Manhattan Express - August 8, 2019 by Schneps Media Digital Editions

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MIDTOWN, UPPER EAST & WEST SIDES

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 16

AUGUST 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 21, 2019

AMERICA UNDER ASSAULT Country reeling after weekend shootings Editorial, P. 12

PHOTO BY Q. SAKAMAKI

Gays Against Guns and other alarmed New Yorkers rallied in Times Square on Sunday after a weekend that saw t wo mass shootings.

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Condo suit doesn’t slow C.P.W. bike lane BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

n Upper West Sider condo board hasn’t put the brakes on the Central Park West protected bike lane yet. On Wed., July 31, Streetsblog reported, Manhattan Supreme Court judge Lynn Kotler denied a motion filed by the board of Century Condominium, at 25 Central Park West and E. 63rd St., on July 30, that argued that the city did not do its due diligence when studying the bike lane’s impact and the resulting loss of parking spaces. But the battle isn’t over. The Department of Transportation and the plaintiffs will return to court on Aug. 20, according to Curbed. The Upper West Side’s Community Board 7 approved the northbound protected bike lane — which will run northbound from W. 59th St. to W. 110th St. — during a contentious July 2 meeting. Opponents of the bike lane were mostly residents upset by the fact that D.O.T. will need to remove 400 parking spaces from the eastern side of the avenue to accommodate the 6-foot-wide lane, plus a 7-foot-wide buffer zone. The push for a protected Central Park West bike lane started in 2018 after the death of Madison Lyden, a 23-year-old Australian tourist who was forced to swerve her bike out of the existing unprotected bike lane and into oncoming traffic and was hit by a garbage truck. In the wake of Lyden’s death, Upper West Siders, bicycle safety activists, C.B. 7 and local politicians, including Assemblymember Richard Gottfried and Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, called on D.O.T. to create a two-way protected bike lane. In the end, D.O.T. decided a two-way lane would be problematic in its impacts on turning car traffic, and settled on a one-way protected bike lane as the best way to ac-

PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

At a June C.B. 7 Transpor tation Committee meeting, Reed Rubey, a member of Streetopia, held a photo of Madison Jane Lyden, 23, who was killed by a garbage truck last year while c ycling on Central Park West. Lyden’s death spurred the push for a protected C.P.W. bike lane.

ultimately prevail in our efforts to build this much-needed protected bike lane.” Local politicians, cycling activists and some residents are eager for work to begin on the bike lane, in light of the alarming spike in cyclist deaths that have occurred in the city this year. So far, through seven and a half months this year, 18 people have died in cyclingrelated accidents, nearly twice as many as all of last year. Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state

commodate cyclists, drivers and buses. “We are grateful for the judge’s decision today that will allow us to move forward with a design that will transform Central Park West this summer, and make our streets safer for everyone,” Polly Trottenberg, the Department of Transportation commissioner, said in a statement. “With so many lives being lost this year on our roadways, and with the broad support of the community, we are confident that we will

of emergency for bicycle safety in the city and subsequently announced the $58.4 million “Green Wave” plan to enhance bike safety. The plan calls for adding 30 miles of protected bike lanes every year, with the goal of reaching 80 miles by the end of 2021. In addition, 80 new staff members will be hired by the city to implement the plan and the Police Department will ramp up enforcement at 100 of the city’s most accident-prone intersections.

Void venting: Extell skyscraper slammed at B.S.A. BY ALEJANDR A O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

uring a Board of Standards and Appeals public hearing, opponents of the Extell skyscraper at 50 W. 66th St. challenged the building’s merits. Opponents included residents, advocates, Community Board 7 members and local politicians, including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, who both spoke out against the project. A representative for Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal read aloud a statement against the building. Upper West Side nonprofit LandSchneps Media

mark West! and The City Club of New York are both filing appeals with the B.S.A., arguing that it was inappropriate to grant permits for the building and that the project does not comply with zoning regulations. “This is the creep of Billionaires’ Row,” said Sean Korhsandi, executive director of Landmark West!, who added that the nonprofit is not inherently against development. “We are not against density, we live in it. But this is actually a building that is anti-density.” According to Korhsandi, the building will have only 127 units. There are two major issues that opponents cite. The first is the developers’ use of mechanical voids to increase the building’s height.

Voids are meant to be spaces in buildings used to house mechanical equipment. But luxury developers recently have been increasing the height of these spaces, so that residential units above them can be at even higher elevations, fetching higher prices, as a result. Opponents of the Extell project questioned how much of the mechanical space would actually be used to house machinery. The second issue is developers taking advantage of the fact that the building straddles two zoning lots, one facing W. 66th St., where towers are permitted, and the second facing W. 65th St., where they are not. Opponents argue that the cobbling together of the zoning lots violates “bulk packing” rules. MEX

In January, the Department of Buildings threatened to revoke the project’s permit because of concerns that the building posed fire-safety hazards. After a review conducted by the Fire Department, Extell submitted a revised design that D.O.B. signed off on in April. The previous plan called for a 160-foot-void, plus two additional 16foot mechanical floors. In the revised plan the mechanical void is 176 feet in height, but is broken into two-64-foot mechanical spaces, plus a 48-foot void, according to Gothamist. At the end of the hearing, B.S.A. Chairperson Margery Perlmutter said that the B.S.A. could possibly decide on the appeal as early as Sept. 10. August 8 - August 21, 2019

Police Blotter Ransacked car

19TH PRECINCT

A 42-year-old man had a long list of valuables stolen from his car between July 21 at 1:30 p.m. and July 22 at 7:59 p.m., according to police. The car owner parked his vehicle in front of 300 W. 61st St. on July 19, and left a bag in the car containing credit cards, gift cards, a Social Security card, U.S. passport, Irish birth certificate, New York State teachers retirement paperwork, health group paperwork, Met Life retirement paperwork, New York State tax returns, Port Authority PBA card, international teaching award, teaching credentials, Apple iPad, Pace University scholarship letter, four Chase bank checkbooks, two Android Sprint phones, two Blue Cross Blue Shield cards and notes. When the owner returned to his car three days later, the bag was gone but the car showed no signs of forced entry. The owner might have left the vehicle unlocked, according to officers.

Stolen motorcycle On July 31, at 4 a.m., an Upper East Side man parked his motorcycle on E. 82nd St. and went to work. According to police, when the 23-year-old went back to his bike at 4:45 a.m., the 2009 orange Honda motorbike with a South Carolina license plate was gone, according to police. The license plate number for the $4,900 vehicle was ZF67849.

Lost and found motorbike Another Upper East Side man also had his motorcycle stolen, police said. On July 27, the 27-year-old parked his white 2017 KTM motorbike in front of 403 E. 65th St around 5 p.m. According to police, when the man went to check on the bike on July 29, it was gone. After from the 19th Precinct canvassed the area, officers found the bike at 420 E. 64th St. with a damaged steering-wheel lock and damage to some wires.

Unruly bus rider A man threw a can of beer at a bus driver after he was asked to pay the fare, police said. On July 26, around 11:52 p.m. a 45-year-old man got on a bus at the E. 74th St. and Fifth Ave. stop. According to police, he took a seat after passing the MetroCard fare reader without paying. After being asked by the driver to pay the money, the guy refused to pay and exited the bus. The 61-year-old bus driver told officers that once outside the bus, the fare scofflaw walked to the driver’s window and threw a can of beer at her face and fled on E. 74th St. toward Madison Ave. The impact of the beer can caused swelling to her left cheek.

Food truck robbery A food truck parked in front of 138 E. 61st St. was reportedly robbed on July 24. According to police, around 5:30 a.m., two men worked together to rob the food truck. As one man approached the front of the vehicle and grabbed\ change from the counter, the second

blind gentleman down the stairs. He assumed that the seeming Samaritan must have taken his property.

man approached the open back and took $10 to $15 from the money box. The 70-year-old owner stepped out of the food truck to stop the first thief, who then punched him in the side of the head and ran off. The food truck owner refused medical attention, according to officers.

Stolen e-bike On July 21, around 11 a.m., an e-bike delivery worker for Columbus Gourmet was making a delivery at 70 Riverside Blvd. when someone stole his bike. According to police, the 17-year-old delivery worker left his e-bike unattended next to a pole outside of the building and he returned found the bicycle was gone. The e-bike was worth $1,500.

20TH PRECINCT Locker room robbery On July 24, around 4:30 p.m., an Upper West Side man placed his pants in a locker at Tail Endurance, an indoor cycling facility located at 143 W. 72nd St. According to police, when the 24-year-old returned to his locker, he found his trousers, along with his wallet wallet inside them, had been taken. The victim’s American Express credit card was used at four different stores, where a total of $1,000 was charged to them. Three of the stores included a Duane Reade at 1889 Broadway, a Bloomingdales at 1928 Broadway and Lululemon GMC at 159 Columbus Ave. The man told officers from the 20th Precinct that when he returned to the lockers area, there was man helping a

Bikers steal motorcycle On July 30, at 6 p.m., an Upper West Side man reported his black 2009 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle missing from where he last parked it in front of 140 W. 86th St. According to police, three men riding two motorcycles were caught on camera approaching the bike around 3:09 a.m. that same day and riding off with it. The bike was worth $2,600.

24TH PRECINCT Stolen guitar blues On July 25, at 11:59 a.m., a man parked his car in front of 329 W. 108th St. and Riverside Drive. When the 49-year-old car owner returned to his vehicle at around 9:30 p.m. he found the driver’s-side window shattered and his broken Gibson ES175 guitar missing from the back seat.

