The local paper for the Upper East Side
Summer Guide 2019
RUNNING FROM NEW YORK
WEEK OF MAY
23-29 2019
INSIDE
POLITICS Mayor Bill de Blasio joins the tradition of NYC politicians who have tested presidential waters Council Member Ben Kallos said any new building on the East Side should have a school. Photo: Courtesy of NYC Council photographer William Alatriste
BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
The Community Board 8 Housing Chair did not buy what a developer was selling last week. On May 14, Gary Barnett, the CEO and founder of Extell Development, one of the largest real estate developers in the city, spoke at the CB8 Housing Committee meeting, where he said he had no plans yet for two First Avenue sites, one between 79th and 80th streets and another between 85th and 86th streets. Housing Chair Anthony Hartzog said Barnett’s vagueness was familiar. “I have heard so many develop-
With his announcement last week that he would seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, Mayor Bill de Blasio followed in the footsteps of a long line of fellow New York politicos who have had designs on occupying the Oval Office over the last half century — without much success to speak of. In seeking to translate political victories in the nation’s biggest city to triumph in the Electoral College, de Blasio hopes to buck both history — no former New York City mayor has won any federal office, much less the presidency, in over 150 years, and no mayor of any city has ever ascended directly from City Hall to the White House — and the current prevailing sentiment in his hometown, where one recent poll showed he has the approval of just 42 percent of city residents. Mayor de Blasio will find little reason to be encouraged by the examples set by his forebears. John Lindsay, the only other sitting mayor to have left City Hall for the presidential campaign trail, wasn’t gone for long — he withdrew from the 1972 primary race after failing to earn more than seven percent of the vote in any of the first four contests. De Blasio, whose intermittent feuding with Gov. Andrew Cuomo has parallels to Lindsay’s rivalry
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
CONTINUED ON PAGE 25
CB8 MEMBER CLASHES WITH DEVELOPER DEVELOPMENT A CEO insisted he was not lying when he said there were no plans yet for two UES sites BY JASON COHEN
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Crime Watch Voices NYC Now City Arts
John Lindsay, the only other sitting mayor to have left City Hall for the presidential campaign trail, wasn’t gone for long.
VITAL SIGNS Th Whitney The Wh Bienniall takes B k the temperature of a country in turmoil. P. 10
EAST SIDE VOTES FUNDING TO PARKS, TECH AND MORE Participatory Budgeting winners announced for UES council districts. P. 5
DAFFODILS AND ALLERGIES The buds may be in full bloom, but your nose shouldn’t be, P. 2
Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a May 13 event in Trump Tower in Manhattan, days before he announced his presidential campaign. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography
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Restaurant Ratings Business Real Estate 15 Minutes
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Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, May 24 – 7:56 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastrside.com.
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MAY 23-29,2019
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SIGNS OF SPRING: DAFFODILS AND ALLERGIES HEALTH The buds may be in full bloom, but your nose shouldn’t be BY ROSHNI NAIK, MD
The story is the same every spring — this could be the worst allergy season of all time. It sounds alarmist, but there’s some truth to the idea. As the climate gets warmer, tree pollen becomes more prolific. So for the person who may be suffering for the first time, or for the seasoned allergy-fighting pro, here’s some news you can actually use. First of all, an allergic reaction is caused by your body’s immune system overreacting to harmless things such as pollen, dust or molds. These elements are considered “allergens,” and the body treats them as foreign and reacts by producing substances that cause allergic symptoms. Typical seasonal allergens include pollen from trees, grass, and weeds. Year-round allergens include mold spores, house dust mites, cats, dogs, cockroaches, and rodents. Anyone who suffers from allergies knows the symptoms:
• Runny, stuffy and/or itchy nose • Loss or change of sense of smell • Draining in the back of the throat • Cough • Itchy, watery and/or puffy eyes You know how you feel, but how do you find out what you are allergic to? Getting tested by a board certified allergist can help in finding which allergen is triggering your symptoms. Testing can be done by a skin prick test or blood test. An allergist can find out which test is appropriate for you. In the skin prick test, a tiny drop of extract of an allergen is pricked into the skin; if you are allergic to the allergen, expect a small swelling at the site of the prick. A reaction occurs within 15 minutes. In the blood test, blood is drawn and sent to a lab to identify allergies by blood work.
Treatment Options To treat allergies, the first step is avoidance. Keep the windows closed when pollen counts are high and try to stay indoors as much as possible, especially when pollen counts peak at midday. Use air conditioning when you are at home or in your car; outdoors, wear sunglasses or a hat to keep pollen out of your eyes.
The next step is medication. There are a variety of over-the-counter options. For your nose, there are intranasal corticosteroids, which are local topical steroids that work by reducing inflammation in nasal tissues. They are effective in treating nasal allergies and can help with nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, and itching. They may take several days to become effective, so daily use can improve symptoms. There are also oral antihistamine tablets that block the effect of histamine, which is a chemical substance released during an allergic reaction. These pills can help with sneezing and runny nose symptoms. Keep in mind, some of these medications may cause drowsiness, but second generation antihistamines, such as loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec), fexofenadine (Allegra), levocetirizine (Zyzal), have less drowsiness than the first generation antihistamines such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and doxylamine (Vicks and Nyquil). For your itchy and watery eyes, there are a variety of allergy eye drops that can help. Eye drops usually contain antihistamines but may also include decongestant medica-
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tion, which constrict blood vessels in the eye, so don’t use them if you have glaucoma. Oral (pseudoephedrine) and nasal decongestants (oxymetazoline) alone are not recommended for treatment of allergic rhinitis, but they can be used in conjunction with other allergy medications for short periods of time. Using nasal decongestant sprays (which are different from corticosteroid sprays) for more than a few days can rebound and cause swelling of nasal tissue with prolonged use. Also, you should avoid oral decongestants if you have high blood pressure. Other therapies you may try include saline sinus rise in a rinse bottle or a neti pot. This method physically removes thick nasal mucus in the nasal passageways. Make sure to follow manufacturer’s instructions in preparation of the neti pot, and avoid using unfiltered tap water.
Shots and Immunotherapy For some allergy sufferers, over the counter medications may not be enough. For such patients, allergy shots or allergy immunotherapy can be beneficial. Allergy immunotherapy is a long-term treatment that
The immune system treats pollen, dust and mold as foreign and reacts by producing substances that cause allergic symptoms. Photo: Steven Strasser
consists of injections of increasing amounts of diluted allergy extract under the skin of the arm. Your immune system gets used to the allergen and does not overreact when exposed to it in the environment. Allergy shots have been shown to decrease symptoms in nasal allergies, eye allergies and asthma. Please be sure to see a board certified allergist to learn more about allergy immunotherapy and to answer any other questions you might have. Roshni Naik, MD is an assistant professor of medicine (Clinical Immunology and Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) at Mount Sinai Beth Israel
NORTHERN MANHATTAN STUDY OF METABOLISM AND MIND
NOMEM The purpose of NOMEM is to learn more about how blood sugar and other factors relate to the brain and mental abilities of persons living in Northern Manhattan. We are seeking your help to conduct this study. You are eligible to participate if you: x Live in Manhattan or the Bronx x Are between 60 and 69 years of age x Are able to do an MRI and a PET scan of the brain
Argosy Book Store Come in and browse!
NYC’s Oldest Bookstore
116 East 59th (Next to Lexington Ave. Subway Station) www.argosybooks.com | 212-753-4455 Open Mon-Sat 10am-6pm
Participation will include these activities: 1. Questionnaires 2. Blood tests 3. A brain MRI 4. A brain PET scan with contrast We will compensate your time for participating in these 4 activities with $350. We will also give you the results of important blood tests.
PLEASE CONTACT US @ 212-305-4126, 646-737-4370, LS960@CUMC.COLUMBIA.EDU
MAY 23-29,2019
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG MAN ARRESTED IN KNIFE INCIDENT Police arrested a man they said brandished a knife in an UES Walgreens. A 29-year-old female employee in the store at 1328 Second Ave. told police that at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, May 9, a male customer told her that if other store employees continued to follow him around the store he would stab them. He then displayed a knife, the employee said, causing her to fear for her safety and that of other employees. According to police, when officers arrived they saw the defendant holding the knife. They disarmed him and recovered the knife. As the suspect, Jose Silva-Morales, 36, was being arrested on a charge of menacing, police said, he was found to be in possession of property allegedly stolen from the location. The items included a Fantasia plush, Sun Sport spray, oil gloss polisher, Colgate Fresh Mint toothpaste, Neutrogena body scrub, Aquaphor baby healing ointment and Head and Shoulders shampoo, with a toal value of $133.
HE KEPT THE CHANGE At 9:37 a.m. on Monday, May 6, a man entered the Island restaurant at 1305 Madison Ave., according to police, and removed an iPhone and
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th precinct for the week ending May 12 Week to Date 2019 2018
% Change 2019
2018
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
0
1
-100.0
Rape
1
0
n/a
11
6
83.3
Robbery
0
5
-100.0 45
54
-16.7
Felony Assault
3
1
200.0
45
50
-10.0
Burglary
1
0
n/a
74
67
10.4
Grand Larceny
26
24
8.3
531
506
4.9
Grand Larceny Auto
0
1
-100.0 5
11
-54.5
Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr
change from the restaurant’s cash register. Apparently, the establishment was not yet open for business, but the front door was open and unlocked. The items stolen included an iPhone 6s valued at $150 and ten quarters totaling $2.50, making a total stolen of $152.50.
