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Public Financing for Private Schools Under-the-radar agency helps exclusive schools raise hundreds of millions of dollars-- all while public schools scramble By Daniel Fitzsimmons
Photo by Victoria Pickering
What Will Happen to the Horses? The city’s horse carriage industry may be coming to an end – but no one is quite sure where the animals will go By Megan Bungeroth The horses pulling carriages through Central Park aren’t aware that their working days are numbered, which is probably for the best, considering their uncertain future. Currently there are about 220 horses registered with the Department of Health as working carriage horses in the city. If the city or state succeeds in banning the industry -- moves that now seem likely -- the question of what exactly will happen to these 220 horses is one that few people involved in the
debate seem able to answer. But the issue is highly charged, evoking alternating images of slaughter houses or retirement sanctuaries, depending on who’s talking. Eva Hughes, who owns horses with her carriage driver husband Thomas, fears that the city will try to dictate the fates of their beloved animals even after a ban is instituted. “These people who are trying to put us out of business and who have crafted legislation that effectively seizes our private property, our horses, will get our horses when they pry them out of our cold and lifeless hands,” Hughes said. “We will never surrender them. We are fully prepared to suffer the consequences. Our horses will never be taken from us in that way.” While she and her husband, who have owned dozens of horses throughout their 16 years operating carriages and have found Continued on page 4
A little-known program within the city’s Economic Development Corp. has become the chief vehicle by which private schools in Manhattan refinance their capital projects, funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to some of the priciest schools in the city. In 2013 alone, the Build NYC Resource Corp. brokered more than $439 million in low interest, tax free bonds for 24 private schools in Manhattan. The schools use this money to pay down prior debt they incurred from bonds they took with the city’s Industrial Development Agency and commercial banks at higher interest rates, money they used for their initial expansions. On the Upper East Side, schools such as the Spence School, the Chapin School, and Convent of the Sacred Heart School have secured millions in low-interest bonds for their capital projects. On the Upper West Side, the Calhoun School received a bond of $34 million and the Studio School got an
$8.8 million bond. Downtown, the Grace Church School used $40 million in citybrokered financing to cover expansions they made in 2006 and 2011. The city’s rationale for the program is that when these private schools expand, they create jobs and additional tax revenue for the city. BNYC’s stated goal is to act as a “conduit-bond issuer,” setting investors - banks - up with not-for-profit entities that use the money for capital projects, which ultimately, the city says, will provide increased jobs and tax revenue. Through a spokesperson, the EDC said that BNYC merely acts as a conduit, or access point, for private schools and other entities to secure low-interest bonds, and the city does indeed benefit from such deals. “Build NYC is not loaning the city’s money capital,” said the EDC spokesperson. But the prevalence of exclusive private schools in these bond deals has some public school proponents wondering why the city is diverting resources to help these schools - many of which come with $40,000-a-year tuition - in the first place. Shino Tanikawa, president of the District 2 Community Education Council, learned of the program just as her Lower Manhattan district is bracing for a shortage of 1,000 elementary school seats. “I find it outrageous the city is essentially Continued on page 5
ALSO INSIDE PET STORE PUPPY LETTERS P.2
FAREWELL TO A DOORMAN P.8
CRIME WATCH P.3
REMEMBERING PETE SEEGER P.12
TAPPED IN Puppy Mill Firestorm Our story on the providence of dogs sold in local pet shops (“That Doggie in the Window,� January 30, 2014) garnered dozens of online comments. Here are a few of them: “Why are we allowing people like [this] and other animal exploiters to get rich off pet sales when our city shelters are overflowing with unwanted animals??? From an ethical, fiscal or logical perspective, pet stores should not be allowed to sell animals in NYC.� Nicodemo Spadavecchia “While 4 million adoptable animals are put to sleep every year there is no such thing as a ‘responsible breeder.’ The term is an oxymoron as no responsible person would breed (or buy) during an overpopulation crisis with deadly consequences.� - Ed “Instead of keeping the vile puppy mills in business, and profiting off the suffering of these poor dogs, why doesn’t Citipups do something good, stop selling commercially
bred puppies, and sell shelter or rescue dogs only.� - PL “The Animal Welfare Act which is the law that governs large-scale breeding facilities gives minimal protection to the animals. No reputable breeder or loving owner would allow their pets to live in those conditions. The fact that a breeder has a clean record means NOTHING. The dogs still live in cages for life, eat cheap food, lack GOOD vet care, excercise and mental stimulation - EVERYTHING that a good breeder/pet owner provides for dogs. There is no comfort in the USDA oversight as they overlook violations. See: The Inspector General’s Audit on Problematic Breeders 5/2010. A breeding facility with no violations is still the equivalent of solitary confinement for dogs. These are COMPANION animals folks and they deserve to be treated that way and not like a commodity. The owner of CitiPups should publish the list of breeders he buys from. Let us research his breeders through the USDA. Reputable breeders do not breed hundreds of dogs. Puppy mills breed for profit ONLY.� - jfisher
New Research Building Opens on East Side On Friday, January 31, members of the Cornell Board of Trustees and the Weill Cornell Medical College Board of Overseers were joined by local elected leaders and supporters of the hospital for the opening of a new research building at East 69th Street and York Avenue. The Belfer Research Building is an 18-story,
$650 million facility, financed by numerous donors. It more than doubles Weill Cornell’s existing research space and gives scientists the ability to rapidly translate groundbreaking discoveries into advanced patient care. The building will host research aimed at improving patient care in the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, children’s health, global health and infectious diseases.
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CRIME WATCH By Jerry Danzig
Copper Cable Caper Someone stole copper cables from a Second Avenue subway construction site. When construction workers returned to work on Monday morning, January 27, they discovered that unknown perpetrators had removed copper cables from the Second Avenue subway site at 94th Street and Second Avenue. In all, 300 feet of cable was missing, valued at $1,200. No video cameras recorded the incident.
Don’t Loot the Messenger A man’s car was broken into and his property stolen. At 6 PM on Sunday, January 26, a 26-yearold man parked his car on East 68th Street between Second and First Avenues and went to dinner.
When he came back at 11 PM, he found that the passenger’s-side window had been smashed and his messenger bag was missing from inside the car. It had contained a laptop and an iPad Mini with a total value of $2,750.
Malaysian Malaise On Thursday, January 16, a
51-year-old man living on the Upper East Side contacted his bank after he noticed that there had been an unauthorized wire transfer of money from his account. The bank informed him that his e-mail account had been used to transfer the money to an unknown location in Malaysia. The unauthorized wire transfer amounted to $215,000.
Missed your FREE tickets to the Suburban Home Show inside your January O&R bill? Get them at oru.com or call 1-877-434-4100.
