The local paper for Downtown ntown PLAYING THE ‘FIRST TRANS ICON’
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WEEKWEEK OF SEPT.OF- OCT.
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26-2 262019
A store at Eighth Avenue and 40th Street. Photos: David Noonan
STATE OUTLAWS SALE OF E-CIGARETTES POLICY
Gov. Cuomo takes executive action as vaping-related illnesses rise across the country BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM
New York became the second state in the nation to ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes as the number of vaping-related lung illnesses continues to rise across the country and have been linked to eight deaths. Gov. Andrew Cuomo took swift action last week using an emergency and a vote from the city’s Public Health and Health Planning
Council to outlaw the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, which are popular among teens. “In four years, the percentage of high school users who use e-cigarettes and vaping has increased 160 percent. Forty percent of 12th graders now vape. Twenty-seven percent of high school students are vaping,” Cuomo said at a press conference announcing his executive action. “Manufacturers of fruit and candy-flavored e-cigarettes are intentionally and recklessly targeting young people, and today we’re taking action to put an end to it.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
‘WE WILL MAKE THEM HEAR US’
ENVIRONMENT
Students skipping school turned out in force to participate in the movement to combat climate change BY EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM
Thousands of young people flooded the streets of Lower Manhattan Friday afternoon, chanting and waving protest
the people who can make direct, political change to vote with us and to vote for a future for humanity.” It was that sentiment that was repeated over and over by the students who missed school last week to participate in the global climate strike that galvanized millions of young people in the
signs, all to be seen and heard by the people who they said could actually do something to combat the devastating effects of an impending climate catastrophe. At this point, it’s all they felt they could do. “We don’t have votes yet,” said 13-year-old Brooklyn resident April Carlioz. “We can be as eco-friendly as we want, but then we need to inspire
CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
INSIDE IT’S ALL OVER NOW, MAYOR BILL De Blasio quits quixotic quest for the White House. p. 9
ECHOES OF THE PAST The Frick Collection’s exhibition of a little known Renaissance master. p. 12
CITY OF WOMEN A spin on the subway map pinpoints females who helped make NYC great. p. 2
WINDOW STRIKES KILLING NYC’S BIRDS Tens of thousands packed Foley Square before a march to Battery Park Friday as park of the Climate Strike NYC, a movement led by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Photos: Emily Higginbotham
A bill before City Council would require “birdfriendly” glass for new construction. p. 5
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SPRING ARTS PREVIEW
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FOR HIM, SETTLING SMALL CLAIMS IS A BIG DEAL
presided over Arbitration Man has three decades. for informal hearings about it He’s now blogging BY RICHARD KHAVKINE
is the common Arbitration Man their jurist. least folks’ hero. Or at Man has For 30 years, Arbitration court office of the civil few sat in a satellite Centre St. every building at 111 New Yorkers’ weeks and absorbed dry cleaning, burned lost accountings of fender benders, lousy paint jobs, and the like. And security deposits then he’s decided. Arbitration Man, About a year ago, so to not afwho requested anonymity started docuhe fect future proceedings, two dozen of what menting about compelling cases considers his most blog. in an eponymous about it because “I decided to write the stories but in a I was interested about it not from wanted to write from view but rather lawyer’s point of said Arbitration a lay point of view,” lawyer since 1961. Man, a practicing what’s at issue He first writes about post, renders separate a in and then, how he arrived his decision, detailing Visitors to the blog at his conclusion. their opinions. often weigh in with get a rap going. I to “I really want unthey whether really want to know and why I did it,” I did derstood what don’t know how to he said. “Most people ... I’d like my cases the judge thinks. and also my trereflect my personalitythe law.” for mendous respect 80, went into indiArbitration Man, suc in 1985, settling vidual practice
9-16
MANHATTAN'S APARTMENT BOOM, > PROPERTY, P.20
2015
In Brief MORE HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS
The effort to help small seems to businesses in the city be gathering steam. Two city councilmembers, Robert Margaret Chin and Cornegy, have introduced create legislation that wouldSmall a new “Office of the within Business Advocate” of Small the city’s Department Business Services. Chin The new post, which have up told us she’d like to would and running this year, for serve as an ombudsman city small businesses within them clear government, helping to get through the bureaucracy things done. Perhaps even more also importantly, the ombudsman and number will tally the type small business of complaints by taken in actions the owners, policy response, and somefor ways to recommendations If done well, begin to fix things. report would the ombudsman’s quantitative give us the first with taste of what’s wrong the city, an small businesses in towards important first step problem. the xing fi of deformality for To really make a difference, process is a mere complete their will have to to are the work course, the advocaterising rents, precinct, but chances-- thanks to a velopers looking find a way to tackle business’ is being done legally of after-hours projects quickly. their own hours,” which remain many While Chin “They pick out boom in the number throughout lives on who problem. Angelo, vexing most said Mildred construction permits gauge what Buildings one of the Ruppert said it’s too early tocould have the 19th floor in The Department of the city. number three years, the Houses on 92nd Street between role the advocate She on the Over the past is handing out a record work perThird avenues. permits, there, more information of Second and an ongoing all-hours number of after-hours bad thing. of after-hours work the city’s Dept. problem can’t be a said there’s with the mits granted by nearby where according to new data jumped 30 percent, This step, combinedBorough construction project noise Buildings has data provided in workers constantly make efforts by Manhattan to mediate BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS according to DOB of Informacement from trucks. President Gale Brewer offer response to a Freedom classifies transferring they want. They knows the the rent renewal process, request. The city They 6 “They do whatever Every New Yorker clang, tion Act tangible signs go as they please. work between early, and some come metal-on-metal can construction any small sound: the or on the weekend, have no respect.” the piercing of progress. For many can’t come p.m. and 7 a.m., the hollow boom, issuance of these business owners, that moving in reverse. as after-hours. The increased beeps of a truck has generto a correspond and you soon enough. variances has led at the alarm clock The surge in permits
SLEEPS, THANKS TO THE CITY THAT NEVER UCTION A BOOM IN LATE-NIGHT CONSTR NEWS
A glance it: it’s the middle can hardly believe yet construction of the night, and carries on full-tilt. your local police or You can call 311
Newscheck
for dollars in fees ated millions of and left some resithe city agency, that the application dents convinced
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SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
CITY OF WOMEN SOCIETY
A stunning spin on the NYC subway map reveals just how many remarkable females have helped make this city great
Veronica nica Vazq Vazquez “D Dr. Ru Ruth” A Weestheimer e ei er Belle Moskkoowitzz Margaret Corrbin Althea Gibsson
Unveiled this month at the New York Transit Museum, the City of Women Map marks subway stops with the names of women like Zora Neale Hurston, Martha Graham, Emma Lazarus, Yoko Ono and scores more. As co-creator Rebecca Solnit explains: “This map was made to sing the praises of the extraordinary women who have, since the beginning, been shapers and heroes of this city that has always been, secretly, a City nks a B lia of Women. And why not the subway? This is a a z e Az an habaz history still emerging from underground, a d r o e J ty S reminder that it’s all connected, and that Jun Bet we get around.”
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SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
3
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
CRIME WATCH BY JERRY DANZIG BROOM STRUCK
STATS FOR THE WEEK
At 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15, police said, a man allegedly struck a 29-year-old man in the head with a broomstick at the corner of State and Bridge Sts., causing a laceration to the right side of the victim’s head. Willie Jennings, 42, was later arrested and charged with assault.
Reported crimes from the 1st precinct for the week ending Sept. 15
Murder Rape
FOOD FIGHT Two teens were picked up by police after a dustup over a plate of food. At 12:10 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, police said, a 15-year-old male allegedly took a plate of food without paying at 65 Market Place inside 65 Broadway, near Rector St. According to police, when a 34year-old male employee tried to stop the teenager, an 18-year-old man assaulted the employee. The 15year-old then punched the employee in the face with closed fist before both suspects fled south on Broadway, police said. The victim later complained of pain to his right cheek with minor redness but refused medical attention. The 15year-old and Jamel Alspaugh, 18, were arrested and charged with robbery.