GOOD BOOK, BAD DEED Two people in the back seat of a parked car saw a man steal a bag from the front seat, police said. At 9:39 a.m. on Friday, May 10, a man parked his Chevy SUV-for-hire in front of 16 East 60th St. while he went inside. When he returned moments later he found that his bag containing his wallet and a Bible was gone. There were two witnesses to the alleged crime:
passengers in the back of the SUV. It seems that the driver left his window open and the thief reached in and grabbed the bag. The perpetrator left the bag at the Lexington Ave. subway station at 60th Street after removing the wallet, which contained credit and debit cards, and the Bible. The items stolen included a black leather wallet, the Bible and various credit and debit cards, making a total of $65 lost. The victim canceled the cards.
CHILD’S SCOOTER STOLEN New Yorkers know better than to leave unattended bikes unchained. It seems that same protocol now extends to children’s scooters. At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Apr. 30, a 43-yearold woman left her son’s toy scooter
Year to Date
unchained at Asphalt Green, 555 East 90th St. while she watched him play soccer. When she returned at 7:30 p.m., she told police, the scooter was gone. Apparently, Asphalt Green management had surveillance video which captured the incident, but it was not available at the time of the police report. The stolen scooter was a Vokul selling for $80.
STUMBLEBUMMER Police remind bar and restaurant patrons not to place valuables on
the floor unless you secure them between your feet. At midnight on Friday, May 10, a 29-year-old man put his backpack on the floor inside the Stumble Inn at 1454 Second Ave. An hour later he looked down and discovered that his backpack was gone. The items stolen included a tan Herschel backpack, a pair of Bose headphones, a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop, Gucci sunglasses, Adidas sneakers, a black T-shirt, a pair of white Nike shorts and an Aibonc portable charger, for a total value stolen of $1,301.
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All NYC residents 10 and older are eligible to apply. Call 311 or visit nyc.gov/idnyc
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Useful Contacts
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POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct
153 E. 67th St.
212-452-0600
159 E. 85th St. 157 E. 67th St.
311 311
1836 Third Ave.
311
221 E. 75th St.
311
211 E. 43rd St. #1205 244 E. 93rd St.
212-818-0580
State Sen. Jose M. Serrano State Senator Liz Krueger Assembly Member Dan Quart Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright
1916 Park Ave. #202 1850 Second Ave. 360 E. 57th St.
212-828-5829 212-490-9535 212-605-0937
1485 York Ave.
212-288-4607
COMMUNITY BOARD 8 LIBRARIES
505 Park Ave. #620
212-758-4340
Yorkville 96th Street 67th Street Webster Library
222 E. 79th St. 112 E. 96th St. 328 E. 67th St. 1465 York Ave.
212-744-5824 212-289-0908 212-734-1717 212-288-5049
100 E. 77th St. 525 E. 68th St.
212-434-2000 212-746-5454
E. 99th St. & Madison Ave. 550 First Ave. 4 Irving Place
212-241-6500 212-263-7300 212-460-4600
1283 First Ave. 1617 Third Ave.
212-517-8361 212-369-2747
201 Varick St. 128 East Broadway 93 4th Ave.
212-645-0327 212-267-1543 212-254-1390
FIRE FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13 FDNY Engine 39/ Ladder 16 FDNY Engine 53/ Ladder 43 FDNY Engine 44
CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Keith Powers Councilmember Ben Kallos
212-860-1950
STATE LEGISLATORS
HOSPITALS Lenox Hill NY-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Mount Sinai NYU Langone
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MAY 23-29,2019
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EAST SIDE VOTES FUNDING TO PARKS, TECH AND MORE • Laptop carts for ten public schools in the district
BUDGET Participatory Budgeting winners announced for UES council districts
Voters awarded funding to ďŹ ve projects in Council Member Keith Powers’s fourth district, which stretches from Stuyvesant Town to Carnegie Hill on the East Side: • Arrival countdown clocks at bus stops in the district • New trees and tree guards to be installed on sidewalks throughout the district • Technology upgrades at P.S. 267, the Repertory Company High School and the SPECTRUM school • Renovations to first-floor bathrooms at M.S. 167 Wagner Middle School • Technology upgrades at East Side New York Public Library branches — Yorkville, Grand Central, 53rd St., 58th St. and the Cathedral Library
BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Results are in for the 2019 edition of the City Council’s Participatory Budgeting program, which lets New Yorkers vote on how to allocate $1 million in discretionary funding in their neighborhood. Residents of Council Member Ben Kallos’s fifth district, includes Roosevelt Island and much of the Upper East Side, voted to fund three projects: • Funding for capital projects in parks throughout the district • New trees and tree guards to be installed on sidewalks throughout the district
The Yorkville Library is one of ďŹ ve East Side NYPL branches that will receive technology upgrades funded through Participatory Budgeting. Photo: NYPL
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SLEEPOVER AT THE SUPREME COURT BY MIREYA NAVARRO
I’ve never camped overnight in line to see anything — not for the Rolling Stones or Prince, not for Black Friday or iPhone sales, not for Harry Potter books or Hamilton tickets. But one night last month I found myself in a sleeping bag on a sidewalk in Washington, D.C. I did it for the hottest ticket in town — oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court in Department of Commerce v. New York, a case challenging the Trump administration’s plans to add a question about citizenship to Census 2020. It wasn’t even 10 p.m. and the line had already grown to about two dozen people. First up on the sidewalk was a bearded man who said he was a Census Bureau demographer but declined to give his name. He said he had been camped out by the
hedges since 1 p.m. to be sure he’d make it inside the court chamber the next morning. The Census Bureau has a constitutional mandate to count every person in the country, citizens and noncitizens alike. Its research shows that a question about citizenship will prompt many people in immigrant communities to avoid filling out the census form. New York stands to lose Congressional seats and federal funds if there’s an undercount, so it is leading the charge to prevent it. I work for the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, which filed an amicus brief opposing the question and supporting the states and other opponents in the case. Only the first 50 people in the public line were guaranteed a spot inside. Brennan Center researcher Brianna Cea and I had planned to tough it out, armed with lounge chairs and sleeping
bags, ear plugs, eye mask, neck pillow, PowerBars and water. Cea, along with Brennan Center counsel Thomas Wolf, had written the definitive history of the citizenship question, published in the Georgetown Law Journal, and she was hoping the research would be cited during the arguments. I just wanted to see the justices in action. So did the law students and the nonprofit interns, the court buffs, the tourists and the people who had hired sitters — at $40 an hour — to wait in line for them. We were the hardcore, the Navy SEALs of Mission SCOTUS, unlike the lawyers resting in comfortable beds at the nearby Capitol Hill Hotel because they had their own, much shorter “bar line” they could join in the morning. Outdoors, few of us slept. Even in the dead of the night it wasn’t quiet, with clanking and from a construction site
NOT SO FAST ON THE SAFE STREETS ADVISERS BY BETTE DEWING
First, hear this, I mean, please, hear this — no one is more troubled than this longtime traffic safety advocate to learn from this paper’s story “Council To Move on Vision Zero’s Checklist Bill” (May 1622 ) that pedestrian and cyclist deaths have spiked this year. But should the bicycle advocacy group Transportation Alternatives (TA) be the primary adviser on how to make the streets safer? Gotta say it, city bicycling is such a dangerous traveling mode. And to qualify as an adviser, shouldn’t TA be more concerned that city cyclists habitually run red lights, ride the wrong way, fail to yield
to pedestrians when making a turn — and ride on walkways? And instead of pointing out that bicycles rarely kill pedestrians — tell that to Donna Sturm’s family — shouldn’t it acknowledge that unreported injuries result from all of the above trafficlaw breaking? And admit former police commissioner Ben Ward was right when he said “Lawless biking is scaring the public to death!”
Two-Wheeled Anarchy How can the pro-bike forces call themselves safe-streets advocates when they ignore this two-wheeled street anarchy, now compounded by the electric scooter invasion? How can they not stress the need
for on-site Yield to Pedestrian signs – to raise awareness of vehicle operators and also the police to this foremost cause of pedestrian injury and death. Repeat that please. And If only they’d demand street cameras that catch those who fail to yield as well as speeders. Then they’d qualify as primary advisors along with this longtime traffic safety activist that is. And, of course, pedestrians must obey the laws of the road — Stand back! Wait for light! — and get ticketed if we don’t! But the Department of Transportation (DOT) instead calls for redesigning the streets, which takes time and funding. But why this plan for more bike lane
across the street. It wasn’t comfortable, with the sleeping bag offering little respite against the pavement. It wasn’t even dry, despite clear skies; the sprinklers on SCOTUS’ lawn came on shortly after 3 a.m., waking half of us up and sending us scurrying to escape the spray. I walked back to the hotel, about ten minutes away, where I, too, had booked a room. It became indispensable for bathroom runs, to download video for social media and to power the phone. At some point the birds started chirping. We welcomed the morning daylight wet and unwashed, a sharp contrast in our sneakers and backpacks with the smartly dressed lawyers who started lining up at dawn. “How’d the night go?” Wolf texted at 4:54 a.m. “Can you see the lawyers’ line?” Yep. The lawyers had started showing up early while our protection when bikers often ride the wrong way and speed through red lights at the cross streets? Crossing there is both stressful and risky. So is entering or leaving cars, taxis or delivery trucks parked on the outer lane. Plan to overcome these dangers instead. Ah, if only the safe streets advisers would call for bike registration, license plates, accident insurance and a riding test. And yes,call for bikes to make a nice little sound for their safety and those sharing these high-density streets.
