Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Merchant
River House
opens, pg. 15
®
Volume 23, Number 36
express The Newspaper of Lower Manhattan January 19 - 25, 2011
Imam shuffle
at Park 51
BY Aline Reynolds nent” of the project, accord-
Imam Shaykh Abdallah ing to a statement issued by
Adhami, who for 20 years the center.
led prayers at a former Adhami eagerly accepted
mosque two blocks away the position, calling it an
from Park51, is joining “extraordinary opportunity”
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to be a key advisor in the
as one of several chief reli- project moving forward.
gious advisors of the future “[Park51] has enormous
Islamic community center creative and healing poten-
on Park Place. tial for the collective good
Adhami and a half-dozen in New York City and in
other prominent N.Y.C.- our nation,” said the Imam,
based religious leaders will whose former mosque had
be added to the executive to close after it lost its lease,
board of Park51, which is according to Park51.
close to gaining nonprofit Born in Georgetown,
status. Washington D.C., Adhami
Adhami and the other studied architecture at Pratt
reverends, rabbis and Institute in Brooklyn, and
Imams soon-to-be appointed worked for seven years in
by Sharif El-Gamal, chief international organizational
Downtown Express photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
executive officer of SoHo development, communica-
Continued on page 20
D
News �������������������������1-7, 10-16
Editorial Pages�� 10-11 owntown
youth ��������������������������������� 22
arts ���������������������������������� 23-27 digest
Classifieds��������������������� 26
wraps.
ducer Amy Sewell, is also coming up with tions improve,” which the developer antici-
a dollar figure of the amount of affordable pates to happen “in the coming weeks or
housing the city has subsidized. months.”
The task force also hopes to form He noted that the delay of the sale
At Muscle Maker Grill, eating Manhattan Seniors, a nonprofit that would would not imminently affect the construc-
healthy doesn't mean giving be responsible for supervising affordable tion schedule.
up on great food. From our
freshly prepared Italian and
Tex-Mex wraps, pastas, Asian
entrees, salads, burgers and
more, every dish is prepared
with your health and taste
buds in mind.
Lost mitten
Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess
police blotter
said.
Police arrested Enrique Cova, 43, Thurs., Jan. 6 and Gathers, 55, was arrested and charged with larceny after he — Alber t Amateau
N.Y.U. to start oil-spill cleanup on Bleecker St.
By Albert Amateau While about 5,000 gallons of the leaked No. 6 heating oil coming in. I can feel it when I take a shower,” Backer said.
New York University will begin excavation for the clean- was removed soon after the leak was discovered from two Moreover, cracks in the masonry of the buildings also admit
up of the Dec. 6, 2009, oil leak at Washington Square Village tanks in the boiler room and underground areas in front of air, Backer added.
— with continued monitoring of air quality and groundwater 3 and 4 Washington Square Village, about 11,000 gallons of Kung said she would definitely look into the possibility
— in the next week or so, university officials told residents congealed oil in the soil must be removed as part of a deeper of more extensive air monitoring, including tests at the
and Community Board 2 representatives on Jan. 5. remediation. Morton Williams supermarket on the south side of Bleecker
Beth Morningstar, N.Y.U. assistant vice president for St. The current plan calls for random air monitoring 10 to
strategic initiatives in the university operations division, 20 feet downwind from the construction area.
promised anxious Washington Square Village residents that
she would respond to calls around the clock from residents
during the cleanup project, which is expected to be complete
Residents and neighbors, including Judith Callet, resi-
dential chairperson of the Bleecker Area Merchants and
Residents Association, are also anxious about auto and
• Dry Cleaners
by early May 2011. bicycle traffic when the parking lane on Bleecker St. is
• Evening Formal
• Wedding Gowns
Stephanie Kung, health and safety director of N.Y.U. closed at the end of January and traffic is confined to one
operations and the person in charge of the cleanup project, lane during the construction period. They asked N.Y.U. to
• Launder & Press
told residents that no weekend work has been scheduled at urge the city Department of Transportation to limit traffic
• Wash & Fold Laundry
• Alterations this time. Groundwater test wells, installed soon after the on Bleecker St. during the project.
• Patches & Repairs
• Carpet
& Rug Cleaning
emergency removal was completed, will continue testing. However, Jo Hamilton, chairperson of Community Board
Random air quality tests in public areas of Washington 2, told residents that D.O.T. has existing traffic protocols
Square Village buildings 3 and 4 will continue during the wherever construction impacts on street and sidewalk circu-
project, Kung said. lation. Nevertheless, the C.B. 2 Transportation Committee
Barbara Backer, co-chairperson of the Washington will hold a hearing on the cleanup’s traffic impact, Hamilton
Square Village Tenants Association, however, called for air said. Kung said that D.O.T. is expected to issue construc-
testing in apartments on the first residential floor of the tion and fence permits by the time digging begins. While
buildings. the planted area between the Bleecker St. sidewalk and the
“There is a whole row of apartments in buildings 3 and
4 with vents in the kitchens and bathrooms and there is air Continued on page 8
downtown express Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 5
212-233-2995
Most Major Insurance Carriers Accepted
6 Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 downtown express
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Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess ������������������������������������������ ��� ��������������������
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The freezing temperatures did not seem to bother this runner last Saturday as
he jogged in Hudson River Park.
8 Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 downtown express
Continued on page 12 BRC outreach workers, Garzon, left, and Poirier, right, in Madison Square Park.
TRIBECA HOME
HARDWARE & PAINT
217 WEST BROADWAY, NYC
BETWEEN FRANKLIN & WHITE STS.
(212) 925 - 7200
WWW.TRIBECAPAINT.COM
Published by
from Upper Manhattan to the space in the building
at 26 Broadway and the giving of space in the Tweed
taminated air to the disruption of the side-
walks surrounding the site. Letters policy
Community Media, LLC Courthouse to an untested charter school illustrate But, with the perseverance and dedica- Downtown Express welcomes letters to
145 Sixth Ave., NY, NY 10013 the neglect that has been shown to Downtown’s tion that our Downtown community has The Editor. They must include the writer’s
Phone: (212) 229-1890 plight. shown time and again since 9/11, we man- first and last name, a phone number for
Fax: (212) 229-2790 Ms. Black must now lead the board of the aged to get the demolition completed and confirmation purposes only, and any affilia-
On-line: www.downtownexpress.com Department of Education to address the overcrowd- we now look forward to better days for 130 tion that relates directly to the letter’s subject
E-mail: news@downtownexpress.com ing issue. The population boom in Lower Manhattan Liberty Street and a bright future for all of matter. Downtown Express reserves the right
YOUR FREE
WEEKLY has been one of the great post-9/11 success stories. Lower Manhattan. to edit letters for space, clarity, civility or libel
Gay City
NEWSPAPER
It is now up to Ms. Black to recognize this and mobi- reasons. Letters should be e-mailed to news@
NEWS
lize the D.O.E. to support this growth. She can start Sheldon Silver DowntownExpress.com or can be mailed to
head
head
head head
T T
by pressing to make sure we see a new school built Speaker of the New York State Assembly 145 Sixth Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10013.
