downtown
PARSON’S DANCE RETURNS, P. 25
®
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 38
Ever heard of snow tires?
On Thursday this cabbie received some help from a Good Samaritan after getting stuck on Spring Street. The pas-
senger lacked patience and after five minutes exited the cab and started walking.
Battery Park City resident tackled
by Parks Enforcement Patrol
BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER
Battery Park City resident, Adam
Pratt, was walking his dog on South End
Avenue near South Cove on Saturday,
January 29, and suddenly found his
quiet Saturday shattered when a Parks
Enforcement Patrol officer approached
him in a golf cart and asked to see his
identification.
Pratt, 39, who had been talking on
his cellphone with his grandmother,
said he didn’t have any ID with him but
that many people knew him because he
had lived in Battery Park City for years.
Pratt later said that he had never seen
this PEP officer before. According to
Pratt, she then struck him in the face
express THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN
three times with her walkie-talkie. A
woman, Stella Jacobson, who lives at 2
South End Avenue and happened to be
looking out her window, corroborated
Pratt’s account.
The Parks Enforcement Patrol is
under the jurisdiction of the New York
City Department of Parks, but salaries
for the Battery Park City contingent
are paid by the Battery Park City
Authority.
The Parks Department issued the
following statement about the inci-
dent: “On Saturday, January 29, a
man in Battery Park City was issued a
summons for disorderly conduct and
brought to Bellevue Hospital for evalu-
FEBRUARY 2 - 8, 2011
Park51 rift grows;
remarks by new Imam
spark debate
BY JOHN BAYLES
The Park51 saga took
another turn over the week-
end when Imam Feisal Abdul
Rauf for the first time said he
would consider moving the
Islamic community center
from its planned location on
Park Place. The only prob-
lem is that Rauf, according
to Park51, no longer has the
authority to speak on behalf
of the center.
Rauf told the editorial
board of the Buffalo News
that he would move the
project for the same reason
he sought to build it.
Downtown Express photo by John Bayles
End of 130 Liberty
brings fate of L.M.D.C.
to fore
BY ALINE REYNOLDS
Some Downtown com-
munity members believe it
is now time for the Lower
ation after behaving irrationally and Manhattan Development
striking a female Parks Enforcement Corporation to think about
Officer. Conflicting reports state that closing up shop.
the Parks Enforcement Officer initiated The L.M.D.C. should
the confrontation. We will therefore come up with a sunset plan
take further steps to look into this.” immediately, according to
Pratt took a picture of the PEP offi- L.M.D.C. Board Member
cer with his cellphone and told her he and Community Board
was going to call 911. Then he said he 1 Chair Julie Menin and
was going home and attempted to walk other Downtown commu-
up South End Avenue with his dog. nity activists, since it is
According to Pratt, the PEP officer fol- nearing completion of its
lowed him. Pratt ran into the Regatta, mission. Menin said that,
an apartment building on South End once 130 Liberty, the for-
Avenue, and asked the desk attendant mer Deutsche Bank build-
Continued on page 14
“I would move because
my whole life is about
improving relationships
with people,” Rauf told the
paper.
His statement comes on
the heels of public state-
ments made by Park51 that
have illustrated tensions
between Rauf, the original
face of the project, and the
developer of the building,
Sharif El-Gamal of Soho
Properties.
“As we have been stating
for over a year now, Park51
is not moving its location
under any circumstances.
Continued on page 19
ing, comes down, the agen-
cy’s priority should be to
release the $200 million
in cultural and community
enhancement funds.
Catherine McVay Hughes,
chair of C.B.1’s World Trade
Center Redevelopment
Committee, also contended
the L.M.D.C. should set a
target date for sunsetting.
“Their work is done,” she
said. “It’s time for them to
allocate the money. The lon-
ger they take doing this, the
longer they take perpetuat-
ing themselves.”
Now that demolition of
the 130 Liberty tower is
Continued on page 5
2 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
Gathering to honor passage of Zadroga 9/11 Health bill
BY JOHN BAYLES
The key players in the fight to pass
the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and
Compensation Act gathered on Monday
evening at the NYC Police Museum.
Among those in attendance were U.S.
Representatives Carolyn Maloney and
Jerrold Nadler, who spearheaded the bill
through the House of Representatives
last fall and John Feal of the Fealgood
Foundation.
Feal, who was a first responder and has
made 90 trips to Washington D.C. since
9/11 said the night “solidified” the work of
everyone involved. He hopes to make the
gathering an annual event.
“I almost cried,” said Feal, “and I’m not a
crier. Last night put closure to a long journey
and ended a chapter of hard work.”
“It was an honor to celebrate the pas-
sage of the Zadroga Act with the 9/11
responders and survivors who suffered so
much after the attacks and fought so hard
to ensure that the Zadroga Act became
the Zadroga law,” said Congresswoman
Carolyn Maloney. “I was thrilled that Jon
Stewart was able to be there, as well – Mr.
Stewart’s push for the bill in the waning
days of the last Congress was a decisive
factor in our success.”
Stewart, the host of Comedy Central’s
The Daily Show, devoted an entire episode
in the days leading up to Zadroga’s passage
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downtown express
to the issue. Community Board 1, at a recent
WTC Redevelopment Committee meeting
chaired by Catherine McVay Hughes, passed
a resolution thanking Stewart and a long
list of other community groups and union
groups for their role in the bill’s passage.
Feal was also grateful for Stewart’s
appearance at the event and for his dedica-
tion to the 9/11 community.
“It took a comedian to shed light on a
serious issue,” said Feal of Stewart. “This
guy sitting behind a desk making fun of
the news shamed the national media out-
lets into doing the right thing. He moved
mountains.”
McVay Hughes said the fact that the bill
was finally passed was the “sweet” part of
the evening. But she also noted that in less
than five years everyone will have to “fight
again to make sure that what has been
achieved now, is continued.”
“It was a sense of relief that the 9/11
health bill passed,” said McVay Hughes,
“but it was a bittersweet gathering because it
represented years of fighting for 9/11 health
care for responders and survivors. And some
of them have even died since 9/11.”
Feal echoed Hughes, but said he was
100 percent positive the bill would be
renewed when the time comes.
Photo courtesy of Rep. Carolyn Maloney
“Last night’s celebration was short lived
and while it was memorable, we have a lot U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler were joined by John Feal,
more work to do,” said Feal. Catherine McVay Hughes, Jon Stewart and others on Monday evening to honor the
passage of the 9/11 Health bill.
Downtown Express by J.B. Nicholas
/DID\HWWH6WUHHW View from a snowy street
 The streets were passable and in decent shape near City Hall on Friday follow-
FPDQ\RUJ ing last week’s snowstorm.
downtown express
D OWNTOWN
DIGEST
Downtown Connection
to get new fleet
In anticipation of a brand new fleet
of buses, the Downtown Alliance’s
Downtown Connection Free Bus Service
will replace the B.I.D.’s current buses
with an interim fleet. Riders can still
expect the same level of service and the
same schedule, but the interim buses will
feature new additions, such as onboard
screens displaying information about
Lower Manhattan and more seats than
are in the current model. Downtown
Connection ridership has grown every
year since the service began, and it is now
just shy of 900,000 annual riders.
The interim buses will hit the road
on Saturday, February 12 and will run
for about three months until the brand
new fleet arrives. The interim fleet of
buses will not be wheelchair accessible.
However, if such access is required, rid-
ers can schedule pickups and drop-offs
at current bus stops by calling 212-232-
0141 or 917-939-1037.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Sunday Feb 6th 2011 Vs. Green Bay Packers
7ATCHTHEGAMELIVEAT-
s$RINKAND&OOD3PECIALS
$OORSOPENAT
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
Jon Stewart joins 9/11
committee
“The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart
joined the Board of Directors of the
National September 11 Memorial &
Museum last week.
The organization raises money and
oversees the development of the memorial
that will stand at the World Trade Center
site in honor of the lives lost on that fate-
ful day.
Stewart has long been vocal about
9/11 issues, and has used his position as
a medium to advocate legislation that,
like the 9/11 bill for first responders,
helps rebuild the nation after the tragedy,
according to a press release.
“Jon Stewart is an incredibly impor-
tant figure in today’s news media, but
he’s also a New Yorker who felt—as we
all did—the world change in a matter of
minutes on September 11. Since then, he
has taken a definitive stance on so many
issues that relate directly to our organi-
zation’s mission of commemoration and
education. We’re honored to welcome
him to our Board of Directors,” said
9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels, in
a statement.
The comedian joins fellow celebrities
Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal and Jane
Rosenthal on the board of the organiza-
tion.
Gillibrand to join Senate
Armed Services Committee
U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand
announced that she will serve on the Senate
Armed Services Committee, which deals
with matters relating to the United States’
defense policy.
“One of the reasons I came to Congress
was to strengthen our national security
and serve as a voice for our troops and
military families,” said Gillibrand, in a
statement.
Continued on page 18
3
NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-9, 12-20
EDITORIAL PAGES . 10-11
YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-27
CLASSIFIEDS. . . . . . . . . . . 26
C.B. 1
M
EE TING S
A schedule of this week’s upcoming
Community Board 1 committee meet-
ings is below. Unless otherwise noted, all
committee meetings are held at the board
office, located at 49-51 Chambers St.,
room 709 at 6 p.m.
ON WED., FEB. 2: C.B. 1’s Financial
District, Tribeca and Seaport/ Civic
Center Committees will have a combined
meeting.
ON THURS., FEB. 3: C.B. 1’s
Planning and Community Infrastructure
Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m.
ON MON., FEB. 7: C.B. 1’s Waterfront
Committee will meet.
ON TUES., FEB. 8: C.B. 1’s Youth
and Education Committee will meet.
HIGH$ElNITION&LAT3CREENS(IGH$EF0ROJECTORSs3Q&TON-AIN&LOOR
&LOOR

M1-5 Lounge
52 Walker Street – Between Church and Broadway – New York, NY 10013


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4 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
POLICE BLOTTER
Maiden La. death
A woman who worked in an office at
80 Maiden La. jumped to her death from
the 10th floor of the building shortly
before 6 a.m. Tues., Feb 1, police said.
Other office workers in the building near
Gold St. said the victim, 54, had been
laid off the previous afternoon and had
remained in the building all night. Police
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she heard someone banging on the outside
door of the building. She admitted the sus-
pect, described as a white male, between
25 and 30 years old, about 5’9” and 175
pounds wearing a blue jacket, brown trou-
sers and gray hat, who followed her to the
third floor stairwell where he attempted to
sexually molest her, police said. The victim
withheld her name pending family noti- fled and the girl was unhurt, police said.
fication.
Car hits senior
Sex assault attempt A northbound taxicab made a right turn
Police are looking for a suspect want- from Pike St. onto E. Broadway at 9:39 a.m.
ed for an attempted sexual assault on a Fri. Jan. 28 and struck a woman, 84, as she
12-year-old girl in a stairwell of her Hester was crossing from the southeast corner of
St. home around 6 p.m. Mon. Jan. 24. The Pike and E. Broadway to the north side of E.
victim was walking to her apartment when Broadway. The victim was taken to Bellevue
Hospital in critical condition. Police said
both the victim and the cab driver had a
Lilly O’BRIENS green light at the time of the accident and
there was no criminality suspected.
PUB & RESTAURANT Wall St. DOA
Police responded to a 9 a.m. call on
67 Murray Street Tues., Jan. 25 about a man unconscious
in Suite 2507, 67 Wall St. at the corner of
New York, NY 10007 Beaver St. Mark C. Flavin, 58, a lawyer,
T: 212-732-1592 was found in his office and declared dead
by an Emergency Medical Service unit
F: 212-732-9446 that responded to the call. The death was
www.lillyobriensbar.com first suspected as a homicide but police
later said the fatal injury looked like the
lillyobriensbar@gmail.com result of an accidental fall. The Medical
Examiner’s office said on Tues. Feb. 1
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Eldridge St. murder trial
The trial of Ricardo Martinez, 25, for
the murder of Vincent Cruz on June 24,
2008 on Eldridge St. near Rivington St.
began Mon. Jan. 31. The victim, of 40
Rivington St., who was 17 at the time,
was shot in the head a block from his resi-
dence. The shooting was over an argument
about stolen property, according to court
papers.
25 arrested during protest
A rally held in front of the city Education
Department’s headquarters at Tweed
Courthouse in protest of the city’s shuttering of
failing public schools turned ugly on Monday.
Approximately 150 students, parents and
school advocates convened on the steps of
Tweed to oppose the Panel for Educational
Policy’s vote this week on whether to close 26
public schools around the city.
Councilmembers Charles Barron and
Jumaane Williams, both of Brooklyn, along with
23 other demonstrators, were arrested when
they congregated on Chambers Street and began
blocking car traffic in the name of their cause.
“The police came and said, if we didn’t
move, we’d be under arrest,” Barron said,
recounting the scene.
Minutes later, the cops swarmed Barron and
the other protestors, chaining their hands with
white, plastic handcuffs.
The protestors were shuttled to the sev-
enth precinct, where they were questioned and
downtown express
Construction site burglaries
A burglar who entered a basement con-
struction location at 195 Broadway near
John St. sometime between Sat. Jan. 22 and
Mon., Jan. 24, made off with three power
tools valued at $750, police said.
During the same weekend, a burglar
forced open a locked door at a construc-
tion site in 240 W. Broadway near N.
Moore St. and stole a laptop computer and
a power tool with a total value of $1,050,
police said.
Visitor victimized
A woman visiting from Puerto Rico told
police she discovered her bag and wallet
were missing on Fri., Jan. 21 when she
returned to her room at the Smyth Hotel, 85
W. Broadway near Chambers St. The victim
said she wasn’t sure exactly when or where
the theft occurred but she learned that
$4,466 in unauthorized charges had been
made on her credit cards.
Wallet gone
A woman who works at 194 Reade St.
between Church St. and W. Broadway told
police she discovered on Mon., Jan. 24 that
her wallet was stolen. She lost her driver’s
license, credit cards and $323 in cash. The
victim later learned that an unauthorized
charge of $164 had been made on one card,
but a charge of the same sum had been
refused on another card.
Student loses bag
A student at Metropolitan College, 431
Canal St. at Varick St. told police that
she left her bag at her desk around 4 p.m.
Mon., Jan. 24 when she went to the bath-
room and returned a few minutes later to
discover the bag was gone, along with her
Ecuadorian ID, 80 Euros and $80 in U.S.
currency.
— Alber t Amateau
detained for a couple of hours. They weren’t
taken to the first precinct, Barron said, because
the cops feared the demonstrators would recon-
gregate there.
The protestors were released from the pre-
cinct around 7 p.m. that evening.
Barron, who represents neighborhoods in
Brooklyn and East New York, said the arrest
was well worth the message they got to send to
city authorities.
“I was overwhelmed with joy, pride and
honor to be with these young students and
parents,” Barron said. “Sometimes you have to
dramatize an issue, and say business can’t go on
as usual when an injustice is occurring.”
Shutting down struggling schools that
could be “fixed,” he continued, is not an
acceptable solution.
“It’s disgraceful,” Barron said, “that they’re
[displacing] very intelligent students.”
— Aline Reynolds
downtown express Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 5

