Our Town February 26th, 2015 by Our Town

The local paper for the Upper er East Side

OURTOWNNY.COM

A GUIDE TO TEENS AND CAMPS < SPECIAL SECTION STARTING ON P.15

SEAWRIGHT’S FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS

45 Years and Counting

FEBRUARY - MARCH

26-4 2015

OurTownEastSide @OurTownNYC

In Brief GOOD NEWS, AND BAD, ON TRAFFIC SAFETY

NEWS New East Side assemblywoman introduces bill to stop the M.T.S. BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS

Rebecca Seawright, the newly elected assemblywoman representing the Upper East Side, introduced her first piece of legislation at her inauguration ceremony on Sunday: a bill designed to stop the marine transfer station at East 91st Street. The legislation would require the immediate suspension of construction on the MTS if 2,500 New York City residents sign a petition saying they have serious health and safety concerns about the project. Construction could only resume after at least two public hearings and a supplemental environmental review. “It’s specifically drafted for the 91st Street MTS, but it can easily be amended to include other waste transfer stations in the city,” said Rebecca Graham, counsel to Seawright. Seawright, the first woman to represent the 76th District in the Assembly, said the bill delivers on her campaign promise to fight the MTS through legislation if elected. “It’s really personal to me to now see the potential of this going forward,” Seawright said of the MTS. “It’s just unconscionable that this could go through and I really felt strongly that this should be my first piece of legislation.” Several East Side politicians have sought in the last few years to highlight the health and safety issues inherent in building an access ramp through Asphalt

Illustration by John Winkleman

BOOKS FOR GENERATIONS Argosy Book Store has been selling rare and old books for the past 90 years BY PANYIN CONDUAH

Every week for the rest of the year, Our Town will celebrate its 45th anniversary by profiling a neighborhood business that has been around longer than we have. Know of a local business that should be on our list? Email us at news@strausnews.com. Tucked between commercial chain stores and big apartment buildings on East 59th Street lies an old and rare bookstore, an outlier in a city once known as “book

country.” Argosy’s Book Store began as the vision of Louis Cohan, who started by buying cheap books while in his 20s, eventually acquiring enough to open his own store. For 90 years, the bookstore has collected and sold various old and rare books, maps and prints. The family business has continued through three generations, and it’s now handled by Cohan’s daughters and nephew. While the few existing independent book stores try to appeal to customers through selling both new and used books, Argosy’s likes to keep itself vintage. “It’s another world,” said Naomi

Hample, one of the Cohan sisters, of the traditional bookselling industry. “It’s another business working with publishers and discounting books and so on which is not interesting. There’s not much romance in that.” Hample remembers as a child being drawn to the family business when she performed small tasks for her father and marveled over stories of quirky customers. She’s spent the past 60 years observing the awe in new customers’ faces when they ﬁrst visit the store. People from all over the world browse

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

City officials rolled out an unusually ambitious plan to tackle pedestrian traffic deaths in the city. The plan, outlined by Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and Police Commissioner William Bratton, targets dozens of areas and intersections that account for a disproportionate number of fatalities, and proposes street sign, enforcement and engineering solutions to make them safer. The hope is that by zeroing in on trouble spots -- similar to how the NYPD used data to focus its efforts on highcrime areas -- some progress can ﬁnally be made. That’s the good news. What’s depressing is that, in laying out its plan, the city is forced to chronicle the scale of a problem that is worse in Manhattan than in any other borough. Nationwide, for instance, pedestrians account for about 14 percent of all traffic fatalities. In Manhattan, the number is 58 percent, and as high as 73 percent in walking-centric areas like midtown. Even worse: while seniors account for only 14 percent of Manhattan’s population, they represent 41 percent of its pedestrian fatalities, an astonishing disparity. “Over the past 30 years, we have made tremendous progress in traffic safety,” Trottenberg and Bratton write in their introduction. “Motor vehicles, however, continue to seriously injure or kill a New Yorker about every two hours.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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2 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

DE BLASIO HEADS TO ALBANY TO PUSH NYC’S AGENDA Rent control. A higher minimum wage. The Dream Act. Greater investments in public education. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will head to Albany this week with a sprawling agenda and no shortage of political challenges.

De Blasio’s visit comes at an unusually turbulent time in the Capitol, one that could prove pivotal to the always fractious relationship between City Hall and the Capitol. Manhattan Democrat Sheldon Silver — long the city’s key advocate — is out as Assembly speaker, consumed by a corruption scandal. New Speaker Carl Heastie of the Bronx could be a formidable ally for de Blasio, but his leadership is untested. While they profess their friendship, the mayor and Gov.

Mayor de Blasio at a press conference earlier this year announcing his affordable housing plan; he will be pushing for support of the plan from Albany this week. Credit: Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office

Andrew Cuomo often don’t see eye to eye. De Blasio’s relations with Senate Republican leaders are even frostier, with many in the GOP linking de Blasio to an agenda that they see as too liberal, too expensive and too urban. The tension isn’t new. Albany has long been the arena for bruising sparring between mayors, lawmakers and governors contending for power, inﬂuence and budget allocations. “It’s the largest city in the country, and the state’s economic engine, but the city can’t do very much without the state’s approval,” said Darren Dopp, who was an aide to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. “The mayor has to come through the governor and the world of Albany in order to achieve his goals.” The stakes this year may be especially big — not only for the city but for de Blasio, Cuomo and Heastie. The state laws governing the city’s rent stabilization rules are set to expire in June. The rules regulate the rents of 1 million apartments occupied by more than 2 million city residents. Lawmakers could vote to strengthen, weaken, or simply renew the rules — which

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to progressives like de Blasio represent a key way of ensuring the city remains affordable at all income levels. De Blasio also supports letting New York City raise its minimum wage to $13. Cuomo has suggested raising the statewide minimum to $10.50 and letting the city raise it to $11.50. Republicans have dismissed de Blasio’s proposed increase as too large and a Cuomo spokeswoman called it a “non-starter.” Affordable housing is another top de Blasio priority likely to be featured in his address to lawmakers Wednesday. His vision focuses on Sunnyside Yards, a 200-acre rail yard in Queens where de Blasio wants to put thousands of affordable housing units. The idea got a cold reception from Cuomo. De Blasio and Cuomo may also be at odds over Cuomo’s proposed educational reforms, which include allowing more charter schools in New York City and an overhaul of the teacher evaluation and tenure system. Both men support the Dream Act — which would extend ﬁnancial aid to students in the country illegally — but Senate Republicans do not. The governor and mayor have

known each other since both worked in the Clinton administration and say they’re good friends. Their relationship has had its bumps, however, when it comes to policy and administrative matters. Last year they clashed over de Blasio’s plan for universal prekindergarten. In the fall Cuomo instituted a new Ebola quarantine policy for the city’s airports — without telling the mayor. Last month Cuomo gave the mayor a few minutes’ notice before he announced an unprecedented shut down city subways in advance of an approaching snow storm.

FIRST BABY KING PENGUIN HATCHED AT CENTRAL PARK ZOO The Central Park Zoo welcomed the ﬁrst ever baby king penguin to New York City on Feb. 17th. The brown feathered penguin was hatched in August but then sequestered for six months in the company of his parents, and while his growth was monitored by zoo staff, according to DNAinfo. King penguins are native to the Falkland Islands and other islands near Antarctica. The zoo mimics those conditions,

GRACIE SQUARE HOSPITAL Each week we will cover a different topic and provide prizes and healthy food samples to participants.

including by regulating the temperature and lighting, which in turn invites the penguins there to mate, the report said. DNAinfo.com

COURT: NO INFLATION PAY ON RECOVERED FUNDS OF MADOFF VICTIMS A federal appeals court ruled that thousands of victims of Bernard Madoff’s multibilliondollar fraud are not entitled to interest or inﬂation when they get a share of recovered funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission said publicly in 2009 and again before a bankruptcy judge that Madoff’s victims should get an inﬂation adjustment. But the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said that was inconsistent with the SEC’s position in other cases. The SEC declined to comment on the ruling, issued Feb. 20th. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison in North Carolina for presiding over a Ponzi scheme that cost investors about $20 billion over several decades. AP

Invites the community to join us for National Nutrition Month Come and Sample Healthy Treats Celebrate with us every Wednesday for the month of March from 12PM – 2PM in the Main Lobby of Gracie Square Hospital located at: 420 East 76th Street (between First and York Avenue)

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) and the other Member Institutions of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System (the System Member institutions) are each operated by a separate not-for-proﬁt corporation. Neither NYPH nor NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System, Inc. employs or supervises the medical staff of the System Member institutions, is licensed to provide medical care to patients at any System Member institution or operates any System Member institution.

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 3

CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

EX-NY ASSEMBLY SPEAKER SHELDON SILVER INDICTED ON 3 CHARGES

Week to Date

Year to Date

2015 2014 % Change

Murder

n/a

Rape

n/a

Robbery

100

37.5

Felony Assault

100

-6.7

Burglary

100

-57.5

cluded in the indictment, though no explanation was offered. Silver will now have to enter a plea at an arraignment scheduled for Tuesday to charges that include two forms of honest services fraud, plus extortion under the color of official duties. “Our client is not guilty. We can now begin to ﬁght for his total vindication. We intend to do that fighting where it should be done -- in court,” Silver’s lawyers, Joel Cohen and Steve Molo, said in a statement. Silver has said he is conﬁdent he will be exonerated. Silver’s arrest came after he had led the Assembly for over 20 years, becoming one of the most powerful and savvy figures in New York state politics. But prosecutors said there was a dark side to his reputation as a potent backroom operator who played a major role in state budgets and laws, controlling which lawmakers sat on which committees and what bills got a vote. The government said he had collected nearly $4 million in bribes and kickbacks since 2002 and disguised the proceeds as legitimate income. The Democrat has since resigned as speaker but has said he intends to keep his Assembly seat.

Grand Larceny

4.5

152

157

-3.2

MISDIRECTIONS

Grand Larceny Auto

n/a

33.3

A bad guy took advantage of a good Samaritan. At 1:30 a.m. on Sunday,

The indictment was returned in Manhattan federal court, where he appeared brieﬂy last month when he was freed on bail just a day after sharing the stage with Gov. Andrew Cuomo during his State of the State address. The indictment doesn’t add to the charges against Silver when he was arrested, but it’s a critical step that provides a legal roadmap for prosecutors’ presentation of evidence at trial. Two conspiracy charges contained in a criminal complaint were not in-

Former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was indicted Thursday on three charges after his arrest in a federal bribery case.

STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th Precinct for Feb. 9 to Feb. 15

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February 15, a man walked up to a 26-year-old woman at the intersection of 92nd Street and First Avenue and asked her for directions. As she was answering him, he snatched her handbag and ran westbound. The victim lost $300 in cash plus a purse valued at $300, making a total haul of $600.

until February of 2015. The total haul amounted to some $90,000. The employee ﬂed when confronted with her misdeeds, and police expect that an arrest will be imminent because her identity is known.

A TURN FOR THE PURSE

A high-end handbag proved the downfall of an ambitious thief. At 4 p.m. on Sunday, February 15, a 31-yearold man entered a renowned Madison Avenue retail establishment, took a handbag from a display case, and left the store without paying for the item. Police subsequently arrested the man, charging him with grand larceny and returning the handbag to the store. The pricey property was valued at $21,000.

