Our Town - June 2, 2016

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The local paper for the Upper er East Side SUMMER GUIDE SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE, < P.11

WEEK OF JUNE

2-8 2016

2016

EAST SIDE’S BICYCLISTS GET ATTENTION Police focus on two-wheelers, handing out pamphlets then switching to summonses

KIDS WHO WILL NEVER BE ON A MILK CARTON ficult to pinpoint due to shifting living situations (they often crash on friends’ couches) but the Urban Institute, a DC-based think tank, estimate that 43 percent of homeless youths in New York City identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Many of them are like Moore – not born or raised in New York – but rather, came here searching for a more accepting community only to find themselves living on the street.

INVESTIGATION As homelessness among LGBT young people continues to rise in the city, the official response is as muddled as ever BY JEFFREY KOPP

BY MADELEINE THOMPSON

For a few hours last week, the intersection of East 79th Street and First Avenue saw a sudden influx of police activity. Not because of a crime, but for a blitz of enforcement on cyclists in the area. The move was especially notable because Community Board 8 recently rejected a plan to install several crosstown bike lanes, partially because of vehement community opposition due to concerns such as lack of ticketing and enforcement by the Upper East Side’s 19th Precinct. Despite officers’ crackdown on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, Lyn Familant, who lives nearby, was not satisfied. “On this corner there is incredible abuse [of biking laws],” Familant said. “Now our mayor has chosen to spend money to create flyers to put policemen on the corners and the flyers don’t tell [bikers] what the law is.” The simple flyers address pedestrians, motorists and cyclists, and tell the latter group to “bike smart” by not passing trucks when they are turning and by giving pedestrians priority. Though the pamphlets direct cyclists to “use bike lanes,” they do not go much deeper into the rules of the road. “Someone’s going to get killed on this corner,” Familant said. “They think this is going to make a difference?” Detective and community affairs officer Chris Helms later clarified that the officers had been discussing the laws with passers-by as they handed out the pamphlets.

When Picasso Moore moved to New York City, he thought he’d be the next Carrie Bradshaw. And whether or not he’d be living on the Upper East Side, he didn’t really care – it was just time for a change. Moore grew up in a Catholic household near Gainesville, Georgia, a conservative Bible Belt city. Since boyhood, his mother was uncomfortable with the way he dressed, the way he talked, and especially his “friends” that he brought over (romantic and sexual partners being passed off as “one of the guys”) – so she tried sending him to summer camps geared to make effeminate boys, in the fear that they would grow up to be gay, more masculine. When Moore remained the same gay boy he had always been, his mother had him attend conversion therapy sessions with a priest, who told him to place a finger down his throat to make himself vomit while listening to Bible verses about homosexuality. When none of that worked and he came out to his mother at 15, she told him to pack his things and leave. For nearly three years after that he lived out of his car in the parking lot of a local Wal-Mart. He managed to graduate from high school after transferring to an online homeschool program, using public WiFi for school and working retail and service jobs to make enough money to buy premade grocery store food. He showered at a friend’s house. After graduating, he sold the car,

Lending a Hand

Picasso Moore, who found himself homeless in New York after being forced out of his home in Georgia. Photo by Jeffrey Kopp packed his bags and bought a plane ticket to New York. He had $2,000 in his pocket from selling the car and was ready to make a new life for himself. “I pictured everything being really romantic and idyllic, and I’d walk down the street and find a job in some kind of gallery,” said Moore. “I thought my problems were because I was in this hick town that was super racist and homophobic and that once I got to this place (New York), things were going to be different. But my circumstance kind of followed me.” At first, everything worked out well – he rented a cheap hotel room on the

Bowery while he looked for apartments, working at a luxury-brand women’s consignment store in SoHo. But when someone stole an expensive purse and the store had to pay back the woman who consigned it, they could no longer afford their most recent hire and Moore was out of job. Then, when he couldn’t afford the deposits on the apartments he saw on Craigslist, his funds dried up and he began sleeping outside in ATM vestibules and on the subway. Moore’s story may be heartwrenching, but it’s not unique. Exact numbers of how many homeless gay youths are in New York City are dif-

Several organizations have taken it upon themselves to get these kids back on their feet, with varying degrees of success. The most well-known is the Ali Forney Center (AFC), which provides a vast array of services for youths like Moore. On 125th Street at St. Nicholas Avenue, the “center” itself is an 8,000 squarefoot facility that looks like a cross between a high school and a hostel; in one section is a hallway, lined with orange and white linoleum floors and an array of offices on both sides where clients can see case managers, social workers, nurses, and doctors. On the other side is a common room, a computer lab, and a space for classes and workshops. Down another hallway are bathrooms, shower, and laundry facilities. At night, the open space is cleared out to make way for cots for LGBT youths to sleep. In addition, AFC rents apartments in several buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn as “transitional hous-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday June 3 – 8:04 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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Chapter 14

EVE AND OTHERS BY ESTHER COHEN

PREVIOUSLY: A building on the Upper West Side decided to form an ad hoc detective agency to find a man who vanished nearby. They’re calling themselves Eve and Others. We want readers’ ideas about Alyosha’s disappearance. Could this be a murder or did he just vanish to a place of his choice? Who is Alyosha anyway? And why is he not where he belongs? Let us know your thoughts at news@strausnews.com. They plan a visit to the disappeared man’s apartment, a few blocks away. They’ll meet Anibal, the building’s super, and he’ll take them inside. Anibal Medrano, handsome Dominican dancer, he could salsa, he

could tango, there wasn’t a dance he couldn’t do, married to a tough New York City policewoman by the name of Angie Cruz, he’d been the building superintendent for 15 years. Most of the tenants, he knew inside out. Not every single one of them, but most. His technique was listening, and smiling, remembering all that was said. The delegation went to visit him. They were a motley group of disparate individuals held together by a building, by an address, held together by their first potluck, their fi rst common mission, the agenda of fi nding a disappeared man. Who knew why this idea, of uncovering reasons why people just go away when most of us are so fi xed in our spots, regimented and certain, coffee at eight, a shower before bed, who knew why some people just stop it all and disappear? Anibal was waiting in front of the building, prepared to answer whatever he could. “Here’s his rental agreement,” he said. “I had a copy in my fi le cabinet. His monthly rent was $185. He was always on time. He said hello and goodbye. I asked the other ten-

ants what they knew about him. Not too much. He was a good dancer,” Anibal said. “A professional. Me, too.”

They were a motley group of disparate individuals held together by a building, by an address, held together by their first potluck, their first common mission, the agenda of finding a disappeared man.” Here he smiled, as though he and missing Alyosha had more in common than the ersatz detectives suspected. “Would you mind taking us inside his apartment,” asked Mrs. Israel. For the official encounter, she was wearing a brown wool suit, with the mandatory lapel pin, a gold

plated circle. Matching gold clip earrings were on her ears. Her hair, an unflappable helmet, was sprayed in place. She brandished her official yellow pad. “Any facts you might have, I’ll keep for our later study. You can tell me. Height, weight, that kind of thing.” “His weight had to fluctuate. Like every one of us,” said Pin Ball. “Not at all,” Richard protested. “Dancers are thin. They’re obsessed.” “I happen,” said Pin Ball, “to be a professional dancer. Just one of my skills.” “I’ve got the keys,” said Anibal, bringing the conversation back full circle. “Let’s all go together.” The room was neat, spare, unruffled. It looked like Alyosha had just gone out for a minute. For Tropicana, for a Creamsicle, for a quick coffee with a friend. They each circled the room, looking for clues: in the medicine cabinet (sunscreen, Covergirl repair stick, nail clippers, aspirin), in the neat dresser drawers where his socks actually looked ironed, in a file with the unimaginative title PAPERS, and at last, on the refrigerator door, where they found this letter, taped

in the center. Was this letter an actual clue? Dear Good Friend Sir, I am the fifth child and only daughter of the most prominent Nigerian leader ever. The law forbids me from saying his name out loud, much less in this personal letter to you. I found your name and all your crucial information in the Nigerian Public Library. We are well-equipped. You are a reliable person. It is my intention to give you 500,000 US Dollars. That is 40 percent of my inheritance. Do you want to hear the entire story? If the answer is YES which I hope by All Divine Intention is what you will say (every one of us has our reasons) then I will tell you where to MEET ME. Those details I am not yet ready to reveal. Here is what I am asking you to do. Write back to me at this Post Office Box where I will eagerly retrieve your reply. From there, we will continue. Yours In Hope In God In Good Will and In Eternal Friendship, Yoruba Edo Efik, Jr. Jr. Could this be the clue they were all waiting for?

My IDNYC card helps us easily access city resources, from the library to the city hospital. I can get discounts on groceries, medicine, and movie tickets.

The Board of Directors of the 60-86 Madison Avenue District Management Association, Inc. cordially invites you to attend the

2016 Annual Meeting of the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at 8:30AM Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College 47-49 East 65th Street (between Madison and Park Avenues) Kindly RSVP by June 3 by contacting us at 212-861-2055 or information@madisonavenuebid.org To learn more about the Madison Avenue BID, visit our web site at

www.madisonavenuebid.org

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

BULLETS TESTED IN CONCERT SHOOTING Police conducted ballistic tests to determine whether more than one gun was used in a shooting inside a hiphop concert featuring artist T.I. that killed one person and injured three others. Among those tests was an analysis of a bullet removed from the leg of rapper Troy Ave, who remained hospitalized following his arrest on attempted murder and weapons charges in the Wednesday night shooting, a police spokesman said. No weapons have been recovered, though tests have found that five 9-mm shell casings discovered at the scene belong to the same gun, according to Stephen Davis, the department’s top spokesman. Troy Ave, whose real name is Roland Collins, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. One of his security guards, 33-year-old Ronald McPhatter, was killed in the shooting. Two others were shot and injured. A spokeswoman for Manhattan prosecutors said she didn’t know when Collins would be arraigned. An eight-second video clip released by police shows a limping gunman -- identiďŹ ed by the police as Collins --

burst through a VIP room door, stop and scan the room, then raise his gun and ďŹ re a single round.

SECURITY BREACH One security installer could use better security in his car. At 5:30 p.m. on May 18, a 37-year-old man parked his car in front of 200 West 90th St. When he returned the following morning at 11:20 a.m., he the rear passenger’s-side window had been broken into and items valued at nearly $9,000 were missing from inside the car. They included a DeWalt drill gun, Bosch drill bits, an eBay electric tester, stud ďŹ nder, and staple gun, pliers, a screwdriver, Versace reading glasses, cash, outdoor and indoor cameras, a control panel, garage door opener, batteries, plus motion, broken glass, smoke, and carbon monoxide detectors, making a total value stolen of $8,759.

TV TOLL One TV viewer must wish he had not been so intently glued to the tube. At 7 p.m. on May 15, a 41-year-old man parked his gray 2008 Yamaha R8 in front of 218 West 104 St. He then returned to his apartment at 209 W. 104 Street and watched TV. When he next looked out his window at 3 a.m. in the morning, he did not see his bike

where he had parked it. The stolen chopper is valued at $6,000.

STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th district Week to Date

HOUSING COMPLEX A tourist staying at a hostel found the Big Apple a most hostile place. At 9 p.m. on May 15, a 49-year-old man from Italy was walking along the pathway of the Frederick Douglass housing complex on 103rd Street from Amsterdam to Columbus Avenue when an unknown man grabbed his suitcase and ed eastbound. The items stolen included an iPad Pro valued at $1,300, two jackets worth $1,000, two sweaters totaling $1,000, two pairs of pants tagged at $1,000, fourteen books worth $45, and a Ferragamo suitcase valued at $1,600, making a total loss of $5,945.

HYBRID LOWLIFE A battery bandit struck two hybrid cars on Riverside Drive recently. In the ďŹ rst incident, at 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, a 54-year-old woman parked her gray 2012 Toyota Camry with DC plates on Riverside Drive between West 99th and 100th Streets. When she returned the next day at 10:30 in the morning, the rear passenger’sside window had been broken and items removed from the vehicle and thrown on the grass along the drive.

JOHN KRTIL FUNERAL HOME; YORKVILLE FUNERAL SERVICE, INC. Dignified, Affordable and Independently Owned Since 1885 WE SERVE ALL FAITHS AND COMMUNITIES 5 )/'&1 /'+$1)-,0 $2250 -+.*'1' 5 )/'&1 2/)$*0 $2850 5 4.'/1 /' *$,,),( 3$)*$%*'

2016 2015

% Change

2016

2015

% Change

Murder

0

0

n/a

2

1

100.0

Rape

0

0

n/a

1

1

0.0

Robbery

2

2

0.0

31

44

-29.5

Felony Assault

5

2

150.0

45

51

-11.8

Burglary

1

3

-66.7

68

51

33.3

Grand Larceny

27

24

12.5

527

489

7.8

Grand Larceny Auto

4

1

300.0

19

20

-5.0

She also found that the vehicle’s hybrid battery system had been removed. The property stolen included silver sandals valued at $25, shoes tagged at $25, and the hybrid battery core worth $3,500. That same afternoon at 4:30 p.m., a 43-year-old man parked his gray 2012 Toyota Camry with NY plates on that same stretch of Riverside Drive. When he returned the following morning at 9:28, he also found that the rear passenger’s-side window had been broken, items were thrown on the grass, and the vehicle’s hybrid battery system had been removed. It too was valued at $3,500.

NO SCHOOL HOLIDAY It appears that a high school student was desperate for a long weekend. At 5 p.m. on , May 15, a 36-year-old female employee of the West Side High School at 140 West 102nd St. received a phone call from a private number, so she did not answer it. Later, when she was listening to the voice mail, she heard a male caller leave a message saying, “Pick up the phone, b*tch. I want $50,000, or I am going to blow the sh*t up tomorrow morning 9 a.m. at the school.� The reporter said she did not recognize the voice, and a search of the school turned up nothing suspicious.

REGENTS EXAMS

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Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct

153 E. 67th St.

212-452-0600

159 E. 85th St.

311

FDNY Engine 39/Ladder 16

157 E. 67th St.

311

FDNY Engine 53/Ladder 43

1836 Third Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 44

221 E. 75th St.

311

FIRE FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13

CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Daniel Garodnick

211 E. 43rd St. #1205

212-818-0580

Councilmember Ben Kallos

244 E. 93rd St.

212-860-1950

State Sen. Jose M. Serrano

1916 Park Ave. #202

212-828-5829

State Senator Liz Krueger

1850 Second Ave.

212-490-9535

STATE LEGISLATORS

A beloved companion will be uprooted to make room for expansion at AllenStevenson School on East 78th Street, much to the consternation of at least one nearby resident BY MICKEY KRAMER

Assembly Member Dan Quart

360 E. 57th St.

212-605-0937

Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright

1365 First Ave.

212-288-4607

COMMUNITY BOARD 8

505 Park Ave. #620

212-758-4340

LIBRARIES Yorkville

222 E. 79th St.

212-744-5824

96th Street

112 E. 96th St.

212-289-0908

67th Street

328 E. 67th St.

212-734-1717

Webster Library

1465 York Ave.

212-288-5049

100 E. 77th St.

212-434-2000

HOSPITALS Lenox Hill

A TREE MAKES WAY

NY-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell

525 E. 68th St.

212-746-5454

Mount Sinai

E. 99th St. & Madison Ave.

212-241-6500

NYU Langone

550 First Ave.

212-263-7300

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

POST OFFICES US Post Office

1283 First Ave.

212-517-8361

US Post Office

1617 Third Ave.

212-369-2747

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A tree will not grow on the Upper East Side. For 40 years, Stanley Ely has looked out of his third floor bedroom windows on East 77th Street to see what he calls a “magnificent” tree. But, in the months to come, that tree, a garden, along with two East 78th Street townhouses will be torn down for an approved expansion plan for the AllenStevenson School nearby. Ely is angry and heartbroken about the tree. “The real villain is the school because of the hypocrisy. They are educating young boys to be good citizens and I’ve seen their plans,” he said. “They could’ve planned something and not killed the tree, but they will use every inch of their property.” The school’s headmaster, Da-

vid Trower, does not dispute that. “We bought the property to use the full amount of space. It’s a trade-off,” he said. Trower, though, said he also will grieve for the tree. “I love the tree and am going to miss it terribly, but we need the space to do really great things for future generations.” Trower, headmaster at Allen-Stevenson since 1990, said the school’s expansion will include facilities for teaching about science and the natural world, as well as greater space for what he calls “the three A’s: academics, athletics and the arts. The townhouse phase is expected to include a performing arts pavilion and a greenhouse, as well as facilities for painting, drawing, ceramics and woodworking. Work on the project, which was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in January 2015, has begun. The facades for 126 and 128 East 78th Street are being braced and saved, while the structures will come down and replaced by one five story

building to align with AllenStevenson’s current schoolhouse, which has been in use since 1924. While noting that “construction is never an easy process,” Trower said that before the project was approved, he appeared at local community board meetings to explain what they were planning and that they “want to be good neighbors.” Martin Bush, a neighbor of Ely’s, who is not as invested in the life of the tree, is still none too pleased with the expansion plans. “With the building going right up to the property line, the expansion will block a great deal of my light,” he said. Last fall, New York City celebrated the planting of over one million trees, an initiative started during former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s term and completed under current Mayor Bill.DeBlasio. “DeBlasio is very keen on planting trees and in the face of that, this tree’s getting killed,” Ely said. “Systematically, they have destroyed every bit of ‘green’, but I understand they are go-

ing ahead, so any benefit from this [exposure] would be pure embarrassment to them.” Trower, on the other hand, is excited for what lies ahead. “The school serves the neighborhood and community in so many ways and the building project will provide benefits for many over future decades, not just a few,” he said. “I plan to see this project through.” If Trower is looking ahead, Ely has looked to preserve something of the past, in this six-line ode to a 40-year companion: A tree so proud, heavy, full but graceful. Unbothered by years of ice, of snow, of wind. It slept, reawakened and blossomed. Cherished by those who saw it, until some threw it away. Much will you be missed. Thanks for all you gave.

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Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, 331 East 70th St. 6:30 p.m. Parks and Recreation Committee, Review of plans for the renovation of the playground at Carl Schurz Park, ďŹ nal planning for the June 25 community gathering at the Queensboro Oval Park. 212-758-4340. cb8m.com/ events/parks-and-recreationcommittee-7

‘NIGHT AFTER NIGHT’► 96th Street Library. 112 East 96th St. 2 p.m. Free Archie Mayo’s 1932 feature about an ex-boxer who buys a high-class speakeasy and falls for a rich society girl staring George Raft, Constance Cummings and Mae West. 212-289-0908

Fri 3 ‘MUSIC AND ART FROM THE COURT OF CHARLES I,’ BY SONNAMBULA The Frick Collection, 1 East 70th St. 6-7 p.m. $40; members, $35. English music spanned a range of styles when Anthony van Dyck served as court painter to Charles I. In this Salon

Evening, period music ensemble Sonnambula will perform treasured works from the 16th and 17th centuries in celebration of the special exhibition ‘Van Dyck: The Anatomy of Portraiture.’ 212-288-0700. www.frick. org/

ARTISANAL CIDER TASTING â–˛ Mt. Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden, 421 East 61st St. 6-8 p.m. $30; members, $25 Join in the garden for an evening of cider tastings from an array of both local cider vendors and distributors of European ciders

and include tastings and snacks. 212-838-6878. http://www. mvhm.org/

Sat 4 THE AHERNE SHEEHAN SCHOOL OF IRISH DANCE St. Jean Baptiste High School, 173 East 75th St. 5:45-9:30 p.m. Adults, $35; under 13, $15; under 5, $5. Local dancers of all ages will take to the stage to perform

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traditional and modern Irish dancing routines that are sure to wow the audience and get their toes tapping. ahernesheehan. com/ceili.html

HAVING DIFFICULTY PERFORMING THE SPORT OR ACTIVITY THAT YOU ENJOY DOING? Outreach Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy

‘TASTE OF MURRAY HILL’ Park Avenue between 34th and 40th Streets 11 a.m.-6 p.m. The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association, one of the oldest community associations in New York, hosts its annual festival. crafts, antiques and collectible exhibiton. 212-764-6330

NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS

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MEET MURASAKI SHIKIBU â–ş The New York Society Library, 53 East 79th St. 3 p.m. In advance, $20; at the door, $25 A new play about the immortal author of “The Tale of Genjiâ€? 212-288-6900. www. nysoclib.org/

THE YIDDISH WALK OF FAME Tour begins at the southwest corner of Second Avenue and 12th Street. 10:45 am. $25-$30. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be sold on site. Elissa Sampson to explore the roots of American theater and popular culture through a tour of historic sites along Second Avenue. Stops will include the Yiddish Arts Theatre, Cafe Royale, the Yiddish Rialto Starwalk and the Community Synagogue. Length of the tour will be about half a mile. 212-534-1672. www.mcny. org/event/yiddish-theaterwalking-tour

Mon 6 19TH PRECINCT COMMUNITY COUNCIL 153 East 67th St. 7 p.m. The precinct community council meets the ďŹ rst Monday of the month 212-452-0615

You! CURING MEDICARE 92nd Street Y, Lexington Avenue and 92nd Street Noon. From $25 Primary-care doctor Andy Lazris discusses How our Health Care System is Failing Older Americans and How We Can Fix It 212-415-5500. www.92y. org/index.aspx

Tue 7 ‘THE SUN ALSO RISES’ 92nd Street Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street 7 p.m. from $25.00 Lesley Blume and Adam Gopnik discuss the real experiences that inspired Hemingway’s novel and how Hemingway created his own legend. 212-415-5500. www.92y. org/index.aspx