Robbery Felony Assault
Week to Date
Year to Date
2019
2018 % Change
2019
2018 % Change
0 0
0 0
n/a n/a
1 10
1 18
0.0 -44.4
2 3
4 1
-50.0 200.0
48 70
52 41
-7.7 70.7
1 18
200.0 -5.6
95 684
50 734
90.0 -6.8
0
n/a
13
17
-23.5
Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr
Burglary
SUBWAY SLASHING
Grand Larceny
3 17
Grand Larceny Auto
0
A subway rider became violent after being reminded that smoking isn’t allowed on a train, police said. At 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 10, a man was attempting to light a glass bowl to smoke on a southbound A train approaching the Canal St. station when another rider, age 49, advised him he wasn’t allowed to smoke on the train. According to police, the smoker allegedly turned and slashed the man with a folding razor, causing a large laceration on the right side of the victim’s forehead. Police said the suspect then slashed another rider, age 67, on the ankle, causing a laceration. Both
victims were later taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment, where they received stitches. The suspect, Elston Howel, 51, was arrested and charged with assault.
WHAT NOT TO DO At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 10, a 32-year-old woman was doing a photo shoot in the Tribeca Park at the northeast corner of West Broadway and Beach St. when she asked an unknown woman to hold her bag. According to the police report, after the woman completed the shoot she couldn’t find the woman, nor could she reach her on
the phone. The stolen items included a white Bottega Veneta bag valued at $2,100, a green Bulgari wallet priced at $800, five items of makeup totaling $300, a bottle of perfume worth $100, the lipsticks amounting to $60, a debit card, room keys and headphones, making a total stolen of $3,569.
TWO-WHEELED TERROR
13, a 23-year-old woman was walking north on West St. when a man riding an electric bike on the sidewalk grabbed her bag from her arm at the southeast corner of North Moore St. and West St. before fleeing north on West. Police searched the neighborhood but did not find the suspect or the stolen items, which included a Mansur Gavriel handbag priced at $500 and a Celine wallet valued at $500.
“Bike thief” usually means a bad guy stealing bikes, but not in this case. At 5:20 p.m. on Friday, Sept.
VOTE EARLY OR VOTE ON ELECTION DAY. Pick the day that works best for you! From October 26, 2019 to November 3, 2019 you can vote at your assigned early voting poll site.
Visit
nyc.pollsitelocator.com to find your Early Voting poll site or General Election Day poll site location and hours of operation
4 POLICE
Useful Contacts
NYPD 19th Precinct
Drawing Board
153 E. 67th St.
212-452-0600
159 E. 85th St. 157 E. 67th St.
311
FIRE FDNY 22 Ladder Co 13 FDNY Engine 39/ Ladder 16 FDNY Engine 53/ Ladder 43 FDNY Engine 44
1836 Third Ave.
311 311
221 E. 75th St.
311
CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Keith Powers Councilmember Ben Kallos
211 E. 43rd St. #1205
212-818-0580
244 E. 93rd St.
212-860-1950
1916 Park Ave. #202
212-828-5829
1850 Second Ave. 360 E. 57th St.
212-490-9535 212-605-0937
1485 York Ave.
212-288-4607
COMMUNITY BOARD 8F LIBRARIES
505 Park Ave. #620
212-758-4340
Yorkville 96th Street 67th Street Webster Library
222 E. 79th St. 112 E. 96th St. 328 E. 67th St. 1465 York Ave.
212-744-5824 212-289-0908 212-734-1717 212-288-5049
100 E. 77th St. 525 E. 68th St.
212-434-2000 212-746-5454
E. 99th St. & Madison Ave. 550 First Ave. 4 Irving Place
212-241-6500 212-263-7300 212-460-4600
STATE LEGISLATORS State Sen. Jose M. Serrano State Senator Liz Krueger Assembly Member Dan Quart Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright
HOSPITALS Lenox Hill NY-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Mount Sinai NYU Langone
CON EDISON POST OFFICES US Post Office US Post Office
1283 First Ave. 1617 Third Ave.
212-517-8361 212-369-2747
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BY SUSAN FAIOLA
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
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WINDOW STRIKES ARE KILLING NYC’S BIRDS
DEVELOPMENT
A bill before the City Council would require that “bird-friendly” glass be used in new construction BY SARAH BEN-NUN
New York City’s famed buildings are killing her birds; the Wild Bird Fund is trying to change that. Rita McMahon is the founder of the Fund, a bird rehabilitation center on the Upper West Side that treats birds from all five boroughs for injuries. They see everything, from broken wings and smashed bones to lead poisoning.
But it’s collisions with the city’s glass-clad high rises that are the most lethal. “From the window strikes, only a third [of the birds brought in] will make it,” McMahon said. Earlier this month, the City Council debated a proposed bill, which was introduced by a group of council members, among them Rafael Espinal, Speaker Corey Johnson, and Helen Rosenthal. Originally proposed in March, the bill would require buildings that are either installing new glass or replacing old glass to use special ‘bird-friendly’ glass that has been shown to reduce bird fatalities.
Bird-Saving Technology What makes glass bird-friendly? McMahon
explained that the glass the birds are hitting is plenty hit higher as well.” She added, “It’s deveither totally transparent, or completely re- astating. Smashing into glass is devastating.” flective. But glass can be treated so that birds McMahon said that there are a few buildings can clearly see that it’s glass, and avoid smash- that stand out for their bird fatality numbers. ing into it. Should the bill pass, New York The buildings around Bryant Park, for examwould join other major cities in encouraging ple, are deadly. “In one week,” she said, “we bird-friendly legislation. had an owl and a red tailed hawk smash into Statistics from the City Council committee [a] building [in that area].” Representatives of report confirm that New York is a dangerous New York City Audubon patrol the sidewalks place to be a flight bird: “An estimated 90,000 there between 4 and 6 a.m. as part of their to 230,000 birds die as a result of these colli- Project Safe Flight. The goals of this initiative sions.” McMahon said the prime danger to are twofold: to direct the public’s attention to birds is actually the first three stories of a the dangers facing the City’s birds, and to probuilding. “If they’re foraging, getting things vide resources to help them. from a park, [then] they’ll take off, and hit the The “bird bill” is supported by a number of lower windows,” she explained. “They most frequently hit somewhere up to 75 feet, but CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
October 5th & 6th, 2019 Crescent Avenue I Bronx, NY 12 PM - 5 PM
A bird that was hit and found on a sidewalk in the East Village was brought in for treatment at the Wild Bird Fund. Photos: Sarah Ben-Nun
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VAPING: THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS DEADLY ADDICTION
HEALTH
that it would be a true nicotine delivery system and would help smokers gradually wean themselves off cigarettes. (Traditional cigarette smoke contains more than 2,000 chemicals including 146 known carcinogens.) However, the FDA has never approved vaping as a smoking cessation aid. Furthermore, studies show that people using e- cigarettes for smoking cessation have a 10 percent success rate of quitting. By comparison, 26 percent of smokers that use other types of smoking cessation such as nicotine gum or the patch, successfully quit. In addition, other research has shown that up to 52 percent of smokers are now using both electronic and traditional cigarettes at the same time.
A top NYC pulmonologist explains how e-cigarettes have hooked a new generation on nicotine, and why the rash of vapingrelated illnesses may just be the beginning of a long-term public health crisis BY E. NEIL SCHACHTER
So far, according to the FDA, 530 cases of possible e-cigarette related respiratory illnesses have been reported in 38 states, and a seventh person has died due to vaping-related lung disease. The New York State Department of Health has reported that 10 people in New York City have been sickened with vaping-associated pulmonary illness. So what is going on?
What is vaping? Vaping is the use of an electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette. The first e-cigarette was developed and patented in 2003 as an aid for smoking cessation. The device arrived in America in 2007. While they may look different, all e-cigarettes have a rechargeable lithium battery, a vaporing chamber and a cartridge that contains a nicotine solution. E-cigarettes deliver nicotine and /or THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) – the agent in cannabis responsible for many of the psychological effects of marijuana).