Menin, Hughes call for L.M.D.C.’s closing

Continued from page 1
nearly complete, Menin, Hughes and others
are stressing the need for the agency’s imme-
diate preparation to sunset.
“You can’t just sunset in a couple of weeks
or months,” Menin said. “There has to be a
coherent plan, and any existing work that needs
to be done needs to be finalized.”
Failing to plan, she said, would be “absolute
failure.”
Menin reluctantly voted in favor of extend-
ing the L.M.D.C.’s operation budget last April.
“I said, ‘I’m voting to approve the budget this
time only.’”
She said she has “major concerns” about
approving yet another extension of the agency
at the forthcoming budget meeting this spring.
In a testimony issued last October at a city
council hearing on the matter, Menin called for
a sunset provision for the L.M.D.C. that would
entail cuts to its staff and programs.
Andrew Brent, a spokesperson for Mayor
Bloomberg, reiterated the mayor’s stance that
the L.M.D.C. is ready to shut down.
“Our position hasn’t changed,” he said. “The
L.M.D.C. is ready to be dissolved.”
The L.M.D.C. declined to comment on the
matter, but the agency’s chairman, Avi Schick,
suggested at the January 26 Board meeting that
there is still much work to be done.
“There are cultural needs, there are econom-
ic development needs – a wide variety of needs
that we want to get to,” he said. “We intend to
pursue them vigorously.”
Hughes indicated that she is equally frustrat-
ed by the L.M.D.C.’s failure to act timely on the
allocation of this sum as she is about the delays
in demolishing the 130 Liberty building.
“There have been a few hearings, [and]
months have gone by – where’s the progress?”
said Hughes. “As we approach the ten-year
anniversary, it only makes sense in a time of
limited finance that they finally complete their
job they were missioned with.”
But the L.M.D.C. doesn’t have to continue
to exist in order to distribute the remain-
ing funds. The Environmental Development
Corporation, or another city agency, could
take charge of the grant money once the
applicants are chosen, so long as legal and
compliance requirements were met.
David Emil, former president of the
L.M.D.C., acknowledged to Downtown
Express in December that the agency’s staff
and planning facilities “could all go away.”
Emil is now serving on a volunteer basis
until the building is turned over to the Port
Authority. The agency wouldn’t comment on
whether or not it planned on hiring a new
person to fill his shoes.
Menin and others believe that replacing
Emil is not necessary. “I do not think adding
more staff at this time makes sense,” she said,
“as L.M.D.C. should be focusing on winding
up and allocating the remaining money.”
The L.M.D.C. agreed in 2003 to swap land
at 130 and 140 Liberty Streets for the approxi-
mately eight acres of land that will make up
the future site of the National September 11
Memorial and Museum.
The Port Authority plans to hand over the
site to the W.T.C. Memorial Foundation when,
and only when, 130 Liberty is down.
Crain’s New York Business reported last
weekend, however, that Schick is reluctant to
transfer ownership of 130 Liberty to the Port
Authority until the completion of the 2003
agreement is finalized.
A Port Authority spokesperson, however,
explained that the two parties can’t sign off
on the agreement until 130 Liberty is fully
demolished.
Hughes got annoyed at the mere thought of
yet another hurdle, this time in the L.M.D.C.’s
original plan to swap properties. “Why would
they go back on the master plan,” she said,
“particularly after the taking down of 130
Liberty took many more years than antici-
pated?”
L.M.D.C. Spokesperson John DeLibero
declined to comment on the Crain’s article, but
said that the L.M.D.C. is working closely with
the Port Authority on 130 Liberty and issues
pertaining to the redevelopment of the W.T.C.
The Port Authority, meanwhile, has “asked
for and received access to the site,” according
to DeLibero. A Port Authority spokesperson
confirmed that it has already begun pre-con-
struction activities on the site in preparation
for the creation of the underground Vehicle
Security Center, which is slated for completion
in 2012.
Construction of the V.S.C. would begin
immediately after the 130 Liberty-W.T.C. land
swap is made, according to the Port Authority
spokesperson.
The land swap and sunset provision aren’t
the only two things the Downtown community
is demanding.
Menin is also requesting the release of a
Request for Expressions of Interest that would
enable developers to bid on the construction of
a mixed-use tower, known as Tower 5, at the
130 Liberty site.
She reiterated her stance on developing
the site immediately as a mixed-use building –
contrary the position of other L.M.D.C. board
members including former board member
Robert Lieber, who believed that development
of the site should be postponed until the office
and real estate markets begin to pick up.
Menin said Tower 5 should contain a mix
of affordable housing units, a hotel and retail
space.
Lower Manhattan is anticipating an esti-
mated five million tourists annually in the
coming years, coinciding with the redevelop-
ment of the W.T.C., Menin noted. “With the
few hotels that exist,” she said, “they will not
be able to service the tourists.”
A large-scale infrastructure project such as
this one, she added, would create immediate
construction jobs that would “have a multi-
plier effect in terms of job creation.”
If Tower 5 is developed as a mixed-use site,
she said, the Port Authority could monetize
the value of the land with development rights
and use the proceeds to build a much-needed
performing arts center.
The center, Menin said, “could create even
more jobs and fulfill the promise made to our
Downtown community for years.”
The Port Authority, however, maintains
that the center is scheduled to be built at site
1b, home to the temporary PATH station at the
intersection of Vesey and Greenwich Streets.
Underground infrastructure work, which the
Port Authority board approved last year, is
already underway.
The former Deutsche Bank building will
be dismantled once and for all in the coming
weeks, marking the end to a project plagued
with delays, unanticipated expenses and a fire
that killed two NYC firefighters.

City wants to phase out dirty heating oil

BY ALINE REYNOLDS
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection
proposed a law last week that would eliminate permits for num-
bers four and six heating oil, which release up to 15 times more
soot than does number two heating oil or natural gas.
Permits for number six oil, the largest pollutant, will be
denied starting next year, and fully phased out by 2015; and
number four oil, the second-largest pollutant, will be eliminated
by 2030, according to the D.E.P.
“Whenever a building replaces their boiler or burner with
poorest air quality in the city, according to the NYC Department
of Health Community Air Survey.
“This is a huge step to rid the city skyline of the plumes
of black smoke that choke our children’s lungs,” said Andy
Darrell, New York regional director of the E.D.F.’s national
energy program. “By switching to cleaner fuels, New York City
will prove that a mega-city can grow and clean the air at the
same time.”
Approximately 180 buildings south of Houston Street burn
the dirtiest grades of heating oil, according to an E.D.F. study.
Liberty Terrance, the 25-story condominium at 380
Rector Place in Battery Park City, is one of a few Downtown
buildings that plan to convert to natural gas before the end
of the year.
“We believe that this is good for the community, and are
able to justify this change with the savings that will be realized
with a very reasonable payback period,” said Liberty Terrace
resident and C.B. 1 Member Anthony Notaro.

Having an Affair ?
a new make or model of a new boiler or burner, the building
will also have to switch away from number six and four oils,”
explained Isabelle Silverman, an attorney for the Environmental The
Downtown
Defense Fund, a national nonprofit based in New York that
worked closely with the D.E.P. to formulate the rule. It Should be Prestigious
The proposal will undergo a 30-day public comment period,
followed by a public hearing on February 28. The D.E.P. then Little School It Should be Elegant
has 30 days to make changes to the rule as it deems fit.
Barring lawsuits that could thwart its passage, the law will
It Should be……………………….
become effective on March 28, according to Silverman.
“A conversion would be greatly appreciated by these older 15 Dutch Street
The Event of Your Life
buildings,” said Community Board 1 Member Catherine McVay (2 blocks east of B’way, off Fulton)
Hughes. The board, she said, has gone on the record approving
financial incentives that would facilitate the switch from dirty Serving children ages 2 - 5 years. Prestigious & Elegant Events
heating oil to natural gas. 917.522.0049 • 800.286.7924
For tours and information call (212)791-1300 or visit
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more soot pollution than all of the city’s buses, cars and trucks www.downtownlittleschool.org PrestigiousEvent.com
combined, according to the E.D.F. Manhattan has some of the
6 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 downtown express

City plans to make Water Street pedestrian friendly

BY ALINE REYNOLDS
Workers and residents near Water Street
will have an added incentive to eat and
schmooze outdoors in the summer months,
thanks to a new city plan to spruce up the
area’s open spaces.
The city’s Department of City Planning
proposed a modification in the zoning of
arcades in and around Water Street to enrich
its streetscape and promote economic wel-
fare of its businesses. The Water Street cor-
ridor connects visitors from the South Street
Seaport to the Staten Island Ferry terminal.
“Although Water Street is a main cor-
ridor for Lower Manhattan’s financial core,
it is a lackluster environment for pedestri-
ans, with underutilized arcades and few
active ground-floor uses,” said City Planning
Commissioner Amanda Burden.
The zoning change would allow for
the installation of year-round tables, chairs
umbrellas and litter receptacles in the seven-
teen arcades situated along Pearl, South and
Fulton and Whitehall Streets. Many of them
now lack amenities for pedestrians.
Creating lively and attractive meeting
spots for pedestrians, Burden said, is key to
promoting retail corridors Downtown and
around the city.
“By allowing tables and chairs to locate
in Water Street arcades,” said Burden, “this
proposal will help the street reach its poten-
tial as a vibrant and dynamic place where
Above is an example of the few options that presently exist for pedestrains to relax
along Water Street.
office workers, residents and tourists will be
able to have their lunches, or simply rest and
linger, under the shelter of public arcades.”
Several people that work in businesses
on Water Street are optimistic about the
project.
Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds
“I think it’s going to help all the busi-
nesses on the street,” said Au Bon Pain
General Manager Tara Marcelle, in terms of
attracting tourists and new regulars to the
eateries.
Joey Ramach, manager of Flavors Café
at 175 Water Street, said additional outdoor
seating would “send the right signals” to
pedestrians. Though the café already sets
up tables and chairs of their own during
the summer months, Ramach said there
is always a need for more outdoor public
seating.
“It’s good when you see people sitting
outside in front of the stores,” said Ramach.
“It would be more encouraging for other
customers to come in the cafes.”
“The location will look much better than
before,” echoed Danny David, manager of
Water Street Deli and Pizza. It might not
help out the businesses, he said, but it would
attract more nearby residents outdoors.
Gloria Veelez, who works in the building
at 60 Water Street, agreed that additional
outdoor seating would enhance the street’s
ambience. “It’s a good idea for the sum-
mertime,” especially, she said, when she
and her colleagues enjoy their lunch breaks
outdoors.
Not everyone, however, is in favor of the
idea. Jenny Lee, who works at Café Water
at 130 Water Street, said that extra seating
could pose problems on rainy days, when
water tends to accumulate on the sidewalks.
Judith Goldiner, an attorney at the Legal
Aid Society, at 199 Water Street, said she
would prefer to see additional seating along
Continued on page 19

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downtown express Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 7

C.B. 1 to inventory Downtown










affordable housing









BY ALINE REYNOLDS
Community Board 1 is on a mission to

document the affordable housing units that
still exist Downtown. The board’s affordable
housing task force is coming out with a new
guide this spring.
The idea behind the guide, according
to C.B. 1’s Affordable Housing Task Force
Chairman Tom Goodkind, is to “shine a light
on how to get one of these choice apartments
for less money if you’re not earning enough
to afford market in the same area.”
The task force aims to replicate the
successful runs of its previous community
guides — one on rent stabilization that came
out in 2009, and another for seniors last
  (  &      '  
summer. Goodkind said the group would
be updating the rent stabilization guide in
development in our district.”
The project’s coordinator, Heather Anderson,






C.B. 1’s 2010-11 urban planning fellow from
Columbia University, plans to research the
contemporary context of low-to-middle income
housing for the guide. The project ties in
directly with her housing concentration at
Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture,
Urban Planning and Preservation.
The manual, she said, should be “an effec-
tive tool of affordable housing to see what
our options are of possibly creating more,
but definitely preserving what’s there.”
Anderson’s research thus far, which
involves surfing the net for annual housing
reports and press releases, revealed that the '  )
most common forms of affordable housing
units Downtown are either federally subsi- )
    '  *  !
  '       + 
the spring or early summer to include 37 dized or privately developed. Some residenc- ,

  -
  $       &  -

Wall Street and other buildings that have es, she found out, gives preference to locals, )
               
   
become rent-regulated since the guide was seniors and people with disabilities.
published. Goodkind said the updated guide Additional research and data-gathering 
 


%

 
would also clarify the differences between tasks will be divided among the 13 members  
 
 

the various stabilization laws. of the task force. “We’re going to find out  
The housing guide is poised to offer fami- every little nuance of this stuff and just go
lies of all income levels the means to identify for it,” said Goodkind.
affordable apartments. Goodkind said the The guide will also provide tips on how
 


 
 
goal is to promote financial diversity in a to apply for affordable housing, along with
neighborhood that often champions market- a brief history of the residences, which,

   

rate housing. Goodkind said, might shed light on their
“This community is growing so quickly – past and current conditions. The task force  

we need to know what nature of affordable also plans to track down residents cur-
housing is available,” said Michael Levine, rently residing in affordable housing units    
the community board’s director of planning Downtown so as to incorporate into the      
and land use. The guide, he said, could also guide some first-hand accounts of typical  
  

serve as a crucial resource for growing fami- living scenarios.
lies residing in Lower Manhattan that are in “I really want to personalize this, and     
search of larger apartments. show what it’s been like over the years for   
Part one of the approximately 30-page the people living in these buildings,” said
guide will list and define the different types Goodkind.  
  
of affordable housing and part two will com- The task force also hopes to create
prise an inventory of the low-income resi- Manhattan Seniors, a nonprofit organiza- 

   
dences located in the board’s district. The tion that would oversee affordable servic- 
      
  
    
     
inventory will include average apartment es for seniors seeking to age-in-place in
rates and residents’ expected earning status. Downtown.
 !
"#$
   
C.B. 1 chair Julie Menin noted that The group will reconvene on Wednesday,
                   
assembling all the vital data on the existing February 16, where the task force members     
   
  %
     
affordable housing units will prove to be will be discussing additional ideas for the
an important resource for the Downtown guide and snags they’ve encountered along



   
community. the way.
“There is an affordable housing cri-
sis in this city,” said Menin, “and we in


Lower Manhattan are working proactively
to address the needs in our community by
actively pushing for more affordable housing
You Read It...
And so did thousands
of our Readers.
The board hopes to complete a working &   '( 
draft by March and a final draft by April. '!
The guide will be released before May, when
Anderson finishes her fellowship work with
C.B. 1.



























































 




























































































