The local paper for the Upper er East Side FALL EDUCATION SPECIAL SECTION < P.17
WEEK OF AUGUST
20-26 2015
WHY NOT TEACH EVERY SCHOOL KID TO READ WELL? ESSAY The clash between the New York we want and the one we have BY BILL GUNLOCKE
Before you move here from Ohio, you have this image of New York City as a bookish place. The photograph of the famous writers gathered at the Gotham Book Mart. The New Yorker. Random House. Esquire. The Strand. Susan Sontag. The Reading Room at the big library. Simon & Schuster. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Columbia. NYU. James Baldwin. The New School. Woody Allen. The New York Times Book Review. Vintage paperbacks. John Cheever. The New York Review of Books. J.D. Salinger. The Paris Review. The Algonquin. The Partisan Review. Delmore Schwartz. You even see it call itself Book Country in ads for some kind of book fest. It would be your kind of place, you believe. Then, about the time you’re moving here almost 15 years ago, you see a photo on the front page of the Times as you’re skimming the headlines before you sit down to read the whole paper, and you think, oh, that must be a picture from some place like Harlan County, Kentucky about some hardscrabble issue, one of those features the Times does now and then about some place remote from New York and its refinement. But when you’re in your seat on the couch and you look closer you’re shocked to see that it’s not
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
Fabulous upcoming New York State events and must-sees at ILoveNY.com/summer15 and inside!
READY FOR SCHOOL? INVESTIGATION Universal pre-kindergarten sites across Manhattan have outstanding and serious health violations, according to Health Department data. City Hall maintains that every site is safe for the start of school BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS AND LOGAN HENDRIX
Next month, 70,000 New
York City school kids will show up for their first day of pre-kindergarten, taking advantage of the signature policy initiative of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s first term in office. So far, 1,150 early education centers have been set up to house all of those kids. And last week, de Blasio’s office gave the green light to all of them, saying that any health violations or Department of Building concerns have been resolved. But data collected from the
SPECIAL REPORT ON FALL EDUCATION What’s the best elementary school in the neighborhood? Private school? High school? Our special education section begins on p.17 Department of Health’s own website suggests that not every site is ready to receive children.
In neighborhoods throughout Manhattan, inspection reports reviewed by this newspaper reveal there are still many unresolved and serious health code violations at a half-dozen universal pre-K centers. A spokesman for the mayor’s office said despite what is reflected in the Health Department’s database, the administration stands by its claim that there are zero unresolved health violations in the most serious category at any UPK site. “They can stay listed on our online site until such time as we’ve complete the procedural paperwork and resolution of that
violation,” said de Blasio spokesperson Wiley Norvell. “But regardless of whether they’re listed on the site currently, we’ve confirmed that all the violations have been mitigated on the spot.” But for parents about to send their 4-year-olds to their first day of school, the fact that several of the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday August 21 – 7:28 pm. For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com.
Home delivery of Our Town Eastsider H $49 per year. Go to OurTownNY.com $ or call 212-868-0190
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AUGUST 20-26,2015
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD PET STORES TO HAVE FIRE SPRINKLERS The City Council has passed a bill that requires automatic ďŹ re sprinklers in city pet stores. The legislation passed earlier this
month with just one councilman opposing it. It requires pet shops and other facilities that house animals for 24 hours to have the automatic sprinklers by December 2016. The bill was introduced after several trapped animals were killed in ďŹ res in
Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx. The billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main sponsor, Councilman Corey Johnson, says the sprinklers could mean the difference between life and death. Councilman Jumaane Williams, who represents Brooklyn and voted against the bill Thursday, says he thought it was â&#x20AC;&#x153;a great bill.â&#x20AC;? But he says the legislation required small pet shops to also comply, which he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t agree with. The Associated Press
measuring those results. And maybe we need to share them with the public more but we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t read polls. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re talking about real things that matter to real New Yorkers.â&#x20AC;? She dismissed suggestions that the poll numbers had contributed to low morale among de Blasio staffers. Glenn instead offered that recent job numbers in the city as well as the ďŹ nancing of 20,000 affordable housing units were â&#x20AC;&#x153;the kind of numbers that people should be focused on,â&#x20AC;? according to Politico.
DE BLASIO OFFICIAL PLAYS DOWN POLL NUMBERS
City pet stores, such as this one on Christopher Street, would be required to install automatic ďŹ re sprinklers by December 2016, according to a bill passed earlier this month by the City Council. Photo: Thomas Fitzgerald via Flickr
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BIKE LANE COMING TO AMSTERDAM AVENUE? Amsterdam Avenue could be getting a protected bike lane as early as this fall, the West Side Rag is reporting. The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Department of Transportation will introduce a proposal for the lane to Community Board 7 in September or October, the news site reported. The DOTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effort follows pressure from local officials â&#x20AC;&#x201C; including form city council members Helen Rosenthal and Mark Levine â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in favor of the lane. CitiBike racks will be placed in the Upper West Side later this year. Amsterdam Avenue, though, could lose a lane of traffic if the lane were installed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Amsterdam Avenue is challenging,â&#x20AC;? DOT commissioner Polly Trottenberg was quoted as saying. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just the way the traffic moves and the conďŹ guration of the roadway do make it a more challenging road to redesignâ&#x20AC;? than nearby Columbus Avenue, where traffic lanes were narrowed.
SECOND AVENUE DEVELOPMENT UNDER WAY
The de Blasio administration is unconcerned with recent polls that reďŹ&#x201A;ect record low approval ratings for the mayor, Politico New York is reporting. The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deputy mayor for housing and economic development, Alicia Glenn, earlier this week did suggest that city officials could be making a better effort at plugging the administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s achievements, Politico reported. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not going to worry about poll numbers,â&#x20AC;? the news site quoted Glenn as saying. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Quite frankly, we as policy makers and government officials need to be focused on keeping our head down, identifying where the growth sectors are, making sure that people have places to live, makings sure that pre-K is up and running and then W
residences, according to plans on the building designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website. It is unclear what will be built on the other parcel, although itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been suggested that Icon wants a high-rise there, DNA said.
Demolition of empty Second Avenue apartment buildings is imminent. DNAinfo, citing Department of Building records, reports that the six buildings, on Second between 80th and 81st Streets, will make way for two high-rise developments. Icon Realty Management purchased properties along Second, eventually forcing tenants and businesses from the buildings. Among those that moved were Nancy Leeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pig Heaven, Agora Turkish and Cascabel Taqueria which relocated in the neighborhood, DNA reported. On one of the parcels, Icon is expected to build a 14-story, 47,000-square-foot, mixed-use development that will included 12 C
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG
ARREST IN STABBING OF MORGAN FREEMANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GRANDDAUGHTER The boyfriend of Morgan Freemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s granddaughter has been arrested in her fatal stabbing on a New York City street. Lamar Davenport was arrested on a murder charge Monday, a day after 33-year-old actress Edena Hines was found with stab wounds to her chest in the street in front of her Upper Manhattan apartment building.
No working telephone number for Davenport could be found. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t immediately clear whether he had a lawyer. Police say Davenport was in a relationship with Hines. Freeman issued a statement saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The world will never know her artistry and talent, and how much she had to offer.â&#x20AC;? Hines was actually Freemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stepgranddaughter, but Freemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s publicist says the actor thought of Hines as his granddaughter. She was the granddaughter of Freemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first wife.
OUTSIDE JOB One high-end retail establishment was so intent on securing their inventory inside the store that they were surprised by the theft of their property outside the store. Sometime
between the hours of 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, an unknown man made off with four wood planters valued at $2,500 that were situated outside a store on Madison Avenue, between 78th and 79th Streets.
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th Precinct for Aug. 3 to Aug. 9 Week to Date Murder
MUGGING ARRESTS
Rape
Two violent thugs got socked in turn by the long arm of the law. At 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 12, a 24-yearold woman was walking on East 60th Street, near Lexington Avenue, when two bad guys approached her, punched her in the stomach, and grabbed her iPhone 6 before ďŹ&#x201A;eeing to parts unknown. After she reported the assault, police issued a description of the two muggers, who soon were positively identiďŹ ed and arrested for robbery.
Felony Assault Burglary Grand Larceny Grand Larceny Auto
2015 2014
% Change
2015
2014
% Change
0 0 2 3 1 23 4
n/a n/a 100.0 200.0 -80.0 -14.8 n/a
1 6 56 72 91 779 47
0 6 53 62 123 778 46
n/a 0.0 5.7 16.1 -26.0 0.1 2.2
0 0 1 1 5 27 0
unknown person. A police investigation is ongoing.
BOOZE NEWS
GRAM SCAM One young woman learned the hard way that the IRS does not request payment over the phone by MoneyGram. At 1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14, a 25-year-old woman living on 91st Street between First and Second Avenues received a call claiming that she owed the IRS money and would be subject to adverse consequences if she did not make restitution immediately. She fell for the scam and wired a painful $16,182 by MoneyGram to an
YOU DESERVE A HEALTHY SMILE IN THE MOST LUXURIOUS ENVIRONMENT
Robbery
Year to Date
Apparently, a burglar needed a drink in the worst way. When employees at a restaurant and bar on First Avenue between 76th and 77th Streets entered the establishment at about 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16, they discovered that a gate leading to the kitchen liquor closet was open and some $1,200 worth of liquor was missing. Video showed an unknown man heisting the hooch. Police are investigating.
ARRESTING INFORMATION Perhaps the public would do well simply not to answer landline phone calls from unknown numbers. At 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14, a 30-yearold man got a call from a strange man claiming that someone would be showing up with a warrant for his arrest unless the victim paid up right away. The unsuspecting victim bought two MoneyGrams totaling $1,900 and revealed the codes activating the payment to the scammer answering at the phone number he had been given.
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Gallery Talk: Gold and Goldworking in the Ancient Andes
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26TH, 11AM Metropolitan Museum | 1000 Fifth Ave. | 212-535-7710 | metmuseum.org The craftsmanship on the gold works of ancient Peru and the Andes is startling. A Met instructor explains the basic tools and sophisticated techniques employed to create the art. (Free with museum admission)
The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War
At LUXURY DENTISTRY NYC t 0VS DPNQSFIFOTJWF PSBM FYBNJOBUJPOT JODMVEF PSBM DBODFS TDSFFOJOH VTJOH 7FMTDPQF UFDIOPMPHZ t 0QUJDBM TDBOOJOH SFQMBDFT HBH JOEVDJOH JNQSFTTJPOT t "MM SFTUPSBUJWF USFBUNFOUT QFSGPSNFE XJUI PQUJNBM BOFTUIFUJDT t -BSHF -$% 'MBU 1BOFM 57 T t 3FGSFTINFOUT t -BSHF TFMFDUJPO PG /FUn JY NPWJFT BOE NVTJD t $PNQMJNFOUBSZ UIFSBQFVUJD QBSBGm O XBY GPS ZPVS IBOET t *OUFSFTU GSFF m OBODJOH GPS DPTNFUJD USFBUNFOUT
Book Today Through ZocDoc
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26TH, 7PM Bryant Park | 42nd St. & Fifth Ave. | 212-768-4242 | bryantpark.org
DR. STEVEN DAVIDOWITZ 328 East 75th Street www.LuxuryDentistryNYC.com
A historian looks at the Civil War from the outside: the nations from Europe to South America who weighed the competition for sympathy from both North and South. (Free)
Just Announced: TimesTalks | Alice Walker, Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo & John Doyle
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29TH, 7:30PM The New School | 55 W. 13th St. | 212-229-5108 | newschool.edu
at www.stevendavidowitz.com
Catch the author of The Color Purple with two actresses and the director of the new Broadway version of the story in a conversation moderated by theater reporter Michael Paulson. ($45)
Or Call 212.759.7535 We work to make your smile dreams come true.
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
4
AUGUST 20-26,2015
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Useful Contacts
45 Years and Counting
POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct
153 E. 67th St.
212-452-0600
159 E. 85th St.
311
FIRE FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13 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
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
Illustration by John S. Winkleman
POST OFFICES US Post Office
1283 First Ave.
212-517-8361
US Post Office
1617 Third Ave.
212-369-2747
THE HOME OF ROSIE THE BARTENDER Reif’s Tavern has been serving the neighborhood since 1942
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BY MICKEY KRAMER
Every week, Our Town will celebrate our 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 Reif’s Tavern opened for business on East 92nd St. in 1942. Rosie Yurasits first ventured inside, under-age, in 1946, for a couple of rum and cokes. She’s now 82 years old and you can find her tending bar every Tuesday from noon to 7 p.m. Yurasits has a devoted following of customers and says Reif’s has not changed much over the decades. “I call it ‘the neighborhood family bar’ because everyone meets here,” she said. On a recent Tuesday, Chris Grondahl, 47, scoots up to the
bar, and without even having to order, Yurasits brings over a small ice-filled pail topped with 6, 7-ounce Bud Light Nips. The “Bucket o’ Beer” is a manager’s special and costs $10. Grondahl, who lives across the street, has been coming after work for about 15 years. “My father knew the place and I appreciate the long history, plus people from all walks of life come here, which makes for a special environment,” he said. Kenny Goldstein, 62, has been drinking and mingling at Reif’s for over 30 years. On that same late Tuesday afternoon, sipping on what he calls “my own concoction” of vodka, red wine and lime juice, Goldstein, known as Kenny G to the regulars, called his longtime stomping ground, “one of the last of the old time places… a classic.” The front room has a number of flat-screen televisions and a long bar. Walk further
back and you’ll find a roomy space with a pool table, Golden Tee video game, and wallto-wall photos of New York Yankee and New York Giants history. Co-owner Taryn Reif calls them “our family teams” and even offers drink specials during Yankee games. She jokes that other teams such as the New York Mets can be watched on their smaller televisions. Venture even further out back, and you will find what makes Reif’s Tavern unique. An outdoor patio, equipped with a large grill, which patrons can reserve year round. Reif calls the space a “surprise outdoor oasis” and “pretty key to the business.” Reif, 39, has been co-owner, with her mother Barbara, since 2003. She recalls what took place during the blackout in the summer of 2003 with particular fondness. “We were one of the only businesses open and we
hosted a couple of hundred residents who had no power,” she said. “People brought all of the food from their fridges, acoustic instruments and we had a giant impromptu cookout/sing along until 6 a.m. … Everyone got along and took care of each other in a safe place. That was pretty amazing.” Not all has been “amazing” for the 73-year old tavern. It’s located around the corner from the years-long Second Avenue subway construction, which Reif calls “horrible for years.” The work has cost the bar in revenue. But she says business has picked up more during the past year and is grateful that so many locals show up nearly every single day. “It has been a mess and a struggle, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” Subway tunnel, that is.