What else is in an e-cigarette? In addition to nicotine and THC, the ingredients in the cartridges can vary widely from brand to brand, and there are now approximately
FDA Regulation
Graphics: Liv Cosgrove
400 brands. Cartridges can contain water, nicotine, vitamin E acetate, flavorings, polypropylene glycol and/or glycerin. Laboratory studies have also found nitrosamines (a known carcinogen), dimethylene glycol (an ingredient in anti-freeze), formaldehyde, cadmium, lead, and acetone in the cartridge solution. When the ingredient propylene glycol is heated and vaporized, it can form propylene oxide, which is also a known carcinogen. Originally, the e-cigarette cartridges contained about half the nicotine levels of a pack of traditional cigarettes. Currently, the nicotine levels of the most popular e-cigarette (Juul) have doubled to about the same content of a cigarette pack. Nicotine, which can be as addicting as alcohol, heroin and
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codeine, has a broad impact. It can both stimulate and relax the body. People report they feel smarter and more alert, and studies have shown that nicotine enhances attention span and memory. In larger doses, when inhaled deeply, nicotine has a calming effect and reduces feelings of stress. The letdown following these effects makes it harder for vapers to quit. Moreover, nicotine use leads to “tachyphylaxis,“ meaning that it takes a greater dose to achieve the same effect. In this way, e-cigarettes have created a new generation of people addicted to nicotine. While national tobacco smoking has fallen to historic lows, there has been a frightening rise in nicotine addiction among teenagers. Between 2011 and 2015, e-cigarette smoking levels rose 900% among high school students.
What happens in the Lungs? When you vape you inhale an aerosol – a suspension of small liquid particles containing the different products dissolved in the e-cigarette’s cartridge. These ingredients may be transformed by the heating process and become irritating or toxic. As a result, small particles make their way deep into the lungs. Lung xrays of people who get sick
from vaping show shadows similar to those seen with viral or bacterial pneumonias. Unlike those types of pneumonia, vaping pneumonia does not respond to antibiotics or antiviral medicines.
How is Vaping Different from Smoking? The hope with vaping was
There is a shocking lack of FDA oversight of e-cigarettes. Despite the fact that they were marketed as a healthier way to smoke and as a way to quit, they were not required to show any evidence of safety or efficacy. In 2008, the FDA announced new regulations that tried to limit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. However,
since more than 50 percent of e-cigarettes are bought online, and there is a considerable black market, the current FDA regulations are inadequate. In the U.S., teens are more likely to use e-cigarettes than adults are. In 2018, 4.9 percent of middle school students and 20.8 percent of high school students used e-cigarettes. By comparison, less than 4 percent of adults use e-cigarettes.
Symptoms of Respiratory Illness The disease as it has been reported frequently begins with a dry cough and pleuritic chest pain (sharp pain with deep breaths). These early symptoms begin several days or weeks before the person requires hospitalization. A fast heart rate, fever, chills and fatigue are also reported, as are GI symptoms, which may appear before the respiratory symptoms. These may include vomiting, abdominal symptoms and diarrhea. By the time the person is sick enough to require hospitalization, findings of low oxygen in the blood leading to respiratory failure may occur. This is usually treated by giving oxygen or in extreme cases using intubation with mechanical ventilators. The symptoms may be confused with pneumonia but these patients do not respond to antibiotics and the commonality is that they used ecigarettes with THC, and/or nicotine plus THC. No specific agent(s) has been consistently associated with this illness. In some cases, washings from the airway using a bronchoscope as well as biopsies of the lung have shown fatty products in white blood cells. This finding is associated with “lipoid pneumonia,” a non-infectious pneumonia resulting from the inhalation of oils such as those that may be used in vaping solutions. There is no specific treatment, but systemic steroids seemed to speed recovery.
Final Thoughts What we may be seeing is the tip of the iceberg, with many other individuals devel-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
ously knew. Last week, the Trump Administra-
Vape dispensers come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
STATE OUTLAWS SALE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 As of Thursday, 530 probable cases of vaping-related lung illnesses have been reported from 38 states and one U.S. territory, according to a new report from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The rash of illnesses began in April and has been linked to seven deaths, the latest being flagged by health officials in California. The CDC’s demographic report shows that nearly three-quarters are male, two-thirds between 18 and 34. Sixteen percent are 18 or younger. And about half the subjects of these cases are 25 year old or younger. “Most patients have reported using e-cigarette products contain-
7
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
ing THC,” the CDC reported. “Many have reported using THC and nicotine. Some have reported the use of e-cigarette products containing only nicotine.”
Calls for Action In New York, as of September 9, the State Department of Health has received 41 reports from doctors of “severe pulmonary illness among patients from 15 to 46 years old who were using at least one cannabiscontaining vape product before they became ill. However, all patients reported recent use of various vape products.” Political figures at every level have been calling for action on the vaping products since health officials found that the cases of lung illness were more widespread than they previ-
Because of the aggressive marketing and the flavors widely available, teenagers are now addicted to nicotine ... It’s why they spend much of the school day vaping in the bathroom. State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal tion said that the Food and Drug Administration would move to develop guidelines to remove all flavored ecigarettes from the market, with the exception of tobacco. Additionally, Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore, that would ban the flavored products and as well as apply cigarette taxes on the devices. Action to achieve this proposal has not moved as quickly on a federal level, but the retailer Walmart has taken matters into their own hands and announced late last week that it planned to pull e-cigarettes from its shelves.
A Push Against Menthol But State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal isn’t going to count on the federal government, or her state’s executive office, to outlaw the fla-
Don’t Hesitate.
Vaccinate!
Vaccines are safe, effective and keep our children healthy. Vaccinations are required for children to attend all child care, pre-K, public and private schools. To learn more, call 311 or visit nyc.gov/health and search “student vaccines.”
vored e-cigarettes. “When it comes to the federal government, I’ll believe it when I see it,” Rosenthal said. “Trump makes a lot of promises that never come to fruition.” Rosenthal also said the state cannot rely solely on executive action, but that legislation would be the best way to get e-cigarettes off the shelves. Plus, Rosenthal’s legislation, which she initially introduced in 2017, includes a ban of minted menthol, and Cuomo’s order does not. “Fifty-four percent of kids who vape say they started with menthol,” Rosenthal said. “It’s kind of like an entry way.” Since 2012, Rosenthal has been pushing legislation to crack down on the sale of these products to minors. Most recently, she helped raise the legal smoking age in the state of New York from 18 to 21. Rosenthal said that there still is not a lot of research and information about the possible consequences of using e-cigarettes; but, she said that it is known that minors with developing brains and bodies should not be exposed to nicotine, and that is what has happened as vaping has become more popular. “Because of the aggressive marketing and the flavors widely available, teenagers are now addicted to nicotine, which rewires their brain and
creates a reward loop,” Rosenthal said. “It’s why they spend much of the school day vaping in the bathroom.”
City Legislation Rosenthal said she is going to pursue her bill to ban flavors when lawmakers return to Albany, and said she will also be introducing another bill modeled after a San Francisco policy that has banned the sale of ecigarettes altogether until the FDA has declared them a suitable smoking device. Legislation is being drawn up at the city level as well to ban the sale of ecigarettes. Council Member Mark Levine, who represents the 7th District of Manhattan and chairs the Council Committee on Health, is introducing a bill to ban the sale of all e-cigarette flavors in the city. “While our fight to protect kids from the dangers of vaping has gained a lot of momentum at every level of government, New York City needs our own permanent and comprehensive ban on all flavored vaping products that are marketed specifically to hook kids on nicotine,” Levine said in a statement. Like Rosenthal’s bill, Levine’s proposal is to go further than the governor’s emergency action and include menthol in the ban.
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‘BE A BLESSING – THAT IS WHY WE ARE HERE’
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
Voices
BY BETTE DEWING
Those words are a timeless reminder from a Rabbi Harvey M. Tattelbaum’s High Holy Day sermon published in Our Town. The date missing on the copies made to share at a church gathering. But his message did note it was the 5746th year of the ancient Jewish calendar. More important, It was a time he said “to remind ourselves of a sense of accountability to the Jewish tradition, the needs of our people and to people everywhere.” And his message ends with the words we so need to remember and enact “Or as Abraham understands God to have told him -- “Heyay baracha” -- be a blessing, that is why we are here.“ And I wrote a column citing ways to be a Big Apple blessing - all faiths all people of good faith. Not surprising, I can’t locate it, but I suspect they’re same ones we need today, This may seem a simplistic way to be a blessing, but smiling does help sweeten the social climate, not to mention human connections in a time known more for peering at cell phones and other devices. But keep in mind how smiling also soothes the brain, and don’t we need that. And don’t we need that. And my cousin’s foster daughter (what a blessing) reminds: “A smile is a curve which sets everything straight”
Crimes of Traffic And speaking of safe traffic which we inevitably must, while vehicle operators are required to yield to pedestrians when turning into a crosswalk, it’s really nice to give a smile and a wave when they do. But when they don’t well don’t be silent. Again, failure to yield is the leading cause of pedestrian injury and death, and yet this deadly traffic crime is too seldom punished even when it takes a life or severely injures. And it surely does stress, which must be considered big time. All crimes of traffic do that, including two wheelers and now scooter riders (help!) so very allergic to the rules of the road.