Downtown Express is published every week by on top of the Peck Slip post office. She can con-
Community Media LLC, 145 Sixth Ave., New
York, N.Y. 10013 (212) 229-1890. The entire tinue by taking very seriously the fact that sustaining
contents of the newspaper, including advertising,
headbe reproduced
are copyrighted and no part may more head
Downtown’s post-9/11 residential revival will depend You Saw It...
on planning and building infrastructure that supports
more head
Member of the
National
actually having students sit in them. We’ll give Ms.
Black a pass, at this early juncture, on her words. Her
actions in quickly addressing the dire school situation
of our Readers.
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downtown express Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 11
talking point
Ellen: The Mama of them all
BY JERRY TALLMER were called “coloreds” and, at Saks, were her way through Immigration.
It must have been at least 30 years required to wear blue smocks. I rather think Ellen increasingly liked
ago that I went to visit Ellen Stewart at “Sophie Gimbel, who owned the store, being treated, toward the end, as a princess
N.Y.U. Hospital. She was all dolled up said: ‘No niggers in my department’ — yes.” — no, loved it. But again, who would not?
in bed in a fancy pink and yellow ruffled Ellen had declared, “she really said that.” There’s an incident I wrote about some
nightgown. “Hello, honey,” she said in But in the face of such open bigotry at years ago, and now I’m never going to have
that wonderful, inimitable, sharp-edged, the top and the envy verging on hatred by the opportunity to write about it again, so
soft-core Geechee English that now none many at the bottom, black as well as white, here it goes:
of us will ever hear again. “I died twice black even more than white, slim, stunning In the winter of 1998 there was an exhib-
since you saw me last.” “Miss Ellen” did become one of Saks Fifth it at Cooper Union of posters of La MaMa
Well, three strikes is out— or maybe 53 Avenue’s top dress designers of that era. productions from here, there, everywhere
strikes of terminating illness, all told, since And not in a blue smock. around the world. I had the bright idea of
then. Ellen Stewart, the creator and lifelong Cut to a cold night on MacDougal Street walking through the gallery with Ellen while
prime mover of Off Off Broadway’s world- in the early 1960’s. It is intermission time at she told me about this place, that place, this
embracing La MaMa E.T.C. (Experimental some play or other, and Ellen Stewart, some- audience, that audience, whatever… . She
Theater Club), departed this Earth late body I barely knew back then, is chatting said: “Fine, I’ll meet you at the exhibit.” But
Wednesday night or early Thursday morn- on the sidewalk with a tall, skinny, coatless, then her son Larry Hovell, out in Green Bay,
ing, January 13, 2011. not-bad-looking young guy who is hugging Wisconsin, was about to die, and she had to
She may have been 91. She may have himself for warmth as he hops up and down go be with him.
been more. Ellen wasn’t going to tell you. on one foot and the other. He took a turn for the better, she returned
The New York Times gives her birth date “This is one of my chicks,” she says to me to New York, we made a second date to go
as November 7, 1919, her place of birth as with a laugh. “His name is Sam Shepard.” through the exhibit; then Larry really did
Chicago, her place of death as Beth Israel It was to provide a nest for all her chicks die. Now, upon her return, we made a third
Hospital in this city, and says she “spent her that Ellen Stewart had in 1962 opened Ellen Stewart date to view those posters, this time on the
childhood years” between Chicago and the a tiny off-off-off coffeehouse theater in a Saturday afternoon before a Broadway show
rather smaller Alexandria, Louisiana, though $50-a-month basement at 321 East Ninth MaMa from Estonia.) I had to cover.
I always thought it was the other way round, Street, mostly for the benefit of two fledgling But Ellen was pursued by bigotry even When I got to Cooper Union at the
Louisiana first — Geechee terrain — then playwrights, Paul Foster and Fredrick Lights unto 321 East Ninth Street, a building appointed hour, no Ellen in sight, but a La
Chicago. (the foster brother who’d lived across the dedicated to, in Ellen’s words, “no Jews, no MaMa aide was there to apologize and tell
It was all a sort of mystery, an unwritten hall from her in Chicago). Hispanics, no niggers.” The word was spread me Ellen was ill.
— never-to-be-written — Faulkner novel. around the block that she was running a What kind of ill?
But once — just once — when she was whorehouse. Finally, to save her landlord “She’s sitting on that wooden bench just
letting drop a little bit about her days in from having his property wrecked, La MaMa inside the front door. She’s shivering all over.
Chicago before coming to New York, she ‘eighty percent of what is moved out, in the middle of the night, to 82 She can’t talk.”
hit me with a sunny little s--t-eating Shirley Second Avenue, and subsequently to a larger Cooper Union is only two blocks from
Temple smile, and then: “Some people used now considered American space one flight up over a dry cleaner’s at La MaMa. I covered the ground as fast as
to think me pretty, you know.” 122 Second Avenue. I could. Sure enough, Ellen was sitting, all
Pretty? As my mother would have said, theater originated It was there that I caught up with La huddled up, on that small wooden bench just
Cleopatra isn’t in it. Sheer café-au-lait gor- MaMa E.T.C. and the wielder of that cow- to the left of La MaMa’s front door. She was
geous is what Ellen was, and ever more at La MaMa.’ bell. shivering uncontrollably.
so as the years went by and the fragility Her troubles were not over. It was a I sat down, put my arm around her, and
burned ever brighter. Fragile — but oh my! — Harvey Fierstein time when Ed Koch, the mayor, and Robert suggested we go to a hospital. She shook
Henry James would have had a field day Moses, the commissioner of everything, were her head, No. We sat like that for a long
word-painting it for us, Ellen Stewart’s ever- cleaning up the Village and East Village. time, and she never stopped shivering. Of
increasing incandescence. “They cleaned up on us,” Ellen had dryly course there was no way to get her to her
This farewell is being written several The first plays ever done on Ninth remarked during that profile interview, but apartment, five flights of stairs over where
days before a Mass for Ellen was to be held Street were Leonard Melfi’s “Lazy Baby in the end, La MaMa outlasted and outma- we were sitting.
Monday morning January 17, at St. Patrick’s Susan,” Michael Locascio’s “A Corner of the neuvered them by obtaining an impossible- Finally I said: “Look, I’ll cancel the thing
Cathedral, Fifth Avenue and 50th Street Morning” and Andy Milligan’s adaptation of to-obtain coffeehouse license. I have to see tonight.”
