Our Town October 24th, 2013

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cityArts

CELEB SINCE 1970 PAGE 26

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NYPRESS.COM • THE LARGEST PAPER ON THE EAST SIDE • OCTOBER 24, 2013

The Economics of the Street Fair Curious why they seem to be everywhere on the Upper East Side? Millions of dollars in city revenue may be an answer By Joanna Fantozzi

T

he scene is familiar to anyone on the Upper East Side: Over here you see a woman blending fruit to make smoothies. Over there is a guy selling what may or may not be designer sunglasses, and right next to him is the infamous “Zeppole! Fried Snickers! Italian Sausage!” truck, which smells like a combination of sweet fried dough and sizzling meat. It’s autumn in New York, which means street fairs are out in force. To understand why they seem so ubiquitous, despite recurrent complaints from residents and some local business people,

you have to understand this: street fairs are big business. The City of New York generates nearly $8 million from street fair permits – paid by the companies that produce them. (Three companies are behind more than half of all the street fairs in the city.) Given that there are expected to be 245 of the fairs by year’s end, that comes to $31,975.51 in revenue for the city -- per fair. Randi Horwitz, an Upper West Side resident who owns Social Eyes NYC, which offers a comprehensive list of street fairs, is a fan of the fairs. She said that this year, she has seen more small businesses at fairs than ever before. “There’s not too many mom and pop shops left around here, so fairs and festivals are the only chance small businesses have,” said Horwitz. For small businesses, the cost of setting up shop at a street fair is relatively small, between $150 and $375, depending on what you’re sell-

Ghost Tours & Pumpkins The Upper East Side is full of family-friendly local Halloween events this week By Helaina Hovitz Kids these days get more than one night to celebrate Halloween. We’ve compiled a list of all Continued on page 10

Nathan and Julianne, 2 year old twins

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Doorman of the Year - East Side Rudy Gonzalez

Doorman of the Year

Continued on page 4

ALSO INSIDE ARE WE IN FOR A NEW ERA IN POLITICS? P.8

P.15

Upper East Side, meet your doorman of the year. Rudy Gonzalez, who has been the doorman at 1040 Park Avenue since 1996, is among the honorees in this year’s Building Service Workers awards, presented by 32BJ SEIU,the country’s largest property service workers union, and Straus Media Manhattan, the publisher of Our Town. To learn more about Rudy, and to see the complete list of this year’s winners, go to our special coverage, which begins after page 14.

RESTAURANT INSPECTION GRADES P.24

Photo by Mary Newman

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TAPPED IN Moving a Lexington Ave. bus stop Community Board 8 passed a resolution in support of moving a bus stop so it will be closer to the F Train subway entrance on 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue. The M101, M102 and M103 downtown Lexington Avenue line currently stops between 64th and 65th Street. The resolution asks the MTA to move the stop one block south between 63rd and 64th Street. John Steinberg has been advocating for the move since 2008 because, he said, the transition from bus to subway and back - about a block and a half - is difficult for those who are commuting with luggage or packages. Steinberg’s commute involved regularly making the transfer and led to him addressing the issue with CB8. CB8’s transportation committee was resistant to the idea but took up the cause after a recent site visit. Steinberg also withdrew part of his initial request, to make the M101 a limited stop, which contributed to the committee’s cooperation. CB8’s transportation committee said the MTA was open to the possibility of relocating the bus stop but the city’s Dept. of Transportation would have to approve and implement the move. “We’ve done our part now, we will officially make the request,� said Scott Falk, cochair of CB8’s transportation committee after the resolution passed. “After that it’s in NYC Transit and DOT’s hands.� Transportation committee member Jon Horn voted against the resolution and called the one-block relocation unnecessary. Horn is also concerned that the DOT had not conducted a study to determine if the move will have an affect on street traffic.

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OUR TOWN

LETTER TO THE EDITOR NEWS

To the editor:

STRAUS MEDIA

.com ďšş MANHATTAN

PRESIDENT Jeanne Straus EDITOR IN CHIEF Kyle Pope • editor.ot@ strausnews.com Megan Bungeroth EDITOR • editor.otdt@strausne ws.com CITYARTS EDITOR Armond White • editor.cityarts@straus news.com STAFF REPORTE RS Joanna Fantozzi, Daniel Fitzsimmo ns FEATURED CONTRIBU Alan S. Chartock, TORS Bette Dewing, Jeanne Martinet, Malachy McCourt, Angela Barbuti, Casey Ward, Laura Shanahan

Congregation vs. Community Continued from page 1

The proposed transacti been the subject Sanctuary, preserve on with Extell allows them to keep the of some controve it, and keep it beautifu rsy after it was moved to the Upper tions, while at l for future generaabruptly the same time carry out their about 150 regular West Side this fall) and a congrega Arzt said that the mission.� worshippers. Th church would use e church recently tion of plans to the commun receive from a the funds it would deal with Extell presented ity board, showing – in the multiple ship with Extell major repairs and the result of a partnermillions - for Develop its continued commun the church’s property ment Company to demolish He said that the ity service projects. church doesn’t part of and build a condom object to the potentia to it – one that mark designation inium tower adjacent cantilevered over l landof the sanctuar the y, just the annex into shadow. Th intend to knock church’s spire and e community response that they down. cast it they did not like Now Park Avenue was swift and harsh it at all. Christian Church – between trying “We’re on the same finds itself caught to appease the street as the church, community while the church, I’m landmarks hearing I’ve always known staving off intereste that could potentia Roland in an interview d in architecture,� said neighbor plans in their tracks. lly halt any developm a Eron . “Any tower that ent they would build sion confirms that The Landmarks Preservation Commiswould be enormou they have tabled out of scale. It sly the prospect of would calendaring a hearing while that would go into block all the light they give the church the windows. [Th a chance to respond parish house] is e a crucial part of feedback. But the to community gothic architecture that force of Upper goes into the church.� East Side preservation At the meeting, activists is not other residents to be underestimated, and raised concerns about the church blocking light into could very well find its entire church and onto the structure protected the street, about or impeded, dependin – dwarfing the church g on your point with the oversized view – by a stamp of structure, and about of historical relevanc preserving the from the LPC. e historic architecture of It’s happened before. the church. Reverend Bob In a letter he sent Brashear, the pastor to be read at the West-Park Presbyte of meeting, Ralph rian Church on Adams Cram, corner West 86th the an architect from Cram Good Street and Amsterd Hue and Ferguson Avenue, am fi nds firm that worked himself and his –a congrega on tion on the other previously – wrote restoring the church side of the landmar of the church’s battle, king having parish house: “This lost the fight against seemingly subordin designation in 2010. structure is not ate At the time, the superficial. The church was facing over 70 foot Park Avenue spire on top of $10 million in the annex is a masterw Christian Church repair costs, includin If built up, the g the need for a ork. structural stability new roof, major exterior of the church itself undermined.� repairs, a new furnace and will be a fix of a plumbin and had hoped Church represen g system that had to find a developm tatives disagree burst, d. ent partner to building behind “The annex is not tear down the their Sturm, a member the same as the sanctuary,� said housing that would sanctuary and construct new Richard residential of bring in the revenue it will kill the church.the church’s board of elders. “If After local preserva we save it, tion groups, neighborstream they needed. If put up a fight and Senior Pastor Alvin we develop it, the church will s and elected offi live.� brought the 19th cials for this story) reiteratedJackson (who declined to be LPC, the church century church interviewed before the became a landmar church’s dire circumst at the meeting what he claims tinued and strident k, despite Brashear is the ’s conobjections, warning ances, the reason development as become an empty they have turned that the church an option, even shell of itself if to could as he pleaded with the congregation to wait for a vote afford to keep up the board could not until he a landmarked building “We are not a wealthy came back with an improve Now, three years . d design. later, West-Park congregation but Jackson said. “It’s have is inching forward. a new boiler thanks we are committ all about the survival They ed,� to donations and repairs and search Spokesperson of faith in this continue to make George Arzt said, city.� for funding to secure their future. a reporter’s question in an email in response “When structure s s, that the church “many different quality of let’s say and buildings have reached a has been consider to options to ensure certain being part of the ing [its] Church made the particular neighbor social cultural heritage decision to devote survival. In 2011, the hood commun on mission and ity, there is a responsi of a to seek to preserve its energies and service to the commun funds that,� Brashear bility a relatively small said. “Along with the responsibility Church the fundrais ity, but since they are that comes and obligation to work with the to make sure that ing capacity is congregation limited. the mission can be preserved as structure. That so far has been well as the a disappointment.� Brashear said that he gives a lot of Council Member credit to the work Gale Brewer, who of City U-Pick Apple church but has fought to landmar also continued s - Ten k the to advocate for Landmarks Conserv it, and to the 1VNQLJOT r 1JFT r Varieties also helped them ancy’s Sacred Sites program, %POVUT Enjoy our own which has to survive. Farm Fresh Cider That program has Free Hay Rides distributed over & Corn Maze Hillcr $8 million in grants est Farms Experience a Working Dairy Farm more than 700 congregations in New to 2 Davis Rd. Augusta, “There’s a lot of York State. hand-holding and NJ (near Sussex County just say ‘here’s Fairgrounds) technical help; the money, good we don’t luck,’ president of the Conservancy. One � explained Peg Breen, exists, she said, of the reasons Open Sat & Sun the is that churches 11am - 5pm and houses of worshipprogram the resources to navigate the process ‡ lack of finding and securing www.n

Regarding the October 17 story “The Congregation Versus the Community�: I want to make you aware of one important fact which you may have overlooked in this piece, and might consider as you continue to write on this subject. Enshrined in the landmarks law is a “hardship provision,� which has been expanded over time by the courts. It Do you have a new s tip, story idea, nominati ensures that no for-profit owner of a landmarked property on for “mayor of your bloc k,� complaint or is unable to make a “reasonable return� on their property as letter to the edito Family Fun at r? the Farm! We want to hear from you! a result of landmarks requirements, and no non-profit or Please contact us at News@strausnew s.com. religious institution is ever unable to “fulfill its mission� as a result of landmarks requirements. If an owner feels this is the case, they can file a hardship application, and if they demonstrate their case as required by law, they must be relieved d off the th landmarks l d k requirei ments (which can mean allowing them to demolish the building or build something that the Landmarks Preservation Commission had said they could not, for example). The hardship provision has been used successfully over the years by religious institutions and nonprofits, as well as private developers, to ensure that the landmarks law is fair and never deprives anyone of their basic rights. There have been relatively few such applications over the years, however, because the truth is it’s rare, though not impossible, that landmark requirements do actually prevent a “reasonable return,� or interfere with a non-profit or religious institution from being able to “fulfill its mission.� Like the landmarks law, we recognize that the need for preservation must be balanced with consideration of real world economic realities and the need for non-profits and religious institutions to do the work they were founded to do. The good news is that experience has shown the two are rarely in conflict, much less mutually exclusive. Andrew Berman Executive Director Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

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PUBLISHE Gerry Gavin • advertising R @strausnews.com ASSOCIAT Seth L. Miller, Ceil E PUBLISHERS Ainsworth, Kate Walsh ADVERTISING MANAGER Matt Dinerstein CLASSIFIED ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Stephanie Patsiner DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Joe Bendik OUR TOWN is published Copyright Š 2013 weekly by Straus Media - Manhattan, LLC 212-868-0190 • 333 Seventh Ave, New York, NY. Straus Media Manhattan publishes Our Town • The West Side Spirit • Our Town Downtown Chelsea Clinton News • The Westsider To subscribe for 1 year, please send $75 to OUR TOWN, c/o Straus 20 West Ave., Chester, News NY 10918 PREVIOUS OWNERS HAVE INCLUDED Tom Allon, Isis : Ventures, Ed Kayatt, Russ Smith, Bob Trentlion, Jerry Finkelstein

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

17, 2013

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page 20

CRIME WATCH by Jerry Danzig

Unlicensed Withdrawal

Attack on Lexington

Six thousand dollars was withdrawn from a man’s bank account without permission or authorization. Sometime between 6 PM on Thursday, September 19 and 5:05 PM on September 25, someone used a fraudulent New York State driver’s license containing the personal information of a 45-year-old man living on East 74th Street to withdraw $6,000 at a bank on Second Avenue. The victim discovered the losses when he was retrieving statements. He was informed by the bank that the two withdrawals had been made in person.

A man was assaulted on Lexington Avenue. At 10 PM on Friday, October 11, a man returning from work got off the subway at 77th Street and Lexington Avenue and was walking southbound on Lexington between East 77th and East 76th Streets, when two men approached and demanded his wallet and money. The man refused, and the two men assaulted him, causing bruises and lacerations to his face as well as bruises on his chest and arms. A surveillance camera may have captured the incident. No property was taken.

Sanitation Worker Assaulted

Malinie’s Malignity

A sanitation worker was assaulted by two men on East 78th Street. At 7:45 AM on Saturday, October 12, a 29-year-old man punched a 51-year-old sanitation worker in the face with his closed fist, causing pain, swelling, and bleeding to the worker’s lips and left cheek. The younger man also took the sanitation worker’s cell phone from his hand when the victim tried to call 911. A 23-year-old man also punched and kicked the sanitation worker with his feet and hands. The victim was transported to Lenox Hill hospital to be treated. The two perpetrators were arrested October 12 and charged with assault.

