Our Town June 20th, 2013

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NYPRESS.COM • THE LARGEST PAPER ON THE EAST SIDE • JUNE 20, 2013

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Undermining Landmark Status? Owners of the City & Suburban apartments on the Upper East Side want to demolish the buildings By Joanna Fantozzi

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he two pink stucco buildings on 429 E. 64th St. and 430 E. 65th St. and York Avenue may not look like much architecturally, but they are landmarked buildings, designed by Philip H. Ohm as the first light court tenement structures in the city low-income buildings designed to address the dark and dank living conditions for immigrants of the early 20th century. Apartments have windows facing courtyard. The average price for an apartment at 371 square feet is $600 per month. Because of their historic significance, community members are desperately trying to save these buildings from being delandmarked and demolished. City and Suburban Homes Company built them in 1914-15. Last week, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing to determine whether Stahl Real Estate, who owns the properties, can claim hardship in the upkeep and rental of the buildings. If their claim is approved, the building can be de-landmarked and Stahl will tear down the buildings to put up luxury condominiums. More than 20 people and groups

Original facade left, current facade right testified at the hearing, from residents at City and Suburban, to Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts - the land marking group that leads the fight against Stahl, Assembly Member Micah Kellner and Sen. Liz Kreuger. “Since 1898, these buildings have provided safe, affordable shelter for hundreds of families and were and are today, a cohesive community,” testified Jeanne Scott-Monck, a resident of 429 East 64th St. “Whatever the perceived hardship the owners of the building are claiming, is self-inflicted and they can cure it.” Many of the residents and community members spoke of this same issue with Stahl’s hardship application. But Brian Maddox, a representative from Stahl Real Estate said that 124 out of the 190 units are vacant. Ninety-seven of these units, said Maddox were voluntarily surrendered. Stahl hired Cushman & Wakefield, an advisory firm, and they determined that pre-war six-floor walkups can be rented

out anywhere from $600-$800 per month with a $4 million renovation, or for $1,235 with a $17 million dollar renovation. “It’s an economic argument that the rents that could be attained aren’t sufficient to meet operating and owning expenses,” said Maddox. “Tenants were giving them up at that rent which tells you that they aren’t attractive enough even at a cheaper rent. I think Cushman & Wakefield makes it clear that economically they are a challenge whether occupied or not.” Friends of the Upper East Side disputes this argument. Liz

Scams Hit Upper East Side The District Attorney & Department of Aging warn about fraud and financial crimes By Joanna Fantozzi

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woman living on East 79th Street received an alarming phone call in mid-May from “Captain Tom Piscani” head of financial crime in New York who told her that she was in possession of counterfeit bills. He told her to cash a check from her bank, and meet with a plainclothes

officer in front of the New York Society Library. The bank declined to cash the check, and she instead gave the officer $3,200 in cash. The officer never showed her identification. This is just one incident in a string of police fraud-related crimes that occurred on the Upper East Side in late spring. The victims were all elderly. Another victim gave a detective-impersonator access to her bank account information, and a third sensed something wrong and refused to give the “officer” any money. Patterns of fraud and scam-related crimes committed against senior citizens 65-plus are common. There are more than 700 cases of

elder abuse handled by the DA’s office every year, including abuse, neglect and fraud. There are multiple types of fraud crimes -- from a stranger posing as a police officer, landlord or electrician who convinces the victim to hand over cash -- to phone conversations with strangers posing as relatives pleading for bail money. The 20th precinct on the Upper West Side, in particular, saw several incidents of the “relative’s cry for help” scams earlier in the year. But many times, the elderly victim knows the perpetrators personally. The Manhattan Continued on page 6

Continued on page 15

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CRIME WATCH

Chess Mess In the evening of Wednesday, June 12, a 39-year-old woman was sitting on a bench in a playground on Third Avenue playing chess on her cell phone, when an unknown 20-year-old man ran up to her, nudged her, and took her cell phone out of her hand. He then fled through the playground toward East 92nd Street before she lost sight of him. She subsequently had her cell phone deactivated. The stolen phone was an Apple iPhone 5 valued at $500.

Riverdale Rip-off

Illustration by John S. Winkleman

IMPERSONATION CRIMES On the morning of Wednesday, May 8, a man claiming to be “Police Detective Frank Dessnerâ€? called an elderly woman living on East 70th Street and requested cash to be used in an investigation. The woman withdrew $25,000 from her bank account and gave it to a man she thought was working with the detective. The woman also gave the impostors her bank account numbers. Then on the morning of Thursday, May 16, a man claiming to be “Captain Tom Piscani, head of ďŹ nancial crime in New York,â€? called an elderly woman living on East 79th Street and informed her that she was in possession of counterfeit bills. The man told the victim to meet a “plainclothes oďŹƒcerâ€? in front of the New York Society Library after cashing a check she was to write from her account. When the victim’s bank declined to cash the check, the obliging woman met with the “oďŹƒcerâ€? and gave him $3,200 she had brought from home. The “oďŹƒcerâ€? never displayed a shield or ID.

On Wednesday, June 12, a 56-yearold woman living on East 76 Street was checking her account online and noticed an unauthorized transaction for $3,500. The woman had been a victim of ID theft before, and had reported her wallet stolen on April 21. In this most recent incident, someone had gone to the Riverdale, Bronx branch of her bank and withdrawn cash at a teller’s window. The woman has since closed her account.

Cell Store Snatch A 24-year-old woman working in a cell phone store on Third Avenue reported that four men in their early 20s entered the store at 12:35 PM on Wednesday, June 12, and ripped five usable cell phones off the wall, then jumped into a black 2012 Chevy Impala with

New York license plates ESU2944. The car sped off northbound on Third Avenue. Police searched the area but could not find the car or the cell phone thieves. The stolen phones were all Samsungs: a Galaxy Note II worth $700, a Galaxy S3 valued at $600, two Galaxy S4’s worth $650, and another Galaxy S4 valued at $600, for a total haul of $3,200.

Ultimate Crime At 12:27 PM on Friday, June 7, a 66-yearold woman was pumping gas at a station on First Avenue and 96th Street. She had her back turned when a 20-year-old man crouched down by the passenger’s side of her car and opened the passenger’s side front door. He then reached in, took her purse, and sped off southbound on First Avenue in a white Nissan Ultima with North Carolina plates. Video of the incident is available. Three other men were seen in the Ultima. The items stolen from the woman’s car included a Louis Vuitton bag valued at $1,200; a Louis Vuitton clutch worth $700; a Prada wallet costing $700; $600 in cash; a Prada makeup bag worth $300; prescription eyeglasses valued at $600; a Tiffany pen worth $100; jewelry valued at $100; Prada sunglasses worth $300; a Bloomingdale’s gift certificate valued at $1,000; a Canon camera worth $200; a $125 Metro card; and her credit and debit cards. In all, a total of $6,625.

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CRIME WATCH

TAPPED IN

A Kick Does the Trick

Museum Mile Festival Draws Thousands

International Preschools Celebrate 50th Year

Lawsuit Says Couple Forced Nanny to Work

At 9:46 PM on Friday, June 7, a 29-year-old woman was walking on Fifth Avenue and East 89th Street when an unknown man dressed all in black and wearing a black ski mask approached her from behind, grabbed her arm, told her she was being mugged, and demanded that she hand over her wallet. The woman refused and kicked the black-clad bad guy, at which time he ran off into Central Park, entering on 84th Street. Police searched the area but were unable to locate the man in black. Fortunately, the victim did not sustain any injuries, nothing was taken, and no weapons had been drawn.

