The local paper for the Upper East Side
WEEK OF DECEMBER - JANUARY RODIN IN THE ROUND ◄P.12
28-3 2017
SECOND AVENUE SUBWAY REPORT CARD TRANSPORTATION A look at the numbers on the line’s first anniversary
Mayor Bill de Blasio addresses 150-plus supporters of the liberal advocacy group Progress Iowa at the Temple for Performing Arts in downtown Des Moines on December 19th. A speech to the group in 2014 helped launch Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Photo: Eric Phillips / Mayoral press secretary
BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Last year, the city’s most exclusive New Year’s Eve party took place in a most unlikely location: 100 feet below 72nd Street in a spotless subway station on the newly completed Second Avenue line. Dignitaries clad in evening wear toasted with sparkling wine, snacked on locally sourced charcuterie and swayed to live music from a jazz band at the subterranean gala, brushing shoulders with MTA brass, Governor Andrew Cuomo and other elected officials (including, briefly, Mayor Bill de Blasio, with whom Cuomo would go on to feud throughout the year over responsibility for the subway system’s overall decline). Revelers packed onto a train car for a maiden trip up Second Avenue to ring in 2017 and celebrate the city’s first major subway expansion in 50 years. If such a glitzy affair seemed out of place on a station platform, well, as Cuomo said, “This isn’t your grandfather’s subway.” The following day, the public got its first chance to ride the underground rails originally proposed a century earlier. The New Year’s opening attracted thousands, who made the seemingly endless escalator descent to find the cavernous new stations —
DE BLASIO DOES DES MOINES POLITICS Mayor blitzes the Hawkeye State, tells of his Iowa roots, auctions off his tie, schmoozes local pols – and faces protests by city cops BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
It doesn’t happen every day. Or even every four years. But every once in a while, political lightning strikes in Iowa. Could such a bolt hit Mayor Bill de Blasio? And might he make good presidential timber? T. M. Franklin (Frank) Cownie ponders the question. The $52,000-a-year mayor of Des Moines, a folksy and popular Democrat in a nonpartisan post, has seen a lot of contenders come and go in 14 years in office. de Blasio is a tad different. Cownie has known him since 2014, and as co-trustees of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, they’ve worked on “parks, potholes, curbs, gutters, street lights and public safety,” he says. Yes, but this is a political question. There’s a brief pause. Cownie, who
New Year’s Day marks one year since the long-awaited opening of the Second Avenue subway. Photo: Steven Strasser
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lists his home number on the city’s website and runs his family’s fur business on breaks from running Des Moines, finally answers: “Heck, if a TV game show host can become president, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility for a mayor of the largest mega-city in the country to start thinking about it,” he says in a phone interview. New York’s mayor vows, unconvincingly and ad infinitum, that he’s not thinking about it. Yet there he was — fresh off a landslide reelection, two weeks before his second-term swearing-in — blitzing the Hawkeye State, glad-handing small-town mayors, quaffing beer with local pols, revving up his national profile.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 19 Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, December 29 – 4:19 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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WEIGHING TAX PLAN’S IMPACT ON NYC LEGISLATION Most New Yorkers will see their taxes go down, but the new law could put the city’s businesses at a disadvantage BY MICHAEL GAROFALO
Experts discussed the local consequences of Republicans’ federal tax code overhaul last week at a “teach-in� event at John Jay College of Criminal Justice organized by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. The new tax law, passed by congressional Republicans and signed into law by President Donald Trump on Dec. 22, includes a permanent reduction of the corporate tax rate and individual income tax rate reductions for most Americans that are scheduled to expire in 2025. High income individuals who earn most of the money from salary will see the highest tax increases of any group as a result of the law, said Greg David, professor at CUNY journalism school and columnist with Crains New York Business. Among the most consequential aspects of the law for many New Yorkers will be its changes to state and local tax deductions. Currently, state and
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer organized the Dec. 20 event at John Jay College of Criminal Justice to evaluate the local impact of Republicans’ extensive changes to the federal tax code. Photo: Maurice Penzon local income taxes and property taxes may be deducted from federal income taxes, but the new law caps the deduction at $10,000. New York has among the highest state and local tax burden of any state, and the change will affect the approximately one-third of New York City residents who itemize deductions on their federal income tax return. “New York is disadvantaged compared to other states,� said Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of Partnership for NYC, explaining that while
most of the state’s residents will see their income taxes go down, their tax payments will not go down as substantially as those of residents of other, lower-taxed states. As a result, she said, New York businesses will face challenges in attracting skilled professionals to move to the city who could work elsewhere and pay signiďŹ cantly lower taxes. The changes to state and local tax deductions will prove particularly burdensome to New York homeowners paying high property taxes, prompt-
ing some experts to project a downturn in the city’s housing prices and development market as a result of the law. If the city’s residential sales market slows, it could prompt developers to shift away from condo developments, the dominant market segment in Manhattan in recent years, and towards creating more rental units, said Mark Willis, senior policy fellow at the NYU Furman Center. The new tax law will also likely force the city to come up with more money to meet the goals of the mayor’s af-
fordable housing program, Willis said. New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, like many Democrats, fears that Republicans will point to budget deďŹ cits, which are projected to grow as a result of the new law, as a justiďŹ cation for future cuts to Social Security and Medicare. “Whatever small tax cuts middle and low income New Yorkers will get from the law will be dwarfed by their loss of health insurance and the coming cuts in social services,â€? Stringer said.
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Experts evaluated the local impact of Republicans’ extensive changes to the federal tax code at a Dec. 20 event at John Jay College of Criminal Justice organized by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. Photo: Maurice Penzon
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG CRUTCH CRUNCH
PEDESTRIAN IN PERIL
Police arrested a woman who apparently had expressed herself rather too forcefully. At 11:20 p.m. on Sunday, December 10, a 58-year-old woman living at 203 West 107th Street struck a 56-year-old male acquaintance with metal crutches, causing a lump and a small laceration on the left side of the man’s forehead. The victim refused medical attention at the scene, but Lidya M. Radin was arrested the following day and charged with harassment.
A pedestrian was grazed by a bullet as he was walking down the street. At 6:40 p.m. on Friday, December 15, a 30-year-old man was walking eastbound on West 103rd Street between Manhattan Avenue and Central Park West when he heard three or four shots fired from behind him in the vicinity of 19 West 103rd St. One of the shots grazed his right ear, and he ran into Central Park, where he phoned his brother, who in turn called 911. The victim suffered a laceration and bleeding in his right ear and was removed to St. Luke’s hospital by an EMS team. Police searched the area but couldn’t find the shooter.
FORMER GIRLFRIEND ASSAULTED There may be a good reason why the man in this story is a young woman’s EX-boyfriend. At 2 a.m. on Monday, November 6, the former boyfriend of a 21-year-old woman living at 217 Manhattan Avenue poured hot water onto her private parts while she was naked, causing redness and pain. He then prevented her from leaving the bathroom, at which point she punched him around his face. He finally let her leave but grabbed her cellphone and would not give it back, causing a tussle in the bedroom during which he hit her with his knee, causing a bruise.
TEENAGER SET UPON In the future, one teenager may choose to take the stairs rather than the elevator in his building. At 7 p.m. on Friday, December 15, a 15-year-old man was waiting for the elevator inside 875 Columbus Avenue when he was approached by five unknown men who asked him if he was from the Douglass Houses. The victim was then punched in the face by one of the men, followed by the others, who attacked the victim, causing him to fall down and cut his hand on a broken glass bottle on the
floor. The victim suffered a laceration to the palm of his right hand and bruising and swelling to his nose and upper lip. The men fled the building in an unknown direction, and the victim was later treated for injuries at St. Luke’s.
