Our Town May 21st, 2015 by Our Town

The local paper for the Upper er East Side A DENTIST GOES HOLLYWOD < 15 MINUTES, P.21

WEEK OF MAY

21-27 2015

FRICK EXPANSION HAS ANOTHER OPPONENT

Our Take

Brandon Torres reels in a bunker ﬁsh from the East River. Photo by William Mathis.

THE PRICE OF SUNSHINE

Municipal Art Society voices opposition to the museum’s expansion plan BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO

As famed artists added their names to the growing list of opponents to the Frick Collection’s proposed expansion, one of the city’s inﬂuential preservation organizations also expressed its dismay with the plan. The Municipal Art Society of New York, a 120-year-old planning and preservation organization that has previously evaluated proposed expansions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, The New-York Historical Society and other museums, officially opposed the existing plan in a May 7 letter to museum director Ian Wardropper. In an echo of a now-familiar sentiment, the letter notes that the organization will oppose any renovations that include the loss of the museum’s 70th Street viewing garden built by landscape architect Russell Page in 1977. “While MAS is not necessarily against an expansion, we will oppose any plan that places the Page garden in its crosshairs. We urge the Frick Collection to explore alternative solutions — most obviously, the reference library — that do not require the loss of such a beloved work of landscape architecture and treasured urban greenspace,” the letter states. Municipal Art Society representatives first met with Frick officials almost a year ago, shortly after the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

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A LURE: CASTING FOR DINNER IN THE EAST RIVER Despite health risks and the din of traffic, anglers come for the bluefish, bass and other catch BY WILLIAM MATHIS

At the St. Stephen’s Greenmarket, on East 82nd Street, local shoppers flock to the American Seafood tent to buy locally caught fish. But the city’s freshest catch can be had for free only a few blocks away. Just bring your hook, line and sinker. “Personally I like organic stuff, so I prefer fresh fish. I don’t eat farmed fish,” said Walid Zowaal, 52, as he gazed out at his fishing line, which stretched out in the waters of the

Newscheck Crime Watch Voices Out & About

East River just below 100th Street. He is among the few city dwellers who head to the waters surrounding New York City this time of year to try and reel in bluefish, striped bass and perch. Zawaal lives just a few blocks away on East 102nd Street, but grew up fishing in the Mediterranean Sea in his native Alexandria, Egypt. He moved to New York 20 years ago and took up the pursuit once again. “Some people grow up on the water and it’s a part of them,” he said as he reeled in an empty hook. In flip-flops, corduroy pants and a polyester fishing vest, Zawaal rolled

2 3 8 10

City Arts Top 5 Business 15 Minutes

12 13 16 21

a cigarette and looked out over the water at Wards Island in the distance. He pondered the potential health risks of eating from New York City’s waterways, which contain unsafe levels of chemicals and other toxins. “I have thought about it, but it’s good,” he said of the ﬁsh. “It’s not that bad.” Because of the contamination, and occasional sewerage dumps into the river waters, the state Department of Health cautions against eating ﬁsh from city waters. The DOH says males over 15 can safely eat from one to

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

How is it that someone can build a 600-foot building in New York and not have to ask a soul for permission to put the thing up? Community Board 5 this week took the unusual step of calling for a temporary moratorium on new skyscrapers along Central Park South until the de Blasio administration can come up with some kind of zoning plan to regulate them. The move, unusually aggressive for any community board, highlights the Wild West nature of development in the city at the moment. Throughout Manhattan -- on the Upper East Side, in lower Manhattan, and certainly on “Billionaires Row” on Central Park South -- massive new buildings are popping up in a skyscraper race not seen in a generation. The buildings are transforming the city’s skyline and remaking its neighborhoods -- all without any input from those of us on the ground. According to a report in Capital New York, seven supertowers are underway and ﬁve more are planned in midtown. These shadows “disturb community access to sunshine in the park,” according to the community board. Count us dubious about whether any of that will happen. But at least this community group is trying, reminding all of us that in today’s New York, nothing, not even sunshine, is guaranteed. Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday May 22 – 7:54 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.

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WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD COMPTROLLERS REPORT CITES POOR CONDITIONS IN SUBWAY City subway stations aren’t looking too good. So concludes a recent audit by the city Comptroller’s Office, which found that the New York City Transit Authority’s efforts fell short even as subway ridership at record levels. Comptroller Scott Stringer’s

office found that inadequate track cleaning made the subway beds more hospitable to rats and also increased the risk of track ﬁres. The report, issued last week, concluded that “track cleaning efforts are hampered by the understaffing of the manual cleaners and frequent breakdowns” of track-cleaning equipment. The report found that the authority fell short of its goals of cleaning station track beds

An audit by the city Comptroller’s office found that the New York City Transit Authority’s track and station cleaning and painting efforts have fallen short as ridership continues at record levels. Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Leonard Wiggins, via Flickr

once every three weeks, or 17 times a year. Cleaning records indicate that 229 out of the 276 stations, or 88 percent, were cleaned eight or fewer times during the one-year period ending June 30. And while the Transit Authority used to schedule top-to-bottom painting at subway stations every seven years, that schedule was abandoned during the 1990s ﬁnancial crisis. The authority no longer has a ﬁxed painting schedule for its 468 stations. Stringer’s office noted that while the city authority’s overall operating revenue increased by 34 percent between 2008 and 2013, the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s operating funds dedicated to station maintenance and cleaning fell from 6.3 percent in 2008 to 5.4 percent in 2013. In a written response to the audit report submitted to the MTA, the authority’s president, Carmen Bianco said the authority was increasing efforts and resources dedicated to cleaning the system, “with positive results.”

The local paper for Downtown

MAYOR SIGNS LEGISLATION THAT CALLS FOR CULTURAL PLAN Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier this week signed into law cornerstone cultural legislation that aims to provide New Yorkers with increased access to cultural activities. The bill mandates the development of a cultural plan that would detail the availability and distribution of cultural activities in all ﬁve boroughs. The plan will also look at the relationship between available activities and the social and economic health and welfare of residents. It will also take into account housing and studio needs of artists, as well as arts education and activities in public schools, the mayor’s office said. The report will be put together by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, which will also form and work with a citizens’ advisory committee to help guide the plan’s development and implementation. “There’s no doubt New York City is a cultural center of the world, and the arts are essential to our economy, our schools,

The local paper for the Upper West Side

and our vibrancy as a city. We are committed to ensuring all New Yorkers have access to cultural activities, and this comprehensive plan will help unify our initiatives aimed at lifting up all New Yorkers through arts and culture,” de Blasio said in a statement issued by his office. Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, the chairman of the council’s Committee on Cultural Affairs and majority leader, said the legislation marked an important milestone for the “cultural vitality” of the city. “The signing of the Cultural Plan legislation will initiate the development of a comprehensive cultural plan that will lay out a blueprint for increasing access, opportunity and equity so that all New Yorkers may have meaningful engagement with culture and the arts,” Van Bramer said in the statement.

RICH ART COLLECTOR DIES, LEAVES FAVORITE WAITRESSES $50,000 EACH Wealthy art collector Robert

Ellsworth recently passed on at the age of 85 but he left an impact on the lives of two restaurant employees that they will never forget. In his will, Ellsworth left $50,000 to Maureen Donohue-Peters, the owner of Donahue’s Steakhouse on East 64th, and to and her niece Maureen Barrie, a waitress at the restaurant, where Ellsworth ate nearly every day, the New York Post reported. “I just couldn’t believe it. I didn’t expect anything,” Donohue-Peters told the Post. She went on to say, “Out of eight meals, he ate seven here. We were his dining room.” Ellsworth would usually eat lunch at Donahue’s ordering a grilled cheese with bacon, before dining their on a sirloin steak, usually with two or three friends, the newspaper reported. In addition to the two waitresses, Ellsworth a large portion of his fortune to his longtime friend and live-in chef Masahiro Hashiguchi.

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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG

TWO-YEAR-OLD DIES AFTER STRUCK BY FALLING DEBRIS A two-year-old girl was struck by falling debris on the Upper West Side on Sunday, and declared dead on Monday after surgeons tried for hours to save her life, The New York Times reported. The tragedy occurred on West End Avenue at 74th Street, at a retirement home known as Esplanade Luxury Senior Residences. According to the Times, a piece of decorative terra-cotta broke free from a windowsill on the eighth ﬂoor and struck Greta Greene, 2, and her grandmother, Susan Frierson, who survived. According to the Dept. of Buildings, the Times reported, the building’s 14-story facade was inspected in 2011 and declared safe. Upper West Side Councilmember Helen Rosenthal released a statement Sunday a few hours after the incident. “Our hearts and prayers are with the victim and her family as she undergoes surgery,” said Rosenthal. “The building has been initially inspected. DOB is working on installing a protective sidewalk shed today, and the process for detailed inspections will

begin right away. I am working with DOB to ensure this building is made safe as soon as possible for everyone on our streets.” The Times reported Monday that workers were seen constructing protective scaffolding on West End Avenue in front of the building. The building is owned and operated by the Scharf family, and is part of a network of luxury senior homes owned by the family in New York City and Long Island. The Scharf family released a statement regarding Greene on their website. “The entire Scharf family is heartbroken by this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Greta Greene’s family. We are fully cooperating with city emergency response agencies and the Department of Buildings to determine the cause of this horrible incident and to safeguard the public.”