  
!
To advertise call 646.452.2496
8 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
Downtown is epicenter of crisis, says union prez
BY ALINE REYNOLDS
United Federation of Teachers President
Michael Mulgrew is just as fed up with
the city’s Department of Education as
are some Downtown education activists.
School overcrowding, standardized test-
ing and student-teacher evaluations were
among the union president’s main talking
points at a special forum Community
Board 1 held last Wednesday evening
at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. The
D.O.E., Mulgrew said, has created and
perpetuated many of the problems that
are plaguing public schools Downtown
and around the city.
“We cannot allow this really unscru-
pulous, disgusting behavior to stop us
[from being] a part of the work that might
help us help children in the long run,”
Mulgrew told the local parents and activ-
ists at the forum.
Mulgrew took the helm as union pres-
ident in August 2009. He previously
taught English for several years at a pub-
lic high school in Brooklyn and has a
master’s degree in special education from
the College of Staten Island of the City
University of New York.
C.B. 1 Chair Julie Menin reiterated
her criticism of the D.O.E. for failing
to plan ahead to avoid overcrowding in
Downtown K-12 schools.
“We’ve organized this town hall
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Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds
Paul Hovitz asks a question at last week’s meeting with U.F.T. President Michael
Mulgrew about the emphasis placed on standardized tests in NYC public schools.
because of the number of important issues
that have arisen in our district recently,”
Menin said, citing the rise in population
location and other factors that have contributed to
overcrowding in the area.
Schools are bursting at the seams all
around the city, according to Mulgrew,
who said he hears “nothing but frustra-
tion and anger” from the public school
teachers he represents.
“Congratulations. You’re the epicenter
of overcrowding,” Mulgrew told the audi-
ence.
The problem, Mulgrew explained, lies
in the fact that the city lacks a systematic
urban planning process. It doesn’t require
developers, for example, to outline the
potential impacts their projects could
have on local neighborhoods, such as a
population boom.
The board passed a resolution last
March urging the city’s charter revi-
sion commission to enforce standards for
developers seeking to build in a commu-
opment would have on schools and other
local infrastructure.
Instead, Menin said, new developments
in the area are routinely approved without
attention to school capacity. The city, she
said, has “an attendant duty to provide
the [estimated] number of school seats”
when approving Downtown construction
projects.
Mulgrew said he would be pushing
City Council to pass legislation that would
modify the planning process as it pertains
to new developments.
downtown express
“We’re always looking for better ideas,
to [figure out] how to move education
forward,” he said. “We can no longer go
to the D.O.E. for that. That’s really sad.”
Mulgrew accused the D.O.E. for mis-
leading the Downtown community by
making false promises about new class-
room space that was supposed to be
reserved for neigborhood children.
Downtown parents were dismayed by
the D.O.E.’s recent decision to desig-
nate two unused classroom floors at 26
Broadway to an unscreened, nonselec-
tive Upper East Side high school rather
than open up a second Millennium high
school there. The department also grant-
ed six vacant classrooms at the Tweed
Courthouse to a charter school rather
than to a district elementary school the
community said it badly needs.
Menin pointed out that, even with the
new schools Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver’s overcrowding task force helped
found, the area faces severe seat short-
ages in the coming years. The Tweed
Courthouse and 26 Broadway, she said,
are spaces Lower Manhattan cannot
afford to lose.
‘It broke my heart that
we lost the space at 26
Broadway.’
“It broke my heart that we lost the
space at 26 Broadway,” said Erica Weldon,
a Millennium High School parent.
Menin told her and the other distraught
parents to rest assured that the commu-
nity board would not remain “silent” on
the D.O.E.’s recent decisions.
Mulgrew said the D.O.E. should focus
on finding district seats for all public school
students before worrying about screened
versus unscreened schools. The U.F.T. presi-
dent took a more neutral stance on charter
schools. While the fundamental concept is
sound, he said, many of them are not work-
ing, and some are wrongly casting aside
special needs students who underperform on
standardized tests.
“You can’t just open charter schools and
not give them support and help in instruc-
tion,” said Mulgrew.
Growing class sizes have become wide-
spread across the city, Mulgrew reported,
and the U.F.T. has taken legal action to try
to mitigate the problem. It sued the D.O.E.
early last year for failing to allocate more
than $760 million the department purport-
edly secured from the state since 2007 to
reduce class sizes and the case is currently
pending in state supreme court.
“The class size at every grade in every
level has increased dramatically since the
money was sent here,” Mulgrew said. “It’s
inexcusable.”
Continued on page 20
downtown express
Effort to shorten San Gennaro Fest falls short
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
At a recent Community Board 2 meeting
a push was made to recommend reducing by
half the footprint of the famed San Gennaro
Festival, but the motion failed by a vote of
20 to 13.
Traditionally, the feast, which lasts a full
11 days in September, has stretched along
Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston
Streets. However, new designer boutique
owners, restaurateurs and residents in stylish
Nolita, at Little Italy’s northern end, have
grown increasingly opposed to the event.
They say the neighborhood has changed.
And the 85-year-old festival isn’t authenti-
cally Italian anymore, they say, but is just like
other generic street fairs and, most of all, is
a major disruption for the neighborhood for
close to two weeks each year.
Unfortunately for Nolita’s boutique own-
ers, the feast also coincides with Fashion
Week and Fashion Night Out, keeping fash-
ionistas away during what should be a high-
point of the year.
The Charlotte Ronson boutique, near
Spring Street, owned by hip music producer
Mark Ronson’s sister, simply closes for two
weeks during the festival, said assistant man-
ager Jessica Pimentel, speaking the day after
the C.B. 2 meeting.
“The average price of our goods is $100
and made in America,” one boutique owner
testified at the meeting. The average price of
San Gennaro wares is “$5 and made outside
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
this country,” she said.
The festival “becomes an 11-day barricade
to the stores,” stated another shop owner.
Giving them a newfound sense of com-
munity empowerment, however, Nolita resi-
dents last year successfully organized to
defeat Danny Meyer’s plan for a Shake Shack
at Prince and Mulberry Streets. Lacking suf-
ficient seating, the wildly popular upscale
hamburger takeout place would have over-
whelmed the neighborhood, they argued,
before Meyer ultimately pulled out due to
their opposition.
The recent petition effort to shorten the
San Gennaro Festival at Kenmare Street
was an outgrowth of this positive experience
fighting Shake Shack, said two Nolita deni-
zens, Kim Martin and Sharon Gary.
“You can only take so much after awhile,”
said Gary, a physical therapist and a Prince
Street resident for more than 20 years.
Through the work of its Street Activities
Film Permits Committee, C.B. 2 did succeed
in getting a number of concessions from
Figli di San Gennaro, the nonprofit board
that runs the festival. The group has agreed
that, at this year’s festival, there will be no
“Dunk the Clown,” since people complained
it was too raucous. Also, there won’t be any
karaoke, no booths selling or playing CD’s
— unless the music is directly related to the
festival’s theme — and no vulgar or mafia
T-shirts for sale, either.
Figli di San Gennaro has also agreed
to strict guidelines on shutdown times for
each night and will rotate the soundstage’s
location so as to spread the noise impact
around equitably. Also under the stipula-
tions, no building of structures will take
place overnight.
Out for this year’s festival:
‘Dunk the Clown,’
karaoke, mafia T-shirts —
and no live baby tigers.
The community board, in its resolution,
recognized that the festival “is an impor-
tant and symbolic annual event.” At the
same time, the resolution states that C.B.
2 “strongly urges [the city] to consider cut-
ting back the size of San Gennaro by stop-
ping the street fair at Kenmare Street so as
not to disturb the emerging business com-
munity in Nolita who expressed significant
concerns about lost profits and disruptions
caused by the festival.” Yet stopping the
festival at Kenmare Street wasn’t a deal-
breaker to the board’s granting its advisory
approval for the event.
In 1996, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani
9
brought the formerly corruption-plagued
festival under tight control, and its activi-
ties are still monitored. The event’s organiz-
ers note it has given out about $2 million in
charitable donations in the past 15 years.
Vivian Catenaccio, a San Gennaro
board member, noted that Old St. Patrick’s
Cathedral, between Prince and Houston
Street, was only just recently designated a
basilica. To think of excluding this block
from the festival, “it’s an insult to the
basilica,” she said.
Emily DePalo, another San Gennaro
board member, also noted the festival’s
religious foundations.
“We have two religious processions.
It’s a grueling three-to-four-hour process,”
she said. “One of them they walk, one of
them they float.” On September 19, the
cathedral is packed for a big Mass for San
Gennaro feast day, she added.
Catenaccio added she sees few actual
customers in the Nolita fashion boutiques.
“I feel sorry for them,” she said, noting
they pay high rent.
If the storeowners want to participate
in the festival, they can set up vending
tables on the sidewalk at a reduced rate to
sell their merchandise, she said.
In addition, she said, “We welcome
them to do a fashion show on the stage.”
Reducing the festival’s space would be
Continued on page 20
10 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
EDITORIAL
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
John W. Sutter The fight of San Gennaro
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tempers have been flaring in Little Italy and Nolita
John Bayles over the long-running Feast of San Gennaro. This
85-year-old street festival — one of the country’s most
ARTS EDITOR
well known — currently stretches along Mulberry Street
Scott Stiffler
between Canal and Houston Streets.
REPORTERS At the neighborhood’s north end residents and new
Aline Reynolds fashion boutique owners have organized and are calling
Albert Amateau for the festival to be cut off at Kenmare Street, reducing
Lincoln Anderson it by about half. They argued that the neighborhood’s
population is no longer heavily Italian, and that the
SR. V.P. OF SALES festival has become “generic,” and is an “eleven-day bar-
AND MARKETING ricade,” preventing people from getting to their stores.
Francesco Regini What’s more, the annual September feast coincides with
Fashion Week and Fashion’s Night Out, boutique owners
SR. MARKETING CONSULTANT
added, further negatively impacting their businesses.
Jason Sherwood
In response, members of the festival’s nonprofit
ADVERTISING SALES board, Figli di San Gennaro — many of them proud, life-
Allison Greaker long Little Italy residents — counter that the “newcom-
Michael Slagle ers” have no right to say the festival should be cut back.
Julio Tumbaco The organizers noted the feast draws about one million
people a year -- many of them tourists, who generates
RETAIL AD MANAGER
millions of dollars for businesses, hotels and restaurants.
Colin Gregory
The religious-based festival also features two three-to-
four street processions, and a special Mass.
BUSINESS MANAGER / CONTROLLER
Vera Musa According to the organizers, eliminating the feast’s
three northernmost blocks would mean 60 less vendors,
ART / PRODUCTION DIRECTOR which would reduce the feast’s income by about $221,000,
Troy Masters with a loss of $21,000 in revenues for the city, which col-
lects 20 percent of vendors’ fees for booth rentals.
ART DIRECTOR
When the Feast of San Gennaro started back in 1926, it
Mark Hasselberger
was a much humbler affair. It was a one-day, religious-based
GRAPHIC DESIGNER event, centered on Mulberry Street, between Grand and
Jamie Paakkonen Hester Streets, where Neapolitan immigrant families owning
coffeehouses brought tables out onto the sidewalk in honor
CONTRIBUTORS of their patron saint’s day. The feast has since burgeoned to
Terese Loeb Kreuzer • David 11 days and seven blocks, and is now run by Mort & Ray
Stanke • Jerry Tallmer Productions, one of the city’s major street-fair operators.
Trying to mediate the conflicting interests, Community
PHOTOGRAPHERS Board 2’s street activities and film permits committee did
Lorenzo Ciniglio • Milo Hess a good job of reaching some sort of compromise for this
Corky Lee • J. B. Nicholas •
year’s festival in September. Past attractions that drew the
Jefferson Siegel
most complaints won’t be included in this year’s festival
-- notably, karaoke and “Dunk the Clown,” the latter fea-
Published by turing a loudmouthed insult clown who would have made
COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC Don Rickles blush. Rock and hip-hop music CD’s and
145 Sixth Ave., NY, NY 10013 mafia T-shirts also won’t be sold. Clearly, the organizers
Phone: (212) 229-1890 have shown they are willing to work with the community.
Fax: (212) 229-2790 We did hear, though, that Figli di San Gennaro was
On-line: www.downtownexpress.com almost ready to give up the block between Kenmare and
E-mail: news@downtownexpress.com Prince Streets this year — so there may be some room in the
future for negotiating cutting back the festival somewhat.
Gay City
NEWS
TM
Two weeks ago, C.B. 2 voted on its advisory resolu-
tion giving conditional approval to a permit for the feast.
However, the community board strongly urged the city to
Downtown Express is published every week by consider stopping the festival at Kenmare Street, “so as not
Community Media LLC, 145 Sixth Ave., New
York, N.Y. 10013 (212) 229-1890. The entire to disturb the emerging business community in Nolita...”
contents of the newspaper, including advertising,
are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced
C.B. 2 also pointedly noted that Figli di San Gennaro
without the express permission of the publisher -
© 2010 Community Media LLC.
and the Mayor’s street activity permit office should “expect
that C.B. 2 will continue to negotiate further reductions of
PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR
The Publisher shall not be liable for slight [the feast’s] scale and duration for subsequent years.”
changes or typographical errors that do not
lessen the value of an advertisement. The Merchants toward the festival’s north end do say that
publisher’s liability for other errors or omissions
in connection with an advertisement is strictly
the vendors’ booths are not of particularly high quality,
limited to publication of the advertisement in any
subsequent issue.
so the argument could be made that the feast is already
overextended.
Member of the
New York Press It sounds like this year’s festival will still run from
Association Canal Street to Houston Street. (Figli di San Gennaro
Member of the members said they already have sanitation contracts in
National place for the whole stretch, for example.) But future years
Newspaper
Association
will likely see changes. We’re confident that, with C.B. 2’s
good help, the right compromise will be reached.
© 2010 Community Media, LLC
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
SPURA: Time for progress
To The Editor:
The saga of Seward Park Urban Renewal
Area has come to a climax with Community
Board 3 voting this Monday night on guide-
lines for a mixed-use development that would
replace dilapidated parking lots with multi-
income housing, retail properties, green
spaces, cultural/educational institutions and
more. The future of SPURA impacts every-
one on the Lower East Side. As a Grand St.
resident and founder of SHARE (Sustainable
Housing And Retail Expansion), I believe
the guidelines will prove most beneficial to
our neighborhood and therefore warrant the
community’s support.
The empty SPURA sites were once a com-
munity of diverse residents and shops. The
guidelines envision a future where an active
neighborhood exists once again. However,
some are opposing the development guide-
lines for allocating half of the housing for
affordable units by invoking images of failed
public housing projects. This concept is not
what the guidelines propose. Housing for
low-, moderate- and middle-income levels
is included, reminiscent of the multi-income
residents that make up the Grand St. co-
ops — plus, a full 50 percent allocation for
market-rate units. Also, the way affordable
housing is built today is vastly different from
how it was built years ago. Nowadays, devel-
opers take advantage of tax benefits to erect
“80/20” buildings, a co-existing mix of 80
percent market-rate and 20 percent afford-
able units, which would be the template for
a SPURA development.
We should note that while a 50 percent