TOY PISTOL-WHIPPED Yet another UWS resident had a scary encounter inside his apartment building. At 3:34 a.m. on Sunday, December 17, a 34-year-old man was in the vestibule of his building at 74 West 105th Street when a 19-yearold man approached him from behind and pulled out what turned out to be a toy gun, pistol-whipping the victim and telling him to open the door to the building. The assailant then ordered the older man to walk upstairs, and when they reached the second floor he hit the victim in the head numerous times, saying, “I’m going to f-cking kill you — you afraid? I’ma f-ck you up!” The victim managed to get hold of the toy gun, ripping it out of the assailant’s hand, at which the latter fled the scene. Police searched the neighborhood and observed a man fitting the description of the defendant in front of 64 West 107th Street. The victim confirmed
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th district for Week to Date
Year to Date
2017 2016
% Change
2017
2016
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
0
2
-100.0
Rape
0
0
n/a
16
6
166.7
Robbery
4
1
300.0
120
92
30.4
Felony Assault
1
2
-50.0
118
123
-4.1
Burglary
3
5
-40.0
197
201
-2.0
Grand Larceny
34
25
36.0
1,375 1,372 0.2
Grand Larceny Auto
0
1
-100.0
54
71
-23.9
the suspect’s identity and was then removed to St. Luke’s hospital for treatment. The assailant was also found to be in possession of three small bags of alleged marijuana, which were recovered from his top front coat pocket. Raynier Guzman was arrested and charged with criminal mischief and related offenses, dangerous drugs, disorderly conduct, offenses against the person, and more.
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ART OF FOOD
Honoring chef Claus Meyer, cofounder of Noma, voted best restaurant in the world and the gastronomic entrepreneur behind Grand Central’s Michelin restaurant Agern and Great Northern Food Hall.
at
un g
Our Town’s
n va o: E Phot
S
Presented by
Saturday February 10, 2018
5 Napkin Burger Andy D’Amico Candle 79 Angel Ramos
Amali/Calissa Dominic Rice Crave Fishbar Todd Mitgang
Freds at Barneys New York Mark Strausman Little Frog Xavier Monge
Socarrat Paella Bar Lolo Manso
Flex Mussels Alexandra Shapiro
Jones Wood Foundry Jason Hicks
Magnolia Bakery Bobbie Lloyd
Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque Hugh Mangum Quality Eats Delfin Jaranilla
Bistro Chat Noir Mario Hernandez
Maya David Gonzalez
Orwashers Bakery Keith Cohen
Sen Sakana Mina Newman T-Bar Steak Benjamin Zwicker
The East Pole Fish Bar Joseph Capozzi
La Esquina Fabian Gallardo Paola’s Stefano Marracino
Serafina Always Vittorio Assaf The East Pole Joseph Capozzi
The Great Northern Food Hall Claus Meyer
The Meatball Shop Daniel Holzman
The Penrose Nick Testa
TICKETS ON SALE NOW artoffoodny.com
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DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
‘CAT PERSON’ AUTHOR GETS SEVEN-FIGURE BOOK DEAL BOOKS Bidding topped $1 million for the New Yorker story that went viral this month BY HILLEL ITALIE
The author of the online sensation “Cat Person” has a seven-figure book deal. Scout Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, told The Associated Press last Tuesday that Kristen Roupenian’s debut story collection “You Know You Want This” is scheduled for the spring of 2019. Scout Press did not disclose financial details for the two-book deal, which also includes a novel. But two publishing officials told the AP that bidding topped $1 million. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss negotiations. Last week, rights in the United Kingdom were obtained by publisher Jonathan Cape. “Cat Person,” released by The New Yorker earlier this month, is the fic-
tional story of a 20-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man who become friendly through texting and of the disillusion that follows. It quickly went viral and was widely debated and analyzed, with The Washington Post praising the story for capturing “the experience not of print-oriented, older intellectuals but of millennials. “As some Twitter users said, young people rarely see the phenomenon of modern dating — meeting online, talking through text messages, moving to in-person encounters shadowed with the expectation of sex — taken so seriously,” wrote the Post’s Molly Roberts. Roupenian, who graduated from Barnard College and received an M.F.A. from the University of Michigan, has told The New Yorker that “Cat Person” was inspired by a “a small but nasty encounter” she had with someone she met online. In its announcement last Tuesday, Scout Press said that “You Know You Want This” would “explore the complex — and often dark and funny — connections between gender, sex, and power, across genres.”
Photo: Kelly Mercer, via flickr
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A RECIPE TO KEEP YOU WARM Our Town’s
ART OF FOOD at
Presented by
While ticketholders wait to see what Chef Gonzalez cooks up at this year’s Art of Food, he’s challenging readers to try a new recipe, Maya’s Chayote Gratin.
Maya, a lively UES restaurant known for its tequila bar, authentically made Mexican dishes, and bottomless margarita brunches, is participating in Our Town’s Art of Food event again this year. Maya’s star chef, David Gonzalez, will join 30 other culinary titans of the Upper East Side at the exclusive food tasting event, where each chef is challenged to create a dish bashed on a piece of artwork curated by Sotheby’s. Last year, Maya served up Ahi Tuna Tostadas, pulling from the warm colors and shapes in the paired artwork, Jonas Wood’s “Still Life.”
CHAYOTE GRATIN INGREDIENTS In the Second Avenue subway with husband Neil. Photos by Lorraine Duffy Merkl
2017: A YEAR IN FIVE PHOTOS LOOKING BACK Counting blessings became a daily activity in the constant barrage of events BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL
Well, this was a year — for our world, our country, our city. It seemed that every time I turned on the morning news, echoing in my ear were the words of Dorothy Parker: “What fresh hell is this?” Counting blessings became a daily activity, as not to get weighed down by the constant barrage of events. As the old Chinese curse has it: “May you live in interesting times.” 2017 has certainly been that — even in my corner of it called the Upper East Side. After a decade of Second Avenue looking like London after the Blitz, the Q-line was ready to roll. On January first, my husband Neil and I ventured underground to be one of the first to see if our new subway was worth the wait. I reached out to all my online friends to send down a search party in case they didn’t hear from me in a day or two. But all went well. Now, heading to Columbus Circle is not the long day’s journey it was when I depended solely on the M31 — recently named one of the city’s slowest bus lines in a report from comptroller Scott Stringer — and heading
downtown is easier as well. Not to mention the 86th Street station is lovely. My 10-year grudge against the MTA dissipated almost immediately. My year began with forgiveness. The Women’s March, protests at Trump Tower, our status as a sanctuary city, Fearless Girl vs. Charging Bull, etc. etc. etc. Two to three times a week, I started heading to church (sort of). Heavenly Rest Stop, the café
Taking a break at Heavenly Rest Stop
adjacent to the Church of the Heavenly Rest on Fifth Avenue and 91st Street, offered reflection with a butter croissant and tea chaser. Often, interesting times can make one’s head spin and a little peace and quiet can get a person back on track. This was definitely the year to take a minute before taking a stand — or a knee.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
1 lb chayote, peeled and sliced 1 lb sweet potato, peeled and sliced 2 tbsp. chopped fresh chives 8 oz. of Requeson cheese 16 oz. heavy cream salt black pepper
METHOD Preheat the oven to 350 degress F. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients, tossing to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Put the chayote and sweet potato mixture into a casserole dish, flatten it out with a spatula, and bake for 35 minutes, until the chayote and sweet potato are tender and the gratin is bubbly. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh chives.
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Voices
Write to us: To share your thoughts and comments go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a letter to the editor.