MAN, 89, HIT, KILLED BY A CAR An elderly man was hit and killed by a car as he crossed East 61st Street on May 14, police reported, John Torson, 89, who lived about two blocks away, was a west of the crosswalk when a car turned off of First Avenue and hit him around 7:20 p.m., the Daily News reported. He was taken to New York Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he

was pronounced dead. The driver of the Lexus, identiﬁed only as 56 years old, was not charged, the newspaper reported.

STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th Precinct for May 4 to May 10 Week to Date

Year to Date

2015 2014 % Change

Murder

n/a

Rape

n/a

-66.7

Robbery

n/a

19.4

Felony Assault

18.9

Burglary

-37.3

Grand Larceny

430

450

-4.4

Grand Larceny Auto

200

MAN BEATEN, KILLED IN HOTEL ROOM A New Jersey man was found unconscious under a mattress inside a room at the Hilton Garden Inn on West 35th Street Monday and later died. Other hotel guests told investigators they heard screaming coming from the room about 4 a.m., the Wall Street Journal reported. But a hotel security guard who knocked on the door said that a woman answered, saying she was having sex and not ﬁghting, the Journal quoted authorities as saying. Surveillance video later showed that a woman and three men leaving the hotel before dawn, at which point the security guard went back to the room and found Roderick Goodwin, 28, of Bridgeton, under a mattress on the ﬂoor. He had been hit in the back of the head, the Journal reported. Goodwin was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center on First Avenue where he was pronounced dead. Police said on Tuesday that their investigation into Goodwin’s killing was ongoing but that no arrests had been made in connection with the homicide.

NANNY THWARTS ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING IN PARK A nanny watching a 2-year-old boy was able to thwart the boy’s kidnapping at a Central Park playground, police said. The nanny, who was not identiﬁed, was with the boy at the Heckscher Playground near Columbus Circle on Tuesday morning when a woman took the boy off a swing and tried to leave,

The New York Times reported. The nanny, who was pushing the boy’s brother on a nearby swing, rushed to the woman and pulled the boy from her arms. The woman then ran away. She was described as in her early 30s, black, 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds, with short, curly black hair. The Times said the boy’s family reported the attempted abduction two days later.

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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 Third 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

ADDING GUILT TO THE PRICE OF A MANICURE

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

Manhattan women grapple with news of abuses in the nail-salon business BY ANGELA BARBUTI

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

NEWS

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

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What price beauty? In the wake of a report in The New York Times, which revealed nail salon workers’ low wages and deplorable conditions, women throughout the city struggled over how to respond to the news, and what that meant for what many had seen as a perk of city living. “The shocking reality of the situation is incredibly sad,” said Lauren Dulin, who frequents various salons in Manhattan. “While I never thought these women were getting paid a lot of money, the fact that they don’t even make minimum wage, pay to work for free in the beginning of their careers and deal with abusive work environments, all while the government that is supposed to protect them is ignoring the situation, is infuriating.” The Times interviewed 100 workers, and learned that a majority do not get paid the minimum wage; to make matters worse, some must pay a signiﬁcant training fee. Owners can also withhold pay until they deem the employee wage worthy. When asked what they estimated salon workers’ salaries to be, most of the women we spoke to assumed manicurists were making a yearly salary in the range of $30,000. Others thought they were paid by the hour, along the lines of $7 to $10, depending on the caliber of the salon. As the article revealed, some of the salon workers make an hourly wage as low as $1.50. The women we spoke with all confirmed that the cost of a regular manicure has not increased for what they felt was a very long time. The Times also referred to a 2014 survey in Nails Magazine that said the national average is almost double the average price of

$10.50 for a Manhattan manicure. Martha Torres, who grew up in California, noted the difference in wages there, saying, “All employees have to at least earn the minimum wage regardless of tips.” Dulin, a Florida native, was always aware of the fact that this price discrepancy didn’t add up. “I found it strange that the prices in New York City were the same as they were in Florida, given that everything else is more expensive here.” As far as tipping goes, reading the article did inspire some women to increase what they give. “I definitely tip more now,” Dulin said. Torres agreed, but brought up the possibility that the workers may not even be earning the tip she leaves. “Since reading the article I have increased my tip, but I worry about the employee actually getting it,” she said. “I read that the owners will keep tips or not pay the entire tip and that’s not right. I hope the employee receives the actual tip I leave, but leaving a larger tip makes me feel that maybe I am helping to improve the situation.” Although Sandy Strk, who goes to salons in both Manhattan and Queens, never saw employees blatantly mistreated, she does notice that they don’t wear protective masks and gloves or take proper lunch

breaks. “I see them eating in the back standing up until someone walks in. Then they quickly stop eating and rush to the customer,” she said. The article stated that in a salon’s hierarchy, the highest value is placed on Korean women, who get paid as much as 15 to 25 percent more than the others. It also conceded that Latinas are made to administer the least desirable jobs, like giving men pedicures. Caitlin Gangi, who also gets her manicures done in both Manhattan and Queens, said, “I have not seen this type of racism in the industry, however I have seen that the new girls do the men.” The women we interviewed do not feel guilty about the types of services the employees are providing them, including cutting overgrown cuticles and removing calluses from feet. “People pay for lots of services they aren’t good at or dislike doing,” Dulin said. Dana Lyons Haldeman, who gets her nails done on Long Island, likened it to a doctor’s work, and said that it’s not the undesirable tasks that are to blame, but the wages, which should be commensurate to the labor. Salon owners interviewed by the Times posed the argument that they were in fact helping immigrants by employing them. Torres, who herself emigrated from Nicaragua,

does not share that sentiment. “It makes me sad to see immigrants taking advantage of and abusing other immigrants. We all came here for a better life and they are exploiting others,” she said. In order to protect against these infractions, the ladies offered suggestions such as implementing a ratings system similar to what is already in effect for restaurants. Another alternative was to enact stricter laws so salons truly do operate as restaurants when it comes to wages and tipping; since the article was published, both the city and the state have vowed to crack down on the industry. Going forward, Strk would like to see “spot checking from officials” as part of the changes put into place. She also hopes for fair wages, adding, “even if that means the price that I would be paying for a mani/ pedi would increase.”

TO GO OR NOT TO GO? Our reporter explores the new decision-making involved in getting a manicure in Manhattan. See the Voices page inside.

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CUNY Summer Classes! Register Now!

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The most summer courses in NYC at CUNY campuses in all five boroughs. Welcome

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Find Courses, Select a Schedule, and Register Now for courses at 18 CUNY colleges in summer sessions of various lengths from May 26 to August 22. • More than 1,750 programs annually at CUNY • FAQ on Summer Programs

Sign up for the summer course you want. Below are the first days of classes at each college. Many colleges have more than one session. May 26 - Brooklyn College May 28 - John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City College of Technology June 1 - Baruch College, Bronx Community College, The City College of New York, The College of Staten Island, Lehman College, Queens College, Queensborough Community College, York College June 2 - Hunter College, Hostos Community College June 6 - School of Professional Studies June 18 - Bronx Community College, Guttman Community College

Find special offerings and events at each campus.

Kids & Teens test prep to dance and swimming and more in the Bronx. • Music, theater and dance in Brooklyn for children ages 3 to 18. • From

Summer Events Missed Connections, a Group Exhibition of New Works May 24-May 29 Transfer, New Student Orientation May 26 Summer Session Visiting Student Walk-in Application and Registration Day May 26 Student Awards Ceremony May 26

Summer Academic Calendar

www.cuny.edu/summer Find your course at our one-stop-shopping site!

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Central Park

WHATโ S HAPPENING IN THE PARK COMING UP THIS WEEK

many of Central Parkโ s most famous landmarks. Try one out on Saturday or Sunday mornings. More info and signup at www.birdingbob. com

Central Park continues to be in full bloom, or as the newspeople say, a full tsunami. Due to our very long winter, everything is blooming at once. Due to our extra long winter, everyone is outside enjoying this weather. Please tweet us your photos @CentralPark_NYC or post on Facebook.com/CentralPark. We would love to see and share them. Birding Bob hosts birding walks each weekend where you can birdwatch and at the same time enjoy visiting

SUMMERSTAGE PRESENTS: Blue Note Jazz Festival: Meshell Ndegeocello / Roy Hargrove / Gabriel GarzรณnMontano Free SummerStage Concert. When: June 6th at Rumsey Playfield. Doors open at 2 p.m., show starts at 3 p.m. For more information visit: www.centralpark.com/

events

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK This Swedish Cottage Production depicts the classic English Fairtytale. Tickets are $7/children and $10/ adults. When: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. For more information visit: www.centralpark.com/ events

Event listings and Where in Central Park? brought to you by CentralPark.com.

WHERE IN CENTRAL PARK? Do you know where in Central Park this photo was taken? To submit your answer, go to centralpark. com/where-in-central-park. The answers and names of the people who guess right will appear in the paper and online in two weeks.

