Downtown Express by Schneps Media

VOLUME 28, NUMBER 12

Downtown stands with City of Lights

NOVEMBER 19 – DECEMBER 2, 2015

CHOPPING CHOPPERS Council mulls ban on helicopter tours

Jackson Chen

Years of noise complaints about the busy Downtown Manhattan Heliport have prompted city lawmakers to propose banning sightseeing helicopters from the city.

BY YAN N IC RACK he future of the city’s helicopter tour industry is up in the air after frustrated residents and elected officials sounded off about the noisy birds at City Hall last week. “Anyone who lives, works, goes to school, or even visits Downtown has heard the deafening ‘chop-chop’ of the helicopters,” said Lower Manhattan Councilmember Margaret Chin ahead of a Nov. 12 Council hearing on legislation to curb the copters. “Enough is enough,” she said. Chin and two colleagues, Carlos Menchaca from Brooklyn and Helen Rosenthal from the Upper West Side, have introduced a set of bills that would effectively boot the helicopter sightsee-

T Photo by Milo Hess

The Freedom Tower was lit in France’s tricolors in solidarity with the citizens of Paris in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks in the City of Lights last Friday. Downtowers, who know better than anyone what it feels like for one’s city to be under attack, gathered at the National September 11 Memorial on Monday to mourn the victims and support for the survivors as they press forward in the face of terror. For more on Downtown’s reaction to the Paris attacks, see page 24.

ing industry from New York City. The lawmakers say the legislation is overdue after years of complaints about incessant noise and noxious fumes caused by the choppers along their route from the tip of Lower Manhattan up the Hudson River to Washington Heights. But helicopter-tour operators argue that the economic benefits to the city outweigh the suffering of residents near the Downtown Manhattan Heliport. Before the hearing, the copter critics and helicopter huggers held dueling rallies on the steps of City Hall. Locals complained that the cacophonic copters make normal life almost impossible Downtown. “Within minutes of getting to the playground, it’s helicopters buzzing

overhead,” said Community Board Member Patrick Kennell, who lives on John St. in the Financial District with his two kids, ages 5 and 8. “It’s very disturbing and very disruptive to them. They’re not able to go out to the park and enjoy themselves.” Tour company workers said the whirlybird whiners should just shut up or get out. “These people need to move away themselves,” said Luz Herrera, a customer service rep for Liberty Helicopters, the city’s largest air-tour operator. “They want to live in the city with the commodities of the city — if you live here, you have to pay the price.” CHOPPERS Continued on page 9

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metal, according to Iggy Terranova, a community officer for the Dept. of Sanitation. But the silver bullets didn't solve the city's problem in recycling street trash. New Yorkers apparently can't be bothered to follow the color code. “It really doesn’t matter what color I put out there or how many cans I put out, people don’t seem to understand the concept of recycling," Terranova explained to Community Board 1 recently. "So they’re putting everything in everything in everything — it doesn’t matter,” he said. Terranova said the program has been scrapped because the department decided it was a waste of money.

FISHING FOR CLARITY

SILVER BUCKETS For most people, the term “silver bullet” means a solution that is sure to fix a problem. But for the Dept. of Sanitation, a “silver bullet” is a very expensive trashcan — $1,200 bucks a pop — that is being put out throughout the city to encourage public recycling. The body is silver, with the color of the top indicating which type of waste it's for: black for garbage, green for paper, and blue for plastic and

The future of the River Project at Pier 26 looks about as murky as the Hudson River itself. Details of the organization’s possible involvement with the pier’s planned estuarium — an “aquarium of the estuary” with a research and education component — have trickled out ever since the pier was closed and then rebuilt in 2009, but it’s hard to figure out what’s actually going on. Reports this month that the popular non-profit, which now sits upstream at Pier 40, would be a partner in the project were harpooned at a recent meeting of CB1’s Tribeca committee, where the Hudson River Park Trust’s Noreen Doyle said no

agreement has been inked yet. “From the get-go, we told Clarkson [University, the estuarium’s main operator] that we wanted to find a role for the River Project,” she told the committee members. “Those discussions are still happening, and we are trying to figure out basically what can fit in the breadbox that is not even designed yet.” Clarkson, with its two partners, the New York Hall of Science and the Hudson River sloop Clearwater, were selected by the trust last year to run the estuarium, but many long-time locals have been pushing for the River Project, a Tribeca institution which ran the original estuarium at the site years ago, to be involved as well. Its founder, Cathy Drew, said after Tuesday’s CB1 meeting that she wasn’t sure they would want to be a part of it – since the final shape of the science center isn’t even clear yet.

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Bused a cap Downtowners push to limit number of double deckers B Y DUSICA SU E M A L E SV IC Backers of a proposal to cap the number of tourist buses in Lower Manhattan made their case at Community Board 1’s Quality of Life Committee meeting this month, but residents already strongly support the idea. “That would be fabulous for our neighborhood,” said Mary Perillo, who has lived across from the World Trade Center site for more than 30 years. “They’re horrendous for traffic — both vehicular and pedestrian.” Perillo and other locals have long complained about the number of tour buses on Downtown’s streets. Residents have said they pollute, block crosswalks, and add to the area’s congestion problem. A bill introduced by Councilmember Margaret Chin and co-sponsored by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer would limit the number of license plates for sightseeing buses to 225. The Dept. of Consumer Affairs oversees and approves the licenses and, as of now, there is no limit. Chin’s legislative director Vincent Fang said that in 2003 there were 57 sightseeing double deckers, but that figure more than tripled over the next decade to 194 in 2013, before leaping by nearly 65 percent in a single year to reach 299 in 2014. The number fell to 229 this year when several of the operators went out

of business, according to Fang, but even with the recent drop, the dramatic surge he outlined confirmed the impression among locals that sightseeing buses are running amok Downtown. “I think this is incredible,” said CB 1 chairwoman Catherine McVay Hughes. “The statistics that he’s saying — it’s not your imagination that the number of double-decker tour buses has increased. We have very congested streets.” Fang said his boss’s bill would at least keep the problem from getting worse. The D.C.A. did not comment on the proposed legislation, but said Chin’s figures for the number of tour buses were a bit off, claiming that there are only 216 double deckers on the road. Still, the agency’s figures on tour companies give Downtowners good reason to worry that the number of buses is set to explode again without a cap. There were 15 companies authorized to run bus tours in 2014 when the number of double deckers topped out at nearly 300, and seven of the companies have since gone out of business, taking between 70 and 83 tour buses off the road. But according to the D.C.A., nine more tour bus companies have applied for new operating licenses. There is no limit to the number of tour buses an individual tour company can put on the road varies, so it stands to reason that if the number of companies goes up to 17, their combined fleet

Photo courtesy of Councilmember Margaret Chin’s office

At a press conference in October announcing a bill that would cap the number of tour buses, the ubiquitous double deckers made several guest appearances in the background.

could easily grow to more than 300 vehicles — unless a cap is in place. “If this bill passes, the D.C.A. will no longer be able to provide any more active license plates to companies until it drops below 225,” Fang said. Tour-bus plates cost between $75 and $100 per vehicle depending on the term of the license, so the licenses are not exactly a money-spinner for the city, but the double-decker dreadnoughts dominating Downtown streets can be real cash cows for the tour companies — and not because of the tourists inside the buses, but rather the ads on the outside. It can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $30,000 for a wraparound advertisement on a double decker bus cruising the streets of Manhattan for one month, according to Blue Line Media, a national advertising firm — and that’s

Downtown being taken for The Ride City okays 'interactive' tour bus despite CB1's strong objections BY DUSICA SU E M A L E SE V IC The Ride will not be denied. In the face of Community Board 1’s strong opposition, the Dept. of Transportation has granted The Ride — an “interactive entertainment experience” that includes live performances on the sidewalk — a stop on Water St. for its new Downtown route. Three times a day, seven days a week, The Ride will load and unload its 45-foot bus at 200 Water St. and then wind its way through Lower Manhattan with a pro-

November 19 – December 2, 2015

posed route that includes Broadway, West St. and South End Avenue. “We’re anxious and very happy to be part of Downtown,” Dan Rogoski, president of The Ride. Rogoski said The Ride Downtown will likely start in spring 2016 and will focus on the area's historical sights. There is a 75-minute The Ride Times Square, which costs $74 per person, and The Tour, which focuses on the Upper West Side and Times Square for $45, he said. From the start, CB1 was wary to add yet

Photo courtesy of The Ride

This map shows the route that buses from “interactive entertainment experience” The Ride will ply though Lower Manhattan three times a day, seven days a week.

another tour bus to Downtown’s already congested streets, and Rogoski went before

on top of a $15,000 one-time fee for printing and installation. Hughes suggested that the industry’s true business model — and the real reason for the dramatic proliferation of double deckers — isn’t about showing tourists around Manhattan, but about showing Manhattanites ads. “Only after someone told me how much money they had to pay to advertise on a double-decker tour bus did I understand that a large component the financial success of running a double-decker sightseeing tour depends on the advertising earned by being a moving billboard,” Hughes said. “This explained why double decker tour buses would run even if they were almost empty.” Major tour-bus operators Gray Line and Big Bus Tour declined to comment for this story.

two committees — the Seaport Committee and the Quality of Life Committee — in an effort to win over the board. But details Rogoski presented about The Ride's plans — such as stopping and parking its 45-foot bus while riders watch performances staged on the sidewalk — made board members even more skeptical. “The community is overrun with tour buses,” said Jeff Ehrlich, co-chairman of the Quality of Life Committee. “The idea of this touring bus around Downtown slowing down or stopping for performances is unacceptable.” Even beyond the congestion issue, committee member Marc Ameruso objected to the idea of a private company appropriating public space. “The sidewalk belongs to the people,” he said. THE RIDE Continued on page 9

DowntownExpress.com

November 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; December 2, 2015

On Target

Discount retailer coming to Lower Manhattan B Y DUS ICA SU E M A L E SE V IC Target has just inked a deal to open its first Manhattan discount store south of Harlem at 255 Greenwich St. next year. Developers Jack Resnick & Sons signed a lease with the Minneapolisbased retailer for a 48,242-squarefoot store including 7,358 square feet on the ground floor at the site between Park Pl. and Murray St. at the nexus of Tribeca, the Civic Center and the World Trade Center complex. Reactions from business owners, residents and students in the area were mixed. “We have to be a little bit worried,” said Dixit Patel, who manages the Barclay Newsstand directly across the street on Greenwich St. and said the store will definitely be competition. Yafit Goldfarb, owner of nearby jewelry shop Seasonal Whispers at 71 Murray St., was not pleased that a Target was coming across the street.

