West Side Spirit - June 4, 2020 by West Side Spirit

The local paper for the Upper West Side CATS, DOGS, LLAMAS AND COVID-19 ◄ P.2

WEEK WEEKOFOF JUNE JUNE

4-10 4-10 2020 2020

DAYS OF PROTEST

UNREST

Confrontations in NYC between demonstrators and police ofﬁcers after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis Mayor Bill de Blasio tours Flatbush with Council Members Farah Louis and Mathieu Eugene and Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte on Sunday, May 31, 2020. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

DE BLASIO’S RECKONING VIEWPOINT

custody of police in yet another American city. Our president has not made the job of local leaders easier, warning that looters could be shot, then jetting off to Florida to revel in the dawn of commercial manned space flight. As some sought escape into space, others here yearned to go back in time. It was striking this weekend that more than a few New Yorkers invoked images of the mayor from the silkstocking East Side, who strode Harlem in his shirt sleeves in an earlier crisis. John Lindsay and Bill de Blasio each came to office as a progressive. Lindsay, however, had a gift for the message, the moment and even the happening, while de Blasio has struggled to hit the high notes of leader-

The mayor seems overwhelmed by how the pandemic and the protests dramatize the “two cities” of New York he promised to bridge BY MICHAEL ORESKES

He was elected on a pledge to bridge the “two cities” of New York, one rich and privileged, the other poor and pressured. Yet, as he approaches the end of his tenure, Mayor Bill de Blasio seems overwhelmed by the conflicts this divide has generated. To be sure, few of us have lived through days like these, when crises pile on each other - a hundred-year pandemic stoking grief and anger, which then boils over as yet another African American man dies in the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

BY BRIAN MAHONEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York City officials were looking for a peaceful

way forward as the city entered another day of protests against police brutality that have left police cars burned and led to the arrest of hundreds of people. On Monday afternoon, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a curfew for the city, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. On Sunday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said city police showed “tremendous restraint overall” during the weekend’s pro-

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

WHY EVERY SCHOOL NEEDS A SOCIAL WORKER Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer on the mental health impact of the COVID-19 crisis on children. p.6

HELP FOR HOUSEHOLDS IN NEED

UWS teens create nonprofit to give back during COVID-19. p. 7

DREAMS DEFERRED Protesters march down the street as trash burns in the background during a solidarity rally for George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in New York. Protests were held throughout the city over the death of Floyd, a black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Photo: Wong Maye-E / AP

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tests, but promised an investigation of video showing two police cruisers lurching into a crowd of demonstrators on a Brooklyn street. He was appointing two city officials to conduct an independent review of how the protests unfolded and how they were handled by the police. “We all better get back to

INSIDE

Voices City Arts

6 10

15 Minutes

Artists on the brink of brave new stages in their careers have found ways to perform virtually — and support those on the front lines. p. 11

JUNE 4-10, 2020

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CATS, DOGS, LLAMAS AND COVID-19 PETS

The virus appears to go from people to their pets BY CAROL ANN RINZLER

Even as COVID-19 smolders on, Fido, Fluffy, and your pet llama do not have to wear face masks. But if you’re not feeling well, you do because the mammal most likely to spread the virus to others is you. Coronaviruses are a very large family of microbes. Some affect humans. Others, animals. Some can pass from animals to humans. Others, vice versa. COVID-19 seems to be one of the latter varieties, a bug that can go from people

to their pets. The first such case probably happened in February when WHO confirmed that a 17-year old Pomeranian in Hong Kong living with a COVID-19-infected owner tested “weakly positive” for the virus. The owner recovered and so did the dog who showed not a single virus symptom, but sadly eventually died of old age. Here at home, the first animal with COVID-19 was a tiger at the Bronx Zoo. He was later joined by three more tigers and three lions, all of whom had been exposed to a human with the virus and all of whom, along with the human, recovered. A recent study from the University of Tokyo and the University of Wisconsin

School of Veterinary Medicine confirmed that cats, big and domestic, are susceptible to the virus which they easily pick up from us and then pass around to other felines even when living in separate cages. Naturally, this has produced recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about how to protect our companion and service cats and dogs. (Up to now, the agency has very little to say about pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, wildlife, or other animals such as reptiles and birds. But stick around, you people with pet Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs. You never know what’s coming next.)

Four Rules The rules are simple and

Photo: Mr Thinktank, via flickr

straightforward: 1. Don’t let your pets interact with strange humans. 2. Keep cats indoors. 3. Walk your dog on a leash and keep him or her the proverbial six feet from other animals. 4. Wash your hands after handling the animals. If you’re not feeling well, no petting, snuggling, kissing, licking or sharing bed and bedding allowed. If possible, let someone else care for the

animals. After that, the next interesting thing is that animals may have a role to play in treating COVID-19 in humans. Right now, as you read this, Norman, Digby, Storm, Star, Jasper and Asher, a cohort of six British labs and cocker spaniels already trained to detect odors of certain cancers, malaria and Parkinson’s disease, are enrolled in a six week trial sponsored by the charity Medical Detection

Dogs at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Durham University where they will hopefully learn to identify the scent of the virus in humans even before symptoms appear. No, the group does not include llamas, members of the camel family Camelidae which also includes alpacas and vicunas. But in 2016, researchers at the University of Texas (Austin) along with colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium were studying llama antibodies to see if they were effective against the coronaviruses that cause Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Last week, the group published a report in the medical journal Cell showing that unlike humans, llamas have not just one but two antibodies that might attack the COVID-19 virus. Whether injecting these antibodies into humans is safe remains to be seen. So once again, stick around for the next chapter in the story.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea at City Hall on Friday, May 30, 2020. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

RECKONING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ship in a city desperate for it. “America’s largest city has no mayor,” Bronx Council Member Ritchie Torres tweeted on Saturday.

