Our Town - September 5, 2019

The local paper for the Upper pper East Side Sid TOP DOGS

◄ CITY ARTS, P.12

WEEK OFOF WEEK SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER

5-11 5-sep2019

CPW BIKE LANE TURMOIL ROLLS ON STREETS

As tensions remain high on the Upper West Side, new bike lanes are planned for Amsterdam Avenue and two crosstown streets in the 50s

BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM

Two hundred parking spaces have vanished from a nearly mile-long stretch along Central Park West in the name of bike safety – and two hundred more are slated to follow.

The catalyst for construction of the protected bike lane that is replacing the spots was the death of a 23year-old Australian tourist last year. Madison Jane Lyden was cycling north near 67th Street when a liv-

ery cab pulled into the bike lane, causing her to swerve into traffic where she was struck and killed.

But despite Lyden’s death, and the 18 cyclists killed in the city so far this year, the addition of the protected bike lane, and removal of parking spaces, has become a fraught issue for residents living along the street -- particularly for those who live in the Century Condo building at 25 Central Park West.

The condominium’s board filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing the bike lane installation would cause “a wide-spread and comprehensive change to the traffic patterns on Central Park West.” The board also claimed the bike lane could

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

INSIDE

CANNABIS AND TEENS An expert advises parents on how to talk to their kids about marijuana. p. 21

EAST HARLEM GAINS A NATIONAL HISTORIC DISTRICT The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in a repertory performance of “The Legend of Ten.” The venerable Times Square-based company, founded in 1968, can’t even calculate exactly how much it lost in donor funds at the hands of NYCharities.org because it has no idea how many one-time contributions it never received. Photo: Chris Duggan / Lar Lubovitch Dance Company

DANCE OF DECEPTION FRAUD

A widening scandal that has stripped the city’s nonprofits of charitable assets has battered the performing arts sector – and hit the financially vulnerable dance community particularly hard.

BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN

A “ghost bike” memorial was dedicated to Madison Jane Lyden last year, at the site of her death on CPW. Photo: Michael Garofalo

The executive director of Dance/NYC frames the issue bluntly: A loss of $5,000 to $10,000 in donor revenue can take a small Manhattan dance company “from the black to the red.”

Unfortunately, says Alejan-

dra Duque Cifuentes, at least five local dance companies have incurred losses in that range – and at least one ended the fiscal year with a deficit for the first time in its long history.

The culprit is NYCharities.org, an online fundraising platform relied on by hundreds of nonprofits, including scores of cultural organizations, to process and disburse charitable donations from the public.

That lifeline abruptly went dark. As reported by Straus News in a page one story on Aug. 29, “Heartless Attack on Heart of New York,” it ended operations, closed its office at 50 Broadway, cut off all comWEEK OF AUGUST

08-14

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Restaurant Ratings 14 Business 16 Real Estate 17 15 Minutes 21

2019

munications and stopped re-

“We live or die by our donations.”

Elizabeth Fort, general manager of Tribeca-based Doug Varone and Dancers

leasing the funds it owed its nonprofit clients.

With claims of unpaid contributions ranging from $200 to $100,000-plus – and over 100 complaints from charities and individuals over the egiving portal’s failure to dis-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

has seen a surge Five years in, NYC and uctuating in cyclist deaths – and motorist numbers of pedestrian fatalities

BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM

year that saw 299 In 2014, after a traffic-related incipeople killed in Mayor Bill de Bladents in the city, eliminate all traffic sio set out to

CONTINUED ON PAGE

6

AT LAST

WOODSTOCK SOJOURN an NYPD judge recommend at City Hall after Photography Office holds a press conference Appleton/Mayoral Mayor Bill de Blasio 2019. Photo: Michael Friday, August 2,

firing Officer Daniel

Pantaleo on

THE BILLY AND GILLY SHOW

Kamala HarWarren, Cory Booker, and Bernie debates,” longris, Amy Klobuchar for the September Pete strategist George Sanders, South Bend Mayor time Democratic doesn’t have former Texas Rep. Artz says. “De Blasioare way down Buttigieg and both Beto O’Rourke. the donors, and close, but none of A few others are in the polls.”

Hank Sheinde Blasio or GilliPolitical consultant that either them are named kopf says it’s “50-50” “Any- brand. returned reBY STUART MARQUES will make the next round: Neither campaign but they’re not quests for comment. thing can happen, agree that Warde Blasio faced to qualify.”

Pundits generally When Mayor Bill held off the more Gillibrand – likely a minimum of Candidates need to ren and Sanderson the first night. off with Sen. Kirsten Democratic presi- 130,000 unique donors and have moderate field and eight other in four qualigot high marks on – on July 31, it Booker and Yang and hit at least 2 percent dential hopefuls the last Billy candidates have the second night, but Biden a might have marked presidential fying polls. Eight the polls. and are assured at the are still ahead in hit those marks and Gilly Show largely igon Sept. 12 Harris Gillibrand Houston and in De Blasio debates. ei- spot onstage Presiawful tough for are former Vice 18 “It’s going to be and and 13. They Senators Elizabeth CONTINUED ON PAGE get the donors dent Joe Biden, ther of them to needed to qualify polling numbers”

POLITICS

dim for Presidential prospects Democratic New Yorkers on the debate stage

C i e Watch

PORT AUTHORITY PLANS The 69-year-old facility will be the subject of a public hearing. p. 6

Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset.

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◄ 15 MINUTES,

INSIDE

SAFETY

Entrepreneurs gather to share ideas for high-tech products for pets and pet owners. p. 18

Eastsider just For East Side residents, major having access is a accomplishment. p.5

IS VISION ZERO WORKING?

THE FUTURE IS FURRY

‘MY HANDS ARE OUTSTRETCHED’ P. 19

f d h e s, p gs ng st ts alng ish ass eel

SUTTON PARK,

chair of the City Ydanis Rodriguez, committee, Council’s transportation street s afety on speaks at a rally for steps of City Hall legislation on the McCarten/NYC May 8. Photo: John Council

The long-sought designation will help the neighborhood preserve its character as redevelopment pressures grow p. 14

3

14 Restaurant Ratings 16

day Jon Friedman on a 8 love and music. p.

of peace,

SURVIVNG YOUR SUMMER COLD

seasonal How to deal with thefeel worse virus that makes usp. 2 than a winter bug.

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SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

OVERDOSE DEATHS DOWN IN NYC HEALTH

The general trend is positive, but fatalities are up among New Yorkers aged 55 to 84 ASSOCIATED PRESS

Overdose deaths in New York City declined slightly last year after years of alarming increases, health officials said.

There were 1,444 fatal overdoses citywide last year, down 2.6% from 2017, according to data the city Health Department is releasing Monday. The number had been rising since 2010, when it was a comparatively low 541. ``The decrease in drug overdose deaths is promising,‘’ Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said in a statement, ``but far too many New Yorkers are still dying.’’

Indeed, fatal overdoses rose last year in some demographics and areas: in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, and among 55-to-84year-olds, for instance.

The overdose numbers don’t include suicides or homicides, if there

were any.

The overall downturn mirrors what appears to be a national trend: The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that preliminary numbers show U.S. overdose deaths last year likely fell for the first time in nearly three decades.

The U.S. has been experiencing its deadliest drug overdose epidemic, fueled by an opioid abuse crisis that began with prescription painkillers and has seen an increased use of street drugs such as heroin and illicit fentanyl.

About 80% of New York City’s overdose deaths last year involved some form of opioid, the health department said. Cocaine was a factor in over half the deaths. The percentages add up to more than 100 because many lethal overdoses involve multiple substances.

Around the country, officials have tried to combat the overdose epidemic with a range of strategies: tougher policing, treatment program expansion, limitations on opioid painkiller prescribing and wider distribution of the overdosereversing drug naloxone, among

Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray announce a $22 million annual investment to expand HealingNYC, the citywide plan to combat the opioid epidemic, in March 2018. Photo: NYC Mayor’s Office via Flickr

other steps.

Experts have said a surge in naloxone prescriptions, particularly, could be a reason that deadly overdoses have stopped rising nation-

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New York City has distributed 230,000 naloxone kits in two years and has conducted overdose prevention training in hundreds of commu-

nities, pharmacies and other places, the health department said. Officials also have trained 1,800 physicians to qualify to prescribe the anti-addiction drug buprenorphine.

SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG STATS FOR THE WEEK

BAR FIGHT

Reported crimes from the 19th precinct for the week ending Aug 25

A violent altercation took place at Weir bar and restaurant at Third Ave. and 94th St. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, according to police, after a bar employee asked a group that had been asking customers for money to leave the establishment. Among the group was an 18-year-old male, who turned and punched the employee in his left eye after being asked to leave, police said. The man fled the scene and headed north on Third Ave. The employee, 55, suffered a swollen eye and a bloody nose.

ARREST IN ANIMAL ABUSE CASE Police arrested Jason R. Gordon, 43, for allegedly torturing and injuring an animal on Wednesday, Aug. 21, after being accused of mistreating his dog months ago.

According to police, a doorman at 515 East 72nd St. witnessed Gordon allegedly throwing his dog against the wall of the lobby and kicking the dog in the head on the evening of Mar. 19. The doorman reported the incident to the building manager who then reported it to police.

Week to Date

Year to Date

2019

2018 % Change

2019

2018 % Change

0 0

0 0

n/a n/a

0 12

1 10

-100.0 20.0

8 4

0 2

n/a 100.0

100 92

98 99

2.0 -7.1

Grand Larceny

1 32

2 17

-50.0 88.2

139 1,017

153 926

-9.2 9.8

Grand Larceny Auto

2

3

-33.3

31

47

-34.0

Murder Rape Robbery Felony Assault Burglary

Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr

UNATTENDED VEHICLE STOLEN

At nine minutes after midnight on Sunday, Aug. 25, a 48-year-old man was buying water inside the 76 Gourmet Deli at 1448 First Ave. between East 76th St. and East 75th St. after leaving his SUV running outside the store. When he came out of the deli he saw his car being driven away by an unknown suspect heading north on First Ave. The victim told police he didn’t get a good look at the perpetrator. The stolen vehicle was a black 2017

BMW X5 with New York plates JBB9061, valued at $35,000.

WINE SCAM ARREST Louis Freda was arrested on charges of grand larceny, resisting arrest and criminal impersonation after allegedly trying to scam a restaurant out of a large shipment of wine. According to police, Freda, 48, entered Patsy’s Pizzeria at 206 East 60th St. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, saying he worked for Southern Glazer’s beverage distributor and had been sent to pick up an order that was

ORCHESTRA MODERNE NYC AMY ANDERSSON, CONDUCTOR

delivered to Patsy’s by mistake. The order was made up of five boxes of wine valued at $6,300. As he was attempting to leave Patsy’s with the wine, he was approached by police, who later said Freda had placed the fraudulent order himself. Police said Freda tried to resist arrest, swinging his arms and running approximately half a block before he was apprehended by the officers.

CELL PHONE SNATCHED

walking north on Lexington Ave. at the corner of east 80th St. when an unknown man came from behind and grabbed her cell phone from her right back pocket before fleeing east on 80th St., police said. The victim ran after the suspect until he turned and displayed a knife with an orange handle, and said, “Stop following me!” The victim suffered no injuries, but a search of the neighborhood for the suspect and the stolen phone proved fruitless. The phone was an iPhone XS Max valued at $1,100.

On Sunday, Aug. 25, a woman was

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Useful Contacts

NYPD 19th Precinct

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153 E. 67th St.

212-452-0600

159 E. 85th St. 157 E. 67th St.

311

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1836 Third Ave.

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221 E. 75th St.

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CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Keith Powers Councilmember Ben Kallos

211 E. 43rd St. #1205

212-818-0580

244 E. 93rd St.

212-860-1950

1916 Park Ave. #202

212-828-5829

1850 Second Ave. 360 E. 57th St.

212-490-9535 212-605-0937

1485 York Ave.

212-288-4607

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505 Park Ave. #620

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100 E. 77th St. 525 E. 68th St.

212-434-2000 212-746-5454

E. 99th St. & Madison Ave. 550 First Ave. 4 Irving Place

212-241-6500 212-263-7300 212-460-4600

STATE LEGISLATORS State Sen. Jose M. Serrano State Senator Liz Krueger Assembly Member Dan Quart Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright

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CON EDISON POST OFFICES US Post Office US Post Office

1283 First Ave. 1617 Third Ave.

212-517-8361 212-369-2747

201 Varick St. 128 East Broadway 93 4th Ave.

212-645-0327 212-267-1543 212-254-1390

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PUBLIC HEARING ON PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL PLANS TRANSPORTATION

The future of the 69-year-old facility will be the only topic at the mandated session

BY JASON COHEN

New Yorkers will get to weigh in this week on a trio of options for the transformation of the Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT), the nation’s largest bus terminal. On Thursday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will hold a hearing at the Westin Hotel Times Square, at 270 West 43rd St., between Seventh and Eighth Aves.

There will be presentations at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. A meeting will also take place in New Jersey.

The Manhattan hearing falls within the Port Authority’s 120-day period to solicit comment from the public. The first two such meetings, one in each state, were held July 10. The deadline for public comment is Sept. 18.

The project, which is expected to cost $7.5 to $10 billion, is anticipated to be finished by 2030.

The goal is to address capacity constraints and operational limitations of the existing facility, and to improve bus storage and staging to reduce bus idling, on-street congestion and improve bus network reliability.

The existing terminal was built in 1950 and expanded in 1981. The terminal now serves an estimated 260,000 passenger trips on weekdays, or 23 percent of trans-Hudson trips entering or exiting Manhattan’s central business district, and 8,000 bus movements.

Demand is expected to increase by 30 percent, with up to 337,000 weekday passenger trips by 2040.

In May, the Port Authority released a planning-level scoping document for public review and comment as part of the environmental review process. According to the scoping document, there are three options in play for the bus terminal, which stretches from West 40th to West 42nd Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.

Repair and operate the terminal at the same time.

This option would maintain connectivity to the Lincoln Tunnel in essentially the present configuration; the addition of a new Ninth Avenue underpass would provide direct connection from the Lower Level to the Lincoln Tunnel network to improve trans-Hudson bus operations.

It also provides direct accessibility for passengers with the existing subway, totaling 12 lines. Furthermore, this alternative would provide an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant facility and accommodate modern day bus design, while providing more efficient circulation.

The Build-in-Place Alternative includes the potential development of a portion of the PABT site for private commercial development.

Convert the lower level of the Jacob Javits Convention Center into a bus terminal.

Storage and staging as well as intercity bus operations could be provided in the Javits lower level for this alternative. Additionally, this option includes the potential

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private commercial development of the existing PABT site.

This alternative would be challenging from a design and construction perspective due to the following factors: Proposed Lincoln Tunnel extensions would be problematic as they would require the likely shutdown of lanes and full tunnel tubes.

The construction would also violate the “grandfathered” status of the Lincoln Tunnel’s existing ventilation system; require significant investment in replacing the system.

Construction would require the raising of the Westside Highway, which would also likely require shoring and underpinning of a highway that is the only major capacity roadway on the west side of Manhattan. Development would occur on an existing pier, which would require additional in-water construction and extensive permitting actions.

This alternative, at a minimum, requires the approval of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation (NYCCOC).

Relocate some bus operations to the lower level of the Javits center Storage and staging as well as intercity bus operations would be provided in the lower level of the existing Javits Center for this alternative.

The alternative assumes commuter buses would continue to use a newly renovated (as opposed to reconstructed) PABT facility; thus there is no opportunity for potential development on the existing PABT site.

The viability of this assumed renovation appears problematic and potentially impracticable due to the inability to achieve or address the following: Meeting Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements without reducing capacity. Accommodating heavier, taller, and longer buses. Incorporating new building, bus operation and passenger technologies. (eg. wayfinding, signage, ticketing) Providing the adequate amount of passenger queuing

Under one of the three proposed plans, the bus terminal would be moved to the Jacob Javits Convention Center and the existing site could become available for private commercial development. Photo: David Noonan

space at gates and within the facility.

Accommodating more flexible floor plate and a more efficient gate configuration.

This alternative requires the approval of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation (NYCCOC), at a minimum.

“We are committed to building the replacement Bus Terminal and to do so in full consultation with the community, with elected officials in both New York and New Jersey, and with all stakeholders,” said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton in a statement in May.

In the Meantime While the process to build a new bus terminal is continuing, the Port Authority has undertaken an aggressive $110 million Quality of Commute program to enhance the customer experience at the existing facility. The initiatives include new and enhanced retail, new bathrooms, new doors at the terminal’s Eighth Avenue entrance, new lighting and ceiling and improved elevators and escalators. The Port Authority also has partnered with bus operators on operational changes that have reduced crowding within the terminal and relieved conges-

tion caused by buses on nearby streets.