LAST WEEKS ANSWER: The Mother Goose Statue, located in front of Rumsey Playfield, on the east side of the park near 70th street. Congratulations to Bill Ferrarini and Gregory Holman for answering correctly!

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Are YOU up to the Challenge? Register Today for The Great East Midtown Challenge Wednesday, June 10

Walid Zuwaal stares down the pier at East 99th Street with his ﬁshing line in the water. Photo: William Mathis.

A LURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 four meals a month from river waters, bays and kills, depending on the fish. But children under the age of 15 and women under 50 are warned to not consume any ﬁsh from the East River or any other body of water surrounding Manhattan. That didn’t deter the Bronx’s Anairis Marmolejos, 22, from casting into the river on a recent Sunday in search of dinner. “Look at them jumping. You see them?” Marmolejos said from the pedestrian pathway at East 92nd Street, where she was spending the afternoon with her boyfriend, Juan Jurado, and her 3-year-old son, Alexander, as traffic on the FDR

Drive droned on behind them. When a friend’s father introduced Marmolejos to fishing a few years ago, at Classon Point in the Bronx, she was smitten. She dashed to a local K-Mart to buy a pole of her own and has been fishing ever since. She recently started angling with Jurado, who called it a great way to reduce stress in the busy city: “Sometimes it’s better than getting on Facebook, getting on YouTube.” The couple want to fish from other city spots too. “I heard the Hudson was even better,” said Jurado. Marmolejos is aware of the potential health risks of fishing in the city. A few years ago, her ex-husband broke out in a rash all over his body after eating fish from Classon Point. He was put on antibiotics. “I think

because of pollution,” she said with a shrug and another cast. Farther up the promenade, Brandon Torres, 19, waited for a bicyclist to pass before launching a three-pointed treble hook in the water. He was angling for bunkers, an oily fish that is inedible for people, but great to use as bait. The youngest fisherman on the pier, Torres presided over the day’s catch: a pile of 13 bunkers flopping around in the shade. He has been an avid fisherman since he was 6. He said he has never experienced any health issues. Striped bass is his favorite. “Striper’s like chicken – it’s like the best meat you could ever eat,” he said. “It’s the freshest fish in New York City.”

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An evening of fun, trivia, and interactive activities around the district for teams of between 2 and 5 people. As a Challenge participant, you’ll learn more about this community, meet your neighbors at a post-event reception... and have a lot of fun while you’re at it!

Visit www.EastMidtown.org/Challenge for details The Great East Midtown Challenge 2015 will raise funds and awareness for The Doe Fund, Inc.

East Midtown Partnership 875 Third Avenue, Mezzanine, New York, NY 10022 212-813-0030 info@eastmidtown.org www.EastMidtown.org

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

< AN EXERCISE CLASS UNDER THREAT We, members of the 60+ senior exercise class at St. Stephen of Hungary Church, so appreciate the support we get from the three exercise classes that meet here each week. The church acts as our community center and is handicap accessible. We need the church and the support that it gives to the community! Thank you.

Letter

Voices

Tuesday Senior Exercise Class: Peri Trout, Mary Fitzgerald, Shirley Frieko, Mary Keane, Irene Taylor, Irma Friedman, Jim Friedman, Linda Ginter, Beatrice Cihak, Carol Ann Hinkley, Angel Ileto, Joseph O’Mara, Tizania Arcelay, Judith Kulzer, Julia Economou, Helen Lay, Annette Castrogiovanni, Elizabeth Munting,

June O’Donnell, Judythe Alston, Winifred Burgess, Marcia Reese (Editor’s note: These senior exercise classes, taught by instructor Betsy O’Neill, are threatened as a result of the proposal by the Archdiocese of New York to close St. Stephen of Hungary Church.)

OP-ED

FROM AN ASPHALT GREEN MOTHER To the Editor: (Re; “Last Tumble for Gymnasts at Asphalt Green,” May 14) First of all, thank you for taking the time to hear our story and write about it in the May 14th issue. I would like to take a minute to express my love of the asphalt green gymnastics program and to try to represent to you the value it has provided for my son over the years. My son, Robbie Custodio, is a current seventh grader who has been participating in the gymnastics program for six years. For Robbie the most important part of this program for us has been the community. NYC is a very transient place to live, where establishing long-term relationships can be difficult. His friends and classmates have moved in and out of the city for years. The school system is set up so that he moves from elementary to middle to high school in a different area of the city with new classmates. Gymnastics has been his community. The children he has participated in this activity with are an amazingly supportive group and he feels a great connection to them. I honestly underestimated the teamwork skills he would learn in this seemingly individual sport. To witness the peer mentoring and support the older children provide the younger ones is really something quite unusual. For me the most important part has been the mentoring provided to him by his coaches. These young men are supportive, encouraging and seek to challenge our young children. They invest countless hours and energy in providing this support and I am incredibly grateful. I would also like to point out the value of Robbie being in such a diverse group of children and coaches. On seemingly every other gymnastic team, the children and coaches seem to be made from the same mold – fit, young, white, short-haired boys and men. Come to the gym and see our team – we are clearly unique and provide a space where those not in the mold can still believe this sport is for them. As a mother of a boy on the small side I also cannot overestimate the positive effect gymnastics has on his body. He sees himself as athletic, fit, and strong. I feel all of these elements are so important and to have them be put at risk due to closure of the program is incredibly painful to both me and my son. The only other boys gymnastics program is in Chelsea Piers, which is logistically impossible for us to even begin to consider. I am even more upset by the way Asphalt Green has handled the situation. We are part of the community – why not ask us to help? Ask if we can try to find other children to join or even ask if we are willing to increase our fees? At this point there have been no hard facts to help us understand the decision and no willingness to engage with us at all. It’s honestly incredibly hurtful given the time we have dedicated to this organization. Sincerely, Dr. Beth A. Barron Mother of Robert Custodio

THE MANICURE CONUNDRUM: WHAT’S THE RIGHT MOVE? BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO

Growing up, I painted my fingernails in my best friend’s room while we gossiped and watched MTV. Once we had licenses, we drove to the nail salon a few towns over and splurged on $50 acrylic French tips, a treat reserved for prom and graduation. But mostly, my nails remained bare. I still rarely get manicures. I’m content to save the money and polish my ﬁngernails at home while casually watching a baseball game or marathoning the latest season of “The Voice.” But I do get manicures, perhaps three or four a year, and the slightly more expensive pedicures when I’m attending a wedding or rewarding myself at the end of a particularly busy week. If I let too much time pass between manicures, I find I’m self-conscious, especially around women with wellmaintained ﬁngernails and cuticles. A fresh manicure is part of feeling put together, but when did it become a frequent necessity, as common as a haircut? When visiting a nail salon

for the first time, I often look for visibly sanitary conditions—do the manicurists remove cuticle nippers and nail clippers from a sealed pouch, in front of me? Do the floors appear freshly swept, the pedicure tubs newly scrubbed? And does the salon carry a wide selection of brightly colored polish? The time spent with a manicurist often passes in silence, which, paired with what I’ve imagined is repetitive, laborious work, and the shoulder massage I receive for free while I sit with my freshly painted fingernails under a fan, always made me a bit uneasy. But I guess never too uneasy. That’s not true anymore, for me and I imagine many women and men in New York, after reading Sarah Maslin Nir’s investigative piece for The New York Times that revealed the exploitation of mostly female nail salon employees and the devastating health effects of breathing omnipresent toxic fumes in the salons. I don’t imagine I’ll visit a nail salon in the city anytime soon. If I do, I’d

rather spend double for the knowledge that the employees are fairly paid and ethically treated. But how will I know? If I pay more for a manicure, does that mean the employees are fairly compensated? If I tip more, how do I know that money is going to the manicurist and not to the salon’s owners? Awareness doesn’t always make us ethical, responsible consumers. I’ll buy a piece of clothing that I know was likely made in a factory with unsafe working conditions, by an employee who isdrastically overworked and underpaid, because the clothing fits and it’s reasonably priced. That employee is not

handing me my new shirt. Living in New York, we can develop a relative immunity to our surroundings—the loud sirens at night, the gentle rumble of the train below our apartments— and those with whom we share this city can become remarkably anonymous. For me, it’s easy enough to withdraw my patronage at inexpensive nail salons and assuage the guilt that comes from being complicit. But somehow that doesn’t seem like quite enough, when it’s also easy to sit at home, tune in to a baseball game and distractedly paint my nails. Gabrielle Alﬁero is arts editor of this newspaper.

