The local paper for the Upper East Side FANCY FEET ◄ P.12
WEEK OF MAY
3-9 2018
REDEEMING AN UPPER EAST SIDE EYESORE WATERFRONT Brearley will contribute $1 million to rebuild and rehabilitate a reviled rust bucket that casts dark shadows over the East River Esplanade BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
curb parking for residents via a new permit system. One bill would apply citywide; the other, sponsored by Manhattan Council Members Mark Levine, Helen Rosenthal and Keith Powers, would include all of Manhattan north of 60th Street. Rosenthal said the bill she sponsored would allow the city to begin addressing potential parking issues that could arise in her Upper West Side district if the state implements a congestion pricing policy, which
It was 1939, construction was wrapping up on the East River Drive, the waterfront was being reinvented and dozens of property holders were cutting deals as their riverside rights began to vanish. Case in point: The Brearley School. It limited its claim for the loss of air and light and the surrender of riparian rights to a symbolic $1 when the city obtained an easement for its playground and pier. It did not, however, walk away empty-handed: In return for getting out of the way of the highway, Brearley got the city to build a new elevated structure above the promenade deck for its use as a play space. And for the past 79 years, the private all-girls school has been leasing the 3,720-square-foot, steel-and-concrete platform that rises above the East River Esplanade’s John Finley Walk between 82nd and 83rd Street. Unfortunately, for the past halfcentury, the city-owned hulk — called “The Pier,” for the jetty it replaced, and “The Overhang,” because it juts out over the Esplanade — has become one of the most detested and unsightly visual objects on the Upper East Side. “I have spent my entire life walking
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The City Council is considering legislation that would reserve up to 80 percent of parking on residential streets for drivers who live nearby. Photo: Stephen Strasser
SAFE SPACES STREETS Legislation would reserve parking for residents BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Most parking spots on residential blocks could soon be set aside for drivers who live in the surrounding neighborhood. The City Council is considering two bills that would require the Department of Transportation to reserve
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The overhang structure above the East River Esplanade at 83rd Street, enveloped in pigeon netting. The Brearley School uses the overhead platform as a playground for its students and is ready to commit to repair it. Photo: Douglas Feiden
It [the netting] drops — I don’t know what — on people’s heads.” City Council Member Ben Kallos
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DOCUMENTING ALL THAT’S FIT TO PRINT MEDIA A new film, “The Fourth Estate,” chronicles a year at The New York Times BY JAKE COYLE
Liz Garbus’ first day shooting inside The New York Times newsroom was President Donald Trump’s inauguration day. Her final day was April 16, when the Pulitzer Prizes announced The Times had won three of the coveted awards. In between, she spent more than a year documenting one of journalism’s most distinguished institutions while it grappled with, and tirelessly reported on, an unprecedented presidency. From the first moments of “The Fourth Estate” — as the Times’s executive editor, Dean Baquet, watches Trump sworn on a screen in the newsroom — there’s the dramatic air of a gauntlet being thrown down. “What a story,” marvels Baquet. The first episode of “The Fourth Estate” premiered as the closing night film at the Tribeca Film Festival last week. It will air on Showtime beginning May 27. A bracing, real-life thriller with shades of “All the President’s
Men” (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross supply the propulsive soundtrack), the docu-series gives a rare view of the day-to-day toil of investigative journalists navigating an unpredictable and ceaseless story. And in giving such a window into the machinations of The New York Times, “The Fourth Estate” surely will give fodder to both supporters and critics of the newspaper. Trump has frequently attacked the press, but his gripes with “the failing New York Times,” as he has repeatedly called it, have been especially pronounced. He recently called White House correspondent Maggie Haberman, who shared in one of the Pulitzers, a “third-rate reporter” and claimed he doesn’t speak to her. Haberman, a key figure in the documentary, is seen interviewing Trump by phone in “The Fourth Estate.” “I honestly believe if people get a look inside the newsroom of The New York Times, it will only help us,” Baquet said in an interview. “It humanizes The New York Times. It shows our flaws, too. How could it not?” said Baquet. “But it shows a bunch of reporters and their editors struggling to cover a big story. It shows the impact it has on our daily lives when we do that. I think it shows
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us as regular people as opposed to arrogant, distant, whatever the worst is people think of us. I think it’s good for The Times, and I think it’s good for journalism.” Garbus, whose 2015 Nina Simone documentary “What Happened, Miss Simone?” was nominated for an Oscar, first conceived of the project while contemplating postelection subjects. When Trump, then president-elect, engaged with a back-and-forth with The Times over an interview at the newspaper’s offices, a light bulb went off. “I thought: Wow. Wouldn’t it be great to be a fly on the wall of this presidentelect meeting with his hometown newspaper that he constantly disparaged yet clearly craves its positive coverage? What an interesting dynamic, what an interesting relationship,” Garbus said. Baquet grants the newsroom was “mixed” on having cameras in its midst and that some found it intrusive. But many of the reporters frequently documented include some of the newspaper’s page-one regulars: Michael S. Schmidt, Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Mark Mazzetti and Haberman. Many scenes focus on landing scoops and the newsroom conversations over framing a day’s news. One
The New York Times headquarters on January 18, from a scene from the Showtime original documentary series “The Fourth Estate.” Photo: T.J. Kirkpatrick/Showtime. scene captures Washington bureau chief Elisabeth Bumiller in a tense disagreement with editors in New York over coverage of the president’s State of the Union address. Other scenes focus on the personal toll of keeping up with a relentless news cycle. “I saw people struggling with questions of how to face a relentless assault on norms,” Garbus said. “And I saw investigative journalists faced with a story of a lifetime and at the top of their game. I saw human beings who are competitive by nature engaged in
a dogfight.” The beginning of “The Fourth Estate” captures the veteran newsman thrilled by the challenge of covering a Trump presidency. “Great stories trump everything else, right?” Baquet says. After a year and half of covering the administration, does he feel the same way? “Do I think it trumps everything? Probably not,” Baquet said, chuckling. “It trumps a lot but probably not everything.”
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG TWO ASSAULTS AT SAME UWS BUILDING A 56-year-old man was arrested on assault and other charges following an April 22 confrontation with a person unknown to him, police said. According to the police account, at 9:41 p.m. on that Sunday, the 56-year-old man, later identified as Robin Fuentes, ripped open the shirt of a 48-year-old male stranger inside 316 West 97th St. and then hit him with a wooden mop handle on his head and body, cut the victim’s forehead. Fuentes was later arrested and charged with felony assault, disorderly conduct, harassment, and other offenses. Two days later, a 55-year-old woman was heading to the elevator inside that same building after slamming a hallway door when a 60-year-old male neighbor complained about the noise, and engaged in a verbal dispute. Then, while the woman was waiting for the elevator, the man went to his room, grabbed a baseball bat, approached the woman and swung at her upper torso, cutting her right elbow, according to the account she gave police. The victim refused medical attention. James Powell was arrested and charged with assault, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, and additional offenses following the early afternoon incident, police said.
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th district for the week ending Apr. 22 Week to Date
Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr
ROACH CLIPPED It wasn’t enough that a taxi passenger refused to pay his fare; he also got violent. At 4:40 a.m. on Tuesday, April 24, a 59-year-old male cabbie picked up a 24-year-old man at West 117th Street and Lenox Avenue. The passenger asked the cabbie to take him to W. 104th Street and Columbus Avenue. When they arrived at that location, the two men had a verbal dispute, and the passenger refused to pay the driver. The passenger then became aggressive and twice slapped the cabbie in the face. Police were called to the scene, and at the time of his arrest the passenger was found to be in possession of a plastic bag containing 11 small glassine envelopes
of marijuana in his left front pants pocket. Robert E. Roach was arrested and charged with robbery, felony assault, disorderly conduct, dangerous drugs and other counts, police said.
Year to Date
2018 2017
% Change
2018
2017
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
1
0
n/a
Rape
2
0
n/a
6
5
20.0
Robbery
2
4
-50.0
43
37
16.2
Felony Assault
5
4
25.0
43
42
2.4
Burglary
0
2
-100.0
60
62
-3.2
Grand Larceny
27
25
8.0
428 427 0.2
Grand Larceny Auto
1
0
n/a
8
including Ducati motorcycle parts, spotlights, DJ music equipment, plus glassware and trays worth a total of $4,000.
PATIO BURGLARY A patio is usually the site of good times and relaxation but not for one local resident recently. Sometime between 2:06 and 2:20 a.m. on Saturday, April 21, unknown perpetrators entered the back patio of a 38-year-old man living at 710 Amsterdam Avenue using an unknown point of entry. They made off with a number of the man’s belongings,
MAILED CHECK ALTERED Police remind the public again to write checks using indelible ink and then mail those checks only at mailboxes located inside your local post office. At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24, a 72-year-old woman living at 235 West
9
-11.1
102nd St. received a call from Citibank automatic message stating “fraud account.” The victim later told police that she had written out check for $1,750 on April 15. However, a Citibank representative stated that the victim’s check 504 had been cashed at an unknown location for $9,637.36. The victim subsequently closed her account before opening a new one. She told police she had mailed the check using the mailbox outside the post office at 215 West 104th Street, and apparently a thief had intercepted and altered it.