NEIGHBORHOOD SURPRISES EAST SIDE OBSERVER BY ARLENE KAYATT
Dogs and walker. Photo: Brian Godfrey, via flickr
Parlor’s for sale — Parlor Steak and Fish House is, IMHO, an unlikely success story. Opened about 10 years ago, it’s a pricey steakhouse situated, IMHO, in an unlikely location for a steakhouse on the corner of 90th and Third. The block between 89th and 90th is an amalgam of moms and pops, a Smoke Shop, a newly opened coffee take-out called Yours Truly, and two casual Asian restaurants — Naruto’s a sit-at-the-counter ramen restaurants that generates lines around the block, and Entice Thai restaurant. A recent fire in the building has left it closed and new ownership and a new name is in
the offing. Still Thai though. They share the block with vestiges of an older Yorkville: a locksmith, a tailor (sometimes there’s someone at an actual sewing machine), a nail salon (hybrid of old and new Yorkville), and two empty storefronts previously occupied by a podiatrist and a beauty salon. Back to Parlor. It’s definitely a neighborhood asset especially since it added an access ramp. The “Restaurant For Sale” sign displayed above the front entrance is, to the say least, jarring. A total surprise. A note in the window lets the neighborhood know that the rent’s going to be “too damn high.” And it’s too darn bad. Especially since, at the end of the day, the storefront conceivably will be empty for months, years on end or until a chain type store comes along that
can afford the rent. It’s a tale told too too many times throughout the city. If there’s a solution, I doubt it will be coming from the landlord class. Hot bench — Upper East Side Judge Alexander Tisch and Judge Jennifer Schecter have hit the headlines in recent weeks. Tisch for his decision in the lawsuit by the Manhattan Democratic Committee against outgoing City Council Speaker Melissa MarkViverito who tried to usurp the committee’s role in selecting the Election Commissioner. Judge Tisch ruled in favor of the Committee. And Judge Schecter for her eagerly awaited decision about whether the defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who has accused President Trump of unwanted sexual advance can be litigated in New York State Supreme Court. Whatever her decision, it surely will
WEST SIDE FURY GRAYING NEW YORK BY MARCIA EPSTEIN
This time I am angry. No, not just angry. Furious, sad, appalled and stunned. Just as I was learning that our local Petco on 99th and Columbus was closing due to rising rents, just as I absorbed that the Joon fish store closed because of rising rents, I was kicked in the stomach by reading that the Lincoln Plaza Cinema at 64nd and Broadway is closing at the end of January. No, I bellowed, no, not Lincoln Plaza Cinema. For 35 years this has been the only real arthouse cinema on the Upper West Side. Yes, we have a few new ones such as The Walter Reade and the Elinor Bunin, but nothing compares to Lincoln Plaza. It’s not fancy, it’s not upscale, but it is an Upper West Side institution that has shown reliably excellent American and foreign films since Hector was a pup. It’s not for lack of business that it’s
closing. The lease is expiring and Toby and Dan Talbot, who have run the theater for 35 years, say Milstein Properties will not come to terms on a lease. Milstein says that they have to do repairs and waterproofing on the plaza surrounding the theater and that they cannot do it while the theater is open. They will not return calls about whether the rent is being raised beyond the Talbots’ ability to pay. They claim that they plan to have it return as an art theater, but I’ve also heard that the moon is made of cheese. There is no word on whether the Talbots are confirmed to return to run the theater. The community is in an uproar over this closing, and I’m not in a trusting mood. Many, me among them, feel that Milstein wants to sell the property, and I’m smelling the greed that is responsible for closing so many enterprises all over the city in the hopes of a big money return. Greed. The story all over town, but the Upper West Side is my beat and so I will stick to talking about my turf. Closings, closings and
The old Metro theater sign. Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim, via flickr more closings. Lincoln Plaza’s closing breaks my heart, but my stomach has been affected too. When they closed Sugar & Plumm, there went the best lemon ricotta pancakes I’ve ever had. When they closed Deluxe Diner on 110th and Broadway, they took away a really excellent diner, and good diners are hard to find these days. Then Elizabeth’s, on 94th and Columbus closed. Yes, they have Elizabeth’s menu at its
sister restaurant, Gabriella’s, but it’s not the same having a farm to table menu at a Mexican restaurant as it was having it served in a lovely cottage with a picket fence in front. You don’t see that often in New York. Gone! And what happens; the stores and restaurants stay empty for ages, sometimes for years. What has the landlord gained? Oh, my poor neighborhood. I’m afraid to take a walk sometimes for
be a tweet heard ‘round the world. Skimping on shrimp — Don’t know about you, but if I’m going to pay $22 for a shrimp cocktail, it’s NOT going to be at Gracie Mews diner on First and 81st. Give me a break. Gracie’s a good local go-to. But if I want to spend $22 range for a shrimp cocktail, there are high-end steakhouses like Gallagher’s, Frankie & Johnnie’s, Rocco, or the Palm. Best buy is F & J’s, $17. A-musings — First, a pup walk — a group of at least eight well-trained, leashed pups (really pooches) held tightly by their walker, stood silently as they waited for the light to change as they readied to cross the street. Looked like they were off to doggie school pre- or post-K. Or maybe a protest or perp walk. Funny. And then, a sign in a beauty salon on East 43rd Street, just west of Third Avenue, advertising “Express Haircut.” Sassy lady passing by notes to no one in particular: “What are you supposed to leave your head and come back for it.” Hmm, could solve a bad hair day, or a headache.
fear of what will be closing next. Lincoln Plaza Cinema is not in my neighborhood, actually, but it’s part of the soul of the Upper West Side. What is in my neighborhood is the shell of the old Metro Theater, which could easily become an art house cinema if someone cared to chance it. It stands empty. Over the years many things have been rumored to be coming there, but nothing has panned out. Folks, this is not acceptable. We need a good movie up here, and with Lincoln Plaza closing, we need it even more. And the building is there, just waiting to be renovated and used. There is a market for this type of cinema on the Upper West Side; let’s get moving. And let’s tell Milstein Properties that it’s not acceptable to close a venerable theater, which so many of us love and rely on. My heart is sick over what’s happening to my neighborhood (and my city). We don’t need another Duane Reade (please!); we don’t need another bank (heaven forbid). Come on folks, let’s protest. At least let’s try to save the Lincoln Plaza Cinema, and if we can’t, at least let’s make sure that the landlords know we are furious at what is happening up here. A rally anyone?
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DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
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SECOND AVENUE 4.1 percent drop in taxi $4.45 billion total and ride-share pickups along cost of first phase–perhaps Second Avenue subway the most expensive subway SUBWAY BY THE thecorridor from 2016 to 2017 project ever built, on a permile basis NUMBERS 0newnewsstands open at the stations (according to $6 billion expected cost 176,000 daily weekday the MTA, a tenant has been of phase two riders as of May, the most recent data available—shy of the projected daily ridership of 200,000
26 percent decrease in daily ridership at the four closest stations on the overcrowded Lexington Avenue line, including a 40 percent drop during morning peak hour
1.9
miles of new protected bike lane on Second Avenue from 68th to 105th Streets
selected and the newsstands will open “in the near future”)
11Yorkville’s percent increase in average condo price per square foot in the last year; the neighborhood saw a 59 percent increase from 2012 to 2017
27 percent
increase in median residential rents along Second Avenue over the five years preceding the subway’s completion
$2 billion additional federal funding needed for phase two
1¢
increase in gas tax to fund phase two and other federal infrastructure projects proposed by Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Adriano Espaillat
300,000
projected daily riders upon completion of phase two
Sources: MTA; Office of Carolyn Maloney; NYU Rudin Center for Transportation; CityRealty.com; StreetEasy
Zucchini Fritters
FRITTERS FOR FOODIES Our Town’s
ART OF FOOD at
Presented by
Nick is bringing his culinary expertise back to the Art of Food February 10th. The artwork, specially curated by Sotheby’s for the event, has yet to be made public--so you’ll have to get a ticket to the event to see (and taste) what Nick cooks up. In the meantime, he’s sharing a favorite recipes with readers to hold them over.
For last year’s Art of Food event, Nick Testa, the Penrose’s head chef, was paired with Hiroshi Sugimoto’s “The Brooklyn Bridge.” The dish he created inspired by the work was a favorite among ticketholders: Smoked Pastrami with Rye Mustard and Pickle Pont Neuf. A ton of thought, creativity, and culinary know-how went into his dish. “There is nothing that encompasses the feeling of New York City better than the Brooklyn Bridge,” explained Testa. “At the forefront of this dish is pastrami, which some may argue is as synonymous with New York as the Brooklyn Bridge. This unctuous smoked and cured meat is something this city has mastered, from Katz’s Delicatessen to the local corner deli. Pont neuf, when translated, means “new bridge,” referring to the famous Parisian bridge across the Seine, and is a dish traditionally made with potatoes. The choice to substitute pickles is meant to reflect the briny East River that the Brooklyn Bridge spans.”