“Target is not good anywhere,” she said. “It is meant for remote cities.” Goldfarb isn’t concerned the chain store will affect her 15-yearold business, which sells unique jewelry, but she worried for her fellow merchants. “I guess it’s going to hurt some businesses. It’s going to hurt kids’ stores,” said Goldfarb, noting how residential and family-oriented the neighborhood has become. Goldfarb said Tribeca already has everything it needs and Target will likely cater to those who don’t live in the neighborhood. But to nursing students Zerina Mustajbasic and Erene Theodorakis, both 18, sitting on the steps of Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Fiterman Hall, word that a Target will be opening across the street on was welcome news. “It’s convenient,” said Mustajbasic. “We won’t have to go so far for school

Downtown Express photo by Dusica Sue Malesevic

The first Target store in Manhattan south of Harlem will open Downtown next year.

supplies. Ink runs out. Pencils break.” Theodorakis agreed. The Target store set to open at 255 Greenwich St. in October 2016 is not to be confused the "Target

Wonderland" pop-up store coming to Lower Manhattan for the holidays. The retailer announced last month plans TARGET Continued on page 26

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DowntownExpress.com

11/16/2015 5:53:57 PM

November 19 – December 2, 2015

United in the face of change Small-business owner organizes mom-and-pops to save Tribeca’s soul B Y YA N N I C RA C K When Ann Benedetto looks around her neighborhood these days, she doesn’t recognize the Tribeca where she opened her store more than a decade ago. Back then A Uno, her women’s boutique at the corner of W. Broadway and Duane St., was surrounded by oldschool restaurants. But no more. “Now I have HSBC, Chase, TD Bank, two empty spaces, across from that another empty space — Sotheby’s is handling it, so you can tell from that alone that it’s getting ridiculous,” Benedetto said. The proliferation of banks and swanky brands is a symptom of the retail gentrification she says is driving small businesses out of the neighborhood. “The real estate of these commercial spaces is going so sky-high that only corporations and banks are able to afford it. If you’re a small, privately owned business, you don’t have a chance.” To help improve the odds for Tribeca’s small businesses, and give them a united voice in how their neighborhood develops, Benedetto decided they have to band together. Over the last few months, she has been recruiting fellow business owners to join her newly minted Tribeca Alliance. “I’m trying to figure out ways to have the mer-

chants joined together,” she said. “It’s really turning into something.” Last week marked the first meeting of a steering committee she organized to come up with an agenda and a concrete set of goals for the group. The Alliance’s first public meeting hasn’t been scheduled yet, but will likely take place in January, she said. For now, Benedetto is focused on building membership. She says she has been in touch with around 70 businesses so far, but volunteers are still canvassing the neighborhood. Benedetto is under no illusions that her new group can reverse the trend of increasing rents and encroaching chain stores, but she hopes that by presenting a united front, local independent businesses can at least help manage how the neighborhood is changing, and look after the interests of the shops that are already here. “I’m not a cockeyed optimist, mind you,” she said. “I know this is a lot of work and a lot of disappointment. But I still am hopeful that we’re going to be able to set an agenda and get some muscle behind it.” For instance, one of the frustrations that inspired her to start organizing was that her storefront has been shrouded in scaffolding for months and she felt helpless to do anything about it. But Benedetto emphasized T:8.75” that the most important

Downtown Express photo by Yannic Rack

Local business owner Ann Benedetto said even her guard dog Niki couldn’t keep the banks and chain stores out of her neighborhood, so she’s trying to start a smallbusiness group with some teeth.

task will be to fill the “100 empty storefronts” that line the streets of Tribeca. “There’s such a wealth of things in this area,” she said. “If we can only organize, I think we can do some good work.”

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CHOPPERS Continued from cover

Sam Goldstein, deputy director of the Helicopter Tourism & Jobs Council, was more diplomatic. “We are here because our livelihoods are under assault,” he said. “Don’t destroy our families and don’t destroy our jobs.” Although residents and electeds from as far away as Queens, Brooklyn and even New Jersey, showed up to blast the boisterous birds, the epicenter of the problem is in Lower Manhattan. The Downtown Manhattan Heliport at Pier 6 near The Battery is the only heliport in the city that allows sightseeing helicopters to land and take off. Tour flights thunder in an out of the Pier 6 heliport 28 times every hour during the day, seven days a week, according to figures from the Helicopter Tourism & Jobs Council, amounting to more than 100,000 take-offs and landings each year. “This heliport continues to plague our community with noise and threats to air quality and safety,” said Catherine McVay Hughes, chairwoman of Community Board 1, which has vehemently opposed the tours for years. “It’s truly a constant onslaught of noise,” said Craig Abruzzo, vice president of Stop the Chop, an advocacy group that has been working to clip the wings of the helicopter industry in Lower Manhattan. Opponents of the air-tour industry had more politicians on their side at the hearing, but helicopter boosters boasted the support of the city’s top elected official — Mayor de Blasio — in the form of the city’s Economic Development Corporation. The de Blasio administration opposes scrapping the choppers in part because the EDC gets $2.9 million in annual rent from the operator of the Downtown heliport, Saker Aviation,

which hosts five air-tour companies. “As currently drafted, the administration does not support either of the proposed legislation,” said EDC chief of staff James Katz during a sometimes tense exchange with the councilmembers. Katz also cited a 2012 study by NYU’s Rudin Center for Transportation that said the industry benefits the city’s economy to the tune of $32 million from the around 200 jobs it provides, and nearly $10 million in additional tourism. But elected officials said that the city shouldn’t put the interests of a single, narrow industry above those of its own citizens. “The helicopter industry is a nuisance. We can not protect a single tourist experience … at the expense of the quality of life of thousands of New Yorkers,” said Congressman Jerrold Nadler. At the hearing, Councilmember Brad Lander of Brooklyn questioned whether the EDC paid as much attention to citizens’ suffering as it does to economic metrics. “It’s easy to measure jobs and money. I know it’s hard to measure misery,” said Lander, “but I suppose my question is, have you tried? Have you done something to evaluate just how miserable it is?” Katz acknowledged that “it’s a great question, and well framed,” but said the EDC had not gone beyond looking at 311 calls, which he said showed only 162 helicopter-noise complaints in the past year. But local pols said that figure is irrelevant because they get thousands of direct complaints from their fed-up constituents. “Residents are so sick and tired of this that they have given up on calling 311 at all,” said Rosenthal. The Council has not yet set the date for a vote on the legislation.

THE RIDE Continued from page 4

company would take into account objections to the slowing down and stopping, and pledged that The Ride will have little or no impact on traffic and congestion. But CB1 members still feel like the city threw them under the bus. “It’s comical that they’re letting this happen,” Ameruso said. “The city made an approval for a company to contribute to vehicular and pedestrian congestion.” The D.O.T. later explained that community board resolutions are advisory, and the power to approve bus stops rests with them. But the agency also pointed out that what it giveth, it can also take away. “Resolution denials are only advisory,” said the D.O.T. spokesperson on Nov. 16. “D.O.T. approved the bus stop at the location and will monitor its operation and reserve the right to revoke the bus stop.”