affordable housing allocation is too little
for some residents, for others who see the
neighborhood as already containing sig-
nificant amounts of affordable housing, this
number is too high. The debate over how
much affordable housing should be built
on SPURA has been argued for decades
now. If we want to continue this argument
for decades more, that is an option. But it
will not do anything to address the real and
varied needs of our community in the near
term, and will definitely cause everyone
to lose out for the foreseeable future. The
current mix of housing is fair to all parties
and politically realistic. Let’s not make the
perfect the enemy of the good.
Some have argued that selling the
SPURA lots at anything less than market
value is reason alone to oppose the guide-
lines. However, the SPURA sites adjacent
to Grand St. are owned by the Department
of Housing, Preservation and Development,
whose mission is to build housing, not
maximize income from city-owned property.
The city’s overall goal would realize enor-
mous economic benefits for the city and the
Lower East Side in the long term from taxes
collected on the creation of new jobs and
housing.
Why, as some suggest, would we want to
sell this land for maximum profit and build
housing in the outer boroughs when that
money and infrastructure can be invested
downtown express
right here in our neighborhood? Also worth
noting are studies that have demonstrated
how mixed-income developments like the
one proposed on SPURA have a neutral-to-
positive effect on nearby property values.
I strongly support the passage of the
SPURA guidelines and encourage mem-
bers of the community to do so as well.
The opportunity to finally develop SPURA
means the Lower East Side will gain vibrant,
new neighborhood assets for all to use,
rather than us having to endure more years
of blighted lots. Just as the Grand St. co-ops
themselves advanced a 19th-century neigh-
borhood into the 20th century, so too can
a dynamic SPURA development bring the
Lower East Side into the 21st century and
create a more prosperous future for all of
our residents.
Brett Leitner
Leitner is founder, SHARE (Sustainable
Housing and Retail Expansion)
Commends Mendez
To The Editor:
Re “Mendez’s asthma-free act is law”
(Jan. 26):
Congrats to the councilwoman! I used to
live in Greenwich Village, and I hope that this
kind of legislation takes hold all over the coun-
try. These types of places are why childhood
asthma is so prevalent in the U.S., and shady
landlords are definitely part of the problem.
Nick Smith
Is Soho’s zoning failing?
To The Editor:
Re “Non-artist residents feel like ‘crimi-
nals’ in Soho, lawyer says” (news article,
Jan. 26):
The real issue as I see it is live-work space
for actual working artists. Soho inspires the
heart of the artist in many ways. The low
roofline and the large windows create a
neighborhood awash in light. The legacy of
art in Soho is impressive, to say the least.
Yet it seems as if the link between civic
and artistic is not as strong as it needs to be
to meet the real needs of living, working art-
ists. Not many career artists can afford the
space rates, and so they are forced to move
their studios elsewhere.
Sadly, it is clear from this article that
many of the living-work spaces that were
once set aside for artists are not housing art-
ists at all. With all the creativity at hand in
Soho, it amazes me that a more effective plan
has not been generated to assure the contin-
ued existence of artists and their neighbors
in Soho. Since successful art district plans
have been developed in other neighborhoods
in other cities, one must wonder why it is
that Soho cannot get it straight.
Lawrence White
downtown express
TALKING POINT
Scared by political violence? Stop violent politics
BY TED RALL
The shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle
Giffords and 11 other people is tragic. But it
is not shocking. It isn’t even surprising.
What is surprising — weird, even —
is the response of the corporate-owned
political and media establishment. They’re
coming out against violent rhetoric. Not
real violence. They want to stop talk about
violence.
Liberals accuse right wingers of creating
an atmosphere of hatred that fuels incidents
like the Arizona shootings.
“We need to put the gun metaphors away,
and permanently,” urged Keith Olberman on
MSNBC. If he gets his way, a lot of people
in Hollywood are going to be out of work.
“Violent rhetoric causes actual violence” is
a liberal meme.
“Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin,”
tweeted Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos
after the Tucson shootings. Moulitsas noted
that the Web site for Palin’s PAC featured
an image of Rep. Giffords’s district with
crosshairs over it. There is, however, no
evidence that the accused gunman ever saw
Palin’s Web site.
Righties counter that the really inflam-
matory rhetoric comes from the left. From,
for example, the likes of me: “Left-wing car-
toonist Ted Rall’s most recent book calls for
a violent response from the left against the
right,” Erick Erickson of RedState whined
after Giffods was shot. “The point of all of
this is not to blame Ted Rall,” he then back-
tracked. Like hell.
The cognitive disconnect between reality
and self-perception in American society and
politics is bizarre and frightening. Whenever
there’s a school or workplace shooting spree,
Americans act shocked! shocked! shocked!
Dear Transit Sam,
I’m hoping you will be able to help me
with something. I am trying desperately to get
an inbound Staten Island/Manhattan MTA
express bus stop (northbound) reinstated for
the x10 express bus. The stop was suspended
a while ago back in 2008 due to construction
on West Street. The stop is located on West
Street in lower Manhattan at the corner of
Murray Street. It’s been there for at least five
years. I’ve been using that stop for the x7, x9
and x10 express buses.
Approximately six months ago, the stop
was reinstated for the x7 and x9, but not the
x10. I reached out to NYC Transit back in
September and I have received no answer so
far to date. Most of the x10 bus drivers do in
fact stop at that location, but some of the new
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
To hear media commentators, you’d think
this was a peace-loving nation of Dalai
Lamas rather than a bunch of brawlin’,
trash-talkin’, gun-totin’, foreigner-bombin’
yahoos who drive around Iraq shooting
people while listening to death metal.
“Violence, or the threat of violence, has
no place in our democracy,” said Keith
Olberman. Does he live in America?
Americans worship violence. Kicking ass is
our national religion. “Violence and threats
of violence” are part of our daily lives. As a
kid, I got beaten up by bullies. As an adult,
I collect death threats in response to my
cartoons. When I ride my bike, motorists try
to run me off the road. Most of my female
friends have been raped.
When I served jury duty in New York
prospective jurors were asked whether they
or someone close to them had ever been the
victim of a violent crime. Down the line they
went, 50 at a time. They went through 150
people. Every New Yorker there had suffered
the effects of a brutal assault or the murder
of a loved one.
The first time I felt any self-respect was
when I sent a high school bully to the hos-
pital.
Sorry, Keith. Violence has plenty of
place in our lame excuse for a democracy.
Remember how Bush became president in
2000? He hired goons to assault Florida
election workers and had a representative
threaten a coup on national television.
“Such a senseless and terrible act of vio-
lence has no place in a free society,” chimed
in President Obama — who was either
coming from or en route to a meeting with
Pentagon generals to discuss America’s wars
against Afghanistan and Iraq, or perhaps the
occupation of Haiti, or expanding the new
guys won’t stop for fear of getting in trouble.
Is it possible for you to contact someone
at the MTA to get this stop reinstated for
the x10? Right now, the sign designates the
stop for the x7 and x9 only. It doesn’t make
any sense that the x10 can’t stop there. I,
along with my fellow travelers, would greatly
appreciate your help with this situation.
Rosemarie, World Financial Center
Dear Rosemarie,
Thank you for the suggestion. It seems
like a reasonable request. I reached out to
NYC Transit, and they say they will study the
possibility of making the x10 stops at that
location “official.” The one discrepancy I’m
still working on is whether or not the x10
concentration camp at Bagram. How many
assassination orders have you signed so far,
Barry? How many extraordinary renditions?
How many torture memos?
As I recently explained to an interviewer:
“The reason I oppose this particular regime
is because it is so aggressively violent.”
And I’m not talking about gun violence.
I’m talking about the wholesale over-
the-top violence of neocolonialism abroad,
fueled by a cult of militarism here at home.
U.S. forces are currently engaged in com-
bat operations and propping up puppet
regimes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, the
Philippines, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and
many other countries. They are hated and
reviled there. Here every other car’s bumper
urges us to “Support Our Troops.”
We kill so many civilians we can’t be
bothered to count them; not even America’s
wimpy phony left opposes the killing of
“enemy” uniformed soldiers who die defend-
ing their homelands. Military action is
America’s default response to every major
news story. The 9/11 attacks? Kill them
all — even if we’re not sure who “they” are.
Hurricane Katrina? Send in the troops — not
help. Indian Ocean tsunami, earthquakes in
Pakistan or Haiti — anything and everything
is an opportunity to invade, corrupt, pillage
and murder.
The young man accused of shooting
Rep. Giffords is portrayed as sick, deranged
and fond of oddball conspiracy theories.
In these things, he is a typical American.
“Typical” Americans, after all, believe in
angels and creationism and that Bush found
the W.M.D.’s in Iraq and trickle-down eco-
nomics. Typical liberal Americans think it’s
perfectly fine to give trillions to bankers
while millions lose their jobs and get no help
Transit Sam
The Answer man
ever serviced that location (you say yes, NYC
Transit says no). I’ve asked them to double-
check that at your insistence. I hope to have
the results of the MTA’s findings soon. But
for now, if your bus driver bypasses the West
Street and Murray Street location, you can
take the x10 to Warren Street between West
Street and Greenwich Street.
Transit Sam
Dear readers,
Here’s a Hudson Street water main con-
struction update. It’s still bad news for
Holland Tunnel gridlock, but there’s some
good news for parkers in Tribeca as the city is
providing more parking to increase the num-
ber of open curbside spaces during the day.
11
whatsoever.
The Tucson gunman is accused of an act
of “senseless violence.” Here, too, he is just
another face in the crowd. We all pay our taxes.
None of us loses a minute of sleep as those
taxes are used to make bombs and hire men and
women to drop them on innocent people, who
then blow into bits of flesh and bone.
Then there is the covert violence all around
us: the tens of thousands of Americans who
die annually because they can’t afford to pay
for a doctor’s visit; the millions of children
who go to bed hungry every night; the mil-
lions evicted from foreclosed homes (tell
them it’s not an act of violence); the hun-
dreds of thousands who sleep outside, and
the millions who couch-surf with friends and
relatives because shelter is too expensive.
We don’t even think about getting serious
about solving these problems.
Like terrorism, political violence is a
relatively minor issue. And as guys named
Lincoln and Garfield and Charles Sumner —
who was nearly beaten to death by a fellow
member on the floor of the U.S. Senate in
1856 — could attest, it is not a new one.
The brutality being carried out by the
political system and its corporate sponsors
is responsible for the equivalent of tens of
thousands of Tucson-level shooting sprees
each year in the U.S. alone. For example, a
peer-reviewed scientific study published in
2005 found that the death toll directly attrib-
utable to income inequality is “comparable
to the combined loss of life from lung cancer,
diabetes, motor vehicle crashes, H.I.V. infec-
tions, suicides and homicides.”
But the ruling classes don’t want us to think
about reality. They want to make us shut up.
Thus their calls to ramp down high-octane
political speech.
On Washington Street between Vestry and
Hubert streets, North Moore Street between
Varick and Greenwich streets, and Beach
Street between Hudson and Greenwich
streets, the regulations will change from “No
Parking 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.” to general street
cleaning rules. These new changes should be
in effect as of this writing.
Transit Sam
Have a question about a parking ticket,
traffic rules, public transportation, ASP or
more? Want to know how to get a copy of
my 2011 Parking Calendar? If so, send me
an e-mail at TransitSam@downtownexpress.
com or write to Transit Sam, 611 Broadway,
Suite 415, New York, NY 10012.
12
Da Mikele: not just a pizza place
BY HELAINA N. HOVITZ
Master pizza chef Michele Iuliano is ready to make his
mark in Tribeca, and he’s pretty sure that those familiar
with his other outposts — Luzzo, in the East Village, and
Chelsea’s Ovest — will make a special trip downtown just
to visit his new baby.
So far, it looks like Iuliano is right. At 2:30 p.m. on a
recent Friday, the place was packed; packed being a relative
word in lieu of the recession that has hit all restaurateurs
hard.
Da Mikele (a dialectical riff on Iuliano’s first name, which
is pronounced MEE-kay-lay) is chic but homey. The tables
in front welcome large groups — everyone from the lawyers
and judges who walk over from the courts to the 12-member
mommy-and-me group that is using the restaurant as a meet-
ing spot. The 21-foot bar comfortably seats about 15, but
many more can hang on the outskirts.
“Tribeca is up and coming as an area in the city, and
it’s a cool destination spot,” said Iuliano of his 275 Church
Street restaurant. “A lot is happening on this side of West
Broadway.”
Iuliano is already well-known for his pizza, which is made
in an electric oven and takes seven minutes to cook, unlike
a wood-burning oven that turns out softer, chewier pizzas
in about half the time. The thinner and crunchier crust is
also easier on the stomach, because the yeast in pizza dough
cooked in a wood oven can ferment in the diner’s stomach
long after digestion.
Celebrity fans include Ashton Kutcher, Mandy Moore,
and Ivanka Trump, who have all dined in the Tribeca eatery
over the past two weeks; Trump reportedly called it the best
pizza in town — but don’t call Da Mikele a pizza place.
“This is the first authentic Italian pizza down here, but I
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include Al Cono, which is similar to a calzone, but is left
open so that the steam doesn’t make its insides soggy. A
Frusta, Italian for whip, is similar; the foot-long creation
with fillings like ham, hot cherry peppers, and eggplant is
also wrapped in homemade pizza dough. His original dishes
include the Parmigiana “da Mikele” which is made with
potatoes.
Nothing on the menu is more than $22, and most dishes
average about $8-12. For the children, they’ve just added a
“Menu Bambini” with $6 dishes like Penne Pomodoro. So
how is it that Iuliano is able to keep prices so low when he
receives up to five deliveries from Italy a day?
“If you offer good food at good prices, you’ll get the busi-
ness you want, and be able to afford top-notch ingredients,”
said partner Tony D’Auiuto. “He’s also been in business for
a while.”
According to Iuliano, da Mikele is becoming “the official
Italian gathering point in Tribeca,” and bringing a warm, cozy
feel to the neighborhood. The eatery has been seeing families
Downtown Express photo by Helaina N. Hovitz
in the early evenings, and a slew of children for brunch on the
Chef Michele Iuliano is primed to become pizza king of weekends. At about nine, they dim the lights to welcome the
Tribeca. late night, “hip, young crowd.” Despite the lounge-like vibe
wouldn’t describe this as a pizza place. There’s no compari- the eatery takes on in later hours, management has decided,
son to begin with,” said Chiara Carfi, a representative of the for the time being, not to stay open past midnight.
restaurant. “It’s more like fine dining, and the pizza is part “We’re a restaurant, not a nightclub,” said D’Auiuto.
of a much richer and varied menu.” “But if the crowd wants to stay later, we may adjust the
A resident of Lower Manhattan for almost a decade, many closing time.
have been waiting his arrival south of Canal Street. Iuliano On weekdays, Da Mikele will host an Aperitivo, or Italian
is both Executive Chef and Owner, and all of the ingredients happy hour, from 5-7pm, with free food lining the full bar,
are imported from Italy, as well as the furniture. and selections of wine to go with them.
Michele grew up in his mother’s kitchen back in Naples, Da Mikele is located at 275 Church Street and is open
and has brought those authentic Italian recipes here to the daily from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. For more information call
United States —some with new twists. Other offerings 212-925-8845.
Battery Park City Day Nursery
Where loving and learning go hand in hand
Now Offers Toddler “Meet & Play”
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downtown express Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 13