Public art installations in the new subway became attractions unto themselves. Photo: Steven Strasser
SUBWAY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 bright, column-free and reminiscent of airplane hangars — a far cry from the crowded, dank platforms under Lexington Avenue a few blocks west. Public art installations on the spacious mezzanines became attractions unto themselves. Perhaps most surprising was the sight of completely clean tracks, free of debris and rats. The new route from Yorkville to Times Square in 15 minutes was pretty nice too. If some of the Second Avenue subway’s novelty has worn off over its first year, as commuters fell into new routines and
the line’s initial sheen gave way to more familiar scuffs, its impact has endured. At street level, the subway’s opening marked the welcome end of a construction process that disrupted business and traffic on Second Avenue for the better part of a decade. The new stations at 72nd, 86th and 96th Streets each serve tens of thousands of Upper East Siders every day, but with improved access and convenience has come anxiety that rising rents could displace longtime residents and business owners. The Second Avenue subway’s opening was a bright spot in a tumultuous year for the MTA, and officials have already begun preliminary engineering
for the project’s second phase, which requires additional funding and would add three new stations extending the line north to 125th Street. The yetto-be-funded third and fourth phases will, someday perhaps, extend the line south to its final terminus at Hanover Square in the Financial District. “The first phase of the Second Avenue Subway has been a resounding success but New Yorkers shouldn’t have to wait another century for the full line to be built,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who has advocated for federal funding to be allocated to the project’s continuation.
Zucchini Pasta Fritters INGREDIENTS 6 c. spaghetti, cooked al dente and chopped slightly into shorter strings 4 bunches scallions, sliced thin 6 small-medium zucchinis, grated 1/2 c. confit garlic 6 eggs 4 c. all purpose flour 1 tbsp. salt 1 tbsp. pepper 2 c. water
METHOD Mix flour,eggs, salt and pepper, and water until smooth. Add onion and zucchini. Drop large spoonfuls of mixture into well oiled pan. Cook each until golden brown, creating flat, golden fritters Serve with basil-tarragon sauce, or dipping sauce of choice
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DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
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Discover the world around the corner. Find community events, gallery openings, book launches and much more: Go to nycnow.com
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GRAMERCY PARK 292 3rd Avenue @ 23rd St 212-777-3030 YORKVILLE 1491 3rd Ave @ 84th St 212-289-6300
UPPER EAST SIDE 888 Lexington Ave @66th St 212-772-1400
HELL’S KITCHEN 766 10th Ave @ 52nd St 212-245-3241
UPPER WEST SIDE 159 W 72nd St @ B’way 212-595-2500
LOWER EAST SIDE 80 4th Ave @ 10th St 212-477-6930
SOHO 55 Thompson St @ Broome 212-627-1100
CHELSEA 215 7TH Avenue @ 23rd St 212-646-5454 212-645-5454
UPTOWN WEST 2680 Broadway @ 102nd St 212-531-2300
LONG ISLAND CITY 30-35 Thomson Ave 347-418-3480
Fri
28
MET FAMILY DAY The Met 1000 Fifth Ave. 1 p.m. Free with admission 212-535-7710. metmuseum.org While the kids are off from school, drop into the Met anytime between 1 and 4 p.m. and let the little ones create works of art with talented members of the museum’s staff or tour the world in just one hour in the galleries. All ability levels welcome, for families with children ages 3–11.
Thu 28 Fri ‘ARSENIC AND OLD LACE’ AT THE 96TH ST. LIBRARY 112 East 96th St. 2 p.m. Free Take an afternoon break with Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane and Raymond Massey. When a dashing bachelor theater critic comes home to announce his marriage to the old aunts who raised him, he discovers they have a very strange hobby in the basement. See this classic film for the first or fifth time. nypl.org
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▲ HOLIDAY CAMPS AT ASPHALT GREEN Asphalt Green 555 East 90th St. 8:45 a.m. $135/day Need a place to send the kids during winter break? They’ll enjoy a fun day of swimming, martial arts, soccer, basketball, yoga, art, music, and more, plus they will expend that wild vacation energy. Camps run Dec. 26—Jan. 5; register for 1 day, or 1 or 2 weeks. For kids ages 4—12. 212-298-7900 asphaltgreen.org
Sat 30 KWANZAA AT THE AMNH American Museum of Natural History 79th Street Transverse and West 81st St. Noon, free with Museum admission Celebrate Kwanzaa and learn more about the holiday at this festive program featuring live musical performances, an overview of the Kwanzaa principles and a marketplace showcasing local artisans from the African-American community. Hosted by Dr. Linda H. Humes, scholar and storyteller. 212-769-5100 amnh.org
DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
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Discover the World Around the Corner
Sun
31
MIDNIGHT RUN Rumsey Playing Field in Central Park 10 p.m. Free, advance registration required Put your best foot forward and celebrate 2018 with music, dancing and jog in the park. This four-mile run will begin on the stroke of midnight, as will a spectacular fireworks display. nyrr.org/races-and-events
Mon
1
▼ NEW YEAR’S DAY DUMPLING MAKING
206 East 52nd St. 6 p.m. $45 Master the basics of dumpling wrapping in different shapes including triangular, wonton and pleated crescent, plus learn how to make your own dough at home. Participants will get a chance to work with highquality store-bought dumpling wrappers and learn the art of this unique food. cocusocial.com
Tue
2
ROOMS WITH A VIEW The Frick 10 East 71st St. 1 p.m. Free with museum admission
See venerated artwork with fresh eyes in the New Year as docents of The Frick Collection present ten-minute talks about many of the works currently on display. Repeats on weekdays. 212-288-0700 frick.org
Wed 3 ISRAELI FOLK DANCE 92nd Street Y 1395 Lexington Ave. 8:15 p.m. $14 Circle up and get ready to groove. Open to everyone, the session includes open dancing with instruction of more advanced repertoire. Ongoing sessions every Wednesday. 212-415-5500 92y.org/uptown
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RODIN IN THE ROUND The Met Fifth Avenue marks the centenary of the sculptor’s death with a presentation of works from its historic holdings BY VAL CASTRONOVO
There is probably no better way to appreciate Michelangelo’s legacy than to behold the carefully modeled figures of one of his biggest fans, Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), now on view on the Met Fifth Avenue’s second floor, fortuitously just around the corner from its blockbuster show on the Divine One. Rodin died 100 years ago in Meudon, outside Paris, and the museum has taken the opportunity to look back at its historic engagement with the French sculptor’s works, acquired over the course of more than 100 years, beginning in 1912 with the establishment of a gallery exclusively devoted to his oeuvre — the first such room dedicated to a living artist. The nearly 50 bronzes, marbles, plasters and terracottas that grace the long B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Gallery (Gallery 800) are drawn solely from The Met’s collection and will be
on permanent display. Paintings by Rodin’s heroes, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Monet, Renoir and others, are presented here alongside the sculptures. A small adjoining room (Gallery 809) showcases drawings, prints, letters, book illustrations and photos by Edward Steichen, items that can be seen through January 15. Born in Paris to a police inspector and a former seamstress, Rodin spent some two decades working in the decorative arts before breaking free and focusing on the expressive qualities of the human form. A three-month trip to Italy in 1876 proved nothing short of transformative. “Florence was the place where he had his transcendent moment,” the exhibit’s curator, Denise Allen, said in an interview. “He studied the works of Michelangelo there. It was the thing that launched him as a mature artist.” That same year he completed “The Age of Bronze,” a life-size male nude that was so realistic critics accused him of making a mold from a live body. The glistening bronze cast at the entrance crossing is a showstopper. “Rodin is known for dedicating his entire life to the exploration of the
Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840-1917 Meudon), “The Hand of God.” modeled ca. 1896-1902, commissioned 1906, carved ca. 1907. Overall (confirmed): 29 × 23 3/4 × 25 1/4 in., 508 lbs. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Edward D. Adams, 1908
DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
IF YOU GO WHAT: “Rodin at The Met” WHERE: The Met Fifth Avenue, 1000 Fifth Ave. (at 82nd Street) WHEN: Gallery 800 installation on permanent view; Gallery 809 through January 15 www.metmuseum.org/
human figure. That for him was the highest means of expression, how you can understand emotion by the way a figure is posed,” Allen said. “He searched for that. He searched for finding meaning as a human being in the study of the human body.” The pieces lining the walls and on parade in the middle of the main gallery include iconic works like “The Thinker” and “The Hand of God” and lesser-known works that have been in storage for decades — like “The Tempest,” a marble relief of a shrieking figure, and “Pierre de Wiessant,” a small clothed statuette in “The Burghers of Calais” case. (Wiessant was one of the six burghers who offered their lives to the King of England during the Hundred Years’ War in return for an end to the siege of Calais.) Of the latter figure, Allen said: “There are extraordinary colors in
Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), “The Tempest.” Carved before 1910. Marble. Overall (confirmed): 13 5/8 x 14 7/8 x 7 3/4 in., 73lbs; footprint of sculpture (confirmed): 14 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.; length of rod mount: 29/16 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1910
Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), “Adam.” Bronze. Modeled 1880 or 1881, cast 1910. Overall (confirmed): 76 3/8 × 30 3/8 × 32 1/2 in., 831 lbs. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1910 the bronze. The patina is absolutely beautiful. It’s as if it were a ceramic glaze. It is a masterpiece of bronze casting made during Rodin’s lifetime and a wonderful thing to have back on display.” In homage to his muse Michelangelo, Rodin sculpted heavily muscled bodies and twisted torsos to bring his subjects to life. One of his small nude terracotta figures demonstrates the contrapposto stance in the manner of the Renaissance master, and mirrors the monumental bronze, “Adam,” that Rodin created for “The Gates of Hell” doorway. (The doors were commissioned in 1880 for a museum of decorative arts in Paris that was never realized.) Per the curator about the two works on view here: “All of the energy in the figure now seems to be held in the torso.... The kind of monumental muscularity, the idea that the human figure is magnificently muscled — over muscled — and ponderous, but also shows movement in its twisting pose. That’s something he learned from Michelangelo.” Allen points to a direct quotation from the master in Rodin’s “Adam”
figure: “Look at the right arm that hangs next to the body on his Adam, with pointing finger. That is really the arm of the Adam on Michelangelo’s Sistine ceiling, in the ‘Creation of Adam.’ It’s the same arm. He’s lifting his arm and pointing his finger to touch the finger of God. So Adam is shown by Rodin — that finger and that arm show that Adam is now coming to life. It is his moment of awakening.” Whereas once many of the museum’s Rodin sculptures were in cases or positioned against a wall, the new installation has brought more and more of them out on the floor, allowing for 360-degree views. “People now can walk around ‘The Hand of God.’ From one side, it’s this giant hand, you don’t know what it’s holding. And from the other side, there are the nestled figures of Adam and Eve,” the curator said. “People love walking around the sculptures, and Rodin wanted his public to walk around the sculptures. ‘The Thinker,’ you can walk around it now.” For more celebrations of this artist in the city, head over to the Brooklyn Museum’s “The Body in Bronze,” through April 22.
DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
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DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS
2017
DEC 12 - 18, 2017
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
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.
The day before I saw the free Shakespeare in the Park show at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the buzz about this modern-day production was that a female actor (Elizabeth Marvel) was playing the role of Marc Antony. The day after, this bit of innovative casting was eclipsed when all hell broke loose over the Trump-like Julius Caesar (Gregg Henry) portrayal, especially in reference to the assassination scene. Sponsors pulled out, the president weighed in, the Twittersphere responded. This year, even free had its price. My neighbor’s house. There were rumors (started by Republican Nicole Malliotakis) that Bill de Blasio and fam might move from Gracie Mansion, but he and 66 percent of my fellow NYC voters decided he should remain an Upper East Sider for another four years. Regardless of all the changes these twelve months brought, some things stayed the same — for better or worse. The War on Christmas (this is still a thing?) e-cards instead of traditional holiday greetings via Hallmark, American Greetings and Papyrus. Store employees
Paku Pakus
1393B 2nd Ave
Not Yet Graded (19) 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.
Tab Tos
406 E 73rd St
Not Yet Graded (19) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or nonfood areas.
Afghan Kebab House
1345 2nd Ave
A
Come Prima
903 Madison Ave
A
Sweetgreen
1321 1st Ave
A
Indian Tandoor Oven
175 East 83 Street
A
Antonucci
168-170 East 81 St
A
Hot & Crusty Bagels Cafe
1276 Lexington Ave
A
Pizza Beach
1426 3rd Ave
A
La Mia Pizza
1580 1st Ave
A
Domino’s
200 E 89th St
A
Vietnaam
1700 2nd Ave
A
3 Guys Resturant
1232 Madison Avenue A
Il Salumaio
1731 2nd Ave
A
Roma Pizza
1572 3rd Ave
Not Yet Graded (39) 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. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant
209 East 116 Street
A
Mojito’s
227 East 116 Street
Grade Pending (26) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
El Paso Taqueria
1643 Lexington Avenue
Subway
1392 Madison Avenue
A controversial Julius Caesar at Shakespeare in the Park rattled by the jingle of festive music, according to clinical psychologist Linda Blair. Yet the spirit is always in the air at Carl Schurz Park thanks to carols, Cantori choir, Orbital Brass, candlelight, candy canes, hot chocolate and, of course, the lighting of the
holiday tree in early December. Because of this cherished family tradition, my year will end merry and bright. Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novels “Back to Work She Goes” and “Fat Chick,” for which a movie is in the works.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE! at OURTOWNNY.COM The neighbors remain at Gracie Mansion
The Christmas tree in Carl Schurz Park
DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
“Generation Wealth,” an exhibit of photographs by Lauren Greenfield, is on view through January 7 the ICP Museum, 250 Bowery. Photo: Sharon Choe
THE LOOK OF WEALTH PHOTOGRAPHY “Generation Wealth” Exhibition by Lauren Greenfield at ICP Museum BY SHARON CHOE
What Kim Kardashian and Tupac Shakur have in common is fame, money and a penchant for showing it off. They were also both photographed in the early 1990s by photojournalist and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield, who is perhaps best known for her 2012 documentary “Queen of Versailles.” Both celebrity icons feature in Greenfield’s book and an accompanying exhibition “Generation Wealth,” currently at the International Center of Photography Museum on the Bowery.
“Generation Wealth” showcases 25 years of Greenfield’s work documenting these changing values vis-à-vis material wealth in American life and abroad. Greenfield recently suggested that the rise of reality television and social media in the roughly 25 years since those images were taken helped spawn a generation of kids who want to be two things when they grow up: rich and famous. The Los Angeles-raised artist’s first, and perhaps most innocent, project, “Fast Forward,” captures the spectrum of experience among L.A.’s youth in the ‘90s, affected as they were even then by the culture of money and Hollywood. Opening with sunny images of teenagers driving up California’s Pacific Coast Highway, the photo series unfurls to reveal
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
shadier sides of the sun-filled coast: drug abuse, cultural appropriation and preoccupation with appearances underlying the lives of children and young adults coming of age in the City of Angels. The obsession with money and looks in this formative series presages Greenfield’s subsequent explorations into celebrity culture, eating disorders, plastic surgery, grotesque wealth and material destitution. Curated by the artist herself, the collection chronicles the perversion and degradation of the human experience in the last quarter-century through people’s increasing deification of the superficial. The images, vivid in color and graphic in content, provoke a visceral reaction in the viewer who cannot escape recognizing the contemporary values at play.
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Exhibition Tour—David Hockney
TUESDAY, JANUARY 2ND, 10:30AM The Met Breuer | 945 Madison Ave. | 212-535-7710 | metmuseum.org Get an insider perspective on the work of English artist David Hockney at a major retrospective honoring the artist on his 80th birthday with a presentation of key moments and iconic creations from the last 50-plus years (free with museum admission).
Nordic Oscar Contender: November
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3RD, 7PM Scandinavia House | 58 Park Ave. | 212-779-3587 | scandinaviahouse.org Get a jump on your Academy Awards pool by checking out foreign contenders with Scandinavia House; the Estonian film November features lots of folk magic, as a village contends with werewolves, spirits, and disease ($12).
Just Announced | Carl Bernstein & John Avlon
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17TH, 7:30PM Symphony Space | 2537 Broadway | 212-864-1414 | symphonyspace.org Symphony Space hosts a timely night. Pulitzer Prize-winner Carl Bernstein (All the President’s Men; A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton) joins The Daily Beast Editor John Avlon for a conversation and a screening of 1976’s All the President’s Men ($18).
