The local paper for the Upper er East Side SINATRA AT 100
WEEK OF OCTOBER
CITYARTS, P.12 >
15-21 2015
WALKOUT DURING HOLMES HOUSING MEETING NYCHA’s plan to generate revenue for budget deficit causes backlash on Upper East Side BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
LIFE IN RETIREMENT, AGAIN AND AGAIN GRAYING NEW YORK A series looking at growing older in the city
FIRST OF SIX PARTS STORY AND PHOTOS BY HEATHER CLAYTON COLANGELO/DIRECTED BY DORIAN BLOCK
It is the first week of 2015 and 84-year-old Hank Blum is officially retired. He’s said that before. His wife of 41 years, Patti, has thrown him three retire-
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ment parties, one for each of the times he packed away his phoropter, bid his colleagues goodbye and closed the door to his optometry practice, presumably for the last time. “I didn’t have the nerve to say we were having another retirement party,” says Patti. Hank is OK skipping the fuss, and a touch superstitious anyway.
Newscheck Crime Watch Voices Out & About
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“I said, don’t make one this time. Maybe it will stick.” Hank has worked for six decades as an optometrist in New York City. For most of those years, he commuted by 5 or 6 train from his Upper East Side apartment to his office in the Bronx. His business, Henry Blum Optometrist and Associates on Southern Boulevard, served
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tens of thousands of people and was one source of stability in a neighborhood where properties sat vacant for years. He was president and on the board of directors for citywide optometric societies. He lobbied in Albany to grant optometrists, previously a
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Over 100 angry public housing residents on the Upper East Side walked out of a meeting with NYCHA officials in protest of a new plan to address the agency’s massive operating deficit by selling or leasing to private developers public land on which will be built a mixture of affordable and market rate housing. The program, called NextGen NYCHA, is being billed by the agency as a 10-year strategic plan to address a chronic operating deficit and $17 billion in unmet capital needs. At Holmes, that means partnering with a private developer to build 350400 apartments on playground space between the two towers, 175-200 of which will be affordable. The remainder of the apartments will be offered at market rate. After the announcement last month - which shocked public housing residents and elected officials, who said they had no advance warning or input on the plan – NYCHA released a statement to Our Town that said the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 Jewish women and girls light up the world by lighting the Shabbat candles every Friday evening 18 minutes before sunset. Friday, October 9 – 6:07 PM For more information visit www.chabaduppereastside.com
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OCTOBER 15-21,2015
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WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD CITY, STATE AGREE ON MTA FUNDING PLAN Following months of acrimonious disagreements, city and state officials forged a deal to fund the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s proposed 5-year, $29 billion capital plan. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo both claimed victory when the deal was announced to fund the MTA’s a capital plan for the nation’s biggest transit system, The New York Times reported. The city will contribute $2.5 billion, nearly four times the $657 million it had original agreed to, and the state will supply $8.3 billion toward the capital plan, the authority’s most ambitious to date, the paper reported. The plan includes ďŹ nancing for a next phase of the Second Avenue subway line. “The riders are the big victor here, The Times quoted Gene Russianoff, the staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy group, as saying.
INTERSECTIONS WILL GET IMPROVEMENTS
A deal forged by city and state officials to pay for the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s proposed 5-year, $29 billion capital plan includes ďŹ nancing for a next phase of the Second Avenue subway line, a section of which is pictured. Photo: MTA.
OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, October 1ˇ—11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m For details, please call our Admissions Office 718.721.7200 ext 699 or visit us at stjohnsprepschool.org.
“ The bar was set high at St. John’s Prep. We were challenged to be our best, to make a difference, and to be lifelong learners.� — 2013 St. John’s Prep Graduate Attending Harvard University
The city’s Department of Transportation is planning to roll out new marked lanes, medians, sidewalk extensions and pavement resurfacing on the Upper East Side starting this fall. The need for changes was prompted by the multiple accidents and traffic violations on dangerous intersections along Second and Third Avenues in the 60s and 70s. According to DNAinfo.com, DOT plans
on creating more clearly-marked lanes and crosswalks along Third Avenue, between East 64th and East 72nd. Sidewalk extensions will also be installed on the northwest and northeast corners of Third Avenue and East 66th Street. Similar improvements already installed elsewhere in the neighborhood have shown to have worked to reduce accidents, the agency said.
RESIDENTS SLAM JITNEY’S IDLING BUSES After multiple complains of the Upper East Side residents regarding Hampton Jitney’s operations, Community Board 8 held a meeting on October 9 as an attempt to reconcile with the bus company before giving its ďŹ nal approval to create two new Jitney bus stops along Lexington Avenue between East 76th and 77th Streets and between East 82nd and 83rd Streets. According to the DNAinfo.com, CB8’s transportation committee approved the new stops, but the full board sent the proposal back. Residents have long complained about the Jitney buses’ long idling times and drivers “bunchingâ€? at bus stops. “The buses can’t all ďŹ t in the curbside lane therefore they interfere with traffic operations along the bus routes ... and they dwell at the stops,â€? said Craig Lander, UES residents, to DNAinfo.com. “These buses are sitting there for a good three to four minutes on average while MTA buses are trying to pull out.â€? DNAinfo.com
Educating Tomorrow’s Leaders The marks of true leadership—knowledge, faith, virtue, service to others, a passion for learning, innovation, and creativity—are embedded in our school’s culture. St. John’s Prep is a foundation for success and fulďŹ llment, in college and life. t )JHI TUBOEBSET PG MFBSOJOH JODMVEJOH "1 )POPST BOE FOSJDINFOU DPVSTFT Faculty dedicated to the needs of each student t $MPTF LOJU WJCSBOU DPNNVOJUZ PG $BUIPMJD GBJUI t "DUJWF FOHBHFNFOU PVUTJEF UIF DMBTT JO BUIMFUJDT BSUT TFSWJDF DBNQVT ministry, and more t &YQFSJFOUJBM MFBSOJOH UISPVHI BQQSFOUJDFTIJQT HMPCBM USBWFM 45&. BOE partnership programs with St. John’s University 718.721.7200 | stjohnsprepschool.org 21-21 Crescent Street | Astoria, NY 11105
OCTOBER 15-21,2015
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG
NBA PLAYER ACQUITTED IN NIGHTCLUB CASE Atlanta Hawks’ player Thabo Sefolosha was acquitted in a case stemming from a police fracas outside a Manhattan nightclub. A jury found Sefolosha not guilty of misdemeanor obstructing government administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The guard-forward, who suffered a fractured right leg in the April 8 struggle with police, was accused of repeatedly disobeying the orders of officers telling him to leave the area around the club where another NBA player, Chris Copeland, had been stabbed. He testified that he moved off the block at the behest of a vulgar and confrontational officer and was trying to give a beggar a $20 bill when he was grabbed by officers and taken
to the ground. Before the confrontation turned physical, the 6-foot-6 Sefolosha said he challenged the tone of a particularly aggressive officer who was ushering him, former teammate Pero Antic and others. He said he called the 5-foot-7 officer “a midget.” Charges against Antic later were dropped. But prosecutors presented a different theory, arguing Sefolosha, a Swiss citizen, acted entitled as he slowly departed the 1Oak nightclub. They said he eventually locked his arms in front of him to make it more difficult for arresting officers to put on handcuffs. “The police don’t get to tell the defendant how to play basketball,” an assistant district attorney, Francesca Bartolomey, said in her summation. “The defendant doesn’t get to say where the crime scene ends.” The case is the second one involving high-profile athletes accusing New York Police Department officers of wrongdoing this year. On Wednesday, the city agency charged with investigating police misconduct substantiated claims by former tennis pro James Blake that an officer used exces-
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 19th Precinct for Sept. 28 to Oct. 4 Week to Date
Year to Date
2015
2014
% Change
2015
2014
% Change
Murder
0
0
n/a
n/a
1
0
Rape
0
1
-100.0
-50.0
8
8
Robbery
3
2
50.0
71.4
79
65
Felony Assault
3
3
0.0
16.7
95
76
Burglary
5
5
0.0
-37.0
126
175
Grand Larceny
23
26
-11.5
-17.6
991
1,017
Grand Larceny Auto
4
4
0.0
-25.0
59
63
sive force in taking him to the ground and wrongly arresting him last month after mistaking him for a fraud suspect. Spiro, the defense lawyer, has suggested Sefolosha, who is black, was targeted because of his race. He pointed to surveillance video showing the white officer passing Antic, who also is white, and others as he demanded Sefolosha to move up the block. Sefolosha had surgery on his leg and isn’t fully healed. He said he continues to undergo rehab and isn’t sure he’ll be ready to play when the NBA season starts Oct. 27.
PAY FOR PLAY Playtime became crime time
later, he found that it was gone. His stolen property included an iPhone that was later tracked to a location in Queens but not recovered, and other property totaling $1,200.
