The local paper for the Upper East Side TUNING IN FOR THE HOLIDAYS < P. 12
WEEK OF DECEMBER
8-14 2016
THE 16 MOST DANGEROUS INTERSECTIONS IN MANHATTAN Vehicular accidesnt and close calls: life near the most perilous streets BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
15
View the interactive map by reading this article online at ourtownny.com.
Rob Stephenson, “Spring Street and Greene Street, SoHo, Manhattan,” 2016. Courtesy of the photographer/Museum of the City of New York.
On Monday morning, car horns blared as vehicles of all sizes vied for space at East 59th Street and Second Avenue, the second most dangerous intersection in the city. The Roosevelt Island Tramway ferried passengers over the heads of the many pedestrians on the ground, including Aaron Fisher, a street cleaner for the East Midtown Partnership. Fisher was not at all surprised to hear that the site topped the list of Manhattan’s most dangerous intersections and came in second in the city. “I see accidents all the time,” he said. According to data analyzed last spring by CUNY Baruch student Aleksey Bilogur, Manhattan contains 16 of the city’s 25 most dangerous intersections. With an average of 150 vehicular collisions per year, East 59th and Second Avenue comes in first in Manhattan, followed by 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue with 140, then the Bowery and Kenmare Street at 115. But Bilogur added that the safety of certain intersections can be difficult to measure. “Even in what one would term ‘unsafe’ intersections, the actual incident level of accidents is very low,” he said. “The problem that the [Department of Transportation] has been facing for much longer than this one administrative cycle is that you don’t really know how safe or unsafe an intersection is until you’ve seen years and years of data accumulate.” The data Bilogur used came from the city’s OpenData portal, which houses thousands of documents and files from all government agencies, but only goes as far back as 2012. A bundle of pedestrian and cyclist safety bills are making their way through the City Council right now to address some of the challenges pedestrians and cyclists face on city streets. One requests a Department of Transportation (DOT) study on using the Barnes Dance crossing method, where all traffic lights turn red at the same time and pedestrians can walk diagonally through the intersection. According to the DOT’s Manhattan action plan, the Barnes Dance has only been effective “at intersections with about 20,000 pedestrians a day, high pedestrian signal compliance and low vehicular traffic volumes.” The method may not be more widely feasible “due to concerns about excessive pedestrian wait time.” Of a different bill proposing that cyclists adhere to pedestrian signals at some intersections, a DOT spokesperson said they “support the intent of the bill.”
11
Collisions Average Per Year
7
5
2
12 10
4
16 6 14
1 9 13
8 3
1
2nd Ave. & E. 59th St. 1150
2
42nd St. & 8th Ave. 140
A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HEIGHT
3
The Bowery & Kenmare St.
115
Surveying the skyline: lecture series will address zoning in the city
4
57th St. & 3rd Ave.
110
BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
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42nd St. & 9th Ave. 110
6
34th St. & 7th Ave.
110
7
W. 40th St. & 11th Ave. 1100
8
The Bowery & Houston St.
9
2nd Ave. & E. 36th St. 1100
10
W. 42nd St. & 7th Ave. 1100
11
1st Ave. & E. 96th St. 1100
12
3rd Ave. & E. 59th St. 95
13
E. 34th St. & 2nd Ave. 90
14
W. 42nd St. & 6th Ave. 90
15
E. 125th St. & 2nd Ave. 90
16
W. 34th St. & 8th Ave. 90
1100
Since the adoption of the city’s first zoning resolution in 100 years ago, the skyline has seen many grand buildings designed, proposed and, in some cases, built, with heights rising taller and taller. As of last fall, there were 22 “supertall” towers topping 984 feet in Manhattan, mostly concentrated in the midtown area. This Thursday, Dec. 8, the Museum of the City of New York will examine the subject as
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, December 9 – 4:10 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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DECEMBER 8-14,2016
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SECRETS OF THE CITY’S PARKS BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
From the top of the Washington Square Arch, a visitor might be treated to sprawling views of Greenwich Village, Soho and the East Village. It’s hard to know for sure, however, since access to the top of the arch has been closed to everyone except the occasional Parks Department employee. But the City Council’s parks and recreation committee held a hearing last week to try to change that, and to ask that more off-limits places be opened to the public. The committee identified eight historic sites that they would like to see made accessible. Three are in Manhattan: in addition to the Washington Square Arch, the list includes the Old Croton Aqueduct Gatehouse on West 119th Street and the 89th Streets Soldiers’ and Sailors Monument. Other sites throughout the city are the Fort Greene Park Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument, the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch at Grand Army Plaza, the New York State Pavilion in Queens, Hart
Island and North Brother Island. Council Member Mark Levine, in whose district the Old Croton Aqueduct sits, pressed the Parks Department to explain why the sites had to remain closed. “At a time when city park usage is surging … we have many assets in our park system that are untapped and underused,” he said. “Each of these sites is utterly unique in the world. Investing in expanding access would yield incredible benefits.” The Parks Department’s director of government relations, Matt Drury, testified that visitor safety, structural stability, ventilation control, Americans with Disabilities Act standards and building codes were all issues that factored into the closure of these sites. In particular, Drury said the Washington Square Arch, which was dedicated to President George Washington in 1895, has a fragile roof and was not built to accommodate foot traffic inside. However, he added that the “widest audience possible should enjoy [the parks’] benefits.” As the city’s first water supply system, the Old Croton Aqueduct stretches 41 miles from Westchester through
“
the Bronx and into Manhattan. Near Columbia University on West 119th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, a gatehouse for the aqueduct sits blocked off on a small rectangular plot. According to the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct, the tunnels were used to supply the city with water from 1842 to 1955, when it became “insufficient due to the spiraling population growth to which it contributed.” Thirty blocks south, at West 89th Street in Riverside Park, the Sailors and Soldiers Monument stands tall at 100 feet. It was completed in 1902 after being designed by brothers Charles W. and Arthur A. Stoughton, who won a Greek antiquity-inspired public design competition. The Parks Department website states that, despite more than a million dollars worth of repairs that were made to the monument in 1960, it still “awaits funding to repair loosened joints, chipped stone, and the damage generally wrought by time if not vandalism.” Parks representatives seemed open to the idea of supervised public visits to these sites, especially since some of them have occasionally hosted tours
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.
“
City Council hopes to reopen closed historic sites
Members of the City Council’s parks and recreation committee last week agreed that several historic monuments and other places should be opened to the public. They include the top of the Washington Square Arch. Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim, via Wikimedia Commons in the past, but it seems there is work to be done before anyone discovers their secrets. Levine said that opening these places could bring in tourism revenue, but emphasized that money is only one reason to consider greater
access. “I wouldn’t measure these experiences purely by the number of visitors.” Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com
Jan Hus Presbyterian Church
351 E 74TH ST., NY, NY 10021 www.JanHus.org @OneHopeNYC All Are Welcome
A Winter’s Tale Czech Marionette Puppet Show Sunday, December 11 1p.m. Free & Fun for all ages
A Holiday Concert Featuring Brooklyn High School of Fine Arts Choir Tuesday, December 13 7 p.m.
Travelers’ Christmas Eve Thursday, December 22 7 p.m.
Christmas Day Sunday, December 25 10 a.m.
Free admission
DECEMBER 8-14,2016
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG
POLICE SEEK 3 AFTER MUSLIM WOMAN IS HARASSED New York City police are looking for three men who taunted a Muslim woman aboard a subway train, yelling “Donald Trump” and calling her a terrorist. Police say the incident occurred at 10 p.m. Dec. 1 after the 18-yearold victim and the suspects boarded a train in Manhattan. Police say the men told the woman “you don’t belong here” and referred to her hijab as a “rag.” As she attempted to move away, one of the men grabbed her bag, breaking the strap. As the train pulled into Grand Central station, one of the suspects told her to take off her hijab and unsuccessfully attempted to pull it off. The woman ran out of the train and contacted police. Police are investigating it as an anti-Muslim bias incident. The Associated Press
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th precinct Week to Date
Tony Webster, via flickr
BYE BYE IN BEST BUY An absent mind led to absent cash. At 9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26, a 31-year-old man was shopping in the Best Buy store at 1880 Broadway when he went out to his car. He realized then that he had left his jacket in the store and went back, only to find that
it was gone. Unfortunately, one of the jacket pockets had contained $2,000 in cash.
2016 2015
% Change
2016
2015
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
2
1
100.0
Rape
0
0
n/a
5
8
-37.5
Robbery
4
2
100.0
83
93
-10.8
Felony Assault
3
3
n/a
114
113
0.9
Burglary
6
3
100.0
190
153
24.2
Grand Larceny
28
33
-15.2
1,283
1,244 3.1
Grand Larceny Auto
1
2
-50.0
71
72
old woman placed her property on the bar inside e’s BAR at 511 Amsterdam Ave. and turned around briefly. When she looked back, her wallet was missing, containing cash and credit cards with a total value of $280.