It pays to give other pedestrians wide berth, even if you are bundled up in your bulkiest winter clothes. At 8 a.m. on Monday, February 9, a 42-year-old woman was walking on 84th Street near Third Avenue when an unknown person bumped into her, and she felt a tug. She discovered that her purse, containing a wallet ﬁlled with credit cards and cash, had been snatched. Fortunately, no charges have turned up on the cards. The woman was out $400 in cash plus her purse valued at $600, making a total of $1,000.

EMPLOY-EEEEE!

A CASE OF THE BUMPS

One Madison Avenue boutique certainly knows who NOT to name as employee of the year! In a report ﬁled with police on Thursday, February 19th, the manager of the establishment said that he had noticed merchandise missing from the store’s inventory. Upon reviewing the store’s video footage, he discovered that a 30-yearold female employee had been stealing clothing and accessories on a weekly or even daily basis from March of 2014

Yet another woman became the victim of a “bump-and-grab” robbery. At 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, February 15, a 26-year-old woman was walking on 62nd Street near Lexington Avenue when an unknown man bumped into her, and she discovered that her wallet was missing. The thief was last seen ﬂeeing towards Lexington Avenue. No unauthorized charges turned up on her credit cards, but the robber did get away with $400 in cash.

ACCESSORY TO A CRIME

4 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct

153 E. 67th St.

212-452-0600

FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13

159 E. 85th St.

311

FDNY Engine 39/Ladder 16

157 E. 67th St.

311

FDNY Engine 53/Ladder 43

1836 Second Ave.

311

FDNY Engine 44

221 E. 75th St.

311

FIRE

CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Daniel Garodnick

211 E. 43rd St. #1205

212-818-0580

Councilmember Ben Kallos

244 E. 93rd St.

212-860-1950

STATE LEGISLATORS State Sen. Jose M. Serrano

1916 Park Ave. #202

212-828-5829

State Senator Liz Krueger

1850 Second Ave.

212-490-9535

Assembly Member Dan Quart

360 E. 57th St.

212-605-0937

Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright

1365 First Ave.

212-288-4607

COMMUNITY BOARD 8

505 Park Ave. #620

212-758-4340

LIBRARIES Yorkville

222 E. 79th St.

212-744-5824

96th Street

112 E. 96th St.

212-289-0908

67th Street

328 E. 67th St.

212-734-1717

Webster Library

1465 York Ave.

212-288-5049

100 E. 77th St.

212-434-2000

HOSPITALS Lenox Hill NY-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell

525 E. 68th St.

212-746-5454

Mount Sinai

E. 99th St. & Madison Ave.

212-241-6500

NYU Langone

550 First Ave.

212-263-7300

CON EDISON

4 Irving Place

212-460-4600

POST OFFICES US Post Office

1283 First Ave.

212-517-8361

US Post Office

1617 Third Ave.

212-369-2747

CITY TARGETS DANGEROUS INTERSECTIONS NEWS New D.O.T. program identifies most dangerous parts of the neighborhood BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS

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Tom Allon, Isis Ventures, Ed Kayatt, Russ Smith, Bob Trentlyon, Jerry Finkelstein

City officials plans to target dozens of the most dangerous intersections citywide for trafﬁc safety improvements. Specific objectives are detailed in the DOT’s pedestrian safety action plans for each borough, an initiative tied to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s broader Vision Zero effort to reduce pedestrian fatalities across the city. In Manhattan, the department found that from 2011 to 2013, both drivers and pedestrians were found to each be at fault in 43 percent of collisions. In the remaining 13 percent it was a mixture of fault between drivers and pedestrians. Of Manhattan’s over 3,700 intersections, the Department of Transportation selected 66 with the highest number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured as ones to focus on for safety improvements. The department is looking to lengthen the crossing time for pedestrians at each of these intersections by the end of 2017.

Other improvements include modifying signal timing to reduce off-peak speeding and significantly expanding pedestrian crossing times along priority corridors. The plan also includes bike lane implementation and street safety education components. Broadway on the Upper West Side is included as a priority corridor, and the intersections of Broadway and 72nd Street, 86th Street and 106th Street are regarded as priority intersections. West 71st Street at Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue is also a priority intersection. On the Upper East Side, the DOT identiﬁed 1st Avenue, 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue as priority corridors as well as four priority intersections. Councilmember Ben Kallos said many of the planned improvements on the Upper East Side were actually part of his Safe Streets initiative last year, a report that gathered crowdsourced suggestions from constituents on intersections in the district that are in dire need of safety improvements. “Several of the intersections that were in the Dept. of Transportation’s Pedestrian Safety Action Plan for Manhattan were actually in our report,” said Kallos.

UPPER EAST SIDE Pedestrians Seriously Injured

Pedestrians Killed

62nd Street and 1st Avenue

79th Street and 2nd Avenue

75th Street and 1st Avenue

86th Street and Lexington Avenue

Pedestrians Seriously Injured

Pedestrians Killed

106th Street and Broadway

86th Street and Broadway

72nd Street and Broadway

71st Street and Broad./ Amsterdam

UPPER WEST SIDE

Those intersections include 79th Street and 2nd Avenue and 62nd Street and 1st Avenue, as well as some sections of the priority corridors. In addition, the DOT identiﬁed 86th Street and Lexington Avenue and 75th Street and 1st Avenue

as priority intersections. “The Safe Streets report paid off with the Dept. of Transportation in a way that it has not with any other neighborhood,” said Kallos.

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 5

ACTIVISTS TAKE AIM AT SHADOWS NEWS The Committee for Environmentally Sound Development has launched a fight against mega-towers that would cast more shadows on Central Park BY MEGAN BUNGEROTH

Olive Freud is rallying the community again, and the activist is willing to do whatever it takes – including following the lead of the late icon and preservation advocate Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis – to call attention to her cause. In 1987, Onassis teamed up with the Municipal Art Society and joined with over 800 fellow New Yorkers to demonstrate against office towers planned for Columbus Circle. To show the potential effect of the proposed 68- and 58-story buildings, the protestors, stretching from Columbus Circle to Fifth Avenue, opened hundreds of black umbrellas in a wave, symbolizing the shadows that would engulf the south end of Central Park. “One would hope that the city would act as protector of sun and light and clean air and space and parkland,” Onassis said at the time. “Those elements are essential to combat the stress of urban life.” While Onassis and her fellow activists succeeded in bringing attention to their cause and ultimately limiting the scope of the buildings, it’s clear that hers was only the first volley in an ongoing ﬁght to preserve the city’s public spaces. Now Freud, who lives on the Upper West Side and serves are president of the Committee for Environmentally Sound

BARRY LIEBMAN,

Development, is prepared to take up the mantle, and said she’s thinking of recreating the umbrella stunt. She’s successfully led grassroots campaigns against what she and fellow advocates single out as irresponsible – and, she says, sometimes illegal – development. Her latest victory, which she shared with fellow West Sider Cleo Dana and parks advocate Geoffrey Croft, among others, came when Fashion Week was escorted out of tiny Damrosch Park in Lincoln Center. The city agreed to settle the lawsuit brought by Freud and her allies when it became clear to a judge that the city’s agreement with the organizers of Fashion Week violated a state law protecting park space. Now Freud is taking aim at the more nebulous but no less urgent matter of shadows, and the gargantuan buildings casting them into Central Park. While she’s not the first person to gripe about the effects the current and planned mega-towers in midtown, Freud wants to muster robust support and get major zoning changes approved. Many critics have focused on the skyhigh prices these condo units fetch – many cost tens of millions of dollars – creating pockets of mega-wealthy residents. Freud, though, seeks to stir outrage against the environmental effects of the buildings themselves. “Developers want to build and the mayor wants more housing. There isn’t anybody who seems to be thinking about the environment,” Freud said. “When you put one of these buildings in, all these trucks have to come through. [There’s an impact on] traffic, infrastructure, sewers, the

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Workers Need Opportunity, Not Credit Check Roadblocks Stuart Appelbaum, President Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Activists are hoping to get zoning changes for the area around Central Park South to prevent more mega-towers from being built. Photo by Megan Bungeroth garbage system. Nobody talks about that. The developers run this city, there’s no doubt about it.” Freud hopes that focusing on the environmental impacts – of congestion, traffic, noise, diminished sunlight – generated by the towers will draw enough support to push city officials to alter zoning regulations that allow many of these residential buildings to be built without a public review process. “There’s a strong element in this city that doesn’t like what’s going on [with these developments],” Freud said. “I think you can catch people’s eyes and attention with the shadows.” While the shadows may certainly affect people’s enjoyment of the park, a spokesperson for the Central Park Conservancy said that current and future shadows cast by buildings would have no negative effect on ﬂora and fauna. On a recent frigid weekday afternoon in the park, several people said they don’t much notice particular shadows from buildings, but would still be in favor of limiting development around the park. The full petition (see sidebar) includes eight specific demands and asks that people sign and forward it to their appropriate city councilperson – Dan Garodnick on the East Side and Helen Rosenthal on the West Side – or to Manhat-

tan Borough President Gale Brewer. Kate Wood, president of the preservation group Landmark West and a signatory of the petition, said that many people in the city don’t realize that these super-tall towers can be built as-of-right, which is why it’s important to draw attention to the issue before construction starts. “What we’re seeing now is an unprecedented scale of development in the city, and what some people thought was confined to midtown in terms of mega-development is beginning its creep up the Upper West Side,” Wood said. Wood pointed to a pair of 400-foot high residential towers built on Broadway between 99th and 100th streets, in 2007. The Ariel East and West towers, as they were called by developer Extell, shocked nearby residents so much that they rallied for local zoning changes to limit the height allowance on Broadway, and got them. Activists are now hoping to stir up the same outrage and action to get results for the whole of Manhattan, before more towers are built. “This is really a grassroots effort of citizens who want to save their city,” Freud said. For more information on the petition and the campaign, contact Olive Freud at 212-877-4394 or elfreud@aol.com.

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ar too many New Yorkers are struggling to survive, and are desperate for jobs so they can support themselves and their families. But nowadays, applying for a job can mean an invasive credit check, and prospective employment can hinge on an applicant’s credit history. It’s not only an invasion of privacy, it’s a form of discrimination that affects job-seekers in black and Latino communities. And, it perpetuates a cycle of unemployment, poverty, and debt. By tying job applicants’ hopes to their credit history, those who need employment the most are being denied the opportunity to build better lives. That’s why there is legislation currently being considered by the New York City Council that would ban credit checks on job applicants by employers. It has strong support in the City Council, and it has our support as well. Banning credit checks across all industries, without exemptions except where required by law, would be a key move in helping build stronger communities and reducing unemployment. Credit history doesn’t determine job performance, and it isn’t a true arbiter on whether or not someone will be a good or trustworthy employee. Just having debt can lower someone’s credit score – whether it was accrued to pay for an education, medical bills, or unforeseen events. Debt Credit checks on is a part of life for many of us, and it’s not fair to hold that job applicants against people who are trying are an invasion to get a job. Denying people who are trying to repay their of privacy and debts the opportunity to often a form of work defies logic.

“

discrimination. With the current crisis of income inequality and the need to make our economy work again for working people, the last thing working people need is to be slammed by credit checks from potential employers. New York has been a place of opportunity, hope and upward mobility for generations. By passing credit check legislation, we can help keep it that way. Denying people who are trying to repay their debts the opportunity to work defies logic.

