The local paper for the Upper West Side TIFFANY LAMPS, AND THE WOMEN WHO CREATED THEM ◄ CITY ARTS, P.12
‘VIOLENCE DOESN’T BELONG HERE’ Susan “Mac” Macaluso with young artists in a ballet class at the Bernie Wohl Center. Photo: Nelly Gomez
A LASTING ARTS LEGACY
COMMUNITY
Susan Macaluso is stepping down as the creative force behind Goddard Riverside’s many cultural programs BY STEPHAN RUSSO
Dinaw Mengestu, the wellknown Ethiopian-American novelist and writer, would regularly walk past the Bernie Wohl Center of the Goddard Riverside Community Center at 647 Columbus Avenue. In 2015, Goddard Riverside was one of the recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Community Big Read awards and selected Mengesteu’s novel, “Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears,“ centered on three African immigrants trying to live out the
American dream. It was only then that he actually stepped into the building. He told an Upper West Side audience there to hear him discuss his work that he never knew “about the magic that was going on inside.” The person responsible for creating this magic has been Susan Macaluso (or “Mac”, as many call her), the director of Goddard Riverside’s community arts program. Mac will be moving on after over a decade at the agency. She leaves behind a vibrant, thoroughly eclectic neighborhood arts program that has become one of the Upper West Side’s veritable off-off Broadway playhouses, as well as a venue for those who want to showcase
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CRIME
WESTSIDE SPIRIT.COM @WestSideSpirit
19-25 2019 INSIDE
TALKING TURKEY Nutrition comes with myths and magic. The scientific realities of tryptophan. p. 2
The murder of Barnard student Tessa Majors continued to inspire grief, anger and demands for action as the search for young suspects went on BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM
The Upper West Side has been shrouded in grief and candlelight in the days following the murder of first-year Barnard College student, Tessa Majors, last week. Hundreds came together, bringing flowers and candles in hand, for vigils that honored the life of 18-year-old Virginia native — and in mourning, these residents, students and community leaders have asked what could be done to prevent a tragedy such as this, especially as it became clear that the reported suspects were children themselves. At a vigil Sunday evening in Morningside Park — where the homicide took place last Wednesday during an apparent robbery attempt — Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and other elected officials talked about
A CHURCH’S MILESTONE ANNIVERSARY The Unitarian Church of All Souls celebrates its 200th year. An excerpt from its official history tells the story of its role in the Civil War. p. 14 Tessa Majors in September 2019. Photo: Tessa Majors’ Instagram
the need to make the park and area safe for all of the neighborhood’s children. “Violence does not belong here in Morningside Park,“ said Brewer, adding that the park requires more lighting, cameras and officers on patrol to ensure its safety. Earlier in the week, Brewer met with NYPD top brass, Columbia University public safety officials and members of the city’s parks department
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for a walk through Morningside Park to examine how safety could be improved in the park.
Families on Both Sides In his remarks at the vigil, Council Member Mark Levine considered the ages of the current suspects: one a 13year-old boy who has been arrested on charges of second-degree felony murder,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
INSIDE
SAFETY
has seen a surge Five years in, NYC fluctuating and in cyclist deaths – and motorist numbers of pedestrian fatalities BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM
year that saw 299 In 2014, after a traffic-related incipeople killed in Mayor Bill de Bladents in the city, eliminate all traffic sio set out to
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p. 2
A HAPPY AUGUST TRADITION store” “Pop-up department an NYPD judge recommend at City Hall after Photography Office holds a press conference Appleton/Mayoral Mayor Bill de Blasio 2019. Photo: Michael Friday, August 2,
firing Officer Daniel
Pantaleo on
THE BILLY AND GILLY SHOW
A free ready for helps families get school. p. 5
WOODSTOCK SOJOURN
day of peace, Kamala HarJon Friedman on a 8 Warren, Cory Booker, and Bernie love and music. p. debates,” longris, Amy Klobuchar for the September Pete strategist George Sanders, South Bend Mayor time Democratic doesn’t have former Texas Rep. Artz says. “De Blasioare way down Buttigieg and both Beto O’Rourke. the donors, and close, but none of A few others are in the polls.” Hank Sheinde Blasio or GilliPolitical consultant that either them are named kopf says it’s “50-50” “Any- brand. returned reBY STUART MARQUES will make the next round: Neither campaign but they’re not quests for comment. thing can happen, agree that Warde Blasio faced to qualify.” Pundits generally When Mayor Bill held off the more Gillibrand – likely a minimum of SURVIVNG YOUR Candidates need to ren and Sanderson the first night. off with Sen. Kirsten Democratic presi- 130,000 unique donors and have SUMMER COLD moderate field and eight other seasonal in four qualigot high marks on – on July 31, it How to deal with thefeel worse Booker and Yang at least 2 percent and dential hopefuls the last Billy hit candidates have the second night, but Biden virus that makes usp. 2 a might have marked presidential fying polls. Eight polls. the assured in and are still ahead at the than a winter bug. hit those marks 12 Harris are and Gilly Show largely igin Houston on Sept. De Blasio and Gillibrand debates. ei- spot onstage Presiawful tough for are former Vice 7 “It’s going to be and and 13. They Senators Elizabeth CONTINUED ON PAGE get the donors dent Joe Biden, ther of them to needed to qualify polling numbers”
POLITICS
dim for Presidential prospects Democratic New Yorkers on the debate stage
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It's hard feeling down during the holidays. What might help. p. 8
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IS VISION ZERO WORKING?
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THE GOAT VOTE
chair of the City Ydanis Rodriguez, committee, Council’s transportation street s afety on speaks at a rally for steps of City Hall legislation on the McCarten/NYC May 8. Photo: John Council
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TALKING TURKEY HEALTH
Nutrition comes with myths and magic. The scientific realities of tryptophan Remember that yummy roasted Thanksgiving turkey? Remember falling asleep after finishing the feast? Get ready for a re-run because, as the song says, “Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe, help to make the season bright.” Nutrition is a very new science. The term vitamin (from the Latin word vita meaning life) wasn’t even invented until 1912. Like any other new thing, nutrition comes with myths and magic including the essential amino acid ltryptophan. The science community has known about tryptophan since 1901 when British chemist Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins isolated it from the milk protein casein, a discovery for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in chem-
DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
FINDING TRYPTOPHAN
Photo: Paul Townsend, via lickr
istry in 1929. No wonder: Your body uses the tryptophan it gets from food to make the B vitamin niacin and the really magic chemical compound serotonin which influences mood, helps you relax, and is integral to the creation of melatonin, the hormone that helps to regulate your circadian rhythm, that is, your sleep and wake cycles. The general public – you and me – probably got the message 96 years later on November 6, 1997, when NBCTV aired the 162nd episode of Seinfeld in which Jerry and George fed a friend a dinner of turkey – tryptophan! – to lull her to sleep so they could play with her antique toys. The guys were right to assume that turkey is a good source of l-tryptophan. But does turkey alone really put you to sleep? Probably not. Chicken has exactly as much tryptophan per serving as turkey; a bunch of other protein
foods have more. More to the point, on its own tryptophan is a pretty week puppy. To make its way through digestion, into your bloodstream, and on to your brain, it needs a carb assist. As the National Sleep Foundation explains, “That’s why carbohydrate-heavy meals can make you drowsy, and why the best bedtime snack is one that contains both a carbohydrate and protein, such as cereal with milk.”
Sudden Grogginess So, if eating turkey isn’t exactly the same as popping a sleeping pill, why the sudden grogginess as soon as our holiday feast is over? “It’s not all about the tryptophan,” says Bonnie TaubDix, RDN, creator of BetterThanDieting.com and author of “Read It Before You Eat It.” “It’s also about spending lots of time enjoying happy hour, sitting for long periods of time, and, yes,
In 2002, the U.S. Institute of Medicine set the recommended daily intake for tryptophan at 4mg per kg of body weight/1.8mg per lb. Example: A person weighing 68 kg/150 lb should consume around 272 mg of tryptophan per day. Food Tryptophan (mg in 100g/3.5 oz serving) Soybeans (roasted) 575 Parmesan cheese 560 Cheddar Cheese 320 Pork chop 250 Turkey 240 Chicken 240 Beef 230 Salmon 220 Egg (1) 170 Unsweetened chocolate 130 Milk (whole) 75 (nonfat) 56 (low-fat) 55 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryptophan those desserts at the end of the meal!” Libby Mills, a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a sensible work-around: Less sleepy desserts. First, make it mini (smaller portions). Second, make it lighter (applesauce instead of fats in muffins and quick breads). Third, make it frozen (fruit juice pops instead of ice cream). Finally, make it sweet but use less sugar (one tablespoon less sugar in baking with maybe a substitute spoon of moistening fruit puree instead). P.S. In 2018, writing in The Interna-
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tional Journal of Tryptophan Research, USDA research chemist Mendel Friedman suggested that because it plays a role in making good chemicals in our bodies, the tryptophan we get from food “may have the potential to contribute to the therapy of autism, cardiovascular disease, cognitive function, chronic kidney disease, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, sleep, social function, and microbial infections.” Add some carbs, and that’s enough to give you sweet dreams.
DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
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CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG ROBBERY ARREST ON WEST 108TH ST.
STATS FOR THE WEEK Reported crimes from the 24th precinct for the week ending Dec. 8
At 3:50 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3, police said, a 27-year-old man took his 33-year-old girlfriend’s cell phone without permission outside 11 West 108th St. When the woman attempted to retrieve her property, police said, the boyfriend punched her in her right side and knocked her to the ground. The victim sustained redness, swelling and pain to her right side. She also later complained to police of pain in her right hip. Joseph Garcia was arrested and charged with robbery. The phone was an iPhone 8 valued at $849.
POLICE COLLAR FEMALE MUGGING SUSPECTS At 9:40 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5, police said, a 35-year-old woman was walking outside 72 West 109th St. when two female acquaintances, ages 33 and 28, punched and scratched her face, causing redness, cuts, bruises and abrasions to her neck and face. The suspects then allegedly took the victim’s phone and gold chain totaling $500, police said. Jennifer Marquez and Ashley Cirino were arrested and charged with robbery.
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Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr
ARREST IN BIKE LOCK ASSAULT A 26-year-old man attacked a 36year-old acquaintance on Tuesday night, Dec. 3, at the corner of Amsterdam Ave. and West 108th St., police said. According to police, the younger man allegedly struck the older man with a bike lock multiple times, causing a laceration to the victim’s left temple and substantial pain. Cesar Garcia was subsequently arrested and charged with assault.
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DAUGHTER ARRESTED AFTER ALTERCATION WITH MOTHER At 12:47 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, police said, a 55-year-old woman was having a verbal dispute with her 25-year-old daughter inside 74 West 92nd St. when the daughter allegedly punched her mother in the face with a closed fist. The mother later told police that her daughter had also scratched her neck, causing lacerations, and struck her with a bat in her left arm, causing swelling and TOP $ PAID FOR JUDAICA COLLECTIBLES
a possible fracture or break. At the police station, the mother was unable to write a victim’s statement due to her injuries, police said. The victim was later brought to Mt. Sinai West for treatment. The daughter, Althea G. Barnes, was arrested and charged with robbery, criminal mischief and trespass.
WOMAN SLASHED IN CELL PHONE THEFT
Saturday, Dec. 7, police said, a man in his 20s approached two women, aged 22 and 24, from behind outside 121 West 88th St. and grabbed the phone of the 24-year-old. Police said that the suspect also pushed the 22-year-old to the ground and slashed her twice on her head, causing deep lacerations and bruising on her face. The suspect was last seen fleeing south on Columbus Ave. The stolen cell was an iPhone 11 valued at $1,250.
iPhones continue to be tempting targets for muggers. At 8:15 p.m. on
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DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
The Spirit|Westsider westsidespirit.com
VIOLENCE DOESN’T BELONG HERE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 robbery and criminal possession of a weapon; and two other teens, one of whom was questioned by police, but not charged, and the individual believed to have stabbed Majors, who is still at large. “I know that when we learned that the suspects — and they are suspects, let’s not assume anything — that the suspects were only 13 and 14 that only compounded this tragedy,” Levine said. “Families were destroyed on both sides of this horrible crime. We have failed not just Tess but the families of this community as well.” On Thursday, the Barnard and Columbia University communities gathered at the Diana Center for a vigil, which quickly filled to capacity as community members spilled into the halls of the student center. Students, visibly shaken, huddled together to console one another. At the event, according to a
report from the Columbia Spectator, the university’s student newspaper, Barnard College President Sian Leah Beilock told students to take care of one another and to seek counseling if it was needed. She said Majors, who was in a band and had taken part in journalism internships, was passionate regarding her interests.
A Detective Testifies The 13-year-old suspect, who lives in Harlem, was arraigned as a juvenile in family court on Friday, according to a report from the Daily Beast. Detective Vincent Signoretti testified at the hearing that the 13-year-old confessed to robbing Majors along with the two other teens. According to Signoretti, the suspect told police that the two other boys attacked Majors at West 116th and Morningside Drive while he largely stood back and watched. One of the teens held Majors in a chokehold while the other searched her pockets. One then dropped a knife, which the 13-year-old said he picked up and handed back to his friend. The teen
Hundreds gather at Morningside Park Sunday evening for a candlelight vigil to honor the life of Tessa Majors, who was murdered during a robbery in the park Wednesday evening. Photos: Jeffrey Reed for the New York City Council
still at large began stabbing Majors. The three fled in the direction of their homes. Majors staggered up the steps of the park and onto the street where a security guard found her and called 911. The 13-year-old was remanded without bail. He is being held in secure detention by the Administration for Children’s Services, the Columbia Spectator reported.
“Heartless” Comments Meanwhile, on Sunday, Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins sparked outrage when he gave a radio interview saying that Majors had been in the park to buy marijuana. “And you think about that, we don’t enforce marijuana laws anymore. We’re basically hands-off on the enforcement of marijuana,” Mullins said. “So here we have a student
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murdered by a 13-year-old and we have a common denominator of marijuana. You know, my question to the people of New York City is, ‘Why is this happening?’” The NYPD do not believe the 13-year-old stabbed Majors. Police also have not reported a reason why Majors was in the park on Wednesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to the police union official’s remarks on Twitter, calling the statements “heartless.” “We don’t shame victims in this city,” he wrote. The family of Majors gave a statement calling Mullins’ remarks “irresponsible.” “The remarks by Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins we find deeply inappropriate, as they intentionally or unintentionally direct blame onto Tess, a
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young woman, for her own murder,“ the family of Majors said. “We would ask Mr. Mullins not to engage in such irresponsible public speculation, just as the NYPD asked our family not to comment as it conducts the investigation.”
A Pattern of Crime The murder follows a pattern of crime on the Upper West Side in the last two months involving groups of young teens surrounding other teenagers in order to steal their property, often using violence. Deputy Inspector Timothy Malin of the 20th precinct reported the pattern to residents of the neighborhood at the precinct’s meeting just weeks ago. Malin, who declined to comment on the Majors case, previously said that the phenomenon was an issue all over Manhattan and not
only in the 20th precinct. Elizabeth Carr, a resident of the Upper West Side who recently created a Facebook group titled “NYC Moms for Safe Streets” in response to the crimes that had taken place in the neighborhood, said that before Wednesday’s murder, she felt as though elected officials were not taking these events seriously. “I’m sure that will change now,” she said in an interview Thursday. “I think the NYPD is really good at solving crime once they happen,” Carr said. “But of course, the real issue is what could have been done to prevent this tragic death.” The Deputy Commissioner of Public Information did not respond to questions about this pattern of crime involving young teenagers by press time.
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STOP CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN
DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
7
The Spirit|Westsider westsidespirit.com
ARTS LEGACY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 their wares but are eschewed by the downtown scene. She credits her success more to serendipity than a well thought out plan. (Full disclosure: I hired Susan to be the director of Community Arts when I was the executive director of Goddard Riverside.)
Tremendous Possibilities “It was 2006. I had been laid off from a job in a production company and was looking for work. Goddard Riverside hired me to organize a memorial for the previous Executive Director, Bernie Wohl, who had just passed away. We created a visual and oral script, which read like a history of the Upper West Side, and the impact the beloved Bernie had on the entire community. They liked what I did and hired me as their director of communications.” In 2011, the drab NYCHA site at Columbus Ave. and 91st St. was renovated and a community arts space with a theater, and dance and art studio was created. Susan saw possibilities for reaching a wider swath of the community through use of the space. “The gray walls became a beautiful multi-purpose space. The agency had raised a lot of money to convert that center into a state-of-the-art theater, and we needed to develop an arts program and real cultural hub that was commensurate with the wonderful space. I had connections in the arts world and was asked to take on the task of creating a community arts program from scratch. I did both the communications and community arts jobs for a while, but the work in community arts took off and the position became a full-time one.”