Disappointed Progressives Torres, one of several Democrats running for Joe Serrano’s South Bronx Congressional district, encapsulated a sense of unfilled political space that was articulated widely, if not always as extremely, across a political spectrum of New Yorkers, from conservatives who have never liked de Blasio’s message of class conflict to progressives disappointed that he has not accomplished more to win it. A chorus of progressives, from Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez to former members of the mayor’s own staff expressed disappointment over the weekend in his handling of the street protests and the clashes between demonstrators and the police. A common refrain was that the mayor had lost control of the police department he had promised to reform. Just as the coronavirus laid bare the profound racial and economic schisms that helped propel de Blasio into office, the pandemic and the protests have tested his capability to do the job.

America’s largest city has no mayor.” Tweet from Bronx Council Member Ritchie Torres

Being NYC’s mayor is hard. Lindsay called it the second toughest job in America. It demands both administrative skill and a supreme capacity to identify and elevate commonality amidst the chaos and cacophony of the great city. While de Blasio tried as best he could to stand with the protestors while voicing support for the difficult challenge of being a police officer, he left neither group satisfied. “I don’t think I expressed it as well as I should have,” the mayor explained Monday. The critique of the mayor’s management of the NYPD had echoes of the fierce criticism he has taken for his administrative choices during the pandemic, particularly his decision to strip the Health Department of oversight of tracing the contacts of New Yorkers infected with coronavirus. “Disastrous,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, former city health commissioner and the former head of the Centers for Disease Control. It is easy to find shortcomings in any leader’s management during a crisis. The far more significant question about de Blasio is whether falling short of his own vision has left the city more vulnerable to the pandemic and the protests and fiscal crisis that have now followed. Imagine, for example, if the city had built over his six years in office the holistic care for low-income communities that his own health commissioner talks about. High blood pressure would be less common. Diabetes and asthma would be better managed. Obesity would be reduced and nutrition would be improved. The disparity in COVID-19 deaths by race and ethnicity

would thus have been reduced. That disparity is, ultimately, the reckoning COVID19 and George Floyd demand of us.

“Hot Spots” For all de Blasio’s progressive talk, the death rate from COVID-19 for African Americans in NYC has been almost identical to the national rate, which is to say better than some places yet still disturbingly higher than the death rate for whites. And Latino New Yorkers have died at the highest rate for Hispanics anywhere in the United States. Indeed, even as Torres was wondering where the mayor had gone Saturday, it was Gov. Andrew Cuomo, not the mayor, who was announcing a plan to contain coronavirus this week in ten infection “hot spots” in the city. These were the ten zip codes with the highest rates of infection. Six were in the South Bronx, in and around the congressional district Torres is running to represent. The governor, who learned well from his father the magic of the right words in the right moment, paired this announcement with a second. He signed a bill to give death benefits to families who lost frontline workers to the coronavirus. “I think our better angels won; our better angels rose to the occasion,” Cuomo said. “We helped each other — we protected each other ...We needed people to rise above themselves to get past the pettiness to be bigger than themselves and they did it.” The beneficiaries include the families of police officers who died of COVID-19.

GET HELP. GIVE HELP. Join a community of neighbors helping neighbors here in New York. With AARP Community Connections, you can find online mutual aid groups to stay connected, share ideas and help those in need. Just need to talk? Ask for a friendly phone call from a trained volunteer if you or a loved one is feeling anxious or overwhelmed. AARP and your community are here for you. Request a friendly phone call at 1-888-281-0145 or get connected at aarp.org/coronavirus

POLICE

JUNE 4-10, 2020

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Drawing Board

Useful Contacts

NYPD 20th Precinct

BY MARC BILGREY 120 W. 82nd St.

212-580-6411

NYPD 24th Precinct

151 W. 100th St.

212-678-1811

NYPD Midtown North Precinct

306 W. 54th St.

212-767-8400

FDNY Engine 76/Ladder 22

145 W. 100th St.

311

FDNY Engine 40/Ladder 35

W.66th &Amsterdam

311

FDNY Engine 74

120 W. 83rd St.

311

Ladder 25 Fire House

205 W. 77th St.

311

FIRE

CITY COUNCIL Councilmember Helen Rosenthal

563 Columbus Ave.

212-873-0282

Councilmember Mark Levine

500 West 141st St.

212-928-6814

State Sen. Brad Hoylman

322 Eighth Ave. #1700

212-633-8052

State Sen. Jose M. Serrano

1916 Park Ave. #202

212-828-5829

STATE LEGISLATORS

Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal 230 W. 72nd St. #2F

212-873-6368

Assemblymember Daniel O’Donnell 245 W. 104th St.

212-866-3970

COMMUNITY BOARD 7

212-362-4008

250 W. 87th St. #2

LIBRARIES St. Agnes

444 Amsterdam Ave.

Bloomingdale

150 W. 100th St.

212-222-8030

212-621-0619

Performing Arts

40 Lincoln Center

917-275-6975

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1000 10th Ave.