THE SEATED STAGE 67th Street Library, 328 East 67th St. 5 p.m. Free The play-reading group, which meets monthly, reads aloud from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.� Texts supplied. 212-734-1717

Wed 8 REVOLUTION: MAPPING THE ROAD TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE The New York Society Library, 53 East 79th St., Members’ Room 6:30 p.m. $10 with advance registration; $15 at the door Richard H. Brown and Paul E. Cohen with Barnet Schecter discuss the period 1755 to 1783. 212.288.6900. www. nysoclib.org/events

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IN OUR TIME Met Breuer, 945 Madison Ave. 6:30-9 p.m. Free, seating on ďŹ rst-come basis An architecture and design lecture series presenting the best thinkers, makers, and builders today. With Sam Aldenton, Second Home; Beatrice Galilee, Daniel Brodsky Associate Curator of Architecture and Design, The Met; Jeff Maki, Intersection; and Anna Puigjaner, MAIO Studio. 212-731-1675. www. metmuseum.org/events/

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

COLD CUTS, WARM HANDS EAST SIDE ENCOUNTERS BY ARLENE KAYATT

Among the suits — Hands-down winner for best meet-and-greet for Manhattan judicial candidates is Josh Hanshaft. Legislative attorney for the NYC Council and former district attorney, Hanshaft was running for an open countywide Civil Court seat. There were two openings and several candidates. Before the selection of a nominee, prospective candidates hold meet-and-greets with voters, mostly members of local Democratic clubs. The meet-and-greets are usually held in restaurants or in someone’s home. Hanshaft’s was unique — it was at Zohrer’s Men’s Haberdasher on East 54th Street. Amid the bespoke custom suits, shirts, scarves, ties and comfy sofas and chairs, the boutique catered in: luscious shrimp, hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, and kosher cold cuts — pastrami, corned beef, turkey. Great fun and best of all was the candidate’s short speech — something’s always promised but never delivered — a “thank you to all for coming.” Oh, Hanshaft and Emily Morales-Minerva

were the two nominees selected for the countywide Civil Court seats and both will appear on the November ballot. Morales-Minerva is deputy chief counsel to the deputy administrative judge for NYC Courts and former principal law clerk to a judge on the state Court of Appeals. Deposit slip scam — Chase Bank, like most if not all banks, keeps withdrawal and deposit slips in slots on counters for depositors to use when doing their banking business. On several occasions deposit slips with account numbers — not the present depositor’s — have been left on the countertop or in the slots so that an unwary depositor, in a hurry, fills in the date, their name and an amount, and hies over to the teller to make the deposit. Only problem is that they may have used a deposit slip with someone else’s account number. That someone has left a deposit slip with his or her, not your, account number for you to use when making a deposit. Seem like you would never do that? Lucky you. Pay attention. Somebody’s done well in this scam and they’re not letting up.

Dis-Order of the buses — With all the changes that happen so rapidly in this world, the one consistency is lousy MTA/bus service in Manhattan — East Side, West Side, Uptown, Downtown. Crosstown buses, with Select Service only, have their own set of problems and annoyances. But I’m convinced that, for some reason, whoever schedules bus routes and bus availability does not have a clue or care about how to run a metropolitan bus system. It’s amazing to me how, when it comes time to managing fare increases, the MTA is right on it — whether changing from token to MetroCard and soon to apps — they get it done. But they can’t manage the orderliness of a bus system. I marvel at how private bus routes arrive on time, leave on time, don’t have signs saying “Next Bus, Please,” “Training Bus,” “Not In Service,” which are consistently displayed for the everyday bus rider. And, oh, let’s not forget the five-bus caravans of “Limited” buses that stop short of the end of their usual route. The practice ends in delays with the driver having to tell riders getting on the bus that it stops before the usual last stop and announcing to those

Voices on the bus the bad news. Sometimes the decision to shorten the route takes place without prior notice. And it gets worse. Adding to the unpleasantness of it all are some of the bus drivers. No question that their occupation is not enviable, and it’s understandable that they’re harried because of city traffic. But it’s unfair and outright wrong for drivers to refuse to take passengers on a bus because they were standing in the “wrong” part of the almost blocklong bus stop. Case in point, Church and Worth Streets. The uptown M5 stops there. For a time, no other bus routes stopped there. There are now signs indicating that the M1 and M6 also stop there. The M1 I’m familiar with travels Madison and Fifth Avenues. The M6 is no longer. Based on the way the bus stops are set up, M1 and M6 (if they’re even running in this part of town, or exist in the case of M6) stop ahead of the seating kiosk. M5 stops mid-block. Problem is that mid-block, at least on this particular day, was lined with stanchions so that there was no place to stand. In addition, the stop accommodates (no sign to indicate) Academy buses. When the M5 came along, I was waiting in a seat

FIGHTING THE LIGHT MY STORY BY BETTE DEWING

Dear, dear readers, this needs your immediate attention to stop your block, even worse, your lower floor home, from being turned into pseudo-daylight by the conversion of city streetlights to the LED light kind. So thankfully there is a concenerd group and a city council bill to make these lights less invasive, but it will need all the support and help possible. And so thankfully, here is the letter from a New York City member of Internatinal Dark Sky Association, a non-profit group of scientists and concerned lay people working against all manner of light pollution. Incidentially my column had said that reducing the excessive light wattage, in general, is the “first-do-no-harm” way to save electric light energy.

STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source

Dear Bette Dewing, “Lowering the wattage” won’t help solve the problems associated with the LED light streetlights. The percentage of “blue light” is the problem: The LED streetlights that DOT is using are very high in blue light waves. That is causing the perception of greater brightness, glare and the ugly appearance to our streets. Blue light also disrupts our circadian rythyms and our sleep cycles since the light from streetlights invariably enters our homes. The lights being installed all over the city are 4000 Kelvin and replaced streetlights with 1800 Kelvin. There is a bill in the City Council for DOT to use 3000 Kelvin or less. Please have people contact their council members to sponsor the bill #Intl.No. 8223 Susan Harder International Dark Sky Association Vice President/CFO Otilia Bertolotti Vice President/CRO Vincent A. Gardino advertising@strausnews.com

Ah, there is so much we must do. Maybe, start by phoning the elected officials listed in this paper’s Useful Contacts column. Talk it up at civic meetings and everywhere else. You Internet users check out LED streetlight protests found there – worldwide they are - and news clips. Share these stories which describe how really horrific it is for those communities bombarded by this unnatural light that even invades homes, our “havens from a heartless world,” to quote Christopher Lasch. And in a large city especially growing denser by the day – and hey, shouldn’t be there be density limits there too? Another critical issue too little addressed.

Associate Publishers Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth Regional Sales Manager Tania Cade

But this column must be especially brief, unfortunately, because my computer has alredy lost two columns. Help! But so much must and can be done to raise awareness, above all, and especially among policymakers and civic groups and of course, media, that these glaring lights don’t have to be, must not be so appallingly, so harmfully intrusive. Most still unafflicted New Yorkers haven’t a clue how their homes will be so affected – especially those on lower floors. And of course, the neighborhoods in general also suffer; now citizens in afflicted nabes must wear sunglasses on their evening strolls. And so much more! Incidentally, co-op and condo boards

President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Account Executive Editor In Chief, Kyle Pope editor.ot@strausnews.com Fred Almonte Director of Partnership Development Deputy Editor, Richard Khavkine Barry Lewis editor.dt@strausnews.com

in the kiosk with another rider. Bus stopped mid-block among the stanchions. The riders rushed to the open door and were told by the driver that he didn’t have to take them because they weren’t in the right part of the bus spot. Had there been an Academy bus sign in the stop, I would have waited and gone to Atlantic City. At least I’d have a shot at winning. Something that can’t be said for MTA bus-riding. Street pop-up — Does anyone ask anymore where your kids are at 10 p.m.? The line originated long ago on Channel 5’s 10 O’Clock News: “It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your children are?” Well, on a recent Thursday night at exactly 10 p.m., I knew where the kids were and what they were doing. On Third/90th, on the east side of the street, a group of about 15 or 20 early 20-somethings were singing and dancing in place with a bucket for thank you’s. A crowd of all ages gathered round, listened, tapped, smiled. Half a block north was a Waffles & Dinges truck serving up their fare. Nice to end the evening with a happy pop-up on a city street.

should get involved because lowerfloor apartments are especially affected, not only the quality and health of life there. but real estate values will plummet. Ah, but seeing is believing, and that’s what the majority of still unafflicted New Yorkers must witness first-hand. Organized bus tours to the LED streetlight areas are an absolute must. And somehow let everyone know that unless there’s a massive protest, and all-out support for the light-modifying city council bill, your nights will also become a hellish kind of pseudo daylight. The city in general loses its nighttime beauty. And my computer keeps shutting down, so again, please, please, get involved. And as Susan Harder said in a follow up note, “While the city has many problems, this one affects everyone!” So please share this column too – and again, without modications. this is a totally destructive way to save energy. And it can be overcome if enough of us try – if enough of us try. Rome is burning! dewingbette@aol.com

Staff Reporters Gabrielle Alfiero, Madeleine Thompson Director of Digital Pete Pinto

Block Mayors Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side

JUNE 2-8,2016

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Central Park

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE PARK SUMMERSTAGE IN CENTRAL PARK Great performers are already lined up for Central Park SummerStage 2016. Begun 30 years ago, the festival features performances that span world and American music, modern dance, spoken word, electronic music and family programming. The full SummerStage schedule is at www.centralpark.com

NAUMBURG ORCHESTRAL CONCERTS

COMING UP THIS WEEK SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK: ‘THE TAMING OF THE SHREW’ Tickets are always free. Up to two tickets per person on the day of a performance, from noon until curtain time. When: through June 26 Time: 8 p.m. Where: The Delacorte The-

ater is accessible by entering at 81st Street and Central Park West or at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue. More info at www.centralpark.com/events

FIT TOURS NYC: SUNDAY RUN DAY Founded by a native New Yorker who is a certiďŹ ed ďŹ tness trainer as well as an ofďŹ cial NYC sightseeing guide. This one-hour long tour is perfect for those who want something more than the usual workout routine. When: Sundays through Sept. 4 Time: 9:30-10:30 a.m. For more details and booking information go to www. centralpark.com/events

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Photos By Ellen Dunn

Since 1905, free, outdoor classical music concerts have taken place at the bandshell. Named after Elkan Naumburg, who donated the band-

shell to New York City in 1923, the series seeks to stimulate and encourage new audiences for classical music in the serene setting of Central Park. It’s the oldest concert series of its kind in the United States and features promising new talent of young composers and conductors. Concerts begin June 14. The full schedule is at www.centralpark.com

Home ome of the Mutt M Mut utt tt tt-ii-gree gre reeÂŽ

WHERE IN ANSWER TO THE CENTRAL PARK? PREVIOUS QUIZ: Do you know where in Central Park this photo was taken? To submit your answer, go to centralpark.com/wherein-central-park. The answers and names of the people who send in the correct answer will appear in the paper and online in two weeks.