A woman became a victim of identity theft. At 1 PM on Wednesday, October 9, a 53-year-old woman living on East 65th Street realized that she had become a victim of identity theft, when she learned that someone had made unauthorized charges to her prepaid American Express card. Two purchases for $10 and $14.25 were made at Cfc Donuts on Fulton Street in Brooklyn on October 6 and October 4. The perpetrator had also placed an online order for $125 worth of maid services from Universal Maids on October 4 for an address on Warwick Street in Brooklyn, using the name Malinie Brown. The total fraudulent charges came to $149.

W H AT D I D W E L E A R N F R O M T H E L AS T S T O R M O F T H E C E N T U R Y T H AT W E C A N A P P LY T O T H E N E X T O N E ? Every time we turn around, there seems to be another Storm of the &HQWXU\ 6R ZH¡UH VSHQGLQJ RYHU $1 billion over the next four years RQ VWRUP SURWHFWLRQ LPSURYHPHQWV :H¡UH EXLOGLQJ KLJKHU Ă RRG EDUULHUV :H¡UH LQYHVWLQJ LQ XWLOLW\ SROHV WKDW FDQ ZLWKVWDQG PSK ZLQG JXVWV $QG ZH¡UH LQVWDOOLQJ VXEPHUVLEOH HOHFWULFDO HTXLSPHQW LQ Ă RRG SURQH DUHDV :H¡UH DOVR GRLQJ PRUH WR NHHS \RX LQIRUPHG GXULQJ VHYHUH ZHDWKHU &KHFN RXU RXWDJH PDS UHSRUW D SRZHU SUREOHP JHW D UHVWRUDWLRQ HVWLPDWH DQG Ă€ QG VWRUP VDIHW\ WLSV DW FRQ(G FRP DQG IROORZ XV RQ )DFHERRN RU 7ZLWWHU

EVERYTHING MATTERS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

OUR TOWN

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NEWS .com STRAUS MEDIA  MANHATTAN PRESIDENT Jeanne Straus EDITOR IN CHIEF Kyle Pope • editor.ot@strausnews.com EDITOR Megan Bungeroth • editor.otdt@strausnews.com CITYARTS EDITOR Armond White • editor.cityarts@strausnews.com STAFF REPORTERS Joanna Fantozzi, Daniel Fitzsimmons FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS Alan S. Chartock, Bette Dewing, Jeanne Martinet, Malachy McCourt, Angela Barbuti, Casey Ward, Laura Shanahan BLOCK MAYORS Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side PUBLISHER Gerry Gavin • advertising@strausnews.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth, Kate Walsh ADVERTISING MANAGER Matt Dinerstein CLASSIFIED ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Stephanie Patsiner DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Joe Bendik OUR TOWN is published weekly Copyright © 2013 by Straus Media - Manhattan, LLC 212-868-0190 • 333 Seventh Ave, New York, NY. Straus Media - Manhattan publishes Our Town • The West Side Spirit • Our Town Downtown Chelsea Clinton News • The Westsider To subscribe for 1 year, please send $75 to OUR TOWN, c/o Straus News 20 West Ave., Chester, NY 10918 PREVIOUS OWNERS HAVE INCLUDED: Tom Allon, Isis Ventures, Ed Kayatt, Russ Smith, Bob Trentlion, Jerry Finkelstein

Do you have a news tip, story idea, nomination for “mayor of your block,” complaint or letter to the editor? We want to hear from you! Please contact us at News@strausnews.com. PAGE 4

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Street Fairs Continued from page 1

ing and how much space you’re seeking. When compared to the cost of renting retail space in the city -- $20,000 a month, on average, for 1,700 square feet -- it’s easy to see why vendors flock to them. Vendors can now register online with any of the major festival production companies, including Mort and Ray Productions, Clearview or Mardis Gras, which makes it easier for small businesses. Often, vendors receive discounts if they sign up for multiple fairs, which explains why residents sometimes complain that all of the street fairs look alike. “A lot of people don’t choose to go these fairs because New York has too many and they’re very cookie cutter,” said Suzanne Wasserman, a historian and the director of the Gotham Center for New York History. The solution to this, said Wasserman is to cater toward small businesses. Another option is to have more unique street fairs and festivals- like the Bastille Day feast in Bryant Park over the summer, where only French food, drink and products are sold. Another is the Ukrainian Festival, which takes place on 7th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues which features traditional Ukrainian food, costumes and dancing. Even for non-ethnic festivals, the trick is to not give in to the temptation of the mozzarepa. “Our festival is artisan, and it is not one of these events which has a swath of fried food booths- our foods are healthful and interesting,’ said Paul Weingarten, a representative from the upcoming American Crafts Festival at Lincoln Center. “For the most part, we suffer from street fairs,” said Ira Goller, owner of Murray’s Sturgeon Shop. “There’s no traffic, and the foot traffic is in the middle of the street.” Goller said that about a decade ago, he used to participate in street fairs just to keep his storefront open, but then the city said that any vendor needed a health permit, even restaurants and shops that already had permits for their brick and mortar

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storefronts, so he stopped. But not every business rains on the street fairs’ parades. Nina Chopra, who owns KC Signature Jewelry on Lexington and 56th, she will always participate in the street fairs because they’re great for business. “I want to show people my products so that they will come inside my store,” said Chopra. In busy East Midtown, Chopra owns one of the few small businesses in the area. “We get lots of customers from these street fairs.”

Street Fairs: By the Numbers City revenue from street fair licenses:

$7,834,000 Number of street fairs:

245 in 2013 Average city revenue per fair:

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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OUT & ABOUT the remnants of his Berlin gallery for some hidden gems in this collection of unusual, provocative paintings and sculptures. http://venusovermanhattan.com/

Friday October 25 Man Ray: Printmaker Francis M. Naumann Museum of Fine Art 24 W 57th Street 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Even the many fans of his renowned work as a photographer forget Man Ray’s first passions: painting and printmaking, his gateway into the world of art. See how one of the original innovators in film and photography let his imagination soar across genre and style on the canvas and the press. http://francisnaumann.com/

Saturday October 26 The Work of Walter Dahn Venus Over Manhattan 980 Madison Avenue, Third Floor 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Catch the last day of this eclectic, challenging and engaging show of the work of Walter Dahn, a figure in the late-20thcentury German NeoExpressionist scene. Mine

http://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/festivals/pumpkinfestival

Sunday October 27

Green Outlook Walkathon Riverside Park (along the Hudson River Greenway, south of the 96th Street Red Clay Tennis courts near 95th Street.) 10 a.m. $20 per individual (includes a GO t-shirt/ticket to postevent carnival); $40 for a family (includes 3 GO t-shirts) Join Riverside Park’s effort to build NYC’s first carbonneutral, composting, solar-powered public restroom and to transform an abandoned parking lot into new park land. Participants get: GO t-shirt, music by Mr. Clown and Stephan of the Dirty Sock Funtime Band, food, entry into art contest, tennis festival for kids under 10 yrs. of age at the courts. www.riversideparknyc.org

Pumpkin Fest Fifth Avenue at 72nd Street Free 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. At this annual celebration of the fall harvest, kids and their grownups can carve pumpkins, play in the pumpkin patch, scare their way through a haunted house, and even play a round of Quidditch. Crafts and a farmer’s market round out the affair.

Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Sail Central Park Conservancy 14 East 60 Street Free 4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Try on your costume a few days early and bring over your best carved jack-o-lantern for the city’s largest pumpkin flotilla. Accompanied by haunted tunes, crafts, live entertainment and a parade. http://www.centralparknyc.org/

Monday October 28 Rotisserie Georgette Opens 14 East 60th Street (Madison/5th) $150 ($100 tax deductible) Georgette Farkas is celebrating the launch of her new Upper East Side restaurant, with a cocktail reception benefiting Citymealson-Wheels. 100 guests will savor some of what this chic French-accented, rotisserie-themed restaurant has to offer. www.citymeals.org/georgette or 212-687-1290

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

OUT & ABOUT

Tuesday October 29th

Wednesday October 30

Thursday October 31

Ballet Exercise Class for Adults

John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey

Archeology Zone

67th Street Library 328 East 67th Street 2 p.m. Free Here’s your chance to experience the ballerina in each of us. Learn basic ballet steps and experience the joy of dancing in a class that combines ballet and exercise specifically for older adults. You’ll have fun as you dance and see for yourself the benefits of ballet for good balance, agility and grace. Nypl.org

Cafe Carlyle 35 East 76th Street $100 8:45 p.m. These two titans of jazz cabaret - who happen to be husband and wife - take the stage in the classic Hotel Carlyle, home to the Cafe Carlyle. Begins a nearly month-long residency. http://www.rosewoodhotels.com/ en/the-carlyle-new-york

The Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Avenue $15 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Inspired by the museum’s collection of artifacts, this interactive program gives kids a crash course in archeology: how to piece together clues, theories, and questions that uncover how our ancestors lived. An interdisciplinary program of art, video, illustration and hands-on archeology. http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/

Nico Muhly talks with Ira Glass Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, NYPL Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street $25 7:00 p.m. Cult-icon Ira Glass, host of WBEZ’s radio show This American Life, will speak to composer Nico Muhly, a rising star in contemporary and classical music, who has just premiered his first opera at the Met. http://www.nypl.org/

(Spooky) Yoga StoryTime 104 West 14th Street Free 11:30 a.m. Every Wednesday and Friday, Karma Kids brings together parents and children 6 and younger to stretch out into some relaxing yoga poses while they sing, hear stories, and enjoy the puppets. This week, come by for a special Halloween-themed event--including spooky poses like Goblin and Cat. Wear (yoga-friendly!) costumes. http://www.karmakidsyoga.com/

Village Halloween Parade 7 p.m. Free Every year, more than 50,000 folks parade up Sixth Avenue— decked out in some of the City’s scariest, most innovative and most hilarious costumes—while numerous live bands complement the ghoulish revelry. Come up with a creative costume of your own and join the festivities, or take it all in from the sidelines. http://www.halloween-nyc.com/

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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Is Politics Cyclical? If history repeats itself, the city is due for a big shift in leadership By Tom Allon

H

istorians often point out that political movements work in cycles. After a few terms of Republican presidents, for example, we often see a shift to a Democratic President, like when Obama followed Bush junior and Bill Clinton defeated Bush senior (who succeeded Ronald Reagan). Voters, particularly in a recession, yearn for change and hope that a shift to the other party will bring more prosperity. Generally, it is true that people vote with their pocketbooks, and with the global economic stagnation, we’ve seen more tumult and turnover in leadership around the world in recent years. Here in New York City, we’re also witnessing the pendulum swing back quite dramatically to a likely populist and selfstyled “progressive” mayor, who differs significantly in tone, style and priorities from his two predecessors, Mike Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani. After 20 years of Republican (albeit of the Liberal variety) mayors, we now are likely to have a very-left-of-center Democrat, Bill de Blasio, running our city. After 20 years of proactive policing and a record drop in all crime categories, many New Yorkers feel that the high price

of diminished civil liberties outweighs the decrease in crime statistics. Time will tell whether de Blasio and his new police commissioner will be able to balance a new approach to policing (specifically with a deemphasis on “stop and frisk”) and still keep New York the safest large city in the country. The middle class and members of New York’s labor unions

will finally have a friend and champion in de Blasio. But here, again, he will have to walk a fine line between being fair with city workers salary increases and the need to assure New York’s business community that our already large tax burden will not increase in the next four years. Was this pendulum shift to a left-of-center mayor inevitable because of the cycles of history? I’ll leave that deep question to the historians and pundits who have a broader view of political cycles. But recall that in 1993 the major issue in the city was crime, and that’s why former crusading U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani defeated David Dinkins. In 2001, it was stability and the need to calm Wall Street in the wake of 9/11 that led to the election of billionaire Mike Bloomberg. In 2013, it seems that income inequality, the controversial policing policy of “stop and frisk” and a general yearning for change will propel likely winner Bill de Blasio to City Hall. Where will the pendulum swing over the next 4 to 8 years as de Blasio attempts to put his stamp on the city? Stay tuned. It should be an interesting ride. Tom Allon, the president of City and State, NY, is a former Liberal Party-backed candidate for Mayor. Questions or comments? Tallon@cityandstateny.com.

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PAGE 9

Street Fairs Continued from page 1

the Upper East Side events for little ones - and for adults - to don costumes and up their sugar intake as they herald in the spooky holiday.

Asphalt Screams Upper East Side & Battery Park City FREE but online RSVP required 555 East 90th Street between York and East End Avenues 212 North End Avenue between Warren and Murray Streets Oct.31 4-6pm Treats, Zombie Freeze Tag, and other delights await.

Divalysscious Moms Halloween Spooktacular Dylan’s Candy Bar 1011 Third Ave, at 60th Street Oct.31, 11am-1pm 3 months-4 years. RSVP required at rsvp@divamoms. com Pumpkin carving, treat bag decorating, and dancing!

Central Park Pumpkin Fest Central Park Bandshell, enter at 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue

Photo by Mary Newman

October 26 11am-3pm FREE Kids can enjoy the pumpkin patch while they listen to live music and catch performances from the Big Apple Circus. There will be pumpkin decorating, Quidditch, and other games, as well as a haunted house.

Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Sail Central Park, Charles A. Dana Discovery Center enter at E 110th St and Fifth Ave Oct.27, 4-6:30pm A Halloween parade at dusk leads to music, dancing, arts and crafts, and finally, a big Jack-o’-lantern sail-off.

Halloween Murder Mystery Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden 421 E 61st St, between First and York Aves Oct.25 - Sat Oct.26, 6:30pm and 7:30pm Enter on a spooky journey to find out who was responsible for the unidentified skeleton discovered under the floorboards of the 1799 carriage house. Trick or Treating: According to Mommy Poppins, 95th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues is the best block. DNAinfo sites East 78th Street as

“an unofficial trick or treat strip,” from 3rd Avenue up to Madison. La Maison du Chocolat (1018 Madison Ave. at East 78th Street) will hand out chocolate. For parents who want to go out the weekend before: Family Friendly Drop-Off Halloween Pajama Parties Project Ages 2-6 Halloween themed parties, let the kids come celebrate in costume so parents can enjoy a night out. There are Halloween themed crafts, dessert, and games to play. Each child also receives a gift bag at the end of the night with some Halloween treats! Date: Friday October 25th Location: Kidville Upper West 466 Columbus Ave 6:30pm-9:30pm Date: Saturday October 26th Location: Citibabes Soho 52 Mercer St. 5:30pm-8:30pm Date: Saturday November 2nd Location: Playgarden Tribeca 95 Franklin St. 5:30pm-8:30pm

READY FOR NEW APPLE GEAR — BUT NOT THE PRICE? We’ve got you covered. Stop by Tekserve on Tuesday, October 29 and save on closeout and pre-owned iMac and iPad models, speakers, accessories, and more.

ALL DAY, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29 6DRS QC 2SQDDS r r SDJRDQUD BNL PAGE 10

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Costumes & Candy

Jasmine, 7 and Evan, 6

Local kids and their families ocked to the Madison Square Park kids harvest festival last weekend, donning costumes and taking part in Halloween activities.

Photos by Mary Newman

Aviel, 4

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Jack, 2 and Grace, 3 months

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Gisele 4

PAGE 11

Coffee & Death on the Agenda

lives. “Most people walking down the street, they’re terrified of death,â€? said Jane Hughes Gignoux, 83, an author who leads Death Cafe gatherings at her Manhattan apartment. “But homes, restaurants and churches to talk about dementia, your last will and testament or the if you think of death as part of life and let go it. recent passing of your mother. of the fear, you think more about living your The gatherings, known as Death Cafes, “When you’re at a cocktail party and you life well.â€? provide places where death can be discussed lead off by saying, ‘What do you think about Jon Underwood, who organized the first comfortably, without fear of violating taboos death?’ it’ll be, ‘C’mon, man, it’s a party! Chill Death Cafe in London two years ago, said he or being mocked for bringing up the subject. out!’ says Len Belzer, a retired radio host from By Jim Fitzgerald was inspired by death discussions pioneered Organizers say there’s no agenda other than Manhattan. by Bernard Crettaz, a Swiss sociologist. The getting a conversation started - and that talkBelzer is among a growing number of It can be tough to get a conversation going first Death Cafe in the U.S. was held in Coing about death can help people become more people around the world who are interested if you want to talk about the late stages of lumbus, Ohio, last year, and “It’s just kind of comfortable with it and thereby enrich their enough in death to gather in small groups in snowballed,â€? he said, estimating nearly 300 Death Cafes have been held in the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Portugal, Brazil and Singapore. Subjects commonly The Comprehensive Center on Brain Aging brought up at Death Cafes range from financial planning and the Silberstein Alzheimer’s Institute to suicide. They include cremation, memorial services, loved ones’ last moments and the possibility of an afterlife. Underwood and other organizers emphasize that Learn About Risk and Preventive Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease the discussions are not meant to be counseling. “There’s no and Related Brain Diseases Associated with Aging guest speaker, no materials, because we’re not guiding Please join us for this FREE Community Event people to any conclusions.â€? Wednesday And while the sessions Wednesday, November 6th, 2013, 1:00 – 5:00 pm attract a wide range of November 6 Farkas Auditorium, NYU Langone Medical Center religions, races and ages, organizers note there are more 550 First Avenue at 33rd Street, NYC people 50 and above than in their 20s. &RQĂ€GHQWLDO 0HPRU\ 6FUHHQLQJ 6LJQV DQG 6\PSWRPV RI 6WURNH The Rev. Mark Bozzuti%RG\ 0DVV ,QGH[ %0, 2EHVLW\ (YDOXDWLRQ 6WURNH 5LVN )DFWRU &RXQVHOLQJ Jones, who arranged for %ORRG 3UHVVXUH 6FUHHQLQJ ,QIRUPDWLRQ RQ 2QJRLQJ 5HVHDUFK 6WXGLHV Death Cafes to be held at )DOOV 5LVN 6FUHHQLQJ *HQHUDO $JLQJ 5HODWHG ,QIRUPDWLRQ Trinity Church in Lower 1XWULWLRQDO &RXQVHOLQJ DQG PRUH Manhattan, said the discussion should be open to all views, regardless of whether Participating NYU Schools and NYULMC Departments and Centers they conform to religious 7KH 3HDUO , %DUORZ &HQWHU IRU 0HPRU\ (YDOXDWLRQ DQG 7UHDWPHQW teachings. 7KH $O]KHLPHU¡V 'LVHDVH &HQWHU 7KH &HQWHU IRU %UDLQ +HDOWK “I suspect every person 'HSDUWPHQW RI *HULDWULFV &RPSUHKHQVLYH 6WURNH 3URJUDP probably has a different 1HXURVFLHQFH ,QVWLWXWH 7KH 6WHLQKDUGW 6FKRRO RI 1XWULWLRQ DQG 3XEOLF +HDOWK understanding of death, the National Organizations afterlife, no afterlife,â€? Bozzuti7KH $O]KHLPHU¡V $VVRFLDWLRQ 1<& &KDSWHU Jones said. “The different 8 6 'HSDUWPHQW RI +HDOWK DQG +XPDQ 6HUYLFHV views may provide some form of healing.â€? Kushner said he doesn’t [1- 4pm] Fair and Screenings need any firm answers to [4- 5pm] Presentations/ Q&A Sessions benefit from Death Cafes. Your Health and Your Brain- Perfect Together “I like the idea that we live -DPHV *DOYLQ 0' 03+ 'LUHFWRU RI &OLQLFDO 2SHUDWLRQV &RPSUHKHQVLYH &HQWHU RQ %UDLQ $JLQJ 1<8/0& with this great mystery,â€? he Blood Pressure and Memory said. “Wouldn’t life be boring without it?â€? /LGLD *ORG]LN 0' 3K' $VVLVWDQW 3URIHVVRU RI 3V\FKLDWU\ DQG 5DGLRORJ\ 1<8/0&

A local group fosters conversations about death and dying

How Healthy is your Brain?

The Annual Healthy Brain Aging Fair

Reservations are not required For more information, please call 212.263.0731 or visit aging.med.nyu.edu PAGE 12

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THERE IS A SCHOOL IN NEW YORK WHERE IMMERSION DOES NOT REFER TO THE SWIM TEAM. At Avenues, our foreign language immersion program leads to more than fluency. It opens the door to other cultures and helps make our students true citizens of the world. So they’ll be ready for a future we can’t predict, but for which we can prepare. To learn more about Avenues and fall 2014 admissions, please visit avenues.org, or call 646.664.0800.

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STREET SHRINK

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November 5,Tuesday 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Dancing through Life, Living through Dance

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PCS alumni, including NYCB principals Tiler Peck & Robert Fairchild, talk about the journey from school to careers, in and out of dance

November 18, Monday 6 to 8:00 p.m.

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spite voicing hesitations, anger, and extreme agitation, the “teacher” continued to administer shocks after the experimenter stated “it is The interesting part about hurequired that you continue” or “you have no man behavior is that we can pose other choice, you must go on.” When Milgram hypotheticals all we want, but we may never made predictions of how the study would know how we would react until faced with unfurl, he assumed that most participants a particular taxing situation. On the whole, would refuse to continue the experiment most people would state that they are intrinsiearly on. However, a whopping 65 percent of cally benevolent. But then why do good people participants discharged the maximum level of sometimes commit questionable behavior? shocks to the “student.” All participants were Stanley Milgram, who was a renowned social debriefed after the study and were relieved psychologist, found that when to learn that no one was actually The experimenter’s harmed. placed under extraordinary pressure by authority, good peo- words were enough This study has been used as a ple sometimes exhibit shocking benchmark for the level humans to make people and ignoble behavior. ignore their moral potentially reach when faced with Milgram’s now infamous obepressure by authority figures. imperative and dience study asked participants Though the experimenter did not to take on the role of “teacher” inflict ostensible say anything more than “you must and administer a learning and harm on another go on,” those words were enough memory test to “students.” The to make people ignore their moral human. teachers could hear the students’ imperative and inflict ostensible answers but could not visually harm on another human. What see them, and was asked to administer shocks the Milgram experiment shows is that we’re to the students for wrong answers. In reality, awfully influenced by external social presno one was being shocked - the students were sure, especially when it comes from someone confederates of the study, which means that we deem more powerful or dominant. In the they were employed researchers posting as acMilgram studies, a social situation had more tual participants. The shock levels ranged from sway over behavior than a person’s personality slight shock, moderate shock, severe shock, to characteristics. People demonstrated empathy, presumably the highest level of shock, titled but that wasn’t enough to stop them from “xxx.” inflicting shocks. When a student stated the wrong answer, Later, Milgram replicated this study but had the “teacher” was told by the experimenter, one significant change. Alongside the “teachdonning a lab coat, to administer a shock to er,” Milgram placed another “teacher.” But this the “student.” As the study progressed and the time, one of the “teachers” was also a confed“student” began to miss more correct answers, erate posing for the study and acted rebellious, the “teacher” had to increase the level of refusing to go along with the study. At the shocks. At the lower level of shocks, “teachers” sight of someone else’s refusal, the participants could hear the “students” complain or grunt also refused to continue. Much can be taken loudly. But as the level of shocks increased, so away from Milgram’s study — namely, to be did their pleas to be released. Eventually some cognizant of how social pressure impacts your of the “students” began to complain of heart behavior. It’s important to listen to your own pain and yelled in desperation to be released. moral code — especially when that code tells Though it was noted that the participants you to flip the shock switch off. in the “teacher” role were uncomfortable Street Shrink Kristine Keller received her proceeding, they continued to administer the Masters in Psychology from New York Univershocks at the demand of the experimenter. De- sity.

A

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cityArts

Edited by Armond White

New York’s Review of Culture . CityArtsNYC.com

Can’t Trust It 12 Years a Slave uses sadistic art to patronize history By Armond White

B

rutality, violence and misery get confused with history in 12 Years a Slave, British director Steve McQueen’s adaptation of the 1853 American slave narrative by Solomon Northup, who claims that in 1841, away from his home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., he was kidnapped and taken South where he was sold into hellish servitude and dehumanizing cruelty. For McQueen, cruelty is the juicyarty part; it continues the filmmaker’s interest in sado-masochistic display, highlighted in his previous features Hunger and Shame. Brutality is McQueen’s forte. As with his fine-arts background, McQueen’s films resemble museum installations: the stories are always abstracted into a series of shocking, unsettling events. With Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), McQueen chronicles the conscious sufferance of unrelenting physical and psychological pain. A methodically measured narrative slowly advances through North’s years of captivity, showcasing various injustices that drive home the terrors Black Africans experienced in the U.S. during what’s been called “the peculiar institution.” Depicting slavery as a horror show, McQueen has made the most unpleasant American movie since William Friedkin’s1973 The Exorcist. That’s right, 12 Years a Slave belongs to the torture porn genre with Hostel, The Human Centipede and the Saw franchise but it is being sold (and mistaken) as part of the recent spate of movies that pretend “a conversation about race.” The only conversation this film inspires would contain howls of discomfort. For commercial distributor Fox Searchlight, 12 Years a Slave appears at an opportune moment when film culture--five years into the Obama administration--indulges stories about Black victimization such as