LULU TIMES TWO
E’S BUMMER A customer in a bar proved an easy target for a sticky-fingered thief. At 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18, a 43-year-
Year to Date
As if the resurgence of jeans wasn’t enough to challenge a certain fitness clothing chain, their store security seems to need work as well. At 1:30
-1.4
p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 22, a man entered the Lululemon Athletica store at 2139 Broadway and took an array of merchandise off the shelf, including stretch hot pants and eleven jackets with a total value of $2,400. Then at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, November 28, a man entered the Lululemon store at 1928 Broadway and made off with $2,500 worth of clothing, including sweat joggers and a shell jacket.
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DECEMBER 8-14,2016
SMOKING BAN IN PUBLIC HOUSING SPARKS DEBATE New rule, to be implemented nationwide, could be difficult to enforce BY KAREN MATTHEWS
Elba Acosta was distressed to learn that her morning habit of coffee and a smoke inside her New York City Housing Authority apartment will be banned under new federal rules prohibiting smoking in public housing. “I have my black coffee and a cigarette at home,” Acosta, 67, said outside the Chelsea-Elliot Houses last week. “I mean, that’s my freedom. You do whatever you want to do because it’s your body. The government has no business in your personal choice.” Acosta was reacting to U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro’s Nov. 30 announcement that smoking will be banned in public housing developments nationwide. Housing agencies will have 18 months to implement the ban, which will apply to apartments and indoor common areas as well as outside areas within 25 feet of housing and administrative offices. Castro stressed the dangers of secondhand smoke for children, saying, “Every child deserves to grow up in a safe, healthy home, free from harmful secondhand cigarette smoke.” Housing authorities in several cities including Boston, Seattle, Syracuse and San Antonio already ban smoking in apartments, but the New York City Housing Authority, the nation’s largest with more than 400,000 residents, currently prohibits smoking only in common areas, such as lobbies and hallways. Reactions to the impending ban were mixed at the Chelsea-Elliot Houses and the Fulton Houses, both in Chelsea. Smoke-free living can’t come soon enough for Aurea Martinez, 83, who neither smokes nor allows anyone to smoke in her apartment. “I’m against the people that smoke,” Martinez said. “It’s not good for my health.” But Jose Rodriguez said stress drives housing authority tenants to smoke. “I just smoke ‘cause right now I’m looking for work,” said the 46-year-old Rodriguez, holding an unlit cigarette as he exited his building. Rodriguez said he smokes outside but some of his neighbors smoke in their apartments. “This is the only thing that calms them down,” he said. “Do you want them to buy a bottle and start drinking?” Officials at public housing agencies that already ban smoking said residents have adjusted. Bill Simmons, executive director of the Syracuse Housing Authority, said the
Al Lopez, 60, who has lived in De Hostos Towers on 91st Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues since he was 8 years old, doubts a smoking ban in public housing can be policed. Photo: Genia Gould agency spent two years educating tenants about the city’s smoking ban before implementing it last year. Simmons said that while some tenants “felt their rights were being violated,” there have been few problems since the ban went into effect. “Things have worked out well,” he said. “It’s been good.” The Seattle Housing Authority banned smoking in 2012 after extensive consultation with residents, agency spokeswoman Kerry Coughlin said. “People are used to it now,” she said. “So many places don’t allow smoking.” The San Antonio Housing Authority also banned smoking in 2012 after surveys showed 80 percent of residents favored the ban, spokeswoman Rosario Neaves said. Neaves said that under San Antonio’s initial enforcement plan, tenants would get a lease-termination notice only after violating the smoking ban five times. That’s since been amended to a three-strikesyou’re-out policy. No one has yet been evicted for smoking, Neaves said. Neaves said enforcement efforts have been aided by tenants who can smell the smoke coming from neighboring apartments.
“We do have people telling on each other and that’s one of the ways that people do find out,” Neaves said. “If it bothers them and they want to protect their health then they’re going to speak up.” Al Lopez, 60, who has lived in De Hostos Towers, on 91st Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, since he was 8 years old, doubts the ban can be policed. “It’s completely unenforceable,” said Lopez, whose family was among the first tenants to move into the building. “When I heard the news I started laughing.” “There are already so many rules that people in public housing have to follow. Come Labor Day and Fourth of July, we can’t do any barbecuing, like everybody else in the city,” Lopez said as he gestured to a set of rules posted in the lobby of his building. “And even within the perimeter of the projects, one can’t smoke, so I can’t even go to the yard and have a cigarette, how does that work?” Neighbors are tight-knit and there’s a ‘no-snitch’ rule – nobody will tell on their neighbors, he said. Genia Gould contributed to this report.
DECEMBER 8-14,2016
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ZONING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 part of a lecture series that parallels its â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mastering the Metropolis: New York and Zoning, 19162016â&#x20AC;? exhibit. Given the love-hate relationship New Yorkers have with height, the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exhibit and lectures aim to â&#x20AC;&#x153;examine a century of evolving ideas and heated debates about what constitutes an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;idealâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; city,â&#x20AC;? according to the press release. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With this exhibition we hope to shed light on the lawâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transcendent legacy by unpacking its intricacies in engaging ways,â&#x20AC;? museum director Whitney Donhauser said in the release. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Museumgoers will leave â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mastering the Metropolisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with a full understanding of how invisible forces like zoning policy affect our daily lives, and a deeper appreciation of how our unparalleled skyline and neighborhoods from the Bronx to Staten Island came to look and feel as they do today.â&#x20AC;? Thursdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s panel, the first of five through March, features speakers who will address supertalls and the ability of the zoning resolution to keep pace with modern development. The other four lectures are titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zoning for the Public Good,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zoning to Scale: Considering Neighborhood Character,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cracking the Code: Fostering Public Participation in Zoning,â&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zoning Worldwide.â&#x20AC;? Hilary Ballon, deputy vice chancellor of New York University Abu Dhabi and curator of a gallery in the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new â&#x20AC;&#x153;New York at its Coreâ&#x20AC;? exhibit, called zoning â&#x20AC;&#x153;one of the most signiďŹ cant and inďŹ&#x201A;uential tools that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had to shape the built environment.â&#x20AC;? In comparison to Abu Dhabi, which is a younger city with many skyscrapers, New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s zoning laws are well developed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[Abu Dhabi] only established its equivalent to our d epartment of City Planning approximately a decade ago,â&#x20AC;? she said. Ballon, an expert in global zoning and infrastructure, called the walkability of New York City â&#x20AC;&#x153;genius.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s walkable in part because of the scale of the streets, the diversity of shops and uses that we see on the street [and] the density of the city,â&#x20AC;? she said. However, she also called zoning â&#x20AC;&#x153;arcane,â&#x20AC;? and criticized its complexity and inaccessibility to the average resident. Though she couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t begin to guess what the next century of zoning will bring, she said any changes
Wurts Bros., Empire State Building, view from top of N.Y. Life Building, 1931. Museum of the City of New York, Wurts Bros. Collection, gift of Richard Wurts. to come would likely be incremental. Council Member Dan Garodnick, whose district includes most of Manhattanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existing supertalls, will participate in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zoning for the Public Goodâ&#x20AC;? forum. Garodnick has been working on a rezoning of east midtown Manhattan that would â&#x20AC;&#x153;allow us to improve our mass transit system in connection with development. He hopes to
Going to the Airport?
modernize the zoning code to allow property owners to â&#x20AC;&#x153;have more flexibility in building in exchange for direct improvements to the subway system in the area.â&#x20AC;? Based on personal experience, Garodnick acknowledged that the zoning code has both pros and cons, and he emphasized the necessity of continually revisiting the topic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zoning is one of the fundamental powers of local government, and
itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important that we get it right,â&#x20AC;? he said. Thursdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kick-off lecture, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zoning at New Heights: Supertalls and the Accidental Skyline,â&#x20AC;? will take place at the Museum of the City of New York at 6:30 p.m. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@ strausnews.com
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DECEMBER 8-14,2016
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Voices
Write to us: To share your thoughts and comments go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a letter to the editor.
