffic. So Simon bemoaned the unexpected closing of Starbucks on the corner of 92nd. How come, I wanted to know. “Be-
cause customers going to Starbucks used to stop by and look at the jewelry and sometimes buy. We would talk.” Same sentiment from a customer in the UPS store who was sad to say that he’d miss stopping by to chat with the guy who worked there and get supplies. The kind of things that don’t happen in the online universe of shopping.
Today Target’s, tomorrow? — Everybody blames the landlord. And why not? They bring in the tenants who take over all those moms-and-pops and build the big boxes that everyone loves to hate when they hit their
neighborhood. Big-box stores are great for one-stop shopping when you’re not shopping online. Better than online shopping in some ways — the food, the produce, the groceries, the beverages, the clothing, you name it... all right before your eyes and a shopping cart away. Your heart may be in the right place about wanting to keep small businesses alive and in the neighborhood, but heck, if it’s all in one place and you don’t have to wait to walk in and out of store, why not? Back to the landlord. These days Manhattan’s streets and avenues are chockablock with cooperative apartment
ownership. Most have commercial space on the street level. The rents tenants pay for commercial space in co-ops impacts the co-op residents’ maintenance and other costs. These residential co-op owners, in many cases, have the ability and maybe the financial wherewithal to leave storefronts empty to assembly for a mega tenant like the Target coming to Third Avenue in the 70s. If the naysayers want moms-and-pops to exist, co-op owners may want to give more thought to the impact on the neighborhood and beyond and the role they play in the loss of small businesses.
SPREADING THE LACROSSE GOSPEL How minority youth in city public schools are becoming part of the sport’s community BY STEPHAN RUSSO
The onset of spring has a special meaning for me. No, I am not referring to the blooming of the April tulips. Rather, I pine for the smell of cut grass on a 110 yard playing field, the clanging of sticks and helmets, and the sensation of pinging the “back of the net.” I am talking about the advent of another season of lacrosse, a sport that had its origins in the tribal games played by Native Americans in the United States and Canada. European immigrants to North America modified the game to its current form. Today, there are over 800,000 young people playing the sport that carries the mantra as “the fastest game on two feet.” Full disclosure: I grew up playing lacrosse and was accepted into a top college primarily because of my stick skills — not my SAT scores. My friends and family know that I am wont to remind them (ad nauseum) that I was an All-American player and the 1973 national leader in total goals and assists. I now play in the over-60 division in what is called past-masters tournaments hoping that I make it though the weekend in one piece. (In January, I came back from Florida with a cracked
rib harkening to the old maxim that “Old Soldiers Never Die.”) The sport also has a reputation for being the exclusive domain of welloff prep school and suburban white kids who have access to fields, the latest equipment and top-tier coaching. However, there is now a movement to spread the sport to the hardtop playgrounds and streets of New York and other cities. Twelve years ago, only six high schools in the New York City Public Athletic League (PSAL) had varsity lacrosse teams — four in Staten Island. This was when Matty Levine, former All-American goalie at Williams College and passionate promoter of the game, started on his mission to spread the lacrosse gospel among public school and primarily minority youth. With donated equipment and excollege player volunteers, Levine created CityLax in 2005. He had begun a youth lacrosse program called Doc’s NYC in 1996 (in memory of Bernard Doc Schoenbaum, a NYC club lacrosse teammate) but was determined to reach a far different group of young people. Levine merged his business and dedicated his efforts full-time to develop school teams in all five boroughs. But he faced significant bureaucratic challenges dealing with the PSAL. By sheer will and determination, he has helped create fifty-two boys’ and girls’ varsity PSAL teams in throughout NYC. There is now a
vibrant avenue for public school kids to reap the benefits of the sport and become part of the growing lacrosse community. But CityLax was not the only lacrosse effort in New York City. In 2008, a young man by the name of Simon Cataldo, a Teach for America special education math teacher at Frederick Douglass Academy (FDA) in Harlem, watched a CityLax clinic at FDA and had an idea. Simon began a middle school lacrosse program as a way to provide a positive athletic experience for his students. Harlem Lacrosse was born. Today, building on CityLax’s success, Harlem Lacrosse works with over 300 boys and girls in seven different Harlem schools, teaching the skills of lacrosse and providing academic support. The results speak for themselves. The CityLax and Harlem programs boast that over 90 percent of their participants graduate from high school and are accepted into college. Owen Van Arsdale was an attackman on the University of Virginia’s (UVA) 2014 nationally-ranked lacrosse team when the Harlem group visited Charlottesville that year. Having grown up as the son of a lacrosse coach, he recognized the influence the sport had on his life and was struck by the enthusiasm of the middle-schoolers from NYC. Van Arsdale spent an extra year at UVA getting his masters in education but knew that what he really wanted to do was work with the kids
The Frederick Douglass Academy Lions. Photo: Stephan Russo from Harlem who had visited. Unlike many of his teammates who came to New York to join the Wall Street crowd, Van Arsdale set his sights much further uptown. “I came from a small community that took care of its own,” said Van Arsdale, “and the life values (hard work, discipline and teamwork) I learned being around the sport of lacrosse are so much a part of who I am today.” Van Arsdale is as much a social worker and educator as he is a lacrosse coach. At FDA, he walks the halls and knows all the administrators, teachers and students. He shares a small office on the second floor with his co-workers, Natasha Blackburn who runs the girl’s team, Matt Mason who is charge of the middle school team, and Sheree Trotman who helps keep them organized. The room is filled with sticks,
gloves, pads and helmets and a steady stream of kids who look to Owen for approval and guidance. The FDA Lions, last season’s PSAL champs, traveled to Staten Island recently to take on the parochial school powerhouse Monsignor Farrell High School. It was a rainy, dreary day but you could feel the excitement on the bus. “This is what they have practiced so diligently for,” Van Arsdale said. He had his coaching game face on. His players listened intently when he barked out instructions. FDA upended Monsignor Farrell, 10-9, in a thrilling overtime victory. Van Arsdale beamed and finally broke a smile at the end of the game. He told the students to enjoy the win but admonished them to focus on “what’s next.” He knew it was only the beginning of the season and there was still much work to be done.