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Precious, The Help, The Butler, Fruitvale Station and Blue Caprice. (What promoter Harvey Weinstein has called “The Obama Effect.”) This is not part of social or historical enlightenment--the too-knowing racehustlers behind 12 Years a Slave, screenwriter John Ridley and historical advisor Henry Louis Gates, are not above profiting from the misfortunes of African-American history as part of their own career advancement. But McQueen is a different, apolitical, art-minded animal. The sociological aspects of 12 Years a Slave have as little significance for him as the political issues behind IRA prisoner Bobby Sands’ hunger strike amidst prison brutality visualized in Hunger, or the pervy tour of urban “sexual addiction” 12 Years a Slave in Shame. McQueen takes on the slave system’s depravity as history of slavery: Northup’s travail merely proof of human depravity. This is less a drama make it possible for some viewers to feel good than an inhumane analysis--like the crossabout feeling bad (as wags complained about sectional cut-up of a horse in Damien Hirst’s Spielberg’s Schindler’s List as an “official” Hoinfamous 1996 museum installation “Some locaust movie--which very few people went to Comfort Gained From the Acceptance of the see twice). McQueen’s fraudulence further acInherent Lies in Everything,” customs moviegoers to violence and brutality. Because 12 Years of Slave is such a The very artsiness of 12 Years a Slave repulsive experience, it proves the ahistorical is part of its offense. But good art doesn’t work ignorance of this era that 12 Years a Slave’s this way. Art elates and edifies--one might constant misery is excused as an acceptable even prefer Q.T.’s jokey ridiculousness in version of the slave experience. McQueen, Django Unchained, a different kind of sadism. Ridley and Gates’ cast of existential vicMcQueen’s art-world background tims won’t do. Northup-renamed-Platt and recalls Peter Greenaway’s high-mindedness; especially the weeping mother Liza (Adepero he’s incapable of Q.T.’s stupid showmanship. Oduye) and multiply-abused Patsey (Lupita (He may simply be blind to American ambivaNyong‘o), are human whipping posts--beaten, lence about the slave era and might do better humiliated, raped for our delectation just like focusing on the crimes of British imperialHirst’s cut-up equine. ism.) Instead, every character here drags us But, as with The Exorcist, there is no victory into assorted sick melancholies--as Northup/ in filmmaking this merciless. The fact that Platt, Ejiofor’s sensitive manner makes a lousy McQueen’s harshness was trending among protagonist; the benevolent intelligence that Festivalgoers (in Toronto, Telluride and New worked so well for him as the translator in York) suggests that denial still obscures the Amistad is too passive here; he succumbs

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to fate, anguish and torment according to McQueen’s pre-ordained pessimism. Michael Fassbender’s Edwin Epps, a twisted slaveholder (“a nigger-breaker”) isn’t a sexy selfish lover Lee Daniels flirtatiously showed in The Butler; Epps perverts love in his nasty miscegenation with Patsey (whose name should be Pathos). Nothing in The Exorcist was more flagrantly sadistic. Some of the most racist people I know are bowled over by this movie. But 12 Years a Slave is ultimate proof that Hollywood’s respect for Black humanity is in absurd, patronizing, Oscar-winning decline. Steve McQueen’s post-racial art games and taste for cruelty play into cultural chaos. The story in 12 Years a Slave didn’t need to be filmed this way and I wish I never saw it. Follow Armond White on Twitter at 3xchair

PAGE 15

CITYARTS FILM

Lives of the Saints NEWYORK-PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL AND WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE FALL SEMINAR SERIES O C T O B E R

29

HEALTHY SPINE, NECK AND BACK:

By Armond White

Surgical and Alternative Remedies to Keep You Pain Free Bridget T. Carey, M.D. Kai-Ming Fu, M.D., Ph.D. Jaspal R. Singh, M.D. Lisa R. Witkin, M.D.

very Bruno Dumont film resembles an essay. He tells a story as we are accustomed to seeing in mainstream cinema but his focus on plain faces and unprepossessing behavior produces a distinct meditation--this time, in Juliette Binoche in Camille Claudel 1915 Camille Claudel 1915, on the life of sculptress Camille Claudel, protĂŠgĂŠ and Dumont’s essayistic style, begun with La Vie former lover of Auguste Rodin and sister of de Jesus and Humanite, proposes mankind’s the poet Paul Claudel. fallibility and struggling. “Everything shows Dumont films Camille (played by Juliette the creature’s relation to the Creator,â€? the Binoche) when she is committed to a remote Claudel siblings are told and Dumont shows asylum near Avignon during World War I, as it without cruel exploitation of the asylum a study that cranks-up our concentration on sufferers. He makes Camille and Paul’s agon aspects of normalcy and oddity, sanity and equal to theirs--an “Alleluljahâ€? that looks like health, difference and individuality, physimockery but said with sincerity and a theracal captivity and psychological yearning. The peutic rehearsal of “Don Juanâ€? by patients who story of her legal confinement becomes a could have posed for the satirist Daumier, prodeepening presentation of personal travail. voking Camille’s deep anguish. Binoche’s most Dumont’s use of actual mental institution pastrikingly compassionate moments achieve tients is more humane than the bit players in Lillian Gish expressive immediacy; she and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and is part Dumont achieve a superb collaboration. of his rigorous observation. It’s a welcome coincidence that Camille Resisting the blandishments of commerClaudel 1915 opens at Film Forum just as cial cinema, Dumont seems to analyze his Criterion releases its boxed set “3 Films by Rostory while telling it. Camille’s hospitalization berto Rossellini starring Ingrid Bergman.â€? This among inmates in this wooded, medieval envi- trilogy (Stromboli, Europe ‘51 and Voyage to ronment automatically raises metaphorical Italy) of extraordinary urbane religious movies facets that save the film from any trite political set the precedent for Dumont’s contemporeading. As Dumont’s concentration gets more rary essays. Rossellini was similarly rigorous intense it acquires imaginative richness and but used the melodramatic style of his era to a close spiritual reasoning. This is Dumont’s complete the unprecedented transformation of speciality, giving him proximity to the masters a Hollywood icon into a nearly ascetic pilgrim. of metaphysical filmmaking Bresson, Ozu, No question that Ingrid Bergman’s glamour Bergman and Rossellini but in an original, holds these films together; ironically, Rosseldistinctive style. lini’s three studies of sainthood contain the In this era of disbelief and skepticism, most erotic portraiture of her career. Dumont’s filmmaking is so perfectly, unavoidBinoche’s amazing performance is a comably tough that its beauty--as when Camille plete, unglamorous contrast to Bergman (and sits in a courtyard and contemplates a bare, to Isabelle Adjani’s 1990 bio-pic Camille Claugnarled, up-reaching tree as an object in del). She abandons herself to Camille’s stress, nature, a raw model for sculpture, a veritable intelligence, pure joy and sorrow, bursting cross--is hard won; simultaneously devastating dramatic convention like Bergman’s exhortaand victorious. As in recent films Hors Satan tion at the end of Stromboli--the moment of and Hadewijch, Dumont goes for a clean, revelation that Terence Malick attempted to unadulterated light, making Camille Claudel visualize in To the Wonder. Rossellini’s saintly 1915 visually brisk, so as not to be obviously dramas are bold and Dumont’s are even boldsentimental. His meditative sensitivity is strik- er. Both artists update religious iconography ing when Camille physically reacts to a sunny for modern credulity; the result is two kinds of exterior or the chiaroscuro interiors with Paul spiritual essays that are cinematic marvels. (Jean-Luc Vincent), brooding and praying in his own, haunting solipsistic torment Follow Armond White on Twitter at 3xchair

E

N O V E M B E R

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Everlasting Album Art

SHOWS ONE ADMISSION

TWO

CITYARTS GALLERIES

Browsing Don Hunstein’s timeless pop star photography By Marsha McCreadie

Y

ou got older but they didn’t.

rent vogue for “anybody can do it” digital photography. Anybody can’t. An eye is still required. Yes, he had access, but impressively the ability to recognize, and grab, the telling moment. Modestly, he has always said he was just doing his job. Others have used the current drop-in compliment, documentarian. Yet the liveliness of the images, the love (hokey, but no other word for it) through the lens, shows his admiration for his subjects. It also makes a lie of Susan Sontag’s proclaiming photography as voyeuristic, even proprietorial about the images it captures: It is death, where movies are life. If anything, these pictures fairly leap off the page (O.K., especially those presented in sequential fashion). You feel part of the action. (Which in some cases was your life.) Better to see Johnny Cash becoming the “man in black” photographed from the angle of stage lights; or outdoors in a plaid shirt and straw hat; rather than trying to grasp him in the current biopic about Cash. Why go for bad re-enactment when you can get real photos?

See them as they were— Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, and dozens more--in their best preserved envelope of time. Photographs by Don Hunstein, the great “in-house photographer” for Columbia Records, are in a show encompassing 30 years, and on display 90 miles north of New York City. For each music luminary there is that perfect instant: on the cusp of becoming themselves, of success, even hopefulness. Sometimes it coincides with a moment of great cultural change. It’s all in a gallery exhibit at the Bethel Center for the Arts. Yes, that Bethel, a showcase in many ways for the Woodstock era. But this exhibit exceeds being a 60s time warp. “Keeping Time: The Photography of Don Hunstein” is unique because it’s not just publicity shots, though there’s that. We are on, but also behind, the stage. Most will gravitate to the generation-defining, watershed image of Dylan and his girlfriend in a snowy February in the Village, used for the cover of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” in 1963. But there are photos of a happily relaxed Dylan in his apartment, comfortable enough with Hunstein to let him into his life. A vulnerable Barbra Streisand is hard at work recording in a series shot at the 30th Street Studio: long hair, dark sweater, beads/ pearls, essence of early 60s. Some of the gestures associated with the power Babs are there in embryo, yet her eagerness and baby fat cheeks are endearing. Hunstein started working at Columbia in Hunstein’s “Miles Davis, NYC, 1958” 1956, so this is a musical history of pre-rock, Hunstein “got” his subjects all right, if not timeline from jazz to rock and beyond with in Sontag’s ownership way. Nor is it about a few classical musicians thrown in. There’s his style (fill in your own overly mannerist Charlie Mingus, Thelonius Monk, all remindphotog. with his/her “look” ). Nevertheless, ers of the days when 52nd street in New York had wafting jazz inviting you into smoke-filled the museum’s director and the show’s curator, photographer Wade Lawrence, reminds intimate venues. There’s Monk alone between sets at the Blue Angel. Coltrane serious in the of Hunstein’s compositional skills, citing the perfectly framed image of Tony Bennett studio. performing. My favorite is a casually shot, poignant A soundtrack reflecting each decade Johnny Mathis and Pat Boone taping a car enhances the more than 130 photographs, nucommercial together in the 1950s; contrast merous contact prints, and 24 album covers, with Mathis’ elegant image at the L.A. Cofrom the 1950s through 1983. conut Grove in 1960. A startling, scarifying look is in the uncredited image of “Miles” on a “Keeping Time: The Photography of Don 1969 Rolling Stone cover, but another picture Hunstein” is on view at the Museum at the Bethel shows him looking worried, introspective, Woods Art Center, until December 31, Thursday hand on forehead. through Sunday, 10-5:00 pm. $15.00. Hunstein’s work makes a sham of the cur-

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DANCE

New Dances PLUS: Edition 2013 Wed, Dec 11 – Sat, Dec 14 at 8 = Sun, Dec 15 at 3 Peter Jay Sharp Theater Three world premiere commissions by acclaimed choreographers BRIAN BROOKS = DARRELL GRAND MOULTRIE = TAKEHIRO UEYAMA and the first United States performances of PINA BAUSCH’s Wind von West (1975) Tickets $30 available 11/6 at the Juilliard Box Office, or call (212) 721-6500 Online at www.juilliard.edu/newdances TDF accepted at the Juilliard Box Office only

DRAMA Buried Child By Sam Shepard = Daniel Fish, Director

Thu, Nov 21 – Sat, Nov 23 and Mon, Nov 25 at 8 Sat, Nov 23 at 2 = Sun, Nov 24 at 7 Stephanie P. McClelland Drama Theater at Juilliard Tickets $20 at the Juilliard Box Office TDF accepted at the Juilliard Box Office only

MUSIC Juilliard Orchestra

at Alice Tully Hall Juilliard Chamber Orchestra Sat, Nov 9 at 8 Jocelin Pan, Viola Works by Bizet, Grieg, and Tower

Jeffrey Milarsky, Conductor Fri, Nov 15 at 8 Kevin Ahfat, Piano Works by Adams, Barber, Ives, and R. Strauss

Vladimir Jurowski, Conductor Mon, Nov 25 at 8 ALL-SHOSTAKOVICH, early works

Larry Rachleff, Conductor

Nov/Dec 2013 Highlights

Juilliard

CITYARTS GALLERIES

Anniversary Songs Revisiting a Costello classic 30 years on By Dennis Myers

1

983…Elvis Costello’s Punch the Clock was born to be misunderstood and underestimated. After all, following the incendiary explosions of his first four albums and his successful “experimentation” into Motown, club, and country western stylings, Costello had released Imperial Bedroom the prior year. Towering in literary emotional exhaustion, that album left little wiggle room for anything else to follow. Fitting then that Elvis’ eighth opus immediately explodes with a power pop challenge to his critics and possibly the whole world too…Let Them All Talk. “These are the best years of your life / Now they’re here and gone.” There’s a moment, maybe as one turns 30, when that the first burn of brutal youth flames out, and you’re left standing around your life, maybe hands down, wondering what’s now, wondering what’s left. At 30, a time for reflection…and at 30, time to relook at this album left in the shadows. From the obvious pun of its title on, Punch chronicles the violence brought to character by just putting in time. Elvis wraps a collection of snapshots in a beguiling bright pop enthusiasm that flirts across the blacker heart

Thu, Dec 12 at 8 Works by Dvo ák and Rachmaninoff Tickets $20 at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office, or call (212) 721-6500, Online at www.juilliard.edu/fallorch

Juilliard Historical Performance at Alice Tully Hall Nicholas McGegan conducts Juilliard415 Mon, Nov 4 at 8 Edson Scheid, Violin Dresden and Berlin: A Celebration of Two Courts 12th Annual Jerome L. Greene Concert Works by C.P.E. Bach, Benda, Pisendel, and Zelenka

of domestic dysfunction found in the home and in the nation. In Get Happy!, he did Motown; here, Costello reinvents the catchy upbeat for Thatcher’s Britain. Yes, “Pills and Soap’s” vitriol paints a surreal condemnation of politics and social division, but it’s the sonic near-exception in a daylight playground of power-packed TKO horns and Afrodiziak vocal-backed (Caron Wheeler and Claudia Fontaine) tunes. Infectiously playful, the commercial standout “Everyday I Write the Book” succinctly crystallizes the album’s themes of domestic failure, love, and owning the moment. “All your compliments and all your cutting remarks are captured here in my quotation marks.” A novel tale of literary passion, where, if the singer can’t win the romance, at least the songwriter still owns the story. Like “a national anthem sung in different keys,” director Don Lett’s video for Book envisions this intertwining with a scary prescience of the tragedy to be experienced by the British royal house: a frustrated Prince Charles courts his Diana, she distracted by Douglas Fairbanks on the telly. But by 1983 punk’s royal couple had already been put to rest with Sid’s ashes laid atop his lover fatale Nancy’s grave, and the first suggestion set in that rock-and-roll, even in its rawest punk form, couldn’t save the world… that, in fact, later in the hands of Disney radio, rock could only sell it. Punch the Clock skittered across the frying pan of Elvis’ critical fan’s expectations. If we all couldn’t hear the depth for the flare, at least in “Shipbuilding” Costello crafted in melody and words the universal pain felt in the dysfunctional affairs of home and state, a haunting refrain that echoes 30 years later:

With all the will in the world / Diving for dear life / When we could be diving for pearls.