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Useful Contacts
Drawing Board BY MARC BILGREY
POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct
MAY 3-9,2018
153 E. 67th St.
212-452-0600
159 E. 85th St.
311
FIRE FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13 FDNY Engine 39/Ladder 16
157 E. 67th St.
311
FDNY Engine 53/Ladder 43
1836 Third Ave.
311
FDNY Engine 44
221 E. 75th St.
311
CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Keith Powers
211 E. 43rd St. #1205
212-818-0580
Councilmember Ben Kallos
244 E. 93rd St.
212-860-1950
STATE LEGISLATORS State Sen. Jose M. Serrano
1916 Park Ave. #202
212-828-5829
State Senator Liz Krueger
1850 Second Ave.
212-490-9535
Assembly Member Dan Quart
360 E. 57th St.
212-605-0937
Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright
1485 York Ave.
212-288-4607
COMMUNITY BOARD 8
505 Park Ave. #620
212-758-4340
LIBRARIES Yorkville
222 E. 79th St.
212-744-5824
96th Street
112 E. 96th St.
212-289-0908
67th Street
328 E. 67th St.
212-734-1717
Webster Library
1465 York Ave.
212-288-5049
100 E. 77th St.
212-434-2000
HOSPITALS Lenox Hill NY-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell
525 E. 68th St.
212-746-5454
Mount Sinai
E. 99th St. & Madison Ave.
212-241-6500
NYU Langone
550 First Ave.
212-263-7300
CON EDISON
4 Irving Place
212-460-4600
POST OFFICES US Post Office
1283 First Ave.
212-517-8361
US Post Office
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212-369-2747
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MAY 3-9,2018
WATERFRONT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 up and down the Esplanade, passing under this overhang — and watching it fall apart,” said 37-year-old City Council Member Ben Kallos, who represents the area. Indeed, the underbelly of the 100-foot long, 40-foot wide structure is blotched with concrete cracks. Its steel columns define the word “rust.” Darkness envelops passers-by. Leaking water is bountiful. And roosting pigeons are undeterred by the pigeon-control netting. “The floodlighting is horrible, the chicken-wire fence is ugly, the netting is ugly, it is dripping and chipping, and it drops — I don’t know what — on people’s heads,” Kallos said. All of that is about to change. In October 2015, Brearley’s latest 20-year lease expired. At the time, it was paying only $8,022 annually, lease documents indicate, and the holdover terms remained in effect. Subsequently, Kallos contacted the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services, which handles negotiations with private parties leasing city property, asking it to “ensure” that any lease renewal require Brearley to make capital improvements, take responsibility for maintenance, provide accountability and enter into a viable public-private partnership. It took two years, but after
back-and-forth talks between Brearley, DCAS and Kallos, a breakthrough deal was reached: The school says it “voluntarily” agreed to invest roughly $1 million for a structural and aesthetic rehabilitation of The Pier, a project it says it could not take on under its expired lease. Brearley hopes to sign a new lease by the end of May, according to its construction and facilities department. Capital construction could begin by June 2019, and project completion is anticipated prior to the start of the school year in September 2019, the school said. “We are thrilled to have obtained the city’s permission to repair and upgrade The Pier and proud to take on this new responsibility for the benefit of the whole community,” said Rahul Tripathi, Brearley’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer. The school, which was founded in 1884 and moved to its present home at 610 East 83rd Street in 1929, didn’t disclose lease terms, deferring to Kallos and DCAS. But a preliminary, undated 78-page lease document reviewed by Our Town indicates a $32,000 annual rent for the waterfront aerie, with annual minimum increases of 3 percent, which is deemed to be “fair-market value.” DCAS confirmed the figure. The lease period is 20 years with two 10-year renewal options, DCAS said, meaning that Brearley could retain tenancy
of its elevated playground until at least 2058. In past years, the city was responsible for maintaining The Pier’s infrastructure. Not anymore: “All aesthetic and structural maintenance will be Brearley’s responsibility,” a DCAS spokesperson said. What kind of work is envisioned? Leaks will be repaired, new green fencing added, netting stripped away, sleek lighting provided for public safety, and planters sporting seasonal plantings introduced, according to a draft of a release crafted by Kallos with input from Brearley. Darkness will give way to light, new wire fencing will match the colors of the 81st Street and 78th Street pedestrian bridges, and the decrepit underside of the overhang will finally be repaired and maintained, project documents show. “It was this dark, unwanted bleak kind of structure,” said Daniella Davi, the project manager for CIVITAS, the East Side nonprofit that has long advocated for the “holistic redevelopment” of the East River Esplanade. “Now, it will have some color, a lot more light, it will be more open, and instead of the netting, there will be more a contiguous waterfront look with green, earthy patterning,” Davi added. Bottom line: “Block by block, we are rebuilding the Esplanade,” Kallos said.
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All seminars are FREE and open to the public. Seating is available for 250 people on a firstcome, first-served basis. For more information on the Health & Wellness Series please visit our website at: www.weill.cornell.edu/seminars/ American Sign Language interpretive services will be provided at all seminars.
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COUNCIL MULLS CAP ON SIGHTSEEING BUSES TRAFFIC Tour coaches could be subject of additional city oversight, including GPS tracking BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
While London’s two-tiered buses are an iconic part of its transit system, in Manhattan the double-decker bus has long held a different association in the public consciousness. To New Yorkers, “double-decker� is synonymous with the ubiquitous sightseeing coaches that ferry tourists to points of interest throughout the borough, and which are a source of aggravation to many residents who live near well-traveled routes and complain of resulting congestion, pollution and noise. The City Council is considering a package of bills that would bring the industry under additional scrutiny and place a limit on the total number of tour buses permitted on city streets. “We need to strike a balance to accommodate our city’s vital tourism industry while still addressing the concerns that our residents experience,� said Council Member Margaret Chin, whose downtown council district is a hub of sightseeing bus activity and the city’s booming tourist economy, which welcomed a record 62.8 million visitors last year. Legislation sponsored by Chin and Borough President Gale Brewer would cap the number of sightseeing buses at 225. This cap would leave room for more buses than are currently permitted to operate on city streets: there are currently
The City Council is considering legislation that would limit the number of sightseeing buses permitted on city streets at 225 — there are currently 197 buses licensed by the city. Photo: Michael Garofalo 197 licensed sightseeing buses operated by eight companies (a ninth operator’s license renewal with the city is pending). The number of licensed sightseeing buses in New York has fluctuated in recent decades, ranging from 144 in 1995, to 60 in 2004, to 237 in 2016. Since 2005, there have been 15 collisions involving sightseeing buses, one of which resulted in a fatality. Chin and others cited the impending L train shut down (scheduled to begin in April 2019 and last 15 months) as an impetus for action, noting that the MTA and DOT’s plan to supplement transit service during the subway closure with dozens additional MTA buses in Lower Manhattan will put additional pressure on already congested streets. “[T]hey’re clogging up our streets and causing a lot of congestion problems,� Chin said at an April 24 hearing on the bills, adding, “You have more than
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one bus coming by, and oftentimes it’s not full.â€? Another bill, introduced by Council Speaker Corey Johnson, would require companies seeking to obtain or renew a sightseeing bus license to ďŹ rst obtain authorization for all bus stops from the city’s Department of Transportation, and would allow the city to suspend or revoke the licenses of companies that commit violations. The bill also authorizes the Transportation Department to request buses’ GPS location data to monitor compliance and target enforcement. As of April 2018, there are 163 DOT-approved sightseeing bus stops in Manhattan. DOT does not currently regulate the routes sightseeing buses are permitted to take between stops (though they are subject to general rules governing commercial traffic). A 2016 DOT study found that most stops host between four and nine buses each hour, and that buses often run more frequently than authorized. Seventeen percent of buses stayed at stops for longer than ten minutes. “They often don’t follow the places where they’re supposed to park on the small streets of Lower Manhattan, in Times Square and elsewhere, and people are quite upset,â€? said Brewer, who ďŹ rst proposed the bus cap bill with Chin in 2015. “They park in places where regular buses are supposed to park and they park in places where there’s no place to park.â€?
MAY 3-9,2018
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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.
LET US SPEAK FRANKLY EAST SIDE OBSERVER BY ARLENE KAYATT
Really being heard — Seems that public and elected officials are getting away with taking the easy way out when they speak at community meetings and forums and require that all questions be written on index cards. The host organization should not permit it. First of all, questions are vetted by the official’s staffers and there’s no opportunity for follow up. Second, some people have terrible handwriting and their questions are illegible. Or, like politicians, they aren’t concise. Time, of course, is a consideration, but time limits can be set by the organization. If there is to be true dialogue and community input, then there has to be true feedback, and elected and others have to be accountable for the positions and stands they take and participate in verbal back and forth. They have to be able to withstand the crossfire
chihuahua with a scar on his snout, has been missing since early March. Posters begging for his return peered out from lampposts across the UES for several weeks. And then there were no more posters. I thought about Norman and was hoping that he’d come home. But no. Last week a woman, tears in her eyes, was taping yellow posters with a photo and description of her still-lost Norman throughout the neighborhood along with the promise of a $5,000 reward for his return. No questions asked. If you find Norman, call home. They’re waiting for him with bated breath — 424-258-4306.
of their constituents. Writing questions out in, as they say, 25 words or less, doesn’t make the cut even if the politico is made to speak his or her position in 50 words or less, not counting pauses. The handwritten index card question doesn’t cut it. The opportunity to be heard at a public event requires verbal exchanges.