COMMUNITY ALERT! Safeguard your apartment and home. Recent burglaries have occurred in the neighborhood. Be alert for suspicious activity. Perpetrators are gaining entry by: •Forcing locked doors, mainly the
front, due to inadequate locks. •Front doors left open and unsecured. •Unlocked rear windows. •Fire-escape windows. Remember to: 1.Secure all windows and doors. 2.Install and lock secondary locks. 3.Do NOT leave your electronics (laptops, iPods, etc.) near your windows in plain view. 4.Install only FDNY-approved safety gates on fire-escape or ground-level windows. PROTECT YOUR HOME: Your local precinct Crime Prevention Survey consists of a walk-through of your home and a list of security recommendations to help prevent your chances of being burglarized. Call your local precinct and ask the crime prevention officer for this FREE service. If you have any information regarding any burglaries, please contact your local precinct detective squad.
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horses forced into sudden retirement? The animal activists maintain that the carriage horse owners carelessly send their horses off to slaughter when they outlive humane retirement homes for all of them, may not be able to their usefulness, and that’s one of the reasons to stop the cycle fight back against the tide of opposition to their industry, they of horses through the carriage industry. They also maintain .com may be in the right, legally, on one point. that no horses need to suffer once they stop that cycle. STRAUS MEDIA MANHATTAN “Unless there’s some incredibly obscure law that I don’t The industry and its supporters scoff at the idea that their know about, I would find it extremely difficult to believe horses end up in Mexican and Canadian slaughter houses, PRESIDENT Jeanne Straus that anyone from the city could mandate who you sell your the products of auctions in New Holland, Pennsylvania where property to,” said New York attorney Steven Sladkus. “If you buyers for these meat companies often get horses for a couple EDITOR IN CHIEF Kyle Pope • editor.ot@strausnews.com abolish the horse and carriage that’s one thing, but if I own my hundred bucks. horse, nobody can tell me who I can or can’t sell it to. There’s a Horse carriage owners say that they don’t need the state to EDITOR Megan Bungeroth • editor.otdt@strausnews.com property right there that no one can interfere with.” tell them to humanely retire their horses; they do that already. Sladkus likened such a scenario to a law that bans car The industry partners with Blue Star Equiculture, a sanctuary CITYARTS EDITOR Armond White • editor.cityarts@strausnews.com dealerships in Manhattan also requiring the dealership owners in Palmer, Massachusetts that supports both the idea that draft to give their inventory away when they close down. horses can and should be used for working purposes and that STAFF REPORTERS Joanna Fantozzi, Daniel Fitzsimmons “I couldn’t see how a law like that could be upheld,” he said. they should be well-cared for after they can no longer work. Sladkus said that if the city instituted some kind of quid pro Eva and Thomas Hughes say they have placed horses there FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS Alan S. Chartock, Bette Dewing, Jeanne Martinet, quo when renewing carriage licenses – giving operators a final and regularly donate to the facility, as do many carriage horse Malachy McCourt, Angela Barbuti, year to run their carriages but with the provision that they sell owners. But their argument that there are plenty of places Casey Ward, Laura Shanahan their horses to pre-approved buyers at the end of that year, for for retired horses to go is a tricky one – it can easily be used BLOCK MAYORS example – that could hold up. But it would only work for those against them as just another reason their industry should be Ann Morris, Upper West Side who chose to sign such an agreement. shut down. Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Those working to end the horse carriage industry say that Gail Dubov, Upper West Side There are many horse sanctuaries who do regularly take in Edith Marks, Upper West Side there are many options for equestrian retirement. horses rescued from auction or seized by police under cruelty “The aim is to not have these horses work,” said Assembly PUBLISHER complaints – but few of them have ever seen retired carriage Gerry Gavin • advertising@strausnews.com Member Linda Rosenthal. She’s had a bill before the state horses. Susan Wagner runs Equine Advocates in Chatham, legislature for several years now that would ban the industry ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS New York. Her farm, which cares for about 85 equines, Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth, Kate Walsh in the state. Known for her pro-animal protection work in including donkeys, ponies and mules, became somewhat the assembly – she’s written and passed laws cracking down ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE famous for rescuing a carriage horse, now named Bobby, from Eliza Appleton on bear poaching, eating shark fins, selling unlabeled dog fur a slaughter auction several years ago. Bobby has become a – Rosenthal’s reasoning has always been that the horses don’t CLASSIFIED ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE symbol for those who seek to end the industry, an example Susan Wynn belong in the city, clopping alongside trucks and buses and embodying the worst and the best places a retired carriage living in cramped quarters. But she can’t say, exactly, where the DISTRIBUTION MANAGER horse could end up. Joe Bendik horses would go if they were kicked out of their Central Park Wagner said that she thinks all of the horses could end up in routes and West Side stables. OUR TOWN is published weekly happy homes like her sanctuary – but not all at once. Copyright © 2013 by Straus Media - Manhattan, LLC “It’s imperative that they not be brought to slaughter and “We certainly could help but we couldn’t take 200 horses,” 212-868-0190 • 333 Seventh Ave, New York, NY. that they not just be taken elsewhere to do the same…‘job.’ I’d she said. “The problem is that the carriage horse owners Straus Media - Manhattan publishes encourage the current owners to donate them to a sanctuary,” call them business assets,” limiting the legal ability of rescue Our Town • The West Side Spirit • Our Town Downtown Rosenthal said. “I guess they can’t compel them to. I’m not sure organizations to take the horses. Chelsea Clinton News • The Westsider about that. It’s a good question to ask.” Wagner said that the Humane Society and the Global To subscribe for 1 year, please send $75 to It’s not that she hasn’t thought about it – her office has Federation of Animal Sanctuaries have both pledged to help OUR TOWN, c/o Straus News 20 West Ave., Chester, NY 10918 spoken to a number of horse sanctuaries who could take find homes for the horses, and that none of them should end on some of the horses, she said, and her bill would require up at a slaughter auction. PREVIOUS OWNERS HAVE INCLUDED: Tom Allon, Isis Ventures, Ed Kayatt, Russ Smith, carriage horse owners to give to sell their horses to pre“If they go to slaughter, it’s because [owners] sent them; they Bob Trentlion, Jerry Finkelstein approved sanctuaries or individuals, which the state would refuse to allow them to come to an organization like ours,” monitor. Rosenthal hopes that with concurrent support Wagner said. from Mayor de Blasio and the city council, the state law will While there may be enough spots around the country for establish the illegality of carriage horses and a city law could the horses, the accumulated cost of keeping 220 horses in a be written to address how the horse owners are to handle their capacity where they aren’t making money is in the millions of horses. The next question, though, is how can two opposing dollars. Wagner said that on her farm, it takes roughly $4,800 sides, who both paint their per horse annually to cover the costs of hay, feed, bedding, opponents as the worst kinds hoof trimmings, and veterinary and dental bills. Draft horses of animal-haters, figure out can live to their late 20s, and many are retired as teenagers. DO YOU SUFFER FROM ANXIETY OR DEPRESSION? what to do with 220 draft Sanctuaries aren’t the only spots for carriage horses to go. HAVE YOU NOT RESPONDED TO TREATMENT? While animal rights groups cringe at the possibility, If so, and you are between the ages of 18 and 70, you may be eligible owners could potentially sell to participate in a research study to assess reasons for nonresponse their horses to operators in Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, Men’s Health cities like Philadelphia and at the Weill Cornell Medical College-New York Presbyterian Hospital. Atlanta that still have thriving Diabetes, Thyroid Disorders, You may qualify for no cost psychotherapy, through this study. carriage industries. But they Male Sexual Dysfunction, could also sell them to people Low Testosterone, Male Infertility, For more information, please call Obesity, Osteoporosis, and institutions who simply BARBARA MILROD, M.D. High Cholesterol & High Blood Pressure, want a calm, well-behaved Calcium Disorders, Adrenal Disorders horse – something carriage 212-746-5868 horses are known for. 785 Park Avenue NYC “My personal opinion is Horses Continued from page 1