— a most appropriate locale in the light of the spooky Tennessee Williams short story A couple of other hops along St. Mark’s “No,” Ellen said — found the strength
what Ellen, in a profile by me in Thrive, had “One Arm.” Even though the audiences usu- Place finally led to 74-A East Fourth Street, to say — “You go do your job. I’ll be all
recalled a few years ago about her arrival in ally ran to no more than 10 or a dozen hardy thanks to a $25,000 Ford Foundation grant right.”
New York in 1950 as an unknown would-be souls, Ellen had to shake a miniature cowbell arranged by a good man named McNeil So I went.
fashion designer. and quiet them down at the start of every Lowry. Most of the $25,000 went toward Before the uptown show I called La
A cab driver had charged her 50 bucks to show with the mantra: “This is La MaMa installing a whole new roof and rear wall, MaMa. The woman in the La MaMa box
take her from Grand Central Station to the E.T.C., dedicated to the playwright and all but 74-A East Fourth Street remains La office said Ellen was still sitting there, still
Hotel Theresa in Harlem, but Fidel Castro, aspects of the theater.” MaMa’s home base from that day to this. shivering, just a few feet away. No, Ellen
as it happens, had taken over the whole I still have one of those bells. Oh yes, Ellen had her faults, as who does couldn’t physically get to her feet.
Hotel Theresa. Somehow she found another Harvey Fierstein’s much-quoted “Eighty not? To her, theater was movement and At intermission I phoned again. Same
hotel. percent of what is now considered American feeling before all else; she had all too little story. And at close to midnight I called once
“Monday morning the man on the eleva- theater originated at La MaMa” may not respect for the written and printed word. more. Nothing had changed.
tor told me I could ride all the way down- be altogether true, but it is true enough. You never found much Shakespeare going Around 10 a.m. Sunday I called La
town on a bus. Went downtown, looking for Nobody knows just how many thousands of on at La MaMa; she left that to Joe Papp. MaMa anew. Was Ellen Stewart still there
a job, didn’t get it, saw this big church across playwrights, composers, directors, design- But you could always find a superfluity of on that bench? Could she now get to the
the street from a big store. Went into the ers, techies and, oh yes, actors, have been those Old Greeks and their wailing Trojan phone?
church, which was St. Patrick’s Cathedral, hatched at La MaMa over the past half Women. Plus everything else. “Oh no,” said the box-office person,
said a prayer, came out and went into the century, or how many countries around If Ellen was totally loving she could also “Ellen’s over in the Annex, moving the fur-
store, which was Saks Fifth Avenue. I didn’t the globe have in one way or another been be very angry, and could maintain that anger niture around.”
know what Saks Fifth Avenue was.” enriched by La MaMa and vice versa. (The for a long time, as she did with me after an Dear Old Greeks and Trojan Ladies up
She soon learned. This was in the days next thing I have to write about in these Israeli actress/director I’d befriended turned there, please lend Ellen Stewart a hand with
when Negro employees at such big emporia pages is an angry new play coming to La out to have used a La MaMa booking to lie those chairs.
downtown express
12 Januar y 19 - 25, 2011
then you can start to have a conversa-
the resourcefulness that allows people to tion about some of the things we can help
survive this,” Rosenblatt replies. “You them with, about which programs might fit
also have to try and make a connection, them.”
to get them to tell you their name, so that Poirier notices a man sitting alone on
we see they are Alan, not a homeless guy. a park bench, so we double back. Garzon
Then we can see what we can do to help speaks to him in Spanish, and he is friendly,
Alan, what Alan needs.” but says he doesn’t need help. When asked if
As we walk, Garzon, a thin, young, he would be willing to share his story with a
soft-spoken Latino man, tells me that he reporter, the man replies that he is too busy.
has success at this work because talk- We say adios, and move on. We walk outside
ing to people comes naturally to him. the park and around the block and encoun-
January 12 will mark two years since ter another man sitting on a park bench. He
he began doing street outreach. He was is not homeless, he says, indignantly.
enrolled in a job-training program when “We definitely have regulars, people who
he was referred to BRC and has been are not ready to go into services yet, who
working with them ever since, walking up need more time, or people who we are in
and down the avenues, engaging clients the process of finding the proper situation
who may need housing, detox or other for,” said Poirier, as we jump in the BRC van
and head toward Chelsea Park to meet with
one of these regulars who may be ready to
access help.
‘Some people On the way, we stop at Fifth Avenue and
29th Street, where an African-American
refuse services’ man lies splayed out on the sidewalk across
from the Marble Collegiate Church. Poirier
— Francis Garzon kneels close to him as he gently shakes him
awake. They talk, and the man says his name
is Gerald, that he is from Pennsylvania and
has been in the city for a year. Poirier asks
programs they provide. Although most Gerald, whose hands and feet are swollen
people are friendly, not all take advantage from the cold, if he has a place to stay, and if
of the help he offers. he has been using today. No, he replies, and
“Some people refuse services,” said explains that he doesn’t like the shelters he
Garzon. “I guess they’ve been out here has been in.
too long so they’re already accustomed “Most clients have different stories about
to living on the streets. Plenty of times, the shelters, like fights happen, or some
clients just get accustomed to street life, clients get robbed of their clothing, so they
and they just don’t go nowhere. I have don’t really like the shelter. They consider it
many clients that have been out here since a jail almost,” said Garzon. “So that’s where
I started working here, who are still on we come in. We have our own programs.
the street. That’s how they survive; their We have safe haven programs, transitional
daily routine on the street is what they’re housing, and then they move on to perma-
accustomed to.” nent housing. There is the crisis center for
Garzon is often paired up with Poirier, detox and a reception center for people with
a slightly older, bearded man with a mental illness. The BRC shelters are better;
friendly smile. Poirier tells me he has there are no fights or stealing.”
been doing outreach for just under two Rosenblatt is sensitive to the man’s
years. He was working in advertising situation, saying, “What if someone came
when he saw two men in BRC coats on into your house and woke you up?”
the subway engaging a homeless man in Although it seems as though the man
conversation. could benefit from detox, he takes a card,
“I looked them up on the Internet that and we leave him. When we drive by the
night, liked what I saw and started volun- corner later in the evening, he is gone.
teering,” said Poirier. “I met Alvin our direc- The guys know, as does Rosenblatt, that
tor, one thing led to another, he hired me as you can’t force someone to get the help
an outreach worker, and here I am.” they may need.