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6 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

Neighborhood Scrapbook MEET LAYLA DIAZ Layla Lynn Diaz was diagnosed with lymphoma last April, a few months shy of her second birthday. Layla is the daughter of Derek Diaz, the distribution manager at Straus News, who every week makes sure this newspaper gets from our office to your building or box. Derek writes this about Layla: “One person is diagnosed with cancer every couple of seconds and one in three people will be affected with cancer in their lifetime. Layla has showed that cancer will not deﬁne her, thanks to her unique strength, hope and determination. She has maintained her beautiful smile throughout all her treatments and lengthy heart-wrenching procedures and blood transfusions. Finding a cure starts with one person caring enough to donate for the cause.” To help the Diaz family defray their medical costs, please visit their fundraising page at http://de.gofund. me/8ng05s. They also accept donations through Paypal at deeone187@aol.com and have set up a Facebook page (Layla Lynn Diaz) for her and all her supporters. Please feel free to visit and share all links. Any questions, contact her parents at diazderek801@gmail.com. “Thank you in advance,” Derek writes, “and we pray that you and your families will never have to go through this.”

BE THE NEW YORKER WHO REALLY DOES KNOW IT ALL.

A LECTURE SERIES PRESENTED BY THE LAURA AND ISAAC PERLMUTTER CANCER CENTER. WEBINAR: RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY OPTIONS FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER. Breast reconstruction can help restore the look and feel of the breast after mastectomy. Learn the facts about the many surgical options available. In collaboration with SHARE: Self-Help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer. Date: Friday, March 6, 1:00pm – 2:00pm. Presenters: Deborah Axelrod, MD, FACS; Jamie Levine, MD. Info: For more information and registration, please visit bit.ly/SHAREreconstruction

UNDERSTANDING YOUR RISK OF DEVELOPING A SECOND CANCER. The American Society of Clinical Oncology has indicated that second cancers occur much more frequently, representing 19% of all new cancer diagnoses. This lecture will look at both pediatric and adult cancers, strategies to reduce a recurrence, and how a second cancer is treated differently. Survivors will share their stories. Date: Tuesday, March 10, 6:00pm – 7:30pm. Presenters: Sharon Gardner, MD; Marleen Meyers, MD. Location: NYU Langone Medical Center. 550 First Avenue at 31st Street. Alumni Hall B.

Info: To attend call 212.263.2266 or visit nyulmc.org/cancer-rsvp

These lectures are free and open to the public, but you must RSVP. View past lectures at youtube.com/nyulmc

A.G. SWIM TEAM IN LEHMAN MEET Swimmers from Asphalt Green’s AGUA team competed last weekend against both amateurs and professionals from Metropolitan Swimming at the Short Course Senior Championship at Lehman College. AGUA swimmers ages 11 to 25 raced well, with many swimming personal best times during the four-day event. The team placed fourth overall, with first-place finishes from Krystal Lara (pictured) in the 100 butterfly, John Nunez in the 500 freestyle, and En-Wei Hu-Van Wright in the 100 backstroke.

Share your news and what’s going on in your life. Go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 7

My Story

The Biking Menace BY BETTE DEWING â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bike are scaring the public to death!â&#x20AC;? Yup, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what then-Police Commissioner Ben Ward said a few decades ago. He meant messenger bikersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; red light-running, wrong-way and sidewalk riding, mostly operating in midtown. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why then-Mayor Koch tried to ban commercial bikes for certain hours in this densely crowded shopping area, something the Fifth Avenue Association strongly supported. As Ward implied, the greatest overall harm done is the stress engendered by this lawless riding. Far worse, of course, were resulting tragic pedestrian fatalities, and my Pedestrians First group held vigils for both 60-year-old Roderica Monk and 29-yearold Peggy Ryan, both killed by red-light running messenger bikes. Elected officials, David Dinkins, Bob Dryfoos and Carolyn Maloney turned out to support our vigil for Peggy Ryan. The dailies were duly distressed and The New York Times had me do an op-ed piece the editor titled, â&#x20AC;&#x153;New York Bikers, Too Free Wheeling and a Public Menace!â&#x20AC;? The midtown ban didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen, thanks mainly to ďŹ erce opposition from the City Dept. Of Transportation, which never saw a bike it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t love to be on the high density streets of New York, a city with superb public transit. But mainly it was, and is,

the silence of the majority of New Yorkers who fear this two-wheeled anarchy now scaring the careful walkers and drivers in every city area. And our government, whose ďŹ rst duty it is to protect public safety, continues to avidly push for more biking while doing nothing to make commercial and other riders strictly adhere to the laws of the road. And now Citibike is invading even more neighborhoods with potentially more novice or heedless riders climbing aboard, creating more private wheel congestion and less riding on mass transit, by far the safest and most democratic way to travel. And as usual, at last weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s East 79th Street Neighborhood Association monthly meeting, the two-wheeled threat was again raised, this time by a woman who had been knocked down by a bicycle. It seemed what troubled her and her husband most was the mild concern from the police who ďŹ nally arrived at the accident scene. Unfortunately, Councilmember Ben Kallos arrived too late to hear this story or the ensuing discussion. But related is Kallosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; admission in the Our Town news piece, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Citibank Preps for Expansion,â&#x20AC;? that bikes are â&#x20AC;&#x153;one of the most controversial issues in the districtâ&#x20AC;ŚIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had thousands of conversations about bikesâ&#x20AC;Śenforcement, whether it is bike riders or pedestrians.â&#x20AC;? First of all, traffic lawbreaking is not an issue, but a very real public safety problem and crime. Of course, walkers must obey the laws, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the scofflaw biking that is scaring the public to death, by the countless

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near-misses and always being on guard for what former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern once said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;can be more frightening than a car because it is small, silent and can come at you from any direction.â&#x20AC;? Longtime E. 79th Neighborhood Association member Bob Mullins said unfortunately after the meeting, that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The official concern with the motorized delivery bike is misplaced because they are in the decided minority. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the regular food delivery riders ďŹ&#x201A;ying every which way who make getting to and from these meetings so dangerous. And most bikes donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the required head and tail lights to give us a ďŹ ghting chance!â&#x20AC;? Amen, Bob! And Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve long proposed that a portion of these evening civic meetings should be held outdoors for all to witness ďŹ rsthand the extent of the food delivery bike bedlam. Maybe then, at least this most ubiquitous two-wheeled anarchy can no longer be downplayed by elected officials or called a mere issue. Of course, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop there. And Big Apple citizens will be reknown for their safe walking habits. Imagine. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not an impossible dream if enough of us try. dewingbetter@aol.com

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8 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

Voices

Write to us: To share your thoughts and comments go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a letter to the editor.

LETTERS

MORE SUPPORT FOR THE HOMELESS To the Editor: I am a 10-year-old Girl Scout and I read your article, “Helping the Homeless.” I think that what DHS is doing about homeless people is a very good idea. A call that could take

less than ﬁve minutes but possibly save a life is something that more people should be doing each day, especially considering the amount of individuals and families that are homeless. Our leaders (the mayor, the

city council, the government) could get involved only by publishing, posting, or televising ANYTHING about this issue. Our leaders should help or join DHS and publicize it. As long as we get more people

to help, lives coud be spared and there wouldn’t be such a staggering amount of homeless individuals in New York City. Clementine, Girl Scout Troop 3463

An aerial view of the site of the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station, which is being constructed next to Asphalt Green’s athletic ﬁelds.

TRANSFER STATION TRAFFIC PROPOSAL WOULD CREATE GRIDLOCK To the Editor: In a letter to the community, Friends of Asphalt Green suggests closing the E. 91st Street ramp to the transfer station (now under construction) and have garbage trucks use a new ramp to be created by eliminating the existing southbound entrance to the FDR at 92nd Street. While I am strongly opposed to the transfer station, I am also against closing the southbound 92nd Street FDR entrance. If that ramp were eliminated, traffic seeking access to the FDR would have to head south on either York or East End avenues to the next southbound FDR entrance, at 79th Street. Since left turns are not allowed from York Ave at 79th Street, the only other option for cars is via East End Ave. This street is already constantly clogged by cars and school busses waiting for students at Brearley and Chapin, two large private schools. There is also major construction at East End & 80th Street, as well as the turnaround of the 79th Street crosstown bus nearby. If cars proceed to the next southbound FDR entrance, at 63rd Street and York, drivers would face more delays and constant congestion due to the many hospitals in the area. I believe the proposal by Friends of Asphalt Green to solve traffic problems at 91st Street would only move them to someone else’s streets. Peter Rosenblatt East End Avenue STRAUS MEDIA-MANHATTAN President, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Vice President/CFO Otilia Bertolotti Vice President/CRO Vincent A. Gardino advertising@strausnews.com

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Sr. Account Executive, Tania Cade Account Executive Fred Almonte, Susan Wynn

Editor In Chief, Kyle Pope editor.ot@strausnews.com Editor, Megan Bungeroth editor.otdt@strausnews.com

Staff Reporters, Gabrielle Alfiero, Daniel Fitzsimmons

Block Mayors, Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 9

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10 Our Townâ&#x20AC;&#x201A;FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

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Collette Consignment, 1298 Madison Ave. and 92nd St. 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Free. Come out for face painting and shopping for mothers to raise money for Every Mother Counts Organization. 212-348-9800. www. colletteconsignment.com

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92nd street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. between 91st and 92nd St. 5 p.m., $10 Adults, $15 Children. Dress up in your favorite costumes for some fun to celebrate Purim. Hamantaschen to be had! Open to all ages. 212-415-5500. www.92y. org/Event

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Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave. and 82nd St.

1 GREENWICH VILLAGE ORCHESTRA CONCERT Washington Irving High School Auditorium, 40 Irving Pl. and 17th St. 3 p.m., $15. The Greenwich Village Orchestra will perform Mahlerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s momentous Symphony No. 5. Barbara Yahr conducts. 646-341-0993. www.gvo. org

PURIM CARNIVAL

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5-8 p.m., Free with admission. Contemporary classic crusaders Ethel entertains with works for string quartet. 212-535-7710. www. metmuseum.org/events/ programs/concerts-andperformances/

â&#x2013;˛ HARLEM IS... THEATER NY Library of Performing Arts - Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman center, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza and 66th St. 12-7 p.m., Free. This multimedia exhibition illustrates 200 years of black theatre in Harlem. Memorabilia, photos and ďŹ lm will take you back to the 1960s explosion of black theatre productions. 917-275-6975. www. nypl.org/events/exhibitions/ harlem-theater

â&#x2013;˛ HAYES GREENFIELD GIVE ME SOUND 13th Street Repertory Theatre, 50 West 13th St. and Union Square. 11 a.m.-12 p.m., $15. Children ages 3-7 yrs old will enjoy this interactive show making imaginative sounds sculptures. 212-868-0190. www.13thstreetrep.org/

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 11

▲ “MICHELE PRED: CHOICE” Nancy Hoffman Chelsea Gallery, 520 West 27th St. Dr., between 10th and 11th Aves. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Michele Pred’s art explores how the personal is political. 212-868-0190. www. nancyhoffmangallery.com

Fordham University, 113 West 60th St. and Columbus Ave. 6:30 p.m., Free. Come out to the monthly community board meeting to learn about neighborhood updates and to voice your opinion. 212-362-4008. www.nyc. gov/html/mancb7/

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT FOR KIDS Chatham Square Library, 33

Take a trip back to the 90’s with this musical, a spinoff of the TV show Saved By the Bell. 212-388-0388. www. baysidethemusical.com

PURIM CARNIVAL West End Synagogue, 190 Amsterdam Ave. and 69th ST. 5-8 p.m., $5 for 10 tickets, $10 for 10 tickets at the door. Come celebrate Purim with this fun carnival. Buy tickets in advance to participate in games and enjoy events. 212-579-0777. www. westendsynagogue.org

5 “QUIT THE ROAD, JACK” - NEW COMEDY ABOUT NAFTA

▲ HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS 92nd Street Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall, 1395 Lexington Ave. between 91st and 92nd sts. 10:30 a.m. Come out and celebrate both Dr. Seuss’ Birthday and the ﬁrst day of the National Education Association’s Read Across America initiative. 212-415-5576. www.92y. org/Event/Happy-BirthdayDr-Seuss

3 COMMUNITY BOARD 7

E. Broadway and Madison St. 3:30 p.m., Free with admission. Come to Chatham Square to learn some basic science with some fun experiments. This week kids will make a Lemon Battery. 212-673-6344. www.nypl.org/events/ calendar?location=15

4 BAYSIDE THE MUSICAL Theatre 80, 80 St. Marks Pl. between First and Second aves. 8 p.m., $45.

TheaterLab, 355-357 West 36th St. 8 a.m., $18. Two parents search for their runaway son and run into North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) issues. By Jerry Polner, whose comedy is frequently seen in NYC. Director: Jonathan Warman. 718-965-0486.