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PAGE 4
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
that each of the horses will be sold to someone that wants to use them as a carriage/driving or riding horse and not for slaughter,� said Lynda Roemer, who runs Equine Rescue, Inc. in Walden, New York and mostly takes in horses who have been confiscated by law enforcement when an owner is found guilty of animal cruelty. She’s never had to rescue a carriage horse in 18 years of operation. Roemer is well aware of the slaughter auctions but thinks that the carriage horses are too valuable to end up there. “Kill buyers don’t pay top dollar (they generally only pay .40-.50/pound - for a 2,000 pound horse that would be $800). The ‘allure’ of having been a NYC carriage horse will open many doors in the private sector and most likely bring a better selling price,� she said. Joanna Feffer, a lifelong horse competitor and equine attorney who lives on the Upper East Side, said that there is no shortage of organizations desperate to purchase retired carriage horses. She’s a horse-lover and strong supporter of the carriage industry. She also sits on the boards of six horse-related charities, including Horse Ability, a group that works
with handicapped people and teaches them to ride, and a group that Feffer said is just one example of the kind of non-profit that needs steady, sturdy, calm horses for its work. “Between colleges, universities, even companion horses for injured horses, because they don’t like to be alone - there are a lot of uses for retired horses,� said Feffer. Colleges often use older horses to teach students about horse anatomy and care, and that they will take horses in nearly any condition, she explained. “I ride in Old Westbury, and people there are always posting to buy retired horses. I could find a home for 100 horses today,� Feffer said – though she hopes she won’t have to. “All the friends who I grew up riding with are all on the committee [supporting the industry],� she said. “We support it because these horses were meant to pull carriages.� Eva Hughes said ending the industry won’t prevent more horses from being killed. “Instead of going down to [the] New Holland [auction] and buying the next 220 horses coming off the truck for slaughter,� she said, “they want to come take our horses.�
Loans Continued from page 1
financing.� Davison said the 2006 IDA bond was also tax exempt, but came with a flexible interest rate that adjusted every week. “Most everyone is fairly sure that we’re not going to get lower rates than we have now,� said Davison. “For what we were doing, fixing our rate for the next 10 years - which is what [the BNYC bond] allows us to do - makes much more sense in terms of our planning.� Davison said that during a two-week period in 2008, the flexible interest rate on the IDA bond whipsawed from 1 percent to 9 percent. While that swing is an aberration connected with the 2008 financial crisis, and it may be impossible to tell how much revenue the IDA bonds would have ultimately brought in, projections for that revenue seem non-existent in records kept by BNYC. In the case of the Birch Wathen Lenox School on the Upper East Side, which is in the process of securing an $8 million bond to refinance money it used to expand in 2004, the city estimates the school will generate $9.1 million in tax revenue over the course of a 15-year term. “So yes, this is in line with the mission of promoting economic and community projects, and it is not a ‘handout’ to a wealthy school,� said an EDC spokesperson. Tanikawa said she’d like to see some way in which public schools benefit from the city’s brokerage of finance deals to private schools. “I think the new mayor should be made aware of this,� said Tanikawa. “Perhaps the banks can be made to pay taxes on the interest and that revenue can go into the [School Construction Authority’s] capital fund. Perhaps the interest rate should be on a sliding scale based on the private school’s assets.�
financing the expansion of private schools when our students in public schools are crammed into classrooms with as many as 38 students in a room, families are put on a wait list for their zoned school, asbestos and PCBs still linger in our older buildings and many schools are still not ADA compliant,� said Tanikawa. “The list goes on for what our public schools need while private schools are getting a sweetheart deal with the help of the city?� Private schools are not the only not-forprofits that BNYC helps with refinancing. The corporation has also brokered favorable bond deals for organizations like the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society. One such bond was issued last year to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in the amount of $8.9 million. But given the strains in the public-school budgets, it is the school financing that is likely to raise the most eyebrows. Grace Church School, for instance, secured a $40 million bond last May that it used to cover two previous bonds for expansions in 2006 and 2011. George Davison, head of the school, said the availability of these bonds is generally known in the private school community, and that it made more fiscal sense for the school to issue a bond through BNYC than to stick with the terms of their two original bonds. “Build NYC is designed for organizations just like us, who are creating jobs in New York City,� said Davison. “When the Build NYC vehicle came on line, it’s much more appropriate than a standard bank loan for a not-for-profit because it’s tax exempt
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MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH
OUT & ABOUT
Friday, February 7 Cassandra
MARBLE’S JAZZ INSPIRED WORSHIP
EVERY FIRST & THIRD FRIDAY AT 7:00PM The Marble Loft (next door at 274 5th Ave) Kick off your weekend with this celebratory service! An authentic connection to the spirit through music, community and message. Led by Dr. R. Mark King. Music by jazz pianist Chris Whittaker, his band, and talented guest artists. Dr. Michael B. Brown, Senior Minister 1 West 29th St. NYC, NY 10001 (212) 686-2770 www.MarbleChurch.org
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Bohemian National Hall, 321 E 73rd St 7 p.m. Free Nimrod Opera Zurich presents the visualisation of Michael Jarrell’s opera for the first time in the U.S., featuring actress Anna Clementi with the Argento Chamber Ensemble. bohemiannationalhall.com
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Lincoln Center Free New York’s fashion week is here and runs till the 13th. Come and see a multitude of designers, brands, and models -- even if you don’t have a ticket for the shows themselves. Consult the website for time and locals of the events. newyork.mbfashionweek.com
Saturday, February 8 Brentano String Quartet & Christine Brandes, soprano 92y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street 8 p.m. $35 HAYDN: Arianna a Naxos (“Teseo mio ben”), Cantata for Soprano MOE: Of Color Braided All Desire for Soprano and String Quartet (New York premiere) MENDELSSOHN: String Quartet in D major, Op. 44, No. 1 92y.org
Sunday, February 9 Living in Space: Astrophysics 92y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd St 10 a.m. $40 Will we vacation on space stations in this century? How will we have to adjust? Learn what zero gravity does to paddle balls and other toys.