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APRIL 19-25,2018
A QUEST FOR THE GREATEST GIFT HEALTH As an ailing East Side resident seeks a life-saving donation, the local Chabad and a Brooklyn nonprofit are spearheading the search BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
It is one of the most famous and striking passages in all 6,200 pages of the Talmud: “One who saves a single life, it is as if he has saved the entire world.” The line, from the Tractate of Sanhedrin, is a cornerstone of the Jewish faith. And it speaks volumes about the preservation and celebration of human life. That religious precept is central to a communal effort now underway to save the life of an Upper East Side resident in his 70s who is suffering from kidney disease. Chabad of the Upper East Side will host what is being billed as a “kidney-donation awareness event” on Monday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. to help obtain a new organ for the man, who has asked to remain anonymous. He is being described by one of the event’s sponsors as a “father and grandfather who is very philanthropic and a pillar of the Jewish community.” Affiliated with the Lubavitch Hasidic movement, Chabad, at 419 East 77th Street, is teaming up with Renewal, a Brooklynbased nonprofit whose mission is to save lives through kidney donations. As part of the campaign, at-
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A flyer circulated by Chabad of the Upper East Side promotes an event it is hosting next week to find a kidney donor for an ailing member of the community. Poster: Courtesy of Chabad of the Upper East Side tendees at the one-hour event will have an opportunity, should they so choose, to get swabbed on the spot to see if they’re a potential match for the would-be recipient. If they turn out to be incompatible in this case, a willing donor could potentially become a match in future for someone else. “We believe that every person is a microcosm for the whole
world, and so, if you save just one life, you save the entire world,” said Rabbi Ben Tzion Krasnianski, Chabad’s executive director, in explaining the Talmudic principle. He said the event was an “experiment” for Chabad that is “definitely striking a chord.” Of course, organ donation isn’t for everybody: “People are very wary,” Kras-
nianski acknowledged. “But they’re also very kind, giving and generous. This literally does save lives, and you can do it without harm to yourself. It does take a very generous soul. But there are people out there who are willing to do this.” Can it be done halachically, meaning under Jewish law, which prohibits self-injury? “It’s a question that all donors should ask,” said Rabbi Josh Sturm, the director of outreach at Renewal, which has facilitated some 470 transplants since its founding in 2006. “The risks are statistically quite small, but they are still real,” he added. The surgery is performed laparoscopically, under general anesthesia, and the mortality rate averages three for every 10,000 donors. Nationwide, roughly 96,000 people are on the waiting list for a kidney, and typically, the wait to obtain an organ from a deceased donor ranges from five to seven years. About 5,000 to 6,000 people with afflicted kidneys die every year before they can receive a transplant, and the survival rate after five years of dialysis is only 28 percent. “We take a zero-pressure approach,” said Sturm. “Some people will come to the conclusion that it’s not the right thing for them, or it’s not the right thing this year. Maybe in 10 years, they’ll feel differently.” Needless to say, “It is no way obligatory,” the rabbi added. “But it is a mitzvah, a beautiful act and praiseworthy.” invreporter@strausnews.com
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HOMELESS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Ann Shalof, executive director of the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, agreed that affordable housing is necessary to start the process towards stability and independence. “The best way to serve homelessness is through housing,” she said. The NCS operates two supportive housing residences, one that caters to young adults who have graduated from the foster care system and another for adults, primarily those that are mentally ill. In addition to affordable housing, panelists emphasized the need to provide resources for permanent independence. Felipe Vargas, the vice president of programs for the Doe Fund, stressed his organization’s emphasis on job placement and selfsustainability. Last year, the Doe Fund placed 430 men into jobs and independent housing. Central to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “Turning the Tide” plan on homelessness from February 2017 was this idea of staying on track for the
long term. While the 114-page plan emphasizes a shift from outdated cluster programs and hotel facilities to transitional, high-quality housing centers, the ultimate goal is to equip down-on-their-luck New Yorkers with the tools to regain stability in shelters close to their hometowns. It seeks to strengthen networks of support within their community. So far, this model has worked. For the first time in decades, the growth in homelessness has ceased. The shelter census is flat and upwards of 81,000 people have left or avoided the shelter system altogether since de Blasio has taken office. But there is still a long way to go. The homeless crisis in New York City is a deeprooted problem, born from decades of income inequality, mental illness and apathy. “The national challenge of homelessness didn’t occur overnight and it won’t be solved overnight,” said Isaac McGinn, the NYC Department of Homeless Services’ press secretary in an email. “But our City’s comprehensive strategies are taking hold.”
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Wed 25 CENTRAL PARK SPRING BLOOMS: CONSERVATORY GARDEN TOUR Noon, $15/$10 members Vanderbilt Gate in Central Park, Fifth Avenue & East 105th St. 212-310-6600. nycgovparks.org Develop a new appreciation for Central Park on this staff-led tour through three gardens in one. Enter through a magnificent wrought-iron gate made in 1894 to a sculptural tribute to The Secret Garden, then continue on a guided stroll amid thousands of trees, shrubs, bulbs, perennials and annuals that bloom throughout the year. Learn about Conservatory Garden’s history, design and more from the professionals who care for it. Held every second Wednesday through May 9.