Dog-gone it — No question in my mind that Donald Trump and Jeff Bezos share at least a page in their playbooks — the desire and willingness to annihilate a competitor no matter how big or how small. Case in point, Bezos’s Whole Foods now sells hot dogs in direct competition with the street vendor standing under an umbrella-ed hot dog cart street in front of its block-long store on Third Avenue and 87th Street. When a customer sampling a smidgen of a hot dog at Whole Foods asked the staffer behind the counter which hot dog was better, he quickly responded that the WF frank was “far better” because they
Following New York City Transit President Andy Byford’s April 19 talk on the Upper West Side, hosted by Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, audience members were given cards on which to write questions. They also had an opportunity to query Byford directly. Photo: Michael Garofalo offered 6 toppings and chili. “And you get samples.” So there.
The good earth — Thanks to the Parks Department and the Muslim Volunteers for New York for their partnership in bringing Earth Day activities to our city parks. Reminded me of Frank Sinatra’s rendition of the post-WW II song, “The House I Live In,” with lyrics about “a plot of earth, the sun ... and the people
that you see.” Not to get hokey, but it’s a vision not usually seen in an urban environment — kids planting, potting and pruning. And nice to know that similar activities are conducted and sponsored and supported throughout the year by funding in part through the budgets of our public officials.
Desperately seeking Norman — 4-year old Norman, a micro-chipped tan
Sharing reader thoughts — After this column noted that co-op and condo owners may have a role in bringing in big box stores and driving out small businesses from commercial spaces in their high-rises, responses included one reader acknowledging that the “enemy is (often) us,” and another explaining that they “sold” the lease for commercial spaces decades ago, giving them no say about tenants coming into the spaces. This reader noted that the storefronts in his/her building are not vacant and that everyone was keeping their “fingers crossed.” Count me in.
BONDING OVER BOWIE BY MARK NIMAR
A fire-haired man in a onesie, walking among the stars. A chap in a loincloth, draped in animal hide, clutching a wooden cane with an elephant lurking in the background. And a squire with sleekly combed hair and a classic herringbone jacket, pensively looking off into the distance. These are the many forms of the great English singer-songwriter David Bowie, captured in posters splashed across the Broadway-Lafayette Street subway station. The space is transformed: pewter cones glowing with fluorescent lights skirt the station’s geometric blue columns. Quotes proclaiming the artist’s undying love for New York decorate
the drab, gritty walls. And a rectangular emerald sign displaying the moniker DAVID BOWERY hovers from the concrete ceiling. “There was no one like David Bowie,” said Sam Huber, a Finnish man with an astronaut head on his T-shirt. I met Sam while he was snapping photos of the fantastic Bowie posters with his iPhone. “He did what he wanted. He was brave ... experimenting with different styles. He didn’t care what other people thought.” Sam remembered listening to Bowie in the ‘80s when he was eighteen, before he had ever been to the U.S. And because Bowie had been such a big part of his youth, Sam was devastated when he heard about Bowie’s passing. “[I] listened to his albums over and over again,”
The Broadway-Lafayette subway station transformed. President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com
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Huber said. “Bowie is always on my mind when I compose. Even when I don’t try to emulate him, he always shows up in my music.â€? “His songs are weird, but fun,â€? said Marc Rodriguez, a man in a suit and tie. He had come to the Broadway-Lafayette station after a long day’s work just to see this exhibit. “I came here just for this. I [really] nerd out over the subway,â€? he said. His ex-girlfriend, a blacksmith who had moved to Connecticut, was the first person to introduce him to Bowie. “She was obsessed with Bowie,â€? he said. “She was a theater kid and just loved him.â€? Their relationship did not last, but his love of Bowie did. His eyes shined when he spoke of Bowie’s hit songs, many acting cameos and overall swagger and brio. I was genuinely sad to see Marc go as he ashed me a smile, and descended onto the subway platform. But then I met another Bowie devotee. Her name was Carolyn. She was a spunky sixty-year old who called Bowie “androgynous and galactic.â€? “He lets us all be ourselves,â€? she said. “I love his grace. He is grace. He shines his light, and it allows everyone else to be themselves, and feel freedom. Gratitude is the essence of grace, and he had it.â€? Carolyn ďŹ rst listened to Bowie at Kirkland College upstate in the eighties, when she was first dating her now-husband and coming into her own. Bowie has been a part of her life since her youth, and as she spoke, her quick, excited speech and beaming smile revealed how much Bowie had meant to her. “He changed the style,â€? she said. Carolyn then did something that never happens in New York. She took my arm and wished me luck. Under normal circumstances, the intimate touch of a stranger on the New York City subway would totally gross me out. But after talking to her about Bowie’s talent, it felt perfectly natural. For one moment, an artist’s daring, soulful work had bonded us, and transformed us from complete strangers into instant friends. As Carolyn blended into the sea of commuters, and I returned to the lines of my notebook, the somber sounds of a trombone playing “Cry Me a Riverâ€? wafted up from the subway platform below us. And in that moment, I felt grateful that the work of an iconic artist had the power to transform a drab train station into a colorful place of love, art and friendship.
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‡ 7KH )ULFN &ROOHFWLRQ ‡ WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE MUSEUM Canova’s George Washington Opens May 23
This spring/summer exhibition examines the history of Antonio Canova’s lost masterpiece, a full-length statue of our nation’s first president made in 1821 for the State House in Raleigh, North Carolina. The first and only work by the artist created for America, the exhibition brings together Canova’s full-sized preparatory plaster model (which has never left Italy), and related sketches, engravings and drawings. The model is on loan from the Gypsotheca e Museo Antonio Canova in Possagno, Italy, the birthplace of the artist.
Fired By Passion: Masterpieces of Du Paquier Porcelain from the Sullivan Collection The Frick’s Portico Gallery showcases an exhibition of rare DuPaquier porcelain. The exhibition features gifts from Paul and Melinda Sullivan in addition to loans from their collection, all created at the Viennese manufactory. Established in 1718 by entrepreneur Claudius Innocentius du Paquier, it was only in operation for twenty-five years. Yet, it left an impressive body of inventive and often whimsical work, forging a distinct identity in the history of European porcelain production. Exhibitions focused on this firm are uncommon opportunities.
Next Fridays Event: June 1st Museum admission and programs are free 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the first Friday evening of the month. Visitors have access to the permanent collection and special exhibition galleries, enjoy talks and lectures by museum educators and curators, music and dance performances, and open sketching in the Garden Court (complimentary materials provided by the Frick.) For more information, visit frick.org/FirstFridays.
NEW EDUCATION SERIES As a squire in the subway stairwell. Photo: Mark Nimar
Forum on Canova and the Presidential Image Wednesdays, June 27, July 11, and July 25, 6:30 p.m. Examine the construction of the presidential image, as framed by the special exhibition Canova’s George Washington. Forums will be led by noted scholars, each with a distinct perspective on the commemoration of public figures: Kenneth S. Lapatin, J. Paul Getty Museum (6/27); Carrie Rebora Barratt, New York Botanical Garden (7/11); and Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University (7/25). Register online at frick.org/conversations or call 212.547.0704. Tickets to the three-part series are $45 ($40 for members); individual sessions are $20 ($15 for members).
Collection Highlight/New Publication Since 1935, Frick visitors have enjoyed close encounters with Holbein’s iconic portrait of Sir Thomas More in our Living Hall Gallery. The painting is featured in a new “Diptychs� book series. This volume features and essay by Peter J. Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon, paired with a literary piece by Hilary Mantel, recipient of the Man Booker Prize for her novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. https://www.frick.org/shop
Brought to you by
The Frick Collection &BTU UI 4U PO 'JGUI "WF t www.frick.org
DID YOU KNOW?
Bowie in the Ziggy Stardust days. Photo: Mark Nimar
What site in NYC was one of the key locations for the “Monuments Men� mapping of Europe during World War II, with the goal of preserving cultural treasures form Allied bombing raids? Hint: It’s a remarkable museum library at 10 East 70th Street. Today it’s much in the news as a center for research. Open to the public. Answer: Frick Art Reference Library
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Discover the world around the corner. Find community events, gallery openings, book launches and much more: Go to nycnow.com
EDITOR’S PICK
Sun 6 ZONING IN ACTION: BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE UPPER EAST SIDE Meet at the Northwest corner of East 86th Street and East End Avenue 1 p.m. Free 212-935–3960 mas.org Floor-area ratio, R8B, and POPS, oh my! Led by urban planner George Janes and longtime advocate Ronda Wist, this walk will translate abstract land-use concepts from the page to street as they uncover zoning and preservation tools in action on the Upper East Side. Inspired by urban activist Jane Jacobs, “Zoning in Action” is one of over 200 free, citizen-led walks combining city exploration with personal observations, local history and civic engagement happening in NYC May 4-6.