Downtown Express photos by Milo Hess

Lots of snow means lots of snowmen

The latest snowstorm resulted in a huge boom in the snowmen (and snowwomen) population.
14
PEP officers accused in alleged assault
Continued from page 1
to call 911. When Pratt left the Regatta, he
ran into some stores on South End Avenue
where he was known, and again asked that
someone call 911. Back on the street, Pratt
found a PEP officer who was not in uniform
trying to block his path. Pratt said the man
started chest bumping Pratt, who by this
time, was holding his dog in his arms.
Vince Smith, who owns a hair salon on
South End Avenue, took some photographs
and a video of the incident. Several PEP
officers allegedly jumped Pratt at the corner
of South End Avenue and Rector Place.
One of them put his knee in Pratt’s back
and held him to the ground. Another pulled
Lyka from Pratt’s arms and threw her into
a snowdrift.
By this time, an FDNY ambulance had
arrived. Pratt was handcuffed with his
hands behind his back, and placed in the
ambulance. NYPD officers also arrived
but soon departed since they said that the
Parks Enforcement Patrol was handling the
situation.
According to Steve Moskovitz, a friend
of Pratt’s, “Adam explained to the FDNY
ambulance personnel that he had a medi-
cal condition and begged them to take
him to Sloan-Kettering, where he was
being treated.” Instead, Pratt discovered
when he exited the ambulance that he
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
An ambulance on South End Avenue with Battery Park City resident Adam Pratt
inside after he was allegedly assaulted by several PEP officers on Saturday.
was at Bellevue, where he was taken to
the psychiatric ward. He had not been
charged with anything and was not under
arrest.
“Bellevue was wondering what he was
doing there,” said Moskovitz. “They had to
fumble through their books to figure out a
Photo courtesy of Jay Fine
charge. They ended up charging him with
‘disorderly behavior.’ They asked him to
sign a citation, but he refused.”
At this point, Pratt’s handcuffs were
removed and he was escorted into a room
for psychiatric evaluation. “They asked
him if he thought he had super powers,”
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downtown express
said Moskovitz. “They tried to find ways
to show that he was psychotic. However,
fortunately a friend named Tiffany Shea
was with him.”
Shea and Pratt had planned to meet that
afternoon. When Pratt didn’t show up, Shea
became concerned and went to look for
him. She saw what was happening and was
able to accompany him in the ambulance.
She refused to leave him.
After around seven hours, Pratt was
released from Bellevue. However, he was in
great pain. Later that night, he went to the
emergency room at New York Downtown
hospital, where he was X-rayed and told
that he had rib contusions.
In continuing pain and with difficulty
breathing, Pratt says that he plans to sue.
Both Pratt and Moskovitz believe that
what happened was a vendetta on the
part of the Parks Enforcement Patrol. For
several years, “Adam has been videotap-
ing and photographing PEP officers asleep
in their cars, hogging parking spaces on
West Thames Street and driving their golf
carts at night without the lights on,” said
Moskovitz. “He believes that what hap-
pened to him may have been vindictive on
their part.”
Pratt characterized most of the PEP
officers as “thug like” and “abusing their
authority.” He said that he is now afraid to
go out in the neighborhood for fear of being
attacked again.
downtown express
BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER
ICE: For around a week, ice floes have
been coming down the Hudson River when
the current runs from the north, but have had
little effect on ferry service in the harbor.
NY Waterway operates 33 ferries on
20 Hudson River routes. Two of them are
upstate between Haverstraw and Ossining
and between Newburgh and Beacon. Those
routes are affected by the ice, sometimes
necessitating the substitution of a bus for the
usual ferries that take commuters across the
river to a connection with Metro-North trains.
However, for the remainder of NY Waterway’s
ferries, it’s been business as usual.
“When there’s ice, there’s an occasional
delay of a few minutes on a route, but it
does not shut down,” said Pat Smith, a
spokesman for NY Waterway. “We’ve run
full service every day this week.” On January
26, for instance, when 19 inches of snow
brought New York City to a near standstill,
NY Waterway ferries and connecting buses
continued to run.
Smith went on to explain that, “You might
have ice build up overnight. It’s not so much
the ice in the middle of the river. It’s what
washes up at the edges where the terminals
are. A tugboat breaks up that ice. Once the
ferries start operating at 6 a.m., they’re so
frequent that the ice can’t reform.”
However, there may still be ice-caused
problems. Some NY Waterway boats are
jet powered, sucking water in and blowing
it out. If the water intake gets clogged with
ice, the engine can overheat. This is what
happened on January 27 to the Gov. Thomas
Kean, a ferry traveling between Hoboken,
N.J. and 39th Street in Manhattan with 20
passengers aboard. The captain shut down
the engine while a deck hand swept the ice
from the intake. After a delay of around
seven minutes, the ferry went on its way.
New York Water Taxi also operates ferries
in New York harbor. The ice “is not affect-
ing New York Water Taxi right now,” said
spokesperson Stacey Sherman a few days ago.
“Everything is on schedule.” She said that “If
conditions change, New York Water Taxi will
post something on their website and Facebook
page and send an e-blast to passengers.”
DUCKS: Amid the ice floes in Battery
Park City’s South Cove on January 29, two
pairs of mallard ducks were foraging for
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 15
Downtown Express photos by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
food. Mallards are the most common ducks Ice floes on the Hudson River collect around coves and ferry terminals. A spokes-
in the United States and are the ancestors man for NY Waterway said that at worst, the ice floes might cause some delays in
of most domestic ducks. Mallards can, and ferry service but would not bring it to a halt.
do, breed with other species. “We didn’t see
the ducks over-wintering here until around “That will cost $130,000. Other delays board in which he reiterated Brookfield’s
15 years ago,” said Vince McGowan, assis- cost $173,060 for overtime and extra analy- position that demolishing the stairway is the
tant executive director of the Battery Park sis,” said Finnegan. “We’re currently having only feasible option for handling anticipated
City Parks Conservancy. “Now it’s becoming discussions with Port Authority about the traffic flow. Gayle Horwitz, president of the
more common to see them.” He said that no $173,060 and the $46,000.” Battery Park City Authority, reiterated the
one knows exactly why. It appears, at the end of the day, that the Authority’s position that when Brookfield
To protect themselves from the cold, sev- Battery Park City Authority will be in for the submits its final plans, the Authority will
eral Mallards will huddle together for warmth. $130,000 and for the cost to store the steel, review them to see whether it agrees with
Standing on an ice floe or in the snow, they but the Port Authority should be legally Brookfield’s assessment and conclusions.
will lift one foot and then the other, into the obligated to cover the rest of the expenses
recesses of their warm, downy breasts. incurred by the delays. SUPER BOWL SPECIAL: Battery Place
In past years, come spring, Battery Park The Port Authority’s current schedule Market, 77 Battery Place, is cooking up a
City’s Mallards have raised their young in indicates that the Battery Park City Authority feast of gourmet party platters and nibbles
what has become known as the “duck pond” should be able to begin constructing the per- for Super Bowl Sunday, February 6. The plat-
near Rockefeller Park. Females usually lay manent bridge in January 2013. ters include anti-pastas, charcuterie, smoked
eight to 13 eggs. After mating, the males With a new bridge and an underground fish, gourmet cheeses and sushi, priced from
leave the females to incubate the eggs and tunnel connecting the World Trade Center $5 to $14 per person. Buffalo wings, fried
raise the ducklings. The babies are born and the World Financial Center on the hori- potato skins, nachos, pulled pork sliders and
able to feed and swim, but it takes around zon, Brookfield Properties, is trying to drum Arborio rice balls are among the snacks and
two months before they loose their fluff and up acquiescence, if not enthusiastic support, finger foods. Battery Place Market delivers.
develop the feathers necessary for flight. for its plans to demolish the marble stairway Call (212) 786-0077 to order or for more
in the Winter Garden. Brookfield plans to information. Those who order Super Bowl
BRIDGE: The related subjects of the reconfigure 2 World Financial Center with Sunday provisions will get a 10 percent dis-
Liberty Street bridge that spans West Street a glass pavilion on the eastern side and new count on their next purchase at the market.
and the Winter Garden stairway in the World retail space. Lawrence Graham, Brookfield’s
Financial Center were discussed at the Battery executive vice president for property opera- For comments about Battery Park City
Park City Authority’s monthly board meeting tions in the United States, made a presen- Beat or to suggest ideas, e-mail TereseLoeb@
on January 31. The bridge was damaged in tation to the Battery Park City Authority mac.com.
the September 11, 2001 attack on the World
Trade Center. Because of construction delays
at the World Trade Center site, the antici-
pated reconstruction of the Liberty Street
bridge (aka the “South” bridge) for which the
Battery Park City Authority is responsible,
was also delayed. In fact, it now looks as
though work on a new bridge will begin a full
four years beyond the originally anticipated
date. This, of course, has proven costly in
money as well as time.
As Kevin Finnegan, acting head of the
Battery Park City Authority’s Construction
Department, explained at the meeting,
the contractor for the bridge, Tectonic
Engineering and Surveying Consultants,
had to rent storage space for the steel and
treat it, and then treat it again at a cost of
$80,000. The engineering firm, Thornton
Tomasetti, had to rebid the job because of
changes to the bridge access, which cost
A pair of mallard ducks foraging in the icy water of Battery Park City’s South Cove.
another $46,000. Tectonic also had to per-
Mallard ducks will not migrate south as long as they have open water for feeding
form “critical weld inspection that was far
and sometimes cope with the cold by huddling together.
beyond” what was originally anticipated.
16 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 downtown express