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MAY 21-27,2015

My Story

The Tragedy of Trains and Traffic BY BETTE DEWING

y heart sinks to read the news bulletin: “Victims of fatal Amtrak crash may see big payoff. The company could pay a record amount to survivors.” This safest by far land travel mode will be further endangered. Can it survive? What is rarely said, especially to some Republican legislators ever resistant to Amtrak and even mass transit funding, is without theses safe travel modes, there’ll be many more street and highway traffic killings and maimings and more lasting heartache for victims’ loved ones. More street and highway congestion and greenhouse gases. And “the economy” also suffers: U.S. motor vehicle crashes cost in the neighborhood of $2 billion dollars a year. We need to hear about that – and how passenger trains once connected every

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

village and town and fares were affordable. Few power people remember those great traveling days. Dearly missed are New York Times columnists like Russell Baker and Tom Wicker, who frequently railed against government’s reluctance to adequately support Amtrak and a society increasingly addicted to the fast track. And I’m deeply indebted to Amtrak for a writers’ discount on many a longdistance train trip, where one not only gets to see the country from the train window. but where different generations and backgrounds talk together – communicate. I hope that still happens and riders will also protest government’s failure to adequately support Amtrak and deplore the horrific recent speed-caused derailment which brutally took the lives of eight passengers, all relatively young with so many to mourn them. There are also lasting physical injuries. Media must hold government’s feet to the fire when it doesn’t put safety first. The close-to-home traffic tragedies happening every day in New York City need more media coverage. This newspaper is unique in its active concern. Incidentally, The Times public editor needs to hear about that paper’s lack of such coverage (public@nytimes.com). So I check out the Daily News and today, May 17th, are two stories all traffic safetyconcerned people must read. No life lost, thankfully, when a car slammed into a Brooklyn restaurant, but the place of business suffered serious damage, Was the driver speeding? Most likely. The other story, “Taxi

The Original Teachings of Mayhem,” tells of a 20-yearold woman “clinging to life” after being struck by a yellow SUV cab as it made a right turn into her 57th and 8th Avenue crosswalk, key word, turn. Also noted is the earlier killing of 56-year-old Victor Grant, struck when an SUV jumped the W. 42nd sidewalk after colliding with another car. Speed was likely involved. And there’s more: “This also comes after a 76 year-old tourist, Amelia Sterental, was mowed down by a yellow cab on Madison Avenue as throngs of shopper watched in horror.” The May 10th Daily News’s half-page story “Midtown Cab Hit, Kills Woman, 76” also reveals how this Florida woman visiting New York with her family was struck by the cab making a turn into her 60th Street crosswalk, Making a turn. How long, dear Lord, how long, until this most deadly to pedestrian crime of traffic becomes a top priority enforcement? And I repeat, it’s any intersection where vehicles can turn into you – not just those with the highest accident rate. Ninety-year-old Belle Moser was crossing East End with her light when she was struck by a car turning into her crosswalk two years ago. And if she’d not been a neighbor of a friend, I’d not have known about this failure-to-yield-caused traffic tragedy and Moser’s ﬁve-week painful stay in New York Hospital’s ICU before she perished. And, of course, it’s also the speeding – the speeding – the speeding. More soon about that - on every front. Remember, we can overcome if enough of us try. dewingbetter@aol.com

IN OUR HANDS RESCUE & NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA

ADOPT A PET Petco Union Square

animalleague.org ' 516.883.7575 25 Davis Avenue ' Port Washington, NY

Photo By Ellen Dunn

860 Broadway @ E. 17th St. New York, NY FRI MAY 22 ! 2PM – 7PM

Theosophy as recorded by H.P. Blavatsky & William Q. Judge

What is Karma? We consider Karma as the Ultimate Law of the Universe, the source, origin and fount of all other laws which exist throughout Nature. Karma is the unerring law which adjusts effect to cause, on the physical, mental and spiritual planes of being. As no cause remains without its due effect from greatest to least, from a cosmic disturbance down to the movement of your hand, and as like produces like, Karma is that unseen and unknown law which adjusts wisely, intelligently and equitably each effect to its cause, tracing the latter back to its producer. Though itself unknowable, its action is perceivable. H.P. Blavatsky

All Meetings Free No Dues No Collections TV Channel 57 Fri @ 9:30PM

SUNDAY EVENINGS 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. May

Proofs of the Hidden Self

June

7 21

Karma - Individual and Collective “ULT Day” All are Welcome

For full program contact:

The United Lodge of Theosophists Theosophy Hall Phone (212) 535- 2230

347 East 72nd St., New York www.ULT.org

MAY 21-27,2015

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Out & About More Events. Add Your Own: Go to ourtownny.com

Erectile Dysfunction:

Travel the Road to Treatment What do men do when Erectile Dysfunction pills aren’t effective? Don’t like the idea of expensive penile injections, suppositories, and vacuum pumps? Get the facts on an inﬂatable penile prosthesis (IPP): a permanent solution—covered by many insurance plans—which allows an erection as often as you like, for as long as you wish. Attend a FREE seminar sponsored by Coloplast Corp. to educate men and their partners about an advanced, DRUG FREE treatment for E.D. FREE REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED Featuring: Dr. J. Francois Eid A board certiﬁed urologist who specializes in the treatment of E.D.

The New York Marriott East Side Morgan B Room 525 Lexington Ave. at 49th St. New York, NY 10017

Also featuring: A patient who has found a long-term solution to his E.D. Wednesday, June 3, 2015 Refreshments available at 6 p.m. Presentation begins at 6:15 p.m.

To reserve your space or for more information about this FREE seminar, please call: (866) 233-9368.

PARTNERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND

Fri 22

An educational series, sponsored by Coloplast Corp., designed to inform and empower. www.ColoplastMensHealth.com

REGENTS EXAMS

BEGIN

JUNE 2

Offering One Day Regents Test Prep: Earth Science

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passtheregents.com or call 212-453-9895

Course Location: St. Vincent Ferrer HS, Manhattan

WARRIORS AND MOTHERS: EPIC MBEMBE ART The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave., at 82nd Street 10 a.m., suggested: $25. The Met showcases artifacts from 17th, 18th, and 19th

century Nigeria that range from several inches to several feet in size. On view through September 7.. 212-535-7710. metmuseum. org

founded and still operates. www.eastharlemblocknursery. org/

MILLENNIUM DISCO 92nd Street Y, Buttenwieser

WALTER DUNDERVILL— Hall, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street CONSTRUCTION AND 8 p.m., $15, advance/$20, door ACTION Featuring the hustle, and Latin 92nd Street Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street, Aven Buttenwieser Hall Butt Noon, from $10 No The choreographer explores Th the fforces of nature and the importance of chaos and impo entropy to the human experience entro and presents choreographers Stacy Grossﬁeld and Rebecca Stac Davis. Davi http://www.92y.org/Event/ ht FAN-Walter-Dundervill FAN

Sat 23

and West Coast swing. Hosted by NYC disco diva Lori Brizzi who will conduct a complimentary Hustle lesson. Cash bar Aaailable. http://www.92y.org/Event/ Millennium-Disco

Sun 24 ▲ KEEPING IT GREEN FOR FAMILIES

Location provided with registration 10 a.m.-noon Spend quality time with your ◄ OLD SCHOOL family helping keep Central Park STYLE S BLOCK green. Central Park Conservancy environmental educators will lead PARTY P mulching projects throughout the East Harlem Block Nursery, Park. Pre-registration required. 212-310-6600. www. 215 2 E. 106th St., betw. Second centralparknyc.org/events/ and Third Avenues individual-events/keeping-it11 a.m.-5 p.m., Free green-for-families-5-24-2015. 50th Anniversary festivities 50 html with a block party where the original nursery school was origin

MAY 21-27,2015

RECANATI-KAPLAN MUSIC SCHOLARS RECITAL

THE FRIENDS OF THE ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER host

2015

PAW Day

92nd Street Y, Weill Art Gallery, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street 2 p.m., Free And afternoon performance will include a wide array of music genresâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from rock to jazz to classical repertoire. www.92y.org/Event/RecanatiKaplan-Recital

Pet And Wellness fun

Mon 25

A health fair for families and their pets

ART IN THE ROUND: ARCHITECTURE TOUR Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Ave., at 89th Street, Rotunda Floor. 2 p.m., Free with admission Art in the Round: Architecture Tours are led by gallery educators and focus on the architecture of the Frank Lloyd Wright building and themes related to it. Topics for each date are listed below. 212-423-3500. www. guggenheim.org/

Tue 26 VERSAILLES â&#x20AC;&#x2122;73: AMERICAN RUNWAY REVOLUTION

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Saturday, May 30th 10am - 1pm Furry friends are invited! Carl Schurz Park (84th St. and East End Ave.)

Wed 27 Thu 28

French Institute Alliance FranĂ§aise, Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St. 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., $13 general/$7 students In this entertaining 2012 documentary, models and assistants share ďŹ rsthand accounts of Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta and others. In English. http://ďŹ af.org/ fashion/2015/2015-05-26-csrunway.shtml

DINING WITH LUCY: FOOD & â&#x20AC;&#x153;I LOVE LUCYâ&#x20AC;?

YOU CANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T TAKE IT WITH YOU

92nd Street Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street. 2:30-4:30 p.m., from $35 Food often took center stage in the showm, including in the episodes â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pioneer Women,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Freezer,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Job Switchingâ&#x20AC;? and, of course, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lucyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Italian Movie.â&#x20AC;? Light refreshments included. www.92y.org/Event/Diningwith-Lucy

96th Street Library, 112 E. 96th St.