GORGING ON FORGING
for an unfortunate Upper East Side resident. At 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11, a 64-year-old woman was with her grandchild in the playground at East 96th Street and Lexington Avenue looking at her cell phone when two teenagers ran up, grabbed her phone, and fled in an unknown direction. The stolen cell was an iPhone 5C valued at $200.
PACK ATTACK Leave it on the floor, and it might leave out the door. At 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, a 46-year-old man placed his backpack on the floor next to him in a bar at 50th Street and Second Avenue. When he looked for the pack an hour
Police arrested a man who had tried to buy shoes and jeans worth more than $8,000 with forged documents. Between noon and 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, a 24-year-old man entered a high-end retail establishment on Madison Avenue and attempted to buy several items of merchandise using a forged document, credit card and driver’s license. The items of merchandise were four pairs of sneakers tagged at $5,570 and two pairs of jeans valued at $2,770. The arresting officers found five more forged credit cards and two driver’s licenses in the defendant’s possession. He was arrested and charged with grand larceny.
NO ESCAPE Sometime between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, a robber entered the apartment of a
26-year-old man living on 85th Street between Second and First Avenues and stole some of his possessions. When the man returned from work that evening, he found his apartment in disarray, though there were no signs of forced entry. He told police he had left his fire escape window unlocked. The items stolen included a MacBook, two Movado watches, a hard drive, and jewelry with a total value of $4,500.
FUHGEDDABOUDIT On Thursday, Oct. 8, a 44-year-old female Upper East Side resident received a phone call from a retailer inquiring about purchases she had made. She then checked her credit card statement and discovered that a number of unauthorized purchases had been charged to her account at various stores, with deliveries made to an address in Brooklyn. She still had her credit card in her possession. Police said they are investigating the matter. For more East Side crime news, go to www.ourtownny.com, click on News then Crime Watch
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Dear Parents: You are cordially invited to attend one of our OPEN HOUSES at York Preparatory School Tuesday, October 27th 9:10am-10:30am Tuesday, November 3rd 9:10am-10:30am Tuesday, November 10th 9:10am-10:30am Tuesday, November 17th 9:10am-10:30am Tuesday, December 1st 9:10am-10:30am Tuesday, January 5th 9:10am-10:30am Tuesday, January 26th 9:10am-10:30am Tuesday, April 19th 9:10am-10:30am Tuesday, May 10th 9:10am-10:30am RSVP to the Admissions Office at: Elizabeth Norton 212-362-0400 ext. 103 - enorton@yorkprep.org Cathy Minaudo 212-362-0400 ext. 106 - cminaudo@yorkprep.org York Prep is a coeducation college preparatory school for grades 6-12
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OCTOBER 15-21,2015
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Services at Our Lady of Peace the evening before the church on East 62nd Street was closed on July 31. Photo: Richard Khavkine
Useful Contacts POLICE NYPD 19th Precinct
153 E. 67th St.
212-452-0600
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FIRE FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13
CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Daniel Garodnick
211 E. 43rd St. #1205
212-818-0580
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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
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1465 York Ave.
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212-434-2000
HOSPITALS Lenox Hill NY-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell
525 E. 68th St.
212-746-5454
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E. 99th St. & Madison Ave.
212-241-6500
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BIDDING TO REOPEN A CHURCH Parishioner at Our Lady of Peace will match contributions BY RICHARD KHAVKINE
A parishioner at Our Lady of Peace, the Catholic church on East 62nd Street shuttered by the Archdiocese of New York this summer, has initiated a $500,000 fundraising effort in a bid to convince Vatican officials the church can sustain itself independent of diocesan money. Shane Dinneen, a 33-year-old investment analyst, said he would match donations dollar for dollar up to $250,000. Dinneen said a canon lawyer suggested parishioners could differentiate themselves as they pursue an appeal of the closure by “putting our money where our hearts are.” He said $500,000 would be enough to maintain the church for 10 years as well as pay ongoing legal expenses. “We want to let them know we don’t think the archdiocese is upholding its duty ... and we the
parishioners are willing to support that role,” said Dinneen, who had worshiped at Our Lady of Peace since he settled in New York nine years ago and was married by the church’s pastor, the Rev. Bartholomew Daly, in 2012. Donors have the option of donating directly to a nonprofit “friends” corporation or putting money in an escrow account. In case of the latter, contributions would be returned if the appeal fails. In a letter to parishioners last week, Dinneen wrote that the money needs to be raised quickly, since a decision by the Vatican could be made as early next month. “It is imperative that we submit new information as part of our appeal process showing that we have raised enough money to salvage our church,” he wrote. The Catholic parish, established in 1919 by a growing population of Italian immigrants to the city and the neighborhood, was merged with that of Saint
John the Evangelist, on East 55th Street, to create an entirely new parish on Aug. 1. Citing what he called the Archdiocese’s “boilerplate” reasoning for closing Our Lady of Peace among dozens of other parishes from Staten Island to Albany — declining membership, a shortage of priests, financial deficits, shifting demographics and other reasons — Dinneen said he was particularly dismayed by the decision to close the church. Dinneen said he was particularly dismayed by the Archdiocese’s decision to close Out Lady since it cited the same “boilerplate” reasoning — declining membership, a shortage of priests, financial deficits, shifting demographics and other reasons — it used in closing dozens of other parishes from Staten Island to Albany this summer. “We really believe that none of those things apply at all to Our Lady of Peace,” he said. “The stated reasons are not just wrong they’re opposite.”
Contrary to the Archdiocese’s claim, he said, membership had been increasing 7 percent a year of late as measured by collections. He and other parishioners have also said the church had been in the black for years, with liquid assets of about $450,000. The parish was sufficiently sound financially, they said, that a $450,000 renovation of the church, completed about six years ago, was paid for entirely by the congregation. Daly, its former pastor, was being paid by Mill Hill Missionaries. Dinneen, an architect of the hedge fund Pershing Square’s prominent $1 billion short bet against Herbalife, suggested the Archdiocese had made an elementary fiscal mistake by shuttering the parish. “When you don’t have any expenses other than your utilities,” he said, “you’re contributing more to the diocese than you’re taking.”
OCTOBER 15-21,2015
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AMAZING IS making half a heart whole. At a 20-week ultrasound, Jack Foley’s parents were told their unborn baby had a very rare condition—the left side of his heart would never develop, leaving him with half a heart. But they refused their own doctors’ advice to give up on the pregnancy and instead, came to NewYork-Presbyterian/ Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital. Here, Jack had the first of three very complex operations when he was just four days old. His parents got to watch their son beat all the odds as he grew into a very healthy little boy through each successive surgery. In the end, Jack wasn’t the only one who left the hospital with a full heart.
nyp.org/kids
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A NOTE ABOUT THIS SERIES For the past 10 months, a team of reporters and photographers has been following 20 New Yorkers as they navigate their 80s. The project -- spearheaded by the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center -- is not a research project; we did not draw a sample of people to stand for the population of all New Yorkers. Instead, we searched for – and found -- an abundance of people who are passionately engaged in living interesting lives, in neighborhoods throughout New York, from many countries and backgrounds, in a variety of living situations and family structures, of different religions and colors. And we are sharing a year in their complicated, multi-faceted lives – to demonstrate that aging is living. For the next six weeks, we’ll tell one of their stories here. The rest can be found at www.exceedingexpectations.nyc. Though the reporting will continue through January, and even into next year, some conclusions already are apparent. First, we have learned that there are as many ways to be old as there are to be young. Many people are engaged in the work or activities – or similar kinds of activities - that occupied them when they were younger. Some help in the businesses of family members. A few have found new passions. Some are struggling with retirement -- unsure how to spend their time and energy. All have dreams they want to fulfill. Second, people’s social networks are very different, but are crucial to their lives. Some are embedded in extended families; others in groups of friends, with some friendships spanning most of their lives. A few have social networks of their neighborhoods. All have lost many they have loved. Several are actively dating. Almost everyone takes care of someone else –a spouse, children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren. Many are, in turn, sometimes cared for by others. Some are alone. Several are separated from previous partners. Several are grieving recent loss. Health problems add up over the years, and most of the people live with multiple health issues – the chronic conditions that accumulate with age: heart issues, lung issues, diabetes, loss of hearing or sight, arthritis and other pains and problems with joints and bones, and cognitive changes and dementia. Several people had bad falls in the time we have known them. Nevertheless, we see that later life is not a steady decline. Life has gone up and down for all since we met them – with victories and joy and weeks of good health and days when going outside is too much. Those with the most severe health conditions, were often the most active on their good days. And when many seemed like they would get worse, they got better. It has been a journey. Come along with us. Ruth Finkelstein Associate Director Robert N Butler Columbia Aging Center Dorian Block Director and Editor, Exceeding Expectations Robert N Butler Columbia Aging Center
LIFE IN RETIREMENT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 drugless profession, the right to use pharmaceuticals to diagnose eye conditions and then later, to treat the eye. Hank was also a part of the pro bono board that gave free eye care to those who couldn’t afford it. Hank deeply loves his work and particularly enjoyed helping people, “I know there are people out there who can see because of me,” he says.