The growth in bus demand to the PABT facility and passenger activity at the bus terminal has been growing rapidly. Regional forecasts from the Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO)— New York Metropolitan Transportation Council’s Best Practices Model (NYMTC BPM) and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority’s (NJTPA) North Jersey Regional Transportation Model (NJRTM), both from 2013, indicated that passenger activity at the PABT would rise to 337,000 per day (30 percent) by 2040.

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BIKE LANE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 not go through, as the city did not perform a sufficient environmental review.

The protected bike lane has been a source of great tension among neighbors along Central Park West, which manifested during a raucous meeting in July when Community Board 7 gave its approval for the project. Plus, one resident of the Century has gone against the building’s board by filing a motion with the court arguing that the condo’s by laws prevent the board from taking on such a lawsuit, Streetsblog reported last week.

Pedestrians vs Cyclists Residents outside of the Century have concerns too; not only about the loss of parking spaces, but also the dangers cyclists present to pedestrians.

“The number one problem with implementing the bike lane is that, at least right now, when pedestrians walk into the park they have a hard time with bikers going through the lights. They don’t stop,” said Gloria Baker, a resident who lives at 101st Street and Central Park West. “Are police going to be more pro-active in

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By the year’s end, DOT aims to install protected bike lanes crosstown along 52nd and 55th streets, as well as along Amsterdam Avenue from 51st to 72nd streets.

While the Amsterdam lane will not take away parking spaces, it will take away one travel lane for vehicles.

The DOT also plans to modify parking regulations to create a full-time parking and loading lane. The parking and loading lane will also serve as the barrier of protection between cyclists and moving vehicles. The change has prompted concerns about additional traffic congestion.

That stretch of Amsterdam Avenue has been the scene of cyclist and pedestrian-involved accidents over the last seven years. Two cyclists were killed there between 2012 and 2018.

Eight pedestrians and four more cyclists have been severely injured.

The crosstown lanes, one moving east and one west, are not taking away a parking lane or a travel lane.

According to the DOT, the street is wide enough, at 34-feet, to add a bike lane without altering the flow of traffic dramatically. As designed, both the 52nd and 55th Street lanes will travel from Twelfth Avenue to First Avenue. And as on Amsterdam Avenue, newly created parking lanes will also serve as protective barriers for cyclists.

lot of people who live on the Upper West Side use their cars to commute to work to places like Connecticut, New Jersey and Upstate New York.

I’m not sure how they justify that. If they do that, maybe they should give people some kind of tax credit for parking, because a lot of people are going to have to put their cars in garages and they probably can’t afford it.”

The plans that have gone into effect have also been shortsighted, Baker said.

“I think (the city does) things on the fly,” she said. “I don’t think they think it through at all.”

More Bike Lanes On the Way But, in response to the spike in cyclist death this year, the de Blasio administration plans to build even more protected lanes throughout the city as part of its Green Wave policy, an expansion of Vision Zero.

It’s an open question as to whether these lanes will spark the same kind of controversy as the Central Park West project.

Already this year the Department of Transportation has closed a gap in the Second Avenue protected bike lane near the Queensboro Bridge on the Upper East Side. It now runs uninterrupted from 125th Street to 43rd Street.

The proposed design illustrates what Amsterdam Ave. would look like with the protected bike lane, which would replace one travel lane on the busy thoroughfare.

terms of giving tickets? There’s a cop who sits at 100th Street and catches people speeding and occasionally you’ll see him pull over a biker, but rarely.”

Baker said cyclists in the city are not held to any kind of legal standard and aren’t regulated the same way drivers are. She said with the amount of cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles can become a dangerous situation, particularly when the cyclists are visiting from out of state or

other countries and are not familiar with the roads.

“If I have people come to visit me from out of town, the first thing I tell them is ‘Look out for the bikers,’” Baker said.

Additionally, Baker said the loss of the parking spaces is going to be a hardship for the people on the West side.

“There’s an assumption that cars are a luxury item and not necessary, but that’s not true,” Baker said. “A

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SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

Voices

PETS, JUDGES, RETSINA AND KNISHES

EAST SIDE OBSERVER

BY ARLENE KAYATT

City MD meet City DVM - If people

have walk-right-in urgent medical care, why shouldn’t pets? They should and do. You and your pet can now walk right into an emergency facility if the pet’s in an emergency situation. On Second Avenue between 64th and 65th Streets, there’s the Veterinary Emergency Group for emergency and urgent care for pets. Like the City MDs and Urgent Care for people, the veterinarians at the new facility are not intended to be your pet’s primary vet. They’re there for the times when your pet requires immediate medical intervention and your regular vet is not available.

Not so casual, not so fast - The rage, the trend these days is fast casual dining. Some think it’s oxymoronic (hmm, that really says it all) to think of “dining” as being a “fast” experience. Fast casual sounds more either eat-on-the-run, or eat and run. Without getting further into the weeds on that one, Limani, in Rockefeller Center, a Mediterranean restaurant with an emphasis on Greek cuisine, , is the epitome of dining. Not fast casual.

Yet not formal. Just civilized dining. No rushing. No stools or backless chairs. No communal tables. In some establishments, those dining solo are relegated to communal seating, which is okay if you want it. Not all solos do. A quibble I do have is that Limani and other higher-end restaurants don’t have retsina, a Greek wine.

According to an article in the NY

Times earlier this year, retsina appears to be having a “renaissance.” It’s a cheaper wine enjoyed by working types and students in Greece and must be too upscale for a restaurant that’s not fast casual. Always a price to be paid. So, if you’re looking for fast casual “dining” in Rockefeller Center, have a seat and try Roberta’s pizza on the plaza just outside Limani’s. If you want retsina, you’ll have to find a Greek taverna in Manhattan. Or Astoria.

You decide.

Next comes the robe - Grassroots action was in full swing as 40 voting members of the Democratic County Committee for the 9th Judicial District in Manhattan nominated Upper East Sider Erik Grey to fill the Civil Court seat vacated by Judge Jennifer Schecter

when she was nominated as a Supreme Court Justice. It’s never easy to gather members on short notice, let alone on an upcoming holiday weekend, but mission was accomplished. Both Grey and Schecter will be running unopposed on the November ballot. Judge Schecter is best known these days for having rejected President Trump’s attempt to dismiss a defamation suit brought against him in NYS Supreme Court because he was a sitting president. If her ruling is upheld by the Court of Appeals, Trump will have to sit for a deposition. Time will tell.

Whew, no gentrification! - As they

walked along the south side of East Houston Street toward the Bowery, a couple who had walked the streets of the Lower East Side for

at least 60 years, stopped and gasped as they passed yet another shuttered store. “This is too much,“ the man said to the woman, “It can’t be, not Yonah Schimmel’s. I can’t believe it,“ he went on, almost tearful. “You better believe it,“ she admonished, “that’s the world today.” Walking and shaking their heads, they approached Forsythe Street, and stopped. Their faces brightened. Smiles. There it was Yonah Schmimmel’s Knish Bakery the more-than-hundred-year old knishery (poetic license), still standing. The couple had mistakenly thought it was on the same block as the now demolished Landmark Cinema. The LES has a vestige of what once was. And life goes on. With Yonah Schimmel’s standing tall and thriving. L’Chaim.

GIANTS AND JETS: A TALE OF TWO QBS PUBLIC EYE

BY JON FRIEDMAN

The 2019 National Football League campaign may wind up being the best of times for the hometown Giants and Jets. Or the season could follow the script that makes 2019 the worst of times.

It all depends on the teams’ quarterbacks, 16-year veteran Eli Manning of the Giants, and Sam Darnold, entering his second year with the Jets.

Complicating matters is the presence of Daniel Jones, the Giants’ heralded rookie quarterback from Duke.

Jones, who the Giants took with the plum sixth pick of the draft, is poised to succeed Manning.

Neither the Giants nor the Jets have

done much winning in the last few years. Bad management has plagued both teams, which have been mired in endless rebuilding programs.

The Giants shipped out Odell Beckham Jr., whose wild talent didn’t always overshadow the mayhem he seemed to spark. Manning must now work with less-skilled players and pray that his offensive line, a porous liability in recent seasons, will give him enough time to find receivers down the field.

Meanwhile, Darnold has the pressure of showing that his bright rookie season was not a fluke. The Jets have had their share of good quarterbacks, but nobody has ever come close to replacing Joe Namath for Jets fans.