JAZZ CONCERT AND CD RELEASE PARTY: MARK WADE TRIO Somethin’ Jazz Club, 212 E. 52nd St., Third Fl. 7-8:30 p.m., $12 cover (cash only). The Mark Wade Trio (Wade, bass; Tim Harrison, piano; Scott Neumann, drums) performs selections from the critically acclaimed debut CD “Event Horizon,” featuring Wade’s original jazz compositions. 212-371-7657. www. markwademusicny.com

You Never Forget Who You Grew Up With. The rough touch of tree bark, the scent of freshly mowed grass, the gentle hum of pollinating bees as a flower blossoms — green spaces touch lives and all five senses. Green spaces are a vital part of growing up — they enhance lives, make memories and connect people with their neighborhoods and communities. Be a part of preserving and enhancing green spaces where we live, work and play. To volunteer, to learn how to help your community and to donate, visit ProjectEverGreen.org or call toll-free (877) 758-4835.

projectevergreen.org (877) 758-4835

12 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

DUBUFFET’S EARLY, EARTHY WORKS EXHIBITIONS A new, ground-up view of the artist at MoMA BY MARY GREGORY

We in New York have been lucky to have had ample opportunities to get to know the work of Jean Dubuffet. The French artist’s monumental sculptures have been on public display many times throughout the city. Chase Manhattan Plaza, downtown, is home to Four Trees, a permanent exhibit of an enormous black and white representation of abstracted trees that give the sense of almost drawings or paper cut-outs. Late in his career, starting in the 1960’s, Dubuffet created a series of works he titled “L’Hourloupe.” They’re distinctive, flattened, cartoonish visions of an imagined reality. Comprised of black outlined shapes, ﬁlled with white and sometimes patches of red or blue, they’re bright and bold. The Museum of Modern Art is presenting a whole different view of Dubuffet, and it’s one that may surprise many visitors. Dubuffet’s earlier work was quite different. Senior curator of prints and drawings, Jodi Hauptman, and associate curator, Sarah Suzuki, have drawn together a fascinating group from the museum’s own collection that show the depth and complexity of Dubuffet’s vision, focusing on works from the 1940s and 50s. In these paintings, drawings, lithographs and sculptures one senses tremendous energy, creativity and imagination, along with a good sized dose of irreverence and humor. Perhaps the most striking thing, though, is to witness the artist’s incredibly inventive use of materials. Dubuffet experimented relentlessly. He pushed the envelope on how to make art. In the works in Soul of the Underground, Dubuffet gave new meaning to the word “earthy.” He made pictures built of leaves and dirt, sand and gravel, crumpled aluminum foil and lots of other unidentifiable

bits of detritus. The truly astonishing thing, though, is how beautifully they compose into serious works of art. Soil Ornamented with Vegetation, Dead Leaves, Pebbles, Diverse Debris, a 1956 work of oil and all of the above on canvas, is a complex and lyrical abstraction, on par with works being done by contemporaries like Jackson Pollock, Mark Tobey, or Cy Twombly. It’s a classic example of all-over painting, in which foreground, background and perspective are abandoned, and a calligraphic, flattened abstraction fills the frame. It’s worth putting your nose as close as you can to see what went into the making of these uniquely creative works. Dubuffet wrote, “Art must be born from the material,” and his materials were integral to his art. He mixed dirt and sand into his paints and then gouged into them with palette knives and brush handles, as did Rembrandt a few hundred years earlier. But, where Rembrandt sought to create a perfect image of reality, Dubuffet was after the thing, itself. His landscapes are created from pieces of land. They’re plowed and planted with the very elements they depict – soil, twigs and leaves. Dubuffet’s art was constantly challenging notions of beauty. His portraits, of which there are several in the exhibition, are filled with exaggerations, grotesqueness, and wit. Portrait of Henri Michaux, made of oil, putty, pebbles, and sand on canvas, shows the face of a man dwarfed by his ears. His buttons define his body and arms and hands swerve wildly about him. Another portrait, Carrot Nose, is even funnier than it sounds. In a series of lithographs, in which Dubuffet also introduced astonishing innovations in material, a charming little bird perches atop a wall of massive squares, and hilarious faces peek out from behind beards run amok. They show the artist’s interest in both surrealism and naïve art, or as he termed it, “Art Brut.” The pieces in the exhibition have a an undeniable roughness to them, as

Jean Dubuffet (French, 1901–1985).Bird Perched on the Corner of the Wall (Angle de mur à l’oiseau perché). 1945.Lithograph, sheet: 14 3/8 x 11 in. (36.5 x 27.9 cm)The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph F. Colin, 1965.©2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York /ADAGP, Paris.Photograph by Thomas Griese Dubuffet tried to bring across his vision through the materials he thought best expressed it. “Mud, rubbish and dirt are man’s companions all his life; shouldn’t they be precious to him, and isn’t one doing man a service to remind him of their beauty?” he once asked. It was through these rough elements that Dubuffet created remarkable things.

In Soul of the Underground, MoMA’s exquisite exhibition, Hauptman and Suzuki have revealed the soul of the artist. He was constantly challenging, questioning, and, they point out, provoking. But it was always a kind eye, one feels, that he turned on his subjects. They may be rough, but they’re lovingly presented and always with warmth and humor.

The exhibition runs through April 5th. See it by yourself or with an adult and you may see a wrinkled brow, as schools and influences and materiality all raise questions. But a child, through whose language the works seem to speak—or the child within you—is more likely to react with a smile.

5 TOP

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 13

The Mirror Visions Ensemble The Mirror Visions Ensemble

FOR THE WEEK

SubCulture

BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO

45 Bleecker Street, downstairs

OUR ARTS EDITOR

GALLERIES

“IN THE STUDIO” Dual photography and painting exhibitions at separate Gagosian galleries explore the private world of artist’s studios. At the Chelsea gallery, paintings from the mid-16th through 20th centuries depict studio spaces and the relationships between models and artists, with work by Thomas Eakins, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera and nearly 40 additional artists. Uptown, more than 150 photographs, including work by Cindy Sherman and fashion and portrait photographer Richard Avedon, uncover the intimate nature of the studio setting, as well as the aesthetics of a space that is both professional and domestic. Through April 18 Gagosian Gallery 980 Madison Avenue and 522 West 21st Street Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. FREE

Tuesday, March 10 at 7:30pm $20 (GA), $15 (students) www.mirrorvisions.org www.subculturenewyork.com

MUSIC ROMANTIC PIANO QUARTETS

KIDS ELSA AT THE STRAND As temperatures ﬂirt with negative integers and snow blankets the Northeast, Princess Elsa from Walt Disney Pictures’ 2013 blockbuster phenomenon “Frozen” blows into Strand Books for a meet-and-greet, read-aloud and craft hour with her young fans, before the city thaws out. Feb. 28 and March 1 Strand Books 828 Broadway at 12th Street 2 p.m.-3 p.m. FREE

THEATER SCREENING OF “DAMES OF BROADWAY” WITH KRISTIN CHENOWETH In a screening of an original show developed for Lincoln Center, Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda in “Wicked” and also had turns in television’s “The West Wing” and “Glee,” pays tribute to Broadway’s female show-stoppers—and recounts her own trials as a hustling actress. Following the screening, theater critic and historian Peter Filichia discusses the roles for women in theater. Thursday, March 5 Jefferson Market Library 425 Avenue of the Americas, at W. 10th Street 6:30 p.m. FREE

To be included in the Top 5 go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

something

us to

into

Choreographer David Parker’s company the Bang Group, which calls the stage at the West End Theater on the Upper West Side home, crosses the park to bring its rhythmic performances to 92nd Street Y’s Harkness Dance Festival with “Tap Lab,” a performance that combines both classic and experimental tap movements. Feb. 27-March 1 92nd Street Y Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street Assorted show times Tickets $25-$29

THE BANG GROUP: TAP LAB

have

DANCE

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s artistic directors, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, reunite with violinist Daniel Hope and violist Paul Neubauer for a program of both bright and frenetic quartets by Mahler, Schumann and Brahms. The group will tour the program following its Lincoln Center engagements. March 1 and March 3 Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall, Starr Theater 1941 Broadway, on 65th Street 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets $30-$82

you You’d look

Email us at news@strausnews.com

14 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml. Kennedy Fried Chicken

1316 5 Avenue

China House Chinese Restaurant

1624 Madison Avenue A

King Food

2036 2 Avenue

Not Graded Yet (32) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. 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 hand-drying device not provided. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.

Dong’s Great Wok Garden Ii 1631 Lexington Ave

Bagels & Co.

1428 York Avenue

Grade Pending (3)

Little Vincent’s Pizza

1399 2Nd Ave

Not Graded Yet (23) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked ﬁsh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

More neighborhood celebrations? neighborhood opinions? neighborhood ideas? neighborhood feedback? neighborhood concerns?

Email us at news@strausnews.com

BOOKS FOR GENERATIONS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 through the six ﬂoors that hold old American history pieces, ﬁrst edition printed books and a gallery of famous autographs. Getting up close with the material is a huge part of the experience. Bubbles and cracks in the binding show the journey of the books and add value to classics that have aged with the business. “I think part of the

SEAWRIGHT’S FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Green that would bring an estimated 720 tons of waste per day to the transfer station on the East River. The neighborhood, already troubled by pedestrian safety issues, is home to thousands of public housing residents, Asphalt Green’s soccer ﬁelds and a children’s park. Seawright said she began working on the bill and building support for it soon after her win in the September primary. Several of her colleagues in the Assembly have expressed interest in supporting the bill. They include Linda Rosenthal, Dan Quart and Robert Rodriguez, she said. Seawright said she’s eager to broaden that support in Al-

pleasure is touching,” Hample said. “I mean we only expect that people would be careful and people are very aware of the privilege in touching old things.” Many have tried to buy the bookstore space, and each potential buyer over the years has received a simple “no thanks” from the Cohan family. The business still stands proudly, even as nearby buildings, like the one next door, will soon be demolished and rebuilt. Argosy’s is happy to have bany. “We’ll be getting out a letter to all my colleagues asking them to sign on,” said Seawright. “It’ll be an exciting time to go around with a great bill and get support for it. I think it’s an exciting piece of legislation, it’s an important issue and important cause for our community and our district.” Seawright announced the legislation at her inauguration ceremony on Sunday, which was attended by upwards of 30 elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. State Senator Liz Krueger led the ceremonies. Seawright also announced the opening of her new community office, on First Avenue

remained in business for 90 years, but they still face some obstacles. “As the next generation comes along, they don’t have the same reverence for the older authors that maybe I grew up with,” said Hample. She plans to update the book store’s offerings with works relevant to the times in order to keep up with the next generation, and hopefully stick around for another century or two.

between 73rd and 74th Streets, where she will host an open house and women’s history reception on March 20 at 2 p.m. Constituents have been without a district office since June 2014 when former Assembly member Micah Kellner was stripped of his staff by former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver following a sexual harassment investigation.