BALLET EXERCISE CLASS FOR ADULTS

â&#x2013;˛ MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS

67th Street Library, 328 E. 67th St. 2-3 p.m., Free Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your chance to experience the ballerina in each of us. Learn basic ballet steps and experience the joy of dancing in a class that combines ballet and exercise speciďŹ cally for older adults. Registration required67th Stree 212-734-1717. http:// www.nypl.org/events/ programs/2015/05/05/balletexercise-class-adults

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave., at 82nd Street, Tours Sign, Great Hall 10 a.m., suggested: $25. Discover the Museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s encyclopedic collection on this tour, which focuses on a selection of works of art representing different cultures and time periods and encourages visitors to explore the Museum on their own 212-535-7710. metmuseum. org

2 p.m., Free In this Frank Capra ďŹ lm from 1938, the daughter of a highly eccentric New York family falls for a rich manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son, starring Jean Arthur, James Stewart and Lionel Barrymore. 212-289-0908

HENRY CLAY FRICK AND HIS COLLECTION Frick Collection, 1 E. 70th Street, at Fifth Avenue, Garden Court 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., Free with museum admission Collection docents present 10-minute talks Tuesdays through Fridays at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon. 212.288.0700. Education@ frick.org

Featuring: AMC veterinarians, information RQ SUHYHQWDWLYH FDUH DQG SHW VDIHW\ SHW Âż UVW DLG tips, dog licensing, childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activity area, face painting, pet portraits, Clifford the Big Red Dog, stuffed animal vet clinic, and much more! Special thanks to our sponsors: Angel On A Leash, Best Pet Rx, The Honest Kitchen, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, New York City OfďŹ ce of Emergency Management, New York City Veterinary Emergency Response Team, Society of Illustrators

For more information or to make a contribution, please call 212-329-8668 or visit www.amcny.org 2015 FRIENDS OF THE ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER Travis Acquavella, Cass Adelman, Kristin Fisher Allen, David Burns, Merrill Curtis, Susan Lazarus, Lily Maddock, Kay Nordeman, Robin Regan

MAY 21-27,2015

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

< Rumer LeGendre, 18, and her mentor have met Wednesdays on the Upper West Side for about three years to brainstorm and work on poetry and personal essays. Photo: Linda Kleinbub

< Brittney Nanton, a 10th grader at Landmark High School in Chelsea, has grown creatively and in conﬁdence since joining Girls Write Now, a writing and mentoring organization in the Garment District. Photo: Linda Kleinbub

< Yesmil Polanco, a junior at NYC iSchool, has made ﬁlm and sound recordings as well as written poetry since joining Girls Write Now earlier this year. Photo: Linda Kleinbub

IN BLOOM: PROGRAM TAILORS WRITERS’ BUDDING TALENTS Girls Write Now has paired about 5,000 girls with established writers since its inception 17 years ago BY LINDA KLEINBUB

Brittney Nanton, a 10th grader at Landmark High School in Chelsea, has lots of school friends, but few with whom she can share her love of literature, and even fewer who can give her feedback on her own writing. That, she said, left her feeling uncertain about her talents. But since joining Girls Write Now, a writing and mentoring program in the Garment District, Nanton said she’s grown in conﬁdence and bloomed creatively. “I have found my own unique style that I’m not afraid to share,” said Nanton, who lives on the Upper West Side. “As a woman, this program has made me feel more conﬁdent.” Girls Write Now, begun in 1998, pairs high school girls with professional woman writers who provide guidance on writing and, often, on other matters too. Participants commit to meeting with a mentor once a week and to attend monthly group workshops throughout the school year. Most students return for another year; some have stayed with the pro-

gram as long as four years. The program’s founder, Maya Nussbaum, conceived of Girls Write Now during her senior year at Columbia University, at a time she was trying to ﬁnd her own voice as a writer. “I wanted to break down the myth of the isolated writer and to build an organization based on the principle that it’s actually a communal enterprise,” Nussbaum said. “I focused on teens because I remember ninth and 10th grade of high school as the years during which I became awakened intellectually and creatively. The idea is to identify girls and expose them to new writing opportunities.” More than 5,000 girls have taken part in the program since its inception. Its 2015 anthology, Voice to Voice, will be released on May 19, at the organization’s annual awards evening at Three Sixty Tribeca. By then, Rumer LeGendre, 18, and her mentor will have gotten together on yet another Wednesday on the Upper West Side, where for about three years they have met to brainstorm and work on poetry and personal essays. LeGendre, a senior at NYC iSchool in SoHo who lives in Morningside Heights, called her mentor, Vivian Conan, a huge in-

ﬂuence. About year ago, LeGendre stood in front of a microphone and read two of her poems to a Girls Write Now audience of several hundred. “To share my poem that I saw as empowering on stage in front of people was an exhilarating experience,” said LeGendre, who plans to attend Brooklyn College and study English literature or political science. “Girls Write Now has helped me to grow as a writer, and provided support and encouragement to not be ashamed of my writing, but rather to be self-assured about the words I put on the page.” The organization added a digital mentoring program in 2012, giving students the opportunity to create and ﬁne-tune multimedia projects including video, audio and animation. Yesmil Polanco, a junior at NYC iSchool, joined Girls Write Now this year, not long after her mother died following a long struggle with cancer and what her mentor, Heather Kristin, said were a host of other challenges. Polanco, who lives in Morningside Heights, and Kristin typically meet at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square or at a nearby Starbucks, where they tinker

with words and talk about writing. Polanco, who has made ﬁlm and sound recordings as well as written poetry, said the program has taught her the power of the written and spoken word. “I’ve learned the importance of how my writing can touch girls like me, of color, from struggling families,” she said. Nanton, the Landmark High 10th grader, also said that weekly rendezvous with her mentor — Amy Flyntz, at an Upper West Side café, where they write, edit the work and share a little a gossip — have been invaluable, both for her writing and for herself. Flyntz, too, has come to treasure the relationship. She recalled a pivotal moment from a recent teen poetry slam at the Nuyorican Poets Café at which Nanton participated on the spur of the moment and without prompting. “She closed the evening by getting up and reading an excerpt from her essay, which received very positive feedback,” Flyntz said. “As we walked to the train, she turned to me, grinned and said, ‘I’m really proud of myself.’ As a mentor, those are the sweetest, most rewarding words you can ever hope to hear. I floated home that night.”

5 TOP

MAY 21-27,2015

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

FOR THE WEEK BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO OUR ARTS EDITOR

DANCE

N.Y. EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ In choreographer Jerome Robbins’ 1958 work “N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz,” which New York City Ballet ﬁrst staged in 2005, dancers wear sneakers and costumes resembling street clothes; the choreography, set to a jazz score, explores the experiences of young city dwellers of the post- World War II era. N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz May 22, 27, 28 and 31 New York City Ballet David H. Koch Theater 20 Lincoln Center Plaza, W. 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue Assorted show times Tickets $59-$164 To purchase tickets, visit nycballet.com or call 212-496-0600

MUSIC

GALLERIES

DAVID ROSENBOOM: PROPOSITIONAL MUSIC

JOSH AGLE (SHAG): “ALL MY BONES”

The third ﬂoor theater in the Whitney Museum of American Art opens for a Memorial Day weekend concert series celebrating the work of experimental musician and composer David Rosenboom. The three-day event includes “Zones of Inﬂuence,” which Rosenboom wrote three decades ago for percussionist William Winant, who will perform along with piano, violin and electronic accompaniment. David Rosenboom: Propositional Music May 22-24 Whitney Museum of American Art Susan and John Hess Theater 99 Gansevoort Street, near Washington Street Assorted show times Tickets $12-$22, with some free shows To purchase tickets, visit whitney.org, or call 212-570-3600 for more information

HOMAGE TO TANGO Classical accordionist Sir N. Antonio Peruch received a knighthood from his native Italy, and though the accordion is not commonly associated with a classical repertoire, Peruch strives to alter that perception. He joins Uruguayan pianist Polly Ferman and Canada’s Vaughan String Quartet for his ﬁrst New York engagement, an evening of tangos featuring music by Astor Piazzolla and Daniel Binelli. Homage to Tango Friday, May 22 Symphony Space 2537 Broadway at 95th Street 7 p.m. Tickets $25-$35 To purchase tickets, visit symphonyspace.org or call 212-864-5400

The work of Los Angeles-based painter and illustrator Josh Agle, also known as Shag, with its bold, technicolor palette and cartoonish, vintage characters, evokes hyper-stylized scenes from “Mad Men,” complete with martini glasses and bouffant ‘do’s. The scenes, inspired by Biblical tales, examine our attitudes toward consumerism. Josh Agle (Shag): “All My Bones” Now through June 13 Jonathan LeVine Gallery 557C W. 23rd St., near Eleventh Avenue Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. FREE For more information, visit jonathanlevinegallery.com or call 212-242-2731

INEZ ANDRUCYK Painter Inez Andrucyk contemplates human healing, transformation and unpredictability in her work, making the setting for her latest show, Weill Cornell Medical Center, quite fitting. The realistic human figures she incorporates into her abstract works appear to float and drift along the canvas, as if in water. Inez Andrucyk Now through June 30 Weill Cornell Medical Associates West 12 W. 72nd St., between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West Hours: Monday, Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. FREE For more information, visit andinez.com To be included in the Top 5 go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.