A Picture of Class The drama intensifies when Giants fans ponder the legacy of Manning.

He led the team to two Super Bowl upsets of the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady New England Patriots. But he has been castigated by fans and media for his failure to help the Giants to return to paradise.

Manning has a lot riding on this season: his reputation, the Hall of Fame and how he will be remembered by the fans. Manning has been a picture of class throughout his career, but that’s not enough for such a competitor as this man. He wants to ride off into the sunset with a final season of great success.

Darnold is the opposite. He’s just starting out on his journey to possible football immortality. He could get derailed by injuries or shoddy play.

The Jets and Giants share a home at MetLife Stadium. Photo: Thomas Forgac via Flickr

The ball is in his hands.

The Jets fan base has high hopes.

They see Darnold as their best chance to topple the all-champion Patriots, who have won six Super

Bowl titles in this century.

It’s going to be an interesting year.

Will Manning or Darnold put his stamp on it?

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SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

DANCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 tribute hundreds of thousands of dollars – state Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance each launched separate investigations.

The bottom line: Theater troupes, opera companies, arts groups, PTAs, preservation groups, immigrant support groups, educational advocacy groups, senior groups, churches, synagogues – and at least one puppet theater – are still counting their losses.

A Community Comes Together But no group was harder hit than the scrappy, mini-budget downtown dance community.

The tally of companies impacted, their total financial loss and the drag on staff salaries isn’t yet clear. Administrators are struggling to map the full extent of the body blow they suffered.

“We believe many are still unaware this is occurring,” said Cifuentes, whose nonprofit group, based on East 18th Street, provides research, services and advocacy to the city’s professional dance community.

“While we are unsure of the number of dance companies impacted, we are certain that this has had a critical impact on the companies with small budgets,” she added.

How do dance-makers and cultural workers recover after being fleeced of desperately needed donor funds? “We overcome this – as we have overcome a variety of affordability issues across the sector – by coming together, sharing resources and adapting to change,” Cifuentes said.

To do that, Dance/NYC is organizing an emergency gathering on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Gibney space in the Agnes Varis Center for the Performing Arts at 280 Broadway.

The idea is to hold an openforum discussion to gauge the impact, share experiences – and chart a path out of the crisis by connecting distressed dance companies to legal, civic and corporate resources that can help mitigate the financial toll.

And it isn’t just for the dance

world, Cifuentes stressed, since many companies work across disciplines in the performing arts. “Folks across the arts are all welcome to join!” she said.

The stories to be told will be pretty scary. Most dance companies, and nonprofits generally, end their fiscal years on June 30 and pursue their endof-year fundraising in May and June.

It was in those two key months that NYCharities continued to process the donor gifts it received. But the credit card payments never reached their intended recipients.

A Frightening Time Among the companies caught up in the apparently fraudulent scheme: * Stephen Petronio Company, established in 1984, has performed for 24 seasons at the Joyce Theater and is based at 140 Second Ave. in the East Village. It says it lost more than $6,000.

“In the broader field of performing arts, the dance field in particular has traditionally been one of the least funded, and it’s struggled the most financially,” said Yvan Greenberg, the company’s outgoing executive director. “So in our field, $6,000 certainly has a big impact.”

As nonprofits increasingly depend on safe, honest and secure online giving platforms to receive their contributions, anything that corrupts that system takes a steep toll.

“Charitable giving is the lifeblood of a nonprofit organization, and the last thing you want to see is donor trust shaken by something like this,” Greenberg added. * Doug Varone and Dancers was founded 33 years ago, won 11 Bessie Awards for groundbreaking work by an independent dance artist and is based at 260 West Broadway in Tribeca. It says it’s out roughly $6,000 from about 12 to 15 donors.

“It’s a frightening time for us,” said Elizabeth Fort, the general manager of Varone.

“We live or die by our donations. So it hurts our ability to function. A major revenue source is gone – but meanwhile, we still have to pay our dancers and pay our rent.”

The company, with an operating budget of around $700,000, doesn’t know the

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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com full extent of its losses because it doesn’t know exactly who was unable to make a donation or how many gifts and in what amounts never reached it. * Lar Lubovitch Dance Company was founded in 1968, has performed in all 50 states and more than 40 other counties and is based at 229 West 42nd St. in Times Square. It says it has no way to determine exactly how much it lost.

All that Lubovitch, which has an $800,000 budget, can know with certainty is that it never received two recurring donations worth $400. But that could be the tip of an iceberg.

“I don’t know what I don’t know, and that’s what we’re most worried about!” said Richard Caples, the company’s executive director.

“Most donors don’t separately inform us when they make a donation, and NYCharities stopped telling us several months ago when someone made a donation on our behalf,” he said.

“My guess is, we probably don’t have a big exposure, but there’s just no way to know for sure.” * Ice Theater of New York was founded in 1984, became the first nonprofit professional company to create dancing on ice as an ensemble performing art and is based at the Chelsea Piers rink complex on the Hudson River. It says it lost a little over $10,000.

On Aug. 23, Ice theater became the first affected nonprofit to sue both NYCharities and Cristine Cronin, its founder and president, when it filed a complaint in state Supreme Court in Manhattan alleging it had been “ripped off,” along with multiple other charities.

“By at least May of 2019, defendant NYCharities had begun functioning like a Ponzi scheme, soliciting current donations targeted for certain charities but using those donations to fund its past obligations to other charities…and struggling to hide its misuse of the funds entrusted to it,” the lawsuit says.

Neither NYCharities nor Cristine Cronin returned calls or emails to Straus News over a two-week period. invreporter@strausnews.com

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Calendar NYCNOW

Discover the world around the corner. Find community events, gallery openings, book launches and much more: Go to nycnow.com

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EDITOR’S PICK

Tue 10 TECHNOLOGY IS HABITAT: AN EVENING OF MAGIC AND UFOS Guggenheim 1071 5th Ave 6:30 p.m. $25 212-423-3500 symphonyspace.org Magician and podcast host Gordon White and professor and author Diana Walsh Pasulka discuss the recent turn in mainstream culture toward magical thinking as a means to address a range of political, technological, and environmental anxieties.

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Thu 5

▲

Fri 6

Sat 7

DOMESTIC HORROR OPENING RECEPTION

TEA WARES AND NEW BEGINNINGS

RESTORATIVE SALT ROOM EXPERIENCE

Gagosian 821 Park Ave 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Free Addressing the darker fears that arise when we encounter the unknown, Domestic Horror probes the friction between the civilized world and baser human impulses. Featuring several young and emerging artists, this exhibition includes many specially commissioned works. gagosian.com 212-796-1228

Ippodo Gallery 12 East 86th St, #507 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Free From the on-site handcrafted tea stove to hosting tea ceremonies at the United Nations, Ippodo Gallery has been dedicated to presenting tea ceremonies as the core of Japanese culture.

This ancient tradition carries principles of mindfulness, aesthetics, and respect. ipodogallery.com 212-967-4899

Salthaus 1220 Lexington Ave 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Free Close your eyes and breathe in dry, salty air in a modern salt room that reduces stress, anxiety, strengthens immunity and boosts athletic recovery. An urban oasis, Salthaus is a social wellness experience that recreates the microclimate of a natural salt cave. salthausny.com 646-692-8286

SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

Sun 8 GRACIE SQUARE ART SHOW Carl Schurz Park East End Ave and 86th St 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Free Now in its 47th year, the Gracie Square Art Show attracts over 100 regionally and nationally celebrated artists. Buy one-of-a-kind paintings, photographs, and sculptures for your home and office, take part in familyfriendly activities, and enjoy a snack at the Gracie Square Art Café. Also Sat 7. graciesquareartshow.com 212-459-4455

Mon 9

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A NEW LIGHT IN THE OCEAN WITH DAVID GRUBER & MICHAEL TENNENBAUM The Explorers Club 46 East 70th St 6:00 p.m. $25 The Explorers Club promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education. In this public talk, two Club Fellows discuss risk in their work and how they manage fieldwork in an environment as inhospitable as the deep ocean. explorers.org 212-628-8383

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Tue 10 LIVE AT B&N: TOOTSIE Barnes & Noble 150 East 86th St 4:00 p.m. Free Special guest David Yazbek joins Tony Award winner Santino Fontana and cast members from Broadway’s hit musical “Tootsie” for live performances followed by CD signing. barnesandnoble.com 212-369-2180

ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

Stringy Predictions for Our Universe

Wed 11

◄

REMEMBERING OLIVER SACKS: LAWRENCE WESCHLER WITH ROBERT KRULWICH New York Public Library 476 Fifth Ave 6:30 p.m. Free Two reporters -- Weschler is the author of Sacks’s biographical memoir, while Krulwich interviewed him countless times as co-host of Radiolab -- reflect on three decades of friendship with the neurologist and prolific author known as “the poet laureate of medicine.” nypl.org 917-275-6975

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH, 5PM Simons Foundation | 160 Fifth Ave. | 646-654-0066 | simonsfoundation.org Esteemed physics professor Cumrun Vafa reveals the surprising predictions about the universe that recent research in string theory has produced. He’ll explain how this relates to the geometry of space and time and the ultimate fate of the cosmos (free; tea starts at 4:15pm).