WE ALMOST MISSED THE PLANE BY MELITTA ANDERMAN
I dedicate this piece to our neighborhood CityMD Urgent Care facility. Planning a trip has its ups and downs. For us, seasoned travelers, packing is a chore that doesn’t come lightly. Why do some people know exactly what clothes to take, appropriate for the weather to come? But since the weather is a big mystery these days, I will be forgiven if my choice is incorrect at times. Nevertheless, the struggle continues. Yes? No? The in-flight choices are easy. The most comfortable stretchy pants, little slippers, subdued makeup (no makeup is too scary for the flight crew), extra wide scarf, a favorite book reread ten times so I won’t strain my brain. Also, hand wipes for touchable surfaces, travel-size cologne to diffuse undesirable whiffs, and so it goes. Until the day of departure. One last look, but my suitcase has a forlorn look, it’s crying for another addition just in case. I’m traveling to modern cities where the “just
Photo: Nils, via Wikimedia Commons in case” can be replenished, but I feel more at ease knowing I’ve given in to my addiction. It’s two hours to go before the scheduled pickup for the airport jaunt. A wee call from the other room alerts me to a possible disaster. My beloved has mistakenly, in the process of cutting sealing strips for the luggage, managed to dispose of some much needed skin on his finger, leaving a good-sized gash which is now gushing blood nonstop. I immediately call our doctor who says we must go to emergency care. We throw on
our sweats, get a cab and go to CityMD Urgent Care on 67th Street and Third. I explain our plight to the receptionist who gets us to see the first available doctor. They take him into the office and I wait outside. I’m mentally making a new plan B. Cancellation insurance call, no turkey, no guests, no nothing. I could have been in Los Angeles with family, but here I am. My husband comes out, fixed up by the terrific doctor who squeezed some medical miracle foam into his finger that will pull the skin together. Voila! We zoom home in another cab, get dressed for the trip. My plan B is discarded. My superstitious mind is conjuring the thought that maybe this was a warning not to go, but I don’t have time for these usual indulgences. My husband will have to change the bandage daily, though he is an expert since his medicine cabinet is filled with every size BandAid and first aid accessory. Our trip runs its smooth cycle on our holiday vacation to Vienna and Berlin. Thank you again, Urgent Care. But I did miss the pre-parade balloon blow-ups on the West Side, the parade and Mr. Turkey (I’ll get you next year, promise).
DIM THE LIGHTS! BY BETTE DEWING
“Making a list and checking it twice,” but what jumps to the top of this column’s list is when I read about the lamentably already-in-progress, conversion of city street lights that turn night into day and even invade our homes. To quote Charlie Brown, “AAUGH!” Now I’m all for saving the planet and saving the city some money, but not when it does harm, very great harm. I mean such as exchanging the current sodium bulb lit street lamps to the LED-lit kind, which destroy the city’s lovely night-time ambiance, the cycle of relative darkness and peace which, I might add, plant life also needs. And much more — and it’s a world-wide boondoggle of the very first kind. Policy makers didn’t do their homework, haven’t looked at the big picture. All they know is LED bulbs cost less to operate and take less energy, They don’t care or maybe can’t see, how totally wretchedly wrong these blinding lights are - visually, emotionally and physically. And like their energy-efficient fluorescent cousin, they are not biodegradable. So internet-users, please do the LED street light search and share with, above all, legislators and media. Tell them how the LED-afflicted citizenry world- wide always fiercely protests them, including those within the five boroughs. The mayor promised to dim them down some, but some say he hasn’t. Anyway, that’s not the right answer! And the subject came up again in this column because this appalling makeover is mentioned
STRAUS MEDIA your neighborhood news source
in this paper’s Nov. 24 cover story. It says, “safety measures are already underway like switching 250,000 street lights to brighter and longerlasting LED lights.” Sam Quinn, head of pedestrian and bicycle programs said “We are doing everything we can to improve the experience for pedestrians and cyclists in our city.” Now a switch to traffic safety, but isn’t “experience” an odd word to use for the safe travel some of us have worked for decades to achieve? Hey, I even have framed awards credentials from U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and State Senator Liz Krueger and others. And speaking of night-lighting we need, really, really bright ones should light up all Citi Bikes. Yes, state law already requires head- and taillights, but judging by the nighttime bicycle scene, you’d never know it. Do many City Council members know that or for cyclists’ safety and others sharing these finite streets, bikes should make a nice little sound. (Scooters too!) Regrettably, this safety-first idea didn’t go over so well with some cyclists. Ah, but former Parks commissioner henry stern approved because, “Bicycles stress us more often than cars do, because they are small, silent and come at you from any direction.” Obviously, much more needs to be said about that, and that they yield before making a turn into a pedestrian crosswalk. And no speeding. But, what needs to be inordinately and continually stressed, is that “failure to yield” kills and injures more city pedestrians than any other “crime of traffic.” Of course, casualties are most-
Vice President/CFO Otilia Bertolotti Vice President/CRO Vincent A. Gardino advertising@strausnews.com
Associate Publishers Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth Regional Sales Manager Tania Cade
The Grand Stair at Lincoln Center off Columbus Avenue. Each stair has imbedded LED lights. Photo: Wilson Rivera, via flickr ly wrought by motor vehicles’ failure to yield — something my Pedestrians First group and column has railed against for decades. And it’s every corner where they can turn into you. Community Board 8 and 19th Precinct Community Council member Barry Schneider said, ‘“Failure to yield” should be emphasized in every Vision Zero public announcement. “Right now it says, ‘Turn carefully.’” To be continued, but back to the LIGHTING, to save it safely and even enhance our peoplemade places and urban environments, reduce the excess wattage that became de rigueur in the last decades. And more so with the advent of so-called energy-efficients and especially the
President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Editor-In-Chief Account Executive Alexis Gelber Fred Almonte editor.ot@strausnews.com Director of Partnership Development Deputy Editor Barry Lewis Richard Khavkine editor.otdt@strausnews.com
LED kind. Every place is now over-lit. In the hospital rooms I recently experienced, I had to wear sunglasses. And maybe you also feel that the holiday lights we love are too profuse, and one can’t see the beautiful Rockefeller Christmas tree overwhelmed by its 60 some thousand LED glares. Ah, above all, please help save the city’s everynight beauty and peace by keeping the kindly light of the sodium-lit street lamp — the kindly light of the sodium street lamp. And, of course, shop small all year! dewingbetter@aol.com
Staff Reporter Madeleine Thompson newsreporter@strausnews.com 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
DECEMBER 8-14,2016
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Introducing the High Growth Money Market Account*
As your money grows, so does your return. Brothers David Ljungvist (left) and Andre Blomqvist at their Christmas tree stand on Second Avenue and 88th Street. Photos: Olivia Kelley
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Every year after Thanksgiving, David Ljungvist and his brother, Andre Blomqvist, leave their jobs and homes in Sweden to come sell Christmas trees on the corner of Second Avenue and 88th Street. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been here for eight years
now. I think Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve found every year I come back; I just like this street because the people are so friendly â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the people that walk by. You get to know everyone â&#x20AC;&#x201D; you get to know the shoe repair and the barber shop and you get into Toolbox, which is the gay bar, and you go there on the weekends and you just get to know everybody,â&#x20AC;? said Ljungvist. Blomqvist joined his brother in the business three years ago.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I hope people will come back here. It feels like everyone we sell to is very happy at least. I love making people happy otherwise I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be doing this,â&#x20AC;? he said. They get the happiest when they get a cheap good tree and they feel like, â&#x20AC;&#x2122;we made a bargain and we can come home and have this tree for the month and be happy and come back next year and get a similar tree.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of the experience we wanna give.â&#x20AC;?
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*Effective May 19, 2015, the personal tiered money market interest rate is .245%, Annual Percentage Yield is .25% with balances of $2,500â&#x20AC;&#x201C;$10,000; balances of $10,001â&#x20AC;&#x201C;$50,000 interest rate is .345%, APY .35%; balances of $50,001â&#x20AC;&#x201C;$100,000 interest rate is .495%, APY .50%; balances of $100,001â&#x20AC;&#x201C; $250,000 interest rate is .590%, APY .60%; balances above $250,000 interest rate is .745%, APY .75%. The minimum opening deposit to qualify for the APY is $2,500. Accounts with balances below $2,500 will incur a $15.00 monthly service charge. Transfers from a High Growth Money Market account to another account or to third parties by pre-authorized, automatic, telephone, or computer transfer or by check, Visa debit card or similar order to third parties are limited to 6 per statement cycle (of at least four weeks). A $15.00 fee will be charged for transactions exceeding this limit. Personal accounts only. New money only. All rates are subject to change without notice.
Down times at his tree stand, David Ljungvist carves earrings out of branches.