Monday, February 10 Landmarks committee CB8 Marymount Manhattan College, 221 East 71st Street, Regina Peruggi Room 6:30 p.m. Free cb8m.com
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
OUT & ABOUT
To f ind the right doctor, you need the right referral. 888.7.NYU.MED ( 888.769.8633 )
Tuesday, February 11 The Park Avenue Historic District Public Meeting Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor 3 p.m. Free The proposed Park Avenue Historic District consists of approximately 68 buildings from 79th to 96th Street in Manhattan. info@ friends-ues.org
Street Fairs Committee CB8 Lenox Hill Hospital, 130 East 77th Street, Theater Room Floor 2A 6:30 p.m. Free CB8m.com
This exhibition of the artist’s felt sculptures is the first to be presented outside of Europe, offering a rare opportunity to examine a significant, though little-known, body of work by one of the most important artists of the post-war generation. Michaelwerner.com
Having the right doctor is essential. When you call our Physician Referral Service, a registered nurse or a referral specialist will help you connect with the best doctor to meet your healthcare needs. They can also give you information about our doctors’ education, specialties, office hours, languages spoken and insurance participation.
Exhibition Tour—Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue 10:30 a.m. In this exhibition, immerse yourself in mid-nineteenth-century Europe through captivating photographs taken by Charles Marville, including romantic portraits, artistic studies, extraordinary views of architecture, and compelling images of “New Paris.” metmuseum.org
Wednesday, February 12 Land Use Meeting CB8 310 East 67th Street, Auditorium 6:30 p.m. Free Cb8m.com
Thursday, February 13 A.R. Penck: Felt Works 1972–1995 212 207 3737
Michael Wener Gallery, 4 E 77th St 10 a.m. Free
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
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PAGE 7
Beloved Doorman Says Farewell Long time Upper East Side doorman Carlos Monteiro retires after 20 years making residents feel at home
Do you have a favorite doorman? Snap a photo with him and submit it to Our Town and 32 BJ SEIU’s I Love My Doorman contest for a chance to win Broadway tickets and cash. Details at www. nypress.com or see our ad on page 16.
By Daniel Fitzsimmons It seems like everyone at 445 East 86th Street has a Carlos story. Carlos Monteiro, 70, has been the doorman at the Upper East Side co-op for the past 28 years, and this past Friday was his last day on the job. Residents gathered in the lobby and swapped their favorite Carlos tales as his final shift wound down. There was the time he brought packages to a resident who was recovering from surgery in the hospital, or the time they had to force him to take a vacation. One year during a transit strike, Monteiro was able to use his car-service contacts to secure a ride to the airport for one resident and his family, saving their vacation.
Then there was the time he helped deliver a baby in the lobby, the same one that he recently saw off to college. But mostly, residents were appreciative of his day in and day out commitment to the job. Monteiro worked the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift, but would show up an hour and a half early to make sure everyone had the morning paper. One resident said that he could always tell when she was having a bad day, and would never hesitate to offer a kind word or a comforting embrace. Monteiro was so good at his job, residents said, that the entire building came to think of him as a member of their family.
th, 4 1 uary es r b e F ntin Vale y! Da
“I don’t feel like this is going to be home anymore,� said resident Linda Goldsmith. “He’s just comforting, when you come home and see Carlos and get a big hug.� “It’s the dedication and the great attitude he has for shareholders,� said board treasurer Joseph Allen. “I mean he held my kids when they were little and took care of them as if they were his own.� Resident Ann Maurer will remember the way Monteiro lifted her spirits when she was recovering from surgery. He would greet her at the door, singing a Spanish love song while dancing in time, telling Maurer that she needs to dance too to get better. “He’s a true gentleman,� said Maurer. Allen said he knows that Monteiro is sad to go, and feels the same way about the residents as they do about him. “He’s very emotional,� said Allen. “It’s like leaving 150 family members.� Monterio told Our Town that his retirement plans include taking care of his house in Brooklyn, and visiting his daughter and grandkids in North Carolina. Though he’s looking forward to retirement, Monterio said,
Carlos Monteiro with residents of 445 East 86th Street. Photo by Dan Fitzsimmons
he’s sad to being saying goodbye after 28 years. “They don’t treat me like a doorman,� said Monteiro, who plans on visiting from time to time. “I’m like their family.�
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
cityArts
Edited by Armond White
New York’s Review of Culture . CityArtsNYC.com
Obliviots, or Deeper Into Solipsism Spike Jonze dehumanizes women and love in Her By Armond White
U
ntil Her, Spike Jonze was a favorite of the American Eccentrics. His brazen artiness was usually redeemed by youthful goofiness and the goofiness had a certain conceptual finesse--best demonstrated in his 2000 Weapon of Choice music video for Fatboy Slim where Christopher Walken’s song-and-dance pantomime jeteed into the surreal levitation of Brian DePalma’s The Fury, Ludacris’s 2004 Get Back music video or the 2010 short film I’m Here where the romance of robots uncannily expressed palpable human longings. But at the movies, Jonze’s eccentricity battles with featurelength narrative structures leading to the unfortunately non-satirical Her. Casting Joaquin Pheonix as electronic greeting card writer Theodore Twombly is immediate overstatement. After Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, Pheonix is poster boy for creepiness even before he can develop the quixotic personality of a solitary divorce employed in drone-like work ((by BeautifulHandwrittenLetters. com !) to manufacture hollow sentiments for paying customers. (Theodore’s emotional prostitution embodies the thanklessness of grunt-jobs; former skater-boy Jonze conveys the hipster generation’s pampered alienation from the
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
Joaquin Phoenix in Spike Jonze's Her workaday world.) This postmodern disaffection (carried-over from The Master’s facile agnosticism) makes Theodore’s eventual “falling in love” with an non-human--his computer’s operating system--all too expected. Given the film’s hushed tone, you knew something weird is coming: his OS has the feminine name Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansen). But there are no life-like surprises in either Theodore’s high-waisted nerd apparel or Samantha/ Johanssen’s sultry, teasing voice. The film’s oddly mannered visual style represents a slightly futuristic Los Angeles/Hollywood of Apple-