All Inclusive “The Big Read was one of the community arts program’s first visible projects. We partnered with the local libraries and bookstores. We got hundreds of people reading and talking about the same book - people from our programs and those who never heard of Goddard Riverside. The Big Read demonstrated what community arts was all about. It really helped put us on the map.” Building on Goddard Riverside’s social justice mission, community arts, at its core, has
Macaluso, here with Community Arts banners, was a leader with vision and purpose. Photo: Nelly Gomez
aimed to be an inclusive program accessible to everyone and expose many different populations to the arts. “With that guiding philosophy, we started to develop the program by inviting in groups that were hungry to perform. That was the gift. I very much had a blank canvas and freedom to create what I wanted.” Running the community arts program also requires one to be a good juggler. “We curate an entire season but curate it loosely with a balance of music, theater, and dance. We have hosted an UWS live Tuesday series of Afro Roots, jazz, classical music performances, comedy nights and play readings. Audiences have been treated to The Harlem Chambers Project, the world-renowned Israeli Chamber Project, and a WQXR panel discussion on classical music. Savion Glover has tap danced on our stage, and Joy Behar took a writing workshop. We also have welcomed emerging artists who have no other place to showcase their work. I was introduced to the Hudson Warehouse Theater Company, which won a Goddard Riverside Good Neighbor Award for their free performances in Riverside Park. They have become our theater group in-residence."
Promoting Social Justice Susan’s creativity and ability to work with a variety of artists is one of her greatest assets. She rarely turns away a group. “We are open to whatever bubbles up from the community. One day a person called who had just completed a script on guns and gang violence. She was very persistent. I met with her and she showed me the script. I wasn’t sure it would draw an audience. I decided to take the risk and let her perform the piece. She really packed the house and led a wonderful panel of people who
have been affected by gun violence -- not people who just talk about it but those affected. Many of our own vulnerable teens participated.” Susan credits her inclination towards using the arts to promote social justice to her growing up in Corning, New York. “I feel like I learned about rejection and fairness at a young age. I was at Madame Helene’s ballet school in Corning. There was a recital for Peter Pan. I knew that the role of Peter Pan would be mine. I was tiny, acrobatic and knew that I would be perfect for the role. I envisioned myself flying over the audience. However, ‘born stiff’ Rosemary got the part. I was just crushed. Year’s later I heard that Rosemary’s dad had just received a big promotion at Corning. I learned about corruption, too.”
A Lasting Legacy Susan will leave behind a lasting legacy. “Personally, this role has consumed my life in a good way. I have had this great gift to be an arts entrepreneur without the risk, and fortunate to have the incredible commitment of the Goddard Riverside community which believes deeply in the power of the arts to affect change.” She added, “I thought I would be very sad and nostalgic planning my retirement but I am not. I am ready to turn the arts program over to someone else who can build on what we’ve created. I am especially proud to leave behind the Performing Arts Conservatory – a summer youth program that teaches creative thinking, discipline and working as a team. We may not be producing Broadway stars. But, many of our kids enter the conservatory thinking they have no talent. We show them that they do.” For more information on the Goddard Riverside Community Arts Program, go to www.goddard.org.
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A BLESSED HOLIDAY TRADITION ON PARK AVENUE BY BETTE DEWING
A reader writes how a financial advisory radio talk show host tells a caller making her first December trip to New York, “Of course, you won’t miss Radio City Music Hall and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.” But he fails to mention The Park Avenue Memorial Trees, truly the most meaningful and inclusive of the city’s December traditions. So this column is about The Park Avenue Memorial Trees, whose meaning must become at least as widely known as the Rockefeller Center tree and the Rockettes I hope you will share how, in 1945, several Park Avenue mothers planted several blocks with lighted fir trees to honor their beloved sons who perished in World War II, and all who make that ultimate sacrifice. And now the lighted trees extend from 54th to 97th Street, from the first December Sunday to Martin Luther King’s birthday. The tree lighting ceremony is held outside Brick Presbyterian Church, again always the first December Sunday at 6 pm. And despite the lack of publicity, hundreds attend, many families with children.
A Special Memory In 2016. the lighting ceremony happened on my birthday, and not long after a hospital stay, and a Lenox Hill Neighborhood House volunteer enabled my being there that year. And how we need to hear more about vol-
unteering in general, and not only on holday times. And while I’ve thankfully been back since, the welcoming 2016 words from then pastor Michael Lindvall so need to be heard again and again. “We gather together as a wonderful mix of God’s children, Christians, Jews, Muslims, those who believe and those who struggle with belief, and those who cannot believe. Whatever distinction, do know you are welcome – all are welcome.” And he recalled how this tradition began to honor all the men and women who gave their lives in this nation’s wars, which so tragically continue. “Now these lights also celebrate the great city of New York and its neighborhoods- our will to become a community in the anonymity of our huge city. Our gathering here defies all the forces of darkness which would work to divide (and I thought of community lost as small businesses, which meet everyday needs, and rental homes, are replaced by giant luxury condos and office towers.) And how countless more must actively defy this legal urban darkness.
A Tradition for All Lindvall recalled how appropriate that year it was also the first night of Hanukkah and the Festival of Lights and all they stood for. Lighted Hawthorne bushes are always part of this December tradition display.
Of course, he thanked all those made these lighted trees possible, above all Barbara McLaughlin and the Fund for Park Avenue. Taps played by trumpeter Thomas Hoyt, brought us back to the true meaning of these memorial trees. And the minister’s closing prayer, “God of all people, shine your light into the world’s darkness as we dedicate these trees to those who died for freedom and peace, give us courage to live for peace and freedom...May your light be again born in us and hearts gone cold and illuminating moral indignation gone dim. May all the world leaders at last beat all the spears into pruning hooks and swords into plowshares”. Amen and Amen!
Peace and Good Will in Our Time Again, a message never more needed, nationwide, of course with a leader surely not known for beating those swords into plowshares, and who also may be impeached. But let that not deter our moral indignation against the destruction of affordable neighborhood places and homes. And do walk along Park Avenue after sundown – with the able-bodied helping those who are not – to experience the city’s most meaningful December tradition, And above all,remember the need to work for peace and good will in our time. It can be done if enough of us try. It must be done. dewingbetter@aol.com
DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
Voices
6 WAYS TO HANDLE THE RED & GREEN BLUES ON THE TOWN
BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL
Christmas comes but once a year, and for some it’s a time too many. I’m not one of them. I watch Hallmark movies unironically. I sing along with seasonal songs, in stores and at home when my husband Neil tunes into the Christmas Countdown. I love the lost art of sending cards, as well as buying presents and decorating. We get our tree December 1, and as a Christmas ball-aholic, I’ve never met an ornament I didn’t like. To top it all off, Neil and our daughter Meg share a December 25th birthday. ’Tis MY season to be jolly. However, I remember times when sleigh-bells ringing and sugarplums dancing in my head pulsated in my temples. There was the year friends got engagement rings while I got a sweater, and the holiday I was so overwhelmed by family pressures it was a Herculean effort to one-click on Amazon. Because the words, “snap out of it,” never worked their magic, I found it easier to channel my pain onto all that glittered red-and-green. It’s hard feeling down in general, but harder when others are celebrating. There are, though, some non-medical professional, everyday suggestions that might help.
Accept what you cannot change. Christmas is a worldwide religious/commercial event. Wishing it away will not make
it so, nor will complaining incessantly. Before you leave your apartment, brace yourself to see decorated trees in office building lobbies; Santas and Salvation Army reps on street corners; and your Starbucks served in the newly designed holiday cup. Treat it as you would street art installations, the characters in Times Square and regular Starbucks cups.
Embrace the digital age. If you own earbuds and have Spotify, you never have to hear Mariah Carey’s ”All I Want for Christmas Is You” blaring while you shop. If you subscribe to Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime, you never have to see even a commercial for a Hallmark movie. And thanks to evites, all you have to do is click “no” to RSVP for holiday parties.
Think Aloha when you hear Merry Christmas. The Hawaiian greeting means hello and goodbye; as does Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Happy New Year. No one using these salutations is trying to be presumptuous, hurtful or offensive; they’re going with the vernacular flow of the season. Respond as you would to, “What’s up?” and “See ya later.”