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FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 15

A SPECIAL PLACE FOR ADOPTED KIDS CAMP Local parents founded a camp for adopted children in honor of their late daughter, Clio BY MICKEY KRAMER

On the final day of Camp Clio’s inaugural 2012 season, campers found an eastern painted turtle hatchling – an omen that reminded the camp’s founder of her late daughter, Clio, for whom the camp is named. “Clio loved turtles,” said Sandy Kuhach, Clio’s mother. “I really believe the turtle – a rare sighting in that locale – was a sign from Clio telling us she would’ve loved the camp.” Camp Clio enriches the lives of adopted children, while offering comfort to Kuhach and Pete Axilrod, following the death of their seven-year-old adopted daughter. In August 2009, when the family was vacationing in Maine, Axilrod and Clio were swept out into the ocean as a rogue wave

ins, though, are where only adopted children, and the counselors, who are adopted as well, get to bunk and bond together. The fact that the counselors are all adopted is a big draw for Camp Clio. This unique feature always scores high marks in their end of summer survey. “These kids, nine, ten, eleven

crashed into a large group gathered CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 to view the pounding surf at Acadia National Park. Axilrod was rescued by the Coast Guard and sustained serious injuries, but Clio drowned. Soon after Clio’s passing, Kuhach considered what to do next. “You have to have something to occupy your mind after such a tragedy, and it just hit me – let’s do a camp,” she said. Clio had enjoyed two summers at a Korean culture camp – she was born in Korea – and only a week before she died had attended Camp Claire, a traditional day camp in Lyme, Connecticut. “Camp Claire would be perfect if all the kids were adopted,” Kuhach thought at the time. Camp Clio is a “camp within a camp” as it shares its 11-acre space with Camp Claire. The children participate together in kayaking, swimming, campfires, crafts, sports and more. The cab- The Camp Clio logo is based on a drawing that Clio made on her ﬁrst day of ﬁrst grade.

A Special Camp for the

Special Child Our Victory Day Camp Dobbs Ferry, New York Learning and/or Attention Difficulty Boys and Girls - Ages 5 to 13 Fred and Iris Tunick, Directors t 1SPGFTTJPOBM 4UBGG t 4NBMM (SPVQT NBYJNVN

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For Further Information: Call: (203) 329-3394 www.ourvictory.com E-MAIL: OurVictory@aol.com

16 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

SCHOLARS access to success LUAT T. VUONG Assistant Professor of Physics Queens College National Science Foundation Career Award

very year, hundreds of thousands of students choose The City University of New York for a multitude of reasons that can be summed up as one: opportunity. Providing quality, accessible education has been CUNY’s mission since 1847, a commitment that is a source of enormous pride. The powerful combination of quality academics, remarkable affordability, financial support and 24 modern campuses spanning the five boroughs of New York – the world’s most exciting city – makes CUNY a singular value in higher education. That’s the CUNY Value. — James B. Milliken Chancellor

cuny.edu/welcome

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 17

CAMP CLIO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 years old, get to see kids a few years older who are cool, fun, smart, well adjusted…it’s a huge plus, and it was all Sandy’s idea,” Axilrod said. “Getting to know other people who are adopted, including the counselors, it’s been one of the best experiences of my life,” said one camper, Griffin, who’s 14 and will be a Leader in Training this year. Spence-Chapin, a New York City adoption agency that’s been operating for over a century, got involved with the camp last year. Once a week, at a picnic lunch held exclusively for the Camp Clio campers, social workers from SpenceChapin come to help provide a relaxed atmosphere for the children to explore their feelings and experiences with issues like identity and curiosity about their birth parents. Camp Clio began as a oneweek camp in 2012. “I ﬁgured, how badly could we screw up in one week?” Kuhach joked. This season will run for three weeks from June 28-July 18. Families can register for one-, two-, or three-week sessions. All the registration fees go to Camp Claire; Camp Clio relies solely on donations. Julie Shannon, whose son will be in his fourth year, calls the camp “a great opportunity for Daniel to interact with other adopted children without it being the sole focus. There are so many fun activities, but it [fellow adoptees, including counselors] is there if he needs it.” Daniel, 12, loves all the sports,

and for the upcoming summer, actually had to choose between Camp Clio and a trip to Vienna with his school chorus. “It was a tough choice as I’d love to go to Vienna, but [Camp Clio] is such an amazing experience that I want to savor every moment,” Daniel said. “When I started the camp, I did so as, ‘what kind of camp would Clio like to go to?’” said Kuhach, who mentions Carnival Night as one of her favorite moments. “Pete and I get in a

dunk tank. They love to dunk us.” Kuhach and Axilrod used Clio’s love of turtles when deciding on the camp’s logo. It features three red hearts and a turtle drawn by Clio on her ﬁrst day of ﬁrst grade. “The impact on the kids’ lives is obvious,” Axilrod said. “Frankly, it has worked beyond our wildest dreams.”

Ignite a lifelong passion for the arts

To register, donate, or for more information: www.CampClio.org

SUMMER ARTS CAMP June - August

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MOMS AND DADS Want to know what your kid is reading online? Start here If you are looking to follow your teen on Facebook these days, better try Twitter or Instagram instead. “Facebook is for moms and grandma ladies,” says high school junior Kate Lattimer. “That’s where moms show their vacation pictures and grandmas show off their grandchildren.” Kate predicts that Facebook will go the way of MySpace.

“They (MySpace) tried to make a comeback but nobody was having it,” she said. Zoe Frishberg agrees that Facebook is no longer popular among young people since their moms and grandmothers discovered it. She feels it is a useful tool for her classes at school. Zoe says that her teacher at school knows that if he or she forgot to tell the class something, he or she can find the Facebook group for the class and get the message to everybody at once. Also, the

group can discuss what was covered in class and nobody has to miss out entirely if they miss a class. But she adds, “it’s deﬁnitely

Grades 3 - 12

camp.interlochen.org %TGCVKXG 9TKVKPI r &CPEG r /QVKQP 2KEVWTG #TVU r /WUKE r 6JGCVTG r 8KUWCN #TVU

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

18 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 out because older people found it. Statuses are very UNcool, only cool on Twitter.” So if Facebook is old, what is new? Twitter: Kate says it’s been around “before I was ever social.” It allows you to follow your favorite famous people, connect with them and know that it’s really them because Twitter will verify. While you can post photos and videos, it’s mostly used for text. You have to sign up for Twitter and at ﬁrst glance, it gives the same appearance as Facebook. There’s a large background photo across the top and smaller identity photo in lower left side of it, but the news feed looks slightly different. If people follow you on Twitter, your tweets will also show up on their Facebook pages. There is also a maximum of 140 characters on a tweet. Instagram: Instagram is now an app and is a news feed where you can upload photos. You can put captions and comments on photos but no statuses. Zoe says that whatever you post on Instagram, if someone follows you, your photos will appear on Facebook just as text will with Twitter followers.

You can post videos but only ﬁfteen seconds. Samantha Lombardo, a middle school student, adds that you have to get a certain amount of “likes” to keep it [your photo] up. “It’s become a competition.” She also mentions that putting a # symbol in front of a word is called a hashtag that brings all images of the word that you put with the symbol. This can be done on Twitter or Instagram. GroupMe: GroupMe is like a chatroom on your phone. It is a texting app for group chats. Zoe says that it is more convenient than trying to do a group chat on a text. If all your friends get the app and you form a group with your friends then all get to see the messages. Vines: People post six-second videos of an event they’re at. Kate likes it because if you want to see what an event was like, such as Oktoberfest, or Fashion Week, you can see everybody’s video on that event and know what it was like. “Viners” are famous people on Vines. Zoe says that Vines used to be a lot more popular. Snapchat: According to Zoe, people who don’t use it think it’s “pretty unnecessary.” It is a form of social media where teens post “selfies” with text

to whoever you want. A person then goes on the app and can choose to see it but it only shows for 10 seconds and then you can’t see it again. Samantha says that they have things like “Mancandy Monday and Womancrush Wednesday” and that even though photos can only be seen for 10 seconds people can capture the image and save it. Ask and Kik: Ask is a social media app where anyone can ask anyone a question or describe something and it is an anonymous venue. The person you ask doesn’t know your identity. Samantha says that because of that, people often say mean things to people who will never know who was being mean to them. “It’s ridiculous what they ask.” Kik is a messenger where you can talk to people on other devices than your phone. How do parents ﬁnd people on these other venues? To find someone on any of these social media venues, google the person you want to follow on the speciﬁc social media and click on follow. The major difference is that if you driend someone on Facebook, it is instantly mutual. On Instagram and Twitter it’s not. It can be one sided. All are free.

ARE YOU A HELICOPTER PARENT? One m mom wonders if she’s crossed the line from involved to overbearing involv BY MOLLY WHILESMITH

A few days ago I watched as a bus pulled up to my town and 37 children between the ages of 12 and dis 14 disembarked. They were exchange students, visiti from Lyon, France. I had to ask myself, visiting is the there any way that I would ever be able to put my 14 14-year-old on a bus and send him to another contin continent without seeing a background check on the en entire family that my child would be visiting? I th think not. I never thought that I would qualify as a helicopter parent. N None of us intends to be a helicopter parent; cer certainly the French mom who has entrusted me with her child is not. Many of my friends and I are guilty in one way or another. Take my pal wh who just sent her daughter off to a prestigious unive university. The bright spark called her mom on her w ﬁrst weekend to ask how to do her laundry. The d I was showing my son how to separate next day light colors and darks. lights,

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 19 One of my guy friends never, and I mean, never misses his sonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s football practice. He is that guy screaming expletives on the sidelines. Speaking of practices, what happened to car pooling? It seems like every individual parent drops off and picks up each individual kid. I approached another mom last week and asked if she was passionate about always driving to and from practice, every night. Happily we were able to strike a deal. Our generation is deďŹ nitely more involved in our childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives than our parents. As a teenager in the 70s and 80s I had a curfew. Where I was and what I was doing didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really concern my parents as long as I stayed out of

trouble. My children understand that if they move from one location to another, they need my permission. I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t imagine not knowing where they are or what they are actually doing. I absolutely insist that if I call my child, they answer the phone. I have explained to them that there is no upside to my hubby and I paying their phone bills if we cannot reach them when the need arises. My husband has seen them dive across furniture to get to the phone, in case I was calling. Although I do not allow the children to have a Facebook page, they do have Instagram accounts. I monitor their postings in that they must show me their intended post

before I allow it. Sometimes kids need a little help in determining what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. I hope to help them to ďŹ gure this all out. I have begun to realize that there is a ďŹ ne line between being a concerned and interested mom to being overbearing and â&#x20AC;&#x153;hovering.â&#x20AC;? When I want to jump in and do something for them I try to ask myself, if I do this for them, am I increasing the chances that they will be still living at home and jobless at age 25? Or am I helping them ďŹ nd their wings? I have a great deal to learn from my exchange studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mom.