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Thu 19 Fri 20 Sat 21 ART AND ACTIVISM OF TRANSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS New York Society Library 53 East 79th St. 6:30 p.m. Free Can art and activism can bring greater awareness to the communities most vulnerable to climate change? Come hear Jeff VanderMeer, author of the “Southern Reach” trilogy; artist Zaria Forman; conservation biologist Gleb Raygorodetsky; and indigenous leader Victoria Tauli-Corpuz discuss environments dramatically altered by climate change. 212-288-6900 nysoclib.org
CONCEPTUAL ART AND THE SACRED The Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Ave. 2 p.m. Free What does it look like when contemporary artists test the limits of sacred geometry and form? Consider this question through discussion of Sol Lewitt’s “Skullcap Designed from Torah Ark” (2001) and Peter Shire’s “Menorah #7” (1986) during this Jewish Museum lecture. 212-423-3200 thejewishmuseum.org
‘THE PERFECT NANNY’ WITH LEILA SLIMANI AND MONA ELTAHAWY Albertine 972 Fifth Ave. 5 p.m. Free Building tension with every page, “The Perfect Nanny” has been called a compulsive, riveting novel and bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity and motherhood. To mark the American debut of FrancoMoroccan writer and journalist Leila Slimani’s novel, come hear her in conversation with critic and writer Mona Eltahawy. 212-650–0070 albertine.com
APRIL 19-25,2018
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Tour Breweries of the Black Dirt Region un
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Saturday, June 9 12n - 5pm
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Photo: Jiri Zerzan, via Wikimedia Commons
Sun 22 Mon 23 Tue 24 ▲ REVEL WITH REDL Bohemian National Hall 321 East 73rd St. 5 p.m. Free Moravian legend Vlasta Redl and his band will play for the first time in America, bringing unique tunes with origins in folk music and influences from rock and jazz. 646-422-3399 new-york.czechcentres.cz
▼ LORRIE MOORE AND JULIAN BARNES
AVERTING A U.S.CHINA TRADE WAR
92nd Street Y 1395 Lexington Ave. 8 p.m. $30 Two old friends, two new books, one rare joint appearance. Hear Julian Barnes discuss his new novel, a poignant tale of first love and long memory, “The Only Story,” in conversation with Lorrie Moore, whose new collection, “See What Can Be Done,” gathers three decades of her articles, essays and cultural commentary. 212-415-5500 92Y.org
Asia Society, 725 Park Ave. 8:30 a.m. $40/$30 students &seniors $30 breakfast The Trump administration has announced steel and aluminum tariffs, as well as the imposition of tariffs on approximately $50 billion worth of Chinese imports. Have these decisions set the stage for a potential trade war between the world’s two largest economies? Hear more at a morning breakfast and lecture. 212-288-6400 asiasociety.org
Wed 25 STORYTIME WITH DR. RUTH Shakespeare and Co. 939 Lexington Ave. 5 p.m. Free Dr. Ruth Westheimer will read from her new illustrated book, “Roller-Coaster Grandma,” in which a visit to Coney Island with her grandchildren becomes a pretext to recall her past as a refugee from Nazi Germany, a kibbutznik in Palestine and an immigrant in the U.S., all told, a story of resilience and joie de vivre. 212-772-3400 shakeandco.com
$ Hop on Dirt Mag’s beer bus and embark on a tour of the best breweries Orange County has to offer. Enjoy flights and pints of beer harvested from the historic black dirt region—known for its exceptionally lush soil and tasty brews. See the breweries in action. Tour the malt farm. Sip local beers. Get dirty. $
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APRIL 19-25,2018
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MIDWESTERN METAPHORS A retrospective at the Whitney argues for Grant Wood’s greatness BY MARY GREGORY
“American Gothic” is an icon. As such, it’s mysterious, metaphorical, powerful and unexplainable. Yet, explaining it, or at least telling its story, is just what Whitney curator Barbara Haskell has set out to do. She’s introducing a painter we’re all familiar with, but few really know, in “Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables.” It’s a sweeping survey of Wood’s paintings, drawings, metalwork, stained glass and other pieces, and it constitutes just the third retrospective of this great American artist’s work.
Grant Wood was born in 1891 into a Midwestern and Quaker farming family. He saw the world through that lens, but differently. He was shy, gentle and talented, and liked drawing more than plowing. He worked a bit as an artist, found a local undertaker who became his patron, and was able to travel to Europe to study Old Masters like Van Eyck and Durer, falling in love with soaring arches and Northern Renaissance precision and crisp, clear atmosphere. He returned to Iowa and painted an astonishing picture. Through classical techniques like glazing and the use of almost imperceptible brushstrokes, he created heroic images of American archetypes. “American Gothic,” like all Wood’s paintings, is seductive and seditious.