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STOP THE SPREAD OF COVID-19! LEARN HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND OTHERS AT HOME. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19? • The most common symptoms are fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath. Other symptoms include feeling achy, loss of taste or smell, headache, and diarrhea. • Most people with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will have mild or moderate symptoms and can get better on their own.

WHO IS MOST AT RISK FOR SERIOUS ILLNESS? • People age 50 or older (people age 65 or older are at the highest risk) • People who have other health conditions, such as: Lung disease Kidney disease Asthma Liver disease Heart disease Cancer Obesity A weakened immune system Diabetes

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I GET SICK WITH COVID-19 SYMPTOMS? If you are sick with COVID-19 symptoms, assume you have it. When you are sick: • If you have trouble breathing, pain or pressure in your chest, are confused or cannot stay awake, or have bluish lips or face, call 911 immediately. • Call your doctor if you are age 50 or older or have a health condition that puts you at increased risk, or if you do not feel better after three days. • Always contact a doctor or go to the hospital if you have severe symptoms of COVID-19 or another serious health issue. • Do not leave your home except to get necessary medical care or essential food or supplies (if someone cannot get them for you). • If you must leave your home: Avoid crowded places. Stay at least 6 feet from others. Cover your nose and mouth with a bandana, scarf or other face covering. Wash your hands before you go out, and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer while outside. • Household members can go out for essential work and needs but should monitor their health closely. If you or someone in your home is sick: • Create physical distance: Do not have visitors.

Stay at least 6 feet from others. Sleep head-to-toe if you share a bed with someone who is sick, or sleep on the couch. Keep people who are sick separate from those at risk for serious illness. • Cover up: Cover your nose and mouth with a bandana, scarf or other face covering when you are within 6 feet of others. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your inner elbow. • Keep it clean: Throw tissues into the garbage immediately after use. Wash your hands often with soap for 20 seconds, especially after you cough or sneeze. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if you are unable to wash your hands. Frequently clean surfaces you touch, such as doorknobs, light switches, faucets, phones, keys and remote controls. Wash towels, sheets and clothes at the warmest possible setting with your usual detergent, and dry completely. Do not share eating utensils with others, and wash them after every use.

WHEN CAN I LEAVE MY HOME AFTER BEING SICK? • If you have been sick, stay home until: You are fever-free for three days without Tylenol or other medication and It has been at least seven days since your symptoms started and Your symptoms have improved • Reminder: New York is on PAUSE. This means that even if you have been sick, you should only leave your home for essential work or errands, or to exercise, while staying at least 6 feet from others.

NEED HELP? • If you are having a medical emergency, call 911. • If you do not have a doctor but need one, call 844-NYC-4NYC (844-692-4692). New York City provides care, regardless of immigration status, insurance status or ability to pay. • For more information, call 311 or visit nyc.gov/coronavirus. The NYC Health Department may change recommendations as the situation evolves. 4.20

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Voices

Write to us: To share your thoughts and comments go to our website and click on submit a letter to the editor.

WHY EVERY SCHOOL NEEDS A SOCIAL WORKER MENTAL HEALTH

BY GALE A. BREWER

The COVID-19 virus has spread through hundreds of thousands of bodies in New York City, but it has also seeped into our psyches. As a nation, we now have suffered more deaths in the first few months of 2020 than the U.S. Armed Forces suffered in all the wars since the Korean War in 1952, 70 years ago. Daily servings of death, fear, panic and social distancing — in real life or via news media — have already begun to yield a crisis in mental health. The suicide of Dr. Lorna Breen, an ER physician at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital is a tragic example. The physical health effects will be with us for many months to come, even if they dip with warmer weather. The economic effects will last far longer. But the psycho-

logical effects will last longer still — perhaps even a lifetime — and are all the more pernicious for being invisible. And those psychological effects will impact children the most. Therapists will tell you that children who experience traumas often have difficulty identifying, expressing and managing emotions; they will internalize or externalize stress reactions, resulting in depression, anxiety or anger. At a minimum, many will just not have the words to describe what they’re feeling. Social workers are mental health professionals who can address those issues — and help relieve the pressures on already overworked educators and staff. During the COVID crisis, one social worker was able to help a student who was faltering academically by helping that student self-advocate by video chat with all her teachers and make arrangements that enabled her to finish her work and pass her classes.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR On blood drives, health insurance and the MTA A Call for Blood Drives I am a retired RN and have read in a few sources about NYC’s desperate need for blood donations (”New York Needs a Plasma Pipeline,“ Our Town, May 14 - 20). I suggested to my young healthy adult children that they, like their father used to do, donate blood (they have not had COVID to their knowledge).