They turned out in the thousands – an estimated 38,000 – for the annual Museum Mile Festival June 11 along a vehicle-free Fifth Avenue from 110th down to 82nd with nine museums open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Festival-goers enjoyed an event that appealed to people of all ages with face-painting, chalk-drawing, and jugglers making it a fun and creative evening for all. Admission to every museum was free, giving those who have never been to some of them or those seeking a return visit an opportunity to sample the Upper East Side’s finest. Photo by Donna Aceto

The International Preschools, which began in 1963, marked its 50th anniversary this year with the June 20 opening of a third location, at 345 E. 86th St. The school was founded to serve the needs of international families, connected to the United Nations. Since then, it has welcomed a diverse mix of both American and international families. The other two locations are at 330 E. 45th St. and 120 W. 76th St. Each location benefits from the character and resources of its surrounding community while maintaining a consistent curriculum and dedication to the schools’ core principles. The location at 345 E. 86th St. will open with a summer camp from July 8 to July 25 that includes art, sand and water play, movement, cooking, and storytelling. Older children will participate in sports, instructional swim, science, on-site performances, and local field trips. A 50th anniversary extravaganza is scheduled for May 1, 2014 at the United Nations.

A domestic worker says a wealthy Chilean couple forced her to work in their Upper East Side apartment for three months. Felicitas Villanueva says in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court this week that Michael Hurley and Malu Custer Edwards violated human trafficking laws. The 50-year-old says she began working for them in Chile in 2010. She says she signed a contract to come to New York with the family in 2011 that she didn’t understand. She charges she was locked in rooms, forced to work many hours, physically beaten by children and denied medicine. The lawsuit says both Hurley and Edwards come from wealthy aristocratic Chilean families. Attorney Robin Alperstein says Villanueva’s claims are without merit. She says they will be “fully refuted in court.”

THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

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NEWS

Upper East Side Residents Fight to Save Precious Green Space Proposed mixed use construction on Ruppert Playground site draws dissent By Alissa Fleck

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.com STRAUS MEDIA  MANHATTAN PRESIDENT Jeanne Straus ACTING EDITOR Harriet Edleson editor.ot@strausnews.com CITYARTS EDITOR Armond White editor.cityarts@strausnews.com STAFF REPORTER Joanna Fantozzi FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS Alan S. Chartock, Bette Dewing, Jeanne Martinet, Malachy McCourt, Angela Barbuti, Casey Ward, Laura Shanahan PUBLISHER Gerry Gavin advertising@strausnews.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth, Kate Walsh ADVERTISING MANAGERS Marty Strongin, Matt Dinerstein CLASSIFIED ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Stephanie Patsiner DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Joe Bendik

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ast week’s Community Board 8 Land Use meeting grew heated as Upper East Side residents were faced with the potential loss of what they deem sacred green space in a neighborhood that sees very little of it. The site of Ruppert Park and playground, on East 92nd Street, is owned by real estate company Related Companies. When the company purchased the land in 1983, it made a deal with the city that it would maintain the space as a public playground for 25 years before developing it. Now that time has passed, and Related Companies, having fulfilled its part of the agreement, is moving ahead despite community opposition. Applicant Jerry Johnson, of Wachtel, Masyr and Missry, representing Carnegie Park Land Holdings, presented CB8 and members of the public with three specific actions in transforming Ruppert Park and playground into a mixed use zone. These actions include a zoning text amendment, a minor modification to lift open space regulations and a certification for a public plaza. Gary Handel of Handel Architects explained the building on the zone would be as far to the west as legally permissible and would incorporate a landscape buffer. The proposed building itself would incorporate a health club facility, a school, underground parking and 28 stories of residential space as well as an open, mixed use courtyard. Steve Whitehouse, the team’s landscape partner, described landscape plans for the plaza including open access, inviting seating arrangements, planting and other features. The plaza would be open to the public 24/7. “The goal is to meet usability criteria while making it aesthetically pleasing and fun,” said Whitehouse. Eli Zabar, known as a prominent

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restauranteur around the City, then introduced the Windward School which would be moved from its current location in White Plains to the Ruppert Park land. Zabar said he has been a community resident for 40 years and his wife is chairman of the Windward school board. Zabar explained 650 people, including parents of Windward School students, have signed a petition asking that the school be moved to the proposed location. He then read from a letter written by John J. Russell, the head of the school, addressing the board and community members. The four years students spend at Windward, Russell explained, give them the skills they require to return to a mainstream school. Windward focuses on giving students with learning disabilities the focus and assistance they need to thrive in the traditional school system. “The commute to White Plains is arduous,” Russell explained, “and many students are currently turned away due to lack of space.” Moving the Windward School to the proposed mixed use space would allow an additional 350 children to attend the school, including some from the local Upper East Side community. Additionally, more teachers in the City would have access to the school’s unique teaching training institute. “The Windward School changes lives,” he wrote. The applicant and his associates presented a video to the public depicting the Windward School’s mission to be a place where students can achieve when the atmosphere and teaching style elsewhere fail them. At Windward they can learn differently and build their confidence, they explained. Alex Gendzier lives in the neighborhood and has two children at the Windward School. “This is a unique school,” said Gendzier. “Other excellent schools failed my children. There are massive implications for kids who fall behind and fall into a black hole from which they cannot escape.” The public’s reaction, however, was less than favorable. They accused the Related Companies real estate firm of

attempting to bypass the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) in order to bring their project to fruition. Protesters who lined the auditorium to speak on behalf of the Ruppert Park asked why the school must be placed in this location and added suggestively parents who claim to live in the community and favor the project tend to live “on Park Avenue.” One protestor, Howard Goldman, representing the Ruppert House, explained this project is not a “minor modification” as the applicant states. “This is a tower replacing a park,” he said. “There’s no rationale for calling this minor.” Goldman added the developers were using the term “minor” in order to cut City Council out of the review process. Second, he added, the project is not “as of right” as the applicant claimed. “Nothing can be developed on that site without a discretionary land use approval,” he said. Oscar Fernandez, a resident of the area, also spoke out in opposition. “We have the least open space in all Manhattan,” said Fernandez. “This text change takes power away from entities like the Parks Department. We cannot bypass that process.” “The history of the Ruppert playground was decided by the community,” he added. “People in the area and residents should be the ones to make this decision.” Geoffrey Croft of the New York City Parks Advocates called the proposal a “behind closed door land deal.” “They have left out details and these things impact us,” said Croft. “This park is used by the community.” Further, he added, “The applicant spent only eight minutes talking about the luxury building and 24 minutes talking about the school. Frankly I’m confused by this presentation.” “The school can be built elsewhere, anywhere, the park cannot,” said Croft. “We will fight this to the end.” Another resident, Peter, noted, in response to the applicants’ video of former students praising the Windward School, “parks also change lives.” “I wish we could show a video of children playing in the park,” he said. “Hundreds of families live in that area.”

THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Who Can Best Manage a Big City? Management style will play major factor in mayor’s race By Tom Allon

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ew York has had its share of crises in the past decade 9/11, the Wall Street financial crisis and then, of course, Superstorm Sandy. Who leads the city during times of crisis - and relative calm - is important. And their ability and experience as a manager and leader is paramount. When we pick the next mayor this fall, it’s important to focus on management skills and style. Rudy Giuliani hired deputies and staff who were hard-charging, fiercely loyal and who were as determined as their boss to prove that New York was indeed a governable place. Mike Bloomberg, who is much less a micromanager than Giuliani was, hired great people, and his strong leadership skills from building Bloomberg LP into a booming financial information company were proof that he could lead a city of eight million residents and a $42 billion budget. And now we come to this year’s evergrowing crop of mayoral contenders: the good, the bad and the potentially ugly. Let’s start with the leading Democratic contenders, none of whom have any impressive private sector management experience nor the hard-charging management style of a candidate like Giuliani. Bill Thompson had a fairly strong run as Comptroller and has recently worked in the private sector. To many, however, his mild manner gives them pause. But in the current crop of candidates, his nuanced positions and lack of personal drama is a refreshing antidote to the reality show swirling around him. Christine Quinn has a very mixed record as

a leader. On the debit side of the ledger is the slush fund scandal and the term limits power grab. She also seems to have the personality of a vice president or deputy mayor, almost always following rather than leading (as evidenced by her relationship with Mayor Bloomberg). To Quinn’s credit, however, she has managed an unruly legislative body for eight years, is not thought of as a pushover (except to her patron in City Hall) and has taken some unpopular stands (like supporting the East Side Marine Transfer Station). Anthony Weiner has a pretty dubious reputation as a manager. A recent New York Times piece about him pointed out his revolving door staff and his confusing management style. Bill de Blasio and John Liu have held citywide offices just long enough to leapfrog to a mayoral run and nothing in either of their resumes gives one confidence that their management skills can handle being the chief executive of a large metropolis. Liu, for example, couldn’t even run a clean fundraising campaign. On the GOP side, management skills are much more evident. John Catsimatidis is a self-made billionaire (hey, does that sound familiar?) and has run a large chain of companies from supermarkets to oil refineries to aviation enterprises. Joe Lhota, besides a stint as Giuliani’s deputy mayor, has been successful on Wall Street and as an executive at Madison Square Garden. But, like Quinn, he has to convince people he’s more than a VP type. Who do you want making the tough decisions that lie ahead on public safety, education, labor contracts and infrastructure rebuilding - the pandering career politician or someone who has a firm backbone as a manager? Tom Allon, the president of City and State, NY, is a former Liberal Party-backed candidate for Mayor.

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NEWS Senior Scams Continued from page 1

District Attorney just indicted an accountant for allegedly stealing more than $1.2 million from his client- a 95-year-old Holocaust survivor who has since passed away. “The reality is that abuse against seniors is a big problem, especially with a rapidly growing aging population,� said Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance. “It’s the kind of crime that people have been reluctant to acknowledge for decades, but now we are focusing on it. You

Photo by Mark Hall

have strangers, family members, fiduciaries, caregivers all taking advantage of the elderly.� In addition to scams in person, Vance also named scams over the phone and Internet scams, where the perpetrator tells a victim that he or she has won a prize, or needs to enter his or her bank account information. So why are senior citizens more affected by these scams? According to the Department of Aging, senior citizens are less likely to suspect anything fishy. They grew up in an era of unlocked doors and without any knowledge of misleading spam emails and scams. “This is a generation that’s much more trusting than generations after it,� said Aurora Salamone, director of the elderly crime victims resource center with the Department of Aging. “The Internet is a newer tool to them and when you open up your email, a lot of time these offers or warnings look real. If you think about it, why would a bank ask you for your bank account if they have it already? But to an older persons not savvy with internet they might think it’s

perfectly legitimate.� The Internet scams “get� their victims by making scammers’ emails look as legitimate as possible using logos of banks and names. When an elderly person is scammed over the phone, the tactic is often manipulation. For instance, said Salamone, the perpetrator might hear a dog barking in the background, and relay a personal story about his or her own pet. But senior centers and senior resources centers are wising up to these tactics, and warn their senior citizens all the time about potential dangers. “We have had training for seniors making them aware of some of these risks,� said Sara Peller, the Director at Dorot, a senior services center on West 85th Street. “A lot of times they fall for these phone calls, and the other risk for seniors is anyone who comes into your home; you should really be cautious of that.� The last type of scam or fraud, and possibly the saddest, is when senior citizens are taken advantage of by someone they trust. It usually happens when an elderly person puts an accountant or a relative in charge of their bank account, and instead of just helping their elderly grandmother or neighbor, the perpetrators start helping themselves instead. “Seniors are folks who are capable of having a relationship which they are victimized by,� said DA Vance. “Banks are supposed to throw a flag on someone coming in all the time and writing checks off a senior’s account, especially with any suspicious withdrawals.� In fact, said Salamone, the DA’s office is specifically working with HSBC bank to train staff in ways to catch suspicious activity before it is too late. For instance, if a senior

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citizen usually takes $200 per week out of his bank account, but it all of a sudden spikes to $1,000, the bank will put a flag on the bank account to watch out for any further evidence. Western Union has also been cracking down on suspicious financial wire transactions. In terms of scams offering prizes or anything free, Council Member Jessica Lappin, who is also the chair of the Aging Committee on the City Council, offers this piece of important advice: “If it sounds too good to be true, it is.�

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OUR TOWN

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Q&A

Living in a PRISM State Q and A with New York Institute of Technology Professor about the recent NSA surveillance leak: what does it mean for me? By Joanna Fantozzi In an interview with New York Insitiute of Technology’s Babak Beheshti, Associate Dean and Professor, School of Engineering and Computing Sciences explained the details of the recent data surveillance controversy leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, and what it could mean for the average citizen.

What are the basics of PRISM and how does it work? PRISM is a system that the National Security Agency (NSA) uses through nine popular Internet servers. The access is authorized by Congress by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments enacted in 2008. The released classified Powerpoint presentation indicated that PRISM enables collection directly from the servers of Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook, etc. We also know in the past few days, the officers and spokespeople from the various internet providers have vehemently denied NSA’s unfettered access to their servers. The major technology companies have systems that involve access to data under individual FISA request -- they will send a request to company X and say they need info on an individual or group Y. The scope is still unknown to us. The requests are reviewed by the companies. Once a request is reviewed, that info is transmitted directly to NSA. Now from all of

the info available and the very clear statements coming from offices of these companies, this information is not sent automatically or in bulk.

What are the misconceptions of PRISM and the NSA circulating? There’s the idea that NSA has direct access to the servers. Based on all of the statements made, we don’t have any evidence that NSA has automatic access.

Is this legal or Constitutional? As far as legal, as I said these are all under the auspices of the FISA Act Amendments enacted by Congress. The act is currently being reviewed by committees in Congress. It appears that they are following the rule of the law. Whether it is constitutional or not, remains to be seen. The constitutionality is to be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.

How does the data collection and surveillance work? We live in a day and age where every single electronic transaction -- credit card charges communication, email, searches etc. All of these transactions are very clearly tagged and identified so they are always associated with the individual. There is no such thing as anonymity anymore. All of this data is stored somewhere. The question remains who and in what capacity will they use that information. The question is policy as opposed to technology.

How easy it is to access data like this even on a small scale? I would say if there’s a will, there’s a way. The homeland security department runs a national clearinghouse of cyber threat info every year. In 2007, the United States received 12,000 cyber incident reports, and that number doubled in 2009. In 2012, it quadrupled. The energy company, BT, said it suffers 50 million attempts per day. The Pentagon reports 10 million attempts per day. There is a constant barrage of attempts to gain access to stored information.

information away from site? These high profile cases are always surprising. It speaks to the gaps in the protocol that allow it to happen. There are many factors that go into making sure to lock the system and inform supervisors if unauthorized info has been accessed or downloaded

What can the average everyday citizen do to help themselves with this? Other than the regular things we hear like not divulging information electronically unless necessary…But unless you live under a rock, everything we do and every phone call is easily traced to individuals. One’s information can be available upon request to someone somewhere.