Grant Wood’s iconic painting, “American Gothic,” is on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago and on view at the Whitney through June 10. Photo: Adel Gorgy
“Spring Turning” is one of the many delightful landscapes included in “Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables.” Photo: Adel Gorgy It’s filled with technical virtuosity. Note the vertical lines of the pitchfork repeating on the farmer’s shirt and overalls, and again on the Gothic arch-shaped window and the siding of the house. A smooth, pale blue sky contrasts with the couple’s worn, dark clothes. The woman is clearly younger than the man. What’s their relationship? And then, there are the gazes of two of the most inscrutable pairs of eyes in art. The woman looks away, past him, past the viewer, to something unseen, off to the right. He stares directly out, holding the pitchfork (symbolizing the devil, sustenance or both?) between them and the world outside. “It doesn’t resolve into one superficial dimension.... It has that sort of emblematic quality of America, but at the same time, it’s so complicated. What is actually going on? Scholars have probed the picture and come up with a range of interpretations, but the fact that they have and the range is so wide and diverse, shows that it’s a compelling picture,” Haskell said. Wood’s sister and his dentist were the models, but the spirit of the country was the subject. And it was a complicated, conflicted one. It was painted in 1930, into a darkening Depression where countless farmers had lost their land, and as the culture was morphing from agrarian to urban. Meanwhile, European Modernism was the au courant flavor for the smart sets in New York and Hollywood. In the heartland, it was a taste they hadn’t developed. Those who tilled the soil saw in this couple the kind of gravity and fortitude they aspired to and admired. Those who filled bookshelves with novels, museums with art, and movie
theaters with films, saw it as a satire. One thing both sides agreed on: it was a great picture. It became an overnight sensation, was published nationally, and made Grant Wood famous. Stories, particularly American ones, filled Wood’s imagination and define the works in the exhibition. There’s a painterly retelling of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” a bird’s eye view of a tiny town. Wood used a hobby horse to set up the scene before painting it, helping it retain a fairy-tale quality. “Parson Weems’ Fable” shows Weems in the foreground pointing to a surrealistic little George Washington, with a child’s body and a man’s head, confessing to cutting down a cherry tree. The tree in question is covered in cute red pom-poms that stand in for cherries. The same pom-poms decorate the curtain Weems pulls back to reveal the scene. “The abstraction of that cherry tree was like a round, minimal ball that somebody in the ‘60s might’ve created ... and then Parson Weems pulling back the curtain, that’s a very typical kind of trope,” Haskell said. But again, there’s an unresolved tension. “In this case the father is not the Washington senior that’s forgiving the child, saying ‘I’m so proud of you. You told me the truth.’ It’s a very menacing gesture.” In “Appraisal” a lovely, young woman in a threadbare coat held together by a safety pin offers a chicken for sale. The potential buyer, portly and older, dressed in furs and tightly clutching her purse, considers it. It’s a tale of haves vs. have-nots, city vs. country, youth vs. age, fecundity vs. barrenness, purity vs. corruption, all told through a barnyard transaction. Beyond these more familiar works,
two galleries are filled with glorious magical realist landscapes that extend Wood’s mythologizing to the countryside. All seen from above and filled with emerald green grass, funny little trees and crops in fields neatly lined up like decorations on cakes, they’re a mixture of America and Oz, and absolutely delightful. Possibly the most telling tale is found in Wood’s own self-portrait, “The Return from Bohemia,” a pastel, gouache and pencil on paper done in 1935, some years after his trips to Europe. The artist glares out from behind his easel, brushes in hand. Surrounding him are men and women, boys and girls, young and old, all literally looking down on him. If you ask people to name a great American painting, “American Gothic” would probably come up a lot, but if you asked about a great American painter, Grant Wood probably wouldn’t. “Isn’t that crazy?” Haskell asked. “The work is so compelling. I think people all of a sudden are going to see this artist. I’m really hoping for a much greater appreciation of Grant Wood.... There’s a reason why ‘American Gothic’ is mesmerizing, but the whole body of his work is mesmerizing. I think it will change people’s appreciation of him, and the timing is right. America is kind of grappling with its own national identity again.”
IF YOU GO WHAT: “Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables” WHERE: Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort St. WHEN: Through June 10 whitney.org
APRIL 19-25,2018
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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS
Neighborhood Scrapbook
APR 4 - 10, 2018 The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml. Banshee Pub
1373 First Avenue
A
Shanghai Chinese Restaurant
1388 2 Avenue
A
Caffe Bacio
1223 3 Avenue
A
Per Lei
1347 2 Avenue
Grade Pending (23) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Persepolis
1407 2 Avenue
A
Eats
1055 Lexington Ave
Grade Pending (25) 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. Live roaches 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.
Bottega Restaurant
1331 2 Avenue
A
Trend Diner
1382 2 Avenue
A
Six Happiness
1413 2nd Ave
A
Two Boots
1617 2 Avenue
Grade Pending (43) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Dylan Murphy
1453 3 Avenue
A
Bayards Ale House
1589 1st Ave
A
G&J’s Pizzeria
1797 1st Ave
CLOSED (56) 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. 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.
Birch Coffee
171 E 88th St
A
Mole Cantina Mexicana
1735 2 Avenue
A
International Wings Factory
1762 First Avenue
A
Yura
1350 Madison Ave
Not Yet Graded (23) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Glaser’s Bakery
1670 1 Avenue
A
Sarabeth’s Kitchen
1295 Madison Avenue A
La Shuk
1569 Lexington Ave
A
Waterproofing student. Photo: Poby/Asphalt Green
INTO THE POOL Asphalt Green’s annual Big Swim Big Kick offers kids a chance to swim and play soccer games — and meet star athletes If it’s spring, it’s time for Asphalt Green’s Big Swim Big Kick, a free swim meet and soccer festival for kids. On Saturday, April 28, the New York City nonprofit will host its 23rd annual event celebrating the power of sports and fitness, which has raised more than $10 million since 1993. Kids ages 6-10 can jump into an Olympic-size pool for their first-ever swim race and play soccer-themed games on Asphalt Green’s outdoor turf field — all for free. Participants receive a medal, a t-shirt, and ice cream. Big Swim Big Kick will also offer an opportunity to meet this year’s featured athletes: five-time Olympic swimming
gold medalist Dana Vollmer, and University of Florida head soccer coach Becky Burleigh, who led her team to an NCAA national championship. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to inspire the next generation of swimmers at events like Big Swim Big Kick,” said Vollmer. “I know it’s my role to motivate young kids, but it’s amazing how much kids motivate me. To hear their dreams and feel like I have had a little piece in helping them get there is really fulfilling.” “I’ve heard a lot of amazing things about Asphalt Green,” said Burleigh. “I’m excited to be in the environment at Big Swim Big Kick.” Vollmer and Burleigh will also participate in a panel discussion on Friday, April 27: “Women Empowered by Sports,” at Sacred Heart Athletics and Wellness Center (406 East 91st Street, between First and York Avenues).