However they live in Brooklyn and have been recently working from home. My daughter was unable to locate a donor site within a reasonable walk or bike ride from their apartment. I remember years ago there were mobile blood donor units. This would be a great idea again, since people are afraid of entering hospital sites or risking exposure. I believe many young people would like to contribute to the cause. Safe, convenient access

Greater Need

I’ve spent years urging the DOE to hire at least one social worker per public school. With 78% of the city’s schoolchildren economically disadvantaged, and 10% living in shelters or other temporary housing, we had a real need for social workers before the pandemic hit. Last year, working with Council Member Mark Treyger, chair of the Council’s Education Committee, we succeeded in obtaining funding to hire 200 new social workers and continued baseline funding for 85 workers hired the previous year. But the need is far greater. The Independent Budget Office estimated last year that it would require $94 million to fund a worker in every school that did not currently have one — a total of 716 workers system wide. But that was a quarter-loaf — not even a half. And one social worker per school only barely starts to meet the

to sites and a call for help is what is needed. Rita Grossman Upper East Side

Health Insurance Bills Millions of Americans have lost both their health insurance and their jobs during this COVID-19 crisis. The uniquely American scheme of linking health insurance to employment is economically hurtful to millions and should be replaced. In response to COVID-19, some of our legislators in the Senate are trying to pass laws to do just that. The “Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act“ will provide

need; the National Association of Social Workers recommends one per 250 students (which would translate to 4,500 social workers serving the city’s student population of over 1.1 million). Now, as the aftermath of this pandemic unfolds and the economic aftershocks reverberate, one per school is a necessity. The signal accomplishment of Mayor de Blasio has been getting universal Pre-K for New York City students up and running in his first year. Study after study has shown that the benefits of Pre-K are not just academic, and last well into adulthood. Pre-K students got better grades, sure, but also got sick less often, were unemployed less often, and less likely to be arrested. But the COVID crisis puts all these generational benefits at risk, just five years after Pre-K began. This year, despite the massive budget pressures, we must add social workers to

Medicare for All to everyone during the COVID crisis. This bill covers all necessary care. It has no deductibles or copays. Every working person should call Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and push them to support this Act. Readers should also be aware of an alternate House bill, the “Workers’ Health Coverage Protection Act” that will subsidize COBRA payments. Workers without COBRA plans will receive nothing. Beneficiaries still face “networks,“ co-pays, deductibles, and surprise billings. With this bill insurance companies - not patients -

Photo courtesy of Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer.

the educational mix — whether it comes from the well-intentioned Thrive program or elsewhere, and whether schools meet face to face in September or not. The magnitude of the crisis we are facing — and the resources needed to manage its aftermath — requires us to do more than simply restore

profit. We should tell our representatives to reject this proposal. Marc Lavietes Soho

The MTA’s Long Range Plan What ever happened to the promised Metropolitan Transportation Authority 2020 - 2040 Twenty Year Long Range Capital Needs Plan? Governor Cuomo and the MTA pledged that it would be released by December 2019. It is five months overdue. The plan documents how much money and time will be required before each MTA op-

what existed before. Government must anticipate future needs and plan to meet them; that’s why the next city budget must include funding for one social worker per school. The care we provide city students now will be repaid for years to come. Gale A. Brewer is Manhattan Borough President.

erating agency, including New York City Transit bus, subway, MTA bus, Long Island Rail Road and Metro North Rail Road have reached a state of good repair. It is supposed to be the basis for the justification of Five Year Capital Plans prior to their release. In this case, the $51 billion 2020 2024 Five Year Capital Plan was released and adopted prior to anyone seeing the updated Twenty Year plan. Taxpayers, commuters, transit advocates and elected officials deserve to see this document today. Larry Penner Great Neck

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UWS teens create nonproﬁt to give back during COVID-19

ART

CAMPS SEARCHING FOR YOUR CHILD’S SUMMER BREAK?

BY JASON COHEN

When COVD-19 arrived, a group of UWS residents launched a service to aid those who are financially affected by the coronavirus and struggling to support their families. This initiative has accumulated more than $13,000 in cash donations from over 80 donors and provided more than 10,000 meals to those in need. This soon became a nonprofit and the kicker is, the founders are just 15. At such a young age, Ryan Spiegel and two friends, twins Jonah and Ben Gleeman, created Doorstep Donations in March. Spiegel and Jonah Gleeman are sophomores at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in Riverdale and Ben Gleeman goes to Trinity School on West 91st Street. The trio developed Doorstep Donations to make donating easy and accessible while maintaining social distancing during the pandemic. It allows individuals to place food or other necessities (such as toilet paper, toothbrushes, gloves, masks, etc.) on their doorstep to then be collected by a team of volunteers. The donations are picked up by people wearing protective gear, disinfected and then brought to a community partner where they are distributed as care packages for households in need. This is all done through their website www.doorstepdonations.com. “I would say this has been a learning experience,” Jonah said. “We’re learning how to

We’ve really learned about the poverty in this country and the virus has really amplified that.” Ben Gleeman

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build the business from the ground up.” The twins told the West Side Spirit how the group formed. In mid-March they were driving in East Hampton with their dad and noticed many people at the train station who seemed in less fortunate situations than themselves. “We realized there are so many people that don’t have enough money to feed their family,” Jonah said. Seeing this along with many people struggling throughout Manhattan and the five boroughs helped the boys understand that the pandemic has made people who already struggle hurt even more. So knowing they could not write checks for large amounts of money, the trio established Doorstop Donations. “We’ve really learned about the poverty in this country and the virus has really amplified that,” Ben said.