JOIN US FOR A COMPLIMENTARY
Dinner (Lite Fare) and Free Seminar! Come find out how to protect your loved ones. Please join us for a FREE seminar on planning your funeral and cemetery arrangements in advance! > CREATIVE CREMATION AND TRADITIONAL BURIAL PLANNING > LEARN THE ADVANTAGES OF PRE-ARRANGING YOUR FUNERAL > LEARN HOW TO REDUCE STRESS FOR YOUR LOVED ONES > LEARN SIMPLE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO PLAN AHEAD
Tuesday,
May 15, 2018
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
The Unitarian Church of All Souls 1157 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10075 (Minot Simons Room) Featured Guest Speakers: ROBERT KESTENBAUM Director of Family Services, The Woodlawn Cemetery STEPHEN DUER “Your Life Your Legacy” Certified Presenter RSVP to Shawn King at 212-288-3500 or Email Shawn.King@dignitymemorial.com Seating is limited! Call to reserve your space! Hosted and Sponsored by Frank E. Campbell The Funeral Chapel
& The Woodlawn Cemetery Frank E. Campbell is proudly owned and operated by a subsidiary of Service Corporation International, 1929 Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas 77019 (713) 522-5141. New York state law mandates that all contracts for prearranged funeral agreements executed by applicants for or recipients of supplemental social security income or medical assistance be irrevocable.
Thu 3
Fri 4
Sat 5
‘MAY MADE ME’
‘CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF’
▲ STORYTIME AT SHAKESPEARE & CO.
The Morgan Library and Museum, 225 Madison Ave. 7 p.m. Free with museum admission Presented in connection with the “Tennessee Williams: No Refuge but Writing” exhibit, this film adaptation of Williams’ classic play stars Paul Newman as Brick, an alcoholic ex-football player who resists the affections of his wife, Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor), and has a revelatory reunion with his dying father, Big Daddy (Burl Ives). 212-685-0008 themorgan.org
Shakespeare & Co. 939 Lexington Ave. 11 a.m. Free, RSVP appreciated Grab an espresso at the cafe and relax while the little ones enjoy a story from the bookstore’s vast children’s collection, read by session leader Annette. For kids ages 4-10 years old. 212-772-3400 shakeandco.com
Albertine 972 Fifth Ave. 7 p.m. Free The mass protests that shook France in May 1968 profoundly changed Europe’s politics and social fabric. Fifty years later, Mitch Abidor and Todd Gitlin delve into the oral testimonies of young rebels collected by Abidor in his new book, “May Made Me.” Our speakers will discuss the legacy of the uprising, and how it changed history. 212-650–0070 www.albertine.com
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MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH Upcoming Events TH E N E W YOR K L A N D M A R K S C O N S E R VA NC Y
S AC R ED S I T ES
OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY, MAY 6, 1:30-3:30PM
Sun 6
Mon 7 Tue 8
EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE: ‘ODEON’
WHAT’S IN A HOPI NAME?
The Guggenheim 1071 Fifth Ave. 7:30 p.m. $45 Dancer and choreographer Ephrat Asherie will discuss her latest work, and dancers and musicians will perform highlights and explore what happens when dances from the African diaspora — including breaking, hip hop, house and vogue — intersect and remix with the music of Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth. 212-423-3500 theguggenheim.org
The Explorers Club 46 East 70th St. 6 p.m. $25 Learn more about the Hopi tribe’s naming practices at this fascinating lecture, and gain understanding into how naming influences different aspects of Hopi culture, philosophy, history, natural history and aesthetics. 212-628-8383 explorers.org
YOUNG POET READING: TYEHIMBA JESS The National Arts Club 15 Grammercy Park South 8 p.m. Free Tyehimba Jess will read from and discuss the subjects of his book “Olio,” for which he won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize. In “Olio,” he reconstucts the lives of some African-American performers, “first-generation-freed” and mostly unknown, and gives them voices. 212-475-3424 nationalartsclub.org
We are honored to open our doors as part of NYC’s Annual Landmarks Conservancy Sacred Sites Open House. This opportunity allows members of the community and tourists alike to discover Marble’s landmarked architecture and rich history. Marble Collegiate Church is a prominent example of Romanesque Revival architecture with Gothic influences and preserves many original 1854 features: its marble exterior, bell tower, mahogany pews, tiled lobby, and innovative cantilevered balconies. From the spire to the fine details of the interior, featuring beautiful stained glass windows, two of which are Tiffany. Docent led tours, as well as self-guided tours will be available. No registration necessary. FREE ADMISSION.
FRIDAY NIGHT
JAZZ VESPERS
Sing When the Spirit Says Sing
Friday, May 18 at 6:15pm As the work week ends, join us for this special Jazz Vespers for Pentecost, Sing When the Spirit Says Sing. Message by Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton and music by Jazz pianist Chris Whittaker and friends. In the Marble Loft (274 5th Ave). FREE ADMISSION.
Wed 9 ▲ VAN GOGH FIND YOURSELF BIRTHDAY SHOW Ryans Daughter 350 East 85th St. 8 p.m. $20 Walter DeForest’s interactive solo show about Vincent van Gogh blends storytelling, theater and live art-making experiences to create an engaging portrait of the artist. Think you know the truth? “Van Gogh Find Yourself,” please. 212-628-2613 waltermichaeldeforest.com
Pentecost Gospel Concert Sunday, May 20 at 3:00pm Join the Marble Community Gospel Choir in concert, directed by Stacy Penson. Tickets: $20, general admission; $15 students & seniors at the door. Save $5 by ordering in advance by Thursday, May 17. Event listings brought to you by Marble Collegiate Church. 1 West 29th Street / New York, New York 10001 212 686 2770 / MarbleChurch.org Download the Marble Church App on iPhone or Android
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FANCY FEET
IF YOU GO Seymour Weitzman (1910–65), designer. Mr. Seymour (founded 1950s), maker. Pointed-toe laced pumps, ca. 1964. Suede, grosgrain ribbon. Stuart Weitzman Collection, no. 269. Photo: Glenn Castellano, New-York Historical Society
WHAT: “Walk This Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes” WHERE: The New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, 170 Central Park West (at 77th Street) WHEN: Through October 8 www.nyhistory.org
The New-York Historical Society struts Stuart Weitzman’s prized collection of vintage shoes BY VAL CASTRONOVO
Stuart Weitzman, the iconic luxury shoe designer, was recently asked why he and his wife, Jane Gershon Weitzman, started collecting historic shoes. “My wife couldn’t figure out what to get me for occasions, so she started buying antique footwear, ladies shoes, which taught me a lot about history.... They’ve been wonderful inspirations that continually spring up in my collections,” he said on a tour of the New-York Historical Society’s new exhibit, featuring 100 pairs of shoes from his personal archive. Artifacts from the museum’s collection are also included in the show, on view in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery. As Louise Mirrer, the Society’s president and CEO, tells it: “This institution, at its very core, is a collection of collections.... Our longstanding theme at the New-York Historical Society is that objects tell stories. And these objects tell very many of them.” Weitzman, who teaches at The Wharton School, added, “I have always believed from the beginning that shoes tell a story more than covering your feet.” Some muses: “Audrey Hepburn. Before flats were flats, she was cool enough and confident enough to wear flats with pants, right alongside Marilyn Monroe, who couldn’t be seen unless she was in a 4-inch heel. So each one of them used the shoe to say something about who they were.” The first story magically begins on the red carpet (literally) with Weitzman’s famous “Million Dollar Sandals.” The original pair boasted 464 Kwiat diamonds and was worn by actress Laura Elena Harring (“Mulholland Drive”) to the 2002 Oscars. A reproduction, with Swarovski crystals, is on display here. “She was photographed more times in this shoe with the Armani dress than Halle Berry who won the Oscar for ‘Monster’s Ball,’” Weitzman said with relish about the strappy stilettos that inspired the shoe-cam. Per women’s history scholar Jeanne Gardner Gutierrez: “Until million-dollar shoes walked the red carpet, no one thought to bring the gaze footward to the shoes.” The exhibit mines the story of footwear from four points of view — collection, consumption, presentation and production — with a focus on women’s contributions “as producers, consumers, design-
Terry de Havilland (b. 1938), designer. Peep-toe platform shoes, ca. 1972. London, England. Suede, leather. Stuart Weitzman Collection, no. 257. Photo: Glenn Castellano, New-York Historical Society
Frances Vultes Shoes. Lace-up boots, ca. 1900. Silk and silk brocade. Stuart Weitzman Collection, no. 59. Photo: Glenn Castellano, New-York Historical Society
Fenton Footwear, maker. Saks Fifth Avenue (founded 1924), retailer. T-strap pumps, ca. 1937. Velvet, leather. Stuart Weitzman Collection, no. 249. Photo: Glenn Castellano, New-York Historical Society
MAY 3-9,2018
ers, and entrepreneurs,” the organizers state. The story moves from the glamour of the red carpet to moving historical touchstones such as 9/11 and the General Slocum steamship fire in 1904, in which 1,000 mostly German immigrant women and children died en route to a church picnic. It was the deadliest event in New York City history until September 11, 2001. Both tragedies are movingly remembered by the shoes they wore — a 3-year-old fire victim’s leather lace-ups and a surviving attorney’s first pair of Ferragamos. The lawyer, Paul Wysocki, navigated 57 flights of stairs down the North Tower and a journey home to 52nd Street in tassel loafers. He tossed the shoes, but his wife salvaged them, relics of the city’s darkest hour. Objects of historical value give way to a dizzying array of fashion statements that mirror women’s evolving roles in American society and economic changes over the last 200 years. They began as piece workers — stitchers at home — and gradually moved into factories and became active in shoemaker unions like the Daughters of St. Crispin, the first national women’s trade union. When hemlines rose at the turn of the 20th century, attention veered to legs and feet, paving the way for stylish foot apparel. According to Weitzman, “The high-buttoned shoe was created when dresses started getting a little shorter. Society wasn’t ready to see a bit of your calf, so the shoe went up the leg.” Suffragettes paraded down Fifth Avenue in these boots and sturdy spectator pumps, while protoflappers danced the night away in glittery shoes with straps that buttoned so they wouldn’t fly off. The wares for work and play are showcased in sideby-side vitrines. The shoe trade was a man’s world until well into the 20th century, with women mostly working behind the scenes. As Gutierrez said, “The aesthetics behind women’s shoes so often had to do with what men found attractive, not what women found appealing or comfortable.” That is, until the women’s movement helped shift the paradigm and bring comfort to the fore. The exhibit boasts a profusion of styles — pumps, mules, Mary Janes, open-toe sling-backs, peep-toe platforms, wedges, T-straps, stilettos, and gold and silver sandals inspired by retro-Hollywood film epics. A wealth of materials and embellishments — beads, buttons, bows and brocade — vie with cutting-edge technology to tell the story of a functional item that can telegraph femininity, class, culture, power, performance and sheer sexiness with the flash of an ankle. Beth Levine (1914-2006), whose shoes were worn by first ladies, is paid special tribute in two cases. Levine, known as the First Lady of Shoe Design, popularized the now-defunct “Spring-o-lator,” a nifty piece of elastic tape in the insole of a mule or slide to prevent slippage. Per Weitzman: “The elastic lining would push you into the top of the shoe and hold you in place.” Such ingenuity lives on in the exhibit’s in-themoment finale, showcasing the three high-school winners of a metro-area shoe-design contest. Think sneakers with metal screening and Styrofoam soles — and more.