How many attempts are successful?

NYIT Professor Babak I don’t have data on that but Beheshti one could imagine, based on those huge numbers, even if a small percentage are successful, we are still looking at large numbers. Would you compare this type of

Can someone who works for the NSA take our private information? Once you have access, yes, you have access, in terms of being able to view the information. Whether they can freely download it and take the information off-site is another thing entirely, like Snowden was able to do.

Were you surprised that the whistleblower Snowden could take

surveillance to a Big-Brother-esque state? I would not be that concerned because the comparison should be broken down into two components: technology and policy. The technology obviously exists today that did in Orwell’s “1984,” but to make the leak and immediately conclude that government infrastructures are in place to spy on us, simply based on the plot of “1984,” is not realistic based on the policy today.

DEWING THINGS BETTER

The Joys and Benefits of Singing By Bette Dewing

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up, that’s me at the John Finley Walk pop-up-piano, but mostly I’m singing because I regrettably stopped practicing piano a long time ago. But getting “everyone singing” and ‘singing along” is this column’s most ardent desire. And you may say, just because you’re blessed with a nice singing voice and a strong musical gene, what about those who don’t have them? Well, research says everyone benefits from even humming along. Society also benefits from singing together. Less talking is safer! No one gets left out, and no conflicts occur.

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OUR TOWN

Weren’t bar scenes healthier when there were pianos that encouraged patrons to do more singing and less sipping? The Pop Up Pianos need a much longer run and community sings need an all-out revival. When I grew up, home pianos and piano lessons were commonplace. And we also sang walking down the street and on car trips, Wherever. Taken for granted were the glee club, choir and band extra- curricular activities offered at my Edison High School in Minneapolis. Yes, music was quite different then. Except for the predominance of couple love songs which slighted the family and friendship kind, I’d sure like to turn back the musical clock,

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at least part of the time. It would be a way to expose younger generations, especially, to the Great American Songbook classics. Faith groups would benefit from bringing back familiar hymn sings, which relates to what this column is most overjoyed about. Thanks to William Grimes’ May 28 front page New York Times’ story “Something Happened on the Way to Bountiful: The Audience Sings Along,” I learned that the mostly black audience, without being asked, joined Cicely Tyson in singing that grand old hymn, “Blessed Assurance.” Everyone knows Tyson won the Best Actress Tony Award but highest honors go to the Grimes story and to this audience who felt singing along to this

well-known hymn was, “the natural thing thing to do.” On a separate topic, I’d like to mention the premature passing of Upper East Sider, 68 year-old Artie Elefant from leukemia. Legally blind, Elefant was an invaluable supporter of the Daniel’s Music Foundation, composed of members with various disabilities. Elefant was blessed with close extended family and friend relationships, but the overwhelming consensus heard at his standing-room-only funeral service, was that any support Artie needed, could not have been more mutually beneficial. And later, his neighbors and apartment house staff, reportedly said how he was never too busy to stop and ask how they were doing – and that he really wanted to know. Another custom we need to revive - along with everyone singing. dewingbetter@aol.com

THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

DINING

New New Yorkers, from the Very Old Country A new Georgian restaurant wants to bring a taste of the home country to NYC By Adam Janos “Not to burn the kebab, not to burn the stick,” Beka Peradze, co-owner of new restaurant Oda House (76 Avenue B), explains. It’s an old idiom from his native land, the Republic of Georgia, a nation of 4.5 million in the central Asian Caucasus. It’s hard to say what Peradze exactly means by this (out of the frying pan and into the fire, perhaps?), but it seems fitting that the idiom is both cryptic and tied to food, as Georgia’s rich culinary tradition remains largely a mystery to the average New Yorker’s palette. Oda House, which opened on May 5th, is the brainchild Beka’s stepmother, Maia Acquaviva; together, they run the place. Acquavia is a native Georgian who came to New York in 2007, and – after attending culinary school – served as an executive chef at a Russian Restaurant on East 20th Street called Mari Vanna. Not that Russian and Georgian cuisine are

THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

anything alike. “It’s big different,” Acquavia said. “Georgian cuisine is rich: rich with everything. I could not say same with Russian cuisine. They not have so much herbs, meat products.” Georgia, in contrast, was perfectly situated to take advantage of the rich trade that came through the Silk Road, a network of trade routes dating back to the first millennium that linked Europe and East Asia. “We use a lot of fresh things: so many herbs: tarragon, mint, cilantro, parsley, scallions, garlic… and it’s makes our dishes so flavorful. It’s different; there’s a freshness that makes our cuisine different.” At Oda House, Acquavia is hoping to use those flavors to create a menu that’s elegant, exotic, and inspiring. Aside from her set menu, which includes her favorite dish (Chakapuri: a slow-cooked lamb with tarragon, mint, scallions and white wine, served with Georgian bread), the chef is preparing specials every week. This week, she’ll be serving chicken roulade with vegetables, and a cold zucchini in a white sauce with tarragon and mint. As the weather continues to warm, she’ll start preparing cold

OUR TOWN

savory soups. Along with the Georgian food, Acquavia and her staff of eight (seven Georgians, one Latino) hope to familiarize New Yorkers with all aspects of Georgian culture. They have live music every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, in which a duo plays Georgian folk tunes on the doli (hand drum) and the phanduri (traditional fretted string instrument). “And we want to start next week, Thursday evening, we want to make Gypsy evening because we know these people very well,” Acquavia says. “And maybe from Monday until Wednesday: she’s very famous singer, Georgian, now in United States: Nini.” “She’s gonna be in U.S. X-Factor,” Peradze added. “She been through three auditions already, now she go for judges like Simon… she won Greek X-Factor.” There’s a saying in Georgia: if you ask a Georgian for water, they give you wine. Acquavia says that why she opened a restaurant, and why she wants to bring people into her business. “‘Oda’ means your own home,” Acquavia explained. “Your family home. Your grandmother’s home. In old Georgian

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language, Oda means this one. It’s the old word for ‘house’. Your house. I want everyone who comes here feel like they’re home.” “We’re little people, just 4.5 million,” Acquavia said about Georgia. “But we are very friendly. For us, family is much important. We are religious people, Orthodox. We religious, but never have Antisemitism in Georgia. Never, ever. Jewish, Muslims, Christians: they live like brothers together. I’m so happy because we’re so friendly. I’m proud of this, because it’s a different genetic.” “People say: today’s egg is better than tomorrow’s chicken,” Peradze added. Enjoy the things you have in front of you. Eat Georgian food in New York’s melting pot, where the old world comes to begin anew.