“I never went to work a day in my life.” Retirement, a life stage and societal expectation, hasn’t stuck well for Hank. The first time Hank retired in 2000, he did so because he thought it was what people did at that age. “I thought, I was 70 and it was time to retire,” he says. “I had money [saved]. Why was I going to work?” He sold the practice. Patti gave him a surprise retirement party packed with family and friends.
OCTOBER 15-21,2015 Amid the balloons, the cake and the congratulations, he was already wondering if he had made a mistake. Just weeks later regret and boredom set in. “I said, schmuck what the hell did you do?” he recalls. “I was so bored. I was still very healthy. I was still very viable. I felt like I could pick up the world and put it on my shoulders.” He would pace around the apartment, mindlessly flipping through TV channels and checking the stock market. “I didn’t know what to do with
myself and I missed it.” He called up the new owner of his old practice and asked for a job. They welcomed him enthusiastically and he went back to work four days a week, down from his previously full schedule. Two years later, at the age of 72, he decided he really was done this time. He said his goodbyes, and Patti threw him a second retirement party at DeGrezia Restaurant on 50th Street. Failing to come up with a postretirement schedule that gave him any structure or purpose, he
I said, schmuck what the hell did you do? I was so bored. I was still very healthy. I was still very viable. I felt like I could pick up the world and put it on my shoulders.” -Hank Blum on retirement
OCTOBER 15-21,2015 was soon again bored sick. “Two weeks went by. It wasn’t for me,” he says. “I was lost.” He called up the office, returned to the practice and resumed his work, now clocking in three days a week. At the age of 76 – six years after his first retirement attempt – Hank’s health was declining from the effects of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a progressive condition that makes breathing challenging and is a leading cause of death in the U.S. He retired again, but it was short-lived when the owner talked Hank into coming back to work within weeks. For eight years, he commuted and worked with days off in between to rest. By the end of 2014, he had cut his days down from three to two. It still wasn’t enough to stave off the exhaustion he would feel at the end of each work-day. Climbing up the stairs at the 77th Street subway stop was becoming increasingly difficult. He would have to sit on the bench outside a supermarket for 15 minutes before going home to catch his breath. “It’s just not worth it,” he says. “It was just getting to be too much.” Hank did not feel up to seeing patients late in the day and it would occasionally lead to arguments with the office staff who booked his schedule. Hank also said he began to forget people’s names, and that he could no longer bend down to pick things up from the floor. So the end of the holidays and the 2015 New Year marked what Hank believed -- really believed -was his real end to work. *** Hank’s repeated retirement celebrations may be unusual, but uncertainty over when to stop working and what to do afterward is a pressing concern for many New Yorkers, as they live longer and healthier. Some need to work longer for financial reasons. Others enjoy work and their work lives and want to continue. And still others find that a lack of clear roles in post-retirement life and a lack of structure bring fear and make work seem appealing. When social security was created in 1935, and Hank was five years old, those who reached the age eligible to retire and receive benefits at the age of 65 were only expected to live seven more years. Now, average life expectancy in New York City is 81. *** As an optometrist, Hank was so popular that people would travel to see him after moving away and came in requesting him long after he started tapering his hours. “The furthest one came from Africa,” he said naming a Columbia University professor who would schedule his appointments with Hank - and only Hank - when he
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com was in town. Hank had a strong and mutually teasing relationship with his staff, as well as his patients. To relax them and make them feel at ease he would often create silly poems and examine eyes in rhyme. He also learned to examine eyes in Spanish even though he doesn’t speak the language. Humor was his lifeline when he battled Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a form of cancer which affected the layer of cells covering his heart, when he was in his 40s. He jokes, “When it rains my heart gets wet. It doesn’t have a cover.” Determined to cheat a dire prognosis, he dealt with rounds of chemotherapy, extreme fatigue and intense nausea by watching Johnny Carson, reading funny books and viewing anything that could lift his spirits. “If I was going to laugh, I was going to live,” he says. He worked throughout his cancer treatment, undergoing chemo on Tuesdays, battling sickness on Wednesdays, and examining patients on Thursdays. He would go about the office bald, announcing “I’m doing Yul Brynner’s part in the King and I.” Humor is still his lifeline now that’s he’s dealing with other health issues. Hank’s COPD is in Stage 2 and he has Atrial Fibrillation (AFib). His COPD, diagnosed four years ago, con-stricts his breathing on a daily basis and will inevitably get worse. He has episodes from the AFib once every two or three months, which are debilitating and leave him stuck in bed. After years of smoking, he now describes himself as “violently anti-smoking.” He’s considered a miracle patient by his doctors, and doing well, but is hitting his limits. “I was such a vital person. I used to run the [Central Park] reservoir. I was able to stay out all night. I had abundant energy. What happened to me?” he asks. He used to love to dance. Now he avoids steps and hills. Even the gradual incline of Second Avenue going north is too much. He’s given up drinking alcohol, coffee and chocolate. He worries about a potential stroke. He says the COPD is worse than cancer. “You take a breath and nothing is going in. It’s a horror,” he says. To manage his conditions he takes six pills a day and two to three inhalers. “When the pharmacist see me he calls his wife. ‘He’s here again, honey. We can go out to dinner,’” Hank jokes. With the beginning of the new year, he started a new treatment. His doctor suggested he try inhaling a mist of hypertonic saline (a saltwater solution) via a nebulizer, a common treatment for Cystic Fibrosis patients but one that is not widely available to patients
FOR MORE IN THE SERIES Our Town will spend the next six weeks chronicling Hank Blum’s struggle with retirement. For more on Hank -- and for the stories of New Yorkers followed by our sister publications in other parts of Manhattan -- go to www.ourtownny.com with COPD. He said it’s helping. *** The second day of February, Groundhog Day is day 33 of Hank’s retirement attempt number four. He’s managed to stay retired longer than any previous try. It is 12 degrees and bitterly cold. Piles of ankle-deep gray slush line the streets leftover from a blizzard. Hank is optimistic as usual. “I look at it this way, every single day is closer to July,” he says, slowly trudging through the slush and breathing heavily. The weather is a backdrop for Hank’s quest of the day –- a visit to his former office. He waits for the M103 bus at a stop just half a block from his apartment. Only minutes pass before the bus inches up. He boards the packed bus, grasps a handle and rides the short distance to 86th Street, where he walks the length of the avenue to catch the 5 train uptown to the Bronx. Southern Blvd is where Hank feels most at home when not at home. He knows “the girls” who work at Sol’s Pharmacy, the countermen at his regular lunch spot, and the people at the drug store. And he feels like he is there even when he isn’t because the over-
sized sign above the practice door still says “Dr. Henry Blum.” This is Hank’s second visit back to his office since retiring a month ago. He’s there to say hello and eat his favorite chicken soup at a nearby lunch spot. He walks in to the office and there is already an unfamiliar face, a new employee, behind the counter. “I’m Lauren,” she says. “I don’t know you and you don’t know me either but my name is out front,” Hank says. Kenny, who has worked with Hank for the past seven years, swoops in from the far end of the counter to save his new colleague from her faux pax. “This is Dr. Blum. He’s the mayor of Southern Blvd,” says Kenny, an optician. “Can you AR me? I think I need a change in prescription,” Hank asks Kenny. Hank sits in front of the automatic refractor, a machine that can read a person’s approximate prescription, something he never thought would be possible earlier in his career. “Technology blows my mind.” Kenny talks about what is so “legendary” about “The legendary Dr. Blum.” “It can be an exhausting process coming here. No one wants to. He softens the air when you walk in the door immediately before you walk back,” Kenny says. “You know what you are going to get. It’s a show from the moment you walk in.” After 15 minutes, there isn’t
much for Hank to do in his old office. He walks a few storefronts over to an unassuming Mexican restaurant. “They make the greatest chicken soup in the world,” he says. He’s been coming here almost every workday since he discovered the place last year. He orders a bowl – called “chicken in pot” – and it quickly arrives, steaming, oil bubbling, a large bone poking out of the top. Hank genuinely loves the dish, and says he makes it part of his routine “for medicinal purposes.” The warm broths help ease the uncomfortable congestion from his COPD. “I eat this in the summer in 110 degree heat with no shade.” The sips of fragrant broth seem to revive him and soon he’s ready to make the trip back downtown. Despite the cold, he’s meeting up with Patti, at 40 Carrots, the frozen yogurt shop inside Bloomingdale’s – their new daily routine since he retired. As he pushes the restaurant door open, a burst of cold air shocks as some stray snow flurries sneak in. Hank exits into the biting air, now heavy with fat flakes of snow. This series is a production of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. It is led by Dorian Block and Ruth Finkelstein. It is funded by the New York Community Trust. To find all of the interviews and more, go to www. exceedingexpectations.nyc
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OCTOBER 15-21,2015
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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.