MAY 3-9,2018
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BEYOND BROADWAY - EAST SIDE The #1 online community for NYC theater:
www.show-score.com
NOW PLAYING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD FROM $28
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LUCKY CHICK
A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN
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An autistic girl connects with a boy who changes her world forever.
Felicity Seidel takes audiences on a comic road trip through her crazy youth with The Grateful Dead.
This gently touching comedy follows a man’s romantic progress over 60 years.
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A new adaptation of Henry James’s classic 1903 novella, fusing dance, drama, and music to tell this romantic tale of love and loss.
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A breezy “transladaptation” of a French farce by David Ives with scheming servants, verbal acrobatics, and mistaken identities.
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ME AND MY GIRL
THE DUKE - 229 W 42ND ST
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Encores! brings this delightfully old-fashioned musical comedy to New York for the first time in nearly 30 years.
SUMMER AND SMOKE 72 REVIEWS JUST OPENED
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WOMAN AND SCARECROW
This sultry Southern Gothic masterpiece marks Classic Stage Company’s first Tennessee Williams production.
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CLASSIC STAGE COMPANY - 136 E 13TH ST
A woman revisits her life with biting humor and brutal honesty. A fierce, passionate, and moving lament for a life half-lived.
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RANDY WRITES A NOVEL 73 REVIEWS JUST OPENED
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Randy, Australia’s most celebrated puppet comedian, reads excerpts from his unpublished novel.
The Civil War is over, but the scabs it left still itch. A fox stalks the clearing behind the Auberts home, a love triangle goes horribly wrong, and a family is destroyed.
THEATRE ROW / CLURMAN THEATRE - 412 W 42ND ST
THE TANK - 312 W 36TH ST KEY:
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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS APR 18 - 24, 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. Union Club Of City Of New York
101 East 69 Street
A
Finestra
1370 York Avenue
A
Namaste
1448 1st Ave
Not Yet Graded (29) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Joe Coffee
1045 Lexington Ave
A
NYC Health Bar
1319 2nd Ave
Not Yet Graded (46) 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. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment.
Sumela
1606 1st Ave
A
Drunken Munkey
338 E 92nd Street
Grade Pending (20) 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. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Milenio Bakery
2030 Third Ave
A
Paladar
358 E 112th St
Grade Pending (2)
PARKING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 would impose a fee on vehicles entering a designated zone in central Manhattan. Some fear the areas just outside the congestion zone — which according to one proposal would begin at 60th Street and extend to the island’s southern tip — would become attractive to non-resident drivers seeking to park and transfer to the subway to travel into the fee zone. “Given that we don’t yet know the details of congestion pricing, the importance of introducing this bill is that we can now begin the public discussion of what residential parking should look like,” Rosenthal said. It is unclear whether Albany lawmakers will move to enact a congestion pricing plan before the current legislative session ends in June. “Congestion pricing has not passed — it may never pass — but if it does, we want to be able to have input on how residential parking will work along the border areas,” said Powers, whose Council district straddles the potential congestion zone boundary of 60th Street, stretching across much of the East Side from Stuyvesant Town to Carnegie Hill.
The legislation would not apply to commercial streets and metered spaces, and would require at least 20 percent of spaces in residential permit zones to be made available to non-residents. “When I hear from people who street park, they think permitted parking will make life easier for them,” Rosenthal said. “Secondly, because 80 percent of spots will be reserved for those with residential permits, people from other areas will get the message: take public transportation, there’s not parking. Because ultimately the goal is to reduce congestion on the streets.” The bills are broadly written and give the Department of Transportation latitude in determining the times and specific areas in which residential permits would be required, as well as the fees for permits. The DOT would be required to take input from local community boards and elected officials, according to Rosenthal. “This opens the door for public comment so we can hear from our communities what they think about residential parking,” she said. Rosenthal proposes a nominal fee for the permits, and said that drivers with disabilities would not be negatively impacted. “Disability permits
will supersede anything else,” Rosenthal said. “In other words, if you have a disability sticker, you can take residential spot even if it’s not in your zone.” The two bills both work to achieve similar goals, Rosenthal said. “At the end of the day there will be one bill and this will all be worked out in the legislative process,” she said. Council Speaker Corey Johnson said he was “not fully versed on all the specifics of the bills” at an April 25 press conference and did not take a position on the legislation. “There are some pluses and minuses,” Johnson said. “I understand that there are many folks that live in communities across the city who find it very frustrating that they can’t find parking in their neighborhoods. We also are trying to disincentivize cars in New York City.” Johnson added that he believes state authorization would not be required for the city to enact the policy. “It’s my understanding that we are allowed to do it, that state law says that municipalities with a population of over one million people are allowed to enact residential parking, and so I do believe that we have the authority to do this,” he said.
“IF ONLY SOMEONE WOULD CLEAN UP THIS PARK.”
BE THE SOMEONE. Every day, we think to ourselves that someone should really help make this city a better place. Visit newyorkcares.org to learn about the countless ways you can volunteer and make a difference in your community.
Cat New York Cares Volunteer
MAY 3-9,2018
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YOUR FATHER KEEPS WANDERING AWAY FROM HOME. BUT IT’S YOU WHO FEELS LOST. Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal reads to children at the Arbor Day event. Photo courtesy of Ryan/ Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center
CELEBRATING ARBOR DAY Ryan/Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center held an Arbor Day event with second graders from P.S. 111 in Hell’s Kitchen on Friday, April 27. The children learned about the importance of trees to the environment and their overall health with a reading by Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal of the book, “The Great Kapok Tree� by Lynne Cherry. Each child received a copy of the book and a planting to take home.
Caring for a family member who has trouble with thinking and memory can be extremely challenging. So challenging, in fact, that caregivers may feel overwhelmed, struggling to maintain their own health and well-being. NYU Langone’s Family Support Program provides convenient, personalized, and ongoing support to people caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or other thinking and memory disorders. Daniel Pichinson, Executive Director of Ryan/Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center, chats with a second grader from P.S. 111 as she works on her personal planting pot at the center’s Arbor Day event. Photo courtesy of Ryan Chelsea-Clinton Health Center
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TRENDY AT A DISCOUNT As empty shopfronts proliferate, Fox’s is a “destination store” on the Upper East Side BY SHOSHY CIMENT
Eileen and Bob Fox started selling women’s clothing 35 years ago in the flea markets on Long Island. In due time, what started out as a post-college business endeavor became a successful enterprise for the pair. Today, their chain, Fox’s, has 16 stores across the country and caters to women of all ages and styles. “Pretty much all women could shop here,” said Eileen Fox, who often oversees the daily shipment of new merchandise to Fox’s Upper East Side location on Third Avenue near 85th street. When she and her husband opened the store originally, she explained, they were going for quality clothing at a competitive price. Since then, the couple has maintained this goal, earning a name as a boutique-like store
We try to keep fashion fun so our customers don’t feel guilty about buying something they like.” Co-founder Bob Fox with bargain prices. “Anything I’ve ever bought, it’s really amazing,” said Kathleen McEvoy, a regular shopper at Fox’s for at least ten years. “The customer service is great.” Most of the clothing at Fox’s is purchased from Europe and other fashion capitals of the world. In addition to regular women’s wear, Fox’s sells jewelry, coats and shoes. Notably, Fox’s also has a collection of modest clothing for its religious customers who make up a large portion of the clientele. “Our customer is everybody,” said Sharon Garfunkel, who has worked at Fox’s for five
Sales Associate Sharon Garfunkel (left) discussing an item of clothing with another sales associate at Fox’s. Photo: Shoshy Ciment
years in sales and with buyers, developing and maintaining relationships with customers to get them the best deals on the best clothes. In her experience, Garfunkel has found that many people go out of their way to come to Fox’s. “We are definitely a destination store in addition to a neighborhood store,” she said. Although Fox’s has had stores in New York for years, coming to Manhattan was seen as the next step. “The rents kind of scared us away from New York City,” explained Bob Fox. But during a trial run in a temporary location on the Upper West Side about six years ago, Bob and Eileen noticed that a large number of customers came from across the park. When their lease was up, they set their sights on the East Side for a more permanent location. While Fox’s has been successful in its East Side voyage, the same cannot be said for other businesses in the area. “It’s depressing to see Third Avenue,” said Garfunkel, referring to the empty storefronts that have plagued the Upper East Side as of late. “You have to be careful when you come in because the rents are astronomical,” Eileen explained. Skyrocketing rents have practically run the mom and pop shop into the ground and have made it difficult for a business on the Upper East Side to simply break even. However, Fox’s seems to have avoided the fate of other retail ventures with its steadfast commitment to quality customer service and merchandise. “The best way to ensure security is to really develop a loyal client base,” said Faith Hope Consolo, a real estate broker with Douglas Elliman who is familiar with the way fashion and retail interact. In other words, knowing your customer base is as important as the merchandise you sell. Of course, the clothing and pricing itself is important as well. “We do have a particular niche,” said Bob Fox. “We try to keep fashion fun so our customers don’t feel guilty about buying something they like.”