Double parked On July 23, around 2 p.m. a 46-yearold woman parked her 2001 MercedesBenz CLK-Class in front of 544 W. 110th St. and Broadway and left it running with the keys in the ignition, according to the police. The woman left the car unattended and returned a few minutes later only to find the car gone. Officers recovered the vehicle and arrested an 18-year-old man driving it at Atlantic Ave. and Thomas S. Boyland St. in Brooklyn at 9:07 p.m.

Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech

For more news & events happening now visit www.TheVillager.com 4

August 8 - August 21, 2019

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Feds extend 9/11 Victims Fund BY GABE HERMAN

he 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund has been permanently funded by the federal government, after money began to dwindle earlier this year and advocates went to Congress to pressure lawmakers. The bill’s full name — The Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund — honors three first responders who died from 9/11-related illnesses. It was officially signed into law by President Trump on July 29. The previous deadline to file claims with the V.C.F. was Dec. 18, 2020, but the bill now extends that through Oct. 1, 2090. It’s estimated the fund’s extension will cost around $10 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This past February, the head of the V.C.F., Special Master Rupa Bhattacharyya, said that payouts for claims would be cut by as much as 70 percent because of a shortfall in funds and an increase in claims. After the funds were permanently extended on July 29, Bhattacharyya wrote, in a statement, “This is a momentous occasion for the V.C.F. and the 9/11 community, and I am extremely grateful for this show of confidence from Con-

COURTESY JASON SCOTT

First responders and recover y workers who were in the rubble of Ground Zero worked in a toxic stew of carcinogenic chemicals.

gress and the President. The enactment of this Act is also a testament to the heroic efforts of the responders, survivors and advocates who tirelessly pursued this legislation, and without whom we would not be able to continue the vital work we do.” The legislation passed the Senate on July 23 by a 97-to-2 vote, with only Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah and

Rand Paul of Kentucky voting against it. Both Lee and Paul had an amendment to the bill defeated, with the former wanting authorization for only 10 years and the latter wanting spending for the 9/11 fund to be offset by other government cuts. After the Senate approved the bill, comedian Jon Stewart, who advocated alongside first responders for the fund-

ing, said, “We can never repay all that the 9/11 community has done for our country, but we can stop penalizing them. And today is that day they can exhale.” The former “Daily Show” host added that suffering will continue for 9/11 first responders, but said, “I’m hopeful that today begins the process of being able to heal without the burden of having to advocate.” Before the House passed the bill earlier in July, Stewart spoke passionately before the chamber about the need for funds and chastised many lawmakers for seemingly not caring enough about the issue. Gravely ill, first responder Luis Alvarez, a retired Bomb Squad detective with the New York Police Department, also addressed Congress. He died less than three weeks later, at age 53, from cancer linked to his time at Ground Zero. His name was added to the bill’s title. “Passing this legislation, there’s no joy, there’s no comfort,” said first responder and advocate John Feal after the Senate’s vote on July 23. “Yes, I cried with Jon [Stewart], but that was to exhale, that was to get 18 years of pain and suffering out.” Feal noted he wasn’t going to miss anything about Washington, D.C. “Hopefully,” he said, “we don’t have to come back.”

‘Green Wave’ will boost bike safety: Mayor BY GABE HERMAN

s the grim tally of bicyclist deaths in the city this year continues to rise, city officials have been implementing and proposing new rules aimed at creating a better biking infrastructure. There have been 18 cyclist deaths in the city so far in 2019, compared to 10 deaths in all of 2018. In response, Mayor de Blasio announced on July 25 a strategy called Green Wave: A Plan for Cycling in New York City. The Green Wave plan has been allocated $58.4 million in city funding for the next five years. The initiative includes adding 30 miles of protected bike lanes every year. Fifty intersections will get “turn-calming treatments” to slow down drivers. The plan also calls for police enforcement to increase at 100 of the most dangerous intersections, based on crash data, with a focus on risky actions, like speeding, failure to yield, blocking bike lanes and trucks that are oversized or off route. There will be a continuation of Operation Bicycle Safe Passage, which was announced as a temporary action

August 8 - August 21, 2019

promised New Yorkers we’d do everything we could to end traffic fatalities,” the mayor said at the plan’s announcement. “No loss of life on our streets is acceptable. With a dangerous surge in cyclist fatalities, we have to keep pushing the envelope and increasing our efforts. That’s what this plan is about. It’s a continuation of our promise. This time, specifically to bikers.” Several local politicians were supportive of the mayor’s new plan. “I’m grateful to Mayor de Blasio for building on his commitment to Vision Zero with today’s investments,” said state Senator Brad Hoylman. “With bike ridership set to increase even more dramatically in the coming years, these new measures and protections could not come soon enough.” “New Yorkers deserve safer streets,” said Borough President Gale Brewer. “The uptick in cyclist fatalities this year is unacceptable, and I’m glad the administration is taking steps to prevent future incidents.” Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez, whose 10th District includes Upper Manhattan, and who chairs the Council’s Transportation Committee, said even more must be done. While it’s

for early July and included many of the enforcement policies mentioned above. According to the city, in July’s first three weeks, police doubled enforcement against cars parked in bicycle lanes, issuing more than 8,600 summonses. Police will also send supervisors to crash sites to investigate if right-of-way laws should be applied, and cyclists will no longer be ticketed at sites of fatal bike crashes. The mayor’s plan also includes the Department of Transportation installing 2,000 bicycle parking spaces annually in the city by using bike corrals. D.O.T. will also put out a request for expressions of interest, or R.F.E.I., to get ideas for a new high-capacity parking system for bikes. The mayor also said there will be a focus on implementing a law recently passed by the City Council that lets cyclists ride on pedestrian signals and gives them a head start at thousands of intersections across the city. In addition, de Blasio said he would work with Council Speaker Corey Johnson and councilmembers on other bills, including requiring a 3-foot passing distance between cars and bicycles. “When we came into office, we

MEX

good to add 30 miles of protected bike lanes every year, he said, “we should be aiming to have 100 miles of protected bike lanes a year.” Speaker Johnson, whose West Side district includes Chelsea, the West Village and Hell’s Kitchen, introduced legislation in May requiring at least 50 miles of protected bike lanes to be added each year, along with at least 30 miles of new bus lanes each year that are separated from other traffic. Meanwhile, a list has been compiled of the 10 most dangerous intersections in the city for bicyclists, with several of them in Lower Manhattan. The rankings are from localize.city, which used data from 2014 to 2018 on bicycle injuries and deaths. The city’s most dangerous intersection, according to the list, is in Chelsea at Sixth Ave. and W. 23rd St., where bike messenger Robyn Hightman, 20, died in June after being hit by a truck. Third Ave. and E. 14th St. was found to be the city’s fourth-worst intersection for cyclists. Others in Lower Manhattan on the top-10 dangerous list for bikers included two spots on the Lower East Side, at Chrystie and Delancey Sts., and at Allen and E. Houston Sts. Schneps Media

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Astor Pl. mulled for a new market BY GABE HERMAN

lans are being explored to bring an outdoor market to Astor Place, perhaps as early as this fall. The Village Alliance Business Improvement District has been seeking community feedback for ideas about the market, including meeting with local residents and businesses and presenting the plan at a Community Board 2 meeting. William Kelley, the BID’s executive director, said the idea goes back to 2013, when the idea was raised in workshops. The concept has been envisioned in many forms, including a Greenmarket, a night market, a food market or a craft market. It’s not until now, though, that the BID has operationally been able to consider implementing the market initiative, Kelley said. A Greenmarket seemed generally to be a favored option in the community, Kelley told the C.B. 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee in July. Since Astor Place is city Department of Transportation property, a formal request for proposals, or R.F.P., would be required for anything involving sales. The BID has issued two R.F.P.’s, one for a weekly pop-up Greenmarket, another for more of a seasonal market

PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN

The South Plaza at A stor Place might be getting an outdoor market as early as this fall.

that would run about three weeks at a time, similar to the Union Square Holiday Market. Kelley said, ultimately, neither type of market might materialize, but the BID wanted to cover all possibilities. “We are going to continue to talk

to neighbors and businesses there, but also people who use the space but don’t live there,” Kelley told this paper. “We’re hopeful something could happen in the fall.” Kelley said that markets can be community unifiers, and that a lot of the

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most successful outdoor spaces in the city have specific programming. “We do hope it brings people,” he said, “and students can meet residents, can meet office workers.” One suggestion from C.B. 2 was to involve local businesses in the market, which Kelley called “a great idea.” The main market space would be the South Plaza at Astor Place, with the North Plaza also potentially having some stalls, as well. A Greenmarket was favored by the C.B. 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee in July. Other recommendations for the space by the committee included having cooking demonstrations, prioritizing food and beverages, giving locals reduced prices for stalls, having crafts and a small winter holiday market, and avoiding an outdoor cafe atmosphere or an outdoor market like the popular Smorgasburg, “which overwhelms the space and would not be egalitarian,” the committee’s resolution stated. While the outdoor market is not a done deal yet, the Village Alliance’s Kelley seemed confident there would be one soon in Astor Place, based on what the community and the BID want, he said. He added that if the market doesn’t happen this fall, then it would probably come about by next spring at the latest.