AUGUST 20-26,2015
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Can Mount Sinai be serious? The answer is a resounding yes. In fact, we couldn’t be more serious. Mount Sinai’s number one mission is to keep people out of the hospital. We’re focused on population health management, as opposed to the traditional fee-for-service medicine. So instead of receiving care that’s isolated and intermittent, patients receive care that’s continuous and coordinated, much of it outside of the traditional hospital setting. Thus the tremendous emphasis on wellness programs designed to help people stop smoking, lose weight and battle obesity, lower their blood pressure and reduce the risk of a heart attack. By being as proactive as possible, patients can better maintain their health and avoid disease. Our Mobi le A cute Care Team w i l l treat patients at home who would otherwise require a hospital admission for certain conditions. The core team involves physicians, nurse practitioners, registered
nu r s e s, s oc i a l work e r s, com mu n it y pa r a med ic s, c a re coac he s, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and home health aides. Meanwhile, Mount Sinai’s Preventable Admissions Care Team provides transitional care services to patients at high risk for readmission. After a comprehensive bedside assessment, social workers partner with patients, family caregivers and healthcare providers to identify known risks such as problems with medication management and provide continuing support after discharge. It’s a sweeping change in the way that health care is delivered. And with the new system comes a new way to measure success. The number of empty beds.
1 - 8 0 0 - M D-SI N A I mountsinai hea lt h.org
IF OUR BEDS ARE FILLED, IT MEANS WE’VE FAILED.
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 schools are still showing up as in violation could be unnerving, despite the city’s reassurances. Indeed, on Aug. 13, the day the mayor’s office announced that all priority violations at universal pre-K centers had been addressed, inspectors were out finding new violations. In the most serious category, violations cover conditions that may present an imminent threat to the health and safety of children, and can include infractions for things like failing to maintain constant and competent supervision of children, failing to report alleged child abuse or perform background checks on employees, or failure to properly store flammable liquids or toxic substances, among other serious offenses. On the Upper West Side, St. Gregory the Great Preschool on West 90th Street was inspected in February and was found to have three public health hazards, which remain open, according to data on Child Care Connect. Two of those serious violations include failure to provide adequate potable water and failure to maintain the building in a safe matter, as well as the presence of pests and hazardous conditions. In Lower Manhattan, the Hamilton Madison Swing Space on Catherine Street was hit with a public health hazard violation after an inspector ob-
served adulterated food being served on Aug. 13, the same day de Blasio touted his claim that all priority health violations had been addressed. According to the DOH database, that violation remains unresolved. Another inspection on Aug. 13 found that the Educational Alliance Head Start at P.S. 142 on the Lower East Side had fire extinguishers that were not inspected or maintained, a public health hazard violation that remains open, according to the Child Care Connect database. Two preschools in the East Village have unresolved public health hazard violations. According to an inspection report from January of St. Brigid Preschool on East 7th Street, the owner or manager of the building failed to maintain its structural integrity. The report also notes the presence of pests, nuisances and hazards, and is equipped with inadequate heat ventilation and lighting. More recently, the Virginia Day Nursery on East 10th Street underwent an inspection on Aug. 7 that found the school failed to arrange and conduct background checks for required individuals, and failed to re-clear individuals after two years. Both public health hazard violations at St. Brigid and Virginia Day remain unresolved, according to the Child Care Connect database. In total, this newspaper found eight unresolved health hazard violations in six schools. Three of those violations came from preschools that have contracts
with the NYC Administration for Children’s Services to provide subsidized childcare: Virginia Day Nursery in the East Village, the Educational Alliance Head Start at P.S. 142 on the Lower East Side, and Hamilton Madison Swing Space in Lower Manhattan. In Chelsea, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Preschool on West 52nd Street currently has an open public health hazard violation from an inspection in late-April for failing to maintain the building in a safe manner, failing to maintain the structural integrity of the building, the presence of pests, inadequate heat ventilation and lighting, and the presence of nuisances and hazards at the time of inspection. The next level of violation, below the public health hazard violation, are deemed “critical,” and require correction within two weeks. These can include everything from child care staff using “unacceptable forms of discipline” to a lack of signage for exits, according to the city’s health code. At Hamilton Madison Swing Space in Lower Manhattan, for instance, there are currently three unresolved critical violations for things such as a lack of running water or water that exceeded 115 degrees Fahrenheit, a lack of storage areas for children’s outer garments and a lack of signage for points of egress. At the St. Brigid School in the East Village, one of two unresolved critical violations from
an inspection on Aug. 7 was for staff being allowed to perform their duties while unhealthy or incapable. The least pressing category is a general or minor violation, which covers offenses such as unclean conditions and child care staff caring for children while unhealthy. When presented with the data, Norvell said in some cases schools contest their violation status, which is maintained on the city’s database until it has been adjudicated. Norvell reinforced the administration’s stance that all priority health violations have been dealt with, and that if any universal pre-K site has an outstanding public health hazard they will be prevented from opening on the first day of school. But in touting its claim that the most serious of violations have been cleared up three weeks before the school year starts, the mayor’s office urged parents to review their program’s health and safety history, which as of Monday, included many serious violations that appear to be unresolved. As of Monday, Aug. 17, the eight public health hazard violations mentioned above remain open and require reinspection, according to the Child Care Connect database. Norvell said in the case of St. Gregory the Great Preschool on the Upper West Side and St. Brigid, the violations have been fully resolved in the field and will be reflected in the database on its next update.
Met Council is accepting applications for the waiting list of affordable housing rental apartments in our building located at 332 East 22nd Street, NY.
Met Council is accepting applications for the waiting list of affordable housing rental apartments in our building located at 351 East 61st Street, NY.
For one person households, applicants must be 62 years old at the time of application; for two person households, the applicant must be 62 and the co-applicant 55 at the time of application.
For one person households, applicants must be 62 years old at the time of application; for two person households, both applicants must be 62 at the time of application.
Current Rent Range studio: $1011- $1168 Income Range: $42,046 - $48,350 (1 person household) Current Range 1 bedroom: Income Range:
$1052 - $1254 $43,725 - $48,350 (1 person household) $43,725 - $55,250 (2 person household)
Monthly rent includes heat, hot water and gas for cooking. Seniors will be required to meet income guidelines and additional selection criteria to qualify. Income guidelines are subject to change. One application per household. Applications may be downloaded from: www.metcouncil.org/housing or requested by mail from Met Council: East 22nd Street Residence 120 Broadway, 7th floor New York, NY 10271
Current Rent Range studio: $956 - $1168 Income Range: $39,842 - $48,350 (1 person household) Current Range 1 bedroom: Income Range:
$1044 - $1254 $43,401 - $48,350 (1 person household) $43,401 - $55,250 (2 person household)
Current Range 2 bedroom: Income Range:
$1289 - $1339 $53,234 - $55,250 (2 person household)
Monthly rent includes heat, hot water and gas for cooking. Seniors will be required to meet income guidelines and additional selection criteria to qualify. Income guidelines are subject to change. One application per household.
Please include a self-addressed envelope.
Applications may be downloaded from: www.metcouncil.org/housing or requested by mail from Met Council: 351 East 61st Street Residence 120 Broadway, 7th floor New York, NY 10271
No broker or application fee.
Please include a self-addressed envelope. No broker or application fee.
“Even as we’re dealing with adjudicating [the public health hazard violations], and whether they stay on the books or not, the actual hazard that exists on the ground in the center has been corrected,” said Norvell, who also noted that public health hazard violations require on-the-spot mitigation, and schools that fail in this regard are prohibited from opening. Donna Gabella, the principal of St. Gregory the Great Preschool, confirmed the violations were resolved. “They have been resolved, yes,” said Gabella. “I know I have been working very closely with the Dept. of Education to address any issues, and that’s been going on all summer.” A person answering the phone at Virginia Day Nursery, which city records noted “failed to arrange/conduct criminal/SCR background clearance checks for required individuals,” among other violations, said she was not authorized to speak with the media and said she would forward a message to a public relations official. Similarly, at Hamilton Madison Swing Space on Catherine Street, a spokesperson declined to discuss minor violations there. A message left for the school’s CEO was not returned by press time. No one answered the phone at the Educational Alliance on Attorney Street. Norvell added that the language of health code viola-
Do
have
READY FOR SCHOOL?
AUGUST 20-26,2015 tions often sounds ominous, but is less so in reality. For instance, when it was found at St. Gregory that “at the time of inspection, it was determined that [an] individual associated with child care service....[was] involved in an act detrimental to health and safety,” in reality, a child care worker left a bottle of cleaning fluid left on counter, according to case notes. Novell said in the cases of Virginia Day Nursery in the East Village, Hamilton Madison Swing Space in Lower Manhattan and Educational Alliance Head Start at P.S. 142 on the Lower East Side, those violations occurred during inspections immediately prior or after the mayor’s office announced all priority health violations had been addressed. “We have inspectors in the field every day continually monitoring sites, and will continue repeated inspections through the first day of school and throughout the year,” said Norvell, who noted at the Aug. 13 press briefing, city officials raised the possibility of health violations being found in the immediate weeks leading up to the start of school. “That’s the nature of enforcement, it’s an ongoing and constant process,” he said. The current status of the public health hazard violation at Sacred Heart of Jesus Preschool in Chelsea could not be determined as of press time.
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AUGUST 20-26,2015
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Promotional Feature
THE GREAT NEW YORK STATE FAIR
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Summer is almost gone! Check out these fabulous upcoming New York State events and must-sees!
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Bethel. Ongoing Get ready to rock out with The Zac Brown Band – August 23 and Rascal Flatts – August 30th or kick back with the 2010 Nightlife Award Winner for Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist, Christine Ebersole – August 29th. Take some time to visit the amazing, award-winning main exhibit at the museum “Woodstock and The Sixties” which offers a growing collection of artifacts and reference materials, special exhibitions for young and old and the preserved historic site of the famed concert.
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If watching log rolling, axe throwing, speed chopping and fire building sound like an exciting way to spend the weekend then this event is for you! Get your Paul Bunyan on with lumberjacks from around the world competing in daily power carve competitions then bid on your favorite masterpiece to take home. These saw wielding warriors take on a variety of other challenges including; a 10K run, canoe and kayak races, a tug-of-war and greased pole competition and a beard contest. There are Lumberjill and Junior Lumberjack championships too. While you’re in this picturesque small town in the Adirondacks be sure to visit the Black River Canal Museum.
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Bridgehampton. August 23-30 The Hampton Classic is a grand farewell party to the summer. One of the largest outdoor horse shows in the country, the quest for a coveted spot on the World Cup Finals squad kicks off here. See some of the top jumper riders from around the world, take in great celebrity sightings, and shop at matchless high end boutiques. Break out your finest millenary and promenade the grounds with Fido at the prestigious Grand Prix, held on the last Sunday of the show.
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8
AUGUST 20-26,2015
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Voices
Write to us: To share your thoughts and comments go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a letter to the editor.
My Story ON OLDER VIEWS AND BIKE SAFETY BY BETTE DEWING
Old people’s views matter but aren’t heard because many lack cyberspace which so rules the world - and the polls. Most elders want statesmen/ stateswomen-like leaders, not fasttalking egotistical reality-show biz types. And Donald Trump’s view on “making America great again” is unlikely to mean when civil discourse was the rule not the exception, and wisdom accrued from years of experience was often heeded. And the women’s movement rebelled against females being inordinately judged by their appearance, which had better be youthful and even sex object-related. Most lamentably, these so basic goals lost favor, and despite major workplace achievements, women’s sex-object/ youthful look has become almost a mandate. Ah, to make America great, every wannabee president should strongly denounce such demeaning images. The oldest candidates should challenge the ageism aimed to discredit their campaigns. Hillary Clinton should start by going gray - or white, like her husband, and make overcoming ageism a civil rights issue. And not only for women, men increasingly dye their hair and hide the bald - along with their age. Even more unnatural, they worry about the decline of physical performance. Indeed, males may be the most oppressed gender. And even as the population ages, candidates get high marks for fleetness of foot and speech. Style over content is ever more dominant. (Incidentally, the first city Disability Pride Parade got little media coverage, which a Daily News editorial thankfully called a “Disability Shame.” While one may need to skip to its back or editorial pages to read or see what’s fit to print, unlike the paper of record, it reports on what I’ve long called crimes of traffic and traffic tragedies.) Speaking of disabilities, how many Catholics can not make the steps of the new non-accessible church to which they’re now assigned? As for unused longtime experience, my “trail-blazing work on pedestrian safety” (Rep. Carolyn Maloney) is an arch example. Maybe it’s because it also strongly opposes bicyclists’ habitual disregard for the laws of the road, and government’s relative unconcern.