MAY 3-9,2018
Business
On the second floor of Fox’s Upper East Side location. Photo: Shoshy Ciment
MAY 3-9,2018
17
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
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MAY 3-9,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
FORM function and $100 REBATE
EXPOSING STREET SCOFFLAWS ON THE UWS INVESTIGATION Shining a spotlight on illicit commercial traffic that’s long plagued a 48-block residential avenue — and saying “No” to noise BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
On any of the following purchases until April 9, 2018 CREATE A VIEW JUST AS BEAUTIFUL ON THE INSIDE THIS SPRING Take advantage of timing & purchase these sleek, modern shades during Janovic’s exclusive promotion. For rebate, choose from the four styles below with a minimum order shown for each:
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4 DUETTE HONEYCOMB SHADES $25 for each additional unit
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CHELSEA 215 7TH Avenue @ 23rd St 212-646-5454
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MAIL-IN REBATE Manufacturer’s mail-in rebate offer valid for qualifying purchases made 1/13/18 - 4/9/18 from participating dealers in the $ " 542? 7;'2/,?/4- 6;8).'9+ /9 *+B4+* '9 ' 6;8).'9+ 5, '4? 5, :.+ 685*;): 35*+29 9+: ,58:. 2/9:+* 54 ,854: 5, :./9 )'8* /4 7;'4:/:/+9 2/9:+* 54 ,854: , ?5; 6;8).'9+ 2+99 :.'4 96+)/B+* 7;'4:/:? ?5; =/22 45: (+ +4:/:2+* :5 ' 8+(':+ !+(':+ =/22 (+ /99;+* /4 :.+ ,583 5, ' 68+6'/* 8+='8* card and mailed within 4 weeks of rebate claim receipt. Funds do not expire. Subject to applicable law, a $2.00 monthly fee will be assessed against card balance 6 months after card issuance and each month thereafter. Additional limitations may apply. Ask participating dealer for details & rebate form. 2018 Hunter Douglas. All rights reserved. All trademarks used herein are the property of Hunter Douglas or their respective owners.
Photo: Courtesy of West End Preservation Society
86th St. West End Ave.
Sonnette™ Cellular Roller Shades
A gargantuan 18-wheeler lumbers north up West End Avenue at 104th Street at 6:41 p.m. on April 16. Three or four big rigs head south down West End at 86th Street shortly after 7:30 a.m. on March 13. A red-and-white Coca-Cola truck cruises up the avenue at 83rd Street on Sunday, March 25. At least three Academy buses travel the avenue lengthwise, in the 70s and 80s, on March 26, April 12 and April 15. What’s wrong with this picture? Isn’t that how goods are shipped and people transported about Manhattan? Elsewhere, yes, that’s how business is transacted. But it’s not supposed to be that way on West End Avenue. The entire 2.4-mile stretch between 59th Street and 107th Street is off-limits to buses, trucks and other commercial vehicles. Period. And the signage, posted on traffic lights at scores of intersections in both directions, couldn’t be clearer: “PASSENGER CARS ONLY.” But the ban is regularly flouted by tractor-trailers, commuter buses, charter buses and flatbed trucks hauling autos and backhoes, recent photos show. Jumbo vehicles routinely use the residential avenue as a thoroughfare, apparently violating city and state rules on commercial truck traffic, according to an investigation by The West Side Spirit backed by dozens of pictures taken by the West End Preservation Society, or WEPS. “All these gigantic tractor-trailers are driving up and down the avenue, they’re not supposed to be there, people don’t expect to see them, and it can make it problematic when you try to cross the avenue,” said Josette Amato, the group’s executive director. The Spirit had initially been contacted by a reader, Joseph Christian, an attorney and member of the co-op board at 675 West End Avenue, who said loud and disruptive trucks traveling the avenue at all hours posed noise, safety and public health problems. Other residents echoed those concerns, saying commercial vehicles — trucks heading north toward the bridge or south to midtown, buses heading south to the Port Authority — often short-cut along the avenue, bypassing legal truck routes like Broadway and Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues. To document traffic abuses, the newspaper turned to WEPS, a nonprofit preservation advocate with 850 members that also addresses
100+
moving summonses
=
24%
of ALL commercial moving summonses issued by 20th precinct
59th St. quality-of-life issues and first campaigned to curb commercial traffic on West End in 2014 and 2015. On March 12, Amato sent an e-blast to members entitled, “Calling All Cameras to Capture West End Avenue Commercial Traffic.” WEPS’ methodology: Take lots of pictures, but exclude UPS, FedEx, Con Ed, phone, cable and other service vehicles that are allowed on the avenue only if they enter and exit on the cross streets nearest to their destinations. The group targeted trucks and buses that appeared to use West End as a thoroughfare, and over five weeks, at street level and from apartments, eight volunteers, all area residents, sent WEPS about 40 photos recording apparent violations. “Citizen-reporting can pinpoint days and times when commercial traffic is heaviest,” said Richard Robbins, a member of Community Board 7’s Transportation Committee, who snapped an 18-wheeler and made it clear he was only speak-
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The rules are pretty clear. An operator of a commercial vehicle can only travel on West End, and other streets that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t designated truck routes, for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;purpose of arriving at his or her destination,â&#x20AC;? a city Department of Transportation spokesperson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When accessing such a location, the operator must leave a designated truck route at the intersection nearest to the destination, proceed by the most direct route, and then return to the nearest designated truck route using the most direct route,â&#x20AC;? the DOT official added. Steep penalties await scofflaws. An â&#x20AC;&#x153;off-truck routeâ&#x20AC;? offense costs two points on a driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license. Fines start at $250 and can hit $1,000 for repeat offenses.
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This red-and-white Coca-Cola truck, captured by a West End Avenue resident as it cruised northbound up the avenue at 83rd Street on Sunday, March 25, is not supposed to be driving there. Commercial trucks are prohibited along the entire length of the avenue. Photo: Courtesy of West End Preservation Society
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nearest designated truck route using the most direct route,â&#x20AC;? the DOT official added. Steep penalties await scofflaws. An â&#x20AC;&#x153;off-truck routeâ&#x20AC;? offense costs two points on a driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license. Fines start at $250 and can hit $1,000 for repeat offenses. Neighbors complain about a lack of aggressive enforcement. But NYPD data suggests good-faith efforts to curb abuses. Two police precincts, the 20th and 24th, cover the area, and in the 20th alone, from 59th to 86th Streets, over 100 moving summonses have been issued to commercial drivers on West End Avenue so far this year, said NYPD public information officer Lt. John Grimpel. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 24 percent of all commercial moving summonses in the precinct, and includes 43 summonses for disobeying signs and 20 for driving off a legal truck route, Grimpel said. Yet complaints keep pouring in, said Council Member Helen Rosenthal, at least once a week to her office, many more at the police precinct council meetings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of these problems thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s endless, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s getting worse and worse,â&#x20AC;? Rosenthal added. At risk is â&#x20AC;&#x153;foot traffic, family traffic and school traffic in the morning,â&#x20AC;? said WEPS president and civil rights attorney Richard Emery. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even more of a problem in the evening and at night when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s less clogged, and trucks barrel down the avenue to make as many lights as they can.â&#x20AC;? Inveterate West Siders take the commercial intrusions personally: On the evening of March 6, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer found herself tailing a commercial truck from the West 80s all the way to 107th Street. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was so outraged, I jumped out at a red light in the middle of traffic to take a pictureâ&#x20AC;? of its license plate, she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The trucks go bumpety, bumpety, bumpety bump whenever they go over a pothole or sinkhole â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and you hear them all the way up on the 25th ďŹ&#x201A;oor.â&#x20AC;?