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DECEMBER 8-14,2016
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Out & About More Events. Add Your Own: Go to ourtownny.com
Thu
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▲‘NEW YORK AT ITS CORE’ Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. 6 p.m. $20, general; $10, members of FRIENDS A special, after-hours private tour of the Museum of the City of New York’s upcoming new permanent exhibit. 212-535-2526. www. friends-ues.org
‘EVERYTHING BUT A MAN’
Fri
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BYZANTINE POP-UPS The Met, 1000 Fifth Ave. 4 and 6 p.m. Free with admission Come out for these unexpected performances to hear hymns and carols of the Byzantine Empire. 212-535-7710. www. metmuseum.org
YORKVILLE HOLIDAY EXHIBIT & SALE
Draesel Hall at Church of the Holy Trinity, 316 East 88th St. Dec. 9, 5-8 p.m.; Dec. 10, 10 Milbank, Teachers College, a.m.-6 p.m.; Dec. 11 10 a.m.-3 Columbia University p.m. 8:30 p.m. $13-15 Unique artisan wares One of several features comprising the African Diaspora handmade by a select group International Film Festival, about of local artisans. Most of the exhibiting artists have decades a successful African-American of studio experience, and many career woman who has a lifeteach as well. changing romance. yohoex.weebly.com/ nyadiff.org/
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Sat
NEW YORK OPERA FORUM 96th Street Library, 1121 East 96th St. 1-4 p.m. Free Come see the New York Opera Forum perform Handel’s opera “ALCINA.” A live musical recital performed in concert with piano accompaniment. 212-289-0908. www.nypl. org
ART GALLERY TOUR Meet at 1018 Madison Ave., near East 78th Street 1 p.m. $25 Visit seven modern art galleries in the uptown center for contemporary art. Led by Rafael Risemberg. 917-250-0052. www. nygallerytours.com
DECEMBER 8-14,2016
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Sun
‘COMPENSATION’ Cowin Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 W. 120th St. 4:30 p.m. $11-45 On closing night of the African Diaspora International Film Festival, filmmaker Zeinabu Irene Davis’ two African-American love stories between a deaf woman and a hearing man, followed by a Q&A with Davis. nyadiff.org/
CZECH CHRISTMAS IN NEW YORK CITY Consulate General of the Czech Republic, 321 East 73rd St. 2-7 p.m. Free Come out for a special day of traditional Czech holiday activities including a holiday
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
concert, Christmas market, and Christmas movies. 646-422-3344. www.mzv.cz
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Mon
PLUM PUDDING AND GINGER NUTS
East 79th St. 6:30 p.m. $15 Rogers, who launched the restoration of Central Park in the 1980s, now introduces seven remarkable green spaces in and around New York City, giving the history of how they have been transformed over time. 212-288-6900. www. nysoclib.org
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Mt. Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden, 421 East 61st St. 6:30 p.m. $25; $20, members and students, reservation required A hands-on workshop to make, and eat, two 19th-century ‘STORY OF JUDAS’ holiday favorites using historic recipes. FIAF, 55 East 59th St. 212-838-6878. www.mvhm. 4 and 7:30 p.m. $14 org A screening of Rabah AmeurZaïmeche 2015 feature. Conversation, wine and beer followr both screenings. ELIZABETH BARLOW 1-800-982-2787. www.fiaf. ROGERS, GREEN org
Tue
METROPOLIS▼
New York Society Library, 53
THE NUTCRACKER — BOLSHOI BALLET The Beekman Theatre, 1271 2nd Avenue 7 p.m. $20 Come out for this version of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” interpreted by Bolshoi dancers. www.citycinemas.com
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Wed
HOLIDAY CARD WORKSHOP FOR KIDS Yorkville Library, 4 p.m. Free Bring out the kids and unleash their creativity. Make a holiday card for family or friends. 212-744-5842. www.nypl. org
RADIANT CITY Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. 6:30 p.m. $12 A screening of “Bill Cunningham New York,” a look into the life of the late, great street and society photographer. Following the film will be a conversation to remember Cunningham with those who knew him and his work well. 917-492-3395. www.mcny. org
ART OF FOOD Our Town’s
AT SOTHEBY’S
Presented by
Saturday, February 4, 2017
BUY TICKETS NOW! artoffoodny.com
MEET THE CHEF How did you get started in the food biz? I was in undergrad at the University of Buffalo, and western New York is known for some fantastic supermarkets, which I didn’t know about, growing up on Long Island: Tops and Wegman’s.
of the crane collapse. It devastated the building we were in and we were put out of business. We’re here now, right across the street. And nine months ago, we opened up another Crave Fishbar on the Upper West Side.
You were at the Art I don’t want to of Food last year. TODD MITGANG knock my mom, Chef at Crave Fishbar We had a lot of fun. 945 2nd Ave., but growing up with New York, NY 10022 Chefs like challenges, her, I learned the and what was unique basics: buying a box of rice pilaf about it was coming up with a and making it. It proved good pairing that somehow was inspired enough my freshman year of by the piece of art. Last year, college. We’d all pitch in a couple our artwork Roy Lichtenstein’s of dollars and would host these “Thinking Nude,” so our dish was dinner parties, and we’d end up Naked Salmon. When we go to eating something delicious. That these tasting events, we get the is part of what pushed me into the chance to create something totally kitchen, because while there is a lot unique. of great, fine dining in Buffalo, the Any cooking advice? greasy spoons were really greasy I love to cook. That’s why I’m in spoons. If you went in to order a this industry. My number one tip sub, it was automatically on garlic is to have fun in the kitchen. If you bread with oil and vinegar and the learn some very basic techniques: guy behind the counter was like: how to use salt, how to roast, how “Hey, do you want mayonnaise on to broil. Stick with one technique. this too?” So I really got started Learn how to fix a mistake or make cooking in undergrad. something even better than you When did Crave get started? had originally sought out to. That’s I started Crave Ceviche Bar, which the fun part of cooking. You don’t used to be right across the street. necessarily need to follow a recipe Right now, Crave Fishbar is here at to the T. Taste as you go, and 945 2nd Ave. The ceviche bar was so long as you know what each 946 2nd Ave. It was a ceviche-only ingredient is going to add, you can restaurant and we were having a always end up with something that lot of fun, but it closed because is going to be delicious.
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DECEMBER 8-14,2016
The Snowman© Snowman Enterprises
TUNING IN FOR THE HOLIDAYS THE SNOWMAN David Hayes, artistic director, will lead The Mannes Orchestra in an orchestral accompaniment of “The Snowman,” a charming animated film of a little boy who builds a snowman that comes to life, and the two travel to the North Pole and meet Santa Claus. Performances at The Met Fifth Avenue are at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday Dec. 17. Tickets are $40 to $55 and include admission to the museum. www. metmuseum.org/events/
HOLIDAY LIGHT The Western Wind Vocal Sextet will celebrate the Hanukkah and Christmas holidays on Dec. 17 in an evening of songs spanning the Middle Ages to today, including folks songs and spirituals. The sextet along with guest performers will perform new arrangements of seasonal classics such as “The Cherry Tree Carol” and charming Hanukkah songs such as “Flory Jagoda’s Ocho Kandelikas.” 8 p.m. Abigail Adams Smith Auditorium, 417 East 61st St. $20$35 www.westernwind.org/store. html?tix. 212-873-2848
THE DESSOFF CHOIRS A celebration of the holidays featuring seasonal repertoire and contemporary arrangements of carols, including Handel’s “Messiah,” Bach’s “Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden,” and Robert Parsons’s “Ave Maria.” The Welcome Yule concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Avenue (at 54th Street), invites the community to come together and celebrate the holidays as Dessoff welcomes audience members of all ages to join in the singing of carols and enjoy the music of Bach, Tavener, Lauridsen and Howells. The Messiah Sing, at 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 17 at James Memorial Chapel, Union Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway (at 121st Street), is a beloved seasonal event and the start of a new tradition for Dessoff. All singers and non-singers alike are invited to join with the choir on the work’s many choruses while Dessoff singers will have the opportunity to perform the solo arias. Welcome Yule tickets $25-35.
The Dessoff Choirs celebrate the holidays with a seasonal repertoire and contemporary arrangements of carols, including Handel’s “Messiah,” Bach’s “Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden,” and Robert Parsons’s “Ave Maria” Dec. 10
Seniors/students $15. Messiah Sing: $15. Seniors/students $10. www.dessoff.org/
GREENWICH VILLAGE CAROLING WALK Continuing a tradition begun 1974, The West Village Chorale hosts the Greenwich Village Caroling Walk at noon on Saturday, Dec. 17. Participants gather in the meeting room of Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, then stroll through the historic, Dickens-like Village neighborhoods singing seasonal carols and songs. Songbooks will be provided as will refreshments, conviviality and yet more singing follow back at Judson. Free for the whole family (donations accepted). westvillagechorale.org
UNSILENT NIGHT Composer Phil Kline will lead a chorus of boomboxes on a saunter from the Washington Square Arch to Tompkins Square Park that begins about 6 p.m., Sunday Dec. 18 in the 25th annual presentation of this luminous soundscape, which will be performed in cities around the globe. Kline will hand out a limited number of vintage boomboxes from his
collection and cassettes and CD’s to those who bring their own. Go to unsilentnight.com/participate.html to download the tracks Participants, onlookers and listeners meet at the arch at 5:45 p.m.