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Former councilmembers Bob Dryfoos, Andrew Eristoff, Carol Greitzer and Charles Millard were notable exceptions. But City Hall continues its all-out support for bicycling; evidently believing government’s first duty, to protect public safety and strictly enforce the laws that ensure it, doesn’t apply to bicycling. And very big taxpayer dollars continue to support bicycling, but bicyclists pay nothing to bring private wheels into a high density city with great public transit. Incidentally, for decades I’ve railed against motorists’ failure to yield when turning into a crosswalk, the most deadly crime of traffic to pedestrians. I’ve long pushed for a much lower speed limit – all this and more long before Mayor DeBlasio’s most needed Vision Zero. But again that governmental Vision slights bicycling “crimes of traffic.” So do most media. This ubiquitous traffic safety threat is again raised here because of Councilmember Ben Kallos’ press release: “We are hosting a Bicycle Safety Forum on August 20th at 7PM. Location is Stanly Isaacs Neighborhood Center at 415 E. 93rd Street. Reports will be given on Education, Training, and Enforcement and speakers will include representatives from DOT, 19th Precinct, Bike New York and Transportation Alternatives.” Because DOT (Department of Transportation) along with Transportation Alternatives have adamantly resisted non-commercial bike-licensing, here’s to 19th Precinct police reminding the Kallos forum that “If bikes had license plates the hit-run bicyclist who recently seriously injured a woman at 86th and First, would likely be apprehended.” A recent pro-licensing piece by Coalition against Rogue Riders head Jack Brown, should be distributed; along with Mickey Kramer’s Our Town piece. Susan Siskind’s N.Y. Alliance for Pedestrian Safety arguments should be heard. So should mine, although I’m hardly nimble of foot or of speech. And for many (maybe the New York majority), those who need “the education and training in bicycle safety” are those elected or appointed to protect public safety. But the concerned must show up, speak out, and write - and keep believing it can be done if enough of us try and that “ nothing ventured…” Etctera. Etctera, dewingbetter@aol.com.
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A PLACE TO SIT AND OTHER PET PEEVES SENIOR LIVING BY MARCIA EPSTEIN
My tired back and knees really appreciate the new metal benches that have appeared in my neighborhood over the past three years. Through CityBench, over 20 of these have been installed on the Upper West Side alone. Instead of plopping down on cold and dirty stoops, or crossing over to a seat in the median, I can now sometimes find a handy bench and take a needed break. But note that word “sometimes.” New York isn’t a sittingfriendly place. A lot of buildings have pointed fences around them, and one would get impaled by trying to sit there. I hope more of the CityBenches appear, in more places. I laud the stores that have packaged foods for one person, available seating, and water and bathrooms. Whole Foods, for all of its recent publicity, and Trader Joe’s, has all of these. And speaking of bathrooms, all of us seniors (and I’m sure we’re not the only ones), know that New York is a terrible city if you have to go. I remember being in London many years ago and marveling at the huge signs saying “Toilet” right in the streets, with big arrows pointing to underground loos or outdoor kiosks for doing your business. I made my friend take a photo of me under one of those signs. Over the years, I have come to know where one can make a quick pit stop. As noted, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s; most Starbucks; the basement men’s shoe department in the 79th Street DSW shoe store; Europan bakeries; all Barnes & Nobles; and the 75th Street Fairway, upstairs to the left of the Café. If you’re lucky enough to be in Central Park or Riverside Park, there are bathrooms in many loca-
tions, but I’m sticking to the streets of our fair city. Now for pet peeves. Some of my friends have had close calls with kids on scooters on the sidewalks. Mothers and nannies are too busy with their cell phones to rein in their little princes and princesses. Ditto for food deliverymen, who illegally ride their bikes on sidewalks and don’t seem to care who they might run over. Then there is the matter of the front seats on buses, which are supposed to be for the handicapped and elderly. Tell that to those mothers and nannies, who will glare malevolently if you ask to use the seat. Gone are the days when small children sat on their mother’s lap, as my children did. You have to be brave and confident to insist on that seat; some people seem to be able pull it off with impunity. There’s also the issue of the huge pack backs young people (especially young men?) tote around without care for anyone else. I personally have been bonked by more than one back pack trying to board a bus or subway. Please, do they really have to carry their whole lives on their backs? And do people really have to barrel down subway stairs without regard for us slower folk? There will be another train, I promise.
President & Publisher, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Account Executive Editor In Chief, Kyle Pope Fred Almonte, Susan Wynn editor.ot@strausnews.com Director of Partnership Development Deputy Editor, Richard Khavkine Barry Lewis editor.dt@strausnews.com
Staff Reporters, Gabrielle Alfiero, Daniel Fitzsimmons
Many friends asked me to include noisy restaurants in my pet peeves section, and I totally agree. A lot of us have lost at least some hearing, and trying to have a conversation can be trying at best. That, plus having to remember to bring a sweater for the over-air conditioning in most places can make restaurant going more a trial than a pleasure. Many of us seniors can feel invisible in our own city. Please, young people, try to walk a bit more slowly, watch where you’re going, and get your noses out of your electronic equipment. We can’t always dodge you in time to save ourselves from a fall. I’m sure I haven’t hit all the negatives and positives of senior life in New York. For example, though many subway stations have elevators, many others don’t. And we need to have curb cuts on all street corners, and they need to be maintained and repaired. This is not the case now. This is my list, and it includes suggestions from friends and acquaintances, who were more than happy to contribute. Seniors, enjoy your city. Just keep your head up and stay alert. And try to stay off the buses when school gets out. It’s downright scary.
Block Mayors, Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side
AUGUST 20-26,2015
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67th Street Library, 328 East 67th St. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Free. Trained AARP volunteers help attendees reďŹ&#x201A;ect on where their lives have taken them, and where they want to go next. For adults aged 50+. 212-734-1717. www.nypl.org/ events/programs/2015/08/20/ life-reimagined-presented-aarp
FILM: THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD 96th Street Library, 112 East 96th St. 2 p.m. Free. A drug-addicted choirmaster and his nephew compete for the heart of Rosa Bud. Starring Claude Rains. 212-289-0908. www.nypl.org/events/ programs/2015/08/20/ďŹ lmmystery-edwin-drood-1935
discussion segment, followed by an interactive miming segment. 212-734-1717. www.nypl.org/ events/programs/2015/08/21/ art-mime
NAVIGATING THE WEST: GEORGE CALEB BINGHAM AND THE RIVER Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave. 10:30-11:30 a.m. Free with admission. Come marvel at all of George Caleb Binghamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paintings of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and learn the details behind his artistic processes. 212-535-7710. www. metmuseum.org/events/ programs/met-tours/gallerytalks/
Sat 22 SIZZLING SUMMER DISCO DANCE PARTY
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Sun 23 HARLEM MEER PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL: THE EBONY HILLBILLIES Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, inside the Park at 110th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues 2-4 p.m. Free. The Ebony Hillbillies are an allblack bluegrass/country strings band. Their sound can only be described as the embodiment of everything uniquely American. www.centralparknyc.org/ events/individual-events/ harlem-meer-hillbillies.html
TOUCH BUT DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T TOUCH: ILLUSIONS OF TEXTURE IN PAINTING Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave. 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Free with admission. This exhibit explores how painters can create the illusion of texture and activate our sense of touch. 212-535-7710. www. metmuseum.org/events/ programs/met-tours/gallerytalks/touch-illusions-of-texturein-painting
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Fri 21 â&#x2013;˛ THE ART OF MIME
Eastsider
East 73rd St. 8 p.m. $15. A dance performance featuring the Slovak and Czech winners of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dance Group of the Yearâ&#x20AC;? competition. 212-988-1733. www. bohemianbenevolent.org/index. php/activities/view/nyc-dancepanorama
67th Street Library, 328 East 67th St. 2 p.m. Free. A demonstration of the art of miming, presented by the actors of Urban Stages. Also includes a
92nd Street Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street 8 p.m. $15 in advance, $20 at door. Disco diva Lori Brizzi hosts a one-hour disco class, followed by a night of free dancing. Includes free refreshments. www.92y.org/Event/SizzlingSummer-Disco-Dance
NYC DANCE PANORAMA â&#x2013;ş Bohemian National Hall, 321
Mon 24 FAMILY FILM: ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY 96th Street Library, 112 East 96th St. 2 p.m. Free.
AUGUST 20-26,2015
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IN OUR HANDS RESCUE & NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA
Photo By Ellen Dunn
Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner star in this adaptation of Judith Viorstâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s iconic childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book. 212-289-0908. www.nypl.org/events/ programs/2015/08/24/ family-ďŹ lm-alexander-andterrible-horrible-no-goodvery-bad-day-2014
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Barnes and Noble, 86th Street and Lexington Avenue 7 p.m. Free. Juli Bauer presents her latest compilation of tasty, nutritious, gluten-free recipes. 212-369-2810. storelocator.barnesandnoble. com/event/88057-0
Tue 25 LIBBA BRAY: LAIR OF DREAMS 92nd Street Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street 7 p.m. $22, $15 for those 35 and under. The launch event for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lair of Dreams,â&#x20AC;? the latest release from bestselling author Libba Bray. www.92y.org/Event/ Libba-BrayLair-of-Dreams
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Street and Lexington Avenue 7 p.m. Free. The Knoble Knitters group meets in the cafe for an evening of- what else? - knitting. Knitters of all skill levels are welcome to join them. 212-369-2810. storelocator.barnesandnoble.com/ event/4859981-2
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NEW AND IN CHARGE AT SYMPHONY SPACE After almost a year as the institution’s artistic director, Andrew Byrne prepares for the upcoming season. BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
Andrew Byrne, artistic director of Symphony Space, at the institution’s Peter Jay Sharp Theatre.
Organizing a schedule of more than 300 different literature, theater, music and film events is no small feat, but it’s what Symphony Space’s new artistic director Andrew Byrne did his first year on the job. The boyish, 49-year-old Australian native, who started last September and will soon embark on his first season of programming with the institution, boasts a classical pedigree suited for the task, but a laid-back demeanor that seems at home in Symphony Space’s casual offices at 95th Street and Broadway. Byrne first came to New York in 1993 to study composition at Columbia University, and spent 10 years with Carnegie Hall, where he established some of the famed institution’s music festivals and special events. Now, he’s tasked with redefining Symphony Space’s expansive performance calendar and diversifying its audience. West Side Spirit visited Byrne in his office to discuss what he learned in his first year on the job and what we can expect from the upcoming season, which includes an artist residency with violist Nadia Sirota, a discussion of Einstein’s theory of relativity and Symphony Space’s long-running Selected Shorts reading series. Tell me a bit about your role as the new artistic director. One of the challenges I felt with Symphony Space that I could address or bring my experience to was that we have such a diversity of program-
ming here that perhaps the identity of the institution gets a little bit obscured. If you talk to five different people about Symphony Space, you often get five different answers. Symphony Space is about Selected Shorts, or it’s about world music or it’s about film, or quite often, I’m not even sure because I hear so many different stories. When you started last year, how did you prepare to develop this new season? I spent the first three or four months just going to every show, getting a sense of what worked well, what our audiences were, all that stuff. And then in December, January, started to think about the season. One thing that struck me which I didn’t know was the incredible different types of audiences we get to shows here. Selected Shorts which is one of our legacy programs, gets maybe an older audience. It’s very established. But there’s Uptown Showdown, which is this comedy debate funky wacky series and that includes writers from the Daily Show and people like Wyatt Cenac, so it’s a younger demographic. It’s a completely different audience. We have the science talks, Secret Science Club North; it’s people who have this science series in Brooklyn. They bring it up here, and again they draw a completely different audience. One thing that struck me that I had no idea about before was the diversity of the events and the diversity of the audiences that come here. So it struck me that if I didn’t know about it, then other people didn’t know about it as well.
So the potential to communicate that story to a larger world. There’s a lot of unrealized potential I think at this institution. How does the upcoming season stay loyal to the institution while also creating something new? Isaiah Sheffer was one of the founding directors, and he talked about Symphony Space as being like a cultural town square. This place is an expression of the Upper West Side community, where we have artists of all different types, and an audience, and they kind of meet together, whether it’s a panel discussion on literature or it’s a music event or it’s a film screening, it’s a place where the community comes together. And I see these projects and the idea of kind of creating larger stories and inviting audiences on journeys of discovery—whether it’s new work or Broadway or the 1915 project—takes what the essence of what the space is about…and takes it to the next stage. The other thing that people love about Symphony Space is its informal nature. It’s the people’s house. It doesn’t have that same sense as Lincoln Center of being for a sort of audience. It’s accessible. It’s affordable. It’s welcoming. And I think those qualities will remain. Is there anything you’re especially looking forward to? The Italian writer Elena Ferrante, she’s an intriguing figure. This will happen in the fall. It’s not part of the four projects but it’s the book club. She’s this shadowy figure that no one’s ever seen before, there’s no pictures of her, she doesn’t do any interviews. She’s published this Neapoli-
tan quartet, and John Waters who’s a big fan is going to be talking to her. Really? Interesting. Exactly. That’s the reaction, that’s the essence of what Symphony Space can do so well, is bring these two figures together. So I’ll be intrigued to see how that one goes. Is cultivating a diverse audience something you’re actively working on with this new season? Absolutely. I mean I think that, firstly, in terms of the way it is now, we do have lots of different audiences coming to different types of shows. Kind of like at any arts institution. It was the same at Carnegie Hall. When you have a jazz show you get a different audience than for the philharmonic. So we do get, in terms of demographics, a diverse audience. But, obviously, a Selected Shorts audience is an older audience. It’s of the community. It’s a white audience, educated audience, middle class audience. It’s an audience that’s getting older. So I mean, just in terms of survival we need to reach new audiences and reach younger people and try to expand our audience as much as possible so sure, that’s part of our thinking. And Source Project is the first in that way. You can’t just say, we’re going to program a Cuban artist and suddenly we’ll be inundated with a different audience, with a Cuban audience. It’s a long-term strategy. It’s about making this place welcoming… we will in the future have a more kind of systemic audience development project. At the same time you can’t be everything to everybody. We have a long term strategy over five years that we’ll try the projects out, we’ll see what works, what doesn’t work, I’m sure there’ll be tweaks along the way. And we need to find out, what is our niche? Selected Shorts is one niche but what are the other say musical niches that we can fulfill? This Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.