King Jagiello (1351-1434). This bronze monument is located east of the Turtle Pond. It was created for the Polish 1939 New York World’s Fair pavilion by the Polish sculptor Stanislaw K. Ostrowski (18791947). The monument commemorates the medieval Battle of Grunwald, where Polish and Lithuanian knights supported by Ruthenian, Czech, and Tatar knights defeated the Teutonic Order. POLAND is inscribed on both sides of the plinth. As a result of the German invasion of Poland that marked the beginning of World War II, the monument stayed in New York, thanks in part to

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mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia publicly lobbying to keep the statue. It was dedicated in July 1945, when it was permanently placed in Central Park. The monument was conserved in 1986 by the Central Park Conservancy. Congratulations to Marisa Lohse, Elizabeth Kirkor Rogers, Gregory Holman, Joe Ornstein, Tina Zito, Candi George and Henry Bottjer for answering last week’s question correctly.

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Catch Up. Get Ahead. Summer Courses at CUNY Register Today! cuny.edu/summer It Is Not Too Late!

BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, MATHEMATICS, PSYCHOLOGY, PHYSICS, SOCIOLOGY, EDUCATION, ENGLISH, ECONOMICS, ACCOUNTING, SPEECH, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, HISTORY

CLASSES BEGIN:

June 6

AND MANY MORE

City College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Queens College, School of Professional Studies, Bronx Community College, Hostos Community College, Queensborough Community College Hunter College, Queens College, Queensborough Community College

June 27

York College, LaGuardia Community College

July 11

Hunter College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Lehman College, Medgar Evers College, New York City College of Technology, Queensborough Community College

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Baruch College, Hunter College, Lehman College

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Borough of Manhattan Community College, Kingsborough Community College

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C

YOUR FOOD SCRAPS at GREENMARKET

Drop off household fruit and vegetable scraps at select Greenmarkets citywide. For details, locations, and hours visit GrowNYC.org/Compost

212.788.7964 Recycle@GrowNYC.org GrowNYC.org/Compost

FAIRS & FESTIVALS BASTILLE DAY IN NEW YORK

FRENCH STREET FAIR Free Sunday, July 10 Noon to 5 p.m. E. 60th St. from Fifth Ave. to Lexington Ave. www.bastilledayny.com Celebrate France’s national holiday with our allies at New York’s ultimate street fair! You

can eat crepes and eclairs and sip French wines, as you and the family enjoy performances by Can-Can dancers and pop singers, fencing demonstrations, the Hungry

March Band, and more. There’s face painting, arts & crafts, cooking classes, mime acts for les enfants, and a vintage Citroën car show.

RIBS AND ROOTS BLUES BBQ

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Photo credit Amber Star Merkens

FREE ARTS FESTIVAL Drop clean and dry clothing, paired shoes, linens, handbags, belts, and other reusable textiles at select Greenmarkets citywide and we’ll keep them out of the landfill.

212.788.7964 Recycle@GrowNYC.org GrowNYC.org/Clothing

RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL Free More than 30 events at various locations June 16-June 26 http://lmcc.net/program/ river-to-river The annual River to River Festival, one of Lower Manhattan’s signature art

events features 30 events and more than 90 artists over 11 days at downtown spots, including Governor’s Island. Live experiences include intimate and provocative dance, music, visual art, and new media projects in public parks, at historic landmarks and along the waterfront. Guests can socialize with festival artists, partners, and fellow art-lovers. an 25 indoor and outdoor to the East River

Free Aug. 20. 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Pier 97 at 55th St. www.hudsonriverpark.org After a great Blues BBQ last year, Hudson River Park is moving uptown to its new location at Pier 97 for the 17th annual Hudson River Park’s Blues BBQ Festival. America’s best Blues and Roots musicians, including the Bernard Allison Group, the Sugaray Raymond Band and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band will join with some of New York City’s favorite BBQ restaurants – Arrogant Swine, Dinosaur BarB-Que, Fort Gansevoort BBQ and Mighty Quinn’s Barbecue – for great day of food, music and fun on the Hudson River.

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SALSA TO GO PUERTO RICAN DAY PARADE

PARTY TIME IN CHELSEA GENERATION BRIDGE WHITE PARTY $75 to Saturday, June 25. 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Avenue 116 Tenth Avenue

SWEED-NESS AND LIGHT SWEDISH MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL Free Friday, June 24, 5 to 8 p.m. Robert F. Wagner Park and Pier A Plaza Battery Park City www.swedenabroad.com The Swedish Midsummer Festival, presented by Battery Park City Parks and co-hosted by the Consulate General of Sweden, will once again take place in Battery Park City in downtown Manhattan. A great family event featuring picnics on the grass, as well as a chance to decorate the midsummer pole, make flower wreaths, play traditional games and dance to authentic fiddle music.

FOOD FESTIVAL ALONG THE GREAT WHITE WAY TASTE OF TIMES SQUARE Free admission. Taste tickets are $1 each. Monday, June 6. 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. 46th St., between Broadway

646-323-6180 www.soulnightevents.com It’s pricey, but it’s a delightful night of dancing, hors d’oeuvres and mingling with the hip and trendy. Music is an eclectic mix of Reggae, Soca and Makossa, hip hop and R&B. General admission starts at $75 and goes to $1,500 for a party of eight with bottle service.

and 10th Ave. www.timessquarenyc.org More than 50 restaurants will share their finest tastes from around the world at this annual outdoor food and music festival in the heart of the famed Restaurant Row. h Street from Broadway all the way to 10th Avenue. Festival admission is free. Each “taste” ticket is $1 with dishes ranging from 2-6 tickets. Tickets will be available for purchase on the day of the event and in advance online.

A GREAT MONTH IN HARLEM HARLEM WEEK Free Various locations July 31- Aug. 27 www.harlemweek.com Harlem Week – Harlem Month, actually – kicks off on July 31 with a “Great Day in Harlem” celebration featuring dance companies, gospel choirs and a fashion show. Children’s Days will be held Aug. 15 and 16 featuring with dance performances from tap to step to hip hop, story-telling and other fun activities. An outdoor film festival is scheduled for Aug. 20 and Aug 27, and sporting events with pro and amateur athletes taking part.

Free Sunday June 12. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fifth Ave. from 44th to 79th sts. www.nprdpinc.org New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and actress Rosario Dawson will be among those honored when the National Puerto Rican Day Parade steps off on Fifth Ave., before a crowd of an estimated 1.5 million flagwaving revelers. Anthony, whose father was Puerto Rican, will be the festival king, while Dawson, whose mother is Puerto Rican, will preside as queen. There will be tens of thousands of marchers shimmying and shaking their way uptown, along with musical quests.

SPLASHING AROUND WATERFRONT DAY Free Saturday, July 16, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Governor’s Island and Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken www.waterfrontalliance. org Now in its ninth year, the Waterfront Alliance’s City of Water Day is a free, family-oriented celebration of all the great things to do along the New York and New Jersey that has become one of the region’s biggest harbor festivals. Thousands of people take part in free boat tours on all kinds of vessels, rowing and paddle-boarding, not to mention the popular Con Edison Cardboard Kayak Race. There’s also a Waterfront Activity Fair and a Children Activities Fair offer something for the whole family. Rain or shine, though some on-water activities could be postponed in case of lightning or thunderstorms.

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COMEDY CENTRAL THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH STAND-UP IN THE PARK Free June 26 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.; doors open at 7 p.m. Rumsey Playfield. 14. E. 71 St. just inside Central Park at Fifth Ave. www.cityparksfoundation.org If you love The Daily Show,

don’t miss this Comedy Central, City Parks Foundation offering of a night of standup comedy

with Trevor Noah, the new host of the Daily Show, formerly run by Jon Stewart. Joining Noah onstage will be Daily Show contributors and presenters Ronny Chieng, Jordan Klepp, Adam Lowitt, Desi Lydic, Hasan Minhaj, Michelle Wolf and Roy Wood Jr. Expect a rollicking night of comedy and political satire.25 indoor and outdoor to the East River

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK

BROADWAY IN BRYANT

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA

BROADWAY IN BRYANT PARK

Free July 19 – Aug. 14. 8 p.m. Delacorte Theater. www.publictheater.org Continuing in the spirit of its visionary founder, Joseph Papp, The Public Theater once again presents Shakespeare classics in Central Park. One of this year’s nearly month-long shows is “Troilus and Cressida,” a tragi-comedy based on the Trojan War and fairly true to Homer’s Iliad plot lines. The play bounces back and forth between bawdy comedy and dark gloominess. The Public also is sponsoring a run of “Taming of the Shrew” at the Delacorte from May 24 to June 26. Check website for ways to get free tickets.

FREE The Lawn at W. 40th St. and Fifth Ave. Thursdays from July 7 – Aug. 11. 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. http://www.bryantpark.org If you want to enjoy performances by some of the best shows on and off Broadway, this is the ticket – and it’s free. The performances happen Thursday afternoons through the summer. Broadway in Bryant Park will showcase numbers from recent and past Tony Award-winning musicals. Check website for performance schedule. 2015 shows included “Stomp,” “Wicked,” “Finding Neverland,” “Kinky Boots,” “Beautiful,” “Something Rotten” and “Les Miserables”.

MUSIC & THEATER NAKED LADIES – NOT REALLY BARENAKED LADIES $52 per ticket. Presented by the City Parks Foundation Rumsey Playfield. Central Park at 71 Street and Fifth Ave Monday, June 13. 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. www.cityparksfoundation.org Part of the Summer Stage Series, BNL headlines this show, which also features OMD, a British synth pop band, and Howard Jones, whose tune “New Song” was featured in an episode of the long-running “Breaking Bad” TV series.

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NATIVE BLOOD BUFFY SAINT-MARIE $30 T0 $50 Sunday, Aug. 21. 7 p.m. Highline Ballroom 431 W. 16th St. www.highineballroom.com Buffy Saint-Marie, a Cree singersongwriter and activist, who recorded her first album in 1964, will showcase her new album “Power in the Blood,” which includes a contemporary version of her 1964 hit, “It’s My Way.” From her 1960s protest songs like “Universal Soldier,” to love songs like “Until it’s Time for You to Go,” and her powwow rock tunes, Saint-Marie has built and maintained a following and picked up an Oscar and a Golden Globe along the way.

of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, directed by Carl Cofield and starring Classical Theater of Harlem producing artistic director Ty Jones, starts with previews on July 8 - 9 and then runs the rest of the month at the Richard Rogers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park. The production will be framed to reflect the culture and interest of the CTH’s audience and is reflective of Ethiopia during the reign of Haile Selassie. CTH’S Uptown Shakespeare in the Park is part of the City Park’s Foundation’s SummerStage Festival.