Poirier said he and Garzon reach out We continue on to Chelsea Park at
to between 200-300 people a month and Tenth Avenue and 27th Street, on the
end up providing services to about eight west side. It is colder here, so close to the
of those people. When asked how he river, and as an elementary school track
manages to make a connection with the team circles the perimeter of the park,
homeless, mentally ill drug addicts he Garzon approaches a potential client with
encounters on a daily basis, Poirier said, whom he made an appointment to meet
“The trick is to getting people to talk to that afternoon.
you. It’s about trust.” As Poirier parks the van, he explains that
“The initial opening has to be really they have spoken with the man four or five
strong,” he said. “It’s just about figuring out times already, and that they believe he may
what will get them to have a conversation be ready to get help. But as we join Garzon,
with you; it doesn’t necessarily have to be
about services right away. Once you engage Continued on page 17
downtown express Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 13
S eaport R eport
BY Janel Bladow kind Wendy would appreciate: people gath- in August. Facebook page where tributes are still
The pages of the New Year book begin ered around platters of delicious food from Over the summer, Wendy said she want- coming in.
with memories of the past… Russ and Daughters and Zabar’s, sharing ed to be buried in the places that made her
stories and enjoying her prized collection of happy, with people she cherished. Her ashes Holiday Glitz… On a festive note,
A Star is Gone… Sparkling, smiling 1950s straw handbags, many by the famous will be split between the Greenberg family however, another long-time Water Street
Wendy Stewart left us on Wednesday, Dec. Midas of Miami. plot in New York, the Stewart family one in resident, the noble Harold Reed, opened his
15, surrounded by loved ones including her It was wonderful to share memories Rhode Island and in Maine. lovely home to friends, family neighbors and
sister holding one hand while her husband and see photos of the lovely young Wendy “She had a full, loving life,” Joel told colleagues for his annual celebration. The
Joel Greenberg held the other. She was in Rome and the beaming couple on their Seaport Report. “I’m lucky to be surround- between the holidays party was a lively gath-
showered with “I love yous” and kisses and wedding day. ed by great friends and love.” ering with illustrious guests such as Marion
continued to touch people even after she What was particularly saddening is Javits and Councilwoman Margaret Chin.
was gone. that Wendy’s life might have been saved. Doggone… Another creature of regal While Lincoln Palsgrove who moves on from
Wendy, 58, who worked side-by-side November 2010, when Wendy went into bearing of Water Street who also brought the Seaport shared the excitement of his new
with her Joel as an excellent family and the hospital for the last time, was the smiles and joy to everyone he met passed position at General Growth Properties, the
wedding videographer-photographer team, worst month in 15 years to need a liver away five days earlier. Omar, the beloved parents of actor Barrett Foa who plays com-
became ill last January, when her liver transplant – none were available. Yet Basenji boy of Marckle Myers and David puter nerd Eric Beale on NCIS: Los Angeles
began to fail. As she grew sicker, Joel says, Wendy in death continued her giving as Richter died of cirrhosis of the liver on talked about their son’s success on the other
she kept a smile on her face, and dur- she did in life. She donated her eyes so that Dec. 10, 15 days before the Christmas coast and the graciousness of the show’s
ing the last five and a half weeks in NYU someone else could see. boy’s seventh birthday. Anyone who lived leads: LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell.
Hospital, she thanked the staff and hugged Joel shared in an email: “Her most pre- in or frequented the Seaport would rec- Between sips of champagne, guests nibbled
the nurses. cious joy in life was in the act of giving and ognize that imperial curlicue tail with its on delectable bites of steak, crab cakes and
Friends and family gathered for a memo- her generosity in life is now extended in snowy white tip, especially between Water more from Table Tales caterers across the
rial service at Brotherhood Synagogue in death. I was so lucky to be the recipient of Street where he lived, Meade’s where street.
Gramercy Park on Sunday, Jan. 9 where all that love and all that giving. I had my he enjoyed a refreshing moment or two,
many shared loving, touching memories of own personal Santa Claus, full time.” Salty Paw where he relished tormenting Red Carpet Worthy… And Seaport’s
Wendy’s lively spirit. The next two nights Two more memorial services are the pooches behind the window in doggie own Katrina Szish is now featured contribu-
more people dropped by their home on planned: one in her childhood hometown daycare and Fetch Club spa and nightclub tor to CBS’s the Early Show. Earlier this
Water Street to sit Shiva with Joel, his sister of Tiverton, Rhode Island at Amicable on South Street where he discovered the week her smile lit up our morning TV as she
Janet and her husband Marty Kaplan and Church this weekend, and another in her most delicious free snacks. The little dog gave her Golden Globes red carpet wrap-up
celebrate Wendy’s life. The evening was the adopted summer home, Vinalhaven, Maine with a lot of personality even has his own with stylist Robert Verdi.
Have your Holiday Event at M1-5 8 high Definition Flat Screens, 2 Projectors
Catering Menu and On-site Chef 5,000 Sq. Ft on Main Floor
Stage with Full A/V Capabilities and state of the Art Sound System
M1-5 Lounge
52 Walker Street – Between Church and Broadway – New York, NY 10013
212-965-1701
WWWM
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14 Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 downtown express
spent millions of dollars in pre and post-cruise stays, said The atrium of Cunard’s newest ship, “Queen Elizabeth,” includes a large wooden, inlaid panel depicting the original
Pinsky. Cunard “Queen Elizabeth.”
To encourage and capitalize on this spending, George
Fertitta, chief executive officer of NYC & Company,
the city’s tourism arm, said that NYC & Company had
launched a cruise site at www.nycgo.com/cruisenyc to pro-
vide cruise ship travelers with information on events and
city itineraries.
The site’s suggested itinerary for people with one day to
spend in New York City includes a visit to Lower Manhattan
beginning with a stop at City Hall to admire “the beautiful
architecture” and the nearby Brooklyn Bridge. Then NYC
& Company suggests that visitors walk down to Federal
Hall National Memorial at Broad and Nassau Streets, end-
ing the afternoon with a visit to the South Street Seaport
for its waterfront views, shopping, dining and Seaport
Museum.
These statistics and enthusiasm for Lower Manhattan
might be good news for downtown businesses. However,
among the Cunard ships, though Queen Elizabeth was the
star of the January 13 “Royal Rendezvous,” she will not
return to New York City very often. Queen Mary 2, on the
other hand, is a frequent visitor, transporting thousands of
passengers every year between Southampton, England and
New York City.
That night, the three Cunard ships assembled by the
Statue of Liberty for fireworks before they headed south
to Florida and the Caribbean. The bitterly cold night might
have dampened pleasure in the proceedings for some, but
not for anyone whose focus was on the revenue that cruise
ship tourists could bestow on the city.