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August 8 - August 21, 2019

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etail vacancies remain an ongoing issue throughout much of the city, including in Downtown Manhattan, in areas like the East Village and West Village, such as along Bleecker St. Now the City Council has passed a bill that will create a database of retail spaces and their vacancy status, and which requires merchants to register storefronts with the city as part of the process. The bill to create the vacancy database, which would be the first of its kind in the country, was introduced this year on March 13 by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Councilmember Helen Rosenthal, who represents the Upper West Side, and Council Speaker Corey Johnson, whose district includes Chelsea, Hellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kitchen, the West Village and Midtown West. The three local politicians said the bill would help address the crisis of empty storefronts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fi x a problem when you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even begin to measure it,â&#x20AC;? Brewer said after the bill passed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This database will be a boost for business owners looking for possible places to rent, those facing lease negotiations, and countless other possible services, which is why Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m proud the Council voted to pass this bill today.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Storefront Trackerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; legislation will require citywide tracking of commercial storefront and second-floor spaces for the first time,â&#x20AC;? Rosenthal said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;providing comprehensive data on commercial strips at risk, the location of every vacant storefront and more. This essential information will be the basis for solutions which help keep small businesses in our communities.â&#x20AC;? Speaker Johnson joined Rosenthal in stressing the importance of small businesses to the local economy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Passing legislation to address and help mom-andpop store owners is vital,â&#x20AC;? Johnson said after the bill passed, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and today we are approving several proposals to help businesses by providing much-needed support and information. Currently, the city lacks the data necessary to make informed policy decisions and the storefront database bill will tackle this issue head on.â&#x20AC;? Some small-business advocates, however, were less optimistic about the billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact on the problem. Kirsten Theodos, co-founder of TakeBackNYC, which advocates for mom-and-pop shops, said she has no problem with collecting information about retail vacancies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But it is perplexing why a bill counting vacant storefronts was fast-tracked and passed in just four short months,â&#x20AC;? she said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;while the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, a bill that would actually stop the closings by addressing the unfair lease-renewal process, had a hearing eight months ago and since then there has been zero movement toward a vote.â&#x20AC;? Theodos was also critical of how Speaker Johnson has been handling the vacancy issue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is very sad that the speaker had the time to withdraw his name from the S.B.J.S.A., a bill he proclaimed in 2018 he was a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;proud sponsorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of, be a co-sponsor of this recent bill â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that will not stop the crisis of good businesses from closing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and quietly reshuffle the deck on the Small Business Committee; but he does not have the time or political will to pass progressive legislation like the S.B.J.S.A.â&#x20AC;? Schneps Media

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Bett y E. Staton, a retired Family Cour t judge and president of Brooklyn Legal Ser vices, received the National Bar A ssociation’s Judicial Council’s Thurgood Marshall Award.

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Attorney Sanford Rubenstein told judges among the National Bar A ssociation members at the awards ceremony to maintain their independence, and urged young law yers to advocate on behalf of victims.

PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Attorney Sanford Rubenstein was honored with the National Bar A ssociation’s Chair’s Award for Civil Rights.

National Bar Association honors legal leaders BY TEQUIL A MINSK Y

uring the National Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Judicial Awards Luncheon at the Sheraton New York Times Square on July 23, its Judicial Council, with 200-some lawyers and judges attending, honored five judges, as well as a New York civil-rights and social-justice attorney. The National Bar Association is the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly AfricanAmerican attorneys and judges. It represents the interests of 65,000 lawyers, judges, law professors and law students throughout the United States and around the world. The organization was formed in 1925 when five of its founding members were denied membership to the American Bar Association. Schneps Media

At its 48th annual meeting, two local legal professionals were honored among this year’s honorees. Retired Judge Betty E. Staton received the Thurgood Marshall Award. As a New York University School of Law student, Staton was always advocating to bring more black and Latino students into the law profession. Staton began her legal career in 1979 as a staff attorney at Bedford Stuyvesant Community Legal Services, leaving eight years later, to form with two other African-American women the first African-American female partnership in the country. Four years later, Mayor David Dinkins appointed her to New York State Family Court, on which she served for almost 20 years. On mandatory retirement, she returned as project director to B.S.C.L.S., which merged in 2012 with two other legal services

to form Brooklyn Legal Services, of which she now is president. Attorney Sanford Rubenstein, one of the city’s top advocates for victim’s rights in personal injury, medical malpractice and civil rights matters, received the National Bar Association’s Chair’s Award for Civil Rights. He was recommended for this award by a Civil Court judge based on his work for civil rights. Rubenstein, who lives in Brooklyn, has represented numerous victims and families of victims of police brutality and wrongdoing in New York City, including Abner Louima, sodomized in a police precinct by a New York Police Department officer; the family of Sean Bell, who was killed in a police shooting the night before his wedding; the estate of Kalief Browder, who killed himself after spending 400 days in soliTVG

tary confinement on Rikers Island; and the estate of Eric Garner in the early stages of litigation against New York City and the N.Y.P.D. On receiving the award, Rubenstein said how humbled he was. During his acceptance, he emphasized to the judges at the luncheon to maintain their independence. “It is what stands between our democracy and tyranny,” he said. To young lawyers he urged, “Advocate on behalf of victims in the courtroom and in the streets, as well, to get change, so what happens to one victim does not happen to others.” Rubenstein also signed his memoir, “The Outrageous Rubenstein: How a Media Savvy Trial Lawyer Fights for Justice and Change,” which all in attendance received. August 8, 2019

Editorial

Message to Republicans: Do something

ith apologies to Albert Einstein, there’s a new definition of insanity in America: Sending thoughts and prayers over and over again, and expecting the mass shootings to stop. This weekend’s bloodshed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, reminded us once again of how broken things are in America when it comes to gun violence — and how our government has utterly failed to stop the carnage. Following the latest massacres to occur in America this past weekend, there have been more than 250 mass shootings in the United States so far this year. No other nation in the world had a number of mass shootings exceeding single digits. What are we going to do to stop this? The obvious answer is greater gun control — reviving the assault weapons ban, expanding background checks, and preventing convicted felons from owning guns, among other ideas. No American should own an AR-15, an AK-47 or any other high-capacity assault rifle built specifically for the military to wage war. These weapons aren’t made for sport; they’re made for death, in high volumes, in short periods of time. No American should need one; no American should want one. Calls for gun control have been made over and over and over again, follow-

pulpit to say horrific, blatantly bigoted things about people he doesn’t like or whom he doesn’t agree with politically. One study after another has found that the number of hate crimes in America has soared since Trump took office. That’s because white nationalists feel empowered by the president’s own rhetoric; they feel it justifies their own hatred, and spurs them to lash out on their own. Radicalized white nationalist terrorists are getting their hands on weapons of war and turning them against ordinary people just living their lives. The president, of course, didn’t pause to contemplate his contribution to this. He blamed everything and everyone else except himself, and guns. One prominent Republican in Queens, Councilmember Eric Ulrich, shamefully dismissed that notion and played the “both sides” card by wondering why the press didn’t blame, in his eyes, Presidents Clinton and Obama for mass shootings during their administrations. We don’t recall President Clinton calling Mexicans “rapists and drug addicts,” the way Trump did back in 2015 at his campaign announcement; nor do we recall President Obama describing

ing one mass shooting after another, in this country over the last decade. It should be a bipartisan effort, but it is not, because one party utterly refuses to do anything about it other than offer “thoughts and prayers” after each tragedy. Members of the Republican Party offer every other excuse in the world for the bloodshed, and for making no concerted effort to increase public safety. It’s violent video games, they say. It’s mental health, they say. It’s broken homes, they say. It’s the lack of prayer in public schools, some ignorantly claim. Other nations have violent video games, mental health issues, dysfunctional families and public prayer bans — yet they do not have the level of gun violence we experience in our country. What they do have are strict gun laws that preserve public safety without infringing upon one’s right to defend themselves. Shouldn’t we, as Americans, deserve and demand the same? Seems like an obvious yes to us. The G.O.P. has run out of excuses and time — and so has President Trump, whose own hostile words toward immigrants were echoed in a manifesto left by the gunman responsible for the El Paso massacre. Since he began his presidential campaign in 2015, Trump has used his bully

the arrival of migrants on the southern border as an “invasion” of America, as Trump has repeatedly said this year. Republicans may try to wash the president’s hands of responsibility here, but the majority of us know better. Sure, Trump didn’t pull the trigger, but his past words undoubtedly inspired the gunman to do so. This country has a gun problem and a white nationalist problem — and Republicans must start working with Democrats to strengthen gun laws and reject white nationalism. However, showing the problem is even more widespread, the Dayton shooter was an antifa activist and avowed socialist. In short, every politician of every party has a responsibility to solve these problems. It’s time that they finally do something to protect us all, rather than just talking about it or ignoring it altogether. Call President Trump, call Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and call the New York State Republican Party and demand that they support gun control and the fight against white nationalism. President Donald Trump: 202-456-1414; Senator Mitch McConnell: 202-224-2541; NYS Republican Party: 518-462-2601

MANHAT TAN

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August 8, 2019

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1908 photo of Madison Square Park and 23rd St. features part of the Flatiron Building on the far right, and the second Madison Square Garden, which stood from 1890 to 1925, in the background at left. Twenty-third St. had a virtual convoy of trolley cars (talk about a dedicated “transit corridor”), while many horse-drawn carriages can also be seen on the streets.

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Op-Ed

Letters s to the Ed Editor eration. Nothing has changed. I suggest that people show up at the First Precinct on the last Thursday of the month to voice their complaints. It’s disgusting how these bar/ restaurant owners get away with this stuff and we are getting no support from the police or Community Board 2.