CAMP RAMAQUOIS

Communicate in a new language this summer at Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy, a pre-college, residential language program based on Middlebury Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famed Language Schools! Learn Spanish, French, Chinese, German or Arabic in a supportive environment designed for teens in 8th-12th grades. At both the locations in the US and abroad in Granada, Beijing and Quebec City, students commit to speaking in language 24/7 during the four-week program, resulting in tremendous language acceleration. On average students gain a yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth of language learning during the four-week program. Through the full-immersion experience, students become linguistically proďŹ cient and culturally versed, gaining the language skills and awareness to succeed in college and beyond. Commit to starting on the path to language proďŹ ciency this summer! Financial aid is available for US-based programs and is awarded on a ďŹ rst-come, ďŹ rstserved basis. Website: mmla.middlebury.edu Email: mmla.info@middil.com Phone: 888.216.0135

STRIVE Trips offers unique, safe, and fun international community service programs in Peru and Kenya speciďŹ cally designed for student-athletes of all levels. STRIVE allows participants to experience international travel and community service with an additional Spanish Language Immersion week in Peru - all without sacriďŹ cing the desire to be active. Program highlights: Community Service: Get to know the community, through work in local schools and after school programs in small, friendly communities in Peru and Kenya, with ofďŹ cial certiďŹ cation for volunteer hours. High-Altitude Athletic Training: Train in the breath-taking mountains - with a plan tailored to your speciďŹ c needs and abilities by our professional staff and receive guidance and mentoring from our team of college interns. Adventure: Explore your host countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural beauty during the culmination of your journey â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a safari in Kenya or a hike to Machu Picchu in Peru.

A day camp as complete as sleep-away camp. Situated on 44 acres in nearby Rockland County, we are only 30 minutes from the George Washington Bridge. Boys & Girls experience a traditional camp program ďŹ lled with a variety of stimulating activities, including swimming, boating, cultural and art activities. Facilities include group bunks, a 5-acre crystalline lake, 9 heated swimming pools, tennis, basketball & volleyball courts, pickleball, hockey rinks, ball ďŹ elds, soccer ďŹ elds, aerial adventure park and much more. Special Teen Events â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Evening Dinner/Dance, Sports Clinics & Leagues, Co-ed Activities and Pizza Parties. Good group sizes. Optional Trail Blazers Trip Program. Day trips planned for grades 3-10; Overnight trips planned for grades 5-10. Lots of Spirit and Bonding. 10th Grade Leadership Program. Optional Equestrian Program.

t www.strivetrips.org

Visit us as www.ramaquois.com or call 845-354-1600 for a personal tour.

Are you looking for a unique camp experience for your TEEN or TWEEN? Are you looking for the best alternative to sleep-away camp? If you answered YES to either of these questions, then cross the bridge to THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CAMP RAMAQUOIS.

OUR VICTORY DAY CAMP When he started Our Victory Fred Tunick wanted a camp where each child could grow, by â&#x20AC;&#x153;creating valueâ&#x20AC;? in their lives. A place where acceptance and nurturing, would encourage the growth of ego and self esteem. Calling upon his experience in Special Education (1963-1997), as a Speech Pathologist, Child Study Team Chairman and Special Education administrator, he developed a program where â&#x20AC;&#x153;Each Child Could Achieve Success, Regardless of Ability.â&#x20AC;? Where traditional day camp activities, could be geared to the needs of each summers population. This is accomplished by: 1 Utilizing mature staff working in or currently studying special education and/or related ďŹ elds. (Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language, Social Work, Counseling etc.) 2 In addition to the group staff, ďŹ ve Specialists, with knowledge of our population, provide Art, Sports, Music, Drama and Movement. All activities are geared to the needs of each seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population 3 Small groups of nine with three staff members per group and a maximum enrollment of 63 campers. 4 All prospective campers have an intake interview to determine if the program is the right one for them. 5 In May, Parents submit a detailed â&#x20AC;&#x153;needsâ&#x20AC;? history, including school, psychological and social information and a photograph. Pertinent information about each child is then shared with the entire staff prior to the ďŹ rst day of camp. With this approach, the staff is familiar with each campers needs on the ďŹ rst day and allows for the start of a successful summer experience. Parent: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thank you, a million times, for the amazing, wonderful, happy, place that OVDC is. I have never seen him so happy and eager to explore each day, with so many friends and adults that can see his special qualities. He has already informed me that he will be returning until he is 13. Thank you for being special people with a very special staff.â&#x20AC;?

For Further Information: Call: (203) 329-3394 www.ourvictory.com E-MAIL: OurVictory@aol.com

Interlochen Arts Camp is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier summer arts program for aspiring artists in grades 3 through 12. Located in northwest Michigan, the Camp attracts students, faculty and staff from all 50 U.S. states and more than 40 countries. These 3,000 artists ďŹ ll Interlochenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s northwoods campus with an explosion of creativity. Studentartists learn from world-class instructors and produce hundreds of presentations each summer in music, theatre, creative writing, dance, ďŹ lm and visual arts. Those interested in learning more about Interlochen can visit interlochen.org, call 800.681.5912 or email admission@interlochen.org.

20 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

SUPER TEEN IS SUPER TIRED

Burnout is a big danger for over-achieving teenagers Does this sound familiar? Natalie trained all summer to compete in triathlons with her family. When school started she began training for volleyball. She’s active in her church and takes weekly guitar lessons which require practice. Her grades are important to her too, and she needs to earn money to help pay senior year high school expenses. She struggles to make it all work and still keep in touch with her friends. Kids can’t just be kids anymore. It’s a lot harder than it used to be. If you know one of these “super” teens, or are one, chances are you’re super tired. Dr. Tashman of Middletown Medical sees many stress-related illnesses on the rise. Many teens today do not get the 8.5 - 9.5 hours of sleep necessary to replenish the body on a normal basis. To get up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready for school, you’d need to go to bed at 9:30 p.m. “I once told a student who had swimmer’s ear that they had to stop swimming for at least a week,” said Tashman. “The student and parents both said ‘no way, there is a meet this week.’”

Where does the pressure come from? Kids today are raised with the idea that they have to try to be the best, by parents, teachers, the media and from themselves. “There is a lot of pressure to get good grades and do extracurricular activities to be well rounded on their college applications and there’s lots of competition. They can’t just play, they have to excel,” says Dr. Tashman. He adds that kids are doing homework in the car on the way to their next activity. Claiming to be guilty of it himself, parents want to give their kids the best they can and help them to be the best. If you play baseball or softball, it is no longer acceptable to just show up. There is the pitching coach. Cheerleaders have to attend tumbling classes to make the team. Volleyball players have to do strength training. And if you sign up for sports, the high school play, gymnastics, Science Olympiad, Odyssey of the Mind, dance, or music, it requires almost complete commitment or you don’t get to play, compete or perform. And if you perform you want the lead role or to be in the top chairs. Something has to give.

What is the price of participating full force in so many activities? There is an old saying that goes, “you can’t burn the candle at both ends because there will be nothing left in the middle.” Dr. Tashman explains that everyone has their individual tolerances, but that trying to do too much and depleting the body over the course of time leads to a weakening of the immune system, depression and anxiety. When this happens, the body is more susceptible to illness. Some of the symptoms that can be red ﬂags that it’s time to cut back are when teens start experiencing chronic stomach aches, chronic muscle pains or cramps all the time, irritable bowel or headaches. They may see a decrease in their grades, suffer from exhaustion, and not be able to think straight. If a teen is too stressed to have friends come over and they stop enjoying the things they used to like to do, it is time to cut back. Some teens experience dizziness, moodiness and in extreme cases start cutting themselves or contemplate suicide to escape. Dr. Tashman says he sees an increase in anxiety and cases of depression every year.

Other extreme symptoms By doing too much and not giving the body enough time to rest and depleting physical resources, he has seen patients with increased heart rates, those who have extreme feelings of doom, patients who

experience intense sweating, don’t want to leave their home, stop wanting to go to school or be around friends. Phobias and trouble sleeping may develop as a result of stress. When teens try to do too much, they often don’t eat the right foods or drink enough liquids leading to constipation or other ailments.

Not just teens Dr. Tashman says that elementary students as well as middle school and high school students are going to the nurses’ office more frequently, complaining of symptoms that are most often stress related. A lowering of the immune system due to not enough sleep, means more vulnerability to colds, ﬂu and other chronic illness. And stomach aches due to chronic stress can lead to stomach ulcers. He has seen a lot of heartburn and stomach aches.

The key to coping Dr. Tashman says there is no replacement for sleep. It is important to know your limits and watch for the signs and symptoms that you are doing more than your body can really handle. It’s important to have a release, such as reading or being with friends. Don’t skip meals. Eat right, drink enough liquids, get enough sleep, know when to take a break and take it. Decide which activities you really are passionate about and let some of the other ones go for another time.

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 21

Immersive Summer Language Programs for Teens Communicate in a new language this summer.

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The Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy, a four-week summer language program for 8th-12th grade students, utilizes the same immersion pedagogy as Middlebury College’s famed Language Schools. Through the immersive experience, Academy students become linguistically proﬁcient and culturally versed, gaining the language skills and global awareness to succeeed in college and beyond.

LANGUAGES

US LOCATIONS

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Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Chinese

Green Mountain College St. Michael’s College

Québec City, Canada Beijing, China Granada, Spain

US: 8th-12th Grade Abroad: 10th-12th Grade

mmla.middlebury.edu | 888.216.0135 | mmla.info@middil.com

22 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

Business

< CITY HOSPITALS TO SEE FEDERAL FUNDING FOR EBOLA EXPENSES

Bellevue Hospital, where Dr. Craig Spencer was successfully treated for ebola, will receive federal reimbursement for some of its ebola-related expenses.

Last week U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that more than $32 million in federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funding will be provided to reimburse New York’s designated Ebola Treatment Centers. This funding includes reimbursement for work at Bellevue Hospital to successfully treat Dr. Spencer, the city’s sole ebola patient, who fully recovered, as well as $21.7 million for other hospitals and preparation efforts in New York City and $7.5 million for hospitals in upstate and Long Island. In addition, Bellevue will receive $3 million for applying for and being designated a

In Brief MORE THAN 700 APPLY FOR MANHATTAN COMMUNITY BOARDS Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer announced that 722 New Yorkers have applied for membership on Manhattan’s 12 community boards in the 2015 appointment round, a 21 percent increase over 2014. Of these applications, 470 were from new applicants, a 43 percent increase over 2014. “This is a time of big changes, plans, and projects for our city – and community boards will be at the center of it all,” said Brewer. “I am thrilled that so many community members want to volunteer their time, their energy, and their skills to help our borough and our city.” Brewer implemented online community board applications as an option for applicants Manhattan’s 12 community boards this year. An overwhelming majority of applicants, 87 percent, took advantage of this option. The remaining 13 percent of applicants applied on paper in the same process used in previous years. New applications increased for 9 out of Manhattan’s 12 community boards, with some of the most dramatic increases occurring in uptown Manhattan. Community Boards 11 and 12, which respectively cover East Harlem and northern Manhattan’s Inwood / Washington Heights neighborhoods, both more than doubled their numbers of new applicants. Community Board 10, which covers Central Harlem, saw a 70 percent increase in new applications. Community Board 8 on the Upper East Side and Community Board 1 in lower Manhattan also showed noticeable jumps in new applications. The surge in applications follows a multi-channel outreach campaign, with a particular focus on the uptown community board districts, using a combination of traditional community outreach tactics and a targeted Facebook ad campaign. The 2015 applicant pool achieved a marked increase in diversity across multiple categories. The number of applicants self-identifying as African-American or black increased by nearly 80 percent, while the number self-identifying as Latino or Hispanic more than doubled. LGBT applicants also nearly doubled, as did the number of public housing residents applying. Brewer last year welcomed the state legislature’s passage of Chapter 251 of the Laws of 2014, which allows 16- and 17-year olds to apply for community board membership in New York City and authorizes the appointment of two full voting members under the age of 18 on each community board. Prior to the new law’s passage, Brewer sponsored a City Council resolution urging this change. In the ﬁrst full appointment cycle following passage of the new law, the Manhattan Borough President’s office received 25 applications from 16- and 17-year olds, and 35 applications from teens overall. All community board members are appointed to staggered twoyear terms, with half selected by the Borough President and half by the City Council members representing each community board district. A total of 300 seats are available across Manhattan each year; 2015 selections will be announced early in April. There are 12 Community Boards in Manhattan and 59 citywide.