Police and a demonstrator at a July rally protesting the death of Eric Garner. Photo: Margaret Barnsley
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Police and the Public
A Neighbor Who Is a Blessing And that does relate to Rabbi Tattelbaum and Temple Shaaray Tefila, member Betty Cooper Wallerstein and her East 79th Street Neighborhood Association is surely a blessing, with 30-plus years active concern for all the above, including getting York Avenue Sunday bus service. And the monthly meetings so importantly bring people together and to meet with elected officials and police officers. Also helpful friendships are formed. What a blessing! But due to luxury high rises razing places that once held community rooms, meeting places are harder to find – let alone small businesses which meet everyday needs. So be a blessing and join this and other civic groups to save and restore these and other ineffable city blessings – very critical city needs they are. It can be done if enough of us try - Heyay baracha – be a blessing, that is why we are here. New Year blessings which again Rabbi Tattlebaum said “means a sense of accountability to the world is the responsibility of each of us for our Jewish tradition and to the needs of our people – to people everywhere.” Please repeat and repeat “to all of us, and to people everywhere.” dewingbetter@aol.com
Visualize the video of people tossing buckets of water at officers who walk with heads down to their squad cars; hear about a bystander throwing milk at a policeman attending to an emergency. These occurrences are not an indication of poor community relations. It shows a defiance of authority and that abuse goes unpunished. What is behind this? Some are calling it the Pantaleo effect, although it preceded the firing of the officer blamed for Eric Garner’s death. According to Chief of Department Terence Monahan between 8/19 and 8/25 there was a 30 percent drop in arrests and summonses. He added that the NYPD would continue to safeguard New Yorkers from serious crimes. Most people obey the law and appreciate order in the public domain; they rely on the police to maintain it. Those who would break the law defy authority if the consequences such as arrest do not occur. An officer I approached on Columbus Avenue was reluctant to discuss morale but then said, “It’s low.” Under Mayor de Blasio and his administration the police lack support. The firing of Pantaleo and withholding of his pension reinforced their vulnerability. As in any profession there are some police who deserve condemnation. But when politics causes the police to stand down or face possible vilification, the bad actors in the
community can cause havoc. Unless there is a change for the better during this and future administrations I anticipate a continued decline in the quality of life in New York City. There will also be fewer recruits to the police department. Ruth Cohen, MD Upper West Side
Hierarchy of Risk I am surprised and dismayed that you chose to publish Janet A. Davis’s anti-bicycling blame-the-victim piece “New York is Not a Doll House.” Davis espoused that cyclists should be banned from certain streets to allow more space as “Cars and trucks jockey for lanes as they move toward their goals.” I would like Davis and others that share her view to think critically about the hierarchy of risk associated with various levels of transportation in New York City. A car speeding through a red light may wipe out a group of people crossing the street. A bicycle is unable to inflict such damage. Our city would be far more safe if zealots like Ms. Davis concentrated on railing against dangers posed by vehicles rather than “lowhanging fruit” bicyclists, who are also trying to “move toward their goals.” Jamie Favaro Upper West Side
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SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
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Then presidential candidate Bill de Blasio onstage at the Iowa Democratic Wing Ding in Clear Lake, Iowa on August 9, 2019. Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
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IT’S ALL OVER NOW, MAYOR BILL POLITICS
De Blasio quits quixotic quest for the White House BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
He never seemed to mind becoming a national laughingstock, fodder for late-night comedians, human dart board for a merciless press and object of ridicule even in his own hometown.
NYC is devastated, he’s coming home!” Tweet from President Donald Trump But after 128 days of nearly non-existent poll numbers, paltry crowds, dismal fundraising and tabloid indignities portraying a doomed knight-
errant jousting at windmills, he finally called it quits. Unapologetic, not exactly humble, evincing a trace of defiance, and still plugging his “robot tax,” Democratic presidential fantasist Bill de Blasio finally acknowledged what most of America seemed to know from the moment he tossed his halo in the ring on May 16: “I feel like I’ve contributed all
CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
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SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2,2019
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
ACTIVITIES FOR THE FERTILE MIND
thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY
Calendar NYCNOW
Lauren Duca: How to Start a Revolution
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27TH, 7PM The Strand | 828 Broadway | 212-473-1452 | strandbooks.com In her just-released new book, journalist Lauren Duca explores a post-Trump political awakening and lays the groundwork for a re-democratizing moment as it might be built from the potential of young people ($15 gift card or $26 signed book copy).
Micropolis: How to Revive a Fading Language
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH, 7PM The Greene Space | 44 Charlton St. | 646-829-4000 | thegreenespace.org Amazingly, there are over 600 languages spoken in New York City. Micropolis host and reporter Arun Venugopal wonders which of them is disappearing. Join him for a night of performances, audience participation, and conversation ($15).
Just Announced | Ambassador Nikki Haley in Conversation: With All Due Respect—Defending America with Grit and Grace
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH, 7PM 92nd Street Y | 1395 Lexington Ave. | 212-415-5500 | 92y.org Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Trump administration and the challenges the U.S. faces in foreign affairs ($45, includes book).
Discover the world around the corner. Find community events, gallery openings, book launches and much more: Go to nycnow.com
EDITOR’S PICK
Sun 29 FRANKIE COSMOS Webster Hall 125 East 11th St 8:00 p.m. $22.50 websterhall.com 212-353-1600 NYC native and Kevin Kline progeny Frankie Cosmos has won fans worldwide as the foremost purveyor of bedroom pop, that intimate and warmly melancholic indie-pop offshoot. Her fourth album, “Close It Quietly,” released earlier this month to wide acclaim.
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Thu 26
Fri 27
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KARL BLAU
WE HATE MOVIES LIVE
MASSIVE ATTACK DJ SET
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe 126 Crosby St 6:30 p.m. $2 The quartet behind beloved bad-movie podcast “We Hate Movies” hosts a live recording of two episodes of their “Animation Damnation” series, followed by a discussion of each show’s history, themes, and cultural impact. housingworks.org 347-473-7400
Webster Hall 125 East 11th St 11:30 p.m. $45 The legendary trip hop group from Bristol has won numerous awards and released five studio albums that have sold over 11 million copies worldwide. Catch this live DJ set the night following their Radio City Music Hall concert. websterhall.com 212-353-1600
Mercury Lounge 217 East Houston St 6:30 p.m. $12 Karl Blau, hailing from beautiful Anacortes, Washington State, is a singer and multi-instrumentalist with a passion for recording music. He has performed solo and with bands such The Microphones/Mount Eerie, who named a track after him on their debut LP. mercuryloungenyc.com 646-921-7680
Sat 28
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2,2019
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
NEIGHBORHOOD’S BEST To place an ad in this directory, Call Douglas at 212-868-0190 ext. 352.