Rehearse for the family portion of the program. When faced with a heckler, do you believe stand-up comedians think of those snappy come-backs on the spot? They have an arsenal of retorts at the ready. You’ve known your relatives all your life. There are no surprises here. Your aunt will ask why you’re still not mar-
The tree at Rockefeller Center. Photo: Lorraine Duffy Merkl
ried and your cousin will want to know if you’re still at “that” job. Prepare your answers.
Take a walk. If the only reason you’re watching the Yule log on Channel 11 while sipping hot cocoa is to pass the time and it’s compounding your loneliness, leave the house. Perhaps you don’t have the wherewithal to volunteer at a hospital or a soup kitchen; a stroll will get you out into the world. Walking is exercise; exercise releases endorphins. Also, fresh air does the body good. You’ll see others walking too, confirming you’re not the only one who’s not sitting around a crowded table passing the potatoes.
Count your blessings—on paper. There, I said it, the cliché of all clichés. During low moments we tend to compare and despair. Making a list — adding even the smallest bit of good will that’s come your way — gives you a visual reference that you do have positive things in your life. Peace. Lorraine Duffy Merkl is a freelance writer and novelist on the Upper East Side.
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Gerrit Cole’s new home in the Bronx. Photo: Erica Schoonmaker via Flickr
THAT YANKEES DEAL IS NOT INSANE PUBLIC EYE
Even in New York, $324 million sounds like a lot of money for a pitcher. Here’s why it’s a smart move. BY JON FRIEDMAN
Yes, the New York Yankees paid an obscene, unfathomable sum of $324 million for nine years to Gerrit Cole. But it makes perfect sense. Skeptics – and and freakedout Mets fans – will grumble that it is too much money – and argue, WHAT IF COLE GETS HURT??? Yankees diehards can agree that the money is unimaginable – much less, for a starting pitcher who can influence a game only once or twice a week. What if Cole, as expected, fills the Yankees’ glaring need for an ace and leads the Yankees to the franchise’s first championship since 2009? The unquenchable base will no longer gripe about how much money Cole is getting. They’ll be too busy planning their celebratory day in the Canyon of Heroes to worry about such trivialities. Remember, when C.C. Sabathia was the prime free agent starting pitcher on the block, before the start of the 2009 season? He followed the script and paved the way for the Yankees to reach the promised land in his first season in the Bronx. Now, nobody bitches that he hasn’t been great in a few years.
The Amazon Effect
The Yankees quietly signed a deal with Amazon to allow well-heeled followers to stream some Yankees games during the 2020 season. Suddenly, the Yankees are flush with even more cash than usual, thanks to modern technology. Amazon figures the pact is a bargain because of the Yankees’ glittering brand awareness. While the Yankees worry about thwarting the Boston Red Sox, Amazon is obsessed with topping Netflix. Maybe Amazon will give Cole a free $99-a year package now.
On the Field The deal also makes sense on the diamond. The scandalsoaked Houston Astros, the Yankees’ nemesis in 2017 and 2019, will now have to find a way to make up the 20 victories that Cole accounted for last season. Further, if the Yankees face the Astros again next October in the post-season, the Yankees can roll out the best pitcher in the American League and immediately gain a huge psychological advantage, at the start. The Cole deal will also pay off down the road. The Yankees have, again, shown the baseball world of players and agents that they mean business. What might happen when Pete Alonso, the Mets’ phenom, comes up for free agency? Or the next ballyhooed hurler? Those stars and their representatives will smugly wait for the Yankees
to arrive with a typically lights out offer. If nothing else, the specter of the Yankees will drive up the prices for other teams. Will Cole’s arrival guarantee a championship? Of course not. Again, he can only work his magic once or twice a week. And what if the good old media crush that New York is known for swallows up this native of Newport Beach, Calif., who has pitched in Pittsburgh and Houston to date? Sports fans are notoriously fickle and even two-faced. Did you hear the New England Patriots fans boo Tom Brady & Co, as their Super Bowl champs trudged to the locker room at half time on Sunday? The team’s crime? The Kansas City Chiefs were dominating the Pats to that point in the game. If Cole’s earned run average soars about 3.00, he can expect a traditional Bronx cheer.
Championship Expectations The Yankees can feel good about the mammoth decision. With Cole, they have the most coveted free agent on the market, the best pitcher in the American League and an answer to the crosstown Mets’ ace, Jacob deGrom. Before the team acquired Cole, it was probably the odds-on favorite to win the title in 2020. No guarantees, for sure. Now it seems like the championship is the Yankees’ to lose. See you in the Canyon of Heroes.
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Varda A Retrospective
December 20-January 6
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Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center 144 West 65th Street
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This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Image credit: Agnès Varda in front of her autoportrait in Venice, Faces Places © Succession Varda, JR, Ciné-Tamaris, Social Animals
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DECEMBER 19-25,2019
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ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
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Calendar NYCNOW
Astronomy Live: Winter Solstice and the Year Ahead
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20TH, 7PM Am. Museum of Nat. History | CPW at 79th St. | 212-769-5100 | amnh.org Celebrate the solstice and get ready for the cosmic year ahead. Astronomy educator Ted Williams and physics professor and astronomer Irene Pease conduct this tour around the sun and preview important astronomical and scientific happenings to come ($15).
Christmas Day in Rockefeller Center
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25TH, 10AM The Municipal Art Society of New York | 212-935-3960 | mas.org Architectural historian Anthony W. Robins leads this favorite annual Christmas Day tour. Learn about the art, architecture, and history of a massive private real estate venture that’s evolved into a public square of midtown and a locus of the holiday season ($30).
Just Announced | Ezra Klein in Conversation with Malcolm Gladwell
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30TH, 7:30PM 92nd Street Y | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212-415-5500 | 92y.org Ezra Klein, the co-founder of digital media company Vox, discusses his forthcoming book Why We’re Polarized, in which he argues that the American political system isn’t broken—it’s working as designed. He’ll talk about our divided nation and what do about it with Malcolm Gladwell ($50).
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EDITOR’S PICK
Fri 20 MESSIAH SING-IN David Geffen Hall 10 Lincoln Center Plaza 7:30 p.m. $30 and up nationalchoralelincolncenter.com 859-583-1716 It’s an annual tradition, 52 years in the making! Seventeen conductors and four soloists will lead the enthusiastic audience of adults and youth through the well-known choruses of “Messiah” by G. F. Handel.