Elizabeth Street Garden’s roots BY BARBAR A CAPOR ALE

n the late 1800s to early 1900s my great-grandparents had a dry-goods store on Elizabeth and Prince Sts., which they lived above. The Elizabeth St. Garden would have been such an amenity for my grandfather to play in as a youth, and families to picnic in. I’m certain much playing was done in the streets since they were safer then, and children could be watched from the windows. I do not know what green space existed then other than the St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral yard cemetery. The old public school on the Elizabeth St. Garden site allegedly provided some community space. The statues and monuments that exist in the Elizabeth St. Garden bring us back to rooted history, when buildings were designed artistically, with sculptural detail — things that I crave to cling to for perspective and connectivity. Everything that’s built nowadays is box-like, too much glass, or just plain ugly. My grandfather became one of the first homegrown Italian architects to graduate from Pratt. He went on to build homes in Brooklyn and other parts of the city and, I’m sure, lots of the older brickwork buildings in Lower Manhattan with more personality. The homes that I know of that he built in Brooklyn all supplied green space, probably since his youth was greatly lacking in that and he realized what families need. When I look at the statues in the Elizabeth St. Garden, I am transported back in time. I see my relatives, long skirts, straw hats, knickers, and I hear “While Strolling Through the Park One Day” in my head, and Italian mandolins and accordions. Maybe some of the proponents of the Elizabeth St. Garden are new gentrifiers. However, they join those of us who have struggled to remain in our neighborhoods. They understand what is of value to families, and the needs for humans to interact or just reflect in urban spaces with nature, near their mostly tiny apartments in tenement buildings. We have learned from the recent history of new development in the neighborhood, that you never get the community benefit that was promised — and it takes so long for any green to be re-established. Yes, we need housing. But the Haven Green affordable housing project should be switched to the West Side site, approved by Community Board 2, that is much more developable and would provide more units — more units that would be low income and ultra-low income, truly affordable. And thank you — not! — Rudeness Giuliani for selling off most of the city-owned land, making creating new affordable housing development more difficult. I actually recently went and found the storefront where my great-grandparents had their dry-goods store that they and their family lived above. I went inside and looked at the old brick high ceilings and wood beams and touched everything. LOL. And then I also went down Mulberry St. to fi nd where they had a store in the 1890s. I’m sure my Italian forebears would have supported saving the beautiful Elizabeth St. Garden. I know they would be deeply saddened to hear Mayor de Blasio wants to destroy it. Caporale is a longtime activist in Downtown Manhattan. Schneps Media

Kay Powell

Time to speak up PHOTO BY JEFFERSON SIEGEL

Former Manhattan D. A . Rober t Morgenthau prosecuted East Village anarchists harshly after the 1990 May Day riot in Tompkins Square Park, according to letter writer Bill Weinberg. More than a dozen people were arrested for disorderly conduct and assault on police.

‘Small Kitchen,’ big headache To The Editor: Re “Loud Soho restaurant ‘wrecked block’: Neighbors” (news article, Aug. 1): Sometimes a restaurant moves into a neighborhood and is oblivious to the residents where it has situated itself. So it is with Thompson St.’s Piccola Cucina that attracts a very fun-loving clientele. That’s fine, but… . There is no accommodation — exposed brick that bounces the music and yelling around like a pinball machine — to the fact this eatery is on a (formerly) quiet residential street. Come summer, it’s ultra-volume music and happy chatter, with voices at elevated pitch trying to be heard above the music. It can be heard one-quarter the distance of the block to the corner. One building resident moved out because of the racket, actually relocating in the neighborhood due to the noise. It appears after a deluge of complaints that the restaurant has begun to adhere to its stipulation and closes its glass windows/doors by the designated 10 p.m. Or maybe they’re just keeping the air conditioning inside. But noise isn’t the restaurant’s only “ignoring the neighborhood” modus operandi. Hordes blocking the sidewalk — waiting for tables or hanging out — prevent people who are trying to pass. The mass also includes a cadre of smokers, mostly fun-

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loving Europeans, who can’t smoke inside. The restaurant generates so much garbage that the trash receptacles are tossed wily-nilly on the sidewalk after the pickup, blocking the sidewalk in the morning. Asked about this, the restaurant blames its sanitation company, instead of having the containers moved inside in a timely fashion. The restaurant’s owner has two others in Soho. Noise is similarly generated from the Spring St. location, and one neighbor who lives across the street is kept up at night when apartment windows are open. The Spring St. restaurant drilled into a tree to hang a holder for its promotional material and menus when the restaurant is closed. Someone must have complained, since that was short-lived. Even the outdoor seating on Spring St. violates the required 8-foot clearance from the barrier on the nearby tree pit. Darlene Nation

Help, police! To The Editor: Re “Loud Soho restaurant ‘wrecked block’: Neighbors” (news article, Aug. 1): This scene is not any different from what goes on at Felix, at West Broadway and Grand St., every Sunday. I too have contacted the First Precinct many times, as have my neighbors, and been told that police have sat down with the owner and have his coop-

To The Editor: Re “Loud Soho restaurant ‘wrecked block’: Neighbors” (news article, Aug. 1): This is a police matter. Register the complaint with 311 and call the precinct. Go to the monthly First Precinct Community Council Meeting. Insist they do their jobs. Also tell the community board and the State Liquor Authority. Unless people show up at community board hearings or register complaints, the board is unlikely to even know there are problems with restaurants. Lora Tenenbaum

‘Morgy’ memories To The Editor: Re “Robert Morgenthau, 99, iconic D.A.” (obituary, Aug. 1): The Central Park 5 later sued the city and won a multimillion dollar settlement — which Donald Trump protested in a Daily News opinion piece. Given this is The Villager, it would be good to recall Morgenthau’s prosecution of the Tompkins Square anarchists after the 1990 May Day riot. Kenny Toglia served a year in Rikers on dubious “incitement” charges thanks to Morgenthau’s prosecutorial zeal. Bill Weinberg E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words, to news@thevillager.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 1 MetroTech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published.

August 8, 2019

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News ﬂash: Gem Spa is struggling BY BILL WEINBERG

t was slightly traumatic for old-school East Village residents when they last approached Gem Spa to buy a paper at the newsstand that had long stood outside the corner store. The newsstand, a fi xture for generations, displaying a multilingual selection reflecting the neighborhood’s diversity, was gone — not a scrap of printed matter was to be found at Gem Spa. Parul Patel is behind the counter every day now, putting her “life on hold” to save the family business. The newsstand was a necessary sacrifice, she said. “We don’t make money on newspapers,” she explained. “Six or eight dollars each day — if nobody steals any. My dad was doing it as a community service.” Her father, Ray Patel, now ailing with Parkinson’s disease, purchased Gem Spa in 1986. “My father loves newspapers, he’s from that generation,” she said. “He carried the torch at his own expense.” Old-timers who still buy newspapers could be accommodated — until a twist of fate plunged the business into crisis. Sales initially dropped 80 percent in April, when the store’s cigarette license was suspended. Patel said a “rogue employee” (subsequently fired) sold butts on two occasions to undercover snoops from the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs. “It’s not in line with our philosophy,” Patel said. “We wouldn’t be here 33 years otherwise.” She pointed out the pop-up sign on the register that prompts cashiers to ask if tobacco purchasers are 21 years old. A city judge imposed no penalty on Gem Spa after the rogue cigarette sales last year, noting the store’s clean prior record. But word of the sales was automatically shared with state authorities, who imposed a six-month suspension in April. The newsstand was removed in early June, partly at the urging of the landlord’s management company, which sought a cleaner look. Zoltar, the mechanical fortune teller, was also removed. The inside magazine racks were likewise removed. Patel said the distributer, Hudson News, “scooped up” the entire stock of magazines following a financial dispute. She said newspaper and magazine sales took a plunge some 10 years ago, as digital media became ubiquitous. The loss of the newsstand exemplifies a cultural shift. Opinion differs on when Gem Spa first opened. Certainly, the store has been at the corner of Second Ave. and St. Mark’s Place since the 1950s. But sources maintain it had an earlier incarnation at the location under a different name in the ’20s. It is widely credited as the first place in New York to sell egg creams. It began selling Yiddish newspapers, but became an outlet for the underground press in the counterculture of the ’60s. Allen Ginsberg and Patti Smith invoked Gem Spa in their writings, and the New York Dolls shot the back-cover photo of their 1973 debut album in front of the iconic store. When the New Jersey-based Patel family bought

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PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY

Did he even see it coming? Zoltar, the for tune teller, was removed from the front of Gem Spa in June, allegedly to give the storefront a “cleaner” look.

the store, they learned how to make egg creams from the previous owners. “I’ve been making egg creams since I was a teenager,” Parul Patel boasted. What’s critical now is making it to October, when the tobacco license will be restored, according to Patel. She’s added CBD items to try to take up the slack — and vegan egg creams with almond milk. “We’re catering to new segments of the neighborhood,” she said. Patel anticipates eventually restoring magazines and newspapers — although not the outdoor newsstand — on a limited basis. But she said it would just be the “main titles, not all the exotic stuff we carried, in Chinese, Polish, Italian and Spanish.” “I’m overwhelmed by how many people have come forward to help us,” she said. But she was quick to add, “I have to triple what I’m doing right now. We’re just surviving, with no pay for myself. I never see my kids.” Harry Bubbins of Village Preservation notes rumors that a Citibank is planned for the space. This could be allowed under the terms of the East VilTVG

lage Historic District, as long as the exterior is not changed. Village Preservation is pushing for a “special commercial district” for the East Village, which would restrict new chain outlets from opening between E. 14th and E. Houston Sts. from Second Ave. to Avenue D. Community Board 3 approved the idea in June, but the plan must first pass muster with the City Planning Department before going to the City Council for a deciding vote. “St. Mark’s is not dead, and it’s because of businesses like Gem Spa that have been in the neighborhood for decades,” Bubbins declared. “It’s a quintessential East Village corner store.” Patel said supporters are planning a benefit for Gem Spa, and she’s promoting the store on social media. She said that despite having been a successful businessman, her father has little money. A devout Hindu, originally from Gujarat, India, he gave much of his earnings to charity. “I need this business to take care of my dad’s medical needs. And it meant so much to him,” Patel said, wiping away a tear. “I want him to die with dignity.” August 8, 2019