From Cardinals to Courtesans: Dress as Image in Italian Renaissance Painting

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH, 6PM The Frick Collection | 1 E. 70th St. | 212-288-0700 | frick.org Jane Bridgeman, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, shares insights into status and the portrayal of dress in 16th-century painting, especially for the roles of women (free).

Just Announced | An Important Conversation with Rachel Maddow

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3RD, 8PM Temple Emanu-El | 1 E. 65th St. | 888-718-4253 | emanuelnyc.org MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow launches her new book, Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth. She’ll discuss her call to end public subsidization of the dangerous actors of Big Oil and Gas ($50, includes book).

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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SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

TOP DOGS

The AKC Museum of the Dog shows off the women who painted man’s best friend and bred champions

BY VAL CASTRONOVO

Fans of PBS’s “Victoria” will no doubt have noticed the British monarch’s infatuation with Dash, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. The Queen and her husband Prince Albert were famously dog friendly, welcoming a riot of breeds—the Skye terrier Islay, the German greyhound Eos, the Pekingese Looty and more— into the royal fold.

Victoria was not only an established breeder of canines, but also a patron of the arts, commissioning portraits of her dogs for posterity.

One artist tapped to paint the royal pooches was British-born Maud Earl (1864-1943), the greatest female dog portraitist of her time and the first woman to paint the dogs of the British monarchy.

The AKC (American Kennel Club) Museum of the Dog, which returned to Manhattan in February from St. Louis, owns some 80 works by Earl, almost all on view on two floors in this very engaging dog-days-ofsummer show, “Women and Dogs in Art in the Early 20th Century.”

It’s an exhibit that pays tribute to the unsung women who painted, sculpted and etched man’s best friend, with a hat-tip to the breeders (“fanciers” like Victoria and the Duchess of Newcastle), the dogshow exhibitors and the entrepreneurs.

The art here defies expectations.

It’s not kitschy, but mostly highbrow and serious. Featured females include Lillian Cheviot, Lucy Waller, Mildred Megargee, Diana Thorne, Lucy Dawson, Marguerite Kirmse, Christine Merrill, Kay Finch and Laura Gardin Fraser, the latter the first woman to design a coin, the Alabama Centennial half-dollar, for the U.S. Treasury.

Mastering the Breeds It’s Earl, however, dubbed the

Maud Earl, “I Hear a Voice” (1896; Saint Bernard). Photo: David Woo, American Kennel Club

“First Lady of Dog Painting” in a recent article in the AKC Gazette, who immediately captures our attention and moves us with her sensitive canine portraits. Her purebreds have a beauty and artfulness lacking in the more anatomically precise, “utilitarian” works of artists like Lucy Waller, a Victorian who painted “to document champion dogs. You’ll find that there are people who are artists and people who are just doing portraits. They judge the paintings the way they judge the dogs,” Alan Fausel, Executive Director of The AKC Museum of the Dog, said on a private tour.

To that end, the canines of Waller and Mildred Megargee, for instance, are presented in profile as if they are competing at a dog show. Such prosaic painters “love feet, they don’t like these,” Fausel said, pointing to Earl’s more sophisticated “Two Pointers on Point in a Field” (1905), with tall, breezy grasses obscuring the dogs’ paws. Maud was able to add expression through the eyes of her canines. She layered her paints and used thin glazes to create dog coats with texture and shine.

In the book “Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today,” dealer William Secord writes that Earl “always captured

the individual type and character of the dog she depicted.” She completed her first canine painting in 1880 and spent the next 60 years mastering the breeds.

Capturing the Human-Canine Bond Her virtuosity begins here with a memorial, “Silent Sorrow” (1910), a painting of King Edward VII’s best friend, Caesar, resting his head on the late monarch’s armchair. Edward was Queen Victoria’s son and inherited her love of dogs.

“When Edward died, Caesar was allowed in the funeral procession, ahead of nine heads of state,” Fausel said of the wire fox terrier. Pointing to the symbolically missing parts of the chair, he added: “You can sense the fading into the distance of the smells and memory of his master.”

The poignant piece is about loss, but also pays homage to the human-canine bond.

An etching of Caesar by Earl, “I Belong to the King” (1910), is also part of the show and can be seen on the second floor, where the female-centric display continues in the middle of the exhibition space. Note the open-storage racks that slide in and out for a look at the very distinctive photogravure prints of Maud’s work

Maud Earl, “Silent Sorrow” (1910; wire fox terrier). Photo: David Woo, American Kennel Club

created for two portfolios, “Terriers and Toys” (1902) and “British Hounds and Gun Dogs” (1903).

“She painted almost all the famous dogs of the day and then had them photogravured in limited portfolios of 500,” Fausel said.

“Terriers and Toys,” on view in a vitrine, was sponsored by King Edward VII and is a testament to Earl’s lofty patronage and can-do entrepreneurial spirit. The print portfolios, she knew, would allow her work to be seen by the general public.

There are some outliers here. Case in point: “Portrait of Bea Godsol” (1930), with Sealyham terriers, by John Dwight Bridge (yes, a man in this sea of accomplished women).

Godsol was not an artist, but a player in the dog-show world. She was a fancier, an exhibitor and an all-round judge, who once said, “All dogs have faults. The great ones carry them

well.”

However, it is Earl’s soft, brushy depiction of a Saint Bernard, “I Hear a Voice” (1896), that leads the pack.

Fausel pronounced the painting “the AKC’s pride and joy.” It situates a Saint Bernard in an Alpine setting, on the alert for a traveler in distress.

But this top dog, Champion Frandley Stephanie, never set foot in the Alps.

It’s just an imagined scene by an imaginative painter.

IF YOU GO What: “Women and Dogs in Art in the Early 20th Century” Where: The AKC Museum of the Dog, 101 Park Avenue (at East 40th St) museumofthedog.org When: Through September 29

SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

LEARNING TO DRIVE IN MANHATTAN CITY LIFE

Down these mean streets he came, determined to master the skills required to operate an automobile

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BY OSCAR KIM BAUMAN

While learning to drive is considered a rite of passage to most young Americans, to myself and many of my New Yorker peers, it’s often not given a thought. Despite the frequency with which we complain about unreliable MTA service, said service makes driving unnecessary when traversing most parts of the city. During high school, I don’t recall a single one of my friends getting their driver’s license. A few who lived in Queens, past the end of the subway lines, got learner’s permits, but that was about it. Then came college.

Like most of my peers, I left New York for college, taking the opportunity to get to know another part of the country. For me, that was Worcester, Massachusetts, home to my school, Clark University. While the city of Worcester has public transit of its own, in the form of buses, transit lines are not nearly as accessible or pervasive as they are in New York, particularly my native Manhattan. In my first year at Clark, I found myself spending an unseemly sum on Lyft rides to get around the city.

College was also the first time my social circle ceased to consist entirely of New Yorkers. For my friends from other, less urban regions, driving was a fact of life.

Many had possessed licenses since the age of 16. At the age of 19, I suddenly felt embarrassed for not having even tried, and resolved to get a driver’s license of my own.

Beyond the freedom to travel within Worcester, driving would mean greater freedom in coming to and from home. Without the ability to drive, my ability to return home is entirely dependent on the scheduling whims of commercial bus lines. If I was able to drive, I would be able

13

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

Clinton News of Your Neighborhood

Photo: Steven Strasser

to ferry myself home on my own schedule, rather than risk another afternoon spent waiting in vain at a transit terminal for a delayed bus.

The Quest Begins Upon my return to New York for summer break, my quest to learn to drive began.

After a week spent poring over every page of the driver’s manual, I took a trip down to the DMV, in my case, the Financial District location. After confusion over whether I was allowed to smile in my photograph (my friends had told me they were forbidden, but the photographer I met implored me to), I sat before a touchscreen to take the brief quiz which stood between me and a learner’s permit.