“Super Regional Hospital” following successful treatment of Dr. Spencer. Schumer said that the FY15 Omnibus spending bill included more than $5.4 billion in new funding for the ebola response both domestically and internationally, $700 million of which HHS Secretary Burwell could determine how to spend. Schumer had been urging Burwell to allocate a portion of the money to New York hospitals. “When the nation’s public health was at risk, Bellevue and New York’s hospitals answered the call in heroic and professional fashion; they quickly and meticulously handled the eb-

ola threat by training thousands of healthcare workers, preparing isolation units, purchasing new equipment and more,” Schumer said. “I worked hard in Congress to make sure New York hospitals were not left behind, and urged HHS Secretary Burwell to reimburse them for the costs of preparing for Ebola.” New York’s designated Ebola Treatment Centers spent millions of dollars to prepare for ebola, on initiatives like training thousands of health workers on how to treat and identify the viral disease, and purchasing protective equipment and parts to create isolation units.

CLOSING UP THE THRIFT SHOP SMALL BUSINESS Thrift store to close after nearly 20 years in business BY MICKEY KRAMER

Valley Restoration Development, a not-for-profit thrift store that’s served the Upper West Side for 17 years, will soon close up shop for good. The store’s last day of business is slated for March 27. Unlike some small businesses that have shuttered in recent years, rising rents aren’t to blame for the store’s closure; Valley’s time in the neighborhood is simply up. Myrta Maldonado, 71, an administrator, explained that the closing isn’t sudden, and has been on the horizon for some time. The shop was no longer earning enough to cover the rent and the rest of its overhead. Assistant manager Georgina Olivo, who’s worked for the store for eight years, was told on New Year’s Eve that she would soon be unemployed. “You can imagine starting the year with news like that,” said Olivo, 59. “It’s become a big part of my life and it’s not going to be easy ﬁnding a new job.” In 1979, before the store opened, Valley Restoration Local Development Corporation started as a non-profit neighborhood organization with the intention of revitalizing the stretch of the Upper West Side between 96th and 110th Streets on Columbus

Leonia Sagasta, Myrta Maldonado and Georgina Olivo in front of Valley Restoration Local Development Corporation’s thrift store, which is set to close at the end of March. Photo by Mickey Kramer and Amsterdam Avenues, an area known as the Valley. One of Valley Restoration’s greatest achievements came in the late eighties, when the organization helped turn a rundown landmark building on Amsterdam Avenue between 103rd and 104th Streets into what became the American Youth Hostel. In 1991, the organization God’s Love We Deliver, which delivers meals to ill and homebound residents, started renting a large kitchen space in the hostel. Following city budget cuts in the early 1990s, some mechanical street sweeping was eliminated on the Upper West Side, but Valley Restoration managed a Business Improvement District supplemental sanitation program that helped keep the streets clean. The organiza-

tion also ran a job development program. After losing city funding, the group opened the thrift shop in 1998 and, if the customers in the store on its ﬁnal Monday offer any indication, it will be sorely missed. Frequent customer Marco Torres was doing his usual lunchtime browsing at the store on Amsterdam Avenue between 106th and 107th Streets. He typically looks for cassette and VHS tapes, along with DVDs. “It’s a cave of wonders,” he said. “You never know what you’ll ﬁnd.” Jose Nieves has combed the racks and shelves at least weekly for more than 10 years, snagging steals on everything from sneakers and sweaters to cassettes and books. When Nieves learned that the store would

soon close, he was at a loss for words. “It’s so very sad,” he said. Elio Velez, 50, works as a doorman and for a cleaning service, and has frequented the shop since it opened, shopping for boots, coats and gloves. “Everybody depends on this store,” he said. With only a month left in operation, the clothing racks and shelves are still lined with neatly folded and hung shirts, pants, and jackets. Book cases are mostly bare, but a few gems can still to be found, including a 1952 ﬁrst edition copy of John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden.” A sign advertising half price merchandise hangs in the window. All leftover items will be donated to Goodwill stores. After closing up shop next month, Maldonado, who was an administrator for Valley Restoration Development for 28 years, plans to take some time off and perhaps volunteer at a nursing home. Olivo says she’s considering culinary school. Leonia Sagasta, 89, has been the treasurer for the organization for about 25 years, and speaks fondly of the shop. She has lived her entire life on the Upper West Side, residing for the last 50 years in an apartment on West 70th Street. “So many people would come in to browse, chat with the girls who work here,” she said. “It was kind of a social mecca of the community.”

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 23

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$557,500

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181 E 90 St.

$918,115

Lenox Hill

315 E 65 St.

$499,000

Douglas Elliman

Lenox Hill

315 E 68 St.

$535,000

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Coldwell Banker Bellmarc

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Compass

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325 Lexington Ave.

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Corcoran

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$799,326

Corcoran

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200 E 57 St.

$1,850,000

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$1,185,000

Brown Harris Stevens

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325 Lexington Ave.

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Corcoran

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630 1 Ave.

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136 E 36 St.

$287,500

Real Direct

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250 E 40 St.

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Royal Operation System

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314 E 41 St.

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Douglas Elliman

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311 E 38 St.

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300 E 54 St.

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430 E 56 St.

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400 E 56 St.

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142 E 49 St.

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210 E 47 St.

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24 Our Town FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

YOUR 15 MINUTES NUTES

she’s already raised $20,000. When asked about her future plans, she said, “To me, life is really about the difference you make in the lives of others, and if I can even impact a few lives for the better whether in the field of PT or within the MS community, then I will consider it a great success.”

It was two weeks after my 25th birthday, so it was a nice little birthday present. I realized I couldn’t see out of one eye. It was completely blurred. And then my right thigh was numb, so it sort of tipped me off to something being off. It was my last semester of PT school, and actually, in class, because it was our neuro curriculum, we were learning about neurologic diseases. I remember it really vividly. So I was starting to think in my head, ‘These are kind of weird signs.’ But also, I’m pretty stubborn and I’ve never really had anything wrong with me, so I was just kind of like, ‘It will pass, no big deal.’ And probably like three weeks into not being able to see out of one eye, and people really bugging me, like my family, to do something about it, I saw a neurologist. He immediately put me in the hospital for ﬁve days, and then everything kind of escalated pretty fast after that.

You work at Lenox Hill. What does your job entail?

How has your life changed since and how has it stayed the same?

I graduated PT school in May and started working at Lenox Hill in June. It’s an acute care inpatient setting with the goal of improving functional mobility enough to safely leave the hospital. In terms of physical therapy, it’s right at the start of the continuum of care, seeing patients at their weakest. Following my diagnosis, I feel inordinately lucky to be in this ﬁeld because I know what it’s like to be in their shoes. I am able to bring a level of empathy and compassion to patient care that PT school could not teach.

I think when I was ﬁrst diagnosed, I had this, again, stubborn mentality that nothing was going to change, thinking, ‘I can dictate what happens here. I’m tougher than this.’ That element of strength is important, but, you know, your life changes. It’s a disease where stuff is always coming up, so it’s made me more ﬂexible and on my toes to things. But I would say it’s changed in that it’s given me a lot of perspective. I realize so wholeheartedly the importance of the people and the quality of the people I have surrounding me. It’s also helped me in being able to ask for help, which is not something that I did in the past. I went into a profession like PT because I’m driven to help people. And you take care of patients all the time and you never think you’re going to be the patient. It changes things, but for the good and the bad, and I think that I’ve learned a lot and come pretty far. You learn to slow down, because you don’t want to exacerbate what’s going on, but still accomplish all the goals you set out to.

A CLIMB WITH HIGHER PURPOSE Q&A Leigh Kaplan on living, working and evoking change with multiple sclerosis BY ANGELA BARBUTI

Leigh Kaplan completed her doctorate in physical therapy this May. In June, she began working at Lenox Hill Hospital, where she helps patients improve their functional mobility. This job takes on a deeper meaning for her because she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) just as she was studying about neurologic diseases in her last year of PT school. On March 1st, the 26-yearold will be participating in the National MS Society’s Climb to the Top, where she will walk up the 66 flights of stairs at 30 Rockefeller Center to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck to raise funds and awareness for the disease. With her team, named Kapniss, which is a combination of her last name and the Hunger Games heroine,

When you were diagnosed, did you have symptoms?

How are you involved with the National MS Society? Last year, in the fall, a month after I was diagnosed, I had three close friends who said to me, ‘Leigh, we really want to do something. We hate seeing you in this situation and not being able to help, so we signed up for this event, the Climb. You don’t

To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to ourtownny.com/15 minutes

ve to do anything. We’re gohave ing to do it. We want to do it for u.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, no, if you.’ u guys are doing it, I’m absoyou ely doing it.’ So I signed up lutely o and sent out emails and also all these donations started ming in. It was a blessing coming in disguise, because you n’t have any control over don’t thiss disease. It operates w it wants to operate, but how ng the Climb was this doing azing thing that made amazing me feel like, ‘This is how I’m ng to make a difference. going Thiss is how I can help people his situation and help myin this f.’ self.’

So how are you prepping for the Climb? So o I’m an active person, but a major thing with MS is durance. And that’s been endurance. eal battle for me in a lot of a real ects of life, but especially aspects s, because 66 flights is a this, lot for anyone. So I’m pracng; I live in a 35-story ticing; lding, so that’s halfway building, ough. It’s also a fundraisthrough. ing event, and I’m super proud he team I put together last of the yearr and this year. Last year, we raised $18,000 and, individly, I raised close to $12,000. ually, d this year, we’re almost at And 0,000, which is amazing. $20,000,

Whoo does your team consist of? Another nother thing with, well I n’t want to call it ‘getting don’t k,’ because I don’t see mysick,’ selff as sick, but it really brings ether so many people from together my life. People I didn’t necesily think would show up sarily for me. I think that’s the best y of putting it. So it’s comway sed of family, and I can’t prised say enough about my family, y’re amazing, good friends they’re m high school, college and from d school, extended family, grad so many people from all different sectors of my life.

Yourr group has about 30 members. s. You don’t walk the stairs together, ether, right? Your whole team climbs together, but it’s a stairwell so they can’t send all 30 up at the same time because that’s a bit of a safety hazard. You go in individually, but everyone finishes close to each other. I was having a really difficult time last year, and there were a couple of people right by my side the whole time.