Progress Report

Political scene: What will 2020 bring? BY ARTHUR SCHWARTZ

e all know that 2020 will be a watershed year in national politics. The unthinkably monstrous, racist, sexist, xenophobic, grandiose thing in the White House is so ripe for a challenge that 25 or more candidates are looking to be the one to take him down. And in the run-up to that election, the Democratic primary is a test of whether Democratic Party voters want to go back to the Democratic Party of 2008-16 , or want to move forward to become the party at first envisioned by Bernie Sanders in 2016, advanced by The Squad, and reflected in a push for Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, tuition-free higher education, and a genuine effort to rein in the 1%. That conflict is already playing itself out in Villager-land. The eastern part of Greenwich Village and Chelsea is represented in Congress by a relic of the past, of the Democratic Party of Bill Clinton, named Carolyn Maloney. Her district was once called the SilkStocking District, and when she was elected was entirely on the East Side

COURTESY ARTHUR SCHWARTZ

District Leader Ar thur Schwar tz, left, was Bernie Sanders’s New York 2016 campaign counsel.

of Manhattan, from 96th St. down to Loisaida. But several rounds of redistricting have created a district that includes Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Long Island City and Astoria, areas in Brooklyn and Queens that include increasing numbers of millennials, and many people of color. Since 2010 Carolyn has faced a series of challengers, and in 2016 her opponent, Suraj Patel, got 41 percent of the vote, winning on the eastern side of the East River. That was the same 2016 primary that saw Alexandria OcascioCortez beat 20-year incumbent Joe Crowley, the Queens Boss. The result is that there are around six candidates lined up to be the one to take on Maloney in the June 2020 primary. They all know that only one needs to be in the arena next June if Carolyn is to be defeated. One local pol recently said to me, “Carolyn needs to figure out a dignified exit,” yet she seems to be diving headfirst into a campaign in which she will be buffeted because of her often Bill Clintonesque politics in a Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren-AOC world. She is a big free-trader (the only New York congressmember who voted for NAFTA), a hawk on U.S. foreign policy, and a large recipient of corporate money. My bet is on Lauren Ashcraft to be her main opponent next year. “Who?” you say. Lauren is a candidate who comes out of that same group

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of activists who backed AOC’s campaign, and almost propelled Tiffany Caban to the district attorney’s office in Queens. She is 30 years old, a JP Morgan Chase compliance officer, and a standup comic. She is the daughter of an immigrant father, and a granddaughter of an individual with serious disabilities; she is a genuinely impassioned advocate for the immigrant community, and for expansion of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Ashcraft knows a lot about the banking system and that she wants none of their money. And her activist crew is already going door to door, more than 10 months before the primary. And she is a Bernie-sis, while Carolyn has endorsed Kirsten Gillibrand. It will be a race to watch. (In another congressional race, Jerry Nadler will have a well-funded primary opponent, who comes from Andrew Cuomo-world, but Jerry, I believe, is an unbeatable folk hero.) The New York State Legislature is in for another round of high-profile challenges like the state Senate had last year. But this time it will be assemblymembers, since the Assembly blocked many progressive pieces of legislation this year that had been adopted by the Senate. My prediction? Assemblymember Deborah Glick, who has been around even longer than Carolyn, will have a very serious opponent. (It won’t be me.) She had a serious break with many L.G.B.T. activists by blocking a surrogacy bill that was proposed by her usual ally Senator Brad Hoylman. There is a PAC in formation that already has $150,000 pledged to help bring about her defeat. Several people are auditioning to take her on. The other interesting thing to watch will be alignment of Downtown electeds with presidential candidates. The New York primary will be the last Tuesday in April, and with a multicandidate field, it will matter a lot. Few local elected officials have aligned, but many will decide before petitioning begins in January, if they are looking to secure a place at the Democratic Convention. Pete Buttigieg is a conundrum for some; he is an L.G.B.T. breakthrough, but he seems to be fading already. A candidate needs 15 percent of the vote to get any delegates in New York and it is unlikely that he will get there. It will be an interesting year, even before the November finale. Schwartz is the male Democratic district leader for Greenwich Village. Schneps Media

LHGV: A growing health hub at 5 years BY ALEX HELLINGER

n July 17 Lenox Health Greenwich Village (LHGV) turned five years old. We first opened our doors to anyone and everyone needing emergency care in 2014 with our full-service Emergency Center as a first step in filling the gap of healthcare services needed in this neighborhood and to ease the hardships our community endured after St. Vincent’s Hospital closed. Our desire was to create something very special for patients in need of help at a critical time in their lives. Our Emergency Department is open 24/7/365 and cares for all patients regardless of their ability to pay. We had more than 38,000 patients visit our emergency department in 2018 alone. We’ve administered clot-busting medications to patients with strokes, and we’ve provided critical care to many thousands of patients with heart failure, COPD, aneurysms, respiratory failure, pneumonia, influenza, diabetes, allergic reactions and more. We also regularly care for psychiatric patients, as well as patients with drug- or alcohol-related emergencies. The opening of the Emergency Center was just the beginning of our more than $180-million investment for the residents of this community; we are building a true comprehensive medical network throughout Downtown Manhattan. In 2016 we opened our state-of-the-art Imaging Center. We realize that being referred for an imaging study can be a stressful experience that can be compounded by the inconvenience of having to travel to out-of-the-way facilities. Our Imaging Center offers the most advanced breast cancer screening exams, including 3D mammography, a new imaging option that diminishes the rate of false positives by about 40 percent. We are one of only a handful of centers that offer this new imagining option. In addition to our full range of breast-imaging services, our 13,000-square-foot center also offers magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), CT scans, ultrasounds, digital X-rays and bone density testing. Also within LHGV, we have opened a patient service center (blood collection), an ambulatory surgery center and a conference room space that is open for community use. Additionally, we have added orthopedic and spine care physician offices and recently hired a plastic surgeon that specializes in transgender care. With our commitment to continue building a comprehensive and robust medical ecosystem Downtown, in 2018 we opened Northwell Health Physician Partners at Greenwich Village, located at 7 Seventh Ave. — Northwell’s largest primary multispecialty center in Manhattan — and our 78th outpatient practice over all in the borough. Here you’ll find expertise in adult cardiology, rheumatology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, otolaryngology and surgical specialties, plus pediatric neurology, allergy and cardiology. In addition, surgical consultative services available include thoracic, bariatric, vascular, colorectal, plastic, urologic and general surgery. The clinical space features 28 exam rooms, a noninvasive cardiology testing suite, chest radiography, a full audiology testing booth and a pulmonary function laboratory. This follows the opening of three large primary care and multispecialty practices in the area. In order to further provide access to medical care for non-emergencies, we also opened two GoHealth Urgent Care Centers, located at 225 W. 23rd St. and 41 E. Eighth St. With our strong commitment to the environment, the LHGV building, at 30 Seventh Ave., between 12th and 13th Sts., was awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification

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by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED-certified buildings save money and resources while promoting renewable, clean energy. Additionally, our most recent ambulances are “green” ambulances, which decrease fuel consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by eliminating unnecessary vehicle idling. We believe in and support this community. We have partnerships with the New York Alliance Against Sexual Assault, the L.G.B.T. Center and the New York AIDS Memorial. We are recognized as a “Leader in L.G.B.T. Healthcare Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, designated as an AIDS Center by the New York State Department of Health, and we are a certified Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) Center.

We are part of the fabric of this community and want our residents to have access to high-quality care right where they live. We administer free flu shots, offer CPR classes and routinely perform health screenings at community health fairs. We continue to affirm our ongoing commitment to bring exceptional healthcare back to the Village. We encourage you to find out for yourself how we can meet your health needs, now and in the future. We invite you to stop by, visit our Web site, at lenoxhealth.com, or give us a call at 646-665-6000 to learn more about all of the Downtown healthcare resources we offer. Hellinger is executive director, Lenox Health Greenwich Village.