I tore through the quiz in a couple minutes. The questions, which I had feared would feature technical, obscure rules of road use and right-of-way laws, instead mostly boiled down to much simpler ones, which merely required that I remember it is not a wise idea to drink and drive. The man who had been seated next to me later told me that he thought I had given up on the quiz at first, given the speed at which I stood up after starting.

Behind the Wheel At Last My permit was acquired, and it was time to begin driving lessons. I met my first instructor near Union Square on a crowded street on an intensely hot July day. Given my complete inexperience, he

took the wheel as we went over to a quiet stretch of Avenue D to begin practicing. Between my instructor’s calm demeanor and the sweet relief of the car’s air conditioning, I felt I had lucked out.

Driving in lower Manhattan is, to a newcomer, an intense experience, with numerous vehicular ecosystems. Alphabet City is more quiet, while the East Village and the area around Union Square is congested, with honking to be heard all around. The West Village, with its irregularlyarranged streets, cobblestone streets, and frequent stop signs, is the greatest challenge, and resulted in many uses of my instructor’s auxiliary brake.

A Bump in the Road A few weeks and many, many emails later, I realized that I had been overly ambitious. It would be impossible for me to take a road test, and thus get my license before I was to return to college at the end of August. Instead, I resigned to take my road test during a long weekend I plan to spend at home in October.

Before heading back, I reported for my mandatory five-hour pre-licensing course. The instructor informed us that road tests are not even held in the areas I had been practicing in; Manhattan driving is apparently considered unfairly challenging, and thus only the outer boroughs are used. This, I thought, made sense.

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SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS

AUGUST 21 - 27, 2019

The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml.

Cafe Jax

318 E 84Th St

Grade Pending Establishment authorized to reopen after inspection conducted on 08/22/2019.

China Jade

1643 2Nd Ave

Closed (56) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Pig Heaven

1420 3Rd Ave

Grade Pending (27) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; antisiphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal

Petrie Court Cafe (Met Museum)

1000 5Th Ave

A

Dunkin’

1571 York Ave

A

Rangoli Exquisite Indian Cuisine

1393A 2Nd Ave

A

EAST HARLEM GAINS A NATIONAL HISTORIC DISTRICT PRESERVATION

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Late 19th century row houses on East 117th Street, in the new East Harlem Historic District. Photo: Diana Ducroz

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The long-sought designation will help the neighborhood preserve its unique character as redevelopment pressures continue to grow

BY DIANA DUCROZ

The hard work of a small group of neighborhood advocates paid off this summer when East Harlem received its first official historic district designation. On July 10, 2019, the new ‘East Harlem Historic District’ was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official record of historic sites worthy of preservation. The district was listed in the State Register of Historic Places in March.

The volunteer coalition formed several years ago under the name Landmark East Harlem, after members of several existing organizations – CIVITAS, East Harlem Preservation, Ascendant Neighborhood Development and the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance – found a common interest in protecting the neighborhood’s historic fabric from growing redevelopment pressures.

“It’s seriously grassroots,” said Joanna Delson, an East Harlem resident and founding member of Landmark East Harlem, who serves on the board of CIVITAS, a nonprofit focused on quality of life issues within the Upper East Side and East Harlem.

With financial and technical help from the state historic preservation office and several

preservation nonprofits, including the Municipal Art Society and the Preservation League of New York State, the group commissioned a field survey of every building in the proposed district, prepared a detailed written history of the neighborhood, and held two public workshops to educate the community about the project.

Historic designation is available at the city, state, and federal level, but the requirements and benefits vary. Unlike city designation, which limits what owners can do with their properties, East Harlem’s new national and state listings impose no restrictions on private property owners, but offer financial benefits to those owners who choose to restore their buildings according to established guidelines.

Historically Important The new district, centered between East 114th and East 120th Streets near First and Pleasant Avenues, covers roughly two dozen blocks, only a small portion of East Harlem.

Roughly 85% of the 800 buildings within the district’s irregularly-shaped boundary are considered ‘contributing,’ meaning they are of historic value to the district.

According to the National Register nomination report, East Harlem is historically important for two key reasons: its long record as a working-class enclave for a succession of ethnic groups – in particular Jewish, Italian, and Puerto Rican immigrants - and for its relatively intact clusters of architectural fabric from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which is

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closely tied to these communities.

“Of all its buildings, perhaps the row houses – among the oldest buildings in the district – are East Harlem’s least well-known resource,” states the National Register report. “The district’s tenements rival in quality, if not overall number, their better-known counterparts on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.”

In addition to the historic row houses, flats, and tenement buildings are several notable commercial structures and historic churches, including the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on East 115th Street, long associated with the city’s Italian community, and Casa Latina Music on East 116th Street, a surviving link to the neighborhood’s Puerto Rican musical heritage.

More to Be Done Even with the new listings, East Harlem is well behind the rest of Manhattan in the number of historic-designated properties, despite a cultural and architectural history comparable to many other neighborhoods.

“We have 25 individual landmarks in East Harlem – which is very low compared to other neighborhoods,” said Kathleen Benson, referring to city-designated landmarks. Benson, a key member of Landmark East Harlem, represents East Harlem Preservation, a separate organization focused on preserving the neighborhood’s cultural history and diversity.

The new district is only the first step in the group’s long-term strategy to bring increased recognition and preservation to East Harlem’s historic resources. Last week, Landmark East Harlem was awarded a $10,000 grant to survey the portion of East Harlem north of East 125th Street for a second historic district nomination. A third district for the blocks around East 106th Street, and perhaps a citydesignated district with its stronger protections, are also on the wish list.

“If this neighborhood had more money, had people with more voice,” said Joanna Delson,

“there would have been sections of it landmarked long ago when the city was actively doing more landmarking. And that’s true in Harlem in general. So that’s a big part of this story.”

“When a neighborhood doesn’t have a voice,” Delson said, “it’s not really in control of the community as much as it should be.”

Not Just Bricks and Mortar Earlier efforts by advocates to seek historic designation never took off, but with the neighborhood now experiencing rising rents and threats of displacement along with the planned Second Ave Subway extension and contentious 2017 East Harlem rezoning, the time was finally ripe for this historic district nomination. The 2016 East Harlem Neighborhood Plan lists the preservation of important East Harlem buildings and neighborhood character as a priority objective.

“There’s a lot on the community board’s agenda,” said Chris Cirillo, executive director of Ascendant Neighborhood Development and member of Landmark East Harlem. “That’s really representative of East Harlem over many, many years. There are so many other issues, more pressing issues, just in terms of people’s daily lives, that preservation has really not been something that they’ve had the leisure time to spend thinking about.”

The group’s aspirations for East Harlem go well beyond just saving old buildings.

“We don’t see ourselves as just being about bricks and mortar,” said Cirillo. “It’s about preservation as a tool for community preservation, and, as a way of planning and managing the growth that’s happening in the neighborhood and the change that’s happening in the neighborhood, so that people still feel like it’s the neighborhood that it has been, and that we’re preserving the things that are important, and that people recall from the past and want to see continue into the future, even as there will be change.”

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Business

A HEALTHY CHELSEA TREASURE Badal Roy’s West 23rd Street shop is one of those little neighborhood places that make New York special

BY DEBORAH FENKER

Stores like Health Food & Vitamin City are becoming fewer and farther between. There is no website, no delivery. You can’t order from it using Amazon or Seamless. There isn’t a fancy neon sign out front, or any glamorous marketing displays inside. You’ll never see any advertisements, not even in our own Chelsea News. And yet, this neighborhood staple has been operating non-stop at 400 West 23rd Street, its original location, for more than thirty-three years.

It was founded in 1986 by Badal Roy, who has run the store ever since with the help of but one employee, Maria Niculsenku, who is from Romania. As she put it, she just

“walked by the street and was shopping in store,” and after a few repeat visits as a customer began working with Badal, splitting the days between them. She’s been working there for twenty-two years now, and adds a vivacious, garrulous energy to the store- quite a contrast to her boss, who is much more private (and thus her picture accompanies this story, instead of his).

The store is open seven days a week, almost without fail, which 61year-old Roy attributes to the same lifestyle the health food store promotes.