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downtown express
Dragons, Sixers prevail
in hard-fought games
Newbie P.S. 276, led by Coach Frankie
Alameda, brought their girls’ and boys’ JV
basketball teams to Manhattan Academy of
Technology last Friday.
The girls’ “Battery Chargers” of mostly
sixth graders played valiantly against the
established M.A.T. Dragons, led by Coach
John DeMatteo, and many changed into
cheerleading uniforms to support the boys
who played after.
In the boy’s game, Tyler Rohan got things
started for M.A.T. with a pass to teammate
Douglass Stapler for his first basket. A three-
pointer by Ryan Porcaro was followed by a
shot underneath the basket by Stapler, and
another three-pointer from Coby Caraballo,
putting M.A.T. 10-0 in the first few minutes
of the game.
Sixth-grader Jack Vegas put 276 on the
board with an impressive three-point shot
and Aidan Ostermaer supported the team
with consecutive rebounds, but the score
stayed 10-3 until a medium range shot by
Rohan added two for M.A.T.
Vegas persevered, though, and his second
three-pointer narrowed the gap. His team-
mate Max Matsumoto pitched in with a field
goal, giving the cheerleaders something to
shout about, and bringing the score 14-7.
Michael Gaschler got the spirit and made
it 14-9, but M.A.T.’s Sasha Sanon sunk one
from the side to bring the score to 16-9.
Sanon was fouled shortly afterwards and
made a free throw, and teammate Rohan’s
basket from the side made the score 19-9.
Stapler’s lay-up was followed by five points
by Porcaro, and M.A.T. led 26-9. No. 4 for
276 scored, and the score was 26-11 at the
end of the first half.
Tucker Rothbart and his teammates
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 17
Adult and
Pediatric Dermatology
Caraballo’s pass to Kreiss made it 9-6, but
before the Nets could narrow the gap fur-
ther, Elefterakis scored. Comprehensive Dermatologic Care
Kreiss was on fire offensively, though,
and made the score 11-8. Unfortunately, his Skin Cancer Screening
defensive play was deemed too aggressive by
the refs, and he was pulled from the game
to avoid fouling out. At the end of the first
Botox / Perlane / Restylane
quarter, the Sixers were in the lead, but the
Nets were getting stronger.
At the top of the second quarter, Niall
Nathalie Q. Nguyen, M.D.
Gallagher turned a pass from Caraballo into NYU Assistant Clinical Professor
a basket for the Nets, and followed that up Board Certified Dermatologist
with a pass to Oliver Brown. His basket
put the Nets in the lead for the first time,
12-11. Rohan’s basket for the Nets made it Eric Huang, M.D., Ph.D
14-11, and his team turned it around again.
Gallagher set a pick, Caraballo shot, Rohan Board Certified Dermatologist
grabbed the rebound and made his third
field goal, and the Nets led 16-11.
Brown also continued to impress,
291 Broadway, Suite 1803, NYC
rebounding defensively, feeding it to Corner of Broadway and Reade Street
Caraballo, who took it coast-to-coast for an
18-11 lead. Elefterakis returned the favor 212-233-2995
with a steal and a basket for the Sixers. But
Gallagher’s next basket made it 20-13 for the
Nets. Elefterakis wouldn’t give up, though, Most Major Insurance Carriers Accepted
taking an expert pass and laying it in. But
Brown answered as time ran out in the half
with his second basket, and the score was
22-15, Nets.
Elefterakis was fouled at the top of the
half, and added a point to the Sixers’ score-
board. The Nets shot and rebounded five
times before Brown finally connected, mak-
0/,902%035--%2
ing it 24-16. Steven Ratigan used his height
advantage to put one in for the Sixers, but
the Nets made what turned out to be their
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basket, and Elijah Mateo, Philippe Cox and
Tyler Adams made a strong showing for
M.A.T. The final score was Dragons 40,
Chargers 23.
Porcaro, Rohan and Caraballo raced
across town to the 89 gym, where the 76ers
faced the Nets for the first time this season.
Porcaro started things off by sinking a three-
pointer for the 76ers, followed by a basket
by his teammate Mekhi Simmons. The Nets
made several great passes, but couldn’t get
close to the basket until Jake Cook stole the
ball and passed to Rohan to bring the score
5-2.
The Sixers’ Greg Elefterakis was fouled,
and made both free throws. The Nets’ Jacob
Lawrence Kreiss’ offensive rebound went
Despite Coach Chris Rohan’s plan for the &/2#(),$2%.!'%3¯ 3ATURDAY!PRIL!-TONOON
Nets to bring the ball to the left to maximize
the Nets’ height advantage, his team contin-
ued to go right, allowing Ratigan to steal,
drive the ball, and lay it up. Porcaro’s sub-
sequent lay-up went in, and the score was a
close 26-22 at the end of the third quarter.
Simmons started off the fourth quarter with
his second basket for the 76ers, and Porcaro
was fouled in the act of shooting, tying the
game at 26. Elefterakis’ three-pointer put the
Sixers in an insurmountable lead of 29-26,
as the Nets tried in vain to score.
In the last five seconds, with the Sixers
in possession of the ball, Porcaro was fouled
and sank one of the free throws. The Nets
took the rebound of the second shot, but
in, and the score was 7-4. Porcaro answered time was against them. The final score was 0ROGRAMSFROM*UNE¯!UGUST
right after, making it 9-4 for the Sixers. Sixers 30, Nets 26. 3UMMER!CADEMIC0ROGRAM„3UMMER%XPERIENCE$AY#AMP
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D OWNTOWN
DIGEST
Continued from page 3
“From helping to create more good-paying
jobs for veterans so they can succeed in the
economy after serving our nation, to improv-
ing access to quality health care, to providing
affordable loans to buy a home and a chance
at a college degree, we must ensure the oppor-
tunities and benefits we offer our military
families always live up to their service.”
MTA Cuts
Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver
is urging the MTA to reconsider proposed
service cuts to the M22 bus line that runs
through Lower Manhattan.
The speaker sent a letter to MTA
Chairman and CEO Jay Walder last week
arguing against the cuts, which he said
put residents of the community at a dis-
advantage.
“Many of our residents live more than
half-a-mile from the nearest subway stop
and bus service. The M22 serves as a
lifeline, enabling them to get to school,
work, doctors’ appointments and other
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
necessary travel,” wrote Silver.
The M22 is one of 40 bus lines that
could face reductions in service, which
would “more closely align service with
customer demand,” while “improv[ing]
reliability through running time modifi-
cations where needed,” according to the
MTA proposal.
New education reform
organization
Parents Across America, a new organi-
zation that advocates for national public
education reform, will host a launch event
on Monday, February 7, in conjunction
with Community Board 1.
P.A.A. members include parents and
activists from across the United States
who support “positive change” in national
public education.
“Up to now, the parent perspective
has been almost entirely missing in the
policy proposals put forward by the U.S.
Department of Education and those run-
ning many school districts across the
nation,” according to P.A.A.’s website. “In
contrast, [P.A.A.] advocates for proven,
progressive measures such as reducing
class size and increasing parent involve-
Downtown Express photo by Aline Reynolds
downtown express
ment, and opposes corporate-style efforts
to privatize our schools.”
The free event will feature keynote
speaker Diane Ravitch, an education his-
torian and professor of education at New
York University, as well as panelists from
numerous education advocacy organiza-
tions. It will be held at P.S. 89, located at
201 Warren Street in Lower Manhattan.
To reserve a seat, visit the website at
parentsacrossamerica.org.
Rally ‘round
the kids
“Private enterprise is legiti-
mized to undermine democ-
racy – not only in the politi-
cal process, but in the edu-
cational process,” said pro-
testor Dirk Ewers. He and
his son, Lian, who attends
P.S. 25 Bilingual School in
the South Bronx, attended
the January 27 rally at City
Hall Plaza, where dozens of
education advocates chant-
ed for reforms to the city’s
public school system.
downtown express
Water St.
Continued from page 6
the waterfront.
“I think people would buy sandwiches
or salads and walk over to the water,” said
Goldiner. “As you walk North or South,
there’s not a lot.”
Landi Edwards, a criminologist who
works at 199 Water Street, fears the out-
door furniture could block wheelchair access
to the street. Edwards commutes everyday
from Queens via Access-A-Ride.
New imam’s remarks spark debate
Continued from page 1
Imam Feisal has no authority or control
over this project, over its board of directors
or over Soho Properties, which controls the
real estate,” said El-Gamal in a statement.
“Park51 is more than any one personality
or Imam. This is why we have invited other
Imams to join this project and help us shape
the prayer space component.”
Rauf is currently on a speaking tour. A
spokesperson said prior to his departure
that he would not be speaking on behalf
of Park51 while away and instead would
be focusing on a more global notion of
interfaith relations, what he has deemed
the “Cordoba Movement.”
The spokesperson said Park51 came
up in conversation and also acknowl-
edged the apparent rift between Rauf and
El-Gamal.
“After Park51 released their statement,
it was pretty clear that the two were con-
sidering going separate ways,” said the
spokesperson.
Both Park51 and Rauf’s spokesperson
confirmed that Rauf remains involved
with the project as one of four found-
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
“If it’s going to cause traffic or [lane]
closures, it could cause a problem,” said
Edwards. “I’m not against it, but I hope they
take that into consideration.”
A Department of City Planning spokes-
person, however, assured that street lane
closures are not expected, and that the
proposal applies only to the arcades and not
to other parts of the sidewalk. The proposal
also requires a clear path of three-to-six feet
in the arcades.
The zoning change proposal carries out
the missions of PlaNYC, Mayor Michael
Abdallah Adhami, the imam selected by
Park51 to replace Imam Rauf as the lead-
ing spokesperson for the project, stated,
“An enormously overwhelming percent-
age of people struggle with homosexual
feeling because of some form of violent
emotional or sexual abuse at some point
‘Park51 is more than any
one personality or Imam.’
— Sharif El-Gamal
in their life. Again, not necessarily in their
childhood.”
Adhami continued, “A small, tiny per-
centage of people are born with a natural
inclination they cannot explain. You find
this in the animal kingdom on some level
as well.”
The story was picked up by NY1 News
last week, and the cable news channel
stated that Park51 refused to comment
on the matter.
Bloomberg’s 25-year initiative that involves
fixing up underutilized streets, sidewalks
and other public spaces in communities
around the city.
The plans for Water Street, according to
Burden, “further Lower Manhattan’s trans-
formation into a mixed-use, 24/7 neighbor-
hood, where people can live, work, shop and
recreate in a walkable, bikeable community.”
Community Board 1 and Manhattan
Borough President Scott Stringer have 60
days to make recommendations about pro-
posed zoning change. It will then be handed
West Side, which will be open to all the
residents of Lower Manhattan or beyond,”
said El-Gamal in a statement.
Longtime gay rights activist David
Mixner, who was among the earliest advis-
ers on LGBT issues to former President
Bill Clinton, told NY1, “It’s not a new
statement, it’s been made repeatedly by
people who practice homophobia as a way
of life. It’s also unfortunately not limited
to one religion.”
Parvez Sharma, an out gay Muslim film-
maker who examined gay life in Islamic
&
communities worldwide in his 2007 film
MUSIC ART
4ODDLERADULT
0RESCHOOL
!FTERSCHOOL
ARTSACADEMY
19
back to the City Planning Commission for a
public hearing and vote before it is submit-
ted to City Council for final approval.
If all goes as planned, tables and chairs
could be installed as soon as the summer,
according to City Planning.
The project, if approved, will coincide
with several other urban planning projects
the city is undertaking Downtown, such as
the overhaul of the East River Esplanade;
security and street improvements to the New
York Stock Exchange; and pedestrian and
retail enhancements to Fulton Street.
“A Jihad for Love,” told NY1 that Adhami’s
remarks were not as bad as those he’s heard
from many Muslim leaders.
“I don’t agree with the imam, but
I think what he said is progress,” said
Sharma. “Usually, from the Muslim ortho-
doxy, you are prepared to listen to very
strong words of condemnation.”
The editor of Gay City News, a sister
publication of the Downtown Express,
was also interviewed by NY1.
— additional repor ting
by Paul Schindler
7EAT#HURCH3TREET3CHOOL
FOR-USICAND!RTBELIEVE
THATEVERYONEHASUNIQUE
2OCKTHEHOUSE creativePOTENTIALAND
ing members that currently make up A spokesperson for the project said
the board. However, Rauf’s spokesperson that characterization was not true.
&UNDAMENTALSOF THATTHEDEVELOPMENT
said, following Park51’s statement two “Park51 did issue a statement which
weeks ago and the naming of another categorically refuted those comments and
lNEART OFexpressionOFTHIS
imam as the leading voice for the spiritual re-clarified the position that Adhami was 4EENARTSTUDIO CREATIVITYISessentialTO
aspect of the project, that Rauf has been one of several advisors for the prayer
speaking to supporters and constituents space component of the project,” said the 0RIVATEGROUP
and is considering other offers and oppor- spokesperson, “and Park51 does not agree INSTRUMENTAL THEHEALTHANDHAPPINESS
tunities that would fulfill his vision of with Adhami’s views on homosexuality.” OFTHEINDIVIDUALANDTHE
interfaith dialogue and improving inter- “The residents and community lead-
3ENIORCHORUS
faith relations. ers of Lower Manhattan remain commit- "IRTHDAYPARTIES COMMUNITY
20
ted to this 125,000-square-foot Islamic
IMAM’S VIEW ON HOMOSEXUALITY Community Center modeled after the celebrating
In one of his lectures, Imam Shaykh Jewish Community Center on the Upper 0RESIDENTS7EEK#AMPS years
&EBRUARY
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#ALL4ODAY

Read the Archives 2EGISTERNOWFOR3PRINGCLASSES3PRING3EMESTERBEGINS*ANUARY
www.DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.com 


  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
20 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 downtown express

Union prez fed up with D.O.E.
Continued from page 8
Mulgrew also noted that larger classes
are making it more difficult for public
school teachers to do their jobs effectively.
The D.O.E. did away with its teaching and
learning division, thereby no longer offer-
ing teachers the structure and support they
need.
“Teaching and learning in the class-
room is the fundamental main piece we
should all be concentrating on,” said
Mulgrew. “It saddens me – it makes me
feel the administration is getting to the
point where it’s pathetic.”
C.B. 1 Youth and Education Committee
Chair Paul Hovitz remarked that teachers
spend “inordinate” amounts of time on
test preparation. “How can we recreate
a well-balanced education for our chil-
dren?” he asked Mulgrew.
The solution in part, Mulgrew said, is
to modify the city’s student progress report
system, which now hinges on English
and Math test score results. Harvard
University recently audited the state’s
system, he said, and concluded that the
progress reports are useless.
Mulgrew worked successfully with NYS
Education Department Commissioner
David Steiner to craft the state’s appli-
cation for the federal Race to the Top
program with the aim to use the funds to
focus on a more well-rounded curriculum
rather than merely teach to standardized
tests.
Mulgrew said “real learning” doesn’t
happen when teachers simply try and drill
students to memorize facts for a test.

Effort to shorten San Gennaro Fest falls short

Continued from page 9
a safety hazard, according to Catenaccio,
with the same amount of people packed into
fewer blocks.
Opponents complained about public
drunkenness at the festival. But Catenaccio
countered there is “no tolerance” for it.
The day after C.B. 2’s vote, Julie
Dickson, owner of Fox and Boy hair salon
on Mulberry Street between Prince and
Houston Streets, said she’d love it if the
festival wasn’t outside her store.
“That would be awesome,” she said.
“It’s kind of dangerous, the element it
attracts. We don’t have any walk-ins that
week.”
Instead of walk-in customers, drunk
guys from the feast will stick their heads
into the salon, and with a cigarette dan-
gling from their hand, say, “Hey, what do
you think of my hair?” she said.
Dickson said that while the street fair
seems nice and authentically Italian down
where the old-style restaurants are around
Spring Street, north of Prince Street, the
vendors are, well, pretty schlocky.
Last year, she said, “There was a card
table outside and a guy on a microphone
screaming. … There was a clown-dunking
tank a year ago, and that guy was scream-
ing insults at people, like, ‘You belong on
Christopher Street’ — I mean what year
is this? — or ‘Hey lady, you’re not ugly,
you’re just fat.’ ”
Told “Dunk the Clown” and karaoke
were definitely out this year, she said with
relief, “That’s fantastic.”
There were even live baby tigers at
San Gennaro last year, at least briefly, she
said. Her understanding was they were
quickly removed after it was found there
weren’t proper permits.
“They were there for 10 minutes,” said
Figli di San Gennaro’s Bob Marshall. A
local resident had been given control over
the concessions on that block and thought
a “petting zoo” would be fun, he said.
“We thought it was going to be lambs
or sheep,” Marshall said. “When we saw
what it was, it was immediately shut
down. No one was ever in danger.”
Nicolas Dutko, a co-owner of Tartinery,
a new French restaurant at 209 Mulberry
Street at Spring Street, said he supports
stopping the festival at Kenmare St.
The restaurant had to pay $3,400 to
reserve the sidewalk space in front of it,
and put tables out, but the smoke from
food vendors was so bad, no one wanted
to eat outdoors. Meanwhile, festival-goers
passing by would keep asking if they could
buy beer at the outdoor tables, he said.
“And the people are very rude that
come” to the festival, Dutko added. “It’s
one thing to celebrate your Italian heri-
tage. Up here north of Broome Street,
they’re just doing it to make money. It’s
affecting us a lot.”
Les Schechter, who does the festival’s
P.R., said the street fair is essential for
Little Italy’s restaurants.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” he said. “They
depend on that every year. Those 11 days
bring them a lot of income.”

Trinity Wall Street Let’s do something together trinitywallstreet.org

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 7:30pm SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 10am worship

The Trinity Choir:
Music from the Sarum Rite
George Steel, Guest Conductor
Preview at 1pm
Trinity Church
Tickets: Trinity Church Gift Shop,
trinitywallstreet.org/tickets, or
212.866.0468
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 10:10-11am
Children & Youth
Sunday School Classes
Children learn to encounter God in
their lives through music, crafts, and
lively discussions. Pre K-5th grade,
middle school, and high school.
74 Trinity Pl, 3rd Fl
The Gospel, Times, Journal,
and You SUNDAY, 8am and 10am
Discuss newspaper editorials and St. Paul’s Chapel
the Gospel. Led by the Rev. Mark An energetic celebration of
Bozzuti-Jones. Every Sunday. Communion in the round.
74 Trinity Pl, 3rd Fl
SUNDAY, 9am and 11:15am
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1pm Trinity Church
Film: A Son of Africa Worship, preaching, and ceremony
The story of Olaudah Equiano, in the best Anglican/Episcopal
author of the first influential slave tradition. Sunday school and child
autobiography. Part of a Black History care available.
Month film series. Produced by
MONDAY – FRIDAY, 12:05pm
Aimimage for the BBC.
Holy Eucharist
74 Trinity Pl
Trinity Church
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1pm
THURSDAY, 5:15pm
The Broad Way
Evening Prayer
The Broad Way is an informal
All Saints’ Chapel
Bible study focusing on the many
Leah Reddy