Editorial DEMOCRACY FOR DUMMIES Something is afoot when two very different community meetings, one on the Upper East Side and the other on the Upper West Side, both end in acrimony -- reflecting deep frustration that people are being shut out of decisions that profoundly affect their neighborhoods. The most recent of last week’s meetings, in Yorkville on the Upper East Side, ended in a walkout by residents of the Holmes Towers housing development. The New York City Housing Authority has proposed selling off a playground at Holmes so developers can build new housing there — very little of which will be affordable to current Holmes residents. The neighborhood sought a meeting with NYCHA to hear about its plans. But the meeting ended shortly after it began when it became clear to the residents that the meeting was a sham: NYCHA officials there seemed to them more intent on talking than listening, and the locals felt condescended to. They chose to walk out rather than participate in a bogus listening tour. The previous night on the Upper West Side, the issue was very different, but the frustration was the same. People who live near the Museum of Natural History got together to voice their concerns about an expansion of the museum that will swallow Theodore Roosebelt Park, which many of them love. While the Upper West Siders didn’t walk out — it was, after all, their meeting — they did boo at and shout down their councilmember Helen Rosenthal. Noting that Rosenthal came out in favor of the museum expansion before any of the neighbors had a chance to voice their concerns, they felt that a deal had already been cut without their approval, and that their meeting to voice concerns was an empty exercise. (That view was reinforced when it emerged that Rosenthal had helped shepherd millions of dollars in city money for the museum’s expansion, a finding that enraged neighbors affected by the plan.) At some point, there will be enough information out there to say for sure whether the Holmes deal and the museum expansion are good ideas. We’re not there yet. But what is clear is that the institutions -- and the elected officials -- behind both projects aren’t doing nearly enough to include their communities in the decision-making process. Calling neighbors together to tell them what’s going to happen to them is not transparency. Claiming open-mindedness while already directing public money to a controversial expansion is disingenuous. There’s a bigger context here that the people behind these projects are ignoring: the fabric of our city is being fundamentally transformed, and many, many people are feeling they have no voice in its transformation. Shadows are extending into Central Park, megatowers are going up in residential neighborhoods, lifers are being forced out of where they live. No surprise people are frustrated. Cynical shows of neighborhood involvement, so evident last week, only add to that frustration.
WHAT’S IN YOUR OBIT? OP-ED BY PETER ABBEY
I was joining Gloria for lunch at a 53rd Street restaurant. She was reading The New York Times’ obituaries when I sat down at the table. When a child, she recalled, the obits were called “The Irish Sports Page” and were read first to see “who had died and where to send the family’s condolences.” She reckoned the best obit writers today were the British, especially at the Economist. The weekly magazine’s final page recognized the passing of some recently deceased internationally known notable and was written with verve, research and insight. She thought it the best in the world. Her choice for the best in the U.S. was the Times. If deemed once famous, your obituary was prepared by their professionals at no charge. She felt their writers
took time to write suitable and informative obituaries about some of the remarkable people who had recently died. The rest of us pay for a Times obituary. She told me the Times charges $236 for a one-time appearance of a four-line (25 characters per line) memorial or death notice. Adding an obituary picture costs $1,200 and the longest allowed obituary or death notice is 245 lines and costs $12,000. One buys the space by contacting the classified advertising department. I asked how many “beloveds” were allowed? I assume there is a maximum number of “beloveds” the paper permits since they only allow 245 lines for the longest placed obituary. She thought I would have to call the newspaper. She wondered what Freud would say about buying space and entering sufficient “beloveds” in a purchased newspaper advertisement obituary on this the centennial of his Mourning and
Melancholia? But Gloria thought instead of a newspaper obituary, it would be more effective to address a larger audience and so she planned to make a memorial gift to PBS. Then, she observed, your name is mentioned as a benefactor regularly before one of their BBC shows. Newspapers, like people, are time sensitive and time dependent, but less so is PBS, as long as there is a BBC. She also observed the Christian Scientist verb “to pass away” had replaced the traditional verb “to die.” She thought that was unfortunate as it seem to describe the death event as some vague transition rather than as a definite finality. She hoped it was only a current erratic euphemism, another ephemeral fad. She noted with some sadness the obit “lost leaders”: people like C.S. Lewis who was given obit short shrift because he died the same day John Kennedy was assassinated and so missed his proper placement in obit history. An ironic event for the Christian chronicler of Narnia, Gloria suggested. Pancho Villa was said to say while dying “Do not let it end like this, tell them I said something.” And, she recalled, the ever-popular printed epitaph supposedly from Key West—“I told you I was sick.” Before he died in 1981, the writer William Saroyan asked: “Everybody has to die, but I always believed an exception would be
made in my case. Now what?” Now what indeed? In 1992, Timothy Leary of LSD fame said: “Death? Get that one out of the appointment book.” It was not fashionable to talk of death then. Boomers were supposed to be somehow immortal. Dr. Leary died of prostate cancer in 1996 and chose cremation over cryonics; he had his ashes shot into space, but some six years later his rocket fell from orbit and disintegrated. “A curious resolution to his revolution,” she noted. Asked about her thoughts on her own memorial column, she said she detested the recent business of selling and buying obit space under the auspices of a newspaper’s advertising department and especially the obligatory smiling pictures of the deceased often taken a generation earlier than the time of death. However, she did not want her middle-aged children to improperly present her Times obituary so she had prepared and prepaid her own memorial statement. She said her picture was “somewhat current” and deemed her print obituary “accurate.” I was delighted by the idea of preparing your own obit memorial as one now can prepay for the services of the undertaker, the funeral home and the cemetery. “What is in your obituary?” I asked Gloria. She said I would have to wait and see—and then asked me: “What will be in yours?”
STRAUS MEDIA-MANHATTAN President, Jeanne Straus nyoffice@strausnews.com Vice President/CFO Otilia Bertolotti Vice President/CRO Vincent A. Gardino advertising@strausnews.com
Associate Publishers, Seth L. Miller, Ceil Ainsworth
Sr. Account Executive, Tania Cade Account Executive Fred Almonte, Susan Wynn
Editor In Chief, Kyle Pope editor.ot@strausnews.com Deputy Editor, Richard Khavkine editor.dt@strausnews.com
Staff Reporters, Gabrielle Alfiero, Daniel Fitzsimmons
Block Mayors, Ann Morris, Upper West Side Jennifer Peterson, Upper East Side Gail Dubov, Upper West Side Edith Marks, Upper West Side
OCTOBER 15-21,2015
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Senior Living
Sports ASPHALT GREEN SWIM TEAM KICKS OFF SEASON
Keeping the Blahs at Bay BY MARCIA EPSTEIN
I know I wrote a long screed about being computer and technology averse. However, many seniors don’t feel the same way, so I feel obligated to mention The Senior Planet Exploration Center at 127 W. 25th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues. It’s the first technology-themed center for people 60 and up and offers seniors a place to explore how to thrive in the new digital world. There are digital technology courses, workshops and social and cultural events, all free. Seniors can not only sign up for classes and workshops but can drop in just to use the computers and talk with experts about problems they’re having or new things they wish to learn. There are always new gadgets on hand to learn about. It’s open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The phone number is 646-590-0615 and the e-mail is rsvp@seniorplanet.org. I’ve been wanting to mention volunteering as a way to stay active and involved and feel better by helping others. I’ve been a volunteer at the Riverside Language School for over 10 years. I talk to student immigrants as a lunchtime conversation volunteer. The students choose to participate; it’s not part of their curriculum. It gives them a chance to speak English with the volun-
The Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics swim team (AGUA) had a successful start to the season at the annual Season Starter Meet. Over 600 athletes competed at this year’s event. Since it’s an Olympic Year, AGUA’s Olympic trial hopefuls began the season after six weeks of vigorous training. AGUA was led by individual event winners Sydney Berger (8), Delilah Skaistis (10), Kiana Guarino (11), Krystal Lara (17), Levi Skaistis (7), David Sacca (10), Dylan Zhang (10), and Justice Carrenard (11). teer and with other students in the group. It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm with which these (mostly) young people want to learn the language and integrate into American society. They come from all over the world, and I’m sure I’ve learned as much as they have during my years at Riverside. We talk about anything and everything; family, food, interests, hobbies, problems adjusting, hopes and future dreams. It’s been and continues to be a major source of satisfaction for me. When I retired from the workforce, I told myself I was only going to do what I loved, and I’ve kept to that promise. I love working with these new Americans and hope to do so for many more years.