CANDLELIGHT CAROL SERVICE The nondenominational Chelsea Community Church’s 42nd Annual Candlelight Carol Service, comprising Scripture lessons, a choir and congregational singing, will take place on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 6 p.m. at its host church, the historic St. Peter’s Chelsea. The choir, under the direction of Larry J. Long, will present choral music from the ancient plainsong chant “Hodie Christus natus est” (“Today, Christ is born”) to John Rutter’s contemporary “Shepherd’s Pipe Carol.” Broadway singer/actor Arbender Robinson will read Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” 346 West 20th St., between Eighth and Ninth Avenues. The event is free, though offerings will be accepted.
HANDEL’S ‘MESSIAH’ An audience-chorus of nearly 3,000 voices under the batons of 17 eminent
conductors will join with the National Chorale, under the artistic direction of Everett McCorvey, to perform its 49th presentation of Handel’s Messiah Sing-In at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 20., at the David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza. The performance features countertenor Eric Brenner, tenor Roderick George, bass Kevin Maynor and soprano Jessica Sandidge. Tickets are $30-$100 and available at www.nationalchorale.com or by calling 212-333-5333.
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene presents a concert of rediscovered and restored pre- and post-World War II music from the theatrical works of the great composers of the Golden Age of Yiddish Theater, among them Ellstein, Goldfaden, Olshanetsky, Rumshinsky and Secunda. 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Edmond J. Safra Hall at Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place $30, $20 for members of Museum of Jewish Heritage or National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. 212-213-2120 ext. 230; group sales ext. 204; www. nytf.org
DECEMBER 8-14,2016
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Come Experience Auctions at Showplace First-Time Bidders Welcome! Sunday, December 18, 10am
Fine and decorative art, jewelry and furniture for a fraction of retail cost! Composer Kaija Saariaho and director Robert Lepage during rehearsals of “L’amour de Loin.” Photo: Jonathan Tichler/Metropolitan Opera
MET’S FIRST OPERA BY A WOMAN IN 113 YEARS The company stages Kaija Saariaho’s “L’Amour de Loin” BY RONALD BLUM
When the first notes of Kaija Saariaho’s “L’Amour de Loin (Love from Afar)” were played at the Metropolitan Opera on Dec. 1, it marked only the second staged work by a woman composer in the company’s history — and the first since 1903. “It is staggering,” said Jennifer Higdon, one of six women to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. “We’re in the 21st century. There are a lot of women composers out there who are writing a lot of music, and some of it is fantastic stuff.” The Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. In 1983, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich became the first female composer to win the award. “I actually had someone say to me at one point that they wanted to do an orchestral piece of mine but they already had done a woman that year,” Zwilich recalled. “There’s still a bunch of stuff out there. But generally speaking, the door is open. It’s not easy for any composer.” “L’Amour,” with a libretto by Amin Maalouf, premiered at the 2000 Salzburg Festival in Austria. It is being shown at the Met in a striking new production by Canadian director Robert Lepage that features some 28,000 LED lights about 1 square millimeter each in 30 rows, including three over the orchestra pit. Saariaho, a 64-year-old Finn who has long lived in Paris, also wrote “Adriana Mater,” which debuted at the Opera de Paris’
Tamara Mumford as the Pilgrim in Kaija Saariaho’s “L’Amour de Loin.” Photo: Ken Howard/ Metropolitan Opera. Bastille auditorium in 2005, and “Emilie,” first seen at the Opera de Lyon in 2010. She considers herself a composer who is a woman, not a woman composer. “I would not even like to speak about it,” she said after a piano rehearsal at the Met. “It should be a shame.” Ethel M. Smyth’s “Der Wald (The Forest)” was the first opera by a woman composer at the Met, receiving just two performances. It was paired with Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” for its U.S. debut on March 11, 1903, and with Donizetti’s “La Fille du Regiment (The Daughter of the Regiment)” nine days later. And then it disappeared. “I don’t feel like I’m righting wrongs,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said. “That Kaija’s a
female has absolutely nothing to do with my wanting to do this work. This is not part of a female quota system. In my history at the Met, I have no interest in the sex of the composer. My interest is in the quality of the composition.” “L’Amour” will be given eight performances through Dec. 29, and the Dec. 10 matinee will be televised to theaters around the world. Susanna Malkki, a highly regarded 47-year-old Finn who also lives in Paris, will be on the podium — just the fourth woman to conduct the Met following Sarah Caldwell (1976 debut), Simone Young (1996) and Jane Glover (2013). “I think we have to look at the roots, the grassroot level,” Malkki said. “It starts very early on, and there are sort of invisible stages which were not existent earlier. Girls were not being encouraged or taken seriously. So we already have a much smaller number of female composers compared to the men. ... I think it’s something that is definitely changing now, and that is really positive. And hopefully at some point we are going to be in a situation where we don’t need to talk about this anymore because, of course, the artwork in itself is what is important.” “L’Amour’’ is part of the Met’s commitment to show a contemporary work each season. Thomas Ades’ “The Exterminating Angel,” based on the 1962 Luis Bunuel movie, will be staged next season. Nico Muhly’s “Marnie” has been moved up a season to 2018-19 in place of Osvaldo Golijov’s “Iphigenia in Aulis.”
No reserves! Preview: December 5 – 18 8:30am – 5:30pm weekends & 10am – 6pm weekdays Absentee and phone bids accepted! Complimentary lunch after the auction! View the catalogue at www.nyshowplace.com! Showplace Antique + Design Center | 40 West 25th Street 212-633-6063 ext. 808 | auctions@nyshowplace.com
We buy estates! Entire or partial contents Immediate payment Professional and discreet
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
The Letters of Samuel Beckett
MONDAY, DECEMBER 12TH, 8PM 92nd Street Y | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212-415-5500 | 92y.org The fourth and final volume of The Letters of Samuel Beckett: 1966-1989 will be celebrated with readings, alongside a performance of one of Beckett’s favorite chamber pieces, Schubert’s Rosamunde Quartet. ($34)
Feeding Gotham: The History and Future of Food Policy in New York City
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13TH, 7PM Graduate Center, CUNY | 365 Fifth Ave. | 212-817-7000 | gc.cuny.edu Renowned food writer Mark Bittman moderates a discussion on how the food on our tables is affected by public policy. (Free, reservation required)
Just Announced | Design Night: Designing a Better America
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12TH, 6:30PM Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum | 2 E. 91st St. | 212-489-8404 | cooperhewitt.org Enjoy a talk plus the run of the museum on a night of design and technology inspired by the exhibition By the People: Designing a Better America. ($25)
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
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DECEMBER 8-14,2016
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS NOV 15 - DEC 02 2016
Ma’s Noodle Fun
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 http://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/services/restaurant-grades.page
Koito Japanese Restaurant 310 East 93 Street
B
Enthaice
1598 3 Avenue
B
Zesty Pizza & Salumeria
1670 3Rd Ave
Not Yet Graded (16) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F.
Il Salumaio Wine Bar
1731 2Nd Ave
B
Bonjour Crepes & Wine
1442 Lexington Ave
A
Angela’s Montana Table
1750 2Nd Ave
A
Laduree Paris
Yia Yia
864 Madison Ave
404 E 69Th St
Not Yet Graded (17) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
1744 1St Ave
A
89 Tenzan
1714 2Nd Ave
A
Not Yet Graded (41) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food contact surface improperly constructed or located. Unacceptable material used.