Monica Huggett leads Juilliard415 Mon, Dec 9 at 8 Ying Fang, Soprano = Pippa Macmillan, Double Bass Works by Mozart, Sperger, and Beethoven Tickets $20 at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office, or call (212) 721-6500, Online at www.juilliard.edu/fallhistorical

Juilliard String Quartet Thu, Nov 21 at 8 Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital Series Works by Beethoven, Schubert, and a New York premiere by Jesse Jones Tickets $20 at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office or call (212) 721-6500 Online at events.juilliard.edu

1/2-price senior/student tickets for all concerts at the box office only

events.juilliard.edu PAGE 18

Elvis Costello’s Punch the Clock

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Bayview Correctional, damaged by Sandy, is prime New York real estate By Tom Hays On a recent morning on the west side of Manhattan, Wendy Featherstone showed off a prime piece of real estate that many New Yorkers don’t know exists. The eight-story brick building in Chelsea’s gallery district has three terraces, one with views of the Statue of Liberty and cruise ships docking along the Hudson River. There’s an indoor pool, basketball court and even a private chapel with stained-glass windows. Featherstone isn’t a pushy real estate agent - she’s a prison superintendent. The property once was a medium-security women’s lockup called Bayview Correctional Facility. And those terraces? They’re really caged-in recreation areas. The superintendent ran Bayview until Superstorm Sandy made the Hudson surge and sent a wall of water into a facility as she and her workers helplessly looked on. The 153 women - serving time for robber-

ies, assaults and lesser crimes - were evacuated a few days before the storm to upstate prisons and never came back. The flooding destroyed boilers and damaged electrical equipment, causing $600,000 in damage. The state’s current budget called for the facility to close by the end of the fiscal year as a cost-saving measure, leaving the building in limbo. The Empire State Development agency is still assessing the best use for Bayview, but its location alone suggests it has more potential than the typical redevelopment stepchild. Bayview abuts a condominium high-rise designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and topped by a penthouse unit that sold for nearly $20 million. In such a hot neighborhood, potential buyers would swarm if they knew the building could be torn down and replaced with more high-end residential development, said Jonathan Miller, president of real estate appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. “The value there is in the land, or `the dirt’ as developers call it,” he said. “It’s all about the dirt.” Miller said it’s too soon to estimate the value of the Bayview site, but he cited the recent sale of a nearby lot that once had a gas station for a reported $23.5 million.

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Saving Our Neighborhood Spots Diner on East 86th Street and First Avenue and other nearby small stores will be replaced by luxury high-rise towers, thanks to property owner and former mayoral candidate, John Casimatidis. And it’s happening all over Manhattan and other boroughs as well. The concerned must join together and heed Commuity Board By Bette Dewing 8’s Small Business Chair Cory Evans’ letter: “Small businesses are integral parts of our o government is no longer shut community. That’s why Community Board 8 down – but in New York City, it founded the Small Business Committee this was never really “open” to say, past April to give small businesses a boost and saving neighborhood stores and start a discussion on how government can affordable eateries that meet keep our small businesss in everyday needs. Nor was it Maybe you too lament the business.” even that “open” with the “At 9:30 PM on Thursday, loss of independent diners construction of the Second October 24th, that discusAvenue Subway, designed and coffee shops, because sion continues through a to benefit all New Yorkers, of the social as well as televised interview with Mr. which killed off and severely nutritional needs they Andrew Kalloch, Deputy injured many nearby places General Counsel to Manhatmeet, especially for those which had long served and tan Borough President Scott who often eat alone. nurtured “the nabe.” Small Stringer.It will air on MNN, businesses also mean jobs. the Manhattan NeighborThis construction now hood Network, Ch. 34, on overwhelms the East 70s and Time Warner, Ch 82 on RCN and Ch. 33 on soon the East 60s, creating unsafe and unFiOS.” healthy residential conditions - not for a week, Evans urges us to watch and also respond. or even a year! We should require elected For the many without e-mail, call Board 8 at officials to experience the condtions suffered 212-758-4340. The e-mail is info@cb8m.com. by our next City Comptroller, Scott Stringer, Infinitely more must be done to save and when he and his wife had to take a temporary restore small businesses city-wide. Help apartment near the construction site. organize their owners. Do more ourselves, and But far more important is the general killing above, all repeatedly remind government its off of small indepenedent businesses which first duty to protect public welfare and safety, once made New York a city of neighbohooods which must include protecting neighborhood and indeed, the nation’s most livable city. businesses. Bill de Blasio vows to produce You have your list of places you very much more affordable housing, but what about savmiss, most often killed off by governments’ ing and restoring affordable small stores and failure to pass commercial rent controls. eateries? Or the small businesses that help to Maybe you too lament the loss of indepenmake the city more stable and safe? Isn’t that dent diners and coffee shops, because of the the city’s number one need? social as well as nutritional needs they meet, especially for those who often eat alone. We may interact with the owners and waiters Do you have a story about your more often than with any existing family and neighborhood you’d like to see in friends. They smile, use your name and even the paper? want to know how you’re doing. There’s a concerned continuity there which human beings Email editor.ot@strausnews.com very nuch need. You likely have or had such a favorite place. with the subject line “My Story.” Mine was located on East 79th and First AvPlease include your full name and enue and operated by John and Peter for over contact information. three decades. Reportedly, longtime Gracie’s

The city must do more to preserve small businesses that create a sense of community FRANK E. CAMPBELL THE FUNERAL CHAPEL 1076 MADISON AVENUE (at 81st Street) NEW YORK, NY 10028 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013 Speakers: Michael Picerno & Robert Sommese 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm Refreshments will be Served!

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PAGE 20

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

NEWS

Body Art, Like Wedding Vows, Written in Permanent Ink New local tattoo shop run by husband and wife team By Adam Janos

T

attoo artist Grant Lubbock, 28, doesn’t do uncertainty. For Lubbock, life is a series of decisive gut-checks: feel, react, and repeat – ad infinitum – until death ends the cycle. It’s that attitude that drew him to teach himself how to tattoo on his own leg. It’s what moved him from his home state of California to New York and open Red Baron Ink at 621 East 11th Street last October. And it’s what sent him flying headfirst into marriage a mere five months after his first date with Giselle Azcona, native New Yorker, this March. “When you know, you know,” Lubbock says with a nonchalant shrug. When Azcona, also 28, met Lubbock, she was equally certain. In fact, she popped the question. The couple met at Blackbird, an East Village watering hole down the block from Lubbock’s tattoo parlor, and as the days melted into months, Azcona became more and more certain of the permanence of their partnership. “I was at home, just lying in bed, and I realized that I knew it wasn’t ever going to get any better than this,” Giselle says. She sent him a text asking if he’d marry her; five days later they tied the knot at City Hall, and Azcona became Giselle Lubbock. Now, the couple runs Red Baron Ink together; they’ve turned the 230 square foot space into their own intimate, entrepreneurial nook of the city, creating a warmth through soft candle lighting, which illuminates the homespun folk art on the walls. “We want it to feel like your living room,” Grant says. A living room not just for the those coming for tattoos, but for the artistic community at

Grant and his wife Giselle large. And so Giselle and Grant have decided to open up their wall space to local artists. The couple invites visual artists in the area to contact the store owners to have their work hung and sold in the tattoo parlor. All the proceeds from the sales go straight to the artists. As for those New Yorkers interested in becoming the canvas themselves, the Lubbocks tattoo pricing averages out to $150 per hour, though for more labor-intensive work, discounted rates may apply. For the winter holidays; shoppers will be able to buy gift cards to the parlor at cut rates ($150 for a $200 tattoo, $300 for a $400 tattoo, etc.), that they can then give over to friends. Whether or not those friends want to cash in will, of course, depend on their mentality around body art. “There are three types of clients,” Grant asserts. “First there are the confident people, the ones who know they want it, and have known for a while. Then there are the spur-of-themoment people, who have decided on the spot this is something they’re interested in. Finally, there’s the one percent.” The uncertain one percent. The people who aren’t sure. “If I can see it in their eyes, that doubt… I send those people home,” says Grant. Follow Adam Janos on Twitter: @AdamTJanos Local artists interested in displaying their work at Red Baron can contact Grant and Giselle at redbaroninknyc@gmail.com.

Grant Lubbock designs at his shop. Photo courtesy of Facebook. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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2

Douglas Elliman

140 E 40 St.

#9G

$349,000

0

1

Douglas Elliman

0

1

Citi Habitats

140 E 40 St.

#3J

$300,000

25 Tudor City Pl

#1417

$125,000

303 E 37 St.

#2E

$680,000

2

2

Brown Harris Stevens

245 E 35 St.

#7E

$309,000

0

1

Corcoran

630 1 Ave.

#32H

$1,125,000

2

2

Brown Harris Stevens

25 Tudor City Pl

#1212

$660,000

400 E 56 St.

#12G

$1,160,000

2

2

Douglas Elliman

325 E 57 St.

#2A

$1,200,000

2

2

Warburg

425 E 58 St.

#29C

$2,195,000

2

2

Halstead Property

1

1

Coldwell Banker Bellmarc

1

1

Halstead Property

400 E 59 St.

#14A

$579,000

447 E 57 St.

#13A/B

$4,175,000

60 Sutton Place So

#4Bn

$855,000

345 E 56 St.

#Resi

$592,500

425 E 58 St.

#8A

$2,000,000

3

3

Douglas Elliman

1

1

Corcoran

333 E 43 St.

#820

$485,000

250 E 53 St.

#2802

$2,275,000

212 E 47 St.

#16E

$1,100,000

2

1

Douglas Elliman

45 Tudor City Pl

#1221

$299,000

0

1

Corcoran

240 E 76 St.

#15P

$390,000

941 Park Ave.

#3/4A

$11,250,000

5

4

Warburg

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

NEIGHBORHOOD REAL ESTATE SALES Neighborhood

Upper E Side Yorkville

Address

Apt.

Sale Price

BR BA Listing Brokerage

225 E 74 St.

#6H

$220,000

1

1

One Manhattan

180 E 79 St.

#4D

$2,180,000

2

2

Brown Harris Stevens

150 E 85 St.

#7D

$995,000

370 E 76 St.

#B1407

$459,000

1

1

Owner

205 E 78 St.

#5A

$396,000

1

1

Douglas Elliman

50 E 83 St.

#5F

$330,000

0

1

Brown Harris Stevens

515 E 72 St.

#4M

$919,479

1

1

Corcoran

14 E 75 St.

#5A

$5,450,000

3

3

Corcoran

308 E 73 St.

#5J

$445,146

1

1

Halstead Property

980 5 Ave.

#14B

$4,500,000

2

3

Warburg

200 E 90 St.

#5F

$945,000

2

2

Brown Harris Stevens

245 E 87 St.

#7F

$865,512

2

2

David Calderazzo, Lreb

425 E 79 St.

#6A

$375,000

0

1

Halstead Property

236 E 81 St.

#Ph1

$2,200,000

2

2

Halstead Property

301 E 87 St.

#20A

$616,000

2

1

Corcoran

510 E 80 St.

#4F+

$1,700,000

Lung cancer screening: Early detection could save your life. If you are a current or former smoker, or have had exposure to hazardous materials, you are at increased risk for lung cancer and may benefit from screening. As a leader in cancer research and a pioneer in lung cancer screening, NYU Langone uses low-dose CT scans to detect lung cancer at an early stage, when it is easier to treat successfully.* This painless, noninvasive exam takes only minutes to complete and you get the results in just a few days.

