downtown

‘ALL OVER’ FRINGE, P. 24

®
VOLUME 22, NUMBER 15
express THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN AUGUST 21 - 27, 2009

From de Kooning to
hookers, 50 years in
the Downtown art scene
BY JULIE SHAPIRO
Leonard Rosenfeld stood
beside his latest self-portrait,
wavering slightly.
The piece, in green, fuch-
sia and black pastel, hung in
Rosenfeld’s hospital room
at N.Y.U. Medical Center,
where he was awaiting heart
surgery last week. In the
drawing, Rosenfeld, 82,
clenched a paintbrush; his
goatee and black-framed
glasses made the resem-
blance unmistakable.
Rosenfeld’s wife and
friends, who gathered at the
hospital last week, were care-
ful to refer to the drawing,
completed a week earlier, as
the artist’s “latest,” not his
“last.” And Rosenfeld was in
good spirits as well, despite
his bandages and institu-
tional surroundings. With
growing vigor, he told stories
from his half-century in New
York’s Downtown arts scene,
encompassing everything
from the wild ’50s and ’60s
to the more sedate present.
“Those days were pretty
intense,” he said of his start
in the decades after World
War II. “That’s when art,
you were really with it every
moment, not like today.”
Rosenfeld’s expressionist
work vibrates with sharp lines
and overt feeling, whether in

Continued on page 14

Hockey and beer Downtown Express photo by Jefferson Siegel

Pete Gleason, right, criticized Councilmember Alan Gerson, center, repeatedly Monday night at a First District City
Council candidates’ forum sponsored by Downtown Express and The Villager. At left, is PJ Kim, one of the other
meetups with five Democratic candidates in the race who participated in the forum at Pace University.

Rehabs & physicists Gleason spars with Gerson

BY JOHN BAYLES
All sports have their
heated rivalries; in baseball,
you’ve got the Yankees and
Red Sox; in basketball, it’s
the Lakers and the Celtics.
But these pale in compari-
son to the intense, often ugly
rivalry between the Denim
Demons and the Rehabs.
“The Demons suck!”
yelled Kammi Moore, wear-
ing her team’s jersey, a black
T-shirt with cutoff sleeves
and the word “Rehabs” in
big, pink letters. “That’s all
you need to know.”
Earlier in the day the
Demons had bested the
Rehabs, 3-2, in an overtime
game, which obviously con-
tributed to Moore’s animosity.
But according to Moore, the
rivalry began with some trash-
talking during a game back
in 2003, on the part of the
Demons, she added. A player
on the Rehabs then found
some “pornographic pictures”
on the Web, Demon players
in sundry positions, and the
Rehabs printed the pictures
and stuck them on the backs
of their jerseys for the next
Continued on page 12
at candidates’ forum
BY JULIE SHAPIRO
The candidates for Lower
Manhattan’s City Council seat pos-
tured and prodded each other during a
two-hour debate Monday night, but no
clear winner emerged.
The debate, run by Downtown
Express and The Villager, both owned
by Community Media, brought all five
candidates to the same stage for the
first time, before a capacity crowd
of about 150 at Pace University. The
Democratic primary is Sept. 15.
At the debate, each candidate
emerged true to form, displaying
the traits their followers have grown
to expect. Eight-year incumbent
Councilmember Alan Gerson touted
his experience; Pete Gleason attacked
Gerson’s record and called for a new
approach; Margaret Chin cited her
long history of fighting for afford-
able housing; PJ Kim remained calm
and looked for consensus; and Arthur
Gregory adopted a casual, common
sense approach, getting the audience to
laugh at his jokes.
Gleason jumped into attack mode in
his opening statement, setting the tone
for exchanges with Gerson that grew
increasingly heated. Gleason ham-
mered Gerson on affordable housing,
overcrowded schools and the World
Trade Center site and charged that
“Nothing has happened in these areas
over the last eight years.”
When Gleason said not a single
new school had been built in Lower
Manhattan during Gerson’s tenure,
Gerson fired back, listing Millennium
High School, the four small high
schools in the Seward Park building
and others.
Continued on page 6
2 August 21 - 27, 2009
NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17, 20-21
Transit Sam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Seaport Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
DISCOUNT ALLEY
U NDER
c over
Mixed Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The Fulton St. shop that once held scores of discount
books will soon be selling discount everything else.
Around Thanksgiving, Lot-Less Closeouts will open
EDITORIAL PAGES . . . . . . . . . . . .18-19 its fourth New York City location at 95 Fulton St., where
the Strand Bookstore annex used to be. The Strand left
the 15,000-square-foot space last fall after the landlord
YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 hiked the rent 300 percent.
“Our business is very good,” said Raymond Cohen,
owner of Lot-Less. “We’re actually up in this economy.”
ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-26 Cohen wouldn’t disclose his rent on the lease signed
two weeks ago, but he said, “We’re paying a lot of money,
I can tell you that.”
Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-26 Cohen said he’d been eyeing the site for a while but
waited to make his move until the utility work on the
block started to clear up. The nonstop construction was
CLASSIFIEDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 part of the reason the Strand closed.
The arrival of Lot-Less does not exactly fit in with the
city’s plan to make Fulton St. into an attractive retail cor-
ridor connecting the east and west sides of Manhattan.
But whether it’s the recession or all the construction,
discount shops seem eager to make the street home:
Last week, a Rainbow clothing store opened on Fulton
Read the Archives St., offering its trademark inexpensive clothing in bright
colors. It’s hard to imagine Tiffany or Hermes moving in
alongside.
www.DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.com
DEEP POCKETS
Often called the forgotten stepchild of the World Trade
Center site, the performing arts center received some
renewed attention recently when the Lower Manhattan
Development Corp. suggested moving it to Tower 5,
BODYWORK where the Deutsche Bank building stands.
“It’s something worth looking at,” Mayor Mike
Yoga Derek Newman Bloomberg said Tuesday in his first detailed comments on
Reiki CMT, CYT the proposal. “It would be a great location for it.”
Yogic hypnosis It was interesting that he endorsed an L.M.D.C. idea
Craniosacral
Swedish given that he has been trying to close the corporation
Thai for about a year. Incidentally we even saw a photo of
Deep tissue the mayor and L.M.D.C. chairperson Avi Schick shaking
Meditation
Breath work hands — albeit awkwardly — at the Tuesday event at the
Emotional release East River.
Spiritual counseling Bloomberg said he wasn’t sure whether it would be
ten years experience
in West Village or your home 917-741-6895 possible to raise the millions of dollars the center would
need to get off the ground, given the current financial
climate.
derekshealingarts.com “It would be a great challenge,” Bloomberg said.
“That’s not to say we should walk away. I think those who
can afford to make donations should have an obligation to
do more now, when some people have lost their ability.”
Bloomberg said he would do his part to help raise
money, and added, “I know some very generous people
in this city,” but he did not say when fundraising would
start. The community has been pressing the city to start
the fundraising for years.
SOTOMAYOR’S PLACE
We hear a meeting between the community and prob-
lem Tribeca bar Sazon did not go very well last week,
particularly after owner Genaro Morales accused the
concerned residents of being racist if they did not like his
Puerto Rican music and clientele. He added that visitors
to the Reade St. restaurant included new Supreme Court
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, before she became a Supreme.
The residents fired back that they were upset not about
the bar’s cultural lineage but rather about its noisiness
downtown express
and the fact that it is breaking the law by offering live
music and dancing. The bar’s lawyer did not return a call
for comment.
It’s unlikely that the Sazon case would make it all the
way up to Sotomayor’s court, but even if it did, we don’t
think she’d have to recuse herself.
HIGH-TECH HEIST
Pace University will start the school year with a new tech-
nology leader poached from the hall’s of Wesleyan University,
a prestigious Connecticut private school. Pace is pinning
hopes on Ganesan Ravishanker to lead the school’s techno-
logical revolution, as this year students will begin receiving
textbooks on Amazon’s Kindle.
Ravishanker is no stranger to New York City; he holds
a doctorate in theoretical physical chemistry from Hunter
College and has a master’s in computer science from Queens
College.
As Pace spokesperson Christopher Cory put it, “He’s a
catch.”
PAVEMENT POUNDER
It was hard to miss Charles Pixley, a middle-aged
man in a striped shirt and tie standing at Wall St. and
Broadway on a recent morning holding a sign reading
“HIRE ME.”
Pixley was eager to talk.
“I’m not looking for a job,” the out-of-work banker
said. “I’m looking for a mission.”
He cited experience in sales and loan underwriting,
and said he wanted to find a company where he could fit
in and make a difference. One potential obstacle is that
he served a year in federal prison for importing a homeo-
pathic cancer drug from Canada [could Judge Sotomayor
have been the one to send him up the river when she sat
on New York’s federal bench?], but Pixley said the gov-
ernment was to blame, not him.
As the conversation waned, he turned his large poster
back to the crowds of tourists on Wall St., his fingers
pointing to the line that said, “Economic Stimulus Plan?”
PRE-DEBATE COMPETITION
So how did the City Council campaigns, not the candi-
dates, do in our forum Monday? Depends how you measure,
we suppose. Margaret Chin’s people unquestionably won the
sign war, plastering many on the Spruce St. scaffolding lead-
ing to the Pace entrance. Pete Gleason’s campaign strategi-
cally had bottles of water ready for people to drink on the line
on a hot and humid night. (Full disclosure: UnderCover did
accept a bottle and feels comfortable that such a small gift
will not compromise our journalistic fairness.) Incumbent
Alan Gerson seemed to have the most supporters in the
room. A defiant Arthur Gregory told us before the forum
that he was not going to bring any “ringers” to cheer.
ENDORSEMENTS
The five-way race for City Councilmember Alan Gerson’s
seat appears closer than a race with an eight-year incum-
bent usually is, so endorsements from other political figures
could hold a little more weight. Assembly Speaker Shelly
Silver supports Gerson, but State Sen. Dan Squadron hasn’t
endorsed anyone yet. Asked if he was planning on making
an endorsement before the Sept. 15 Democratic primary,
Squadron replied, “I think that’s the sort of thing you only
do in the present tense.”
downtown express
Port says clock on Silverstein will start this week
BY JULIE SHAPIRO
The Port Authority could finally finish exca-
vating the eastern chunk of the World Trade
Center site this week, a milestone that is at least
13 months overdue.
The Port has been digging up the land
along Church St. for years and finished the
southernmost piece, where developer Larry
Silverstein is building Tower 4, earlier this year.
But the Port has still been paying Silverstein the
$300,000-a-day late penalty while finishing the
sites for Towers 2 and 3 just to the north.
Chris Ward, executive director of the Port
Authority, announced the impending accom-
plishment at a hearing City Councilmember
Alan Gerson held Wednesday. But this is not
the first time Ward announced the tower sites
were ready — he made a similar proclamation
last fall, even though a wall supporting the No.
1 subway box ran through the western side of
the sites.
The Port Authority says
it’ll be finished preparing
the W.T.C. office sites this
week.
Silverstein refused to accept the sites last
fall, and an independent arbitration panel ruled
that the Port had more work to do.
On Wednesday, Ward said that this time,
“We believe we’ve met the requirements,”
though he added, “Mr. Silverstein may dispute
that.”
When the sites are truly complete, the
clock will start ticking for Silverstein to build
his three office towers. A 2006 agreement
between Silverstein and the Port Authority
gives Silverstein five years to build the towers,
or else he loses them.
“The Port Authority’s obligations under the
2006 agreement are fully fulfilled,” Ward said
at the hearing. “Mr. Silverstein is free to build
today. He is free to build next week. He is free
to build at any time he so chooses.”
However Silverstein cannot build the tow-
ers immediately because the frozen credit
markets mean he cannot get financing. The
Port and Silverstein have been locked in a
dispute over this fact for much of the past
year. Silverstein wants the Port to backstop the
financing for two of the Church St. office tow-
ers, 2 and 4, while the Port thinks Silverstein
should put up more of his own money. The
Port wants to see shorter retail-filled buildings
in place of two of the towers until the market
improves, while Silverstein is willing to accept
only one retail podium. The mayor sided with
Silverstein, while the governor sided with the
Port Authority.
After negotiations between the parties ear-
lier this summer went nowhere, Silverstein
moved related discussions about the site’s
timetable into formal arbitration. Silverstein
is seeking to recoup all $2.75 billion paid to
the Port in rent and insurance proceeds since
August 21 - 27, 2009 3
9/11, based on the Port’s inability to deliver
key infrastructure, such as the PATH hub and
vehicle security center, a rebuilding source said
two weeks ago. That money would then allow
Silverstein to build the towers without the
Port’s help.
Apart from the arbitration, the Port and
Silverstein met privately before Gerson’s hear-
ing, hoping to unlock the impasse in another
way, but they could not have made much
progress since neither backed away from their
criticisms at the hearing.
When Gerson pressed Ward to backstop
more financing for Silverstein’s towers, Ward
said the Port has already offered enough and
would have to sacrifice other projects to take
on more risk at the W.T.C.
“The market is telling us they shouldn’t
rise,” Ward said. “To build into a market that
private capital will not enter means that you are
effectively building socialized office space.”
Janno Lieber, president of Silverstein’s
W.T.C. Properties, sitting off to the side, stifled
a laugh at the “socialized” phrase. Downtown Express photos by J.B. Nicholas
Testifying later, Lieber said Silverstein’s Chris Ward, top, executive director of the Port Authority, and Janno Lieber, president
financing difficulties are a national problem of World Trade Center Properties, brought their long-running dispute about financing
and have nothing to do with the viability of W.T.C. redevelopment to the City Council Wednesday.
new, green office space Downtown, which
he predicts will be in high demand five years
from now.
Lieber outlined Silverstein’s current offer
to the Port Authority, which would allow two
of the Church St. towers to rise: Silverstein
would put up $75 million in cash and would
raise several hundred million dollars privately.
Under most circumstances it would be impos-
sible to raise that much money right now, but
if Silverstein gave investors first priority on the
repayment of the debt, then it would be pos-
sible to raise the money, Lieber said.
The problem is that the Port Authority does
not want to give private investors that first-
priority spot. In a letter to Silverstein Aug. 3,
Gov. David Paterson said the proposal would
put too much of the risk on the public sector.
“That is something I just cannot accept,” he
wrote.
At Wednesday’s hearing, City
Councilmember John Liu also questioned
whether Silverstein’s request was reasonable.
“If it was so easy, why would the Port
Authority be reluctant to do that?” Liu asked.
Lieber replied that the Port was overstating
the risk and he said the mayor also agreed. He
added that while the Port Authority would be
taking on some risk, they would also stand to
Gambler falls through grate
benefit no matter what happened to the towers. Though some believe walking over side- ment below. Riggio suffered a broken ankle
If the office space was lucrative, the Port would walk grates can be a gamble, a Saturday and minor injuries, said a Fire Department
receive about one-third of the benefits through accident in Tribeca outside of an Off-Track spokesperson.
a partnership with Silverstein, Lieber said. And Betting parlor proved it. Riggio was helped from the hole in the
if Silverstein defaulted on the towers, then the Vincent Riggio, a 59-year-old business- sidewalk by the Fire Department’s rope
Port would have sole ownership of the assets, man, was stepping out of the O.T.B. on rescue team, who hoisted him up to the