MEX

August 8 - August 21, 2019

Coffee therapy is creating buzz BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

wo years ago, on a trip to his native Turkey, East Villager Uluç Ülgen did something he had done thousands of times before. He had coffee with his father. But this cup of coffee would prove to be special. After finishing the almost syrup-like drink, his father took his small porcelain cup, covered it with its saucer, flipped them both upside down and moved them in a circular motion three times. Then he flipped the cup right-side up to interpret the images he found in the runny grounds that had dripped along its sides, in traditional Turkish coffee reading fashion. His reading for his son was tremendously uplifting — plus gave him an idea. “You will truly enlighten your entire surroundings,” Ülgen’s father told him, looking up from the cup. “You will experience a big love.” Ülgen, a video and podcast creator, had taken a break from his video podcast Mürmur, for which he invited strangers into his East Village home for an hour-long conversation. He went overseas with family to deal with a rough patch that included a bad breakup and an eviction. A month later, inspired by his father’s coffee reading for him, Ülgen returned to the East Village and went back to work on Mürmur, except this time doing his own coffee readings for others during the show. “It is meant to be an opportunity to relay words of positivity, encouragement and hope,” Ülgen said of Turkish coffee reading, which is traditionally done in groups. According to the Ülgen the art of drinking Turkish coffee is just as much about the conversation as it is about the drink. The readings proved to be a hit. This February, Ülgen began hosting group coffee readings full time in his apartment, mostly advertised as an Airbnb experience. Over the last eight months alone, the 30-yearold has served between 800 and 900 cups of Turkish coffee during his group sessions, appropriately

PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

Ulgen uses an endoscope camera to photograph what he sees inside of each coffee cup during the readings.

August 8, 2019

PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

In the 6BC Botanic Garden treehouse, Uluc Ulgen, host of Kahve: The Turkish Coffee Therapy Session, explains how a traditional Turkish coffee reading is done to t wo group session par ticipants.

entitled Kahvë: The Turkish Coffee Therapy Session. Ülgen currently hosts one session daily Tuesday through Friday and two sessions on weekends, plus will host pop-up sessions once or twice a month. In a pop-up event on July 30, at the East Village’s 6BC Botanical Garden, 25 people participated in group readings — held in the place’s treehouse — with the coffee grounds in each person’s cup projected onto an iPad via an endoscope camera for group members to see. Endoscopes are typically used for medical purposes to look inside people’s bodies. Most attendees at the July 30 garden pop-up had never before had someone read their coffee grounds in a group setting. But potential nerves did not keep laughter from filling the garden as strangers squished together in the tiny treehouse jokingly argued about whether a butterfly was actually a swan or a caterpillar or actually something lewd. Participants were supportive and clapped after each reading. Participant Margarita Calderon commented on how fellow session members would frequently say “Congratulations” and “I’m so happy for you.” Like what his father did for him, Ülgen tries to instill hope for the future, self-assuredness and inner peace with his readings. TVG

“Not only did it give me a lot of assuredness but it gave me a lot to look forward to,” Ülgen reflected. The reading his father did for him was not only special in meaning but also because it was the last one his father would give him. He passed away a month after Ülgen returned to New York City. Meanwhile, Ülgen continues sharing the skill — and its empowering spirit of optimism — that his father taught him. “Everything he said came true,” he said.

PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH

Ulgen explains images he found in a par ticipant’s coffee grounds, using an endoscope photo projected onto an iPad. Schneps Media

By the time I got to Woodstock... Oy vey BY HARRY PINCUS

he passage of years is relentless in the human scheme, and it’s hard to believe that 50 have passed since that frozen tip of a January morning, when I walked away from Wingate High School, Brooklyn, New York, with my diploma in hand. The Beatles had taken to the roof of Apple that very day, and splendidly “passed the audition.” It all happened so fast, we didn’t know what we had lost. It was the year of the American apogee, when we went straight to the moon, Alice, in a module with less computing power than an old phone. And it was a summer of savage darkness, in Vietnam, and Manson’s mad spree. On Chappaquiddick Island, a black Buick plunged into that darkness, and a dream died in the churning tides. The world has certainly changed since that landmark summer, when hundreds of thousands of us journeyed to an Upstate New York farm, for something called Woodstock. They’ve been trying to find “Woodstock” again, of late, as if the Genie of Innocence and Hope still resides in the same bottle. But, sadly, that particular sprite only lives on in the aged eyes of those who looked upon the mountain and saw the light of electric guitars and the hopes of a land of children. Unfortunately, efforts to stage a 50th anniversary concert recently fell through, with Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang calling the fiasco, “a really bizarre trip.” My own journey began when I acquired an office boy’s job at a small Wall St. brokerage. There on the 33rd floor of 140 Broadway, I took my place in the adult workforce, supplying blue envelopes for Janet while the brokers perused Screw magazine, which they hid in their attaché cases. I prepared the coffee, maintained the Pitney Bowes postage stamp meter, and most important, cut the ticker tape, which emanated ceaselessly from an ancient mechanical oracle mounted beneath a glass bubble on a hallowed pedestal. But, inspired by a 20-year-old coworker who had left the day before to join a swami commune in West Virginia, I dumped the Wall St. job and set off for Woodstock. Some kids from Brighton Beach and I had assuaged our parents’ collective terror by renting a room in a nearby bungalow colony, for an additional 5 bucks a head. We were already tooling up Ocean Parkway in my friend Bob’s ’67 Chevy Impala when we heard that hundreds of thousands were also on the way, and that a state of emergency had been declared. Oh boy! The cost of gas, at 29 cents a gallon, as well as the room in the bungalow colony and the tickets for the three days, which Schneps Media

COURTESY HARRY PINCUS

A teenage Harr y Pincus, left, with singer Arlo Guthrie at Coney Island on Labor Day 1969, t wo weeks after Pincus’s anticlimactic Woodstock experience.

I believe cost $21, weighed heavily upon our 16-year-old souls. When the WMCA Good Guys announced on the car radio that the fence had been breached, and the concert was “free,” Bob decided that we ought to unload our tickets on some yokels along the way. In retrospect, I hope our victims kept their tickets, because they now fetch a premium on eBay. As for Bob, he would go on to sell his communications company to some corporate Big Brother for $5 million and, sadly, expire a few years later, on the day his divorce was finalized. It was the young Bob who’d cooked up the adventure, from his scarred desk beside yours truly at Erasmus Hall summer school. It was Bob who had a car. Bob supposed that we could somehow join the Woodstock film crew. My friend was preternaturally overweight, acne-ridden and balding, which was unfortunate, as he was otherwise quite brilliant and the possessor of legendary driving skills. It was as if his land yacht of a car was an extension of his body, and while the last few miles of our journey took hours, the big old Chevy had, by now, taken on at least 20 kids. We had people on the roof, the hood, the top of the trunk and, most delightfully, girls sitting on our laps. With Bob in full command, we managed to secure a parking spot just shy of the broken cyclone fence behind the stage, and simply walked in to the Great Aquarian Festival. The sight of hundreds of thousands of bodies, heaving and writhing, lined up along the hill was either awe inspiring or terrifying, depending upon how neurotic you were. I, of course, was terrified. All I could think of was what might happen once darkness descended upon this enormous bowl of humanity. What would happen when I lost my friends, and was left to my own wanderings,

without a ticket home? Furthermore, the scene was full of astounding hippies, rugged, mature men with full beards and long flowing hair, and wild and beautiful ladies. The hills were alive with the intoxicating smells of weed, patchouli oil, mud, sweat and shit. An Old Testament ghost with flowing black cape, a staff, and a goat, floated past us, just as Richie Havens began stamping out “Freedom” before our very eyes. We soon wandered back to explore the facilities, and discovered that save for some porta potties and a few phones attached to long lines of city kids calling their mothers, there were none. I had just quit my straight job, and figured that I looked like a child without so much as a wisp of facial hair, in the lame, striped polyester shirt my mother had foisted upon me. It was also clear that we might as well just give up, because five teenaged Jewish refugees from Brooklyn would be unable to compete with thousands of ripened hippies for the attention of the ladies. I would soon have my long hair and a beard, live in a flower truck and cavort on a goat farm in Colorado with

TVG

other naked souls, but by the time I got to Woodstock…I just wasn’t ready. As we watched Richie Havens, from a nearby rise on the hill, it occurred to me that being wedged into such a throng for three days and nights might actually be a bore. Richie Havens was minuscule, and the sound was no better than it might have been on my friend’s stereo, back at Trump Village in Coney Island. In light of the extravagant circumstances, we soon cooked up a bogus exit plan. We would all leave, in order to check out the bungalow colony, and then return to the festival. As soon as we hit the road out, however, opposing the endless flow coming in, a sense of remorse overtook us. We realized that we could never return. Of course the bourgeois comforts of the bungalow colony were still there waiting for us. But now all we had was an empty wooden shack, and no one had any desire to sleep on the floor that night. Bob then tried to buck us up, by proposing that we visit a certain waitress he knew at Poppy’s Pancake House in nearby Parksville. They had yet to build the highway extension that doomed Poppy’s, and the joint was jumpin’. Bob’s waitress friend was a sweetie, but didn’t have enough girlfriends available to go around. As we couldn’t just go home, we soon arrived at a collective decision. We would go off with a waitress or two and see Jane Fonda in “Barbarella” at the drivein, and then head for home. And so it was that our weary troop pulled an all-nighter, and was nearly killed on the way home when Bob’s exhausted driving skills suddenly blinked out beside an 18-wheeler on the highway. When I finally awoke that evening back in Brooklyn, and strolled out to the sultry courtyard of the Amalgamated Butcher’s Union Co-op, everyone was listening avidly for accounts of the great Aquarian Festival at Woodstock. “I was just there,” I yawned. “It was O.K.”

August 8, 2019

Manhattan Happenings Film Forum Web site, filmforum.org. “Black Panther”: Take an actionpacked trip to the kingdom of Wakanda as the Central Park Conservancy presents this popular 2018 Marvel comicbook-inspired sci-fi film on Thurs., Aug. 15. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. and film starts at dusk. Located in Central Park at the landscape between Sheep Meadow and the 72nd St. Cross Drive.