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affluent sleekness--an air of undeniable consumerist elitism. With Jonze directing his first feature-length solo script, the movie is all concept and, frankly, it’s a terrible idea--not screwball farce but Eccentricity for its own sake. Jonze may get freaky in his contributions to Bad Grandpa, even playing an oddball clerk in The Wolf of Wall Street, but Her is a concession to the commercialism that even hipsters don’t realize they enjoy. Eccentricity Gets Tested: I’m Here premiered simultaneously with Zack Snyder’s visionary The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole-a film whose projection of human
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feelings onto other species ranks as a companion piece to Where the Wild Things Are. But neither Eccentric Masterwork (Owls and I’m Here) was a commercial blockbuster. So this time Jonze doesn’t risk asking audiences to extend their imagination toward anthropomorphism. Her pretends to confound human emotion and amatory attraction. Not an update of the Pygmalion and Galatea myth, Her merely reworks the premise of I’m Here. Theodore’s relationship to Samantha abstracts Love into something non-profound; it becomes a mystery that is illogical, anti-romantic--a safe confirmation
of nihilism, commercialized negativity. Because Jonze’s instincts are very much au courant--more hipster-cool than avant-garde--lazy viewers are willing to accept the film’s trendy conceit as a challenge to virtues they already disavow. Her is a love story designed for those too scared to believe that love is possible and so are not offended by its mockery--an adolescent, skater boy bluff. Jonze doesn’t mock the idea of love so much as its human improbability. (This is where Her differs from classic Screwball which, like Shakespeare’s comedies, always perpetuated the need for human connection.) Theodore’s co-workers (Amy Adams as his heartbroken colleague, Chris Pratt as his fatuous boss) demonstrate the sadness and shallowness of romantic alliance and his ex-wife (Rooney Mara) confirms its impossibility, hidden in distrust and disloyalty. Humans are seen as uncommunicative and unrealiable-that’s why Theodore goes over to the other side. In Her, Jonze romanticizes the solipsism of obliviots, middle-class digital device idiots who lack the impulse to resent how technology damages their senses, limits their humanity. His scenes of Theodore alone on a beach or walking through snow drifts are shot ironically but lack a Chaplin or Keaton sense of humor. Jonze’s eccentricity should have saved him from indulgent solipsism, the snarky normalizing of digital era detachment, isolation and alienation. Her’s biggest shock is that Jonze loses his sense of funny; it’s unromantic yet is unacceptably sentimental.
PAGE 9
CITYARTS MUSEUM
Nervous System's "Three Hyphae Lamps"
Old School Into New School Out of Hand presents the Future in rebooted craft museum By Rania Richardson
C
olumbus Circle is as crowded as it ever was, but the past decade’s renovations with fountains, benches, and plantings make it a prettier place to be. The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) moved to the south side of the Circle in 2008, with a mission of being a creative hub and exploring the materials and processes of artists across disciplines. In short, it’s a reboot of the former American Craft Museum that was located across from MoMA. “Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital” comprises work by successful artists experienced with old-school methods, who are incorporating 3D printing and other digital tools to create museum quality pieces. Organized by curator Ron Labaco, the exhibition features work from 2005 to the present, including objects never presented before in the U.S. by Anish Kapoor, Maya Lin, Greg Lynn, Frank Stella, and many others. “Brain Wave Sofa” by Lucas Maassen and design studio, Unfold, is an example of computer numerical controlled (CNC) milling. The design of the polyurethane foam and felt sofa is the result of an electroencephalogram brain wave scan created by electrodes connected to Maassen’s head. By opening and closing his eyes, his neurofeedback data generates 3D landscape imagery. The resulting computer file is sent to a CNC machine that mills his brain waves
PAGE 10
in foam for the foundation of the couch. With systems like this, the future is here as designers can fairly create a product with the blink of the eye. Many objects in the survey are breathtaking, regardless of their backstory. Modeling nature, Joris Laarman’s “Bone Armchair,” has a sinuous form reminiscent of Art Nouveau. Cast in a single piece, the marble resin furniture was fabricated using a custom developed 3D printed ceramic mold. Also dazzling in its beauty, is Marc Newson’s “Doudou Necklace,” a fractal-inspired ornament based on the Julia set, a geometric figure that repeats itself at ever smaller scales and looks the same at all zoom levels. The diamond, sapphire, and white gold piece was modeled digitally using rapid prototyping, then translated into hand drawings for traditional setting by French jewelry house, Boucheron. The necklace is accompanied by a colorful, hypnotic animation that demonstrates the formula discovered by mathematician Gaston Julia in 1915. A walk through the 120 varied works on display-- portraits, architecture, sculpture, clothing-- is an education in the eclectic range of digital tools. But will computer assistance eventually snuff out the spirit of art? According to curator Labaco, the soul in art lies in the maker, not the medium. “In capable hands one can create beautiful, compelling, delightful, and/or haunting works using digital technologies,” he says. “Out of Hand” at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), 2 Columbus Circle through June 1. Follow Rania Richardson on Twitter: @ RaniaRichardson
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Untitled (Breezy Point) Queens, November 10, 2012 Photo by Deirdre Galvin
Perfecting the Storm Local photos memorialize the historic Hurricane Sandy By Valerie Gladstone dramatic shot by Harvey Stein shows the twisted and mangled Jet Star Roller Coaster in Seaside Hts., N. J., standing several feet in water. In another by Catherine Nance, desperate notices of lost cats are scribbled across a door in Staten Island, while Paul Moakley’s image of flooded streets, reflecting a few makeshift lights, resonates with a melancholy beauty. These are just a few of the 200 powerful photographs documenting the devastation and recovery efforts relating to hurricane Sandy in the riveting exhibition, “Rising Waters: Photographs of Sandy,” on view at the Museum of the City of New York through March 31. It also includes “Without Power,” shots taken by architectural photographer, Alex Fradkin, of the devastated and darkened streets of the Lower East Side. “Not long after Sandy,” says curator Sean Corcoran, “I decided we should do an exhibition of images that would tell the story of the storm and its repercussions. It was such an important historical event.” He put out an open call for images, at first planning to present the show six months afterwards. Then he realized that it was a developing story
A