Lieber said. Murray St. to smoke a cigar around 1:00 paramedics that were waiting nearby. He
“We’re not looking for a handout,” Lieber p.m. last Saturday. He stepped onto a rusted was treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
said. “We’re looking for a partnership.” metal plate on the sidewalk that collapsed
At the conclusion of Gerson’s hearing, the beneath him and fell 20 feet into the base- — Jared T. Miller
Port Authority and Silverstein were no closer to
seeing eye-to-eye. Gerson implored both sides
to reach at least the outlines of an agreement
by the eight-year anniversary of the attacks Read the Archives
next month.
www.DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.com
Julie@DowntownExpress.com
4 August 21 - 27, 2009
BY SAM SCHWARTZ
Dear Transit Sam,
What’s the deal with these mid-block
ramps that lead to absolutely nowhere?
There are no signs, no warnings and the fine
for blocking one is a steep $165.
Phil, Little Italy
Dear Phil,
The intent of the ramps is to provide
access for persons with disabilities. The
rule in question is N.Y.C. Traffic Rule 4-08
(f) (7), which prohibits parking “alongside
pedestrian ramps or in a manner which
obstructs a curb area which has been cut
down, lowered or otherwise constructed
or altered to provide access for persons
with disabilities.” But, the designs are
often poor and many locations counter-
intuitive. I have written a letter to N.Y.C.
Dept. of Transportation requesting all new
pedestrian ramps that are mid-block, have
a high-visibility yellow pad installed for the
tactile portion (allowing blind people to
“feel” the ramps) or have signs posted “No
Standing.” I’ll keep you posted.
Transit Sam
Dear Transit Sam,
What is that monstrosity that’s been
parked on Sixth Ave. between Vandam
and Prince Sts. at 196 Sixth Ave.? It says
National Boiler Rental and is hooked up to
the building. I’m sure it’s providing heat and
hot water but it was parked there all winter
and now all summer. Does that building
have the right to use a city street (it takes
up at least two to three parking spaces)?
The city is losing revenue from the parking
meters.
Ivan, West Village
Dear Ivan,
Provided the proper permits are obtained
from N.Y.C. D.O.T., then yes, these units
may be stationed in these spots for a speci-
fied amount of time. But given it’s the sum-
mer, the permit has since expired and the
city will be issuing a summons.
Transit Sam
Dear Transit Sam,
I heeded your advice and got the Easy
Pay Express MetroCard, a Pay-Per-Ride one.
It works fine on the subway, but when I
Transit Sam
The Answer man
used it for the PATH train, the turnstile said,
“Invalid.” Luckily, I had an old MetroCard
which worked fine. This doesn’t make sense.
Transit Sam, please fix this!
Bob, World Trade Center PATH Station
Dear Bob,
One would assume that if a regular pay-
per-ride MetroCard works with PATH, then
naturally, the replenishable ones would as
well. In that regard, the M.T.A. is one step
behind. N.Y.C. Transit tells me they’re on it
and will start calibrating its systems so that
PATH will recognize these types of cards,
POLICE BLOTTER
Body on the roof
Police responded to a call at 11:35 a.m.
Tues., Aug. 11 to the roof of 35 Howard
St. near Broadway where they found a body
identified only as that of a white male. The
victim was pronounced dead at the scene
and the Medical Examiner’s Office and the
police are investigating the case. The cause
of death is not yet known.
Soho burglary
A burglar broke the lock of the front
door of Aurora Restaurant, 510 Broome St.
near W. Broadway between 5:30 and 6 a.m.
Mon. Aug. 11 and took about $300 from
the cash register, police said. A surveillance
video was operating and recorded the theft,
police said.
Roof escape
A burglar walked into a John St. building
shortly before 9 p.m. Sat., Aug. 15, managed
downtown express
come the fall. If all goes according to plan,
you’ll be using your MetroCard to travel
“across the river” by year’s end.
Transit Sam
Sam Schwartz, a former first deputy com-
missioner of city transportation, is president
and C.E.O. of Sam Schwartz Engineering,
a traffic engineering consulting firm to
private and public entities including the
Port Authority at the World Trade Center
site. Email your questions to TransitSam@
DowntownExpress.com.
to get into an apartment and made off with
a laptop computer from the bedroom, police
said. The female resident encountered the
suspect, described as a white male about
50 years old, as he was climbing out of the
bedroom window and escaping to the roof,
police said. The suspect has not been appre-
hended.
Sullivan St. burglary
A resident of an apartment at 183
Sullivan St. near Houston St. left home
with her doors locked and windows closed
around 12:45 p.m. Sat., Aug. 8 and returned
home Sun., Aug 9 around 10:24 p.m. to
find her door unlocked, a bedroom window
open, and an Apple laptop computer valued
at $2,000 stolen, police said. The woman’s
roommate, who had been away on Saturday,
returned at 3 p.m. Sun., and found the door
unlocked, and left 15 minutes later locking
the door behind him. The roommate had not
noticed anything missing, police said.
— Alber t Amateau
downtown express
Quiet anniversary for fatal Deutsche fire
The two years that have passed since the
fire at the former Deutsche Bank building have
done little to ease the suffering of the victims’
families.
“To us, it’s like it just happened yesterday,”
said Joseph Graffagnino Sr., whose son was
killed in the fire. “It hasn’t changed anything.
We’re still grieving. That’s not going to go
away.”
Firefighters Joseph Graffagnino Jr., 33,
and Robert Beddia, 53, were killed Aug.
18, 2007 when they responded to a blaze in
the Deutsche Bank building. The asbestos-
contaminated building, damaged heavily on
9/11, was being cleaned and demolished at
the time of the fire, and a slew of unsafe condi-
tions inside the building led to the firefighters’
deaths.
On Tuesday, the two-year anniversary of
the fire, Graffagnino and Beddia’s families
and fellow firefighters gathered for a Mass in
their memory at the Church of St. Anthony of
Padua in Soho, near the Engine 24/Ladder 5
firehouse where the men served.
One day earlier, the elder Graffagnino said
that he still wants to see the people responsible
for his son’s death held accountable. Manhattan
District Attorney Robert Morgenthau indicted
three construction supervisors from the project
and subcontractor John Galt Corp. with man-
slaughter late last year, but the D.A. decided
not to pursue manslaughter charges against
the city or the Lower Manhattan Development
Corp., which owns the building.
Pier work begins on East River waterfront
A new waterfront park that is meant to
do for the East Side what Hudson River
Park did for the West Side broke ground at
a ceremony Tuesday morning.
With swiveling cranes in the background,
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the timing
could not be better to start construction
of the East River Waterfront, a project he
promised to build four years ago. The $150
million park, funded mostly by the Lower
Manhattan Development Corp., will cre-
ate about 400 construction jobs during the
recession, Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg stood alongside the governor,
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Borough
President Scott Stringer and State Sen.
Daniel Squadron to describe the first phase
of the project, which will stretch 2 miles
from the Battery Maritime Building up to
Pier 35, connecting the West Side greenway
to East River Park. That work is slated to
finish in 2011.
The award-winning design by SHoP
Architects includes retail and community-use
pavilions under the elevated F.D.R. Dr.; amphi-
theater steps descending toward the water;
wider paths for cyclists and pedestrians; and
bar-stool seating along a rebuilt esplanade.
The East River Waterfront will be “as
innovative and exciting as the High Line,”
City Planning Commissioner Amanda
Burden said.
A second phase, which does not yet have
August 21 - 27, 2009 5
“I’d like to see more,” Graffagnino said
this week.
The D.A. is still investigating the decision
to hire John Galt, a company with reputed
mob ties and no experience. Graffagnino has
his own lawsuit pending against the city, the
L.M.D.C., contractor Bovis Lend Lease and
Galt, but he cannot pursue it until the D.A.
finishes his investigation, Graffagnino said.
When Morgenthau announced the indict-
ments last year, Bovis and the city acknowl-
edged wrongdoing and signed an agreement
with the D.A. instituting better safety require-
ments.
The 26-story Deutsche Bank building still
stands just as tall as it did two years ago,
though it could finally start coming down as
soon as next month. The building is slated
to be demolished by early spring 2010. The
cleanup and demolition cost estimates are now
up to about $220 million.
Since the fire, Graffagnino has spoken out
against the communication and enforcement
gaps at city agencies, which should have over-
seen the Deutsche Bank work and ensured
it was safe. At Graffagnino’s urging, the city Downtown Express photo by Jefferson Siegel
has passed some reforms to prevent buildings There did not appear to be any flowers
being decontaminated and demolished from or memorial Tuesday outside the former
falling through the cracks in the future. Deutsche Bank building, where two
“You’re trying to get some salvation out of firefighters, Joseph Graffagnino Jr.,
it,” Graffagnino said, “to prevent it from hap- 33, top left, and Robert Beddia, 53
pening again.” were killed battling a blaze two years
ago. A Mass was held near their Soho
— Julie Shapiro firehouse.
Rendering of the new design for Pier 35 near Clinton St.
funding or a timeline, would convert Pier level. The project also underwent an extensive
42 to public use with an urban beach and The city also unveiled new plans for Pier public review, with more than 70 community
would create a plaza in front of the Battery 35, at Rutgers Slip, which will become an meetings.
Maritime Building. “eco pier” featuring flora and fauna native Borough President Stringer thanked
At the groundbreaking, the mayor high- to the East River shoreline. Bloomberg for consulting Community
lighted plans for a new double-decker Pier The mayor first mentioned the possibil- Boards 1 and 3 so extensively.
15, whose concrete piles are already rising ity of improving the East River waterfront “You’ve done something I didn’t think
from the East River. The pier will include in 2002. Part of the reason the East River was possible,” Stringer said to the mayor. “I
a marine education center, concessions and Waterfront project it took so long to get off think you’ve tired them out.”
space to dock boats on the lower level, and the ground was because of the many permits
an open lawn and plantings on the upper required, Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber said. — Julie Shapiro
6 August 21 - 27, 2009
Council candidates spar at forum
Continued from page 1
Gleason responded that credit for those
schools was due to former Councilmember
Kathryn Freed, whose term ended at the
beginning of 2002. Gerson’s supporters
booed Gleason in response.
In 2004, Gerson secured an agreement
with then Dep. Mayor Dan Doctoroff in
which the city committed to building a school
annex for P.S. 234 and set aside money to
build an east side K-8 school, which is now
under construction on Spruce St.
Several of the candidates unveiled new
positions at the debate. Chin suggested
altering the current plan for the World Trade
Center, which calls for five office towers,
three of which would need massive public
financing to get underway.
“We need to determine what’s going to be
built there,” Chin said. “No, we don’t want
any more tall office building there. Let’s use
the resource there, build the memorial and
build a park, build housing, build school,
and that’s what we want to spend our tax
dollar on.”
Another novel suggestion came from
Gleason, who said the problems at the
World Trade Center could be eliminated by
disbanding the bi-state Port Authority, which
owns the site.
“We’ve seen the deplorable job they’ve
done at the World Trade Center site,”
Gleason said. “And I have to be honest — as
a lifelong New Yorker, I resent folks from
New Jersey coming into my town, telling me
how to do things at the World Trade Center
site.”
Gerson’s four opponents criticized the
councilmember for not using his Lower
Manhattan Redevelopment Committee to
hold the Port Authority and other govern-
ment agencies accountable.
Gerson countered that he has achieved
results by getting the big players on many
Downtown projects to testify at his hear-
Lightning Round
Chin
Who’s more right
about the WTC,
Did not choose
Silverstein or the Port
Authority
Endorse the Council
primary winner Yes
regardless?
Battery
Favorite Downtown
Park City
Place to relax
Waterfront
Legalize marijuana? No
The candidates’ answers to a few of the “lightining round” questions.
Margaret Chin makes a point at the forum. At right is candidate Arthur Gregory.
ings. He also credited his committee with
the city’s decision to fully fund a rebuilt
Fiterman Hall, although last year the mayor
said his frequent foe, Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver, deserved the credit.
During Monday’s debate the audience
often interrupted the candidates with
applause, hisses and boos. Occasionally, the
attendees voiced their opinions before giving
the candidates a chance to respond. When
the candidates were asked if they would sup-
Gerson Gleason
DNC DNC
No Yes
All Parks Lower East Side
Yes,
Yes
medicinally
downtown express
would back a plan that would use technol-
ogy to target a minority of drivers, such
as ones passing through Lower Manhattan
quickly.
It was a different vote of Gerson’s that
drew the most censure at the debate: his sup-
port last year for extending term limits for
the mayor and other city officials, including
himself. All four of Gerson’s opponents said
the decision should have gone back to the
voters for a referendum. In the past, Gerson
had opposed a City Council change to the
term limit law.
Gleason criticized Gerson as “a patsy of
the mayor” and said, “We need someone
who’s going to stand up to the mayor.”
Gerson defended his vote by repeating an
argument he has made in the past: that he
sponsored legislation to force a referendum,
but that when that legislation failed, he felt
democracy was best served by giving voters
more options on the ballot.
The candidates found several points of
agreement during Monday’s debate. They all
criticized New York University’s dramatic
2031 expansion plan, which would add 3
million square feet to their Village campus,
mostly in the South Village. The candidates
called on N.Y.U. to be a better neighbor —
Gleason suggested they build elementary
seats, which are in greater demand than col-
lege seats Downtown — and find an alterna-
Downtown Express photo by Jefferson Siegel
tive expansion site elsewhere.
Gerson’s opponents also agreed that the
designs for Washington Square Park should
port charging most drivers a fee for entering have included more community input.
Lower Manhattan and Midtown, many in the Gerson said he negotiated a compromise on
audience shouted “No!” the park’s design that was better than the
Kim, Gregory and Chin all said yes, pro- Parks Dept.’s original plan.
vided they could add some caveats. Gleason When the topic turned to education, the
and Gerson said no, an agreement so rare candidates were reluctant to say who should
that they shook hands over it. Gerson’s get preference at the two new middle schools
answer was surprising because he voted that could open Downtown as soon as 2010.
in favor of the mayor’s congestion pricing Chin was the strongest voice for giving
bill last year. In a phone interview, he said preference at the middle schools not just to
he now opposes fees on most drivers, but students who live below Canal St. on the
west side and below the Brooklyn Bridge on
the east side, but also to students who live
in Chinatown. Gerson and Kim advocated
for choice and inclusion as well, though less
Gregory Kim specifically.
The candidates all agreed that something
needs to happen at the Seward Park Urban
Renewal Area, which has sat untouched for
decades after the city used eminent domain
DNC DNC
to claim it. Gerson hopes to interest cultural
tenants in the site and recently gave a tour
to “Little Stevie” Van Zandt — the longtime
guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s band and
former “Sopranos” star — regarding the pos-
No Yes sibility of a recording facility in the area.
Everyone wants to see affordable hous-
ing on the site, but Chin was the only one
to say the site should not have any market-
Battery rate housing, and the commercial space,
Governors Island
Park City too, should be subsidized.
During the debate, as during her cam-
paign, Chin frequently focused on afford-
Yes,
Yes able housing and issues facing Chinatown
medicinally and low-income residents. Asked how she
would address the needs of other neigh-
Continued on page 10
downtown express August 21 - 27, 2009 7