Bagel Mill
1700 1St Ave
A
Starbucks
245 E 93Rd St
A
Big Bowl
1764 1St Ave
Not Yet Graded (9) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Isohama
1666 3 Avenue
A
Persepolis
1407 2 Avenue
A
Mo Gelato
956 Lexington Ave
A
Ko Sushi
1329 2 Avenue
A
Up Thai
1411 2Nd Ave
A
Le Paris Bistrot Francais
1312 Madison Avenue
A
Amoun
406 East 73 Street
Grade Pending (19) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Maroo
1640 3Rd Ave
A
Belaire Cafe
525 East 71 Street
A
Feta
1436 Lexington Ave
Marymount College Nugents Cafe
221 East 71St Street
A
Green Life Juice Bar
311 E 76Th St
A
Not Yet Graded (25) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Oita Sushi
1317A 2Nd Ave
A
Dig Inn
1297 Lexington Ave
Candle Cafe
1307 3Rd Ave
Not Yet Graded (24) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Not Yet Graded (16) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
Two Doors
1576 3 Avenue
A
Cafe D’alsace
1695 2 Avenue
A
Jj Brown Cup
1707 2Nd Ave
A
Subway
1885 3 Avenue
A
El Chevere Cuchifritos Bakery
2002 3Rd Ave
A
King Food
2036 2Nd Ave
C
Malii
2028 2Nd Ave
A
La Preciosa China Restaurant
163 East 116 Street
A
Neapolitan Express
232 E 111Th St
A
Joosed By Lloyd’s
1555 Lexington Ave
C
Brb Cafe
413 E 69Th St
A
Shanghai Chinese Restaurant
1388 2 Avenue
A
The Pony Bar
1444 1 Avenue
A
Maison Kayser
1294 3 Avenue
A
Little Frog Francois Latapie 322 E 86Th St
A
The Simone
151 East 82 Street
A
Nectar Of 82Nd Street
1090 Madison Avenue A
Eli’s Table
1411 3 Avenue
A
Mochaburger + Subs Express
1603 2Nd Ave
A
Arturo’s Pizza
1610 York Ave
A
Mamagyro
165 E 106Th St
A
The York Social
1529 York Ave
A
Judy’s Spanish Restuarant
1505 Lexington Ave
A
Amura Japanese Restaurant
1567 2Nd Ave
A
1257 Park Avenue
A
Morini Ristorante
1167 Madison Avenue
A
Winston & Tee Express Jerk Chicken And Caribbean
Bar Prima
331 E 81St St
A
Bawarchi Indian Cuisine
1546 Madison Ave
B
Green Cafe
1324 Lexington Avenue
A
Wendy’s
2121 3Rd Ave
A
Empire Corner Ii
1415 5 Avenue
A
3 Guys Resturant
1232 Madison Avenue A
Au Jus
1762 1St Ave
A
Le Pain Quotidien
1399 Madison Ave
A
Bareburger
1681 1St Ave
A
Harlem Shake
2162 2Nd Ave
A
Tarallucci E Vino
9 East 90Th Street
A
Jiang China King
1759 Lexington Ave
A
G&J’s Pizzeria
1797 1St Ave
A
Love Cafe
283 Pleasant Avenue
A
Grill Time
1764 1St Ave
B
Thai Wok
1406 Madison Ave
A
DECEMBER 8-14,2016
INTERSECTIONS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Sam Schwartz, a former traffic commissioner and president of his ďŹ rm Sam Schwartz Engineering, identified one issue in particular as singular to New York City: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pedestrians do not follow walk-donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t walk signals, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily cross at intersections and sometimes seem to challenge drivers,â&#x20AC;? he said, admitting that he ďŹ ts into the latter category. However, he said, the chaos seems to slow cars down. In Los Angeles, by comparison, there are fewer pedestrians and the rules are more strictly enforced, but the fatality rate is much higher. Gladys Levy said she never disobeys the traffic signals at East 57th and Third Avenue, the eighth most dangerous intersection in the city, though she sometimes does so elsewhere. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I might cross 51st Street without the light, but never Third Avenue,â&#x20AC;? said Levy, who lives nearby on East 51st Street. She was surprised to learn that 57th and Third was one of the most dangerous, but she blames the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collision statistics on turning. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You can be crossing the street, and if [cars] think they can beat you they will,â&#x20AC;? she said. Dwayne Hermidas, a doorman at 200 East 57th Street, has spent 12 years looking out at the intersection of 57th and Third. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once I saw somebody
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com crossing the street and a cab hit him,â&#x20AC;? Hermidas said, recalling an incident he witnessed about a year ago. He attributed the locationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s increased risk for pedestrians to the many buses that criss-cross each other on the two-way street all day long and the proximity of the Queensboro Bridge. Fisher, at 59th and Second, said pedestrians there are very careful about not jaywalking because they know how dangerous it is. However, he empathized with the Department of Transportation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I kind of feel for them in a way,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These streets were built a long time ago. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really hard to work on them. How are you going to do construction on Second Avenue? People coming from Queens, from the Bronx, have to take Second Avenue to go down.â&#x20AC;? Many of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most dangerous intersections have tunnels, bridges or large transportation hubs nearby. The entirety of 42nd Street from Sixth Avenue to Ninth Avenue is included, as well as 34th Street at Seventh and Eighth Avenues around Penn Station, and 40th Street and 11th Avenue by the Holland Tunnel. Though the DOT reports that pedestrian fatalities have decreased by 60 percent over the last 30 years, it remains to be seen whether Mayor Bill de Blasioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vision Zero plan will accomplish its goal of eliminating them by 2024.
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
DECEMBER 8-14,2016
Property
ASK A BROKER BY ANDREW KRAMER
I am a buyer looking to purchase a large one-bedroom co-op. I don’t understand why square-footage is not included on all listings? It would streamline my efforts and allow me to focus on just properties with the space I’m looking for. Can you shed some light on this? Although this sounds simple and logical on the surface, it’s actually a quite complex issue. First and foremost, unlike condominiums, cooperative apartments are not sold by squarefootage but rather by room count. In the condo and new development markets, the “Schedule A” in the prospectus (available for buildings built from the ground up or rehabilitated within the last 25 years), which every buyer receives, oftentimes contains square footage information for each unit. However, not all square-feet are
created equal as calculations may include the thickness of the walls and/or a portion of the common areas and therefore may considerably overstate the usable square footage. Believe it or not, there have even been lawsuits as a result of disagreements over the accuracy of squarefootage, which has contributed to the practice of removing it entirely. At the end of the day, if you’re in the market for a co-op, you’re buying a home to live in (as co-ops tend restrict subletting) and there are so many other factors that impact it’s value ... location, exposure, view, what floor it’s on, ceiling height, fireplace, how quiet it is, flow of space, amenities, etc. Don’t give up, I’m sure you’ll find the perfect home with the space and features you’re looking for. Andrew Kramer is a licensed associate real estate broker with Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales
Photo: Bosc d’Anjou via flickr
MTA HAS A RIGHT TO UNRESTRICTED DEVELOPMENT Cuomo vetoes a bill to limit a new definition of ‘transportation purposes’ BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
Exactly what does the Metropolitan Transit Authority own? According to data compiled by the Municipal Art Society, the MTA has 656 properties throughout the city totaling more than 41 million square feet. However, a note at the bottom of the web page housing this information warns that it is difficult to know for sure what belongs to the MTA because many sites are listed under different agencies, such as “New York City Transit Authority,” “Long Island Rail Road” and “Department of Transportation,” to name a few. State Senator Liz Krueger, who represents parts of the East Side from 96th to 10th Streets, has been asking for a complete list of MTAowned property for 15 years. “Over the course of those years multiple requests have been made of the MTA to produce a master list of all their properties in the 12 counties [they cover] and what they’re using
them for,” Krueger said. “The MTA has never done so.” The lack of such a list became more problematic for those concerned about land use after the state legislature passed its 2016-2017 budget this spring. Tacked onto the budget was a revision of New York public authorities law that changed the definition of “transportation purposes.” The MTA, a public authority, had previously been allowed to develop their property without restriction or obligation to follow local zoning laws as long as it was for transportation purposes, like storing equipment or building a subway station. Under the new law, the two words have far broader implications: “‘Transportation purpose’ shall mean a purpose that directly or indirectly supports all or any of the missions or purposes of the authority, any of its subsidiaries, New York City transit authority or its subsidiary, including the realization of revenues available for the costs and expenses of all or any transportation facilities.” This put all 656 known MTA properties in play for unrestricted development.