The local paper for Chelsea

Art

the

Future of CHELSEA a community forum Few neighborhoods have changed as quickly, or as dramatically, as Chelsea. This community forum will bring together artists, gallery owners, elected ofﬁcials and industry leaders to dissect what has happened to Chelsea and outline the very delicate balance it now needs to strike: Can it continue to grow as a leadingedge art center while retaining the feel of a neighborhood? What can be done to keep the artists who helped put it on the map? How will the arrival of the Whitney Museum and, soon, the Hudson Yards project transform the neighborhood?

— Save the Date — It’s FREE. Come join us and the discussion When: Monday, June 8 6-8pm Where: The Rubin Museum | 150 West 17th St. RSVP: rsvp@strausnews.com or call 212-868-0190 - Seating is ﬁrst come ﬁrst served

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MAY 21-27,2015

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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS MAY 12 - 15, 2015 The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygieneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

Emack & Bolios

1564 1 Avenue

Amc Orpheum 7

1538 3Rd Ave

Subway

201 East 116 Street

Yummy City

1557 Lexington Avenue

Three Guyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant

960 Madison Avenue

Dunkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Donuts

1391 Madison Avenue

Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cafe

1334 York Avenue

Yummy Sushi

1758 1 Avenue

Toloache

166 East 82 Street

Starbucks Coffee

1642 3 Avenue

Brasserie Magritte

1463 Third Avenue

Grade Pending (27) Hot food item not held at or above 140Âş F. Food from unapproved or unknown source or home canned. Reduced oxygen packaged (ROP) ďŹ sh not frozen before processing; or ROP foods prepared on premises transported to another site. Food Protection CertiďŹ cate not held by supervisor of food operations.

Dunkin Donuts & Baskin Robbins

1760 2 Avenue

Akami Sushi

1771 1 Avenue

Ichiro

1694 2Nd Ave

Grade Pending (27) Hot food item not held at or above 140Âş F. Cold food item held above 41Âş F (smoked ďŹ sh and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ÂşF) except during necessary preparation. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

Inase Sushi Restaurant

1586 1 Avenue

Starbucks Coffee

1488 3 Avenue

Jesuit Mission House Kitchen

53 East 83 Street

The Tale of Two de Blasios MAYOR de BLASIO

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FRICK EXPANSION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 museum revealed its expansion plan, which includes the construction of a six-story building to the east of the historic mansion, on the footprint of the Page garden. The organization’s preservation committee had early reservations, said Margaret Newman, executive director of Municipal Art Society. Though initially the group planned to wait for a revised design before releasing a formal statement, Newman said it was time to speak on the issue, as a reﬁned plan has yet to come. “We felt from the beginning that there wasn’t a clear statement by the Frick as to why they needed this additional square footage,” said Newman. “The justiﬁcation has never really been explained.” While the letter to the Frick suggests the museum’s art reference library, a separate building on 71st Street, as a potential location for expansion that would leave the garden intact, Newman noted that more information from the Frick is needed in order to propose a logical alternative. “There are many ways to solve a problem,” she said. “If you don’t know what the problem is, it’s hard to know how

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com you’d come up with a solution.” Since releasing its plans in June 2014, Frick officials have maintained that the expansion, which will yield 42,000 square feet of additional space, will allow the museum to better accommodate visitors, who have increased about 35 percent in the last decade, by enlarging its reception hall and by opening galleries on the mansion’s second ﬂoor, which are now used as office space. The museum also hopes to add dedicated classrooms, a larger auditorium and new conservation facilities, among other amenities. The Frick continues to work with architecture firm Davis Brody Bond to hone the design, and has yet to schedule a presentation to the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, which must approve the plan. Though the release of the updated design is still months away, Frick officials stress that the library remains central to the mission and work of the institution, a connection that would only become more prominent following the proposed expansion, which would allow the public to access the library directly from the museum. Newman is unsurprised by the public’s reaction to the proposal, with some adversaries coalescing into a visible opposition group, Unite to Save the

Frick. “I think people feel a great deal of affection for it,” said Newman. “People who like the Frick really love the Frick.” Jonathan Brown, a professor of fine arts at New York University, where he’s taught for 44 years, supports the museum’s expansion efforts and partially attributes the strong public response to the addition to what he calls the “Penn Station syndrome,” suggesting that change, especially to one of the city’s most beloved institutions, will inspire skepticism. For Brown, the Frick’s library has been an essential research tool for several decades, but he readily acknowledges that the library, which was built by John Russell Pope in 1935, is little used outside of the arts community. “It’s a clandestine operation because it’s used by relatively few people compared to the collection,” said Brown. “This is, so to speak, my bread and butter.”

Simeon Bankoff, executive director of Historic Districts Council, on behalf of HDC and Unite to Save the Frick: ...To open the mansion’s grand second floor, the Frick does not need a new building. Needed office space can be rented nearby — right now — as many cultural institutions do. Furthermore, the Frick has proposed its new “education space” to be underground, not in the new addition. This same move can be made now, without destroying the garden. Lastly, the Frick’s proposed “rooftop terrace” could never replace the exquisite street-level Russell Page garden experience now enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of museum-goers and passersby each year. Statement from the Frick Collection: The proposed plan and location for an addition allows the Frick to keep its existing galleries intact, and open the second floor of the historic mansion to the public for the first time as new galleries. In the new structure, the Frick will gain more and better space for its education efforts — including an array of programs, many free, for middle school, high school, and college students — improved conservation facilities, and be able to offer equal access to the building for those with disabilities.

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Business

< WOMEN ON THE $20 Members of the City Council’s Women’s Caucus announced the introduction of a resolution calling on the federal government to put a woman on the $20 bill. From left: Council Member Inez Barron, Women on 20s co-leaders Susan Ades Stone and Barbara Ortiz Howard, NOW-NY President Sonia Ossorio (in back), Council Members Margaret Chin and Laurie Cumbo.

The city council’s Women’s Caucus is backing an effort to get a woman on the $20 bill. The caucus introduced a resolution last week in support of the measure, dubbed #WomenOn20s. T The Council members were joined by Barbara Ortiz Howard and Susan Ades Stone, co-lead-

In Brief BREWER-MENDEZ TENANT NOTIFICATION BILL PASSES COUNCIL Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmember Rosie Mendez recently announced the city council’s passage of Int. 222, legislation requiring landlords provide tenants with advance notice for non-emergency repair work that will result in disruptions to building services. The bill establishes a general baseline of 72 hours advance notice for most work. For work affecting elevators, the bill requires 10 business days notice for major alteration work and 24 hours notice for any other work that will suspend all elevator service for more than two hours. The legislation, sponsored jointly by Mendez and Brewer, “closes a gaping hole in the city’s tenant-protection laws, which currently provide no such advance-notice requirements,” according to a joint press release. “Today, a wheelchair-bound tenant could leave for work in the morning and return in the evening to ﬁnd the elevator offline for hours, having never heard a whisper about it,” said Brewer. “Tenants deserve fair warning and an opportunity to plan around disruptive maintenance work.” Mendez, who represents parts of the Lower East Side, Alphabet City and the East Village, said the legislation codiﬁes common sense and common courtesy.

OUR TOWN’S EAST MIDTOWN TRIVIA CHALLENGE As part of the Great East Midtown Challenge on June 10, Our Town will be holding a trivia contest! We’ll pose a question that can be answered by looking elsewhere in this week’s paper. Find all the answers over the next four weeks and you’ll have a leg up on the other teams in next month’s challenge. This week’s question: What is the name of John Philips’ two-year-old son? For more info on the challenge, go to http:// eastmidtown.org/ challenge

GREAT EAST MIDTOWN

CHALLENGE

ers of the Women on 20s movement and the official W20 campaign, whose work inspired the resolution, as well as recently introduced federal legislation. Last week Howard and Stone announced the results of a nationwide online vote held by W20 to consider potential new faces of the $20 bill. More than 600,000 people voted over the course of approximately 10 weeks, ultimately choosing legendary abolitionist Harriet Tub-

man as the ballot winner. Also considered on the final ballot were former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, civil rights icon Rosa Parks and Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. With a ballot winner chosen, W20 has now launched an additional social media campaign using the hashtag #DearMrPresident, to amplify their message and get the attention of President Barack Obama.

WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS? NEWS A city proposal would require high-rises to turn them off at night BY DEEPTI HAJELA

Bright lights, big city? Not so much, if a New York City council member gets his way. He’s introduced a bill requiring most office high-rises to turn off the lights at night as a way to cut energy costs and help migratory birds. And it might even give New Yorkers a chance to see some stars other than the celebrities walking down the street. “We need to be doing everything we can to conserve energy,” said Councilmember Donovan Richards Jr. “This is a commonsense measure. It’s not going to cost anybody a lot of money.” Seventy-one percent of New Yorkers like the idea, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday of 969 registered city voters. But the bill, one of the ﬁrst in the city focusing on what supporters call “light pollution,” is causing concern among some residents who worry that dimming the lights could make the city less safe and dampen its signature sparkle. For Joyetta McCullen, the lights are part of what makes her city special, even though she has often wondered why buildings keep all their lights on at night when there’s no one working. “I’m 25, lived in New York all my life, that’s all I saw,” she said, “lights and noise.” Richards’ proposal is aimed at commercial buildings at least 20 stories high, and requires them to turn off the lights after midnight if no one is inside. On a recent dusk, whole ﬂoors could be seen lit up in high-rise buildings in midtown Manhattan, even long after most workers had left for the day. It would exempt landmarks, such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, as well as the city’s brightest nighttime tourist draw, Times Square.