Quinn goes on the hot seat in debate with 2 foes

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
More than 200 people packed a spirited debate for the
Third City Council District at New York University last
Thursday hosted by Community Media’s The Villager, Gay
City News and Chelsea Now newspapers, sister publications
of Downtown Express.
It was the first — and most likely only — public debate in
the high-profile Democratic primary election, pitting 10-year
incumbent City Council Speaker Christine Quinn against
challengers Maria Passannante-Derr and Yetta Kurland.
During the one-and-a-half-hour debate, audience members
heard the candidates spar over term limits, the City Council’s
so-called “slush fund,” overdevelopment, the Department
of Sanitation’s planned Spring St. megagarage and whether
Quinn — whose mayoral ambitions are well known — has
been sufficiently engaged with her own district.
The Third Council District stretches from Canal St. to
around 55th St. on the West Side, and is known by some as
“the gay seat” of the City Council.
The crowd filled to capacity the main auditorium at New
York University. Quinn’s supporters got there early and may
have had a majority of the room, but Kurland’s sat closest to
the front, all of them wearing yellow “I ♥ Yetta” T-shirts;
Passannante-Derr, a former Community Board 2 chair-
person, went on the attack in her opening statement.
“This election is about an arrogant incumbent who has
turned the City Council into a rubber stamp for a right-wing
Republican mayor,” she charged. “A candidate who has sold
out her community — first, with a three-district Sanitation
garage, when there’s a two-district community alterna-
tive,” and second, with a marine waste-transfer station on
Gansevoort Peninsula, “a station that’s 50 yards from a Downtown Express photo by Jefferson Siegel
toddler playground, a playground where children will now The Third City Council District candidates: Maria Passannante-Derr, second from the left, Yetta Kurland and
ingest polluted air from Sanitation trucks that will drive into City Council Speaker Christine Quinn before last week’s debate. Kurland is shaking hands with John W. Sutter,
this park all day long,” Passannante-Derr said. publisher of Community Media, the debate organizer and the publisher of Downtown Express.
The early questions were among the evening’s toughest
for Quinn, and her responses were frequently met with investigation going on, or we would hear nothing of this.” hundred twenty-eight more vehicles right in the middle of a
some hoots of derision and catcalls from the audience, For her part, Quinn said, “We found out a year and a half growing community. It will be 120-feet tall…. We already
although the audience, over all, remained respectful. The ago that there was a very inappropriate practice going on in have the second-worst air quality in the Northeast. We
first question asked the candidates’ position on term limits the City Council,” her statement meeting some groans of dis- already have 16 lanes feeding into the Holland Tunnel.
and on their being overturned legislatively last year in the belief. “We believe it dates back to at least 1995. And when We’re going to have a 5,000-ton, open-ended salt shed with
City Council, in an effort led by Quinn, with the backing of we found out that this practice was going on, we immedi- airborne salt flying all over right next to the Holland Tunnel
Mayor Bloomberg. ately asked the authorities to look into it and to investigate fresh-air tower.”
“It is not an issue of term limits — it is an issue of democ- it. It’s a practice that never should have gone on.” Passannante-Derr and Kurland support the community-
racy,” stated Kurland, a civil rights attorney and educator Quinn added that, due to new procedures, every bud- alternative Hudson Rise plan, which would only have two
who, like Quinn, is lesbian. “If you tell me that you want two get item that gets approved is now “vetted and trackable” Sanitation districts, plus a park on top.
terms, I will listen to you, and I will respect that decision.” online. “I think the problem with Hudson Square typifies the
Quinn said she doesn’t support term limits, saying they However, Kurland said, “One of the most troubling problem we have in this community with the type of develop-
“empower lobbyists and staff over elected officials.” Quinn things to me is that we haven’t seen the investigation on the ment and the way that development is happening,” Kurland
said she supported repealing term limits — which had been slush funds — what happened?” Kurland said she was glad said. “This is the perfect example of how our current coun-
approved by two voter referenda — because of the reces- Quinn acknowledged the practice was wrong, then added: cilmember can’t stand up for us as a community and stand
sion. “But you must certainly have known about it, if in 2006, you up for the problems we face. It would wipe out that com-
“I think given these extraordinary times, it was appropri- were using those slush-fund monies for your district. munity,” she said of the megagarage. “We have a solution:
ate to give voters a choice,” she said. “We face now the worst Also sparking fireworks was the topic of the city’s plan Hudson Rise is an incredible, complex solution.
economic crisis this city and state and country have seen for the Sanitation garage on Spring St., a project Quinn “None of this development happens in this city until
since the Great Depression.” approved in the City Council. our councilmember says, ‘Yes, O.K.,’ and signs off on it,”
Wall St. provides 25 percent of the city’s taxes, she Quinn said her office continues to work with community Kurland added.
noted. members who oppose the three-district garage to find an Another flashpoint question asked whether Quinn’s being
But Passannante-Derr said the power of incumbency makes “appropriate alternative” site for the trucks from one of the Council speaker — considered to be the city’s second most-
it impossible for challengers to have a level playing field. Sanitation districts. Getting Sanitation District 2’s garbage powerful office — has benefited her district or, rather, actu-
The next question concerned the so-called “slush fund,” trucks off Gansevoort Peninsula is required under a lawsuit ally taken her focus off addressing constituents’ needs.
under which millions of dollars of city budget funds were settlement, she noted. Passannante-Derr didn’t hold back.
stashed under names of phony nonprofit groups. Quinn Quinn said, “I think we’ve all seen the [garbage] trucks “Christine Quinn is an absentee councilmember who is
became the Council’s speaker in January 2006. sitting around Father Demo Square bothering people who disconnected from the district,” she said. “She shows up
“There is a complete disgust with the slush-fund scandal are having fun in the park — that’s not what we want.” for ribbon-cutting ceremonies…. She’s in the outer bor-
and the fact that we are paying for Christine Quinn’s legal Quinn added that Community Board 4 — which cov- oughs for photo ops. Sure, Stephen DiBrienza, term-limited
fees and the legal fees of her staff,” Passannante-Derr said, ers Chelsea and Clinton and which contains some of the councilmember in Brooklyn, gets $1 million from Christine
referring to the attorney Quinn hired after the practice came proposed alternative sites — already has many similar Quinn’s slush fund — but the Visiting Neighbors got totally
under investigation. municipal-type facilities. wiped out. How is that helping us with Christine Quinn as
“The Department of Investigation’s investigation was But Passannante-Derr blasted Quinn, charging, “This speaker?”
pushed under the carpet because of Mayor Bloomberg and Sanitation garage will be Christine Quinn’s legacy for selling (The payments to DiBrienza’s nonprofit group —
because of your power in the City Council,” Passannante- out the community.” Noting the neighborhood already has
Derr accused of Quinn. “Thank God, we have a federal many FedEx and UPS trucks, Passannante-Derr said, “One Continued on page 21
8 August 21 - 27, 2009 downtown express

Condo project defied Landmarks approval, architect admits

BY JULIE SHAPIRO
The developers of a new condo building
in North Tribeca recently discovered that
details matter.
That is especially true when the build-
ing, in this case the 21-unit Fairchild at 415
Washington St., was designed in painstaking
consultation with the community and the
city Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The Fairchild falls into the Tribeca North
Historic District, which means the L.P.C. has
final say over matters as basic as height and
as detailed as the cornice design.
As the Fairchild grew closer to comple-
tion over the last year, it became clear that
the developers had not followed the blue-
print approved by the L.P.C. A very visible
elevator bulkhead looms several feet higher
than it should. The windows are casements,
not double-hung, and the cornice does not
have the approved detailing.
“It’s very upsetting,” said Roger Byrom,
chairperson of Community Board 1’s
Landmarks Committee, which had an advisory
role in approving the designs back in 2006. “I
just wish developers would have the decency
and the ethics to build what is allowed.”
But placing the blame in this case is not
a simple matter, because the architect for
the project switched in the middle. Joseph
Pell Lombardi designed the building and
shepherded it through the approvals process,
including landmarks approval, but architect
Karl Fischer took over shortly after con-
struction began.
The Fairchild, now commonly referred
to by the address 55 Vestry St., is owned
by a group of investors, which is led by
Gerard Longo and includes the actor James
Gandolfini.
When Fischer took over about two years
ago, the investors assured him that the project
had its approvals in place and all he had to
do was continue in accordance with those
approved plans, he said. But while the L.P.C.
had approved an earlier version of Lombardi’s
design, Lombardi later changed the designs
based on recommendations from the Board
of Standards and Appeals, where Lombardi
received a variance to allow residential use in
a manufacturing zone, Fischer said. Lombardi
never returned to the L.P.C. after making those
design changes, Fischer said.
Lombardi spoke to the Downtown
Express from France and did not have proj-
ect documents in front of him, so he could
not recall many details. He said he never
designed a tall bulkhead for the building, so
that addition must have come after he left
the project. And he added that no matter
what happened before Fischer took over,
once Fischer started on the project he should
have made sure all the approvals were in Downtown Express photos by Julie Shapiro
order before continuing to build it.
The elevator bulkhead at the top of 55 Vestry St. is bigger than the design approved
“It didn’t fall through the cracks on me,”
by the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the windows also do not meet the
Lombardi said.
designs. Investors in the Tribeca project include actor James Gandolfini.
Fischer said he didn’t look into the build-
ing’s approvals earlier because of the inves-
tors’ assurances. Fischer later said he wasn’t the rules and wants the Fairchild’s own- es or allow the building to stay as is. The
blaming Lombardi, but there were likely a ers to restore the building to the originally L.P.C. also has to decide on a cooling tower,
series of miscommunications. Once Fischer approved designs. which has not yet been built but is designed
realized the L.P.C. hadn’t approved the final “We do not want to encourage developers to be more visible than the tower L.P.C.
designs of the building, it took him several to break the law,” Byrom said. approved.
months to track down exactly which version Fischer said the project’s investors realize The Fairchild sits across the street from
L.P.C. did approve, since there were so many they “should have been more attentive” to the Pearline Soap Factory at 414 Washington
iterations of the project, he said. the details. A spokesperson for Longo, the St., a new seven-condo building from the
Fischer called the design discrepancies principal developer of the building, did not same architects and development group. The
“minor.” comment. Pearline also had a couple landmarks prob-
“The building very closely resembles Fischer has offered to make changes to lems, but they were smaller, related only to
what L.P.C. approved,” Fischer said. “To the the building’s cornice but said it would be the cornice and windowsills, and the L.P.C.
ordinary layman, there would be very little nearly impossible to alter the elevator bulk- voted last week not to force the owners to
difference.” head now that it’s built. make any changes.
But Byrom, from the community board, The L.P.C. will hear the case next month
has a problem with any developer who flouts and can either order Fischer to make chang- Julie@DowntownExpress.com

A Tribeca landmark?
Community Board 1 hopes to landmark this early 19th-century warehouse at
460 Washington St. in North Tribeca. Roger Byrom, chairperson of C.B. 1’s
Landmarks Committee, called the building “a little jewel sitting there in the
wilderness.” Many of the surrounding buildings are not historic, so the block
was not included in the Tribeca North Historic District. But the two-story
Italianate structure with intricate brick detailing has survived until now and
ought to be preserved, Byrom said, although he did not know much about
the building’s history. The city Landmarks Preservation Commission, which
decides landmarking questions, has not received the request and could not
comment, a spokesperson said. John Mele, property manager for Ponte
Equities, which owns the building, said it is currently used for storage. He
did not comment on the landmarking proposal.

Downtown Express photo by Julie Shapiro

 downtown express August 21 - 27, 2009 9

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Gleason spars with Gerson
at candidates’ forum
Continued from page 6
borhoods, and in particular the district’s
wealthier residents, Chin spoke mostly
about the need for affordable housing
throughout the district.
Chin is the only woman running for the
seat and pointed out that the City Council
could use more diversity, as only 17 of the
51 members are female. There is also only
one Asian member of the Council.
The Democratic primary
is Sept. 15
During the debate, Kim frequently
pointed out areas of agreement with his
opponents. He espoused middle-of-the-road
opinions on questions of the government
working with private developers. Regarding
the Seward Park area, for example, he said
market-rate housing and commercial space
would have to be part of any viable plan.
Kim was also realistic about the limits
of the Council’s power. On the World Trade
Center, he said the Council might not be able
to expedite the construction, but he would
try to mitigate its impact.
Kim also argued for setting the “circus”
of political attacks aside and focusing on
the issues, but Gleason said Gerson was to
blame for the slow progress.
Gleason made factual errors about Gerson
at times, but when Gerson responded, he
often ran out of time just when he seemed to
be getting to the crux of his points.
Gerson did not respond directly to a
question about his office disorganization, a
problem cited by his supporters and oppo-
nents alike. Instead, he made a joke about
his occasionally rumpled appearance and
said his record speaks for itself.
“I’m not done yet,” he said later, after list-
ing accomplishments as varied as affordable
housing funds and free bathtub grab-bars for
senior citizens.
Gregory was the only candidate who
appeared nervous during the debate, speak-
ing hesitantly at times and occasionally
stumbling over words. Near the end of the
debate, he drew sympathetic laughter and
applause when he noted that he hadn’t
received much applause so far and said he’d
Read the Archives
www.DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.com
downtown express
bring more people with him the next time.
Gregory focused on his post-9/11 advo-
cacy and volunteer work, and also made some
unusual suggestions, including that the city
ask developers who received Liberty Bonds
to return some of the money to help build
schools and that the city use eminent domain
to knock down some Financial District build-
ings and replace them with parks.
In the “lightning round,” the candidates
were asked to give one or two-word respons-
es to a series of rapid-fire questions.
Asked if they would consider endorsing
Michael Bloomberg for mayor, all the candi-
dates said they would endorse Comptroller
Bill Thompson, presuming he wins the
Democratic primary. Kim previously praised
Bloomberg in an interview with Downtown
Express, suggesting he could consider sup-
porting the mayor. Asked to rate Bloomberg
on a scale of 1 to 10, Gerson, Kim and
Gregory gave him a 5, while Chin said 4.75
and Gleason said 3.
As for the Council race, Kim, Gleason
and Chin agreed to endorse the winner of
the Democratic primary, but Gerson and
Gregory did not. Asked to name the sec-
ond most qualified candidate in the race,
Chin and Gleason picked each other, while
Gerson and Kim did not give an answer.
Gregory named himself as the second most
qualified, saying Gerson had more experi-
ence.
All the candidates want to see One Police
Plaza moved out of Lower Manhattan, since
its sensitivity as a potential terrorist target
caused the city to close Park Row to traffic
after 9/11, although Gerson said he agreed
only if a feasible location were found else-
where in the city.
None of the candidates favored the pro-
tected Grand St. bike lane, though Kim
qualified his response by saying it was
important not to demonize cyclists. All the
candidates, save Chin, support legalizing
marijuana, though Gerson and Kim added
the caveat that it should only be legalized for
medicinal purposes.
The last question of the night was one
of the easiest, though it has divided New
Yorkers for generations: Yankees or Mets?
The candidates responded quickly and
unanimously: Yankees.
Julie@DowntownExpress.com
Go to downtownexpress.com to hear
audio of the candidates’ forum. Video will
be posted within the next few days.
downtown express August 21 - 27, 2009 11

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Rehabs vs. the Math: Not your average beer league

Continued from page 1
game. Since then, the rivalry has reached seem-
ingly historic proportions.
“We’ve never met in the championship,”
said Moore. “Last season we lost to them in
the quarter-finals, but we pelted them with
water balloons anyway.”
The Demons and the Rehabs are two of
the 18 teams, all with equally interesting
names, that make up the Blacktop Street
Hockey League (B.T.S.H.) and who play
their games in Tompkins Square Park on
Sunday afternoons from March to October.
Most of the names have stories to go along
with them. The Mexican Standoffs are
named after a drink at a bar frequented
by the team manager. And then you have
the Filthy Gorgeous, named after a Scissor
Sisters song, and Cobra Kai of “The Karate
Kid” fame.
Hang out at the Tompkins blacktop
and you’ll hear people yelling, “Go Math!”
(There’s a team named the Mathematics)
and “Come on Filthy!”
But funny names aside, B.T.S.H. has
become a stalwart among the recreational
beer leagues that infiltrate the city’s park
ball fields and blacktops during the summer.
It’s nearing its tenth anniversary, and since
its inception in 2000, it has expanded from
six teams to 18 and expects to once again
expand to 20 or 22 teams next year. There’s
even a free-agent pool with players hoping to
get picked up in the off-season.
The skill level ranges from nonexistent —
someone who has never held a hockey stick
in his or her life — to advanced, with players
who’ve spent years playing minor league ice
hockey.
Bob W. has been the league manager
since 2002 and can always be found at the
blacktop in Tompkins Square on Sundays,
answering people’s questions, picking up
trash and generally keeping a watchful eye
over all things B.T.S.H.
Of his seven-year tenure as league man-
ager, Bob W. said, “It’s a culture. It’s a lifestyle
and it, you know, becomes your social focal
point. You create so many friends and asso-
ciations doing this job, and it’s really reward-
ing and everyone is very community minded
and appreciative. Not a weekend goes by on a
Sunday when I’m not thanked 25 times. And
not a weekend goes by when people aren’t
offering to help out in any way they can.”
B.T.S.H. is one part of the soon to
be incorporated nonprofit Urban Hockey
Association. Once the umbrella organization
finishes the necessary paperwork to become
a legitimate 501(c)(3), B.T.S.H. and its sister
league, MOFO Hockey (mofohockey.org) —
which plays in a rink, Moffo Rink, instead
of on a blacktop, at Tanahey Park near the Downtown Express photo by John Bayles
South Street Seaport — will be joined by a
Street hockey action in Tompkins Square Park.
youth league that Bob W. promises will be
less, er, beer oriented. “What we’re trying to do is to start a pro- derful people,” McMass said. “And it’s nice
gram that we hope to grow throughout the exercise. It’s not like I can afford a gym mem-
city — an introductory youth street hockey bership.”