In order to fully enjoy our retirement years, it’s absolutely necessary to make an assessment of what will be fulfilling and satisfying and do it. It’s often rewarding to try something different from the jobs we once had and concentrate on what brings a different kind of pleasure. I’ve put together a life of friends, my women’s group, my ping pong group and my volunteering, among other things. I’m always looking for ways to expand, and writing this column is one of them. For others, it’s theater, ballet and opera. And for others, travel is very important. We all have different personalities, and much of the time I am content to stay home and read. But I have to be careful; I can
IN OUR HANDS RESCUE & NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA
get too content. Or I can get the blahs and not want to do anything. So I try get out there, take a walk, get some coffee, watch the birds take a bath in the lovely little pocket park in my neighborhood. There’s no magic elixir to making retirement fun if you’re healthy and able to participate in life. We no longer have to set an alarm clock, answer to an office supervisor, or meet others’ deadlines. And even if we enjoyed our careers, this is the time to try new things. As I saw on a young man’s Tshirt recently, ‘GO FOR IT.’
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OCTOBER 15-21,2015
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
Out & About NEWYORK-PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL AND WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE FALL SEMINAR SERIES
O C T O B E R
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Diabetes and the Diabetic Eye: Understanding the Disease from a Multidisciplinary Approach Jason C. Baker, M.D. Charles W. Mango, M.D. Joy Pape, F.N.P.-C., C.D.E.
Get Your ZZZ’s: Tips on a Good Night’s Sleep for Optimal Health Daniel A. Barone, M.D.
More Events. Add Your Own: Go to ourtownny.com
Thu 15 BETTER RED THAN DEAD
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. TEENS TAKE THE MET 7 p.m. $45. Contrary to the advice of The Metropolitan Museum of several noted wine authorities, Art, 1000 Fifth Ave000 Fifth Ave. it is possible to match red wine 5-8:30 p.m. Free. and cheese. Grab your friends and take 212-415-5500. www.92y.org/ over the Met for the night. Uptown/Event/Better-Red-Than212-535-7710. www. metmuseum.org/events/ programs/met-celebrates/teenEAST 79TH STREET night?eid=A001_%7b93978E0CNEIGHBORHOOD FD92-4F27-9877-
ASSOCIATION
NOVEMBER
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Food Allergies and Nutrition: Was it Something I Ate? Amina H. Abdeldaim, M.D., M.P.H. Alexandra L. Weinstein, R.D., C.D.N.
Temple Shaaray TeďŹ la, 250 East 79th St. (Second Ave Entrance) 6 p.m. Meeting, including 19th Precinct report neighborhood safety, with guest speaker Councilman Ben Kallos on hand to take questions regarding community issues
Fri 16 BRIDGE CLUB Riverside Library, 127 Amsterdam Ave.
Time: All seminars will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Place: All seminars held at Uris Auditorium Weill Cornell Medicine 1300 York Avenue (at 69th St.) For more information: If you require a disability-related accommodation, or for weather-related cancellations, please call 212-821-0888 and leave a message on the recording. Or visit our website at: www.weill.cornell.edu/seminars All seminars are FREE and open to the public. Seating is available for SHRSOH RQ D ÂżUVW FRPH ÂżUVW VHUYHG EDVLV
10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. free. Are you a Bridge buff? Put on your game face and show off your best plays. Join the fun and meet new friends All players welcome. 212-870-1810. www.nypl.org/ events/programs/2015/10/02/ bridge-club
Sat 17
Afro-Caribbean music ensemble Juan Usera Y La Tribu del Juey Sambuco. 212-348-0952 x281, www. manhattancountryschool.org
WARM AND WOOLLY The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave. 1-2 p.m. Free. Find out about the wonders of wool and how people in the Middle Ages used this fuzzy sheep’s ďŹ ber to make clothing, tapestries, and other artworks. 212-535-7710. www. metmuseum.org/events
Sun 18 THE UPPER EAST SIDE’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING LEGACY
MANHATTAN COUNTRY Meeting location will be SCHOOL’S FARM provided upon ticket purchase and registration. FESTIVAL 96th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Free Street Fair Features Live Music, Savory Fare, Farm-Fresh Produce, Crafts, Games, Rides, Haunted House and more. Live music acts include jazz pianist Jason Moran and the Fats Waller Dance Party and
1 p.m Members, Free; $10, non-members Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts host Andrew S. Dolkart, director of the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University, as he uncovers the rich history of affordable housing on the Upper East Side. www.nycharities.org/events/ EventLevels.aspx?ETID=8501
â—„ THE STATE OF THE WORLD 2016 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. 5 p.m. $32. Drawing on his vast knowledge and understanding of how conicts in one part of the world affect peace in another, Buultjens offers insight you can’t ďŹ nd anywhere else. 212-415-5500. www.92y. org/Event/The-State-of-theWorld-2016
Mon 19 EVERYDAY TROUBLES â–ş 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave.
OCTOBER 15-21,2015
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Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
6:30 p.m. $25. Author Robert M. Emerson explores the beginnings and development of the conflicts that occur in our relationships with the people we regularly encounter. 212-415-5500. www.92y.org/ Event/Everyday-Troubles
INSIDE THE ARTIST’S STUDIO 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. 7:30 p.m. $32. Plenty has been written about artists’ inspirations, but how do artists actually go about their work? 212-535-7710. www.92y.org/ Event/Inside-the-Artist-s-Studio
Tue 20
how to channel jealousy into a healthier love life. 212-355-6100. www.fiaf.org/ events/fall2015/2015-10-lajalousie.shtml
Wed 21
OPENING NIGHT: GERSHWIN’S “RHAPSODY IN BLUE”
ALBERTO BURRI: A SYMPOSIUM AT THE ITALIAN ACADEMY OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave. 6-8 p.m.free. Concurrent with the Guggenheim Museum’s retrospective, “Alberto Burri: The Trauma of Painting”, this symposium will address the exhibition itself as well as Burri’s work in contemporary art. 212-854-2037. events. columbia.edu/cal/event/
LA JALOUSIE: THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE, MISTRUST & SUSPICIOUS MINDS ▲ FIAF, Florence Gould Hallo, 55 East 59th St. 7 p.m., Members, $20; nonMembers, $25 Join author Neil Strauss, Dr. Gail Saltz, professor Peter Toohey, and series curator Erica Lumière for a discussion on
92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. 7:30 p.m. $85. Ever wish you could be transported back in time to the innovation, spirit and glamour of the Jazz Age? This opening night concert will be as close as it gets. 212-415-5500. www.92y.org/ Event/Opening-Night-Gershwins-Rhapsody-in-Blue
*Adoption subject to approval, must be 21 years of age or older to adopt.
OUR BUS IS YOUR BEST BET.
CUBA: A HISTORY THROUGH ART ▲ The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave. 6:30 p.m.free. This series provides an introduction to the arts and architecture of Cuba against the backdrop of the country’s complex political and social history. 212-535-7710. www. metmuseum.org/events/
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BEYOND NEW YORK, NEW YORK Celebrating Frank Sinatra’s centennial with 100 songs BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
Honoring the 100th birthday of an iconic performer whose career spanned five decades can take a while. “Frank Sinatra at 100,” a celebration of the crooner’s life and oeuvre, marks his 100th birthday with a performance of 100 songs he performed throughout his 82 years. Held at Symphony Space’s 756-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 17, the nine-hour event features some of the city’s brightest stars and Sinatra’s iconic music. Produced and curated by Joel Fram and Annette Jolles, the hefty program is a format the longtime collaborators and Symphony Space regulars have worked with before. The pair also produced some of the organization’s signature “Wall to Wall” events, including an all-day Stephen Sondheim event and a cabaret program. “Nothing’s better than a nine-hour marathon project,” said Fram. Jolles was not a Sinatra expert when work began on the program, but early in her research she recognized the vastness and diversity of his catalogue. “You think, okay are you really going to come up with 100 great songs?” she said. “When you actually start listing Frank Sinatra songs, without too much effort you hit 1,000 easily.” The pair also sifted through many facets of the legendary entertainer’s career and persona, from his World War II-era swing songs to his turns in musical productions like “Pal Joey,” and dramatic roles, such as Major Bennett Marco in the 1962 film “The Manchurian Candidate.” “Sinatra was a performer…he was a brilliant interpreter of songs,” said Jolles. “We set out to look for artists who are in their own right incredible interpreters of songs.