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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GOODBYE TO UNICORNS 2017 trends we’re glad to see go: cold shoulders, millennial pink, spiralizers and naked cakes BY LEANNE ITALIE
You know all those things you wish would disappear but won’t? Us, too. Highlights of the things we’re over in 2017:
UNICORN EVERYTHING Please, rainbowy unicorns, stop throwing up and pooping all over everything. Also, you can keep your horns, tears and “snot” to yourselves. The whole unicorn thing built in 2016 with special pink-adorned toast and other disturbingly pastel-colored foodstuff. The beauty industry piled on with hair dyes, nail polish, lipsticks, makeup brushes and all things glittery, holographic and sparkly that looked so darn “magical” on Instagram. Those products included glittery “Unicorn Snot” for the face, body and lips. The makers say on their website they came up with the idea as a joke, but they perfected and persisted — and that’s when the magic happened. Starbucks was distinctly NOT kidding with its Unicorn Frappuccino back in April. It “magically” started as a purple drink with swirls of blue and a first taste that is sweet and fruity, according to the company. One quick
Business
stir changed it to pink, tangy and tart. Vanilla whipped cream was involved, topped with a sprinkle of pink and blue powders. Katy Perry and Kylie Jenner went unicorn with cotton candy hair, along with others, but we need a truce now, dear unicorns. That is unless you’re devotees, our little one-horned friends, of the equally magical venture capitalist Aileen Lee, who coined the term “unicorn startup” for that statistically rare startup company valued at more than $1 billion.
lennials are a bubble. Now get over it. Message for some: Go get your own jobs. Look up from your phones occasionally. You gotta earn some stuff, like respect and raises. Further, and this one isn’t your fault, Millennial Pink needs to go. Why it was assigned to you has to do with a growing acceptance of gender fluidity, so score! But the color has had its best day. And what is the color? Scribes have decided it’s a range from blushy beige to a dull peach-salmon. According to the editors over at The Strategist blog, the color was so named “for its capacity to define a generation with its perfect balance of serious and frivolous.”
COLD SHOULDER ATTIRE Brrrrr, and really? Who decided these tops and dresses were “seductive” and when? They’ve been building since at least 2013 and are all over runways and stores as an option to, what, cleavage? OK, that’s a lot of questions. We have cold-shoulder sweaters, button-down blouses, wispy little dresses, maxis to the floor and even bomber jackets and hoodies. What sense does that make, people? Feedback from detractors — who don’t include Donna Karan and “The Real Housewives of Orange County” — have this to say: “They look lame,” “They are so unattractive” and, a personal favorite, “If I’m spending money on a sweater, the shoulders should
DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
SPIRALIZING THROUGH LIFE Naked cake. Photo: Tanya Hart, via flickr come with it.” A kissing, go-away cousin would be the bell and ruffled sleeve from below the elbow to the wrist, because who really needs to wear that. That’s not another question because those people are unicorns.
MILLENNIALS. JUST MILLENNIALS We get that assigning common traits to an entire generation involves a dose of trickery. But we also get that Mil-
We’re going to leave kale alone — at least for now — to keep peace at the office. We’ll be gunning for you next year, kale, if you’re still all high and mighty. For now, we’re going to focus on zoodles and anything else spiralized. If you want to eat pasta, eat pasta. If you want to eat zucchini, eat zucchini. Does it really make you happy to turn perfectly good zucchini into pasta-like strands? If so, rethink yourself. Veggies, good. Making them into something else? That’s just work and includes cuke noodles, too. Leave the cucumbers to be great next to the zuc-
chinis. Sure, spiral fries and little ribbons of carrot are time travelers. And if you simply must zoodle, so be it. It’s just, do we need another kitchen gadget taking up counter space? Spiralizers took America by storm in 2014. Can we get over it and back to our roots as natural-born choppers? Thank you.
BARE CAKES You either say it out loud or you’re thinking it: The frosting is the best part. Make it more nutritionally sound if you must but don’t make it disappear along the sides. This goes in particular for wedding cakes. Dare to bare without fondant or other icings for yourself, but subjecting a hall of your closest family and friends to this, well, sugar travesty, leaves a bad taste in the mouth, even with cutesy cake toppers and sugary flowers plopped onto the crumby bits. Brides and grooms have been craving naked cakes at least since 2014 and bakeries were happy to respond, leaving buttercream or fruit preserves between layers, thank you very much. Momofuku Milk Bar and Christina Tosi were among the first to do it, explaining they wanted the cake itself to shine. Cake, you’ve had your moment. Now get under there and re-learn your place.
NEIGHBORHOOD SIDE STREETS sideways.nyc
MEET 67TH STREET
JIM LEE LAUNDRY AND CLEANERS 212 EAST 67TH STREET Since opening on 67th Street in 1928, this laundry and cleaners has seen a good deal of evolution, and has stayed in the hands of the same family – none of whom were ever named Jim. Though it was originally called Chin’s Laundry after its initial owner, the shop became “Jim Lee Laundry and Cleaners” in response to the American mispronunciation of “Chin.” Over the years Jim Lee’s has cleaned clothes of police and fire commissioners, politicians, and a “bunch of characters.” “Whatever it is that we are doing,” current owner David Lee said, “I know for certain we have had a lot of satisfied customers.” For more photos and side streets, go to sideways.nyc
DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Tired of Hunting HEALTHY HOLIDAY COCKTAILS DINING for Our Town? Winter drinks at some of the top stops for sustainable fare
BY LIZ RICHARDS
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There’s so much magic in this time of year, and it comes out not just in the lights and decorations around the city and the cold bite of frost that’s in the air, but also in the rich flavors of the season. Winter tastes — combinations of tastes like plum, cinnamon, brandy, apple, squash and roasted nuts — have a heartiness to them that defines the season. These potent and magical flavors aren’t just limited to soothing winter dishes. The truth is that our favorite healthy restaurants throughout the city have wonderful drink menus designed to enhance their best seasonal dishes. Whether you’re uptown or downtown, your favorite stops for sustainable fare have responsibly-sourced cocktails packed with flavor and holiday cheer. ‘Tis the season for brandies and vermouths enhanced by seasonal fruit and warm winter spices. Drink up!
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every month to keep up with the changing seasons and has a drink for everyone. For a nice taste of winter, try the Plum Cocktail on their daytime menu. With fresh plum, orange citrus, and Lillet Blanc, this special drink is light enough to let the richness of the plum flavor shine. It is garnished with freshly sliced plum and is a nice complement to weekly greenmarket specials like the Pumpkin and Winter Squash Soup or Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Sugar Pumpkin, Sarvecchio, and Chestnuts. Other current cocktails at Nix feature cucumber with Contratto bianco & basil leaf or pomegranate with Dolin blanc & fresh lime.
Ellary’s Greens 33 Carmine St.
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Pair the seaonal sangria with the blackberry cobbler at Ellary’s Greens. Photo: Liz Richards
Manhattan Fig at Candle 79. Photo: Liz Richards
Nix 72 University Pl. Nix is a city staple, and for good reason. With ingredients sourced from the Union Square Greenmarket, Nix is at the forefront of local and organic eating. Their cocktail menu rotates approximately
Ellary’s Greens is a lovely concept. With a communal feel and well-rounded menu that appeases any appetite and diet, their commitment to local and organically-sourced ingredients feels accessible and fun. The cocktail menu reflects the same ethos, and their seasonal sangria is sourced as ethically as any dish on their menu. Honestly, it really isn’t the holidays without a glass of red wine sangria with brandy and freshly sliced peach. Ellary’s seasonal sangria is an instant classic. It speaks to a longtime classic with a fresh and sustainable
take on tradition. Pair it with their heartwarming blackberry cobbler — also seasonal — to bring out your ultimate holiday sweet tooth.
Candle 79 154 East 79th St. Candle 79 is defined by its commitment to the quality and ethics in sourcing their ingredients. That principle stands not only for the ingredients used in their food, but right down to the products available behind the bar. All of the components of their HandCrafted Eco-Cocktails are ethically sourced from agave to vermouth, and the bottom half of the menu boasts cocktails inspired by the transition between fall and winter. There is something for every kind of cocktail lover on the seasonal menu. The true fan of winter flavors should try the Manhattan Fig, an interesting drink that draws on the potent seasonal flavors of fig and maple without relying on added sweetness. The cocktail consists of fig-infused Catoctin Creek rye, Antica Formula Red vermouth, Foro Dry vermouth, maple bitters, and a twist of orange. The drink is a nice addition to the Wild MushroomButternut Squash Ravioli, a great dish that celebrates harvest season and the coming winter flavors.
DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3,2018
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DE BLASIO
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not running for president,â&#x20AC;? he said. For good measure, he repeated, â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, friends, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not running for president. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got four years and 13 days left to serve as mayor.â&#x20AC;? He used the line at least four times. Now, it may have been factually true when he uttered it on December 19th at the Temple for Performing Arts, a former Masonic lodge built in 1913. But equally true is that he said it moments before headlining the ďŹ fth annual holiday party for liberal advocacy group Progress Iowa â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the same crowd Bernie Sanders wooed in 2014 as he prepared to launch his presidential campaign in 2016. No one expects it to be his last trip. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our folks are already saying they want to see more of him,â&#x20AC;? said Polk County Democratic Party Chair Sean Bagniewski, a powerbroker in Iowaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most populous county, which is home to 430,000 people, including 215,000 Des Moines residents. Adds Cownie, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what his ongoing political aspirations might be, but I always tell him, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Any time youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re traveling from coast to coast, if you have time, stop by.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; He knows the invitation is always open.â&#x20AC;? De Blasioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speech was a stew of â&#x20AC;&#x153;prairie populism,â&#x20AC;? an old-fashioned agrarian radicalism once common in the Midwest, and new-fangled political pandering so epic it could inspire a textbook on the topic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Leave no stone unturnedâ&#x20AC;? in the battle against Trumpism, the mayor preached. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Leave no seat uncontestedâ&#x20AC;? in the effort to recapture control of Congress from the GOP. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Know that we are at the beginning of a new progressive era,â&#x20AC;? he proclaimed. This was red meat to 150-plus listeners. He won a standing ovation. Less effective was when the Park Slope pol, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long embraced the Italian heritage of his maternal grandparents, talked about, believe it or not, his rural roots in the fertile topsoil of Iowa. The mayor seldom speaks of his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s German ancestry. Years ago, he legally changed his birth name, Warren Wilhelm Jr., to Bill de Blasio, taking his motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s maiden name, in part to cope with his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suicide. But political expediency trumps personal trauma. So here was the mayor surprising his audience with an exploration of the
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Mayor Bill de Blasio poses with Polk County Democratic Party activists on the sixth-ďŹ&#x201A;oor outdoor terrace of Republic on Grand, a Des Moines hotel bar, after his speech to the liberal advocacy group Progress Iowa on December 19th. County Chair Sean Bagniewski (second from right) is viewed as an inďŹ&#x201A;uential local powerbroker. Photo: Polk County Democratic Party family patrimony: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have my own personal grassroots connection to Iowa,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty far back in time, but very important to me personally.â&#x20AC;? Turns out, his paternal grandmother, Nina Warren, was born in 1888 in Blanchard, on the Tarkio River near the Missouri border, to a â&#x20AC;&#x153;father who loved his farmâ&#x20AC;? in rustic Page County, he said. Lest there be any doubt, he added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am not making this up!â&#x20AC;? There was a point to the story that speaks to his great-grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s respect for the transformative power of education, de Blasio said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He was a Civil War veteran who fought for the Union, loved his farm, but decided his daughters needed the education they could only get if they moved to the city,â&#x20AC;? he said. The part about â&#x20AC;&#x153;farmer de Blasioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s agricultural rootsâ&#x20AC;? was â&#x20AC;&#x153;a bit of a reach,â&#x20AC;? said one local Democratic leader who heard the speech and asked that her name not be used to avoid offending the organizers.
The pandering continued as the mayor unpacked the failings of Hillary Clintonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campaign. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sure, the donors gave money, and sure, the party came up with something that seemed, kind of, maybe, like a message,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And we lost ... I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want the money if the money is going to stand between us and the people.â&#x20AC;? Hello? It was probably lost on the Iowans, but de Blasio narrowly escaped criminal charges on pay-for-play fundraising practices, and was excoriated by prosecutors for soliciting campaign donations from people who sought official favors from the city, then granted them access. Nonetheless, the event, doubling as a fundraiser for Progress Iowa, was a smash. Not bad in a state where residents routinely see presidential candidates in the supermarket and the local feed-and-seed. At one point, caught up in the moment, de Blasio stripped the tie off his neck and auctioned it off. After four low bids, it reaped $250.
Of course, there were sour notes played by union â&#x20AC;&#x153;truth squads.â&#x20AC;? The mayor was greeted by a full-page attack ad in The Des Moines Register, courtesy of NYC-based Transport Workers Union Local 100, which branded him as â&#x20AC;&#x153;phony as a $3 bill.â&#x20AC;? Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;no Bernie Sanders,â&#x20AC;? the ad exclaimed, slamming his â&#x20AC;&#x153;all-granola, no-grits phony progressivismâ&#x20AC;? as harmful to Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s working families, and noting his efforts to kill the horse-carriage industry. Not to be outdone, the Correction Officerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Benevolent Association, a longtime city nemesis, declared the mayor â&#x20AC;&#x153;missing in action, again.â&#x20AC;? Said union president Elias Husamudeen in a statement, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our message is this: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Enough is enough. Do your damn job already!â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Meanwhile, a dozen cops from the Patrolmenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Benevolent Association came out and rented a mobile billboard with sound and lights, cranked up the theme from â&#x20AC;&#x153;Star Warsâ&#x20AC;? arch-villain Darth Vader, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Impe-
A mocking full-page ad in the Des Moines Register greeted Mayor Bill de Blasio upon his arrival in Iowa on December 19th to give a speech to a progressive advocacy group. Paid for by Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, it was titled â&#x20AC;&#x153;A WARNING TO THE PEOPLE OF IOWA!â&#x20AC;? and branded him as â&#x20AC;&#x153;phony as a $3 bill.â&#x20AC;? Advertising graphic created by TWU / Local 100
rial March,â&#x20AC;? and blared it outside the Progress Iowa event to protest a bitter contract dispute. Local boosters refer to the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture and kind-hearted citizens as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iowa Nice.â&#x20AC;? Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a reason for this: A measure of those good vibes may have rubbed off on de Blasio and his PBA antagonists. After the speech and demonstration, they all had a beer together at the Des Moines Marriott bar. The moment wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t last. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all back in New York. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll likely be at each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s throats again by the New Year. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that â&#x20AC;&#x153;damn job,â&#x20AC;? after all. But count on one thing. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be back. Why did he ever come in the first place? Bill Peard, Democratic mayor of Waukee, a town of 20,000 named for Milwaukee, offered his own theory. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think he was just trying to ďŹ gure out America,â&#x20AC;? said Peard.
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YOUR 15 MINUTES
To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to ourtownny.com/15 minutes
LENDING A HAND TO COMFORT PAIN Chiropractor and massage therapist Eric Steibl offers a variety of techniques to treat back and neck troubles
found gigs working Off-Broadway as a performer and doing some soap opera work. I left Queens and moved to Hell’s Kitchen in 1990, which has been my home ever since.
When Eric Steibl arrived in New York in 1985, he was working as the quintessential actor-singer-dancer-waiter and would frequently get massages. As a result, the Montreal native, who already had a bachelor’s degree in physiology, became interested in learning more about massage therapy. In 1989, he enrolled in the Swedish Institute on West 26th Street and his career of aiding people in pain began. The 59-year-old has been practicing for close to 30 years and has earned over 50 certifications in soft-tissue techniques such as foot reflexology, trigger point therapy, neuromuscular therapy and muscle activation techniques. In 2009, Steibl decided to add chiropractic to his ever-growing list of specialties, and graduated as the valedictorian of his class at Cleveland Chiropractic College. When asked what kind of injuries he treats, he said primarily those that involve the neck and low back, and issues like plantar fasciitis, sprained ankles, whiplash and herniated discs.
Out of all your services, what is the most popular?