Speaker Sheldon Silver program, free of charge,” Bob W. explained. “It

will involve basic instruction, skills and strategy.
Physical fitness obviously will be part of it, and
we hope to teach the kids goods sportsmanship
Celebrates the Groundbreaking of the Highly Anticipated East River and teamwork as well.”
Waterfront Esplanade He said the project will involve a mix of
skills training and scrimmaging and will be
totally separate from B.T.S.H. Bob W. said the
youth league’s starting date will be sometime
in the fall.
B.T.S.H., and MOFO too, is hockey in
sneakers, not rollerblades or in-line skates.
There’s a ball instead of a puck and there is no
body checking. B.T.S.H. has other rules, such
as always having at least two girls playing on
the blacktop for each team. And the female
factor is essential to B.T.S.H. The league was
actually founded by two women; one has since
moved to Los Angeles and the other stepped
back to raise a child. In Bob W.’s eyes, having
the girls involved is one way of making sure the
machismo is kept to minimum.
“It forces the teams to incorporate the women
in a meaningful way,” he said. “And it lessens the
aggression. Obviously, some of the women play
very aggressively. But keeping women in the mix
As the Assemblyman who has long fought for a redeveloped waterfront
reminds the men not to be jerks.”
and more green, recreational space for Lower Manhattan’s residents, families
Because of the two-women rule, it’s cur-
and children, I know precisely how much this project is going to improve the
rently easier to get into the league if you’re a
quality of life in our community. This amenity will reconnect Lower
female. Ashley McMass is one example, cur-
Manhattan to the waterfront and provide residents of the Financial District,
rently playing in her first B.T.S.H. season for
Chinatown and the Lower East Side with vital open space, renovated piers, a
Filthy Gorgeous. She played Division I field
new esplanade and paths for biking and rollerblading.
hockey for Columbia, just graduated and is now
looking for a job. Haanwa is another female and
For more information, is on the Mexican Standoff. She’s been playing
please call Speaker Sheldon Silver’s Office at 212-312-1420 since 2002.
“It’s great hanging out with all these won-
That seems to be the combination that lures
most of the players into B.T.S.H.: It’s an easy
way to meet people from different backgrounds
— there are freelance artists, engineers, physi-
cists, musicians and doctors — and it’s a fun
way to stay in somewhat decent shape.
Eli Kazin works in advertising and plays on
the Mathematics; when the team was formed,
one of the founders was in grad school for
physics. Their team jerseys are gray T-shits and
their logo is the variable “X” under the square-
root sign. Kazin also manages the B.T.S.H. Web
site (BTSH.org). His only hockey experience
prior to B.T.S.H. was gym floor hockey in high
school.
“It’s the only outdoor, athletic thing I do,”
he noted.
Kazin said it’s a fun way to fill the weekends;
athletic activity and beer drinking when there
are no football games to watch on television.
But Kazin, along with Bob W., also mentioned
the competiveness of the league. While it’s all
fun and games, some teams certainly want to be
in the championship when all is said and done.
“Any time someone is keeping score, there
is competition and nobody wants to be on the
lower side of that score. That’s just a fact of
life,” said Bob W.
Kazin said there’s the occasional suspension
and players get tossed out of the games for
breaking the rules or for being stupid. When it
comes to wanting to win, he echoed Bob W.’s
remarks:
“It’s just an aspect of human nature.
When you’re competing and keeping score,
people are going to be competitive. No one
wants to show up and lose every week.”
downtown express August 21 - 27, 2009 13

BY JANEL BLADOW
HELLO NEW KNEE… This month
begins with a stay at New York Downtown
Hospital for a total knee replacement fol-
lowing a really dopey “sports” injury while
in college. Let’s just say that leaping like a
goat at the top of a Rocky Mountain is not
the best way to test new tennis shoes.
My arrival at the hospital Monday morn-
ing was greeted by courteous, helpful staff
and two charming medical students who
kept me entertained and relaxed talk-
ing about skiing and the strange-looking
“hazmat” type outfits the surgical team
would be wearing. Well, that was a bit
unnerving! Then the fabulous Dr. Kenneth
E. McCulloch of Seaport Orthopedic
Associates arrived and everything must
have been right with the world because I
knew nothing until awakening to a really
reassuring post-op nurse making sure I
was comfortable in this big room alongside
other drowsy patients.
Once settled into my room on the fifth
floor, happily medicated and anxious to
doze off again, I was poked, prodded and
hooked up to a machine that automatically
bent my new plastic/titanium knee for two
hours. Ouch!
By the next morning physical therapy
arrived in the form of a delightful and skilled
therapist named Julie who got me up and
walking. By nightfall I was cruising to the
hallway on my walker! The next day we
scaled two flights of stairs!
That afternoon saw a surprise visit from
Anita Gomes of Harbour Café on Peck Slip.
S EAPORT R EPORT
Hit the spot. Cheers Anita!
A big thank you also goes to the fifth floor
staff — Billy, Max, Aisha, Pat, Elizabeth
and her nursing student Julia, Ganyani,
Josie and all the others who provided such
professional and compassionate care. And
Kevin of food services thanks for the deli-
cious cranberry muffin!
GET ON YOUR FEET… Now with the
new knee I’ll soon be able to hit the streets
with longtime Southbridge Towers resident
Bob Gelber. He’s off to a successful second
career.
Bob spent 32 years with New York State
as a law librarian for the court system until
he retired in December 2006. Anxious to
do something with his time and his love of
New York City and its colorful history, Bob
became a Big Apple Greeter. Some 300 peo-
ple of all walks of life — some even in their
80s — volunteer to show visitors parts of the
city most tourist would never roam.
“I’ve shown around about 40 people
from around the world – England, Australia,
Finland, even my first English-speaking
Italians – and they all want to go away
from the crowd,” Bob told Seaport Report.
“Everyone has been wonderful and we have
such a nice time.”
Since then, Bob has launched his own
web site and walking tours, guiding guests
as well as curious New Yorkers through
such historically rich spots as Millionaires’
Row on Fifth Ave. in the 60s and 70s and
the Lower East Side, which he wraps with a
knish tasting at end of the three hour hike.
He’s had great success with his green tour
power works on the roof.
“American Express hired me to show it
to some of their executives, and a group of
Japanese businessmen also took the tour,”
Bob told S.R.
He’s given chocolate-tasting trips through
Soho and meanderings through the Financial
District’s historically rich canyons, from
the first Dutch settlers through the British
invasion and on to today’s Wall St. hype. A
fellow dog lover who S.R. first met with his
late dog Teddy — he and his wife Cathy now
have Ginger, a really cute girl, to keep them
company — Bob even took dogs and their
owners on a historic romp through Central
Park, to benefit Bide-a-Wee Shelter. Up next
is a ramble across the Brooklyn Bridge end-
ing with a tour of DUMBO. “Retirement,”
says Bob, “I recommend it!”
For upcoming tours, times and to make a
reservation, visit: www.walkinNY.com.
HAPPY TRAILS… An era has passed.
When the Fish Bridge Dog Park first opened
more than a decade ago, a core group of
special dogs made it a fun place for their
humans to hang. Now the last of those first
pups has passed away.
Last week Leslie Mazer and Jeff Catalano
lost their beloved Thurman. The 13-year-old
English sheepdog was a delightful comic
who never met a human or dog he didn’t
like. Leslie told S.R: “He had to say hi to
everybody. He just couldn’t hold himself
back. He was very committed to being
happy.” She also says that their younger
sheepdog, Tweak, is stepping up to the plate.
“We’re so thankful for him and the great
memories we have of Thurman.”
Last month saw the loss of yet another
long-time area wagging tail. No one could
pass the corner of Water St. and Peck Slip
in the afternoon without giving a pet to
Honey Bear, a yellow lab who passed away
at 15. Honey and her human Don Walsh
were often spotted sitting outside at Acqua,
enjoying the sights and smells, and a sip of
prosecco. Last spring they moved upstate
where Honey spent her last days enjoying
green acres and a cool pond.
ON THE MARKET … New Amsterdam
Market returns to S3 for four Sundays
(Sept.13, Oct. 25, Nov. 22 and Dec. 20)
for fabulous fresh foods from around the
tri-state and exciting epicurean workshops.
Visit the vendors on South Street, between
Beekman St. and Peck Slip, from 11 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Info: www.newamsterdammarket.
org.

-X´WRSX
She came with a beautiful plant, and later in where he shows visitors around Battery Park
the week after I got home, she sent over a City, the first mandated green neighborhood,
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14
Artist Len Rosenfeld’s half century in the Downtown scene
Continued from page 1
his early black-crayon drawings of elevated railroad tracks or
his more recent oil paintings of soldiers in the Iraq War. The
figures in his paintings often loom large and exaggerated, and
he juxtaposes images of Minnie Mouse and guns, or a toilet
and an American flag, to make political points.
Among his most nontraditional works are his “wire paint-
ings,” in which he wrapped colorful wire around rectangular
canvas stretchers to create representational images. The wire
paintings sell for five figures.
Some of Rosenfeld’s strongest memories from his career come
from the Cedar Tavern, the bar on University Pl. that served as
informal headquarters of the abstract expressionist movement in
the 1950s and ’60s.
“Everybody was there,” Rosenfled said, listing his friends
Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. Jackson Pollock was a
regular, too, but he was in the Hamptons when Rosenfeld
arrived on the scene and he was killed there before Rosenfeld
could meet him.
Art was a common topic of conversation — de Kooning,
in particular, would speak of nothing else — but the Cedar
was far from a buttoned-up affair. Rosenfeld once found de
Kooning lying in the gutter outside, passed out and covered
in money. Rosenfeld collected the bills, gave them to the
bartender, and dragged de Kooning home. After settling de
Kooning into bed, Rosenfeld returned to the Cedar, where,
several hours later, he was surprised to see the artist walk in,
cleaned up and ready to continue drinking.
Another night, de Kooning recalled overhearing Clement
Greenberg and another art critic talking at the Cedar. When
Greenberg said Pollock was the greatest painter of the day, de
Kooning turned around and slapped the critic in the face. The
men jumped on each other and started throwing punches, until
Rosenfeld and others stepped in to separate them.
Rosenfeld also recalled a deal he witnessed between Kline
and an art collector, in which Kline agreed to trade several of his
mammoth black-and-white paintings to the collector in exchange
for a brand-new Ferrari shipped directly from Italy. Kline and the
art collector shook on it, and shortly thereafter Kline drove up
to the Cedar in his new Ferrari, which Rosenfeld said became a
regular fixture out front.
As Rosenfeld described the all-night loft parties, the artists
who grew rich overnight and the sudden death of Andy Warhol,
he shook his head.
“Those were moments, they were like a movie script,”
Rosenfeld said. “Everybody was pretty wild.”
“You’ll never have a scene like that again,” Rosenfeld added.
“That was truly like a renaissance…a modern renaissance.
Everything went dead after that, as far as I’m concerned. The
whole art scene kind of died after abstract expressionism.”
Rosenfeld isn’t an abstract expressionist himself, because he
felt that type of work had already been done. Rosenfeld’s work
has a similar intensity but is representational and often tells
a story. He takes inspiration from current events and his own
observations, and much of his work makes a political statement.
“I never really had any goals,” Rosenfeld said. “The only goal
is what I was doing immediately.”
Rosenfeld’s artwork has drawn many acolytes, including
Danny Simmons, an artist and gallery owner who was recently
named chairperson of the New York State Council on the Arts,
and who is also Russell Simmons’ brother.
“Len’s work is direct,” Simmons said by phone this week.
“You get a certain feeling about the artist, what he thinks about
and what he feels about it.”
Simmons has shown Rosenfeld’s work several times, includ-
ing a solo exhibit of post-9/11 paintings that reflect Rosenfeld’s
memories of the day, which include seeing people jump from the
smoking towers. After 9/11, Rosenfeld did a series of paintings
depicting pink angels floating against a background of multi-
colored dots, reflecting the confusion over how to “connect the
dots” of what happened that day.
August 21 - 27, 2009 downtown express
Photo by Vernita Nemec/N’Cognita
Leonard Rosenfeld in the hospital last week with one of his self-portraits, above left, and in 1959 at the Waverly
Gallery at his first show. The painting is “Falling Star.” Below, one of Rosenfeld’s distinctive wire paintings,
“Chinatown – The Year of the Fish” from 1985.
Simmons thinks Rosenfeld is under-recognized in the art
world because he doesn’t promote himself the way other
artists do.
“He spent his time being an artist,” Simmons said. “Len just
does the work, and he’s really successful with the work.”
Rosenfeld’s longtime friend, the artist Vernita Nemec, likes
Rosenfeld’s work because it is personal.
“He’s got a very aggressive approach to reality,” Nemec said.
“It’s never abstract. There’s always a kind of strength.”
Rosenfeld’s projects often start with big ideas — like the
General David Petraeus quote referring to the Iraq War, “Tell me
how this ends?” — but his process remains focused on the act
of creating art.
As he works, Rosenfeld said, “I’m not feeling anything else
but what it requires to do the painting or the drawing.”
Asked what he wanted to do next, Rosenfeld at first turned
glum.
“I don’t know if I’m going to do anything next,” he said.
But after a few minutes Rosenfeld perked up, and interrupted
another thought to add, “I’d like to do something very big, like
the size of the wall,” he said. “But I don’t know what it would
be exactly.”
Rosenfeld had heart surgery Tuesday, several days after the
interview, to replace his aortic valve. The next day, his wife Janet
Hoffman said he was recovering as well as could be expected.
Rosenfeld’s memory is still strong, but it sometimes requires
a jump-start, usually provided by Hoffman, a lawyer. During the
interview last week, Hoffman, 63, encouraged her husband to
tell a reporter how he made his early railroad drawings.
“How did I make them?” Rosenfeld asked.
“Well, you tell her,” Hoffman replied.
“I don’t know — I’m asking you how I made them,”
Rosenfeld said. “It just comes from his soul,” said Adriaan van der Plas,
“You remember,” Hoffman said, and it turned out that he who has owned the Seaport gallery for 18 years. The railroad
did. Rosenfeld paused, then launched into the narrative of his drawings are among Rosenfeld’s strongest work because of their
1957 railroad drawings: how he perched on elevated train sta- immediacy, van der Plas said.
tions in Brooklyn and Queens, sketching furiously with black Rosenfeld also has several upcoming exhibits, includ-
crayon, using sharp lines to render the tracks weaving between ing a show opening Oct. 15 at Salomon Arts in Tribeca
the buildings. and one opening mid-September at Sabay, a Thai restau-
Several of the drawings are on display now in the Van Der
Plas Gallery on Pier 17 until Aug. 28. Continued on page 20
downtown express August 21 - 27, 2009 15

Goldman helps out ‘BlackBerry’ kittens

Four of the five stray kittens born at the
Goldman Sachs construction site now have
names and nearly clean bills of health, and
they could soon be on their way to adoptive
homes.
After a Downtown Express story last week
about how Rich and Patti Brotman rescued
the kittens and brought them home to their
Gateway Plaza apartment, the Brotmans
received e-mails and phone calls from people
who wanted to help. One of them was from
a community liaison with Goldman Sachs,
the bank that is building its 43-story head-
quarters in Battery Park City.
Goldman offered to cover the kittens’
veterinary costs, about $300 apiece, and
will post adoption details on its internal
Web site, hoping to place the kittens with
Goldman employees, said Andrea Raphael,
spokesperson for Goldman.
“We want to be a good and responsible
neighbor,” Raphael said.
Goldman will also post notices around
the site of their new headquarters, on West
St. between Vesey and Murray Sts., advising
construction workers to keep an eye out for
the mother cat and the last remaining kitten,
who are still at large.
The Brotmans, who have been rescuing
cats in Battery Park City for over 15 years,
heard last month that a black cat and her five
kittens were living near a generator room Downtown Express photo by Elisabeth Robert
at the Goldman tower’s base. Over several Two of the kittens born in the Goldman Sachs construction site, B.B., top, and Pearl have been inseparable since they were res-
weekends, they trapped the mother and four cued.
of the kittens. The mother was too feral to
make a suitable apartment pet, so they got little bigger and has a few more white hairs.
her neutered and released her. The four kittens could be ready for adop-
The other four kittens are living with the tion as soon as next week.
Brotmans and receiving care for an intestinal
parasite, and they should be healthy by next
Last week it looked like the mother cat
and the remaining kitten had disappeared
Who knew Sunday
week, Rich Brotman said. In the meantime,
he has been playing with them as much as he
from the Goldman site, but on Wednesday
afternoon, a Goldman traffic flagger spotted
could be like this?
can to get them accustomed to being around them in an electrical shed at the ballfields,
people. across Murray St. The flagger, who goes by
“They’re still kind of afraid,” Brotman the name Silkey, is the one who first noticed
said. “They don’t meow much…. But if you the mother cat back when she was still preg-
walk away, you’ll hear them playing with the nant. On Wednesday, she fed the mother and
balls in their crate.” the last kitten, and Brotman said he would
When the kittens, now about eight weeks go on Friday to try to trap them.
old, first arrived at the Brotmans’ apartment, If Brotman manages to trap the mother
they barely moved and resisted any contact. again as well, she could make a good barn
Brotman nicknamed the kittens “the cat, perhaps for a Goldman employee with a
BlackBerries” and just gave them individual country house, Brotman said.
names last week, since they are developing Brotman sounded a bit overwhelmed by
physical and personality differences. The the number of offers he received for the kit-
sole female is named Pearl. She is the biggest tens, since usually the number of stray cats
and friendliest of the bunch and has a large, far outweighs the number of willing adopt- Trinity Church
round face. ers. But he pointed out that there are still Broadway and Wall Street
Pearl spends most of her time attached to many other kittens in the city in need of a
s7ORSHIPSERVICESATAMANDAM
her brother B.B., the largest male. Both Pearl home and suggested that people contact the
and B.B. are solid black. nonprofits City Critters and KittyKind for s0ROFESSIONALCHILDCARE
The other two males mostly stick to them- more information. s!DULTSCLASSATAM
selves. Buzzy is the smallest and has a few 4HE'OSPELTimes, Journal & You
white hairs near his neck, while Chicklet is a — Julie Shapiro s#HILDRENSCLASSATAM
-ORNING'LORIES
s#OFFEEHOURANDCOMMUNITYIN4RINITYS
HISTORICCHURCHYARD
Read the Archives &ORMOREINFORMATION
trinitywallstreet.orgOR 212.602.0800
www.DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.com an Episcopal parish
in the city of New York
16 August 21 - 27, 2009 downtown express

&
Trust & Clearing Corp.,” David Lombino,
a spokesperson for the city’s Economic
Development Corp., told the newspaper.