Roy, of Indian origin, moved to New York so long ago he “can’t even remember when,” exactly, although he estimates it was just shy of forty years ago. He originally owned and managed three separate stores throughout New York City, one in the Bronx, one in Queens, and the surviving Chelsea store, across from London Terrace. Roy lives in Tudor

Badal Roy opened the store in 1986. Photo: Deborah Fenker

City, but still, he loves this neighborhood. Asked about his favorite spots, he replied “Oh, I like Chelsea everywhere. Chelsea is the place to live.”

And the products from his store certainly encourage living, and doing so healthfully. He stocks such vitality-boosting staples as liquid aminos, spirulina and turmeric powders, goji and juniper berries, and all sorts of exotic sounding teas, tinctures, and essential oils. He carries some ready-to-eat options like vegetarian turkey salad, various yogurts and pre-made sandwiches in a refrigerated case as well, but with limited demand he keeps the perishable stock to a minimum. He is quick to offer individualized advice for whatever ails you, perhaps even inquiring your blood type or dietary habits to more specifically focus his recommendations.

Meg Siegel, a real estate agent for Sotheby’s, has a listing nearby, and

Maria Niculsenku has been working in the store for 22 years. Photo: Deborah Fenker

happened upon the store by chance recently on her way to show the property. She browsed the aisles, and stockpiled a small arsenal of goods, some by way of Roy’s recommendation, purchasing some, and making a list of the rest for a return visit. As we all know, health food isn’t cheap, and she wanted to mete out her expenditures. She already had a hit-list of things she planned to purchase the next time she comes in.

That said, business is tough. Roy said it is probably down 75% from its heyday, what with Whole Foods nearby, bargain-priced Trader Joes and the whole small-business-killing Amazon monopoly. Still, whenever I visited he had customers, and enthusiastic ones at that. An elegant woman dressed in summer linen was buying some supplies for her husband, convalescing from a recent surgery. “This is a wonderful store,” she said. “It is precious.”

Given the increasing rarity of independently owned enterprises, this sort of regular customer is what keeps Roy going. “It’s perfect….my idea of perfect,” she gleamed proudly. The woman has lived in Chelsea for twenty-four years, and been coming to H.F.& V.C. for just as long.

Roy also welcomes a smattering of celebrities, some of whom have their picture on the wall by the entrance, like Ice-T and Jason Statham, or others who are more on the order of regulars, like “Law & Order’s” Sam Waterston.

But Roy isn’t a too enthralled by celebrity; he leads a simple life. His diet is simple and clean: he enjoys a mostly plant-based diet with lots of fresh produce, quinoa, and especially legumes, of which he sells multiple varieties in his store. An avid runner, however, clocking forty-plus miles a week, he abandoned sixteen years of vegetarianism to augment his diet with moderate amounts of animal protein for fuel, which he finds gives him the strength to continue his rigorous training.

Despite the salubrious array of comestibles, he stocks and consumes, the most healthful thing about Roy might be his perspective on business and life. He feels no need to be a millionaire; the modest productivity of the store is enough to sustain him, especially with a very cooperative (and perhaps singular) landlord who hasn’t raised his rent since he moved in. This alone might be the store’s most precious attribute.

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THE FUTURE IS FURRY ANIMALS

Entrepreneurs and innovators gather to share their ideas for high-tech products and services for pets and pet owners

BY MEREDITH KURZ

The August 21st Pet Tech Meetup at the outdoor beer garden at Andaz, at 75 Wall Street, was experiencing a happy hour of thunder with a promise of downpours. Many pets decided to avoid wet undercarriages and the shiverunder-the-bed lightning, but their owners showed up and made for brainy, forwardthinking conversation.

The sponsor of the Pet Tech Meetup gathered these high tech entrepreneurs together partly to celebrate the first ever Dog Restaurant Week, where pet friendly establishments had seating available,

The local paper for Chelsea

Smart people sharing smart ideas. Photo: Meredith Kurz

An interested observer. Photo: Courtesy Petminded

and sometimes a menu for our tailed companions.

On the Road with Rover Sonali Nigam and Leah Wang, the team behind Petminded, a specialized travel service, hosted the Meetup.

“Dogs are part of our family,“ she Nigam told me, explaining the commonality shared by the members. “We only get to

enjoy our animals for a short period of time, and I want mine to be with me.” While doing a great deal of bicoastal traveling, and taking first her cat, and later her dog, people would ask her, “How do you do it?”

Her newly adopted five-yearold dog suffered from separation anxiety, and she had to figure out a human way to

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bring her pet with her.

“Thirty-seven percent of pet owners travel with their pets each year and want to share meaningful experiences with them,“ Nigam said. She started helping her friends and family plan trips with their pets, and it grew into a business. Nigam and Wang now help both the novice pet traveler, as well as those who don’t have time to research and plan a pet-friendly vacation. “We are becoming the best-in-class travel service for pet parents who want a safe, hassle-free and memorable vacation with their pets,“ she said.

Tennille Teague, owner of Jaxx Hound, provides travel equipment and accessories for your pet pals. Jaxx Hound’s attention to detail, taking into account things like air flow, easy laundering, and comfort for both your shoulder and your pet, shows in its products. As for philanthropy, Teague said, “I have a special focus on senior dogs at the shelter. My company donates a portion of our profits to Animal Haven.” Teague is exploring a new add-on to her business; pet-friendly lounge spaces throughout Manhattan.

Sustainable is Attainable

ChelseaNewsNY.com

Sylvia Heisel arrived at the Meetup sporting a raincoat, made from sustainable material, that she designs and her futurist company manufactures. “I’m developing pet furniture created with 3D computing technology,“ she said. Along with being a fashion designer, Heisel runs a design lab for 3d printing and creates experimental fashions using sustainable materials like carbon fiber NinjaFlex.

Among other accolades, she’s

Photo: Meredith Kurz

been recognized as one of the “25 Forward Thinkers Defining the Future of Fashion” and “Top 100 Women in Wearable and Consumer Tech”, as well as one of “12 Amazing People You Need to Know In New York Fashion Tech.”

“Cement creates a lot of pollution, and so does carbon dioxide emissions from energy plants,“ Heisel told me. “Researchers have figured out a way to capture the carbon dioxide and convert it into a safe material that can replace cement,“ she said. She will be using this new material to create her pet furniture. She also teaches on occasion, so look her up and hunt her down if you’re interested in her cutting edge ideas.

Mentors Galore For the curious, the techies, and the innovators out there, two entities were mentioned throughout the evening. The first is the Columbia Startup Lab, the birthplace of over 250 successful start-ups. The catch is that to qualify to use the lab one of your team members needs to be a Columbia University graduate.

The second resource is SCORE NYC, a free mentoring

service for your start-up. They have a mentorship program that’s tied into the government’s Small Business Administration. Their volunteers provide free and confidential mentoring, and they hold workshops as well.

Chris Gonzalez is the founder of the Pet Tech Meetup, which he started three years ago.

He’s a co-owner of Barkly Pets, and his company worked with SCORE as they built their own unique dog walking business, as well as an app that will be available soon for independent dog walking businesses.

Currently their app and their business pair you up with local, reputable dog walkers.

It finally stopped pouring and we wandered out to the outdoor bar and seating area.

There were dog treats available, and a donation cup as well. The money raised wen to the sponsored charity of the event, Foster Dogs Inc. There’s another Pet Tech meeting planned for November. The combination of caring for animals while building a business using state of the art resources and programming invigorates. What’s your idea?

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MANHATTAN’S HURRICANE EVACUATION ZONES DISASTERS NYC Emergency Management offers a tool to help city residents prepare for coastal storms As Hurricane Dorian battered the Bahamas over the Labor Day weekend and seemed to be headed toward Florida, New Yorkers recalling the ravages of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 might wonder where their hurricane evacuation zones are located.

Well, there’s a map for that. Josh Friedman, executive director of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at NYC Emergency Management, focused the latest episode of his podcast “Prep Talk” on how experts use mapping for situational awareness before, during and after emergencies. Friedman highlighted the City’s hurricane evacuation zone finder, a GIS mapping tool that allows New Yorkers to access information about the hazards associated with living in a hurricane evacuation zone and the resources available in the event of an evacuation order. The tool is a resource to help New Yorkers prepare for coastal storms particularly during the Atlantic hurricane season. “We really want to use GIS and the data we have available to us to encourage people to prepare in advance,” Friedman said.

The blue dots indicate local centers and handicapped accessible sites. For more information on the City’s hurricane evacuation zone finder visit, https://maps.nyc.gov/hurricane/.