PAGE 9

SHOPPING AROUND

Find One-of-Kind Sweaters and More at Granny-Made By Laura Shanahan

S

ay it ain’t so, Joe! But it is so: As per last week’s news item in this very paper, owner Michael Rosenberg’s singular store Granny-Made, which served the Upper West Side and fans from beyond – way beyond – for 27 years will be closing, with summer the targeted time. But lest you worry you’ll make a wasted trip if you go now, as the store may be shuttered any minute; or that the selection’s dwindled down to nothing; or that you’ll never be able to buy another Granny-Made sweater, so might as well call it quits now – take heart: The answer to all your concerns is “NO! NO!” and one mo’ time: “NO!” I just visited Michael and he assures me that the shop, at 467 Amsterdam Ave., between 82nd and 83rd, will be open throughout July – at the very least. So there’s still time, mes amis – and the advantages of going now

are twofold: First, you can take advantage of closing sales on items that will not be carried at the online shop (www.grannymade.com) – and second, in-store you have the opportunity to fondle, sniff and otherwise scope out the favorite items that will indeed continue to be available online. And let us not discount the possibility of a third act elsewhere: Stay tuned! To give you an idea of the quality that inspired and continues to inform this children’s clothing-toys-andmore store, consider the immaculate woolknit coat hanging on display. Looks like it could have been handknit yesterday. In fact, granny Bert Levy made it for a friend’s granddaughter in 1956. (Bert Levy was the real-life granny of Granny-Made, and lives on as its inspiration and guiding force.) “The family sent it to me,” Michael says proudly of the coat, which is framed by other vintage items Bert Levy created. Today, her original cable-design knits for

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OUR TOWN

children, from 6 months to approximately 6 years, are handmade in Peru of cuddle-soft pima cotton. Priced at $70-$78, the zip-up cardigans come in multiple girly shades of pink, plus a raspberry and lavender, as well as in navy, light blue and olive. Ruth Hornbein, a longtime employee and a well-known children’s sweaterdesigner in her own right, showed me her hand-loomed pure cotton cardigans for boys and girls. Loved the pink and purple version – I’m such a girly girl – that features the Manhattan skyline on front and the Brooklyn one on back. “That’s Orion on the front,” Ruth pointed out in the design’s star-studded sky, “and the Big and Little Dipper on the back.” (I shamelessly nodded as though I could identify them on my own.) Anyway, $85 for these truly original, impeccably detailed sweaters. Ruth shared another bit of knowledge: Pointing out a sweater featuring intarsia

designs of doggies, she noted that cats used to be the big sellers, and “now it’s dogs.” Interesting factoid, no? Noteworthy in addition to the knits are glittering rings and tiaras, soft toys for tots and the novel ABC wall-hangings; $45. Made of quilted fabric, the hangings’ 26 pockets each contain a tiny toy corresponding to every letter of the alphabet. (“O” has an owl tucked inside.) Last but not least, there is the selection of interactive books. Consider the glossy hardcover Noisy Noah’s Ark for $19.99 that features such sounds as rain, hammering and music. Long before Gene Kelly, apparently Noah was singin’ in the rain…

Granny-Made 467 Amsterdam Ave., 212-496-1222 www.grannymade.com What’s special: Original and lovingly handmade knits for the kids like a talented granny made. Hurry in before this longtime shop remains online only – at least for now.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

cityArts

Edited by Armond White

Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is The Godfather of superhero movies By Armond White

M

an of Steel is the first superhero movie to be directed by a real filmmaker since Tim Burton took on Batman in 1989. Unlike Burton, director Zack Snyder’s sensibility derives from comic books and graphic novels yet his visual extravagance also contains the palpably erotic core of comic book fantasy. Snyder immediately invests the Superman story with this tactile realism, a feel for ancient legend. Opening scenes on the dying planet Krypton recall the stylization of 300 but with a slightly futuristic edge that never lapses into conventional superhero movie fantasy. (Snyder got that out of his system with Watchmen.) The arch otherworldliness of Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) sending their newborn infant into outer space to survive Krypton’s destruction and preserve their heritage from the tyrannical threat of General Zod (Michael Shannon) also evokes a kind of classicism. It doesn’t play like sci-fi and when the story shifts to planet Earth where the alien boy Kal-El is raised as Clark Kent, Snyder effectively creates a contrasting, charged-up realism. In Man of Steel, Snyder’s ingenuity--his realistic panache-prevents the Superman story from mainly appealing to either adolescent whimsy or adult camp. He makes a radical break from past Superman movies where cliché narratives, routine violence and a basic lack of seriousness are accepted as standard. Man of Steel is marvelous, serious fun which changes all that. Kal-El/Clark Kent (played by Henry Cavill) isn’t called “Superman” until late in the story; his history and identity are the film’s real subject. First seen bursting through flames as a Herculean physical specimen, his alien adjustment to Earth and humanity is a personal trial neatly conveyed through screenwriter David S. Goyer’s multiple flashbacks. While Snyder gives the alien’s feats a quality of wonder, Cavil conveys surprise, urgency and torment. Snyder is good at the physics of stress (The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is a masterpiece, I promise you) which separates Man of Steel from The Dark Knight trilogy. Snyder’s consistent intermix of realism and legend upgrades the superhero genre. Cavil’s dramatic handsomeness recalls young Sean Connery’s exotic virility; his simultaneously otherworldly and legendary aspects suit Snyder’s sensuous action style--textured close-ups of skin and capillaries, jet trails in the sky as he flies, his red cape’s heavy swoosh. No previous Superman achieved Cavil’s perfected gesture of drawing back

THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

OUR TOWN

New York’s Review of Culture . CityArtsNYC.com

Serious Fun his right hand when flying to exert physical and spiritual will. Converting iconography from District 9, the Transformer films and Independence Day, Snyder improves on the imagery, giving it a speedy, thrilling roughness, preferable to the usual unimaginatively slick CGI. What’s terrific here is that Snyder expresses Kal-El’s force, his will. The yearning to understand himself and his humanlikeness gives the film depth. When Kal-El meets the earnest newspaper reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) their immediate attraction is so well acted it’s deeper than romance. Their passions meet and that’s Snyder and Nolan’s breakthrough. This is the most stirring, impassioned superhero movie I’ve ever seen. By emphasizing Kal-El’s conflict with his abilities, desires and his yet uncontrollable circumstances, Snyder discovers his meager genre’s richest potential. (One scene offers a beautifully concise Christ-parallel.) Lessons from Kal-El’s two fathers are sturdily presented by both Crowe and Kevin Costner (as Jonathan Kent) so that tests of his ideals and his strength against Shannon’s Zod (that Frankenstein brow suggesting political warp yet oddly touching like Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty) offer a continuum of masculine being. Eat that Luke Skywalker.

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Snyder doesn’t cheapen the “S” emblazoned on Superman’s chest. “In my world it means ‘Hope’” Kal-El says. That’s a significant difference from The Dark Knight trilogy’s nihilism. The fight against Zod is primarily ethical (“You have developed a sense of morality and we have not--which gives us an evolutionary advantage. If history has taught us anything, it’s that evolution always wins.”) Yet as Snyder envisions this battle, realism stays in scale with awe—something science can’t measure. As the Supeman-Zod fight escalates so does its 9/11 evocation and Snyder’s vision of urban destruction attains the poetry Michael Bay did not, alas, achieve in Transformers III: Dark of the Moon. That evolution comment evokes The Godfather; its implicit “you can kill anybody” suggests 9/11 annihilation which has fed the juvenile thrall of too many comic book movies, Snyder’s Superman--symbolizing hope-counters all that. Man of Steel allows sci-fi blockbuster audiences to finally merge from post-9/11 darkness. Thanks to Zack Snyder’s artistry, Man of Steel is The Godfather of superhero movies.