One community program that Big Swim Big Kick supports is Waterproofing, which provides free swim instruction to 2,600 underserved students from 47 public NYC elementary schools — including 39 in Manhattan. Once a week for 30 weeks, students travel to one of Asphalt Green’s two campuses, or one of the organization’s partner pools, where they learn water safety and swim skills. The program aims to eliminate childhood drowning in NYC, a problem that disproportionately affects minority communities. Many Waterproofing students participate in Big Swim Big Kick, including the entire Waterproofing class from the South Bronx’s P.S. 170, which will be making the trip to Manhattan with their teacher for the event. Parents are encouraged to register their kids online in advance at asphaltgreen.org/ bsbk.
APRIL 19-25,2018
15
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Retired Col. Gerald York, the grandson of World War I hero Sgt. Alvin C. York, at the April 11 ceremony marking the 90th anniversary of the renaming of York Avenue, formerly Avenue A, for his grandfather. He is flanked by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer (at left), state Senator Liz Krueger and state Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright. Photo: Courtney Ferrissey / Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright
REMEMBRANCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 By the time the smoke cleared, he had killed at least 25 German gunners, silenced 35 machine guns and captured 132 soldiers, who he then marched backed toward American lines, according to 1919 Army citations and contemporaneous press accounts. Hailed as the “greatest civilian solider of the war” by General of the Armies John J. Pershing, York’s deeds were called the “greatest act by any private soldier of all the armies of Europe” by Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the French commander of Allied forces in World War I. New Yorkers took notice of his derring-do: He got a ticker tape parade in 1919, the New York Stock Exchange halted trading as brokers hoisted him on their shoulders and carried him around the floor, and on April 11, 1928, after a vote by the old Board of Aldermen, forerunner of today’s City Council, the uptown portion of Avenue A was named in his honor. Flash forward exactly 90 years: On Wednesday, April 11, outside the Webster Library branch, at 1465 York Avenue near 78th Street, a group called the East Side World War I Centennial Commemoration marked the anniversary of the street renaming and recalled York Avenue’s colorful history as part of the celebrations to mark the end of the war. The York Avenue Ramblers performed period classics like
“Patriotism is alive and doing quite well on the Upper East Side and Yorkville.” Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.” U.S. flags were proudly waved. Beannochio’s, at 1413 York Avenue, served up savory apple muffins. And organizers promised it was just the beginning of a series of events commemorating what was once called as “The War to End All Wars.” “The more heroes that people have to look up to, the better it is for all of us,” said Howard Teich, co-chair of the centennial events. He said the idea was to “give kids a relationship to the history of their country,” and to foster pride in children who live or go to school on or near a street named for a genuine war hero. “It’s a great piece of Americana,” he added. And it’s educational for adults, too. As an East Sider for some 40-odd years who lives only a few blocks away, Teich said he never knew until last year that York Avenue was named for Sgt. York, who was born in 1887 and died in 1964. Even Gerald York — the 70-year-old grandson of Sgt. York and a Vietnam War veter-
an who retired from the Army after 31 years in 2000 with the rank of colonel — had no idea until a year ago his grandfather had given his name to the street. “I only learned when I recently saw a newspaper article my grandmother had kept from the renaming ceremony in 1928,” York said in a phone interview from his Tennessee home. Though he had been stationed at Fort Monmouth and made trips to Fort Hamilton during his military service, he had never been to York Avenue until he was invited to participate in the commemorative event. “The locals couldn’t have been friendlier,” York said. “They were very patriotic, and they all seemed to have these small American flags they were waving in the air. He said he was impressed when the owner of Beannochio’s approached him and said that, in order to educate himself, he had watch “Sergeant York,” the iconic 1941 film portraying his grandfather’s heroics for which Gary Cooper in the title role won a best actor Oscar. “It meant a lot to me,” York said. The enthusiastic and upbeat reaction was no surprise to Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, who is the other centennial co-chair and has lived in the neighborhood for nearly a quarter of a century: “Patriotism is alive and doing quite well on the Upper East Side and Yorkville,” she said. invreporter@strausnews.com
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Business
Real Estate
Photo: Sarah_Ackerman, via flickr
ASK A BROKER BY ANDREW KRAMER
My job is relocating me from Los Angeles to Manhattan this year. I’m used to living in a high-rise, however I find it confusing to determine the size of an apartment when it’s advertised on the internet by room count. Welcome to the world of New York City apartments! Prewar apartments were built by room size, counting the kitchen, living room and number of bedrooms was the primary indicator of an apartment’s size — two rooms constitute a studio; three rooms, a one-bedroom; four rooms, a small two-bedroom; five rooms adds a formal dining; six rooms, also known as a “Classic 6”, gets you a maid’s room; and each additional digit (“Classic 7, 8, 9 and above) adds another bedroom, with a half-room representing a foyer or dining area. Today, it is commonplace for prewar buyers to bring their homes into more modern times by turning a maid’s room into an open kitchen or making a bedroom out of a dining room. Prewar apartments are known for their ornate details, including arched door openings, herringbone floors, moldings and French doors. The postwar years of the 1950s and 1960s brought us less compartmental rooms with more open layouts and one, two and three bedroom counts. In new developments going up these days, which are typically condominiums, square footage is the unit of measure. However, when translating square footage to apartment layout it is often helpful to go by bedroom count and ad copy if a floorplan is not available. Andrew Kramer is a licensed associate real estate broker with Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales
Photo: longlostcousin, via flickr
Photo: Henry Hemming, vial flickr
WOMEN’S WORK REAL ESTATE Sexism, however covertly and infrequently, does manifest itself in real estate BY FREDERICK W. PETERS
Us too? Even in a historically “women’s business,” has sexism manifested itself in the purchase and sale of homes? Ours is a business that always enabled smart entrepreneurial women to rise to the top of the profession. And yet, subtle forms of discrimination remain. There is no residential brokerage “casting couch.” No listing I have ever heard of has been awarded on the basis of the granting of sexual favors. And while female agents have been (appropriately) apprehensive