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AUGUST 20-26,2015
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FOR THE WEEK
F O R
BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO OUR ARTS EDITOR
THEATER
THE GOD GAFFE In playwright John William Schiffbauer’s new show The God Gaffe, a right-leaning talk show host insults a guest, causing conflict with her producer. The play, also directed by Schiffbauer and appearing as part of the New York International Fringe Festival, finds real-world inspiration in conservative talk show host Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s trajectory; she recently left daytime show The View for Fox News. The God Gaffe Aug. 19-29 The Players Theatre’s Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre 115 MacDougal St., at Minetta Lane Assorted show times Tickets $18 To purchase tickets, visit fringenyc.org
MUSIC CHARLIE PARKER JAZZ FESTIVAL Ahead of their performances in the 22ndannual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, composers and sax players Oliver Lake and Rudresh Mahanthappa discuss Parker’s contributions to jazz. Later in the festival, Lake performs with his band at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, and Mahanthappa takes the stage in Tompkins Square Park. Charlie Parker Jazz Festival Aug. 20-23 Assorted venues and times FREE For more information, visit http://www. cityparksfoundation.org/summerstage/
MUSIC VIENNESE CLASSICAL TRIAD Pianist Yelena Grinberg continues her ongoing, intimate salon series from the living room of her Upper West Side apartment with a Viennese program, including piano trios by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Grinberg is joined by Keiko Tokunaga on violin and Hamilton Berry on cello. A food and wine reception with the musicians will follow. Viennese Classical Triad Aug. 26 and Aug. 30 Private residence on the Upper West Side (exact location provided upon ticket purchase) Aug. 26 at 7 p.m.; Aug 30 at 5 p.m. Tickets $25 To purchase tickets, visit http:// yelenagrinberg.com/grinberg-salon-series/ or email ygpiano@gmail.com
FOOD BLUES BBQ This annual event, now in its 16th season,
combines great blues acts with some of the city’s gut-busting barbeque. Soul singers Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens take the stage, as does the Otis Taylor Band and the Ed Palermo Big Band, while Brother Jimmy’s, Butcher Bar, Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que serve up some of their favorite menu items. Rain or shine. Blues BBQ Saturday, Aug. 22 Hudson River Park Pier 26 At N. Moore Street 2 p.m. FREE For more information, visit http://www. hudsonriverpark.org or call 212-627-2020
MUSEUMS SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: PHILIPPINES The Jewish Museum’s ongoing series Sights and Sounds screens work by filmmakers and artists from around the globe. The series’ next focus is on work from the Philippines, with artists selected by a curator from the area, Joselina Cruz. Artists included in the project are Mariano Montelibano and Martha Atienza, among others. Sights and Sounds: Philippines Aug. 28-Sept. 24 Jewish Museum 1109 Fifth Ave., at 92nd Street Museum hours: Sunday-Tuesday, Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-5:45 p.m.; Thursday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; closed Wednesday Admission $15 For more information, visit thejewishmuseum. org or call 212-423-3200 To be included in the Top 5 go to ourtownny.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.
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Food & Drink
< MULTIPLE DUNKIN’ DONUTS LOCATIONS ROBBED Dunkin’ Donuts locations in Manhattan have been the targets of register theft this month, Gothamist reported. According to local law enforcement, one man has targeted at least five of the chain’s Upper West Side
In Brief FORMER EMPLOYEES OF HEALTH FOOD RESTAURANT SUE FOR WAGES Former employees of vegan eatery Pure Food and Wine and its juice bar and mail-order food service are seeking back wages from their employer, Gothamist reports. The around 60 workers of the nowclosed company filed a class action lawsuit against their employer and the companies’ owner Sarma Melngailis. According to employees, who walked out in early July and have since unionized, they received late payments and bounced checks before seeing their compensation disappear entirely. Vendors were also left short-changed, and one investor, Asparagus Trading Corporation, claims that they gave Melngailis $31,000 for rent based on the agreement that she would turn over the company, which she failed to do. Employees hope that investors will reopen the restaurant under new ownership and with fair practices.
and Washington Heights spots, including a location at Broadway and W. 160th Street on Aug. 4, a Broadway and W. 101st Street shop on Aug. 5 and a Broadway and W. 80th Street spot on Aug. 7th. The suspect, who was
caught by a surveillance camera during once incident, threatened employees with a razor and took money from the registers.
SECOND AVENUE STREET SAUSAGES Schaller and Weber has opened a sausage bar featuring German street food BY JENNIFER GOODNOW
SHAKE SHACK SURGES Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack burger chain, which went public in January, reported a profit increase of 2.3 percent last quarter, the New York Times reported. The $1.1 million quarterly profit was higher than anticipated, with chief executive officer Randy Garutti attributing some of the chain’s successes to a swell in customers, price increases and the reintroduction of the chain’s crinkle-cut fries, which returned to the restaurants thanks in part to urgings from disappointed customers after the company switched to a hand-cut variety. Shake Shack, which now has more than 70 outposts globally and seven in Manhattan, has seen its stock price increase by more than 200 percent since January.
Schaller and Weber, the internationally known German butcher, has been serving customers in Yorkville since 1937. Started by German immigrants Ferdinand Schaller and his partner, Tony Weber, the store has provided the neighborhood and beyond with artisanal sausages and meats. Now, Jeremy Schaller, the third generation running the family business, has updated it for a 21st century clientele by adding a modern twist. Schaller has built an addition to the butcher shop, the Schaller’s Stube Sausage Bar. Stube means “little room” in German and Schaller’s Stube is a cozy space with 10 stools and window service to the street. The focus is German street food and the menu includes the butcher’s famous sausages prepared for customers to eat in or take out. Diners can build their own sandwich from a choice of sausages, toppings, and sauces. The menu also includes signature wursts such as The Berlin Wall, a half-pound kielbasa with American cheese, crispy bacon, bacon jam and chicharones. A banh-mi style take on wurst is the Saigon Special, a bauernwurst with daikon-carrot slaw, cucumber, fresh jalapeno, cilantro and sriracha aioli. Mrs. Schaller’s Fried Chicken, a top seller in the main shop, made it to the menu next door due to popular demand. In keeping with German tradition, Schaller will pair his sausages with German and Austrian beers on tap. Schaller’s Stube liquor license has recently been approved and Jeremy Schaller expects to sell beer inside
the Stube very soon. The curated list of beers includes Bitburger and Stiegl. Jeremy conceived the idea for the sausage bar during several trips to Germany, especially Berlin, where traditional sausage is served as street food. “Traditional sausage is what we’ve always done best and this seemed like a no brainer to me for a long time,” he said. While the menu is currently the omnivore’s delight, there are plans to create a homemade vegetarian sausage - gathered from the best vegetarian sausage recipes from Germany. When Jeremy took over Schaller and Weber from his uncle in August 2014, he took on the challenge of maintaining heritage sausage and meat for the original customer base and procuring fine food products that appeal to a younger patron.
Schaller and his director of operations, Jesse Denes, expected Schaller’s Stube Sausage Bar to attract a younger following compared to Schaller and Weber. However, they have been pleasantly surprised to discover that the Schaller and Weber loyal customer base, grandparents who started coming to the butcher shop when they were children, are queuing up alongside hipsters, Second Avenue Subway construction workers, Wall Street brokers, and other neighborhood denizens. “I think this is the right time for it as the subway comes,” Schaller said, referring to the expected arrival of the Second Avenue subway, which will have a stop practically outside the door of Schaller’s Stube. Schaller also noted that the changing demographics of the neighborhood have brought new patrons. People who have been priced out of Brooklyn are now moving to Yorkville. Schaller’s hope is that the combination of authentically prepared artisanal charcuterie with modern day flavors will appeal to the new neighbors.
IF YOU GO The Schaller Stube Sausage Bar is open Monday–Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 1652 Second Avenue at 85th St 212-879-3047 www.schallerstube.com
AUGUST 20-26,2015
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Real Estate Sales Neighborhd
Address
Price
Beekman
400 East 52 Street
$325,000
Beekman
434 East 52 Street
$1,550,000
Beekman
439 East 51 Street
$999,000
Carnegie Hill
1148 5 Avenue
$5,000,000
Carnegie Hill
1240 Madison Avenue
$4,400,000
Carnegie Hill
1185 Park Avenue
$6,625,000
Carnegie Hill
1435 Lexington Avenue
$1,970,000
Carnegie Hill
1175 Park Avenue
$1,421,000
Lenox Hill
220 East 60 Street
$830,000
Lenox Hill
401 East 65 Street
$499,000
Lenox Hill
150 East 61 Street
$1,475,000
Lenox Hill
136 East 64 Street
Lenox Hill
Bed Bath Agent
Eastside Sales Snapshot Number of contracts signed so far in the second quarter $0 - $600k
$600x - $1M
$1M-$2M
$2M-$5M
$5M-$10M
$10M+
STUDIOS
63
10
1
1
-
1
1 BED
57
107
40
6
-
-
2 BEDS
5
41
99
46
4
-
3+ BEDS
-
-
20
79
45
11
TOWNHOUSE
-
-
-
1
2
1
Median Sales Price STUDIOS
371,000
1 BED
675,000
$2,500,000
2 BEDS
1,418,888
116 East 66 Street
$1,395,000
3 BEDS
2,925,000
Lenox Hill
300 East 64 Street
$1,288,086
Lenox Hill
201 East 66 Street
$400,000
Lenox Hill
27 East 65 Street
$725,000
Lenox Hill
300 East 64 Street
$722,957
Lenox Hill
1160 3 Avenue
$542,000
Lenox Hill
880 5 Avenue
$6,300,000
Lenox Hill
575 Park Avenue
$1,500,000
Lenox Hill
116 East 66 Street
$810,000
Lenox Hill
315 East 70 Street
$1,512,500
Lenox Hill
300 East 64 Street
$945,000
Lenox Hill
161 East 62 Street
$7,300,000
Lenox Hill
400 East 70 Street
$618,000
Lenox Hill
301 East 69 Street
$635,000
Lenox Hill
420 East 72 Street
$695,000
Lenox Hill
160 East 65 Street
$1,100,000
Lenox Hill
200 East 69 Street
$1,450,000
Lenox Hill
300 East 64 Street
$957,155
Lenox Hill
300 East 64 Street
$915,000
Lenox Hill
311 East 71 Street
$284,000
Lenox Hill
300 East 64 Street
$2,109,071
Lenox Hill
300 East 64 Street
$1,700,000
Lenox Hill
233 East 69 Street
$355,000
Lenox Hill
220 East 60 Street
$570,000
Lenox Hill
205 East 69 Street
$280,000
Midtown East
240 East 55 Street
$517,500
Midtown East
325 Lexington Avenue
$1,420,458
Midtown East
325 Lexington Avenue
$1,379,728
Midtown East
325 Lexington Avenue
$1,323,725
Midtown East
225 East 57 Street
$660,000
Midtown East
245 East 54 Street
$707,000
Midtown East
227 East 57 Street
$565,000
Midtown South
425 5 Avenue
$770,000
Midtown South
445 5 Avenue
$675,000
Midtown South
425 5 Avenue
$1,198,000
1
0
1
1
Douglas Elliman
Vintage Real Estate Services, Ltd.
Source: UrbanDigs LLC
Midtown South
11 East 36 Street
$880,000
Midtown South
244 Madison Avenue
$400,000
Murray Hill
16 Park Avenue
$800,000
Murray Hill
137 East 36 Street
$975,000
Murray Hill
320 East 42 Street
$519,000
Murray Hill
330 East 38 Street
$1,328,750
Murray Hill
235 East 40 Street
$1,535,000
Murray Hill
320 East 42 Street
$392,000
Murray Hill
80 Park Avenue
$990,000
Murray Hill
111 East 36 Street
$700,000
Murray Hill
242 East 38 Street
$428,000
Murray Hill
20 East 35 Street
$1,200,000
Sutton Place
440 East 57 Street
$1,300,000
Sutton Place
430 East 57 Street
$1,260,000
Sutton Place
300 East 59 Street
$3,350,000
Sutton Place
400 East 54 Street
$653,000
Sutton Place
425 East 58 Street
$2,760,000
Sutton Place
400 East 56 Street
$850,000
Sutton Place
60 Sutton Place South
$670,000
Turtle Bay
212 East 47 Street
$990,000
Turtle Bay
305 East 51 Street
$2,332,167
Turtle Bay
305 East 51 Street
$1,299,211
Turtle Bay
45 Tudor City Place
$340,000
Turtle Bay
305 East 51 Street
$2,557,323
Turtle Bay
100 United Nations Plaza
$2,400,000
Turtle Bay
345 East 46 Street
$4,582,125
Turtle Bay
342 East 53 Street
$450,000
Turtle Bay
349 East 49 Street
$625,000
Turtle Bay
100 United Nations Plaza
$3,599,513
Turtle Bay
305 East 51 Street
$2,774,731
Upper East Side
995 5 Avenue
$1,375,000
St.Easy.com is New York’s most accurate and comprehensive real estate website, providing consumers detailed sales and rental information and the tools to manage that information to make educated decisions. The site has become the reference site for consumers, real estate professionals and the media and has been widely credited with bringing transparency to one of the world’s most important real estate markets.