As for Cunard, though the cruise industry is growing,
the company has no immediate plans to build another
ship. “Queen Elizabeth represents a 40 percent increase in
capacity,” said Richard Curtis, a Cunard marketing execu-
tive. He said that if the Cunard ships were mostly full most
of the time, the company might go forward, but at the earli- On Jan. 13, all three Cunard ships, “Queen Mary 2,” “Queen Victoria” and “Queen Elizabeth,” assembled for a
est, that would be several years down the road. fireworks celebration near the Statue of Liberty.
downtown express Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 15
taurant on the Battery Park City esplanade With less than three hours to go before opening Merchants River House, employees and workers were still putting finishing
between Albany and Liberty Streets has touches on the Battery Park City restaurant formerly known as Steamers Landing. (Owner Abraham Merchant was behind the
knockout river views, Merchant decided that bar.)
the seafood menu served when the restau-
rant was called Steamers Landing had run the starters and grilled North Atlantic salm-
its course. The new menu is more varied, on is served as an entrée.
simpler and less expensive. A beverage menu features bottled and
With an estimated five million tour- draft beer, wine by the bottle, glass or carafe,
ists a year due in the neighborhood after cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks.
the National September 11 Memorial and A menu for kids with kid-sized por-
Museum opens, Merchant was thinking about tions includes pasta, pizza, mac and cheese,
what the visitors might like and what they chicken fingers, grilled cheese sandwiches
could afford. Of course, he was also thinking and burgers.
about what locals would like and could afford Merchants River House will be open
on more than an occasional basis. daily from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday
The new menu is plain vanilla American to Friday and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on
with a few exotic touches. But seafood is not weekends. For more information call (212)
totally absent. House-cured gravlax is among 432-1451.
tribecasmiles.com
CALL 212.473.4444
44 LISPENARD ST.
NY, NY 10013
Desserts at Merchants River House include a chocolate blackout cupcake made with
Valrhona chocolate.
16 Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 downtown express
BY Terese Loeb Kreuzer used right away after its introduction into
New York society was as entertainment for
Downtown Express photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Mah Jongg Tournament : After charitable events and for groups of women.
a run of 10 months, the Museum of Jewish In the Jewish community, some of the most In connection with its exhibit, “Project Mah Jongg,” the Museum of Jewish Heritage
Heritage’s wildly popular exhibit “Project Mah likely constellations of players would have is sponsoring a fund-raising Mah Jongg tournament on Feb. 6, with the proceeds to
Jongg” will close on February 27, but not been synagogue sisterhoods that were raising benefit the museum.
before the museum at 36 Battery Place stages money for a good cause, plus those who were
a Mah Jongg Marathon. The event on February in similar neighborhoods and those who vaca- interest from people all over the country, is open to the public. Refreshments will be
6 from noon to 6 p.m. will be a fundraiser for tioned together.” Martines said. “They contacted us because the provided. RSVP by sending an email to: sto-
the museum, with a registration fee of $25 per Martines said that in the Jewish commu- game of Mah Jongg means so much to them rytimebydesign@hwpr.com
person. In addition to entrance fees, registrants nity, German-Jewish women were the first personally. Mah Jongg is a lot about memory, According to a spokesman for the build-
are encouraged to sign up sponsors who will to adopt the game followed by Jewish immi- it’s a lot about personal experience, it’s a lot ing, 30 percent of the building’s 173 apart-
make a donation to the museum in the name of grants from Eastern Europe, who took up about connecting to your mother or to past ments have been sold since the sales office
each player. There will be tables for people of all Mah Jongg with great enthusiasm. “In the generations, to the traditions of your family, opened in early August and move-ins should
levels of Mah Jongg proficiency, from beginners Catskills, it was the perfect game for bunga- it’s a lot about remembering the people you begin next month.
to “lifers,” plus what the museum describes as low life because those environments were all used to play with and it’s also about learning
“special theme hours, prizes and the chance inclusive,” she observed. “A lot of the men and sharing and socializing and gossiping. Valentine’s Day Cruise: Don’t miss
to play a hand or two with some very special came only for weekends, so the women and You feel the ivory or the bakelite tiles, you the boat! Sure, it’s still January, but it’s not
guests.” For more about the tournament, go children were left there during the week. The hear them clicking and you remember.” too early to make Valentine’s Day plans. You
to www.projectmahjongg.com/programs.html. women played Mah Jongg outdoors while can treat your sweetie to a Valentine’s Day
The use of Mah Jongg to raise money for they watched the kids.” StoryTime by Design: 1 Rector cruise of New York harbor aboard Statue
charitable purposes has a long-standing his- The Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Mah Park (formerly known as 333 Rector Place), Cruises’ John J. Audubon. The two-hour
tory. The game originated in 19th-century Jongg exhibit includes Mah Jongg sets and a rental to condo conversion with 173 cruise features a live jazz band and an assort-
China and first became popular in the United instructions, historic photographs of peo- apartments, has a charming playroom that ment of gourmet desserts accompanied by
States in the 1920’s, thanks to Harper Brothers ple playing Mah Jongg from the Library of is mostly unused because no one has yet beer, wine, soda, cordials and dessert mar-
and the Mah-Jongg Company of America. “It Congress and from personal collections, art moved into the 16-story building. But on tinis. The cost is $85 per person. The boat
was marketed to all Americans,” said Melissa work, Mah Jongg memorabilia and “sound- Sunday, January 23 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., leaves at 8:30 p.m. from Liberty State Park
Martines, curator of the “Project Mah Jongg” scapes” — oral histories of the game and StoryTime by Design will be in the play- and at 9 p.m. from Battery Park, gangway
exhibit, “but those who adopted it first were recordings of people playing it, including some room, entertaining children from 2 to 8 3. Reserve by calling (877) LADY TIX. For
leisure-class ladies who had disposable time from a Senior Citizen center in Chinatown. years with a dinosaur-themed storytelling more information, go to http://www.statu-
and income. One of the ways the game was Though not large, the exhibit has attracted hour, including real fossils. The free event ecruises.com/pd_valentines.html.
Transit Sam
The Answer man
Dear Transit Sam, developments and following up at frequent Dear Transit Sam, you’re eligible for the discount on all
I am sending this note to thank you on intervals. I’ve used the new stop several I heard that if you use a New Jersey E-Z MTA facilities (for major crossings, it’s
behalf of the community members on the times and really appreciate what a difference Pass at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, you do $4.80 instead of $6.50). The other agen-
Lower East Side who encouraged me to it makes, especially with all the snow we’ve not get the discount. In other words, a New cies that you can register your E-Z Pass
contact you for help in getting the M21 bus had the past few weeks. York E-Z Pass pays $4.80 but an NJ E-Z Pass with (whether you live in NY or NJ) to
to stop near the entrance to the Broadway/ pays $6.50. Is this correct? receive the MTA discount includes the
Lafayette subway station. Before the instal- Mel, Lower East Side MTA, the New York Thruway Authority
lation of the new bus stop near Houston St. U.C., Battery Park City and the New York State Bridge Authority.