Expanded to Other Cities People go on their website, submit their name and address and outside of their house leave supplies that the kids pick up once a week. They then partnered with nonprofits Meals on Wheels and the Isaacs Center and drop off the packages with them. Eventually, this grew and expanded to other cities with more volunteers and nonprofits in those places. Cur-

rently, they have locations in Manhattan, Scarsdale, Toronto, Montreal, Port Washington and the Hamptons. So, for the past two months, they have continued to help thousands of people and hope to grow their reach into other communities, including the impoverished South Bronx. The boys, who are in the process of being incorporated to a 501(c)(3), never imagined this would happened to them, but understand the impact they have made. “It honestly feels great that I can help people,” Jonah said. The kids explained with no nonprofit experience they are learning on the fly about the ins and outs of how to do this. From promoting their campaign on social media and constantly finding new partners and volunteers, it’s a lot of work, but they have enjoyed it. Looking ahead, they boys do not plant to stop anytime soon and hope to continue even after the pandemic ends. “There’s a lot more to be done,” Ben stressed. “We’re going to try and keep doing this.” “We just want to get people to know that we want to facilitate the process for them,” Jonah added. “Donating is so easy.” For more information, contact rspiegs27@gmail.com or doorstepdonationspress@gmail.com Or call (917)-488-5661.

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Your neighborhood news source New York police ofﬁcers use pepper spray on protesters during a demonstration Saturday, May 30, 2020 in Brooklyn. Protests were held throughout the city over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. Photo: Seth Wenig / AP

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PROTEST CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

sarily shoving or bludgeoning protesters and spraying crowds with chemicals.

the humanity here,’’ de Blasio said at a Sunday morning briefing. “The protesters are human beings. They need to be treated with tremendous respect. The police officers are human beings. They need to be treated with tremendous respect.’’ Hours after he spoke, demonstrations resumed. Hundreds of people gathered on a plaza in downtown Brooklyn, chanting “No justice, no peace,” and “Black lives matter,’’ while making occasional insulting hand gestures at a line of police officers protecting the arena where the NBA’s Nets play. Marchers chanted “Hands up, don’t shoot’’ - a rallying cry that originated from the August 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri - during a separate rally in Queens. Largely peaceful protests around the city Saturday gave way to scattered clashes between police and protesters later in the evening. Demonstrators smashed shop windows, threw objects at officers, set police vehicles on fire and blocked roads. Graffiti was scrawled on Manhattan’s famed St. Patrick’s Cathedral. There were multiple complaints about police unneces-

Some Demonstrations “Hijacked” New York City police said 345 people were arrested, 33 officers were injured and 27 police vehicles were damaged or destroyed by fire. There were no major injuries reported. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said some peaceful demonstrations were “hijacked’’ by people with violent intent. “We’re going to make sure that everyone has the right to peacefully protest and assemble,’’ Shea said said at a briefing with the mayor. “But we are not going to tolerate destruction of property, having our officers put into harm’s way or any civilians put into harm’s way.” Similar protests flared around the nation in response to the Minnesota death of George Floyd. Floyd, who was black, died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on his neck until he stopped breathing. Elsewhere in New York, shop windows were shattered in Rochester and demonstrators set fire to a tractor trailer in Albany. In Buffalo, a person threw a flaming object though a city hall window. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the National Guard is on

standby and that hundreds of additional troopers are being made available in Buffalo and Rochester, where hundreds of people showed Sunday to help clean up the damage. “We expect additional protests tonight and we’re preparing for such,’’ Cuomo said at his daily briefing. The governor also said state Attorney General Letitia James’s investigation into actions by NYPD officers and protesters will include any protests held throughout the weekend.

Broken Glass Cleanup was under way Sunday morning in New York City, which is still under a lockdown enacted two months ago when it became the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. At least five burned-out NYPD vehicles that remained near Manhattan’s Union Square were towed early Sunday afternoon. People walked around broken glass on the street to take pictures of the vehicles. A handful of protesters rallied peacefully in the square, holding Black Lives Matter signs and giving speeches denouncing police violence while families were picnicking nearby. “Compared to how things turned out yesterday, this is a lot better. This is exactly

JUNE 4-10, 2020

how things should be,’’ said Domenic Manning, who spoke Sunday at Union Square. ``If you want to get your point across, this is the way to do it. Vandalizing companies and stores, that’s not the way to do it.’’ Ken Kidd, who lives a few blocks south of the park, was among the people inspecting the damage to the vehicles and had witnessed Saturday’s

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demonstrations. He said protesters and police tried to remain peaceful at the start before the stress of a city heavily hit by the coronavirus came out. “I think a community can only say ‘Enough’ so many times and the words aren’t heard so then they got to take action and that’s what happened last night. That’s what I watched happen last night,’’

Kidd said. The independent review ordered by de Blasio will be conducted by New York City Corporation Counsel James Johnson, who is the city’s chief lawyer, and Margaret Garnett, commissioner of the Department of Investigation, which typically investigates suspected wrongdoing and fraud by city employees.

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CUNY STRONG “ My heartfelt thanks to CUNY faculty and staff, who have done everything they could during these difficult times to support our students and enable them to stay on the path to academic success. To CUNY students, who are coping with the challenges of a modified learning environment amid an unprecedented crisis, I salute your resilience. For all that you’ve done to show what it means to be CUNY Strong, I’m grateful, and prouder than ever to serve as your Chancellor.