Hypothetical build-out of what could be developed on an MTA-owned lot at 63rd Street and Second Avenue. Courtesy of the Municipal Art Society According to Krueger, very few, if any, legislators were aware that this definition had been added. “The language was slipped into the budget with, guilty as charged, almost no legislator realizing it was there,” she said. Once lawmakers did, State Senator Jack Martins, who represents part of Long Island, created a bill to repeal that section of the budget. Krueger was one of its sponsors. But last week that bill to remove the MTA’s power to develop their land in any way, for any purpose was vetoed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “People didn’t really know or understand because it’s pretty damn esoteric when you start the discussion,”
Krueger said. She added that she has since gathered support for a removal of the redefinition of “transportation purposes” from groups including the Municipal Art Society, the Historic Districts Council and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Tara Kelly, vice president of policy and programs at the Municipal Art Society, said her organization discovered the large amount of MTA-owned land coincidentally, while attempting to map all city-owned property. “When we looked to seek out what were individual MTA properties ... there were things that we knew were owned by the MTA but weren’t coming up in our
map,” she said. “We’re unable to say definitively ... that we know exactly what is under this jurisdiction of MTA because the data isn’t organized in a way for that to be made clear.” In particular, Kelly is concerned about the 221 sites owned by the MTA that are zoned for residential development. Cuomo’s justification for giving the MTA free reign was that it would help generate additional income by allowing the authority to rent land to developers. The MTA declined to comment for this article, but MTA spokesperson Stephen Morello told the Wall Street Journal in June that “The city’s interpretation is extreme and its concern is unwarranted.” Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, said he didn’t think the potential for increased revenue outweighed the provision’s potential costs. He called the new definition’s implications “mind-boggling and scary.” After the governor’s veto, those opposed to the MTA’s new power are disappointed but not giving up. Said Krueger: “In my experience when somebody vetoes your legislation the best answer is ... to sit down and have the discussions about the incredible negative consequences that perhaps were not understood by everyone in the room.” Kelly and Berman said they would confer with their elected officials to determine the next step. In the meantime, they’ll be keeping an eye on all the properties they’re aware of that are owned by the MTA. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com
DECEMBER 8-14,2016
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
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DECEMBER 8-14,2016
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
ART OF FOOD Our Town’s
AT SOTHEBY’S
Presented by
BUY TICKETS NOW! artoffoodny.com
MEET THE CHEF The Meatball Shop was at Tell me about how you got the Art of Food last year. started in the culinary We were there—we did world. pizza balls, which were There was a Mexican inspired by our art, a restaurant on 3rd lovely painting of the Ave. and 82nd Street Statue of Liberty. Très called San Mulitas that New York. hired me as a delivery boy when I was 13 or 14 We don’t know what years old. But doing we’re getting paired delivery was cold—it’s with yet this year! I always hot or cold hope it’s something here in New York! It’s weird and abstract. a nightmare. And I Are you into art was attracted to the DANIEL HOLZMAN yourself? Chef at The Meatball Shop kitchen. The guys are 1462 2nd Ave. My mom is a painter. She New York, NY 10075 all tattooed and tough does a lot of still life work and macho, you know? and some portraiture and collage. Everybody says “yes, sir” I thought it She’s a prolific artist. I have a painting was cool. of hers right on the wall over there. So I found my way into the kitchen. You have a ton of old pictures up on I worked in a lot of different, fancy the walls in your restaurants. Who restaurants—a lot of French are these people? restaurants. A lot of them are random, but some When did you realize meatballs were of them are real people. On Bedford your calling? Avenue is where I have the most I had moved back to New York to family. This shop on the East Side is open a restaurant, and we weren’t mostly random people. One of our sure what kind of restaurant we original investors who passed away wanted to open, but I knew I wanted is on the back wall. People give us to serve the type of food I wanted to pictures of their family members and eat; something customers could relate say things like: “This is my aunt, she to. And I wanted it to be a place where was the life of the party. Can she live we could have fun at work. Meatballs in your restaurant?” or “This guy kind of lend themselves to that. really loved meatballs.” Also, it was like—what in New York You have a bunch of Meatball Shops is missing? There were a lot of great scattered around the city. Any plans meatballs, but no definitive best to expand outside of NYC? meatball in New York, and we thought We have one in Brooklyn. We talk we could get there. Plus, my brother a lot about moving out of the city. is a huge meatball hero guy. Hopefully next year or the year after Favorite place to eat on the Upper that. East Side? Number one cooking tip? I really like Daniel. I think that’s a great Relax. Breathe deeply. Don’t get restaurant. If I could pick anywhere stressed out about it. on the Upper East Side to go, it’d be there.
Dozens of retailers, from an Apple Store to a Banana Republic, are at the Oculus, steps from the fallen World Trade Center. Photo: Hillel Steinberg, via flickr
GROUND ZERO THEN AND NOW A student journalist reflects on her changing perceptions of the area
BY SARAH NELSON
At the age of seven, I stood at Ground Zero holding my sister’s hand. The craters in the ground were all that remained of the two buildings I vaguely remembered seeing all over TV just two years earlier. Only two intersecting beams resembling a cross stood erect in the site otherwise surrounded by leftover jagged metal and rubble. Not ma ny pedest r ia n s stopped to glance at the work underway. Men and women in suits briskly walked by clutching their Blackberrys, eyes glued to the ground. Though I was young, I sensed the eeriness in the area during the moments when my family observed the remains. As I walked to the 9/11 Memorial thirteen years later, I was shocked by how much the area had changed. The site has become a hub for selfie sticks and families posing for the camera, saying “cheese.” Every day, at least three layers of tourists fight to take videos of themselves next to the flowing water of the reflecting pool. Despite signs reminding visitors that this is a space for
quiet remembrance, children zig-zag through the crowds playing tag while people of all ages carry on conversations. Yet once in a while, a family or couple embrace each other in utter despair, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the fateful day. Having traveled to memorials all around the country, I’ve seen that none possess the commercialization of the 9/11 area. When I first viewed the Oculus, I appreciated the artistic design until I discovered the building is actually a multi-million dollar shopping mall. Kate Spade and Apple are trying to further their business just steps away from a massive tragedy. Dumbfounded, I asked native New Yorkers how they handle what has happened to the area. Most hadn’t even brought themselves to see the memorial. As my time reporting for the West Side Spirit concludes, plenty of significant events have unfolded in the past three months. Most recently, I watched thousands of stoic New Yorkers walk by in the rain on the day after the election. On September 18, I heard pedestrians buzz about the Chelsea bombings while scurrying to their destinations. Yet perhaps the most striking experience was the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11. Metal grates
and NYPD officers blocked off the area, allowing only the victims’ families into the vicinity that morning. The downtown area was quiet, with the sound of one or two helicopters above breaking the silence. As the time of the first crash arrived at 8:46 a.m., officers and firefighters removed their hats while attempting to bring families in through the barriers and the crowds of gawking tourists. Those 60 seconds that morning started multiple moments of silence throughout the day, despite the few pedestrians who continued to play their music on speaker phone. I vowed to avoid the area for the remainder of the week and continue to find it hard to appreciate the memorial. The burden of these heavy subjects was lessened the more I reported on the Upper West and Upper East Side. I enjoyed seeing the distinct differences in each neighborhood and how communities love their streets. Neighbors care about their local green spaces, the corner bus stops and small businesses. There may be no solution to the problems I saw at the 9/11 memorial, but writing and listening to stories from people in their neighborhoods proved to be a good antidote to the cynicism and anger I felt visiting the space where the Twin Towers once stood.
DECEMBER 8-14,2016
NEIGHBORS CONTINUE OPPOSITION TO MUSEUM’S “MINI TIMES SQUARE” Community groups hire a prominent attorney who pledges to “stand and fight”
BY MADELEINE THOMPSON
Upper West Siders who oppose the American Museum of Natural History’s expansion plans are not giving up, despite the project’s continued progress. After a year of rallies and hearings held by community groups as well as the museum, the AMNH’s proposed addition to its existing campus, the Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation, passed Community Board 7 and the Landmarks Preservation Committee with overwhelming support in October. But Community United to Protect Theodore Roosevelt Park, one of several groups that have organized in response to the Gilder Center, held a meeting last week to reaffirm their opposition and introduce their newly hired lawyer Michael Hiller. Hiller is a prominent land use and preservation attorney who has defended the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman building against renovations that would have redone some of its historic architecture, and saved both a landmarked former church at 361 Central Park West and a rare mechanical clock tower in Lower Manhattan from conversion into luxury condos. Hiller told the roughly 60 attendees at last Thursday’s meeting that to beat the museum they would have to “channel your inner hippie, lock arms and walk the streets.” “What you have to do is stand and fight,” Hiller said. It was one of 22 times the word “fight” was used that night. Hiller went on to criticize the treatment of public assets under Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom he blamed for their
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
much higher rate of privatization. Community United President Claudia DiSalvo and Vice President Bill Raudenbush also gave speeches intended to energize their neighbors. DiSalvo focused on the lasting impact the Gilder Center will have, saying that “future generations will view this decision … as a tragic, ahistorical fallacy.” Raudenbush assured attendees that, though it may seem wrong to oppose such a storied cultural institution, it was necessary. “When they build this Gilder Center, if they get away with it, most of [Theodore Roosevelt Park] will become pathways,” he said. “A mini-Times Square is going to be put up on the Upper West Side.” DiSalvo thanked the other community groups that have formed since the natural history museum announced their Gilder Center proposal. Local organization against the museum began with Defenders of Teddy Roosevelt, which some members left to form Community United when they felt Defenders had taken too conciliatory an approach. Then some left that group to form the Alliance to Protect Theodore Roosevelt Park. Hiller alluded to the fractured organizational structure of the anti-Gilder Center movement, urging members to work out their issues privately. “Whatever differences you may have had with some other people who opposed this project, drop them,” he said. “The city drives wedges between these coalitions. You cannot diminish that leadership by infighting.” Additional issues speakers had with the American Museum of Natural History included allegations that the museum is in too much debt to take on such a large project, that the Gilder Center’s design is far too grand and not conducive to carrying out the research and education goals it has set, and that the new entrance will flood the neighborhood with cars and pe-
destrians. The museum’s director of communications Roberto Lebron confirmed that, “like all large NYC cultural institutions,” the institution has taken on outstanding debt for various projects. He declined to provide the numerical value of that debt. Topping the list of concerns, however, was the quarter-acre of park land near Columbus Avenue and 79th Street onto which the Gilder Center will encroach. Local park users so vocally decried the loss of trees and usable park space that the museum worked with some of them to reduce the number of trees being relocated from nine down to seven and cut the planned park square footage in half. The museum also collaborated with neighbors to redesign the park to preserve its private resting spots. For some, however, this will not suffice. Despite allusions to the contrary at the meeting, Lebron said that no changes to the Gilder Center’s footprint had been made since before the project was approved by Community Board 7 and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. “In September we updated the square footage from 218,000 to approximately 235,000,” Lebron said. “That change did not impact the park and did not result in a change in the building height.” Dates have not yet been set for environmental review process, but it is expected to begin in January. Hiller said he has multiple legal approaches in mind to slow and potentially stop the museum’s progress, adding that he sees “at least 14 different areas of significant environmental concern.” “Let’s stand together and let’s beat the crap out of them,” he said. Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com
Mayor Bill de Blasio with the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus at the World Aids Day dedication for the Aids Memorial. Photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photo Office.