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and that more photographs of the rebuilding should be included. In the end, he received 10,000 submissions and, in conjunction with curators from the International Center of Photography, selected 200 color and black and white images for the show, which opened on the anniversary of Sandy in October. They decided to arrange the images chronologically, dividing them by themes. “The exhibition had to have structure,” he says. “We imposed our own guidelines, among them that we would include amateurs and professionals and that the images had to be both aesthetically interesting and advance the story. We hoped to achieve a delicate balance between the look and the content. We have a section simply called `Home,’ which is a series of portraits of people working on their houses and facing their loss. Their faces reveal as much about what happened as the images of water engulfing the beaches and streets.” Corcoran not only wanted to document Sandy but also to remind viewers of what happened. “A lot of New Yorkers are still dealing with the effects of the storm,” he says. “It’s not really over. I’m hoping this will spark conversation about how we might have been more prepared and how we build in the future and provide an infrastructure better equipped for this kind of catastrophe. I also hope people can relate to it on a personal level.” “Rising Waters: Photographs of Sandy” at The Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, at 103rd Street, 212-534-1672, mcny.org.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
FILM CITYARTS
Zac Efron and Imogene Poots in The Awkward Moment
Awkward and Uncertain That Awkward Moment’s frat comedy lacks the Lubitsch Touch By Armond White
T
he three best friends of That Awkward Moment, graphic artists Jason and Daniel (Zac Efron, Miles Teller) and medical intern Mike (Michael B. Jordan), are cynical about increasing their sexual activity, enjoying their young middle-class professional prerogative on the loose in New York City. Encouraging each other to keep a “roster” of conquests, these sitcom dudes’ attitude and talk are artificially raunchy--the language of contrived realism that attempts to match the new frank, unapologetic amorality made fashionable by TV’s Two and a Half Men and Lena Dunham’s HBO series Girls. The boy-men of That Awkward Moment don’t suffer the misgivings that show runnerstar Dunham embraces; their masculine humiliations are just frat boy braggadocio (penis jokes, fart gags, zero chagrin, alcohol). The lack of genuine humiliation and lack of depth keep That Awkward Moment from achieving the most redemptive quality of even Girls’ gross exhibitionism. The exhibitionism in That Awkward Moment is worse than a sitcom; it’s rank, calculated indie snark. By fortunate coincidence, I saw That Awkward Moment a day after watching Ernst Lubitsch’s 1941 That Uncertain Feeling which was a world away in style and feeling, where sexual awareness came cloaked in sophisticated allusion, wit more subtle than innuendo. Not even the vulgarity of That
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
Awkward Moment could erase such Lubitsch gems as “A husband must be like a stranger; someone whose acquaintance you want to make everyday” or the scene where Merle Oberon questioned a Surrealist portrait painting’s symbolism: “What’s the pedestal mean?” “Greatness” answered a modest cocksman. Modesty is the least of what That Awkward Moment lacks. The three wannabe studs prove absolutely unlikable in their conceitedness and in smirky performance-by Jordan who, as token Black guy, resorts to drinking a 40-ounce; Teller’s unprepossessing pockmarked smugness; and Efron’s over-gymmed white pretty boy, petty-thief self-absorption. Efron’s confession to the literary star Ellie (Imogen Poots) he seduced and abandoned is the most unfelt movie monologue in ages. His baby-blueeyed “sincerity” and peach fuzz manliness epitomize the triteness of writer/director Tom Gormican’s attempt at making a 21st century masculine sex farce. That Awkward Moment, titled for the uncertain feeling when a female asks a male where their relationship is headed, looks like an inept version of Breakin’ All the Rules and Chaos Theory, trenchant, underrated films by Daniel Taplitz our closest contemporary equivalent to Lubitsch. Taplitz, like Lubitsch, never separated sexuality from morality while Gormican poorly imitates Dunham’s trendyconfused gender narcissism--in Jason’s Dirk Diggler routine, Daniel’s smug exploitation of Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis) and Mike’s ceaseless booty-begging. The result is awkward at best. Follow Armond White on Twitter at 3xchair
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your old
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Make your own cat litter by shredding newspaper, soaking it in dish detergent & baking soda, and letting it dry. PAGE 11
PETS
With jerky unsafe, consider alternative pet treats What to look out for Within hours of eating treats sold as jerky tenders or strips made of chicken, duck, sweet potatoes and/or dried fruit, some pets have exhibited decreased appetite, decreased activity, vomiting, diarrhea (sometimes with blood or mucus), increased water consumption, or increased urination. Severe cases have involved kidney failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, and a rare kidney disorder. About 60 percent of cases involved gastrointestinal illness, and about 30 percent involved kidney and urinary systems. The remaining cases reported various symptoms, such as collapse, convulsions or skin issues. Most of the jerky treats implicated have been made in China. Manufacturers of pet foods are not required by U.S. law to state the country of origin for each ingredient in their products. A number of jerky pet treat products were removed from the market in Jan. 2013 after a New York State lab reported finding evidence of up to six drugs in certain jerky pet treats made in China. While the levels of these drugs were very low and it’s unlikely that they caused the illnesses, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration noted a decrease in reports of jerky-suspected illnesses after the products were removed from the market. FDA believes that the number of reports may have declined simply because fewer jerky treats were available.
PAGE 12
The controversy surrounding jerky treats for pets has resumed following an announcement that two major pet treat manufacturers will soon return their products to stores’ shelves. The treats in question had been voluntarily recalled, though members of the public were warned by the Food and Drug Administration through a report that approximately 4,500 dogs had reportedly gotten sick and nearly 600 dogs had died, allegedly from consuming jerky treats. Ultimately, an identifying cause of the illnesses and deaths was never found. Because of the cause for concern, veterinarians are offering a different approach. Instead of purchasing processed treats for pets, consider providing a healthy alternative. “The most important part of treat time is the attention you give to your pet,” said Dr. Jennifer Welser, chief medical officer of BluePearl Veterinary Partners. “Consider giving your pet chopped vegetables or fruits, like carrots and apples, or giving them a piece of their own food, but emphasizing the same level of enthusiasm.” However, some human foods are toxic to pets. Onions, garlic, chocolate, raisins, grapes, macadamia nuts, the sugar substitute xylitol, and raw or undercooked food can create major problems for pets. “Most importantly, we suggest discussing treat options with your family veterinarian to determine what kind of treats would be best to give your furry friend,” Welser said.