”

– Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez

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ART UNDER THE OPEN SKY MUSEUMS

MoMA continues its Virtual Views series with an online show devoted to its renowned Sculpture Garden BY VAL CASTRONOVO

It’s the unofficial start of summer, and as New York City prepares to reopen, the itch to get outside and commune with nature becomes stronger and stronger. Irresistible, in fact. The city’s numerous parks and green spaces are a welcome refuge from the confines of the Manhattan apartment, to be sure. The beaches, too. But when the day is done and you find yourself heading home and back to your laptop, why not continue the dream of sunny meanderings in the open air and go to MoMA’s website for curated views and conversation about the Museum’s famed Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden? Pretty much every art-loving New Yorker and millions of tourists have visited this jewel in the heart of Midtown, if only to take a time-out from the art inside the galleries, contemplate the Chinese elms or plop down in a chair alongside one of the rectangular pools. It’s been a popular date spot, summer music destination and the location for a scene in John Cassavetes’s directorial film debut, “Shadows” (1959). But how much do you really know about the garden — the design, the sculptures, the plantings, the parties, the

protests, the music and the birds in the trees? No worries. MoMA’s weekly series, Virtual Views, will bring you up to speed and make you yearn for the museum’s re-opening and wish you had not taken this walled art park, with its soothing vibe, for granted. As someone who lived on West 53rd Street in the 1980s and worked for years in the former Time-Life Building nearby, I developed the habit of heading to the Sculpture Garden on my lunch hour for Zen contemplation and relaxation, sometimes afterhours if the museum was open. MoMA’s virtual offerings — audio, video, photos, guided meditation and bird watching tips — make me nostalgic for the garden then and the garden now.

“An Outdoor Gallery” This year marks the 81st anniversary of the fabled green space, where Yayoi Kusama staged a naked happening in 1969, “Grand Orgy to Awaken the Dead,” to protest the Museum’s penchant for “dead” art at the expense of more vital, contemporary work. The garden first opened in 1939, on the site of two townhouses that had belonged to the Rockefeller family, and has been re-imagined several times since, the first time by Philip Johnson in 1953, the most recent by Yoshio Taniguchi in 2004. As Ann Temkin, curator in charge of the Sculpture Garden, states in a video Q&A with Peter Reed, senior deputy director: “The 1953 garden is pretty much the model

Left, Museum Tower, 1982, architect, Cesar Pelli & Associates; center, The David and Peggy Rockefeller Building, 2004, architect, Yoshio Taniguchi; foreground, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, designed 1953, architect, Philip Johnson. Photo (c) 2005 Timothy Hursley

for what we see today … with the marble paving stones, the very arranged rooms that are divided by clumps of plantings and trees and two long pools, a wall along the north edge. All of these things were originally Johnson’s vision.” She adds: “Johnson also called it an outdoor gallery … It was really a room for art that just happened to be under the open sky.” Importantly, he wanted to bring the feel of an Italian piazza to New York City — to create a place for sculpture but a social space, too, Reed says. As the site evolved, the collection grew in tandem with the landscape and art trends. For the last half-century, the focus has been mainly on ab-

stract pieces by the likes of Alexander Calder, Ellsworth Kelly, Donald Judd, Louise Nevelson and Tony Smith.

Staying Relevant But there’s also been a concerted effort in the last 15 years to bring the outdoor gallery into the 21st century and exhibit figural sculptures by contemporary artists. Think Katharina Fritsch (“Group of Figures,” 200608), Pierre Huyghe (“Untilled [Reclining Female Nude],” 2012, a nude figure with her head encased in a beehive), and Peter Fischli and David Weiss (“Snowman,” 1987/2016, a real snowman that stayed chill in a glassdoored freezer). Indeed, in the interests of staying relevant, new works

are rotated in every spring, with towering cranes lifting multi-ton pieces into place from the garden’s northern end on West 54th Street. (The COVID-19 crisis has put those plans on hold this year.) A constant of the collection — a 60-year veteran — is Picasso’s “She-Goat” (1950; cast 1952). Alfred Barr, MoMA’s first director, was hell-bent on acquiring the bronze goat, so much so that he devoted nearly 10 years to the effort. It entered the collection in 1959. The pregnant nanny is a veritable crazy quilt of random finds that Picasso used to assemble the creature — a palm frond for the back, a wicker basket for the belly and two ceramic jugs for the

udder. The pieces were held together by plaster. Says Temkin: “You can tell that she is a favorite because if you were to look at her head-on, you would see that the patina on her snout is completely rubbed off by affectionate petting.” Now, take a mental health break and click on the meditation sequence on MoMA’s website. Get a comfortable seat and imagine yourself in the green oasis. Let Security Supervisor Chet Gold be your guide: “What you will be doing is breathing to the counts — I’m gonna go in two, three [inhale], out two, three [exhale]. So breathe with me and focus on the counts.” Just breathe.