More Speed Cameras Vision Zero came about because parents devastated by their children’s traffic deaths demanded the city do something to stop the street carnage. And the mayor so thankfully listened and Vision
Voices Mireya Navarro (left) and researcher Brianna Cea of the Brennan Center. Photo courtesy of Mireya Navarro
line had extended to include more than 100 people. Things started moving quickly after 7:30 a.m. A guard ushered the two lines to the plaza in front of the Supreme Court and handed us tickets — Cea and I made #31 and #32. We high-fived each other and took selfies against the white marble backdrop. We got inside and were told to wait in the cafeteria, where we had a celebrity sighting. There, in the flesh, was Justice Elena Kagan. “Is that Justice Kagan?” I blurted out to Cea. Kagan heard me and gave us a beatific smile before disappearing behind a side door.
The SCOTUS line continued upstairs, where we were led to coin-operated lockers to unload our belongings — and then past a security line into the relatively small court chamber framed by marble columns. We sat in the back but had a view of the bench. At 10 a.m., some 12 hours after we’d found our spot in line, the court was in session. The justices took to their chairs (Hi, RBG! Go get ‘em, Justice Sotomayor! Thinking of you, Justice Brennan!), and just as promptly the camper to my right nodded off. Now we all wait for the decision, expected in late June, in the comfort of our own beds.
Zero was born. It would have happened sooner if all traffic tragedies had mattered. But there is an age bias problem. The media reports this past week that more speed cameras are thankfully going up around schools, but why only around schools? The governor may need reminding. “There is an old Italian saying that goes that there are two things in life that will never leave you, the eye of God and the love of a mother,” he said in his Mother’s Day message. “Today I send all my love to my mother, Matilda Raffo Cuomo, my family’s rock, and I wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers across this great state. To all the mothers in New York, once again, we thank you and are grateful for all that you do. I was lucky to celebrate Mother’s Day with my three wonderful
daughters too.” And he added: “Earlier today my mother joined me to expand camera speed zones in New York City. Every mother and parent wants to protect their children from harm’s way and this new bill will do just that by reducing traffic fatalities.” But please use the word “tragedies,” governor. And consider that your mother wants speed cameras everywhere to also protect her adult son and adult granddaughters. Again, the cameras must also report those who fail to yield. That’s what mothers forever want most,their offspring’s safety and well being. And indeed they should be primary advisers on whatever will bring that about! dewingbetter@aol.com
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MAY 23-29,2019
CB8 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ers come in front of me and say ‘Economics changed and I had to do this,’” Hartzog said. “I hate to be the cynic in the room. I’d love to be optimistic.” Demolition has already begun for the buildings between East 79th and 80th streets, and permits have been filed to demolish the buildings between East 85th and 86th streets,
No Guarantee While Barnett and his company have many properties throughout the city, including the Lucida on Lexington Avenue and the Kent on Third Avenue, Hartzog feels the developer is misleading the public. “Everything you said today is not sworn under oath, and there’s no guarantee you [Barnett] will do any of it,” Hartzog said to Barnett. An angry Hartzog charged that Barnett definitely has plans, and noted that the more height a building has the more variances and zoning it will require. “Do I think he has substantial plans?” he said. “You wouldn’t be a good businessman if you didn’t have plans. In about nine or 10 months you will be back in front of us and you will be asking for a variance or you will be asking for a zoning change.” According to Hartzog, the zoning laws and regulations are so complex that only land use attorneys and developers like Barnett can understand them. Essentially, he said, developers have a way of mincing words and making the public think they are appealing to them.
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com Barnett was caught off guard, but defended himself. “I am telling you once again, and people that know me know me not to be a liar, that we don’t have plans yet,” he said.
“A City of Skyscrapers” Throughout the evening, residents suggested schools, affordable housing, day care centers, mom and pop stores and a grocery store for the two sites, all of which Barnett said he was open to. The two primary concerns raised were parking and the height of the buildings. Many people, including Regina Ford of 50 East 81st Street, wanted to know if there is a limit on how tall these buildings could be. Barnett told the audience that whatever is eventually built at the two sites will be in character with the neighborhood. “I don’t think this building will be out of context with the surrounding buildings,” said Barnett, who pointed out that buildings on both sides of East 79th Street are between 350 and 400 feet tall. “You’re not going to change New York City,” he said. “New York City has been a city of skyscrapers for hundreds of years. To address and alleviate parking from the buildings at the two sites, Barnett said he would do a traffic study to determine if parking garages at the sites would be needed.
A New School? One of the main suggestions from the committee and residents was a new school at one or both sites. Barnett said he has had ongoing discussions with Council Member Ben Kallos about this issue. “It’s
up to the board of education, really,” Barnett said. “They have to have the budget and they have to be willing to spend the money. They have to realize they are in a very expensive district. The Upper East Side is deserving of quality schools.” Kallos, who wants schools at both of the sites, told Our Town that he has spent the past five and a half years trying to get enough seats in the district for children. “We don’t have school seats and it is a crisis,” Kallos said. “Unless we work with our developers who are putting up these buildings, it’s going to be impossible to get the seats that are needed.” Since his election to the council in 2014, Kallos said, he has made a commitment to meet with developers, not to ask for campaign money, but to work with them to get new schools. One of the more accommodating developers has been Barnett, he said. Kallos credited Barnett with helping to open a pre-k at 95th Street and Third Avenue last year. “Any new building in the east side should have a school,” said Kallos. The council member explained that his office has secured $93 million from the School Construction Authority, which can be used during the next five years. The problem is that schools on the Upper East Side cost much more than that, which is why developers like Extell can play a role. “Gary has been very responsive to me,” Kallos said in a phone interview. “He’s been very responsive to the community. I think it was good that he came to the community so early in the process.”
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Calendar NYCNOW
Discover the world around the corner. Find community events, gallery openings, book launches and much more: Go to nycnow.com
EDITOR’S PICK
May 22 - Sep 28 BEETHOVEN’S EROICA The New York Philharmonic 10 Lincoln Center Plaza 7:30 p.m. & 8:00 p.m. $34 nyphil.org 212-875-5656 Feel the power of Beethoven’s Eroica, forever linked to Napoleon — nearly its dedicatee — until he crowned himself emperor. His moral compass thus betrayed, the enraged composer’s dedication would instead celebrate “the memory of a great man.” Jaap van Zweden also conducts music by Shostakovich, who labored under the tyranny of Stalin’s regime.
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
The Importance of Being a Generalist in a Specialized Workforce
TUESDAY, MAY 28TH, 6PM Company HQ | 335 Madison Ave., 3rd Fl. | company.co You might think a narrow focus, applied early, would be the most certain path to success. Bestselling author David Epstein says otherwise in Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, making the case for cross-disciplinary intelligence ($30, includes book).
How to Change Your Mind: Michael Pollan in Conversation
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29TH, 7:30PM 92nd Street Y | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212-415-5500 | 92y.org Michael Pollan talks about most recent book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence ($45, includes a copy of the book).
Just Announced | Naomi Wolf: Outrages
THURSDAY, JUNE 20TH, 7PM The Strand | 828 Broadway | 212-473-1452 | strandbooks.com Best-selling author Naomi Klein talks about her new book, Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love, which traces a lost thread of gay history: the 1857 English litigation which began decades of state repression, spreading quickly to the U.S. ($15 gift card/$30 signed copy).