about meeting strangers alone in empty houses or apartments, the incidence of actual inappropriate behavior or violence remains minimal. The expressions of prejudice inform conversations and behaviors in less overt ways. First, clients and customers treat women agents disrespectfully more frequently than they do men. Not that it happens so often. But if buyers or sellers are dismissive or even hostile in the way they react to advice or guidance, the agent, at least in my office, is more likely a woman, even when the client has selected the agent himself. I have witnessed a number of situations in which the same advice, delivered by a man, receives a substantially different and more positive reaction than when delivered by a woman, even if the latter trumps the former in experience. Is it any accident
that the stars of “Million Dollar Listing” are men? The perception that, by and large, that level of ultra-high price deal making belongs to the guys subtly reinforces the notion that, if you want to buy or sell for big bucks, a man will have a better business head and represent you better. And then there is the question of math! In my generation, it was assumed that women were poor at math and this frequently became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course this assumption never had a basis in fact. Successful agents in our business require both strong arithmetic and conceptual skills; deals need to be carefully financially structured and board packages need to be massaged to make sure the presentation of assets shows in its most positive light. Fortunately I think this prejudice, which is both sui generis and externally imposed, seems to have disappeared in the generation of women under 50 who now make up many of our top agents. They often put my arithmetical skills
to shame, about which I could not be more delighted. The great agents of the generation above mine, almost all women, were often known as “barracudas.” That meant that they did not display appropriately “feminine” behavior in their negotiations; they displayed business savvy and strength that would have gone unremarked or praised in a man. In the 1950s and ‘60s and ‘70s, given prevailing attitudes towards business, those women HAD to be tough to succeed. Today, men and women share equal success in real estate; as men increasingly inhabit higher echelons in the residential business, women become more and more successful on the commercial side. Some gender prejudices linger, whether about ability, or skills, or the appropriateness of certain types of behavior. Maybe it will take another generation before they really disappear. Frederick W. Peters is chief executive officer of Warburg Realty Partnership.
APRIL 19-25,2018
17
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
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APRIL 19-25,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
ONE BOOK, 8.5 MILLION READERS READING New Yorkers can’t agree on anything. Can reading the same book bring them together? BY ALIZAH SALARIO
The book, though still undetermined, will be a singular sensation. “One Book, One New York,” the nation’s largest community reading program, returns for a second year to unite citizens of the five boroughs through the universality of an individual book, read together. The program gives New Yorkers the opportunity to vote for one book among five nominated titles. Each nominee captures one world within our multifaceted city, from Brooklyn’s Navy Yard during World War II to early 1970s Harlem. The winner will be announced on May 3. “No matter which book wins, they
each celebrate New York City, and the love affair that these authors have with [it]. They speak about so many important themes, about immigration, inclusion, exclusion, really important issues, particularly in today’s turbulent political times,” says Julie Menin, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Commissioner, which is sponsoring the program with New York magazine and Vulture, The five nominees were determined by a group of literary scholars, professors and academics, and each book reflects a different neighborhood. While community reading projects that encourage people to read the same book at the same time are not new, New York is the only city that brings its citizens into the decision-making process. “The public element of it is very important,” says Menin. “There’s no better way to have a civic conversation than to have New Yorkers engage
directly, and to choose.” Last year’s winner, “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, led to a unique “commonality of experience,” says Menin. “I can’t tell you how many people contacted us and told us, anecdotally, that they were on the subway reading “Americanah” and the person next to them was reading “Americanah.” “One Book, One New York” also spawned something of a New York book club diaspora. Cities from across the country and in Germany, Israel and Turkey expressed interest in launching their own programs. The program is designed to create an affordable, shared cultural experience; to that end, thousands of copies of the nominated titles will be available at the 219 public library branches throughout the city. The majority of the city’s many independent booksellers also participate in and benefit from extra foot traffic thanks to the
Commissioner Julie Menin with school kids. Photo courtesy of the NYC Office of Media and Entertainment program; they’ll stock extra copies as well. Once the winner is announced, events throughout the city will celebrate the book and its author, who is likely to occupy a unique cultural position in a city known for its bookish inhabitants. The curious can come for a sneak peek on April 19th, where as part of the PEN World Voices literary festival, a private reception and panel discus-
sion featuring the nominated authors will be held at The New School. One presenter will be Barry Jenkins, whose film “Moonlight” won the Academy Award for best picture and is currently directing a film based on one of the five nominees, James Baldwin’s “If Beale Street Could Talk.” Don’t have time to read through all the nominees before voting closes? The denizens of literary New York gave us the scoop on the nominees:
Behold the Dreamers
If Beale Street Could Talk
Manhattan Beach
When I Was Puerto Rican
White Tears
by Imbolo Mbue
by James Baldwin
by Jennifer Egan
by Esmeralda Santiago
by Hari Kunzru
“‘Behold the Dreamers’ offers an interesting take on the American Dream. It takes place after the 2008 stock market crash and tells the story Jende Jonga, a recent immigrant from Cameroon, who finds himself the personal limo driver of a Lehman Brothers executive. The novel grapples with a part of the city that people try to avoid looking at — the inequality between the wealthy, and the people who are working for those with money, and how the issues facing the people like Jendge are much more significant than those of his employer.”
“It’s my secret, favorite novel of Baldwin’s. This is just a wonderful novel about love and hardship in 1970’s Harlem — about messed up families and love and injustice. Tish and Fonny, the main characters, are madly in love. They become engaged, Tish becomes pregnant, and then Fonny is falsely accused of rape and imprisoned. It is not a light novel, but it is incredible.”
“The gangsters may be the best part of “Manhattan Beach,” an elegantly written, absorbing work of historical fiction that takes readers back in time to the years before, and then during, World War II. It follows a flawed but loving dad who mysteriously disappears and his independent, gutsy daughter who’s determined first to support what’s left of her family and then to find him. Egan tours readers around the tenements in Brooklyn and the nightclubs of Manhattan, and from Navy Yard factories to warships at sea, never losing her grip on what’s most interesting about the story and how the past can feel like, and teach us, about today.”