and Broadway, the M21 would instead stop Dear Mel, You can register your E-Z Pass wherever
two blocks away at Mott or Greene streets Your welcome and thank you as well for Dear U.C. you like but you must call the service
heading in the westbound direction. It took the great suggestion! Your rationale made Yes. If you register your E-Z Pass center since the online system signs you
six months, but the mission of getting a new complete sense, and it was an added incen- with the NJ Turnpike Authority (which up according to zip code. The number is
bus stop was finally accomplished thanks tive to use mass transit. I’m glad you’re includes the Garden State Parkway) you 1-888-288-6865. You can have more than
largely to the efforts of yourself and Council enjoying the new stop. won’t receive the MTA discount. But, if one E-Z Pass and you should register it
Member Margaret Chin’s staff. I also offer you register your E-Z Pass with the Port wherever you are going to drive most
special thanks for keeping us abreast of Transit Sam Authority of New York and New Jersey, frequently.
announce the opening of
downtown express Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 17
Julius S
has major depression, but doesn’t want to get them to start talking and determine which they have approached her in the past, and tion is so bad! Nobody wants you here! I hope
be around other mentally ill people. He says client is appropriate for which program.” she is unwilling to engage in conversation. you go out of business this year!” he raged.
he has spoken with another agency and will We roll around the corner, and Poirier and She declines to speak to us. Next to her bags Garzon’s face remains calm. Letting the
wait to see if they can help him. We say Garzon stop to talk with a woman pulling stands a box of hand-painted pictures. In man know BRC is here if he needs to access
goodbye, and the guys make a note to ask cans out of the trash. These “canners,” they services, Garzon returns to the van. After
another worker, with whom the man is more explain, are usually better able to take care of three hours riding along with the outreach
familiar, to check in with him in a few days. themselves and often have a place to live. It workers, I have a good idea of the challenges
is rumored that one canner in Chinatown put ‘If it’s severe distress — an that face them.
her child through college via recycling. People living on the street face myriad
As we sit in front of the Urban Pathways emergency — call 911.’ challenges, from poverty and substance abuse
“We provide them with drop-in center — a Department of Homeless to mental illness. Poirier said that help could
Services program — a woman approaches the — Dennis Poirier come from many different routes. “Some
information on the van. She came up from Kentucky a year ago, people give a homeless person the info and
PHYS
she says, and things didn’t work out. Now she have them call, and others call BRC to let
requirements for the wants to return, to stay with her sister. She them know a person in need is out there.”
an
explains that only DHS can provide bus tick- appear to be on sale for $2 apiece. She gives in a regular spot, call and we can try to help
— Dennis Poirier ets to people who want to return to their state him the fish-eye as she informs him that the them. Sometimes we go out there, and they
of origin. He apologizes, but encourages her cost is not $2, but $20. Stymied, we get back have some very choice words for us, which
to be patient: her ticket will come through.
Back on the road, we cruise west down announce the opening of ou
in the van and drive away.
Rosenblatt directs Poirier to drive around
is cool, it’s okay. But it is absolutely worth
the time to call, because that’s our job. It is
“He may be playing mom against dad,” 23rd Street, stopping when the guys notice the block to find an older white man he often certainly part of what we do. Even though
Rosenblatt said, explaining that he may also a woman with whom they have spoken in sees by Gray’s Papaya, and we soon find him Francis and I spend a certain amount of time
be telling other agencies he is waiting to see the past. She is unreceptive to their offers of leaning against a storefront, his shopping in our zone or area, that doesn’t mean we’re
if BRC can help him. “But we don’t want to help, but an older gentleman perched on a cart of possessions ten feet away. The guys not going to miss a spot. So if you call it in,
take him some place that won’t be good for standpipe smoking a cigarette takes a card. know this man, and Garzon warns me as there’s a good chance we’re going to be able
him.” The guys tell me he asked them for change, we approach him that the man sometimes to help that person.”
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youth
Activities
(they’ve got some of the best icing in town) — while the bookstore has
story time Sundays at Noon (appropriate for ages 3-7). There’s simply
nothing better than being able to depend on a weekly story followed
by a massive sugar rush. Life is good! Books of Wonder is located at
18th St. (btw. Fifth & Sixth Aves.). Call 212-989-3270 or visit booksof-
wonder.com. Cupcake Café, at the same address, can be reached at
212-465-1530 (visit cupcakecafe.com).
Photo courtesy of BPC Parks
POETS HOUSE The Poets House “Tiny Poets Time” program offers Enjoying Preschool Play in Battery Park
children ages 1-3 and their parents a chance to enter the world of City. See “Preschool Play.”
rhyme — through readings, group activities and interactive perfor-
mances. Thursdays at 10am (at 10 River Terrace, at Murray St.). Call of “Preschool Play” has been added: This program, for walking tod-
212-431-7920 or visit poetshouse.org. dlers, invites you to join other children, parents, and caregivers for fun
interactive play, art, and theme days. Thursdays, through March 24,
ANGELINA BALLERINA: THE MUSICAL Everyone at the Cam- from 1:30-3:30pm. The fee is $175 for 10 weeks (siblings: $100). At
embert Academy is all aflutter because a special guest is coming to “Stories & Songs,” a variety of musicians perform child-friendly music
visit. Angelina and her friends are excited to show off their hip-hop, and teach. Movement, dancing and shakers add to the fun. Mondays,
modern dance, Irish jig and ballet skills — but will Angelina get that through April 25 (except 1/17 and 2/21) as well as on Wednesdays,
moment in the spotlight she’s hoping for? Based on characters from Jan. 12-April 13. Space is still available in 40-minute classes: the 9:30-
the PBS series, this show is appropriate for ages 3-12. Through Feb. 10:10am class for children 6-14 months — and the 12 noon-12:40pm
19, Sat. at 1pm & 3pm and Sun. at 1pm. At the Union Square Theatre class for mixed ages (6 months to 3.5 years). There is a $231 fee for
(100 E. 17th St. btw. Union Square East and Irving Place). For tickets 14 weeks (20% discount for siblings). Both events take place in the
($39.50-$65), call 1-800-982-2787 or visit ticketmaster.com. Also visit Meeting Room at the Verdesian (211 North End Ave., btw. Warren &
angelinathemusical.com. Murray, in Battery Park City). For info or to register, call 212-267-9700,
Photo by Bob Lee ext. 366 or 348. Visit bpcparks.org.