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NEAR TO THE WILD HEART
▲ASTRONOMY LIVE: WINTER SOLSTICE AND THE YEAR AHEAD
HELLA SWELL COMEDY SHOW
New Stage Performance Space 36 West 106th St 8:00 p.m. $22-27 New Stage Theatre Company presents “Near to the Wild Heart,” a world premiere stage performance based on the modernist masterpiece by Clarice Lispector (1920-1977). newstagetheatre.org 212-422-0028
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American Museum of Natural History 200 Central Park West 7:00 p.m. $12-15 Celebrate the Solstice and get ready for the cosmic year ahead. Ted Williams and Irene Pease conduct this tour around the Sun and preview important astronomical and scientific happenings you won’t want to miss. amnh.org 212-769-5100
West Side Comedy Club 201 West 75th St 6:30 p.m. $10-15 Looking for amazing food, drinks, and hilarious comics that will get you to make the ha-ha sound with your mouth? This premiere comedy showcase at West Side Comedy Club is a guaranteed way to kick off a fantastic Saturday night in NYC. westsidecomedyclub.com 646-973-1300
DECEMBER 19-25,2019
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▼BALLET ESSENTIALS
THE BELVEDERE: BEAUTIFUL VIEW TOUR
▲WE ARE SANTA’S ELVES: THE SONGS OF RANKIN/BASS
Central Park Belvedere Castle at 79th St 12:00 p.m. $15 Begin your tour by enjoying the sweeping vistas of the Great Lawn from the plaza of the newly restored Belvedere Castle while learning about its history and preservation. Then, see the Castle from every angle as you explore the surrounding landscapes. centralparknyc.org 212-310-6600
Triad Theatre 158 West 72nd St 7:00 p.m. $20 For over 65 years, the animated classics of Rankin/Bass Productions have inspired everyone to have a Holly Jolly Christmas. From traditional classics to obscure gems, the elves are ready to provide you with the best entertainment outside of the North Pole! triadnyc.com 212-362-2590
New York City Ballet 20 Lincoln Center Plaza 10:30 a.m. $32 Experience New York City Ballet in a brand new way in these 75-minute movement workshops for adults with little or no dance training. Stretch your mind and body at these one-of-a-kind classes led by some of your favorite dancers. nycballet.com 212-870-5656
Wed 25 FILM: SÁTÁNTANGÓ (1994) Walter Reade Theater 165 West 65th St 12:00 p.m. $12-15 Among the world’s most respected and transformative filmmakers, Béla Tarr made his international breakthrough with this astonishing, sevenand-a-half hour adaptation of the novel by László Krasznahorkai about the arrival of a false prophet in a small farming collective. filmlinc.org 212-875-5601
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DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
TIFFANY LAMPS, AND THE WOMEN WHO CREATED THEM DECORATIVE ARTS
A breathtaking exhibit of 100 masterpieces explores the littleknown story of Clara Driscoll and the female designers and artists she led BY VIRGE RANDALL
Anyone looking for an oasis of calm during the frenzied holiday season will find a refuge of beauty, craftsmanship and serenity – and get a history lesson to boot – at the New-York Historical Society. The Society’s permanent Tiffany lamp exhibit is a stroll through a colorful garden without getting your shoes dirty. On the two levels of this fourth floor exhibit, you’ll find more than 100 exquisite lamps, softly lit to reveal magnolias, poinsettias, cyclamen, apple blossoms, daffodils, restrained bamboos and lively dogwoods, grapes, roses, black eyed susans, peonies, poppies, tulips, nasturtium, lily pads, wisteria and of course, the famed dragonfly lamps. The designs range from simple geometric patterns to intricate wisteria lamps with as many as a thousand pieces of glass and pressed glass “jewels.” They perch atop graceful, art nouveau -inspired bases and
The Gallery of Tiffany Lamps, designed by renowned Czech architect Eva Jiřičná, features a glass staircase. Photos: Corrado Serra
IF YOU GO What: Gallery of Tiffany Lamps Where: New-York Historical Society 70 Central Park West at 76th St When: Ongoing floor lamps, and hang suspended from stanchions. And almost all of them sprang from the imagination of a single artist – Clara Driscoll. In a coincidence straight out of a 19th century novel, her story – and the story of the “Tiffany girls” – was untold until a relatively recent discovery
The Main Creative Force “Driscoll came to NYC from Ohio to finish her art training in 1898 and started at Tiffany in 1899,” explained Margaret K. Hofer, vice president and museum director of the Historical Society. Driscoll, who led the women’s glass cutting department, was the main creative force for Tiffany’s nature-inspired lamps for years. But her role wasn’t revealed until 2005, when two different researchers literally hit the mother lode with two little-known caches of Driscoll’s letters one in Queens and one in Ohio. “These were thought to be just family history,” Hofer said, “but in a closer read there were details about her creative process and inspiration … and sentences like ‘Today I had an idea for a dragonfly lamp.’” To a Tiffany enthusiast, that’s the equivalent of an art historian finding a letter from Renoir saying “I’m starting to experiment with pastels.” (Selections from Driscoll’s letters, narrated by Lois Chiles, are available on touch screens scattered throughout the lower level). The discovery of the letters, along with a hugely popular show about Driscoll that the Society staged in 2017, led to a redesign of the fourth floor and the installation of the permanent Tiffany lamp exhibit.
An Extraordinary Collection Now, the Gallery of Tiffany Lamps is a soaring, 4,800-square-foot, two-
story space, anchored on the lower level by 100 illuminated Tiffany lamps from the Society’s collection, which is among the world’s largest. On the upper level, photographs and other archival material, including tools and samples of Tiffany glass, explain how the lamps were designed and made. Together, the two floors offer a complete view of the artistry of Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls. (Men also designed lamps, albeit all strictly geometric designs.) Each lamp is breathtaking in its own way, but standouts are the examples of the famed Dragonfly shade, including design variants with brass filigree and gleaming glass “jewel” eyes. A pair of Wisteria lamps shows how different shades and colors of glass look on the same basic metal template; these lamps required hundreds of pieces of glass and have sold at auction for six figures or more. The entire collection was donated by one man, Dr. Egon Neustadt, and began with his purchase in the 1930s of a daffodil lamp from an antique store…for $12.50. A large part of the art of the Tiffany Girls lay in their selection of the glass used in each lamp for subtle color and effects, said Hofer. “Tiffany thought women were more sensitive to colors,” she explained. Each piece of glass was chosen deliberately, to leverage the subtleties of the colors into the design. “See how the mottled qualities of the glass used for the blossoms make the lamp resemble flowers seen through sunlight,” Hofer said, pointing to a standing magnolia lamp.
A Dizzying Array of Subtle Color Walking through the lower floor is food for the soul. Each of the dozens of lamps in standing displays or along the walls glows in a dizzying array of subtle color. The red in the poppy and rose shades “pop.” The exuberant wisteria drapes gracefully in a spectacle of blues or yellows. Even the relatively sedate bamboo lamps dazzle; the graceful stalks splay across the torchiere shade and astonish with the subtle shades of
Tiffany Studios (1902–1932), probably designed by Clara Driscoll (1861–1944). Dragonfly table lamp, ca. 1900–06 Glass, bronze. Gift of Dr. Egon Neustadt NewYork Historical Society.
green displayed in subtle striations along the stalks. Throughout the exhibit, you are always reminded that the lamps were a business. The metal templates of floral designs were used repeatedly; a case holds two lamps with the same “Wisteria” template, but differences in colors and tones made each look unique. With some exceptions, patrons could choose from a variety of lamp bases for their shades, from sinuous art nouveau to sedate pillars or exotic orientalist fantasies. Driscoll noted the business considerations in a letter home, available on the touch screens by the dragonfly display case. She confesses her worries that her innovative dragonfly lamp motif was too expensive to make to be profitable, since Tiffany would have to charge an astounding $250. (Luckily, Mr. Tiffany said yes).
Tools of the Trade While the lower level is given over
to the art and craft in the lamps, the upper level explores the manufacturing process. One of Driscoll’s sketched and colored patterns on canvas for a Daffodil lamp is displayed, along with examples of the metal templates for a lamp and a wooden lamp mold on which the template was placed. There are also glass cutters, pliers, some of the delicate filigree used for dragonfly wings and the copper wiring used to edge each piece of glass before fitting it to the lampshade mold. And in case you think it was easy to sort through an infinite variety of colors and textures to create a lamp, you can try it yourself. A hands-on “Design-a-Lamp” experience lets you select “glass” for a Dragonfly shade in different colors and see the results on a three-dimensional illuminated model. A few minutes of this will give you a huge appreciation for the talents of Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany girls, who finally, at long last, got their due.
DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
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WHY ‘THE IRISHMAN’ NEIGHBORHOOD’S BEST DIDN’T DAZZLE ME To place an ad in this directory, Call Douglas at 212-868-0190 ext. 352.
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BY JON FRIEDMAN
I feel terribly guilty and intellectually deficient because I didn’t love “The Irishman,“ the most buzz-worthy movie to come along in years. It must be me. Not you. After all, we have on display, in the same movie, brilliant actors Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and director Martin Scorsese - Oscar winners all. The story is intriguing - how did legendary union boss Jimmy Hoffa die? And how did the man who (probably) whacked him feel about the whole thing? And yet... “TheIrishman,“ Scorsese’s three hour-plus opus centering on DeNiro’s excellent portrayal of a hard-working and haunted Mob hit man, struck me as being good - very good at times - but seldom great. Problem is, I wanted great. I expected great. Damn it, I deserved great. And so do you. Apparently, lots of people will think I’m simply a partypooper curmudgeon. After all, the most hyped movie in recent memory put up impressive numbers. Netflix reports that 26.4 million households worldwide glimpsed “The Irishman” during its initial week of streaming. That bulletin encompasses the viewers who caught at least 70% of the 3 1/2 hour crime saga. Plus, Nielsen has estimated that the film amassed an average viewership of 13.2 million in its first five days in the U.S. Roughly 20 percent of the audience enjoyed all 3 1/2 hours during its first day of streaming on Nov. 27, Nielsen pointed out. The movie is a critical success as well. It garnered five Golden Globe nominations and seems like a shoo-in to be
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Scene from Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.” Photo: Niko TaverniseNetflix
included in the Oscar sweepstakes. The New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review named it the best movie of 2019. Yeah. But ... I have five questions, which explain why I was not so wowed.