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THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2019 PANEL
Village East Cinema 181-189 Second Ave 11:00 a.m. $8 The second animated feature film based on the beloved Peanuts comic strip, which follows Snoopy as he struggles to decide whether to leave Charlie Brown and return to his original owner. citycinemas.com 212-529-6998
Caveat 21 A Clinton St 7:00 p.m. $10 Each month, Masters of Social Gastronomy takes on a curious food topic and breaks down the history and science behind it. Next up, they’ll look at the surprisingly long history of almond and soy milk, sharing historical recipes and tracing their rise as the OG alternate milks in America. caveat.nyc 212-228-2100
Strand Bookstore 828 Broadway 7:00 p.m. Free with book or gift card purchase Bill Kartalopoulos moderates a panel for this year’s Best American Comics 2019, which showcases the work of established and upand-coming artists, collecting work found in the pages of graphic novels, comic books, periodicals, zines, online, in galleries, and more. strandbooks.com 212-473-1452
Tea Drunk 123 East 7th St 1:00 - 8:00 p.m. $10 Tea Drunk is turning 6 years old, and you’re invited to the party. Come celebrate during a special tea festival showcasing 6 different teas every hour. You will receive a fun stamp card to record your journey among the various teas tea-drunk.com 917-573-9936
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SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
ECHOES OF THE PAST, WHISPERS OF THE FUTURE The Frick Collection’s exhibition of a little known Renaissance master BY MARY GREGORY
The curators at the Frick Collection have a knack for uncovering geniuses of the past and starting them trending. Now it’s Bertoldo di Giovanni’s turn, and it was worth the wait to get to know this major, but relatively obscure, Renaissance sculptor. “This show grew out of the fact that we have the only Bertoldo in the United States and wanted to know it better,“ said director, Ian Wardropper. “We ended up doing what is the first ever exhibition on this sculptor who was important not just as a maker of bronzes but as a link between the greatest sculptors of the 15th and 16th centuries. He worked for Donatello and was a mentor to Michelangelo.” He was also the friend, house guest, curator and a favorite artist of Lorenzo de’ Medici. Co-curated by Aimee Ng, Alexander J. Noelle and Xavier F. Salomon, the exhibition brings together virtually all the extant known work of Bertoldo. It’s a rare chance to see every piece, across several media and forms, by a major artist. More than 20 pieces fill the downstairs galleries, creating interaction between terracotta, bronze, and a polychrome wood sculpture of St. Jerome. The visual conversations are lively and extensive; definitive answers are fewer. Not much has been known with certainty about Bertoldo. The Frick’s team went back to original documents from the early 1500s, translat-
IF YOU GO What: Bertoldo di Giovanni: The Renaissance Of Sculpture In Medici Florence Where: The Frick Collection, 1 East 70th Street When: Through January 12, 2020 ing, transcribing and turning them into hypotheses about the artist and his oeuvre. But it wasn’t just dusty old documents they found. They discovered another obstacle that prevented Bertoldo’s name from coming down through history. “Bertoldo has been primarily identified in connection with three of the great names of the Italian renaissance, Donatello, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Michelangelo,“ said Noelle. “It’s partly due to Michelangelo that Bertoldo is relatively obscure today. Michelangelo, as he got older, fashioned himself as a divinely blessed artist, as self-taught. And, therefore, he tried to erase Bertoldo from his narrative. The founding art historian, Giorgio Vasari, also contributed to Bertoldo’s downplaying, in his “Lives of the Artists,“ when he established Donatello and Michelangelo as the bookending titans of the Renaissance… What we’ve done in this exhibition is really celebrate the ingenuity and achievements of Bertoldo in his own right.”
Contemporary Connections His sculptural achievements speak for themselves in complex and delicate but powerful statues, wall reliefs and medals, but the curatorial voices bring them out more fully. The first work encountered, at the base of the stairs, is Bertoldo’s “Bat-
“Bellerophon Taming Pegasus,“ designed by Bertoldo di Giovanni, executed by Adriano Fiorentino, is an example of the kind of collaborations that were a hallmark of Bertoldo’s practice. Photo: Adel Gorgy
tle” relief. Salomon described is as “the main achievement of Bertoldo … from the height of his career.” The wall texts tell us that it was based on an ancient sarcophagus but reworked in a then modern way. Figures energetically twist across an undefined space. There’s no ground under their feet that we can see, and gravity seems to have little effect on the horses and soldiers who recede, entangle, and then extend off the surface, coming deep into the viewer’s space. It conjures thoughts of the charged all-over rhythms of the Abstract Expressionists and the paintings with objects protruding that Eva Hesse made in the mid-1960s. Curiously, this quintessential Renaissance master’s work brings lots of surprising contemporary connections to mind. A large ceramic frieze that once adorned the Medici villa at Poggio a Caiano, pings memories of Henri Matisse’s “The Swimming Pool” at the Museum of Modern Art, with white figures across bands of cobalt. Designs passed along to other artists to complete (since Bertoldo had no workshop of his own) presage 21st century artists who utilize fabricators to make their art. That seems to be the unique genius of Bertoldo – as conduit and connector. One large medal was packed with complex, tiny details intricately worked in bronze. On the reverse,
A detail of the extraordinary, life-sized “St. Jerome” sculpture, executed in around 1465 probably by both Donatello and Bertoldo di Giovanni, is one of the highlights of the show. Photo: Adel Gorgy
where other sculptors might have just placed text or a coat of arms, Bertoldo works an entire Last Judgment scene. Blown up to 50 meters high, it’s the same composition as Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. That more than suggests Michelangelo’s recollection of his teacher’s work.
Pathos and Passion Most spectacular is a life-sized standing figure in painted wood depicting St. Jerome. Again, it brings up questions of collaboration and inspiration, and again, the details are extraordinary. The pathos and passion of the penitent saint are expressed from his tormented gaze down to his knees, bruised from prayer. It recalls Donatello’s Mary Magdalene commissioned for the Baptistery of Florence, but said curator Ng, “It just misses what Donatello seems to have been able to do in other sculptures.”
When Donatello died, his final commission was recorded as having been completed by Bertoldo. So, who, exactly, sculpted this lifelike, suffering saint? “This is hotly contested,“ admitted Ng. “Some scholars are absolutely committed to this as a work by Donatello, and some are really sure about Bertoldo. This is why we bring these things together. To see how they suit each other.” Ng believes that new research, brought out in the splendid book that accompanies the exhibition, as well as the spotlight on Bertoldo, may result in new discoveries and attributions. It took more than 500 years for this artist to have his first solo show. Though most have never heard of Bertoldo di Giovanni, those who visit the Frick and get to know his work aren’t likely to forget him soon.
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
Central Perk “Friends” set. Photo: Glen Bowman, via flickr
FEELING UNFRIENDLY ABOUT ‘FRIENDS’ TELEVISION
Why I won’t be celebrating the hit show’s 25th anniversary BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL
I won’t be there for them. “Friends” (the non-Facebook kind) is celebrating its 25th anniversary and I shall be sitting out the festivities such as the three-day “Friends 25th: The One With The Anniversary” big screen extravaganza (scheduled for Sept. 22, Sept. 28 and Oct. 2) with tickets procured from the Fathom Events website, as well as the pop-up exhibit in Soho — because I never liked the show. (Let the backlash begin.) Although the cast was eye candy at its finest and the theme song was a toe-tapper, I just couldn’t get into it. Perhaps, as a native New Yorker, I just found unrelatable the, “friends as family while young transplants try to make it in Manhattan” thing. Or maybe because in 1994 when the show premiered, I had been married for six years and hoping for motherhood, no longer interested in the shenanigans of singles, a life from which I had successfully distanced myself. I was so uninterested that I missed the entire first season, even though the engaging actors were in every magazine, and friends and colleagues were always talking about how cute the show was. There was also the obligatory “I’m so (fill in character’s name here)” declarations, which
meant that I found myself suddenly surrounded by a bevy of Monicas, Rachels and Chandlers, with very few people (read: no none) laying claim to mirroring the intelligence-impaired Joey, flaky Phoebe or geeky Ross. I succumbed to peer pressure (“How can you not watch ‘Friends?’”) for seasons two, three and four so I could be part of the water cooler conversation on Friday mornings. By the start of year five, though, I found myself settling in with the first episode and thinking, “I just can’t do this anymore.” So, I turned it off, managing to live without seasons five through nine. In 2004, when the final season aired, for some inexplicable reason I got sentimental and decided to give the series a farewell viewing. All it did was confirm for me that my original decision to not become a fan was the right one. Even after half a decade of going cold turkey, that apartment (Monica’s grandmother’s rent-controlled one) still irked me. (My first apartment, including kitchen, bathroom and two closets, was the size of my current living room.) My breastbone constricted when Ross and Rachel decided to drag a child into their unhealthy and draining push/pull relationship. And I shook my head as Monica and Chandler turned inward to the group to find love, because they’d exhausted the NYC dating pool. I had seen that scenario play out IRL more than once and it never ended as anyone hoped.