MIXED USE “In the long term, investing taxpayer

money to keep the city a place where
businesses want to be, rather than simply
matching what other cities are willing
BY PATRICK HEDLUND to give away, will generate the greatest
return for our taxpayers.”
At Prospect Park Residence, you’ll find the comforts of Downtown has already suffered from
home and much more. We’re committed to providing you SCHOOLS HELP THE MARKET planned departures or reductions in
with the warm and caring environment you want—along Lower Manhattan experienced the space by major firms like Merrill Lynch,
most active month for leasing in more Goldman Sachs and the F.D.I.C.
with the 24-hour professional and responsive staffing and than a year as deals were inked for
assistance you need. nearly half a million square feet of space
Downtown in July. ‘SMART’ DEVELOPMENT
According to a monthly report CB A bill requiring city agencies to assess
s(OUR/N
SITE,ICENSED(OME#ARE!GENCY Richard Ellis, tenants took 400,000 square specific infrastructure needs related to
s,ICENSED0RACTICAL.URSES feet in Lower Manhattan last month, com- rezoning plans in order to prepare neigh-
ing in just under the market’s five-year borhoods facing major redevelopment
s/N
SITEPHYSICIANVISITS monthly average of 420,000 square feet will be introduced to the City Council
s0HYSICAL/CCUPATIONALAND3PEECH4HERAPY despite the downturn. this week.
s/PTHALMOLOGIST!UDIOLOGIST0ODIATRIST The robust activity was led by
Claremont Preparatory School’s signing for
AND0SYCHOLOGIST3ERVICES 152,000 square feet at 25 Broadway, one require city agencies like the Departments
sessentia®ˆ!3ECURE-EMORY of only two transactions above 100,000 of Education, Environmental Protection,
)MPAIRMENT0ROGRAM square feet completed Downtown this Sanitation and Transportation, as well as
year. Other large deals included Broadcast
Music’s signing for more than 57,000
square feet at 7 World Trade Center, the
/NE0ROSPECT0ARK7EST School Construction Authority’s expan-
Brooklyn, New York 11215 sion of nearly 47,000 square feet at 26
Broadway (likely for a new Greenwich
718.622.8400 Village Middle School), and a nearly
38,000-square-foot expansion for John
www.prospectparkresidence.com Thomas Financial at 14 Wall St.
Downtown’s availability rate, the low-
est of Manhattan’s three markets, came in
at 11 percent in July, a 0.1 percent drop
from the previous month. Downtown’s
average asking rent, however, dipped by
$0.72 to $41.19 per square foot.
Signings in the Financial District
accounted for 330,000 square feet of
the total, besting its monthly average of
290,000 by 14 percent.
50%
ANOTHER OFFICE BLOW?
Downtown is once again facing the
UP TO ON SELECT potential loss of a major office ten-
ant — this time to the other side of the
MOVING BOXES Hudson.
According to the New York Post, the
All summer long … From now through August 31, 2009 Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. is con-
sidering leaving Lower Manhattan for New
Jersey to accommodate its infrastructure
needs when the company’s lease comes
295 Greenwich St. (corner of Chambers Street) up in 2012. The Trust currently occupies
New York, NY 10007 750,000 square feet of space at 55 Water
Tel. 964-5528 Fax. 964-5530 St., which represents Manhattan’s largest
www.mbe.com/usa/MBE2038.htm office tower with nearly 4 million total
square feet.
MON. – FRI. 8:00AM – 7:00PM Because of the company’s sophisti-
SATURDAY 10:00AM – 5:00PM cated electronic requirements, D.T.C.C.
SUNDAY 11:00AM – 4:00PM (CLOSED SUN. JULY & AUG) will need to make a decision well before
its lease is up. The Post reported that
Jersey landlords are wooing the company
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with various state incentives, but that
N.Y.C. officials are also in talks with the
corporation.
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www. DOWNTOWNEXPRESS .com
The proposed measure, authored by
Councilmember David Yassky, would
the Police and Fire Departments, to con-
duct impact assessments accompanying
major rezoning actions. Under the legisla-
tion, called the “Smart Development Bill,”
the agencies would establish relevant and
specific minimum neighborhood service
standards to measure the impact of rezon-
ings on community services.
“When this bill is enacted, neighborhoods
will be prepared with the needed schools,
subway and bus lines, trash-disposal capa-
bilities, fire and police needs, among others,
that too often have been ignored during the
development process,” said Yassky, who is
running for city comptroller.
The assessments would identify cur-
rent service levels in the respective area,
state potential changes related to the pro-
posed development, and include plans to
implement recommended improvements
in a timely manner to allow sufficient
time for the city to provide the appropri-
ate resources.
“For far too long, many communi-
ties have undergone significant rezoning
and development without a correlating
expansion in vital city services,” said
Comptroller William Thompson, Jr., a
candidate for mayor. “This legislation will
go a long way to protect our neighbor-
hoods from rapid development by provid-
ing a necessary level of review during the
rezoning process.”
The current uniform land use review
process, or ULURP, only requires the City
Council, affected community board or
boards and Department of City Planning
to assess major development proposals.
Under the bill, the city agencies would
review projects’ applications and envi-
ronmental impact statements, and submit
a report to City Planning outlining their
impacts, as well as necessary changes in
services or capital spending. These assess-
ments would then accompany the rezon-
ing application and E.I.S. as they move
through the approval process.
downtown express August 21 - 27, 2009 17

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18 August 21 - 27, 2009 downtown express

EDITORIAL LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PUBLISHER & EDITOR
John W. Sutter
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Democracy in action ‘Appalling’ reference Mayor Bloomberg is planning to bring in a
developer to construct new stories on top of
Josh Rogers This past week saw Community Media lead and this landmark building. These stories would
participate in what we think was an impressive exercise To The Editor: be modern, boxy, glass structures — totally
ARTS EDITOR
Scott Stiffler in democracy that benefited and informed voters in two It is appalling that Jerry Tallmer should incongruous with the beautiful old ferry ter-
City Council districts. identify Sammy Glick as a “certain kind minal. The rationale for this plan is to raise
REPORTERS First, last Thursday, three of our publications — The of Jew” who could have come out of the money for building upkeep.
Albert Amateau
Lincoln Anderson Villager, Gay City News and Chelsea Now — sponsored “cartoons in Julius Streicher’s Nazi news- Times are hard, but surely there’s a bet-
Patrick Hedlund a debate for the Democratic candidates in the Third paper...” (Downtown Notebook, Aug. 14 ter way. This building is worthy of public
Julie Shapiro Council District — Christine Quinn, Yetta Kurland and – 20, “Thanks, Budd, for everything, even investment, at least as worthy as the Fulton
SR. V.P. OF SALES AND Maria Passannante-Derr. We thank New York University for Sammy Glick”). Streicher’s “cartoons” St. subway station, which the city paid a
MARKETING for hosting and supporting the event. portrayed Jews not primarily as greedy and lot to remodel. If separate money must be
Francesco Regini Then, on Monday, Downtown Express teamed up unprincipled but as lethal and sordid para- raised, why not charge for the ferry service
with The Villager to sponsor a second debate, for the five sites who sucked the blood, gold and vitality and establish a museum with an entry fee
SR. MARKETING CONSULTANT
Jason Sherwood Democratic contenders in the First Council District — out of the German nation (and made it lose and maybe some federal funding? Or some
Alan Gerson, Margaret Chin, PJ Kim, Pete Gleason and World War I) and who therefore had to be other kind of commercial use that doesn’t
ADVERTISING SALES Arthur Gregory and we thank Pace University for hosting eliminated from society. require new garish construction. Perhaps
Allison Greaker
Julio Tumbaco and sponsoring as well. This, of course, is a recognizable updated the M.T.A. could take it over and maintain it
Danielle Zupanovich Hundreds of New Yorkers turned out to hear the can- version of the medieval European myth like the Staten Island ferry terminal? What
didates state their positions on the issues, answer tough accusing Jews of draining the blood of kid- about the Port Authority—wouldn’t this be a
RETAIL AD MANAGER
Colin Gregory questions, challenge each other and generally make napped Christian children to use for the pro- good use for leftover 9/11 recovery money?
their case for why they should be elected to represent duction of matzo for Passover. This “blood There must be a way to save this legend-
OFFICE MANAGER their respective districts. The debates were stimulating, libel,” as it became called, was cynically ary building without destroying it. This
David Jaffe
thought provoking, fun and informative. And the engage- employed to justify and incite pogroms in wonderful ferry terminal is literally and
ART / PRODUCTION DIRECTOR ment and passion of the many audience members was Europe for centuries — even as late as 1946 spiritually the gateway to Governor’s Island
Troy Masters truly inspiring. in Kielce, Poland (source, for those inter- — not only because of the ferry service,
ART DIRECTOR In total, 225 people attended Thursday’s debate ested, is Nora Levin’s “The Holocaust”), but because it’s visual impact carries us
Mark Hasselberger and 150 more were at Monday’s debate. An impressive and still circulates. Ruthless as Glick may back in time. Governors Island is undergo-
GRAPHIC DESIGNER turnout, to say the least. What’s more, the debates, in be, he does not descend to the level of ing a renaissance as an important historic
Jamie Paakkonen their entirety, are now posted on our newspapers’ Web the mythological anti-Semitic stereotype of resource. Putting ugly, boxy stories on the
DISTRIBUTION & CIRCULATION sites. Now thousands more people can view and hear bloodsucker in Streicher’s propaganda. One Battery Maritime Building will mar that
Cheryl Williamson all the action from both forums. We think it’s part of wonders whether Tallmer actually saw some experience. It will send a terrible message—
what responsible, committed community journalism is of Streicher’s bilge before he leaped into announcing that we don’t care enough about
CONTRIBUTORS
Frank R. Angelino all about. print. our historic treasures to maintain them.
Wickham Boyle Council Speaker Quinn, though attacked vigorously Tallmer implies that Glick’s merciless, Please protect this historic building.
Tim Lavin by both her opponents, stayed cool under fire. Regardless unethical and exploitative behavior in climb-
David Stanke of the criticisms — some certainly legitimate — Quinn ing the ladder of success derives from his Abigail K. Adams
Jerry Tallmer faces, that kind of steady character is what one looks for being a Jew; a “certain kind of Jew” is still
PHOTOGRAPHERS in a good leader. Kurland, too, though she had plenty a Jew — someone who has Jewish ancestry
Lorenzo Ciniglio stuck to the issues and made the most of her opportunity and is a product of Jewish history and culture
Milo Hess to get her message out and argue why she could do a and a member of the Jewish people. What he Petition fight
Corky Lee better job than the incumbent. does not say is that Glick is an assimilationist
Elisabeth Robert One of Quinn’s glaring failures during the debate Jew — one who has rejected and discarded To The Editor:
Jefferson Siegel
though, was her refusal to own up fully to her role in Jewish culture and its behavioral norms and, In his response to my recent letter criti-
the City Council “slush fund” scandal. Quinn can’t plead instead, has chosen to model himself on a cizing the efforts of Pete Gleason to keep
Published by ignorance of what was going on with those millions of certain type of man in the majority culture. Councilmember Alan Gerson off the bal-
COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC dollars during the early years of her Council speakership. In his case, it is the rapacious capitalist rob- lot (Letters, Aug. 7 – 13, “Ballot access”)
145 Sixth Ave., NY, NY 10013 She also was less than candid about the proposed three- ber baron of the late 19th century. Tallmer despite the fact that Gerson has collected
Phone: (212) 229-1890 district Sanitation garage in Hudson Square, in which should have identified Glick as being a man far more petition signatures than any other
Fax: (212) 229-2790 she has been too resistant to alternatives, and she wants who chose the worst type in American life to candidate (including Gleason), Gleason sup-
On-line: www.downtownexpress.com voters to forget that she changed her mind about extend- emulate, not as a stereotypical Jew in racist porter Adam Silvera uses a phrase that I
E-mail: news@downtownexpress.com ing term limits in the Council after opposing it. genocide-inciting propaganda. must take strong issue with (Letters, Aug.
Like Quinn, Councilmember Gerson also changed 14 - 20, “Council race”).
Gay City
NEWS
TM

positions on the necessity of a term limit referendum. Aviva Cantor Mr. Silvera refers to “serious allega-
We suspect we’re like many Lower Manhattan voters Aviva Cantor, a Downtown resident, is the tions of fraud” in connection with Gerson’s
in the First District -- unsure at this point who the best author of “Jewish Women, Jewish Men: The petition signatures. In fact, the only such
Downtown Express is published every week by candidate is. The incumbent, Alan Gerson, has a record Legacy of Patriarchy in Jewish Life.” allegations are those emanating from the
Community Media LLC, 145 Sixth Ave., New
York, N.Y. 10013 (212) 229-1890. The entire of some accomplishments, but his difficulty making clear Gleason campaign and its small band of
contents of the newspaper, including advertising,
are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced
points and taking a stand, his lack of candor about his very vocal supporters like Mr. Silvera, and
without the express permission of the publisher - disorganization problems, and his self-serving term limit the most eloquent and succinct response to
© 2009 Community Media LLC.
vote are important minuses. Protect the Maritime those politically motivated charges was the
PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR
But his opponents didn’t exactly blow us over either, statement of Judge Edward Lehner quoted
The Publisher shall not be liable for slight
changes or typographical errors that do not
lessen the value of an advertisement. The and they have not shown yet they have the depth of Building in your related news story (Aug. 14 – 20,
publisher’s liability for other errors or omissions
in connection with an advertisement is strictly
understanding to make a difference on issues like the “Gerson can run after all, judge rules”) that,
limited to publication of the advertisement in any
subsequent issue.
World Trade Center impasse. We would have liked to This is an open letter written to Carol “It wasn’t fraud at all. It was an error.” The
hear more specificity on a number of other important Ash, commissioner of the State Historic real scandal in this election has very little
Member of the
New York Press issues in the First. It is not yet clear if any of the chal- Preservation Office: to do with the petition signatures. Anyone
Association lengers would be a change for the better. who has ever done petition work in a cam-
Member of the We’ll continue to look at these candidates closely as Dear Commissioner Ash: paign, including Mr. Silvera, knows that
National we and you consider who will be best for Downtown. I am writing to ask you to please stop the some errors are inevitable in the process
Newspaper
Association
Our forums, we hope, got us off to a good start. plan to turn the historic Battery Maritime and that such errors do not constitute fraud.
Building —the Governors Island ferry termi-
© 2009 Community Media, LLC nal — into a multi-story commercial hotel. Continued on page 19
downtown express August 21 - 27, 2009 19