1) Why was it so darned long? Scorsese, usually a model of efficiency, could have snipped the first, oh, 45 minutes and told the story in all of its gory glory.
2) Where were the women? Anna Paquin - yet another Oscar winner - appears in the credits so I know she was in the film. But couldn’t she have been given more to do?
3) I don’t make you laugh? How am I so not funny? “Goodfellas,“ the 1990 Scorsese-DeNiro-Pesci-Ray Liotta classic Mafia movie, was as much of a comedy as a tragedy. The actors cut loose and did make us laugh. A lot. In “The Irishman,“ we get some chuckles but not much broad humor. The movie could have used a few yuks from these supremely talented actors to lighten the
heavy mood. I mean, you had Ray Romano in the cast, too.
4) What if ... Pacino and Pesci had swapped parts? Pacino was better suited to play a Mob boss than Pesci (who was excellent, nonetheless). Remember “The Godfather,“ anyone? Pesci could have had fun portraying Hoffa - and so would we.
5) I’ve seen this movie before - and better? Pacino was superb playing a hit man in “Donnie Brasco” and DeNiro and Pesci were remarkable in “Goodfellas.” These performances pale next to those. A bonus: Maybe Scorsese had too much money to play with - a budget of roughly $160 million. He specializes in smaller movies, which become classics over time. Remember what happened when he attempted a big extravaganza called “New York, New York?” You never saw it? You didn’t like it? You can’t even remember it, back in 1977? Exactly! There, I said it. Feel free to write in your comments and tell me why my opinion should be whacked.
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DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
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RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS DECEMBER 4 - 10, 2019 The following listings were collected from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website and include the most recent inspection and grade reports listed. We have included every restaurant listed during this time within the zip codes of our neighborhoods. Some reports list numbers with their explanations; these are the number of violation points a restaurant has received. To see more information on restaurant grades, visit www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/services/restaurant-inspection.shtml. Tom’s Restaurant
2880 Broadway
Grade Pending (31) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment. Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, crosscontaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
961 Columbus Ave
A
Guacamole
768 Amsterdam Ave
Grade Pending (25) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Chandni Sweets & Restaurant
71 W 109th St
A
Farmer’s Fridge Mt. Sinai O.R Lounge
1111 Amsterdam Ave
Not Yet Graded (8)
A&A Food Market
481 Amsterdam Ave
Grade Pending (10) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
Plantshed
555 Columbus Ave
A
Farmer’s Fridge Riverside
150 Riverside Dr
Not Yet Graded (8)
Starbucks #50611
21 W End Ave
A
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RELIGION
The Unitarian Church of All Souls celebrates its 200th year. An excerpt from its official history tells the story of its role in the Civil War. BY MELINDA BECK
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AN UES CHURCH’S MILESTONE ANNIVERSARY
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The Unitarian Church of All Souls last month celebrated its 200th anniversary as a house of worship that embraces everyone, regardless of their religious views. Mayor Bill de Blasio proclaimed Nov. 15th, 2019 as “The Unitarian Church of All Souls Day,“ praising its long tradition of promoting social justice, caring for the hungry and homeless, supporting the LGBTQIA community and “providing a haven for all those who wish to engage in a search for truth and meaning” - including atheists and agnostics. In a recent sermon, Senior Minister Galen Guengerich described the church’s founding in 1819 “as an openminded revolt against a culture dominated by closed-minded religious orthodoxy,“ whose founders empathized reason rather than revelation and science over scripture. All Souls, as it is known, has had three different names and four different locations in its 200 years, steadily moving uptown along with the city’s population. It settled at its current location, at 80th Street and Lexington Avenue, in 1932 and its nearly 90-year old Georgian sanctuary is now undergoing a major renovation. Its Christmas Eve services this year will be held at the nearby Temple Shaaray Tefila. Undaunted by the construction, All Souls marked its Bicentennial with a threeday celebration with intimate dinners at congregants’ homes, dessert
The Unitarian Church of All Souls, at 80th and Lexington Ave. Photo: Carol Kirkman
and dancing at the church, old-fashioned games and historical performances. Susan Frederick-Gray, president of the Unitarian-Universalist Association, gave a special sermon. The church also published a 400-page coffee-table book, “All Souls at 200,“ tracing its rise from a small gathering in a downtown parlor to a flagship of Unitarian-Universalism.
A Liberal Religion As the book recounts, Unitarianism was virtually unknown in New York City in 1819 when William Ellery Channing, a Unitarian minister in Boston, stopped at his sister’s home on Broome Street on his way to Baltimore to speak at a friend’s ordination. Lucy Channing Russel invited about 40 of her friends to hear her brother practice his upcoming sermon. As they listened raptly, Channing defined the principles of the liberal religion called Unitarianism, say-
ing that the Bible should be interpreted through reason, not taken literally; that Jesus was a human to be followed, not a God to be worshipped and that God loves people of all faiths - a sharp contrast to the strict Calvinism of the day. Channing’ssermon caused an uproar in Baltimore. The text was distributed widely and some Christian clergy asked their congregations to pray for the Unitarians and their “sad delusions.” But others were drawn to the ideas Channing articulated and on his way back to Boston, New Yorkers were clamoring to hear him. Mrs. Russel’s friends rented the largest hall they could find-at the College of Physicians and Surgeons on Barclay Street - and Channing spoke three times to overflow crowds. Sensing a hunger for liberal religion in New York, a group of 34 men, mostly college-educated merchants and lawyers, founded a small
DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
Proclamation for “The Unitarian Church of All Souls Day,“ from Mayor Bill de Blasio.
church at Broadway and Chambers streets to bring Unitarianism to the city permanently. Disparaging remarks from more “orthodox” Christian churches began almost immediately. Rev. John Mason, minister of the Scotch Presbyterian Church on Murray Street, called the Unitarians “worse than the devil” and “enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ, and all that is valuable in his religion.” By the 1830s, however, All Souls had attracted some of the New York’s most enterprising citizens as members, including industrialist Peter Cooper; Evening Post editor William Cullen Bryant, lithographer Nathaniel Currier, landscape architect Calvin Vaux and author Herman Melville. In the coming years, All Souls members and its minister, Rev. Henry Whitney Bellows, played key roles in the creation of Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cooper Union, the ASPCA and the Union League Club. Cooper and Bryant also helped launch President Lincoln’s presidential campaign when they invited the littleknown lawyer from Illinois to speak at Cooper Union in 1860.
ALL SOULS AND THE CIVIL WAR All Souls itself played a vital role in the Civil War, as described in this excerpt from “All Souls at 200:”
1861: Whispers of War Slavery was causing bitter divides across the country. Even New Yorkers’ loyalties were torn. The state had outlawed slavery in 1827 but New York City’s banks financed the
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The Spirit|Westsider westsidespirit.com Southern slave economy; its merchants bought and sold vast quantities of cotton; its factories and sweatshops turned cotton into clothing and other goods and its ships and rails carried them all around the world. New York City ministers who spoke out against slavery did so at their peril. When an interim minister at All Souls gave a pro-abolition sermon in 1837, several wealthy donors walked out and he was denied a permanent post. His successor, Rev. Bellows, had also been warned not to publicly condemn slavery, but he had seen it up close while working in the South and detested it. He also believed in supporting the Union even if it meant a bloody war that would divide his church as well as his country. He was saying as much in a sermon on Sunday morning, April 14, 1861, when whispers began rippling through the congregation. It wasn’t outrage against his sermon. The news had just reached New York that Confederate troops had fired on the U.S. Army at Fort Sumter in South Carolina two days earlier. “The congregation erupted with a surge of patriotism that echoed back with courage and confidence the sentiments I had almost feared to express, yet had not dared to stifle,” Bellows later wrote. At the end of his sermon, the assembled worshipers rose and joined the choir in spontaneously singing the national anthem.