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
Thu 23
Fri 24
Sat 25
FILM - ALICE ADAMS (1935)
▲ LUNCH & LEARN: FRANCE IN THE WORLD — A GLOBAL HISTORY
SATURDAY SKETCHING ►
96th St Library 112 East 96th St 2:00 p.m. Free Katherine Hepburn stars as a young, middle-class woman hoping to marry well in the 1920s who discovers the realities of love and life. nypl.org 212-289-0908
92y 1395 Lexington Ave Noon $45 Join editor Stéphane Gerson as he discusses critical years of French history and proposes that France is not a fixed, rooted entity, but instead a place and an idea in flux, moving beyond all borders and frontiers, shaped by exchanges and mixtures. 92y.org 212-415-5500
The Guggenheim 1071 Fifth Ave 10:00 a.m. Free with Museum Admission Feeling inspired? Art materials are available for loan at the Family Activity Kiosk for exploration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural shapes and spaces during your visit. guggenheim.org 212-423-3500
MAY 23-29,2019
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Depiction of the Church scene in Much Ado About Nothing. Painting by Alfred W. Elmore, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sun 26
Mon 27
Tue 28
▲ MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING — SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK
TOO FAST TO LIVE, TOO YOUNG TO DIE PUNK GRAPHICS, 1976–1986
CONCERT: INFLUENCES & INITIATIVES / OSTRAVA DAYS AT 20
Central Park 8:00 p.m. Free Tony Award winner Kenny Leon puts his modernist take on Shakespeare’s tale of deception, old rivals, and torn lovers. centralpark.com 212-310-6600
The American Folk Art Museum Museum of Art and Design 10:00 a.m. $16 This exhibit explores the visual language of punk through hundreds of its most memorable graphics, from the shocking remixes of expropriated images and texts to the DIY zines and flyers that challenged the commercial slickness of the mainstream media. folkartmuseum.org 212-299-7777
Bohemian National Hall 321 East 73rd St 8:00 p.m. Free This concert takes place 20 years after Ostrava Days — the New and Experimental Music Festival that takes place in Ostrava, Czech Republic — was conceived. Listen and take in the work of these fascinating musicians and composers. bohemianbenevolent.org 646-422-3300
Wed 29 THE ROLE OF THE RÉPÉTITEUR Library for the Performing Arts 40 Lincoln Center Plaza 1:00 p.m. Free David Vaughan was the archivist of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and author of “Merce Cunningham/65 Years” and “Frederick Ashton and His Ballets.” From 2012-2017, Mr. Vaughan held monthly screenings of his favorite dance films and videos from our collection. David passed away in October 2017, and the Jerome Robbins Dance Division will continue screenings in his honor with guest hosts. Special guest Victoria Simon, Ballet Mistress for the George Balanchine Trust, will speak about the role of the Répétiteur in the staging Balanchine ballets. nypl.org 917-275-6975
Frank E. Campbell – The Funeral Chapel Hosts Annual Bus Trip to Calverton National Cemetery As the seasons change and Memorial Day approaches, we find ourselves thinking about the men and women who are serving our country around the world. We also remember those who gave of themselves when our freedom was threatened, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our nation. We here at Frank E. Campbell, “The Funeral Chapel” are sponsoring a trip to Calverton National Cemetery for those individuals who do not get an opportunity to visit their loved one who served our country. This FREE trip will take place on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. The bus will leave from 81st Street and Madison Avenue at 8:30 am and will return approximately 4:30 pm. A continental breakfast will be served at Frank E. Campbell between 7:30 am – 8:15 am. A box lunch will be provided on the bus at Calverton National Cemetery. If you are interested in joining us, please call 212-288-3500 by May 24, 2019, to reserve your place. Please have your section and grave information available when you call.
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We Honor Veterans
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MAY 23-29,2019
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VITAL SIGNS
IF YOU GO WHAT: Whitney Biennial 2019 WHERE: Whitney Museum of American Art 99 Gansevoort St WHEN: Through Sept. 22 www.whitney.org
This year, the annual exhibition at the Whitney blends the voices and visions of 75 artists in a show that takes the temperature of a country in turmoil
Ilana Harris-Babou’s “Reparation Hardware” is one of three videos by the artist in the 2019 Biennial. Photo: Adel Gorgy.
BY MARY GREGORY
The 2019 Whitney Biennial is beautiful. It’s not the most provocative, radical, assertive, or declarative Biennial in memory, but it’s stunning. It’s got an open, airy feel, and is filled with vibrant, compelling works that invite the viewer into conversations without imposing themselves. That’s not to say it’s not serious, challenging and of the moment. It is. It’s diverse and engaging, comprised of works largely by women and artists of varied experiences and viewpoints, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and physical abilities. Sevnty-five artists are presented, for the most part clustered into groups of three to four works per artist. Set up as kind of mini-solo shows, they give a sense of the artists’ approaches and voices across bodies of work. It allows for in-depth communication, and gives a sense of what each artist can do. Generous wall texts add explanations and the curators’ interpretations, making them accessible to all.
The State of American Art ... Co-curators Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta traveled the country for 18 months to take its artistic vital signs. Their introductory statement discusses the deep divisions they found, along with artists who are working out “political and aesthetic strategies
Jeffrey Gibson’s elegant, ebullient “People Like Us” hangs aloft, welcoming visitors to the 2019 Whitney Biennial. Photo: Adel Gorgy.
for survival. Although much of the work presented here is steeped in sociopolitical concerns,” they state, “the cumulative effect is open-ended and hopeful.” Collage plays a starring role, as do fiber arts, sculptures made of found objects, symbols and things that stand in for languages. Surprisingly, there is not a lot of technology. Rather, Hockley and Panetta state that they encountered a turning away from the digital and a return to the handmade. One piece that touches both technology and the handcrafted is Nicholas Galanin’s “White Noise, American Prayer Rug.” The Tlingit/Unangax artist’s weaving recalls Chilkat blankets, with dangling wool fringes and rough, textural weave. But here, rather than abstracted spirit figures, there’s a representation of a screen filled with pixilated white noise. Ancient forms joined with oversized screens suggest a change in language,
and what’s been lost. Also referencing language is Gala Porras-Kim’s “La Mojarra Stela illuminated text.” Porras-Kim alludes to colonialism, communication, and the accessibility (or lack thereof) of the past. She paints characters of EpiOlmec text discovered on a stela in the 1980s that remain undeciphered, yet are prominently displayed in a museum in Mexico. In front of the canvas is a rotating disk meant to recall divination bowls. Mystery embedded in a once expository text makes an interesting statement. Maia Ruth Lee’s steel glyph, “Labyrinth,” communicates through a language of rusted, disused shapes. It fills one large wall with a kind of visual semiotics and brought to mind the Barnes Foundation’s displays of door hinges and locks alongside modern masterpieces.
And the American Dream Tomashi Jackson’s layered,
has a new big flagship store around the corner from the museum, as a kind of muse or lens through which to think about different aspects of the idea. When they come out with new design lines, they have these promotional videos with the designer maybe in front of a waterfall talking about where he finds inspiration. So I’m that designer but I’m designing reparations for African Americans. It’s about an admission of history being a failure, rather than someone buying an authentic thing from and old farmhouse and saying history is a success. It’s a kind of wanting for the past to be finished or resolved and the comfort that comes along with that. But then there’s a bubbling up of the realization that isn’t true. It’s not resolved.”
A Reflection of Who We Are
Paintings by Keegan Monaghan and Simone Leigh’s bronze sculpture “Stick.” Want to see more of Leigh’s work? Take a walk up the High Line to her installation “Brick House.” Photo: Adel Gorgy.
colorful, elegantly balanced collages sing with a voice I want to hear more from. In “Third Party Transfer and the Making of Central Park,” she’s discussing opportunities in housing through imagery suspended from a sheltering urban awning. Her found objects, shopping bags, texts and images invite with beauty and reward those who enter. Ilana Harris-Babou presents a trio of videos that riff on corporate advertising while
exposing harmful business practices and the deceptive nature of nostalgia. I spoke with her about “Reparation Hardware,” one of about her works. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the American dream and the ways we try to find authenticity or community or absolution by buying nice things,” said Harris-Babou. “For these three videos I’m taking Restoration Hardware, which is a high end furniture design company that
Resolution is far from the theme of this year’s Biennial. Questions, memories, history, hegemony, self-affirmation, probing and protest are among its subjects. From Jeffrey Gibson’s ebullient banners sharing materials and influences from his heritage (Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and Cherokee) to Christine Sun Kim’s series of pastel drawings “Degrees of Deaf Rage in Everyday Situations,” each work has the ability to strike a chord with every viewer. The artists have made their statements. It’s our turn to listen. In paintings, drawings, videos, sculptures, performance and more, in an exhibition that’s diverse, Intelligent, passionate and compassionate, at times belligerent, but hopeful, the 2019 Whitney Biennial looks a lot like us.
Summer Guide
BY CHRISTOPHER MOORE
Delve into the city summer.
2019
Be a tourist in your own town. You might as well join the fun, since the rest of the world is
coming. Especially this year, when 2019 marks the arrival of World Pride, a celebration of the Stonewall uprising of five decades ago. That won’t be the only game going. This is the season when the steamy streets offer fairs, events, culture, tunes, trips and many surprises. New Yorkers know, too, that this is when, with the neighbors off on that European getaway or at their country house, it’s the best time to nab the corner table at a favorite restaurant. Our annual summer guide mixes the big-time, big-city events and cultural offerings with the little things that lifers love about Manhattan, from the ceramics class for the teenager in your life to the Ecuadorean food cart in your favorite park. You can have small-town summer moments without ever leaving the nation’s biggest city. Here’s how.
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FAIRS AND EVENTS
PRIDE GOES GLOBAL
GET “P “POWER�
WORLDPRIDE
RUBIN MUSEUM’S BLOCK PARTY
June 1-30 Costs vary, including free events 2019-worldpride-stonewall50.nycpride.org Whoopi Goldberg is slated to headline the opening ceremony for WorldPride 2019 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but then the action moves in many ways to Manhattan. There’s a whole month’s worth of events to mark the 50 years since the Stonewall uprising. Expect rallies, parties, lectures and then, on the last Sunday in June, the annual NYC Pride march.