Richards said he was inspired in part by a trip to Paris last year. The City of Light has had office and shop buildings turning off their lights at night for the past couple of years. And if Paris can do it, he said, New York City can, too. “We should be the world leader for conservation,” he said. At a hearing on the measure last month, critics raised issues of safety, and whether the law would just add more onerous regulations for building owners and the potential for ﬁnes. The Daily News of New York was even stronger in an editorial headlined: “We’ll not go gentle: Keep New York City’s nighttime skyline bright and beautiful.” It went on to say Richards “means well, much as those who would have us ration the paint and canvas wasted in the production of museum masterpieces might mean well” but that turning off the lights would “cast a permanent pall over one of America’s most beautiful sights.” Hardly, said Scott Kardel, managing director of the Tucson, Arizona-based International Dark-Sky Association, which advocates against light pollution. “No one’s talking about plunging people into darkness and chaos like you get when there’s a major disaster,” Kardel said. “It’s really just dialing it back when there’s an opportunity to do that. It’s not going to

change significantly the ambiance at street level.” Bird lovers say lowering the light level would also help migrating species, many of which ﬂy through the night and can become confused and disoriented by bright city lights. “It would be a wonderful message from New York City to do this,” said Susan Elbin, director of conservation and science for New York City Audubon. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last month that state buildings would turn off non-essential lights from 11 p.m. to dawn through the spring and fall, peak bird migration times. Utility company Consolidated Edison said it was reviewing the proposal. Richards said he would be talking to stakeholders like building owners and the New York Police Department. There is no timetable for any legislation to come up for a vote. If it does make it in law, it can’t come soon enough for Joseph Rosen, a 74-yearold retired music store owner who lives at the corner of 56th Street and Broadway and says light streaming in from a sign on a building several blocks away is a nightly annoyance. “It lights up the inside of our house like daylight,” he said.

MAY 21-27,2015

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ALL IN THE FAMILY ON A CORNER OF THE EAST SIDE The Board of Directors of the 60-86 Madison Avenue District Management Association, Inc. cordially invites you to attend the

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whom are related. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The chef has been here since I was eight years old,â&#x20AC;? John said. Though The Mansion has the look of a classic diner, the family -- really, Philip -- donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like the label, and indeed this is a serious restaurant. The matzoh ball soup has been hailed as among the best in the city (70 to 80 gallons a day of it) and John has bonafide foodie chops, having managed at the Plaza and Tribeca Grand before returning to the family business. There are days when his team will deliver 250 meals to take-out customers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We take a lot of pride in what we do,â&#x20AC;? he said. The Philips, of course, see their neighborhood transform, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re adapting to keep pace. A selection of craft beers and gluten-free sweets have been added, and John says â&#x20AC;&#x153;you see a lot more salads on our menu than you would have seen a few years ago.â&#x20AC;? Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also some talk of expansion, though a couple of constants are almost guaranteed: the restaurant will almost surely remain run by a John or Philip Philips, and they will all but certainly live within shouting distance of a single corner of the Upper East Side.

BY KYLE POPE

Every week for the rest of the year, Our Town will celebrate our 45th anniversary by proďŹ ling 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 Everything you need to know about the importance of tradition for the Philips family can be learned from the names of the people who run their restaurant. The Mansion, an Upper East Side anchor at York Ave. and 86th Street, was founded by John Philips, a Depressionera immigrant from Cyprus. In the 1970s, John was joined by his son, Philip (yes, Philip Philips), who was born and raised on 86th. Nearly a decade ago, Philip was joined by his son, John, who was raised a block away and has a young son named ... Philip. So, for 70 years, this restaurant has stayed the course in the neighborhood, and has been run the entire time by someone named either Philip or John, all of them living a few minutes from the front

door. Why only men? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The women in this family have never known how to cook, not at all,â&#x20AC;? said 36-year-old John Philips, dressed in a white chefâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coat and sitting in a booth of the restaurant on a recent weekday. John has been shuttling back and forth to the hospital, where his father, known in some circles as the Mayor of 86th Street, is recovering from an illness (a source of concerned discussion on the Upper East Side). At a time of unnerving change in New York, The Mansion has remained faithfully reliable. It is among the few establishments in the neighborhood that Mayor Bill de Blasio has ventured out to visit (Gracie Mansion is a few blocks away, drawing every mayor since LaGuardia), and its stable of regulars represent central castingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s version of a local dinerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cast of characters: The man in Table 2 who comes every night, alone, and orders exactly the same thing; the staff at the boxing gym across the street who show up for a daily dose of paleo protein, and Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2-year-old son, Philip, who eats three meals a day at The Mansion. Ditto for the cooking and wait staff, many of

have

The Mansion Restaurant has been cooking on York Avenue for 70 years

you Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d look

Email us at news@strausnews.com

MAY 21-27,2015

Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com

Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Community Benefit Fund is helping to support the revitalization of the park to drive more business to the restaurants and shops near the park Upcoming Events

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THE TIES BETWEEN CAMP ENROLLMENT AND THE ECONOMY CAMP BY THE AMERICAN CAMP ASSOCIATION

Economically speaking, 2014 felt a little better across the nation. The Dow was up a bit, the jobs reports were somewhat positive, and people seemed to be spending money. The same story holds true for the camp economy. Overall, enrollment is continuing on an upward trend. Across the board, the majority of camps reported enrollment numbers that were at least maintaining the same levels they had in 2013, and, in many cases, increasing. In total, 276 camps responded to the Fall 2014 Enrollment and Staff Recruitment Survey. Total camper enrollment is trending upward beyond the low reported in 2009. Seventynine percent of camps reported their total enrollment for 2014 was the same or higher than the previous year. While this upward trend is great news for

the industry as a whole, it is important to remember that one out of every ﬁve camps reported lower enrollment in 2014. Signiﬁcant differences existed across camp affiliation categories. In 2014, for example, 72 percent of agency-affiliated camps reported higher enrollment compared to 2013, while 32 percent of religiously affiliated camps reported lower enrollment. Enrollment trends by gender were similar for both boys and girls, and the percentage of camps with lower enrollment of boys or girls has steadily decreased each year. The number of camps reporting their enrollment was about the same as the previous year has remained

relatively stable. There were some signiﬁcant differences in enrollment for boys across camp affiliation in 2014. Surveywide, 11 percent of camps had lower enrollment of boys, 46 percent the same, and 43 percent higher. For-profit camps were unique, with 22 percent reporting lower enrollment for boys, 30 percent the same, and 48 percent reporting higher enrollment. Religiously affiliated camps reported the most stable enrollment for boys with 59 percent of camps having the same enrollment as last year. This year, only 11 percent of camps reported lower enrollment for campers ages nine and younger, 42 percent reported the same, and 47 percent reported higher enrollment. Day camps were surprisingly lower on enrollments for this age group with 23 percent of day camps reporting lower enrollment and 26 percent staying the same as 2013.

MAY 21-27,2015

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Sports ASPHALT GREEN LOOKING FOR GOALIES Asphalt Green Soccer Club concluded a very successful tryout season last week. The club still needs a few more full-time/part-time goalkeepers to round out their rosters for the following age groups: Rising Girls and Boys U11 (date of birth between August 1, 2004 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; July 31, 2005) Rising Girls U13 (date of birth between August 1, 2002 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; July 31, July 31, 2003) Rising Girls U14 (date of birth between August 1, 2001 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; July 31, 2002)

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YOUR 15 MINUTES

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A DENTIST GOES HOLLYWOOD Q&A Upper West Sider Marc Benhuri on his novel being adapted for the screen BY ANGELA BARBUTI

Only speaking basic English when he arrived in New York, Dr. Marc Benhuri went on to become one of the founders of dental implants in America. Benhuri, whose family he said has studied medicine for 20 generations, was the first to immigrate to the States. In 1975, after earning a total of four degrees in both engineering and dentistry, he founded the Benhuri Center for Laser and Implant Dentistry on West 57th Street. When the shah of Iran had a skiing accident, he chose Benhuri as his implant surgeon, and the pair established a friendship. “When I saw how the press, without knowledge or investigating, told so many lies about him, I said, ‘I have to tell the truth because I was inside the palace; I know what happened,’” Benhuri explained. This led to his eight-year labor of love, writing the novel, “Price for Freedom” in the evenings while running his dental practice by day. Based on true events, the story centers around a Jewish family living in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution. It revisits the history of the time, when the shah was overthrown and Ayatollah Khomeini came to power. Filmmaker Kenneth Del Vecchio was so captivated by the book that he turned it into a ﬁlm starring Paul Sorvino as the shah. It will be premiering at the Hoboken International Film Festival on May 29th.