The Quality of Life Committee ultimately split on whether to approve the bus stop, but that was not the case at the full board meeting in October, where a resolution against the stop passed easily. Asked on Oct. 29 if the board’s denial meant The Ride wouldn’t get the stop at 200 Water St., a D.O.T. spokesman said, “NYC D.O.T. works closely with the community boards to issue permits for intercity bus stops. We do not approve any bus stop without going through the review process with a community board, who can advise about potential bus stop sites.” But while advice may be necessary, consent obviously is not. Twelve days after that statement, the D.O.T. approved the bus stop, according to Rogoski. He said the DowntownExpress.com

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BY YAN N IC RACK Lower Manhattan has a set of new wheels. The Downtown Alliance rolled out a fleet of shiny, new, bright red buses on Nov. 15, updating its free connection service that shuttles locals around town, from Battery Park City to the Seaport. The striking design, including the Downtown skyline emblazoned on the side, isn’t the only new feature — the seven buses now have standing room in addition to their 22 seats apiece, and the fleet also sports upgraded GPS technology and ADA-compliant access. “New York City’s public transportation system has many gaps and this free and accessible bus fleet is a welcome way to meet an urgent need,” said Community Board 1 chairwoman

Catherine McVay Hughes. The shuttles, now operated by Golden Touch Transportation of New York, run seven days a week and make 37 stops throughout the district. They run about every ten minutes on weekdays and in fifteen-minute intervals on weekends. Countdown clocks are already installed at many of the stops, and riders can also locate buses with the nextbus smartphone app, or sign up for arrival alerts via text message. “We’re thrilled that with these significant improvements and impressive new fleet, we will be able to reach even more riders,” said Jessica Lappin, president of the Alliance. “With our new design, these vehicles will now have a brand new, unmistakable profile on the streets of Lower Manhattan.”

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November 19 – December 2, 2015

Homecoming The USS New York passes Tribeca coming down the Hudson on its way to dock for a five-day port visit in its namesake city for Veterans Day last week. Commissioned in 2009, the San Antonio-class amphibious transport ship was built using nearly seven tons of steel from the wreckage of the World Trade Center salvaged after the 9/11 attacks. DowntownExpress.com

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11/17/15 2:32 PM

November 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; December 2, 2015

Trash talking CB1 rails against mountains of garbage, bemoans lack of options for enforcement

Photo courtesy of Abby Terkuhle

Downtown residents complain to Community Board 1’s Quality of Life Committee about the overwhelming piles of residential trash set out for collection each night, crowding locals off the sidewalk.

BY DUSICA SUE MAL ESEVIC When walking past the Frank Gehrydesigned apartment building at 8 Spruce St. in the evening, locals say they sometimes have to choose between two unappealing choices: the rats or the road. “The options are scurry among the rats by the Gehry wall [or] walk in the middle of the street and get hit by a car,” said Fern Cunningham, a resident of Nassau St. for 15 years, at Community Board 1’s Quality of Life Committee meeting. When 8 Spruce St. and the new Pace University dorm near William and Beekman Sts. puts out their trash, Cunningham says it builds a wall of garbage six feet high that takes up most of the sidewalk. Committee chairwoman Pat Moore agreed about the harrowing gauntlet of vermin passers by must face when going single file down the sidewalk to avoid the trash. “You have to worry about whether rats are going to cross your path or not — run over your feet,” she said. “Often times, you will see people jumping and [yelling] ‘ahh!’ You know its rats when that happens.” The management at 8 Spruce St. declined to comment. Moore, who has lived on Cedar St. near the World Trade Center for almost 40 years, said that although the Gehry building is one of the “most ridiculous spots” Downtown for trash, the issue isn’t limited to one address. She hears grips from all over about looming stacks of bagged garbage, and torrents of what she terms “sidewalk juice” — a.k.a. garbage juice — that oozes out of trash bags and clings to the pavement. “Everyone in the area has complained at one point or another about the amount of garbage. My street is disgusting,” said Moore. “You can slide down the street from the film, the scum.”

November 19 – December 2, 2015

CB1 Chairwoman Catherine McVay Hughes said the “triple whammy” of increasing tourism, a commercial boom, and a spike in residential conversions of office buildings has contributed to the overwhelming trash, which she compares to “bodybags of garbage.” At this month’s meeting of CB1’s Quality of Life Committee, locals grilled city officials on how to fix the problem, but got few hopeful answers. Dept. of Sanitation community officer Iggy Terranova said that residential buildings are allowed to put their trash out after 4 p.m. the day before their pickup, and businesses can put their garbage out two hours prior to pickup during daytime hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If commercial trash is getting picked up overnight after 5 p.m. up to 7 a.m., the business can put it out an hour before it closes. Terranova did point out that residents can be fined for putting out trash earlier than 4 p.m., but local leaders said citations won’t solve what is essentially and issue of space for the tightly packed neighborhood. “We’ve fought this issue on all fronts for years,” said Dan Ackerman, vice president of operations for the Downtown Alliance. “There’s not enough space. Sanitation can fine, fine, fine a building, but the wall of trash will still be there.” Perhaps surprisingly, Terranova agreed that issuing summonses is not an effective deterrent. “I can give a sanitation ticket and you don’t have to pay it,” he said. “And it’s going to go into limbo. And then 40 years from now when they go to sell the property is when they’ll worry about that ticket. There is nothing [that] says that if I give you that sanitation ticket that you have to TRASH Continued on page 26

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November 19 – December 2, 2015

How sweet it is!

Tribeca bakery unveils holiday goodies Eric Kayser may be a fifth-generation Parisian baker, but he considers himself a self-made man in the kitchen. “My father never gave me recipes,” he said at the rollout of his new holiday breads last week at Maison Kayser at 355 Greenwich St. in Tribeca. Kayser spoke passionately about his breads, starting with the stolen (1). With eggs, butter, dried raisins macerated in rum, sugar and marzipan, he said stollen is “something beautiful from the

beginning to the end of December.” Next up was the brioche des rois (2), which Kayser explained is a classic French treat. A prize is hidden inside and after it is sliced, children look to see who got it in their piece. Toasted pumpkin seeds spice up the citouille ciabatta (3). Works of art masquerading as cakes were also on hand, like a tarte pecan (4) topped with dark chocolate mousse.

Photos courtesy of Maison Kayser and Downtown Express photos by Dusica Sue Malesevic

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WEAPONIZED HOT SAUCE

FARE GONE WRONG

Two food cart vendors were assaulted and robbed in separate incidents on Wed., Nov. 4 in Lower Manhattan, according to police. A man who claimed to be an employee got into a verbal dispute with a food vendor in front of 17 Battery Place in the Financial District at noon. The argument over money escalated to the point where the purported employee squirted hot sauce into the vendor’s eyes and then snatched $200 from the cash drawer, according to the police report. The alleged attacker was arrested. In the second incident, four men approached a food cart at the corner of West and Liberty Sts. in Battery Park City at 6:10 p.m. and demanded money from the 48-year-old man selling shish kebabs. One of the four suspects stuck the vendor with a knife and said, “If you do not move from here, I will kill you,” according to police. The group took off with an unspecified amount of money.

A cabbie got an unpleasant surprise when he stopped to pick up some men in Soho on Mon., Nov. 16. They punched him and stole his $80 iPhone charger and $50 in cash, police say. The 60-year-old driver stopped at the corner of Prince St. and Broadway at 9:50 p.m. after the men hailed him. When he stopped next to them, they opened the passenger side door, punched him and stole his stuff, then fled. Police did not specify how many assailants there were. The cab driver had a minor cut on his lip hand refused medical assistance.

according to the police report. The surly customer then left in a huff without paying for his coffee, fries, grilled steak, and salad. When the manager went after him for the $50, he punched her and fled to the J subway station at Broad St.

THIEF NOT NAILED A nail salon customer wanted more than just a mani and pedi — she stole an employee’s wallet. The 35-year-old employee told police that a woman went into an unlocked room at Affina Nails & Spa at 88 Fulton St. on Sun., Nov. 15 at 4:10 p.m. and stole her $200 wallet, $200 in cash, various credit cards, library card, and driver’s license. The thief then made four unauthorized charges on the woman’s credit cards totaling $100.

BIER BROUHAHA A disorderly man who was kicked out of the Bavaria Bier House, fled without paying for his meal, and then punched the manager in the lip when she tried to get him to pay up. The man ordered his food at 3:20 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 6 at the Financial District restaurant at 47 Stone St., but he was making other patrons feel uncomfortable and was asked to leave,

CURLY OR STRAIGHT? A thief got away with over $1,000 worth of hair styling tools from a Duane Reade, police say. A man waltzed into the 40 Wall St. drug store in the Financial District at 6:30 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 11, and stole 22 Conair products to both straighten and curl one’s hair as well as other styling accouterments. The thief stuffed

T:8.75”

them into a black plastic bag and left, according to cops.

GOLDEN APPLE While shopping at the Sephora in Soho, a woman felt someone reach into her jacket and snatch her $900 gold iPhone, police say. The 41-year-old Queens resident told police she felt the pickpocket happening at around 5 p.m. on Sun., Nov. 15 at the store at 555 Broadway. It was unclear, however, who did the deed. Police viewed surveillance video and also stated it was difficult to discern who stole the pricey phone.

SODA SCUFFLE A woman was walking through the intersection of W. Broadway and Canal St. when the man walking in front of her, turned around and threw a can of soda in her face, police say. The soda scuffle took place on Tues., Nov. 3 at 12:15 p.m. on the border between Tribeca and Soho, according to cops. The 37-year-old victim told police the attacker fled northbound on Sixth Ave. and that the soda made her face swell up.