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MY STORY
Singing to Save the World Remembering Pete Seeger’s legacy of promoting music and harmony for all By Bette Dewing “Sing to Save the World” was this paper’s “fit to print” headline over a huge photo and succinct story, by then-editor Marty Lipp. This glowing account of the January 1992 standing-room-only concert at Hunter College was subtitled, “Pete Seeger and his rainbow chorus singing harmony and about it.” As a great believer in Pete Seeger’s mission, to get everyone singing along, and for music that enables harmony, I was thrilled to be there, too. If you remember nothing else from this column, indeed from the magnificent work of Pete Seeger, whose January 2014 departure from this life was mourned worldwide, remember his words to Marty Lipp during that 1992 concert’s rehearsal: “The lifetime hope of mine is not to just put music in the ears of people, but on their lips.” This hope was noted all too briefly in the “paper of record’s” extensive story, with infinitely more said about the political and social causes Seeger espoused mostly through folk music. Unlike today’s pop sounds, folk music was harmonious to boomer and senior sensibilities. It was intergenerational and G-rated. Did the change in pop music trouble Seeger? The Times did say that “like many elders of the protest song movement, Mr. Seeger felt betrayed when Bob Dylan set aside protest songs for electric guitar rock, and at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, with loud electric blues band, some listeners booed and reports emerged that Mr. Seeger tried to cut the power cable with an ax.” Not true, but this man for non-violence said he was angry because “the music was so loud and distorted you couldn’t understand the words.” Nowadays, sometimes that’s better. I wish Seeger, who did so much to clean up the Hudson River, had also protested not only these concerts’ extreme decibel level, but the huge amount of electricity that fuels them and the obligatory blinding theatrical lighting. Current environmentalists,
instead of demanding that volume and wattage be sensibly reduced, ban the biodegradable, non-toxic, perfect everyday lighting of the incandescent light bulb. Too little noted or lauded was Pete Seeger’s personal life, and his 70 year marriage to Toshi, who died in 2013. And we sure could use some protest songs against those celebs and pols who betray their good and faithful help-mates. Protest as well society’s mandate to segregate generations, especially in families. That’s really radical, and yet to save the world, it takes a village - of family members when they exist - plus an intergenerational mix of friends, neighbors and faith and civic group members. Incidentally, Valentine’s Day is definitely not only about couple love. There’s a song about paternal love that devoted father Pete Seeger might have said should “really get out there.” Again, I’m touting my son Jeff ’s country-style ballad about an absentee, and now very repentant daddy, who longs to get back into the life of his little daughter on her sixth birthday. “Happy Birthday to a Little Girl” was premiered by the New Amsterdam Boys and Girls Choir, composed mainly of Spanish Harlembased youngsters. Pete Seeger was one of the choir’s original sponsors. Founder and director James Backman hopes to get the song on YouTube. But oh, how Pete Seeger’s missions and music need to be permanently/prominently featured in cyberspace too, especially his “life-time hope not only to put music in people’s ears, but on their lips.” Harmonybuilding music, that is. dewingbetter@aol.com
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS
NEIGHBORHOOD REAL ESTATE SALES Reported January 27 - February 2, 2014
January 21 - 28, 2014
Restaurant Grades The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website on December 13, 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. K Falafel House
1752 2 Avenue
Neighborhood
Address
Apt.
Sale Price
Beekman
439 E 51 St.
#1011F
$5,275,000
400 E 52 St.
#9F
$1,750,000
3
3
Douglas Elliman
439 E 51 St.
#3C
$780,000
2
1
Douglas Elliman
Carnegie Hill
Grade Pending (19) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
420 E 51 St.
#11B
$460,000
1
1
Brown Harris Stevens
414 E 52 St.
#11D
$1,195,000
2
2
Corcoran
155 E 93 St.
#4G
$535,000
1
1
Kleier Residential
1230 Park Ave.
#1A
$530,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
1075 Park Ave.
#2B
$2,800,000
2
3
Brown Harris Stevens
40 E 94 St.
#2H+
$3,350,000
121 E 88 St.
#5B
$395,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
#4A
$915,000
2
1
Orsid Realty Corp.
0
Sotheby’s International
3
Brown Harris Stevens
Paola’s
1295 Madison Avenue
A
150 E 93 St.
Maharaja Palace
1350 Madison Avenue
A
1120 Park Ave.
Andaman Thai Bistro
1843 1 Avenue
A
16 E 95 St.
International Wings Factory
1762 First Avenue
Sweet Stop Caffe
141 East 96 Street
1230 Park Ave.
A
$1,750,000
3
3
Fox Residential Group
$540,000
1
1
Corcoran
303 E 60 St.
#7B
$1,352,000
2
2
Douglas Elliman
300 E 71 St.
#2P
$220,000
333 E 66 St.
#12K
$685,000
1
1
Sotheby’s International
220 E 67 St.
#5E
$680,000
1
1
Douglas Elliman
300 E 71 St.
#10De
$1,664,400
3
2
Brown Harris Stevens
Closed by Health Department (70) Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable handdrying device not provided. Toilet facility not provided for employees or for patrons when required. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
530 Park Ave.
#9F
$1,781,937
530 Park Ave.
#5F
$1,825,000
250 E 65 St.
#4F
$1,450,000
2
2
Corcoran
530 Park Ave.
#14D
$7,467,525
530 Park Ave.
#9E
$1,725,000
1
1
Classic Marketing- 530
530 Park Ave.
#19J
$1,650,000
530 Park Ave.
#4D
$7,820,718
605 Park Ave.
#6E
$1,050,000
1
1
Stribling
29 E 64 St.
#3B
$2,900,000
2
3
Brown Harris Stevens
422 E 72 St.
#4A
$1,695,000
2
2
Brown Harris Stevens
530 Park Ave.
#14H
$2,469,256
Grade Pending (17) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
45 E 62 St.
#3A
$5,425,000
3
4
Corcoran
530 Park Ave.
#15F
$1,950,000 2
2
Corcoran
Grade Pending (19) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or nonfood areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Not Graded Yet (28) Toilet facility not provided for employees or for patrons when required.
1491 Lexington Avenue
A
1396 Madison Avenue
2
#9D
Starbucks Coffee
Pure Food
$1,795,000
#4E
A
1257 Park Avenue
$19,600,000 #5E
233 E 69 St.
1779 Lexington Avenue
Winston & Tee Express Jerk Chicken And Caribbean
$1,650,000
1175 York Ave.
Mexican Restaurant
China House 1624 Madison Avenue Chinese Restaurant
Lenox Hill
BR BA Listing Brokerage
Aromas Boutique Bakery & Cafe
2248 1 Avenue
A
Milenio Bakery
2030 Third Avenue
A
Midtown Midtown E
530 Park Ave.
#3A
$5,804,025
40 E 66 St.
#2A
$3,195,000
350 E 62 St.
#2K
$499,000
1
1
Town Residential
943 Lexington Ave.
#6B
$4,150,000
4
3
Brown Harris Stevens
200 E 66Th St.
#B0606
$6,104,408
340 E 64 St.
#11L
$650,000
110 E 57 St.
#6B
$418,000
2 E 55 St.
#1001
$4,327,050
207 E 57 St.
#30A
$3,910,000
3
3
Corcoran
240 E 55 St.
#9C
$367,000
0
1
Town Residential
245 E 54 St.
#28G
$610,000
1
1
Next Stop Ny
245 E 54 St.
#16F
$695,000
1
1
Next Stop Ny
StreetEasy.com is New York’s most accurate and comprehensive real estate website, providing consumers detailed sales and rental information and the tools to manage that information to make educated decisions. The site has become the reference site for consumers, real estate professionals and the media and has been widely credited with bringing transparency to one of the world’s most important real estate markets.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
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PAGE 13
CELEBRITY Q AND A
Chronicling A Mother’s Long-Distance Love tell you that you still can, once you go there, say “no.” I knew that would not be an option for me. It would push all the buttons in me where I’d been rejected. I also knew I couldn’t go by a picture.