June 21, 21 1 to 4 p.m., West 17th Street between Sixth and an Seventh Avenues Free rubinm rubinmuseum.org/events/event/power-playblock-p block-party-07-21-2019 This year’s yea Rubin Museum Block Party comes with the label “Power Play.� That’s the theme of a yearlong yearlon exploration of the power that dwells within people p and between them. Art-making activitie activities are expected. And there will be guided meditat meditation and a chance to create a portable lamp with LE LED lights.
CROSSROADS CUISINE TASTE OF TIMES SQUARE June 3, from 5 to 9 p.m. 46th Street, between Broadway and Ninth Avenue Free admission. Food items range from two to six tickets, with tickets costing $1 each. timessquarenyc.org/seasonal-events/tasteof-times-square If you’re going to hold an annual food and music festival, why not do it in the middle of the universe? The Taste of Times Square boasts some of the theater district’s best and most famous dining options. Already signed up: Le Rivage (French), Barbetta (Italian) and Toloache (Mexican). Go hungry.
ART OUTDOORS OU WASH WASHINGTON SQUARE OUTD OUTDOOR ART EXHIBIT May 25 25-28, June 1 and 2 Free wsoae.o wsoae.org Twice a year downtown art lovers get a sidewalk show to remember. So do tourists, New York Universi University students and faculty, and anyone who happens to walk around these lucky, lively streets. This isn’t isn all in Washington Square Park. Instead, it’s on University U Place, starting at East 13th Street aand continuing south along the east side of Washin Washington Square Park to West 3rd Street.
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MAY 23-29,2019
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MOMA’S MOMENTS
AN ITALIAN MIX
DELOREAN’S BACK
“ABEL FERRARA UNRATED” FILM RETROSPECTIVE
“OPEN ROADS: NEW ITALIAN CINEMA”
“FRAMING JOHN DELOREAN”
Through May 31 Adult film admission: $12 moma.org/calendar/film/5065
Film at Lincoln Center June 6-12 Tickets: $15 for general public filmlinc.org/daily/lineupannounced-for-open-roads-newitalian-cinema-2019
Adult tickets: $16 Opens June 7 ifccenter.com/films/framing-johndelorean
Bronx-born film talent Abel Ferrara found fame with flicks like “King of New York” and “Bad Lieutenant,” but this Museum of Modern Art retrospective goes deeper, and shows early works and documentaries. With “Mary” on May 30, Ferrara shows an actor, a filmmaker and a producer engaging with biblical figures in the modern world.
LIBRARY AS SCREENING ROOM “SPOTLIGHT” SHOWING Mid-Manhattan Library @ 42nd Street, Program Room Wednesday, May 29 at 2 p.m. Free nypl.org/events/calendar
The Rubin Museum will host its annual block party again this summer. Photo: Filip Wolak
“Spotlight” won the Best Picture Oscar in 2016. Now the dramatic re-enactment of the Boston Globe’s reporting on the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church becomes part of the Wednesday movie matinee series at the New York Public Library.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center is no more. But have no fear: the longstanding movie portion of Lincoln Center’s programming simply got a new moniker: Film at Lincoln Center. On June 6, the annual presentation of Italian movies arrives with “Piranhas,” a look at violent young men drawn into the world of the Napoli mafia. Slated, too, is a healthy dose of documentary film, including “Selfie” and “The Disappearance of My Mother.”
He upended the auto industry a generation ago. Now John DeLorean’s the subject of a new movie with power, politics, drugs and scandal. And Alec Baldwin’s in the title role. Will it be wild and wonderful, or not? Find out at IFC Center next month.
MOVIES
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MAY 23-29,2019
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FOOD AND DRINK
In Riverside Park, a Taste of Ecuador awaits visitors near recreational facilities. Photo: Christopher Moore
(VERY) HAPPY HOUR COCU 26 Carmine Street cocu.nyc Rotisserie chicken somehow seems more interesting once you eat it at the Cocu’s sidewalk café, which is all set for summer. Owner Christian Ternoir offers a happy hour special, which means $4 beer, $6 wine and the Froze alcoholic beverage, which mixes rosé with lemon juice and grapefruit juice.
OLD SCHOOL, NEW SUMMER
ESSENTIALLY FRENCH
A PARK’S PLACE
CANALETTO
CHEZ NAPOLEON
208 East 60th Street canaletto-new-york.sites. tablehero.com
365 West 50th Street cheznapoleon.com/index2.html
A TASTE OF ECUADOR FOOD CART
The old-school Italian mainstay may be jammed during Christmas week, but during the summer you probably have a better shot at scoring a weekend table. The warm service makes East Siders feel like they’re in their living rooms — but fresh pastas remind us that the cooking’s better.
Can’t make it to Paris to walk the beautiful boulevards on a summer night? Then walk west on 50th Street for this theater district treat. Romantic, too. Tip: don’t annoy the waitress by acting like a phoneaddicted suburbanite. Demonstrate some class to go with the classic cuisine. Also, order the soufflé early in the evening so they can get started.
Cocu in Greenwich Village offers sidewalk dining during the summer months. Photo: Christopher Moore
Your neighborhood news source
OurTownNY.com
North of 96th Street within Riverside Park If it’s summer, it’s the season for Guillermo Rivera to set up shop in Riverside Park. He’s not far from the soccer fields and the tennis courts, and you can enter the park at 103rd Street and head down to what turns out to be a fine, inexpensive Ecuadorean restaurant. Okay, it’s a cart. But try the tamales and you’ll see — taste, actually — that they are seasoned perfectly. Rivera promises to be on the scene — unless it’s raining.
MAY 23-29,2019
CENTRAL TO OUR SUMMER FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK Delacorte Theatre, Central Park Free publictheater.org/Programs--Events/ Shakespeare-in-the-Park What would summer in the city be without Shakespeare in the Park? Here’s hoping we never find out. Instead, appreciate that Tony-Awardwinning director Kenny Leon is putting together a modern take on “Much Ado About Nothing.� That’s from May 21 through June 23. Then from July 16 through Aug. 11 another Tony winner, Daniel Sullivan, directs the more rarely produced “Coriolanus,� last seen here in 1979.
TONY QUEEN, BACK ON THE BOARDS “FRANKIE & JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE�
ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER AT LINCOLN CENTER DAVID KOCH THEATER, 20 LINCOLN CENTER PLAZA June 12-16 Tickets: $29 and up alvinailey.org Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, the famous Alvin Ailey troupe makes a sevenperformance summertime jaunt to Lincoln Center. On tap for this engagement: a world premiere by Darrell Grand Moultrie, a special program honoring Carmen de Lavallade and a one-nightonly Ailey Spirit Gala benefit celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Ailey School.
Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street Tickets: $59 and up frankieandjohnnybroadway.com Some cities shut down the theaters during the summer. You don’t live in one of those places. Instead, you can welcome Audra McDonald (six Tony awards!) and Michael Shannon to Broadway’s lineup this summer, with the dynamic theatrical duo’s version of Terrence McNally’s romantic and funny/sad play, “Frankie & Johnny in the Clair de Lune.�
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NEIGHBORHOOD’S BEST To place an ad in this directory, Call Douglas at 212-868-0190 ext. 352.
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MAY 23-29,2019
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KIDS Kids learn about water — and get up close — at a summertime exhibit. Photo courtesy of the Children’s Museum of Manhattan
GET WET
CERAMICS FOR TEENS
“DYNAMIC H20” EXHIBIT
92ND STREET Y CLASSES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Children’s Museum of Manhattan 212 West 83rd Street Through September, weather permitting Children and adults: $14 cmom.org The museum’s water exhibit makes its seasonal return. The Children’s Museum of Manhattan calls this “the hot place for children to cool off.” It’s also educational, with children learning about how water cycles begin up in the clouds. Fun and discovery come together at the museum’s Sussman Environmental Center.
METROPOLITAN OPERA SUMMER RECITAL SERIES
The City Parks Foundation has unveiled a summer’s worth of musical highlights. One highlight: the Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series brings Nathan Gunn, Ying Fang and Ben Bliss to perform for park goers at Rumsey Playfield. Doors open at 7 p.m.
She usually teaches ceramics to younger kids in her 92nd Street Y classes, but Nadine Sobel is excited about this summer. She wants the teenagers she will be working with to engage in projects that are inspired by their own interests and personalities. “If they love Harry Potter, they can do a Harry Potter-related project,” she says. She sees clay as “soothing and calming,” but admits it can be a challenging skill to learn. Another goal for the young people she teaches: “I’m hoping it will help them slow down and be in the moment.”
MUSIC
OPERA OUTDOORS June 10, 2019 at 8 p.m. Free SummerStage, Central Park, Rumsey Playfield cityparksfoundation.org/ events/the-metropolitanopera-summer-recital-series10/?date=20190610
Cost: from $372 for seven sessions 92y.org/class/ceramics-13-17-yrs
CHITA! CHITA RIVERA AT FEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW 254 West 54th Street May 27 through June 3 Tickets: $75 and up 54below.com/events/chitarivera-2 This time Chita Rivera is playing yet another great role: Chita Rivera. Back by popular demand at Feinstein’s/54 Below, legendary Broadway performer Rivera takes the audience through some of her famous stage moments, including tunes from “West Side Story” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”
Nadine Sobel is teaching teenagers this summer at the 92nd Street Y. Photo: Todd France Photography
Chita Rivera is returning to Feinstein’s/54 54 Below. Photo: Laura Marie Duncan
RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL AL JUNE 18 THROUGH 29 9
PRIDE TUNES “MANNING THE CANON: SONGS OF GAY LIFE” The Center, 208 West 13th Street June 25 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $25 gaycenter.org/manning-the-canon Here’s a tuneful take June’s Pride celebrations. The “Songs of Gay Life” creates a portrait of gay life through song, featuring a quartet of talented singers. This one’s cosponsored by the New York Festival of Song and 5 Boroughs Music Festival.