The Women’s Central Association of Relief With the country rapidly mobilizing, many women were eager to help support the Union troops. Concerned about the sanitary conditions on Staten Island, where hundreds of volunteers had pitched tents on their way to Washington D.C., Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the nation’s first female physician, invited some of New York’s most prominent society women including several from All Souls - to form an aid association. Word spread rapidly about the effort and by the following week, more than 4,000 women gathered at Cooper Union and formed the Women’s Central Association of Relief to collect food, cloth-
ing and medical supplies for Union soldiers and train nurses to work in military hospitals. The Women’s Central, as it was called, recruited women across the country to cook, serve and run kitchens in army camps, serve on hospital ships and operate lodges and rest stops for traveling and wounded soldiers. The Women’s Central network would go on to contribute goods and services valued at over $1 billion in today’s currency to the Union cause. Although she was just 24 years old, All Souls member Louisa Lee Schuyler served as the association’s corresponding secretary. Letters soon flooded into her office, often from soldiers’ mothers and wives, describing horrific conditions in the military camps: troops going without food for long periods, uniforms falling apart, diseases running rampant, wounded soldiers without bandages or painkillers and sick recruits piled into churches with no toilets or running water. The Women’s Central tried to pass the reports along to officials in Washington, but the War Department rebuffed their efforts and made no provisions to receive the nurses they trained. The women prevailed on Rev. Bellows to lead a contingent of physicians to Washington and implore the government to address conditions in the camps. (According to some accounts, while on route, Bellows and the three male doctors decided that a “women’s association” wouldn’t hold much sway with army generals and created the more authoritativesounding “U.S. Sanitary Commission” to oversee the operation.) Bellows’ group was well received, initially. He spoke privately with President Lincoln for half an hour. “If you had seen your humble husband haranguing the President ... you would have fancied him suddenly promoted into the office of premier,” he wrote to his wife, Eliza. But the War Department regarded the team “as weak enthusiasts, representing well-meaning but silly women,” he wrote. They stayed in Washington for 20 days and grew increasingly frustrated with the War Department’s indifference and ineptitude. While Lincoln
Nurses and officers of the U.S. Sanitary Commission in Alexandria, Va., in 1863. Photo: Open source
kept calling for new volunteers, Bellows and the physicians warned that half the soldiers already recruited would be dead of camp diseases in a few months if the army didn’t take care of the sick and the wounded.
The U.S. Sanitary Commission In June 1861, the War Department relented and appointed the U.S. Sanitary Commission to oversee the welfare of the army. Bellows was named president and over the next four years, he divided his time between the All Souls pulpit and military camps and battlefields. He and his fellow commissioners often slept on the ground under their overcoats and saw unspeakable carnage. After each major battle, it fell to the Sanitary Commission to tend to the wounded, most of whom were simply left on the field. At Antietam, Bellows wrote, “nearly 10,000 of our own wounded, besides many of the enemies, were left, an immense proportion of the whole shelterless in the woods and field, without any adequate supply of surgeons, and with not a tenth part of needed medical stores.” He arrived at Gettysburg three days after the battle in July 1863 and stayed for a week. He wrote to Eliza: “The suffering here with 70,000 wounded is unspeakable! ... I see no chance of getting back before Sunday. Have the pulpit supplied or have the
church closed as you please ... Do not worry about me.” Their services were severely tested when the Union Army attempted to capture the Confederate capital in Richmond, Va., and was badly routed. The Sanitary Commission vowed to evacuate 2,500 wounded soldiers from the Virginia Peninsula to New York in 30 days. They converted old boats into hospital and transport ships and sent a telegram to the Women’s Central “calling for nurses & without delay.” A group of All Souls women, including Eliza Bellows, made numerous roundtrips on the hospital ships, caring for men with fever, dysentery and all too often, mortal wounds. Some brought their household servants along to help.
1863: The Metropolitan Fair With no government funding to call upon, the U.S. Sanitary Commission depended on volunteer efforts to raise the money it needed. Cities around the country held elaborate expositions, dubbed “Sanitary Fairs,“ and competed to see which could bring in the most revenue. Chicago’s fair included a sixmile long parade of militiamen, politicians and farmers showing off cartloads of crops. The Philadelphia fair had nearly 100 booths selling all manner of curiosities, from war relics to Turkish divans for smokers. Not to be outdone, women
from All Souls and other New York churches organized an even larger “Metropolitan Fair” in 1863 that lasted 18 days and occupied much of what is now Union Square. It included a vast restaurant and displays of arms, trophies, jewelry, hats, sewing machines and other technical wonders, porcelain, saddlery and lingerie. Exhausted from months of preparation for a major display, All Souls member Caroline Kirkland died in her sleep, at age 63, two days after the fair opened. In all, the Metropolitan Fair raised over $1 million for the Sanitary Commission—the equivalent of about $30 million today. One of the most popular exhibits was the gallery of fine art loaned by wealthy New Yorkers from their private collections. Bellows thought citizens might enjoy seeing such works on a permanent basis and took the idea to the Union League Club, a social club he helped establish to shore up support for the war. The Union League Club, in turn, rallied support for the idea from other civic leaders, artists, collectors and philanthropists, resulted in the founding of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1870. First editions of All Souls at 200 can be purchased at the church at 1157 Lexington Avenue or at Shakespeare & Co., at 939 Lexington Avenue. Additional copies can be purchased on Amazon.com.
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DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
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Business
THE POWER OF NYC CO-OP BOARDS
Ask a Broker
REAL ESTATE
It’s time to make changes in 2020 BY FREDERICK W. PETERS
What should a New York City Co-Op Board of Directors be doing? And just as importantly, what SHOULDN’T they be doing? Of course, the majority of any board’s time and effort is devoted to running their buildings, a job that can be thankless and time-consuming and is performed on a volunteer basis. This discussion applies only to one specific area of the board’s purview, that of reviewing and either approving or disapproving sales in their buildings. In [a recent] article, I discussed some ways in which co-op boards may discriminate against prospective applicants in both legal and illegal ways, sometimes violating New York City Fair Housing guidelines. Other issues can also arise in the co-op board review process. One of the most frequent of those issues centers around price. In a market like that of today, with prices down between 10% and 20% over the past few years, the deals which come before the boards feature lower prices than they did a few years ago. While maintaining shareholder value certainly falls under the board’s supervisory capacities, it is rarely reasonable for boards to turn down deals strictly on the basis of price. Every seller feels acutely price sensitive, so when a seller accepts a deal at a lower price than that at which they (or the board) feel happy, it ALWAYS reflects the fact that prices are dictated by the market and neither the seller’s nor the board’s wishes can change the market. When a board rejects a buyer and informs the seller that the price is too low, what choices does that seller have? Often the property has been on the market for months and this is the only bid the seller has received. Especially in a declining market, the seller fears their next offer will be even lower. Sometimes, in this situation, the buyer and the seller resort to a little manipulation. Maybe they raise the price by 5%, and the seller makes a post-closing reimbursement to the buyer. Maybe the buyer agrees to raise the price in exchange for the seller funding some part
Photo: Valantis Skoufris
Photo: Canva
of the renovation. However it happens, such shenanigans, forced on the principals by an unreasonable board expectation, distort the record of closed prices in a way which then impacts future transactions. It’s bad all around.
The Origins of a Buyer’s Money Equally problematic are those boards which have a surreptitiously expressed aversion to inherited wealth as opposed to earned wealth. Surely the origins of a buyer’s money do not form an ipso facto case against their ability to be a good neighbor? Litigators have also been unpopular with some boards, who fear that they will, in fact, litigate against the building. While shareholders do on occasion sue their co-op boards, it’s virtually never the litigators who do so. Not to mention that discrimination based on the nature of an individual’s employment is illegal. For years the Council on New York Co-Operatives and the managing agents who run the buildings have fought hard against any legal oversight over how coop boards assess purchasers. 2020 should be the year in which that changes. It would benefit everyone, buyers and current shareholders alike, if a few simple rules were put into place. Board members should be required to become familiar with Fair Housing laws and commit to abiding by those laws.
Time limits should be put in place for how long boards take to review buyer packages and request follow-up materials. Finally, boards should respond within a set period of time with an acceptance or rejection once a package is deemed complete. These simple rules might not help with price-related turndowns (only reasonable board behavior can do that!), but they could quash other abuses. It helps no one when both buyers and sellers are left hanging, sometimes for months, before receiving a decision which may feel at best arbitrary and at worst discriminatory. This would benefit the co-ops as well. As more condominiums are built in New York, buyers increasingly gravitate towards them out of a desire to be spared the indignities of the co-op purchasing process. This has led to a marked devaluation of co-ops relative to their condominium equivalents. A mandate which gives more structure to the board review process, and clarifies the consequences of discriminatory decision making, could help restore value to coops while easing the process for buyers and sellers. Frederick W. Peters is the CEO of Warburg Realty, a luxury residential real estate brokerage in New York City. Reprinted with permission from Frederick Peters’ Forbes column.