“I teach ‘When I was Puerto Rican’ in a literary seminar called ‘New York’s Literary Women.’ Students love Santiago’s book, not only because the writing is so readable and engaging, but because she paints such vivid pictures of everything from her childhood in Puerto Rico to her very first time being in New York. Many of my students are living in NYC for the first time, and while their individual experiences inevitably differ, there is something recognizable in Santiago’s melancholy story of leaving a beloved home and childhood to face an uncertain future.”
“‘White Tears’ was maybe the book that most blew my mind in 2017. Kunzru’s examination of the history of blues music, the vivid characterizations of the main two young white male characters and their wanderings throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, and their travels around Mississippi, felt at various times dead-on sharp, intensely terrifying, satirically humorous, haunting, and exhilarating. The book explores our nation’s history of racial violence, power and greed, and I think it’s especially relevant for our city, which takes such pride in its cultural richness and racial diversity.”
— Amy Ribakove, a bookseller at The Corner Bookstore
— Nick Buzanski, bookseller at Book Culture
— Ester Bloom, Senior Editor at CNBC.com and a former book reviewer for Barnes & Noble
— Tahneer Oksman, Assistant Professor, Marymount Manhattan College
— Bonnie Chau, bookseller at McNally Jackson
APRIL 19-25,2018
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YOUR 15 MINUTES
To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to ourtownny.com/15 minutes
MASTERING MONEY Investment funds lawyer and former director at the Securities Exchange Commission takes us into his world BY ANGELA BARBUTI
April is Financial Literary Month, so what better way to commemorate the occasion than to speak with someone who dedicates his career to advising in the financial sector. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Norm Champ saw the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2008, and decided to lend his knowledge to the Division of Investment Management at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In his book, “Going Public: My Adventures Inside the SEC and How to Prevent the Next Devastating Crisis,” he gives readers a glimpse into the federal government. “Citizens have a right to know what it’s like inside the government and the good and the bad,” he explained. “I felt like there wasn’t a book out there about what it was like.” Now, the Upper East Side resident is a partner in the investment funds group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, assisting private investment funds with being in compliance with SEC regulations. He also gives back to his alma maters, teaching investment management law at Harvard Law, and sitting on the advisory council to the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, where he earned his bachelor’s degree.
How did your job at the SEC come about? Throughout my career as a lawyer, I had worked on filings with the SEC and interacted with them on policy issues and had a lot of respect for them. And if you go back to the fall of 2008, all the federal regulators that were blamed for the crisis, the SEC easily was the one that took t he most critic i sm . You k now, t hey had failed to find
Upper East Sider Norm Champ is a partner in the investment funds group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Photo courtesy of Norm Champ
Bernie Madoff, Allen Stanford, who was connected to another big Ponzi scheme. The five largest broker dealers under the SEC’s regulation, either vanished from the face of the earth, like Lehman, or taken over by banks, like Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, or became banks, like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Their jurisdiction was changing, they were under a lot of criticism, and so it felt like, “Maybe this is a time where my expertise in investment management funds could be helpful to the Commission.” And so I started talking to some people there that I knew and one of them suggested that I apply for the job as head of examinations in New York, which I did and I got it. And I went there in January of 2010.
What were the challenges to your job there? If you ever looked into organizational management or change management, when a respected organization like the SEC, that’s had a long run of success, has a problem, like Madoff... the reaction is not, “We need to change a lot of things.” The reaction is typically, “That was just an isolated failure.” And so the real challenge is working with people to make them understand that how things are being done contributed to what happened with Madoff. So how examination was done and how the examination function was organized, that those things actually were part of what happened in missing Madoff and Stanford. And when you have that realization, then the next step is, “How should we change how we’re doing things in order to make sure we don’t miss a Madoff and Stanford the next time.”
What is an initiative you started there that you’re most proud of? Easily the most proud thing is in the examination division of the SEC, we created a manual for the whole division, which is more than 1,000 people across the country. It laid out policies and procedures for the examination program, something that would be very basic at a firm in the financial services industry. They would be required to have a manual like that. And the SEC didn’t have it, so we got one in place for the exami-
Norm Champ is a former director at the Securities Exchange Commission now in the private sector. Photo: Ireland Studios Photography + Motion nation division, to try to put in place some processes and procedures so that there wouldn’t be another disaster like Madoff or Stanford. And if you just take a concrete example of that, in the case of Allen Stanford, which gets sometimes less publicity than Madoff…Stanford stole billions of dollars down in Texas. He was supposedly investing in high-yielding certificates of deposit at a bank in Antigua...There were concerns about how we were going to investigate in Antigua. So the manual we put in place says that if you are an examiner and believe someone is committing a fraud scheme, you must escalate that through channels all the way to Washington, if need be.
Tell us a story from your book. Someone anonymously delivered to me an anonymous note accusing my predecessor of all sorts of misconduct. And they delivered that to me in a plain envelope with no return address. It was detailing all these accusations they made against the guy who had the job before me. They also included in the package, fax coversheets showing that the year before, the letter accusing my predecessor had been
faxed to people in Congress, the press, the inspector general. So that was done, obviously, as a warning to let me know that if I tried to change too much, I could suffer the same fate. It’s obviously a sad and kind of disturbing story, that that would go on inside the government. And that was not uncommon; we got anonymous notes constantly accusing people of things.
In an interview with CNBC, you weighed in on cryptocurrencies. What is your opinion on digital currency? My main message on cryptocurrency has been to urge the regulators to try to come up with some kind of consistent approach. I’m not an internet lawyer, so am not opining on whether cryptocurrency is a good or bad thing. But more, where the regulatory approach to it has been a complete patchwork. The IRS says it’s property; the Treasury Department says that it’s money so you have to have a money transfer license. The CFTC says it’s a commodity and the US Securities and Exchange Commission has said it’s a security. So we have four different interpretations by the regulators and I think it would make sense, again I
don’t know about the pros and cons of it, to have a more unified regulatory approach.