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CITYARTS FILM

Sharecropping Sirens A radiant documentary honors the background singer By Armond White

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n Greil Marcus’ original review of the Rolling Stones’ 1969 “Gimme Shelter,” he wrote about “women who can shout like Mary [sic] Clayton--gutty, strong, and tougher than any of the delightful leering figures that are jumping out of the old Stones’ orgy. She can stand up to Mick and match him, and in fact, she steals the song. That’s what makes ’Gimme Shelter’ such an overwhelming recording--it hits from both sides, with no laughs, no innuendoes, and nothing held back. The Stones have never done anything better.” Marcus may have misspelled Merry Clayton’s name but his awe-struck (and awesome) review got everything else superlatively right. Merry Clayton’s solo on “Gimme Shelter” is one of the most

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John gives wisdom: “Check out your worth” but she’s also warning fans and listeners who remain ignorant of the human costs the music biz demands. Neville’s snapshots of the women’s maturity excludes tragedy. Still beautiful, keen and good-humored, these sharecropping sirens have not received their due compensation for journeyman work that proved to live and remunerate other folks forever. Yet in their individual personalities they remain vital as their voices. Fischer, shown on stage with Sting, delivers a virtuosic presentation that’s all in a night’s work. “She’s a star!” Sting exclaims. But that ain’t the half of it. Note: Fischer’s brief solo career produced a Grammy win for the R&B hit perfectly titled “How Can I Ease the Pain?” Such demonstrations of underrated and under-compensated artistry deserve a more serious study. Even though Neville’s aim is celebration, he tends to skimp his subject’s greatest contours: How female back-up singing evolved past segregation during the Civil Rights Era. How objectification mixed with discipline (“We were R&B’s first action figures” Lennear recalls her time as one of the Ikettes doing sexy calisthentics that anticipated Beyonce). How the subculture of Black vocalizing led to the specialized esthetics of the master Luther Vandross and the singular Cindy Mizelle whose Steely Dan chirping grew into the sound of Chic. How

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astonishing performances in the history of popular music yet the singer’s near-anonymity is one of our culture’s saddest shames and that’s what the new documentary 20 Feet from Stardom sets out to rectify. Director Morgan Neville surveys the troops of mostly black female harmony singers who back-up the musical dreams of headliner artists. He searches out the women who can shout now in middle age who added grace and glory to innumerable hit records-Clayton, Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, Judith Hill, even legendary Claudia Lennear (inspiration and personification of the Stones‘ “Brown Sugar”). Some discovered their gifts as preachers’ daughters, first learning harmony in church choirs; some tried brief or unsuccessful solo careers but all share stories of frustration: Love suffered Phil Spector’s megalomania and was cheated of recognition; Clayton, Vega and Lennear couldn’t catch the trend of popularity. Others like Fischer found a sinecure as longtime back-up on Rolling Stones tours. Their stories are not about envy but the variables of fate and ego. Venerable blues singer Dr. Mable

developing technologies like overdubbing and Auto Tune threatened to erase the background artists industry. These fascinating brief tales (annotated by Bruce Springsteen, Bette Midler, Patti Austin, Lou Adler, Max Greenwall, David Lasley and others) hold the history of American culture. Between Fischer’s insistent “I’m doing good!” and Clayton professing “My way of being an activist was to do the music” lie untold secrets of American perseverance. Clayton tearfully admits “I felt if I just give my heart to what I was doing I would automatically be a star.” Woe to thee, non-self-promoter But it’s also Clayton who rose from bed, beckoned to the studio to record “Gimme Shelter” and decided on the second take: “Uh huh, I’m gonna blow them out of this room.” In her heart she knew that they wanted something out of her; that though they needed and admired her they could/would never adequately pay her back and so with pride and courage she expended her artistry which is ultimately--though not always--without price. Neville does posterity a favor by separating Clayton’s vocal from the “Gimme Shelter” music track. The power of her personal artistic sacrifice, lent to Jagger and Richard’s concept-reifying and immortalizing it--still makes your hairs stand up on your neck. This isolated sound is one of the greatest, most unfair things on record. That there’s much more to these stories is implicit in Darlene Love’s radiant reflection on her youth: “Amazing isn’t it? I was talented and didn’t know it.”

OUR TOWN

Darlene Love and Merry Clayton

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THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

CITYARTS GALLERIES

Don’t Blink On “Blinkey” Palermo’s vehicles for color By Jim Long

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alermo, born Peter Schwarze, studied with Joseph Beuys and acquired the name “Blinkey” Palmero. David Zwirner gallery is currently exhibiting “Palermo: Works on Paper 1976-1977,” acrylic and graphite works on paper mounted on cardboard: late work from an artist whose active period spanned scarcely 15 years. Nearly all are loosely brushed variations on geometric figure/ ground motifs in a limited range of red, yellow, blue, green, and black. The groups are uniform in size, elegantly framed and presented in rows echoing the minimalist aesthetic of the time. Palermo, trained in graphic design before entering the academy, devised an engaging abstract vocabulary, part conceptual, part minimal, part arte povera based on sampling Kelly, Beuys. Mondrian, Tuttle, Marden, Malevich, Klee, Kandinsky, Popova, Rothko, Newman…how many others? Each “set” is grouped and experienced somewhat cinematically, like animation cells or montage. Palermo’s lasting contribution may well be his ability to impart a sense of locomotion to inherently static geometric form while avoiding illustration strategies. He is interested in the anonymity that is the root of monumentality in abstraction, but energetically resists allowing the work to become monumental. A few favorite strategies repeat: a triangular edge intrudes into the field from the lower left corner: suggesting Klee’s transparent over-lapping planes, Popova and Malevich’s home-cooked geometries, or maybe the BMW logo. Edges are sometimes crisp, often fluid, in the manner of Beuys, always displaying a sure touch.

Abstract form as vehicle for color is not new, and Palermo’s works on paper can appear to simply unpack Kandinsky or Mondrian and rearrange it horizontally. Yet the work is delightfully engaging. In New York, in 1976, it would have been out-of-the-way: not unfashionable, simply from somewhere else.