BY MICAEL A MACAGNONE

POETRY Poets House Showcase: The 27th Annual Poets House Showcase runs until Sat., Aug 17, at Poets House’s Battery Park City home. The Showcase is a free exhibit featuring more than 3,300 books of poetry published by more than 800 presses over the previous 18 months. At Poets House, Elizabeth Kray Hall, 10 River Terrace. Free. Find more information at www.poetshouse. org.

ART “Silent Music,” by Kara Smith, is a mixed-media exhibit that investigates the codes and patterns of player-piano music rolls. The show focuses on how sounds can be experienced visually in a variety of tactile mediums, plus pushes the barriers of language and communication in new directions. Curated by Brooklyn-based artist and curator Sara Jones, the exhibit includes paintings, prints and fiber arts, as well as a sound piece by Berkshire-based musician Wes Buckley. Free. Closing reception Sat. Aug 10, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., at 266 W. 37th St.

PERFORMANCE Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart series ends Sat., Aug. 10, so there are a few more chances to see performances. The dance-theater work “Under Siege,” by celebrated choreographer Yang Liping, explores war and power, betrayal and passion, from Aug. 8 to Aug. 10, at 7:30 p.m., at David Geffen Hall. In “Mozart à la Haydn,” pianist Steven Osborne joins Louis Langrée and the Festival Orchestra in a festive farewell to summer, on Aug. 9 and Aug. 10, at 7:30 p.m., in Geffen Hall. For more information, visit http://www.lincolncenter.org/mostly-mozart-festival . Harlem Week: This annual event, now in its 45th year, has become one of the nation’s largest cultural events, and this year will have 100-plus events, including conferences, seminars, sports, music, food, dance and more. Summer Stage in Harlem is THE palce to be on Thursday nights, with “Broadway Night” on Aug. 8 and “Memphis Harlem” on Aug. 15, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Adam Clayton Powell Office Building, at 163 W. 125th St., at the corner of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. First Draft: A weekly reading series with a DJ, hosted by Urban Word NYC. First Draft is a free, uncensored, open mic for all ages, encouraging artistic expression, experimentation and development across all genres. At the northern end of Herald Square Park, at 34th St. and Sixth Ave., next to the Bellringers statue. Tues., Aug. 13, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

OUTDOORS

The secrets of Jay Maisel’s former building at Bower y and Spring St. — and of Maisel himself — are revealed in the new documentar y “Jay Myself.”

West, includes an immersive gallery with a 180-degree screen. Tickets can be purchased on the museum’s Web site, www.amnh.org, and are part of museum general admission. Running until Fri., Aug. 16.

tographer/artist Jay Maisel inhabited a thriving artist’s paradise. A successful commercial photographer and prolific art photographer, Maisel is also an obsessive collector of objects that have inspired him. “Jay Myself” chronicles his monumental move out of his 72-room home following its sale, the largest private real estate deal in New York City history. With humor and awe, Stephen Wilkes captures Maisel’s half-century of collecting — having had the room to save and exhibit every last thing he found beautiful, strange or (potentially) useful. Through Tues., Aug. 13, at Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. Tickets, $15, can be purchased through the

NATURE / SCIENCE Unseen Oceans at the Museum of Natural History: With the use of 21stcentury technologies like robotics, satellite monitoring and more, scientists are revealing the unseen habitats of the oceans’ most mysterious animals and mapping remote, inhospitable areas in unprecedented detail. The museum exhibit, at 79th St. and Central Park

August 8, 2019

FILM “Jay Myself”: The Bank — a six-floor, 36,000-square-foot, 100-year-old landmarked building — sits on the corner of the Bowery and Spring St. For decades, it was draped in mystery, graffiti-covered, with boarded-up windows. Inside of it, from 1966, renowned phoTVG

Central Park Tour: “Heart of the Park”: Walk straight through the heart of Central Park on this east-to-west tour led by Central Park Conservancy guides. Enjoy all the scenic, sculptural and architectural elements the park has to offer. Highlights include Conservatory Water (model-boat pond), Loeb Boathouse, Bethesda Terrace, Bow Bridge, Cherry Hill, The Lake and Strawberry Fields. Fri., Aug. 9, noon to 1:30 p.m. Meet at the Samuel F.B. Morse statue (inside the park, at 72nd St. and Fifth Ave.). Tour ends at 72nd St. and Central Park West. “Rats, Bats and Pigeons, Oh My!” New York City is home to an amazing abundance of wildlife. In this New York City Naturalist Club event, Urban Park Rangers will guide you to the best wildlife viewing spots in the urban jungle. Sat., Aug. 10, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet at Tompkins Square Park at Avenue A and St. Mark’s Place. Basic canoeing: Learn the all-important “J” stroke and the “bow sweep,” and — most importantly — how not to tip over! Urban Park Rangers will teach introductory canoeing for ages 8 years and older, though all skill levels are welcome. Participation in a mandatory safety review led by a trained Ranger is required. First come, first served. The line to participate may be closed before 12:30 p.m. due to demand. Sun., Aug. 11, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m, at Central Park’s Harlem Meer, at 110th St. and Lenox Ave. Schneps Media

Eats

I-CE-NY ice cream shop is rollin’ BY GABE HERMAN

lot of local ice cream shops boast that their flavors are locally made, but I-CE-NY actually makes its ice cream from scratch right in front of you in the shop. It’s hard to get more local than that. The company started in Thailand, where it expanded to 30 locations in just its first six months. In 2015, founder Kajitsa Premwimol decided to expand to America, and the first shop in the States opened at 101 MacDougal St. The shop is still there, on the busy block between Bleecker and W. Third. Business continues to boom, and the company now has more than 250 locations in Asia, and more than 20 in America in all parts of the country, from Florida to Colorado to Michigan. The MacDougal St. spot is small and can get crowded, but it’s worth any wait to see the ice cream being made. It’s prepared near the counter area on big

PHOTO BY I_CE_NY/INSTAGRAM

In the foreground, chocolate ice cream with strawberr y, raspberr y, brownies and chocolate sauce.

metal plates that reach temperatures as low as 15 degrees below zero. First, an ice cream base is poured out onto the plate, and other ingredients are then added in based on flavor options, like Rose Lychee, Mango Sticky Rice, Strawberry Cheesecake and S’mores. Custom orders can also be made, with a choice from 20 mix-in ingredients and more than 30 toppings. Metal paddles are used to quickly chop up the ingredients and mash them together, to be spread into a thin layer. In minutes, the ice cream firms up with the ingredients mixed in. It’s then scraped into rolls and served in cups. Despite the unique appearance of being served in rolls, the end result is a great and familiar ice cream taste, very creamy and with a thin, smooth texture. That, along with the fun of watching how it’s made, make it easy to see why the company is thriving. More information can be found at icenyicecream.com.

New urban farm grows at Essex Crossing BY GABE HERMAN

alk about a green roof! Well, actually, it’s a little bit orange and red, too. Carrots, beets, baby kale and more are now being farmed on a rooftop deck on the Lower East Side at the new Essex Crossing development. The Essex Crossing Farm, which opened July 31, is one quarter-acre, located on the sixth-floor deck of The Essex, at 125 Essex St., one of the nine sites of the development, which has been opening in stages. Produce from the farm will go to a stand at the Market Line, a 150,000square-foot marketplace that will open later this summer and resemble a bazaar, offering a wide range of foods and other goods. The new elevated farm is being run by the local nonprofit Project EATS, which operates 10 other urban farms across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. This one at Essex Crossing is the largest organic farm on Manhattan Island, and second largest in the borough after the Randall’s Island Farm. Linda Bryant, founder and president of the nonprofit, said the Downtown urban farm is a great opportunity. “Project EATS is extremely grateful for the opportunity Delancey Street Associates is giving us to work with and support this richly diverse, resourceful Schneps Media

COURTESY DELANCEY STREET ASSOCIATES

The Essex Crossing Farm, above, is a one-quar ter-acre space in the new L .E.S. development.

and baby kale. For now, until the Market Line stand opens, the Farmacy is selling produce in the new Essex Crossing Park, at Clinton and Broome Sts., on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

and resilient community on the Lower East Side,” she said. The items being grown, to be sold at the Farmacy stand in the Market Line, include root vegetables, like turnips, carrots, beets and radishes, along with baby greens, like arugula, mustards TVG

Project EATS will also run several programs at the Essex farm, including classes and after-school programs for public school students about the role of healthy foods and nutrition. In addition, senior residents at Essex Crossing and in L.E.S. more broadly, will get free breakfast on Saturdays this year. The program will expand to families with children next year. Also, students at Seward Park High School campus will have the chance to get jobs through the Essex farm in agricultural and community health training. Plus, there will be a public art project at the farm, called “Up On the Roof.” One of the Essex Crossing developers, L + M Development Partners, has previously worked with Project EATS at a farm in Brownsville, Brooklyn, which yields more than 10,000 pounds of produce every season. “As we know well from our work in Brownsville with Project EATS,” said Debbie Kenyon, L + M vice chairperson and senior partner, “we couldn’t possibly find an operator more dedicated not simply to creating a great farm, but to engaging with the community on many levels — from education, to senior programming, to workforce development, to health and wellness. We’re looking forward to welcoming the L.E.S. community to the farm and providing fresh produce for the neighborhood in the Market Line.” August 8, 2019

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August 8 - August 21, 2019

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The path to a safer cycling city clists. Robyn Hightman, a 20-year-old bike messenger, was reportedly riding outside the bike lane at Sixth Ave. and 23rd St. in Chelsea, when fatally hit by a truck. Other messengers said that it’s common at that spot to zip outside the lane for a block or so, then duck back into it. I found myself doing the same thing about a week later at 23rd St. and First Ave. when a pack of cyclists in front of me were too slow. But I really looked over my shoulder for traffic as I was doing it, and luckily there wasn’t any on the street at the time. While I really do like the bike lanes, I am not a big fan of “sharrows,” which bikes and cars supposedly can “share.” These are totally unprotected areas that cars can drive onto — so it’s basically at the driver’s discretion whether she goes into them. Yes, sure, I see some cyclists out there who blow through red lights.