MACBETH IN HARLEM

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11TH ANNUAL JAZZ LAWN FESTIVAL

Free July 8 – July 31. Tuesdays through Sundays. 8 p.m., except for Friday, 8:30 p.m. Marcus Garvey Park W. 122nd St. and Mt. Morris Park West www.cthnyc.org This family-friendly production

Ticket prices run for $55 to $5,000 Governor’s Island June 11-June 12, and Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. http://www.jazzagelawnparty.com Hosted by Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra, this rollicking

summer season june 18 – august 7

High art. Casual fun.

Jazz / Roots / Opera / Classical / Food + Drink / Kids & Families / Gardens / more

event celebrates the vibrant optimism and inventiveness of Jazz Age culture and offers packages from $55 to $95 general admission to $5,000 for an ultra-VIP Sheik of Araby tent for eight guests. The trip through time begins with a ferry ride to a sprawling green where you will find an antique gramophone exhibition, a collection of 1920s motor cars, a bathing beauties promenade and a Charleston dance contest. There are also carnival games and activities for the kids.

JAZZIN’ AROUND CHARLIE PARKER JAZZ FESTIVAL

Credit FilipWolak

Tickets & Info 914.232.1252 caramoor.org

Free Morris Garvey Park W. 122 St. and Mt. Morris Park West Tompkins Square Park Aug. 26 -Aug. 28 www.cityparksfoundation.org Get ready for some serious jazz in this three-day tribute to the great Charlie Parker. The first two concerts will be held at Marcus Garvey Park

on Friday Aug. 26 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and on Saturday Aug 27 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. The third concert will be held Sunday Aug. 28 at Tompkins Square Park from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Jason Linder: Breeding Ground will be featured Friday; Randy Weston will headline on Saturday and Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland and Allen Harris will play on Sunday.

ROCKING ON RANDALL’S ISLAND PANORAMA Three-day passes start at $369; Daily passes $125 Randall’s Island Park July 22 – July 24 www.panoramanyc Goldenvoice, the promoters of the world-famous Coachella music festival in Indio, Calif., presents this all-day rock music festival across three days with more than 60 acts in Randall’s Island Park. Performers include LCD Sound System, Arcade Fire, Alabama Shakes, Kendrick Lamar, and Run the Jewels. Passholders also get a free admission ticket to the Queens Museum and the exhibition about the Ramones, the legendary rock group with Queens Roots.

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SUMMER DAY CAMPS

NOT ONLY IN NOVEMBER

THE NOVEMBER PROJECT Wednesdays 5:28 a.m., and 6:28 a.m. Carl Schurz Park, near Gracie Mansion E. 86th St. and East End Ave. www.november-project.com The November Project is a band of ďŹ tness nuts who invite all comers to join them for their Wednesday morning jaunts behind Gracie Mansion – pretty much all year around. They do

SPACE IS LIMITED. REGISTER TODAY! # " # ! !

WALK, DON’T RUN

KAYAK THE HUDSON KAYAKING

SUMMER CAMP

212.336.6846 chelseapiers.com/camps

runs, jumps, all kinds of exercise and at all levels of ďŹ tness. It’s a serious workout and serious fun. Check website for details and for information on their

HEALTH AND RACE WALKING

Camps run June 20 - September 2

SIGN UP FOR 1, 2 OR MORE WEEKS!

November Project. Facebook Page

Some programs are free Various piers along the Hudson http://www.hudsonriverpark. org All season long, the Hudson River Park Trust oversees kayaking spots along the River, from TriBeCa to Clinton. Pier 26 in TriBeCa offers free kayaking on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In July and August, the free kayaking program is extended to include weekday evenings from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Similar programs are available at Piers 40, 66, 84 and 96, along with lessons and tours. Check website for individual programs at each pier.

Free Central Park Conservancy North Meadow Recreation Center, mid-Park at 97th Street Saturday mornings. 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. http://www.centralparknyc. org 212-348-4867. Moderate to brisk walks led by the NY Walkers Club for

other events – and check them out on Facebook because they are always adding events or changing some. people 18 years and older of all abilities. This low-impact ďŹ tness program is perfect for those who want to get in shape, build muscle tone, strength and increase cardiovascular health while enjoying Central Park’s beautiful landscapes. Clinics are held every Saturday morning from 9:30am11:00am at the North Meadow Recreation Center. Free. No pre-registration required and open to all abilities. Rain or shine, except for extreme weather conditions, such as heavy rain, sustained winds of 30mph or more, or heat index above 95 degrees.

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WELLNESS OUT OF TOWN

The 171st Dutchess County Fair Rhinebeck, NY

August 23 - August 28

With Spec

ial Guest S

tar

OLD DOM

INION

THIRD EYE BLIND

PARMALEE

Special Advance Combo (Admission & Concert) = $30

Special Advance Combo (Admission & Concert) = $30

HOTEL CALIFORNIA

CHASE RICE

Thursday - August 25 - 7:30pm FREE SHOW

Special Advance Combo (Admission & Concert) = $30

Tuesday - August 23 - 7:30pm Wednesday - August 24 - 7:30pm

OCEANFRONT LUXURY GURNEY’S MONTAUK $288 - $1,192 290 Old Montauk Highway Montauk, N.Y. www.gurneysmontauk.com Gurneys is the granddaddy of East End spas and resorts, offering a dizzying variety of accommodations, spa packages, restaurants

PRETTY IN THE POCONOS SHAWNEE SPA AND GOLF RESORT Weekend packages start at $165 per person 100 Shawnee Inn Drive Shawnee on Delaware, Pa. www.shawneeinn.com The Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort offers great

and more for some 90 years. Back in the 50s, it was just a 20-room inn, until Nick Monte bought the place and transformed it into a spectacular spa. The new owners took over three years ago and have kept up the tradition while renovating 38 oceanfront rooms. There are five top-notch restaurants, dreamy spa treatments and this year they’ve teamed up with Paddle Diva Watersports to offer a variety of beach and water activities. And their 2,000-foot oceanfront beach boast neighbors like Robert De Niro and Edward Albee.

golf on a finely manicured 18-hole course and a variety of massages and spa treatments on its expansive grounds on the Delaware River, just 70 miles from New York City and 2 miles from the Delaware Water Gap. Its website touts its “atmosphere of old world charm,” and 103 guest rooms, no two of which are exactly alike. There’s a business center – if you must work -- an indoor pool and Jacuzzi, a sandy beach, a state-of-the-art fitness center and tennis, bocci and volleyball courts.

(The Original Tribute to the Eagles) Friday - August 26 - 7:30pm

FAIR SPECIALS! Tues. Aug. 23 - $10 ALL DAY Admission Wed. Aug. 24 - $25 RIDE ALL DAY Wrist Band Thurs. Aug. 25 - $7 Admission After 5pm

ROMANTIC GETAWAY THE SPA AT NORWICH INN Daily rates from $155 per person; packages available 607 West Thames St. Norwich, Conn. www.thespaatnorwichinn.com

The Spa at Norwich Inn is a not-too-expensive romantic getaway in southeastern Connecticut. The basic retreat starts at $155 per person and includes breakfast and dinner, use of the spa and its steam room and sauna, as well as morning walks. The FridaySaturday “Spaliday” is $298 per person, but includes $100

in a spa credit. There are also tennis and golf packages – and the resort is a short drive from great attractions like the Lake of Isles Golf Courses, Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Foxwoods Resort Casino, and Mohegan Sun Casino. There are also lots of vineyards nearby and Mystic Seaport and Mystic Aquarium.

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Huge Selection of Bibles Fiction/Non-Fiction Children’s Books Greeting Cards .VTJD t (JGUT Original Art Events and More! )PVST . 5I BN QN t 'SJ BN QN 4BU BN QN t 4VO QN QN

:PSL "WF #UXO SE UI 4U t www.logosbookstorenyc.com

ROAD TRIPS A DAY -- OR THREE -- AT THE RACES > SARATOGA RACE TRACK K General admission $5. Clubhouse admission $8. New York Racing Association 267 Union Ave., Saratoga Springs, NY July 22-Sept. 5 www.saratogaracetrack.com (518) 584-6200 Watch horse racing at its best – and stay awhile. Though it’s just a two-hour drive up Interstate 87 to beautiful, quaint, Saratoga Springs, you should plan on spending a few days to soak up the atmosphere at the track, enjoy great dining and shopping in town and explore the history of this great, colorful town and its cast of characters from the days of Damon Runyon through today. You can shop and eat before or after the races, which are held every day but Tuesday. Post time is generally 1 p.m. The 2016 Meet – full of big-stakes races and the fastest horses around -- begins on July 22 with an Opening Day Celebration, and concludes on September 5. Get in on the action!

COUNTRY MUSIC JAMBOREE TASTE OF MUSIC COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL AT HUNTER MOUNTAIN Daily passes $109; three-day pass $199. Camping access slightly higher June 10 through June 12 Hunter Mountain Route 23A, Hunter Mountain, N.Y. www.tasteofcountryfestival.com (855) 821-9208 Kenney Chesney, Jake Owen and Kid Rock headline this three-day country music festival at Hunter Mountain that is just too good to miss. Additional artists include Gary Allen, Big & Rich, Frankie Ballard, Eric Paslay, Old Diminion, Neal McCoy, The Swon Brothers, the Cadillac Three, Jana Kramer, Chris Janson, Outshyne, and Annie Bosko! There are many camping options available whether you want to pitch a tent or bring your RV. Check out the website for more information including VIP package details and hotel accommodations.

BATTER UP NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME

STILL ROCKIN’ AT WOODSTOCK BETHEL WOODS CENTER FOR THE ARTS

DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? Email us at NEWS@STRAUSNEWS.COM

Check website for dates and ticket prices of summer concerts Liberty, N.Y. about 90 miles north of New York City www.bethelwoodscenter.org Bethel, the real home of the original Woodstock music festival, keeps the music going outside Woodstock, which unabashedly bills itself as “the most famous small town in the world.� It’s a great area to spend a few relaxing days and hear some great music from stars of yesterday and today. This summer’s lineup includes Hall and Oates on June 18; The Doobie Brothers on June 24; Steely Dan on July 9; The Beach Boys and The Temptations on July 15, and Aretha Franklin on July 29. And of course there’s plenty to do and see in Woodstock.

$12 to $23 25 Main St. Cooperstown 2016 Hall of Fame Weekend July 22- 25 Open 7 days a week. Summer hours 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. http://www.baseballhalloffame.com (607) 547-2044 Located in picturesque Cooperstown, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is one of the country’s most popular destinations. First opened in 1939, it holds all of the game’s great treasures from Abner Doubleday to the present, including salutes to the old Negro Leagues and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The 2016 Hall of Fame Weekend will be held July 22-25, with the annual Induction Ceremony scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 24 at 1:30 p.m. Ken Griffey Jr. and Mets catcher Mike Piazza will become the 311th and 312th members inducted into the Hall of Fame. Admission to the Ceremony is free and the Ceremony will be broadcast live on MLB Network. More than 50 Hall of Famers are expected.