DOWNTOWN NOTEBOOK
My brother Frank: The teacher who walked beside me
BY ALPHIE MCCOURT
My brother Frank McCourt died on July
19 this year: one month, to the day, before his
79th birthday. The world took notice. Walter
Cronkite died on July 17. My wife, Lynn, said
that Frank waited a couple of days so that
Walter Cronkite could have his moment. Frank
McCourt? And Walter Cronkite, the most trust-
ed man in America? In the same breath? Isn’t
this a great country?
Frank’s early miseries are well known, as are
his teaching career, his monumental success as
a writer and his vast international popularity as
speaker and humorist. He has always been a
strong presence in my life, along with my broth-
ers Malachy and Michael. I will never speak to
him again, nor see him. I can’t believe that. But
I will have to get used to the idea. Death comes
to, and for, everyone.
As is well known, seven children were born
to my parents. Three died and, as Malachy has
pointed out, for many years the odds were in
favor of the survivors. Three were gone and
the four of us still stood. Now the odds have
shifted.
Frank was 10 years older and, from my boy-
hood, I remember him as being serious, austere,
even: disciplined, determined and with a sense
of mission. Ten years distant from any possibil-
ity of an easy relationship with him, I was a little
bit intimidated. Until the day I borrowed his
bike, crashed it and awaited his wrath. Wrath
never came. Frank dismissed the incident with-
out any fuss. In our Limerick, in the bleak
harshness of the 1940s and 1950s, no one said I
love you. But Frank didn’t chide me, or shout or
threaten. No, he forbore and, to a child reared
on fire and brimstone, more especially on the
Irish Catholic version, such forbearance, in the
face of destruction and stupidity, was nothing
short of love.
In 1949 Frank left Limerick, the city of his
rearing, and returned to New York, the city of
his birth. We were left behind: Mam, Mike and
myself. Malachy was already away in England.
Our hearts broke when he left.
A long 10 years would elapse before I came
to New York. And, a couple of years later, in
1961, when I was staying with Frank and his
wife in Brooklyn, Frank and I went for a few
beers in a bar in Downtown Manhattan. All
The literary brothers McCourt: Frank, Malachy and Alphie
too soon it is 4 a.m., closing time, with the
dawn coming up, too late and too early to take
a subway or bus. At Frank’s suggestion we walk
across the Brooklyn Bridge. Two men, walking
side by side; fat or thin, tall or small, rich or
poor; there’s a magic in that.
We are nowhere near drunk. It would be
hard to get drunk even on a succession of small
15-cent glasses of beer. But we are cheerful.
By this time I am as tall as Frank, my oldest
brother. Out of the night and into the day we
walk, out of the darkness, into the light and the
promise of the future. Only in retrospect, and
only after many years, did I see the symbolism.
To this day I treasure it. Ever the teacher, Frank
didn’t send me or walk behind me. Nor did he
lead. The teacher walked beside me.
Eight or nine years later, when I was living
in Dublin and attending University College,
Dublin, Frank came over to work on a doctor-
ate, at Trinity College. I was sharing an apart-
ment with two friends. Frank lived elsewhere
but he had a key to our apartment. One miser-
able rainy afternoon I came home to find him
in the kitchen. Standing, still in his coat, he was
eating a soft-boiled egg. One single, solitary,
soft-boiled egg, with no bread, no butter, no
tea in sight. That was his way. Only what he
needed, that’s what he took. He kept the faith.
Twenty-five years later, the success of his
first book, a memoir, left him bewildered.
Photo by Lynn McCourt
Throughout most of his adult life he had been
“only the teacher.” “Angela’s Ashes,” a saga
shot through with poverty and hunger, became
the engine of his success. Now even Gourmet
magazine was asking him to write a piece.
“Irony is my constant companion,” he would
remark as he poked fun at his status as a newly
minted big shot.
Frank survived typhoid fever as a boy and
endured chronic conjunctivitis. In the 1980s
he would survive cancer. Having thorough-
ly embraced and enjoyed his dozen years of
fame, he was now afflicted with melanoma.
Treatments and hospital stays would follow, all
to no avail.
During his last days, in the hospice, he lies
propped up in bed. Two or three other people
are in the room. I indicate to him that I must
leave and that I will be back tomorrow. Frank
raises his right hand, the first and second fin-
gers extended; the middle finger and the pinkie
folded back, the thumb lying flat.
Smiling as he is, this gesture means some-
thing. I can tell. The others in the room are
watching him and they laugh when he raises his
hand. With the crinkle of a joke at the corners
of his smile he forgives the others their laughter.
Still looking directly at me, and with the same
wide smile, he moves his right hand: upward,
and slowly downward, then left to right, in a
continuous motion. Oldest to youngest, father-
less now as we have ever been, in timeless
rhythm he gives me his blessing. And without a
myself, all of us under the bed searching for
the device, and the nurse arriving in. “Where is
everybody?” she would ask Frank. “Where have
your brothers gone?”
“Damned if I know,” would be his response.
“The behavior of my brothers has always been a
mystery to me.” And he would sink back on his
pillow, resigned, as always, to our vagaries. That
was my imagining.
In the event, Malachy’s wife, Diana, had
gone to summon the nurses. Frank never had
been overweight and now there is not an
ounce of excess. His spirit, whatever that is;
his dreamer, his inspiration, the fine tuner of all
his lives and of his brilliant articulation, all are
pulling away.
He tosses and turns from side to side. No
matter how he has been positioned in the bed,
his feet always seem to find purchase against the
rail at the foot. Now he moves his legs up and
down, as if practicing for takeoff. A distillation
is taking place, a fever without fever, as his spirit
gains its complete ascendancy. And a smelting,
as his body, reduced to its essentials, takes on a
sheen and an extraordinary beauty.
Years ago Frank told me that he was strong-
ly attracted to the writings of J. Krishnamurti,
to the idea that we should abandon all the
grandiose notions and practices of established
religion, that we should look with wonder at
whatever is before us, and that, toward every-
one and everything, we should behave in a just,
loving and compassionate manner. He didn’t
say this in so many words, but that was the
message. Be guided by justice and love. That’s
the most practical approach.
I hadn’t seen or sensed any angels at Frank’s
bedside. No secular spirit-guides-for-hire, either.
I doubt that he would want them. Instead, I
believe, he had been getting himself into fight-
ing trim, accepting change as it came, as he
always did, shedding all excess baggage and
preparing for the trip.
Then the nurses come. With care and ten-
derness, they move him up in the bed, adjust
and plump up his pillows and settle him. Soon
he is asleep, and he will continue in sleep. There
is talk of seizure, of complications. I think I
know better. On his left side, now, and with his
left palm under his chin and his chin slightly
raised, in the thinker’s classic pose, peacefully
he sleeps.
Only days later, on Sunday afternoon, family

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Continued from page 18
The real scandal is the flagrant abuse of the
legal system for purely political ends by the
filing in bad faith of lawsuits alleging fraud.
Both Councilmember Gerson and PJ Kim
have been the victims of such unscrupulous
lawsuits in this campaign. With 7,000 and
5,500 signatures, respectively, on their peti-
tions, Gerson and Kim each clearly had far
more than the 900 valid signatures required
even assuming some errors, yet they both
had to incur legal expenses and spend time in
court to deal with the false charges.
My suggested solution to the problem is a
simple one – the courts should impose sanc-
tions on those candidates and their lawyers
who file these frivolous lawsuits. They waste
everyone’s time and resources (including
those of the court) and there should be a
price to pay.
Bill Love
Bill Love has done some volunteer work for
Alan Gerson.
thought I cross myself.
Next day Malachy and I are with him in the
room. Frank’s wife, Ellen, is away, briefly, on
an errand. Frank becomes agitated. His shirt
is bothering him and we help him remove it.
Still he tosses. We can’t settle him, can’t seem
to relieve his discomfort. We decide to use the
emergency device to call the nurse. “Where
is it?” I ask Malachy. “It’s hanging by the side
of the bed,” Malachy answers. I look for it,
without success, and I continue to search, while
Malachy insists. In the end, I get down on my
hands and knees. Malachy, with his busted leg
encased in the big black boot, begins the search
on his side of the bed. Neither of us can find
the device.
I have a fleeting vision of Malachy, Mike and
and friends were present at the hospice. I was
not. Having stayed with him all night, I was at
home when the call came. At a little after 3 p.m.
Frank had stopped breathing. His body had
finally wound down. It is very sad. The knowl-
edge of his absence is sometimes overwhelming.
The memory of that earlier day, that day of
exaltation, offers some consolation.
A few years ago he said to me: “We are
all we have, the brothers, the women and the
children.” Now, of course, we are one less. But
maybe, after a nice rest, and God knows he
deserves it, in another 66 years, or however
long it takes to reach retirement age, Frank will
break away from the mass of the great vibration
and, once again, lend his voice to the shunned
and the excluded.
20 August 21 - 27, 2009 downtown express

Rosenfeld’s reflections Downtown

Continued from page 14

rant in Jackson Heights.

Rosenfeld was born in Brooklyn in 1926
and was drafted to serve in World War II while
still in high school. During the war, while post-
ed in Guam, he filled the walls of a warehouse
with “lascivious, pornographic drawings,” as
he put it. When a general discovered the draw-
ings during a routine inspection, Rosenfeld
expected to be reprimanded. But instead, the
general asked if he could take some of the
drawings to keep.
“I said, ‘Sure, take what you want,’”
Rosenfeld said.
After the war, Rosenfeld attended The Art
Students League on 57th St. and then spent
the next decade alternating between collecting
unemployment and working in odd jobs like
framing and delivering food. Rosenfeld also
married a woman he met at art school and they
had two daughters together, but the marriage
didn’t last. All the while, Rosenfeld continued
creating art.
His first break came in 1980 when he
convinced Ivan Karp, owner of the OK Harris
Gallery in Soho, to show some of his large mini-
malist paintings. Karp’s support immediately
One of Rosenfeld’s railroad drawings, on display now at the Van Der Plas Gallery.
brought in buyers and also helped Rosenfeld get
shows elsewhere. elsewhere. Rosenfeld lived and worked on Forsyth St. immigrants arrived in droves. More children
Rosenfeld has lived in Lower Manhattan “Why did I stay?” he said, echoing a report- between Broome and Grand Sts. from 1958 were around and the prostitutes disappeared.
for over 40 years and can’t imagine living er’s query. “It was never a question of that.” until 1991. The neighborhood inspired his Rosenfeld’s landlord tried to throw him out,
“hookers and pimps” series in the 1980s, when but he won a court battle to stay.
the material was literally on his doorstep. Still, when Rosenfeld married for the second
“Day and night we had hookers,” Rosenfeld time in 1991, he realized it was time to move.
said, cracking a smile. “The hookers were Hoffman, his new wife, deserved better quar-
alright, but the pimps could be pretty rough.” ters than a shared hallway bathroom, and they
Rosenfeld frequently saw prostitutes and settled on a live/work space in the Financial
THE BANKING ALTERNATIVE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY SINCE 1971 johns, including a rabbi one time having sex in District, where they have lived ever since.
Downtowns Premier Financial Service Centers • “5 Convenient Locations Downtown” Sara D. Roosevelt Park across the street from The rabbi who married the couple asked
his apartment. why they didn’t just move up to Hoffman’s
WE CASH TAX REFUND CHECKS AND REFUND LOAN CHECKS (RAL). WE NOW CASH CHECKS MADE Rosenfeld had a standing joke with the apartment on E. 79th St.
OUT TO CORPORATIONS, PARTNERSHIPS, LLC’S, LAWYERS ESCROW, AND SETTLEMENT CHECKS prostitutes who hung out in front of his apart- Rosenfeld explained his reasoning: “I got
ment. five grapefruits for a dollar Downtown,” he
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Call Headquarters for More Information she’d grab me — by the balls — and she’d a dollar to get one grapefruit in her neighbor-
say, ‘How ’bout a date, Pop?’” Rosenfeld hood Uptown. The rabbi said, ‘Oh, I under-
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downtown express August 21 - 27, 2009 21

Downtown Express photos by Milo Hess

Dog day indeed!

With temperatures reaching 91 degrees Monday, Ian the dog discovered CaVaLa
Park on Canal and Varick Sts. is the newest cool spot Downtown. His owner Alan did
not have an easy time getting him out of the water to return back to their Canal St.
apartment.