— Dusica Sue Malesevic

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DowntownExpress.com

November 19 – December 2, 2015

The soft glow of her Lower Manhattan BY DUSICA SU E M A L E SE V IC Painter Ellen Bradshaw has done what some may consider an impossible feat: make the FDR look beautiful and appealing. In “South Street Snowstorm, Under The Viaduct,” the FDR actually has a soft glow, reflecting the warm yellows, oranges and hints of red used to depict the snow and lights. The near-empty scene, with only a few cars and one visible person, spurs Robert Frost-like images to swirl in one’s head. Bradshaw, a Southbridge resident for 27 years, has used her talented eye to create scenes of the South Street Seaport, the West Village, the High Line and other parts of Lower Manhattan. Her oil paintings show Downtown’s past and chronicle its present. For her current exhibition, “Visions from the South Street Seaport” (on view through Dec. 31 at artisanal food and craft store Farm Candy), Bradshaw features oil paintings of the Seaport that span 20 years. “I wanted to show kind of the history of the old Seaport and also the old fish market, which has been gone for years now,” Bradshaw said in a phone interview. “I did a whole show of the fish market, so some of those paintings will be in there.” Indeed, before the Fulton Fish Market shuttered in 2005, Bradshaw was up early to capture the fishmongers and their surroundings. “The last year that the fish market itself was open,” she recalled, “I went down at probably three in the morning with my husband, who knew some of the fish guys, because they didn’t really like their photographs taken.” Out of that exploration came “A Farewell Tribute to the Fulton Fish Market,” shown at Pleiades Gallery in 2006. Bradshaw has been a member of Pleiades Gallery (530 W. 25th St.) since 1999, and has been its president since 2000. In “Fulton Market Morning,” the myriad shades of blue suggest day before the sun has broken through, while men move boxes or stand around. Again, the scene is sparsely populated, but evokes a real sense of the market. Also to be shown as part of the exhibition are paintings that document bygone and current restaurants in the Seaport. Bradshaw said she depicted haunts like Sloppy Louie’s, no longer part of the neighborhood, and The Paris Café, open continuously since 1873 (except for 51 weeks after

November 19 – December 2, 2015

“Sloppy Louie’s” (2006 / 8x10”).

“Stormy Sky, Seaport Ships” (1996 / 18x18”).

“Night, Peck Slip” (2007 / 20x30”).

Images Courtesy Ellen Bradshaw

“Lou’s Fish Market” (2005 / 12x24”).

Hurricane Sandy). Bradshaw had frequented Farm Candy and met the owner, Pamela Stone. “I just wandered in there and struck up a conversation,” she said. “Her food is wonderful. We’ve bought several of her items. I told her what I did and she had the wall space to do a show.” Bradshaw’s ties to the Seaport began in the ’80s. Originally from Penfield, a small suburb of Rochester in upstate

New York, Bradshaw said, “Ever since I was little, I always knew I wanted to live here.” After attending Syracuse University for two years because her parents didn’t want her to move to New York City, she transferred to the Pratt Institute and studied fine arts and illustration. She graduated from Pratt in 1984, and immediately became associated with the Seaport.

“My first job was down here after school. I got a job managing a hand-painted clothing store in the Seaport,” she recalled. “It was called Foofaraw.” This is also how she met her husband, Joe Bradshaw. He often went to the bar across from the store called McDuffee’s (both are no lonBRADSHAW Continued on page 22

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EDITORIAL

Readers like P.E.P., local newspaper IN DEFENSE OF P.E.P.

PUBLISHER

Jennifer Goodstein EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Bill Egbert

EDITOR-AT-LARGE

Josh Rogers REPORTER

Dusica Sue Malesevic ARTS EDITOR

Scott Stiffler EXECUTIVE VP OF ADVERTISING

Amanda Tarley

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Jack Agliata Allison Greaker Jennifer Holland Jim Steele Julio Tumbaco ART DIRECTOR

Michael Shirey GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Rhiannon Hsu Chris Ortiz PHOTOGRAPHERS

Milo Hess Jefferson Siegel PUBLISHER EMERITUS

John W. Sutter

PUBLISHED BY

NYC COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC ONE METROTECH CENTER NEW YORK, NY 11201 PHONE: (212) 229-1890 FAX: (212) 229-2790 WWW.DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.COM NEWS@DOWNTOWNEXPRESS.COM Downtown Express is published every week by NYC Community Media LLC, One Metrotech Center North, 10th Floor, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201 (212) 229-1890. The entire contents of the newspaper, including advertising, are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced without the express permission of the publisher - © 2015 Community Media LLC. PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR The Publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for other errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue.

Member of the New York Press Association Activities

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November 19 – December 2, 2015

To the editor: I'm angry and disappointed about the possible decision to downsize or even eliminate the Park Enforcement Patrol (P.E.P.) in Battery Park City. Since 2003 they have kept the community safer, being a deterrent to crime. They also have been integrated into the Community Emergency Response Team. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a FEMA program which has certified over 1,000 people for dealing with mass-casualty disasters. CERT is made up of resident managers, building personnel, local residents, and Park Enforcement Patrol personnel. CERT's mission is to help save as many lives as possible during mass-casualty disasters. We've seen our share of them. The P.E.P. officers are our 24/7 eyes and ears in the community and have the same legal authority as the police without sidearms. To lose them would be a breach in security in a highly targeted area. Our biggest enemy is complacently and it looks like some idiots are complacent about security and have very short memories. Park Enforcement Patrol personnel should be increased instead of decreased. Those responsible for decreasing personnel by subbing it out to less trained people stand to have blood, terrorism,

and crime on there hands. The highest role of government is to supply the best security possible, and the Park Enforcement Patrol fills that need. I would strongly encourage our 1,000 CERT members to show up on December 16th, at the River House Library between 5:00 and 6:00pm to show their support. Hank Wisner, Deputy Director of CERT/ BPC

DOWNTOWN EXPRESS GETS SOME LOVE To the editor: Welcome aboard to Bill Egbert as Editor. You have big shoes to fill following in the footsteps of previous Editor Josh Rogers. How fortunate we are living in one of the few remaining free societies with a wealth of information sources available for any citizen to gain access. Newspapers and magazines have to deal with increasing costs for newsprint, delivery and distribution along with reduced advertising revenues and declining readership due to competition from the Internet, cable news and other information sources. Challenges in maintaining the bottom line have also resulted in less resources being devoted to investigative reporting and a greater reliance on wire service stories. As a result, original

newspaper content continues to shrink. This puts even more pressure on the remaining reporters assigned to various departments. There is intense competition between international, state, business, sports, entertainment and other sections of newspapers. It is becoming more difficult to provide real detailed coverage of local news. Daily papers tend to concentrate on international, Washington, Albany, business and sports stories. There are fewer reporters to cover news from the five boroughs and diverse local neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan. As a result, local news within daily newspapers continues to be scarce. For local residents and thousands of others who may either work, shop, dine or just visit downtown Manhattan, your paper provides more in depth coverage of local news not found in the remaining major daily newspapers. I urge my fellow riders to continue patronizing the advertisers in Downtown Express. It is their revenues that cover the production costs affording all of us a free paper. As a loyal reader for over twenty five years, I look forward to each and every edition. In the marketplace of ideas, let us hope there continues to be room for everyone, including our own Downtown Express. Larry Penner

Posted To "ROBERT JANZ: ARTIST, POET, POSTER WARRIOR" (POSTED NOV. 5)

Robert Janz is one of a kind, a true original with a pure heart. As opposed to most graffitti artists, who are aiming at notoriety using giant tags as self promotion, Janz's work remains anonymous, albeit unmistakable. His breathtaking artworks, a short-lived gift for us all, are quickly covered up and fade away. Thankfully they are documented with photos. But the photos cannot give the experience of unexpectedly coming upon one of his creatures, startling us with its presence, integrity and stature. It awes me like the mythical appearance wild animal in an unexpected place. Cristina Vergano I love the juxtaposition of erasure, censorship with man's first impulse toward line in the way Janz evokes the timeless cave drawings at Lascaux. Among the flotsam and jetsam of human movement, where ads and admonishments battle for posturing,

Janz's daily reminders of who we are and where we come from are a source of liberation. Jo Wood-Brown

"FIGHTER SQUADRON" (POSTED NOV.5) This is textbook Squadron. All talk, no action. Three plus years of proposing this idea, and still, the "city has so far shown little interest in the proposition." What are paying this guy for? To wait it out until he runs for higher office again? Tom Douban We pay Senator Squadron for the entertainment he provides. Clearly he is in over his head when it comes to legislating anything. Even his 'constituent services' are little more than token efforts dressed up to look like the best Sunday services one could hope to find in Lower Manhattan. Let's not be too critical while we enjoy the show. Joe Gould DowntownExpress.com

Finders are not always keepers BY LENORE SKENAZY Remember that old expression “Finders keepers, losers weepers?” Does it even exist anymore? Last week I lost my phone on the Q58 bus, but before I even realized it was missing, I sat down at my computer and found e-mails from my family, “Call a lady named Grace. She has your phone.” She did indeed. She’d found it on the seat next to her, taken it with her to work, and reached the “favorites” on my contact list. Soon I was in a Mexicana Car Service car heading to her workplace in Maspeth, Queens: United Basket. This turned out to be a cool, 100-year old factory filled with every possible basket (big surprise) and an even cooler young woman, Grace Chen, who cheerfully handed over the Android, adamantly refused a reward, and hurried back to her job. A couple of months ago someone stole my wallet on the subway and another wonderful young woman — a waitress in a Colombian restaurant — found it on the street, bereft of cash but otherwise intact, she contacted me and also refused a reward. Could it be that this is the way of the world — or at least New York? Finders aren’t keepers? I started asking around. “I got a message that said, ‘I found your phone. Please call me,’ ” recalls Natalie Yates, co-founder of the digital agency Blue Iceberg Interactive. “I did. It was a taxi driver — in Westchester. He’d just gotten off his shift, found the phone, and he said that once his wife got home, she could take care of the kids and he could drive back into Manhattan with his truck to bring me my phone.”