In her new play, Upper West Sider Corinne Chateau goes to the Republic of Georgia to bring her baby home
So you went to Georgia to see the baby. What was that like?
By Angela Barbuti Mothers say that holding their children for the first time is the ultimate example of immediate unconditional love. Corinne Chateau felt that deep connection when she held Cali, only he wasn’t her son, but a baby she had seen in a picture and traveled a great distance to meet. A career- driven actress, Chateau had waited to have children, and finally decided on adopting internationally. I met her at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater just before a dress rehearsal for her play, The Sun Shines East, which tells of her tumultuous, yet incredible path to becoming a mother. “One thing about being a mother is not giving up. There were so many opportunities where we could have,” she said.
In your thirties, you were focused on your career and hadn’t thought about a family. My whole life was acting. That was my obsession, and what I cared about. I was an only child, and didn’t have the kind of mother who was around too much. The important thing in my life was to do something, not so much be a wife or mother. And then, in my late 30s, I came to a kind of existential moment when I said, “What am I doing with my life? Is it just about getting an acting job? It’s got to be more than that.”
When you came to the realization that you wanted a child, were you married? I was living with my future husband, Brian Hickey, who I met at The Actors Studio. We had been living together for four years and then we married. That was after my first pregnancy, which was a miscarriage, and then I had a second one a few years later. I was perfectly healthy, and never anticipated miscarrying.
How did your interest in adoption begin? The famous Swedish actress Bibi Anderson was in New York. It was the time of the Bosnian war and she was dedicated to helping
PAGE 14
The actress with her son Cali artists and people suffering in Sarajevo. I met her through a friend and helped her fundraise. Her dedication to helping these people who were under siege really moved me. After hearing about all the orphans, I ended up calling the UN and asking if people were adopting them. They said that they were not allowing foreign adoption. Somehow, that just triggered something in me.
How did you decide on the Republic of Georgia? I knew I wasn’t going to do a domestic adoption. I mean, that’s great, but I was pulled to something distant, but it was also east. And my mother’s side, which I didn’t know very much about, comes from the East. My mother was born in Warsaw and escaped with her mother and grandmother during the War. Something about the Republic of Georgia - the Golden Fleece, the high mountains -there was some kind of mystique for me, like a spiritual pull to that place. I also think the process had to be difficult for me to know that I really wanted to do it, that I wasn’t just going to change my mind tomorrow.
You knew you wanted an infant, right? Yes, that was the other thing. I did investigate Russia, but I heard it was impossible to get babies under a year old. It was very important for me to get as young as possible. I knew, somehow instinctively, the younger the better because of what happens in all those months that the baby is not getting the love, attention, and stimulation he or she needs.
You got a picture of Cali first. With international adoption, they have a coordinator here and one in that country. Our son was relinquished in a hospital. I got the picture, and could say “yes” or “no.” And they
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Within three days, my husband and I knew for sure. Cali was three months old at the time. It was not a good situation in Georgia at the time, because they had just come out of civil war. There was no heat, electricity, nothing in the stores. Unbeknownst to us, the president of Georgia’s wife, Mrs. Shevardnadze, was on this very fierce campaign against Georgian orphans leaving the country. She was trying to make it so that people could not adopt children, even if they were languishing and dying, which they were. The year that we adopted our son, 20 babies died in the orphanage.
You came back to America without him, and learned there was a moratorium on adoption. We got on our own campaign to write to senators, congressmen, the Pope, anybody who we thought might feel passionate about helping this child. Our adoption person in California wanted to change us to another program because she had experience with these countries that would go on with the process forever. But we had seen Cali and held him in our arms. In the photo we took, I really felt he was telling me, “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you.”
Then you decided to go back to Georgia. I started to read up on the effects of emotional deprivation on children, and that every day is so crucial in the life of a baby. I was terrified that if it took too long to get him, maybe he’d have attachment problems. After three months, I told Brian we couldn’t wait any longer. Our case became very political. My husband knew a man who knew Congressman Gilman of upstate New York. By chance, Congressman Gilman had relations with the Republic of Georgia. He managed to get a verbal promise for the release of our baby. All we needed was this signature from the Minister of Education. It wasn’t easy to get the visas, but we ended up going to Georgia for two months.
What did you do there for two months?
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We stayed with this fantastic family. We slept on the floor. Every day, we’d be driven to the hospital and spent about five hours with Cali. Brian went over first and warned me, “Be prepared when you see him, he’s a little depressed.” The miracle of the whole thing was that every day that we were there, Cali got better. The Minister of Education didn’t speak a word of English, and I had to go through a translator. I was shaking like a leaf, trying to communicate. He kept saying, “We’ll try. We’ll see what we can do.” And then three days later, he gave his word.
How did you turn this story into a play? I felt that the story had been so miraculous, so I wanted to share it. I had an image of the long hallway in the hospital - dank, cold, and dark. And as I was walking toward the end of it, where I was going to see this baby for the first time, it was like a near-death experience. Your whole life flashes in front of you. I first wrote it as a short story, then I created a one-woman show. I then brought it to the Actors Studio and performed it in little theaters. I went back to the studio to do it as an improvisation. Ellen Burstyn, the artistic director of The Actors Studio and the moderator that day, said, “Why don’t you try to make a play of this?”
Your husband was by your side though the entire process. How is he represented in the play? In the play, the husband goes along with it because he loves his wife and wants to be supportive. But once he sees the baby, he completely changes. Then he does everything, writing all the letters, day in and day out, that were absolutely necessary. He becomes so intense, that he’s almost the one who has to push his wife and say, “Are you going to give up?”
Cali is now 17 and looking at colleges. Has he seen the rehearsals? He hasn’t. He’ll go see the play. I’m nervous about him seeing it. Even though it’s based on real events, the play is fictionalized. I made the baby a girl, because I wanted to have a little distance, for his sake. The Sun Shines East is playing until February 16th. For tickets, visit https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/ pr/931176 Follow the show on Twitter: @SunShinesEast
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