Quinn goes on the hot seat in debate with 2 foes

Continued from page 7
termed a “ghost district office” by some —
in fact, started under Quinn’s predecessor,
former Speaker Gifford Miller, in 2002.
Under Quinn as speaker, DiBrienza’s group
got more than $200,000 in 2006.)
A clearly impassioned Quinn listed
some of her accomplishments serving her
district.
“I am incredibly proud of the work that I
do and my staff does every day for the resi-
dents of this district,” she said. “Whether
it’s standing up with the residents on 22nd
St. when they faced a landlord who was
going to take over their home for use by
his own, beating that back… . I’m incred-
ibly proud of when there’s been crime in
our district, the work that I’ve been able
to do with our local police officers... . I’m
proud of the work I’ve done in our Housing
Authority buildings, bringing them cameras
that helped reduce crime in those projects,
and proud of having gone door to door in
those projects, to help identify problems
where services weren’t being delivered,
and enroll people who live in the Fulton
Houses in food stamps — that’s constituent
services,” she said, as her supporters burst
into thunderous applause.
Passannante-Derr blamed school over-
crowding on Quinn.
“We have children that are now going
to have to go from the Village down to
26 Broadway for middle school,” she said
referring to the city’s preferred option.
“And that is a crime. That should have been
addressed in the long-term capital plan. …
We have school overcrowding because of
Christine Quinn.”
On another development issue, St.
Vincent’s Hospital’s rebuilding project, all
said they favor the hospital staying in
Greenwich Village.
Referring to Kurland’s and Passannante-
Derr’s calls for creating new schools along
with new development, Quinn said the
City Charter should be changed so that
developers “are held accountable for the
services that their buildings create the
need for — not just schools, but things like
fire[fighters] and police officers and trans-
portation.”
Quinn, responding to a question about
Village prostituion, said she was happy to
see the recent reinforcements for the Sixth
Precinct, including a mounted unit and an
infusion of new Police Academy graduates.
She said she’s “working with community
members on conversations that we can have
with judges” about prostitution, “particular-
ly focused on not giving johns a pass — not
letting them off the hook.” Quinn said she
hopes to replicate Brooklyn District Attorney
Charles Hynes’s “School for Johns” program
in Manhattan, “to be a deterrent, and stop
people from coming to the Village.”
She said a program at The Door on
Broome St. put in place to help the gay
and lesbian youth frequenting the Village
is working, and that she’ll push to keep
funding it.
Taking a harder line, Passannante-Derr
said, “Youth come into the area, some are
well behaved, some are not. And the ones
that are not, they terrorize the community.
They walk all over the cars, they defecate,
they urinate, they have sex in the streets….
People have a right to walk on the street —
but with every right comes a responsibility:
The responsibility to act with respect for
the people in the neighborhood.”
Passannante-Derr proposed that the
Christopher St. Pier be closed an hour ear-
lier — at midnight.
Kurland said, “We can’t ignore that this is,
in large part, the L.G.B.T. youth. We need to
get those children into education programs,
into youth-program services. There are things
we can do without villainizing people that set
them up for success, give them opportunity,
that get them off the streets.”
Next, there was a “lightning round” of
questions with “yes” or “no” answers.
Both Kurland and Passannante-Derr said
they would support the Democratic nomi-
nee for mayor, but Quinn said, “I’m not
going to make that commitment today.”
Asked if they would accept a parking
placard if elected, Quinn and Passannante-
Derr both said yes, but Kurland said, “I
don’t know — I don’t own a car,” prompt-
ing cheers from her supporters.
They all said they would decriminalize
the use of marijuana.
Should a police permit be required for a
gathering of 50 people? was another light-
ning-round question, to which Kurland and
Passannante-Derr answered no, but Quinn
answered yes.
At the lightning round’s conclusion, the
energized partisan supporters erupted into
cheers, each side trying to chant the name
of their candidate louder than the others,
while clapping rhythmically.
22
ARTS +GAMES This project, designed by an art specialist for
school age children, includes clay, painting and jewelry design.
Free. Thursdays, through Oct 29, 3:30-5:30pm. Nelson A. Rock-
efeller Park, Battery Park City (access: Chambers). Call 212-267-
9700, or visit bpcparks.org.
BEGINNER TENNIS LESSONS Group sessions with an expe-
rienced instructor will emphasize the fundamentals of the game
of tennis. Lessons are held for beginner kids ages 6-12 and begin-
ner teens/adults over 13. Community Center at Stuyvesant High
School, 345 Chambers St. To register, call 646-210-4292. Visit
ccshs.org.
CHILDREN’S BASKETBALL Children can play with adjustable
height hoops, and participate in fun drills to improve their skills.
Free. Mon and Fri through Oct 30 (except holiday weekends),
3:30-4:30pm for 5-6 year olds; 4:30-5:30pm for 7 & older. Nelson
A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City (access: Chambers Street).
Call 212-267-9700, or visit bpcparks.org.
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF THE ARTS (CMA) Explore paint-
ing, collage, and sculpture through self-guided art 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. Admission $10. Wed-
Sun, 12-5pm; Thurs, 12-6pm. Children’s Museum of the Arts, 182
Lafayette Stret. Call 212- 274-0986 or visit cmany.org.
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DOWNTOWN SUMMER DAY CAMP Enjoy the same enrich-
ing activities that country day camps offer without the stress of
traveling out of the city every day on a bus. The camp combines a
daily program with special events to give children an exciting and
varied camp experience. Kids K-6th grade. For rates and to regis-
ter, go to downtowndaycamp.com or call 212-766-1104, x250.
FUN FOR KIDS AT THE NYC POLICE MUSEUM Kids can test
out the sirens used in an NYPD patrol car, take their friend’s “mug
shot” in a police line-up and see what life is like on the other side
of the bars in a real jail cell — a much more. Adults $7, children
(6-18): $5.00, children under 6: free. New York City Police Muse-
um, 100 Old Slip. Call 212-480-3100, or visit nycpolicemuseum.
org.
GONE FISHIN AT THE SCHOONER PIONEER Participants
will have an opportunity to use an otter trawl net to catch live
animals in New York Harbor, and examine them up close before
releasing them. They will also learn about the local harbor estu-
ary where these creatures live, and how human activity threatens
their survival. $40 adults, $35 students & seniors, $25 children 12
and under. Aug 29, 12-3pm. South Street Seaport, Pier 16. Visit
southstreetseaportmuseum.org.
GLOBAL STORY HOUR Through weekly stories, participants
learn about new countries and cultures, participate in interac-
tive activities, and learn how to make a difference. Every Fri at
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ACTIVITIES
3:30pm. Action Center to End World Hunger, 6 River Terr, Battery
Park City. Call 212-537-0511 or visit actioncenter.org.
KIDS STORYTIME Storyteller Yvonne Brooks leads a storytime
with arts and crafts for kids ages 3-7, every Sat at 12pm in the
children’s section. Baby storytime with storyteller Stewart Dawes
takes place on Fri at 4:00pm for ages younger than 2. McNally
Jackson Booksellers, 52 Prince St, (between Lafayette and Mul-
berry). Call 212-274-1160 or visit mcnallyjackson.com.
KIDS PROGRAMS Put your children’s energy to good use
through art, basketball, chess, cycling, exploration, gardening,
and music among other activities. Days, materials fees, and park
locations vary. Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, Two South
End Ave. Call 212-262-9700 or visit bcparks.org.
MOVIES FOR KIDS AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE
AMERICAN INDIAN Special screenings for the kids are shown
through Aug 30 at 10:30 and 11:45am, daily. Films include “The
Legend of Quillwork Girl and her Seven Star Brothers” and “Let-
ter from an Apache.” National Museum of the American Indian,
One Bowling Green. Call 212-514-3700 or visit nmai.si.edu.
PLAYDATE AND NEW PARENT DROP IN The Playdate
“Drop-In” is a great place to bring toddlers. While the children
play together, parents can socialize in the Parenting Center. The
New Parent “Drop-In” gives new parents the chance to discuss
their concerns and ask questions. Topics include feeding, sleep-
ing, creating support networks. Punch card for 10 sessions is
$100. Summer Special: $90 punch card if purchased before Aug
31. Playdate Drop-Ins are Mon & Thurs, 10-11:30am and Tues
3-4:30pm. New Parent Drop-Ins are Mon 1:30-3:30pm. Educa-
tional Alliance Downtown Parenting Center,197 East Broadway
(between Jefferson & Clinton St). Visit edalliance.org.
TEEN PROGRAMS Save teenagers from the boredom blues
through classes on art, babysitter training, CPR, and environmen-
tal activism. Days, materials fees, and park locations vary. Bat-
tery Park City Parks Conservancy, Two South End Ave. For more
information call, 212-262-9700 or visit bcparks.org.
downtown express
SUMMER ART COLONIES The Children’s Museum of the Arts
will run a Summer Art Colony on Governors Island and the CMA
facility at 182 Lafayette Street in Soho for children ages 6 to 14.
The two-week day camp sessions, led by professional artists,
will run though September 4. CMA’s Summer Art Colonies allow
children to spend their summers exploring nearly every art form
in the fine, performing and media arts. The classes are structured
to allow full immersion into art. For more information, call 212-
627-5766 or visit cmany.org.
STORIES AND SONGS Created especially for infants, toddlers
and preschoolers, this event will bring together both the children
and their parents. Free. Mon and Wed, from Sept 14. 9:30am to
10:10am – 6 to 12 months old. 10:20am to 11:00am – 15 months
to 2 years old. 11:10am to 11:50am – 2 years old and up. 12 to
12:4pm – mixed ages. BPCPC Meeting Room at The Verdesian.
Enter at door north of main entrance (access: Murray St or War-
ren St) Call 212-267-9700 or visit bpcparks.org.
STORYTIME AT BABYLICIOUS Children ages 3 to 4 are
welcome to participate in free storytime with songs, stories and
lots of fun. Free. Every Tue, 9:30am. At Babylicious, 51 Hudson St
(between Duane and Jay St). Call 212-406-7440, or visit babyli-
ciousnyc.com.
TOUR DE PARC Tricyclists, bicyclists and scooter riders 9 years
old and younger show their pedal power in a cycling tour of the
parks. Helmets required. Sept 19, 10am. Esplanade Plaza. Call
212-267-9700 ext 348,or visit bpcparks.org.
TEEN ENTREPRENEUR BOOT CAMP This program gives
teens the exciting learning experience that they need to succeed
later in life. For more information, visit teenentrepreneurboot-
camp.org.
TEEN VOLLEYBALL All teens are welcome and no previous
experience necessary; referee/scorekeeper and ball provided.
Presented by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy. Sat, 4:30-
6:30pm. Community Center at Stuyvesant High School, 345
Chambers Street. Call 646-210-4292.
YOUNG SPROUTS GARDENING This gardening program is
for children 3-5 years old. It includes simple gardening projects
appropriate for preschoolers. Free. Tue, through Oct 27. 3:15-
3:45pm. Space limited-first come, first served. The Children’s
Garden, Nelson A. Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City (access:
Chambers St). Call 212-267-9700 ext 348 or visit bpcparks.org.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR EVENT IN THE DOWN-
TOWN EXPRESS Kids Listings? Listings requests may be
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and caregivers for interactive play on a grassy lawn. Toys, books time, location, price and a description of the event. Information
and equipment provided. Free. Mon, Tue and Wed, through Oct may also be mailed to 145 Avenue of the Americas, New York,
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downtown express
Libby Skala encapsulates 100 years of life, love, dance
Narrative, motion reveal ‘tart, glamorous grandmother’
BY JERRY TALLMER
following:
THEATER
The operative word is “Ja!” As in the
“One day my older sister Lili, the
big shot actress Lilia Skala, says to
me: ‘Look, do you want to spend
your life in the basement? Is that
why God put you on earth? To live
and work in the basement?’…
“So one day, I’m walking down
Lexington Avenue in New York City,
and I see a sign that says: ‘Lexington
School for the Deaf.’ The deaf! I
wonder: Do deaf children play like
how other children play? I look
into the playground. Oh! Ja. They’re
running around, they’re chasing one
another. And I think: Ja, these are
normal children. They would like to
learn how to dance too.”
And then Libby Skala, the lissome grand-
daughter of Lilia Skala, the grand-niece of
Elizabeth (Lisl) Skala and of sister No.
3, Lizi (pronounced Litzi) Skala,, starts
to dance. For this is Libby Skala’s much-
applauded one-woman show, “A Time to
Dance,” interweaving narrative and motion,
the successor to her knock-’em-dead “Lilia!”
of nine years ago.
It was back while she was researching
“Lilia!,” the monodrama about the Vienna-
to-Hollywood life and times of her Oscar-
nominated grandmother Lilia Skala (the
Mother Superior of “Lilies of the Field”),
that the human material of what would
someday be “A Time to Dance” unfolded
before Libby’s eyes and ears without her
realizing it.
Happened like this: When Libby Skala,
in the summer of 1998, sat down to write
“Lilia!,” she soon became aware that, for all
the one-to-one personal memories she had
of her tart, glamorous grandmother, Libby
actually knew very little about Lilia Skala’s
early life in Vienna.
“Though I had closer touch with my
grandmother” than with her two sisters,
Libby says, “when the three families got
together every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and
Easter, I realized I really had three grand-
mothers.” And it was grandmother No. 2,
KOCH
ON FILM
“IN THE LOOP” (-)
This alleged satire, which received four-
star treatment from other critics, left me
with a ho-hum and sorry feeling that I had
wasted an evening seeing it.
The humor is predicated on American
and British diplomats seeking to embarrass
one another. The Americans seek to plan a
war against a Middle Eastern country, and
August 21 - 27, 2009
A TIME TO DANCE
Written and performed by Libby Skala
A New York International Fringe Festival and
Artistic New Directions presentation
August 15-24
At the Lafayette Street Theatre,
45 Bleecker Street
For tickets: 866-468-7619 or
www.fringenyc.org
Lisl Skala, whom Libby with tape recorder
went to interview, in the Berkshires, in that
same summer of 1998.
The interview didn’t turn out the way
Libby had hoped and planned. All Great-
Aunt Lisl wanted to do was talk — in her
own bumpy English — about herself, her
private struggles, pitfalls, poverty, setbacks,
labors, triumphs, strivings, lovelife (still a
virgin at 32), hollow marriage, escape from
swastika-draped Austria, lifelong career
in the United States as dance therapist
Elizabeth Polk.
After a while, interviewer Libby turned
off her brain, tuned out, stopped listening,
while the tape recorder spun on and on.
She stashed the tapes away somewhere, and
forgot them. Until…
Lisl Skala died in 2001, shortly after
dancing the Macarama at a celebration of
her 100th birthday.
What rang in Libby’s ears was Lisl saying
to her: “Honey, I’m still alive at 99 because
I can laugh.”
Libby suddenly remembered those tapes.
She hunted then up, turned them on, and —
this time — tuned in. Really listened. Then
she once more sat down to write.
What you get in “A Time to Dance” is the
sordid underside, the grit of life in pre-Hitler
and then straight-out Nazi Austria. Says
Libby: “She [Lisl] would describe things that
my grandmother would never have repeated
— so awful. But it’s the lens though which Lisl
the British want to stop them.
The principal British diplomat, Simon
Foster (Tom Hollander), is the most amus-
ing member of the cast. He is not against the
war but does not want to get into any trouble
over it. He worries endlessly over whether
he should resign. His press agent and new
employee is Toby (Chris Addison). The British
public relations officer and loudmouth of the
group who insults everyone is Malcolm Tucker
(Peter Capaldi). U.S. General Miller (James
Gandolfini) upholds America’s honor, and
Karen (Mimi Kennedy) is a female diplomat
who wants the American war plan exposed.
Most of the Brits have heavy accents and
more than half of what they said was unintel-
Photo by Damon Calderwood
Libby Skala, dancing and delving into the
life of Lilia Skala
looks back at her life…a little as if she is saying:
‘Isn’t this strange?’ ”
The parents of those three-L girls were
Katharina Skala, a Roman Catholic, and Julius
Sofer, a Jewish entrepreneurial businessman
who reaped a fortune in the European and
American manufacture of snap-fasteners for
fabric, Schnap! Schnap!.
Julius Sofer’s Jewishness, to the Nazis, made
the three daughters Jews themselves, whatever
their mother’s religion.
“I once,” says Libby, “asked (Lilia and Lisl)
why they felt they had to get out of Austria, and
Lisl said: ‘Darling, are you crazy?’ ”
Well, they certainly did feel they had to get
out, and one of the tensest passages in “A Time
to Dance” is the nerve-wrack of waiting, wait-
ligible to me. Although there are some funny
gags, overall I did not find the script humor-
ous due to the fact that most of the humor
is predicated on everyone talking obscenely
and constantly using the F-word. It may be
that hearing distinguished characters con-
tinuously express themselves with a stream
of obscenities is funny in Britain. Queen
Victoria, however, would have said, “We are
not amused.” Neither was I.
Although the film has been playing for
several weeks, I was surprised that there
were fewer than 20 people in the audience
when I saw it at 7:30 p.m. on a Friday eve-
ning at the IFC. In this case, the audience
was more astute than the critics. While I
23
ing, waiting, day after day, for the affidavits that
could clear their entry to the United States.
There was also the need of getting cer-
tain other papers stamped by the Austrian
authorities once a month. Lisl’s nebbish
husband Harry, whom she seems never to
have loved, goes down to the government
office for the renewal stamps, but there is a
line around the block. “Viennese blocks are
long blocks.” Harry gives up, returns home
empty-handed.
“We have a little 16-year-old friend
named Ruth who is not Jewish,” the
Libby-who-is-Lisl says in the show.
“When Hitler comes in, [Ruth] tries
to kill herself. I get the idea to bring
to her in the hospital a little blue
nightie I received as a wedding gift.
I never wore it…
“She comes to live with us, she
wears that little blue nightie, and she
never tries to kill herself again. She
claims I saved her life…
“[When Harry comes home with-
out the affidavits] Ruth says: ‘I will
go.’ She looks just like a Hitler
Youth with her little blonde pigtails
and knee socks. She puts a big
swastika on her arm, marches down
there. ‘Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler. Heil
Hitler. All the way to the front of
the line…
“In ten minutes she gets us the
[stamped] papers.”
A few interminable afternoons later, the
affidavits arrive from America. In which new
country, Lisl, who wants only to dance, will
be given a job as accountant in her father’s
schnap factory. The trouble is, “in Vienna a
comma is the same thing as a decimal point,”
so that Lisl, born and bred in Vienna, turns
thousands and thousands of minus dollars
into the same amount of nonexistent pluses.
And Lizi, pronounced Litzi? She
becomes a social worker and then a baby
nurse—is in fact the nurse who attended
at the birth of Libby Skala in Englewood,
New Jersey, thirty-something years ago.
“I have always loved to dance,” says
the Mrs. Stephen May that baby grew up
to be. Or the Lilia or the Lisl that the
stage opens its arms for her to be.
would not recommend this film to you, I
would urge you to see a movie of your choice
at this theater. Their seats are as comfortable
as living room chairs and there is plenty of
space for people like me with long legs.
HS said: “I rather liked the movie, ephem-
eral as it was. The plot is basically bureau-
cratic infighting among British politicians and
their minders. The actors zip around, curse
each other, and plot leaks. The film’s premise
is anti-war; if you’re smart enough to make a
movie, you know war is beneath you.”
Rated R, 106 Minutes. At the IFC Center,
323 Sixth Avenue (at West Third St.).
Screenings vary daily. Call 212-924-7771 or
visit www.ifccenter.com. Closes August 25.
24
Got FringeNYC?
Our best bets, 2.0
BY SCOTT STIFFLER
Last week, we took a look at a mere
twenty of the dozens and dozens and dozens
of shows which comprise FringeNYC — that
annual marathon smorgesboard of theater,
dance and miscellaneous oddities packed
with more thespians than a barrel full of
bloated, budget-busting Broadway babies.
Here are a few more of the many offer-
ings taking place through August 30.
Now in its thirteenth year, this wildly uneven,
curiously curated multi-arts festival has birthed
many genuine works of genius — while bestow-
ing its seal of approval on more than one yawn-
inducing, head-scratching debacle. Often rough
and frayed at the edges but ultimately elegant
in form and noble in function, its $15 per-show
ticket price means you can take more than a
few chances before your bill totals the cost of
just one Broadway show. For FringeNYC tickets
and information, visit www.FringeNYC.org or
call 866-468-7619. Discount passes to multiple
shows are available.
ALL OVER
Writer/performer Elizabeth Audley’s story
about optimism, patriotism and driving around
is based on the silly, strange, quirky adventures
from a very long 2007 summer road trip during
which she “developed an enormous crush on
America.” At The Actors’ Playhouse.
AMERICAN JAKATA TALES
Classic Indian Buddhist stories are retold
for your amusement — in an allegorical,
supremely American manner. Take a trip down
South with the Buddha and discover what
needs to be learned in this lifetime in order to
be reincarnated as something better the next
time around. At The Studio @ Cherry Lane.
BABY WANTS CANDY
The titular comedy troupe presents an
improvised musical (with a full band) which
is created when the audience shouts out
titles of musicals that have never been per-
formed before. The first title BWC hears,
clearly, becomes the launching point for the
next sixty minutes of spontaneously created
comedy. At The Players Theatre.
BE THE DOG
Mankind’s complex relationship with
man’s best friends gets put under a micro-
scope in this tale (tail?) taken from the
stories of Dave Eggars. Four actors play
a variety of characters whose lives are all
changed by one very exuberant dog. At The
Robert Moss Theatre.
CAMP SUPER FRIEND
This kid-friendly story follows the adven-
tures of Marvel — a superhero who doesn’t
know how to be a super-friend (until he arrives
at Super Camp and must rise to the challenge
of saving his peers from the evil Professor
Nemesis). At The Cherry Lane Theater.
COMPLETE
This serious comedy centers around two
August 21 - 27, 2009
Elizabeth Audley and her car, Timmy, traveling “All Over”
FringeNYC: Where it’s at
FringeNYC is a great opportunity to
reconnect with (or discover) some of down-
town’s most creatively ambitious theaters.
Here’s information on all of the FringeNYC
venues. Drop by or visit them online to dis-
cover what’s playing all year long.
VENUES #1, #2 CSV Cultural and
Educational Center (Milagro) and
CSV Cultural and Educational Center
(Flamboyan), 107 Suffolk Street (Rivington
& Delancey Streets; csvcenter.com)
VENUE #3 Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie
Street (Rivington & Delancey Streets;
dixonplace.org)
VENUE #4 The Connelly Theater, 220
East 4th Street (Avenue A & Avenue B;
connellycenter.org/theatre)
VENUE # 5 Theatres at 45 Bleecker
— The Lafayette Street Theatre, 45
Bleecker Street (at Lafayette; myspace.
com/45bleecker)
VENUE #6 The Robert Moss Theatre,
440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor (Astor
Place/ East 4th Street; 440studios.com)
VENUE #7 Manhattan theatre source,
177 MacDougal Street (8th and Waverly
Place; theatresource.org)
Photo by Burrow Beckerman
VENUES #8, #9 The Players Theatre and
The Players Loft, 115 MacDougal Street
(West side of MacDougal, just south of West
3rd Street; theplayerstheatre.com )
VENUE #10 Minetta Lane Theatre, 18
Minetta Lane (6th Avenue & MacDougal
Street; 212-420-8000)
VENUE #11 The Actors’ Play-
house, 100 Seventh Avenue South
(Grove & Bleecker; actorsplayhouse.org)
VENUE #12 The New School for
Drama Theater, 151 Bank Street (West &
Washington Streets; drama.newschool.edu )
VENUE #13 The Cherry Pit, 155 Bank
Street (West & Washington Streets)
VENUES #14, #15 The Cherry Lane
Theatre and The Studio @ Cherry Lane
Theatre, 38 Commerce Street, (7th Avenue
& Hudson Street; cherrylanetheatre.org)
VENUE #16 The SoHo Playhouse, 15
Vandam Street (6th Avenue & Varick/7th
Avenue; sohoplayhouse.com)
VENUES # 17, #18 HERE Arts Center
(Mainstage) and HERE Arts Center (Dorothy
B. Williams Theater), 145 6th Avenue (Enter
on Dominick, one block S of Spring; here.org)
downtown express
obsessive linguists, a determined child and a
charismatic guru. Together, this motley crew
(each with their own agenda) clash over the
power and perversion of language. At The
Studio @ Cherry Lane Theater.
DANCES IN FUNNY
Five funny ladies bring movements as
sharp as their wits to the table in this manic
mashup of dance and original text that prom-
ises to be darkly danced; or danced funny; or
some such combination of parts whose whole
turns out to be something you’ve never seen
before and certainly weren’t expecting. At
The Robert Moss Theatre.
ECTOSPASMS
When ectoplasmic entities contact the
Fox sisters of Hydesville, NY in 1848, the
trance-driven practice known as Spiritualism
is born. See mediums and spirits move with-
in a supernatural soundscape, illuminated by
light, projections and otherworldly oddities.
This multi-media dance theater piece plays
at The Robert Moss Theatre.
FLIGHT
Just as an early winter storm moves in, two
strangers meet at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.
Bound together by proximity, and anonymity,
they reveal their innermost secrets — and, in
the process, find both danger and refuge. At
The Studio @ Cherry Lane.
JACK AND THE SOY BEANSTOCK
Wide Eyed Production’s zany eco-friend-
ly take on the timeless childhood fairy tale
recasts the Giant as a big business baddie.
Jack’s lesson this time around involves self-
reliance, conservation and good old fash-
ioned ingenuity. This family-friendly show
gets the job done with lots of comedy; and
puppets! At Dixon Place.
M: AN ADAPTATION OF
SHAKESPEAR’S MACBETH
This show sees Shakespeare performed by
a compact trio of actors. The Three Witches
use black magic and prophetic visions to
morph into every character — spinning a
breakneck, abridged version of the well-worn
tale whose name no superstitious thespian
will say aloud. At The Actors’ Playhouse.
PEACE WARRIORS
Four academics and a teenage girl get
more than they bargained for when they
break that rule about not getting person-
al when it comes to discussing politics.
Academic ambition, Middle East conflicts,
old affairs and new seductions all figure into
the volatile mix. At The Players Theater.
POPULATION 8
When the town of Loki, North Dakota
(population 8) gets one more mischievous
resident, the original 8 must reconcile the
temptations and opportunities of the mod-
ern world with the comfortable, convenient
Continued on page 25
downtown express August 21 - 27, 2009 25