What was it like when you first got to New York? I had just finished doing Summer Stock in New Jersey and one of my castmates lived in Manhattan and offered me a place to stay until I could find a place of my own. It was tough, all I had was what I could fit in my 1983 Toyota Tercel. I grew up in Montreal and had always dreamed of living in New York, so finally moving here was a dream come true. New York in 1985 was very vibrant and exciting. It was so unusual for me to live in a city where you could find something to do 24 hours a day. New York at that time also had a dangerous side to it, which gave it its own level of excitement. You tended not to go west of Ninth Avenue in the evenings for fear of being mugged. It was not uncommon to see prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts and petty thieves hanging out on the side streets. Pretty soon after I arrived, I found an apartment share in Woodside, Queens and a waiter’s job at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square which had just opened. I worked as a waiter at the View Restaurant at the Marriott for five years — as far as I know the only revolving restaurant in the city. Between waiting on tables I
Of everything I do, I would say Muscle Activation Techniques [MAT] is now the most popular. It has been getting a lot of press in the last few years. A lot of high-level athletes use MAT to give them optimal performance or help them recover quicker from injuries. Peyton Manning, the retired football star, credits MAT with helping him recover from a serious neck injury and helping him win the Super Bowl last year. Prior to MAT coming onto the scene, I would say rolfing, a form of bodywork that reorganizes the connective tissues called fascia that permeate the entire body, was the most popular. I now use MAT more than any other modality I’ve studied in the last 30 years.
How can you explain MAT? MAT is entirely different than any other soft-tissue modality I’ve studied. Every other form of bodywork looks for the tightness in the muscles or tissues. MAT, on the other hand, searches for the muscles that are weak and not contracting optimally, thereby causing other muscles to compensate and get tight. It is a revolutionary approach to the assessment and correction of muscular imbalances, joint instability and limitations in range of motion within the human body. MAT helps to optimize the function and maximum efficiency of the muscles. Typically with a new patient, you do a range of motion assessment to see which ranges are limited. You then work within that range by testing and treating the muscles you find are weak. Greg Roskopf, the founder of MAT, discovered that by stimulating the two ends of the muscle, you can turn that muscle on. My patients are always amazed when I do some MAT on them — they feel their muscles are suddenly stronger and they can hold a position that they couldn’t before. They are also surprised to find they move and walk with a lot more ease after a MAT session.
Tell us a success story about a patient you’ve helped. I had a new patient recently who was going home to Argentina to get married. He told me he wanted to be able
Eric Steibl arrived in New York from Montreal in 1985, working as the quintessential actor-singer-dancer-waiter before going to the Swedish Institute on West 26th Street to study massage therapy. Photo: Carol Sessler to dance at his wedding, which was happening in a month. I knew I had my work cut out for me. He had been suffering from debilitating low back pain for the last few years and had tried months of physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, and ART [Active Release Techniques]. He saw quite a few practitioners and got no relief. I treated him primarily using MAT. By discovering which muscles in his low back were consistently showing up weak, I was able prescribe specific rehab exercises for him to do on his own outside of his treatments. He was free of pain within two weeks and was beside himself with joy. He recently got married and danced at his wedding.
What do you tell people who don’t believe in using chiropractors? I was never a big believer in chiropractic before I went to chiropractic school. But since studying chiropractic and offering chiropractic as a modality now for the last five years, I have seen some pretty incredible results. It’s not enough to have muscles work-
ing optimally, you also need optimal movement of all the joints in the body. Joints that become fixated — which is very common in the spine [back and neck] — can eventually become fibrotic and lose their ability to function. These unmovable joints cause neighboring joints to compensate and have too much movement leading to arthritis. By the age of 50, one-hundred percent of the population already has some form of arthritis. Wouldn’t it be great to help prevent that? I have some patients that absolutely refuse
chiropractic and I respect that. I do tell them about the benefits of chiropractic, and if they still refuse, I know I have at my disposal a lot of other techniques I can use on them. To learn more, visit www.deep-tissue.com
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C N E C X I F J I V I O L I N
O K V E T L R P J B G J R B Y
R Y B Q X T E N K J B N Y D D
D K O L K S W P C E U I B O Y
E N B T R O M B O N E L P C E
R A O K Z G U I T A R R S A D
The puzzle contains the names of 15 musical instruments. They may be diagonal, across, or up and down in the grid in any direction.
Y Y E L I H S Y C W G P W V B
Bagpipes Cello Cymbals Drums Flute Guitar Harpsichord Oboe Organ Piano Recorder Saxophone Trombone Trumpet Violin
ANSWERS D
N
U
S
W A
I
T
O
T
O
L
I
G
A
B
A
I
H
S
T
E
E
Y
54 47
48
49
R
E
U
B
44 40 36 32 27 20
21
55
A
L N
B T T
28
C
22
42
E
38
O
33
N
S
29
P
15 12 1
2
V
N 3
A
A 4
H
E
A
A
U
23
G O
19
16
I
N
D
5
O
V
U
13
6
D
C
E 7
D
I
E
52
R
43
L
53
I
P
E M U
39
R
G O
34
R
51
D
R O
30
O W N
18
R
50
E S
N
37
E B
46
I
41
S
I K
45
56
35
Y
U
31
R
B
A
A
24
A N
25
D N E
26
L
E
I
17
G
R
A
14 8
T W 9
L L 10
I
E E G
11
C N E C X I F J I V I O L I N
O K V E T L R P J B G J R B Y
R Y B Q X T E N K J B N Y D D
D K O L K S W P C E U I B O Y
E N B T R O M B O N E L P C E
R A O K Z G U I T A R R S A D
Y Y E L I H S Y C W G P W V B
7 3
5 9 2
1
3 6
4 2
1
8
4 7
5 9 6
8
8 6 4 5 9 7 2 1 3
1 7 6 9 3 2 8 5 4
9 2 8 1 5 4 3 6 7
4 5 3 8 7 6 1 2 9
3 1 9 6 8 5 7 4 2
2 8 5 7 4 9 6 3 1
6 4 7 2 1 3 9 8 5
25 Model Campbell 26 Get to final form (2 words) 29 Relative (3 words) 30 Gibbon, for one 34 Pink table wine 37 Heavy one-edge swords 41 Sticker 43 Computer storage medium 45 Spring day toy 46 Red vegetable 47 Dos Passos trilogy 48 Here ___ there 49 Hydroelectric project 51 “Rocky ___” 52 Wych or white 53 Soap ingredient
N L J K O D P S I G O M I P R
E Z K T N S A X O P H O N E N
47 Form a base for 50 Cambodian money 54 Skyrocket 55 Absorbed, as a loss 56 Not to be trusted 57 Sleeves go here 58 Soaked 59 Mute performer Down 1 For sure 2 Numerical ending 3 Florida blackbird 4 Disorder 5 Valhalla V.I.P. 6 Fertilizer 7 Someone who eats greedily or voraciously 8 Fedora 9 Funny person 10 Feverish 11 “Wow!” 17 Corn part 19 Scottish inventor 20 Burning 21 Flora and fauna 22 Opposers 24 Type of bit
A T L Z L R O L A N V N U P D
R K L S U K W K T C G D V A S
59
I I D E A U K A L C C E N R Y
C Y M B A L S L I E X A G T M
58
P G I H C G S Q F W E B Y B T
O J W B M I F S C W P R B I U
57
WORD SEARCH by Myles Mellor
N L J K O D P S I G O M I P R
56
53
A T L Z L R O L A N V N U P D
55
52
I I D E A U K A L C C E N R Y
54
51
P G I H C G S Q F W E B Y B T
50
Y
49
Across 1 One-third of a Beatles refrain 5 Peculiar 8 Nest part 12 Lab burner 13 Directly 14 Wheeze 15 Switchblade 16 Lure by flattery 18 Soccer blunder (2 words) 20 Bananalike plant 23 Polished 27 Martini ingredient 28 Winter Palace ruler 31 Chinese money 32 Auctioneer’s sale 33 Big drinker 35 Word on a nickel 36 “Sitting on the dock of the bay” singer 38 Famous fiddler 39 Kiwi walk-alike 40 Sushi condiment 42 Proof of purchase 44 Kids’ room item (2 words)
1 5
E
48
45
6
2 5
43
4
L
44
1
39
41
9 3
9
35
38
7
M
40
1
I
37
34
6 3
7
I
36
31
7
O
33
30
26
2
M
32
29
25
2
59
28
24
4
E
22
27
47
17
3
T
21
14
Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9X9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3X3 squares. To solve the puzzle each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult.
T
20
11
A
18
10
W E
16
9
58
15
8
R
13
7
A
12
6
R M S
5
O
4
A
3
SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan
by Myles Mellor
S
2
CROSSWORD
57
1
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