200 E End Ave.

#6G

$655,000

1

1

Brown Harris Stevens

425 E 79 St.

#2F

$780,000

2

1

Halstead Property

305 E 88 St.

#2B

$435,000

1

1

Keller Williams

227 E 87 St.

#4B

$210,000

0

1

Manhattan Management

360 E 88 St.

#37B

$1,612,000

3

3

Prime Manhattan

200 E End Ave.

#12H

$632,500

1

1

Corcoran

10 E End Ave.

#5A

$412,000

1

1

Fenwick Keats Real Estate

425 E 86 St.

#3F

$790,000

2

2

Owner

For more information, fees, or to schedule an appointment,

call 855-NYU-LUNG (855-698-5864) today or visit NYULMC.org/lungcancerscreening.

Lung Cancer Screening Program Scan location: 550 First Avenue Schwartz West (Green) 2nd Floor New York, New York 10016

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

OUR TOWN

www.nypress.com

PAGE 23

RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS

October 15 - 18, 2013

Tal Bagel

333 E 86 St.

A

Restaurant Grades

Nancy Lee’s Pig Heaven

1540 Second Ave.

A

The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website on October 4, 2013 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.

Kings Carriage House

251 E 82 St.

A

10021

10028

Fratelli’s

1317 First Ave.

Grade Pending (3) – (no critical violations)

Swifty’s

1007 Lexington Ave.

A

PJ Bernstein Deli & Restaurant

1215 Third Ave.

A

Dulce Vida Cafe

1219 Lexington Ave.

A

Pisa Pizza and Bagels

1461 Third Ave.

Closed (13) - Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas; facility not vermin proof.

Amura Japanese Restaurant

1567 Second Ave.

A

PAGE 24

OUR TOWN

10128

www.nypress.com

The Mansion 1634 York Ave.

A

Shiraz

226 E 83 St.

A

Chipotle Mexican Grill

1497 Third Ave.

A

Le Pain Quotidien

1592 First Ave.

A

Taste Restaurant

1411 Third Ave.

Grade Pending (30) - Hot food item not held at or above 140º F; food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations; food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service; sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

Subway

1772 Second Ave.

Grade Pending (0) – Authorized to reopen

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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OUR TOWN

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(212) 868-0190 PAGE 25

CELEBRITY PROFILE

Twenty Writers’ Worth of Crime in New York City Editor and writer Jonathan Santlofer gives us a behindthe-scenes look into his collaborative crime novel By Angela Barbuti

I

t is said that the generosity of crime fiction writers exists because the authors get their frustrations out on their twisted pages. There is no better tribute to their kindness than when they use their words to benefit charity. The book Inherit the Dead was born because 20 bestselling writers in the crime fiction world took time out from other projects to contribute a chapter each to this collaboration. Editor Jonathan Santlofer saw this gracious spirit first-hand after prolific writers like Lee Child, Mary Higgins Clark, and Charlaine Harris signed on immediately. To begin what would seem like a daunting task to most, Santlofer skillfully created the story’s outline and worked with all the writers by preserving their unique styles, while creating a cohesive thriller. The royalties from the sale of the novel, which is already a bestseller after only being released on October 8th, benefit Safe Horizon, the largest victims’ service agency in the country. New York-based Santlofer, who sets the book in a penthouse on the Upper East Side, put it best when he said, “What better place for crime writers to give their money than a place that helps victims of violent crime? Here are writers who make their living out of writing about violent crime, so let’s pay back.”

How did this book come about? There was a book before this, No Rest for the Dead, that is a serial novel that Touchstone put together. I did a lot in that book, so Touchstone asked me if I’d do another, and I said I would if I could choose the authors and the charity. It’s been done before, but truthfully, I think we did the best. I’m amazed at how all these different writers just picked up the thread.

I read that all the authors were writing their individual chapters at the same time. They were. I created a story, which I kind of stole from the greats. The idea of searching for the missing heiress, very cliché, but I thought, “Let’s make it contemporary; it will be fun.” I knocked out a story of 10 pages, but then thought it was too long for the writers. I reduced it to a page and a half. I made an outline of chapters 1 through 20 and sent it to them.

Did you pick a chapter for each writer? That became too hard. For example, I had asked another writer to write that chapter about the heiress and she said, “I don’t want to write a bad girl.” And so I called Val McDermid in Scotland and said, “How do you feel about writing a bad girl?” And she said, “I am a bad girl.”

In the introduction, Lee Child writes about the legend that “crime fictions writers are the nicest of all.” Is that really true? That’s what everybody says. I came out of the art world, which is not a kind and gentle place. But the crime fiction world is. Most people are incredibly generous and nice. There’s a lot of comradery and you get to be friends.

Some writers you asked to participate didn’t come on board.

Nine of the Inherit the Dead writers, from left to right top: Jonathan Santlofer, Alafair Burke, Heather Graham, Lee Child, Brian Gruley, Lisa Unger; bottom from left to right: Mary Higgins Clark, Sarah Weinman, Linda Fairstein. PAGE 26

OUR TOWN

I was shocked; I thought everyone would say “yes.” It was really interesting to see the writers who said “yes,” and the ones who didn’t. I was really surprised when people told me they were too busy. So Lee Child isn’t busy? People make choices. I wouldn’t name the people who said “no,” but I think a lot of them are sorry that they didn’t participate. Marcia Clark, prosecutor in

the O.J. Simpson case, writes a chapter. She is so great. I had met Marcia once at a mystery conference. Her chapter is really funny.

How did the editing process go? I edited along with Michelle Howry at Touchstone. She was great. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but she was sensible and didn’t like when things conflicted. I didn’t mind; I thought it was sort of fun. I’ve edited a bunch of anthologies; I just love working with a lot of authors.

The NYPD is a big part of the book. Who has the police background? Most people learn it. In one of my other books, I wrote about a police sketch artist. I sent out an internet search and got to know all these sketch artists. You just get to meet people. I’ve gotten to know a lot of cops. And the stereotype of cops is often very wrong. They have a really hard job.

How much of the book’s profit goes to Safe Horizon? People got paid a flat fee for their chapter. Every royalty that’s made is going to charity.

You studied art in college. What made you pursue writing? I went to Boston University, then I went to Pratt and got a masters. I had a really successful painting career and lost a ton of work in this big fire in a gallery in Chicago. It changed my life in an interesting way; I never would have been writing.

Your first novel, The Death Artist, became a bestseller. Were you surprised? Nobody was more surprised than me. I wrote this book, took me 10 years. I was really lucky to get attached to a really good agent. She sold it in four days and it went into twentysomething languages. It’s being developed for a movie, knock on wood.

Explain the Crime Fiction Academy that you started in the city. It’s this really intense program; the students are fantastic. We have really small classes, 8 to 10 people in a workshop. It’s already producing the next generation of great crime writers. It’s amazing.

Where do you live? Where do you find quiet places to write? I live on West 28th, the flower market, which is really noisy. I work in the back of my loft; it was a fur vault. I also have a place

www.nypress.com

Jonathan Santlofer signs a copy of the book at the launch party. upstate that I go to. I also write in Saratoga, at a place called Yaddo - the oldest artists’ colony in the United States.

What books are on your book shelf? I read everything. Of course I always read everything that Lee [Child] writes, Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard. I don’t just read crime writers. I just finished reading Far from the Tree, Andrew Solomon’s book. Now, I’m reading The Marriage Contract, by Jeffrey Eugenides. Lately, I’ve been liking nonfiction more. But give me a good novel and I’m happy. For more information on Jonathan, please visit www.jonathansantlofer.com To learn more about Safe Horizon, visit

Royalties from the sale of this book benefit Safe Horizon. Some statistics on the charity (per year): 125,000 calls received from victims of crime and abuse at their three 24-hour hotlines: the New York City Domestic Violence Hotline; the Sexual Assault, Rape, and Incest Hotline; and the Crime Victims Hotline 7,000 children helped 3,000 families taken in at their shelters 8,000 visits to their mental health clinic 20 Family and Criminal Court offices throughout the five boroughs 250,000 lives touched

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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

Classified Advertising Department Information Telephone: ] Fax: Email: classifi FE !TUSBVTOFXT DPN Hours: .POEBZ 'SJEBZ BN QN ] Deadline: .POEBZ OPPO GPS TBNF XFFLT JTTVF HOME IMPROVEMENTS

EMPLOYMENT

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

2

Add shredded newspaper to your compost pile when you need a carbon addition or to keep ies at bay.

5

Use newspaper strips, water, and a bit of glue for newspaper mâchÊ.

8

10

Crumple newspaper to use as packaging material the next time you need to ship something fragile.

13

Tightly roll up sheets of newspaper and tie with string to use as ďŹ re logs.

After your garden plants sprout, place newspaper sheets around them, then water & cover with grass clippings and leaves. This newspaper will keep weeds from growing.

Make origami creatures

Use shredded newspaper as animal bedding in lieu of sawdust or hay.

11

Make your own cat litter by shredding newspaper, soaking it in dish detergent & baking soda, and letting it dry.

14

Wrap pieces of fruit in newspaper to speed up the ripening process.

3

Cut out letters & words to write anonymous letters to friends and family to let them know they are loved.

6

Roll a twice-folded newspaper sheet around a jar, remove the jar, & you have a biodegradable seed-starting pot that can be planted directly into the soil.

9

Make newspaper airplanes and have a contest in the backyard.

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Stuff newspapers in boots or handbags to help the items keep their shape. Dry out wet shoes by loosening laces & sticking balled newspaper pages inside.

To advertise call (212)-868-0190 Classified2@strausnews.com

Home Services

newspaper After your garden plants sprout, place newspaper sheets around them, then water & cover with grass clippings and leaves. This will keep weeds from growing.

Use it as wrapping paper, or fold & glue pages into reusable gift bags.

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PAGE 28

OUR TOWN

www.nypress.com

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Presents the 2013

BUILDING SERVICE WORKERS

OF THE YEAR AWARDS Fred Roldan

Rudy Gonzalez

Hurley Jones

Albert Staszkiewicz

Steven Cohan

Abul Basher

Mary Rosario

Jesus Ayala

Marta Davila

Thomas Clarke

Otis Slaton

Ideniz Cintron

Eugene Amankwah

Steven Castro

Irene Love-Legendre

John Egan

Cordele Nichols

Ana Rodriguez

Proudly Sponsored By GLENWOOD B U ILD ER O W N ER M A N A G ER

BUILDING MAINTENANCE SERVICES

Formerly Cooper Square Realty

From this year’s Lower Manhattan Office Cleaner, the idea that “There’s no man above another, we’re all here to help one another” runs as a common theme throughout the stories of these remarkable people.

Welcome

Prepare to be inspired and humbled by many of the stories that follow. In profiling the 2013 Building Service workers awardees, we were struck by how many of the honorees we spoke with mentioned their passion for people Straus Media-Manhattan, the publisher of Our Town, The West and love of service to others. Side Spirit and Our Town Downtown is proud to partner with 32BJ SEIU, From a female security worker who the country’s largest property services works the nightshift and stopped a workers union in the country to rape in progress, to a window cleaner present this list. Special thanks to who was rescued by workers inside, to Hector Figueroa, Elaine Kim and a musician turned building manager, Theresa Candori at 32BJ SEIU for their these are compelling true life stories wonderful collaboration on this project. about compelling people. Thanks also to all our sponsors listed

on the following pages. And at Straus Media, shoutouts to Ceil Ainsworth, Lajla Abrams, Eliza Appleton, Gina Conti, Alissa Fleck, Megan Bungeroth, Matt Dinerstein, Sharon Gannon, Gerry Gavin, Courtney Kniffin, Mary Newman, Seth Miller, Beth Moriarty, Pete Pinto, Kate Walsh. Congratulations to all the awardees and thanks to all the men and women who work as building service workers throughout this great city to keep it running so smoothly.

Kyle Pope Editor in Chief

WE WOU L D L IKE TO CONGRATU L AT E

T H O M A S C LA R K E 3$5. $9(18( 683(5 2) 7+( <($5

PAGE 2

OUR TOWN

www.nypress.com

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Alissa Fleck Section Editor

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Doorman of the Year - East Side Rudy Gonzalez

Watching Families Grow Keeps This Doorman Going Rudy Gonzalez has been a doorman at 1040 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side since 1996, and he says one of the most interesting things about his job is watching people go through their own lives. He has seen children born, grow up, go off to college and even start their own families. Being a father himself, Gonzalez finds pleasure in watching these families grow and expand. Gonzalez also takes great pride in serving people and giving off good energy.

What ‘s your favorite part of the job? “I see the reaction when [people] respond and they say ‘thank you’ or ‘you’ve made my day.’”

Where are your favorite places in Manhattan?

“Making

Gonzalez says two places come to mind: “I like Central Park for the unique atmosphere and all the different people there,” he says. “I also like Union Square. I like the restaurants, but also the vibe—it’s very mellow.”

[people] feel good about themselves makes me feel good.” “Making them feel good about themselves makes me feel good,” he adds.

What are your hobbies? When Gonzalez is not on the job, he spends time with his five-year-old daughter, often helping her with her homework. He also plays guitar and sings, and enjoys the fellowship of his church, particularly with family.