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YOUR 15 MINUTES
To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to ourtownny.com/15 minutes
Photo by Matthew Murphy
ONE MAN, MANY MESSAGES Q&A Actor and writer James Lecesne on talking, nonstop, for 75 minutes BY ANGELA BARBUTI
For James Lecesne, the joy of performing a one-man show is having the opportunity to truly connect with his audience. “I walk out there every night and I don’t know who my costars are going to be…But people are so amazing. They’re willing to take the journey,” he said. At the start of “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey,” we are brought into the world of a missing 14-year-old boy who is considered different in his small New Jersey town. Lecesne, who wrote the script and impressively rattles off 75 minutes of dialogue without even taking an intermission, plays nine different characters whose lives were all touched by Leonard. From people like a mob wife to a teenage girl to a
local hairdresser, we are given glimpses into who he was and how bright his personality shined. In the 90s, Lecesne’s one-man show, “Word of Mouth,” led to the creation of The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention lifeline for lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning teens. To this day, it is still the one and only organization of its kind and gets 44,000 phone calls a year. The future is - fittingly bright for Lecesne, who hopes to continue telling Leonard’s story for as long as possible, which includes bringing it to other cities.
What message do you hope to convey through the show? Young people are dealing with so much. They’re dealing with so many things that we didn’t have to deal with. They’re getting two messages. One is ‘Be yourself,’ and the other is ‘Tone it down.’ One of the things I hope people go
away with is that they think about how they can really help protect these young people. And not just LGBTQ kids, but all kids. How do you encourage them to be themselves and then put in place the protections. That’s our job. Their job is to experiment and try new things and to figure themselves out. The other thing is that everybody was an adolescent at some point and we all know this feeling of burying something that may be one of our better qualities. I hope the show is an encouragement to people to think about what their own brightness is and what it is that they bring into the world and what they want to leave behind.
How long did it take you to memorize the script? Having written it helps. But that’s an actor’s job, to learn the lines. Early on, it was harder. I remember one of the first times I did the show, down in Dixon Place, I just literally stopped
in the middle of the show and was like, ‘I don’t know the next word.’ But the audience, they wait for you. Basically what I said was, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what’s next.’ People laughed. Because I wrote it, if something should happen, if I forget something, I can improvise until I find my way. But fear is a great motivator. [Laughs]
In its review, the NY Times referred to you as “among the most talented solo performers of his (or any) generation.” A review doesn’t get much better than that, right? I feel so grateful just because it shines some light on the show and enables me to get out there every night and tell the story. I have such a good time doing it so I’m happy people are finding their way to it.
The play is based on your young adult novel “Absolute Brightness.” What feedback do you get from teenage readers? It’s very touching. They of-
ten have questions; they want something cleared up in the story. One of the greatest letters I ever got was from a kid in Venezuela. He wrote to me to tell me it was the first book he read that was about a gay kid and how much it meant to him. You just think, ‘That’s incredible the book found its way there.’ It’s amazing what a story can do and how far it can travel and how much we need them.
You did another one-man show called “Word of Mouth,” whose character Trevor inspired The Trevor Project. That was done off Broadway and Mike Nichols presented it and Eve Ensler, from the Vagina Monologues, directed it. In that show, there were a character that I played called Trevor. He’s a 13-year-old boy who, through a series of diary entries, realized he’s gay and tried to kill himself. It was actually a very funny and touching little piece. So it was made into a film and won an Academy Award in 1995 and that’s what inspired The Trevor Project, which is a suicide prevention and crisis intervention lifeline for lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning teens. That was an unexpected outcome. I did the
show and these two filmmakers, Peggy Rajski and Randy Stone, approached me about the screenplay so I wrote it. And once it won the Academy Award, we made arrangements with HBO to put the film on TV because it’s just 16 minutes. They were going to show it over the course of a year, every once in a while. Ellen DeGeneres did this big wraparound presentation for it. And we thought it would be a good idea to put a telephone number at the end of the film in case there were kids in their homes who recognized themselves in the character Trevor. And there was, at the time, and still isn’t, no national 24/7 suicide prevention line specifically for LGBTQ kids. So we created it. We didn’t man the phone ourselves but we figured out how to do it all and raise the money for it. And it’s been going for 17 years.
To learn more about the play, visit absolutebrightnessplay. com. Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to ourtownny. com and click on submit a press release or announcement.
AUGUST 20-26,2015
2015
Fall
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education NEW YORK’S TOP Upper East Side PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS best high schools best public elementary schools best private schools continuing education
The problem with subjective rankings is that they are just that – subjective. But there is no doubt the 20 high schools selected here are among the very best Manhattan has to offer: schools with top-quality academic programs, or fiercely competitive performing arts programs or unique, ‘only-inNew York’–type schools that blend cultures and language into proving grounds for college and beyond. Some are big, some are small. Some have terrific sports programs, some hardly any. Some specialize in technology, math and science. Others prepare their students for careers in medicine or health services. The High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies expects all students to be fluent in Mandarin and English by time they graduate. LaGuardia High applicants must audition, and kids must pass a rigorous test to get into Stuyvesant. The High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering proclaims it is educating the “next generation of leaders” in the technology field. Baruch College Campus High School partners with such stellar institutions of higher learning as Baruch College and Harvard University – while Lower East Side Prep is a transfer school that deals with students 17 to 21 who have recently arrived in
the U.S. or have dropped out of other schools. New York City high schools aren’t zoned by neighborhood so students can apply to any of the 400 or so schools in the city and then try to test, perform or just dazzle their way in. To come up with our best in the city list, we relied on the school’s website, the Department of Education’s Quality reviews, inside schools.org, great schools.org, school digger, the U.S. News & World Report rankings and conversations with parents who have sent their children to some of these institutions. Our list certainly isn’t perfect. But it’s a great place to start to find the right school for your child. The Editors
NEW EXPLORATIONS INTO SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MATH HIGH SCHOOL 111 Columbia St. Enrollment: 1,730 (k-12) Graduation Rate: 98% Avg. Attendance: 97% Ethnicity: 11% Hispanic, 33% Asian, 9% black, 42% white Admissions: Screened Avg. class size in English class: 26 NEST+m is a K-12 program
that begins in the Lower School with courses that include Singapore math and a foreign language, and progress to Regents level courses by 9th grade. The school offers courses in music, art, dance, technology and Advanced Placement. Its classwork is rigorous. The school snagged a 10 out of 10 rating from greatSchools.org, and ranked 26th on the U.S. News list of best New York public high schools.
HIGH SCHOOL FOR MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AT CITY COLLEGE 240 Convent Ave. Enrollment: 456 Graduation Rate: 99% Avg. Attendance 94.3% Ethnicity: 37% Asian, 25% white, 24% Hispanic, 9% black, 5% other Admissions: Test-based Avg. class size in English class: 31 This school, where boys outnumber girls by a 2 to 1 margin, prides itself on “Educating the Next Generation of Leaders in a TechnologyDriven World.” It gets rave reviews across the board – instruction, school culture and CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
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KEEP CALM AND COME ALONG
Book now and come along to our Open House Wednesday 21st October, 6pm -8pm
Please join us at our Open House where you will be given the chance to experience our wonderful school first hand; meet with the team, enjoy our stunning riverside facility and to see what makes BIS-NY so special. Places for this Open House are limited, so for more information or to book a place please visit our website www.bis-ny.org and click on Open House.
THE BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF NEW YORK 20 Waterside Plaza, Riverview Campus, New York, 10010 | 212-481-2700 | www.bis-ny.org
AUGUST 20-26,2015
HIGH SCHOOLS
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STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17
systems for improvement. The coursework is rigorous and Advance Placement courses are plentiful. School leaders convey high expectations to teachers, who do the same for students. It ranked 10th in the U.S. News & World Report list of the best New York high schools and got a rating of 10 out of 10 from greatschools.org.
345 Chambers St. Enrollment: 3,290 Graduation Rate: 98% Avg. Attendance 97% Ethnicity: 73% Asian, 21% white, 3% Hispanic, 1% black Admissions: Test-based Avg. class size in English class: 27. Stuyvesant is the name that comes to mind when talking about the best high school in New York, but many on this
list – and in other boroughs – would dispute that. Students can choose from 28 Advanced Placement courses and seven languages and are expected to earn a Stuyvesant-endorsed diploma that includes courses reflecting the school’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) focus. The rap on it is its miniscule percentage of black and Hispanic students. It rated a perfect 10 on greatschools.org and 15th on the U.S. News list for New York.
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL 411 E. 76th St. Enrollment: 531 Graduation Rate: 100% Avg. Attendance 96% Ethnicity: 62% white, 11% Hispanic, 4% black and 21% CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
ESTABLISHED 1789 A NURTURING, SMALL, JUNIOR-K THROUGH 5th GRADE CO-ED SCHOOL Where Empowerment and Education go hand-in-hand.
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SPANISH LANGUAGE CLASSES FOR CHILDREN 2-6 YEARS. PRIVATE SESSIONS. AFTER SCHOOL SESSIONS WEDNESDAYS 4PM-5PM. MONDAYS THROUGH FRIDAYS MORNINGS (9AM-12 NOON) & AFTERNOONS (1PM-4PM) BIRTHDAY PARTY PACKAGES AVAILABLE. 122 E 88TH ST., NEW YORK, NY 10128 TEL: 718-662-1714 ARCOIRISSPANISHIMMERSION@GMAIL.COM WWW.ARCLOIRISSPANISHIMMERSION.COM
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ARE YOU THERE YET?
You’ve earned your college degree, but you need to do more to turn your job into a career. Differentiate yourself in the marketplace through NYUSPS Professional Pathways. Earn an Advanced Diploma in as little as one semester and gain the competitive edge by acquiring in-demand skills in a growing field. Obtain the specialized knowledge to set you apart, as you benefit from career development modules that prepare you to pursue the position you’ve always wanted. It’s the fastest, smartest way to reach your full potential.
Apply today at sps.nyu.edu/advanceddiplomas04 or call 212-998-7200. (%*% (ŏ + 1)!*0 0%+*ŏ ),.+2!)!*0ŏđŏ .! 0%2!ŏ %0%!/ŏ * ŏ . *ŏ +*+)% ŏ !2!(+,)!*0ŏđŏ *!.#5ŏ %* * !čŏ +//%(ŏ 1!(/ŏ 0+ŏ !*!3 (!/ŏđŏ %* * % (ŏ ( **%*#ŏđŏ ! (0$ .!ŏ *"+.) 0% /ŏ"+.ŏ (%*% % */ŏđŏ .+&! 0ŏ * #!)!*0ŏđŏ ! (ŏ /0 0!ŏ .+'!. #! New York University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution. ©2015 NYU School of Professional Studies.
AUGUST 20-26,2015
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HIGH SCHOOLS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19
Asian. Admissions: Screened. Avg. class size in English class: 27 This popular Upper East Side school, with about 60% girls and 40% boys, claims a 100% graduation rate and offers each student an individualized education. Its mission is dedicated to teaching students “to be life-long learners” who think critically and solve problems creatively. “Our commitment to open, thoughtful exploration ensures that Eleanor Roosevelt High School is a place where questions are as important as answers.” It received a rating of 9 out of 10 from greatschools. org, and was ranked 17th by U.S. News & World Report.
SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE HIGH SCHOOL 127 E. 22d St. Enrollment: 715 (high
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
school only) Graduation Rate: 82% Avg. Attendance: 95% Ethnicity: 36% white, 28% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 12% black Admissions: Limited screening Avg. class size in English class: 31 This school, which is a middle school and high school, is in the Coalition of Essential Schools, part of a Gates Foundationfunded program. The school prides itself on being an “experience school,” and touts its diversity not only of ethnicity, but also across academic and socio-economic lines. Students write “exhibitions” instead of taking state Regents Tests. Received a 10 of 10 rating from greatschools.org.
BARUCH COLLEGE CAMPUS HIGH SCHOOL 55 E. 25th St. Enrollment: 438 Graduation Rate: 99% Avg. Attendance 97.7%
Ethnicity: 59% Asian, 15% Hispanic, 1% black and 20% white. Admissions: Screened. Avg. class size in English class: 28 The DOE’s Quality Review Report says this school – which partners with Baruch College and Harvard – has a “consistently rigorous curricula and academic tasks (that) ensure that all students have access, are cognitively engaged and required to show their thinking.” Space is a little tight and demand is great: Only 1% of applicants were accepted for the 2013 class. It ranked 48th on the U.S. News & World Report list and got a 9 out of 10 rating from greatschools.org.
FIORELLO H. LAGUARDIA HIGH SCHOOL OF MUSIC & ART AND PERFORMING ARTS
dance, music, art or production. School hours are long and parent involvement is high. It ranked 45th on U.S. News list and snagged a 9 out of 10 rating from greatschools.org.