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
I’m still trying to reconcile how Rachel, the waitress with no skills, beat out all the F.I.T. fashionistas with degrees ... to become an executive at Ralph Lauren. I also didn’t quite understand how some of these bonds stayed intact or even existed at all. Knowing how much her brother loved Rachel, how did Monica stand by and let She of the Coveted Hair Cut hurt him time after time by choosing other men? I know some very protective sisters who would have tossed their roommate out on the street. Rachel would have been playing tambourine for loose change while Phoebe strummed “Smelly Cat” on the guitar down the subway. I’m also still trying to reconcile how Rachel, the waitress with no skills, beat out all the F.I.T. fashionistas with degrees, aka the million girls who would kill for that job, to become an executive at Ralph Lauren. So fans, enjoy the 25th celebration, get your memorabilia and tickets to watch cherrypicked episodes in the movie theater. It just might help take your mind off what’s going on in the rest of the world. As The Rembrandts sang: no one told you life was gonna be this way. Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novels “Fat Chick” and “Back to Work She Goes.”
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SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
RESTAURANT INSPECTION RATINGS
SEPTEMBER 11 - 17, 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. Seabirds
361 6th Ave
Xi’an famous Foods 313 6th Ave
A
Black Seed Bagels
170 Elizabeth St
A
Olive’s
191 Prince St
A
Nespresso
92 Prince St
A
Quartino Bottega Organica
11 Bleecker Street
Grade Pending(21) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or nonfood areas. Grade Pending(19) Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
Coco Fresh Tea & Juice
12 John St
A
Matryoshka (Spa 88)
88 Fulton Street
Grade Pending(27) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Evidence of rats or live rats present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Tobacco use, eating, or drinking from open container in food preparation, food storage or dishwashing area observed.
Darkhorse
17 Murray Street
18 East 16 Street
A
Tim Ho Wan
85 4Th Ave
A
Pizza Mercato
11 Waverly Pl
A
Skinny Buddha Organic Kitchen
45 E 1St St
Not Yet Graded(29) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. 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. Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure to enable cleanliness of employees not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
A-1 Pizza Shop
505 Grand Street
Grade Pending(16) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution.
Subway
250 East Houston Street
A
Barrio Chino
253 Broome Street
A
New Rong Hang Restaurant
38 Eldridge Street
A
Zyara
57 Clinton St
A
Lee Chung Cafe
82 Madison Street
Closed
Gem
110 Forsyth St
A
Gooey On The Inside Cookies
163 Chrystie St
A
Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles
1 Doyers Street
Closed
Dunkin’
139 Centre Street
A
Troquet
155 Grand St
A
Gran Tivoli
406 Broome St
A
Jing Fong Restaurant
20 Elizabeth Street
Grade Pending(8) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Sanctuary T
337 West Broadway
Closed
Grade Pending(18) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
184 Prince Street
90 Thompson St
Breads Bakery
A
Piccola Cucina
San Carlo Osteria Piemonte
adequate additional heat treatment.
A
The Hummus & Pita 79 Chambers Street Co.
A
Hungry Ghost Coffee
165 Church St
A
Hampton Chutney Co
143 Grand St
A
Boba Guys
11 Waverly Pl
A
Cafe Hong Kong
51 Bayard St
Grade Pending(4)
Bar Primi
325 Bowery
A
Amazing 66 Restaurant
66 Mott Street
Bowery Meat Company
9 E 1St St
A
Chen’s Express Kitchen
223 E 14Th St
Grade Pending(2)
Vinny Vincenz
231 1 Avenue
Closed
Rai Rai Ken
218 East 10 Street
Grade Pending(18) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive
Grade Pending(38) Hot food item not held at or above 140º F. Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140º F to 70º F or less within 2 hours, and from 70º F to 41º F or less within 4 additional hours. Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service. Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
Lucky Strike
59 Grand St
A
SaigonVietnamese Sandwich
369 Broome St
A
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
KILLING NYC’S BIRDS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 council members, including Helen Rosenthal. A City Council spokesperson told Straus News that the bill “continues to go through the legislative process.” At the time of publication, no date had been set for a final vote. The American Institute of Architects (AIA), a professional association representing New York City’s architects and related professionals, supports the bill. In an email, Adam Roberts, AIA director of policy, said “One of the best aspects of this bill is that it provides flexibility to architects, owners, and building managers to use a variety of materials and techniques to deter bird collisions.”
A Good Example Roberts pointed to the Javits Convention Center, which opened in 1986, as an example
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of what can be done, even in older buildings. In 2015, Javits leadership adopted a revolutionary sustainability policy; one of the things they did was “install fritted glass in order to… limit bird collisions.” The result was an estimated 90% reduction in bird deaths. “At the Javits Center, you can’t even see it [the treatment in the windows] – but the birds see it,” McMahon said. NYC Audubon honored them for it. The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) has expressed support for the bill, but noted that, since the treatment is a recent innovation in glass production, the materials are costly and can be difficult to get. McMahon said people need to contact their council members and tell them to pass the bill. “The winds are shifting. And that’s a good thing,” she said. “We have a pride about New York. We want to be outstanding; this will make us more outstanding.”
Recovering from injuries at the Wild Bird Fund.
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At the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side, birds with a mix of injuries, from window strikes and other accidents.
Downtowner
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Our Town|Downtowner otdowntown.com
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
Business
GABRIELA’S CLOSING AFTER 27 YEARS The neighborhood responds to an Upper West Side favorite’s farewell
Milner, 50, grew up in the restaurant business. His uncle, Artie Cutler, was somewhat of an icon in the
BY JASON COHEN
After nearly three decades as a staple on the UWS, Gabriela’s Restaurant and Tequila Bar is shuttering its doors. The eatery, which opened in 1992 on Amsterdam and 94th and then relocated to its current location at 688 Columbus Ave., will be closing at the end of the month. With more than 150 different bottles of 100 percent agave tequila, Gabriela’s was the largest tequila bar on the Upper West Side. Owner Nat Milner, a UWS resident, told the Spirit he wished he could remain open, but he saw the writing on the wall two years ago when minimum wage began increasing. His wife, Elizabeth Milner, owned and operated Elizabeth Neighborhood’s Table next door to Gabriela’s for seven years until it closed in 2017. “We put our whole life into this space the last 15 years,” Milner said. “It’s just the nature of the business. If you’re not making money, you can’t stay around. They kept raising the wages and we kept responding to it. We could never get caught up.”
Owner Nat Milner. Photo: Jason Cohen
It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening here. Everybody’s got to scramble to figure out how to do their business with less labor. Owner Nat Milner
food industry. Cutler operated Carmine’s and Ollie’s Noodle Shop & Grille on Broadway, Virgil’s Real BBQ at 152 West 44th St., and he was a partner or investor in many other restaurants. Milner worked for his uncle in various stores and learned from him. “He was my role model,” Milner said. “I spent a lot of time with him.” The history of Gabriela’s dates back to Gabriela Hernandez, who used to work and cook for Cutler. Cutler was so enamored with her authentic Mexican food that eventually the duo opened the restaurant. Hernandez soon brought some of her family to the UWS and they joined her at the eatery. Hernandez gave the UWS a taste of Guadalajara for many years. Some of
The restaurant was also the largest tequila bar on the UWS. Photo: Jason Cohen her family recipes from the Guada- than 20 years, it has been a place lajara area are cochinita pibil, al pas- where people feel at home. Milner tor tacos, carnitas Uruapan and recalled how he has seen kids grow enchilada suizas. up into adults and families celebrate In 1997 Cutler passed away at the baptisms, graduations, birthdays age of 53 from a heart attack. His and many happy occasions at Gabriwidow, Alice Cutler, operated Gabri- ela’s. ela’s until 2005, when Milner took Milner explained that owning Gabover. riela’s was a dream come true, but “My aunt was going to let it disap- having it in his neighborhood made pear when the lease expired,” he it even more special. People know said. “I was looking for a way to be him and his wife, and most of the cliout on my own and she was looking entele live within five blocks from for a way to keep Gabriela’s alive.” the restaurant, he said. After traveling Asia for a year and “Being a part of the community is living in Alaska and Colorado, Mil- a major thing of what we do,” he ner was ready for the challenge of said. operating a business. So, when the minimum wage began While Gabriela’s didn’t last forever, to increase a few years ago, Milner the juice was definitely worth the realized he needed to find ways to squeeze. According to Milner, the lower payroll and make ends meet. restaurant has prided itself on three In 2017 the minimum wage went up things: food, service and values. to $12 an hour, $13 in 2018 and $15 “We weren’t trying to be the best this year. restaurant in NYC, we were trying to Consequently, he cut layers of manbe the favorite,” Milner said. agement, raised prices, got rid of With employees that have been workers who made tortilla chips and with him for more reduced overnight employees.
With Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day, May was usually Gabriela’s busiest month. However, it was slow this year, with the entire summer. “It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening here,” he said. “Everybody’s got to scramble to figure out how to do their business with less labor.” Since announcing the impending closure two weeks ago, the restaurant has been inundated with calls from emotional customers. A young girl even dropped off a thank you card with 75 cents for them. “People are crying,” Milner said. “It’s just very sad.” Looking to the future, he plans to spend more time with his family and focus on his kiosk, Gabriela’s Taquiera, at 44th and Eighth Ave. At this point, he is filled with anger, sadness and grief, but is ready for a new chapter. “I’m through my stage of grief already,” Milner remarked. “For everyone else it’s kind of a shock.”
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
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VAPING: THE TRUTH CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 oping less severe forms of the disease. Even as we search for effective responses and treatments for these short-term effects, we need to keep in mind the potential for longterm effects. In the case of cigarettes, we know that lung cancers and other chronic related diseases may only become apparent
‘WE WILL MAKE THEM HEAR US’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 United States and around the world to demand change from political leaders. The students, of all ages, from elementary school to college and estimated by organizers to be as many as 250,000 in number, emphasized the need for those in power to take notice and to act. No one spoke as clearly or powerfully on that point as Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who has been the driving force behind the youth movement to combat climate change. In a speech following a march from Foley Square to Battery Park, Thunberg said the world leaders gathering in New York for the United Nations Climate Action Summit on Monday had a chance to prove that they too are united behind the science and reports that show the need for drastic action in the next 10 years to lower global carbon emissions. “We have not taken to the streets — sacrificing our education — for the adults and politicians to take selfies with us and tell us that they really, really admire what we do,” Thunberg said before a sea of protesters. “They have a chance to take leadership to prove that they actually hear us. “Do you think they hear us?” Thunberg posed to the roaring crowd. “We will make them hear us.”
“It’s Hot in Here!” It was clear from the passion of the students on hand Friday that the event was not simply an opportunity to skip school. They were tireless in their chanting, often breaking out into the pep rally-style cheer “Oh, it’s hot in here! There must be some carbon in the atmosphere!” They raised their signs above the crowd. Many read “There is no planet B.” Some invoked Internet memes. Others were simple and clear in their message: “Denial is deadly.” For 19-year-old Louis Roberts, climate change has become a daily anxiety. He said he’s been worried of what the future might look like since he was as young as seven. “When I was able to get a good grasp on it I was terrified,” said Roberts, who is studying at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. “Now, trying to build a future in something that seems so uncertain is very anxiety inducing.” Roberts said there needs to be absolute change across the board, including politically
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019 long after an individual stops smoking. There is very real concern that the cases now being reported are just the start of new long-term public health problems. E. Neil Schachter, MD, is the Maurice Hexter Professor of (Pulmonary) Medicine and a Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Medical Director of Pulmonary Rehabilitation at Mount Sinai
and economically. “That’s my sign, right?” he said with a laugh, holding up his sign that read “Compost the rich.”
A Collective Impact Lila Patterson, a 15-year-old student who made the trip from Westchester, said the recent climate disasters, including the recent fires in the Amazon, have made it undeniable that climate change is affecting everyone around the world. “I think it’s important that we all get involved and help in demonstrating our support to combat this terrible issue,” Patterson said. “It makes me feel frustrated. Some people treat it as though it’s inevitable and it’s not. There are things that we can do about it, we’re just not doing it.” Patterson’s classmate, Russell Whol, said he hoped that with so many rallies across the country, collectively they could make an impact. “I really hope that some politicians out there will take to the Senate and start really fighting for change because we need that spark in our government,” the 16-year-old said. “And we’re the match that needs to give the government that flame.”
Hope and Catharsis For 13-year-old Carlioz and her friends, it’s been a difficult issue to wrap their heads around and grapple with as they learned more about climate change. “Although I know it doesn’t seem it right now, the world is in a crisis and it’s going to increasingly have an impact on us,” said Siri Uman, a 12-year-old from Brooklyn. Carlioz agreed. “Last year we did a whole unit on the future and climate change in science class,” she said. It’s when I started hearing the hard facts and reading UN reports that I knew that it’s not this distant thing and we’re seeing effects right now. It’s something that’s going to affect us.” But being together, with so many others, all fighting for the same cause, gave them hope and catharsis. “Literally seeing people in this large of numbers makes me think someone who can actually do something is listening,” she said. “This is the people’s government. We’re a democracy. So at some point the government has to do what the people want it to do. The more people we gather the more they have to listen.”
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SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 that I can to this primary election, and it’s clearly not my time, and so I’m going to end my presidential campaign,” the mayor told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Sept. 20. It was, he said with evident pride, “an extraordinary experience.” Later, on WNYC, the pol derided for a perceived lack of interest in his day job at City Hall signaled he was revving up for government service anew, saying he would swiftly throw himself back into the fray. “Two years, three months and 11 days more to go!” de Blasio declared, referring to the time remaining in his second and last mayoral term. Critics responded with barbs and mirth, and chief among them was a fellow Manhattanite and inveterate antagonist: “Oh, no, there’s really big political news, perhaps the biggest story in years!” President Donald Trump said in a tweet. “Part-time Mayor of New York City, @BilldeBlasio, who was polling at a solid ZERO, but had tremendous room for growth, has shockingly dropped out of the Presidential race,” he wrote. “NYC is devastated, he’s coming home!” Of course, Trump isn’t exactly known for accurately marshaling all his facts. The mayor’s average in the Real Clear Politics poll over his four-month run had actually ranged between 0.2 and 0.6 percent, and his national polling peak came on Aug. 28 when he hit 1 percent for the first time in a Quinnipiac University survey. Still, one can say this of de Blasio’s bid with only a modest amount of irony – thanks for the memories. And there were a few real standouts, among them:
Trump, he said, is a “con artist,” and “every New Yorker knows it…We know his tricks, and we know his playbook, too.” So far, so good. But then he took to Twitter to tar the president as “ConDon.” Only to be roundly mocked because the word means “condom” in Spanish.
THE FLAPPING FARCE During a visit to a South Carolina church, the mayor was captured on video awkwardly flapping his arms as a choir performed R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly.” Never mind that the disgraced singer was facing sexual abuse charges and had faced similar allegations for nearly two decades. De Blasio said he didn’t know the R. Kelly number and would never condone misogynistic behavior.
THE CHE GUEVARA CONTRETEMPS At a rally in Miami for striking airport workers, he shouted out in Spanish, “Hasta la victoria, siempre!” – “Until victory, always!” Turns out, that was the Cuban revolutionary’s signature battle cry. And not a very smart way to win over the anti-Castro electorate in Florida. The mayor apologized, insisted he had been unaware the phrase was associated with Che and said he never meant to offend anyone.
THE ENDORSEMENTS Well, it’s a very short list. But he did win the backing of two Podunk-town mayors in South Carolina, Frank McClary of Andrews (population, 2,900) and Michael Butler of Orangeburg (population, 12,750), which he had to visit three times before finally closing the deal with Butler.
THE TURNOUT In a word, it was small. Just 20 people showed up when he held a roundtable on mental
you You’d
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health issues in New Hampshire, the first primary state in the nation. Oh, wait a minute, 14 of them were on the panel in Concord and only six were in the audience. But he did take a bunch of selfies, and he told everyone how much he adored the Boston Red Sox.