JUNE 4-10, 2020

DREAMS DEFERRED PERFORMING ARTS

Artists on the brink of brave new stages in their careers have found ways to perform virtually — and support those on the front lines BY MICHELE WILLENS

Erika Henningsen walked away from a key role in “Mean Girls” on Broadway to take a smaller one in a new Lincoln Center show called “Flying Over Sunset.” “It was an amazing cast, and it was Lincoln Center, which I’d always dreamed about,” the young actress says. Alas, right after the technical run-through, the virus closed the show down. Another actress, Alyssa May Gold, was rehearsing on Broadway alongside one of her idols until … well, until. Ryan Roberts, after a grueling audition process, had only five months before been accepted as the oboe/English horn player in the New York Philharmonic. He was then its youngest member, at 22. He has given up his Upper West Side apartment and temporarily returned home to be with his parents in Santa Monica. All dreams deferred, and so it has been for so many artists who were on the brink of brave new stages both to step on, and in their careers. But the artistic community — including well-known names like Oscar Isaac, Michael Urie, Jane Alexander and Christine Baranski — has stepped up like never before. They have found countless ways to perform virtually for those of us hungering for authentic entertainment, and to support those not memorizing lines, but on the front ones. People like Camille A. Brown, a Tony-nominated choreographer who was preparing for a Broadway revival of “Aida.” Now she is taking care of the members of her own company. “I’m trying to provide income for my dancers,” she says. “They are

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AC T I V I T I E S F O R T H E F E R T I L E M I N D

thoughtgallery.org NEW YORK CITY

teaching social dance classes. And I’m hosting lectures centered around the African Diaspora.” She was born and raised and still lives in Queens. “My neighborhood is filled with flowers and trees and I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” she says.

Jeffrey Sachs: The Ages of Globalization

FRIDAY, JUNE 5TH, 12PM Shakespeare & Co. | livestream only | shakeandco.com Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, former director of The Earth Institute, launches his latest book. He’ll discuss The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions, which applies world history to solve 21st-century problems (free).

“I Miss Making Music” Alyssa May Gold, who had gotten a big break supporting Mary Louise Parker, in “How I Learned to Drive” (which had not officially opened) cried, but not for long. She had founded her own small company, called Pocket Universe, which now includes a project to connect health care workers with artists to help in any way they can. “In some ways, this is not that dissimilar to my usual life,” Gold says, “with periods of waiting and finding other ways to be creative.” Ryan Roberts may be in Southern California, but his playing continues: including participating in a video the Philharmonic is putting together for those missing its sound. Roberts grew up in Los Angeles, attended public schools, and then received a scholarship to Juilliard. “But I always saw myself living in New York,” he says. Pre-pandemic, his life was filled with exciting performances, (including being prominently featured in a New Year’s Eve Sondheim special) and preparing for world traveling with the orchestra. But he is not seeking sympathy. “I’m very comfortable being with my family,” he says, “and there are many suffering far more. But I miss my colleagues and I miss making music together.” All the performers are finding things to do: reading, watching, exercising, and many are flexing new muscles. Like actor Patrick Breen, who was one of the stars of a Manhattan Theatre Club production called “Perplexed,” when COVID-19 struck. He has performed in two live readings, (including “Beirut” with Marisa Tomei and Oscar Isaac) and has joined a

Jounalists as Hate Object: Populism, Authoritarianism, and the Free Press

MONDAY, JUNE 8TH, 5PM Camille A. Brown, a Tonynominated choreographer, was preparing for a Broadway revival of “Aida.” Photo via camilleabrown.org

writer’s group. He is also the proud owner of a trio of unique non-humans. “My super found a zebra finch in a dirty cage on the street,” says Breen. “He knew I had two rescued sparrows. I named their new friend Zelda.” Labor Day is the newest hoped-for date of Broadway’s re-opening. Some of the 16 new productions have already been canceled (“Frozen” recently added to the list) or postponed (“Plaza Suite” with Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker and the new Michael Jackson musical). One being closely watched is the depression-era musical “Girl From the North Country.” Among its stars is Broadway veteran Mark Kudish, who has been nominated for Tonys, and rarely stops working. But he says this one — largely due to the music of Bob Dylan — was a dream come true. “It has been a true labor of love,“ he says. “I cannot imagine anyone in our company not coming back, but it’s a risky show and will always depend on word of mouth.” That, and so many others, await the next, and hopefully definitive, word of mouth. All appendages crossed, but in the meantime, our performers may be temporarily postponed, but are proving that you can’t cancel creativity. Michele Willens reports weekly on an NPR afﬁliate. “Stage Right — Or Not” can be found on podcast sites.

Deutsches Haus | livestream only | deutscheshaus.as.nyu.edu In the wake of police targeting the press during George Floyd protests, catch a timely talk with a press critic, philosopher, historian, and two journalists (free).

Just Announced | Naomi Klein in Conversation with Katharine Viner

THURSDAY, JULY 2ND, 2PM The Guardian | livestream only | theguardian.com The world is sinking deeper into pandemic, unrest, and economic collapse, but our response is not preordained. Disaster capitalism expert Naomi Klein speaks with Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner about positive paths forward during crisis (£6).

For more information about lectures, readings and other intellectually stimulating events throughout NYC,

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A LITTLE LASAGNA GOES A LONG WAY FOOD

Feed the Frontlines NYC, an initiative cooked up in the kitchen of Tarallucci e Vino, has already raised close to $1.6 million in meal donations BY ANGELA BARBUTI

What started as a lasagna delivery to a city hospital has grown into a nationwide philanthropic effort. Just days after the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered four of his five Tarallucci e Vino restaurants, Luca Di Pietro received a request from a friend wanting to make a food donation to NYU Langone. After the restaurateur and his wife personally delivered lasagna, panini and salad to 40 ER doctors and nurses, and he saw how appreciative they were, it left him wanting to contribute more. That same night, the Italian native-turned-Upper West Side resident consulted with his family, and Feed the Frontlines NYC was born. His idea was simple; generous people would buy meals and his staff would prepare dishes like salmon