Palermo’s “Untitled”, 1976

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OUR TOWN

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OUR TOWN

the latter a series of dances to various versions of the song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.� Inspired by Jones, Latsky has, since 2006, included disabled dancers in many of her works, most noteworthy, “Gimp� exp explaining By Valeriee Gladstone why dance should be inclusive: “Bill felt f no trepidation trepid ands for so much politically, “He stands about ab lly and visually,� says dancer emotionally including in choreography aphy Heidi Latsky iin praise of people of pe Bill T. Jones nes of the Bill T. Jones/ all backgrounds, shapes Arnie Zane ne Company. “He and sizes in his company, compa � she came along ng in the says. this piece In Jones fashion thi late ‘70s and broke features four disabled performers, per all kinds of rules. who make the song sing through th He’s brilliant ant and their bodies. bodi d es. daring. His is works Cabeen, the director of Hyphen H resonate in the dance world.� Dance Compan Company, performed with a y, performe On the 30th anniversary of the Jo JJones/Zane nes/Zane troupe from 199719 the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane 2005 and now sets Jones’ on works Company, Aviles y, Latsky, Arthur Av A iles companies She will all over the country. S and Catherine erine Cabeen, former present the formal two pieces, one of them th members of the troupe, and and ornate “Five Windows,� with the oud David Parker, rker, the founder player, Kane Mathis. Aviles, a membe member of the and director tor of The Bang company from 1987-1995 and the co-founder co Company, y, and Maureen of the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance Da Whiting, director (BAAD). himself to He has not only devoted him of the Maureen aureen choreographing but also to giving the Puerto Whiting Company, Rican, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender trans will honorr Jones with communities a place plac to work “Five Choreographers oreographers and create - an outg outgrowth at Baruch, h,� a series of of Jones dedication to the performances at the “Five Choreographers at disenfranchised. To celebrate Baruch Performing Arts Baruch,� appears at the his mentor, he will present Center June 25-29. the joyous “Cumpeanos Baruch Performing Arts It would be hard for Feliz,�named for a traditional anyone in the performing Center, Lexington Ave. Spanish birthday song. arts over the past 30 years and 23rd Street, June Seattle-based not to count Jones as an 25-29. choreographer Whiting influence. A MacArthur thinks that simply being “genius� grant winner, aware of what Jones was he has dealt with gay doing in the ‘80s, affected her. “No one had rights, AIDS, racism and many other tough been so politically active in dance as Bill,� she subjects in highly charged dances packed says. “It changed completely how everyone with powerful movement. Moreover he has thought of contemporary dance.� He is also also choreographed for opera, theater and noted for his theatricality, and her work, television, won innumerable awards in the “belly,� in the upcoming tribute, follows in dance and theater worlds, and continues to that line. revolutionize dance as a leader of New York Parker didn’t dance with Jones but he was Live Arts organization. deeply influenced by him too. “I love his Latsky, a member of the Jones/Zane mixture of formal and dry and how highly company from 1987-1993, credits Jones with charged his works are,� he says. Parker’s witty giving her an understanding of the value pieces share a formality, clear in his new of stillness in dance, and by giving her, as a dances for the Baruch engagement, entitled dancer, grounded and emotional movement �Unbridled� and “Groomed.� “None of us to perform. would have dared so much without Bill’s At the Baruch Center, she will present two example.� pieces, “Solo Countersolo� and “Somewhere,�

Five choreographers pay tribute to Bill T. Jones

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THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

NEWS Landmark Continued from page 1

Kelly, a representative from Friends of the Upper East Side, said that if they are marketed correctly and are kept up well, these apartments can be rented out at a much higher rate. Tara Kelly said that their analysis, conducted by HR and A, found that with a 5 percent vacancy rate, Stahl can rent the units out for an average of $1,500 per month. “They are keeping the apartments vacant so that they can take down the building,” said Kelly. “Historic vacancy levels in all of New York are below 2 percent, but yet they can’t rent out their spaces. They said they’ve been making an effort, but there’s no marketing and the leasing office is closed half of the time.” In fact, community members have been fighting this for several years. Stahl acquired the two buildings in 1974. In 1990, Landmarks designated the entire block as landmarked buildings, but just before the status was about to go into effect, landmarks overturned it, to compromise between developers and landmark enthusiasts. In 2006, Stahl made significant changes to the building, including removing the façade and replacing it with the unremarkable pink stucco exterior seen today on

OP-ED

City and Suburban. Shortly thereafter, the buildings were landmarked due to historic, as opposed to architectural significance. In 2011, Stahl sued the city to be able to tear down the buildings on the basis of economic hardship. “These two buildings are an essential part of New York’s history and must be preserved,” said Assembly Member Micah Kellner in his testimony. “Given the absurdity of the owners’ conclusions, LPC has no other choice than to deny their application.” But for Stahl Real Estate, this issue is much more complicated than it may seem. He said that Friends of the Upper East Side’s consulting analysis makes little sense, because it assumes asking rents as opposed to average rents, and other features like marble bathrooms and new appliances. “Indiscriminate landmarking is not necessarily always a good thing,” said Brian Maddox. “We have been very respectful of landmarked buildings, but in this case we want to demolish the building and replace it with improved structures - giving the people who are displaced, bigger apartments with comparable rents, and giving the neighborhood something more attractive.” Landmarks has yet to set a date for the final vote.

Keep Libraries Open By Jonathan Bowles and Julie Sandorf

A

t a time when many New Yorkers struggle to make the transition to today’s knowledge economy, no institution is doing more to bridge the gap than the city’s public libraries. The city’s 206 branch libraries have become the go-to places for those who lack the essential literacy, language and technological skills needed to get ahead today. They are helping adults upgrade their skills and find jobs, assisting immigrants learn English, fostering reading skills in young people and providing technology access

for those who don’t have a computer or an Internet connection at home. Yet, the libraries are often treated by city policymakers as if there’s little more to them than children’s story time. The City Council has prevented most of the proposed budget cuts from taking effect in prior years, but city funding for the libraries is still down by eight percent over the last decade. As a result, the libraries are barely open 40 hours a week, fewer than almost every major urban library system. This year, the libraries are literally fighting to keep their doors open. For a mayor who puts a premium on metrics, it’s hard to

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rationalize the cuts. Over the past decade, the city’s three public library systems have experienced a 40 percent spike in the number of people attending educational programs and a 59 percent increase in circulation. The City Council should restore proposed budget reductions and give libraries more stability in the budget process by setting an adequate baseline level of funding. With more dependable support, they could be playing an even more pivotal role in restoring New York as a city of opportunity. Jonathan Bowles is executive director of the Center for an Urban Future. Julie Sandorf is president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation.

Marble Collegiate Church’s Children, Youth & Families Ministry congratulates the winning artist of the

Draw Your Dad Contest

Drawing by Kitty (4)

Congratulations to the family pictured above. Their daughter’s drawing of dad was pulled at random. Pictured are, Dad David Burke, Amelia (5), Kitty (4) and Lucy. They won 4 tickets to

the Musical.

Drawing by Amelia (5)

Dr. Michael B. Brown, Senior Minister Marble Collegiate Church is a welcoming and accepting church, where all are valued and affirmed. At the heart of Marble’s transformational ministry are true community and common ground. We hope you will visit us at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 29th Street for Sunday Worship at 11:00am, or check out our website at MarbleChurch.org PAGE 16

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THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

THE 7-DAY PLAN FRIDAY

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

BEST PICK

Summer Crawfish Boil Bourbon Street Bar & Grille, 346 West 46th St., bourbonny.com, 2 p.m., $5.95-$26.95, June

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22nd. You probably didn’t realize this, but crawfish season is upon us. Luckily, you can attend a New Orleans-style celebration of this crustacean in your beloved metropolis. The Abita Brewing Company from Louisiana will be participating so you can sample their seasonal brew selection and even grab one of their t-shirts. These festivities will make you swiftly forget you’re even in New York.

Visit nypress.com for the latest updates on local events. Submissions can be sent to otdowntown@strausnews.com

FREE: Derange Derangement of the Senses

Adhocracy

Happy Ending Ending, 302 B Broome St., happyendinglounge.com, 7:30 p.m. This isn’t your typical poetry reading- we are warning you now. There will be no recounting of stories in a dreary monotone. Producers Kevin Carter and Miracle Jones amp up the standard reading format with multimedia performances from writers, storytellers, and even burlesque dancers. Prepare to be stimulated in a very unfamiliar way.

New Museum of Contemporary Art, 235 Bowery, newmuseum.org, 11 a.m., free-$14. Being citizens of America, we are no strangers to innovation. In the past few years, multiple technologies have transformed how we work, communicate, and relate. This exhibition explores everything from furniture design, to weapons manufacturing, to medical breakthroughs. The display of 25 different projects presented through artifacts, objects, and films will easily force you to question the definition of design.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

FREE: Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound

Pier 26, Hudson River Park, libertyoutrigger.org, 9 a.m. For the 17th Annual paddling race around New York Harbor, NY Outrigger is throwing a free all-day affair by the start and finish line. While crews sweat through the 15-mile course, sample traditional Polynesian culture at a lei-making class or dance lesson. You may start to genuinely believe that you’re a hula dancer - and that is perfectly okay.

Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St., mercuryloungenyc.com, 7:30 p.m. doors, $12, 21+ This post-punk soul band out of Chicago is touring to promote the release of their most recent album, Howl. They’ve been called a lot of things - throwback, new funk, neo-soul, “relentlessly catchy” - but regardless of the chosen descriptor, all agree that they put on a hell of a show. You WILL be dancing.

The Lombardi Case 1975

Monkey Town 3

The Living Room, 154 Ludlow St., livingroomny.com, 2 p.m., $60. This immersive crime-solving theatre event will be a thrill to participate in. A politico’s daughter is murdered on the LES, and immediately becomes a sensational crime in the news. You become a rookie cop and must search the neighborhood to get to the bottom of the story.

Eyebeam Art and Technology Center, 540 West 21st St., monkeytown3.com, 7 p.m., $45. This reboot of the Williamsburg bar and restaurant that opened in 2010, is something you must experience for yourself. Each performance invites 32 people into a suspended white cube of screens onto which a two-hour program of multichannel video art is projected. During the screening, enjoy a multi-course mean cooked by a rotating lineup of chefs.

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

Masterworks: Jewels of the Collection

Cosmopolis

Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th St., rmanyc.org, 11 a.m., free-$10. A millennium’s worth of work is featured in this exhibit on the diverse artistic traditions of the Himalayas. See Buddhist and Hindu deities depicted in papermâché, textiles, stone and wood. You will even be able to see life-size photos of 18th-century murals from the Dalai Lama’s secret temple in Tibet. Anticipate reaching an entire new level of enlightenment.

Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Ave, anthologyfilmarchives.org, 9:15 p.m., $6-$10 Catch this screening of the sharp film based on the 2003 novel by Don DeLillo. It stars Robert Pattinson, but will make you all but forget about his Twilight days. He plays a 28-year-old billionaire and currency speculator who is faced with meltdowns both global and personal- set to the backdrop of none other than Manhattan. It is a thriller from start to finish, consistently keeping you on your toes.

Jazz @ Lincoln Center, 62nd St between Columbus and Amsterdam, midsummernightswing.org, 6:30 p.m., $17. For 15 days, this dance fest hosted by Lincoln Center welcomes jazz, mambo, rock and, yes, swing bands to Damrosch Park’s open-air ballroom. Highlights include two wallet-friendly, late-night silent discos, in which participants boogie down wearing individual headphones; salsa dancing led by the Spanish Harlem Orchestra; and a this toe-tapping set by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on opening night.

Buddy Guy B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 243 W 42nd St, $27, 8:00 p.m. Guy’s legend has only grown throughout the ‘90s and into the 21st century. Recent releases like Bring ‘Em In (2005), Skin Deep (2008), and Living Proof (2010) continue to demonstrate that Guy, while firmly ensconced in his blues roots, has always tried to keep his music looking forward - even at the risk of alienating lovers of traditional blues sounds. Internationally acclaimed, a Grammy winner, and now an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Guy has firmly cemented a blues legacy that places him squarely in the company of his heroes who came before.

THURSDAY

THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

◄

Midsummer Night Swing

Poetry Reading: Lasting Matters: Writers 57 and Over ◄ Nimrod Roseland Ballroom, 239 W. 52nd St., www.poets.org, $59, 6:30 p.m. Good words are always lasting, and so are good people. They last in our memory and on the page. Nimrod has lasted 57 years—and promises to go on another 57! And so Nimrod’s spring issue is a testament to lasting words, lasting people, and a lasting journal. Join Nimrod in a celebration of all three in a staged reading from the Spring/Summer 2013 issue, Lasting Matters: Writers 57 and Over. The reading will feature local authors included in the issue and performers reading from Nimrod’s Lasting Matters which includes the writing of literary stars such as Ted Kooser, Stephen Dunn, Ron Wallace, and local favorites including Ivy Dempsey, Deborah Hunter, Fran Ringold, and Cynthia Gustavson. Music and dance will also enliven the readings. The event is free and open to the public. Copies of the issue will be available for sale.

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PAGE 17

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CELEBRITY PROFILE

Chris D’Elia D’elivers Laughs at Carolines The comedian and actor on his first gig, his witty family, and “Whitney” By Angela Barbuti

I

f you go to see Chris D’Elia’s comedy show at Carolines this weekend, some of his act will be about dating. It’s not surprising that he gets his material from hanging out with friends at diners late at night. It seems like a no-brainer that NBC casted the former “Whitney” star as the lead in its new show, “Undateable.” The 33-year-old plays a dating coach to his lovelorn friends. When asked if life imitated art, D’Elia replied, “I’m acting.” Besides this new show, he is in the process of cutting a Comedy Central special of his work and has some movies on the horizon. “I’m right where I want to be,” he said.

You live in LA. How is it different to perform in New York? In New York, there’s a lot of different kinds of people and I really like that. I perform in LA so much that I see a lot of the same people.

What is the demographic at your shows? It’s like 18 to 40 year-olds who come to see me. And all different races. In LA a lot of Persians like me. I don’t know why that happened, but that happened.

Persians? Really, why? Maybe cause I’m hairy.

How do you come up with material? Hanging out with my friends late night at diners- that’s how I always come up with my material. If I can make them laugh, then I can bring it to the stage. Sometimes it works, and when it works, I add it to the act. And then sometimes, when it doesn’t, I just get mad at my friends.

THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2013

Tell people who have never seen your act what it’s about. Different people, different cultures. A lot about dating and exgirlfriends.

Where was your first stand-up gig? My first actual show was at the Ha Ha Café in North Hollywood in 2006. I invited some friends. I was so nervous. But it turned out well and then after that, I bombed for a few months and ended up earning my stripes.

When did you first realize that you were funny? [Laughs] I don’t know; I’m still trying to figure it out. As long as they’re laughing, I’m happy. I thought that things that I thought were funny made me funny. My mom and my dad - and my brother - they’re just so funny, so it’s tough to keep up. I was the butt of a lot of jokes growing up, so that made me stronger in that respect. So I just started to make fun of people. They created a monster, I think.

Your dad is in the business too. Did he want you to go into entertainment? No, he wanted the opposite. But he came to some shows and was happy about it. I made him laugh, so he was all for it.

Many know you from the show “Whitney.” What was that experience like for you? It was great. I loved Whitney [Cummings] and all the people who were involved with that show. It was kind of a dream job. It was so close to where I lived and I loved hanging out with the people - they were friends. I knew Whitney before we started doing the show.

You’re going to be on a new show in the fall on NBC. Yeah, it’s called “Undateable.” I’m the lead and actually, a guy who used to be my opener, Brent Morin, is the co-lead in it. It’s pretty cool that we get to work together.

OUR TOWN

How did this role come about? I was doing “Whitney,” and Bill Lawrence, the guy who created “Scrubs” - he does “Undateable” - and he really wanted me for the role. So NBC said, “OK, we’ll have Chris for the role, but if we pick up

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‘Whitney,’ then we’re gonna have to recast the role.” But “Whitney” got canceled and the next day they picked up “Undateable.”

It’s about you giving dating advice to guys, right?

PAGE 19

I’m trying to get the undateables, dateable.

Does that happen in real life? I’m acting. No. I don’t know if I’m the dateable one in real life. Follow Chris on Twitter @ chrisdelia

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