Nurtures your kid’s artistic nature. See “Tuesday Children’s Art Classes.” DEAR EDWINA This heartwarming show about the joys and
frustrations of growing up has our spunky heroine (advice-giver TUESDAY CHILDREN’S ART CLASSES Asian American Arts
THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE MUSEUM The Junior Officers Dis- CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF THE ARTS Explore painting, collage extraordinaire Edwina Spoonable) sharing her wisdom on everything Centre is sponsoring an after school Children’s Art Class program
covery Zone is an exhibit designed for ages 2-10. It’s divided into four and sculpture through self-guided arts projects. Open art stations are from setting the table to making new friends. That it’s done through which focuses on children from 6 years old to 14 years old. Instruc-
areas (Police Academy; Park and Precinct; Emergency Services Unit; ongoing throughout the afternoon — giving children the opportunity to clever, catchy and poignant songs makes the experience enjoyable tors Caroline McAuliffe and Lu Yi — both teaching artists who have
and a Multi-Purpose Area), each with interactive and imaginary play experiment with materials such as paint, clay, fabric, paper and found and engaging for kids who know what Edwina’s going through as been working with young people for several years – offer a program
experiences for children to understand the role of police officers in our objects. Regular museum hours: Wed.-Sun., 12-5pm; Thurs., 12-6pm well as adults who remember what it was like. Through Feb. 25 at designed to stimulate a child’s capacity to explore their own artistic
community — by, among other things, driving and taking care of a police (Pay as You Wish, from 4-6pm). Admission: $10. At the Children’s the DR2 Theatre (103 E. 15th St.). For tickets ($39), call 212-239-6200. originality and cultural background. Children are introduced to the
car. For older children, there’s a crime scene observation activity that will Museum of the Arts (182 Lafayette St. btw. Broome & Grand). Call For groups of 10 or more, call 646-747-7400. Visit dearedwina.com for language of visual forms as well as those of Asian art forms. The
challenge them to remember relevant parts of city street scenes; a physi- 212- 274-0986 or visit cmany.org. For group tours and visit, call 212) additional details and full playing schedule. 15-week semester begins on Feb. 8.The first class (3pm to 4:30pm)
cal challenge similar to those at the Police Academy; and a model Emer- 274-0986, extension 31. is for children ages 6-9. The second class (4:40pm to 6:30pm) is for
gency Services Unit vehicle where children can climb in, use the steering GAZILLION BUBBLE SHOW: THE NEXT GENERATION Three children ages 9-14. Registration hours are Fridays, 10:30 am to 5pm.
wheel and lights, hear radio calls with police codes and see some of the SATURDAY AFTERNOONS AT THE SCHOLASTIC STORE Every years into its run, the Gazillion Bubble Show welcomes creator Fan Tuition is $235 and includes all supplies. Asian American Arts Centre
actual equipment carried by The Emergency Services Unit. At 100 Old Saturday at 3pm, Scholastic’s in-store activities are designed to get Yang’s 20-year-old son into the family business. We’re promised that is located at 111 Norfolk St. For info, call 212-233-2154. Or visit artspi-
Slip. For info, call 212-480-3100 or visit www.nycpm.org. Hours: Mon. kids reading, thinking, talking, creating and moving. The Scholastic “Bubble Super-Star” Deni Yang will elevate this already spectacular ral.org and www.artasiamerica.org.
through Sat., 10am-5pm and Sun., noon-5pm. Admission: $8 ($5 for stu- Store is located at 557 Broadway (btw. Prince & Spring). Regular store experience to new heights of bubble blowing artistry). The open-
dents, seniors and children. Free for children under 2. hours are Mon.-Sat., 10am-7pm, and Sun., 11am-6pm. For info about ended run plays Fri. at 7 p.m., Sat. at 11am, 2pm and 4:30pm and Sun. Would you like to see your event listed in the
store events, call 212-343-6166. Visit scholastic.com. at noon and 3pm. 75 minutes, no intermission. For tickets ($44.50 to Downtown Express? Listing requests may be sent to scott@
DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY CENTER For info on swim les- $89.50), call 212-239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com. Visit gazil- downtownexpress.com. Please provide the date, time, location, price
sons, basketball, gym class, Karate and more, call 212-766-1104. BOOKS OF WONDER & CUPCAKE CAFÉ Literate kids and cup- lionbubbleshow.com. and a description of the event. Information may also be mailed to 145
Visit manhattanyouth.org. The Downtown Community Center is cake enthusiasts of all ages mingle at the space shared by Books of Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10013. Requests must be
located at 120 Warren St. Wonder and Cupcake Café. The Café has sweet stuff all day, every day PRESCHOOL PLAYAND STORIES & SONGS A new session received three weeks before the event is to be held.
downtownexpressarts&entertainment
Living Theatre’s ‘quasi-biblical hymn’ to anarchy fights fair
Judith Malina: Horrifying with her politics since age 11
great opposing camp. They are afraid
&
L to R: Andrew Greer, Jay Dobkin and Tom Walker.
lives and breathes these days, 64 years later, Continued on page 25
as does Judith herself, with a new play by ting. It’s a rock palace nowadays.
MUSIC ART
her called “Korach” — a quasi-biblical hymn “I know, “she says calmly. “So I ran home
to anarchy (though Julian is long gone, as from the Beacon Theater — we used to live
is, more recently, second husband Hanon around here; we lived everywhere — and
Reznikov, who left behind him an early draft said to my father, the German-Jewish rabbi
of the present work). who was trying to rouse opinion against
Far, far away, at the apex of an immensely Hitler: ‘Papa, I’ve just seen this movie! We
long thin triangle, is Mount Sinai — not the must not hate the Nazis!’ “
New York City medical center, but the desert And what did your Papa say? 4ODDLERADULT 7E AT #HURCH 3TREET 3CHOOL
heights from which Moses, the lone, imperi- ‘”He was horrified by my politics since
ous, infuriated climber, brought back down I was 11.” 0RESCHOOL FOR -USIC AND !RT BELIEVE
the Ten Commandments only to smash them Max Malina, were he alive today, would !FTERSCHOOL THAT EVERYONE HAS UNIQUE
in the face of rebellious, anarchic challenges
to his authority.
be doubly horrified by “Korach,” in which
the pace is set by Comrade Emma Goldman
ARTS ACADEMY
And here is the third peg of that extreme- (all 4 foot 11 inches of actress Judith 2OCK THE HOUSE creative POTENTIAL AND
ly extended triangle, is a restaurant called Malina, on film) preaching anarchy — the
&UNDAMENTALS OF THAT THE DEVELOPMENT
Viand Cafe (at Broadway and 75th Street on real pure stuff — first, last, and always.