What did you think when you ﬁrst arrived in New York? I came to go to Queens College to get an English proficiency certiﬁcate. I was totally amazed by all the high-rises. At that time, the tallest building in Tehran was maybe eight floors. When I came here, I wanted to make tea, so they showed me the teabag. I said, “Wow, what an easy way.” We used to boil tea leaves and mix them with water to make the consistency that we wanted.

Top left: Marc Benhuri as a young man; actor Navid Negahban with Benhuri; and Negahban.

Then, a student from Turkey came. He was homesick, so they asked me, since I speak a little Turkish, to make him feel welcome. I took him to the cafeteria, and got two cups of hot water and two teabags. He said, “I don’t want hot water; I want tea.” I explained, and then he said, “This is amazing.” And then he asked, “Where is the sugar?” So I showed him the sugar in the packs. And he got two packs of sugar and threw them in the tea — with the bags! [Laughs]

You are one of the six founders of dental implants. How did you enter into that ﬁeld? Because my family was all in medicine, like a teenager, I decided to rebel and go into engineering. I went to the University of New Haven which had a really great engineering school. After I got my BS, I got a job at the Atomic Power Commission to write the codes and standards. After three months, I realized the job was not for me ... then I decided to go to dental school at the University of Pittsburgh. The chairman of the department of surgery came to me and said, “You’re the only student accepted with an engineering background. We have a new idea called dental implants, but sometimes it doesn’t work. We are doctors, not engineers. Maybe we have an engineering problem. You want to come and take a look?”

You started your relationship with the shah of Iran after becoming his dentist. In 1976, I came back to New York and opened my practice. Then I went to Columbia University, which didn’t have a research department for dental implants. I talked to the dean and explained that implants were the future of dentistry. He said, “I know, but there aren’t people who know how to do it.” When he saw my credentials, he asked me to be the chairman of the department. Then, the shah of Iran had a ski accident that broke his jaw in Switzerland. The Swiss dentist removed three of his teeth, and told him about the American idea of implants. There were four centers of research – me at

Columbia, Harvard, Pittsburgh and UCLA. So they invited all four of us to see the shah. They didn’t know that I was Iranian because my first name was Marc, the American version of Mordekhai, my Hebrew name. When the shah found out I was Iranian, he was amazed and chose me.

When did you decide to write the book? I got to know the shah really well and he started using me as an outside advisor... . Because I’m a college professor and orator, I bought a tape recorder

and told my story on tape. And I have 186 hours of tape. I have a big mouth. [Laughs] I hired a secretary to transcribe it and that’s how I got my ﬁrst copy. Fortunately, one of my patients is a famous writer, Ring Lardner Jr.; he’s the one who wrote Mash. He told me that I wrote it like an engineer, and it took me another two-and-a-half years to ﬁx it. Every free moment that I had, I worked on it.

How the movie come about? I got a call from Universal. They said they liked my book and wanted to make a movie.

What they would do was give me $100,000 for a one-year option. After they decided to make the movie, they would give me another $100,000, but after that, I would have no control over the contents … . Then somebody took my book and gave it to this independent producer, Kenneth Del Vecchio, who was looking for a subject about Iran. He said, “I’ll sign a contract with you that you have 100 percent rights. When you approve the screenplay, we’ll start shooting. You can also come as an advisor on the set.” As they were writing

the screenplay, every 20 or 30 pages they would send to me. I would read it, correct it and send it back. In the end, everything was exactly politically 100 percent correct. To learn more about Benhuri’s dental practice, visit: www.implantsnyc. com

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MAY 21-27,2015

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HEALTH SERVICES

Carnegie Hill Endoscopy 212-860-6300 www.carnegiehillendo.com

High Colonic By Rachel Relieve constipation & bloating 24 yrs exp. 212-317-0467 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

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 MUSIC

GUITAR LESSONS Quick Results. Acoustic, Electric, Songwriting. NYC Loc. or your home. Get started now! Call Howie Scher at 646-2569676, or email schershot24@ aol.com for rates and hours. REAL ESTATE - RENT

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

HELP WANTED

REAL ESTATE - SALE

$8,000 COMPENSATION. EGG DONORS NEEDED. Women 21-31. Help Couples Become Families using Physicians from the BEST DOCTOR’S LIST. Personalized Care. 100% Conﬁdential. 1-877-9-DONATE; 1-877-936-6283; www.longislandivf.com

BANK REPOSSESSED LAND! 20 ACRES - $29,900. Meadows, views, prime upstate NY location! Clear title, paved road, utilities! 888-701-7509 COOPERSTOWN WATERFRONT! 7 acres - $59,900. Beautiful woods, nice views, pristine lake with great ﬁshing! 50% below market! Terms! 888-479-3394 NewYorkLandandlakes.com Lender Ordered Sale! 5 acres $18,900. Nice views, woods, gorgeous country setting! Town rd, Utils,terms avail! Clear title, g’teed Buildable! 888-905-8847 NewYorkLand andLakes.com Spectacular 3 to 22 acre lots with deepwater access- Located in an exclusive development on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Amenities include community pier, boat ramp, paved roads and private sandy beach. May remind you of the Jersey Shore from days long past. Great climate, boating, ﬁshing, clamming and National Seashore beaches nearby. Absolute buy of a lifetime, recent FDIC bank failure makes these 25 lots available at a fraction of their original price. Priced at only $55,000 to $124,000. For info call (757) 442-2171, e-mail: oceanlandtrust@ yahoo.com, pictures on website: http://Wibiti.com/5KQN

ATTEND AVIATION COLLEGE– Get FAA approved Aviation Maintenance training. Financial aid for qualiﬁed students. Job placement assistance. Call AIM for free information 866296-7093 POST 9/11 G.I. BILL® - VETERANS if eligible; Tractor Trailer Training, paid tuition, fees & housing. National Tractor Trailer School, Liverpool/Buffalo, NY (branch) Job placement assistance! Consumer Information @ ntts.edu/programs/disclosures *1-800-2439300 ntts.edu/veterans

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

HEALTH SERVICES

Massage by Melissa (917)620-2787

Breathing Techniques for Severe Asthmatics By Appointment 201-640-7501

Therapeutic massage, $75/Hr. Lic., 20+ yrs exp. 917-734-7448 tonydif.massage@gmail.com

Columbia Doctors of Ophthalmology - Our newest location at 15 West 65th Street (Broadway) is now open. www.ColumbiaEye.org 212.305.9535

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Telephone: 212-868-0190 Fax: 212-868-0198 Email: classified2@strausnews.com

POLICY NOTICE: We make every effort to avoid mistakes in your classified ads. Check your ad the first week it runs. The publication will only accept responsibility for the first incorrect insertion. The publication 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 any copy changes. All classified ads are pre-paid.

Frank E. Campbell The Funeral Chapel Known for excellence since 1898 - 1076 Madison Ave, at 81st St., 212-288-3500

Directory of Business & Services

Hudson Valley Public Relations Optimizing connections. Building reputations. 24 Merrit Ave Millbrook, NY 12545, (845) 702-6226

Antique, Flea & Farmers Market

SERVICES OFFERED

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 Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers NYC’s Coolest Place to Skate! ChelseaPiers.com/sr 212-336-6100 Allstate - The Wright Agency Anthony Wright 718 671 8000 Ao65989@allstate.com Auto.home.life.retirement CARMEL Car & Limousine Service To JFK… $52 To Newark… $51 To LaGuardia… $34 1-212-666-6666 Toll Free 1-800-9-Carmel WANTED TO BUY

ANTIQUES WANTED Top Prices Paid. Chinese Objects, Paintings, Jewelry, Silver, Furniture, Etc. Entire Estates Purchased. 800-530-0006.

To advertise in this directory Call Susan (212)-868-0190 ext.417 Classified2@strausnews.com

SINCE 1979

East 67th Street Market

(between First & York Avenues) Open EVERY Saturday 6am-5pm Rain or Shine Indoor & Outdoor FREE Admission Questions? Bob 718.897.5992 Proceeds Beneﬁt PS 183 Guitar Lessons

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ANTIQUES WANTED

TOP PRICES PAID

Chinese Objects Paintings, Jewelry Silver, Furniture, Etc. Entire Estates Purchased

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

CASH for Coins! Buying Gold & Silver. Also Stamps, Paper Money, Comics, Entire Collections, Estates. Travel to your home. Call Marc in NY: 1-800959-3419 I Buy Old Tribal Art Free Appraisal 917-628-0031 Daniel@jacarandatribal.com TOP DOLLAR PAID FOR Fine & Costume Jewelry Gems-Silver-Gold-Jade Antiques-Art-Rugs Certiﬁed GIA Gemologist Estatements 718 608 5854

SOHO LT MFG

462 Broadway MFG No Retail/Food +/- 9,000 sf Ground Floor - $90 psf +/- 16,000 sf Cellar - $75 psf

MERCHANDISE FOR SALE

Pandora Jewelry Unforgettable Moments 412 W Broadway - Soho, NYC 212-226-3414

Call Farrell @ Meringoff Properties 646.306.0299

MAY 21-27,2015

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COME HOME TO GLENWOOD

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

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INCLUDING FULL SIZE WASHER/DRYER IN SOME RESIDENCES UPPER EAST SIDE #3 #"5) '30. t #34 #"5)4 '30. t #34 #"5)4 '30.

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