Your future plans include writing a second book, “Mastering Money.” Yes, I’m working on another book, which is really more of a personal finance book. It builds off the last chapter of “Going Public,” which talks about some of my recommendations to help people with basic decisions in their economic lives. We obviously spend almost no time teaching financial concepts in high schools or colleges, and yet we then turn the same people loose into the working world without a whole lot of guidance about what to do. So the book’s about how to make good decisions in personal finance early on in your career, when you’re younger so that you have a foundation as you get older.
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U T F A X H L T A Z A P C C T
B G M L U X H P O M N U J H N
L G G Y I L A J G O O O R G U
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R S N U N B L C A T A L P A E
P P Y S A W V A L R E D O A K
H A B W I L L O W D B R G S I
Q B S K S J T Q E T V A B N N
K N M H C Y P L W Z C W G F R
The puzzle contains the following 15 words. They may be diagonal, across, or up and down in the grid in any direction.
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26 Messaging format 27 Label 28 Central line 29 The end is not __ 33 Swerve off course 35 Grand ___ car 37 Pre-Revolution leaders 38 Cafeteria activity 40 Lucky fish 41 Lure 43 The time of life between childhood and maturity 46 Dance night 48 Buckets (2 words) 49 Old Italian bread 50 Gabs 51 Lingerie item 52 Record 53 Purpose 55 ___ do plume; pen name
T G B C H T C C U L S R P T S
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51 Bedim 54 Decorative vase 56 Pelvic bones 57 A Supreme 58 In addition 59 Wine bottle popper 60 A dog’s is 7x a human’s 61 Let me think 62 Plane times Down 1 Dances 2 “What ___ is new?” 3 Speech problem 4 ____ pictures 5 Back of a boat 6 Bonnet 7 Some scouts 8 Go kaput 9 www.yahoo.com, e.g. 10 Long fish 13 Talking starling 18 Esteem 20 PC key 22 Antlered animal 24 Space exploration agency 25 Native American dwelling, alternate spelling
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62
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V G R V F T G X K B B A A Q C
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WORD SEARCH by Myles Mellor
H A B W I L L O W D B R G S I
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P P Y S A W V A L R E D O A K
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R S N U N B L C A T A L P A E
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S M A P L E Z B D F T R B E T
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L G G Y I L A J G O O O R G U
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Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9X9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3X3 squares. To solve the puzzle each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult.
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SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan
by Myles Mellor
E
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CROSSWORD
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Eastsider 1
APRIL 19-25,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
57
22
APRIL 19-25,2018
CLASSIFIEDS HELP WANTED
MASSAGE
PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC AUCTION NOTICE OF SALE OF COOPERATIVE APARMENT SECURITY PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: By Virtue of a Default under Loan Security Agreement, and other Security Documents, Karen Loiacano, Auctioneer, License #DCA1435601 or Jessica L Prince-Clateman, Auctioneer, License #1097640 or Vincent DeAngelis Auctioneer, License #1127571 will sell at public auction, with reserve, on April 25, 2018, in the Rotunda of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York NY 10007, commencing at 1:00pm for the following account: Eric Goldberg and Lisa Goldberg, as borrower, 144 shares of capital stock of 310 East 70th Street Apartment Corp. and all right, title and interest in the Proprietary Lease to 310 East 70 St, Unit 6E, New York, NY 10021 Sale held to enforce rights of Citibank, NA, who reserves the right to bid. Ten percent (10%) Bank/Certified check required at sale, balance due at closing within thirty (30) days. The Cooperative Apartment will be sold “AS IS” and possession is to be obtained by the purchaser. Pursuant to Section 201 of the Lien Law you must answer
23
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Telephone: 212-868-0190 Email: classified2@strausnews.com
POLICY NOTICE: We make every effort to avoid mistakes in your classified ads. Check your ad the first week it runs. The publication will only accept responsibility for the first incorrect insertion. The publication assumes no financial 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 classified ads are pre-paid.
PUBLIC NOTICES
EXPIRES SOON:
within 10 days from receipt of this notice in which redemption of the above captioned premises can occur. There is presently an outstanding debt owed to Citibank, NA (lender) as of the date of this notice in the amount of $279,274.82. This figure is for the outstanding balance due under UCC1, which was secured by Financing Statement in favor of Citibank, N.A. recorded on September 16, 2005 under CRFN 2005000517302. Please note this is not a payoff amount as additional interest/fees/penalties may be incurred. This sale is subject to a first lien held by Astoria Federal Savings and Loan. You must contact the undersigned to obtain a final payoff quote or if you dispute any information presented herein. The estimated value of the above captioned premises is $1,069,000.00. Pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code Article 9-623, the above captioned premises may be redeemed at any time prior to the foreclosure sale. You may contact the undersigned and either pay the principal balance due along with all accrued interest, late charges, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses incurred by Citibank, NA. and the undersigned, or pay the outstanding loan arrears along with all accrued interest, late charges, attorney fees and out of pocket expenses incurred by Citibank, NA, and the undersigned, with respect to the foreclosure proceedings. Failure to cure the default prior to the sale will result in the termination of the proprietary lease. If you have received a discharge from the Bankruptcy Court, you are not personally liable for the payment of the loan and this notice is for compliance and information purposes only. However, Citibank, NA, still has the right under the loan security agreement and other collateral documents to foreclosure on the shares of stock and rights under the proprietary lease allocated to the cooperative apartment. Dated: March 16, 2018 Frenkel, Lambert, Weiss, Weisman & Gordon, LLP Attorneys for Citibank, NA 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 631-969-3100 File #01-080833-F00 #94490
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