Photo by Mary Newman

ĎėĘę ĊėěĎĈĊ ĊĘĎĉĊēęĎĆđ ĎĘ ĕėĔĚĉ ęĔ ćĊ Ć ĘĕĔēĘĔė Ĕċ ęčĊ

ʹͲͳ͵ ĚĎđĉĎēČ ĔėĐĊėĘ Ĕċ ęčĊ ĊĆė ĜĆėĉĘ

Formerly Cooper Square Realty

Congratulations to all of the winners for a job well done! THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

OUR TOWN

www.nypress.com

PAGE 3

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Doorman of the Year - West Side Eugene Amankwah

Witness to Life Beginnings With a Dash of Humor Eugene Amankwah, a doorman at 372 Central Park West on the Upper West Side, has seen a lot in his many years on the job. He’s been around twice when women from the building were going into labor. Amankwah stepped up to the task, doing whatever he could to make them comfortable. When The West Side Spirit mentions that those experiences could be a bit hair-raising, Amankwah jokes, “If I had hair that would be hair-raising.”

What are your hobbies? “I like to write, I’ve written a pilot for a sitcom.” What Amankwah enjoys so much about writing is how, “you get to be

creative and articulate.” He also enjoys spending time with his family—his parents and sisters— the most important people in his life.

What do you like most about your job? “I feel like I lucked out with the people in this Central Park West building”. “All the people are so down-to-earth there. In a service job, people often act like you’re beneath them, but they don’t treat me like that.”

“I feel like I lucked out with the people in this Central Park West building.” “You can always catch me at TJ Maxx or Crumbs,” he says with a laugh. He doesn’t feel that his work makes him want to race straight home afterward. On winning “Best Doorman of the Year,” Amankwah notes, “I feel amazing. I was in shock when I found out I won.”

What do you do after work? “After work or during lunch break, I can be found around the neighborhood.”

Photo by Mary Newman

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PAGE 4

OUR TOWN

www.nypress.com

BMS uses environmentally responsible cleaning solutions and products

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Doorman of the Year - Downtown Hurley Jones

Providing Service and Making People Smile Hurley Jones, a doorman at 270 Broadway as well as 80 Chambers, takes his job very seriously. His job means providing a full service and giving as much of himself as he can to the people in his buildings.

What do you like most about your job? “I like dealing with people and making them smile. Sometimes people are not in a good mood and I have a way of cheering them up.” “I do whatever I need to do,” he adds.

Photo by Mary Newman

Jones’s hopes are ambitious and far-reaching. He adds he would also like to see minimum wage raised and a greater focus on the environment and the issues surrounding global warming.

“Sometimes people are not in a good mood and I have a way of cheering them up.”

“There are a lot of important issues,” offers Jones.

frequents the gym and tries to stay active within the union, attending union meetings whenever possible. Jones also notes how important his friends are in his life.

What do you do when you’re not on the job?

What issues are most important in the upcoming mayoral election?

“Family definitely comes first.” Jones enjoys spending time with his 16-year-old daughter. He also

“The most important issues are homelessness, poverty, healthcare and education.”

CONGRATULATIONS T O T H E 2 0 1 3 BU I L D I N G WO R K E R S O F T H E Y E A R

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Eugene Amankwah p. 4

Rudy Gonzalez p. 3

Doorman of the Year - West Side

Doorman of the Year - East Side

Jesus Ayala p. 11

Hurley Jones p. 5

Public School Cleaner

Doorman of the Year - Downtown

Abul Basher p. 6

Irene Love-Legendre p. 14

Security Officer of the Year

Lifesaver

Steven Castro p. 14

Cordele Nichols p. 21

Window Cleaner

Lower Manhattan Office Cleaner

Ideniz Cintron p. 11

Ana Rodriguez p. 19

Doorwoman of the Year

Midtown Office Cleaner

Thomas Clarke p. 19

Fred Roldan p. 16

Super of the Year

Lifesaver

Steven Cohan p. 21

Mary Rosario p. 8

Outer Borough Building Worker

Stadium or Theater Cleaner

Marta Davila p. 6

Otis Slaton p. 17

Porter of the Year

Longevity Award

John Egan p. 22

Albert Staszkiewicz p. 12

Building Manager of the Year

Green Award

OUR TOWN

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BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Porter of the Year

A Family Woman Who’s All About People

Marta Davila

Marta Davila works as a porter at 700 Washington Street in the Village.

“This is a people’s job, you know.”

What do you like most about your job? “My favorite part of the job is interacting with people and the shareholders I work with.” “This is a people’s job you know,” explains Davila, perhaps surprisingly a woman of few words.

Photo by Mary Newman

time in New York City?

trying new restaurants, seeing movies and just getting away from the city.” Davila is quick to note the most important people in her life are her parents, her children and her grandchildren.

“That’s tough, but I would say Brooklyn, in general.”

What do you do when you can get away from your job?

Where do you like to spend

“When I’m not working, I like

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Security Officer of the Year

Abul Basher

Saving Lives and Building a Sense of Community Abul Basher works as a security officer for the Royalty Realty group, which sends him on jobs throughout the city.

What are some of the craziest things you’ve seen on the job?

“I enjoy giving the right kind of help or the right answer.”

“One morning, in 2010, I found a coworker, Keith, supposedly asleep on the job. Everyone else assumed Keith was simply taking a nap, but I knew better; I was aware Keith was a diabetic and this could be more serious.” “I called, ‘Keith, wake up’ and he did not wake up,” explains Basher, who knew Keith was not one for dramatics. “I called 911, the building manager and the maintenance supervisor.” “When the ambulance came, they said in two more minutes Keith would likely have been dead.”

“I like the sense of community, as well as helping visitors feel at home.” “I enjoy giving the right kind of help or the right answer,” he explains. “I feel satisfied and proud.”

What do you do in your free time? “I am connected to so many community activities, I attend many community meetings and rallies.” Basher volunteers with an organization called Sheba, which helps new immigrants adjust to their community. He also helps kids in his neighborhood with math and physics. Basher is affiliated with numerous other organizations, and elected officials that help build a stronger and more tightly knit community. “When I have free time, I use it to help people in the community,” he explains.

Instead, he recovered fully. He talks about another instance that also springs to mind.

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What do you enjoy most in your line of work?

OUR TOWN

While he continues to do good work for his community, above all, Basher’s sons are the most important people in his life.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

E S T. 1 9 11

Stadium Cleaner of the Year Mary Rosario

For over 100 years, management has been our focus.

675 Third Avenue NY, NY 10017 212.370.9200 www.EllimanPM.com

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165 East 72nd Street

Court

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The Atelier

CPW

Park Avenue Street

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40 Sutton Place

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56th Street

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279 1055

310 West 55th

345 West 55th Street 345 East 40 West

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123 West 23 Street

45

430-440 East 56th Street

445

Celebrity Sightings Excite This Midtown Custodian

Mary Rosario is a custodian at Madison East 86th Street The Channel Club The Setai 527 - 541 East 72nd Street Gramercy Park Square Garden who takes Towers 785 Park Avenue 88 Central Park West 800 West End Avenue 91 Central Park West great pride in her work. East 62nd Street

400 East 70th Street

415 East 80th Street

Paul R. Gottsegen, CPM®, President pgottsegen@halstead.com t: 212.508.7272 f: 212.508.6230 HalsteadManagement.com Connect with us on Facebook

“I’m always trying to better myself,” says Rosario, “I lead by example.”

“I’m always trying to better myself... I lead by example.”

Leading by example is something she picked up from one of her sisters. “She is a role model,” notes Rosario. “She has opened my eyes.”

Who is most important in your life? “My family members, including my role model younger sister, my two sons, Jose and Rafael, my fiancé, James, and my six grandchildren.”

Who do you think should be our next mayor? Rosario is rooting for Bill de Blasio because he is “family-oriented and supportive of middle- and working-class workers.”

What’s the most exciting part of your job? “I’ve seen a little bit of everything. All the celebrities...it’s so exciting.”

100 Years of Excellence

Kaufman Organization vision for the future PAGE 8

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Among these celebrities are Elton John, Rod Stewart and players for the Knicks and the Rangers.

How do you spend your spare time? “I spend time with the union, but one of my favorite things to do is watch movies.” Her favorite movie is The Green Mile. “I love the story and message behind it,” she says.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Stonehenge Management Congratulates the nominees and winners of the 2013 SEIU Local 32BJ Building Service Workers Awards We thank the loyal and hard working building workers of Stonehenge Management. Stonehenge Management is proud to be a sponsor of this prestigious event.

www.stonehengenyc.com

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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PAGE 9

The City University of New York congratulates

The Building Service Workers of the Year and distinguished honorees

represented by Local 32BJ of the SEIU on the occasion of the

32BJ SEIU Workers Awards OCTOBER 23, 2013 BENNO SCHMIDT

WILLIAM P. KELLY

CHAIRPERSON, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

1-800-CUNY-YES PAGE 10

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INTERIM CHANCELLOR

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CUNY TV-Channel 75 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Public School Cleaner Jesus Ayala

A Custodian with the Unlikeliest of Hobbies At first glance, Jesus Ayala, with his full bodysuit tattoo, might not appear a likely candidate for a favorite among parents at P.S. 118 on the Upper West Side, but that assumption would be incorrect. In fact, Ayala, who has been a custodian at the school for 13 years, takes great pride in his relationships with students and their families.

What do you like most about your job? “I love the parents here,” says Ayala, who takes pleasure in meeting new people. “I love seeing children go from K-8 and then out the door, and getting to know their families.” “All the children with special needs here are super-cool,” he adds. Ayala has also been around to see teachers get married and have children of their own. Unfortunately, Ayala has also witnessed the darker side of things life in the citiy has to offer, from knifings to even deaths.

Have you bonded with any students in particular over the years?

“I try to be there for all students equally.”

“I love seeing children go from K-8 and then out the door…”

What are your passions outside of your job?

What issues are most important to you? “Cleaners have not had a raise in eight years.” “There have been a lot of changes in the system,” says Ayala. “We’re short employees. We do the work of 20 men with five.” “When they cut our budget, we never gained an employee,” he adds. “We have to keep up our standard, we have a reputation to keep.”

“I play a lot of volleyball and spend time with my cats.” Ayala, who has three cats himself, helps find homes for strays in need of shelter. He points out he used to foster until he took in his own three who were found in the garbage. “They’re my daughters of nine years,” says Ayala. “They are my kids.” Ayala also enjoys watching people get tattooed or relaxing in front of the TV. “I’m pretty boring and basic,” he jokes.

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS Ideniz Cintron

Doorwoman of the Year

Doorwoman Who Loves Family — Residents’ and Her Own The extraordinarily humble Ideniz Cintron has been a doorwoman at the downtown Riverhouse condominium complex for over five years.

What’s the best part of being a doorwoman?

“I have seen the progression of our towns into very culturally diverse communities.”

“I must say my favorite part of the job is the residents,” says Cintron, adding she enjoys getting to know families personally and watching the children she sees regularly grow up.

and her children.”

Who is most important in your life?

Where do you like to spend your time in the City?

“My children mean everything to me; they are my world. Nothing can compare to the love between a mother

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

“I would say I’m a definite Brooklynite.”

OUR TOWN

“Born and raised,” says Cintron of her Brooklyn roots. “I have seen the progression of our towns into very culturally diverse communities.”

What are some of your favorite pastimes? “I really enjoy traveling.” In fact, when Our Town Downtown got in touch with Cintron, she was in the process of preparing for a vacation. When she is home in Brooklyn, however, Cintron likes trying new restaurants and attending shows and venues, always with her family.

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PAGE 11

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Green Award Albert Staszkiewicz Exceptional Management Impeccable Reputation

An AKAM® Living Services Company

AKAM Associates, Inc., New York’s premier co-op, condo, and management company, is proud to be a sponsor of the Manhattan Media and 2013 Building Service Workers Awards. We congratulate this year’s winners, and we acknowledge the excellent work of all 32BJ SEIU members in AKAM-managed buildings and throughout New York. 260 Madison Ave., 12th Floor New York, New York 10016 212-986-0001 www.akam.com

We Honor 32BJ SEIU and congratulate the winners of the Building Service Workers of the Year Awards Photo by Mary Newman

A Fixer Who Loves the Outdoors and Staying Green

Attorneys at Law 1370 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10019-4602 (212) 246-2400 www.balberpickard.com

CONGRATULATIONS 32BJ SEIU & Award Winners! We honor your valuable service to our community.

“My job is about fixing things,” notes Albert Staszkiewicz, who has been working in the same E. 80th Street building for 20 years. Those things involve plumbing, electrical problems, leaks and other issues a building might face.

“

Staszkiewicz also performs cleaning and general maintenance to make sure things run smoothly in the apartments. His job involves both “small and big things,” according to Staszkiewicz.

What do you like about your job? “I like that every day is basically different and you never know what will happen. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes, it’s hectic—that’s what keeps it interesting.”

I like that every day is basically different and you never know what will happen. “

How do you stay green on the job? “I ensure efficient and environmentallyfriendly light bulbs are used as well as surveying water efficiency, many things that are actually regulated by the city. I also use more natural chemicals.”

He adds he regularly interacts with many different kinds of people. “I was offered a job as a doorman and I declined because it’s more boring,” he says. “I like to do something with my hands, I don’t want to stand by a door and just open it.”

What do you do when you’re not fixing things? “I do outdoor activities, especially in the summer. I like hiking, swimming and climbing.” “That’s my favorite stuff,” he says, “being outdoors.”