(inside Trinity Church)

ways in which the Gospels can
be interpreted and applied to Watch online webcast
All events are free, contemporary life. Bring lunch. TRINITY CHURCH
unless otherwise noted. 74 Trinity Pl Broadway at Wall Street
trinitywallstreet.org · 212.602.0800 ST. PAUL’S CHAPEL
@ trinitywallst · trinitywallstreet Broadway and Fulton Street an Episcopal parish
The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, Rector
in the city of New York
The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee, Vicar
All Are Welcome
downtown express
THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE MUSEUM The Junior Officers
Discovery Zone is an exhibit designed for ages 2-10. It’s divided
into four areas (Police Academy; the Park and Precinct; Emergency
Services Unit; and a Multi-Purpose Area), each with interac-
tive and imaginary play experiences for children to understand
the role of police officers in our community — by, among other
things, driving and taking care of a police car. For older children,
there’s a crime scene observation activity that will challenge
them to remember relevant parts of city street scenes; a physical
challenge similar to those at the Police Academy; and a model
Emergency Services Unit vehicle where children can climb in, use
the steering wheel and lights, hear radio calls with police codes
and see some of the actual equipment carried by The Emergency
Services Unit. At 100 Old Slip. For info, call 212-480-3100 or visit
www.nycpm.org. Hours: Mon. through Sat., 10am-5pm and Sun.,
noon-5pm. Admission: $8 ($5 for students, seniors and children.
Free for children under 2.
DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY CENTER For info on swim les-
sons, basketball, gym class, Karate and more, call 212-766-1104.
Visit manhattanyouth.org. The Downtown Community Center is
located at 120 Warren St.
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF THE ARTS Explore painting, col-
lage and sculpture through self-guided arts projects. Open art
stations are ongoing throughout the afternoon — giving children
the opportunity to experiment with materials such as paint, clay,
fabric, paper and found objects. Young minds can be great minds
— and great minds, as they say, often think alike. See for yourself
when you view “Art Within Reach: from the WPA to the Present”
— on display now through June 5. This intergenerational exhibit
connects the artistic and intellectual dots between those who grew
up in NYC during the Great Depression and those who are growing
up in the city today. Regular museum hours: Wed.-Sun., 12-5pm;
Thurs., 12-6pm (Pay as You Wish, from 4-6pm). Admission: $10. At
the Children’s Museum of the Arts (182 Lafayette St. btw. Broome
& Grand). Call 212- 274-0986 or visit cmany.org. For group tours,
call 212) 274-0986, extension 31.
SATURDAY AFTERNOONS AT THE SCHOLASTIC
STORE Every Saturday at 3pm, Scholastic’s in-store activities are
designed to get kids reading, thinking, talking, creating and mov-
ing. The Scholastic Store is located at 557 Broadway (btw. Prince
& Spring). Regular store hours are Mon.-Sat., 10am-7pm, and
Sun., 11am-6pm. For info about store events, call 212-343-6166.
Visit scholastic.com.
BOOKS OF WONDER & CUPCAKE CAFÉ Literate kids and cup-
cake enthusiasts of all ages mingle at the space shared by Books
of Wonder and Cupcake Café. The Café has sweet stuff all day,
every day (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
Can’t get enough
of Downtown Express?
Sign up for email blasts at DowntownExpress.com, follow DowntownExpress
on Twitter and become our fans on Facebook to get the latest breaking news.
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
“The Train Station” — by Alyssa Ramroop, Age 11 (watercolor & gouache on paper.
2010. 22.5in x 15in). See “Children’s Museum of the Arts.”
of Wonder is located at 18th St. (btw. Fifth & Sixth Aves.). Call 212-
989-3270 or visit booksofwonder.com. Cupcake Café, at the same
address, can be reached at 212-465-1530 (visit cupcakecafe.com).
POETS HOUSE The Poets House “Tiny Poets Time” program
offers children ages 1-3 and their parents a chance to enter the
world of rhyme — through readings, group activities and interactive
performances. Thursdays at 10am (at 10 River Terrace and Murray
St.). Call 212-431-7920 or visit poetshouse.org.
ANGELINA BALLERINA: THE MUSICAL Everyone at the Cam-
embert Academy is all aflutter because a special guest is coming to
visit. Angelina and her friends are excited to show off their hip-hop,
modern dance, Irish jig and ballet skills — but will Angelina get that
moment in the spotlight she’s hoping for? Based on characters from
the PBS series, this show is appropriate for ages 3-12. Through Feb.
19, Sat. at 1pm & 3pm and Sun. at 1pm. At the Union Square The-
atre (100 E. 17th St. btw. Union Square East and Irving Place). For
tickets ($39.50-$65), call 1-800-982-2787 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Also visit angelinathemusical.com.
DEAR EDWINA This heartwarming show about the joys and frus-
trations of growing up has our spunky heroine (advice-giver extraor-
dinaire Edwina Spoonable) sharing her wisdom on everything from
setting the table to making new friends. That it’s done through clev-
er, catchy and poignant songs makes the experience enjoyable and
engaging for kids who know what Edwina’s going through as well
YOUTH
ACTIVITIES
Image courtesy of the Children’s Museum of the Arts
as adults who remember what it was like. Through Feb. 25 at the
DR2 Theatre (103 E. 15th St.). For tickets ($39), call 212-239-6200.
For groups of 10 or more, call 646-747-7400. Visit dearedwina.com
for additional details and full schedule.
GAZILLION BUBBLE SHOW: THE NEXT GENERATION Three
years into its run, the Gazillion Bubble Show welcomes creator Fan
Yang’s 20-year-old son into the family business. We’re promised
that “Bubble Super-Star” Deni Yang will elevate this already spec-
tacular experience to new heights of bubble blowing artistry). The
open-ended run plays Fri. at 7 p.m., Sat. at 11am, 2pm and 4:30pm
and Sun. at noon and 3pm. 75 minutes, no intermission. For tickets
($44.50 to $89.50), call 212-239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com.
Visit gazillionbubbleshow.com.
PRESCHOOL PLAYAND STORIES & SONGS A new session
of “Preschool Play” has been added: This program invites walk-
ing toddlers to join other children, parents, and caregivers for fun
interactive play, art and theme days. Thursdays, through March 24,
from 1:30-3:30pm. The fee is $175 for 10 weeks (siblings: $100). At
“Stories & Songs,” a variety of musicians teach and perform child-
Moving Visions’ Murray Street Studio
A Wise Choice for your child’s dance education!
Dance for Children and Teens
• Modern Ballet (ages 5-18) • Choreography (ages 8 & up)
ADULT CLASSES
• Creative Movement/Pre-Ballet (ages 3-5)
Yoga - Tai Chi • Chi/Dance/Exercise for Women
19 Murray St., 3rd Fl.
(Bet. Broadway and Church)
21
friendly music. Movement, dancing and rhythm instruments add to
the fun. Mondays, through April 25 (except 1/17 and 2/21) as well as
on Wednesdays, through April 13. Space is still available in 40-min-
ute classes: the 9:30-10:10am class for children 6-14 months — and
the 12 noon-12:40pm class for mixed ages (6 months to 3.5 years).
There is a $231 fee for 14 weeks (20% discount for siblings). Both
events take place in the Meeting Room at the Verdesian (211 North
End Ave., btw. Warren & Murray, in Battery Park City). For info or to
register, call 212-267-9700, ext. 366 or 348. Visit bpcparks.org.
TUESDAY CHILDREN’S ART CLASSES Asian American Arts
Centre is sponsoring an after school Children’s Art Class program
which focuses on children from 6 to 14 years old. Instructors Caro-
line McAuliffe and Lu Yi — both teaching artists who have been
working with young people for several years — offer a program
designed to stimulate children’s capacity to explore their own artis-
tic originality and cultural background. Children are introduced to the
language of visual forms as well as those of Asian art forms. The
15-week semester begins on Feb. 8.The first class (3pm to 4:30pm)
is for children ages 6-9. The second class (4:40pm to 6:30pm) is for
children ages 9-14. Registration hours are Fridays, 10:30 am to 5pm.
Tuition is $235 and includes all supplies. Asian American Arts Cen-
tre is located at 111 Norfolk St. For info, call 212-233-2154. Or visit
artspiral.org and www.artasiamerica.org.
THE FESTIVAL OF THE VEGETABLES Once upon a time, com-
poser/librettist Michael Kosch and choreographer/costume design-
er Rachael Kosch created a suite of savory vignettes designed for
children and their families. Sometime later (the present day to be
exact), “The Festival of the Vegetables” is poised to return for its fifth
annual production. Metropolitan Playhouse presents, proudly we’re
assured, this music-dance-poetry-theater piece in which a troupe of
dancers and actors (ages 5 to 45) perform a series of lighthearted
poems and dances that reveal the secret life of vegetables. It is set
in a vast supermarket where a toddler, shopping with mom, nods off
to sleep. The child dreams of vegetable adventures — each story
introduced by a couple of bumbling yet eloquent produce clerks.
Vegetable-people of all varieties jump and whirl in a whimsical
salad. Duncan Broccoli dances a Scottish reel; King Potato holds
vegetable court; lithe String Bean Fiddler twirls and trills; Colonel
Corn stalks the scary SpinWitch; Arugula weds ravishing Radish;
and Rotund Rutabaga perches on pointe. If your kids won’t eat
their vegetables after this show, maybe they’ll at least appreciate
the entertainment value supplied by all that stuff that grows in the
ground, helps you grow and is very, very, very good for you! Sats.
and Suns., 11am, Feb. 6-20 (with a special opening evening perfor-
mance Feb. 5, at 7pm). At the Metropolitan Playhouse (220 E. 4th
St., btw. Aves. A & B). Tickets are $10 for children 12 and under; $15
for adults. For reservations, call 212-995-5302 or visit metropolitan-
playhouse.org.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR EVENT LISTED IN THE
DOWNTOWN EXPRESS? Listing requests may be sent to scott@
downtownexpress.com. Please provide the date, time, location, price
and a description of the event. Information may also be mailed to 145
Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10013. Requests must be
received three weeks before the event is to be held.
212-608-7681 (day)
www.murraystreetdance.com
22 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 downtown express

DOWNTOWNEXPRESSARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
Tennessee, TNC and a famous BOB
Theater thrives, thanks to the late Ellen Stewart
BY TRAV S.D.
I started out the new year with a
veritable junket of show going, most of
which pleased my cantankerous taste buds.
The sole exception was “Gob Squad’s
Kitchen” — an empty interaction between
a handful of hipster improv comedians and
the static mid-60s films by Andy Warhol’s
Factory. If there was an idea to be found in
this tedious exercise, I’ll eat my Leopard-
Skin Pillbox Hat. Other than that, though,
I pretty much hit the jackpot — catching
“Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell” at
P.S. 122 (featuring a surprise visit from
David Strathairn); “Too Late!” in the
Under the Radar Festival; “Green Eyes,”
an obscure, late Tennessee Williams one-
act presented in a midtown hotel room;
Theater for the New City’s “Age Out”
(about some unhappy waitstaff); and “The
Continuing Story of Carla Rhodes” —
an autobiographical rock opera presented
monthly at Arlene’s Grocery by a multi-
talented ventriloquist. All recommended.
Either someone has put mood enhancers in
my Yoo-hoo or I’m walking under a lucky
constellation.
The major news to report this month is
the sad passing of Ellen Stewart, founder
and artistic director of La MaMa E.T.C.
The theatre she founded turns 50 years
old this year, and the Off Off Broadway
movement she helped launch is stronger
than ever. Indeed, most of the showfolk
who generally wind up in this column owe
something to her. She will be missed, but
her legacy is ubiquitous. Several shows
happening at her theatre this month strike
me as particularly exciting. February
3-13, award-winning puppeteer Theodora
Skipitares presents her own version of
Aristophanes’ “Lysistrata,” mixed with
“actual present-day accounts of sex strikes.”
Why, it’s un-American! In addition to
masks and body suits inspired by ancient
Roman circus comedians, the production
boasts the music of way out experimental-
ist Sxip Shirey. Also of note is “Purge.”
The American premiere of a #1 best seller
in Finland, it tells the story of a couple of
Estonian women forced to make choices

Photo by Kirsten Kay Thoen

Getting Ready to “Purge”: Jillian Lindig (top) and Larisa Polonsky (bottom).

as the country makes the tough transition
from totalitarian communism to criminal
capitalism. Finnish-Estonian playwright
Sofi Oksanen was “Estonia’s Person of the
Year” in 2009 and is hailed in her country
as one of the most important voices of her
generation. The show promises to be an
important cultural event. It runs February
11-20. Also this month at La MaMa, the
movement ensemble Witness Relocation
presents the premiere of a new work fea-
turing text by playwright Chuck Mee. The
content is unclear but the personnel is
impressive. The show runs from February
17 through 27. For info on these and all
shows at La MaMa, go to lamama.org.
Meanwhile, across the street at Horse
Trade Theater Group, it is time once again
for that company’s annual and (aptly
named at the moment) Frigid New York
Festival (February 23–March 6). Smaller
in scale than most of the summer theatre
festivals, Frigid New York substitutes
quantity for quality, priding itself on a
well-run machine featuring 30-odd shows
at its three-space the Kraine, the Red
Continued on page 23

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downtown express Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 23

Lewis & Freud team up, for takes on God

Play sees icons spar over the ultimate question
THEATER
FREUD’S LAST SESSION
Written by Mark St. Germain
Directed by Tyler Marchant
Open-ended run
At the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater (10 W. 64th St.)
Tues. at 7pm, Wed.-Fri. at 8pm. Sat. at 2 & 8pm. Sun. at 3 &
7pm.
For tickets ($65), call 212-352-3101
Visit FreudsLastSession.com

BY JERRY TALLMER
It just slipped out. A Freudian slip, you might say.
“Psychoanalysis doesn’t profess the arrogance of religion,
thank God.” — declares the bearded 79-year-old free-think-
ing pattern-smasher who will lose his own long, frightful
battle with oral cancer before the Luftwaffe’s bombs stop
falling on hapless Poland.
“What did you say?” asks Professor Sigmund Freud’s visi-
tor, 41-year-old writer C.S. Lewis, who has fought and lost
(or won, depending upon how you look at it) a long battle of
another kind: with God.
“A bad habit,” confesses Dr. Freud. “I’ve tried to break
it all my life. ‘Thank God.’ ‘With God’s grace.’ ‘God Photo by Kevin Sprague

L to R: Mark H. Dold as C.S. Lewis and Martin Rayner as Sigmund Freud.