Free stival lmcc.net/river-to-river-festival ts Yoko Ono is among the artists ver to participating in this year’s River rray River Festival, a downtown array s. One of events at various locations. al: idea behind this year’s festival: thinking about “what arises when he we all slow down.” Ono’s “The nce, Reflection Project,” for instance, al will appear in “non-traditional spaces” and encourage viewers to stop and engage with the work. This particularr project is expected to appearr at 28 Liberty, the Fulton Transit Center, the Oculus at the WTC Transportation Hubb
MAY 23-29,2019
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RIVER VIEW
A ROCKIN’ DAY TRIP
HUDSON RIVER MUSEUM
THE ROCKAWAYS
511 Warburton Avenue Yonkers, NY Adult tickets: $7 www.hrm.org
ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/ route/rockaway
On its website, the Hudson River Museum insists it’s the only museum in Westchester County “that offers art, science and history.” That mix makes for a compelling day trip, especially since the Hudson River remains one of the region’s great gifts — and worth taking a trip north to reflect on.
MAY 23-29,2019
DAY TRIPS
Oh, the Rockaways — the way that New Yorkers get away without actually leaving New York City. The $2.75-per-ride NYC ferry via the Hornblower company now links lower Manhattan with the Rockways, where food trucks find fame and the mix of relaxing and gritty remains a draw for visitors of all ages.
YOUR BACK YARDS CELEBRATE SAGAMORE SAGAMORE HILL $10 for Theodore Roosevelt Home nps.gov/sahi/planyourvisit/ basicinfo.htm The National Historic Site asks visitors to check in at the Old Orchard Museum before visiting the home of President Theodore Roosevelt. Sagamore Hill is perfect for a daytime jaunt, a place where history and natural beauty come together. It’s easy to see what the 26th president loved about the property, where tours teach about his “summer White House” and the land surrounding it.
HUDSON YARDS hudsonyardsnewyork.com Do you live there or is Hudson Yards a trek from your building? Either way, this is your first summer with Hudson Yards, the massive really-West-Side development. Tour the Shed, see a show, have a drink and do battle at the mall that arrived after we were told that malls are dead. Decide for yourself about the controversial architectural choices and whether it’s just too windy as you walk over there.
President Theodore Roosevelt’s home makes for a great day trip. Photo: John McGerr, via flickr
ROAD TRIPS BRUCE’S SPIRITUAL HOME
GOOD(SPEED) TIMES
ASBURY PARK, N.J.
THE GOODSPEED IN EAST HADDAM, CONNECTICUT
There are so many Asbury Parks — the one that Bruce Springsteen sang in, the one the gays discovered and made hip. But there’s also a diverse, compelling, good-eats-here city with an independent bookstore and plenty of coffee shops. A new-ish hotel, The Asbury, has become a focal point, but some of the Jersey magic was there all along, waiting to be discovered. A great place to walk and rest and see the tide roll in.
Tickets: $29 and up goodspeed.org
The beach at Asbury Park, a lively summertime destination. Photo: Christopher Moore
A theater-lover in need of a getaway? Try lovely East Haddam, Connecticut, home to the famous Goodspeed Opera House. Through June 20, the musicaltheater proving ground features “The Music Man,” a legendary musical on its way back to Broadway next year with Hugh Jackman. You can see it without Jackman here, but you’ll have cute, romantic bed-and-breakfasts within a short distance of the Goodspeed’s two different stages. “Because of Winn Dixie,” a new musical about a stray dog’s impact on a small town, opens June 28.
City Hall in Philadelphia, where history and urban culture meet. Photo: Christopher Moore
PHILADELPHIA CITY HALL 1400 JOHN F. KENNEDY BOULEVARD, PHILADELPHIA Tower tour: adults, $8 Interior tour: adults, $15 visitphilly.com/things-to-do/ attractions/city-hall
You can look outside from this historic structure, or take an interior tour. Or both. Why bother? Well, it’s a stunner. And Wikipedia says that Philadelphia’s City Hall was the “tallest habitable building in the world until 1908.” (Would Wikipedia lie?) Your visit here is a perfect excuse to wander Center City Philadelphia.
MAY 23-29,2019
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East Midtown Welcomes the LGBTQ+ Community as We Welcome the Summer and Celebrate WorldPride 2019! Throughout June, 2019, we’ve planned a wide array of activities that will make East Midtown your destination of choice for WorldPride festivities, including:
* AIDS Quilt Displays 16 Quilt panels will be on display at 8 unique locations
* LGBTQ+ Block Party +PJO VT PO UIF BGUFSOPPO PG 'SJEBZ +VOF PO &BTU UI 4USFFU CFUXFFO -FYJOHUPO Avenue and Park Avenue, when we partner with the State University of New York for BO BGUFSOPPO PG GFTUJWJUJFT JODMVEJOH GPPE NVTJD B $POGFUUJ 1IPUP #PPUI BOE B %SBH Fashion Show!
* East Midtown Gives Back 5ISPVHIPVU +VOF EP[FOT PG &BTU .JEUPXO CVTJOFTTFT XJMM PòFS TQFDJBMUZ JUFNT XJUI PG UIF QSPDFFET EFTJHOBUFE GPS 5IF 5SFWPS 1SPKFDU
Visit us at www.EastMidtown.org/Pride for details East Midtown Partnership 875 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 t XXX &BTU.JEUPXO PSH
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MAY 23-29,2019
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FATHER’S DAY TWIST INTER-GENERATIONAL FATHER’S DAY TOURNAMENT Recreation Center 54, 384 East 54th Street June 14, 8 a.m.-noon nycgovparks.org/events/2019/06/14/ intergenerational-fathers-daytournament
WEST SIDE AND SPIRITED GODDARD RIVERSIDE AND LINCOLN SQUARE SENIOR CENTERS
At this tennis tournament, it’s three-onthree with a difference: each team must have at least one player age 62 or above. Join the fun and join the fray. Sign up today by emailing Daniel.Wilkes@parks.nyc.gov.
goddard.org/grcc/programs/olderadults/ seniorcenter Free to those 60 or older, the senior centers at Goddard Riverside and Lincoln Square draw more than 3,000 members, reflecting the diversity of the population being served. The centers offer services that help seniors remain independent, like help with forms and applications. There’s also a huge social aspect, with breakfast, lunch, films and trips available to participants. Check the online calendar to see the summer activities slated.
STAYING FIT STAY WELL EXERCISE FOR SENIORS
SENIORS
June 3, 10 and 24 at 2 p.m. Free Kips Bay Library, 446 Third Avenue www.nypl.org/events/ programs/2019/06/03/stay-wellexercise-seniors The city’s Department for the Aging links up with the library system. Whoever thought the library would be the place for fitness? But those over 50 are welcome to participate in these chair-based exercise sessions.
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VOLUNTEER On the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend, a special walk will kick off at the Flatiron building. Photo: Ceriel Boosveld, via flickr
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen is known for feeding New Yorkers in need. Photo courtesy of Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
TAKE A HIKE SUMMER STREETS August 3, 10 and 17, between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/summerstreets/ html/home/home.shtml Park Avenue and Lafayette Street will be closed, creating a uptown-downtown playground for walkers, runners and bikers. Expect, too, family activities and cultural options. The seven-mile route will have five rest stops, drawing an expected 300,000 people. The biggest draw may be streets without traffic — a simple concept that makes for a magic morning.
A MEMORIAL MEMORY FREE MEMORIAL DAY WALKING TOUR Flatiron building meeting location: 23rd Street, just east of Fifth Avenue Free May 26 at 11 a.m. flatirondistrict.nyc/event/default/event/ item/1638 How are you planning to spend the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend? Miriam Berman, the author of “Madison Square: The Park and Its Celebrated Landmarks” and a postcard book called “New York in Word and Images,” will lead a 90-minute walking tour. The walk, titled “From Decoration Day to Memorial Day,” underscores the history behind Memorial Day. One stop: Worth Monument, where presidents and foreign dignitaries have stopped to honor those who have served in war.
AN INSTINCT FOR ANIMALS
FIGHTING HUNGER
FOOD AND MUCH MORE
ANIMAL CARE CENTERS OF NYC
FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY
HOLY APOSTLES SOUP KITCHEN
Manhattan: 326 East 110th Street, between First and Second Avenues nycacc.org/get-involved/volunteer
39 Broadway foodbanknyc.org/volunteer
The Church of the Holy Apostles 296 Ninth Avenue holyapostlessoupkitchen.org
No room for a pet in the apartment? Animal lovers who can’t adopt — and even those who have — can carve out time to help the city’s always overwhelmed pet care system. The official Volunteer Program of Animal Care Centers of New York City has helpers interact with the animals, whether that means taking a walk or improving animal-human relationships through interaction. A minimum of six hours a month is require to participate in the program — and foster homes are needed too.