HOW TO SELL IN A BUYER’S MARKET BY ANDREW J. KRAMER
My job is transferring me out to the West Coast and I’ll need to list my Manhattan coop in the coming weeks. I continue to hear about the uncertainties in the Manhattan real estate market and I’d like you’re advice on how I can get my place sold quickly. Great question, I wish all sellers were so open minded. You are correct, the pendulum has swung in favor of the buyer and it looks like it’s not going anywhere in the near future. The conversation that I have with now with sellers is that it takes more than just price to move a property. Today, more than ever before, presentation is key. If an apartment doesn’t look ‘magazine ready’ when a buyer enters, they’re out the door and
onto the next place in a New York minute. Sellers need to make their home stand out from the competition, whether it’s simply a fresh coat of paint, refinishing the floors, decluttering or going all out and staging the place. It may require time and money but the investment will pay off in eliciting offers. Naturally you or your broker need to review the comps in your area, especially those recently sold, to determine a price that’s in touch with today’s reality. It takes the right combination of proper pricing and presentation to get to the finish line! Andrew Kramer is a Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker with Brown Harris Stevens. Direct your real estate questions to askandrew@bhsusa.com. You can learn more about Andrew at www.kramernyc.com or by contacting him at 212-3173634
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FELIX ROHATYN, SAVIOR OF THE CITY LIVES
The refugee from Nazioccupied France helped rescue NYC in the 1970s BY KAREN MATTHEWS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Felix Rohatyn, the financier and government adviser who was credited with helping to save New York City from ruin during the 1970s as chairman of the agency that oversaw the city’s finances, died Saturday. He was 91. Rohatyn’s son Nicolas Rohatyn said his father died at his Manhattan home. The cause was “simply old age,“ he said. Born in Vienna in 1928, Rohatyn (pronounced ROH-uhtin) fled Nazi-occupied France with his family in 1940 and arrived in the United States in 1942. After rising to prominence with the banking firm Lazard, formerly Lazard Freres, Rohatyn was named chairman of the state-appointed Municipal Assistance Corporation in 1975. The position, which he held until 1993, gave him power over taxes and spending in the nation’s largest city that was unusual for someone who did not hold elected office. As chairman of the agency, Rohatyn pushed the financially strapped city to make reforms including a municipal wage freeze and charging tuition at the formerly free City University of New York. Rohatyn wrote in the agency’s annual report that the alternative to such cutbacks, which were criticized by many New Yorkers, “would have been bankruptcy for the city, which would have generated infinitely greater social costs.”
“I’m Supposed to Operate” Rohatyn likened his work brokering financial deals to
Sign of the times: Daily News headline in Oct. 1975 during NYC’s financial crisis. Photo: Edward Stojakovic, via flickr
the job of a surgeon. “I get called when something is broken,‘’ he told The Associated Press in 1978. “I’m supposed to operate, fix it up and leave as little blood on the floor as possible.’’ A longtime Democratic donor, Rohatyn was President Bill Clinton’s first choice for vice chairman of the Federal Reserve in 1996, but he withdrew from consideration for the post due to opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate. Clinton named Rohatyn ambassador to France instead, and he served in the position from 1997 to 2000. Rohatyn returned to Lazard as a senior adviser in 2010 and remained active in public life well into his 80s. Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo named him
co-chairman of a commission dedicated to improving the resilience of the state’s infrastructure following Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Rohatyn was a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books and the author of books including “Bold Endeavors: How Our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now,“ published in 2009, and “Dealings: A Political and Financial Life,“ published in 2010. Rohatyn married Jeanette Streit in 1956. Their marriage ended in divorce. He married the former Elizabeth Fly in 1979. She died in 2016. Rohatyn’s survivors include sons Pierre, Nicolas and Michael, stepdaughter Nina Griscom and six grandchildren.
DECEMBER 19-25, 2019
ADVENTURE ART CREATIVITY
The Arctic, the Antarctic and all points in between are where Katherine Taylor finds inspiration for her unique creations BY CECE KING Artist Katherine Taylor, or “KT,” likes the subway because she can observe the city’s finest creatures, rats, in their concrete habitat. KT’s current show ARTic Creatures, housed in Chelsea’s Skoto Gallery, is full of metal sculptures and drawings. ARTic Creatures is inspired by KT’s time with the Arctic Circle Program in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, and by her experience with Project Puffin, a National Audubon Society project that restores Puffin nesting grounds in Maine. KT grew up in Texas and was a studio art major at Dartmouth College. She then traveled the U.S. and blew glass before getting her MFA in Australia. When she’s not adventuring, KT works out of her Adirondacks studio and in her foundry, Alfa Arte, in northern Spain. We sat down with KT to talk nature, creatures, and art.
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YOUR 15 MINUTES
ist one day.” I see things in a way most people don’t. I know that makes me an artist. I say that because someone asked me recently, “What would you do if you weren’t an artist?” And I came up with a really earnest answer: I’d design sneakers for tigers. It combines being creative, working with animals, and being outside watching creatures run around to make shoes that fit their needs. The absurdity of the comment shows it’s a good thing I’m an artist. But it’s only in the past four or five years that I’ve said, yes, this is my calling. You’re supposed to be a doctor or a lawyer or something concrete that makes the world a better place. I didn’t realize that through art I could do all that. Now I’m sure of my answer when people say, “Hey! What are you? Who are you.” I’m an artist.
How does your work interplay with the current political climate? I like the climate word! The arctic is a contemporary, important topic, and it’s a part of the world people normally don’t have a chance to experience. That duality of importance is what lured me to it. I’m not a scientist. I’m just pointing things out. These are visual facts. You can interpret how you want.
Have you always considered yourself an artist?
Why did you go to the Arctic?
I’ve always been a creative person, but I never said “I’m gonna be an art-
The desire to go originated about 15 years ago. I sailed across the Atlantic
Katherine Taylor with some of her terns. Photo: Carey Wagner on a small boat and was out on the open ocean for 31 days. I had that little gremlin inside me that said you need to go back on another crazy adventure, this reawakens your spirit. When the opportunity came, it was a no-brainer. I had to go. I had to feed that gremlin.
Why did you choose puffins, a fox, and terns as the subjects of your sculpture? Puffins, because they’re completely adorable, and we, humans, love that goofy relatableness as they waddle around. And there was the technical aspect. I could combine the two metals because they had the two colors. I was looking for animals based on black and white, because I could translate that into the metal. The fox came about because I got tired of making birds! And I was fascinated by the relationship between the fox and terns, which I had already made.
What inspires you about working with and in nature?
Taylor in the field with a guillemot chick. Photo: Courtesy of Katherine Taylor
I’m constantly trying to feed my brain with what’s going on in nature. I was reading a book recently, something like “Why We Need Nature.” I remember laughing. Of course we need nature! Apparently, it has something to do with the Fibonacci series and how plants grow, that it’s really
organized and calming for people. Because it is so peaceful and reassuring, I’m able to be more creative. I thrive in sunshine. I’m solar-powered. And again, I’m trying to parse out the black from the white. I was drawn to creatures from the very beginning. My room as a child was full of stuffed animals. I read all the Mother West Wind, Peter Rabbit, and Jack London books. And now I can say too, being a dog owner, I love this relationship, this communication, that is so simple yet so complex. How does my dog know that when I look at him that’s the look to go outside? There’s something compelling about that.
How much of your art reflects your personal story, as opposed to stories you observe? Most of it is my personal story. Just after college when I was still thinking I wanted to be a glassblower, I made this piece of glass and in the center was copper. It had these legs, so it looked like a smushed down, glasscovered bug trying to stand up. It felt like what I felt like trying to come out of my shell and embrace what I am today. I’m just trying to figure out life. Art just happens to be how I figure it out. Some people pay with credit, some people pay with cash, I pay with wampum.
Does your identity affect how people react to your art? I was in the gallery and a couple came in. He made the comment that he didn’t expect a woman would have made the work. I’m recognizing now that there’s a lot of power in the work, and that doesn’t typically associate with a woman.
What’s next for you? I’m curious about this movement of adventure art. It’s going on an adventure, infiltrating this new scene and then coming back to create higher level souvenirs. I’m curious if there are other people doing this. I’m going to sail across the Great Passage to Antarctica in a small boat, like what I did going across the Atlantic. I’m planning on doing ice climbing and glacier skiing. The point of a trip like this is to have control over where the boat goes and how long it stays, so I can get my molds and my inspiration.
Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to westsidespirit.com and click on submit a press release or announcement.
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