JUNE 2-8,2016

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DAY TRIPS IT’S A ZOO IN NEW JERSEY Credit Arturo Paradavila III

TURTLE BACK ZOO Adults: $14. Children and seniors $10. pau Zoological Society brown of New Jersey Credit 560 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, NJ. Daily, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. www.turtlebackzoo.com (973) 731-5801 This 18-acre zoo just 19 miles outside Manhattan, was originally a showcase for animals indigenous to New Jersey, but it now holds features species from every continent except Antarctica including -- new this year, sea lions. You can hike through a natural area of oak, hickory and maple trees and meet such animals as the bobcat, porcupine, falcon, turkey vulture, bald eagle, penguins, wolves, alligators, bears, monkeys, reptiles, otters and animals of the Great Plains. They also offer birthday party celebrations at the Endangered Species Carousel, the Gazebo and the Picnic Area.

A CASTLE ON THE HUDSON

DOWN THE SHORE A DAY AT THE SHORE Jersey Shore towns from Sandy Hook to Wildwood All summer long www.newjerseyshore.com

Jump in the car, hop on the Jersey Shore Ferry or grab a ride on New Jersey transit and head down the Shore for a day – or longer – with your beach chairs, sandals, beach umbrellas, and suntan lotion for a day in the sun. From the relative quiet of Sandy Hook to the family-fun

towns like Manasquan and on LBI, to the honky-tonk of Seaside Heights, Asbury Park, Atlantic City and Wildwood, the Jersey Shore has something for everyone, including fishing day trips, rock concerts or just quite strolls along the beach or boardwalk.

te a i c e r App

The Hudson Valley

BANNERMANN CASTLE Check website for tour dates and prices, which generally start at $35 Glenham, N.Y. 845-834-4200 http://www.bannermancastle. org Bannerman Castle sits on an island that dates back to the Dutch and was a reputed meeting ground for 19th century hookers and their clients. A Scottish-style and armory rose on the once supposedly haunted island in the early 20th century, but was mostly destroyed by an explosion many years ago. It’s still a popular tourist attraction with some special events, like a Bannerman Wine and Cheese Cruise on June 10 and the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival on July 23 and July 24. A 90-minute train ride from Grand Central Terminal to Beacon will get you to a ferry to Pollepel Island for one of the weekend tours. The name Pollepel originated with a legend about a young girl named (Polly) Pell who was rescued from the breaking river ice and brought ashore, where she married the man who saved her.

Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Sit e

r for Cente Fisher s ing Art Per form Bannerman Castle

TANDEM SKYDIVING SKYDIVE NEW JERSEY $195 per person 70 Airport Rd. Pittstown NJ Open daily. http://www.skydivejersey.com “Prepare to have your mind blown,” their web site proclaims. Tandem skydiving in New Jersey bills itself as the safest, most exciting, and easiest way to experience the rush of a free-fall. There’s about an hour of training to pick up the skills to participate in this ride of a lifetime. The package includes a 20- minute plane ride overviews of the scenic Delaware River and the Manhattan and Philadelphia skylines before you are attached to your instructor’s safety harness. There’s 50 seconds of free fall, followed by about a 10-minute descent capped by a gentle landing in the field adjacent to their facility.

FREE TIME? Actually, it’s priceless. Make sure you’re spending it wisely. You don’t need a whole week to the Hudson Valley.

}ö´º²

About an hour from NYC by car, bus or train.

DistinctlyDutchess dutchesstourism.com/travel-itineraries

Fireball Run is coming!

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KIDS

RUNNING AND STUFF CITYPARKS TRACK & FIELD

SERIOUS ART FOR TEENS INTENSIVE ART PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT $750 for month-long daily course July 6 – July 31. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 6 River Terrace www.bpcparks.org This course is designed for serious art students to help them advance their creative skills, learn more about being a professional artist, and develop an art portfolio for applying to specialized art high schools or colleges. Each week, students will explore fundamentals of art and design by creating works of art in drawing, painting, printmaking and more. Students will increase observational and expressive skills by working on site in Battery Park City Park, and take advantage of New York City’s cultural offerings through visits to museums and galleries. Registration required. Call 212267-9700 or email registration@bpcparks. org

JUNE 2-8,2016

A FARM ON FIRST THE ART FARM IN THE CITY $20 drop-in fee. Classes, camps, programs available. 419 E. 91st St. (between York & 1st aves.) www.theartfarms.org (212) 410-3117 Eco-friendly and organic, this is Manhattan’s only indoor petting zoo. It boasts a variety of activities all year around To teach children about nature, animals and how to better care for our planet. We also teach your children about responsibility through caring, loving and being in the company of animals. Their petting zoo has a wide variety of animals including bunnies, chinchillas, guinea pigs, lizards, turtles, birds, tropical ďŹ sh and more. They also offer a summer camp, pre-school, various classes and space for birthday parties. Check the website for more information and about programs and fees.

Cool off this summer with a delicious frozen treat from Mamita’s Ice! WHAT MAKES US GREAT...

We use cane sugar and real fruit! A great frozen treat that is healthy!

For a list of our products and retail locations log on to our website:

MAMITASICES.COM 5) 453&&5 26&&/4 /: r 718-738-3238

Free July 5 – Aug. 10 Mondays and Wednesday 9 a.m. to 10:30 for ages 5 to 7; 10:30 to Noon for kids ages 8 to 16 East River Park Montgomery St. to E. 12th St. and the FDR City Parks Foundation www.cityparksfoundation. CityParks Track & Field gives kids the chance to learn the basics of the sport, from hurdles and relay races to long jump, shot put and javelin throw. They offer weekly lessons with experienced instructors and free use of equipment. The program is open to boys and girls ages 5-16 and runs July and August at East River Park and various other parks throughout the ďŹ ve boroughs. Activities includes long jump, shot put, hurdles, discus, javelin, and track. All registered, participating kids can display their new skills at an organized track meet held at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island at the end of the summer.

VIEW FROM A CASTLE BELVEDERE CASTLE Free Mid- Central Park at 79th Street Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. http://www.centralparknyc.org What a place for a castle – and what a castle it is. Named for the Italian meaning “beautiful view,� Central Park’s Belvedere Castle offers

EVENT FOR A RAINY DAY – OR A NICE ONE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF MANHATTAN $12 for kids and adults; $8 for seniors 212 , 83rd St. Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Extended hours Saturday, open until 7 p.m. www.cmom.org

park goers exactly what its name implies. It has two balconies that provide panoramic views of the Great Lawn, the Ramble and the Delacorte Theater. It’s where the National Weather Service takes daily measurement measurements from the castle’s tower with scientiďŹ c instruments that determine wind speed and direction. You and your kids can use the castle’s ďŹ eld packs that contain binoculars, reference materials, maps and a notepad to jot down observations. It’s also a great place to bird-watch and look for a hawk, kestrel or osprey.

CMOM is a great place to take the kids – rain or shine -- to learn about themselves and our culturally diverse world. There are a host of interactive exhibitions and programs like “America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far,� and a new outdoor exhibit called “Dynamic H2O,� where kids from early childhood on, can hang out, play and learn all about water. CMOM says it serves more than 350,000 people yearly, including 65,000 children who came as part of a school group or with one of the Museum’s community partners.

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SENIORS SAY HELLO, GRACIE

Tired of Hunting for Our Town? Subscribe today to Eastsider

GRACIE MANSION TOURS

SENIOR MOVEMENT SUMMER ON THE HUDSON: SENIOR MOVEMENT Free The Plaza at 66th St. Riverside Park South Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. Riverside Park Conservancy http://www.nycgovparks.org The Riverside Park Conservancy hosts this

Summer on the Hudson with “Dances for a Variable Population” master teacher Naomi Goldberg Haas and members of the intergenerational company as they lead Variable Pop, a dance workshop for seniors of all ages and abilities. It’s a great way to learn how to move in strong and creative ways – and to make new friends and socialize. This class is similar to their Senior Dance class in West Harlem Piers Park.

SENIOR PLANET THE SENIOR PLANET EXPLORATION CENTER Free. Donations accepted 127 W. 25th St., between Sixth and Seventh aves. Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. www.seniorplanet.org Senior Planet offer a variety of weekly presentations and workshops on topics relating to digital technology, along with seminars, talks, and social and cultural events. Check out the calendar for weekly offerings and to register for scheduled workshops, seminars and group sessions.

Free Gracie Mansion Carl Schurz Park East End Ave. and 88th St. The Plaza at 66th St. Riverside Park South Tuesdays, 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. gracieinfo@cityhall.nyc. gov Come by on Tuesdays for a free 50-minute tour to of “The People’s House,” Gracie Mansion, the home of 10 New York City mayors from Fiorello LaGuardia to Bill de Blasio, whose family lives there and who has opened its doors in the spirit of the administration’s motto: one city, rising together. The mayor and First Lady Chirlane McCray have introduced a new art installation, “Windows on the City: Looking Out at Gracie’s New York.” It consists of previously and newly acquired works, all from the original Gracie Mansion period, which have been curated to create a picture of life in New York City while Gracie Mansion was built in 1799.

News of Your Neighborhood that you can’t get anywhere else

Dining Information, plus crime news, real estate prices - all about your part of town

Cultural Events in and around where you live (not Brooklyn, not Westchester)

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NYUSPS SUMMER INTENSIVE COURSES

In as Little as One Week, Acquire the Skills to Differentiate Yourself in the Marketplace This summer, the NYU School of Professional Studies is offering a wide array of professionally focused intensives. Whether your goal is to excel in the competitive job market, to expand your overall marketability by mastering a new skill, or to embark on a journey of personal enrichment, these courses afford the tools and the knowledge base you need to succeed!

Areas of Specialty Include Accounting • Arts • Construction • Design • English Language • Film • Finance • Global Affairs Grantmaking • Hospitality • Humanities • Law • Leadership • Marketing • Philanthropy and Fundraising • Public Relations • Real Estate • Technology • Translation • Writing

Learn from the Pros. Network with Industry Peers. Register Today: sps.nyu.edu/summerintensives04 • 212-998-7150 Information: sps.info@nyu.edu • 212-998-7200

New York University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution. ©2016 NYU School of Professional Studies.