The Food Bank for New York City says right away on its website that it could never help 1.5 million New Yorkers without the volunteer commitments made citywide. There are ongoing opportunities, like helping to prepare or serve meals, along with seasonal programs. And then there are unusual ways of helping, like helping a New Yorker to prepare his or her taxes.
SOUP’S ON MONDAY DINNER AND FRIDAY LUNCH PROGRAMS
PASSIONATE ABOUT PARKS RIVERSIDE PARK GRASSROOTS VOLUNTEER PROGRAM riversideparknyc.org/volunteer There’s a piece of trash nestled in a bush in a city park. Along comes a hands-on parks advocate, someone who volunteers to pick up garbage. The trash is gone. The feeling of having helped remains. This plays out in all city parks. In Riverside Park, the Grassroots Volunteer Program comes in three categories: individuals, groups and the teen corps. Choose your own time commitment, since the program also has weekly, monthly and annual volunteer events.
Every weekday at Holy Apostles, the soup kitchen provides more than 1,000 meals. The cafeteria-style lunches are just part of the outreach to people in need, including social services support and workshops. A famous writers workshop was started back in 1994 by Ian Frazier. Those helping with the meals do everything from greeting, serving, bussing and preparing bag lunches to playing the piano.
Unitarian Church of All Souls, 1157 Lexington Avenue mondaynighthospitality.org The idea is to present restaurantworthy meals to people who need them. At All Souls, volunteers serve 400 meals on Mondays, with servings at 6:15 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., and then there’s lunch for 325 on Friday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. To help with the Monday dinners, email nancyellisyates@gmail.com; for the lunch rush, contact info@ fridaysoupkitchennyc.org. With both initiatives, the emphasis is on creating an atmosphere of dignity and respect.
FINDING YOUR NICHE NYC SERVICE NYCservice.org The city has come up with a place to go when you cannot quite decide how to help. Those with a passion for doing their part can head to NYC Service, where the goal is to connect volunteers with nonprofits, businesses and national service efforts. As the slogan goes: “8.6 million New Yorkers. Together, service each other.” It’s a kind of clearinghouse of good intentions, matching city denizens to the organizations they are meant to assist.
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MAY 23-29,2019
CUNY SUMMER SESSION THIS SUMMER, GIVE YOURSELF SOME CREDIT CHOOSE FROM THOUSANDS OF COURSES AT 25 COLLEGES ACROSS NYC
CUNY.EDU/SUMMER
MAY 23-29,2019
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BEYOND BROADWAY - EAST SIDE The #1 online community for NYC theater:
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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS
MAY 23-29,2019
Neighborhood Scrapbook
MAY 8 - 14, 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. Pret A Manger
1320 York Ave
A
Blt Prime
1032 Lexington Ave
A
Il Divo
1347 2nd Ave
A
Maison Kayser
1535 3rd Ave
A
Dulce Vida Latin Bistro
1219 Lexington Ave
A
Variety Coffee Roasters
150 E 86th St
A
Members Dining Room @ The Met Museum
1000 5 Avenue
A
Piazza Pizza & Grill
1530 3 Avenue
A
Luke’s Lobster
242 East 81 Street
A
Bayards Ale House
1589 1st Ave
Grade Pending (44) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. 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. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Five Luck
1834 2nd Ave
Grade Pending (17) Live roaches 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.
Bagel Mill
1700 1st Ave
A
A-Jiao Sichuan Chinese
1817 2Nd Ave
A
Cafe Maggio
555 East 90th St
A
Suki Ichiro Sushi
1694 2nd Ave
Not Yet Graded (27) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared.
Larustica Pizza
1424 Lexington Ave
Grade Pending (2)
Pascalou
1308 Madison Avenue A
El Nuevo Carribeno
1675 Lexington Ave
A
Teranga Tac
1280 5th Ave
A
La Tropezienne Bakery
2131 1st Ave
Not Yet Graded (61) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or nonfood areas. Food contact surface improperly constructed or located. Unacceptable material used. 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. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
G&J’s Pizzeria
188 E 104th St
A
Thai Peppercorn
1406 Madison Ave
Grade Pending (18) 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.
CLIMBING IN BILLY JOHNSON PLAYGROUND On May 14, the Central Park Conservancy celebrated the installation of the final part of its reconstruction of Billy Johnson Playground near the East 67th Street entrance to the park. The addition was a rustic net climber, which expands upon the playground’s original design by the landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg. The Billy Johnson Playground is popular for its 45-foot granite slide, nestled into a rocky hill. The new structure uses climbable cables and nets on sloped embankments, with stairs, platforms, slide and a rope bridge. It is designed for 2- to 5-year-olds, but may appeal to older children as well. “The use of rustic timber throughout the playground references the surrounding park landscape,” said Christopher J. Nolan, the Conservancy’s chief operating officer and chief landscape architect. This is the 14th playground to be comprehensively rebuilt by the Conservancy.
Photos courtesy of the Central Park Conservancy
MAY 23-29,2019
Referendum on America’s Biggest City That more than 20 other Democrats had already launched their 2020 campaigns did nothing to dissuade de Blasio from leaping into the fray — after much equivocation — with his May 16 campaign announcement video, in which he cast himself as a champion of the working class. Seen in one light, New Yorkbased presidential bids can
“Hamlet on the Hudson” Bloomberg’s flirtations with the presidency evoke the epic indecision that tortured Ma-
have
something
you You’d Email us at news@strausnews.com
rio Cuomo — who during his governorship was twice pressed by top Democrats to campaign for the party’s nomination. Cuomo, buoyed by his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, was widely seen as a frontrunner in 1988 and 1992, but he declined to run in both instances. (Cuomo fils may well be biding his own time for a potential presidential bid in 2024 or beyond. The governor has already thrown his support for 2020 behind Joe Biden, and many observers believe Cuomo would have run had the former vice president opted to sit out.) The elder Cuomo’s “Hamlet on the Hudson” moniker was cemented after he famously held a press conference mere hours before the ballot deadline for the 1992 New Hampshire primary to announce that he wouldn’t enter the contest due to an ongoing state budget crisis. “It seems to me I cannot turn my attention to New Hampshire while this threat hangs over the head of the New Yorkers that I’ve sworn to put first,” Cuomo told reporters in the Capitol as the chartered plane that was supposed to whisk him to the Granite State idled on a nearby runway. Mayor de Blasio kicked off his presidential bid last weekend with a jaunt that brought him to campaign stops in Iowa and South Carolina. If the mayor can meet polling and campaign finance qualifications set by the Democratic National Committee, he’ll head to Miami for the first Democratic presidential primary debate on June 26 and 27. To advance, he’ll need to best his more than 20 competitors — and overcome the dismal legacy of his political predecessors.
us to
look
into
with his Albany counterpart Nelson Rockefeller (who himself sought the Republican presidential nomination three times), will seek to the avoid the spillover of provincial politics onto the national stage. City issues became a liability for Lindsay on the campaign trail, as a group of disgruntled Forest Hills residents, protesting plans for a low-income housing project in their neighborhood, followed the mayor to Florida to heckle him at a campaign event. Lindsay was also hampered by concerns over partisan loyalty, having departed the Republican Party and registered as a Democrat just a few months before announcing his bid for the party’s nomination. His example perhaps served as a cautionary tale to Michael Bloomberg, himself a former Republican who toyed with the idea of an independent bid in 2016 and considered running as a Democrat in 2020. “I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election,” Bloomberg wrote in a column earlier this year announcing his non-candidacy. “But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.”
serve as something resembling a referendum on national attitudes toward America’s biggest city — recall Sen. Ted Cruz’s ultimately fruitless attacks on Donald Trump’s “New York values” in Iowa during the 2016 campaign, which echoed the insinuation that Al Smith’s “urban values” as a Catholic governor of immigrant-rich New York put him at odds with the interests of rural voters in 1928. In launching his presidential campaign, Rudy Giuliani sought to capitalize on his reputation as “America’s Mayor” and New York City’s positive post-9/11 image, but much of that luster seemed to have faded by the time of his 2008 bid for the Republican nomination. After a torrid start fundraising and in national polls, which he led for months in the pre-primary early going, Giuliani was swiftly humbled once actual voting began. He dropped out before Super Tuesday without so much as sniffing victory in a single primary state, doomed in part by conservatives’ unease with his multiple marriages and his history of liberal-for-aRepublican stances on issues like abortion and gay rights. The same questions of conservative conscience that dogged Giuliani proved all but irrelevant eight years later when Trump, Giuliani’s former constituent and future client, crushed the GOP primary field en route to the nomination and the presidency. The incumbent president de Blasio hopes to unseat, while a fellow New Yorker, is unquestionably the product of a different Gotham milieu than the others on this list”H.