Continued on page 24

La MaMa’s loss (of Ellen Stewart) is ours, too

Continued from page 22
Room and Under St. Marks. Standouts
this year to these jaded old eyes include:
“The Bitter Poet: Looking for Love in
All the Wrong Black Box Performance
Spaces” starring the hilarious leather-
clad Downtown performance veteran
Kevin Draine; “My Pal Izzy: The Early
Life and Music of Irving Berlin”; “Hi,
How Can I Help You?” — which shows
how a house of domination copes with
the Great Recession; “Yippie!” (about
the eponymous radical political party
which once ran a pig for President);
and “You Shouldn’t Be Here” by self-
described “mock star” Killy Dwyer. For
a full schedule and ticket info, go to
FRIGIDnewyork.info.
We seem to be somewhat in the
midst of a Tennessee Williams revival at
the moment, as directors and producers
exhume countless obscure works ignomin-
iously scorned in the genius playwright’s
lifetime. Not only has there been the
above-mentioned production of “Green
Eyes” by director Travis Chamberlain,
but last year saw an entire festival of
such works by Target Margin, as well as a
series of revivals by White Horse Theatre
Company, and the film version of “The
Loss of a Teardrop Diamond.” And, now,
of all people, Elizabeth LeCompte will be
We seem to be
somewhat in the midst
of a Tennessee Williams
revival at the moment, as
directors and producers
exhume countless obscure
works ignominiously
scorned in the genius
playwright’s lifetime.
directing the late Williams play “Vieux
Carrè” with her company the Wooster
Group, running through February. In
the this production, this most experi-
mental of ensembles will be taking on
an autobiographical work of American
realism, concerning Williams’ earliest
days as a writer in the New Orleans
French Quarter. It’s not the first time
the Wooster Group has dared to mon-
key with a Great American Playwright.
They’ve done it with Eugene O’Neill
more than once, so the answer to the
obvious question “Is nothing sacred?”
has already been answered and it’s a flat
no. Tickets and info may be obtained at
thewoostergroup.org.
In the vaudeville/ burlesque category
this month: “Female female-impersonator”
World Famous *BOB* will be reviving
“One Man Show: The True Story of Miss
World Famous *BOB*” at Wild Project,
195 East 3rd Street February 3-5. I caught
this show on its original run at Joe’s Pub
a few months back, and can testify that it
mixes Bob’s patented exhibitionism with
revelations of a deeper sort. Find out more
at thewildproject.com.
At Clemente Soto Velez Cultural &
Educational Center, February 4-20 Flux
Theatre Ensemble will be presenting Liz
Duffy Adams’ “Dog Act.” While that may
sound like a mere circus or vaudeville turn
featuring trained poodles, we learn from
the release that it’s really one of those
post-apocalyptic things, one in which a
character undergoes “a voluntary species
downgrade.” But, really, aren’t we all doing
that at this stage in evolutionary history?
Tix and info at fluxtheatre.org.
February 6 through March 6, the Irish
Repertory Theatre Company will be pre-
senting “My Scandalous Life” — a play
about Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde’s
lover who indirectly brought about the
celebrated author’s downfall. Normally his-
tory remembers “Bosie” (his nickname) as
a superficial, unfeeling character, but the
blurbs about the current show seem to
indicate that (in this play at least) there
was more to him than that. How true it is,
I can’t say, but at least it will be something
new! More info: irishrep.org.
Lastly, Theater for the New City’s 8th
Annual Love ‘N’ Courage benefit will take
place at the National Arts Club on February
28. This year’s guest of honor will be the
lovely Marian Seldes, with a wealth of
presenting stars from both the Uptown and
Downtown theatre scenes, including Eli
Wallach and Anne Jackson, Tammy Grimes,
Jean-Claude Van Itallie, and many others.
A great way to close out an action-packed
month, even though this Valentine’s Day-
themed event will be two weeks too late for
Cupid. See you next month!
24 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 downtown express

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was God’s plan if only I was smart enough
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2003), by a Harvard Medical School profes-
sor named Armand M. Nicholi Jr. It drew
upon the separate writings of Freud and
Lewis on God, sex, existence, and other
such matters.
“I don’t think the two men ever met in
real life,” says St. Germain. “It was a dread-
ful time for Freud. Himself near death. The
start of World War II.”
Why not bring the two men face to face
on stage? T’aint what you do, it’s the way
that you do it.
FREUD: I’m convinced. Christ was a
lunatic.
LEWIS: That was my first option….
Well, old Sigmund, you have your ven-
geance here and now, in an Off-Broadway
theater in a YMCA on West 64th Street,
New York City.
“Freud’s Last Session” had a world pre-
miere by the Barrington Stage Company,
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in June 2009. It
became the longest running show in that
company’s history.
“People came either through word of
mouth or because of their fascination with
Freud. We got one letter from a young
couple who had seen the show, gone to din-
ner and during dinner had switched sides.
Before that evening the wife had believed
in God.”

DOWNTOWN EXPRESS FREUD: Which of Christ’s “teachings”

are even realistic? Love our neighbor as
The play opened here at the Marjorie S.
Deane on July 22 of last year, and had to go

READER SPECIAL! ourselves? It’s a foolish impossibility! Turn

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If, Mr. St. Germain, you met — had ever
on hiatus in November only because of a
prior booking at that
venue. It is now back, in an open-ended
run directed by Tyler Marchant, with the
same two actors as always: Mark H. Dold as
C.S. Lewis and Martin Rayner as Sigmund
Freud.
“Every time we do the play, they bring
something new to it,” says Mark St.
Germain. Also something that may change
a mind or two.
God willing.
downtown express Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 25

B.P.C. Art Classes Win Raves

Winter session runs now through March
BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER
Natalie Carbone studied painting at
the Art Students League and at St. Johns
University — then taught art at the Parsons
School of Design for 12 years. Still, for the
last year and a half, she has been traveling an
hour and a half each way from her home in
Queens to take painting and drawing lessons
from Enid Braun (who teaches in Battery
Park City under the auspices of the Battery
Park City Parks Conservancy).
“There’s no one like Enid,” Carbone
said. “She’s a genius. I’ve learned everything
about color from her — and I studied Josef
Albers’ color theory for two years in college.
I’ve learned about composition and texture.
She’s taught me in pastel and oil pastel. Few
people work with oil pastel. It’s one of the
most difficult mediums there is.”
One of Carbone’s drawings is on the
poster for an exhibit of student work at
the B.P.C. Conservancy office (75 Battery
Place). The work was created in art classes
that ran from May to October. Now, winter
sessions are starting and will run through
the end of March.
Braun is teaching a class in figure
drawing and Elise Engler is teaching
“Introduction to Color & Painting.”
“Learning to make art is mostly about
doing it,” said Braun. “The big thing for
beginners is not to freeze and say, ‘Oh my
gosh! I can’t do this!’ ” Braun said that she
takes her students “as far as they can go.
For more than a decade, Jim Cozby (seated), has been studying painting with Larry
Dobens at B.P.C. Conservancy art classes.
Engler. “They’re told that there’s the right
way to do it and the wrong way. The idea
is to let people work in their own way and
find their own voice.”
That was the message that Rozanna
Radakovich took away from her les-
sons with Larry Dobens, another B.P.C.
Conservancy instructor. Radakovich, an
work.”
“I feel my role is to find in each artwork
the seed of something beautiful,” said
Dobens, who has been teaching with the
Conservancy for almost 20 years.
Dobens said that classes range in
size from 10 to 30 people and that the
Conservancy provides high-quality materi-
als. “You don’t need to bring anything,”
he said.
The Battery Park City Parks Conservancy’s
art classes are so highly regarded that peo-
ple come to them from various parts of the
city: the West Village, Soho, Tribeca, the
Upper East Side, Queens — and, of course,
from Battery Park City itself.
From spring to fall, the classes are held
outdoors in South Cove. The three-hour
winter classes take place on Tuesday and
Wednesday afternoons in the Verdesian
Meeting Room (211 North End Ave.) and
cost $290 for nine sessions — including
Photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
all materials. Everyone is welcome, from
beginners to experienced artists.
For more information, or to register,
call 212-267-9700, ext. 366 or 348. The
Conservancy since the mid-1990’s, study- art exhibit in the Battery Park City Parks
ing with both Dobens and Braun. “From Conservancy office can be viewed from
Larry I learned to experiment,” he said, Monday to Friday, 2pm to 4pm, through
“and to be less judgmental about my March 4.
A B E N E F I T C O N C E R T F O R T H E J A Z Z F O U N D AT I O N O F A M E R I C A

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“People think that drawing means Jim Cozby, a retired graphic designer, 7:3

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having to draw realistically,” commented has taken classes at the B.P.C. Parks c

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PARSONS DANCE R UA ne,
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Theater with three programs. Their typi- no, g
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by David Parsons and one by Monica Bill ing ,J
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Barnes. All three programs include David Be
nn
Parsons’ “Caught.” That 1982 work —
an internationally renowned stroboscopic
dance masterpiece — features a solo dancer
performing more than 100 leaps in less than
six minutes. Each leap is “caught” by the
flash of a strobe light, to create a breath-
taking illusion of flight. “Caught” has been
performed thousands of times, worldwide,
for more than 27 years. Parsons Dance per- R E S E R VAT I O N S
forms through Feb. 6 at The Joyce Theater 212-258-9595

(175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.). Tues., Wed. & jalc.org/dccc

Sun. at 7:30pm. Thurs., Fri. & Sat at 8pm.
Sat. & Sun. at 2pm. Tickets begin at $10. To Photos by Paula Lobo

order, call 212-242-0800. For a full schedule Pictured: Abby Silva Gavezzoli, Eric $100 per person includes one complimentary glass of wine and passed
of the featured pieces in Programs A, B & C, Bourne and Sarah Braverman. See hors d’oeuvres. All proceeds support the Jazz Musicians’ Emergency Fund.
visit joyce.org and parsonsdance.org. “Parsons Dance.” Price of admission, minus $25, is tax deductible. Jazz at Lincoln Center thanks Great Performances for their contributions to the Playing Our Parts Benefit Concert.
26 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 downtown express

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downtown express
L.M.C.C.’s “Access Restricted” provides insider’s insight
Lecture series to make seldom-visited spaces accessible
BY ALINE REYNOLDS
“Revitalization” has become the buzzword
to describe post-9/11 Lower Manhattan.
Amid the mushrooming high-rises and rap-
idly evolving technology, one Downtown arts
organization is directing the spotlight on the
area’s rich cultural history.
In a series of lectures this winter and
spring (organized by the Lower Manhattan
Cultural Council; lmcc.net), humanities
scholars will present histories of Lower
Manhattan that slipped out of the pubic
consciousness or were overlooked from
the get-go. The lectures, based on archival
research and local lore, span architecture,
urban development, social justice and the
environment.
Another purpose of the
annual lecture series
“Access Restricted”
is to make accessible
Downtown spaces that
are rarely visited by the
public. Venues used during
this year’s series include
the Woolworth Building,
7 World Trade Center and
195 Broadway (the former
AT&T building).
“Looking back on the artistic historical
material allows us to appreciate different
historical layers present in our neighborhood
and think about our changing neighborhood
today,” said Erin Donnelly, curator of the lec-
ture series and a special projects consultant at
the L.M.C.C. — a nonprofit organization that
secures grants, artist-residencies and other
services for artists.
“Lower Manhattan Revealed,” the name
Donnelly chose for the 2011 program, “had
a nice ring to it — thinking about this year
being 2011, a year when our district is
being memorialized, and its future being
discussed.” Another purpose of the annual
lecture series “Access Restricted” is to make
accessible Downtown spaces that are rarely
visited by the public. Venues used during
this year’s series include the Woolworth
Building, 7 World Trade Center and 195
Broadway (the former AT&T building).
Next Wednesday, architecture and urban
studies writer Jeff Byles will interview archi-
tecture professor Michael Sorkin (director
of City College’s graduate urban design
Februar y 2 - 8, 2011
L.M.C.C.’s lecture series gives you access to restricted Downtown spaces.
program) about the building boom that has
occurred Downtown in the past decade. The
discussion will also be about “rethinking
open and green spaces…and what it means
to reclaim the city from an environmental
perspective,” according to Donnelly.
On March 9, John Kuo Wei Tchen — co-
founder of the Museum of Chinese in the
America (at 215 Centre Street; mocanyc.
org) and an associate professor of social and
cultural analysis at New York University —
will be speaking about the history of the
South Street Seaport. The lecture will take
place in the attic of the Seaport Museum,
the site of the former Fulton Ferry Hotel.
Nineteenth-century Downtown, stretch-
ing from Chinatown to the South Street
Seaport, was lined with lively outdoor mar-
kets that bustled with activity. “It was much
more intermingled in terms of different
groups of people, different classes and all
that,” he said. “For me, it’s an important
example of the way in which the port itself
created a port culture.” Tchen hopes to
attract some longtime Seaport residents to
the L.M.C.C. lecture who will be willing to
share their perspectives on how the area has
changed, and talk about aspects of its history
that have gone under the radar (although he
wouldn’t comment on the forthcoming rede-
velopment of the Seaport).
Tchen has also extensively researched
the history of Chinatown. When he founded
the Museum of Chinese in America (on
East Broadway in 1980), Tchen uncovered
cabinets and other relics of the past in dump-
sters surrounding Chatham Square. “[The
stores] had 99-year leases, they were com-
ing to expiration, and their histories were
just being dumped,” he said. “This kind of
shocked me.” Artistic and historic commu-
nity groups must be formed in Chinatown
and elsewhere, Tchen said, in order to estab-
lish cultural diversity and help preserve the
neighborhood’s’’ unique histories.
Tchen believes that business improve-
Photo courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
ment districts (BIDs), such as the one
proposed for Chinatown, are too narrowly
defined and often lead to cultural homog-
enization rather than diversity. “Culture
doesn’t emerge from monoculture,” he said.
“It emerges from these vital mixes.”
On March 23, art critic Douglas Crimp
will be showing four 1970s films shot in
Tribeca and on the Lower East Side, that
demonstrate how filmmakers utilize the
city as performance stages and templates
for their work. Crimp writes for a variety
of international and scholarly journals, and
teaches art history at the University of
Rochester.
Crimp selected the films he thought were
the most resonant with and representative
of the era. The L.M.C.C. event, he said, is
an opportunity to show a new generation
of NYC artists a sampling of lesser-known
artworks of the period. “It’s an example of
how artists were able to use this neighbor-
hood while it was undergoing transforma-
tion,” he said. Today’s generation of artists,
Crimp said, can be inspired by 20th-century
filmmaking. “There’s a way in which con-
27
temporary art is not only attentive to its
present moment, but to earlier art.”
Artists continue to use the metropolis
as a performance stage – for example, cho-
reographer Trisha Brown, Crimp noted, is
recreating Roof Piece, a dance from 1971,
on rooftops in Chelsea and the Meatpacking
District this spring.
Crimp plans to give a brief introduction
about the exhibition he co-curated at the
Reina Sofia in Madrid last summer, which
serves as a wider context for the films
he’ll be presenting at the March 23 screen-
ing. The exhibition, entitled “Mixed Use,
Manhattan” focused on how artists from the
1970s to the present experiment with urban
space. He will also offer the L.M.C.C. audi-
ence a tour of the Cunard Building at 25
Broadway, a landmark building from the
1920s that was the original U.S. headquar-
ters of the Cunard Line, an Anglo-American
shipping company that dominated the seas
in the early 20th century.
“Lower Manhattan Revealed” will
close with an April 13 lecture given by
Native American scholar and curator David
Oestreicher at Pershing Hall on Governor’s
Island. Oestreicher will talk about the his-
tory of the Lenape, a Delaware Indian tribe
that was reportedly the earliest group to
inhabit Lower New York.
L.M.C.C. created “Access Restricted” in
2006 to satisfy the curiosity of those wish-
ing to penetrate Downtown’s untold history.
Participants of the series’ first season got a
special tour of the old City Hall subway sta-
tion, which is now closed off to the public,
and the Surrogate’s Courthouse and the New
York Hall of Records on Chambers Street.
This year, Art International Radio, a
Downtown-based online radio station, is
partnering with the L.M.C.C. to audio-
record the events and store them in their
online cultural archive.
The events are free, but RSVP is required
since space is limited. For more information,
visit lmcc.net or call Marisa Olsen, external
affairs coordinator, at 212-219-9401, ext.
105. The first “Access Restricted” recording
is scheduled to launch on A.I.R.’s website
(artonair.com) on February 7.
28 Februar y 2 - 8, 2011 downtown express