Drive it in? After his shift? “I can survive without my phone for a night!” Natalie told him. To which he replied with a laugh, “A lot of people can’t.’ ” Instead, they arranged for him to drop it off the next day, whereupon he told Natalie that he always returns things, including, one time, $10,000 that had been left in his cab. For that good deed, he got a $20 tip. Natalie gave him $30. For her return efforts, performer Laurie Gamache got some lovely wine. “I used to live in a little basement studio on W. 96th Street,” said Laurie, who now teaches theater arts at the School of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as running the Theatre West 97th program at the Franciscan Community Center on the Upper West Side. “I was getting ready to go on the road with ‘A Chorus Line’ and so I was cleaning out the place.” In a crack in the plaster of her fireplace, she found a class ring. The year on the ring was 1980something, and this was still in the ’80s. There was a name engraved, too. Laurie put it in a box in her desk drawer, intending to try to find the owner. But then it slipped her mind. For decades. “By the time I got back — years later — I forgot all about it,” she explained. But when she was

preparing for a move, she cleaned out her desk and opened a little box she found. Oh yes! The ring! How to find its owner? Well in the intervening years a device had been invented to do just that: the Internet. So instead of thumbing through phone books, Laurie instantly found the owner on line — an upstate judge — and sent it back to her. The judge’s husband runs a winery, so the exchange concluded with a drinkable reward, nicely aged. Just like the ring. Dana Rubin, the chief executive officer at Rubin&Co, an executive communications and content creation company, came home one to a ransacked apartment. What pained her most was the loss of a bag of jewelry, including sentimental pieces given to her by her parents. “I was devastated,” she recalls. About a year later, she called an organization to come pick up some furniture she was donating. As the workers lifted up her mattress, there was the jewelry bag. She had put it there for safekeeping — which, apparently, worked. “I’d been sleeping on it all year,” she said. In a world of good people and eureka moments, there seems to be only one sure-fire way find a lost and precious item, at least according to my sisterin-law: Go online and shop for a replacement. Press “Purchase.” Look up. There it is. Lenore Skenazy is a keynote speaker and founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids.

City must reform street vending regulations, not raise cap on permits BY J O H N CAT SI MAT ID IS New York City should not move forward with proposals to raise or eliminate the cap on the number of street vendor permits until we reform the current regulations. Officials must have a full understanding of the impact that these mobile vendors have on brick-and-mortar businesses, and the union employees that work in many of them, as well as the impact that street vendors have on the quality of life in our neighborhoods. Sadly, today in too many neighborhoods, our business owners, including many of the “mom and pop” stores we all grew up with, are facing unfair competition from street vendors. Brickand-mortar business owners are being asked to pay higher rents and insurance premiums, and are burdened with excessive regulations, fines, and taxes. They are also competing with street vendors who are parked just a few feet away from their locations, selling similar products for much less because they simply do not have these same overhead costs and intense scruDowntownExpress.com

tiny by city agencies. It is time that our city creates comprehensive and clear guidelines governing all street vendors, that includes preventing them from operating within at least 200 feet of an established business, and working with local community boards to ensure that the quality of life on our streets are not negatively affected by their presence. It is the brick-and-mortar businesses that are the backbone of our communities and provide jobs to local residents. These are also the same businesses that are least able to afford the unfair competition from street vendors with little overhead, selling cheaper products. For smaller mom and pop stores, losing customers to a street vendor means losing revenue needed to stay afloat. For larger businesses, including supermarkets, losing sales due to a fruit cart right outside can cause layoffs or the reduction of hours of union employees in the produce department. I started my first business from scratch when I was in my twenties. I know firsthand the incredible hard

work, long hours, and personal and financial investment involved in opening and running a neighborhood store. I remember the constant worry in those early years about making a payroll and paying the bill because I knew my employees were counting on me each week for their paycheck so they could pay the rent and feed their families. These concerns still exist today for business owners, and city officials must take them into account as they consider proposals that would benefit street vendors at the expense of other businesses. In fact, several years ago in southwest Brooklyn, Community Boards 10 and 11, the 86th street BID, and officials of both political parties united in a request to the city Department of Small Business Services to include mobile food carts as part of the BID's street vendor-free zone. This zone in Bay Ridge, between 4th Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway on 86th street, was created by the city decades ago because of the high volume of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. There has been and continues to

be tensions between street vendors, local community members and business owners throughout New York City that must be comprehensively addressed. Street vendors have every right to make a living and follow their American Dream, as I followed mine, however this should not be at the expense of other small businesses, and should not interfere with the quality of life in our communities. We must enact policies that promote fairness amongst all types of entrepreneurs. New York City has to ensure a level playing field between all business owners from “mom and pop” stores, supermarkets, to mobile food carts, and implement city policies that allow businesses of all kinds to open, grow, and expand to create more jobs. Blindly permitting the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs to increase or eliminate the cap on the number of street vendor permits is not a prudent action for our City Council. John Catsimatidis is a businessman and was a candidate for Mayor in 2013. November 19 – December 2, 2015

Intersection intervention

1st Pct. to fill gaps in crossing-guard coverage BY DU SI CA SU E M ALE S E V IC Busy intersections near Downtown schools will have someone to watch over them, vowed the commanding officer of the First Precinct, even if that means assigning traffic enforcement agents to the task until official crossing guards are hired. The Lower Manhattan precinct finally secured the funding to staff two additional intersections last month, but has faced yet another bottleneck filling the positions — hence the stop-gap. “The main thing is that traffic enforcement agents will be out there helping children crossing the street until we hire crossing guards,” First Precinct Commanding Officer Mark Iocco told the Downtown Express. Iocco said the traffic agents will be filling in at the Spruce Street School and the newly opened Peck Slip School from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. and from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Local leaders welcomed the interim fix. "That is welcome, positive progress for the short-term solution," Catherine McVay Hughes, chairwoman of Community Board 1. Locals have long complained that the fast-growing area needed additional crossing guards, but Iocco said the precinct was only authorized to hire four of them. But at the First

Precinct Community Council meeting last month, Iocco said the precinct had finally gotten approval to hire two more guards. But now the hang up is finding the right candidates, he said. Crossing guards earn just $11.50 an hour and can only work a maximum of 25 hours a week — split between morning and afternoon shifts. “It’s hard for people from Brooklyn, the Bronx, Upper Manhattan to travel in and spend the entire day down here with all that downtime in between,” Iocco said. “They’ve been having a hard time getting people to follow through the hiring process.” Until the First Precinct can fill those part-time positions, the city will be paying the traffic enforcement agents overtime to cover the empty posts. The Downtown community has also called for additional guards for P.S./I.S. 276 in Battery Park City, and P.S. 89/I.S. 289 in Tribeca. Students have to cross busy West St. — also known as the West Side Highway — to reach P.S. 89/I.S. 289 on Warren St., and the school’s lone crossing guard, Zaida Martinez, told the Downtown Express in October that she has to divide her day between the two nearby intersections — guarding the crossing at West and Warren Sts. for morning drop-off, and then switching to West and Chambers Sts. for pickup in the afternoon.

Downtown Express photo by Yannic Rack

This P.S. 89 crossing guard covers the corner of West and Warren Sts. in the morning, but she has to abandon the post every afternoon to watch the intersection at Chambers St.

The First Precinct’s other two crossing guards are stationed at MacDougal and West Houston Sts., and near P.S. 234 at Chambers and Greenwich Sts. in Tribeca. Concerns about traffic safety near Downtown schools spiked in April following a terrifying hitand-run incident during the morning drop-off near the Spruce Street School. The driver jumped the curb onto the sidewalk to bypass traffic on Beekman St. — forcing parents walking their kids to school to push their children into the street to avoid being hit — before hitting and seriously injuring a mother who was on her way to work.

Join in a Community Conversation St. Paul’s Chapel

CHURCH

VESEY

ST R E E T—

Saturday, November 21, 10am-2pm St. Paul’s Chapel, Broadway and Fulton Street

DEY

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World Trade Center Site

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CORTLANDT

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L I B E RTY ST R E E T

STR EET

STR

ID ST S

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You’re invited to participate in a community conversation, or charette, about the new parish building at 68/74 Trinity Place. Your voice is important to this process. At this meeting, we’ll hear about the people who live in Lower Manhattan and how this building may serve the community’s needs.

Trinity Church

To RSVP, please call 212.602.0801. RSVP not required but appreciated as it helps with event planning.