the Upper West Side of Manhattan) where lNE ART OF expression OF THIS
Judith Malina has come uptown to talk EMMA: We are now in the midst 4EEN ART STUDIO CREATIVITY IS essential TO
about “Korach” and theater and girlhood of a profound social upheaval. We
and anarchy — and her father, Max Malina Anarchists can take heart that the 0RIVATE GROUP
(the rabbi who got himself and his family out young generation has lost its faith INSTRUMENTAL THE HEALTH AND HAPPINESS
of Germany and to New York just in time in government — not in any specific OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE
when Judith was three). regime or government — but in the
3ENIOR CHORUS
“When I was 12 years old,” Malina is very notion of government itself. The "IRTHDAY PARTIES COMMUNITY
saying, “I saw a movie called ‘Nurse Edith time is ripe for us to organize the
Cavell’ “ — released 1939, so Malina must Anarchist Movement. If all the young celebrating 20
years
really have been 13 years old — “in which people that are drawing the ‘A’ in a 0RESIDENTS 7EEK #AMPS
a beautiful English actress named Anna circle on the wall…really understood &EBRUARY
TH
Neagle, just before she’s shot as a spy by a what that ‘Circle A’ means, we could
German firing squad in World War I, says: really have a splendid revolution now #REATIVE !RTS 7ORKSHOP
‘Standing as I am between God and eternity, — and in the deepest sense they do 2OCK THE (OUSE
I realize that patriotism is not enough.’ understand that the ‘Circle A’ means #ALL 4ODAY
“That’s when I realized we must have no the yearning to be free of the unneces-
hatred or bitterness against anyone. I saw this sary restrictions that our social system 2EGISTER NOW FOR 3PRING CLASSES 3PRING 3EMESTER BEGINS *ANUARY
movie,” says Judith,” at the Beacon Theater.”
What??? an interviewer all but shouts.
demands — and of the abuses of puni-
tive law….
Judith, the Beacon Theater is right over We will rally that energy, but we 7A R R E N 3 T R E E T W W W C H U R C H S T R E E T S C H O O L O R G
there, two doors away from where we’re sit- must beware of the ruthlessness of the
24 Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 downtown express
moved by the proceedings. aural components are endlessly striking, years, is visited by the goddess Diana and behaves accountably for his actions.
but the text and script they support are by a nymph named Dryope who has been Jahnke’s direction and design concept
elliptical in the extreme — even to the carrying his unborn child, also for a millen- are stunning, and the realization of that
point where characters frequently leave nium. Dryope says she wants Endymion dead, design — by Peter Ksander (set), Kristin
with surprising, startling imagery — a door- out key words from their sentences (usu- so that she can finally birth his offspring. Worrall (sound), Bruce Steinberg (lighting),
bell that sounds like a miniature symphony, ally, but not always, the nouns). This Endymion is also pursued, or haunted, in Ramona Ponce (costumes), Taili Wu, Andrew
human-size frames that house ever-morphing makes for challenging parsing, especially waking dreams, by a trio of gods who mani- Schneider, and Rebecca Adomo (video) — is
“oil paintings” depicting the main characters when there’s such a stupendous sensual fest themselves as hotel cleaning staff, and by utterly breathtaking. The cast of eight is led
in various costumes and poses, a view out a feast unfolding from every direction. his ancient love Hylas, who was Heracles’s by Alexander Borinsky as Endymion (who
window into a black night filled with swirling The play takes place in a hotel room in lover in Greek myth, who appears momen- makes a wondrously surprising entrance near
stars and clouds and, at one point, fireworks. Turkey in the year 1895. Here, a long-ago tarily as a hotel chef. the start of the show) and Hillary Spector and
Where “Men Go Down” proves prob- king named Endymion, who has recently Now, this is all based in obscure Greek Tanisha Thompson as his antagonists Diana
lematic is in its meaning. The visual and been awakened after sleeping for a thousand myth — but the tale is not at all well-known and Dryope; Tim Eliot, Liz Santoro, Michael
to contemporary American audiences. In fact, Ingle, Melody Bates, and Mikeah Jennings
without a full page of program notes, I would complete the ensemble in smaller roles that
of Downtown Express?
Sign up for email blasts at DowntownExpress.com, follow DowntownExpress
on the surface is a kind of retelling of this
classic tale, the play’s raison d’etre feels more
purposeful and relevant. What I got from the
piece was the story of a man who feels entitle-
stay with me due to their unexpectedness and
beauty. But I did not feel much transformed
or moved by the proceedings — which sur-
prised me, because with the work of John
on Twitter and become our fans on Facebook to get the latest breaking news. ment without responsibility; someone who Jahnke and Hotel Savant, that’s almost always
sleeps or retreats or blames rather than ever what happens.
downtown express Januar y 19 - 25, 2011 25
A hymn to anarchy
and Third.”
Continued from page 23 Brad Burgess, the young director of
“Korach,” who has come uptown with her to
Biblical History. sit in on the interview, shoots Judith a look.
We will lose every battle — except “I can’t believe you remember that,”
the last one. Burgess says, “when you can’t remember
your current address.”
This, from the woman who in May of Judith Malina was born June 4, 1926, in
1963 (with her husband/co-artist/co-anar- Kiel, Germany. Three years later she arrived
chist Julian Beck, along with actors and in America.
audience) burst in over the roof of their Brad Burgess was born March 1, 1985,
padlocked 14th Street theater to foil the feds in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in
and stage one last performance of Kenneth Lowell, went to Catholic schools, and is a
Brown’s “The Brig” — a Malina-directed nice kid sporting a 1960s Abbie Hoffman
portrait of hell as a U.S. Marine Corps disci- head of hair. His roots are French, Irish,
plinary center. Austrian. These (and nights), he is oversee-
This, also, from the woman who even ing 25 anarchy-minded actors — some of
earlier (1959) had brought forth at that tem- whom, the Korachites, pop up on stage from
ple the artistically even more revolutionary 10,000 years punishment under the earth.
“The Connection” — a “jazz play” by young Korach himself is played on Clinton
Jack Gelber about a roomful of druggies sit- Street by Tom Walker, who has been with
ting around waiting for their fix to arrive. Or the Living Theatre only 39 years. “He’s been
who placed before New York eyes and ears Faust, George Washington, Humboldt, and
the rarely hazarded works of Bertolt Brecht now Korach.”
and William Carlos Williams. Where would Max Malina have ranked
“I have always considered my theater,” Korach among villains?
says the Judith of here and now, “to be “About three steps below Adolf Hitler.”
an adjunct of my father’s German-Jewish The Broadway Central Hotel — to be
synagogue. Wherever we lived, East Side, exact, the third floor of the Broadway
West Side, my father’s study is where he Central Hotel — was where 11-year-old
conducted services, did bar mitzvahs, did Judith Malina and her girlfriends first started
circumcisions. On Saturdays you didn’t ride putting on plays.
in a vehicle, didn’t turn on a light. Judith, says her interviewer, it’s all well
“In those days I considered myself a and good to preach and practice anarchy
heretical Jew. I had to make a decision: Am — but surely you didn’t create that com-
I going to be an actress or am I going to be
observant?”
pany and put on all those extraordinary
shows and hold everything together all
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