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JUNE 2-8,2016

THE ART OF EVERYDAY LIFE Toys, tools, plates, ceramics and other objects on view at the New-York Historical Society are by turns whimsical and striking BY VIRGE RANDALL

One of the first collections of folk art — if not the first “official” collection — is the focus of an exhibit at the New-York Historical Society. “Making it Modern: The Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman” has an international flair but a local provenance. Perhaps homesick for the “peasant arts” of his native Poland, Elie Nadelman, an avant-garde artist, began acquiring antique items soon after arriving in New York City in 1914. With his 1919 marriage to Viola, a tobaccoheiress, the pair developed an ongoing obsession for antique ephemera of day-to-day life — children’s toys, cigar store displays, bridal boxes, antique tools and the like. They lived with their acquisitions in their East 93rd Street brownstone, according to the show’s co-curator, Roberta Olson, the Historic Society’s curator of drawings. Their shared passion for “peasant arts” of the Old World and the New soon outgrew their home, and in 1926 the couple moved their collection to Riverdale and established The Museum of Folk and Peasant Arts, the first public folk art collection in the United States, according to co-curator Margaret Hofer,

who is also the Historic Society’s museum director. The stock market crash and the Depression led the couple to sell pieces from the collection over the years. The Society purchased its entire collection of 15,000 pieces in 1937. The 200 items on view were chosen to show the intersection of folk art and the modernism typified by Nadleman’s work, examples of which are also included on loan. The show is a wildly diverse selection of tools, toys, store displays, paintings, plates, ceramics and household items, sharing exuberant colors, individuality, simple forms and whimsy. Items are arranged to emphasize the relationship between the simple and the playful, and Nadelman’s own sculptures of dancing ladies, circus girls and ringmasters (there’s more than a hint of Modigliani in the elongated forms of his figures). Much of the show’s charm, though, comes from the glimpse of the tools and amusements of daily life across six centuries and 13 different countries, plus some with a distinct New York City flavor. Standouts include a 19th century tobacco shop display figure rendered as a sailor. Alone among the four shop display figures in the show, the sailor most resembles an actual person, from his jaunty cap and beard to his casual stance in bell-bottom pants. The four intricately carved tobacco shop statues

are a nod to the art in commerce and to how Viola’s family made its money. (“And Elie was a smoker,” Olsen noted.) Also striking is a collection of about a dozen mostly American mechanical toys and banks, including one, inspired by Tammany Hall scandals, that activates once a coin in placed in the hand of the seated figure ... who puts it in his pocket. A selection of pottery and ceramics is remarkable. From a plate praising Andrew Jackson for president to a simple, and very modern, brown glazed plate that says “Apple Pie” — none would look out of place on Etsy. A touching collection of beautifully hand-drawn and painted paper dolls made by a Canadian mother for her children, showing women in period dress doing chores like hanging laundry is lovely. It took two years of surveying the collection of 15,000 objects to settle on the 200 items, and the curators were careful to include a crosssection from the meaningful — colorful bridal boxes and samplers — to the humdrum — clothespins, cheese strainers, even an early example of a roach hotel. All of the items, though, share detail in design, individuality, even verve. One of the Society’s goals was to make a significant contribution to the field of folk art studies, but any visitor curious about day-today living of bygone eras will enjoy it too.

Elie Nadelman, “Dancer (Danseuse),” ca. 1920–22. Jewish Museum. © Estate of Elie Nadelman.

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AN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S AWAKENING

MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH presents

The Marble Community Gospel Choir in Concert

TO DO BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO

When Robert Battle created “Awakening” for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, his first work as the company’s artistic director, he drew upon his experience of seeing a performance by the company as a child in Miami, but also considered his role and those who held it before him. “I was also thinking of leadership being somewhat of an awakening, almost like a baptism,” he said. “You know, that sense of being born out of the community, out of the collective.” Battle discusses the piece, which premiered last year, its bold lighting and the score by his friend John Mackey. “Awakening” is part of the company’s program at Lincoln Center from June 8-19.

Stacy Penson, Director

Sunday, June 12 at 3:00pm

Admission: $20 at door | $15, students & seniors Save $5 by ordering in advance online at MarbleChurch.org

1 West 29th Street / New York, New York 10001 / 212 686 2770 / MarbleChurch.org

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

THE PERFORMANCE The first section is very chaotic, very disturbing almost, as if something cataclysmic had taken place, and then you see dancers running in different directions, not sure where they’re running to or running from. I think of that as a theme that we see nowadays in our own politics in our own country. In a sense of who is the enemy. But then the leader is born out of that chaos. Then the second section is almost the ritual of that rite of passage, of taking that mantle. So in that way it has a primal nature, a ritualistic nature.

THE SCORE This particular score, it’s [composer John Mackey’s] first symphony for marching band, which I thought was a wonderful foray for him into something different and new in his work. And it reminds me very much at times of Stravinsky. Kind of fantastic, rhythmic, at some times primal, sultry. It has a folk kind of feel to it, some of the themes in the score. But it’s also at times abrasive and brash and I wanted that power, that power in the dance. What I often do with his music is I get the score, so I’m using it in my hand as I’m listening and

ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Jamar Roberts in Robert Battle’s “Awakening.” Photo: Paul Kolnik I’m choreographing and it feels like you’re holding the words of the composer in your hand, like their diary or something. And then if I can follow that and try to reveal that to the audience along with my own narrative it works best that way for me.

IF YOU GO WHAT: “Awakening” by Robert Battle WHERE: David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza WHEN: June 15 at 7:30 p.m.; June 18 at 8 p.m. Tickets $25-$150 at 212496-0600 or alvinailey.org THE LIGHTING Before I really choreographed the dance, I let [lighting supervisor Al Crawford] have the music. So he went away and started to work on the lighting

in his own mind from hearing the score before he even saw the dance, which is something we don’t often do but we thought it would be fun to do it that way. And he thought that the lighting should be very much a presence, that it has its own language, that it wasn’t just about illuminating parts of the piece or where they are on stage. That’s a part of it, but it also makes its own statement. The backdrop really plays a part. In this first section, he just has this sort of slit of light in the back that sort of represents hope perhaps, an awakening, a crack in the atmosphere, but then it closes before they can go through it, metaphorically speaking. And then the second section has hundreds of small lights so there are more cracks in the atmosphere, but it also represents the energy of the dancers. It’s almost as if those were other sort of souls that the light represents.

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

Rembrandt’s First Masterpiece

FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD, 6:30PM Morgan Library | 225 Madison Ave. | 212-685-0008 | themorgan.org Per Rumberg, Curator, The Royal Academy of Arts, gives an illustrated talk in celebration of Judas Returning the Thirty Pieces of Silver, being shown for the first time ever in the U.S. (Free with museum admission)

Running with Rhinos: Stories From a Radical Conservationist

MONDAY, JUNE 6TH, 6PM The Explorers Club | 6 E. 70th St. | 212-628-8383 | explorers.org Philanthropist and conservationist Ed Warner details his adventures in Africa and his efforts to save a vulnerable animal (some 1,200 rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa last year). ($25)

Just Announced: The Great Love Debate: Why Is Everyone Still Single?

MONDAY, JUNE 6TH, 8PM Stand Up NY | 236 W. 78th St. | 212-595-0850 | standupny.com 100 men. 100 women. One big debate. Catch a town hall-style confab facilitated by four experts, including the authors of Date-Onomics and Tales From the Shallow End of the Manhattan Dating Pool. Genders will be segregated across the aisle. ($20 plus drink minimum)

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

sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.

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HOMELESS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ing,” providing a place for AFC’s clients to sleep and get back on their feet. Each apartment is usually a three- to fourbedroom unit with two beds in each room, although some people get lucky and snag a single. Residents must be enrolled in school or have a job (or both). They have household chores and a 10 p.m. curfew. AFC counselors make sure they’re seeing the doctors they need, help high school students apply to college, and college students find internships and prepare for the workplace. The staff in the transitional housing apartments also encourage residents to pay “rent,” a monthly deposit into a savings account to clients have a financial cushion when they leave. Moore now lives in one of these apartments in Harlem, where he sleeps on a bunk bed in a bedroom facing Broadway. Through AFC, he’s had internships at the Museum of Modern Art and the TriBeCa Film Institute, and on the day we met, he had an interview at H&M, which he was confident he would nail. The apartment supervisor advised him to make our meeting brief so he wouldn’t be late. “The MTA is not our friend!” she said. Skye Adrian came to New York from Jamaica to study aerospace technology at Vaugh College in Queens, but when his parents found out he was gay just one semester into school, they stopped supporting him. When he could no longer live in the dorms, he started exchanging sex for shelter, food, and money. Adrian lives in the same apartment as Moore in an adjacent room, but because he’s not a U.S. citizen, he’s not able to work and doesn’t yet qualify for most student aid. He is, however, in the process of applying for asylum status through an organization AFC clients have access to called the Urban Justice Center, a legal assistance organization for groups of vulnerable New York City residents. In the meantime, he volunteers at ACT UP, a longstanding advocacy group for victims of HIV/AIDS. When his paperwork comes through, he wants to go back to school parttime to become an airline pilot. Besides the Ali Forney Center, several other organizations do a share of the work. Sylvia’s Place, a charity at Metropolitan Community Church on West 36th Street between Dyer and 10th Avenues, pro-

JUNE 2-8,2016

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com vides 14 emergency beds on a first-come, first-serve basis, plus case work services and a medical clinic provided by Columbia University residents on Wednesday evenings. On Christopher Street, Kate Barnhart, a long-time activist for the LGBT community with an arrest record to prove it (she has been part of a multitude of LGBT-rights-oriented protests in the 80’s and 90’s) runs a drop-in center for LGBT youths

overcrowded and lacked proper licensing, with clients sleeping on the floor. “I spent one night there and then got the hell out,” said Michael Polo, a homeless gay youth from Queens. When asked to elaborate, he said, “Let’s just say the subway is a lot safer place to sleep.” William Moran-Berberena, the executive director of the church’s charity programs, agreed to an interview but would not allow a viewing of

more waiting lists, which fell on deaf ears. “Their response was to tell us who we should take money away from to give to homeless kids,” Siciliano said. “It was like talking to a brick wall.” When Mayor de Blasio took office in January 2014, he committed to fund 100 new beds that year, and did so the following year as well. Since then he has also committed to add an additional 300 beds, bringing

Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center called New Alternatives, where she, an intern, and a few volunteers provide case work, meals, clothing, and toiletries to her clients out of the rectory of St. John’s Lutheran Church.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished All of these organizations are plagued with problems. St. John’s church has asked Barnhart to vacate the space by the end of June because the church needs it for its own program. Barnhart doesn’t pay rent for the space, so she’ll have to find somewhere else that will allow her to do the work in a similar low-cost way. Even when she does, she laments that once her organization is gone, there will be nearly no services for LGBT youths near where many of the more street-involved clients choose to spend time and sleep at the Christopher Street pier. Sylvia’s Place, too, has struggled; in 2011, The New York Times reported that it was

the space, and said they are still wary of media attention after the Times article. At Ali Forney, there is almost always a waiting list to get a place to sleep that’s not a cot in the common room; if you’re 16–20 years old, the wait is about two weeks; if you’re 21–24, the wait can be as long as six months. On the day I first spoke with Carl Siciliano, AFC’s executive director, there were 230 people on the waiting list. The problem is three-fold: first, the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development doesn’t provide the Ali Forney Center (or any other organization) enough funding to get all homeless LGBT youths an immediate bed. In 2011, Siciliano and a group of LGBT advocates pushed the Bloomberg administration to commit to funding 100 additional beds per year for LGBT homeless youths until there were no

his total to an additional 500 since the Bloomberg administration, and bringing the grand total to 750 LGBT-dedicated beds. But of the 300 beds added thus far, 110 of them have gone to Covenant House, a sevenfloor complex spanning the distance of 10th Avenue between West 40th and 41st Streets that is not LGBT-exclusive and is known for being dangerous. Before finding the Ali Forney Center, Moore said he went to Covenant House and began filling out an intake form when he heard screaming in the vicinity. Eventually a fight broke out and a young man brandished a knife, at which point Moore abandoned the intake form and slept on the street. The federal Runaway Youth Act requires that shelter for people under the age of 18 be in units with 20 beds or less, but in an effort to get young people

off the street, Covenant House has a waiver from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, the licensing body for shelters for minors, that allows them to operate a youth shelter with many more beds per room than what is normally allowed. And although he is pleased that youths are getting a bed, Siciliano is critical of the state giving the funding to facilities like Covenant House that can house people immediately, rather than taking the time to look for providers who can house clients in a smaller, more home-like and nurturing way. “When you have 350 people in a facility, it’s just nothing like what it is when you’ve got 20 beds or less. It’s wildly divergent from what was intended and defined as safe and protective for young people. My concern is not so much with Covenant House, per se, but rather the city and state for being able to overlook that protective measure,” he said. Covenant House also recently came under fire from a New York Times article on May 17 reporting on complaints that Covenant House was inflating the number of people it serves in order to secure a development deal with the city. Nancy Downing, the general counsel for Covenant House, was unavailable for comment, despite repeated requests. There is a particular dearth of beds for young adults aged 21– 24. Though technically adults and essentially treated as such by the system, many are not developmentally equipped for adult shelters, which are part of an entirely different program run by the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS). Moran-Berberena said that while they technically are adults, many LGBT homeless people aged 21–24 still need youth services. “A lot of our clients are not ready to survive and fend for themselves. Many suffer from drug addiction, have been involved in sex work, and just don’t have the daily life skills that we take for granted.” The beds that are available for young people in the 21–24 age range are usually funded instead by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), but they only make up a small fraction of the total beds available, with the majority going to younger people. Barnhart called the city’s funding for 21–24-year-olds “anemic” and added, “Over the years there hasn’t been an investment in our homelessness infrastructure … It’s a reflec-

tion of the problem that people just don’t care about the [LGBT homeless youth] population.”

Moving Forward Mark Zustovich, a representative for DYCD wrote in an email that a change in state law would be necessary for DYCD funding to go to beds designated for youths aged 21–24. In the meantime, he said, “The de Blasio administration is committed to expanding services to support this population in the DHS system.” The Ali Forney Center did, in fact, honor de Blasio at an event on April 27 for his work in expanding funding for LGBT homeless youth, to the extent that the law currently allows, but also pressed him to do more for those in the 21–24 age group. Adrian, who is nearing his 21st birthday, told the mayor that he wasn’t sure where he’ll go when he turns 21 and ages out of the DYCD-funded 16–20-year-old housing. The mayor later said at the event, “I really appreciate the focus today on young people in the 21 to 24-year-old range … You have also now gotten my full attention that there is more work to do … So, now I have a new mission – to go farther on that front.” A bill recently introduced in the New York legislature would raise the state’s definition of “homeless youth” to include persons under the age of 25. A group of seven senators from the Children and Families Committee will need to review the bill before allowing it be voted on in the Senate. While things may be looking up for some of those who are already homeless, the problem is larger than simply providing services for them. It rests, rather, in the fact that children from conservative backgrounds are being thrown out in the first place. “Lately I’ve heard a lot of talk about ending LGBT youth homelessness,” Siciliano said. “I would love to end it too, but given how the numbers just keep going up, I think there are some basic trends in our society that are going to make this a tough problem to solve … I think the conservative religious communities feel more isolated from the mainstream and feel angrier, more disenfranchised and more likely to have hostile responses to their LGBT children. I don’t see that dynamic ending anytime soon. “As long as we see these veryoften religious-driven hostilities, this is going to continue to be a serious problem.”

JUNE 2-8,2016

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Officers from the 19th Precinct hand out road safety flyers to passers-by at the corner of East 79th Street and First Avenue as part of Vision Zero and a collaboration with Councilman Ben Kallos’ office. Photo: Madeleine Thompson

BICYCLISTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Deputy Inspector Clint McPherson, recently installed as the precinct’s commanding officer, addressed the ticketing issue at a community council meeting in early May. McPherson said the 19th Precinct gives out the second-highest number of tickets to cyclists in the city, just behind the 17th, in midtown. Last week’s focus on cycling was also a collaboration with Councilmembers Ben Kallos’ and Dan Garodnick’s offices, which collectively represent the area from about East 92nd Street to about East 34th Street and have prioritized bike safety, and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero program. The 19th Precinct first handed out pamphlets and then switched to handing out tickets. On Thursday afternoon, they estimated that they had issued around 100 tickets during the previous two days. The officers present declined to comment on the record, but expressed their understanding for and awareness of community concerns. Kallos’ office has been prioritizing bike safety since he took office in 2014, and reports significant improvement. A recent press release announcing the expansion of the bike safety program to cover Midtown East touted a 15 percent decrease in bike and pedestrian collisions as of August 2015, and a 52 percent increase in enforcement. “One of the top complaints I get in the district is about bikes,” said Kallos, who added that he was “deeply disappointed” by the community board’s continued inaction on bike lanes. “On

the flip side, people on bicycles feel that pedestrians are not respecting the bike lanes. ... We are spending a lot of time working with motorists, cyclists and pedestrians on education and sharing the road.” Email reporter Madeleine Thompson at newsreporter@strausnews.com

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YOUR 15 MINUTES

To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to ourtownny.com/15 minutes

THE DRAMA OF NEW YORK REAL ESTATE Q&A Michael Satow on acting in a show about one of our greatest passions BY HEATHER E. STEIN

In Manhattan, few subjects get more air time than real estate, so the idea of a Broadway show about a real estate broker seems like a no-brainer. “A Better Place,” now playing at the Duke, explores New Yorkers’ lust for real estate, and the envy that emerges when they realize they may not have enough. Michael Satow, one of the play’s actors, talks about his own path to the show and what he’s learned about real estate in New York.

What inspired you to be an actor? I think I’ve pretty much wanted to be an actor since I knew what that was. Maybe before. I have memories of watching movies when I was five years old, and asking my parents if I could be in the sequel. I remember doing q g that with “Terminator 2.” Why my parents let me watch that movie at five I have no idea. But I remember really latching on to the characters. And I asked my parents a few days later if I could be in “Terminator 3.” They said something like, “Um, sure, but we have no idea how to help you with that.” So I didn’t start acting in actual plays or anything until I was about 12.

This production is the world premiere of Wendy Beckett’s newest play. What is the rehearsal process like working on a brand-new show? We were blessed to have a long g rehearsal process for this play. I’m used to getting anywhere from two to three and a half weeks to put up a show, and I think on “A Better Place” we got close to five. It was a luxury. So we spent some time workshopping it, making sure we were all on the same page with the story. Evan

and Wendy would get together and discuss possible changes. It’s a great group of pros, the cast and creative team. Everyone was constantly coming in with ideas, but at the same time we had to go with the flow as the play morphed. We spent a lot of time in the room trying to figure out the right tone. We’d spend a week coming at it as a broad, almost farce-like comedy. Then we’d spend a week making it really simple and intimate. As with many new plays, we had to find the style. I think we found a happy middle ground that allows the comedic beats their time to shine, while also letting things get smaller for the touching moments.

In the show you play opposite Carol, a 28-year-old only child with her father’s love of real estate but no desire to earn her own way in the world. What has it been like developing that working relationship with your co-star? I’d say about 90% of what I do in this play is try to seduce Carol. It often gets physical, and when that hap-

pens it becomes necessary to get very specific about what you’re doing. It’s just like stage combat. When you’re rolling around on the floor, you don’t want to take an elbow to the eye, so it all has to be worked out with precision. There was a lot of,, “Okay, can we stop for a second? Now, after I slap your ass, are you going to turn your head when you moan? And when you pinch my nipples, can you hold them for just a beat longer?” It requires a lot of specificity, as well as the ability to keep a straight face.

Did you have any previous experience with real estate or the world of brokers before joining the cast? I have never been a broker, but like most New Yorkers, I’ve had plenty of experience in the world of real estate. It’s something that comes up all the time in conversation. Where do you live? How’s the neighborhood? An elevator? Wow! Laundry in the building? I hate you. How much is your rent? Don’t talk to me, I pay

twice that for a studio. It’s standard cocktail party fare. I do know several actors who have either become brokers or do it on the side to supplement their income. I think it’s a world that an actor can do well in. You have to be able to read people, and the most effective brokers I’ve seen are able to paint a picture for you or sell you on a story, instead of just the four walls.

The play explores its characters’ all-toofamiliar impulse to keep an eye on what the neighbors are up to. Have you ever seen something interesting through a neighbor’s window? Oddly enough, I had never really had an experience with this, until the night before the first rehearsal for this play. I was getting ready for bed, and I looked out the window. Across the way, there was a woman sitting by her window, sipping from her mug, just staring at me. Just sipping and watching. I took it as a good omen.

Where in NYC are you living? Have you seen things differently at home now that you have done this play? My wife and I have lived up in Washington Heights for a couple of years now. It’s quiet, away from the hustle and bustle, and there’s just a bit more space. We like to call it Upstate Manhattan. We hear birds in the spring, and not just pigeons! Yesterday morning there was an enormous hawk outside our kitchen window. I mean huge. And our window was wide open. It made this loud screech and flew away. But I’ve stayed all over the city. Inwood, East Harlem, Queens (where I was born), Murray Hill, Clinton Hill, even Far Rockaway. I think it’s a major point of this play, and is true in life, that you always have to sacri-

fice for the things you want. It could be a smaller space for better views, or working two jobs to live in a “hot” neighborhood.

Living in a city that’s saturated with real estate brokers, did you feel a certain pressure portraying one on stage? As I said, I’ve met my share of brokers, and I’m friends with several of them. I think brokers that come to see this show probably have a sense of humor about their profession, and have heard all the clichés. I play brokers with varying levels of expertise and to varying levels of absurdity. It’s my hope that people (both brokers and civilians) will recognize certain characteristics they’ve seen in their own apartment hunting. Probably not the sex scenes, but you never know.

What advice can you give New Yorkers when it comes to their real estate broker and what they see out their window? Know what your priorities are. Ask questions. Don’t feel pressured if you’re not positive. There are plenty of apartments in the city. You may look at 50, or just one. You know when you’ve found the place. And if you look out your window and see me, give me a wave, I’m used to it now. “A Better Place” runs through June 11 at The Duke at 229 W. 42nd St., between 7th and 8th avenues. For more information, go to abetterplaceplay.com

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