All are welcome. FREE trinitywallstreet.org 20

November 19 – December 2, 2015

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November 19 – December 2, 2015

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November 19 – December 2, 2015

ger part of the neighborhood). “It was just a great place,” she recalled. “The stores down there and the restaurants — everything was so original and really quaint back in those days before the mall-type shops took over.” They met in 1986 and were married two years later. Joe grew up in the Smith Houses in the Lower East Side and then moved to Southbridge Towers. Bradshaw has seen the neighborhood go through many changes. “When I first came down here, it was a little bit more deserted feeling,” she said. “There was hardly a really good place to buy food, like a supermarket. So it is totally transformed into much more of a residential feel.” Hurricane Sandy has also played a huge role in how the neighborhood is now. “Sandy hit and the whole place was demolished,” Bradshaw said. “Three years after Sandy, it’s starting to really revive.” When Bradshaw starts a new series of paintings, she picks a theme and then dives in for a year. She takes her camera with her wherever she goes, taking several photographs. She brings those back to her studio in the West Village. “I take some ideas from one photo, some from another photo, and create my own vision of what the feeling would look like,” she explained. “I take pieces from different photographs and put them together to make a painting.”

Her last show centered on the High Line. “What I loved about it was the wild nature up there and then you look over the rails and there is city below,” she said. “I just loved the High Line — I didn’t expect to, but I did.” Her next gallery show will be “Up on the Roof,” which is slated for April 2016 at Pleiades. It is a change of pace for Bradshaw, who usually paints street level. This series will focus on views of the city from rooftops and balconies in Lower Manhattan and Midtown. Bradshaw enjoys painting scenes in or about Lower Manhattan and the West Village. “I like the more intimate everydayness of the city,” she said. “Usually, if I put people in my paintings, it’s just either lone figures or people walking the streets maybe battling the elements. I don’t usually do crowd scenes or the more popular areas of the city.” Meanwhile, Bradshaw says she misses the Fulton Fish Market — but not the smells. “It was such a really cool part of this neighborhood,” she said. “It was fascinating. When I went down there and saw what went on, it was like being on a movie set. It was almost choreographed the way they went about their work. They did this every night, and then in the morning they would just sweep it all up and clean it all up. It was a real integral part of this neighborhood.” “Visions from the South Street Seaport” is on view through Dec. 31 at Farm Candy (21 Fulton St. btw. Water & South Sts.). Hours: Mon.–Sat., 11 a.m.–7 p.m. & Sun., 12–6 p.m. Artist info at ellenbradshaw.com. DowntownExpress.com

Peking dock Concerns about Seaport space as historic barque sails away B Y YA N N I C RAC K One of the Seaport’s most beloved ships is setting sail for good, and some Downtowners are worried the barque’s berthing space will soon walk the plank as well. The financially troubled South Street Seaport Museum recently announced that the Peking, docked in Manhattan since 1974, would soon make its likely final voyage to Hamburg in Germany, where it was built more than a century ago. But Michael Kramer, a member of the community group Save Our Seaport, fears the ship’s departure will mean its spot on the waterfront will be lost for good. “We’re hoping that berth will continue to be reserved for historic ships, rather than giving it over to yet another party boat,” he said this week. Kramer worries that once the muse-

um’s other tall-mast sailing ship, the Wavertree, returns from a $13 million city-funded restoration in Staten Island, it will be docked in the Peking’s old berth and lose its own spot at Pier 15. “The real question is, why are we being squeezed in terms of berthing space? This has been a deliberate decision by the city, without any public input,” he said, referring to the city’s failure to reserve more pier space for the museum. Capt. Jonathan Boulware, the museum’s executive director, confirmed that the Wavertree will slip into the Peking’s berth at Pier 16, but said he couldn’t offer any details on the future of the museum’s so-called “Street of Ships” on South St. “[That decision] is not with the museum. Pier 15 is not a space that we control currently,” he told Downtown Express. “At this point, there is certainly a need for

Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess

The century-old barque Peking will set sail for Germany in the spring, and locals fear its departure will leave a hole in the heart of the Seaport.

vessel berthing, and I think there’s a broad recognition for that,” he said. Once in Hamburg, the Peking will anchor a new waterfront museum in the German port city. The country’s government recently allocated 30 million eurosh for its restoration, but Boulware emphasized that the offer from the museum had been standing for four years. Although the vessel will be gifted to Hamburg, its departure still means considerable savings for the museum, which was maintaining the costly ship while still struggling to repair damage wreaked by Hurricane Sandy. “The idea of recreating the ‘Street of Ships’ is an important one, but what is clear

is that two huge sailing ships are a crushing burden of maintenance,” Boulware said in a statement announcing the news. Even if Pier 15 won’t permanently dock one of the museum’s ships in the future, Boulware still sees a great opportunity for visiting vessels to supplement the museum’s educational mission. “It’s possible to have a very lively waterfront with lots of masts in view, but not necessarily having them all owned by the Seaport Museum,” he said. Visitors can still enjoy the majestic barque until it sets sail for Hamburg in the spring. The Wavertree is expected to return to the Seaport in mid-2016, according to the museum.

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DowntownExpress.com

November 19 – December 2, 2015

En Solidarité Downtowners come together support of Paris after attacks BY DU SI CA SU E M A L E S E V IC In the wake of the devastating terrorist attacks in Paris last week, Downtowners gathered on Monday at the memorial to their own darkest hour to show their support. The National September 11 Memorial hosted a ceremony to show New York’s solidarity with the City of Lights following a night of coordinated attacks last Friday that left 129 people dead and 352 injured in what many are calling “France’s 9/11.” There was a short speech by Bertrand Lortholary, France’s consul general in New York, followed by a moment of silence before the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” was played. Children and adults held up France’s tricolor flag, and supporters laid flowers at the memorial’s famed “Survivor Tree,” which miraculously survived the fiery collapse of the World Trade Center towers in 2001 and have since become a powerful symbol of resilience in the face of terrorism. Many in Lower Manhattan may recall the comfort and inspiration they got following the 9/11 attacks from a seeing another potent symbol — a gift from France — standing vigil in New York Harbor, summed up by “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart short afterwards: “The view from my apartment was the World Trade Center,” he said. “Now, it’s gone … But, do you know what the view is now? The Statue of Liberty. The view from south Manhattan is now the Statue of Liberty. You can't beat that.”

November 19 – December 2, 2015

DowntownExpress.com

(Left) The National September 11 Memorial becomes a place to mourn the victims of another terrorist atrocity in the wake of the horrific attacks in Paris last week. (Above left) The holes in the bronze parapets surrounding the memorial pools, which typically hold American flags or yellow roses, host the French tricolor at the Nov. 16 gathering. (Below far left) Locals place tricolor bouquets at the memorial’s famed “Survivor Tree.” (Above) Supporters express solidarity with the people of Paris by signing posters adorned with an angelic image of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France that was a potent symbol of strength for New Yorkers after the 9/11 attacks. (Below left) People waved French flags as the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” was played. (Bottom) An increased police presence was clearly visible at the 9/11 memorial and many other places in Lower Manhattan over the past week.

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Jacob a. Riis revealing new york’s other half

“heart-rending retrospective” – The New York Times

Inequality remains a fact of life in America. A century later, this New York master’s photos still explode with outrage.

November 19 – December 2, 2015

mcny.org 1220 FiFth ave at 103rd st

TRANSIT SAM Thurs., Nov. 19 – Wed., Nov. 25 ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE IN EFFECT ALL WEEK A cornucopia of gridlock is here again! Lower Manhattan will see traffic surges over the next two weeks starting this Friday, with the approaches to the bridges and tunnels taking the hardest hit. The lines at the Holland Tunnel will start to form around 3 p.m. on Varick St., followed by Canal St., then Hudson St. and finally Spring St. will slow to a turkey trot. Why all the fuss so early? Blame the lucky ones who take the whole Thanksgiving week off! But, they’ll bear the brunt of it when it comes time to return home on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Wednesday, Nov. 25th, the day before Thanksgiving, is the busiest travel day of the year with delays on all major roads and crossings. If you’re catching a flight, please allow for an extra 60 to 90 minutes to get to the airport. The best time to travel is early Thanksgiving morning with lighter traffic and cheap flights before the afternoon surge for Thanksgiving dinner. For more Thanksgiving traffic tips and tricks, follow me on Twitter @GridlockSam. Closures ahead for West St./Route 9A: One southbound lane and one

TARGET Continued from page 5

for a “part magical toy store, part Pop Art exhibit” to open at an undisclosed location Downtown on Dec. 7. Currently the only Target store in Manhattan is on E.117 St. in East Harlem. The nearest Targets to Lower Manhattan are in Jersey City and near Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The 48,242-square-foot Tribeca Target will be more similar to the smaller-scale urban-format store in Brooklyn than the sprawling, 136,000-squarefoot Target in East Harlem, which hews to the big-box model of the retailer's suburban outlets. Bea McMonagle, who has lived in Tribeca for two years, said that Target moving in was a catch-22. On the one hand, she likes the convenience of the store and that it will be nearby. On the other, she worries about the bigbox infiltration into Manhattan. “You kind of feel ashamed for being happy about it,” she said.

northbound lane will close from Battery Pl. to Chambers St. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. weeknights and all day Saturday and Sunday. The last Coenties Slip Thursday Greenmarket of the season will close Coenties Sl. Between Water and Pearl Sts. 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. A slow return to Manhattan Thursday night: One tube of the Lincoln Tunnel will close 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday. This will drive more traffic down to the Holland Tunnel, where during the same time, one New-York-bound tunnel lane will close. Thames St. between Greenwich St. and Trinity Pl., Fletcher St. between Front and South Sts., and Dutch St. between Fulton and John Sts. will all close through December. More closures on the Brooklyn Bridge ahead: all Manhattan-bound lanes will close Monday through Thursday nights, 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. One tube of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel will close each night, Monday through Friday 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. One tube will also close 9:30 p.m. Friday and remain closed until 5:30 a.m. Monday. There will be one lane open in each direction in the remaining tube.