The program, broken into three, three-hour segments, features a diverse group of artists, including cabaret singers, dancers, and jazz musicians. The results aren’t imitations, the producers said, but themselves interpretations of songs that Sinatra made his own. Cabaret artist Todd Londagin, who plays the trombone, sings and tap dances, performs the ballad “I Concentrate on You,” along with “The Coffee Song”, a novelty number that Sinatra performed in live shows, Fram said. “When you look at photos of him, he so often has that smoky look or the hat tilted down, that dashing guy, but he was really funny, too,” said Jolles. “He has a sense of humor, and he has this wit to him.” One of Fram’s favorite songs in the program is the melancholy Sondheim number “Send in the Clowns,” which Sinatra recorded in 1973. Perhaps surprisingly, jazz guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli and Ed Laub will perform the song. Dancer Noah Racey and body percussionist Max Pollak fuse dance, vocals and percussion with “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” “We want the audience to be able to experience things that they know and love but be surprised by the context of them,” said Fram. “It’s like seeing an old friend in great new clothes.” But more familiar contexts for Sinatra’s songs aren’t absent, with celebrated cabaret singer Marilyn Maye performing “I’ve Got the World on a String” and Broadway actor Rebecca Luker’s medley of “I Won’t Dance” and “Can’t We Be Friends.” But perhaps the greatest surprise of the evening is in what’s missing: “Theme from New York, New York” is not in the program. “What we are trying to do is take this generic image of a man and by these distinct performers create an awareness of the incredibly distinct variety that Frank embodied,” said Jolles.
OCTOBER 15-21,2015
OCTOBER 15-21,2015
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A PARTNERING LIFT FOR TWO CULTURAL ICONS The José Limón Foundation and Dance Company moved into the Dance Theater of Harlem’s uptown complex BY GIANNELLA M. GARRETT
Two iconic American dance institutions — one modern, the other traditional — have entered into a partnership to share studio and administrative space. With rising rents and luxury developments in Manhattan, the arrangement could represent the start of a trend for arts and cultural organizations facing fewer location options. The José Limón Foundation and Dance Company moved into the Dance Theater of Harlem’s (DTH) Everett Center for the Performing Arts complex on 152nd Street in August. For more than a decade, the Limón organization had functioned like a touring company in their own home city: the foundation worked out of an office building in the West 30s; the dance company rented rehearsal studio space throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn; and Limón’s open classes and professional studies program have been held at Peridance Capezio Center on East 13th Street. The move is all the more impressive given that it occurred just weeks before the Limón Dance Company kicks off its 70th anniversary with a two-week international dance festival at Chelsea’s Joyce Theater Oct. 13-25. Guest artists from some of the world’s top dance companies, colleges and schools will join the company, performing 15 of José Limón’s masterworks. “This is a dream come true,” Juan José Escalante, the company’s executive director, said in the company’s spacious new second-floor office space. In a state of exuberant exhaustion, Carla Maxwell, who joined the Limón Dance Company in 1965 and has been their artistic director since 1978, had just finished conducting the final studio rehearsal before the show opens Tuesday. Maxwell’s soft-spoken yet tenacious dedication has been the force that has preserved Limon’s choreography, style — lyric, powerful, multi-textured — and com-
Carla Maxwell and Virginia Johnson, artistic directors, respectively, of the Limón Dance Company and The Dance Theater of Harlem. Photo: Samantha L. Lawton pany. “I feel just as passionate about this work now as when I was discovering it for the first time,” she said. Jose Limón, who died in 1972, shaped the American modern dance movement as both a leading male dancer of his generation and a master choreographer. He founded Limon Dance Company with Doris Humphrey in 1946. It’s now the longest continuously operating dance company following the death of its founder. Arthur Mitchell, the first African-American dancer to join New York City Ballet, and Karel Shook founded Dance Theater of Harlem in 1969. Mitchell started DTH in a two-story Harlem garage that he renovated into a studio in 1971. A visionary, he bought the adjoining lot, which was expanded into an annex 20 years later. It includes a main dance studio, dance support facilities, classrooms, a parents’ lounge and a second-floor terrace for outdoor gatherings and receptions. Over the years, DTH has faced financial challenges — such as the temporary shutdown of the school in 2004 and of the entire company from 2004 to 2012 — but the building has stood as a solid and symbolic asset. According to DTH’s executive consultant, Anna Glass, the Limón/DTH partnership came about out of a “confluence of a lot of people chatting. We were looking to maximize studio space,” she said, “and Limón was tired of having to search for studio space.” Escalante credits Lane Harwell, its executive director for
choreographing, for the LDC/ DTH pas de deux. Discussions began in May. Both sides put a working proposal on the table and then took it to their boards for approval and the lease was put together. “There is a cost-savings and it is significant,” said Escalante, who has spent his professional life leading the business side of dance organizations, including the New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet and Ballet Florida, since 1989. “The amount of effort, time and resources that we had to put chasing studio space, there’s a dollar sign next to that. ... Now that we have more space, we’re able to accommodate more interns and more staff, as we’re looking to build capacity here.” A few weeks after Limón settled into their new space, DTH invited the community to take a peek at what both companies were working on: LDC’S festival and DTH’s annual tour. Virginia Johnson, a Dance Theatre of Harlem star ballerina for 28 years who succeeded Mitchell as artistic director, Harwell and Maxwell gave a welcome speech to an audience of about 170. “This space is phenomenal,” Escalante said. “The community can really get up close and personal.” Could the DTH/LDC partnership extend beyond just sharing space? “Virginia and I haven’t had any time to brainstorm yet,” said Maxwell. “But we’re both stewing with collaborative ideas. I think there’s a synergy and a respect between both organizations.”
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Sunday at the Met | Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18TH, 3PM Metropolitan Museum | 1000 Fifth Ave. | 212-535-7710 | metmuseum.org A panel of experts speaks about the interrelationship between depictions of royalty and the elite and literary texts from the era of the Middle Kingdom. (Free with museum admission)
Tales of the City: New York’s Landmark Interiors
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20TH, 6:30PM Museum of the City of New York | 1220 Fifth Ave. | 212-534-1672 | mcny.org The authors of Interior Landmarks: Treasures of New York reveal the secrets of famous interiors, from the Tweed Courthouse to Loew’s Paradise Theater to the Four Seasons. ($16)
Just Announced: TimesTalks | Mark Strong and Ivo van Hove
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23RD, 6:30PM The TimesCenter | 242 W. 41st St. | 888-698-1870 | timestalks.com Catch an Olivier Award-winning actor and director as they discuss the Broadway opening of their “A View from the Bridge,” which won this year’s Olivier for Best Revival. The play coincides with the centenary of Arthur Miller’s birth. ($40)
For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,
sign up for the weekly Thought Gallery newsletter at thoughtgallery.org.
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OCTOBER 15-21,2015
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS SEP 15 - OCT 9, 2015
Cross Culture Kitchen
62 East 116Th St
A
The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml.
New Moon Cafe
129 E 102Nd St
A
118 Kitchen
1 E 118Th St
Not Graded Yet (2)
Patisserie Vanessa (La Marqueta)
1590 Park Ave
A
Rao’s Bar & Grill
455 East 114 Street
A
Zahlaya’s Bistro
2028 3 Avenue
have
Do
Closed by Health Department (141) Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Food, food preparation area, food storage area, area used by employees or patrons, contaminated by sewage or liquid waste. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer or thermocouple not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided. Toilet facility not provided for employees or for patrons when required. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
New China King Restaurant 1759 Lexington Avenue
A
Falafel Express Ii
1406 Madison Ave
A
Papa John’s Pizza
2119 1St Ave
Grade Pending (20) Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Chica Tokyo
1567 Lexington Ave
A
Halah Kitchen
2135 2Nd Ave
Not Graded Yet (28) No facilities available to wash, rinse and sanitize utensils and/or equipment.
Little Vincent’s Pizza
1399 2Nd Ave
Grade Pending (21) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Ko Sushi
1329 2 Avenue
A
Dunkin Donuts
411 East 70 Street
Grade Pending (20) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
World Cup Cafe
956 Lexington Avenue Grade Pending (31) Food from unapproved or unknown source or home canned. Reduced oxygen packaged (ROP) fish not frozen before processing; or ROP foods prepared on premises transported to another site. Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Fika
1331 Lexington Ave
A
Dunkin’ Donuts
355 East 86 Street
A
Om Indian Restaurant
1593 2 Avenue
Grade Pending (15) Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewageassociated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
The York Social
1529 York Ave
Not Graded Yet (2)
Firenze
1594 2 Avenue
A
Gracie’s On 2Nd
300 E 86Th St
A
The Supply House
1647 2 Avenue
A
Subway
1613 2Nd Ave
A
The Daisy
1641 2Nd Ave
Not Graded Yet (12) Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.