THE “MECHANICAL ISSUE” BACK HOME It was July 13 when a 65block chunk of Manhattan’s West Side was hit with a massive power blackout affecting 73,000 customers and leaving hundreds of people trapped in subways and elevators. Where was Bill as other pols raced to the scene and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson played the role of de facto mayor? Waterloo, Iowa. At a union hall for auto workers. Trying to make up his mind if he should remain on the campaign trail or come home to deal with a potentially lifethreatening emergency. “It’s simply a mechanical issue,” he told reporters at first. “A transmission problem” that would, he hoped, get resolved in a “relatively quick period of time.” But the outage lasted for five hours, and after considerable dithering, the mayor finally left the Hawkeye State and returned home. And now, he’s back home once again. The era of the Wing Ding, the traditional chicken-wing centered campaign event he attended in Clear Lake, Iowa, and the Twisted Spur Happy Hour, where he dropped by in Columbia, S.C., is at an end. But de Blasio also made it clear on “Morning Joe” that he has no intention whatsoever of abandoning the national political scene. “Whoever is the nominee,” he said, “I’m going to be there for them.” invreporter@strausnews.com
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Rendering of David Hammons project. Photo: Whitney Museum of American Art
THE BEGINNING OF ‘DAY’S END’
ART
The Whitney Museum breaks ground on the David Hammons public art project in Hudson River Park At sunset on Monday, Sept. 16, the Whitney Museum of American Art celebrated the groundbreaking of “Day’s End,“ a permanent public art project by New York-based artist David Hammons. Slated for completion in the fall of 2020, the project was developed in collaboration with the Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT). The sculpture will be located in Hudson River Park, directly across from the Museum, within the footprint of the former
Pier 52. Hammons’s project derives its inspiration and name from Gordon Matta-Clark’s 1975 artwork in which he cut openings into the abandoned Pier 52 shed, transforming it into monumental sculpture. An open structure that follows the outline and dimensions of the original Pier 52 structure, Hammons’s work will be a “ghost monument” to the earlier work by MattaClark and allude to the history of New York’s waterfront, from the commercial piers that stood along the Hudson River during the heyday of New York’s shipping industry to the reclaimed piers that became a gathering place for the gay and artist communities. “The Whitney’s collabo-
ration with David Hammons, one of the most influential artists of our time, represents our profound commitment to working with living artists and supporting their visions intimate or grand,” said Adam D. Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. “Just steps away from the Whitney, Day’s End celebrates the history of the Hudson River waterfront and the neighborhood and the City. We are deeply grateful for the support Day’s End has already received from New York City, as well as neighborhood, arts, historic preservation, LGBTQ, commercial and environmental groups, and we look forward to the ribbon-cutting in fall of 2020.”
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SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
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SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
PLAYING THE ‘FIRST TRANS ICON’ Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo on rehearsing for the Met Opera’s production of Philip Glass’s “Akhnaten” – and the power of the human voice BY MARK NIMAR
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo is a trailblazer in classical music. Possessing a high, clear singing voice similar to that of a mezzosoprano, Costanzo, 37, has brought his vocal gifts outside the traditional opera house to projects ranging from a music video with Tilda Swinton to a Kabuki play at the Minamiza Theater in Kyoto. As a collaborator with artists such as James Ivory, Luciano Pavarotti and Daniel Askill, he has pushed the boundaries of how audiences can experience classical music. This fall, he returns to the Met to perform the title role in Philip Glass’s “Akhnaten,” an opera about a pharaoh whom Costanzo calls the “first trans icon.” We sat down with Costanzo to discuss rehearsals, modern notions of gender - and the full body wax he underwent for this role.
How did this production of “Akhnaten” come about? What attracted you to the material? I had been doing a lot of Baroque opera, and I’ve done a lot of contemporary opera. That’s sort of how the countertenor repertoire is divided, because we’re before 1750 and after 1950 kind of people. I had not really encountered any opportunity to perform Philip Glass. But I loved “Einstein on the Beach” when I’d seen it. My manager, Caroline Woodfield, was really smart and said, “there is one opera that Philip Glass wrote for a countertenor, ‘Akhnaten.’ And it’s a wonderful piece. And if anyone ever does it, you should consider it.” The English National Opera was doing it and offered me the role. I was really excited about it. Not only because musically it’s an incredible piece in that it’s the third of Philip Glass’s so called trilogy operas that profile great thinkers. It is structured in a way that’s incredibly theatrical. It allows for great emotional expression. And it’s just beautiful
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music. But also the subject: this ancient Egyptian pharaoh who was perhaps the first monotheist, who stepped outside of tradition. Hundreds of years of one way of doing things, and changed it all. United upper and lower Egypt. Changed the way art was made, and writing was done. Had all of these very, very new, progressive ideas. And for 17 years, he implemented them. And then he was killed, and all of his ideas were reversed. So this idea, in our time today, of a ruler who’s very progressive and trying to change things and then the tradition and the more conservative factions pull him back is really interesting to explore.
What are some challenges you’ve faced in rehearsal for this production? Philip Glass is not narrative in the conventional sense; it’s not like a play where there’s text telling you the story piece by piece. It’s more of these abstract fragments of music and of antiquity. So the challenge became, how do you tell a story that engages an audience in a linear way throughout the evening? How to do that physically, but how not to work against the wonderful abstraction and beauty of the material. So we had to find a way to create a kind of stage ritual that would also be incredibly engaging for an audience. And I think what we wound up producing is unlike anything I’ve done in my career before.
For the previous Los Angeles Opera production of “Akhnaten,” you had to do a full body wax, as you appear nude in the show. What was that like? It’s very painful. It took like five hours. And yeah, we’ve done it all three times we’ve done the production. Egyptians were the ones who invented waxing. It feels almost like this sort of alien, this bald, hairless alien and/or child, which [Akhnaten] was. He was a teenager when he became king. And the nude scene is just as he’s being crowned pharaoh. I realize all these extreme things that they were asking for had a real purpose. So that’s why it felt like the right thing to do. And even if I don’t feel like myself when I am going to
Anthony Roth Costanzo in costume in the Met Opera’s “Akhnaten.” Photo: Jane Hobson
the grocery store, I really feel like this character when I step onto the stage.
And the nude scene is your first scene on the stage, right? Is that terrifying? Oh, yeah. Definitely. They always say that you should imagine the audience naked, but this is the reverse; everyone else is fully clothed.
You have called Akhnaten the first trans icon. What lessons do you hope today’s LGBTQIA+ community takes away from this production? I guess what I like about being a countertenor, and it’s also embodied in this piece, is it breaks down a little bit our notions of pitch and gender. Generally, we think the high voice is feminine. But that’s a very modern construct. The [modern] idea is that feminine is somehow weaker, and if we were going to display a man of power, we would display him with a low voice. But that power here comes from the combination of masculine and feminine. And not just one attribute being as-
cribed to one gender. But rather this very fluid and complicated construction of it that has been a part of the world for all of antiquity. And for Akhnaten to have been the person, so they say, to have invented monotheism before Moses. Freud looks at him as the father of all Western religion, from Islam to Judaism and Christianity. And for that person to have been in some ways queer, by our standards today, I think is a powerful message in itself.
You do a lot of outreach performances in the Bronx with young school children. Why is this work important to you? Music has a real ability to affect kids’ lives, and I’ve seen that firsthand. Opera in particular is very primal, because it’s the human voice; it’s something we all have. A lot of the kids I work with have difficulties expressing emotion or connecting to something that expresses emotion. What’s wonderful about art is that it gives you a little bit of distance with which to interact with these heavy, serious themes that you may be ex-
periencing in your own life. Conflicts like death, or love, all of that stuff. And having a way to experience it through the lens of beauty I think is very useful to these kids. So many of them were able to connect to the emotion of it. And to do it with every class that I did it with, and to always have kids who cry, because they were so affected by it, was really powerful. It makes you realize how powerful this art form is, even if people don’t know anything about it. The greatest misconception about opera is that it takes so much knowledge and so much studying to even understand [it]. But in fact, if you let go of those misconceptions, if these kids can connect to it, then I think it’s much easier for everyone to connect than they think. This interview has been edited and condensed for space.
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Downtowner 1
SEPTEMBER 26- OCTOBER 2, 2019
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