TRASH Continued from page 12

pay that ticket within the time limit.” Terranova said the department has been trying to give some type of teeth to the summonses, but they are still mostly ignored. “We have had building owners that have gone, no joke, 20, 30 years later to sell the property. They’re about to make $20 billion and we tell them, oh, by the way, here’s a $5,000 fine because you haven’t paid your tickets. And then a deal is struck and they pay $200.” When Hughes pressed Terranova on what could be done to minimize the impact of residential and commercial trash on residents, he said the board could ask for more pickups —but he quickly brought up a familiar and frustrating caveat. “The one thing that is unique to Downtown Manhattan … is the congestion,” he said. “So yes, you could ask for more pickup, but what good is that because we’re not going to be here during the daytime.” DowntownExpress.com

Painting for the experience

Frank Stella at the Whitney Museum of American Art BY ST E PH A N I E B U H M A NN Fewer than three weeks into its run at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Frank Stella’s retrospective has already been widely reviewed by the media. With over 60 works — some of them massive — filling its entire fifth floor, it is the perfect project to highlight the museum’s new lofty premises. Although often too closely installed, the many paintings, wall reliefs, maquettes, free standing sculptures and a few drawings provide insight into Stella’s versatile, nearly six decade-spanning oeuvre. As one of the most influential American artists working today, he certainly deserves such attention. And yet, what is interesting about the extensive coverage that this exhibition heralds is its common tenor: it is still Stella’s early work that remains the most universally revered and better understood. Even Stella himself has noted in the recent past that his so-called “striped” paintings might be the best he has ever painted. In fact, it was his Black Paintings that put him on the map. Works such as “Die Fahne hoch!” (1959) are straightforward compositions, which assemble even stripes of house paint into parallel geometric movements. They are often described as emotionally detached, and considered a historic bridge between the romantically charged Abstract Expressionist works of Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline and the Minimalism of Donald Judd or Carl Andre. “What you see is what you see,” Stella once remarked about these works — but that is too simple a description. It is true that they focus on the surface and do not veil a hidden mystique, but they are also elegant contemplations of rhythm. In that, the austere aestheticism of their vocabulary pulses with life within. In the early 1960s, Stella applied the concept of the Black Paintings to compositions based on aluminum radiator paint, which Pollock before him had used to strong effect as well. In works like “Union Pacific” (1960), the reflective silver surface makes for subtle plays with light. Depending on the viewer’s position, it either shimmers or appears somewhat muted. The paint handling DowntownExpress.com

Photo by Ronald Amstut courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art

Installation view, with “The Blanket (IRS-8, 1.875X)” at far left and “The Whiteness of the Whale (IRS-8, 1.875X)” at far right.

enhances this effect: Stella changed the angle of his brush as he turned corners, allowing the light to reflect differently and to animate the surface. Both the Black Paintings and the Aluminum Paintings keep the viewer at a distance, encouraging them to be studied from afar. They manifest as statements rather than transformative experiences and this quality is characteristic for all of Stella’s work. The paintings and sculptures are created and meant for their own sake, and especially for the experience of making them. They are not intended to become catalysts for something emotional or spiritual. Born in 1936 to first-generation Sicilian immigrants, Stella grew up in a suburb of Boston. In 1954, he entered Princeton University, where he studied with the painter Stephen Greene, among others, and created gestural works with a muted palette that, above all, celebrated the spirit of Abstract Expressionism. After graduating in 1958, Stella settled on the Lower East Side of New York, where he soon acquainted himself with some of the major artists of

“Harran II” (1967. Polymer and fluorescent polymer paint on canvas. 120 x 240 in. / 304.8 x 609.6 cm).

the scene. At this point he became especially taken by Jasper Johns’ flag paintings. In this context, Stella managed to rise quickly. In 1959, he joined Leo Castelli Gallery, which also represented Johns, and exhibited in “Sixteen Americans” at the Museum of Modern Art (1959-1960). He became a bona fide shooting star to the extent that

the Museum of Modern Art organized a survey of his work in 1970 when he was not even 35 years old. Despite this early success, he managed to stay clear of wanting to please and meet others’ expectations. In fact, his work has so continuously and WHITNEY Continued on page 28

November 19 – December 2, 2015

Frank Stella rejects echoes of past decades

Photo by Ronald Amstut courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art

Installation view, L to R: “Marrakech,” “Palmito Ranch,” “Avicenna” and “Jasper’s Dilemma.”

Photo by Ronald Amstut courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art

Installation view. L to R: “Creede I” and “Creede II,” “Plant City” and “Empress of India.”

WHITNEY Continued from page 27

drastically changed over the decades, that he was sure to lose many of his early admirers along the way. In the mid-1960s, the striped paintings led to the Irregular Polygon series, which broke away from the strict organization of his previous work. In “Conway I” (1966), for example, thick stretcher bars push the composition off the wall. Both its vibrant palette and physicality provoke a sense of confrontation. Stella made 11 Polygons, as well as identical canvases for each, employing different color combinations every time. In these works, a thin line of raw

November 19 – December 2, 2015

canvas delineates each color field, albeit without mechanical precision. Bleeding color makes for irregular edges when viewed up close. Despite their overt graphic quality, the Irregular Polygons convey a sense of playfulness that foreshadows Stella’s sculptural works of the 1990s and 2000s. The Protractor series came next, inspired by and named after the drafting tool used to draw and measure curves. When viewing works like “Harran II” (1967), Stella’s minimal palette of the Black and Aluminum Paintings seem a faint memory, even a foreign concept. Now, radiant and fluorescent fields of color dominate and establish a strong dynamism. They are organized in eight-inch

bands that form rhythmic sequences of echoing arcs. Arranged side-by-side within square borders, they find unison in full and half circles. Though Stella’s Polish Village series of 1970 — in which he collaged paper, felt and wood onto canvas — marked a turning point toward the more three-dimensional, his first truly sculptural works appeared in 1982. Stella has often remarked how his sculptures remain rooted in painting, but that the complicated forms he pursued demanded an independent physicality. They were, so Stella built paintings that he could then color and decorate. When viewed frontally, “The Blanket (IRS-8, 1.875X)” (1988), might evoke the shape of a vertebra. It is the particular colorization of different sections that defines them, but also visually flattens the protruding three-dimensional form when viewed from afar. In fact, it is a hybrid, a painting with sculptural tendencies. Though one cannot study it in the round, which makes it less sculpture than painting, its carefully painted sides in fluorescent rainbow stripes leave no doubt that this work is not solely to be considered from the front. As much as Stella has changed over the decades, one aspect remains the same: he has both openly admired other artists’ work and channeled it into his own. Pollock, Kline, Johns and John Chamberlain are perhaps the most evident. In recent years, Stella has openly dedicated whole bodies of work to literary and musical sources of inspiration. While the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and the writings of the American 20th-century harpsichord virtuoso Ralph Kirkpatrick, who made them widely known, inspired his Scarlatti K series, his most extensive series — Moby-Dick — ponders Herman Melville in depth. Then there are the tributes to a singular artist, like Kazimir Malevich in “Circus of Pure Feeling for Malevich” (2009), or to specific works of art, like Théodore Gericault’s masterpiece of (almost) the same title, in “Raft of the Medusa (Part I)” (1990). At the Whitney, the chronological organization becomes looser as the exhibition unfolds, mixing works from different eras in close proximity. This unfortunately feels like a forced reunion, as if to remind us that despite all their drastic changes and differences, these works belong and can hum together. However, a strictly chronological curation might have been more effective, because the beauty of Stella’s oeuvre is its dissonance. Each body of work might have emerged organically from the previous, but it quickly strove for independence. The fact that Stella has not spent his life echoing his most successful work from many decades ago, makes him inspiring. It will also ensure him credibility going forward, as his work will continue to impact subsequent generations of artists for entirely different reasons. “Frank Stella: A Retrospective” is on view through Feb. 7, 2016 at the Whitney Museum of American Art (99 Gansevoort St., btw. 10th Ave. & Washington St.). Hours: 10:30 a.m.–6 p.m. on Mon., Wed., Thurs. & Sun ad 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m. Fri. & Sat. Admission: $22 ($18 for students/seniors, free for members and those under 18). Visit whitney.org. DowntownExpress.com

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Same programs withoptions new options for Same greatgreat programs with new for preschool and pre-kindergarten classes preschool and pre-kindergarten classes

Music with Lou Gallo Join us 9am-3pm, 9am-12noon, Join us 9am-3pm, 9am-12noon,

2pm-5pm or or 8am-6pm Singer, 2pm-5pm song-writer & 8am-6pm Storyteller Lou Gallo will lead a 9 week Music & Rhythm Class Mondays 4:15-5:00 pm January 25th through March 30th Open for children ages 12 months - 5 years Must be accompanied by an adult Space is limited! Singer, song-writer & song-writer Storyteller Lou Gallo $150.00 for the 9 week Singer, & series Storyteller Lou Gallo Singer, song-writer & Storyteller Lou Gallo For more information to register child Class will lead a 10 week Music & Rhythm will lead a 9 week Music &orRhythm Classyour will lead aplease 9 week & Rhythm Class Mondays 4:15-5:00 pm callMusic 212-945-0088 Mondays 4:00 - 4:30 4:15-5:00 January 25thMondays through March 30th pm or email info@bpcnersery.com September 28th - December 14th January 25th through- March 30th Open for children ages 12 months 5 years

NURSERY SCHOOL PRE-KGallo • SUMMER Music with• Lou

Music with Lou Gallo

Same great programs with new options for preschool and pre-kindergarten classes

Getty Images for Tribeca Games

Cosplayers dressed as characters from the 128-strong “League of Legends” stable, at Tribeca Games’ daylong exploration of the massively popular game.