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To read about other people who have had their “15 Minutes” go to our website and submit your story.

and farro, pesto-marinated chicken and orecchiette with broccoli rabe, and deliver them to hospitals throughout the city. On their first day in operation, they received over Feed the Frontlines started with a lasagna delivery to a city hospital. Photo courtesy of Tarallucci e Vino $12,000 in contributions and pur- their Instagram page. “New Yorkers That made quite a big impression. chases. And to date, they have dis- never fail to surprise,” he said. That evening, talking to my wife Kate tributed more than 103,000 meals “We’re tough, but we know what is and my daughter Isabella and my son not only to hospitals, but shelters good and we know when a good Ian, I said, “Maybe we can do this and and supportive housing residences thing is a good thing. That’s one of try to keep our lights on.” So I talked as well. the reasons why I love the city. It’s to a few friends and one of my As a result of his charitable mis- just been a very heartwarming expe- friends I play soccer with said, “Hey, next time you make a delivery, I’ll sion, Di Pietro, who had to initially rience. And it’s been a good thing.” buy the next 50 meals.” The lay off 95 employees, was able to refollowing day, we did a delivery at hire 51 of them. He also took on 18 Tell us how the idea for Feed the NYU Langone in Sunset, Brooklyn. restaurant partners, which resulted Frontlines came about. And from there, speaking with my in over 60 more workers being Shortly after the announcement of daughter, who had just come back brought back to work. Other cities closing the restaurants, a friend of from college, we decided to put also took notice, and sister initia- mine, Adair Roberts, who’s in together a website. And she, with a tives have popped up in places like Toronto, said, “I want to help out and friend from school, created a website San Diego, Miami and Boston. Gov- buy some food for people.” So she in 18 hours. ernor Andrew Cuomo even recog- found a contact at NYU Langone, and You also joined forces with a nized the efforts of Di Pietro and purchased 40 meals. We went there and four people, nurses and doctors, nonprofit to help the homeless. Feed the Frontlines NYC in one of his came out to pick up the food We partnered with a not-for-profit, daily online messages to New York- curbside. And they were so the JoyJ Initiative; they are a 100ers. appreciative. They were just so percent volunteer-based This labor of love is shared by happy to see someone bringing food. Food delivery at NYU Langone in Sunset, organization that does homeless Brooklyn. Photo courtesy of Feed the many, from Di Pietro’s daughter Isa- Because they were getting very busy. outreach. We formalized our Frontlines bella, who is by his side seven days “I can’t believe you’re doing this. It’s partnership at the end of April, but a week, to a longtime customer who such a morale boost. It’s hard for us what is happening now, because the canned food and Cheerios. We want is delivering and taking photos for to get out and find food,” they said. crisis in the hospitals is slowing to have restaurants who know how to down, the crisis among New Yorkers is ramping up. As you may have heard, there were 1.2 million New Yorkers who were considered food insecure before the crisis. And those numbers have basically doubled since the crisis started. In the not-sopoor neighborhood on the Upper West Side where I live, you have people lining up for food pantries. The city is really struggling to keep up with the demand of food. And what we’re doing now is we’re trying to help New Yorkers who are experiencing food insecurity. This is the next part of our effort. We’re talking to the city. We got a grant from the Robin Hood Foundation about a week ago to help us in this effort. If you just think of restaurant workers, who usually live paycheck to paycheck, when the paycheck ends, where are they going to get meals from?

What is your long-term goal with this outreach?

Our big idea is to get restaurants to help with this city’s need. We don’t need big corporations sending

Left to right: Restaurateur Luca Di Pietro with son Ian, daughter Isabella and wife Kate. Photo courtesy of Feed the Frontlines

cook and prepare food safely help. And the city should realize that this will be a mutual beneﬁt because we are going to lower the rates of people who are food insecure, but also keep the lights on in many restaurants. Otherwise, who knows what’s going to happen to all these restaurants? The last time I had a conversation with the president of the New York State Restaurant Association a month ago, they were thinking that at least 30 percent of New York State restaurants would not reopen. And we were imagining 40 to 50 percent in the city. And the longer we wait, the harder it’s going to be. My idea is to have hopefully more restaurants involved. If we were to get funding from FEMA, or the city itself, we could bring more restaurants to help. To donate a meal, please visit www.feedthefrontlinesnyc.org

Know somebody who deserves their 15 Minutes of fame? Go to our website and click on submit a press release or announcement.

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Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9X9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3X3 squares. To solve the puzzle each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult.

G E

SUDOKU by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan

by Myles Mellor

CROSSWORD

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JUNE 4-10, 2020

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PUBLIC NOTICES

You’re at higher risk. If you’re 65 or older, you are at higher risk of getting very sick from the coronavirus. You must take extra care of yourself. Stay home if you can. Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Avoid touching your face. Disinfect frequently touched objects. Wash up after being in public spaces. Stay about six feet away from others. If you’re sick, stay home and away from others. If you have symptoms of fever, dry cough and shortness of breath, call your health care provider before going to their ofﬁce. We are all at risk, and some more than others. In challenging times, the choices you make are critical. And their impact is signiﬁcant. Help slow the spread of coronavirus.

Visit coronavirus.gov for the latest tips and information from the CDC.

TOGETHER, WE CAN HELP SLOW THE SPREAD.

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