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ing for himself. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That can help the Police Department do selective enforcement with limited resources.â&#x20AC;? The exercise has already chalked up a signiďŹ cant community victory: Three Academy buses, 7.5 percent of apparent violators, were photographed motoring up and down the avenue, a fact the Hoboken-based company said it had no knowledge of. It wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen again, the firm said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Academy Bus was unaware that its motor coaches have been using a portion of West End Avenue that does not permit commercial traffic,â&#x20AC;? said Ben Martin, a spokesperson for Academy Bus. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was never our intention to go against local traffic regulation, and we are presently working with all our drivers operating in the area to ensure they are using the proper thoroughfares for moving about this portion of the city,â&#x20AC;? Martin added. The rules are pretty clear. An operator of a commercial vehicle can only travel on West End, and other streets that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t designated truck routes, for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;purpose of arriving at his or her destination,â&#x20AC;? a city Department of Transportation spokesperson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When accessing such a location, the operator must leave a designated truck route at the intersection nearest to the destination, proceed by the most direct route, and then return to the
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MAY 3-9,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
The Original Teachings of
Theosophy as recorded by H.P. Blavatsky & William Q. Judge
PROGRAM FOR MAY 2018 SUNDAY MORNINGS B N UP OPPO t %PPST PQFO B N Discussion Group: Exploring Tenets of Theosophy
SUNDAY EVENINGS Q N UP Q N t %PPST PQFO Q N TALKS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS May 6 Special Meeting - White Lotus Day 20 Seven Kinds of Dreams
All Meetings Free No Dues No Collections TV Channel 3 Fri @ 9:30PM
WEDNESDAY EVENINGS Q N UP Q N t %PPST PQFO Q N STUDY CLASS in - â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Bhagavad-Gitaâ&#x20AC;? the ancient psychology of the East and its application in this era of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Western Occultism.â&#x20AC;?
For full program contact:
The United Lodge of Theosophists Theosophy Hall Phone (212) 535- 2230
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ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Edge of Chaos: Dambisa Moyo with Garry Kasparov
MONDAY, MAY 7TH, 6:30PM NYPL Schwarzman Building | 476 Fifth Ave. | 917-275-6975 | nypl.org Economist and author Dambisa Moyo argues that demographics, inequality, commodity scarcity, and technological innovation drive unrest. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll discuss her ďŹ ndings with Garry Kasparov, the 13th world chess champion and chairman of the Human Rights Foundation (free).
From Vikings to Vinland
TUESDAY, MAY 8TH, 7PM Scandinavia House | 58 Park Ave. | 212-779-3587 | scandinaviahouse.org Mystic Seaport Museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nicholas R. Bell gives a special presentation on two new museum exhibitions: The Vikings Begin: Treasures from Uppsala University, Sweden; and Science, Myth, and Mystery: The Vinland Map Saga, about a forgery thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still inďŹ&#x201A;uential today (free).
Just Announced | TimesTalks Art & Design Festival: Christo
FRIDAY, MAY 18TH, 7PM The TimesCenter | 242 W. 41st St. | 888-698-1870 | timestalks.com As part of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s NYCxDESIGN, hear from legendary artist Christo, known for his collaborations with his late wife Jeanne-Claude, including The Gates in Central Park, Wrapped Reichstag, the Umbrellas, the Pont Neuf Wrapped, and Valley Curtain ($25).
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
SCHOOLS CHIEF WALKS BACK BLUNT TWEET EDUCATION With a late-night post, new chancellor enters diversity fray on Upper West Side BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
A plan to increase diversity in Upper West Side public schools became the center of citywide attention after New York City Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza issued â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and later backed away from â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a tweet of an article that characterized the dynamics at play in stark racial terms. â&#x20AC;&#x153;WATCH: Wealthy white Manhattan parents angrily rant against plan to bring more black kids to their schools,â&#x20AC;? Carranza tweeted in the earlymorning hours of April 27, linking to a piece under the same headline on the site Raw Story. The article included NY1 video of a recent meeting at P.S. 199 regarding a proposal to adjust the middle school admissions process in order to increase diversity in Community School District 3, which is among the most racially segregated in the entire city. Carranza, who took office April 2, addressed the tweet days later during a visit to a Queens school. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I retweeted, and that language was automatically generated, and if that has caused any kind of anger, I apologize for that,â&#x20AC;? Carranza said, according to the New York Post. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That is not the intent.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stop talking about a tweet and start talking about the issue â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the issue is segregated schools,â&#x20AC;? he added. Carranza, who was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio after previously heading public school systems in Houston and San Francisco, promised to bring a â&#x20AC;&#x153;sense of urgencyâ&#x20AC;? to the issue in New York City schools, which are among the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most segregated. The plan under consideration in District 3 would impact admissions for students entering sixth grade in fall 2019, and would prioritize up to 25 percent of seats for students assessed at lower proficiency levels on state fourth-grade English and math exams. Some parents criticized the proposal on the grounds that it
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think he at all intends to vilify anyone,â&#x20AC;? said Mayor Bill de Blasio (right) after NYC Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza tweeted a story headlined, â&#x20AC;&#x153;WATCH: Wealthy white Manhattan parents angrily rant against plan to bring more black kids to their schoolsâ&#x20AC;?. Photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office would result in students with higher test scores not receiving offers to their preferred schools. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re talking about telling an 11-year-old, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;You worked your butt off and you didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get that, what you needed and wanted,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? one parent is seen and heard saying in the NY1 video. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re telling them â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to go to a school that is not going to educate you in the same way that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been educated. Life sucks!â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? State test scores exhibit disparities along racial, ethnic, and economic lines both in District 3 and citywide. Helen Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side in the City Council and has made diversiďŹ cation of public schools a key priority, issued a message of support for Carranza on Twitter in response to a user who questioned, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Is this the sort of headline the new chancellor should be tweeting out at 1am his ďŹ rst month on the job?â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s providing the leadership that @bradlander and @RitchieTorres and I have been calling for,â&#x20AC;? Rosenthal tweeted, tagging two Council colleagues. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Welcome @DOEChancellor to @NYCSchools I am eager to partner with you.â&#x20AC;? Rosenthal elaborated in a telephone interview. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What I appreciated about the chancellorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tweet is that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reďŹ&#x201A;ecting a longer view, a larger picture perspective, which is rectifying segregation in our schools,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think what heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s doing is saying, look, I hear your fear, I hear your pas-
sion, but there are also these larger markers we want to achieve. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I think he was tweeting about and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I want to achieve. I understand how emotional this is for parents when theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re talking about their own children.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I would never reduce this topic to that headline,â&#x20AC;? Rosenthal continued. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a sound-bite. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the difference between one personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so important to them and a big picture perspective of setting policy and taking the long view.â&#x20AC;? In an interview with WNYCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brian Lehrer, de Blasio expressed support for Carranza. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the Chancellor is speaking bluntly as someone who understands from personal experience that thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot we have to overcome in this society to create fairness for people of color,â&#x20AC;? de Blasio said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They want to make sure their children have access to a school they really value,â&#x20AC;? de Blasio said of public school parents. Questioned about the potentially polarizing headline tweeted by Carranza, de Blasio said, The mayor added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I might phrase it differently but the most important point here is heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speaking, I think, from a place of integrity about the fact that if weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re serious about diversiďŹ cation weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all going to have to work creatively and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all going to have to address the quality of the schools and diversity of schools simultaneously in a way that people can really buy into.â&#x20AC;?
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The long-awaited makeover of Tribeca’s Pier 26 will offer striking views of the Lower Manhattan skyline, but its designers are hoping to direct visitors’ attention closer to water level, with recreational, leisure and educational design features aimed at highlighting the site’s significance within the Hudson River ecosystem. Work on the project is expected to commence this summer. The renovated 2.5-acre pier, located on the Hudson River between North Moore and Hubert Streets, will feature playing fields, a wooded area planted
$
Rendering: Olin Studios with indigenous trees, seating areas and lawns. At the end of the 790-foot long pier, an elevated river promenade will rise above a tidal wetland area descending toward the river, to be planted with marsh flora and used for ecological education. Hudson River Park Trust, which operates the four miles of West Side riverfront park space that includes the pier, received $10 million in funding
for the project from the city, $10 million from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and $10 million from CitiGroup, which has its global headquarters across the street. The target completion date for the project is fall 2020. Future plans for the site include a science center near the pier’s entrance dedicated to research and education on the Hudson River Estuary.
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From left to right: James McArdle, Susan Brown, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Andrew Garfield in “Perestroika,” the second part of “Angels in America.” Photo: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
BROADWAY MARATHONS THEATER Audiences are riveted by three Tony-nominated “event” plays clocking in at four to eight hours BY MARK KENNEDY
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There are plenty of cocktail and wine options available at Broadway theaters during intermission. But these days, it might be wiser to order a strong cup of coffee instead. Three plays that opened this spring — each nominated for multiple Tony awards on Tuesday — require an uncommon amount of attention, despite several breaks. Two parts of “Angels in America” clock in at a total of eight hours, the two parts of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” are more than a combined five hours and the revival of “The Iceman Cometh” is just under four hours. “I love to go to the theater when it’s 90 minutes, no intermission,” admits Bill Irwin,
who is starring in “Iceman” with Denzel Washington. “I love that kind of piece. But there is a certain need for narrative that really is only fulfilled over a longer period of time.” Long plays have been around since the Greeks, but these days, in the age of instant gratification where attention spans are said to be as short as a tweet, a three-hour play is a big ask. Having three “event” works land at one time is unusual. Last year at this time, the longest play was the Tony-winning “Oslo,” which clocked in at 2 hours, 55 minutes. One of its Tony rivals — “A Doll’s House, Part 2” — actually was a very economical 90 minutes. Director George C. Wolfe certainly knows his way around long stage works. He was the original director of “Angels in America” when it made its Broadway debut in 1993. Now he’s helming “Iceman” and thinks good works can draw people in, regardless of length.