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

’ve wanted to write a column on biking in the city for a while now. Somehow, though, despite thinking about it a lot, I always end up putting it on the back burner each week as something more pressing invariably comes up. Yet now we are facing a crisis as the number of cyclists’ deaths so far this year in the Big Apple has already spiked to 18 — nearly double the 10 deaths for all of last year. Cyclist injuries are also on the rise. That’s why the bike lanes are so crucial. I definitely “stay in my lane.” I feel safe in the lanes. I can ride a CitiBike from my work in Downtown Brooklyn to my home in East Midtown Manhattan, 4.6 miles, in just over a half hour — and the entire trip is in a protected bike lane: Jay St. to the Manhattan Bridge, then up Allen St. and First Ave. It’s faster for me than commuting by subway — by 15 minutes. Biking over the bridge is great cardio, and a side benefit is I find I think things through while doing it. Somehow by the time I reach the span’s midpoint, things on my mind resolve, and then I’m happily flying down the other side. Of course, there’s also the health benefit, both physical and mental. Small annoyances fade much more quickly after a good bike ride, and your body feels energized. Just the act of riding feels liberating — because it is. At the bottom of the Manhattan Bridge there’s a kiosk with an L.E.D. display showing how many cyclists have used the bridge so far this year — well over 600,000 — and how many each day, usually somewhere around 7,000 or so in the warm weather, I think. (Somehow, I never actually seem to be riding by it at 11:59 p.m. to check the day’s final tally.) The bike lane on Allen St. is one of my favorites. At one point, the lane actually veers up onto the mall and you’re riding along a landscaped path with flowers and tall grasses along the sides while dodging the occasional low-hanging branch and you sometimes can even hear crickets — in the concrete jungle. It’s like a little, refreshing, meditative nature ride, and all the while you’re totally safe from traffic, up on the mall. But if you really want to hear crickets, try the Hudson River bikeway. I heard a virtual cricket concert there riding along the path’s Chelsea section this past Friday evening. No question, the bike lanes have increased cyclists’ safety. Just look at the relatively new two-way lane on the east Schneps Media

FILE PHOTO

Upper West Sider Olga Cook was biking on the Hudson River path in June 2016 when she was killed at Chambers St. by a truck turning from the West Side Highway.

side of Chrystie St. on the Lower East Side/Chinatown, which I take on my way to work. Before, there were separate one-way bike lanes on each side of the street, and the Downtown one ran right past all kinds of lumber stores and beer outlets, with forklifts constantly backing up into the bike lane. Now, with the two-way lane on the east side of the street, the cyclists are safe — but those riding Downtown have to go slowly and ring their bells so crossing pedestrians look out for them. Granted, though, the lanes aren’t perfect. Sometimes you get people going the wrong way in them — bikers, skateboarders, delivery guys on e-bikes — and pedestrians using them as a sidewalk extension. If the lane is protected by a row of parked cars, you always still can get “doored,” so you have to ride cautiously. And, even if I’m in a bike lane, I’m always looking over my shoulder when I go through an intersection to check for turning cars. Most drivers, I find, though, are pretty considerate, to be honest. Especially lately, maybe because of the awareness over cyclist fatalities, I’m finding a lot of drivers and cabbies are stopping before making their left turns, going out of their way to let cyclists go by first before completing their turns. As I pass, I usually nod my head or flick my fingers on my right hand a bit while not letting go of the handlebar, to thank them for letting me go first. Admittedly, though, the lanes can get jammed up, such as by slower cy-

PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

An early-morning photo, from last year, of a kiosk that tallies rides over the Manhattan Bridge.

Personally, I always stop at the special bicycle stoplights on 14th and 23rd Sts. along First and Second Aves. Again, it’s just safer. The only time I really make bad moves is if I’m rushing. The Friday night after Hightman’s tragic death, I was in Chelsea for an offbeat dinner party I regularly go to. Afterward, I went by the white “ghost bike” memorial on Sixth Ave. It was festooned with flowers, messages, candles. I spoke to a young woman who also came by to pay her respects. Taking a working break from college in Europe, she lives in Brooklyn and bikes to Midtown every day, 8 miles each way. Glancing over at the sidewalk, she said in her country, there would be a wide bike lane there and it would be raised above street level to protect it TVG

from traffic. I said something about New York always valuing speed and business, which maybe is why cars are prioritized. “This country is great, but in some ways this country sucks,” she said, sadly. “It’s pissing on the little guy,” she said, of cars mowing down cyclists and the lack of more protected spaces for biking. I reassured her that while we are not there yet, we’re getting there, that young people, especially, want to be able to bike safely in the city, and that, gradually, it will happen. We touched on the fact — probably I brought it up — that Hightman was killed after veering out of the bike lane, and I said I never do that — only, of course, to actually do it myself a few days later. That’s because, she explained, I have a “reverse commute,” so the lanes I’m riding in aren’t as crowded. Yup, she was right. (The dinner party’s hostess later told me that she had seen the scene after Hightman’s death — the truck was still there — and that the cyclist actually had been trying to go from the right side of the avenue to the left side, where the bike lane is.) The young Euro biker and I eventually said goodbye to each other. As usual, I pedaled home on a CitiBike, on the new protected crosstown bike lane on 26th St. There’s a ghost bike there, too, just past Eighth Ave. A small sign notes it’s for Dan Hanegby, 36, killed there by a bus in June 2017. His death — the first of a CitiBike rider — led to the creation of that crosstown lane and one on 29th St., which I also use when I’m going to the Friday night party. Sadly, Hanegby died on an unsafe street that today — because of his tragic death — I ride on in safety. CitiBikes also make cycling safer: They are pretty slow, sturdy, with fat tires that roll right over potholes and excellent brakes. It took getting used to, but now I ride them everywhere. According to my account, over the past six years, I’ve logged (or slogged?) 1,709 CitiBike trips, traveling an estimated 2,868 miles — or 100 miles more than from New York City to Los Angeles. So, basically, I’ve biked across the country. In doing so, my account info tells me, I have not spewed 2,329 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. So I guess that’s my little part of a Green New Deal. Many of the deaths have been in Brooklyn on streets without bike lanes. In response, the mayor recently announced the city would create 10 “bike priority districts” in Brooklyn and Queens, plus add 30 miles of new protected bike lanes per year — up from the previous 20 per year. Obviously, that’s going to have a huge impact. As the saying goes, and for safety: “Stay in your lane.” August 8, 2019

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August 8, 2019

Real Estate

Bright ideas for brownstone lights BY LIZ SADLER CRYAN

f you live in a brownstone or townhouse, selecting outdoor light fi xtures for a home in some cases as old as the lightbulb itself can be tricky. Should you choose something historically accurate to illuminate the 10-foothigh double doors, or something spare and modern to complement the historic facade? “First, if the house is landmarked or in a landmarked area, the Landmarks Preservation Commission will actually have to review the fi xture and finish specification,” interior designer Tamara Eaton explained. “They typically like to see either traditional fi xtures or very minimal fi xtures, if they are not too dominantly displayed.” The Urban Electric Co. offers a wide range of finishes and designs, such as the Altamont sconce, Eaton noted. When selecting a finish, the designer usually opts for black to match the trim color of a typical brownstone. “We often consider the door and facade color when selecting lights,” Eaton said. “And more often than not, we select a black finish, so it ties into either the door color, or the black ironwork typically found on the handrail or fence to the property. “I personally prefer either a very modern and clean exterior light or something stripped down that still has a traditional reference.” Eaton recommends timers that you can adjust throughout the year, according to the daylight hours. For a traditional design or land-

PHOTO BY SUSAN DE VRIES

marked townhouse, Remains Lighting offers a wide variety of custom and made-to-order fi xtures, such as the Sorenson Exterior Wall Lantern, architect Anshu Bangia of Bangia Agostinho Architecture said. “When designing outdoor lighting for residential projects,” Bangia said, “our focus can range from using decorative or point-source lighting to indicate a path or entry, to illuminating surfaces with diffuse, indirect light to

PHOTO BY SUSAN DE VRIES

highlight materials, give visual depth, and provide outdoor spaces with a sense of comfort.” For lighting a path or steps, Bangia recommends the Recessed Luminaires by Bega. For surfaces, such as garden walls or a stone patio, she suggests Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting. For outdoor fi xtures at medium price points, designers Suzanna and Lauren Mcgrath of McGrath2 recommend the lighting company Lamps Plus. Urban Electric is another preferred but pricier option.

PHOTO BY SUSAN DE VRIES

August 8, 2019

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“We prefer to select traditional fi xtures in finishes that replicate vintage lighting,” Lauren McGrath said. “Aged zinc is one of our favorites.” The designers often opt for motion sensors to illuminate the front of a townhouse. “Motion sensors are practical,” she said, “particularly on the street side of the house. So, when available, we definitely like to use them.” This article first ran in Brownstoner, a sister publication of The Villager. Schneps Media

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