Why did you choose Kapniss as your team name? I’m a huge Hunger Games fan. And the lead character, Katniss, is maybe someone I relate to. She’s headstrong, tough and

conquers challenges. So my last name is Kaplan, and my mom put the two together and started calling me Kapniss. It was cute, and I went with it. It makes her happy.

What are your future plans? Physical therapy, even before being diagnosed, was a huge dream of mine. It’s exactly what I want to be doing and it’s very fulﬁlling work. So I hope to continue progressing in my career with the goal of helping as many patients regain physical function and improve quality of life as possible. I know that my life now is a bit more challenging than before, so I hope to continue meeting adversity with a strong positive attitude and a smile, and from that perspective, assist my patients in doing the same. In terms of future plans within the MS movement, I would like to continue raising awareness for this ever-worthy cause. I think major strides have al-

ready been made and I am truly hopeful that, in my lifetime, a cure will be found. I am grateful to play any part in evoking change in this area. To learn more about Climb to the Top, visit eventnyn. nationalmssociety.org

Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to ourtownny. com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 25

SENIORS

AGING WORKFORCE GOOD FOR EMPLOYERS AND THE ECONOMY Studies show that older employees more focused on the satisfaction of a job well done Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aging workforce is a good thing for employers and the economy, according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens, noting that a new Gallup poll shows that â&#x20AC;&#x153;employee engagement increases with age, even well into workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 60s and 70s.â&#x20AC;? The poll concluded that older workers are more â&#x20AC;&#x153;involved in and enthusiastic about their work and more productive members of their workplace, compared to younger workers.â&#x20AC;? Weber said it is no secret

that over the next 20 years Americans will be turning 65 at a rate of 10,000 a day. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not surprising, therefore, that seniors are staying on the job much longer than in the past,â&#x20AC;? he said. Some seniors continue to work well past traditional retirement to make ends meet; many stay because they ďŹ nd fulďŹ llment in their jobs.â&#x20AC;? He pointed out that people are not only living longer these days, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re living healthier, more active lives. That, combined with the greater freedom at home that comes with reduced family obligations, makes older employees more focused on the satisfaction of a job well done.

The U.S. Census Bureau says that in 1984 about 15 percent of the workforce was 65 years of age or older and that in 2014 the labor participation rate of men and women over 65 had grown to nearly 27 percent. The Gallup survey found that employers gain a competitive advantage by utilizing the experience of older workers and taking advantage of the knowledge theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve gained over the years. Meanwhile, a separate study by Gary Burtless, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, indicated that older workers are more productive, as well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Compared with earlier generations of aged Ameri-

cans and compared with contemporary prime-age workers, todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s elderly are unusually well educated. Their high relative earnings and later retirement are partly explained by this fact,â&#x20AC;? Burtless concluded. Weber said that working seniors have a positive effect on the economy. They have more disposable income and, as a result, have created a growth market for private sector companies. In fact, he pointed out, J.P. Morgan has put together an Aging Population Index to keep track of companies that beneďŹ t from the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aging citizenry. In addition, Weber noted that working Baby Boomers

pay more taxes and are helping to bolster both their local and national economies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ageism is still a problem for older workers, but there are signs that employers are waking up to the reality that there are a lot of beneďŹ ts to keeping senior employees on their payrolls and hiring from the fast-growing pool of older job seekers. They are beginning to realize that they can be excellent role models for younger workers, that their enthusiasm is infectious, that in most cases the work means more to them than their paychecks and, of course, that they have had a lifetime of learning from their mistakes,â&#x20AC;? Weber said.

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FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015 Our Town 27

CLASSIFIEDS Classified Advertising Department Information Telephone: 212-868-0190 | Fax: 212-2868-0190 Email: classified2@strausnews.com Hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm | Deadline: Monday 12 noon for same weeks’ issue ACCOUNTING/FINANCIAL SERVICES LOMTO Federal Credit Union It’s hard to beat our great rates! Deposits federally insured to at least $250K (212)947-3380 ext.3144

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AUCTION CHEMUNG COUNTY REAL PROPERTY TAX FORECLOSURES- 100+ Properties March 25 @11AM. Holiday Inn, Elmira, NY. 800-243-0061 HAR, Inc. & AAR, Inc. Free brochure: www.NYSAUCTIONS.com Exciting Neighborhood Auction Antiques & Collectibles, Paintings, Decorative Objects, Costume Jewelry. Sat March 7, 3pm. 1157 Lex Ave @ 80th St (garden ent next to All Souls) Prev & Reg 11am-3pm. Martine’s Auctions, 212-772-0900, martine-auctions@outlook.com

CAMPS/SCHOOLS Alexander Robertson School Independent School for Pre-K through Grade 5, 212-663-2844, 3 West 95th St. www.AlexanderRobertson.com

CAMPS/SCHOOLS Loyola School 646-346-8132 www.loyolanyc.org admissions@loyolanyc.org River Park Nursery School 212-663-1205, www.river parknurseryschool.com York Preparatory School 212-362-0400 ext 133 www.yorkprep.org admissions@yorkprep.org

CARS & TRUCKS & RV’S Donate your car to Wheels For Wishes, beneﬁting Make-AWish. We offer free towing and your donation is 100% tax deductible. Call (855) 376-9474 CLEANING SERVICES/LAUNDRY

CLEANING SERVICES Residential & Commercial Exp., Bonded & Insured. See manhattanwash.com for info, or call 212-410-3200 ENTERTAINMENT

Mohegan Sun Why Drive? For info call Academy: 1-800-442-7272 ext. 2353 - www.academybus.com HEALTH SERVICES

Carnegie Hill Endoscopy 212-860-6300 www.carnegiehillendo.com Columbia Doctors of Ophthalmology - Our newest location at 15 West 65th Street (Broadway) is now open. www.ColumbiaEye.org 212.305.9535 Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Orthopaedics (855) 434-1800 www.Lenoxhillhospital.org/ ortho Mount Sinai-Roosevelt Hospital University Medical Practice Associates 212-523-UMPA(8672) www.umpa.com New York Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital www.nyp.org/lowermanhattan NYU Langone Medical Center Introduces the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Men’s Health. 555 Madison Ave bet. 55th & 56th, 646-754-2000 HELP WANTED

WELDING CAREERS- Hands on training for career opportunities in aviation, automotive, manufacturing and more. Financial aid for qualiﬁed students. Job placement assistance. CALL AIM 855-325-0399 AIRLINE CAREERS begin here Get FAA approved Aviation Maintenance Technician training. Financial aid for qualiﬁed students – Housing available. Job placement assistance. Call AIM 866-296-7093

HELP WANTED

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. REAL ESTATE - RENT

VETERANS- Start your new career. Become a professional tractor trailer driver with National Tractor Trailer School, Liverpool/Buffalo, NY (branch) full/part-time with PTDI certiﬁed courses & job placement assistance with local, regional & nationwide employers! Tuition, transportation & housing packages available: ntts.edu/ veterans POST 9/11 G.I. BILL® - If eligible; Paid tuition, fees & military housing allowance. 1800-243-9300 Consumer Information @ ntts.edu/programs/disclosures

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND. Best selection of affordable rentals. Full/ partial weeks. Call for FREE brochure. Open daily. Holiday Resort Services. 1-800-638-2102. Online reservations: www.holidayoc.com

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

Allstate - The Wright Agency Anthony Wright 718 671 8000 Ao65989@allstate.com Auto.home.life.retirement

Beautify your home with custom radiator covers, nightstands & more. www.licrc.com Handyman/Carpet Cleaner. Skilled, Exp, , Reasonable, Reliable. Joe - 917-530-6790 INSTRUCTION

TUTOR - MS & HS ENGLISH Writing & Lit, SAT I Verbal and SAT II Lit, AP English. Fmr FT English Teacher, NYS Cert, Ivy-educated, 2 grad degrees, 13 yrs exp, 212-988-0423

LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL ALLSTATE INSURANCE Anthony Pomponio 212-769-2899 125 West 72nd St. 5R, NYC apomponio@allstate.com

MASSAGE BODYWORK by young, handsome, smooth, athletic Asian. InCall/OutCall. Phillip. 212-787-9116

Massage by Melissa (917)620-2787 MERCHANDISE FOR SALE

Fresh California Organic Walnuts, home grown, hand picked. Reduces the risk of heart disease. One of the best plant source of protein, Omega 3 and E &B vitamins. $12 a pound shelled, $5 a pound in shell, plus shipping. Perry Creek Walnuts 530-503-9705 perrycreekwalnuts.com perrycreekwalnuts@hotmail.com Pandora Jewelry Unforgettable Moments 412 W Broadway - Soho, NYC 212-226-3414 REAL ESTATE - RENT

GLENWOOD - Manhattan’s Finest Luxury Rentals Uptown ofﬁce 212-535-0500 Downtown ofﬁce 212-4305900. glenwoodNYC.com

WANTED TO BUY

CASH for Coins! Buying Gold & Silver. Also Stamps & Paper Money, Comics, Entire Collections, Estates. Travel to your home. Call Marc in NJ: 1-800488-4175

$WANTED$ COMIC BOOKS Pre-1975: Original art & movie memorabilia, sports, nonsports cards, ESPECIALLY 1960’s Collector/Investor, paying cash! Call WILL: 800-2426130 buying@getcashforcomics.com

REAL ESTATE - SALE

Sebastian, Florida Beautiful 55+ manufactured home community. 4.4 miles to the beach, Close to riverfront district. New models from $85,000. 772-581-0080, www.beachcove.com

WE BUY-TOP DOLLAR PAID Fine & Costume Jewelry Gems-Silver-Gold-Jade Antiques-Art-Rugs Call Gregory@718 608 5854 Certiﬁed GIA Gemologist

Remember to: Recycle and Reuse

SERVICES OFFERED

CARMEL Car & Limousine Service To JFK… $52 To Newark… $51 To LaGuardia… $34 1-212-666-6666 Toll Free 1-800-9-Carmel Frank E. Campbell The Funeral Chapel Known for excellence since 1898 - 1076 Madison Ave, at 81st St., 212-288-3500 Hudson Valley Public Relations Optimizing connections. Building reputations. 24 Merrit Ave Millbrook, NY 12545, (845) 702-6226 John Krtil Funeral Home; Yorkville Funeral Service, INC. Independently Owned Since 1885. WE SERVE ALL FAITHS AND COMMUNITIES 212-744-3084 Marble Collegiate Church Dr. Michael B. Brown, Senior Minister, 1 West 29th St. NYC, NY 10001, (212) 689-2770. www.MarbleChurch.org Private Acting Coach SAG Actor w/20 years exp. Free Interview 212-737-8538 www.EdwardLongo.net Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers NYC’s Coolest Place to Skate! ChelseaPiers.com/sr 212-336-6100 SITUATION WANTED

Reliable lady seeks job to care for elderly. Excellent ref. upon request. Flo 646-245-7896 WANTED TO BUY

ANTIQUES WANTED Top Prices Paid. Chinese Objects, Paintings, Jewelry, Silver, Furniture, Etc. Entire Estates Purchased. 800-530-0006. I Buy Old Tribal Art Free Appraisal 917-628-0031 Daniel@jacarandatribal.com

SOHO LT MFG

462 Broadway MFG No Retail/Food +/- 9,000 sf Ground Floor - $90 psf +/- 16,000 sf Cellar - $75 psf Call Mark @ Meringoff Properties 646.262.3900

28 Our Townâ&#x20AC;&#x201A;FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 4 ,2015

COME HOME TO GLENWOOD

MANHATTANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FINEST LUXURY RENTALS

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