AIDS MEMORIAL DEDICATED World AIDS Day this year was commemorated with the official unveiling of the New York City AIDS Memorial at the St. Vincent’s Triangle in Greenwich Village. The memorial, a minimalist metal canopy comprised of interconnected triangles on a granite floor, was dedicated on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day. Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was both sad and proud, “sad to think of a loss. ... proud to remember the fight.” “This is one of those moments where you have to reflect, you have to feel emotionally the history that we’re here to commemorate — and it is a history filled with pain,” he
said. “It’s a very personal pain. It’s something — every single person here has a story — those they lost, those they knew, those they loved and lost. There is clear pain. And, at the same time, what this symbolizes is hope because of the fight that was waged.” Of 1.2 million HIV-positive Americans, de Blasio said, about 10 percent live in New York City. But the city in 2015 otherwise had the lowest number of HIV infections in 30 years and no HIV births. He again called for the elimination of the epidemic by 2020. “Let this be the place where we recommit ourselves,” he said.
NOTICE OF A JOINT PUBLIC HEARING ON DECEMBER 12, 2016 INTENT TO AWARD AS A CONCESSION THE OPERATION, RENOVATION AND MAINTENANCE OF A RESTAURANT, SNACK BAR AND ROWBOAT RENTAL AT THE LOEB BOATHOUSE, CENTRAL PARK, MANHATTAN TO CENTRAL PARK BOATHOUSE, LLC. NOTICE OF A JOINT PUBLIC HEARING of the Franchise and Concession Review Committee and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to be held on Monday, December 12, 2016 at 2 Lafayette Street, 14th Floor Auditorium, Borough of Manhattan, commencing at 2:30 p.m. relative to: INTENT TO AWARD as a concession for the operation, renovation and maintenance of a restaurant, snack bar and rowboat rental at the Loeb Boathouse, Central Park, Manhattan (“Licensed Premises”), for one (1) fifteenyear term, to Central Park Boathouse, LLC (“CPB”). Compensation to the City will be as follows: for each operating year, CPB shall pay to the City a license fee consisting of the higher of a guaranteed annual minimum fee (Years 1 - 5: $1,407,200/year; Years 6 - 10: $1,547,920/year; Years 11 - 15: $1,702,700/year), or a percentage of annual gross receipts (7.2% of annual gross receipts up to $22,000,000; PLUS 10% of annual gross receipts from $22,000,001 to $23,000,000; PLUS 15% of annual gross receipts from $23,000,001 to $26,000,000; PLUS 20% of annual gross receipts greater than $26,000,000) derived from the operation of the Licensed Premises. A draft copy of the agreement may be reviewed or obtained at no cost, commencing Friday, December 2, 2016, through Monday, December 12, 2016, between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm, excluding weekends and holidays at the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, located at The Arsenal, Central Park, 830 Fifth Avenue, Room 313, New York, NY 10065. Individuals requesting Sign Language Interpreters should contact the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, Public Hearings Unit, 253 Broadway, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10007, (212) 788-7490, no later than SEVEN (7) BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR TO THE PUBLIC HEARING. TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICE FOR THE DEAF (TDD) 212-504-4115
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YOUR 15 MINUTES
PUTTING WARMTH INTO THE HOLIDAYS Founder of the Broadway Coat Drive on her mission BY ANGELA BARBUTI
The lights on Broadway shine a little brighter this holiday season, as the casts of some of its most beloved shows are donating their coats to help those in need in our city. The Broadway Coat Drive was assembled on behalf of “Good Morning America’s” Warm Coats and Warm Hearts by Broadway mom Tammie Cumming. She came up with the idea in 2010 after her son’s show, “Billy Elliot,” promoted the charity on the morning show, but did not have their own means to collect coats. “And I thought, ‘It would probably be one of the easiest things to do, to coordinate the Broadway shows to do a coat drive,’” she explained. Former Broadway kids from shows like “Mary Poppins”, “South Pacific” and “The Lion King” serve as the drive’s ambassadors, organizing and executing the entire process. This year, five shows are on board — “The Lion King,” “Matilda,” “Kinky Boots,” “Beautiful” and “On Your Feet.” As for the future, Cumming hopes that one
day the effort can expand to include audience members bringing coats to the shows. “I would like it to be an annual event just like Broadway Barks and Bernadette Peters. I would like people to think, ‘It’s wintertime; there goes Broadway’s young performers who are leading this effort that they do every year to help New York City.’”
How did your partnership with Warm Coats and Warm Hearts come about? I have a son who was on Broadway in “Billy Elliot” and what they did for publicity was the show turned up on “Good Morning America’s” Warm Coats and Warm Hearts Drive to be spokespeople. The show, to my knowledge, didn’t really have a coat drive, but the kids were there promoting it. Then we started with it the very next year, where we actually contacted the shows and asked if they would like to be a part of the coat drive and then rounded up Broadway actors. We tried to give the ones in the shows opportunities to do things, but a lot of times they’re so busy working on publicity for their show, rehearsing and performing, that they don’t have as much time. So we said, “What about the kids who are aging out of the roles?” It gives them a continued role in the
The Broadway Coat Drive Kids on “Good Morning America” for Warm Heart/Warm Coat Drive. Photo: Laurie Sheppard Broadway scene, to do something helpful and to feel connected. That’s how it began.
Tell us about the ambassadors. This year I have eight. They are from previous shows. Some of them are doing some acting now. It’s a lot of work
and not just a role that they have on a piece of paper. They have to help solicit the participation of the shows. And then they have to help get the boxes ready and get on a schedule and make sure they are in communication. It really is a good training tool for when they go out into the world and have to work. They have to be on a schedule with the stage manager for when they are supposed to pick up. There has to be a posting to announce when there will be a photo shoot according to union rules. They have to make sure to pick up the coats on their scheduled days, be at the photo shoot. It’s a lot of responsibility. I check in a lot with them, but I really do try to designate some of that authority to them and let them have that responsibility and feel what it’s like to do that. So really, it is their coat drive; I’m just helping to facilitate the process. When they say they want to be an ambassador, I will ask them, “What does it mean to you to be in this role?” And they give me some written sentences about why it’s important and why they want to be a part of this. And I think to articulate what they mean and why they should be selected, is a very good experience for them as well.
the recipient. From what I understand, the coats donated from the area will go to the area first and then within the state. So it’s local first, and then it goes beyond. This really is a national effort. I have to tell you, some of the coats that are donated, it’s an impressive group. People are not giving their hand-medown coats that’s been handed down four times and really ready to go to the trash. I’ve seen some beautiful designer coats come in and thought, “The people who are giving are really kind.” I think there is a lot of thought and care that goes into the quality.
What is your vision for the future of the drive? I would love it to get bigger and I need to think of a better way where audience members can actually bring the coats. And I’ve been asked this question before, but I can’t figure out how to do the workload of collecting them and where it would be. Because it’s not a simple solution in New York City with space, theaters and unions. But it could be a lot bigger. To learn more, visit @BrdwayCoatDrive on Twitter To learn about the national effort, visit www.burlingtoncoatfactory. com/warm-coats-warm-hearts-drive
Where do the coats go?
“Kinky Boots” cast members participating in the Broadway Coat Drive. Photo: www.mickeypantanophotography.com
Our last coat drive was tremendously successful; we had more than 300. Last time, they were all brought to “Good Morning America.” We gave a lot of coats, but usually there is a second batch of 20 more coats or something. Then we will give those directly to Burlington, who is actually
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