100 Amsterdam Ave. Enrollment: 2,621 Graduation Rate: 98% Avg. Attendance 95% Ethnicity: 45% white, 20% Asian, 19% Hispanic, 11% black, 5% multi-racial Admissions: Auditions Avg. class size in English class: 30 This school, a successor to the “Fame” school, is a magnet for talented kids from across the city – from the children of musicians, celebrities and movie stars to kids eligible for free lunch. Racial diversity is high and students take regular academic courses and two to three hours a day of their specialty, including drama,
MILLENNIUM HIGH SCHOOL 75 Broad St. Enrollment: 531 Graduation Rate: 99% Avg. Attendance 95.9% Ethnicity: 36% Asian, 35% white, 19% Hispanic, 7% black Admissions: Screened Avg. class size in English class: 30 Millennium offers four years of math and science and three years of foreign language, including Spanish or Mandarin. The school offers a variety of Advanced Placement courses, including AP Calculus, Advanced Biology, Advanced
Spanish, Chemistry and Physics. The school says 81% of students earn an Advanced Regents Diploma. It received a 9 rating from greatschools.org and was ranked 51st best New York public high school by on U.S. News & World Report.
MANHATTAN VILLAGE ACADEMY 43 W. 22d St. Enrollment: 414 Graduation Rate: 95% Avg. Attendance: 97% Ethnicity: 7% white, 73% Hispanic, 6% Asian, 12% black Admissions: Screened Avg. class size in English class: 20 This relatively tiny high school boasts small classes with a strong college prep curriculum and teachers who are encouraged to think outside the box. Girls outnumber boys by 2 to 1, and competition for a seat is fierce – about 20 applications per seat. It is ranked 107th by U.S. News & World Report and snagged an 8 out of 10 rating from greatschools.org.
HIGH SCHOOL FOR DUAL LANGUAGE AND ASIAN STUDIES 350 Grand St. Enrollment: 456 Graduation Rate: 98% Avg. Attendance 98% Ethnicity: 89% Asian, 2% white, 6% Hispanic, 3% black. Admissions: Screened Avg. class size in English class: 31 HSDLAS expects all students will be fluent in Mandarin and English by the time they graduate. It offers a rigorous curriculum with an emphasis on STEM education; 97.7% of students completed rigorous Advance Placement courses.
Peer study groups meet regularly and academic teachers meet regularly with English as Second Language teachers to collaborate on lesson plans. The DOE’s Quality Report for 2014-2015 gave the school excellent reviews. It got an 8 out of 10 rating from greatschools. org, and ranked second on the U.S. News & World Report list of best New York City public high schools.
LOWER EAST SIDE PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL 145 Stanton St. Enrollment: 551 Graduation Rate: 31% Avg. Attendance: 88.3% Ethnicity: 69% Asian, 20% Hispanic, 9% black, 1% white Admissions: Transfer School. Avg. class size in English class: 25 Despite its low graduation rate, this school gets high marks for providing a quality education to students who have recently arrived in the U.S. or who those who have dropped out of regular high schools and decide to return. It’s about 85% English Language Learners and students come from more than 50 countries. Teachers are creative and work hard to engage kids learning English or giving high school a second chance. It ranked 60th on the U.S. News list and got 7 out of 10 stars from greatschools.org
YOUNG WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP SCHOOL 105 E. 106th St. Enrollment: 300, grades 6-12 Graduation Rate: 100% Avg. Attendance 97% Ethnicity: 54% Hispanic, CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
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HIGH SCHOOLS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21
33% black, 8% Asian, 3% white, Admissions: Screened Avg. class size in English class: 28 This girls-only school in East Harlem is the perfect place to send your child if she doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be distracted by boys in middle or high school. Uniforms are required, but classes are small and teachers work to instill the notion that girls can get as far academically or career-wise as boys. Advanced Placement courses are offered and the school partners with Smith and Barnard Colleges. Ranked 107th by U.S. News & World Report. Scored 7 out of 10 rating from greatschools.org.
NYC LAB SCHOOL FOR COLLABORATIVE STUDIES 333 W. 17th St. Enrollment: 587 Graduation Rate: 95% Avg. Attendance 94% Ethnicity: 44% white, 16% Hispanic, 29% Asian, 8% black, 3% multi-racial Admissions: Screened Avg. class size in English class: 27
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This campus school in Chelsea has a rigorous curriculum that offers a wide range of experiences and choice. As its name implies, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s big on collaboration and emphasizes critical thinking skills in academic tasks across grades and subjects. It adds a special focus to help English Language Learners and students with disabilities prepare for college and careers. Some Advanced Placement courses are offered. It ranked 64th on U.S. News list and got a 7 out of 10 rating from greatschools.org.
NYC MUSEUM SCHOOL 333 W. 17th St. Enrollment: 475 Graduation Rate: 95% Avg. Attendance: 95.5% Ethnicity: 14% white, 41% Hispanic, 31% Asian, 13% black Admissions: Screened and state reading scores Avg. class size in English class: 32% As its name implies, this school takes frequent trips to museums. Classes are broken into museum-based study groups called modules to focus on certain areas, such as geometrics or forensics. They usually involve a longterm project and culminate in
a presentation. For instance, a geometric module would visit bridges and churches for project material. It ranked 107th by on the U.S. News & World Report list and received a 7 out of 10 rating from greatschools.org.
NYC SCHOOL 131 Sixth Ave. Enrollment: 475 Graduation Rate: 90% Avg. Attendance: 92% Ethnicity: 27% white, 42% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 18% black Avg. class size in English
Come and explore all that Cathedral has to offer you!
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class: 28 This school, which opened in 2008 is geared to students who are self-starters and highly inquisitive. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a rooftop garden and weight room. It bills itself as a school for the 21st century and strives to â&#x20AC;&#x153;develop a whole new vision for teaching, learning, and the student experience.â&#x20AC;? Ranked 115th by U.S. News & World Report, it rated 7 out of 10 stars from greatschools.org.
BEACON HIGH SCHOOL 530 W. 44th St. Enrollment: 1,275 Graduation Rate: 99% Avg. Attendance 95.4% Ethnicity: 49% white, 23% Hispanic, 9% Asian, 14% black Admissions: Screened. Avg. class size in English class: 33 Beacon High School, where girls outnumber boys by 2 to 1, is slated to move from an overcrowded old factory to a new building on W. 44th St. in Hellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kitchen for the 20152016 school year. It offers a traditional liberal arts program infused with technology and arts. To graduate, students must present performancebased projects to panels of teachers and complete a stint of community service. Beacon offers extensive travel opportunities, including trips to Russia and Africa. It got a 4 out of 10 from greatschools.org and was 105th on the U.S. News list.
HIGH SCHOOL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (DVW WK 6WUHHW 1HZ <RUN 1< a ZZZ FDWKHGUDOKV RUJ Accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges & Schools
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444 W. 56th St. Enrollment: 1,339 Graduation Rate: 83% Avg. Attendance 90% Ethnicity: 60% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 15% black, 9% white
Admissions: Scores and random Avg. class size in English class: 30 This school provides a unique curriculum combining environmentally infused college prep courses with internships at Wave Hill Public Garden and the Bronx Zoo, and ďŹ eld trips designed to improve the environment. A variety of programs are tailored to students depending on their abilities. The school offers numerous AP courses and has a small Honors Academy for the top students. HSES ranked 114th on the U.S. News list and got a 4 out of 10 rating from great schools.org.
CENTRAL PARK EAST HIGH SCHOOL 1537 Madison Ave. 129 W. 67th St. Enrollment: 459 Graduation Rate: 77% Avg. Attendance: 93% Ethnicity: 63% Hispanic, 25% black, 7% Asian, 4% white Admissions: Screened Avg. class size in English class: 30 One of four schools in the Jackie Robinson Education Complex, Central Park East looks at middle school grades and attendance rather than state math and English tests. It has a peer-to-peer mentorship program that selects 20 rising juniors to act as support to a new class of ninth grade students. It ranked 138th on the U.S. News list and rated 5 out of 10 on greatschools.org.
A. PHILIP RANDOLPH NYC MUSEUM SCHOOL 443 W. 125th St. Enrollment: 1,360 Graduation Rate: 95% Avg. Attendance: 86% Ethnicity: 1% white, 61%
Hispanic, 5% Asian, 31% black Admissions: Screened and application Avg. class size in English class: 32 This school offers specialization in medicine, engineering or the humanities in its landmarked Gothic building in Harlem. It says its mission is to provide students â&#x20AC;&#x153;with the skills and experiences necessary to prepare our graduates to succeed at competitive colleges and universities.â&#x20AC;? To do that, it stresses Advanced Placement courses in such subjects as English composition, calculus biology, psychology and Spanish. It earned a 4 out of 10 rating from greatschools. org.
MANHATTAN BRIDGES HIGH SCHOOL 525 W. 25th St. Enrollment: 531 Graduation Rate: 82% Avg. Attendance 91% Ethnicity: 100% Hispanic. Admissions: Limited to Hispanic students who have been in the U.S. fewer than three years and whose English skills are limited. Avg. class size in English class: 19 The school, ranked 20th in the U.S. News & World list of best New York public high schools, has class periods of 72 minutes to give all students, especially English Language Learners, the time they need to apply their learning in the classrooms. The students, all of whom are eligible for free lunch and are required to wear uniforms, receive extra support and real-time feedback to measure their progress. About 81% participate in Advanced Placement classes. It ranked 20th best on the U.S. News list and got a 3 out of 10 ranking from greatschools.org.
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German for
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NY State Accredited Language Program Low Tuition Minimum Age: 4 Years No Previous German Necessary Classes Meet Once a Week Playgroup Age 4-5 From 4:30-6:15 ,JOEFSHBSUFO "HF t 0UIFS $MBTTFT "HFT 'PVS DPOWFOJFOU MPDBUJPOT JO UIF (SFBUFS /FX :PSL "SFB 3JEHFXPPE 2VFFOT .BOIBUUBO /: 6QQFS &BTU 4JEF
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Classes start second week in September For more information see:
www.German-American-School.org Deutschunterricht seit 1897 or call 212-787-7543
DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;D LIKE US TO LOOK INTO? Email us at NEWS@STRAUSNEWS.COM
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TOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ON THE UPPER EAST SIDE HUNTER COLLEGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 71 E. 94th St. Enrollment: 340 (k-5) Ethnicity: 41% white, 47% Asian, 1% Hispanic, 3% black; the remainder are multi-racial. Avg. Attendance: 97% Avg. class size in 5th grade: 26 This school is insanely hard to get into â&#x20AC;&#x201C; kids have to be in the top 2 or 3 percentile to even be considered -- but it offers a ďŹ ne education and certainly is a stepping stone to some of the best colleges in the county. About 2,500 children apply each year for kindergarten; only 10 percent even get an interview and of those just 50 are accepted.
P.S. 6 LILLIE BLAKE SCHOOL 45 E. 81st St. Enrollment: 782 (k-5) Ethnicity: 71% white, 10% Hispanic, 3% black, 10% Asian Avg. Attendance 96% Avg. class size in 5th grade:
30 This school, about two blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is considered one of the top elementary schools in the city; it stresses math and writing in all grades. Its very active Parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association raises hundreds of thousands
of dollars to pay for extras. Seventy-eight percent of students were proďŹ cient or better in math and 65 percent in English. It rated 10 out of 10 from great schools.org. CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
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ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23
P.S. 183 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON NextAct Fall 2015 Semester Explore the catalog and register today: www.jasa.org/community/nextact What is NextAct? JASA's NextAct programs are designed for adults 55+ who want to explore interesting topics, meet peers, become activists and make an impact in their communities:
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Advocacy training through the Institute for Senior Action (IFSA) Lectures and courses through the Ellie and Martin Lifton Institute of Judaic Studies Volunteer opportunities
We create the adventure and all you need to do is show up! Want to learn more? Attend the Sundays at JASA Open House Sunday, September 20 Â&#x2021; DP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2:00 pm John Jay College, North Hall, 445 West 59th Street, New York City Fall Semester Dates: Sundays, September 27 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; December 20 Â&#x2021; QH[WDFW#MDVD RUJ
419 E. 66st St. Enrollment: 589 (k-5) Ethnicity: 64% white, 19% Asian, 10% Hispanic, 3% black. Avg. Attendance: 96% Avg. class size in 5th grade: 29 Stevenson gets high marks for energetic kids, creative teachers and happy parents. Inside Schools says the student body speaks a total of 40 languages and that about one-
third of the parents are medical professionals or researchers at NYU, Memorial Sloan-Kettering or Rockefeller University. Some 59% scored proďŹ cient or higher on state English tests, and 65% did so on math exams. Greatschools.org rated it a perfect 10.
P.S. 77 LOWER LAB SCHOOL 1700 Third Ave. Enrollment: 348 (k-5) Ethnicity: 63% white, 21% Asian, 8% Hispanic, 1% black. Avg. Attendance: 97% Avg. class size in 5th grade: 26 This progressive school, modeled after the Bank Street
School, is for gifted and talented students and focuses on math and social studies. It has an introductory, interactive program on Spanish language and culture for k-2 students and boasts a highly competitive chess team. Nearly all of its students are proďŹ cient or better on state tests; 96% in math and 94% in English. Snagged a 10 rating from insideschools. org.