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OUR TOWN

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Congratulations to the

Building Service Workers of the Year

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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PAGE 13

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Window Cleaner of the Year Steven Castro

A Window Cleaner Who’s Addicted to Dangling Steven Castro, a window cleaner since 1987, was first scared out of his wits by the job.

“I didn’t think I’d last long…but I pushed myself and I became accustomed to it.”

“I didn’t think I’d last long,” concedes Castro, “but I pushed myself and I became accustomed to it.” Now Castro even finds himself exhilarated by the job. “You get addicted to the high of the job,” he says. “You’ll be working on the side of a building that’s 500 feet in the air and dangling off a cable.”

Have you ever had any terrifying moments on the job? “One time my hooks detached and I was dangling from a single hook. Some workers inside the office building I was cleaning managed to pull me in through the window.”

It’s kind of fun sometimes,” he explains. “You meet regular people, but also people you might not otherwise meet, like the commissioner of the NFL and CEOs.” Castro adds he often receives helpful tips from the various people he meets.

What do you do when you’re not dangling off buildings? “It was more surreal than anything,” says Castro. “I was just thinking, did this really happen?” He adds, “You can plan for it, but in that situation, it just happened and thank god everything worked out and I didn’t get hurt.”

What’s the most enjoyable part of the job?

“I like to spend time with my dog, my kids and at church.”

What’s your favorite haunt in New York City? “My first building was 9 W. 57th Street,” he says, nostalgically. “It’s been in so many movies and it’s an awesome building, and you’ve got the park...that’s my favorite area.”

“I like all the different people you meet.

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS Irene Love-Legendre

Life Saver Award

A Life Saver Not Fazed by the Most Chilling of Late-night Circumstances Irene Love-Legendre works nightshift security at the Fountain Avenue Landfill in Brooklyn, an area long notorious for being a “body dumping ground.”

“I take pride in protecting people.”

Is your job scary? “It is scary. A couple years back a bouncer murdered a girl and dumped her body at the site.” “It’s a long strip and it’s very secluded,” she adds. “Cars hang out there and there is a lot of prostitution.” Most recently, 40-year-old Love-Legendre, armed with only a cellphone, stopped a rape in progress while on the job. “I’m always on alert,” she says. “I work alone,

PAGE 14

Do you enjoy your job?

OUR TOWN

at night, and you can’t see anything. The lights are dim and it’s right off the highway...people make a wrong turn and end up there, or are there for the wrong reason and you never know.” Love-Legendre adds a lot of guys like to hang out there in their cars and it’s crossed her mind that, “[she] could be a rape victim herself.” Prior to working the Fountain Avenue Landfill area, Love-Legendre worked security at both the airport and the World Trade Center.

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“I love it. It’s overnight so I can focus on my studies.” Love-Legendre is studying social science with ambitions of receiving a degree in public administration. “There is also beautiful scenery by the water; they’re trying to turn it into a park.” Above all, “[she] takes pride in protecting people.”

What do you do to unwind? “I’m very athletic, I like any sport. I love basketball, handball, riding my bike, working out...even bowling.” Photo by Mary Newman

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

We salute

Building Service Workers 32BJ SEIU

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

OUR TOWN

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PAGE 15

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Live Saver Award Fred Roldan

Proud Sponsor of the 7th Annual

Building Workers of the Year Awards

School Custodian Tackles Garbage and Intruder Fred Roldan never had expectations of becoming a hero in his daily life as a custodian at P.S. 45 in Bushwick. One day, however, that changed for Roldan and the entire school. Roldan talks about the day that earned him this year’s Live Saver award. “I was taking out the garbage and when I came back into the building, I saw a man outside who looked agitated,” explains Roldan. “He wanted someone to call him a cab.”

“There was nothing heroic about it. I was in the right place at the right time, it all happened in three to five seconds.” him up against the wall.

Robert Derector Associates

As Roldan stood by the building’s entrance, he saw the man begin pacing around and noticed a commotion outside.

is proud to support 32BJ SEIU and the 7th Annual Building Service Workers of the Year Awards

“The man wanted to go into the building,” and “he was getting really agitated.”

·

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OUR TOWN

·

Roldan then heard someone outside call out, “He’s in the building!” As the man tried to run further into the school, Roldan stopped him, told him he could not enter the building and that he had to wait. As police started pouring in, the man ran toward the security desk and pulled out a gun. Roldan followed his instincts and threw the man to the floor, disarming him and throwing

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Was your son (who is a 7th grader at PS 45) proud of you? “He felt so good about it.” Still, he notes humbly, “There was nothing heroic about it. I was in the right place at the right time, it all happened in three to five seconds.”

What do you do when you’re not saving the day? “I like to play baseball with my kids or take them to the park. My wife and four sons are the most important people in my life. “

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Longevity Award Otis Slaton

WE SALUTE YOU. We proudly support

Photo by Mary Newman

An Assistant Super with a Love of Theatre Otis Slaton has been an assistant super at the same apartment building in Inwood for the past 46 years. Slaton has also been a shop steward with the union for the past 38 years and is a member of the grievance committee.

“I like repairing things and making sure everything goes smoothly.”

Why have you stuck around your building as long as you have? “I like working with people. I also like that the job was unionized.”

“I like what I do,” adds Slaton. “I like repairing things and making sure everything goes smoothly.”

32BJ SEIU in its 7th Annual Building Service Workers Awards and are pleased to congratulate all the nominees.

What do you do when you’re not working at the building? “I like traveling or seeing whatever stars might be in town. I also like seeing Broadway plays.”

Who is most important in your life? “Nobody but Jesus.” While Jesus is most important to Slaton, his wife and children are a close second.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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is proud to support

The Building Workers of the Year Awards and congratulates all of this year’s honorees

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

He Came for A Vacation and Stayed Forty Years

Super of the Year Thomas Clarke

Thomas Clarke’s tale of how he got started in New York City is straight out of a film. Forty years ago, Clarke traveled to New York from Ireland with three of his brothers (one of 14 siblings; Clarke’s home was getting a bit crowded.) Clarke was working as a handyman at the time, and the brothers only anticipated staying for a short vacation. Instead, while walking down Park Avenue, a young, shy Clarke popped into a building and asked if he could get any work. Andy, the super at the time, told Clarke he could get started the next day, and Clarke has not looked back since.

What are some of the most interesting stories from your building? Clarke, who has been a super at the same building since 1982, jokes some of the building’s more interesting stories he’s not at liberty to share. However, what regularly makes the job most interesting for Clarke is interacting and working with all the people he sees day-in, day-out, helping with any services they may require and looking after them in general.

“It doesn’t matter what type of job you have, it has to be done and [you] just do it.”

What keeps you going on the job? “It doesn’t matter what type of job you have, it has to be done and [you] just do it.” He also says a job like his depends on a solid workforce. “Without them you would not be a super,” says Clarke of his coworkers and staff.

“Times change too,” adds Clarke. “In 1982, things were a very different way—this was an easier and quieter job, but life becomes complicated.” Clarke notes another way times have changed for him: “I used to not be able to wait for the day to end, now there’s not enough hours in the day.”

How do you spend your free time? “I do a lot of cycling, I ride for charity events like a 30-miler to raise money for multiple sclerosis.” “I had one shareholder who had MS and that’s how I got started [in charity work],” he says, “seeing how she suffered.”

What’s your favorite part of New York City?

What are some of the hardships you face on the job? “[The boards] change occasionally,” notes Clarke. “The board president could change, and ways of doing the job change and you have to adapt.”

After all these years, Clarke remains particularly fond of the neighborhood he could first truly call home in America. “The Upper East Side is my favorite part of the city,” says Clarke.

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Midtown Office Cleaner Ana Rodriguez

Ana ("Annie") Rodriguez is the midtown office cleaner of the year. When we reached out to Annie for her comments on being the recipient of this award, she reported back that she is too busy undergoing treatment for her brain cancer to be interviewed at this time. "I am looking forward to my future," notes Rodriguez. "We have time to work and time to stop working and relax." She adds: "This is the time to believe in God and take care my health." Many jumped at the opportunity to speak about her in her place. We are pleased to award midtown office cleaner to this courageous, optimistic and dearly-loved woman for her service to the community.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

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&

2 01 3 BUILDING

SERVICE WORKERS

AWARDS Sponsored by GLENWOOD B U ILD ER O W N ER M A N A G ER

BUILDING MAINTENANCE SERVICES

Formerly Cooper Square Realty

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS Cordele Nichols

Lower Manhattan Office Cleaner

An Office Cleaner With a Sense of Adventure Who Works Hard Cordele Nichols has been an office cleaner in lower Manhattan for the past 15 years. Hurricane Sandy immediately pops to mind when Nichols thinks of the most interesting things he’s seen on the job. “We walked to the river and watched it spill over,” recalls Nichols. “Stuff was blowing all around, it was chaotic and pitch black.” “We were stuck at work,” he adds. “It was an adventure.”

What do you like most about your job? “Definitely the camaraderie. We’re

“There’s no man above another, we’re all here to help each other... that’s what makes me get up in the morning.” one good unit,” says Nichols. “One guy I’ve been working with for 15 years, two others for eight years. There’s no man above another, we’re all here to help each other...that’s what makes me get up in the morning.”

How do you spend your free time? “I enjoy traveling, something I’ve been getting in to more and more—I just recently got off a cruise.” “I work hard enough,” he says. “I like traveling and trying different restaurants and foods.” Nichols likes to spend time in Midtown and downtown Brooklyn, taking in the restaurants, lounges and nightlife the areas have to offer. Nichols also enjoys spending time with his kids, but says his mother is truly foremost in his heart.

BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

Outer Borough Building Worker of the Year Steven Cohan

A Doorman Who Takes His Job Very Seriously Steven Cohan is a doorman who does not take his job lightly. In a typical day on the job—in the building where he’s been working for nearly 13 years— Cohan is responsible for greeting and helping people, dealing with distributing packages and much more. While some might believe the duties of a doorman run the risk of being mundane, Cohan, who loves dealing with all the different people he knows well, is quick to prove that notion wrong.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

OUR TOWN

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“It’s always

What do you do with your spare time?

something different, not just the same thing day after day.”

What’s the best thing about your work? “It’s always something different, not just the same thing day after day.”

“I’m active within the union. I’m also involved with the Knights of Pythias [a fraternal organization that devotes itself to friendship, charity and benevolence].” Cohan also enjoys fishing and spending time with his family, including his wife and 10-year-old son Jordan.

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BUILDING WORKER AWARDS

The New York Yankees are proud supporters of the SEIU Local 32BJ and salute all of the 2013 honorees

A Former Musician Turned Security Expert At 778 Park Avenue, where you can find John Egan working as building manager, things run as smoothly as possible.

Building Manager of the Year John Egan

The things that make Egan great at what he does are fairly basic, but also crucial to keeping a building functioning properly.

What are the best parts of your job? “I enjoy meeting people and working out their problems,” says Egan. “Hopefully I will have the answers they need.” Our Town wanted to find out some of the crazier or more interesting things Egan had witnessed in the line of duty, but the beloved building manager remained tight-lipped. “Nothing that interesting has happened at the building,” says Egan, “at least not off the top of my head.”

“Security is my top priority.”

What do you do when you’re not helping people out on the job? “I enjoy going for runs and playing soccer.” Egan says he’s too old for league play, but enjoys training others.

Who is most important in your life? “That would be my parents. They gave me the lead in life,” he says. “When I wanted to leave school and become a professional musician, they were always behind me.” He jokes he should probably not publicize that.

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“No matter my decision, they always gave me the rope,” adds Egan.

What concerns do you feel need to be addressed on a city-wide level? “Security, security, security,” says Egan. “We can’t be responsible for so many lives and these large buildings. Security is my top priority.”

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

Congratulations to all the Nominees and Winners of the 2013 Building Service Workers

AWA R D S

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013

OUR TOWN

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Attention Voters: For the 2013 General Election voters will use the ballot scanner and/or Ballot Marking Device (BMD).

The General Election is Tuesday, November 5, 2013 Polls are Open 6 am - 9 pm

VOTING IS AS EASY AS 1 - 2 - 3

1 2

Get Your Paper Ballot. Pick up your paper ballot and privacy sleeve at the sign-in table from the poll worker.

Mark Your Paper Ballot. Use a pen or ballot-marking device (BMD) to mark your choices on your ballot. Fill in the ovals above or next to the names of the candidates/ proposals of your choice with the pen provided.

Correctly Marked Oval.

JOHN DOE

Scan Your Paper Ballot.

3

Insert your marked ballot into the scanner to cast your vote.

To correctly mark your ballot, fill in the ovals above or next to the names of the candidates or proposals of your choice using the pen provided.

Accessible ballot marking devices (BMDs) are available.

Only registered voters can vote in this election. Sign up to receive the latest news and information from Board of Elections in the City of NY, by visiting the Board’s website:

www.vote.nyc.ny.us To locate your pollsite and view your sample ballot, visit Using your smartphone, download the FREE QR code reader. Once downloaded, open the application to point, click, and discover.

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www.nyc.pollsitelocator.com 866-VOTE-NYC (866-868-3692) • TTY 212-487-5496 OUR TOWN

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