“If it’s a story where people can find themselves inside of, it isn’t a job. It’s not broccoli,” he said. “It’s not, ‘This is good for you so endure it.’ If you can create work and people find themselves inside of it then I think they make that investment.” Broadway theatergoers of 50 and 60 years ago had to sit still much longer. Productions of William Shakespeare, unless they’re heavily cut or “Macbeth,” the Bard’s shortest play, rarely run less than three hours. Plays by George Bernard Shaw — especially his mammoth “Man and Superman” — run long, as do those by Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov. O’Neill’s lengthy dramas include the five-hour “Mourning Becomes Electra” and the nineact “Strange Interlude.” “Most plays of a certain length need to be of that length. They don’t do it glibly,” says Colm Meaney, who has logged plenty of time onstage in O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and “Moon for the
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LIVE â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Iceman Cometh,â&#x20AC;? with (left to right) David Morse, Denzel Washington and Colm Meaney. Photo: Julieta Cervantes Misbegotten.â&#x20AC;? Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s returned this spring for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iceman.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not many people remember when there were intermissions in movies. Movies were three and four hours long,â&#x20AC;? he adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nowadays we think three of four hours is very long but many years ago people considered that a normal eveningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entertainment.â&#x20AC;? James McArdle, currently starring in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Angels in Americaâ&#x20AC;? revival, has become something of a long-play specialist, having starred in Britain in all-day marathons of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The James Playsâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; about three generations of Stewart kings â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the nine-hour-long â&#x20AC;&#x153;Young Chekhovâ&#x20AC;? trilogy. These days he looks out into the seats of the Neil Simon Theatre and sees â&#x20AC;&#x153;Angelsâ&#x20AC;? audience members bonding with
strangers around them over a shared experience, like summer campers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve heard people say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll keep in touch,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; like friends you meet on holiday. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll always have the Neil Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x201D; thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what they say,â&#x20AC;? McArdle said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a thirst for that kind of theater, that kind of event theater.â&#x20AC;? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tempting to compare the marathon plays on Broadway to the rise of binge watching at home but McArdle doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t agree. Binge culture is isolated and he loves the community of theater. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a shared experience in a room with 1,600 people and I think that is part of the appeal,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing more cathartic for people to sit through this expansive day.â&#x20AC;? Bill Irwin, who also stars in
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iceman Cometh,â&#x20AC;? said he and his cast anticipated seeing empty seats by Act 3 or Act 4 as patrons slowly gave up but so far heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s delighted to find he hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Maybe people are moving up and ďŹ lling them but it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel like people are calling it a night,â&#x20AC;? he said. Co-star David Morse said it may be more than a coincidence that all three long plays show up at a time when much of entertainment is consumed in tiny bursts on small screens. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re thirsty for is great experiences,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When people are taking part in a great experience, the length kind of goes out the window a little bit because your attention isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t on that. Your attention is happening in front of you.â&#x20AC;?
More neighborhood news? neighborhood celebrations? neighborhood opinions? neighborhood ideas? neighborhood feedback? neighborhood concerns? Email us at news@strausnews.com
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THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL Jazz vocalist on her debut album that combines traditional and contemporary aspects of the genre BY ANGELA BARBUTI
Rebecca Angel was introduced to music as a toddler. By high school, the Scarsdale native would travel to the city for voice lessons to hone her talent. Last May, she graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in voice. On June 1, the 22-year-old will release her first album, “What We Had,” which is a collaboration with her father, Dennis Angel, a trumpeter, and other New York musicians. When asked to describe the sound of the EP, the Yorkville resident said it combines traditional jazz with hints of Brazilian beats and Sade vibes.
You studied piano since you were young. When did you know you had talent in singing? My dad is a music enthusiast. He plays the trumpet. He introduced me to music at a really young age. So I was singing by two or three and really enjoyed it, but it wasn’t until high school that I started taking voice lessons and decided to try to be more serious about it, more than just a hobby. So I was involved in musicals starting from age eight. I was definitely into the whole musical thing, but singing kind of on my own. Solo started in freshman year of high school, so that’s when I started getting more serious about it.
I read that you studied with Barbara Maier. I interviewed her for this column. Yeah, she was my voice teacher in high school. I started working with her in 10th grade, up until I went off
Rebecca Angel’s first record, “What We Had,” fuses traditional jazz with hints of Brazilian beats and Sade vibes. Photo: Robert Adam Mayer to college and she helped me prepare for auditions and everything. She’s really great; I loved her. I grew up right outside the city, in Scarsdale in Westchester. So on the weekends, I would go and take lessons from her in her apartment.
Take us through the process of making an album. How long did it take? Starting from the beginning of college, I would do recordings with my dad and his band and the producer he would use, Jason Miles. And that got me started with the recording process. But it wasn’t until my junior year of college that we recorded “Jet Samba,” which is also on the EP that’s coming. But for this EP alone, we took “Jet Samba,” which was 2016 and since then, we’ve been working on building it. So the recording process probably took a little less than a year because I was still in school.
You wrote two songs with your father. “What We Had,” which is the name of the EP, and “Feel Alive.” He’s really good at coming up with melodies and I wrote the lyrics, so it’s kind of a team effort there.
Did your dad encourage you to become a musician?
Rebecca Angel collaborated with several people for her first record. They included her father, Dennis Angel. and her boyfriend, Jonah Prendergast. Photo: Robert Adam Mayer
It’s so funny because he played trumpet growing up and was in a brothers’ band and they would perform. And his parents were very enthusiastic about pushing them to do music and my dad
actually went on a slightly different path. He’s a copyright lawyer in the entertainment field. I work with him part time now. He decided to go down that path and keep the music as a hobby. So he’s always been encouraging for me to do the music stuff, which is nice.
You collaborated with different New Yorkers for this CD. Who were some of them? Hailey Niswanger, she’s a saxophone player and was on “Winter Moon,” which is the first track. Jason Miles is the producer; he was featured on all the tracks, actually. My dad is featured on one of the songs. And my boyfriend, Jonah Prendergast, is a guitar player. It’s cool to get lots of different people on it.
Who would be your dream collaborator? I really love Bon Iver. He does some really cool stuff. I think it would be really fun to one day collaborate with someone like him. And Billie Holiday, if I could go in the past.
What do you want listeners to take away from this album? Behind most of the songs, I tried to tie them together about being about love and reminiscing and reflecting on the past, which is an overarching theme.
Who are your musical idols? What kind of music is on your playlist?
It’s funny. I have top artists who are actually all under the B’s. So Bob Marley, the Beatles, Bill Withers, Billie Holiday, like I said. Those are definitely some of my biggest inspirations.
Your bio on your website said that you found grunge and alternative as a teenager. Who are some of the bands you listened to then? As a teenager, I listened to Foster the People a lot, the Lumineers. I listened to Empire of the Sun; they were pretty big. Kind of like an eclectic mix between a lot of pop and folk.
What are your future plans? I want to keep writing music more. I think that’s where the future is in creating your own material. Because I know a lot of jazz music is heavily influenced on covering standards. So I want to try to create my own voice and write more music with meaning. And try to get it out there as much as I can and share my message, share love, you know, that sort of thing. www.rebeccaangel.net
Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.
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Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9X9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3X3 squares. To solve the puzzle each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult.
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NOTICE OF A JOINT PUBLIC HEARING of the Franchise and Concession Review Committee and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to th be held on Monday, May 7, 2018 at 2 Lafayette Street, 14 Floor Auditorium, Borough of Manhattan, commencing at 2:30 p.m. relative to: INTENT TO AWARD as a concession the operation and maintenance of Bryant Park in Manhattan, including the operation of food concessions, special events, a carousel, newsstands, seasonal markets, an ice-skating rink and other visitor services and events authorized by Parks, for one (1) ten (10)-year term with up to two (2) five (5)-year renewal options, by mutual agreement, to the Bryant Park Corporation. (“BPC”). BPC shall operate and maintain Bryant Park for the use and enjoyment of the general public in accordance with the terms of the Agreement and to the reasonable satisfaction of the Commissioner. All gross receipts received by BPC will be used exclusively to pay all costs incurred by BPC in operating, repairing, maintaining and managing Bryant Park and in performing BPC's obligations and providing services required or permitted by the Agreement ("Expenses"). If the gross receipts received by BPC for any Fiscal Year exceed such costs ("Excess Revenues"), any Excess Revenues shall be used exclusively to pay: i) accumulated Expenses incurred in the prior Fiscal Year that exceed gross receipts for that Fiscal Year, or ii) Expenses incurred in any subsequent Fiscal Year, subject to submission to Parks of an annual income and expense statement with a certification that all of BPC's gross receipts, including Excess Revenues, to the extent expended, were applied solely to pay Expenses, or remain available to pay for future Expenses . Any Excess Revenues not applied to Expenses at the end of the term, shall be remitted to the City in accordance with the Agreement. LOCATION: A draft copy of the license agreement may be reviewed or obtained at no cost, commencing on Monday, April 30, 2018 through Monday, May 7, 2018, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., excluding weekends and holidays at the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, located at 830 Fifth Avenue, Room 313, New York, NY 10065. Individuals requesting Sign Language Interpreters should contact the Mayor’s Ofth fice of Contract Services, Public Hearings Unit, 253 Broadway, 9 Floor, New York, NY 10007, (212) 788-0010, no later than SEVEN (7) BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR TO THE PUBLIC HEARING. TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICE FOR THE DEAF (TDD) 212-504-4115
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