Map by NYC Hurricane Evacutation Zone Finder

SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

CANNABIS AND TEENS FAMILY

An expert advises parents on how to talk to their kids about marijuana

BY ARDESHEER TALATI

A friend who discovered that her teenage son had been using marijuana was just sitting down to talk with him when he played the it’snot-that-bad card: “But mommy you smoke, and daddy drinks. Aren’t those worse?” My friend fumbled for a response. And as she told the story, it gave me pause too. After all, her son had a point. If I were in her shoes, what would I say?

Given the rapidly changing social landscape of cannabis (marijuana) use in the United States, such conversations are going to become increasingly common, and parents need to be prepared.

Here are some points to consider should you find yourself in a similar position.

It’s Not Just Addiction Emphasize to your teen that use, abuse, and addiction aren’t the same

thing. Cannabis may indeed be less addictive than tobacco or alcohol, and certainly less so than other more dangerous drugs. Less than ten percent of regular cannabis users will go on to develop dependence on it.

But low risk isn’t no risk, and even in the absence of addiction, heavy cannabis use can lead to impairments in cognition and memory, hallucinations, poor academic performance, risky sexual behaviors, sleep problems, automobile accidents, and ER visits. And that’s not counting the legal dimensions.

These risks are greatest during teen years, and for teenagers with existing mental health conditions, cannabis can worsen symptoms or interfere with prescription medications that they are taking.

‘Just say no.’ Isn’t Hypocritical Parents shouldn’t feel guilty protecting their children against substances that they may use themselves. That’s not hypocrisy, that’s responsible parenting, and here’s why. Unlike other parts of our bodies, which are essentially fully functional at birth, the brain continues to develop through childhood

Photo: Mark via Flickr

and adolescence. While this flexibility is advantageous (for example, allowing us to learn how to walk and talk) it can also leave the brain vulnerable to insults.

Cannabis is one such example – the drug crosses into the brain and binds to cannabinoid receptors, altering brain circuits with long-lasting effects. The earlier use begins, research suggests, the more damaging the effects may be. Use in adulthood, once our brains are more permanently hardwired, is relatively less risky.

Study the Research What if your teenager comes

armed with literature claiming that cannabis is safe? Encourage a conversation about just what those studies may be saying. Is the research legitimate? Was it done in teens? When was it conducted?

Where were findings published?

Cannabis data are tricky to interpret.

Using alcohol as a contrast, we can count the number of glasses of wine or beers to quantify how much alcohol the body has been exposed to.

Doing so for cannabis is more problematic, given the variation in potency and purity, and different routes of administration (e.g., inhaled versus oral).

Moreover, the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the main psychoactive ingredient) has increased— in some cases more than 50-fold! — over the years. If a study conducted ten years ago suggested that cannabis was safe, how does one extrapolate those findings for today’s teen?

Look Behind the Weeds

Photo: Heath Alseike via Flickr

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Substance use rarely occurs in a vacuum. Certainly, some teenagers may use cannabis out of harmless curiosity or to be perceived as cool, the way cigarettes once were. But for others, it could be a marker of psychic distress: medicating their way out of depression, anxiety, stress, or loneliness, or coping with a traumatic event. In such cases, cannabis could be serving as a flag for a problem rather than being the problem.

Entering the conversation from an empathetic rather than “how dare you” perspective may be more fruitful in the long run, both for your

teenager’s health and wellbeing, and for your relationship with them. For parents needing that conversational nudge, the National Institute for Drug Abuse offers dedicated informational websites with pages tailored to teen, parent, and teacher perspectives.

There is also reassuring news. Recent studies show that even as cannabis use in adults is increasing, teenage use has flattened or even declined. And, this is happening across the U.S., not just in states that have the most restrictive policies.

Plant That Seed Circling back to the “It’s not that bad” argument, I’d turn it around and ask whether that’s really the comparison we want to be making in the first place. Cannabis may be less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, perhaps for teenagers too. But going 90 miles per hour is also safer than going 100, yet we don’t recommend that teens speed.

Maybe having this conversation with your teen will convince them to not use or to delay until a later age.

But even if it does not, you will have planted a seed in their mind that they will remember, and eventually use, to make safer, more informed decisions over time.

This article is for informational purposes and is not a replacement for medical advice from your physician.

Dr. Talati is an Associate Professor of Clinical Neurobiology in Psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Research Scientist at New York State Psychiatric Institute.

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SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan

by Myles Mellor

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Eastsider 1

SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

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SEPTEMBER 5-SEPTEMBER 11,2019

CLASSIFIEDS PUBLIC NOTICES

POLICY NOTICE: We make every effort to avoid mistakes in your classified ads. Check your ad the first week it runs. The publication will only accept responsibility for the first incorrect insertion. The publication assumes no financial responsibility for errors or omissions. We reserve the right to edit, reject, or re-classify any ad. Contact your sales rep directly for any copy changes. All classified ads are pre-paid.

The NYC Board of Standards and Appeals has scheduled a public hearing on the following application: Variance (§72-21) to permit the enlargement of an existing house of worship (Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church) contrary to ZR §24-11 (lot coverage and floor area ratio); ZR §§24-33 & 24-36 (permitted rear yard obstruction within a 30’ required yard). R8 zoning district.

Address: 138 East 39th Street, Block 894, Lot 60, Borough of Manhattan. BSA Calendar Number: 2019-6-BZ. Applicant: Law Office of Fredrick A. Becker, for Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, owner.

Community Board No.: 6M. This application has been calendared for Public Hearing Tuesday, September 17, 2019, 1:00 pm session, in Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street, Borough of Manhattan. Interested persons or associations may appear at the hearing to present testimony regarding this application.

The referenced application may be reviewed by appointment at the BSA’s office, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. To schedule an appointment or to obtain subsequent information regarding additional hearing dates, please call 212386-0009 and reference BSA Calendar Number. Dated: August 21, 2019. Law Office of Fredrick A. Becker, Applicant. This notice is published by the applicant in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Board of Standards and Appeals.

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DEMAND JUSTICE Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy or by authority figures at school have rights.

NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY LAW HAVE EXTENDED THE TIME PERIOD IN WHICH TO FILE YOUR SEXUAL ABUSE CLAIM. ACT NOW TO GET YOUR CLAIM TIMELY FILED.

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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

COME HOME FOR THE HIGH HOLY DAYS AND ALL YEAR ROUND Find a thriving community for sacred, social and educational events & experiences on the Upper East Side.

Congregation Or Zarua Traditional • Egalitarian

HIGH HOLY DAYS AT OR ZARUA

HEBREW SCHOOL

High Holy Day Services led by Rabbi Scott N. Bolton & Congregants Rosh Hashanah (9/30, 10/1) Yom Kippur (10/8, 10/9)

Family Learning Experience with Rabbi Amy Bolton Rosh Hashanah Day 2 (10/1) Yom Kippur (10/9)

Open House Monday 9/9

Enroll your children in Hebrew School!

At Or Zarua, the depth and breadth of our program gives kids knowledge and skills, and brings them together for holidays, social events, Shabbat, and more.

Visit our website for information about Early Childhood classes and family programs.

Annual Tshuvah Lecture with Dr. Benjamin Sommer Thursday, October 3, 7:30 pm

Contact Sigal Hirsch see below

Call 212-452-2310 x12 for High Holy Day Tickets.

LEARN Join Rabbi Bolton to discuss the weekly Torah portion at services. Enroll your children in Hebrew School and learn together at the Family Learning Experience.

Attend an adult education class or lecture.

9.14 Elul Chaburah Torah Study with Dr. Barry Kohler 9.21 Selihot Study and Services following dessert reception

PRAY Create community with family and friends at weekday morning, Shabbat and holiday services.

9.7

Welcome Back Shabbat

9.14 Family Shabbat and Lunch

PARTICIPATE Join our Book Club or our a capella group, Bir’nana.

Attend a gallery opening or give back at a hesed event.

Dine at a Young Professionals Shabbat Dinner or a Mature Singles Luncheon.

9.15 Book Discussion, The Ruined House 9.20 OZ Young Professionals Shabbat Dinner

CONNECT 9.15 3rd Avenue Street Fair 9.22 92Y Lexington Avenue Street Fair

Come meet us at our booth, or give us a call!

Rabbi Scott Bolton rabbibolton@orzarua.org • 212-452-2310 x12 Helene Santo, Executive Director hsanto@orzarua.org • 212-452-2310 x14 Sigal Hirsch, Director of Youth Education & Programming shirsch@orzarua.org • 212-452-2310 x15

For more information and a full calendar of events, visit

WWW.ORZARUA.ORG