CLASSES
INTRODUCTORY ART WORK-
SHOPS Are you thinking about tak-
ing an art class, but not sure what you
want? Come to these art workshops
and try out a class before committing
to a full course. Class subjects include
pottery, cartooning, drawing and pho-
tographs. $15 per workshop. The Edu-
cational Alliance Art School, 197 East
Broadway. Call 212-780-2300, x428;
or, visit edalliance.org/artschool.
DANCE AND PILATES Ballet, jazz,
tango, hip-hop, and modern dance
classes are offered for all levels. $16/
class, discounts available. Ongoing.
Dance New Amsterdam, 280 Broad-
way (entrance at 53 Chambers St) 2nd
Floor. Call 212-279-4200, or visit dna-
dance.org.
TABLE TENNIS TRAINING PRO-
G R A M Ta b l e t e n n i s t r a i n i n g i s
offered for players of all ages and skill
levels. It’s a great opportunity for all
to come together, enjoy the sport, and
build new friendships. Mon-Fri, 10am
to 1pm, $100 a year for ages 6-15 and
50 and older; $200 for others. Ameri-
can Asian Cultural Center of Tribeca,
384 Broadway, lower level. Call 646-
772-2922.
NEW BEGINNINGS CHAIR
YOGA Trinity Church’s seniors group
meets for one hour of gentle yoga
while seated. 10-11am. Ongoing. Trin-
ity Church, Broadway at Wall Street.
Call 212-602-0747, or visit trinitywall-
street.org.
SUPPORT GROUP FOR FIRST-TIME
MOTHERS Join parenting experts
Drs. Ann Chandler and Nancy Carroll-
Freeman and new mothers to voice
your thoughts and feelings and find
support and encouragement. $25 per
group. Every Thurs,10-11am. Tribeca
Pediatrics, 46 Warren Street. Call
212-219-9984.
EVENTS
HARMONY ON THE HUDSON: THE
FAMILY MUSIC FESTIVAL AT BAT-
TERY PARK CITY. Participants will
enjoy music, food, games and art
activities. Free. Sept 13, 1-6pm. Rob-
ert F. Wagner Jr. Park, (access: Bat-
tery Place). Call 212-267-9700 or visit
bpcparks.org.
SUNSET JAM ON THE HUD-
SON Participants will improvise on
African, Latin and Caribbean rhythms
in a drumming circle led by master
drummers. Instruments provided, or
bring your own. Every Friday, through
Aug 28, 6:30-8:30pm. Robert F. Wag-
ner, Jr. Park. Call 212-267-9700, or
visit bpcparks.org.
FREE HEARING SCREENINGS AT
THE LEAGUE FOR THE HARD OF
HEARING Every Wed, 12 –2pm, and
every Thurs 4-6pm. Call or email to
schedule an appointment. 50 Broad-
way, 6th Fl. Call 917-305-7766, or visit
appointments@llh.org.
PUBLIC SAILS ABOARD 1885
SCHOONER PIONEER Enjoy spec-
tacular views of the New York Harbor
from the deck of the historic ship.
Tues-Fri: 3-5pm, 4-6pm and 7-9pm.
Sat-Sun: 1-3pm, 4-6pm, 7-9pm. Prices:
4-6pm and 7-9pm sails: Adults $35,
Student/Seniors $30. Children 12 and
under, $25. 1-3pm and 3-5pm sails:
Adults $25, Student/Seniors $20,
Children 12 and under $15. Members
receive $5 discount. Reservations
suggested. South Street Seaport. Pier
16. Call 212-748-8786, or visit south-
streetseaportmuseum.org.
EXHIBITS
THE BETTER HALF- ARTIST COU-
PLES ON DISPLAY The exhibition
presents young artist couples who are
balancing careers, creating art and
being married to another artist. Free.
Opening reception: Sept 10, 6-8pm.
Educational Alliance Art Gallery, 197
East Broadway (between Jefferson
& Clinton St) Visit edalliance.org/
artschool.
JOHN LENNON-THE NEW YORK
CITY YEARS Rare, original and
never-before-seen artifacts of John
Lennon are on display at this rocking
exhibition. $24.50; students with ID,
$19.50. Buy tickets at museumtix.
com or 866.9ROCKNY. Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame Annex, 76 Mercer St.
Visit rockannex.com.
BEAUTY SURROUNDS US Visitors
can see a unique display including an
elaborate Quechua girl’s dance outfit,
a Northwest Coast chief’s staff with
carved animal figures and crests,
Seminole turtle shell dance leggings,
a conch shell trumpet from pre-Colum-
bian Mexico, and an Inupiak (Eskimo)
ivory cribbage board. Two interactive
media stations show visitors in-depth
descriptions of each object. Ongoing
through March, 2010,at the National
Museum of the American Indian (One
THE LISTINGS
Bowling Green). Call 212-514-3700, or
visit nmai.si.edu.
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK Visit
Manhattan’s oldest surviving building,
54 Pearl Street which has witnessed
nearly 300 years of the city’s history.
Ongoing. $4, $3 seniors and children
under 18, and free to children under
six. Fraunces Tavern Museum, 54
Pearl Street. Call 212-425-1776, or
visit frauncestavernmuseum.com.
MARINE ECOLOGY ABOARD 1885
SCHOONER PIONEER Learn about
the creatures that inhabit the local
harbor estuary, harbor water quality,
and what is being done to maintain
this valuable ecosystem. $30 adults /
$25 students & seniors / $20 children
12 and under / Members receive a $5
discount. South Street Seaport, Pier
16 (Programs Afloat). Call 212-748-
8786, or visit southstreetseaportmu-
seum.org.
WOMAN OF LETTERS: IRÈNE
NÉMIROVSKY AND SUITE FRAN-
ÇAISE The exhibit examines the life,
work, and legacy of this enthralling,
often controversial, literary figure.
Through Aug 30. $12 adults, $10
seniors, $7 students, children under
12 free. Museum of Jewish Heritage,
36 Battery Place. Call 646-437-4202,or
visit mjhnyc.org.
WOMEN OF WALL STREET This
exhibition showcases notable women
in the world of finance and Wall
Street. Museum of American Finance,
48 Wall St. Call 212-908-4110, or visit
financialhistory.org.
MUSIC
CLARK/HUDSON MOHAWKE AND
MORE To celebrate its twentieth
year, Warp Records and Warp Films
is bringing together artists to create
unique performances. Free. Sept 5,
8pm. World Financial Center Winter
Garden, 200 Vesey Street. Visit world-
financialcenter.com.
SUMMER SOUNDS AT TRINITY-
YESTERDAY AND TODAY BAND A
tribute to the music of the legendary
Beatles will be a treat for the listen-
ers at the Trinity Church. Free. Aug
26, 12:30 and 2:30pm. Trinity Church
Broadway at Wall Street. Call 212-
602-0800, or visit trinitywallstreet.
org.
Listings
continued on page 26

Got Fringe?
Continued from page 24
truths of life as they once, very recently,
knew it. At SoHo Playhouse.
THE SONGS OF ROBERT
Writer/actor John Crutchfield plays all the
parts — in addition to playing a clawhammer
banjo and slide guitar while singing. All that,
and more, is done in the service of telling
this tale (set in the south) of the difficulties
faced by a teenage boy. At CSV Cultural and
Educational Center.
SUNDAY BEST
One woman, ten characters and more than
a few tall hats join forces for a wicked romp
through the minds of those who worship at a
Black Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn. Funny,
devilish and heavenly all at the same time, this
irreverent look at religion gets its groove from
live gospel music and questions posed regard-
ing faith, loss and hat size. At Dixon Place.
VENUS
The fourth entry in a series of ecologi-
cally-inspired “Planet Plays” finds a commu-
nity of ex-patriot twentysomethings on the
volcanic surface of Venus. Their mission?
Share a pancake breakfast and try not to
self-destruct when a strange, beautiful girl
suddenly appears to disrupt the proceedings.
Hey, we’ve all been there. At CSV Cultural
and Educational Center, Flamnoyan.
VICTORIA AND FREDERICK FOR
PRESIDENT
It’s 1872, and Victoria Woodhull is about
to run for president (with Frederick Douglas
as her VP). Many years before Clinton and
Obama made history, Victoria and Frederick
were blazing trails that would leave their
modern counterparts in the dust. At The
New School for Drama.
THE W. KAMAU BELL CURVE
Subtitled “Ending Racism in About an
Hour,” this tidy, efficient multi-media per-
formance takes sixty minutes to do what
America hasn’t been able to manage in sev-
eral hundred years — all at the hands of W.
Kamau Bell (who’s already secured his place
in history by telling “the very first Obama
joke back in 2005”). At The Players Loft.
WILLY NILLY
Piper McKenzie (the theater company
whose brains are the brawn behind Brooklyn’s
Brick Theater) presents “Willy Nilly” — a
“musical exploitation” timed to coincide
with 40th anniversary of the Manson family
and the Tate-Labianca Murders. This self-
proclaimed “tasteless rock’n’roll spoof” tells
the tale of a filthy faux-Messiah, his cult of
wanton women and high Hollywood murder
— through copious amounts of gore, gratu-
itous nudity and cruel stereotypes. The man
behind this ambitious affront? Trav S.D. — a
Downtown Express contributor and prolific
renaissance freakazoid. At Dixon Place.
26 August 21 - 27, 2009 downtown express

SUPERFROG A Los Angeles band
with an original, yet sought after,
sound. $10. Aug 27, 7:30. Sullivan
food. fun. sand. Hall, 214 Sullivan St (between Bleeck-
er and W 3rd St). Visit sullivanhallnyc.
com.
LONG ISLAND CITY
SUN 9/13 • 1PM SAT 9/26 • 1PM-3AM (free bef. 6pm) BADFISH A concert of from the
MARTINEZ VEGA RECORDS: sublime tribute band (with special
THE LISTINGS
ment of New Amsterdam, now New
York. Visit architectural digs, Stone
Street, the shortest lane in Manhat-
tan, the edge of Fort Amsterdam, and
more. $20; $15 seniors and students.
Sept 5. Runs approx. 90 mins. Meet
at One Bowling Green, on steps of
National Museum of the American
Indian. Call 646-573-9509.
walking tour explores love at the turn
of the century. $15 ($12 for students
and seniors) Sept 6, 2pm. The walking
tour will begin at the Eldridge Street
Synagogue at 12 Eldridge St, between
Canal and Division Sts. Call 212-219-
0888 or visit eldridgestreet.org.
MUSEUM AT ELDRIDGE

BROTHERS "GET TOGETHER" guests). The Beach will open at noon STREET These guided tours, led by

W/LOUIE VEGA and concertgoers are encouraged to

arrive early to enjoy the sun, food,
S O H O A R T S WA L K E x p e r i e n c e
SoHo’s art scene like never before
historian-trained docents tell the story
of the 1887 landmark synagogue, and
drink, and all the amenities The Beach with a walk down famous cobblestone illuminate the experience of the East
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT has to offer. $30.Aug 29, 4pm doors, streets that were once the stomping European Jewish immigrants who set-
FRI 9/4 • 4PM-3AM SAT • 6PM-10PM 6pm show. The Beach at Governor’s grounds of such greats as Andy War- tled on the LES in the late 19th centu-
MELTING POT GLOBAL: NICKY SIANO Island. Visit thebeachconcerts.com. hol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Free ry. Sun.-Thurs, 10am-4pm. $10 adults,
PARADISE SAT • 10PM-3AM admission into galleries. The third $8 seniors, $6 children. Museum at

UNDER VICTOR FRANCO TOURS

Thursday of every month, through
September. Visit sohoartswalk.com.
Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge St. Call
212-219-0888, or visit eldridgestreet.
THE STARS org.
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW GANGSTER, WRITER, RABBI Par-
GOVERNORS ISLAND YORK TOUR Visitors will be able ticipants of this Lower East Side Walk- LISTINGS REQUESTS for the
SUN 8/23 • 2PM-12PM SAT. 8/29 • 8PM to tour the Fed’s gold vault and learn ing Tour will learn about the common Downtown Express may be mailed to
TURNTABLES ON
THE HUDSON:
BADFISH about the Federal Reserve’s central
banking functions. Free. Federal
ground between gangster Jack Zelig,
writer Sholem Aleichem & rabbi Jacob
Listings Editor at 145 Avenue of the
Americas, New York, NY 10013-1548
WEDS 9/9 • 8PM Reserve Bank of NY, 33 Liberty Street. Joseph. Aug 23, 11am.The walking or e-mailed to listingseditor@gmail.
QUANTIC N*E*R*D Call 212-720-6130, or visit newy- tour will begin at the Eldridge Street com. Please include listings in the
& HIS COMBO BARBARO orkfed.org. Synagogue (12 Eldridge St, between subject line of the e-mail and provide
ASHER ROTH Canal and Division). Call 212-219- the date, time, location, price and a
1625: DUTCH NEW YORK Walk 0888 or visit eldridgestreet.org. description of the event. Information
WaterTaxiBeach.com along the shoreline of 1625 as the must be received two weeks before
866.982.2542 tour visits sites – and some extant LOVE AND COURTSHIP WALKING the event is to be published. Ques-
OUR OFFICIAL TRAVEL remains – of the original Dutch settle- TOUR This unique Lower East Side tions? Call 646-452-2507.
& TOURISM PARTNER

ASK FOR HOMEMADE MACARONI

DAILY
Ravioli
Baked Ziti
Lasagna
11.00
11.00
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Do you use uppers?
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~ Free Delivery Chicken Parmigiana 8.75 The Substance Use Research Center at Columbia University
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28 August 21 - 27, 2009 downtown express