BY CH A RL E S B AT T E R S B Y Tribeca Enterprises is known for the Tribeca Film Festival, but they recently launched a new project that examines another art form: video games. On Nov. 13, “Tribeca Games Presents The Craft and Creative of League of Legends” dedicated an entire day to a single massively popular game. The developers of “League of Legends” came to New York to show fans how they use art, music, and narrative to create their game. “League of Legends,” or just “League” as its fans call it, is an online game where teams of players battle for control of strategic points on a map. Each player chooses a “Champion” that they control, and “League” is known for its huge roster of colorful characters. Playable Champions include gaming archetypes like warriors, wizards and robots, and the increasingly outlandish 128-strong stable includes demonic cookie bakers, anthropomorphic bear policemen and nightclub DJs who fight with music. The quirky characters, and strategic, team-based gameplay, have caused “League” to surge in popularity since its 2009 launch. Patty Newburger, Executive Vice President of Event Strategy and Operations at Tribeca Enterprises, explained how “League” was chosen as the focus of this inaugural event . “Tribeca Games grew out of an inspiration from Jane Rosenthal, who is our founder, but also a well-known film producer. When you do a film, DowntownExpress.com

there are costumes, there’s a script, and there is music. When you look at the game ‘League of Legends,’ they are also telling a story.” Newburger pointed out how the game uses the same sort of musical composition, costume design and character development that one would expect from a movie and that “Jane believed that there was a real synergy. So we created Tribeca Games to continue storytelling...We are delving into the game, and how they tell their story.” Panels were held throughout the day, where members of “League” developer, Riot Games, spoke about the process of designing the game. Riot Games has cultivated a global fanbase, and the fans had the chance to meet the developers at Tribeca Games, which was held at Spring Studios. It was a relatively quiet setting compared to video game conventions like the Penny Arcade Expo, which can have over 100,000 attendees. “One of the great things about today is that the fans and players have a time to interact with the creators,” said Newburger. “Normally they’re going to a tournament where they’re playing the game, or watching the game be played. Here is a time to really talk to the people that put the game together.” “League” Design Director Greg Street said. “We really enjoy these smaller venues that can be more intimate, and you can have a one-on-one interaction with attendees, instead of a stadium LEGENDS Continued on page 31

NURSERY SCHOOL •Open PRE-K • SUMMER for ages children ages 12 Must befor accompanied by an12adult Open children months - 5months years - 5 years NURSERY SCHOOL •limited! PRE-K • SUMMER Must be accompanied by an adult Space Must beisaccompanied by an adult Spaceat is limited! Join uswho 9am-3pm, “Children learn rhythm an early age, $150.00 for theSpace 99am-12noon, week series is limited! $240.00 forchild 10 sessions For more information or to register your series Same greatdevelop programs with new for $150.00 for thereading 9options week For more information or to register your child 2pm-5pm or 8am-6pm stronger & math skills” 212-945-0088 Forplease more call information or to register your child for please call 212-945-0088 Same great programs with new options preschool and pre-kindergarten classes or email info@bpcnersery.com please or callemail 212-945-0088 info@bpcnersery.com preschoolNURSERY and pre-kindergarten classes or email info@bpcnersery.com SCHOOL • PRE-K • SUMMER Join uswho 9am-3pm, 9am-12noon, “Children learn rhythm at an early age, 2pm-5pm orlearn 8am-6pm develop stronger reading &atmath skills”age, Join uswho 9am-3pm, 9am-12noon, “Children rhythm an early Same great programs with new options for 2pm-5pm or 8am-6pm develop stronger reading & math skills” preschool and pre-kindergarten classes

CALL FOR A VISIT C A L L F OJoinRus 9am-3pm, A212-945-0088 V9am-12noon, ISIT! CALL FOR A VISIT

212-945 -00 8 A8VISIT 212-945-0088 CALL FOR 2pm-5pm or 8am-6pm

212-945-0088

215 South End Ave., Battery Park City

Music with Lou Gallo

215 South End Ave., Battery Parkeld City (Two blocks south of Brookﬁ Place) (Two blocks south of Brookﬁeld Place)

Singer,End song-writer Storyteller Lou GalloCity 215 South Ave.,& Battery Park will lead a 9 week Music & Rhythm Class

(Two blocks south Brookﬁ Mondaysof 4:15-5:00 pm eld Place) January 25th through March 30th

Open for children ages 12 months - 5 years NURSERY SCHOOL • PRE-K • SUMMER Must be accompanied by an adult Space is limited! $150.00 for the 9 week series For more information or to register your child please call 212-945-0088 or email info@bpcnersery.com

Same great programs with new options for preschool and pre-kindergarten classes

∙ Tuesday, December 1st 9:10 AM - 10:30 AM Join uswho 9am-3pm, 9am-12noon, “Children learn ∙ Tuesday, January 5th 9:10 AM - rhythm 10:30 AM at an early age, 2pm-5pm or 8am-6pm develop stronger reading & math skills” ∙ Tuesday, January 26th 9:10 AM - 10:30 AM ∙ Tuesday, April 19th 9:10 AM - 10:30 AM ∙ Tuesday, May 10th 9:10 AM - 10:30 AM CALL FOR A VISIT 212-945-0088 215 South End Ave., Battery Park City (Two blocks south of Brookﬁeld Place)

Marvelous Fiction Romance Novel in NYC Barnes and Nobles

“Different Minds.” This marvelous novel by the youngest Lebanese Author Joyce E. Rayess captures New Yorker’s attention for fiction-romance lovers. “Different Minds” is available in Barnes & Nobles bookstores and in all e-bookstores. November 19 – December 2, 2015

November 19 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; December 2, 2015

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Tribeca Games brings ‘League of Legends’ to New York

Getty Images for Tribeca Games

“League” Design Director Greg Street (seen here at the Nov. 13 event), makes the case for video game as communal experience.

LEGENDS Continued from page 29

situation where you’re speaking down like you’re a rock star or something.” And the team at Riot Games are rock stars in the gaming business, with up to 67 million players logging into “League” each month. “League” has such a huge following that tens of millions of viewers will watch other people play championship matches, and these competitions can fill venues like Madison Square Garden. Although fans could simply watch from home, Street points out that “Much of ‘League’ is about the community. That it is infectious, in a good way, to be sitting in a crowded amphitheater, cheering for your team with all your friends, when a big play happens.” Even though Riot Games has grown into an influential force in gaming, they had humble roots as an independent game developer. They shared their experience with the next generation of would-be game developers at Tribeca Games. “A lot of the panels have been a behind the scenes look at how the artists create

the characters in the game, or how game designers think about the rules of the game,” said Street. “We have a lot of students here that are interested in getting into that field, who want to know what it’s really like.” “It’s a weird industry to get into,” according to Street. “It’s not like you go to medical school, you get your medical license, you become a doctor...You don’t necessarily need a degree from a game design school to make games.” Aside from the panels, fans could mingle with each other in a lounge that featured curated exhibits of artwork made by fellow fans of the game, along with a display of “cosplay” — fans dressed in homemade recreations of the outfits worn by in-game characters. Tribeca Games (tribecafilm.com/tribecagames) will have more gaming content when the Tribeca Film Festival returns in 2016. “League of Legends” can be downloaded and played for free on Windows and Macintosh computers. Visit leagueoflegends.com.

“League of Legends” can be downloaded and played for free on Windows and Macintosh computers. DowntownExpress.com

November 19 – December 2, 2015

Introducing a new, LOW-COST health plan for eligible individuals!

The Essential Plan

Offered by Fidelis Care and available through NY State of Health: The Official Health Plan Marketplace

• Monthly premiums are either $0 or $20 a month based on income

• Low out-of-pocket costs with no deductible the plan starts paying for your health care right away

• Free preventive care like checkups and screenings

Enroll ALL YEAR LONG starting November 1, 2015! Comprehensive Coverage: Doctor visits (including specialists), lab tests and X-rays, hospital care, prescription drugs, and more.

Doctors and Hospitals Close to Home: Choose your doctor from Fidelis Care’s extensive provider network, which you can search on fideliscare.org

How do I Qualify? Call Fidelis Care to learn more! Questions? Call 1-888-FIDELIS for more information or to meet with a Fidelis Care Health Benefit Representative.

1-888-FIDELIS | fideliscare.org (1-888-343-3547) •

To learn more about applying for health insurance including Child Health Plus and Medicaid through NY State of Health, the Official Health Plan Marketplace, visit www.nystateofhealth.ny.gov or call 1-855-355-5777.

November 19 – December 2, 2015

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