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AS A MUSEUM EXPANDS, NEIGHBORS GROPE FOR ANSWERS NEWS
THE UPPER EAST SIDE’S ONE STOP DENTAL PRACTICE
Community groups complain of scarce information, despite city funding
L UXURY DEN TIS TRY’ S IN VIS AL IG N EL ITE ® P ROV I DER & F U L L S ERVICE PR ACTICE
BY GABRIELLE ALFIERO
As development efforts continue on the American Museum of Natural History’s new education and research center, slated to take over a parcel of Theodore Roosevelt Park, frustration is building among some community members who remain in the dark about the project. At a crowded Town Hall meeting on Oct. 6, residents sounded off about the loss of parkland and community meeting areas in a bustling section of the park at W. 79th Street and Columbus Avenue, the proposed site of the addition. Underlying these tangible concerns is a mounting distrust of the museum, which hasn’t shared architectural plans for the building. Adding to the anxiety is Councilmember Helen Rosenthal’s endorsement of the project -- underlined by her role in allocating more than $16 million in City Council funding for the new building. “We have heard nothing,” said Jan Nierenberg, a longtime resident of W. 77th Street, following last week’s meeting. She pointed out that this summer, the museum called a lastminute meeting with residents just before the July 4th weekend, a move that didn’t inspire confidence in the institution’s communication efforts. “People are suspicious that it’s a done deal.” Since the museum is a landmark located on a public park, the project is subject to approvals from city agencies, including the New York City Parks Department and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Non-profit group Friends of Roosevelt Park manages the parkland along with the museum and the Parks Department, and has yet to take a formal stance on the addition. Peter Wright, who heads the group, thinks that by sharing details about the building, the museum could help ease tensions with neighborhood residents. “Because you have a park here, you need to open up the black box and just share a little more of why you came up with
The crowd filing in for the community meeting on the American Museum of Natural History’s expansion plans. Photo by Gabrielle Alfiero this footprint,” said Wright, a resident of W. 77th Street. “The museum should consider engaging a little more detail with us and with the community [about] how it came up with that total square footage and expanse. It’s not clear how much it will expand out. That’s the question.” Wright said the museum has historically been responsive to the neighborhood and believes the museum will engage with community members whom it is has unwittingly alienated. But it already has an uphill climb: among other things, residents seem irked that the museum has used a piece of 1876 legislation as evidence of its ability to expand into the park. “The idea that this is just undeveloped real estate to them, that’s the image they’ve projected. They didn’t mean to, but they did,” Wright said. The crowd at Fourth Universalist Society on Central Park West and W. 76th Street last week was critical of Rosenthal, whose fiscal support some see as a betrayal of her constituents. In a telephone interview after the meeting, Rosenthal explained that the museum first approached the city administration and the council before she took office in January 2014, resulting in a $15 million commitment for the new building. In the current fiscal year budget, the city council allocated an additional $16.75 million for the museum addition, an item that received support from the city council’s Manhattan Delegation. Rosenthal also allocated $50,000 for the new building from her 2016 discretionary fund capital budget of $5 million. So far, the museum has raised more than $100 million for the project, which includes $44.3 million from the
city, museum officials said. “There’s a statement from the city that we believe that New Yorkers should continue to be fluent in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and to in fact enhance the education for our city’s school kids so that people who attend the museum can be current and learn as much as possible,” said Rosenthal. “And with that pride and desire to continue to be a leader, the city has agreed to the funding.” Rosenthal sat in the front row at the Oct. 6 meeting. When a resident asked about her support for the project, which she noted in a July newsletter to her followers, Rosenthal assured the crowd that the museum was listening to their concerns and that the review process, which includes a presentation to Community Board 7, was in its earliest phase. The crowd interrupted with a chorus of boos. Despite the fervent outcry at the meeting, Rosenthal remains optimistic that the museum will present a responsible plan for a building that works with its surroundings and is considerate of community needs, with the potential to even improve upon some of the gated-off sections of the park. She expects that the project design will change as it goes through public reviews. “If we end up with people’s worst fears, for example double the number of buses, and they’ll have nowhere to park and they’re just going to be jamming up our streets with exhaust spewing everywhere, I’m not going to approve that project,” she said. “That’s horrendous. I think the museum is smarter than that, and won’t be coming back with that project.”
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Property Briefs
PROPERTY
TISHMAN PAYS $25 MILLION TO VACATE TENANTS Real estate investment firm Tishman Speyer paid out $25 million to convince a pair or tenants to vacate a small apartment building on the Hudson Yards site, according to a report in Crain’s. According to the publication, the payment is the one of the biggest payouts ever to tenants who refused to give up their apartments. Their attorney, David Rozenholc, walked away with a third of the sum, Crain’s said, showing how lawyers are able to use the state’s court system to extract multimilliondollar paydays for tenants who block development. Crain’s called Rozenholc, who has spent the past 40 years defending renters and negotiating huge settlements for them, the king of this area of law.
ARSON CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST HOTEL MANAGER Prosecutors dismissed charges against a former security manager accused of setting alight fires at two Manhattan hotels where he worked. Mariano Barbosa faced arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief charges after authorities accused him of creating eight fires at Yotel New York in Hell’s Kitchen and the Soho Grand Hotel between 2009 and 2013, the Real Deal reported. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Barbosa, 32, on Oct. 7 because they could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, according to the New York Daily News.
PROTESTS PLANNED FOR GANSEVOORT PROJECT A plan to redevelop Gansevoort Street is expected to draw crowds at an upcoming Community Board 2 meeting, DNAinfo.com reports. Aurora Capital Associates is redeveloping the entire south side of Gansevoort Street from Ninth Avenue to Washington Street. BKSK Architects presented renderings of their designs for five buildings of varying heights at a small, informal neighborhood meeting in August. Because the block lies just inside the protected Gansevoort Market Historic District, the project’s design must get the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Locals have organized against the project, disseminating a petition urging the LPC to reject it, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation sent an email blast to their supporters encouraging them to write in or show up to the Oct. 15 CB 2 landmarks committee meeting to oppose the project.
THE RENAISSANCE OF THE UPPER EAST SIDE BY DOUG SINGER
After years of living in the shade of Manhattan’s many trendy neighborhoods, the Upper East Side is experiencing a well-deserved renaissance that is breathing new life into our beloved, albeit at times, underappreciated community. The mass exodus of recent years to downtown and Brooklyn have left many with somewhat of a social fatigue, giving birth to an honest search for quality and bringing seekers back to the doorstep of our neighborhood. New bars and restaurants continue to swing open their doors for the entertainment and sustenance of our 217,792 residents on what
seems to be a weekly basis. A prime example is superstar Chef Michael White’s opening of Vaucluse at 100 E. 63rd St. For homeowners, this spike in interest along with very limited inventory has created a classic “sellers market.” On the Upper East Side it has become all too common that negotiations of decent quality apartments in most price ranges end up in a “best and final” bidding scenario. Though frustrating to buyers, more often than not, open houses are a relative mob scene which is refreshing and truly well deserved, as good value, for the time being, is still intact. But whoever said the New York real estate
market makes sense? According to real estate mega-site Trulia, yearover-year the average price per square foot for an apartment on the Upper East Side is $1,385 which is actually down 4.4%, while the median sales price is down only 0.5%. Lightstone Group’s acquisition of 40 East End Avenue with plans to build a 30-unit condo is indicative of a coming trend. Big money from buyers and developers is rapidly flooding back into the Upper East Side, including plans for the controversial 900 foot-tall Sutton Place mega-tower which would be one of the largest condos in the country. Additionally, a plethora of new developments and conversions
are are in the works and many are in different phases of completion. So is it the expectation of the opening of the 2nd Avenue Subway, the best schools in the city, the safe streets, or simply the Upper East Side’s turn in an elusive line that is feeding this momentum? Our perception of old-world privilege and mundane lifestyle is shifting. With that said, there continues to be affordable housing for a younger crowd that wants to live in Manhattan, as well as a wide array of the city’s most exclusive apartments, but the renaissance has just begun. Doug Singer is at Singer New York Real Estate
OCTOBER 15-21,2015
Our Town|Eastsider ourtownny.com
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WALKOUT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 program provides both needed affordable units and revenue generating market rate units. The agency predicts the program will generate $300 million to $600 million over the next 10 years, revenue that will be split between existing infrastructure needs at NextGen sites like Holmes and NYCHA’s larger capital needs. The agency announced a similar program at Wyckoff Gardens in Brooklyn last month. As part of an outreach effort to its tenants after announcing the proposal, NYCHA called a meeting Oct. 7 to explain aspects of the plan and answer any questions. Agency officials said they want to form different committees made up of residents at each NextGen site who will decide how their share of the program’s money will be spent. But many residents feel the agency is making a disingenuous attempt to include them after key decisions regarding development at Holmes Towers have already been made. Ten minutes after the meeting began, a Holmes resident named Sandrea Coleman asked how NYCHA planned to in-