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MAY 23-29,2019
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LITTLE ITALY’S FIRST FAMILY OF FOOD A decade into their second century sharing Italian culture and cuisine with New Yorkers, the Di Palos are opening a new market, conceived as a complete experience. BY EMILY MASON
The Di Palo family has been serving freshly made Italian cheeses in New York City’s Little Italy neighborhood since 1910, when Savino Di Palo, who emigrated from Southern Italy seven years earlier, opened his first store. In 1925, Savino’s daughter, Concetta Di Palo, opened the second store, which is still in business today, run by Savino’s greatgrandchildren, Lou, Marie, and Sal. This year, the Di Palo family is taking another step by opening a new market space with the same goal of sharing Italian cuisine and culture with the people of New York. Patrons are invited to relax with friends, sample cheeses and wines from Italy, and learn about food from the family. The new space, at 151-153 Mott Street, incorporates elements of the past in its design, including traditional Italian tin ceilings and the original store sign — “C. Di Palo’s.” after Concetta Di Palo — hanging over the entryway. While honoring their history, the Di Palo’s have plans for the future, including seminars and possibly even a follow-up to their 2014 book “Di Palo’s Guide to the Essential Foods of Italy.” At the helm of the concept and design of the new space is the fifth generation of Di Palo children, but not without the input of Lou, Marie, and Sal, of course. I met
Business
with Lou Di Palo for a tour of the new space and to talk about the Di Palo legacy in Little Italy.
What do you want the experience in the new Di Palo’s market to be like? This is not a place to take your computer and start doing your business work. This is a place to really experience and learn, and we want you to communicate with us your ideas of what you like, your likes and your dislikes. You know, ‘Gee I really like this winery,’ that’s the kind of communication we want here. It’s not a place to be alone, we’ll be here with you. This is a place to really experience the food culture, that’s truly what we want. We want people to come together, communicate with each other, communicate with us and experience the food.
Why is it so important to all of you to educate people on Italian culture? We just feel good about it. We feel this is what we’re meant to do. I mean I’ve been doing it my whole life, our children have been doing it, my father, my grandmother, and grandfather. My grandmother and grandfather didn’t speak any English, but yet they shared what they knew about the cheese-making to their community, which were primarily Italian immigrants, and my father shared it with his community.
Why did you start making trips to Italy, instead of just continuing what your father taught you? I needed to go there. I needed not
Lou Di Palo (right), with architect Antonio Morello, in front of the new market. Photo: Emily Mason
only to see the person who made the cheese. I need to see where the raw material comes from. I had to shake hands and break bread with the farmer. See the animals, see the milk, where the milk came from, taste the milk before it even made the cheese. I have to do that, and I felt that this was something that it shouldn’t be only for my knowledge. The last several years I’ve been having people come with me, really seeing what I do and how I select cheese and the relationships that I’ve developed.
Have you noticed your customers’ preferences changing over the years?
Sal, Marie and Lou Di Palo, the fourth generation to run the family business. Photo: Vincent Gardino
Yes. There’s certainly taste change. You know, where they might have gone to these very strong, pungent, intense aromatic taste 50 years ago, now [they go for] more delicate, more complex, but delicate-tasting products. I’m not saying that’s with everybody, but a good percentage has switched to that type of palette. So this is why we try to reintroduce
things, on a small basis.
This is not a place to take your computer ... this is a place to really experience the food culture,” Lou Di Palo some of the old taste. Some people have just been blown away by it and some people they’re not ready. We want to bring back the past and we want to continue with what the future wants.
Do you think that the new market will bring back some older tastes for customers? I hope so, that’s one of the reasons, you know, we want it. We want people to try things that they normally wouldn’t even think of trying ... a different type of wine, a different type of cheese, a different type of meat. It’s how you learn to discover
Why do you think it’s important for your customers to explore new things? Isn’t life boring if it’s the same thing all the time? As I say, the gift of God is food. Food is something for nourishment, but it’s also something that gives pleasure and we need to experiment and experience the different foods to create different pleasures, taste, their different tastes.
Is this new space the next generation’s first step in taking over the business? Well, we will always be there, as long as we’re here. And even when we’re not here, we’ll be there. Just like the first, second, and third generation is still with us, for us. We feel their presence every day. So we feel that we’ll be here for them. But we realize that if you want to be a success the fourth generation has to take a step back and let the fifth generation go forward.
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YOUR 15 MINUTES
‘IT WAS ALL A BIT OF A CRAZY IDEA’ What’s so funny about a dark, dystopian future? Ask the woman who created a musical parody of “The Handmaid’s Tale” BY EMILY MASON
Samantha Stevens moved to New York from London in 2016 to continue her acting career and soon established herself here in the theater scene. She trained at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and eventually came up with an idea for a show — a musical parody of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” That’s right, Stevens looked around for something fun to work on and settled on Margaret Atwood’s relentlessly grim vision of the future. Humor takes several forms in the production, “The Handmaid’s Musical: A Dystopian Tale,” from one-liners to ironically chosen songs, such as “Stuck in the Middle With You” during the infamous ceremony (which we’d rather not describe in detail here). The female-powered production is back on May 31st at the Green Room 42. Stevens spoke with Straus News about her time in New York, the inspiration for the show, and how she made Atwood’s dystopia funny.
Did you have a moment when you knew you were going to stay in New York? The first day I landed. Every time I come here I feel like I’m home and that’s a feeling I think I can safely say I’ve never had anywhere. I don’t know, just getting groceries at Trader Joe’s and not doing anything touristy and I was like yes, this is my life. I’m very happy here and the thought of having to get back on a plane is really heartbreaking, so just being a normal human in New York confirmed that this was definitely where I wanted to be.
How did you decide to make a parody of “The Handmaid’s Tale?” It was all a bit of a crazy idea in my head, I’d read the book, and I moved to New York in September 2016 when everything changed in America and everything just kind of seemed a bit too scarily relevant. And then, being a theater person, I was like ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be funny if Aunt Lydia started singing this song.’ And a group of my friends were like, ‘Oh that’s actually quite funny.’ And then they were like, ‘I think you’re kind of onto something.’ And it ended up going from there.
Stevens and the cast of “The Handmaid’s Musical: A Dystopian Tale.” Photo: Heather Gershonowitz
and touchy, but you went in and you laughed at it and it was kind of that sad realization of, ‘Oh yeah, this is happening and this is a thing so okay something needs to change or maybe we need to open up that door of communication.’
in America gave me a lot of help. It almost feels like this is a movie and can’t ever be true and then I read the paper and I see things on TV and I’m like, ‘Oh wow.’ So that kind of helped to find the irony and the satire within it.
What kind of reactions do you get from people when you tell them you’re making a parody of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale?’
Can you talk more about your decision to make this an all-female production?
Were you worried about the translation from British to American humor?
Well, I mean there is something intrinsic to the DNA of women that men just do not understand. And it is a woman’s story, it’s about women. And it was something that when I was writing I was like, ‘This has to be led by women.’ I can’t deny how many talented men there are in this industry, and there’s a lot of them that I would love to work with, but it just doesn’t feel right. It feels like it would go against everything the show stands for, having a man direct. There’s something that women can kind of come together with, it’s unspoken rules that we know about and understand.
Fortunately, I think I’ve had a lot of America in my life, and everyone else on the team is American. So when I sent scripts to the director and the music director, I was absolutely open to change things if things aren’t funny, if they’re not playing or reading well. We haven’t come up with anything that’s been ‘Oh that’s a very British joke there, that needs to go’
I think interesting is always the main word that comes up. And then the question is, ‘How are you going about turning something so dark into something that you can laugh at?’ And I just kind of say, ‘I don’t really know, but everyone has laughed at everything I’ve told them so far, so I’m guessing it is funny. But it very much relies on dark humor, the whole thing is very much dark humor and black comedy.
How does parody contribute to addressing big issues?
Samantha Stevens onstage in the musical parody of “The Handmaid’s Tale” that she created. Photo: Heather Gershonowitz
I think it just kind of forces us to think about something. When there’s nothing else to do, life still has to go on. And if you can’t laugh about something, then how can you move past it? I drew a lot of inspiration from shows like “Avenue Q” that I think were discussing things and topics that were pretty racy
How hard was it to parody such a dark tale? For the majority it was pretty easy. I relate to that aspect of finding the light and the comedy within a bad situation. And I think being a Brit
So there are differences. I think it is a big cultural difference. Generally speaking, I find Americans are a lot more optimistic and just open and happy to try and be of some assistance if they can, while British people, we are a bit more reserved. I feel like there’s a warmer energy in New York, even though everyone is really busy and there’s this urgency here. Even in an audition room you where have 30 seconds to
prove your talent, everyone is still very happy to see you and generally enthused that you’ve taken the time to come and see them.
What’s one thing you want people to take away from the show? That your voice will always be heard by somebody, a woman’s voice will always be heard by somebody.
What’s your favorite part of theater in New York? Just the new writing. I think Broadway and New York especially are an amazing place for new shows to be given a space and a voice and the chance to kind of take off. I feel like musical is still a commercial industry. New York is definitely a magical place for great ideas, that aren’t necessarily based on something, to grow. Interview edited for clarity and space. “The Handmaid’s Musical: A Dystopian Tale” will be performed May 31 at The Green Room 42, 570 Tenth Ave.
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by Myles Mellor
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