P.S. 12. TAG YOUNG SCHOLARS 240 E. 109th St. Enrollment: 560 (k-8) Ethnicity: 34% black, 11% white, 29% Asian, 23% Hispanic. Avg. Attendance: 96.2%
Learn - Then Act! Join IFSA 0 weeks of hands on training in advocacy and social DFWLRQ Learn from highly acclaimed government, non-profit, and community lHDGHUV Thursdays, September â&#x20AC;&#x201C; November Â&#x2021; DP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2:00 pm JASA, 247 West 7th Street, New York City Â&#x2021; ifsD#MDVD RUJ FRXQGHG LQ -$6$ LV RQH RI 1HZ <RUNÂśV ODUJHVW DQG PRVW WUXVWHG agencies serving older adults in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, DQG /RQJ ,VODQG -$6$ V PLVVLRQ LV WR VXVWDLQ DQG HQULFK WKH lives of the aging in the New York metropolitan area so that they can remain in the community with dignity DQG DXWRQRP\
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International education from Pre-nursery to Grade 8 (ages 2-13) with the highest academic standards and a Spanish or Chinese immersion program. The New York International School is a selective school opening on NYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Museum Mile, next to Central Park. It provides an advanced curriculum with a low student-teacher ratio that will enable your children to develop their literacy and numeracy skills at an earlier age, speak Spanish or Chinese Ă&#x20AC;XHQWO\ DQG DFTXLUH D SDVVLRQ IRU OHDUQLQJ 1<,6 LV HVWDEOLVKHG E\ RQH RI WKH ZRUOGÂśV OHDGLQJ VFKRRO QHWZRUNV ZLWK D WUDGLWLRQ RI H[FHOOHQW DFDGHPLF UHVXOWV WRS FROOHJH SODFHPHQWV DQG schools in America, Europe and Asia. Financial aid is available at Preschool and Lower School. Apply now. www.nyis.org - Tel. 212 641 0920 4 East 90th Street, New York
AUGUST 20-26,2015
Avg. class size in 5th grade: 30 This unzoned East Harlem school, with a name that is a play on gifted and talented, accepts G&T students from all five boroughs and is considered by far the most diverse of all G&T schools in the city. Children wear red plaid uniforms. The school offers class trips and such extra curriculars as a Latin Jazz Ensemble for 11- to 13-year-olds. About 97% of students scored proficient or above on math exams and 92% did the same in English. It got a 9 out of 10 rating from greatschools.org.
P.S. 290 THE MANHATTAN NEW SCHOOL 311 E. 82nd St. Enrollment: 656 (k-5) Ethnicity: 73% white, 12% Asian, 8% Hispanic, 2% black. Avg. Attendance: 96% Avg. class size in 5th grade: 32 Named a “Reward School” by the SUNY College Education Department for educational achievement, P.S. 290 has an active Parents’ Association that raises money to pay for teaching assistants, dance and performance classes and lunch clubs. Its writing program is a national model, but the school has big classes and space is tight. More than two-thirds of students scored proficient or above in English and 82 percent did so in math. Received a
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perfect 10 from greatschools. org.
P.S. 158 BAYLARD TAYLOR 1458 York Ave. Enrollment: 761 (pk-5) Ethnicity: 71% white, 11% Asian, 11% Hispanic, 4% black. Avg. Attendance: 95.7 Avg. class size in 5th grade: 24 This school offers diverse educational opportunities, such as Ballet Hispanico, and has a strong special education program that includes inclusion classes and team teaching. Inside Schools notes that there has been criticism that the school is not especially strong in traditional areas such as spelling. About 85% of students scored proficient or above on standardized math tests and 75% did so in state English exams. A perfect 10 from greatschools.org.
P.S. 151 YORKVILLE COMMUNITY SCHOOL 421 E. 88th St. Enrollment: 483 (k-4) Ethnicity: 50% white, 8% Asian, 26% Hispanic, 12% black, 4% multi-racial. Avg. Attendance: 93 Avg. class size in K grade: 22 Often called the “New 151,” this school opened its doors in 2009, after the “Old“ 151 was closed due to poor performance. Yorkville Community School
offers a progressive style and a laid-back ambience. About 52% of students scored proficient or above on standardized math tests and 39% did so in state English exams. Snagged a 9 out of 10 rating from greatschools. org.
P.S. 171. PATRICK HENRY SCHOOL 109 E. 103rd St. Enrollment: 604 (k-8) Ethnicity: 65% Hispanic, 27% Asian, 31% white, 4% Asian, 1% Native American. Avg. Attendance: 94 Avg. class size in K grade: 25 Located a block off of Central Park, this school offers a gifted and talented program as well as music and arts courses. While it is largely traditionalminded, it partners with such local organizations as Chess in Schools and the 92nd St. Y to offer broader cultural and educational experiences. More
than half of its students scored proficient or better in math and 43% were proficient or above in English. Greatschools.org rated it 8 out of 10.
CENTRAL PARK EAST 1 1573 Madison Ave. Enrollment: 191 (pk-5) Ethnicity: 29% white, 8% Asian, 28% Hispanic, 24% black, 10% multi-racial. Avg. Attendance: 94.4% Avg. class size: About 25 A “learn by doing” school, CPE1 blends traditional education with an emphasis on writing, primarily through student journals. It has a strong special education program and has some classes with general ed and special ed students taught by one general ed teach and one certified in special education. It scored an 8 out of 10 rating from great schools.org and 46% of students scored proficient on state math and English exams.
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TOP PRIVATE SCHOOLS ON THE UPPER EAST SIDE There are a lot of great public schools in Manhattan, but for parents who are wealthy enough to afford, there are also a lot of top-notch private schools. Many cater to the rich and famous, but most offer scholarships and financial aid to achieve diversity across racial and socio-economic lines. They all have student/teacher ratios well below the national
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average and offer small classes and personalized educational programs. All are prestigious and academically rigorous and many send a healthy percentage of their students to Ivy League Schools. But some also specialize in certain areas, such as performing arts, culinary arts – and a few deal with children with special needs.
Many of the names on our lists are familiar, but we’ve also tried to include a few that fly under the radar. Our list was compiled by information from the schools, their websites, news coverage and blogs. We hope our list can help parents make important educational decisions for their children – and provide a few fun facts along the way.
THE BREARLEY SCHOOL 610 E. 33rd St. Enrollment: 699 (k-12, all girls) Tuition: $41,900 Student/Teacher ratio - 6:1 Endowment: $131 million The Brearley School has a diverse community – 46% of students are of color – and a rigorous and challenging curriculum that “prepares girls for active, responsible citizenship in a democratic society” – and likely a spot in an Ivy League university. The school stresses community involvement. Notable alums include Caroline Kennedy, Tea Leoni and Kyra Sedgewick.
THE SPENCE SCHOOL
BUCKLEY
22 E. 91st St. Enrollment: 734 (k-12) Tuition: $45,150 Student/Teacher ratio - 7:1 Endowment: $85 million Spence claims a 100% college admission rate for graduating seniors, a diverse, close-knit student body that is 39% students of color and one that provides financial assistance to about 20% of its pupils. The school offers a “diverse curriculum” that provides “a platform for mutual discovery, understanding and respect.” Famous grads include Gwyneth Paltrow, Georgina Bloomberg, Kerry Washington and Francine du Plessix Gray.
113 E. 73rd ST. Enrollment: 370 (k-9 boys) Tuition: $31,365-$36,003 Student/Teacher ratio - 6:1 Buckley is a small, selective all boy-schools that stresses sports and requires students to wear uniforms. Students are placed in small group learning modules that encourage energetic communication and confident expression. It offers six major subjects, two foreign languages, computer classes and physical education. Notable alums include former New York City Mayor John Lindsay, David Rockefeller Jr. and writer Nick McDonnel.
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DALTON
uniforms; notable alums include Nikki Finke, Julie Harris and Lady Pamela Hicks.
108 E. 89th St. Enrollment: 1,300 (k-12) Tuition: $42,960 Student/Teacher ratio - 5:1 Endowment: $40 million A progressive school guided by the “Dalton Plan,” which values the entire child, cultivates values of respect, integrity and compassion, encourages risktaking and places an historical emphasis on music, dance, theater and visual arts – as well as sports. Famous alums include Anderson Cooper, Claire Danes and Melissa Russo.
THE CHAPIN SCHOOL
RAMAZ 125 E. 85th ST. Enrollment: 1,081 (k-12) Tuition: $28,474-$36,950 Student/Teacher ratio - 5:1 Endowment: $13 million One of the oldest Jewish day schools in America, this Modern Orthodox institution teaches Hebrew and religious tradition along with a rigorous general curriculum. Graduating seniors are required to go to Poland and Israel for 10 days. It boasts that three of its grads went on to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court justices. Famous grads include Natasha Lyonne, Michael Mukasey and Merryl Tisch.
THE HEWITT SCHOOL 45 E. 75th St. Enrollment: 506 (k-12, girls) Tuition: $44,700
Student/Teacher ratio - 7:1 Endowment: $13 million Hewitt prides itself on preparing young women to create a life; “not to take a job but to make a job, a career and a life that suits them.” The school recently created a Diversity Steering Committee and offers special instruction on managing “microagressions,” including sexism, racism and heterosexism. Girls must wear
100 East End Ave. Enrollment: 755 (k-12, girls) Tuition: $41,100 Student/Teacher ratio - 7:1 Endowment $75 million This exclusive all-girls school offers a rigorous curriculum and also stresses sports and academic competition. The wheel on school seal is the symbol of St. Catherine of Alexandria, the patron saint of philosophers, thinkers and educated women. Chapin’s motto is “Fortiter et Recte,” Bravely and Rightly. Notable graduates include Jackie Kennedy, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Vera Wang and Ivanka Trump.
CAEDMON 416 E. 80th St. Enrollment: About 280 Tuition: $22,750-$37,550 Student/Teacher ratio - 8:1 Endowment: $3.7 million A Montessori-inspired school that stresses, intelligence, freedom and respect for oneself and the community, it accepts children through fifth grade.
NIGHTINGALEBAMFORD
Many of its students go on to the best and most elite private middle- and high schools in the city. The school gets rave reviews from parents and teachers alike.
THE BEEKMAN SCHOOL 220 E. 50th St. Enrollment: 76 (9-12)
Tuition: $36,000 Student/Teacher ratio - 6:1 Beekman bills itself as Manhattan’s only boutique high school. It has a maximum class size of 10 students at its townhouse school, where it offers a core curriculum, but stresses personalized and customized courses through the Tutoring School.
20 E. 92nd St. Enrollment: 171 (k-12, girls) Tuition: $33,550 Student/Teacher ratio - 6:1 Endowment: $70 million Founded in 1920, Nightingale is an independent K-12 girls’ school whose website says it “provides a classical curriculum to motivated students of varied backgrounds, interests, and talents.” It prides itself on being a place that develops strong, opinionated, intelligent young women. Among its notable graduates are Shoshanna Lonstein, Mandy Grunwald and Millicent Fenwick.
Harlem Hebrew is a ƚƵŝƚŝŽŶͲĨƌĞĞ ĚƵĂůͲůĂŶŐƵĂŐĞ ƉƵďůŝĐ ĐŚĂƌƚĞƌ ƐĐŚŽŽů focusing on an immersion approach to Modern Israeli Hebrew and the study of Israeli culture and history. As with all public schools, we are non-sectarian and do not teach religion. All are welcome! We have two-three teachers in a classroom throughout the day and provide our students with outstanding instruction across all curriculum areas. Modeled after the Teachers College ZĞĂĚĞƌ͛Ɛ ĂŶĚ tƌŝƚĞƌ͛Ɛ Workshop, our curriculum is individualized, differentiated and designed to meet individual needs.
Tuesday tours start in mid September! Ăůů ƵƐ Ăƚ ϮϭϮͲϴϲϲͲϰϲϬϴ ƚŽ ŵĂŬĞ ĂŶ ĂƉƉŽŝŶƚŵĞŶƚ Žƌ ĨŽƌ ŵŽƌĞ ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƚŝŽŶ ŽŶ ŚŽǁ ƚŽ ĂƉƉůLJ͘
NYC School Fairs September 16 & 17 www.parentsleague.org Fall Festival & Open House October 11, 10 am – 4 pm High School Open House November 7, 10 am – 1 pm
Nurturing living connections... early childhood through grade 12 Situated on a 400-acre Biodynamic farm in New York’s Hudson Valley, Hawthorne Valley’s integrative Waldorf curriculum helps young men and women grow academically, artistically, and socially into the creative individuals needed in today’s complex world.
Day and Boarding PrograNT t Accepting Applications
WůĞĂƐĞ ǀŝƐŝƚ ŽƵƌ ǁĞďƐŝƚĞ͊ www.harlemhebrewcharter.org 147 St. Nicholas Avenue, New York, NY 10026 (212) 866-ϰϲϬϴ ͻ ŝŶĨŽΛŚĂƌůĞŵŚĞďƌĞǁĐŚĂƌƚĞƌ͘ŽƌŐ
518-672-7092 x 111 info@hawthornevalleyschool.org WALDORF SCHOOL | www.hawthornevalleyschool.org 330 County Route 21C, Ghent, NY 12075 | 518-672-7092 x 111
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N O I N U R E THECOOP
CONTINUING EDUCATION
FALL 2015 COURSES START IN OCTOBER VISUAL ARTS HOW TO MAKE A GRAPHIC NOVEL DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CALLIGRAPHY AND COLLAGE BASIC, FIGURE, AND PORTRAIT DRAWING WATERCOLOR AND ACRYLIC PAINTING EXPERIMENTAL PRINTING AND PASTELS THE CITY TRANSFORMED DIGITAL FABRICATION CERTIFICATE TYPEFACE DESIGN RESPONSIVE DESIGN AND WEB TYPOGRAPHY INDUSTRIAL WASTE TREATMENT DESIGN DAYLIGHTING FUNDAMENTALS DAYLIGHTING AND CODES (ONLINE) DIGITAL 3-D MODELING (RHINO & GRASSHOPPER) DIGITAL 3-D PRINTING CNC MILLING AND LASER CUTTING SHAPING RESILIENT COMMUNITIES SOLAR ESSENTIALS AND ARDUINO
CONTINUING EDUCATION: SCHOOL FOR THE POSTSCHOOL SET It’s never too late to learn and there are plenty of colleges and universities in New York City offering a wide array of courses and professional development for people weighing a career change, advancement or just the love of learning. The schools on our list represent a sampling of some of the best or
innovative courses.
BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE 25 Broadway 212-346-8420 www.bmcc.cuny.edu The Center for Continuing
Education and Workforce Development offers course or certificates in nursing assistants, information technology, media arts, career training and personal development, English as a Second Language, notary skills and professional writing.
COOPER.EDU/CE
DIVISION OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
AUGUST 20-26,2015
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION 2970 Broadway 212-854-9666 ce.columbia.edu This celebrated Ivy League school offers 13 mastersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; degree programs, courses for
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advancement and graduate school and certiďŹ cation courses. Graduate degrees include bioethics, communications, fund-raising management negotiation and conďŹ&#x201A;ict resolution and sports management. You can pick up certiďŹ cates in business, classics, ecology, evolution and environmental biology, human
rights and psychology.
STUDIES
SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS
55 Lexington Ave. 646-312-5000 www.baruched.com Baruch has a vast certiďŹ cate program with courses in accounting, bookkeeping/ payroll, digital design, ďŹ nance investments, marketing professional communications and real estate. The school also has courses in ďŹ tness, test prep information technology and communications.
2090 E. 23rd St. 212-592-2000 www.sva.edu Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pricey, but for serious visual arts students, it canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be beat. Offers courses in advertising, animation, computer art, design, ďŹ lm and video, illustration and cartooning photography, visual and critical studies and more â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all taught by leaders in the ďŹ eld.
PACE UNIVERSITY 1 Pace Plaza 212-346-1200 www.pace.edu This school offers advanced courses in Human Resources management, paralegal
studies, technology healthcare studies, test prep and licensing. Wide array of tech courses include adobe training, mobile application and web development. Pace also offer a paralegal certiďŹ cation course.
BARUCH COLLEGE CONTINUING EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL
FORDHAM SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL AND CONTINUING STUDIES Lincoln Center Campus, 113 W. 60th St. 212-636-7333 pcs.fordham.edu In addition to a vast array of masters programs in cyber
security, digital and social media and post-baccalaureate pre-med and pre-health course, Fordham offers course in a College at 60 program, which allows seniors and soon-to-beseniors to go for a degree or just take seminars in such courses as creative writing, the music of Mozart, the novels of Henry James and Freudian psychology.
t 4$)00- '06/%&% */ t 06545"/%*/( '3&/$) ".&3*$"/ BILINGUAL PROGRAM
Here learning happens every day. Isabellaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Early Childhood Education Program features a little bit of everything to keep your child challenged, engaged and constantly learning. Let your child learn and grow in our rich and dynamic environment where safety comes first. Our Early Childhood Education Program offers developmentally appropriate educational programs for the children and prepares them for future learning. We impart independence, self-confidence and decision-making in each child. Our award winning and unique intergenerational program provides opportunities portunities for playful interaction between children and older adults in our that helps to develop lifelong lif social skills in children.
Full Time & Part Time care is available Program features: / Developmentally appropriate education programs / Computer based literacy program / Storytelling / Music
/ Creative Arts / Indoor and Outdoor Physical Activities / Gardening
We provide breakfast and beverages. Parents provide baby food and formula for infants and lunch for toddlers and preschoolers. We respect various dietary laws.
OPEN HOUSE DATES OCTOBER 7UI ". ". OCTOBER 22OE 1. 1. NOVEMBER 5UI ". ".
/07&.#&3 UI ". ". DECEMBER 2OE 1. 1. %&$&.#&3 UI ". ".
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We are open: Monday-Friday 8am-6pm Fees are structured on the basis of each familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schedule and the age of the child. Call or e-mail for an appointment. Dr. Karen Ellefsen, Director, Isabella Early Childhood Education Program (212) 342-9436 Kellefsen@isabella.org
YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND OUR MANHATTAN CAMPUS OPEN HOUSE EVENTS
WWW.LyceumKennedy.ORG www.isabella.org/childdaycare
MANHATTAN CAMPUS: NURSERY SCHOOL (AGE 3) TO HIGH SCHOOL &"45 3% 45 /: /: t 5&- '"9 */'03."5*0/ "%.*44*0/4 -,NBOIBUUBO!-ZDFVN,FOOFEZ PSH
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Tired of Hunting for Our Town?
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More CUNY Award Winners! SEAN THATCHER Barry Goldwater Scholarship 2015 College of Staten Island
EVGENIYA KIM Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans 2015 Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College
JACOB LEVIN Harry S. Truman Scholarship 2015 Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College
JOHNATHAN CULPEPPER National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship 2015 Medgar Evers College
CARLA SPENSIERI Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant 2015 Hunter and Queens Colleges
KYLE CHIN-HOW Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship 2015 Queensborough Community College
CUNY students are winning the most prestigious, highly competitive awards in the nation. In the past five years, they have won 81 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, 79 Fulbright Awards for research and teaching English abroad, and 12 Barry Goldwater Scholarships for outstanding undergraduates who intend to pursue research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering. And two CUNY doctoral candidates captured prestigious prizes that are rarely awarded to students—a Pulitzer Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship, both for poetry. Providing quality, accessible education has been CUNY’s mission since 1847, a commitment that is a source of enormous pride, as are these students.
— James B. Milliken, Chancellor
Join the winners’ circle! For more information about The City University of New York visit cuny.edu/welcome
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WHY NOT TEACH EVERY SCHOOL KID TO READ WELL? CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Kentucky at all but a picture of one of the ball ďŹ elds in New York City where the public high school teams play their games. There are other pictures inside of other sorry-looking fields. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not so naĂŻve to think the public school ďŹ elds would be like a suburban schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ elds, but you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re that bad and you feel like a fool for being so unaware and you get angry at New York for not being a good person if thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how it lets its playing ďŹ elds for its kids go. You hope your friends donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the article. But you move to Manhattan as planned and the condition of playing ďŹ elds doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come up much. Anyone you knew from college who lived here has moved to the suburbs, for reasons like playing ďŹ elds for their kids. You do read, maybe prompted by that article, that some mogul(s) is fixing up some of the ďŹ elds. That makes you feel better. You wanted more outrage from the citi-
zenry maybe, but at least some progress is being made. What you really wish is that the Mayor would declare eminent domain and seize all sorts of parking lots and raze underused buildings and put in rich, green, playing ďŹ elds throughout the city. He could even take too-exclusive and over-blown Gramercy Park up the street from where you live and turn it into a hockey rink. You very much wish for spaces for kids here. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re surprised no one else brings it up ever. But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not really about the New York bookishness that drew you here. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only a first instance of how you are disabused of some of your New York illusions. Those nasty playing ďŹ elds would be as nothing compared to what really starts bugging you, and what bugs you still about the city. But maybe those playing ďŹ elds will come in handy as a metaphor. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come to see too many of the public schools in this bookish city as just as hardscrabble and under-watered and untended-to as those awful-looking fields. You arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t talking about the physical plants of the schools, though they usually look pretty uninviting. No, you are talking about the reading life of the kids in so many of
those big schools. In the neighborhood you live in now, you can stand, on a holiday, when traffic is light, in the center of the intersection in front of your apartment building, and you can see five bodegas of varying quality, two of them selling ďŹ&#x201A;owers. Three dry cleaners, one with washers and dryers. A newsstand with a busy lottery machine, an internet cafĂŠ. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an offbrand grocery store, a couple nail salons, two liquor stores, a CVS, a Starbucks, a Dunkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Donuts, two good bagel places, one pizza place (you refuse to count the one that sells a-shotand-a-slice). Maybe a dozen restaurants, and almost that many popular bars. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great neighborhood, with, hey, that exclusive park-with-a key just a short block away. It has all you wanted when you moved here. Except it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a bookstore. The newsstand will sell you fashion magazines from Milan, muscle magazines, college hoops mags. But thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no bookstore in sight. You can walk to Union Square to the vibrant, four-floored Barnes & Noble and you do that. And Strand is not far beyond that. But you wanted your neighborhood to have its own bookstore, a small one like where one of
the bodegas is. You know you have no real reason to complain about what your immediate neighborhood lacks when you compare it to the parts of the city where those ball fields are. There arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really any bookstores out there. You think of that promo that said New York is Book Country. Just parts of it, they must have meant. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another metaphor you use when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re having a pint with friends and you steer the conversation your way and you start going on about kids and reading and the poor results poor kids get in reading tests. You say that in a small island culture where everyone lives near the shore, swimming would be the most important skill that would be needed to be taught to kids so theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d survive, so they wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drown. They wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t teach soccer or traditional dance steps until every child knew how to swim. When you see that your friends accept that as obvious, you bring up New York Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schools. You say that in order to survive in this culture you have to know how to read, more than you need to know how to sing or shoot hoops or play volleyball or know who dug the Erie Canal. You have to know how
to read before anything else. In order to survive really. In order not to drown. Mayor Bloomberg, in his treasure chest campaign, so touted the success he claims heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s achieved in the schools since he took them over, you thought he was maybe going to buy an aircraft carrier and ďŹ&#x201A;y onto it and claim the learning war was over. You get mad thinking that he would have been cheered. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t they see, kids are drowning still. So many of them canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t read well enough to pass their swimming test. And you know that many of the kids who pass are really only dogpaddling. Why does the Mayor who fastidiously saw to it that 100% of the bars complied with his no-smoking edict, why does he not demand that 100% of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kids know how to read? In Cleveland, where you came from 15 years ago, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a plaque on the front of the big library that says: Kids Who Read Succeed. Hell, maybe Cleveland is Book Country. You wonder if anyone really cares. It isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t talked about much. The Times and other publications talk about numbers and unions and rubber rooms. You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even name the Timesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; education editor. Do they have one? You wonder why
mothers of kids in the schools donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take to the street with pots and pans and march down to Chambers Street to demand that their kids be taught to read. They know what it means for their kids not to know how to read, if only from seeing the neighborhoods ďŹ lled with the bodies of kids whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve drowned. If the Mayor can up-end centuries of tradition and outlaw tobacco from public houses, why canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t he buck Albany and the Board of Regents and turn the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schools into reading academies where kids will immerse themselves in books and magazines, and the state syllabus be damned. It isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t longer hours at school the kids need, it is focused hours. It is reading time. Time to make up for what they lacked in their earliest years. The city has them for 12 years. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a long time. Enough time to teach every kid to read well. This essay is reprinted with permission from A City Reader, Bill Gunlockeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blog and print publication. For past issues and more, go to acityreader. blogspot.com
Founded in 1900, Loyola School is a Catholic, Jesuit, independent, co-educational, college preparatory, secondary day school made up of 200 students in Manhattan.
Open House Dates: October 8, 2015 - 5:30 pm October 28, 2015 - 5:30 pm
Loyola School For more information, please contact us at 646-346-8131 or admissions@loyolanyc.org 1BSL "WFOVF /FX :PSL /: t XXX MPZPMBOZD PSH
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F IND Y OUR F UTURE A T H UNTER C OLLEGE Are you seeking advancement in your professional field? Hoping to enter a thriving sector of the job market? Interested in learning a new skill or language? Eager to pursue a stimulating interest or activity?
Discover the four Continuing Education Programs at Hunter College: Continuing Education offers a wide range of certificate programs, professionaldevelopment courses and personal-enrichment courses. The International English Language Institute offers English as a Second Language courses designed to make you fluent in English – whatever your native language. Parliamo Italiano offers courses in Italian at all levels. The Writing Center-CE offers workshops in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, playwriting and screenwriting, and sponsors popular literary events. Come to Hunter for the best in Continuing Education.
Find our programs on:
www.hunter.cuny.edu/ceprograms 695 Park Avenue, Room E1022 New York, NY 10065 212.650.63850
At The Mary Louis Academy, you will own your voice— distinctive, confident, intelligent, creative, and empowered— a voice that will be one of your greatest assets in life.
176-21 WEXFORD TERRACE JAMAICA ESTATES, NY 11432
33
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See What’s Growing Upstate! DIRT’S 2015 GARDEN TOUR
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HEALTH SERVICES
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Telephone: 212-868-0190 Fax: 212-868-0198 Email: classified2@strausnews.com
POLICY NOTICE: We make every eďŹ&#x20AC;ort to avoid mistakes in your classiďŹ ed ads. Check your ad the ďŹ rst week it runs. The publication w only accept responsibility for the ďŹ rst incorrect insertion. The publication assumes no ďŹ nancial responsibility for errors or omissions. reserve the right to edit, reject, or re-classify any ad. Contact your sales rep directly for any copy changes. All classiďŹ ed ads are pre-pa
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Antique, Flea & Farmers Market SINCE 1979
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+/- 9,000 sf Ground Floor - $90 psf +/- 16,000 sf Cellar - $75 psf Call Farrell @ Meringoff Properties 646.306.0299
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