OCTOBER 15-21,2015 crease residents’ quality of life by adding more buildings and more residents to an already overcrowded development, while simultaneously taking away their only open space. NYCHA’s Senior Director for Real Estate Development Nicole Ferreira thanked Coleman for her question but did not answer it, prompting outbursts from a half-dozen Holmes residents and, eventually, a walkout. “They dehumanized me when they came and spoke to me, like I was nothing and to be quiet,� said Coleman in an interview during the walkout. NYCHA officials distributed cards at the beginning of the meeting for residents to write their questions on, but many felt that format was an effort by the agency to control dissent. “Cards is not my voice, I am a grown woman and a resident,� said Coleman. “I’ve become an activist because of this.� Residents gathered at a nearby Holmes Towers playground between 93rd Street and 92nd Street, which appears to be the most likely site for development, and held a rally. Members of Community Voices Heard, a citywide coalition of NYCHA residents that advocates for low-income tenants, said the walkout was
prearranged and would occur if Holmes residents felt slighted by NYCHA officials. “These are false pretense meetings where [NYCHA] asks for our input but really the decisions are all decided as far as we’re concerned. We believe this whole process is a façade and we should have a moratorium [on NextGen NYCHA] to allow tenants to become better educated on the processes involved and that no land should be surrendered. The city just seems to be moving too quickly without true participation of the residents,â€? said Javier Sepulveda, an organizer with Community Voices Heard who lives in the Clinton Houses. “It’s a front, they already have their NextGeneration plans laid out.â€? Holmes resident Coleman Brown, who identiďŹ ed himself as a “floor captainâ€? for Community Voices Heard, led the crowd in a call and response session. “As you can see, Holmes Towers is united against private development on NYCHA land. This development would take away our land, light and playground,â€? Brown shouted into a megaphone, as the crowd repeated each line. “This is not affordable housing, its gentriďŹ cation and privatization.â€? Community Voices Heard
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OCTOBER 15-21,2015 called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to increase funding for NYCHA out of the city budget and to cease private development on NYCHA land. Councilmember Ben Kallos offered words of support and vowed to stand with Holmes residents. Brown, in a later interview, said despite NYCHA’s assurances that the plan would ultimately beneďŹ t Holmes Towers residents, there’s virtually no upside for him and his neighbors. The plan will mean years of construction and more people in less space, all in exchange for repairs that NYCHA is obligated to make anyway. “My son plays in this park. My window faces this way. And they want to build a building in front of my window? My son loves to look out his window, and now he’s going to look at a building,â€? said Brown. “Going deeper into it, there’s years and years of mismanagement of money. They do stuff like wash the bricks when they should be ďŹ xing peoples’ apartments. Fix the hot water heater, ďŹ x the elevators that get stuck. They’re mismanaging money for beautiďŹ cation.â€? Brown believes the only reason NYCHA called the meeting with residents was to quell dissent about their plan. “Now that this is happening they’re going to have to go back to the drawing board,â€? he said. Before the walkout, Ferreira and other officials sought to dispel myths that NextGen NYCHA would displace or raise rents on low-income residents, or demolish existing low-income housing. Officials said three sites at Holmes Towers are currently under consideration for development, but did not give specifics on precise
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75% OFF Residents walk out of a meeting with NYCHA officials at the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center on the Upper East Side Wednesday, Oct. 7. Photo by Daniel Fitzsimmons locations. NYCHA officials also said 25 percent of the new affordable units at Holmes Towers would be put aside for existing Holmes residents who want to move into a new apartment. However, in order to qualify for those apartments, prospective tenants would have to make a minimum of 60 percent of the area median income, which is equivalent to a family of three making $46,600 a year. Residents said many Holmes Towers residents wouldn’t even qualify for the affordable apartments. At the meeting, when asked if NYCHA would commit to tenant approval on any plans going forward, Ferreira said the agency was in the beginning of the community engagement process. “We’re in the beginning of this process, we’re not committing to anything up front,� she said. “We’re going through this with you.� NYCHA officials said the agency has seen a decrease
in federal funding since 2001. Their position, based on a statement they gave this paper in September, is that their backs are against the wall, and the coffers are empty. “The future of NYCHA is resting on all of us, even critics, to find the best path forward to generate the funds to keep NYCHA open for business,� said a spokesperson. “NYCHA is facing the worst financial crisis in its history — the Authority does not have the funds to address the infrastructure needs of our buildings, including the buildings at Holmes, which directly impacts the quality of life of our residents.� NYCHA’s Deputy Chief of Communications Yvette Andino said the community engagement process on NextGen NYCHA is slated to continue through December, though it’s unknown if the agency will change its approach after Wednesday’s walkout. Residents said they plan to march on Gracie Mansion Oct. 20.
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Garba in the City 2014 at Chelsea Piers. Photo: Garba in the City
SWIRLING IN THE CITY Garba in the City, a South Asian folk dance event in its fifth year, grows along with the city’s IndianAmerican population BY MAYA DANGERFIELD
A high-octane Indian dance is now a subway ride away. Once a year in October, dancers swirling in concentric circles transform the basketball courts at Chelsea Piers into one of Manhattan’s largest South Asian dance festivals. Decked out in traditional kurtas and saris, nearly 500 dancers whirl, kick and clap in tune to popular Indian folk and Bollywood songs during the annual Garba in the City event. For four hours, participants dance garba and raas — two Indian folk dances traditionally performed during Navaratri, a ninenight Hindu festival celebrating the goddess Durga. While Navaratri dates back thousands of years, Garba in the City is celebrating its fifth anniversary
this week. When festival founders Sneha Chandrasekaran, 31, and her husband, Vikram, 34, started looking for local Garba-Raas events, their search led to long commutes and crowded New Jersey venues. Although MetLife Stadium hosts an annual Garba-Raas that attracts thousands of dancers, the lack of Garba-Rass events on this side of the Hudson prompted the couple to create Garba in the City in 2011. “I wanted people to go to a GarbaRass in their own backyard,” Sneha Chandrasekaran said. Garba is a folk dance characterized by synchronous steps and quick twirls, while Raas involves participants clapping sticks together as dancers circle one another. Dancing can be tricky at larger events, Chandrasekaran said. “You can’t really dance or do the moves because people are running into each other and circles are hitting
one another because of space,” she said. The Asian American Federation notes that Manhattan’s Indian-American population has increased nearly 70 percent since 2010, with the borough now boasting about 27,000 Indian Americans, or roughly 1.6 percent of Manhattan’s residents. The rise of young Indian- and SouthAsian-American professionals who call Manhattan home corresponds with the increase of events like Garba in the City, according to Sahasra Sambamoorthi, 29, director of Navatman, an Indian classical music and dance organization. “If you look at the number of South Asian events in August alone you have the South Asian Film Lab and the South Asian International Performing Arts Festival and five years ago none of that was there,” Sambamoorthi said. While it’s still one of the few GarbaRaas celebrations in Manhattan, Gar-
ba in the City isn’t the city’s only dance event held during Navaratri. “In the Queens and the Richmond Hills area there are almost 50 to 75 Garba-Rass events,” said Pandit Vishal Maraj, 36, of the Hindu Learning Foundation, a community nonprofit in Ozone Park, Queens. Outer-borough Navaratri events are often held in Hindu temples and community centers that are supported by the borough’s Trinidadian, Guyanese, Indian and Bangladeshi populations. But for Manhattanites with no connection to the outer boroughs, Garba in the City offers an alternative celebration. “The attractiveness of events like Garba in the City is in part because I think the Queens and suburban ones tend to be more community-oriented,” Sambamoorthi said. “I’ve been to Garba in the City a couple of times and it’s very diverse.” The event, advertised widely on social media and spread via wordof-mouth through the city’s dance community, features a live band and typically attracts young professionals primarily between 18 and 35 years old. “I think it’s evolved. What’s great is that it’s not only South Asians but other dance enthusiasts who are unfamiliar with it [Garba-Raas],” Chan-
drasekaran said. According to Minila Shah, 34, director of Ajna Dance, a contemporary and classical Indian dance studio, the popularity of events such as Garba in the City and the increase of studios teaching South Asian dance corresponds to the nation’s increasing cultural recognition of South Asian Americans. A number of South Asian actors like Hannah Simone, of Fox’s “New Girl,” and Mindy Kaling, of Hulu’s “The Mindy Project,” now star in popular television shows. “There’s more South Asian culture and characters on TV shows, in standup comedians, in food — it’s definitely becoming more a part of American culture,” Shah said. At Chelsea Piers on Saturday, dancers will spin in time to the music and into the early morning. “People are there to dance and have a good time,” Shah said. “That’s why you’re there — it’s not a club environment, it’s not a wedding. It’s just someplace for people who love to dance to go to dance.” Garba in the City takes place Oct. 17 from 9:30 pm to 1:30 at the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers. More information can be found online at garbainthecity.com/
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